American South-west

Friday, 26 April 2013

Civilization in the Arizonian wilderness!

I had no expectations food-wise when I went on our week long trip to northern Arizona.  There were supposed to be 28 restaurants in Page (population 7,252) but they were all fast food joints or overpriced BBQ places.  There wasn't even a decent bakery in sight.  The one Big John's Texas BBQ we tried turned out to be a takeout place disguised as a restaurant - the ribs were tasteless.  After four days of this fare, I searched the web in desperation, and a good thing I did.  

We were headed to the Grand Canyon on the fifth day and I found a posting on Yelp! about the El Tovar Dining Lounge in the historic lodge of the same name in Grand Canyon Village.  One hiker talked about the roast duck that was so good that he ordered a second one to take on the hike with him the following day.  Unfortunately, the website recommended booking six months in advance for a dinner reservation!  With nothing to lose, I decided to try my luck and emailed them for a reservation.  Whoopee!  they emailed right back with a choice of dining times on the same evening.  What luck!

The delicious meal made up for the previous four days.  The green chili and roasted corn chowder served in a tortilla bowl provided some distinctive local flavour.  The tortilla was crunchy and dense - not sure if it was fried or baked, but it wasn't greasy.  (I was thoroughly sick of the fluffy white bread that pervaded in all the restaurants here)

Then came the pièce de résistance - the roasted half duck!  It lived up to its reputation!  Skin was crispy, meat was tender, the merlot blackberry demiglace just right - and it was an Arizona-sized portion even though this is a classy restaurant.  Unlike the young man reviewing on Yelp!, we couldn't finish a half duck and still have soup and dessert and a bottle of wine.  Indeed we had enough leftover for a picnic lunch on our hike the following day. 

To top it all off, the restaurant has an excellent reasonably priced wine list (and a reportedly great view of the canyon during the day).  The lemon creme brulee dessert was of the same calibre.  We've discovered civilization in the midst of the Arizona wilderness!

Saturday, 27 April 2013

Three Nights of Jose Andres - Night 3: Dinner at é by José Andrés

The reason Mrs. A and I visited Las Vegas in 2013 was to dine at the tiny restaurant é by José Andrés. The two dinners we had at Chef Jose’s other restaurant, Jaleo Las Vegas, were a prelude.

It all started when I read about é in a New York Times Oct 29^th 2012 article.  é was described as “a restaurant within a restaurant”, “discreetly and disorientingly tucked away at the end of a corridor leading off the main dining room of Jaleo”, behind a closed door in a room with just eight seats along a counter facing the “stage” where a team of chefs put together two “shows” of twenty-something courses twice an evening, five nights a week.  I went to the é by José Andrés website for additional information.  But the austere page displayed only four things - a large logo of the restaurant, an email address in small font for reservation, and links to The Cosmopolitan Hotel, where é is located, and the Chef’s restaurant group, respectively.  Following either link eventually led me to the webpage of Jaleo Las Vegas that had a brief mention that é “offers a clever and creative tasting menu of more than a dozen Spanish avant-garde dishes” to be “enjoyed by few but envied by many”.  Its mysteriousness and exclusivity intrigued us; we wanted that dining experience.  Posts on é by some food bloggers raised our enthusiasm to the level that we decided to travel to Vegas.  With some help from a good friend we secured our reservations quickly.

* * *

After all eight diners had checked in at Jaleo, our waiter Brain led us into a room at the end of the bar. We took our seats at the counter.  The sous chef introduced his team of three other chefs and two waiters, gave us a brief intro, and started the ‘show’.  He demonstrated how to drink cava from aporron, the watering-can-looking Spanish glass wine pitcher with a long sprout.  He brought the sprout very close to his mouth and tilted the porron forward to point the beak to his teeth until the cava flowed out into his mouth.  He pulled the porron away from his face to continue the drinking.  To stop, he brought the porron back down until the beak was close to his mouth and quickly tilted the sprout up.  After his demo, the couples who opted for wine pairing were given their porrons.   Everyone drank successfully without spilling.

The chefs began to plate the food one course at a time.  Four workers served each course to the eight diners simultaneously.  The sous chef then gave a description of the course, and immediately moved on to plate the next course.  This went on continuously.  Many courses required complicated and delicate plating but some took little work, so sometimes we had two courses in front of us.   

