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

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

Steakhouse 85, New Brunswick

Last week we tried a new restaurant in New Brunswick, NJ with Susan & Rich called Steakhouse 85. Right off the bat I want to mention that we picked this one because of the cool looking appetizers and a fantastic sounding side dish of truffles tater tots. We did NOT pick this based on its sad little wine list. Before the dinner, we called to see if they had corkage fee and were told, no. They sell wine lockers to members and because of that do not allow anyone bring bottles into restaurant.

Despite this, we were excited for the steaks and tater tots. The four of us decided to do an appetizer, soup or salad and then steaks. For appetizers, Susan ordered the lump crab martini; Rich had the oysters; Alan the orange chipolte scallops and I had the little neck clams. Susan's crab was good and fresh but not fabulous. The dipping sauce was too basic. Rich's oysters were quite good and the mignonette was perfect. Alan's scallops were interesting and different...cooked and split. My little neck clams were yummy and fresh but the one Alan tried was gritty. A perpetual issue for him and why he doesn't like clams and mussels.

When Great Steaks Go Bad

You might have noticed I haven't been blogging much this past week. It has a lot to do with no Internet (no electricity at all actually) and being preoccupied with the four inches of water laying stagnant in our basement and wine cellar. And while we don't have power yet, thanks to a newly acquired (borrowed) generator , we do have access to the Internet; I'm playing a little catch up. What I wanted to talk about is what happens when you are forced to face mother nature and the wrath she may lay to your well oiled kitchen machine. For us, thanks to Hurricane Irene, we got to find out that all you really need to survive is a grill. Or so I thought...the other thing you really, really, really need is a way to keep your precious food items stored at their appropriate temperature.

What became crystal clear during all of this is the realization that we couldn't care less about the vast majority of food in the fridge and freezer. Throwing it away as it was defrosting and beginning to turn into something unrecognizable wasn't met with even a moment of hesitation. Goodbye butter and eggs; sayonara pickles and relish;  au revoir weight watchers lunches and strawberries; auf Wiedersehen jellies, marinades and dressings; namaste cheese, milk and juices; arrivederci bacon, lettuce and mayo. Other than a sad little sigh of pity when the ice cream bit the dust, it was an unemotional act of blindly throwing the contents of two packed Jenn-Aires into giant garbage bags. I'm even looking forward to being able to scrub down the shelves before ever putting a single new thing back in there.

BUT, there was one thing we focused on with laser point precision. The steaks. We went through superhuman efforts to save those babies. Not just any steaks mind you, but glorious, gorgeous, flavorful Flannery steaks from California. These individually sealed  and vacuumed packed miracles were watched, checked and prodded every few hours to see how they were fairing. When the last of the coolness left the dark, defrosting freezer they were moved lovingly into coolers with bags and bags of ice. We ate the first ones to thaw and watched with growing dismay as the others started the slow march to room temperature. We were running out of time! And meals! When day two became day three and then into day four of still no power and no sign of relief...we came to the morbid realization that we will most likely be putting those out to the curb as well. Oh, the horror; the sadness...the anger. Such a sad, sad loss.

To lesson our mourning and say goodbye to the departed we might have to place a big ass order and throw a party celebrating life...and steak!! This will be after the power is restored of course. Until then my friends, eat well and cherish your beef.

Porter House, NYC

Last night Patty, Gianne and I had our third official Ladies Manhattan Dining Club (LMDC) get together. This go around we made a reservation at Michael Lomonaco's Porter House New York in the Time Warner Center. Opened in fall of 2006 and located on the 4th floor, it shares this illustrious location with power hitters Per Se & Bouchon Bakery (Thomas Keller), Masa & Bar Masa (Masayoshi Takayami), A Voce (Missy Robbins) and Landmarc (Marc Murphy). Patty choose Porter House mainly because of a growing obsession with Debragga, New York's popular butcher and the one partnering with Porter House.

