Restaurant Tip

You've heard of a new restaurant opening up that's supposed to be amazing. You're dying to try it so you rush out the minute they open, have a horrible experience and vow never to return again. Sound familiar? My tip to you, as hard as it will be to restrain yourself, is to wait at least 3-4 weeks (or longer) after a restaurant has opened to visit. Let other people have the bad experience while all of the kinks are worked out and you can saunter in to reap the benefits and have a good experience to talk about instead of telling all of your friends NOT to try the new hip spot in town because everything sucked. You know what I'm talking about too - the servers are clueless, they ignored you, the food took over a half hour to get to your table and after all that, it wasn't even very good and you think it was overpriced. You go home totally bummed and complain to your friends. I can't recall one time in recent memory where a friend has told me about their experience at a new restaurant being good. Even if it wasn't terrible the response is usually something along the lines of, "Eh, it was okay."

Bill and I have gotten burned too many times and (I think) have finally learned our lesson. There are currently 3 new restaurants in town that we have yet to try but know of people who have tried them all. They all went either on the first night it opened or shortly thereafter and based on their reviews, we are waiting. 6 months and counting in one case (okay, maybe we're just lazy). So wait if you can. The restaurant may thank you too for the good review versus the bad one you would have given. And if it's still not good even after waiting, at least you gave them a fighting chance to improve.

Bon Appetit!

By the way, did you know the last "t" is silent? Like bon appetee. Really, I swear. I didn't know that either until I saw the movie Julie & Julia and heard it. Bill, who used to be somewhat fluent, confirmed this to be true. It sort of changes everything, doesn't it?

Back in August we went to see the movie with Sara and Matt and planned a 3-course French dinner afterwards. The movie is cute and it's killing me that I didn't think of it first. Do you think if I start to make all of Rachael Ray's recipes I'll get a book and movie deal? No? Damn. Seeing the movie made us all salivate and it was all we could do to finish watching it and not leave to go eat. If you like food at all, I'd recommend seeing it. Put it on your rental queue.

Dinner was fantastic. Bill and I made course 1 which was Emeril Lagasse's seared duck with a balsamic cherry reduction, duck-fat fried potatoes and haricot verts (the Frenchie words for green beans - of note, the "t"s are also silent). The highlight was the reduction. Can't even begin to tell you how good it was. In fact, I've added the recipe below so you can try it for yourselves. It would also be excellent over pork or chicken, maybe even shrimp.


Matt made course 2 which was Julia Child's recipe for boeuf bourguignon which I didn't realize is like a kick-ass beef stew. Don't think Dinty Moore here, people, think GOOD. I don't even like stew. It was served with an olive herb artisinal bread.


Sara made course 3 which was another Julia recipe for chocolate rum cake. Due to some miscalculations, it didn't turn out how it was supposed to but we're talking chocolate rum cake here, people. I'm not sure how, but we managed choked it down anyway. ;) Sara made it again the following weekend and it was superb (again).

Balsamic Cherry Reduction:
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons minced shallots
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
11/2 cups rich duck or chicken stock
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves
1 tablespoon cold butter
Salt and black pepper

Directions
Set a 1-quart saucepan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, about 30 seconds, add the shallots, garlic and cherries. Cook the shallots, garlic and cherries until the garlic is fragrant and the shallots begin to caramelize, about 1 minute. Deglaze the pan with the vinegar, and when the vinegar is almost completely reduced, about 3 minutes, add the stock and chopped sage. Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 15 minutes. Once the sauce is cooked, swirl the cold butter into the sauce and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse