Foodies Unite: 1/2/10 John Howie Steak

For some reason unknown to me i didn't take my camera the 1st time matt and i went. it's too bad, it was a great meal. the good news for you is this is a steakhouse, and by looking at the pics here you'll know exactly what our dinner looked like back in october, too. well, with the exception of the wine (we had an argentinian molbec) and dessert (lisa graciously got us the cherries jubilee - quick story. while i was in the ladies she happened by and asked matt "if we were to set something on fire would you prefer bananas or cherries?" matt chose wisely. it was cool.) but that was last oct, and this is jan. no flaming fireside table prep this time, although i highly recommend it, especially if you've never had a tableside prep before. it totally makes one feel important.

we started the night with a prosecco that lisa chose. i've no idea which one. - i wonder if she'll let me get a pic of her way cool, very expensive wine-saving device? i'll have to ask next time. lisa also chose our wine - why shouldn't we trust her to pick something, i mean it's her job and she knows what we like. so she selected the Ramey Cabernet Sauvignon

now, i must admit we haven't hung out in bars in i don't know how long, but the bar menu has a few things on it that are not in the appetizers section of the dinner menu, so we had to ask lisa to order it for us. what might this delicacy be that we had to go to so much trouble to get? i'm so glad you asked, and i'll tell you. are you sitting down? you just might want to be. take the 2 things that make *anything* taste better and put them together. give up? 1 is to deep fry the item. the 2nd? BACON! you got it. tempura-battered, deep-fried, BACON! YUM!

the house serves an amuse bouche to every diner, to. it's a single bite of salmon mousse with cucumber on crostini. simple but tasty.

we did have a 2nd appetizer,
fried calamari and baby artichokes, roasted garlic- lemon aoli

it was quite tasty. most people think 'oh it's calamari, it's not hard to fix that...' but in fact, calamari, octopus and scallops are harder than one thinks. there's a very small window where it's "done". just shy and it's raw, squishy and rubbery, just past and it's hard, chewy and rubbery. but just right and it's fantastic.

for our main courses we had, gee, big surprise, steaks. matt had japanese kobe new york strip steak and ma had the japanese kobe filet mignon (i only took a picture of 1 of them).

one of the cool things about ordering the japanese kobe - and yes, they offer american wagyu if you prefer but you won't get the following - is a knife presentation. it's really kind of neat. if you ever wanted to feel like some big important person, here you go. they bring around a box and when they get to the person who ordered the kobe, open it and allow the customer to select their knife.

and for anyone wondering, yes it is a *very* sharp knife. if you're one of those who like to lick your knife, this is one meal where you want to abstain from it.

not sure if you can see it in the picture, but you can make out the layers of steel when they forged the knife.

i thought about having the kobe fillet mignon because they actually had a 4oz. on the menu but i opted out on it. i like my beef cooked to not bleeding, and kobe and wagyu really are best when prepared to just past raw, or 'still mooing' as some say. so instead i had the regular 8oz. fillet mignon. but still quite tasty. and good warmed over the next day for lunch, too!

something we like, and many people don't realize, is there are lots and lots of different types of salt. JHS provides a trio of salts in which to enhance your steak choice, and all result in a very different taste. it's kind of cool.

white = fleur del sol
pink = australian
black = hawai'ian

yes, there were side dishes.

baby asparagus with a cheese sauce