While the three of us make up the LMDC, we decided from the onset that our reservations should be made for four people allowing us to bring guests, friends or anyone we thought would enrich our evening. For this evening out we invited Susan (of AfterTaste blog fame) to join us and what a wonderful addition she made! Susan might just find herself included in more LMDC evenings out if she's not careful.

Our reservation on this particular evening was a very respectable 6:30pm. Leaving Bound Brook, New Jersey at 4:30pm, with Susan in tow, should have left us not only plenty of time to make the drive into the city but allow for pre-dinner drinks at the bar. Unknown to us and our advanced planning was the idiot who felt it necessary to get into a car accident INSIDE the Lincoln Tunnel. So an hour of sitting dead stopped in traffic and we had to make peace with the fact we were going to be late. Luckily Patty was there early ~ having drinks, making friends with the bartender and holding our reservation for us. Hell, we were so late even Gianne made it there before us (said with love Gigi)!

But we made it, close to 7pm. Upon entering the restaurant you got a sense of warm and chic...Here's the decor as described on the restaurant's web site...

With spacious seating for 140, the room is as ample as the food is in its sense of welcome and luxurious modern casualness. Created by Jeffrey Beers, designer of Daniel Boulud Brasserie at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, Daniel Boulud's DB Bistro Moderne in New York, and Jeffrey Chodorow's Ono at the Hotel Gansevoort, the dining room has been critically praised for its handsome, polished design and panoramic views of Central Park. Dominating the entry is a long, sleekly gleaming cherry wood bar. Deep butter-soft leather banquettes range along the opposite wall with comfortable caf é seating in-between. The wide-grained wood floor runs the length of the bar into the formal dining room. Diners relax beneath beams of warm, slatted cherry wood and mellow, meal enhancing lighting. Wooden tables are draped with crisp white tablecloths and encircled by big, roomy arm chairs that mix American clubhouse with American opulence. The private dining room seats and additional 50, and can be divided into two more intimate and quiet spaces, providing a perfect venue for a variety of events and activities.

They settled us into a table smack in the middle of the dining room. I thought, these poor people have no idea what they're in. Wait until they realize we're loud, funny and not at all censored during our meals together. But there was a mild din permeating the restaurant that I think damped anyone's ability to listen to closely to our conversations. A good thing, I'm sure!

A disjointed and boisterous discussion ensued over the topic of how many courses, which courses and who was ordering what kicked off the evening while also trying to pick wines and ensure our waiter that we weren't nuts and we would eventually place an order. Where we netted out - a shared platter of oysters, a round of appetizers and then two porterhouse steaks to be shared amongst the four of us. To kick off the evening, we ordered a bottle of Pierre Peters Blanc de Blanc Brut, NV. This was after asking the sommelier if he could tell us a bit about the other bottle that we didn't know anything about, the La Caravelle Brut Rose, NV. During his monologue describing this champagne we were unfamiliar with he did proceed to tell us that, "it's a rose, so that means it's pink in color". We stopped him right there and ordered the Pierre Peters.

I'm going to ask Susan to weigh in on the tasting notes...I honestly was more wrapped up in the conversation and less paying attention to the bubbly. I know it was easy to drink, bright in flavor, short on the finish, medium golden color with a nice if not deep bouquet. It went well with our first two courses and seemed like a very nice choice for the $110 price point.

The first course, a tasting platter of a dozen oysters arrived. The wait staff set the iced platter up on one of those wire racks in the center of the table. The issue? The rack was so tall that the oysters were literally higher than our eyes...you couldn't see what you were eating. After some chatting we decided to take matters into our own hands and remove the rack, sitting the platter on the table, on a napkin. Seeing what we intended to do, a waiter (not our head waiter) with a deep scowl yelled at us! "STOP, I'll do that in a minute when my hands aren't full" is what he admonished us with. Luckily our head waiter must have overheard, came right over and moved the offending wire rack. Here's a picture of the oysters, down where they belonged, easily accessible to four starving young women.

