My Winter "To Dine" List

I did okay on my fall "to dine" list: we made it two of the four restaurants on the list - A Chef's Kitchen in Williamsburg, VA, and Union Square Cafe in Manhattan.

Here's where I'd like to eat this winter:

• I still haven't made it to the Boot (not for lack of trying!), so it stays on the list.
• Topher & I still haven't made it to One Fish Two Fish either (my fault on that one).
• I'll add Blue Talon Bistro and Fat Canary, both in Williamsburg. (I'm hoping for another weekend getaway!)
• Terrapin - New American cuisine near the Virginia Beach oceanfront (a recommendation from Lisa Has Chickens via her aunt, who's a good friend of mine)

Let's see how well we do this quarter!

Better Than Food Network

Last Christmas my aunt & uncle gave me & Topher the perfect present (for us, anyway): a gift certificate to A Chef's Kitchen in Williamsburg, VA. It's been sitting on my desk at home, waiting patiently, and this past weekend it finally got used.

The weekend's festivities started with a ride on the Jamestown-Scotland ferry across the James River, from Surry to Williamsburg. Then we met up with our friends Randy & Kim and headed to Merchants Square. There we snacked on a cheese plate and a bottle of wine (Andrew Murray Vineyards"Esperance" red blend) from The Cheese Shop and walked around historic Colonial Williamsburg.

After a quick change of clothes at our hotel, we headed back out and grabbed a cocktail at the Blue Talon Bistro (their menu looked awesome, and I definitely want to go back there for dinner sometime). Then we made our way to the main event.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with A Chef's Kitchen (as I was until we received the gift certificate and I started doing a little research), Chef John Gonzales came up with the idea "because he 'felt sorry for the audiences on the Food Network,' who never get to eat the meals they watch being prepared," according to Frommer's Virginia.

The restaurant is set up stadium-style with three rows of ~8 seats each and an open kitchen. Chef Gonzales and his sous chef Sam Hall prepare your dinner there in front of you, teaching you how to make each dish as they go along (they even give you a recipe booklet to take home). There's only one seating each night, and the meal takes ~3 hours, with half an hour for champagne and hors d'oeuvres at the beginning. The meal was good, but the experience was great!

What We Ate:

• appetizers: goat cheese balls rolled in crushed pistachios, and olive tapenade on toast - paired with champagne
• Parsnip & Chive Bisque with Applewood Smoked Bacon & Sour Cream
• Mâche, Carrot, & Apple Slaw with Golden Raisins & Toasted Pecans - paired with a (not oaky) chardonnay - very good! a healthy, colorful, & flavorful dish that I would definitely like to make at home
• Skillet Baked Corn Bread with European-style Butter
• Shrimp & Butternut Squash Risotto with Fresh Thyme - paired with a sauvignon blanc - well made (the shrimp weren't overcooked, and the risotto was just the right consistency - not crunchy, not mushy), but a little too sweet
• Seared Broadleaf Farms Venison with Braised Boneless Berkshire Spare Ribs over Mashed Celeriac & Virginia Apple Purée - paired with a regional Spanish red wine that I can't remember - this was the absolute, hands-down highlight of the evening! the spare ribs were so tender, juicy, & flavorful that my mouth is watering just thinking about them ... and I really want to start eating celeriac at home
• Lemon Mousse with a Chocolate Shortbread Cookie & Port Braised Figs - the three elements of this dessert were good (especially the shortbread), but somehow the combination of the three just didn't work

The Scoop:

A Chef's Kitchen is located at 501 Prince George Street (near Merchants Square and William & Mary) in downtown Williamsburg, VA. Dinner is served Wed-Sun at 6:30pm. Reservations are required and should be made well in advance by calling 757-564-8500.

My Fall "To Dine" List

Here are a few places that I want to try this fall. Watch for reviews to come!

• The Chef's Kitchen - a restaurant in Williamsburg set up stadium-style, so you can watch the chefs prepare your meal and learn as you go; this one is leftover from my summer "to dine" list
• One Fish Two Fish - a seafood restaurant in northern Virginia Beach; also a leftover from my summer "to dine" list ... sort of ... to see what I mean, check out this post (it's a funny story)
• Boot - a "local kitchen & wine bar" in the Ghent area of Norfolk, specializing in locally grown foods
• Union Square Café - in NYC; uses meats & produce from the nearby Union Square Greenmarket; highly recommended by our good friend Jen

Actually, my "to dine" list is quite long, and it just keeps growing as I get recommendations from family & friends (which I love, by the way)!

