First Look at Barbuzzo

We paid a visit to the baronesses of 13th Street’s newest venture the week after it threw open the door for business. For the ladies who own businesses up and down the block, we were very curious to find out what this place has to offer with its Mediterranean style menu.

Chicken Liver and Foie Gras Mousse with Brandied Cherries, Pistachio Salt and Crostini

This was so good. Great flavor, very smooth texture, good density, did not have that over the edge taste that usually comes with liver dishes. The brandied cherries provided such a harmony to the mousse and were just phenomenal when eaten spread on the crostini. So good!

“Pig Popcorn” with Apple Cider Vinegar Powder, Espelette Chile & Horseradish Aioli


I have never seen fried pig skin in such large pieces! It was crunchy, it crumbled in the mouth, and it was not greasy. It should have been called “pig candy” instead. The skin could have used a tad more seasoning but the slight lack of it did not not make this a perfect snack for those who are carbo-phobic but not cholesterol-phobic. The Aioli was good but I wasn’t too sure it if was supposed to go with the skins. It seemed to be too mild and with the wrong taste profile with the texture and the grease of this fried goodie.

Roasted Marrow Bones with Persillade, Lemon & Pickled Onion Jam.

The addition of the persillade and the lemon and pickled onion jam gave this dish such a different dimension. The marrow was done perfectly for spreading, and with the flavoring from the sauces and add-ons, it was phenomenal on the pieces of slightly toasted bread. This was a dish in which the sum was greater than the parts.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Caciocavallo Stuffed Meatballs with Oregano, Chile and Caperberry-Pepper Relish
 
The dish was OK. I liked the texture and graininess of the meatballs but I would have liked a bit more flavoring in the meat. I could not taste the cheese or the chile that was supposed to have been stuffed into the balls. I also found the sauce to be a bit too sweet, and bland. Nevertheless, the meat balls were filling (I also ate almost all of the previous three dishes).

 
 
 
 
 

Cured Meat Board
 
Clockwise top left: La Quercia prosciutto rossa, chorizo picante, rosette de Lyon, jamon Serrano 12 month, house pickled vegetables, Barbuzzo grissini.

For some reason, I thought Barbuzzo was curing its own meat therefore I was surprised to see the meats served were procured rather than cured. For those that were made in-house, I liked the pickled vegetables but I did not like the grissini. It tasted like something from a box from Walmart. May be, that should have been procured.

Housemade Botifarra Sausage with Wood Braised Beans, Catalan Style Chard, and Pomegranate Molasses

We liked the texture. It was moist. The meat was grinded to a good graininess. But again, it could have used a bit of a kick in the flavor department. It was a good but not fantastic sausage. The chard was good.



 
 
 
 
 

There are always risks in going to a brand new restaurant within weeks of its opening. As seasoned operators, the risks could be mitigated for this couple’s third restaurant venture.


The room was nicely done in a mixture of hi-tech and rustic decor. We were seated at the kitchen counter with a bird eye’s view of the action. However, being close to the kitchen and the expeditor did not ensure food would come in a timely or orderly pace. Our first three items arrived within minutes, then everything stopped. Our waiter was quite friendly and seemed to be a nice guy, but he was also a bit clueless and absent-minded. He never came back with an answer for Tourist Tree’s food allergy and had no idea that 3 of our 6 plates never showed up when he was ready to hand us the dessert menu. Our first three dishes were outstanding while the other three were, like the service and the kitchen, a work in progress.


Barbuzzo, 110 S. 13th Street, Phila., PA 19107
http://www.barbuzzo.com/

To Hell and Back

Is there a reason I would want to do a half mile uphill walk in 95 degree weather with a matching humidity then cram myself into a little room and stand patiently in line?

Ray’s Hell Burger is about a half mile up the hill from the Rosslyn Metro station in a non-descript strip mall along Wilson Boulevard. The place is small. The line to place the order hovers over the people sitting on one side of the room. And there is always a line. And there are always people standing around waiting for a table after their orders are placed. And there are runners hurrying around yelling out order numbers and contorting themselves to squeeze through cluster of people and tables with trays of food. But there is always free aroma of meat on grill as you wait.

