The Continuing Adventures of Alex and Cati*

Cati and I went to the Florida Keys for 5 days after Xmas at my folks’ place.  We flew from TPA to MIA and rented a convertible for the ~4-hour drive down to Key West.  It was a Chrysler Sebring, and y’know, I didn’t hate it.  I’m not sure I’d buy one, but it wasn’t half bad.  The satellite radio may have positively skewed my perception of the car with it’s “70’s punk” and “80’s hits” stations.

Before leaving Miami, we stopped for lunch at a Peruvian place called Sabor A Peru.  We were looking for a Cuban joint we had read about in Sky Magazine on a previous flight, but we couldn’t find it.  The Peruvian place was great– cheap, authentic, and non-pretentious.  It was jammed with Spanish speakers (presumably Peruanos, but who knows?) on both sides of the counter.

I even tried a few Peruvian beers; here’s one:

Cati and I shared two plates; a light spicy-tangy ceviche and a savory braised beef short-rib with plump white beans.

For dessert, Cati had a shake called a “batido.”  It was made with guanabana fruit* and whole milk  and I think Cati might have fallen in love with this beverage a little.  I was allowed a few closely-supervised sips and it was delicious.

We then hit the road for the beautiful drive down.  We were rockin’ out to Joe Jackson, The Jam, The Clash, The Ramones, etc.  Metal was not allowed as Cati is allergic to it.  If I had satellite radio in my car, I would miss a lot of exits.  Fortunately, there were no exits on the drive down to Key West.

After we checked in at the hotel, we headed out for dinner.  We found a great little place called Blackfin Bistro on Duval St.  They had a great charcuterie plate.

It’s a tiny place with a hip decor.

I had a delicious grouper filet with a tangy mango sauce on a bed of grilled pineapple.  I liked the rectangle cut potatoes and asparagus too.

The next day we walked around town and checked out some of the cool sites on the island like the Ernest Hemmingway House, Duval St., Turtle Kraals, local beaches, etc.  We were essentially playing our parts as quintessential tourists:

We also took a drive out to the beautiful beaches at Bahia Honda State Park.  They were picture-perfect and very shallow for hundreds of yards out due to the sand bars.  We were kind of wishing we had brought Nina along for the beaches– she’d have had a ball.

Key West pigeons:

The spectacular sunsets from the southwest tip of the island looked like this every evening we were there:

We left a little early for our dinner reservation, so we had time to stop at Blackfin Bistro again and have the charcuterie plate as an appetizer.  I had a glass of champagne to wash it down.

We had dinner at this fantastic place called 915.  It’s an old home that’s been converted into a restaurant.  We sat outside and enjoyed the weather and ambience.

Cati ponders what to eat as I have another cava.

I look for a good wine by the glass.

We were feeling a bit non-committal so we went with an assortment of appetizers.  We had a whole-leaf Caesar salad and bacon wrapped dates (stuffed with sweet garlic) with a soy, citrus, and green-onion dipping sauce.  They were both outstanding.

Cati and I could not get over how good this simple caesar salad was.  The fresh-grated cheese and dressing were so good on the crisp romaine lettuce leaves– we were impressed how something so simple could be so good.

Then I had the filet-mignon beef-carpaccio with baby arugula, shaved parmesano reggiano and black truffle oil.   Cati had the chipotle and orange braised pork- served in flour tortillas and accompanied with creme fraiche and avocado salsa.

They were both beautifully presented and happily devoured.

For dessert we split the frozen chocolate mousse with some decaf– it was very nice.  It was (cleverly?) called “Life by Chocolate.”  [har dee har]

Ok, so we highly recommend 915 and Blackfin Bistro if you are looking for nice places to dine in Key West.  They were both really fantastic.

The following night however, we went to Grand Cafe, and it was among the worst dining experiences we’ve had in Key West and beyond.

We arrived on time for our reservation and we liked the the dining area and our table’s proximity to the busting Duval St.  Grand Cafe is directly across the street from a Hard Rock Cafe, so we could even listen to some decent tunes during breaks in conversation (some crappy ones too).  Our server was taking long breaks between visits to our table, and I actually wondered what was up with her since her other tables were looking for her too.  Cati ordered a smoked salmon plate and I again went with a carpaccio (I was hoping for something similar to what I had at 915 the night before).  My carpaccio was acceptable, if not a bit disappointing.  The carpaccio was no-frills, but not bad.  The reggiano was crumbled and not shaved– I thought that was a lame touch.

