9/29/2010 Rovers

i lost my voice. i was in what turned out to be a major allergy-sinus attack, and lucky me my throat was so sore i could barely talk. and as luck would have it rover's was celebrating their 23rd anniversary and well, you don't get to reschedule something like this so we went. luckily for us matt has a great pallate, more refined than mine is, and he can talk. he has agreed to guest blog part of this entry for me. this gives you the best of both sides - my initial impressions on plating, and well, i couldn't actually taste much, but i had a few thoughts, and then matt can expand on the food itself.

don't worry, i did get a chance to enjoy my food - i brought quite a bit home and was able to enjoy it later in the week.

there's no picture of the amuse bouchees (bouchi?) - there were 3 of them and were served for an hour throughout the property along with wine as people arrived, gathered, mingled and chatted before we were actually seated.

Marinated Cucumber with Salmon Roe and Sea Salt
Duck Consommé with Lentil and Hazelnut Oil
Pressed Melon with Crispy Pork Jowl
served with Cremant D'Alsace, Schroedel, Tradition, Brut Rose NV, Alsace France

i had the consumme. it was thick and dark and tasted warm (ok, it was a hot hors d'ouvers) but it felt good going down my raw throat, and it was thick with lentils. the servers were providing forks/spoons but with the purse, the wine glass, the little cup for the consumme, how was i going to manage a spoon as well?


*Matt here* The consommé was lovely, and nice and lentilly. I enjoyed the pressed melon as well, but I think my favorite was the cucumber with salmon roe. I love salmon roe!

1st Course:

Soft Poached Quial Egg with Red Onion Compote and Israeli Osetra Caviar


i liked this, but honestly i don't know how much of it really was true taste. 


*Matt* This was great. The soft texture of the quail egg played off against the caviar, and I loved the red onions as well.

Dill and Almond Macaroon with Citrus Fromage Blanc and Siberian Sturgeon Caviar

this was good. i could taste the citrus and the macaroon is more of a merengue cracker, not the coconut cookie thing americans tend to think of.


*Matt* Delicious! The macaroon was a very interesting play-one tends to think of these as the very sweet dessert cookie, but as a savory base they're quite nice.

Scrambled Organic Egg with White Sturgeon Caviar and Lime Creme Fraiche

this is a Rover's specialty. if you dine at rover's you'll get a chance to taste it. the scrambled egg isn't what we think of, it's not a skillet-browned solid mass of egg.


*Matt* Ah, the classic Rover's signature dish. There's are reason it is the house specialty. Loved every bit.

served with Taittinger, Cuvee Prestige, Brut, NV, Champagne France

matt and i agreed that while i enjoy wines this night they'd be wasted on me so we only got 1 pairing and i took a couple sips of his to taste. when the sommelier got to our table he gave matt a glass, and when we un-confused him as to our sharing preference (do we want 1 split into 2 glasses? no? really?) he came back out with a glass for me letting me know he had poured it before he realized and didn't want it to go to waste. i think i drank maybe 1/4 of it :-(

2nd Course:

Foie Gras Torchon with Fig Compote and Fennel Pollen Sea Salt

this was the warm half.

Foie Gras Terrine with Toasted Herbed Brioche and

Sauternes Aspic

the terrine was not hot, and my preference of the 2.


*Matt* Both were terrific. I preferred the torchon to the terrine, but the terrine was quite nice as well. The aspic provided just the right amount of sweetness.












served with Pinot Gris, Riefle, Steinert, grand Cru, 2004, Alsace France

i took a quick pic of 1 of our service pieces. the middle spoon, specifically. only it's not really a spoon, is it? it's a bit flat for that.

anyone out there know what it is? i admit, i have wanted these since my 1st visit to rovers!



3rd Course:

Sea Urchin Bisque with Diver's Sea Scallop and Leek Fondue

this was good but i prefer the lobster bisque with sea beans


*Matt* I don't think I've had scallops prepared any better than they do at Rover's. Delicious. The bisque was a lovely counterpoint.

Poached Razor Clam with Pickeled Carrot and Paprika Oil

*Matt* Very nice-lots of subtle flavors going on here. I think pickled vegetables are a lovely flavor when not overused. This dish provided just the right counterpoint between the carrots and the clams.

Alaskan Spot Prawn wth Matsutake Mushroom and Dill Nage

this was served tepid, not real hot


*Matt* Very nice-the spot prawn was nice and sweet and matched nicely with the subtle flavor of the matsutake. A lot of chefs forget that even though mushrooms, esp. matsutake, have distinctive flavors, they are easily overpowered by bigger flavors. This one was just right.



served with Vouvray, Domaine Huet, Le Mont, Sec 2007, Loire Valley France


4th Course:

Crispy Sweetbread with Bean Puree and Blueberry Vinegar Sauce

*Matt* Yum. In general, I've found that a chef doesn't have the guts to put sweetbreads on the menu unless he or she knows how to do them right. No exception here!

Oregon Quail with Plum, Roasted Chipollini Onion and Sage

*Matt* Very nice. Love the quail.














served with Pinot Noir, Cameron 2008, Dundee Hills Oregon USA

somewhere in here our server came over and asked how i was doing. kudos to him for paying attention, but it was pretty obvious, i think, that i wasn't feeling too well. he wanted to know if i wanted the rest of my meal just boxed up or if i was up to eating more. i let him know i still wanted to be served but he would be boxing up a few more 'tastes' as they were referring to them. in fact i found out the theme was 23 tastes for 23 years. well, we had a little more than 23 but who's counting? so i continued to get my plates, which allowed me to eat which i needed to do, the courses that wouldn't go home well, and to at least enjoy the idea of eating those which i'd get to enjoy later.