Ray’s sells only one thing: A 10 oz burger. However, the customization is up to you: 4 grilling options, grilled, au poivre, blackened, diablo; cheeses from basic American to Époisse de Bourgogne; toppings from lettuce, tomato, onions to seared foie gras with truffle oil or roasted bone marrow with persillade; then pile on fries, coleslaw or seven cheese mac n’cheese as sides.

The 4 grill options, 14 cheeses, and 18 toppings have temporary stunned the Tourist Tree and put the Doctor Professor’s brain into overdrive.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

There are times when you put two pluses together and get plus²; there are times the pluses are so strong that they just cancel each other out. I considered having a burger with the foie and Époisse. In a rare moment of sanity and logical thinking, I decided against that. I have had burgers with foie; I have had burgers with exotic delicacies. In past experiences, one component (mainly the meat) completely dominated the other (the exotic), therefore had killed whatsoever taste, flavor or texture what the delicacy had to offer. The expensive ingredient became a bragging right instead of contributing anything to the experience except the bottom line on the bill.

As a man of self-restrain, I had my Hell burger with au poivre, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, charred jalapeños, cognac and sherry sautéed mushrooms, Applewood smoked bacon and the “King of Cheese”.

My burger arrived with the meat coated with a black peppercorn crust and uniform grill marks sitting on pieces of Applewood bacon with the Époisse oozing underneath it. The jalapeños, grilled onions, and mushrooms were piled atop the top bun sitting open face occupying the rest of the plate.

It was a good size burger. Big, thick, and attractive. The toasted potato-brioche roll was nice to touch. Spongy yet firm to hold everything in and able to keep the juice and grease from soaking thought. The initial bite brought me into the exotic land of black peppercorns crusting a well grilled burger. The spice just exploded into the mouth followed by a river of juice carrying the flavor of the meat and the stinky gooey Époisse as intense and as rapid as a Blitzkrieg. The meat did not have the most intense flavor but it was house-grinded to an ideal graininess and hand-packed to the pecfert density. Along with a hefty thickness, this burger provided a very satisfactory bite for the mouth.

I must admit that although I love the Époisse de Bourgogne, this was the first time I had this “king of cheese” on a burger. Its intense flavor profile worked very well with the grilled patty, except it was melting so rapidly that more cheese was on the plate than on the meat and eventually, it became a dipping sauce.
 
Each bite of the burger would bring me new discoveries depending on where the toppings were placed. The sweetness from the grilled onions, the smoky spiciness and the firm texture of the charred jalapeños, and the crisp Applewood smoked bacon…Oh, bacon…need I say more?
 

A burger is not a burger without fries. We had very nice sweet potato fries with our meal. There were just about every sauce imaginable on the table but I found some BBQ sauce only available from the dispenser by the take-out supply counter that went so well with the fries.
 
For the record, Tourist Tree had an au poivre burger, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, cognac and sherry sautéed mushrooms. I am not sure if she had the same experience as I had since she ate the burger sans bun. Burger is a finger food, eating it with utensils and without the bread is just not quite the same. Regardless, the Tourist Tree enjoyed her burger, her way.
 

So the road to Hell was worth the Bataan death march in the summer heat. The burger was a very satisfying meal and probably one of the more exciting varieties that I have had this year. No wonder POUS and the Veep have been known to stop there for lunch and POUS even took Medvedev there for a hamburger summit;….traveling there in a convoy of air-con limos.
 
The road back from Hell was more bearable with the walk downhill and the sun not beating on us directly. We also know that we were heading to cool brews to help digest our burgers and to keep our body temperatures at a reasonable level.