Cati’s dish was a real let down.  The salmon was good, but the bread was brittle and stale.  Who wants to eat anything on bread that has the texture of a dried-out dish sponge?  We mentioned the bread to the server and she said, “That’s how our bread is tonight; can I bring you something else?”  Cati sent back the salmon and opted against any replacement.  The server really missed the opportunity to make things right; but we realized she was in way over her head and probably had no business doing this job.  So she continued to disappear for long stretches and failed to bring us requested refills.  Our only diversion was watching the other tables around us complain to the manager about how terribly their evenings were going. We weren’t particularly hungry or in a hurry, so we were pretty chill about the whole ordeal/debacle.

We laugh about what a disaster this place is.

Just as we were taking our napkins from our laps and preparing to cancel our orders and leave, our long-lost entrees arrived.  I ordered a veal chop, and Cati had a tomato and mozzarella appetizer.  I really liked mine, and Cati thought hers was no-frills and rather disappointing.  For me, my veal chop salvaged the night.

The bill finally came, and the salmon was still on it.  We waited, and waited, and waited for our awful server to return so she could take the item off the bill as we requested the first time.  We called the manager over to let her know how poor the service was and how pitiful the bread that came with the salmon was.  We had a few pieces of the bread left on our table and I said look, “You can use these for packing peanuts.”  She expressed regret and apologized and you could see that she was not happy with the server.  I think the manager was called to almost every table in our section to apologize for the service.  I mentioned that it wasn’t just poor service but low-quality food that was no fault of the server.  I told her I’d pay for everything we hadn’t sent back and that her restaurant had made a terrible first impression.  We scaled the tip down accordingly and we won’t be back.

Breakfast the next morning at the hotel was very nice.

We went on a sailing excursion that included snorkeling and kayaking– it ended at sunset with some spectacular views.  We went with Java Cat Charters and had a great time.  The boat was nice and small, but still plenty-roomy for the six of us that were on it (not counting the captain or fetus).

I got to drive.

Noticing that I was driving, Cati immediately started telling me where to go and to slow-down.  (I kid; she probably saw a dolphin).

While we were kayaking, Cati spotted a conch ([whining voice] she always sees everything first).  The water was shallow enough for me to scoop it right off the bottom (they’re not exactly fast, y’know?).  The conch was still living in his shell.

We got a picture of his ugly little mug, put him back, and carried on.  I had no idea they were so freaky looking in there.  Look at those beady little eyes.

While kayaking, we chased down some near-by dolphins (now, they’re fast).  I didn’t get a good photo, but we got within about 20 feet of them.  We could hear them breathing when they came up for air– it was cool.

We also spotted a nurse shark (no photo), a bald eagle, and a great blue heron.   See the eagle in the tree tops below?

I take a moment to splash my kayak partner– accidentally, of course.

Here’s the sunset as we paddled back to the boat.

When 6 PM EST came around we ushered in the New Year (it was midnight in Spain).  Luckily there was a German couple on the excursion with us and they we more than happy to celebrate European New Year at 6PM EST with us.  We brought grapes and cava to celebrate Nochevieja Spanish-style.

The DIY shot:

Cati calls all her friends as we sail toward the moon (not our intended destination; we stopped when we got back to the marina– on Earth).

After this, we went out to dinner at Pisces; and had our best meal yet!

Tune in next week month ahh, whenever I get to it.

*This fruit has the most-unfortunate English name of Soursop.  What a lovely ring, eh?

Sunday, our penultimate day in the Capital District, started off with a diverting brunch at Jen and Gabe’s. We had Nutella-filled crepes, bellinis, and more visiting with our great friends. After that, Big G drove Cati, Nina, and me down to Albany to visit a few friends, catch dinner, and spend the night there so we could catch our plane out early the following morning. We dined at Ric Orlando’s new joint– New World Bistro Bar.

First impresions were good– small place, bustling vibe, handsome and friendly faces at the door. We were a party of 6 (counting Nina) and we were seated right away. There were parties that night that didn’t seem very baby friendly. Cati and I noticed that we were being shot a whole lot of stink-eye from several tables. Nina was just walking around and acting like a one-year old. Ah well, maybe they were in a foul mood from all the money they lost at the track on the preceding Saturday, or maybe there was a meeting of the Zero Population Growth Society in town. [shrug] The servers and hostesses on the other hand were nothing but friendly.

So we listened as our server described the specials that evening and we were interested in a few of the items. As it was a cool fall night, Cati ordered the soup special (not the gazpacho)– they were all out. She then ordered the regular soup on the menu– they were all out of that too. Say what? The server explained that they had had a very busy weekend– it still seemed kind of rookie to us.

