Archive for category Restaurants
In Praise of Antonio’s
Posted by Jonathan Tilley in Buying Food, Restaurants, Travel, Wine on August 20th, 2010
It would take something special to post again on this oft-neglected piece of cyberspace. Justin and I have been busy, after all. In my case, working and new fathering have kept me from sampling DC’s finest or reflecting more on the absolute perfection of Hefeweizen (at least in written form).
But I am on vacation at my parents’ house in Orlando. Last night, my folks took care of our little one, while my wife and I found a new corner of restaurant heaven.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. Orlando? The land of Disney and plastic culture? Isn’t Orlando the headquarters of all those big restaurant chains that push a bland uniformity into U.S. food culture? Isn’t Orlando cuisine nothing but overpriced tourist trap food?
Well, in part. But step away from International Drive. Go from the corporates to the foodies. Put down that expensive Disney Turkey leg. Next time you take the kids to Disney World and Universal Studios, be sure to drive over to Antonio’s Cafe & Deli in Maitland on 17-92. We did so, on my parents’ recommendation, and we tasted the best Italian food I’ve had in a long time.
Our romantic table in the liquor section.
Now, here is the charm. The Cafe & Deli, as you can see, is nestled within a mini Italian grocery and wine shop. We had a romantic little table in the liquor section. It may sound strange, but experience it, and you’ll find it creates a natural ambiance that most restaurants attempt to produce with funky decorations and weird lighting. We sat at our table and had two servers: A nice waitress who took our order, and their resident wine expert. The wine expert helped us select a bottle of wine from around the store (“we have an excellent wine list, and it’s all around us,” he joked), and was kind enough to open it and give us the “sniffy sniff sniff.” To go with our food, he selected a Dogajolo – 80% Chianti and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon (“which gives it more complexity,” he said). Yum.
For an appetizer, we had the Topped Ciabatta – fresh Ciabatta bread, blanketed with Mozzarella and tomato sauce – fresh, delicious, opposite of canned. It was a generous appetizer to say the least – on another more budgeted night we may have gone with just appetizers and wine. But this was a rare date night for new parents. We were going the distance. (I should also mention that this was alongside some fantastic bread, fresh butter and olive oil that could have stood alone)
My wife ordered the pizza. Delightful, authentic crust, generous portions of prosciutto, red onions, sauce and spices that blend and flavor delightfully without dominating. As a real European, she has authority to say what she said afterwards. “Here in America, all the Italian food is Chicago-Italian or New York-Italian. It’s fine and everything, but it is hard to find Italian-Italian.” Antonio’s fit the bill. Yes, she’s from Germany. But as Texas has top-notch Mexican food, southern Germany is peppered with fantastic Italian restaurants. She knows what she’s talking about.
I had a hankering for some pasta and went with the Linguini Calabrese. Wonderful sausage, onion and that perfect tomato sauce, tossed lovingly into linguini noodles. The garlic was present but not overwhelming, and as far as I could tell, the ingredients were fresh. Excellence.
The portions were generous, and though good taste spurred us on, we couldn’t quite clear our plates. But our server corked our wine bottle and gave us boxes, and our movable feast would continue the next day.
We walked away from the restaurant with a sense of satisfaction I don’t often feel. We did not feel like we had a lake of grease cratered in our stomachs. We did not feel as if we couldn’t look at another garlic clove again. We strolled through the the shop, admiring the wine selection, fresh meats, cheeses and gelato. All the while, the full feeling in our bellies didn’t make us groan. It made us smile.
Bene.
Joe’s Stone Crab – Eating at a Miami Beach, FL Institution
Posted by Justin Thorp in Restaurants on February 28th, 2010
Last week, I was in Miami Beach for a work conference. While I was down there, I was definitely looking for some type of restaurant that really was Miami Beach. Boy, did I find it. It was Joe’s Stone Crab.
It was a Monday and I was walking down Ocean Drive to meet up with my buddy Doug, who was joining me for dinner. That night, it was immediately noticeable how quiet all the other trendy Ocean Drive restaurants were. I was thinking that maybe we had caught a lucky break. Maybe we wouldn’t have to wait as along to get into what was Yelp rated as a top restaurant in Miami Beach. Ha… was I wrong.
You walk in and it was FILLED with people. There was definitely a palpable excitement or anticipation amongst all the other patrons that were there waiting to dig into a big pile of stone crabs. The restaurant is MASSIVE and it was still overflowing with people.
