Tag Archives: oysters

Chef Bill takes over the Strong Place Kitchen: Cobble Hill, BK

23 Dec

Chef Bill Seleno is nothing if not an alchemist.  The moment he touches an everyday ingredient, it becomes gold.  His last opening was creating the menu for King’s Clam Bar, and now he has taken on a new huge, multi-pronged project that is sure to further enhance Brooklyn as a food lovers destination (more on that will be posting in the New Year).  He has started by working with the team at Strong Place, a Cobble Hill staple.

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Strong Place is known in the neighborhood for their craft beer, live music, and great food.

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And Chef Bill has come in to up the ante even further, adding some Chef Bill touches to the menu. Working with the bar manager, a Cicerone (a beer sommelier), they created a menu that perfectly pairs with the 24 craft beers on tap.

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The restaurant looks solidly like Brooklyn, with a big metal barn door that slides open for the bathroom.DSCF3609

They have many great craft beers on tap.

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With beers from all across the country and lots of Allagash (one of my favorite beers from Maine) and Firestone (a favorite brought to my attention by good friends in Atlanta).

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Chef Bill had arranged to have us do a tasting of the menu with beer pairings from the knowledgeable and excited Cicerone (we hadn’t told Bill I was preggers yet… we told him when we arrived)

Between the beer and the extensive, check-off oyster list, I was very bummed to be limited by my pregnancy.

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But the moment these voluptuous beauties came out, I knew I was going to cheat.  Much to my protective husband’s chagrin.  I had one. ONE!  I shouldn’t have done it. But I just couldn’t resist.

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3 months of no alcohol, no soft cheeses, and no raw seafood was making me into a cranky pregnant lady. I also had a sip of each of the beer pairings throughout the meal. Just a sip.  Funny enough, my doctor was more upset about the oyster than the beer.  So… no more oysters.  But the moment that baby is out, somebody send over a few dozen, okay?

(PS- It was so good… no regrets)

These were paired with a Firestone Walker Pilsner and they went very well together.

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Next out was an awesome bar snack: Fried chick peas.  These were warm and had a little crisp with great flavor. I ate nearly the whole bowl and had to slow myself down to have room for the rest of the meal, and I’m not even a big chick pea fan.  I would go here just for these and a beer in the middle of the day (after June, that is!)  Delish.

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With this they also brought out tequila lime chicken wings (that I couldn’t eat due to a peppers allergy) but Mike very much enjoyed.

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These were paired with Two Roads Octoberfest (from Connecticut) and that went very nicely with the chick peas (and Mike enjoyed with the wings).

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Our next dish was a kale salad with cauliflower, tomato, carrots, brussels sprouts, chick peas, apples, walnuts, and burnt lemon caramelized vinaigrette. This was a FANTASTIC salad. I usually go for salads for all the goodies and view the lettuce/green as simply a conduit to get the other delicious things into my mouth.  This was a perfect salad with lots of goodies and great combinations.

The beer pairing with this was Two Roads Abby Blonde Style, and you wouldn’t normally think of beer with salad, but this totally worked.

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Our next dish was duck confit with horse radish and celery root with bacon.  I LOVE duck confit and this did not disappoint.  Crispy, tasty skin with flavor rich tender meat in the middle.  I don’t typically like horseradish, but the tiny bit I added to my bite did compliment it nicely. And the celery root puree with bacon in it was a great compliment of rich flavors.

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This was paired with Allagash Victor, which is a Belgian style golden strong ale. They extract sugar from barley (basically making oatmeal) and use a Cabernet Franc wine to ferment it.  It went perfectly to cut through the fattyness of the confit while toning down the horse radish a bit.

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Next up was the “Boo-ya-base” which was a twist on a classic bouillabaisse dish.  I couldn’t have this (back to the allergy) but Mike really enjoyed it (sorry for the flash picture… only way to see those delicious mollusks). This dish had some of the craft beers actually IN the recipe to help bring together the flavors and the beer pairings.  The sauce was made with Piperdown Scotch Ale and the potatoes are boiled in Stout.

It was paired with the Allagash Confluence Belgian Strong Ale which goes through 2 fermentations.