Not unusually, I have forgotten the types of oysters they presented us with except Pine Island. And something I found interesting...there were four of us, we asked for a dozen oysters with some variety. Don't you think you'd make the platter up of three different kinds, four of each? That way everyone gets to try each kind. But alas, no...we got three of four different kinds so even if one type was a complete standout, someone missed out on trying it. This and being yelled at was a pretty good indictation of how the service was going to pan out all evening long.

The oysters themselves were very good...pretty large overall. Patty didn't like the "fishy" ones that much but I loved the briny, saltiness of all three I tried. They were served with a traditional cocktail sauce, lemon and a mignonette that was bright and acidic with that strong vinegar taste that goes so well with oysters.

Next up was the appetizer course. When our waiter told us they had a special that evening and it was a chilled lobster salad made from the meat of a one pound lobster and served with greens, asparagus, avocado and citrus...well, my mind was made up. I never pass up lobster salad...it's a favorite. This dish was the hit of the evening. A wonderfully large portion with the sweetest lobster meat and a gorgeous green champagne, avocado vinegrette that just made everything come together in salad heaven. The dish got passed around and kudos from all.

Susan, after much discussion with Patty, ordered the roasted beef marrow bones with herb salad and toasted country bread. I'm not sure if I've ever had bone marrow actually IN the bone. Susan performed some surgical procedure to remove each delectable morsel out and spread it lovingly onto toast points. I tried some, since there were sounds of happiness coming from her side of the table and have to say...I'm not sure I'm the biggest bone marrow fan. I've no doubt that this was very good marrow since Susan's palette has been honed to near perfection over the years...but it didn't resonate with me specifically. The bread on the other hand was fabulous.

Next up was Gianne's pan seared sea scallops with caper brown butter and creamy celery root. Winner! The scallops were warm and cooked just past translucent. The caper, brown butter was both salty and rich giving a depth to the dish. And let's face it, creamy celery root is a wonderful, wonderful thing. Great appetizer and for me, the number two star dish of the evening.

And finally, Patty's appetizer, the wild Italian arugula salad with roasted peppers, pecorino cheese, Sicilian olives and grape tomatoes. Very pretty, but just a salad, we all admit. I think I owe Patty an apology. When listening to her and Susan debate the various appetizer choices and hearing them talk about the bone marrow and the filet mignon steak tartar, I tossed out a little dig of, "what, no greens for you two"? I certainly hope my joke wasn't what diverted her away from the tartar (because I LOVE tartar) to go with the rather plain salad. Nothing special going on with this dish unfortunately.

On to the main event...eating at a placed called Porter House, how could we NOT order the porterhouse? In fact, we ordered two of them to split between the four of us. And we asked for them to be cooked medium rare... the only appropriate way to cook a steak. With the steaks, we got three of their lovely sounding side dishes...the truffled mashed yukon gold potatoes (oh, baby), the baked macaroni and cheese and the pan roasted field mushrooms.

To go with this course we ordered and had opened ahead of time a bottle of the 2006 Littorai 'Cerise' Anderson Valley. Can I just say - damn, that's an amazing bottle of wine. One of the best Pinot Noir's I've ever had. Alan, honey...if you're reading this...we need to stockpile. :)

On my plate above you see that I'd served myself up pieces from both the filet and rib eye side of the PH and added a nice tasting of the mac & cheese and mashed potatoes. The good news first? Holy frigging awesome mashed potatoes!!! Another shining example of taking something great and adding truffles to make it spectacular! Wonderful, fabulous, incredible...ahhhh....yummy. This sentiment was shared by all. The baked macaroni and cheese was very nice as well and we debated what cheese was used since it had a nice bite to it...something in there was sharp and made the dish work. I did not try the field mushrooms this evening...just wasn't feeling it.