* * *

Our dinner consisted of 25 courses – 1 aperitif, 11 tapas eaten with fingers or spoon, 6 with knife and fork, and 7 desserts (*denotes my favorite dishes).

Rebujito

Truffle cotton candy

Idiazabal “macaroon”

“Oreo”

Golden bravas

Apple “Brazo de Gitano” *

Nitro almond cup

Barquillo

Mejillones in escabeche *

“Merienda”

Crispy chicken skin in escabeche *

Cava Sangria

Artichoke “puree” with vanilla

Lobster with citrus and jasmine *

“Fabes” con jamon *

“Kokotxas” al Pil-Pil *

Whole lobe of foie gras baked in salt

Secreto of Iberico pork with squid

Torta pascualete with cotton candy

Flan *

Pan con chocolate *

“Arroz con leche”

Cocoa paper with dried strawberry

25 second bizcocho

Chocolates

* * *

The meal started with an aperitif.  Our version of rebujito was a mix of sherry and orange blossom water that had been cooled with liquid nitrogen, and topped with espuma.  I had yet to develop an appreciation for sherry, but I drank mine and most of Mrs. A’s with the first few bites.

Next came something we saw at Jaleo the night before.  The local food critic who sat behind us was served some off menu items – a large plate of cotton candy and another plate of Oreo cookies.  We checked with our waiter and he said, “Oh, you will get them tomorrow night at é”.  And we sure did.  There, sitting on a replica of Chef Jose’ hand, was a small white cloud of truffle cotton candy sprinkled with gold flakes.  The combination of strong truffle aroma and a savory/sweet flavor was interesting.  Served along the sweet cotton candy was an Idiazabal “macaroon” in a folded paper cup sitting on a translucent Lucite cube.  The airy macaroon was crunchy; the filling was Idiazabal, a Basque sheep milk cheese. 

Idiazabal “macaroon” (left) and Truffle cotton candy (on the hand)

Jose Andres’ version of “Oreo” was filled with a truffle cheese cream.

“Oreo”

Golden bravas consisted of three pieces of thin potato chips.

Golden bravas

Apple “Brazo de Gitano” -- Brazo de Gitano, meaning Gypsy’s arm, is the Spanish name for a rolled sponge cake.  In our case, it was a cylindrical freeze dried apple meringue filled with an espuma of blue cheese.  The meringue was incredibly light.  It could break easily, so it was to be eaten carefully.  The cream tasted distinctively of blue cheese but the flavor was very delicate.  You don’t have to be a blue cheese lover to enjoy it.  

Apple “Brazo de Gitano”

Nitro almond cup was a small cup filled with Marcona almond puree and caviar, presented on top of a few cooled large black pebbles in a bowl.  As the cup was made with almond puree in liquid nitrogen, it must be eaten quickly.  I broke mine. 

Barquillo - A delicate and beautifully decorated wafer tube filled with truffle and anchovy espuma.

Mejillones in escabeche -- The small raw mussel ceviche in a marinade were incredibly fresh and scrumptious. 

“Merienda” – Merienda is any kind of late afternoon snack that Spanish eat around 6 pm to bridge between lunch and dinner.  Our merienda was a small thick cheese “pancake”.

“Merienda”

Crispy chicken skin in escabeche was Mrs. A’s favorite of the night.  The perfectly flat leaf-shaped chicken skin was paper thin, very crispy and tasty.  It held a piece of chicken oyster that was covered with “air” (Chef Jose prefers the term “air” to “foam”).

Crispy chicken skin in escabeche

Cava Sangria was fun.  It popped in the mouth and turned into a gush of fluid.  The taste?  I’d rather drink a glass of cava.

Cava Sangria

Artichoke “puree” with vanilla – The puree was shaped into artichoke “hearts”.  Very cute!

Artichoke “puree” with vanill

Lobster with citrus and jasmine was perfectly cooked.  It was served with a rich sauce (not pictured) of lobster tomalley, head and shell.  Delicious!

Lobster with citrus and jasmine

“Fabes” con jamon was a refined version of ham and beans.  Puree of fabes beans was reshaped as three large white beans, served with Spanish ham, in a small amount of broth.

“Kokotxas” al Pil-Pil -- Kokotxas is cod’s throat, the highly prized meat under the fish’s mouth.  The flavor of the fish reminded me of bacalao.  The texture was gelatinous and meaty at the same time; a wonderful sensation.  The sauces were a lot fancier than the traditional Basque “al Pil-Pil” of olive oil and garlic.  The dish was absolutely delightful!

“Kokotxas” al Pil-Pil

Our sous chef presented a whole lobe of foie gras baked in salt to us and returned it to the kitchen to be sliced.  The barely cooked liver was very different from the seared foie gras I ate at a different restaurant just three hours earlier.  The texture was nice; it was not greasy at all.  The flavor was mild, and surprisingly tasted very under salted.

Foie gras baked in salt

Secreto of Iberico pork with squid was the Chef Jose’s version of surf-and-turf.  I loved Iberico pork and I loved squid.  However, I did not enjoy this dish.  One piece of pork was tender, but the other piece was a bit tough.  They probably came from different part of the pig.  Unlike those we had at Jaleo the other night, the squid was on the tough side too.

Secreto of Iberico pork with squid

Torta Pascualete with cotton candy was the cheese course that transitioned us from savory to sweet dishes.  Torta Pascualete is a raw Merino sheep milk cheese with a nearly liquid texture.  The aromatics on the plate were not just for the look; they helped to bring out the flavor of the cheese as the milk for the cheese came from sheep that grazed on grass, wild flower and herbs.

Torta pascualete with cotton candy

The four tiny pieces of flan «were a tease.  They were so good that you wished for more.  The regular sized flan at Jaleo would be much more satisfying, but I suppose the small portion size here was probably right as it was one of seven dessert courses.

Flan

Pan con chocolate « was chocolate and cream on the side of a bowl with olive oil at the bottom.  It was eaten after mixing everything together.  Surprisingly the fair amount of olive oil was what made this a success.  Instead of being oily, the thick mixture was fragrant, smooth and rich in flavor.   

Pan con chocolate with olive oil at the bottom of the bowl

close up of chocolate and cream

Rice pudding, “arroz con leche”, was served in an ice cream cone.  The interesting thing about it was the unexpected sharp contrast from the tart lemon flavor at the bottom of the cone.

“Arroz con leche”

The crumbled sheet of cocoa paper with dried strawberry had a striking look.  The paper was translucent and crunchy.  It took no effort to break off pieces to eat.  The sweetness of the paper was balanced by the tart freeze-dried strawberries.  

Cocoa paper with dried strawberry

The last desserts were the 25 second bizcocho, a chocolate sponge cake cooked in microwave for 25 seconds and thus the name.  The cake was very easy to eat with fingers (there was no fork provided).  On the same slate plate were three pieces of chocolates.

25 second bizcocho (left) and 3 Chocolates

* * *

We did not want to drink too many different wines, so we went for a glass of white before a glass of red instead of the pairing.  Our waiter Brian picked the wines for us.  The bianco were a Gran Vina Sol, Torres, Parallada 2010 (penedes) from the Mediterranean coast, and a Pedralonga, Albarino 2010 (rias Baixas)from the Atlantic coast.  The tinto were Mencos Crianz, Conde de Hervias, Tempranillo 2008 (Rioja) from the Northern Regions, and a Pesquera.  We were happy with his picks.  Our friends, Arufa and M, ate at e two weeks after we did.  They claimed that the wine pairing (cava, a number of sherries, a beer, white and red wines) “should be mandatory” as it truly enhanced the meal. 

* * *

We were not disappointed that the chefs at é did not do any conventional cooking in the room; everything was cooked, or made, in the Jaleo kitchen.  Watching the chef team plating our food was entertaining.  No wonder Chef Jose’s uses the word “show” for the dinner at é.  All in all, we enjoyed our “show”.  Some dishes we liked very much, some we did not, many were fun.  The pace was just right.  The 25 courses took only two hours, yet we did not feel hurried.  The service of the é team was impeccable.  Obviously Chef Jose does not operate é as a profit center but as a forum to demonstrate his avant-garde Spanish cuisine.  To that, I salute.

Sunday, 7 April 2013

Three Nights of José Andrés - Night 2: Jaleo Las Vegas, again

Mrs. A and I returned to Jaleo the following evening for dinner.  We sat at the same booth, looked at the same menu and wine list, and felt just as excited as before.  We employed the same strategy of ordering two items at a time to avoid having too many dishes arriving at our table simultaneously.