Ray’s Hell Burger, 1713 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA
(A newer space with table service is opened 2 doors down. Food is the same but not sure if the experience would be)

 
 
 
 
 

 

Beer Week 2010 Super Blog, Pt.12

The “Did We Drink All These?” Week in Review Beer Tally:


21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon
Avery Collaboration but not litigation
Avery Mephistopheles’
Avery/Victory/Dog Fish Head Sasion du Buff
Bell’s Batch 6000
Bell’s Le Pianiste
Bell’s Golden Funk
Bell’s Bourbon Barrel Aged Hell Hath No Fury
Bell’s Le Contrabassiste
Bell’s La Batteur
Bell’s Black Note
Bell’s Wedding Ale
Bell’s Harry Magill’s Spiced
Brusserle Des Franches-Montagues Cuvee Alex Le Rouge
Brusserle Des Franches-Montagues Duuzel
Cigar City Marshal Zhukov’s Imperial Brandy Aged Stout
Clipper City Brewery Heavy Sea Letter of Marque
DFH Palo Santo Marron on cask
Flying Dog Raging Bitch on cask
Flying Dog Snake Bite
Flying Dog Barrel Aged Gonzo Imperial Porter
Flying Fish Farm House Ale
Flying Fish Exit 16 Wild Rice Double IPA
Flying Fish Exit 6 Wallonian Rye
Flying Fish Exit 4 American Trippel
Flying Fish Bayshore Oyster Stout
Flying Fish Imperial Espresso Porter
Founder’s Red’s Rye
Great Divine Express Oak-aged Yeti
Harpoon Summer
Iron Hill Kyptonite IPA
Iron Hill Saison
Left Hand Sawtooth
LeftHhand 400Ib Monkey
Left Hand JuJu Ginger
Ommegang Triple Perfection
Russian River Registration
Russian River Supplication
Russian River Consecration
Russian River Pliny the Elder
Russian River Damnation
Russian River Blind Pig
Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Samuel Adams Coastal Wheat
Samuel Adams Blackberry Witbier
Samuel Adams New World Tripel “Barrel Series”
Samuel Adams Black Lager
Samuel Adams American Kriek “Barrel Series”
Sly Fox Chester County Ale
Southern Tier Heavy Weizen
Southern Tier IPA
Southern Tier Unearthly Imperial IPA
Southern Tier Iniquity Imperial Black Ale
Southern Tier Oat Imperial Oatmeal Stout
Southern Tier Mokah
Southampton Burton Ale
Southern Tier “Phin & Matts” American Pale Ale
Southern Tier “Gemini” Imperial Blended Ale
Troegs Flying Mouflan
Troegs Scratch #27 Cocoabunga
Troegs Scratch #28 Roggen
Troegs Scratch #29 Belgium
Troegs Scratch #30 Bock
Troegs Scratch #31 Citra of Brothery Love
Welhenstephaner Heffe Weissbier
Victory Summer Love
Wells Bombardier

Beer Week 2010 Super Blog, Pt 11

Day Ten

We began the last official day of the Beer Week with a stop at the Philly Gay Pride Parade. Although nowhere in scale as the bigger ones in other cities, it was regardless a good spectacle with entertaining marchers, plus it’s a good cause.

 

 

Jones

With a long drinking day ahead of us, we thought it was wise to load up with nutrients before the activity started. We went for comfort food at Starr’s touristcentric upscale dinner, Jones.

The BMW Pancake is layers of buttermilk pancakes with caramelized Banana, Maple syrup and toasted Walnuts. I do not like sloppy gooey glop on my pancakes so the BMW toppings became BMW sides for me. The pancakes were big, covering almost the plate itself. They were of good thickness, medium sponginess, very moist to the degree of mushy in the center bottom layers but otherwise good throughout the stack. The “sides” were too sweet for my taste. I could not see how people could eat this dish if the glop was on top covering everything. Breakfast is not the time for a mega-sweet dessert.

Apple smoked bacon is a mandatory item for breakfast.

 

 

The Huevis Rancheros was the usual fried eggs, refried black bean, salsa, avocado, warm tortillas… This Mexican version of a bastardized chop-suey weight about a pound with the plate. The hungry Tourist Tree scoped up the dish faster than Superman could change in the phone booth. She liked it despite that the black beans were pureed into the same texture as the rest of the dish. Aiiyah thought the whole thing looked kind of …vile like looking at bird droppings under a microscope.