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Since I couldn’t have the boo-ya-base, I got to taste a freshly slow cooked pork butt which had all the delicious qualities of slow cooked pig.

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For dessert, we tried the caramel pudding with white chocolate whipped cream and a soft chocolate biscotti. Even this was paired with beer (Left Hand Milk Stout) and they were a great match.

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Our last dessert was an apple cobbler (with the apples slow cooked in, what else? beer).

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The whipped cream was made with bourbon bacon (and BOY was it bourbony). The bourbon is macerated with the bacon  and it certainly had strong flavors of both.  Very original.

This was also paired with beer: Almanac Golden Gate Gose (from Northern California).  My sips throughout the night proved to me that the Cicerone knows what he’s doing, even with the desserts.

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Our meal was fantastic from start to finish.  Every day, I miss being able to go around the corner to the old Albert Hall Tavern (where we first met Chef Bill) so I can have the food that Bill does oh so well… the food that makes you happy… reminds you of the food you grew up but with a modern, fun twist.  I wish I lived closer to Strong Place so I could be a regular, but if you happen to be one of the lucky ones in the area, you cannot miss with this menu at Strong Place and it’s worth the trip if you’re not local.  The beer pairings, attention to detail, and great, relaxed atmosphere just add to the draw.

They will be doing a pretty awesome sounding New Year’s Eve menu this year if you’re looking for a delicious way to spend the evening.

They also have live music and an outdoor patio (for when the weather is a bit nicer).

Highly recommended.

More on the journey of Chef Bill coming soon.

New Restaurant Opening: Dirty French

30 Sep

The same fun foodie friends that tried (the absolutely awesome) Root & Bone with us made another reservation for us at a new restaurant within a few days of opening, Dirty French.  (I love having foodie couple friends!)

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Dirty French is the first French restaurant from Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi, and Jeff Zalaznick, who brought us Carbone, Torrisi Italian Specialties, and Parm (the latter 2 I still need to visit!)

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They definitely paid attention to the details, with some awesome personalization of their knives.

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And I noticed lots of pink roosters hanging around.

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And some super creepy heads (dead clowns maybe?) up on the wall.

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I had just had a great work meeting and was in a great mood when we sat down for dinner.  The high continued when they served us their table bread, which was a warm herbed flat bread of some kind with a cheese spread.

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It was good enough to have been a menu item.  We all loved it. And boy did it smell like heaven.

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A gentleman came by with a tray of oysters to show off.

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This is the first time I’ve seen that, and it was a winning move.  I wasn’t really considering ordering oysters prior to his visit, trying to jump right to the prepared foods, but with these pretty babies staring back at me, I just had to have some.

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We were then served a bowl that was shaped like another rooster.

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Which contained some little sides for the chicken (I believe).

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And then out came the chicken, which is “Presented in 2 Services.”  First service was the white meat, which was in a mustard sauce.

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They served it with tortilla like bread (which was unlimited and we got more of when we finished the first round) and sauces so you can kind of add sauces and ingredients to make it your own, similar to how peking duck is served.

The meat on this was so juicy and tender, with perfectly crisp skin. I can’t say it was as good as The NoMad chicken, but we all really enjoyed it. Especially the sauce (which surprised me as a non-mustard lover).

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We also ordered the veal, which I couldn’t have due to peppers, but everyone else really enjoyed it.

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My choice was the pork chop with apples.  Another mustard sauce that I actually really loved (am I becoming a convert?) and the pork was incredibly flavorful.

 

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I loved the apples with it.

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For the second service of the chicken, they served the dark meat… feet and all.

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The boys had some fun with being chicken models.

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Everyone also loved the legs. Sadly, I couldn’t have those either due to the peppers allergy.

Foot models?

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We got a side of the Bacon d’Hotel, which was meaty and thick and juicy and everything we wanted it to be.

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And a side of Pomme Frites which were unique and really fantastic.

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And a side of champignons (mushrooms) were a really great compliment to the rest of the meal.

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For dessert… we just couldn’t decide between the four options… so we went with all of them!

This is what took the meal from very good to great.  We all went around trying to decide which dessert was our favorite.

First was a coconut creme brulee which I thought tasted like vacation but some people thought tasted like sunscreen (though they claimed that wasn’t a bad thing).  I really enjoyed it.