Now, the porterhouse. It was cooked about medium rare and the flavor was nice. But it lacked that succulence that we've achieved at home (at Susan's home actually, with Rich manning the grill) and take a look at the amount of fat on the rib eye. Having to cut away a third of every bite from fat didn't make it any more endearing. While it would have been easy to do from a quantity perspective, we didn't finish the porterhouses; either one of them. The leftovers made their way back to Bound Brook to make an appearance as either pureed dinner for Connor or steak and eggs for Rich.

And finally, for dessert we decided to put one dish in the middle of the table. That dessert? Old School Ice Cream sundae of both vanilla and chocolate ice cream, hot fudge, nuts in caramel, cherries and whipped cream. And a plate of assorted Porter House cookies that they brought out with compliments from the kitchen. The sundae was yummy as were the cookies. The total bill was reasonable, we agreed, all said and done. The company and conversation was fantastic, a great ladies night out. The restaurant, we collectively gave a 6 out of 10. Good, not great...would try other places before going back.

Jenn's rating: 82

Zagat's rating: 24-25-24

Pluckemin Inn - Summer Wine Tasting & Dinner

Along with Mary & Steve, Alan and I attended the summer wine tasting at the Pluckemin Inn on Sunday, June 26. There were ten distributor tables spread across two floors, each with between 5 and 7 wines they were showcasing. I didn't keep my tasting notes nor do I remember much about what I tried so I'm hoping Alan, Mary & Steve will add their thoughts to this post. I concentrated on Rose and Champagne with a little Pinot thrown in. I do remember clearly that the standouts for me were the Evening Land Pinot from Oregon and the Alfred Gratien rose (joy in a bottle).

After the tasting the four of us were joined by Jeff & Dana for dinner on the patio. Outdoor dining at it's best, it was a perfect temperature to be outside. We decided to all do an appetizer and an entree. I may or may not be able to remember what everyone ordered and since there wasn't a ton of plate trading this time, there are a few of the dishes I won't comment on at all.

To start it off, both Mary and I ordered the half dozen oysters with cocktail sauce and mignonette. One of the things that I really like about the Plucky's oyster appetizer other than the freshness and clean taste of the oysters (usually east coast selections) is that they serve both lemon and lime. Once you've put a little lime on your oysters you won't go back. The mignonette had the appropriate level of briny vinegar to pair perfectly with the raw bites. I saw Mary eating hers with cocktail sauce so hopefully she'll throw in a note about that.

Alan tried to order the tuna and hamachi tartar but was told a few minutes later they were out. He switched to the tried and true Butter Lettuce Salad with pecans, goat cheese and pear (or apple). A really wonderful salad. Jeff ordered the tuna sashimi and Dana got the beat salad. The dish that stood out for me actually though was Steve's risotto with spring peas. Nice flavor, great texture and not overly heavy. Good call, Steve!

For our entrees, Dana and I both got the new Sunday special fried chicken with mashed potatoes and broccoli rabe. They served three nice sized pieces that were coated and fried nicely ~ almost lightly ~ in a crunchy but not greasy coating. The chicken was cooked perfectly, moist and tender. Mine was wonderful and I ate every single bite. The mashed potatoes were also great - really smooth and flavorful and served in their very own crock. I don't remember the rabe.

Alan got the Plucky burger and fries. I'm sure everyone already knows this but I'll state it again. Best. Fries. Ever. Alan said his burger wasn't very good this time around - over cooked and small, it didn't fit the bun well.

Mary ordered a white fish...halibut? I'm not sure. Looked great sitting in the light broth and she said it was very good. Steve ordered the ribs which fell off the bone...he mentioned that he tried them a few weeks before and was very happy with the flavor. We'll have to try them next time. Jeff ordered the steak & frites but I didn't ask how it was.

The Pluckemin Inn is a standby and a favorite. They do a number of dishes very, very well including most fishes. In fact just about everything with shellfish or fish in it have been flavorful and inventive. I didn't see a crab or lobster salad on the menu this time around but it's been one of my go to dishes. I'm sure we'll be back many, many more times.