We ordered a few appetizers:

We had to have Chef Orlando’s famous “Pan Blackened String Beans with Creole Remoulade Sauce.”   My lousy photos do not do these justice– they are fantastic.  They are eaten like french fries– with fingers, contagiously.  I heard an apocryphal tale that Chef Orlando came up with this dish on the fly while catering a function. He was allegedly running out of food and had to come up with something fast to feed the still-hungry mob. So he seared some string beans in a blackened pan and it was like chocolate meets peanut butter, and history was made. It’s a good story, and an even better appetizer.

“Chef’s Daily Ceviche- the freshest summer seafood ‘cooked’ in citrus.” This was pretty good; the subtle flavors were a treat.   I didn’t even mind the played-out martini glass presentation; the dish was refreshing– like a cocktail. 

“Chile-Garlic Glazed Pork Belly with Grilled Leek Salad.” The pork belly was fantastic (when is pork belly not fantastic?) and the chile-garlic glaze complemented it beautifully. Chef Orlando does spicy really well. It was very well balanced with the spicy contributing to the succlulent unctuous pork rather than over-powering it.  This dish is a must-try. 

Gina had the “New World ‘No Crash’ Mushroom Risotto made with Organic Brown Rice, a mix of Portobello, Oyster and Crimini Mushrooms, Sweet Peas, Leeks and Sage.” It looked like oatmeal and unfortunately was about as flavorful. A wet, thick, underwhelming mess of a dish.  It lacked the deep savory flavors that typify a good risotto. 

Cati ordered the “Yellow Curry Gulf Shrimp and Big Noodles with Crisp veggies and Fresh Basil.” This dish was probably the most disappointing of the entire lot– it was very bland. We had such high hopes of flavorful curry and briney plump shrimp, but alas…nothing of the sort was presented. Eve Aronoff’s curried mussels appetizer is our new benchmark (for non-Thai restaurants), and this dish didn’t even come close. Cati added copius amounts of salt in an attempt to make it somewhat interesting, but it helped little. There’s more curry in a cigarette than there was in this dish; maybe they accidentally added only tumeric instead. Cati just kind of shrugged and half-heartedly picked at it like a bored child being forced to finish her lima beans.

The talented Mr. Parr ordered the “Thai-Italian Love – Papardelle with Panang Bolognese made with Chopped Beef and Lamb, Aromatic Red Curry, Tomato, Lime Leaves and Coconut.” It was very flavorful. The creamy coconut flavor and savory meat flavors worked very well together. It was an interesting combo and delivered the goodness. But take a look at it– go on, take a look. Remind you of anything? It had the aspect and composition of Hamburger Helper. There’s something about ground meat, sauce, and noodles in those proportions that makes the resemblance undeniable. The flavors were really very good, but there’s got to be a better way to present them so I don’t feel like mom whipped this meal up because she had to work late, right?

Esti ordered the “Maui Poke of Ahi Tuna with Red Salt and Wonton Chips”; she let me try it. This was an elegant, well thought out, and well executed dish. The coarse salt added a really nice texture and flavor to the raw tuna. The crispy wonton added a light and airy feel as well.  It was excellent. 

I ordered the “Pasta Puttanesca with Salmon” and really enjoyed it. It was salty and a touch spicy just like a good puttanesca should be. The capers, well-cooked pasta, salty salmon, garlic, and chunks of tomato make me wish I had a plate of it now (I really do). It was as good of a pasta puttanesca as I’d ever had– I can gladly recommend it. 

For dessert, the ladies had the “Bittersweet Chocolate-Chevre Truffle with Cinnamon and Lemon Sauce.” I was so stuffed from finishing my dish, I obstained– but it sure looked good, no? Cati was unimpressed and thought the goat cheese brought nothing to the dessert. She thought there was too much going on with the chevre, lemon, cinnamon, etc.  All a gal wants sometimes is a delicious piece of chocolate to end the evening.

We have dined at Rick Orlando’s eateries a handful of times now, and his restaurants have a sort of “from the hip” easiness to them that borders on sloppy. Not in an unhygienic* way or anything like that, but more like a slapped-together border-line unprofessional way. He has served us some great dishes, but some notable duds as well. Speaking figuratively, the young servers and kitchen staff appear to have more face piercings than experience serving a discerning clientele. Case in point, I noticed a young server who was not paying attention while walking out with a precariously balanced appetizer. She toppled the plate over against her belly and slyly backed into the kitchen to recreate it. The servers spoke loudly to one another and seemed to be hurried and flustered all the time– why? It wasn’t that crowded. Maybe the place is too small to hide the “backstage” from the diners, but it was a bit distracting. I get the whole urban-bohemian vibe (I was once a teenage dirt-rocker, myself), but perhaps they could smell a little less of Teen Spirit, eh?  They should preserve the laid-back vibe that reflects Chef Orlando’s personal style, but a suit-and-tie, iron-fisted operations manager would be a wise addition to their team to reduce some of the inconsistency in food and service. Y’know, like a “bad cop” to balance Orlando’s undeniable “good cop.” 