We started with Jamon Iberico Fermin with pan con tomate and Aceitunas rellenas y aceitunas ‘Ferran Adria’.   We never got tired of Iberico ham.  The pitted green olives were stuffed with anchovy and red sweet piquillo pepper.  The five dark balls were ‘Ferran Adria’ liquid olives.  I picked one up with a spoon and put it in my mouth.  It burst on my tongue, and there was nothing but a small amount of liquid with an intense favor of a salted olive.  Both tapas went well with the cava - Huguet Gran Reserva 2007 – that we were drinking.                       

Jamon Iberico

Olives stuffed with anchovy and piquillo, and ‘Ferran Adria’ liquid olives

What came next were Esparragos blancos con limon y tomillo and Ostra ‘Gin & Tonic’.  Californian white asparagus were presented in a ‘tin can’.  The tips leaned out at one end of the can and the bottom of the stalks were cut and arranged vertically at the other end.  They were dressed with lemon, thyme, and topped with shaved idiazabal, a smoked nutty flavored sheep’s milk cheese from Basque, and lemon zest.  White asparagus could be tough, but these were tender and refreshing.         

White asparagus with lemon, thyme and Idiazabal chees

I gathered that Chef Jose Andres loves gin and tonic as it pops up here and there on the menu of his restaurants.  The shellfish in Ostra ‘Gin & Tonic’ looked like Kumamoto to me.  Each oyster had a few drops of gin and another few drops of tonic water on it, and topped with slivers of lemon zest.  The taste was very different from oysters in their natural jus or with mignonette sauce.

Oysters with lemon and Gin & Tonic

I ordered Huevo frito con caviar again.  This time I stopped the food runner from cutting up the egg for me.  It was so much more fun to break the egg myself, watched the yolk slowly oozed out, and mixed the ingredients gently so I could spoon a glob of caviar together with a lot of yolk, large pieces of egg white and some of the onion confit into my mouth.  Eating the egg that way was more satisfying to me than eating it thoroughly mixed the night before.  I loved this dish.

Huevo frito con caviar

The shrimp dish, Gambas al Ajillo, was very good too.  Half a dozen of shrimps, peeled except at the tail, were served in a small copper pan with a rich tomato sauce seasoned with garlic and red pepper.  The delicious sauce reminded us of something similar in ‘Chinese style western cooking’ of earlier period.  Our waiter suggested an order of bread, pan con nada, to mop up the sauce.        

Shrimps sautéed with garlic

Mrs. A’s Sopa de ajo was sent to the wrong table, and a new one was made for her.  The soup bowl arrived with two pieces of thin toast curl standing over a slow cooked egg (the 63 degree egg) in it, and black and regular garlic puree painted on its side.  The food runner poured the soup into the bowl tableside.  Unfortunately she poured the liquid directly onto the toast, which immediately collapsed and ruined the presentation.  That course was the only hiccup for the evening.  Unknown to us, the restaurant took it off our bill.  That was a graceful gesture.  

Garlic soup with black garlic and 63°C egg

Our last savory dish for the night was Pulpo a Feira Maestro Alfonso - boiled octopus with pee wee potatoes, pimento and olive oil.  The incredibly tender octopus required almost no chewing; so were the potatoes.

Boiled octopus with pee wee potatoes, pimento and olive oil

There were more items on the menu that we liked to try, but we had to save room for dessert.  However, we did not get to order.  Our waiter said Chef Carlos was making for us the classic Spanish flan “al Estilo tradicional de Mama Marisa” with espuma of Crema Catalana and candied orange peels, orange sections and sorbet.  The flan was rich in flavor, very creamy but a little grainy in texture, which I liked.  It was simply the best flan we have ever had.

Classic Spanish flan with ‘espuma’ of Catalan cream and oranges

During dinner I noticed that the roast pit was put into action.  A chef was roasting a suckling pig over fire.  The pig was special ordered by a large party that evening.  The manager told us that Jaleo serves cochinillo asado – roasted suckling pig - every Sunday night.  That alone is a reason for us to return in the future.  

Suckling pig (front) and Paella over fire (left in the back)

Friday, 5 April 2013

Three Nights of José Andrés - Night 1: Dinner at Jaleo Las Vegas

Mrs. A and I visited Las Vegas recently.  Before the trip, we did some research on restaurant there and were most impressed by the tapas menu at Jaleo.  So we had dinner there on our first night. 

