Iryska condensed milk

Ah, the taste of childhood delicacies!! Sweetened condensed milk — pre-BOILED!! Someone with my sweet tooth couldn’t pass this up!

Upon opening the can, the colour of contents was deep hazelnut-brown, darker than the “home-made” varieties (made by boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk myself for a couple of hours — maybe i don’t boil mine long enough). The texture was less liquid than what i usually have — this is not a sauce to pour over anything, this is a dessert to be eaten out of the can with a spoon! And once you start, it is really hard to stop eating!

Salty’s on Alki, Seattle

http://www.saltys.com/seattle/

Salty’s on Alki Beach in Seattle has a great view of the downtown across the water, and the right balance of “fanciness” and good food to take one’s parents there for a memorable Seattle dinner.

We were planning to have an early dinner at 4 pm on a November evening due to scheduling constraints. This happened to be just the right time to watch the dusk & darkness descend on the downtown, and the lights start turning on in the city. By being so early, we had a table right by the window. The white tablecloths, the table settings, and the pre-holiday Nutcrackers throughout the restautant put my parents in a festive mood.

We had only slightly over an hour for dinner, so we could not linger too long. We ordered fish: a salmon, a sturgeon, an Idaho trout, and a seared tuna. All of them were very good (although the seared tuna was not what my father had expected, even though it was accurately described on the menu — an Asian fusion-type dish). The trout, with its delicate fried crust, was just what my mom had wanted. And the sturgeon was subtle in flavour and creamy in texture — very good, and quite different from how i cook it.

Overall, as usual, a great place for a slightly-over-the-top special-occasion meal.

Figlmuller, Vienna

Figlmuller

This place says that it has the biggest — and the most famous — Wienerschnitzel — and judging from the line that formed outside the door by the time we left, plenty of people believe it.

The schnitzels were larger than the plate, as advertised. And pretty good, giving you a fair impression of the iconic dish: cooked just right, not too dry. Overall, if you want to go to a touristy restaurant to eat a touristy dish — this place does give you good food.

Cafe Sacher, Innsbruck

Cafe Sacher, Innsbruck

The outpost of the famous Viennese Cafe Sacher in the picturesque mountain town on Innsbruck is what you’d expect it to be: traditional and frilly, with dark-pink-silk walls, mirrors, dark wood, uniformed wait-staff and impeccable service.

I wanted to try the Sacher torte — the one that was created more than a hundred years ago, was the subject of a trademark lawsuit and spawned many imitations. And here it was before me, the real thing — looking rather simple, in a dark-chocolate glaze. I took a bite and a long-forgotten taste from my childhood came to mind — a chocolate cake that was probably one of the many imitations of the Sacher, had a similar glaze, and was called, in those days, the “Prague torte”. A couple of things in the Sacher torte were different from what i remembered, though — the hint of apricot jam gave it very nice acidity that i didn’t at all recall in the cake from my childhood; and it was surprisingly dry! Apparently, it is supposed to be rather dry — but it was too dry for my tastes.

Overall, a good thing to try — and some unexpected memories — but not my favourite chocolate cake.

Ali Baba’s on Broadway, Seattle

Ali Baba’s Yelp page

Was walking down Broadway and looking for something i could eat in the 15 mins i had till my hairdresser appointment — this has proven surprisingly hard after the demolition of those 3 blocks that housed places like Piroshky. Saw Ali Baba’s and spent a minute looking at their menu, trying to figure out whether getting something to go would be too messy to eat while walking. Finally decided to try it out — and i am glad i did.

The place was totally empty except for the guy behind the counter, who’s been watching my doubts in front of the door, and seemed glad i finally decided to step inside. The walls are painted sunny & bright yellow and red, the ceiling blue. The rest of their decor leaves something to be desired, in my opinion — plastic thing and pieces of cloth hanging haphazardly on the walls and the ceiling. The plastic tables remind one of a cafeteria. I saw some article in support of Palestinians on the wall near the counter — other sources say that the lamb is halal, so that makes sense. The atmosphere is by no means bad or unpleasant — just that of a cheap fast food joint.