I dunno, maybe I’m just turning into a cranky old curmudgeon– NOW GET OFF MY LAWN!

Nina conked-out in my lap for the entire plane ride home [whew].

* Even though I did have a stink bug in my soup during the Champagne Dinner at New World Home Cooking a few years back. The server to whom I complained attributed that to the lack of pesticides used by their vegetable suppliers. I wasn’t that upset by it to be honest– it was a garden insect afterall– not a roach or fly. [shrug]  Plus, the real crime of the night was the over-cooked pheasant breast.  But man, there was a lot of GREAT food that night too (I just re-read that entry, mmm-mm). 

By the way, anyone esle get the feeling that of all the Captial District chefs, Chef Orlando would be the most fun person with whom to split a 12-pack?  Or is it just me?

Cati, Nina, and I returned to the Capital District to celebrate what has become an annual tradition—partying, placing bets, and picnicking with our dear friends for the running of the Travers Stakes at the Saratoga Race Course.  We opted not to bring Nacho on this trip so we returned him to the animal shelter and wished him the best.  I kid; a neighbor took care of our special little-guy.  See, he’s as spoiled and pampered as ever:

The plane ride was uneventful.  As we approached Albany for our landing Cati and I admired the emerald greenery and mountainous horizons of the Upstate NY. 

Here’s a picture of the server-farm-esque Empire State Plaza from the plane.  Whoddathunk all that grey concrete could be endearing?

We landed shortly before noon and made a bee line to Dale Miller for lunch.  It was kind of hard to find the entrance (it’s on Beaver St.), and we wound up roaming around a little and eventually cutting through the Omni Plaza to get to the entrance. 

Cati, Nina, and I were joined by our lovely friends Gina, Susan, and Esti.  Yep, that’s right, it was me and 4.5 ladies.  I get high-fives from Arabian sheiks all the time as they check out what appears to be my harem.  Anyway, we let the hostess know we had arrived for our reservation and then we strolled around to look at the place while our table was prepared.  The dining room was quiet, but the patio was completely full (it was a beautiful day). 

We both thought the place was stylish and had a light but formal feel.  The large windows and lighter colors imparted a sort of levity to the ambience.  Every corner of the place reflected Chef Miller’s perfectionist character*; from the bathrooms to the chef’s table to the patio outside—the place is very elegant and refined without being stuffy.  It also helped that outside was probably the most lovely weather Albany had had all year.  

While snooping looking around, we saw Chef Miller himself at the open kitchen window, in the dining room, overseeing things.  We were pleasantly surprised to see him there for lunch.  Cati and I went over to say hello and chat a bit; he took some time to show us around– we were super-impressed.  Apparently Nina liked the place too. 

Okay, so what’d we eat?  Thanks to Chef Miller’s hospitality, he invited our group to move to the chef’s table for our lunch– we immediately agreed to the upgrade.  Also thanks to a generous friend that Chef Miller and I have in common (and who probably has Dale on speed dial), our group was treated to a special appetizer trio.  Normally these appetizers are not available at lunch, but we lowly lunchers were accommodated (thanks, gents). 

Let’s take these one at a time:

1) Spicy sesame crusted ahi tuna with; pineapple salsa, and tamarind barbeque kimchee.

It was a beautiful piece of fish with a flavorful toasted sesame crust.  The pineapple salsa wasn’t as sweet and tart as we were expecting.  The kimchee was very nice but this dish was really all about the succulent piece of tuna.   

2) Pan seared squid chiffonade with gingered herb pistou and sprinkled with tobiko. 

It was as delicious as it was attractive.  The warm squid was the perfect soft texture and the fresh and ‘popping’ tobiko was a very nice touch.  Squid is a good vehicle for a great sauce, and that is exactly what we got.  After all the squid was gone, I couldn’t stop dipping my bread in the plate to soak up that “gingered herb pistou.”  I think this appetizer shows the skill and creativity for which Dale Miller is lauded. 
   
3) Pan-seared rougie foie gras served with vanilla poached pear, walnut crostini, root-beer gastrique, and cherry compote.     