Grilling in the Rain

This past Friday was supposed to be a day spent poolside, in the sun and water, with the Lahey family. Connor would be all set with his spanking new floatie and swimsuit and we'd be chilling with a few bottles of Rose while soaking up the rays. But I guess no one told Mother Nature to turn off the torrential downpours and turn on the sun.

We moved to plan B. This entailed sitting inside while drinking many bottles of fermented grapes and eating more produce than any four humans can typically consume (thank you S&R for sharing this week's CSA bounty). Personally, I had too much fun to miss the sunshine all that much.

I'm counting on Alan / Susan / Rich to post the wines we drank while I talk food. We started off the same way we start off most evenings of entertainment...cheese & bubbly. The cheese was a mild, milky brie & a Piave from Wegmans with a fresh baguette and a bowl full of my favorite summer addiction, Veggie Stix from Costco. We noshed for a while in between admiring Connor's unique ability to roll from Point A to Point B with fantastic precision and determination. Apparently, he's spurred on by the need to get to any and all electronics! Such a super cutie!!

We moved onto and polished off a second incredible bottle of champagne and dove straight into a Rose while noshing on an interlude course of fresh mozzarella & Jersey tomatoes. Yummy! The special Balsamic vinegar and the just picked basil added that extra something...love a good Caprese salad! With a nice buzz on, we prepped for dinner.

The evening's menu included grilled baby squash wrapped in prosciutto, grilled scallions, Saratoga steaks from Flannery's in California, wild mushroom & Parmesan risotto and a salad of red & green leafy lettuce, onion, English cucumber and cherry tomatoes with feta cheese. Since we cooked all of this ourselves, I'd usually be a little more gentle on my critiques...but for the sake of the blog, I'll try and be as unbiased as possible. The baby squash was without a doubt THE BEST squash I've ever had. I don't usually like squash - but this was perfect. The crispness of the prosciutto added the right blend of saltiness to the soft, buttery texture of the squash. So awesome....must try that again. I also couldn't stop eating the grilled scallions. Who knew? So fabulous and a great flavor note when eaten with bites of steak.

The salad was wonderful because it was so fresh and crisp. I didn't add Feta to mine but loved the Greek feta yogurt dressing that S&R brought as an accompaniment. Nor did I realize how much I liked English cucumbers...less seeds and crunchy. I thought the raw onions gave the whole thing a nice zing and offset the sweetness of the tomatoes perfectly.

The risotto I made had the correct balance of creamy but still al dente that I was shooting for...but I was disappointed in the overall flavor. I've made risotto a bunch of times and can usually get more depth of flavor and woodiness when using mushrooms then I did this time. I think buying the prepackaged mushroom blend from Wegmans in lieu of the individual mushrooms from Delicious Orchards was a mistake. Not bad, but not memorable. I also forgot to add in peas and missed the splash of color they give the final dish.

Finally on to the steaks. This Saratoga cut is something new we've tried once before and I really like the cut. It's got the tenderness of a fillet with the flavor profile closer to a rib eye. The size of the steaks were nice ~ I didn't feel like I was eating so much I needed to take a Crestor. But alas, tonight these were overcooked. Grilling in the rain is a challenge, I'm told and I think it played a part. Unlike the first time Alan grilled Saratoga steaks, all red and perfect in the middle, these tended more towards medium and lost a little of their flair along the process. We'll need to try again!

To wrap up the evening we had a chocolate fudge and New York style cheesecake and more wine. Great fun, great food and of course, incredible friends! Can't wait to do it again.

Grand Del Mar, California: 2011

Alan and I are spending his pre-Birthday week in Del Mar, California at the absolutely gorgeous Grand Del Mar Resort & Spa. Located just north of San Diego in the cliffs and just a few miles in from the dark blue Pacific Ocean. I have no idea how expensive this resort is to stay at out-of-pocket, but when on a business paid conference trip, it's just the perfect location.