 

As we were enjoying our breakfast, we noticed the couple sitting next to us at the counter was sharing a big format bottle of Voodoo Love Child, which led to an interesting conversation about…beer! It happened that they were from Tampa and were in the city specifically for the Beer Week!

Local 44

Doing an encore performance of the Russian River Sunday of Beer Week 2009, Local 44 put every Russian River beer it could get its hands on on tap including the new Registration. I don’t like sucking on grapefruit rinds therefore I wasn’t particularly hot about this American IPA, but the Tourist Tree and just about everybody else at the bar loved it so much that this 7.9% beer was just flying off the tap.

After downing (in this order) Supplication (7% Am.ale), Consecration (10% Am ale), Pliny the Elder (8% Imp IPA), Damnation (7.75% Belgium strong); and with the three guys from the Home Sweet Homebrew next to us, the conversation had become less and less relevant, “Hey, what about the Constipation one?” “It’s a brown ale!” Have you done the Masturbation Ale yet?” “Russian Resignation?”

Joe & Mrs. Sixpack dropped by for a visit. After hanging out for a while, he decided to buy everybody at the bar a Blind Pig (6.1% Am IPA)! Joe just returned from a trip to Sierra Nevada. We suggested that he should do a collaboration beer with them and call it the Joe Sixpack Porter.

Being the Executive Director for the Beer Week, he was very earnest in getting feedback on the events. He was interested in hearing from us about our experience and was even surprised to learn from us about upcoming brews that he didn’t know about.

Mrs. Sixpack and Tourist Tree bonded over yoga talk. She even gave Tree a free pass for her yoga class. The one that seemed most interesting was the monthly yoga social - yoga followed by beer afterward.

Amada

We dragged ourselves out of Local 44 in order to make the sold-out Flying Fish Beer Dinner at Amada on time. With the amount of people attending, the dinner took over the entire space at the back of the restaurant.

Yes, that is Casey Hughes in his Sunday best wearing flip fops in the picture giving an introduction on the beers and the dinner

We were seated six to a table and got to meet some very interesting people from in and out of town. Some were novice in craft beers while others were geeks like us with everybody anticipating an exciting tonight.

Our first beer was the thirst crunching Farm House ale. It was a refreshing low abv (4.6%) treat after having spent an afternoon drinking the heavier duty Russian Rivers

Our table might not have the culinary skills or the celebrity-ness of our neighboring table but we definitely had more fun than them.  

 

Sardinas a la Plancha
Exit 16 Wild Rice Double IPA

Grilled Mediterranean sardines, wild rice and citrus tempura. The fish was awesome! It was fresh, moist, tender, seasoned and grilled perfectly with a sprinkle of tempura flakes on top for textural contrast. The wild rice was a wonderful compliment to the dish. Everything jived very well with the characteristic of the 8.2% Exit 16.

Costillas de Ternera
Exit 6 Wallonian Rye

Braised short ribs, white asparagus escabèche and grilled sourdough. The short ribs went phenomenally well with the Exit 6. Bites of tartness and sourness in the marinade and the sweetness in the rye beer were perfect dance partners. The meat could have been a bit more tender but the white asparagus escabèche on the meat did make it interesting.

Instead of the short robs, Tourist Tree got the Beef Brochettes. These hanger steaks on a stick were also cooked perfectly and went pretty well with the Exit 6.

We really enjoyed this newer release from Flying Fish. The characteristic of this beer would make it an excellent candidate to be barrel aged. Casey?



 

Oh yeah, definitely having a good time.

Cochinillo Asado

Exit 4 American Trippel

Roasted suckling pig, wilted spring greens and truffled rosemary white beans. If there is a dish that we can count on Amada to do it right, it’s the suckling pig. Our beer dinner suckling pig surely had lived up to its legendary reputation. The meat was sublime from the overnight marinating and the double roasting in the oven. What elevated the pig to heavenly reign was the crackling skin. A bite into the skin was pure ecstasy! The by-catches on this dish were very nice; unfortunately they were just a distraction for me.

