Charleston Eats! McCrady's

After drinks & appetizers at Peninsula Grill, we took a stroll down Market Street to East Bay for our dinner reservations at McCrady's Restaurant. We'd heard from Jeff & Dana that this was a tasting only menu with limited choices but weren't deterred!

The entrance & address are are Unity Alley, a narrow little side street off East Bay. Inside it's fairly cavernous with lots of exposed brick, wood and fireplaces. We were taken to a little table for two on the wall that was lovely and comfortable. On the way in we got a glimpse of the long bar - now on my list of places to have a drink!

The menu is four course, price fixed. Limited choices but everything sounded really good. We stuck with our style of divide and conquer to cover as much of the menu as possible. Starting off we ordered the 5 Snacks. These are single bite creations. This was mostly interesting with a few that didn't quite hit the mark. The piece of cured meat was very good - but odd to have a single little piece of cured meat on a plate by itself. The buckwheat Oreo cookie did not resonate with either of us - too dry and really, does any one actually like buckwheat? The other three though were seriously good. A cold, frothy soup concoction that had caviar and maybe cucumber in it was outstanding. The roasted tomato hot bite was also good and I loved the crispy sweetbreads with foam.

For our first course we had summer melon with Edisto cucumber and roof top flowers; Cox Farms beef tartare with Goat Lady gouda and beef tendon. 

I loved both of these dishes but I think Alan felt the smothered cheese on top of the tartare might have been a bit distracting. The summer melon was a perfect hot weather dish.

Next course were the fishes: snapper with summer squash, baby leek, Kafir lime and tarragon; grouper with red cabbage, purslane & black truffle.

The snapper was outstanding; the grouper was overwhelmed by the cabbage & cabbage broth. Both fishes were cooked perfectly and so nicely presented.

Our main dish were meats - Alan having the Duo of Berkshire Pork with corn, cherry, chanterelle and peanut. I had the Cox Farms rib eye with beet, blueberry and Shiso.

The pork was both a loin and belly. The dish was a touch too deconstructed though individual components had great flavor. It didn't all come together as well as hoped. The steak was perfect - fantastic flavor, cooked to that optimal medium rare and served alongside the best blueberries I've ever tasted. Very nice!

To finish up we did desserts: chocolate, raspberry & chamomile and the server's recommendation of the panna cotta with blackberry and marigold.

Both of these were very good - so good we ate all of both which is unusual for us with desserts.

Overall - great experience, great ambiance and service was excellent! Really enjoyed the meal and would go back when the seasonal menu changes. If you're okay with tasting menus, put this one on your list.

Cafe Panache, Ramsy NJ

Cafe Panache is a lovely little restaurant in a tiny, northern town of Ramsy, NJ. We've been many times years and years ago when we lived in Westchester and finally had the stars align to get back there this week. It's BYO with a changing, eclectic menu. Beyond that, one of things that make this particular restaurant endearing to us is that we know the family that owns and operates it. Chef Kohler has been running this favorite Bergen county spot for more than 26 years now and there's a reason people keep going back. We were lucky enough to share our evening and table with Chef Kohler's daughter and personal friend, Kristie and her finance, Mike - fun foodies that are always up for night out for eating & drinking.

In the time since we were there last, Panache has gone through major renovations. The restaurant is an elegant venue with floor to ceiling windows in the front overlooking Main Street and soothing tones of blue and beige. Quite a change since the last time we were there it's got an ambiance of comfortable chic.

Kristie was kind enough to take the helm and order our first two courses for all of us to share. To start us off she choose three appetizer dishes - a tartare of tuna with avocado and crostini; a beef carpaccio with shaved Parmesan and mixed greens and an octopus salad.

The tuna was fresh and had that firm texture that Alan and I like so much. Simply prepared with the ginger on top and the ripe avocado allowed the tuna to shine. Very nice! The carpaccio was sliced micro thin and was beautifully plated. The mixed greens gave the contrasting crunch and the cheese offered the saltiness that we come to want with a traditional carpaccio. This dish was good though I would have liked to have a more prominent balsamic flavor add a little more depth. And finally, the octopus. WOW. Gorgeous, large sections grilled or sauteed with a light dusting of pepper and the dressing from the salad set off the mollusk in a most wonderful way. I loved, loved, LOVED this dish!

For our next course Kristie requested that the kitchen prepare all of us a tasting of the menu's two ravioli featured that evening; pumpkin and filet mignon, each served in a brown butter sauce.

If you have ever eaten with me or you've ever read any of these posts you'll know that I'm a big fan of pasta. Panache makes their pasta fresh each day and the ravioli showcased their expertise. Delicate and fresh - really allowing the flavors from within to shine through without being heavy. These two were very different, as you'd expect. The pumpkin was a lovely surprise with a sweetness that complimented so well the butter sauce. I pretty much hate pumpkin...right up until someone as gifted as Chef Kohler creates their magic and sticks it into a pillow of happiness. Yum! But you know what...even being that great, the filet was still the winner of the Ravioli battle on my plate. The beef was an earthy, dark contrast to the sweet butter sauce that just worked perfectly. An excellent culinary bite.

For our entrees we covered off on four house favorites...pasta, duck, beef and chicken.

The pasta with shrimp was done in a spicy marinara sauce over fresh spaghetti. The duck was presented two ways - roasted breast and confit leg with wild rice and au jus. The sirloin with steam vegetables had a blackened crust and cooked to a perfect medium rare. And finally the chicken over polenta done with...cranberries or maybe cherries? I don't quite recall. The pasta was so flavorful and fresh it seemed weightless; the duck was awesome - when done right, there's no better expression of fowl than leg of confit duck. The sirloin had a nice flavor and a good balance between tender and yet hearty and finally the chicken was super moist and avoided any pitfalls of being too "ordinary". I personally think the duck took top honors but all four dishes were very good.

All in all - such a nice evening. A bottle of champagne and a bottle of red went down easily as did the conversation and the food. Highly recommend giving this one a try if you're up in Bergen county!

Zagat's Rating: 27-23-25

CUT, Las Vegas

Second dinner in Las Vegas was at CUT steakhouse in Palazzo. This is a Wolfgang Puck establishment and I'm a big fan of his other restaurants in Las Vegas.

The decor is cool, cold even with lots of brown, gold, glass and leather. We were seated at 7pm to a pretty empty restaurant and were given a table in the way back. During our time there it did fill up about half the tables.


Not in a mood to drink a bottle, I ordered a glass of pinot noir that lasted through the dinner. After water and menus were given, our waiter came over with a large platter of various cuts of meat to show the difference in marbling, color and size of the featured steaks like the Wagyu and the dry aged filets.

The menu is straight forwards...it's steak baby, all the way. Mom and I started off with an appetizer each before our steaks. She choose the roasted Windrose Farm baby beet salad with French Feta, toasted pistachio, citrus, micro basil and mint.

I didn't try the dish but Mom loved it and talked about it again the following day.

I ordered the warm asparagus salad with poached egg and warm bacon vinaigrette and it was spectacular!! A brioche underneath and the combination of the organic egg and bacon just added such down home comfort with complexity. Really fabulous!

For our steak, my Mother ordered the same cut I did...the Illinois, 21 day wet aged, 20 ounce bone in rib eye cooked to a medium rare. The restaurant says that the cooking style is grilled over hardwood and charcoal and then finished under 1200 degree broiler with butter.

The side dish we ordered was the yukon gold potato puree. As you can see from the picture above, the steak looked fabulous and when cut into was pretty pink - not quite as red as I like but not to the point I would have said it was overcooked.

Then I tasted it. Blah. No real flavor at all. As this is a cut that I love and we grill at home so I know what it's potential should be. Not sure if the issue was the wet aged or if it was the cooking process but it might as well have been a sirloin. Very disappointing. A mixed bag that ended on a bad note and my rating reflects that.