Where are you dying to eat this fall? Do you have any suggestions for me?

Pho for the First Time

This past weekend Topher & I drove to Williamsburg to visit our friends Grant & Laura and their baby daughter Ava (she's gorgeous, with big dark eyes!).

It was a laid-back, relaxing visit. We drove up after work on Friday afternoon; Grant grilled bacon-wrapped steaks and Laura made tossed salad & roasted fingerling potatoes for dinner. We started to watch "Happy-Go-Lucky" but decided about 15 minutes in that we weren't up for it, so we watched Discovery's "Shark Week" instead. On Saturday morning, after a breakfast of sausage & pancakes, we went to the neighborhood pool.

We had planned to eat lunch at the Blue Talon Bistro, but Ava got a little fussy after her swim and needed a nap; so instead we ordered takeout from Saigon Pearl, a Vietnamese place near their house. Which worked out well, because Topher decided that it was high time that I experienced pho (pronounced fuh).

Pho, a cheap and flavorful beef noodle soup, is usually sold from street carts in Vietnam; in the US it's served in large, wide-rimmed bowls. It's not exactly a takeout-friendly dish, so when Topher & Grant brought it home, we realized that it was really "assemble your own" pho.

The pho tai chin that Topher ordered for us came in three containers: a large cup of steaming beef broth; one box of sticky rice noodles, thin sliced beef (both cooked & rare), and scallions & fresh cilantro; and a second box of "toppings," including crunchy bean sprouts, lime wedges, and jalapeno & onion slices. Add contents of box 1 and box 2 to cup A, and voila, yummy pho soup!

At first I was a little wary of the rare beef, but the hot broth cooked it in almost no time. The sticky noodles separated and softened in the broth, too. The soup was a little awkward to eat -- neither chopsticks nor fork/spoon are quite the right utensil for this dish - but after getting past the fact that I was going to have to slurp a little, it was filling and delicious. And the best part: I could add as much cilantro (and as few jalapenos) as I wanted!

After lunch, Topher & I packed up and drove home to Suffolk. Instead of taking the interstate, though, we decided to go the long way via the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry through Surry, VA.

More on Pho:
For more about the history of pho and its significance in Vietnamese culture, check out this article from the SFGate.com: "A Bowl of Pho: Vietnam's treasured beef noodle soup that brings families together." There's a recipe at the end.

Unfortunately, Hampton Roads doesn't have a "little Saigon" like San Francisco, but there are a few places in Tidewater where you can find Vietnamese: Pho 78 (VA Beach near Holland Plaza), Vietnam Garden (VA Beach near Great Neck/Hilltop), and Pho 79 (two locations - VA Beach near Town Center, and Chesapeake near Battlefield Blvd).

If you're not in the mood for pho, the com thit nuong (barbecue pork with rice and tomato/cucumber salad) that Laura ordered from Saigon Pearl looked and smelled delicious.

Note: The pho photo above was found online here.

My Summer "To Dine" List

This summer I have a "to dine" (rather than a "to do") list. Here are a few places in Hampton Roads that I want to try:

• 465 Fish - a seafood restaurant in downtown Norfolk with a great reputation (we have a gift card from my Aunt Kay & Uncle David -- thanks so much!)
• Still - an allegedly chic tapas spot in Portsmouth (girls' night out, anyone?)
• The Chef's Kitchen - a restaurant in Williamsburg set up stadium-style, so you can watch the chefs prepare your meal and learn as you go (another gift card from my Aunt Kay & Uncle David - thanks!)
• Todd Jurich's Bistro - we went for restaurant week in February and were slightly underwhelmed (the food was good, but not great), but we have a gift certificate, and I'm looking forward to giving it another chance
• Amici's Pizza Cafe - a Suffolk favorite; I've been there only once, with some girlfriends; the food was good, but the service was less than impressive (our supposed 20-minute wait for a table turned into a 45-minute wait; once seated, we waited another 20 minutes for the waitress to even take our order); I'm hoping Topher & I will have a better experience next time

Here's to happy summer eating!