*Matt* whenever I've been there, the service at Rover's has been unfailingly excellent. I remember once when I took my mom to dinner there, she was having some problems with her silverware and managed to drop her fork 3 or 4 times during the course of the meal. While the service wasn't intrusive and I didn't even notice them at other times, whenever she dropped a fork there was some one at out table immediately with a new fork. I was very impressed.


5th Course:

Seared Foie Gras with Candied Fennel, Honey-Verjus Gastrique and Ginger Biscotti

that's 1 big piece of foie gras and i didn't mind! that's actually my serving pictured, matt's wasn't as big.


*Matt* WOW, foie gras 3 times in one meal? NICE! This was my favorite of the three, but I'm partial to seared foie gras.

served with Sauternes-Barsac, Chateau Coutet 1st Cru 2005, Burdeaux France


6th Course:

Troll King Salmon with Zucchini, Smoked Bacon and Tomato Coulis

*Matt* Lovely.

Alaskan Halibut with Butternut Squash, Apple and Red Wine-Onion Confit Jus

*Matt* My favorite of the three. Unusual, because black cod is one of my favorite fish, but the way the halibut played with the sweetness of the squash was deligthful.

Pacific Black Cod with Artichoke Puree, Fingerling Potato and Truffle Oil

this wasn't very hot when it got to us. i'm not sure if it was meant to be on the cooler side or not.


*Matt* Artichoke puree? Who thought of that! I didn't even know you could puree artichokes. Very enjoyable.







i would've taken all of these home with me but seafood doens't really warm over that well.

served with Ladoix, Parent, La Corvee 1st Cru 2005, Burgundy France
i couldn't really taste any of the wines, let alone smell them. however i found myself swirling and inhaling every glass as if i could. i could smell none of them, but this one and the next, i found i could feel the vapors as i inhaled filling my nose and throat.


7th Course:

Quince Puree with Aged Gouda Tuile and Hazelnut Croquant

i expected this to be a sorbet/granita type of consistency but it wasn't. the shock i had was like what you experience when you pick up a chocolate chip cookie only to bite into it and find out it's a raisin cookie. this was sticky sweet. it reminded me of a dessert i had once in a chinese restaurant.


*Matt*  Nice palette cleanser. The tuile was unexpected, but I liked it.

8th Course:

Snoqualmie Valley Lamb with Couscous, Roasted Pepper and Pickled Eggpant

*Matt* Very nice. I think I remember seeing Chef Thierry make something similar on Top Chef Masters. Delicious.

Slow Roasted Wagyu Beef with Corn Flan and Potato Crisp

the potato crisp was really pretty and omg thin!


*Matt* YUM. Favorite of the three-Loved the wagyu, but the little touches were what made it. The corn flan was sweet and savory all at once, and the potato crisp was awesome. Imagine two paper thin pieces of potato put together over an herb leaf and then deep fried. So cool!

Squab Breast with Wild Mushroom and Huckleberry Sauce

*Matt* I love squab, and this was great.














served with Cabernet Sauvignon, Freemark Abbey, Sycamore 2002, Napa Valley California USA

i barely tasted these when i let our server know he could box up everything. i was fading fast.
our server let me know that they'd bring out our dessert as soon as they could, along with coffee and the check so we could take off as soon as we wanted to. that was really nice. it still took a little bit for desserts to come out of the kitchen, but when it did we were the 1st table to be served. as soon as the rest of the desserts he had to bring out were, he brought us our check.

9th Course:

 Vanilla Bean Bavarian with Carmalized Fig

*Matt* Figs and vanilla. Yum. I like seeing figs in dessert. They aren't as familiar a flavor to Americans as they could be-most Americans have only had figs of the Newton variety. This was much better :)

Spiced Cake with Green Apple Ice Cream, White Chocolate Wafer and Honey Madeira Sauce


*Matt* This was very nice. Though spice cakes aren't my personal favorite, it was still lovely.

Chocolate Almond Gateau

*Matt* How could you go wrong with chocolate almond gateau? Delicious!














served with Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, Demi-Sec NV, Champagne France

10th Course:

top: Chocolate Truffle; middle: Black Cherry Gelee; bottom: Salt Caramel

So there you have it. 23, er, 27 tastes for 23 years. here's to another 23 chef!


and for those of you giving up on the answer to the question above - it's a "sauce spoon".

9/7/2010 Uncle Buck's Charlotte NC

for our last lunch in salisbury matt and i ran down to the main drag and had a burger at Uncle Bucks. it's a pretty decent burger, but it's a burger. i think the main draw for anyone visiting would be the selection of side dishes. but i'm getting ahead of myself.

let's see what the burgers look like. 

we actually both had the bacon cheeseburger. matt had the chips. the menu calls them fresh tater chips

and i had the chips. ok, for those of you confused, i'm having the british chips. the menu calls them freedom fries.

the walls are decorated with flags and they invite anyone who's in any arm of the military and coast guard to sign the flags.

above right and left: our side dish

deep fried green beans

they're actually pretty good. this particular day they weren't as crisp as i remember them from the year before when i had them for the 1st time. but they were still pretty good.

and if you need another reason to visit uncle bucks, they have deep fried corn and deep fried tater salad.