Doug and I made our way to the host who was taking people’s names to be seated. There was an hour and a half wait. Doug assured me it was worth it, so we put in our name, went to the bar, and got some drinks. Three drinks later, our names were called and we moved back to the staging area where they take you to your table.
The whole experience with the hosts was pretty crazy. You definitely had folks that were flashing hundred-dollar bills to the host in order to by pass the line and go directly to a table. I don’t think that I’d ever seen that before.
So… we got to our table. On the way you got to see, even more, how expansive the restaurant was. You could also tell how it was run like a very tight naval ship. All the food and drinks came out pretty smoothly and looked to be consistent and uniform with what everyone else was getting.
Since Doug paid for drinks, I bought a bottle of wine. Normally I don’t buy wine at restaurants because the markup is ridiculous. This wasn’t bad. I think we had an Albarino. It was an acidic wine that was very crisp and refreshing.
At Joe’s, you’re obviously getting stone crab claws but you can also order a variety of incredible sides. We got coleslaw, grilled tomatoes, and cornbread. The coleslaw came out first. Usually when I have coleslaw, it’s that typical cream based coleslaw that you get everywhere. This had a vinaigrette, which was delicious.
Next, with the rest of the sides, came the beloved stone crab claws. Unlike other crabs that I had in the past, these are served hot. They’re served cold, which is interesting. You peel off the shell and then just suck off as much of the delicious meat as possible. They give you this really tasty mustard with a kick and some butter sauce that you can choose to dip the claw meet in. I commented to my friend Doug that the crab claw was like an “adult popsicle.” :-p
I was definitely worth trying. I’m told by my friends that a lot of the stone crabs that you see throughout the East coast all come through Joe’s Stone Crab. So, it was especially rad to go to the source directly.
The cherry on top of the sundae for the evening was the key lime pie. It was everything that you want key lime pie to be. I can’t put the joy that the pie gave me into words. A week later, the though of the pie still puts a smile on my face. :-)
All in all, going to Joe’s Stone Crab was a really awesome experience and would be something that I’d recommend to everyone. It is a little expensive so it’s probably not something that you can do all the time but it’s worth going at least once.
Boston’s Pizzeria Regina Is So Good I Dream About It
Posted by Justin Thorp in Restaurants, Travel on February 2nd, 2010
Not this weekend but last weekend, I was in Boston for work. The conference was on Saturday so I had some time on Sunday to explore and have fun before I came back to Washington, DC.
I decided to walk through Boston’s North End or what looked like ”Little Italy.” It was a lot of narrow and bumpy brick paved streets. Every corner had some type of shop, cafe or restaurant on it, most of which had some type of amazing smell emanating from it.
Now, I remember 2-3 years ago I was in Boston for a different conference and going to this pizzeria up on the North End but I didn’t remember what its name or where it was exactly. I just remembered that it was good, that it was in kind of back alley and that it was on the North End of the city.
And, like wise men getting guided to the stable by the star, I was led just out of muscle memory back to Pizzeria Regina. It’s at an intersection where three or 4 streets come together. None of them are particularly busy streets. You kind of felt like you were wondering through a series of back allies but you knew what was in there was going to be amazing because it was 11am on a Sunday and people were already lining up for it outside.
I decided that I’d come back a little bit later, get a spot at the bar, and enjoy some pizza for lunch. When I came back, it was just like I remembered it. The staff was doing everything that they could to stuff as many patrons into the restaurant as possible. They patrons knew what they were about get was going to be worth it. It was a delicious brick-oven pizza.
I ordered the white pizza. (I have an obsession with white pizza. I’m not sure why.) I got the small, which was PLENTY of food for one person. The mix of all the cheeses together with the very good crust in your mouth is just a magical combination. Really, how can you go wrong with anything with goat cheese on it? Hah!
All in all it was like $9 and another $4 for a beer. It was the perfect way to end a great trip.
The next time you’re in Boston, you need to seek out Pizzeria Regina. You won’t regret it.
Navigating A New City’s Food Scene With Yelp Mobile
Posted by Justin Thorp in New Things, Online Resources, Restaurants on January 31st, 2010
Lately, when I travel, one of the things I try really hard to do is avoid the restaurants that just appeal to the tourists and really go to the places where the locals go. I want to eat what’s going to give me a flavor of that local culture.