Which is a pity, since to do the food justice, the atmosphere needs to be “cheap fast GOOD joint”. I walked up to the counter & asked what i get to go. The guy said “almost anything”, and asked a reasonable question: “did i want ‘fast’, or just ‘to go’”, and mentioned several fast vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. I picked the zatter off the menu (pita, feta, oregano & some spices, onions, tomatoes & lettuce) — which materialized in front of me in a brown paper bag in 2 mins.

Walking out the door & opening the bag, i noticed a hand-written sign on the door saying that during September, Ali Baba will close at 7:30 pm. I wonder whether that’s related to Ramadan?

The wrapped food smelled very enticingly, and biting into it, i realized how fresh everything was. I hate lettuce — but this one was crispy and flavourful, a salad even i could eat! The cheese and the spices made for a great flavour combination. And overall, very filling — and for $5, good-prices very quick meal! I will definitely go back.

Golden Glen Creamery Farmstead Butter

http://www.goldenglencreamery.com

Walking around my local farmer’s market on a Saturday morning, i stopped to sample Golden Glen Creamery’s cheese curds (they are pretty good, especially the spicy ones — but i tend to prefer Beecher’s, maybe because those are saltier), and little containers of their Farmstead Butter caught my eye. Several vendors sell cheese at the market, but this was the 1st butter that i noticed therw. I decided to buy a small container to try.

The butter is pale-yellow in colour, slightly salted, with a strong natural taste of… butter. Some of the best better i’ve had in a long while! Great by itself, on fresh bread; or to use for cooking.

Bakon

http://www.bakonvodka.com

Premium Bacon-Flavored Vodka

Made by BlackRock LLC, which is headquartered in Seattle; the stuff is actually produced in Cottage Grove, OR. I happen to be somewhat partial to the output of Oregon’s distillers, so was looking forward to this (well, actually, i started looking forward to it when i 1st heard there was going to be a bacon-flavored vodka at an office party).

The bottle is big, w/ an imposing geometric shape and a “stylized” bacon icon on the front. It is NOT trying to be subtle!

The stuff is ever-so-slightly yellow in colour. It was served at room temperature. At that temperature, it smelled rather “salty” and plenty “bacon-y” — much more so that i expected. The taste approximates that of cooked bacon fairly well, w/ smokiness and leaving a bacon “impression” in the mouth. The taste is rather strong, and not my favorite type of taste of bacon (people do have very particular preferences when it comes to bacon!). Someone else has commented that the taste is too strong, and not subtle enough.

Overall, i liked it — maybe because it was better than what i expected. Not sure, though, what the market or fan base for this is, besides “unusual stuff” — someone suggested it might go well in bloody marys.

Stone Pie Joe’s, Portland

http://www.stonepiejoes.com/

Walking around the Alphabet district in Portland, looking for a place to have a quick lunch on a break from my flower course, saw this place. It looked obviously very new (and i hadn’t seen it during my previous visit to Portland 4 months or so ago) and had “just starting out” spare-but-cheerful aesthetic. The walls inside a warm yellow colour, mostly bare; a couple of tables and a counter facing the street. All tables were occupied by other seekers of quick and inexpensive lunches.

I got the vegan eggplant pie. (Kudos for them for having a number of vegan and vegetarian choices, even though i follow neither set of dietary restrictions.) It was obviously very fresh, with good eggplant filling, just a bit too bland for my taste — i had to add quite a lot of salt and pepper (then again, i like a lot of salt in my food). At $3.25, it was well-priced. I have to say that i would take a knish from Yonah Schimmel on the Lower East Side over one of Stone Pie Joe’s pies any time — but in the absence of any such knishes nearby, I will be happy to try another one of these pies!

Alaskan Sourdough Bakery, Seattle

http://www.alaskansourdoughbakery.com/

I was walking along Seattle’s waterfront on a hot sunny touristy Saturday around 3 pm, when I acutely realized that I haven’t had lunch yet. I have been carving fish a while now (I think the hot weather does that to me), and started looking around for the least “tourist trap-y” place on the busy Pier 57.

