Engineer’s Attempt at Writing

My blog is back. I hope I will have time to try more new restaurants and write about them this winter. Le Pigeon you are next.

Last weekend was a lot of fun – great food, great family and friends, and even met some fun people from work.

I went to San Francisco for a company event last weekend. My coworker, his wife, and I decided to leave a little earlier than other people and arrived in SF thursday night. We were obviously big fans of Top Chef and Top Chef Masters, and decided to take the opportunity to go to Hubert Keller’s restaurant. Unfortunately the chef was not around but the food was still excellent.

We arrived at our reservation at about 8:30 PM and had a drink at the bar. I had a cocktail with guava juice, rum, vodka, tequila, and some other kind of juice. The drink was pinkish and a little girly but I did not care because it tasted really good. My coworker and his wife also had cocktails and were very good also. The restaurant itself had a very interesting decoration. For some reason it reminds of a circus ring. The sad part is that I only had my Iphone with me and therefore, the pictures of the food are not very clear.

So lets get to the food. The first thing that was offer to us was some bread – nothing spectacular about the bread IMHO. We decided to go for the 4 course meal with wine pairing – I do not know much about wine but they went well with the food. The wine pairing was definitely worth it. My coworker’s wife had a Chardonnay that she said was the best she ever had. I think the wine I had were all very good except for the wine or some kind of alcohol that went with the desert. Before the food arrived, we were given some thing (not sure what it was) and a gaspacho (I think pea). The picture is not so good but I am posting it anyways. This was complimentary and nothing to complain nor to rave about.

For the appetizer I ordered the symphony of choucroute fondant with caviar, foie gras with smoked duck burgers, beef tare tare, and fries. The foie gras with smoked duck burgers was good. The beef tare tare was great and the fries was also very good – I am a sucker for fries. My friend had the pan seared foie gras. I think there is really nothing better on earth than the chinese braised pork belly and pan seared foie gras. The foie gras literally starts to melt as soon as it touches your tongue. My friend’s wife had the roasted maine lobster – the lobster had a very sweet taste but I don’t think it compares to the feel and taste of the pan seared foie gras as it melts in your mouth. My favorite apetizer of the 3 has to be the pan seared foie gras. Obviously the appetizers were served with very good wine. Unfortunately, I am no wine expert and not really sure what it makes it good. It went well with the meal.

For the second course, my friend’s wife and I had the Maine scallops with toasted pine nuts. The scallops were served on potatoes, sun dried tomatoes, and some sort of wine reduction. The scallops were very well cook – it was just right and the sweetness of the scallop really went well with the tangy sun dried tomatoes.

For the third course I had the waygu beef cheek with spatzel and choucroute gratin. I think my mouth went to heaven when I had a little bit of the beef cheek. I mean I always knew that beef cheek were super tender and good, but I had no idea that it can be so good until I had the waygu beef cheek. The chef was a genius in the way he prepared the meat. My friend had the lamb loin and lamb shank tangine. The lamb was superb (I am running out of adjectives to describe the food). It was so moist and tender and cooked to a medium rare perfection. My friend’s wife had the filet migno with lobster trouffled mac and cheese. Again filet mignon was very well prepared – I don’t think I have ever had a more tender piece of steak. However, the trouffled mac and cheese was a little off for me. I think the cheese overpowered the trouffled and the macroni masked the texture of the lobster. I did not think it was anything special.

I had the souffle for desert and like every other part of the meal it was very well prepared. However, I enjoyed the cookies that were treats from the kitchen. The cookies (some type of cookies) were to die for. Obviously the wine pairing made the evening even better. I definitely like the food at the restaurant and would recommend anyone going to SF to give it a try.

i am watching forrest gump again after a very long time and it makes me happy. forrest gump is just one of those perfect feel-good movies. when you are down and when you have a crappy week, forrest gump can just brighten up your day.

i think the story is awesome – i mean you know someone like him never exist in this world but he is so cool. i love “life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you will get”. I need to view my life and my work like that. i need to approach it fresh and always be excited on what will happen next.

I am jealous of Anthony Bourdain – he gets to travel the world, get great food. I have put a lot of thought into this and I have come to the conclusion that one of the best way to really understand another culture is through the food. Food really defines a culture and a nation’s style.

I think someone should write a book about food from around the world and how we can see the shaping of the country’s country through their cuisines.