Ok, this one brought sexy back.  It was visceral—it was so rich—eating this felt like you were doing something you shouldn’t be, but couldn’t stop yourself.  The sweet poached-pear and the not-too-sweet root beer reduction were the perfect accompaniment for the foie gras.  What a well-proportioned dish; the flavors were great.  I can’t say enough to explain how delicious this was. 

Cati took it easy on the appetizers to save room for Chef Miller’s lobster bisque (she still talks about it from our dinner at the Inn at Erlowest last year). 
 
“Lobster bisque, Latin style– essence of ginger, lime, coconut and jalapeno; jasmine rice fritter.” 
 

I usually try to avoid superlatives like this, but here goes– no one makes a better lobster bisque than Dale Miller.  His is the standard by which we all-too-often judge the tepid, sweet, and thick messes we find at other restaurants.  He somehow manages to capture the flavor of lobster like no one else.  Maybe he uses five lobsters for a single bowl—I dunno, but it’s great.  The Latin flavors were mild, perhaps too mild for those expecting a spicy dish.   

Cati followed her bisque with the  “chopped salad Indu-chine; organic field greens, curried chicken, spicy almonds, vegetable confetti” wrapped in a toasted lavash, and topped with “AJ’s Indu vinaigrette.” 

The curry was not too strong and the chicken was nicely cooked and not at all dry.  The toasted lavash wrap was a nice (and tasty) way to present the salad.  Cati noted that although it’s a salad, it was very filling.  She was getting kind of full so I offered my plate-cleaning services.  [ain’t I sumthin'?]

I ordered the “triple sear” sliced flat iron steak served with rock salt, aged sake and soy sauce.   

Apparently great minds think alike, because our three friends ordered the steak as well.  I am not that familiar with the flat-iron cut.  I think I have had it one other time.  I remember reading that it’s a fairly recent cut of steak that was developed by researchers at the University of Nebraska and the University of Florida.  Prior to their “discovering” it as a cut of steak, butchers just relegated it to hamburger.  To me it tasted a lot like sirloin—flavorful, but not the tenderest cut.

The ladies split dessert and I walked around with Nina to keep her occupied.  They had the “summer berries trifle.”  It was a lemon scented poundcake topped with white chocolate mousse and strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. 

Cati said it was light, fluffy, and refreshing.  Nina and I strolled around the patio and enjoyed the day.

Overall, we had a great meal, from a talented chef, in an elegant venue with some quality people– what’s not to like? 

After lunch we all headed to Wolff’s Biergarten to check the place out and watch the FC Barcelona match against FC Shakhtar Donetsk.  It was Catalonia vs. Ukraine, so Cati and I were interested in bragging rights for our respective bloodlines.  [FCB won, dammit]  Esti read on the Wolff’s website that they were showing the game there but when we arrived the bartenders realized that they had publicized the match for the wrong day.  The game was actually scheduled for the following day.  They were quite apologetic and gave our group a free round to ease our disappointment; I didn’t even have to ask, they were just classy like that.  Well played, fellas.  

Wolff’s seemed pretty cool; I could easily imagine myself putting away a lot of beer there with friends if we still lived in Albany.  Even Nina liked the place until she had too many beers and starting head-butting the camera like Sean Penn on the paparazzi. 

Even more friends joined our little party and it was really nice seeing those who could make it. 

After Wolff’s, we headed up to Saratoga to join our friends Jen and Gabe for a weekend of food, fun, and festivities. 

To be continued…
  
* Cati and I have always had the good fortune of being patrons of noteworthy chefs and not employees.  Let’s face it, exceptional chefs are notoriously hard on their employees.  Case in point– Saso-san, of the now legendary Saso’s, used to say with a smile, “You pay me, you can yell at me.  I pay you, I get to yell.”  My friend “Rick” has a great Dale Miller story.  Back in the day, when “Rick” was young and aspiring to become a chef, he scored a job working in the kitchen at Jack’s Oyster House under Chef Miller.  Chef Miller gave him instructions to prepare a brunoise of celery.  After a few minutes, Chef Miller came back; he took a look at the celery, picked it up, told him that was not chopped correctly, and then shouted, “unpalatable!” as he threw it down and stormed away.  He broke “Rick’s” little heart and “Rick” spent the rest of the night crying into his pillow like a jilted prom-date.  [ok, maybe not THAT bad]  Seriously though, my buddy wound up getting fired not long after this incident for allegedly not having what it takes.  “Rick” still jokes about how he cringes at the word brunoise.