There is no piggy for the Tourist Tree on this night. As a substitute, she had two absolutely perfectly grilled lamb chops. I would eat these chops on any given night; but for tonight, I would keep my suckling pig and its crackling skin, thank you.

Ostras dos Veces
Exit 1 Bayshore Oyster Stout

Fried Cape May Salt oysters (L) and baked Cape May Salt oysters(R). The fried oyster was topped with a sliver of pickled mushroom and with a sour’ish sauce on the bottom. The combined flavors and texture of the ingredients and the freshness of the oyster made this bite size morsel super awesome. The baked oyster was an ingenious take of the Oyster Rockefeller. A wowing repackage of a by-gone classic without the usual heaviness and greasiness.

The Tourist Tree had Oyster Escabèche with her Exit 1. In her version of the oyster course, she had three individual raw Cape May Salts, each bathing in a colorful escabèche dressing. The sourness and sweetness of the sauce worked very well with the brine in the oyster in providing a harmony to the mouth.



 

 

 

 

 

We love the Exit 1. We never had the Exit 1 served in a snifter. This fine 7% stout brewed with oyster shells tasted just as nice to me in this novel vessel but the noise was definitely more pronounced.

Pairing the Oyster Stout with an oyster dish sounded gimmicky. Fortunately, Amada had done its homework to make the flavors from each component work very well together.

 

 

Postre de Cerveza
Imperial Espresso Porter

The Imperial Espresso Porter is one of my all time favorite beers. It is already on the menu for my “last meal” if I were to have one. Use this beer for a beer float with sweet cream and caramel ice cream was just gilding the lily. That was such a perfect dessert except it came in a small glass and not even half-filled!



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tourist Tree got her usual standard issue food allergy dessert alternative: Sorbet.

Franklin Fountain


In a moment of irrational exuberance, we had post-fest desserts. After such an long fun-filled day and an extraordinary dinner, it would only be fitting to have an absoulate blowout dessert gluttony.

The brownie peanut butter ice cream fudge sundue was satisflying and certainly a good end to finish the day. Torist Tree’s mint chocolate chip soy ice cream was…soy’ish but yummy.









Day Ten Beer Tally:

Russian River Registration
Russian River Supplication
Russian River Consecration
Russian River Pliny the Elder
Russian River Damnation
Russian River Blind Pig
Flying Fish Farm House Ale
Flying Fish Exit 16 Wild Rice Double IPA
Flying Fish Exit 6 Wallonian Rye
Flying Fish Exit 4 American Trippel
Flying Fish Bayshore Oyster Stout
Flying Fish Imperial Espresso Porter

And yes, we were still standing after all of these.

 
 
 
 
 

 

Beer Week 2010 Super Blog, Pt 10

Day Nine


It’s the USA vs. England World Cup match. We planned on watching the game with fellow football (the one which they play with their feet kicking the ball, not the other one which they run around holding the ball with their hands and stop every few seconds) lovers at the block party on giant screens with a few brews in the hands, until we arrived.

As we were approaching the block where MisConduct and Fado are located, we could see the street was already jam packed with people. There were just heads and bodies as far as the eyes could see and it was so packed that nobody was even moving within the crowd. We noticed the long line of people still trying hoping to get in and decided that there would be no game for Aiiyah and Tourist Tree at this block party. I was surprised to see so many in Philly were into watching a non-traditional spectator sport in the US. May be soccer is finally getting a foot hold in this country; now all we need are the hooligans!

Plan B called for Good Dog but it was also so packed that it would not even let people in. Of all those years we have been going to Good Dog, this was the first time that we ever encountered this place having to shut the door because of over-crowding.

Varga Bar

Quick thinking down the list of places with good brews and big TV led us double-timing to Varga Bar as the kick off time was approaching fast. The bar was holding the Beer of Legend's Clone Brew Wars with home brewers trying to clone some of the famous beers like Duval, Pliny the Elder, etc. The actual beers were available on tap for comparison so patrons could vote for their favorite.