Jenn's Rating: 78
Zagat: 26-24-26

Cowboy Ciao, Scottsdale AZ

Our last dinner in Scottsdale was an eclectic, neighborhood joint located on Stetson Drive downtown. Funky decor that's a combination of Old West, Southwest and just plain odd, it's got that feel when you walk in that this might just turn out to be a fantastic experience. A feeling I got that first time we walked into Mustard's Grill in Napa...something interesting was about to happen.

We were seated after a few minute wait at a table near the front door. Surrounded by a mix of young and older patrons, the whole place was hard to read. Casual, definitely. The menu is unique with desserts listed first and people's comments sitting in the place of dish descriptions.

Jeff & Dana had eaten here once before and highly recommended the famous Stetson Chopped salad. We ordered two of them - they are prepared table side - to split amongst the four of us. It's unlike any chopped salad I've had before with corn, bacon, couscous, arugula, smoked salmon, asiago cheese, toasted pepitas, black currants and tossed with a buttermilk, basil pesto dressing.

This salad sounds like a car crash when you hear the description. When you eat it, it's downright heavenly. What a fabulous combination of flavors, textures and visual pop. It was really, really good. If I ever went back, I'd just order a whole one of these for myself and call it a night.



It's been long enough now that I'm not recalling what everyone had individually. I'm pretty sure there was an order of Koren style BBQ short ribs that made there way to the table and I know I went with the flat iron steak with sweet marinade, spaghetti squash, broccolini and a pan sauce made of butter, shallots, port and malbec.

My steak was blah. WHY, why do I keep ordering steaks in restaurants? 89% of the time they are truly and completely disappointing. This was the case again. I should have gone with one of the fan favorites like the mushroom pan fry or the pork chop. There wasn't a great dish around the table and everyone was left feeling like we were 0 for 2 after the dinner at Maestro's the night before.

Anywho...there was also a weird and very lengthy issue trying to order a bottle of wine. Twice being told the one selected was not available without the sommelier offering a different bottle of same or better quality for our troubles. Salad aside, this was a miss for me. Go for lunch, have the salad and maybe try dessert or the small plates.

Jenn's rating: 76
Zagat: 24-20-23

Hurricane Sandy Gone, Back to Food (RnR, Scottsdale, AZ)

Finishing the reviews of food experiences in Scottsdale, AZ last month - there's one more worth mentioning. We were looking for a place to hang out and catch the Giants game Sunday morning (how cool to be able to watch football at 10am?).

The bartender at our hotel suggested we try a place downtown called RnR. She said it was a sports bar with great breakfast burritos and tons of TVs.

Located on North Scottsdale Road, this two storied hang out is casual, loud and has lots and lots of open air seating to accommodate the huge Sunday crowds.

We were lucky enough to get a table on the downstairs patio and even luckier to find a great waiter happy to tune the closest TV to the Giants game (yay!).  With a breakfast menu served until 2pm and unlimited mimosas this is place to eat comfort food, wear your team colors and settle in for a three hour feast.

We ordered various egg dishes - I got the RnR BYOB Breakfast Burrito with ham, bacon, cheddard cheese and pepper jack. It was served with some of the best breakfast potatoes I've ever had.

Since it was more than a month ago, I'm not going to remember exactly what everyone else had...I think Alan tried the Breakfast Taco Plate with three tacos: potato & egg, chorizo & egg and bacon & egg. Dana ordered an egg white omelette with spinach, bacon and other fun stuff. I can't remember Jeff's dish...french toast?

Everything was pretty good - hearty and tasty with the potatoes being the standouts. We ordered drinks all morning long while watching the Giants win. And somewhere after halftime decided to get this beauty...

A monster sized cinnamon role dripping in icing. Oh, happiness! Really yummy and really decadent. It's served with a flaming firework candle to make the whole thing a little more over the top.