It took us a while to find Jaleo on Level 3 of The Cosmopolitan Hotel.  I expected an enclosed restaurant with a formal entry, but it turned out to be a large informal place with no wall along its front.  On one side were tall bar tables surrounded by the bar, a huge fire pit, and an open kitchen for cold dishes.  The kitchen for hot food was hidden in the back.  On the other side were four booths adjacent to the open kitchen, and a large number of tables.  We sat at one of the booths; leg room was a bit tight, otherwise very comfortable.  We had an excellent view watching the chefs preparing cured meat dishes and salads.   

Jaleo was casual and lively.  Its décor was playful.  With pop music playing in the background, diners talking inside the restaurant, noises coming from the outside, and sound bouncing from all its hard surfaces, the noise level surprisingly did not bother us at all.  

Jaleo Las Vegas front

Jaleo Las Vegas bar area

Jaleo Las Vegas dining area

Being unfamiliar with Spanish wine, I ordered a bottle of cava – the Spanish sparkling wine.  We took our waitress’ recommendation for a Raventós i Blanc 'de Nit' Rose 2009.  It went well with our food.

We started with the seleccion de jamones - Spanish ham sampling plate - with jamon Serrano, jamon Iberico (aged 1 year), jamon Iberico de Bellota (aged 3 years), all from the producer Fremin, and pan de cristal con tomate fresco, the crispy toasted bread brushed with fresh tomato for eating jamon with.  I was surprised that Jaleo used a slicer instead of slicing the ham the traditional way by hand.  The Serrano ham was the leanest, and not as flavorful as the Iberico ham.  Mrs. A liked the jamon Iberico the best, and I preferred the jamon Iberico de Bellota, which was deeper in color as well as in flavor.  The bread was a little soggy though the garlic tomato sauce was tasty.  

From the left: jamon Serrano, jamon Iberico, jamon Iberico de Bellota, pan de cristal con tomate fresc

While I was busy eating ham and tasting the cava, the huevo frito con caviar (fried egg with caviar) arrived.  It was a beautiful ball of fried egg sitting on onion confit and topped with a heap of caviar.  The food runner immediately cut up the egg into tiny little pieces and mixed vigorously the runny yolk, soft egg whites and everything else together.  That was a good way to enjoy the dish, though I would rather do the cutting and mixing myself.  Runny egg yolk with a glob of caviar was velvety salty heaven.

Arrived next was calamares en su tinta con alcachofas y cebollitas - seared fresh squids with squid ink sauce, artichokes and pearl onions.  The small squids looked like Japanese hotaru ika and they were tasty.  The salty squid ink enhanced their flavor.  We were told later by the chef that all the guts were left inside the bodies of the squids, which is also the way Japanese eat hotaru ika.  Delicious!!

Seared fresh squids with squid ink sauce, artichokes and pearl onions

The canelones traditionales de cerdo y higado de pato con salsa béchamel (pork and foie gras canelones with béchamel sauce) was not what I expected.  I thought it would be like the Italian pasta tubes.  The version at Jaleo was moist shredded pork in a gratin dish under a sheet of small pasta squares, covered with béchamel sauce, sprinkled with cheese and browned in the oven, in the tradition of Catalan.  The smoothness and juiciness of the pork indicated the presence of some foie gras.  It was a very nice dish. 

Pork and foie gras canelones with béchamel sauce

 My dessert was ‘Gin y Tonic’, a gin and tonic sorbet with fizzy tonic ‘espuma’, lemon and aromatics.  I gather that Chef José Andrés likes gin and tonic as it shows up here and there on his menus at Jaleo and his other restaurants.  I liked gin and tonic myself too.  Mrs. A was not impressed with the ‘classic Spanish coffee’.

Gin and tonic sorbet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner, Chef Carlos Cruz Santos came out from the kitchen to greet us.  He was very friendly and spent time explaining some of the dishes to us.  He said we missed Chef José Andrés by a week; he wasthere making paella and having great fun with the kitchen.  We told him that we enjoyed our dinner very much.   As there were many items on the menu we wanted to try, we would be returning the following evening.  We also mentioned that our third dinner at Vegas would be at é by José Andrés, a micro-restaurant hidden inside Jaleo.  Thus three nights of José Andrés.

Chef Carlos Cruz Santos