 

 

 
 

There was a nice relaxingly happy crowd at the bar for the Clone event. While some had not even a slight knowledge about soccer, a good number of people had their eyes glued to the TV as soon as the game started.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

We celebrated USA’s play at the World Cup with Avery Collaboration but Not Litigation. We were introduced to this 8.72% dark Belgium ale during the Beer Week a few years ago. The beer is a collaborated blend of the Avery Salvation and the Russian River Salvation. This Salvation2 made us very happy this afternoon cheering our Team USA.

I shouldn’t but I did it. I noticed the Southern Tier Mokah still on tap. After already have drunk an ample amount of this liquid gold a few nights ago, I shouldn’t but I couldn’t refuse the temptation. You just don’t see Mokah on tap that often. When you see it, you just gotta have it!

A lot of interesting kegs went in and out of the Varga storage basement.

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 

As the game was winding up, a parade of people supporting LGBT rights marched past Varga.

It lasted a few blocks and was holding up the traffic but nobody seemed to mind.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

It didn’t stop people from celebrating drinking even though the game had been over for a few hours.

We walked past The Coffee Bar at the Warwick Hotel and went in for a peek. Besides the usual fares that one can expect at a coffee place, The Coffee Bar lives up to the “Bar” part of its name with a nice offering of craft beer. It even has happy hour!

Making a stop at the Rittenhouse Square Park to enjoy the fine weather with people practicing tango entertained us.

Miga

Miga bills itself as an upscale Korean restaurant with affordable and non-intimidating food.

We started with a bowl of Yuk Gae Jang, a spicy shredded beef and vegetable soup. The bowl consisted mainly of zucchini, onion, and some beef. It had good consistency with a flavorful broth but was lacking in spiciness that would make this dish stand out. It might be a good introduction to Korean food for the plain food crowd but definitely a disappointment when it came to authenticity.



 

Bibimbop
 
Assortment of vegetables over rice with a sprinkle of seaweed and several strips of “fried egg” which were basically strips of thin omelet. It tasted OK after some gochujang (hot bean paste) was added to it.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Dol Sot Bibimbop

It was pretty much the above dish except served with eel and in a hot sizzling stone bowl. The dol sot bibimbop is one of Tourist Tree’s favorite Korean dishes. The trick of a good dol sot bibimbop is the super hot sizzling stone bowl which cooks the raw egg and crisps the rice when you mix everything together in the bowl. Miga got the hot sizzling part right but putting strips of cooked egg in the bowl instead of a raw egg was like putting ketchup on a pizza. On the plus side, the finely diced eel pieces were tender and tasty even they were very much lacking in quantity.

We visited Miga shortly after it opened last year and again a few months later. After both visits, we came back with the same impression that the place was still a work in progress. At least something is consistent. We still found the staff unfocused, not well-informed, and the service was amateur at best. We once asked our waitress what a particular dish on the menu was like. She replied, “I don’t know.., we don’t get to taste the food here…” (At least she was honest!) I welcome a restaurant serving ethnic food in a more upscale environment; however, I have a problem with a place “dumbing down” the food thinking that it will appeal to more people. We found the food during our initial visits acceptable and were looking forward to the kitchen getting its grove to start cranking out tasty Korean treats. Unfortunately, the owner has decided to dial down its food (and its spiciness) and has gone the opposite direction. Dumbing down doesn’t make your food approachable, cooking with quality and from the heart does. The best Miga had to offer was still the banchen (side dishes) which I would consider as more interesting than some of the more authentic places in the Korean neighbor by 5th Street.

Dumbing down the food and not hiring good help or giving your staff good training (a table away from us was not bused promptly after the party had left leaving empty dishes and glasses on the table for over 20 minutes or a hostess asking us if we were there for the BBQ then took us to a table without a BBQ grill after we had told her yes) was just … dumb!



Day Ten Beer Tally:
 
Avery Collaboration but not litigation
Southern Tier Mokah