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Next up was a pineapple… something.  I wish I remember what this was called because this was hands down my favorite.  The pineapple was caramelized and it was sensational.  I was deliriously happy when I was eating this. I was shocked at how good it tasted. Really took me (and the entire table) by surprise.

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Then a citrus tarte with meringue on top.  I thought this was really fantastic and loved the slightly browned meringue (I’m a meringue sucker!)

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And lastly, beignets with caramel sauce.  These were perfectly cooked, extra warm, and amazingly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. And that caramel sauce was over the top.  We all dipped a spoon in for one last bite before we finished.

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I’ve heard rumor that service has been an issue for some people, however, our service was fine (though not remarkable by any means). The man who appeared to be a sommelier seemed confused when we asked him where our waiter was and then he took our order… so I’m not sure if that was our assumption gone wrong or if he was filling in. But after that speed bump, we were just fine.

 

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Overall, I really enjoyed our meal.

I can’t say it was one of the best meals of the year, nor can I say “Go! Run! Now!” but it was definitely enjoyable.  I’m glad we tried it earlier but I do not have the urge to go back. I’d rather try other places.

Though I could do a run through for that pineapple dessert!

Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10

Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10

 

Chez Jef at the Bowery Diner

5 May

I love using the Eater Heatmap to find new places to try with friends and family.  I’m a big fan of the curated restaurant review lists, and Eater never disappoints (even if they hate my blog name… but I can take it). We were looking for a place to go with my cousins and stumbled upon their recommendation for Chez Jef, which is a pop-up in the Bowery Diner space from Chef Mathieu Palombino.

I was amused as we came upon the address to see that the “Jef” was a clever way of changing the old “DINER” sign.

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Inside, it is certainly French Bistro.

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(It was a bit dark inside, so please excuse the not so great photos.)

The bread came out and it was a fine crusty bread but with a very cold and hard slab of salted butter.

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We did enjoy the wine selection very much.

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We started with some raw oysters, which were a hit for all.

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The menu has an incredibly well priced 3-course prix fixe for $35, but we were so curious about many things on the menu that we all ordered a la carte (which was still very well valued).

The french onion soup was fantastic, which a great blend of gruyere cheese and sweet onions.  I always prefer more crispy cheese on the outside of my bowl, but it was still damn good.

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I chose to start with the steamed artichoke vinaigrette, because steamed artichokes are one of my favorite foods of all time.

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This was displayed very well, and with a really, really good dipping sauce.  The artichoke itself was well cooked but it suffered from the artichoke curse of some being great, and some being just average.  It’s a temperamental vegetable. Sadly.

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Mike went with the salade verte with vinaigrette, which, despite this awful picture, was quite tasty with an awesome dressing.

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For my main, I chose the lamb “navarin” with spring vegetables.  The waiter explained it as being like a stew, so I was all over it.  The plate that came out was a bit weird though.  A white salad plate with a small (but filling) serving. Had it been served in a bowl, it would have looked much better, but I absolutely couldn’t fault the flavor. It was absolutely delicious with tender, flavorful lamb pieces, a nice, not to heavy sauce, and well cooked simple vegetables, including some fantastic pearl onions.

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One person at the table got the mussels mariniére with frites.  She really enjoyed them.

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Mike went with the steak grillé and frites with béarnaise.  The steak was well cooked and had great flavor and it was excellent with the béarnaise.  But those frites… wow!  I could not stop eating them right off of Mike’s plate. They were perfect.  Crispy on the outside while still potato-y.

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Then for dessert, we had to try the Crème Brûlée.  It was exceptional.  Smooth, vanilla-y custard with a perfectly sweet, but not too sweet, crispy brulee on top.  Super duper.

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Overall, our meal at Chez Jef was really spectacular.  Everything had great flavor and it reminded me of being in Paris. The entire meal came to less than $50 per person, which seemed like an excellent value for sharing a bottle of wine, shared oysters, an app each, an entree each, and then splitting a dessert between 4 of us.

Not sure how long this pop-up is going to be around, however, the $35 prix fixe sure seams like a steal if you’re in the mood for some good French food!

Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10

Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10