Now, I have had some success with doing this by just wandering. I remember when I was in NYC, I was looking for a cool indie non-Starbucks coffee shop. I happened to find my way to Think Coffee in Greenwich Village. I was very happy about this but it’s not easy to replicate.
Last weekend, I was in Boston, wasn’t meeting with friends that I could ask for recommendations for a few hours, so I decided to use Yelp on my iPhone as a way to guide my noise. I was looking for a good latte and a sandwich.
I found my way over to Cafe L’Aroma in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood. I was thrilled with the results. Not only was I able to get a really quality latte, I was able to get a great sandwich. It was a turkey sandwich with this cranberry bread. Mmmmm… It was about $12 all together, which isn’t bad considering.
I was impressed with how Yelp was able to steer me in the right direction.
Have you used it before to find new places? How has it worked for you?
What Would You Name Your Restaurant?
Posted by Jonathan Tilley in Coffee Shops, Restaurants, Trends on January 30th, 2010
As I mentioned in my last post, one of the initial reasons I darkened the door of the Sacrificial Lamb Kebob and Pizza was the clever name. I like clever names for restaurants, cafes and shops, and I’ve often thought about what I would call my coffee shop, if I owned one. (admit it – you have too)
I especially like names with local flair – here in D.C., Hawk & Dove and the 18th Amendment come to mind. Literary references are cool too. Familiarity has bred contempt – I’m not a huge Starbucks fan, but the Moby Dick references helps you remember the coffee giant’s independent beginnings. Sometimes a name simply sounds cool. A bar/music club in Orlando, Florida (my hometown) was called, for reasons unknown to me, the Sapphire Supper Club. Before I moved away, they changed it to the Social, killing that delightfully alliterative example of pizzaz.
So, commenters, let’s hear it! What’s a great restaurant name? Has the name of a bar ever convinced you to drop in for a drink? If you owned a burger dive, a coffee house or a tapas bar, what would you name it?
In Boston This Weekend. Where Should I Go?
Posted by Justin Thorp in Coffee, Restaurants on January 21st, 2010
I’m in Boston, this weekend, for work. Where are all the cool food places that I should go?
I’ve been to Bull & Finch Pub before. Might stop by just to update my memory. I’ve been to Helmand the Afghan restaurant in Cambridge. It was amazing.
Where’s the cool street food, the cool beer places, or the cool indie coffee shops? Is there something like Blue Bottle Coffee or Peregrine Espresso in Boston?
Washington DC’s Next Restaurant Week from January 11th – 17th, 2010
Posted by Justin Thorp in Restaurants on December 26th, 2009
I’m excited. Restaurant Week in the Washington DC area is coming up again and is running from January 11th to the 17th, in over 200 DC area restaurants.
Restaurant Week is when you can go to any of these restaurants and get a 3 course dinner for $35.10 or a 3 course lunch for $20.10. This is a great opportunity to try something new or try something that may have been outside of your typical price range.
I know for me that all too often I just go out and eat all the same places. I eat the things that I know. It’s easy to get sucked into a routine. I love things like Restaurant Week because it gives you an excuse to try something new. For example, I’m not a big red meat & steak guy so we’re going to be using Restaurant Week to hit up Morton’s and get a BIG steak. 
Check out the article from the blog DC Foodies. They have some great tips about how to get the most out of Restaurant Week.
Cheeky Tastings: “Michael Mina”
Posted by Mark Drapeau in Famous Chefs, Restaurants on December 24th, 2009
If you live in Washington, DC you may be familiar with the restaurant Bourbon Steak in the Four Seasons in Georgetown. The chef is Michael Mina, whose star seems to be rising. I hadn’t heard of him until Bourbon Steak (of course, I’m not a professional restaurant reviewer…).
I recently had the opportunity to sample his resturant Stonehill Tavern in Dana Point, CA (south Orange County). It’s inside the St. Regis resort there, which is stunning in itself.
Stonehill feels a lot like Bourbon. It was probably designed by the same person. It’s modern, hip American with lots of dark wood and old-fashioned class. I went with a date. We had two glasses of champagne, for which there was really poor selection and frankly some outrageous pricing.
That out of the way, we had an amazing meal. Appetizers, dishes, and desert (pumpkin donuts!) were awesome. I had the sommelier bring me a glass of whatever red would go best with my pork chop, and it was perfect.
Michael Mina’s not cheap. But I think you get your money’s worth. And in this case, with a view of the ocean. If you’re in SoCal and want an elegant, expensive meal, try Stonehill Tavern.
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