So if you're looking for a place to hang out and people watch, game watch, eat and drink I'd definitely recommend RnR.

PS. They put bacon in their Bloody Mary's.

Ninety Acres at NATIRAR, Peapack NJ

Last week I was taken out to dinner by a friend and co-worker. Given her choice of a few good restaurants near our Berkeley Heights office, she picked Ninety Acres at the Natirar estate in Peapack-Gladstone. A gorgeous location, the Ninety Acres culinary center sits atop a long, long, long and winding road through green, rolling hills. A little hard to navigate at night, the road is more narrow then makes one comfortable especially when trying to avoid both the bountiful wildlife and on-coming traffic. But the view is beautiful and well worth the adventure.

We arrived a bit early to have a drink at the large bar - starting off with glasses of Polyez-Jacquemart brut rose, non-vintage. Not an overly floral champagne, it was medium in color with a nice touch of complexity and medium finish. I liked it for sipping but realized it would have been even better with salty snacks. Too bad there weren't any offered on the bar (hint hint).

After drinks we were seated ten feet away from the bar at one of the tables in the space between what is obviously bar/lounge and what is equally obviously main dining room. We were kind of in the middle at a table for two up against a support beam. I mention the beam because it became a source of both amusement and distraction all evening as the wait staff felt it necessary to wedge themselves between me and the post to serve our table and the one next to us. A little odd - both tables were accessible from their opposite sides without having to suck it in and squeeze each time to pass through.

After the usual time of concentrating on the menu and me trying to get a feel for how many courses I'd be able to talk my dining partner into we settled on two and a half; appetizers, a shared middle course and then entrees.

We opted for a half bottle of red wine with dinner since both of us needed to drive home. The bottle of choice this time was a Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vielles Vignes 2008, Clos St. Jean. Nice bottle, easy to drink and it went well with our entire dinner.

To start we ordered the poached Egg with pancetta, yukon potatoes and brussels sprouts. We also ordered the organic risotto with guanciale, fennel, parmesan & ricotta.

The poached egg was killer. Both the pancetta and a nice strip of bacon cooked but still chewy added saltiness. The potatoes were presented as chips which was a nice surprise. Really great dish.

The risotto on the other hand was something else trying to disguise itself as risotto. Where was the rice? This dish was mostly cheese and vegetables with a creamy sauce that perhaps once used to be a grain. The flavor profile wasn't well developed and I found myself thinking how disappointing it is to be disappointed with a sub-standard risotto (since I super duper LOVE risotto, it really bums me out when it's not great, or even good).

For the next course we were swayed by the description of their special appetizer of the evening, a Jersey tomato dish with red onion and fresh ricotta cheese in an oil dressing.

I'm a sucker for ripe tomatoes and feel that it's just about the greatest thing New Jersey has going for itself. That and the corn on the cob in the height of summer. So when the tomatoes are at the peak of the season and showcased in a simple preparation, I'm usually pretty happy. This dish didn't let me down. Super fresh, nice tang from the red onion and a tart yet creaminess from the ricotta brought it all together. Good one!

For our main dish we both ordered steak. Right off the bat I should say that I knew this was risky. I really don't like ordering steak in a restaurant as I'm totally frustrated by how many places just get it wrong (and by how many times my husband and our grilling friends get it right making the comparison all that much more poignant). But my lovely, gracious and fun dinner companion does not eat fish. Since we'd been sharing dishes all night, I didn't think it appropriate to bring something to the mix that she wouldn't want to try. And besides, on paper - steak always sounds like a great, mouthwatering option.

She ordered the pan roasted, grass fed bone-in strip steak with fingerling potatoes & Natirar steak sauce. I ordered the Niman Ranch naturally raised ribeye with rosemary sea salt & peperonata. For side dishes we went homey and asked for the mashed potatoes and the macaroni & cheese.

We requested both steaks to be medium-rare - they came out closer to medium but not enough to get pissy about. Both steaks were simply prepared and were tender enough...I just wish I could understand why some steaks are literally dripping with juicy flavor and you can't help but make those little sounds of happiness with each bite while others are just so blah. These leaned towards forgettable.

A super big miss was the macaroni and cheese. Seriously? You shouldn't be allowed to mess up mac & cheese. You can pretty much make it from a box and satisfy 75% of the American population (myself included). This one was bland, runny and used a very small elbow shape that seemed tough. I sanity checked with both my dining partner and Alan who tried the leftovers the next day; just not good. The mashed potatoes on the other hand - awesome!!! I really could have eaten the entire serving.

And we topped off our evening with dessert. I know, I know - you know I am not a fan of dessert. It's all looks, no flavor in all but the fewest of instances. But our server, who was quite attentive I will add, did a pretty good job selling the special of the evening, a S'Mores pie.

Pretty, right? But you know what - no flavor. The marshmallow on top was near impossible to cut (sticky mess) and the chocolate-graham pie underneath was dry and flavorless. This dish would have benefitted enormously from having a Hershey bar nestled in between, partially melted. This was practically inedible.

In summary Ninety Acres still hasn't reached it's potential. Being that it's been open now for two years, I'm wondering if it ever will. On the plus side the service was light-years ahead of where it was last time we were there and the wine list remains diverse and friendly. When we ordered dishes that featured the locally harvested ingredients and things at the peak of their season we faired much better. I wouldn't say don't go - I would just suggest that you don't get your hopes up too high.

Jenn's Rating: 80
Zagat: 25-28-23

SAAM, chef's tasting room at Bazaar, Los Angeles

Alan and I have just returned from a week on the west coast. We split time between Los Angeles and San Diego and ate well in both places. One of our dinners was with a group of Alan's colleagues at SAAM, the chef's tasting room at Bazaar in the SLS Hotel, Beverly Hills.

We arrived early to the hotel to have drinks. If you haven't been to or experienced The Bazaar, its unlike anything I've ever seen before. With five different themed areas all bleeding into each other, it's a dizzying array of colors, sights and sounds. There's Bar Centro ~ literally a bar in the middle of the space ~ packed with decked out LA'ers in couture and tourists watching them. We sat at this long, raised bar table for a little over an hour having drinks and people watching.

Around us there was also two main dining rooms called Rojo Y Blanca decorated as you can imagine in red and whites serving ala carte and tapas.

There's a dessert room with an open kitchen called Patisserie which we were told is where you are "taken" after you finish dining to enjoy evening sweets. Then there's this odd store without walls tucked up in the front of the space called Regalo. And finally, there's SAAM; the private chef's tasting room in the back of the restaurant secluded away from the bustle of the other scenes. SAAM is where we ate dinner.

We had an 8pm reservation and eight people seated against the wall in a lovely, comfortable table with cushy seats and understated decor. The tasting menu consists of 22 small bites showcasing fresh ingredients and the chef's work with molecular gastronomy.

So here we go!
Course #1:  Kaviar Kir Royale; a champagne cocktail with "caviar" eggs made out of liqueur at the bottom of the glass. It didn't have nearly as much flavor as I was expecting.
Course #2:  Beet & Yogurt; a roll of soft beets and creamy yogurt encased in a flaky, simple pastry. Much lighter than expected but not a flavor combination I enjoyed.

Course #3:  Oyster & Jamon and Course #4:  Parmesan Macaron; served together, the oyster was a fresh little bite that went well with the salty ham. The Parmesan dish had herbs in it and both of these dishes complimented the sparkling wine (2008 Schramsberg Blanc de Blanc) we were having with the beginning of the meal.

Course #5:  Seabeans in Tempura; a fabulous preparation of a simple vegetable, the tempura was warm, crunchy and light with a natural saltiness. Seabean is actually Glasswort, a plant growing in Europe in salty marshes and sea coasts.

