The Blue Pig Tavern, Cape May, NJ

We recently had a girls' weekend in Cape May, and had a nice time at the historic Congress Hall hotel at the Sea Spa, shopping for jewelry, doing yoga on the beach, and dining at their farm-to-table restaurant The Blue Pig Tavern.  We had seen the place (and taken a picture with someone in a Blue Pig costume) on last summer's trip to Cape May, but hadn't eaten there.

We started off with some house-made guac, ceviche, and baked mac and cheese.  I should have known better than to order ceviche (I am spoiled by good Peruvian ceviche back home.)

My friends ordered the lump crabmeat salad with avocado and mango, fresh pappardelle with bolognese, and P.E.I. mussels.

I got one of the day's appetizer specials as my entree -- scallops served atop an eggplant puree (eggplant being one of that week's major crops from the farm).  It was a nice dish.

The Blue Pig Tavern at Congress Hall
200 Congress Place
Cape May, NJ

El Tule, Lambertville, NJ

Ever since Redneckhunter and I honeymooned in Peru, we've been disappointed with ceviche back home, until we heard rave reviews of El Tule from a friend of ours who had also been to Peru.

When you see El Tule from the street, there's no indication that it's a Peruvian restaurant.  The sign says Mexican Restaurant, with only a hand written chalkboard mentioning Peruvian cuisine.  Indeed they have 2 separate menus.

We were definitely there for Peruvian though, and quickly made them take away the Mexican menu.  We had even stopped at the liquor store to bring a six-pack of the native Cusqueña beer to the BYOB -- which the owner noticed and approved of.

There was a lot on the menu I wanted to try, but we had to make some choices.  So to get the most variety in fish, we opted for the ceviche trilogy and the tiradito trilogy.  Ceviche is marinated raw fish, so the texture gets firmer almost as if it were cooked -- the 3 varieties were Limeño (white fish marinated in lime, red onions, and cilantro), Mixto (with fish, shrimp, octopus, and calamari) - both served with those great big Peruvian corn kernels - both fresh and toasted and sweet potatoes - and Chifa (Chinese-influenced with pickled vegetables, black sesame, and peanuts).  Tiradito, instead, is not marinated -- just raw fish (like sashimi) with a sauce.  The three varieties were

yellow Peruvian pepper sauce, rocoto serrano cream, and Peruvian botija olive sauce. Everything was fresh and flavorful.  Because of our dinner companion we opted for just medium spiciness.  Even the red peppers were not too bad, not like the killer ones in Peru.

Then, so that we wouldn't overdose on fish, we also ordered a steak -- Bistec a lo Pobre, or "Poor man's steak."  We liked how the menu referred to its "beefy goodness" complemented by fried potatoes, fried plantains, fried egg, and rice.

 We were pretty full and thinking about passing on dessert when 3 words were uttered: "tres leches cake."  But since the other desserts sounded tempting too, we also got a flan and rice pudding.  Actually the tres leches was disappointing, so it's good we got the others.  The rice pudding was voted the favorite, followed by the flan, which had a nice caramelized, almost coffee flavor. 

El Tule
49 North Main Street
Lambertville, NJ 08530
(609) 773-0007

ink., LA

 When I went to Los Angeles, my friends and I had a memorable dinner at Top Chef winner Michael Voltaggio's restaurant ink. We all decided to get the tasting menu, but we ordered some additional appetizers.
First was roasted shisito peppers topped with almond-bonito sand with a side of tofu mustard. The peppers were nice and spicy.
We also got an order of Malpeque oysters topped with an oyster leaf and mignonette ice. We were instructed to eat everything in a single bite. They were delicious.

 Our first course of the tasting menu was a beautifully composed plate of scallops, tofu, and rice crackers sprinkled with a black vinaigrette and cocoa. It was nested on a small bed of green tapioca.

The second course, our table agreed, was our favorite. In a take on chicken and waffles, Voltaggio had a beautiful portion of foie gras nestled in between waffle crackers served with a line of smoked maple syrup that had a consistency of marshmallow. If that weren't enough, he added small dollops of sriracha sauce. The combination of flavors were incredible.

The third course was a wonderful portion of sturgeon served on a bed of mushroom oatmeal and topped with mushroom "hay". The "hay" were dehydrated mushrooms. To say this dish was an umami bomb is an understatement.

Our fourth course was "steak frites". The beef was a beef rib cap which was very tender and tasty, and it was accompanied by "flavors of béarnaise", a kind of deconstructed version of the sauce.

As my dessert course, I selected a line of grapefruit curd with cilantro sorbet, lime meringue and avocado. It had more of a savory taste to it.
My friends ordered the apple with caramel and burnt wood ice cream.
I would dare say, I enjoyed my meal at ink. more than my experiences at Volt.


8360 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90069
(323( 651-5866

Waterfront Kitchen, Baltimore

I had lunch at the recently opened Waterfront Kitchen, located in a Living Classrooms building in Fells Point, featuring local and seasonal cuisine.
We started with warm farmer's cheese flan as an appetizer. Consisting of goat cheese and egg, the flan was light, delicate and delcious. It came with toasted squash seeds, a schmear of Hubbard squash, and a frisée salad with pickled fennel.
For my main, I had the head-on Marvesta Farm shrimp poached in a tasty tomato nage on a bed of, not grits, but mashed celery root with some boudin blanc chunks. I left no shell or head uneaten.