I saw the sign for the Alaskan Sourdough Bakery at the side of the building, and walked it through the small door. Inside, the place was empty except for 2 people behind the counter. Bread (mostly sourdough bowls and baguettes, true to the name) was in display cases, along w/ some berry muffins and such. A couple of tall granite (or some other cooling stone-like material) topped tables and some bar stools were facing the wall opposite the counter; overall the decor was rather plain. The menu of soups and sandwiches and drinks was written on a board hanging above the counter — around 4 soups and perhaps 7 sandwiches, and the usual selection of coffee-related drinks.

Not expecting much, I picked the “Three Swedes” sandwich (smoked salmon, onion, tomatoe, lettuce, w/ dill sauce), without the lettuce, for $7.95. The just-prepared sandwich seemed to materialize instantaneously on top of the counter, cut in half. Each half was huge; inside each, there was a big piece of smoked salmon — bigger than in salmon entrees in some restaurants in this town! Everything in the sandwich was great — except the tomatoe, which was merely decent (on par w/ tomatoes you get in deli sandwiches all over the place). The onions were crispy and fresh, but not too onion-y (i don’t like strong flavour of raw onions); the salmon was really good, taste- and texture-wise (flavourful and not dry at all!); the dill sauce added a nice note but was not too sloppy or overwhelming; and the bread was definitely sour, extremely fresh, w/ a nice crust around — must have been baked less than an hour ago.

Overall, a great quick lunch meal at the waterfront — and a very good value for the price. Will definitely go back & check out some of the other offerings.

L’Ecole at the French Culinary Institute, NYC

http://www.frenchculinary.com/lecole.htm

This is the restaurant of the French Culinary Institute. The meals are prepared and served by the Institute’s students in the hip location in the heart of Soho. They serve a prix-fixe 4- or 5-course dinner, 3-course weekday lunch and have recently started serving a prix-fixe 2-course weekend brunch as well.

The space is large and competently decorated , calling to mind a “fancy” French restaurant but without any extravagant stamp of a chef’s or decorator’s personality. The walls are light-yellow, w/ large black-and-white photos of food preparation; there is a mix of small and large tables and comfortable booths; the tableclothes and napkins are bright-white; the flower arrangements are tasteful (dark pink orchids in clear cylinders by the entrance, a small orchid flower at each table).

The service (provided by the students) is inconsistent, mostly when it comes to clearing the dishes: at one point, a server attempted to remove a plate from which i was still eating (literally taking bytes off of). They refilled coffee promptly, but hot water for tea less so. Well, it shows that there are skills involved in being a good waiter and paying attention to the state of each table!

A small gripe from a non-coffee-drinker: the prix-fixe brunch includes coffee, but not tea. I think i understand the economics — a tea bag is more expensive than a share of a large pot of coffee; having a selection of fancy tea bags gives an opportunity to present it as a high-margin product — but still, this preference for one beverage over others seems a bit exclusionary.

The food. The bread basket had 4 pieces of bread of different kinds (baked by the Institute’s students as well) — pretty good, although not great. The brunch menu included several enticing appetizers. In fact, the steak tartare w/ quail egg that i had was great — wonderful consistency, very fresh, the egg set on top in a half-shell; not spicy, but flawless. I was not very impressed by a piece of hamachi tartare that i tried — it was decent, but seemed to be a bit bland. The duck and pork terrine appetizer was very good — the terrines had whole pistachios in them, a nice touch, and were served w/ pickles. All the appetizers were presented on the plate impeccably. For the main course, my duck confit w/ potatoes in madeira sauce was very good — skin crispy, meat soft, a melting layer of flavourful fat between the two, potatoes and caramelized onions serving as a very good accompaniment. A lychee mimosa was not overly sweet, and seemed to go very well w/ the place.

Overall, a competent and nice-looking “fancy” food place, w/ some “rough edges” that are perhaps to be expected of students. (However, from what i remember, the service was better at FareStart in Seattle — which most definitely does not charge >$40K for a 6-months course.)