Our room is on the third floor and our balcony looks over one of the courtyards as well as the third hole of the on-property golf course. The room itself is one of my favorites of any resort - very spacious with a monstrous king size bed, a wonderfully comfy L-shaped sofa with ottoman, two desks and a huge bathroom featuring a walk in dressing room & closet. It's also got one of the most important aspects to a truly wonderful hotel room - a beautiful, large, glass enclosed shower with the most fabulous water pressure. Powerful, streaming a nonstop flow of hot, hot water. So nice after a long plane ride or a brutal round of golf. As we sit here once again after hitting the links, with our balcony doors wide open watching the Yankees play the Reds we hear the not infrequent sound of navy F-15 fighter jets flying overhead....and for the second time in one day, a little sparrow flies into our room, hops around as Alan gently shoo-shoos it back out the balcony doors. I wanted to feed it but Alan said no, sternly. He doesn't want a repeat of the banded mongoose fiasco of 2002.

But this post is about food...and hopefully wine since I'm thinking Alan will add an addendum to talk about the five bottles packing snugly in our luggage that made the trip out here with us on Continental from Newark.

Our first on resort food experience was the California sandwich they made at the Cafe. Really, really great chicken breast sandwich. Big (enough for two of us to share), warm (heated in a panini press), wet with an olive oil mayo and perfectly accompanied with fresh tomato, bacon and avocado. The bread was a french style baguette, fresh and doughy. Served with crunchy pickles.

Second taste was breakfast from the same Cafe to take To Go out to Torrey Pines with us. We get two toasted bagels - mine plain with cream cheese and Alan's a cinnamon-raisin with butter. They added little fruit cups into our To Go boxes that was a welcome surprise. The bagels were what they should be.

The next dining experience is a last minute trip down to the in hotel restaurant, Amaya. It's a combination of indoor and outdoor seating overlooking the lovely Aria lawn. This is a wide expanse of perfectly manicured lawn surrounded by blooming flora and a large Italian style, open aired pavilion that I know from the Travel Channel is a favorite wedding location. What it means when we're there, a place for every child in the place to run about screaming...interestingly in this case, the kids don't both me or anyone else and are even a bit amusing to watch them chase, tag and tumble all over each other.

I ordered a Caesar salad to start that was nicely prepared with that heavy anchovy taste that I'm particularly fond of. Alan had the short rib cannelloni with beech mushroom ragout and I ordered the crab & lobster pappardelle with tarragon, mushrooms and Parmesan. Alan liked his cannelloni quite a bit. I very much liked the flavor of my dish but between the bottle and a half we already drank and my overall exhaustion after walking the course at Torrey Pines, I ran out of steam after eating only a quarter of my dish.

The next morning (today, actually as I post this), we decide to go for a sit down breakfast since we're not teeing off until 12:30pm in a shot gun start. Back to Amaya we go. Once again sitting outside and once again treated to children running nonstop on the grand Aria lawn. It's a most beautiful morning.

A nice menu, we opt for a mixed seasonal fruit plate to share plus I get the egg white frittata with spinach, tomato and goat cheese served with toast and Alan's breakfast burrito with Parmesan cheese, prosciutto and carameliz onion served with breakfast potatoes. Oh, joy!! My frittata is wonderful - the goat cheese adding that twang of flavor to jazz up the eggs and blend so nicely with the freshness of spinach and tomato. Alan's burrito was good but could have used more meat and less tomato and needed a little salt. The fresh fruit was perfect.

Next up for food - a boxed lunch provided on our golf carts for the tournament. A big box, it held a giant turkey, tomato & lettuce combination in sun dried tomato wrap with a seasoned ranch dressing, a bag of jalapeno chips, chocolate brownie and cold pasta salad.YUMMY. Matched up with unlimited drinks, it made for a perfect golf day lunch! So far, so good!! Hope to be able to post good things about our dinner tomorrow night at Addison.

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