My friend opted for the vegetable sandwich, which was composed of a grilled cauliflower "steak", roasted mushrooms, and these great pickle brussel sprout leaves on toasted whole wheat. It was a pretty hearty sandwich.
We shared dessert, a chocolate pate, topped with candied fennel sprinkles, creme anglais, cranberry sorbet and a lace tuile. It looked like a hostess cupcake, but the chocolate was smooth and rich through and through.

1417 Thames Street
Baltimore, MD
(443)681-5310

The First Gastronaut Society Dinner at Corner BYOB, Baltimore

Last week, Corner BYOB in Hampden held the inaugural dinner for their Gastronaut Society. The emphasis of the society is an exploration of "exotic meats". Members get a specially engraved knife, and discounts for the special dinners.
When I arrived, before being seated, members shared drinks and some hors d'oeuvres around the bar. My favorite was an oyster topped with pomegranate sorbet and American caviar. It had a pleasant mix of briny and sweet.
We also had asparagus wrapped with proscuitto and small toasts with pate and cornichon.

We were then instructed to take seats in the restaurant. There was no assigned tables, so we were able to sit with other diners and socialize. I liked this idea as I had come on my own. During dinner, we had great conversation and had a fun time sharing the experience of the meal.
The dinner was composed of seven savory courses, and the chef placed feedback sheets for each course that we were encouraged to fill out.
First up was kangaroo tartare with a raw quail egg and rosemary crostini. This was my first experience with kangaroo. It does not have much flavor, reminding me of a very bland lean beef. While I liked the presentation of the plate, it was just an ok dish.
I was happy that the next course took us into the wonderful world of offal. We had cow penis in a vegetable coconut curry broth. The penis had the texture similar to beef tendon or sea cucumber- firm, gelatinous, and it took on the flavor of the broth. While I wished the dish would have been served piping hot, I liked it.

The third course was braised boar cheek on a bed of parmesan truffled polenta covered with a foie gras froth. The cheek fell apart easily, and as you ate more, the foie gras flavor became more evident.
The fourth course was actually my least favorite as it was the least "adventurous". It was a pan seared diver scallop, cooked beautifully, on a bed of Napa cabbage with basil oil, prickly pear, spherical juice, steelhead caviar and a little rambutan.

The next plate was a roasted wild Scottish squab and brussel sprouts with a jerk lingonberry sauce. The meat of the bird paired well with the slightly tart sweetness of the sauce.
The last main dish was antelope loin with a green apple mustard sauce, salsify with Cherry Glen goat cheese, and bone marrow pommes Parisian. The antelope, particularly with the apple mustard was just great. I also liked the salsify. I don't think I could appreciate the marrow in the potatoes though.

The final course was a cheese plate with selections from Cherry Glen. My favorite was the Monocacy Silver that was served with dried cherries. We also had a fresh goat cheese, the Monocacy Ash, and  slightly bruleed Monocacy Crottin.
The next society dinner is in January. Can't wait.

A.Kitchen, Philadelphia

We were up in Philly to see the Brothers Quay beautiful new film shot in the Mütter Museum, and Fougoo arranged for us a reservation at A.Kitchen, a restaurant near Rittenhouse Square that opened this past spring.
We had dinner family-style, sharing several of the small plates they had to offer. We started with a "breakfast" frisee salad that had a warm hash brown, poached egg, and bacon.

We then ordered two items from their "Fish" menu. I really wanted to try to octopus with caramelized watermelon. The octopus was grilled beautifully and it was complemented by the sweetness of the watermelon.There were also drizzles of hot sauce as well.
We also ordered the skate Provençal with fingerling potatoes.

Afterwards, we decided on two pasta dishes. They make their own pasta in house, so it was all very good. First was corkscrews with duck, chanterelle mushrooms, and butternut squash.
We also had the tagliatelle with veal ragu.
For dessert, we shared a lovely chocolate panna cotta.

135 South 18th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 825-7030

Savor the Central Coast, San Luis Obispo, CA

The day after we attended a wedding in Monterey, our friends from Santa Barbara proposed to meet us halfway in San Luis Obispo.  They came up with the wonderful plan to check out Savor the Central Coast, a huge food and wine festival celebrating that region.

The event took place at the 15,000 acre Santa Margarita Ranch. The weather was gorgeous and with a half price Groupon, I felt like it was a great deal even though I and our pregnant friend didn't partake of any of the wine tasting.  Just tent after tent of free food!  Here's a sampling of what we ate:

I think the absolute best thing we had was the maple bacon donut from SLO Donut.

Their donut holes with whipped cream and fresh berries were yummy as well!

Lamb tagine with loads of local olive oil.

Mozzarella tomato and pesto on focaccia by ByScotti.

Cookies by Brown Butter Cookie Company.

Whiskey marinated beef from Harris Ranch.

Lamb tacos from Central City Market

Homemade cavatelli with wild boar ragu from Artisan Restaurant

Cured meat from Allesina

Fresh oysters and abalone ceviche

And teeny tiny cones of merlot raspberry truffle ice cream