Tag Archive for 'Food and Wine'

A friend of mine offered me a very expensive ticket to a charity held for the Children of Bellevue Hospital. So of course, I took it.

They had some amazing offerings, from all of the best restaurants in the city, including Sumile, Hearth, Public, Sapa, Per Se, Peasant, Craft, Telepan, and Tabla The best dishes in my opinion were the sardine on fried chickpea by Public, the cuttlefish by Hearth, the yellowtail preparation by Telepan, and the Tuna Sashimi by Craft. The most shameful dish was offered by none other than Per Se which was trying to pawn off – I shit you not – popcorn. Popcorn. They weakly submitted that it was “black truffle infused,” but no one was buying. I think they managed to give away three little bags of popcorn. Totally weak man, pony it up for the kids you cheap bastards.

In terms of boozing, there were tons of fantastic wines and I tried them all. While it is impossible to list all 70 wines offered, notable mentions include: the 2004 Vidal Icewine from Niagara Peninsula and the 2003 Inniskillin Riesling Icewine (Morrell only has the 2002) the 2004 Chablis Champs Royaux, William Fevre, and the 2003 Schloss Lieser Niederberg Helding Riesling Spatlese, frum Rudi Wiest. The biggest surprise however, came from Zyr Vodka, which had their namesake vodka on tap. It was AMAZING. They filter it more than their competitors so it is far smoother than even Grey Goose. I had heard of guys writing about how they could take crappy vodka and turn it into something smoother than Grey Goose with a Brita Water Pitcher, but it looks like Zyr took the idea and really ran with it. Zyr is now the official vodka of Virtual Obscurity!

Last night I went to SAPA, a gorgeous French/Southeast Asian restaurant located on 24th and Broadway. The food was good but not as spectacular as the decor. The waitresses were equally beautiful. For appetizers, we had the Roasted Beet and Grapefruit Salad with goat cheese and toasted filberts, as well as the Peking Duck Salad. The duck was not as delicate as I had hoped, but the salad it came with was quite good. For entrees, we had the Cod Roasted in Parchment with porcini mushrooms, and the Lamb Porterhouse. The cod was light and also pretty good. I thought the Lamb was a bit overcooked (they never asked how it should be prepared) and I was turned off by the char on the outside. Also, the cut that was given, which was sort of two t-bones, was unwieldy. I suppose the thing that struck me the most was that none of the dishes we had seemed very characteristic of French/Southeast Asian cuisine. The wine we had, however, was terrific: a Pinot Gris – Big Fire 2004 from Willamette Valley, Oregon. Another saving grace: there was a waiter who would come around periodically with the most delicious chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven (he served them off the baking tray). We thought that was fantastic and I hope other restaurants follow suit with similar little “treats.” Unfortunately, we didn’t have time for dessert, but based on the cookies, I’ll bet they would have been the best part. As for service, the waitress was great, but there was an long gap between our appetizers and our entrees. Though that can’t be blamed on the waitress, it was a bit annoying.

The damage? about $85 per person.
Tomorrow, we are going to the Taste of Tribeca. Featured restaurants include Landmarc, Nobu, Megu, 66, Chanterelle, Bouley, and more. I can’t wait!