Course #6:  Jose's Combination; yep, that's prosciutto with caviar and it tasted as good as it looks.

Course #7:  Patatas Bravas (fried potatoes with allioli and chili sauce). I don't think I liked this course very much...it was a little spicy but otherwise pretty bland.

Course #8:  Chicken Skin & Cigala (langostine): this dish was AWESOME. But I mean, come on! It's fried chicken skin (think pork rind only with chicken) with a langostine over it and then a green cucumber foam. What's not to love?

Course #9:  Not Your Everyday Caprese: another knockout course. These mozzarella balls were extremely delicate and you needed to pop the entire thing in your mouth so it didn't break. Then when you did, with some of the tomato and fresh basil puree it was like an explosion of Caprese in a liquid happy bomb. Really amazing.

Course #10: Crispy Nigiri: no picture and can't remember anything about it.

Course #11: Uni & Eel: done like a risotto of eel with Uni on top this was crazy rich and decadent. It made me very happy though a bit heavy on the palate considering we were only halfway through. But loved this course.

Course #12: Chipirones (Northern Spanish style of cooking squid in it's own ink): I'm a pretty big fan of squid thanks mostly to Marea in NYC. This was a nice little course - the squid was pleasantly chewy, especially the body portion which so often is too tough. Nice one overall.

Course #13: Banh Mi (Vietnamese baguette sandwich): Not for me...I didn't like this sandwich at all. It was bland and filling and I didn't finish it. Could have skipped this course altogether.

Course #14: Carrots: Blue Hill at Stone Barns has taught me to never take a carrot for granted. Thank goodness I didn't dismiss this course before giving it a try (since I don't like raw carrots, was a possibility). Really superb. The sweet carrots and bitter edible flowers were simple and complimentary to each other.

Course #15: Mirugai (geoduck or large saltwater clam): I really thought this was some sort of white fish since the taste was rather mild and the texture delicate. To find out it was actually some creepy looking giant clam thing makes me even more impressed with this dish. Excellent taste.

Course #16: Wagyu & Mushroom Escabeche: Yummy! Is that enough of a review? And the broth was made of bone marrow so double yummy!!

Course #17: Mushroom & Duck Liver

Additional Course #17A: Wild Mushrooms & Black Truffles: this course was probably the hit of the evening for the rest of the table and I really, really, really wanted to eat it and love it. But I had hit the food wall to quote Adam Richman of Man vs. Food. I literally couldn't eat it - it was so rich and I was on the brink of total stomach shut down.

Course #18: Japanese Baby Peaches: no picture and I skipped this one too still reeling from food overload.

Course #19: Dragon's Breath Popcorn: no picture but honestly there wouldn't have been a way to capture the coolness of this course. We each popped a frozen piece of "popcorn" in our mouths and were told to breath out of our noses. The reaction was a stream of "smoke" looking like a fire breathing dragon exhaling. So very cool. The taste itself was not the highlight of this course. Watching each person in turn breath fire was frigging awesome.

Course #20: Frozen Apricot Timbale with Amaretto

Course #21: Desert Dessert
Course #22: Sexy Little Sweets

Summary: I really enjoyed this entire experience. Most of that had to do with the fun group of people and lively conversation. Most of the dishes were interesting enough or downright fabulous to overshadow the few misses they served. The service was attentive and fun and our head server dealt with this rambunctious crowd very well. I loved the intimate feeling of this private room and felt comfortable and not rushed. While I personally had a hard time handling this many courses (unusual for me, but it can happen), I do like it when high end restaurants do lots of little bites or plates. It's worth the trip and probably one of the better truly "foodie" experience to be had in Los Angeles. Final note - at $120 per person fixed cost this comes in as a moderate priced dinner (not nearly as scary as some of the NYC chef's tastings) with a pretty good wine list.

Zagat's Rating: 27-26-25
Jenn's Rating: 92