Movie Review: A Matter of Taste

What Eric Ripert says about Paul Liebrandt's food, I apply to A Matter of Taste--"Yeah it is good. I would recommend."

Accumulating over 200 hours of footage and shooting for over nine years, Director Sally Rowe captures the Liebrandt's fall from grace and subsequent revival in the New York dining scene. I am not sure what movie she set out originally to make, but the fickle restaurant business created just the right kind of compelling story set in 68 minutes.

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In many ways, A Matter of Taste is similar to Jiro Dreams of Sushi, the other Tribeca Film Festival movie I saw last week. Both are about the key central figure, a man with uncompromising talent and drive. Yet in Jiro's case, the story was nearing its end. The adversity in his establishment at the top had long passed. For Liebrandt on the other hand, the nadir of his career is thrown on the screen. In fact, I could imagine the documentary Liebrandt Dreams of Cooking in fifty years being very similar to Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

Yet the comparisons with Jiro soon fall apart. This isn't a food porn movie. In that sense, as a human story, it has a broader appeal than to just foodies. While Liebrandt's dishes are visually appealing, the real work on display is Director Rowe's story telling. She wonderfully portrays Liebrandt as struggling against the tide, going from gastronomic masterpieces to grilling up burgers and fries. His struggle with the elusive New York Times reviewer Frank Bruni creates suspense. The audience follows along with Liebrandt's roller coaster life, all the while crossing its fingers and hoping for success.

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Movie Review: Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Jiro Dreams of Sushi - Teaser from David Gelb on Vimeo.

Persistence, determination, perfection, pressure. All those aspects came across in this documentary recently screened at the Tribeca Film Festival. While I enjoyed the movie, it lacked any real conflict that could have made it more stimulating. For food porn enthusiasts, it's certainly 81 minutes of close-ups and slow-motion sushi plating.

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Coming from the perspective of someone who has enjoyed one of these types of lavish sushi dinners before (Urasawa), the film made me nostalgic for that experience once again. To me, it didn't seem outrageous to pay for a meal like this, but I can imagine that the audience may not come from the same view. In one scene, a wanderer enters the restaurant and is quickly rebuffed when told that the starting price is $300 per person. A few audience members gasped, although fewer than I would imagine at a regular screening considering this was a New York film festival. To me, I was doing a quick price comparison with my meal at Urasawa in my head. For reference, my dinner at the U started at $350 two years ago, but had twice as many courses. Sukiyabashi Jiro Honten only serves about 20 courses of sushi, while Urasawa also does a kaiseki portion.

Without that sticker shock value, I wonder if I may not be the target for this documentary. If this documentary was for those who dine extravagantly, then the food isn't anything they haven't seen before. If it was for the non-initiated, then it's much more ephemeral, or fantastical. In fact, with the multitude of slow motion shots, I feel like the the target audience was more of the latter than the former. "Look at how much care these people put into their food. Isn't it fascinating?" But for anyone who has been exposed to the laborious presentations of fine dining, this aspect is somewhat lost.

However, this movie isn't only about high-end sushi. The story is simple; as the title suggests, it is a movie about a man and his single ambition to make good sushi. It's a sweet story and the characters certainly are endearing. Centrally, it is a story about the old man behind the counter with much more vigor than his body can provide and the son, groomed for twenty years to take over but with more pressure than Prince Charles.

While documentaries are commonly criticized for artificially creating drama through staged events or creative editing, that is what makes many of them compelling. A documentary avoid its stigma as a snoozefest when you see conflict. In this aspects, Jiro Dreams of Sushi is lacking. I can see the conflict brewing on the horizon--the inevitable day when the son must take over the restaurant, but there is not much in the film that needs to be overcome.

As a movie about a passionate octogenarian and the son in his footsteps, it is touching. If you want to watch the film just to see shots of fancy sushi, you'll be pretty satisfied as well.


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Destination Bahamas for Conch

Before my cruise down to the Bahamas, I did some cursory research on Chowhound for must-eat places in Nassau. I assumed Bahamian cuisine would be similar to Caribbean cuisine in general. But I did find that Nassau was famous for one thing--conch.

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Photo credit: cheesy42 on Flickr

I had always known conch in its shell form. For a long time, it didn't even occur to me that a sea creature lived in the shell or had to form it somehow. I did find this video on how to shell and clean a conch online. It also taught me that konk is the proper pronunciation.



According to Chowhound posters, the Arawak Cay Fish Fry is the place to go for local seafood. The town of Nassau is not huge, and the Fish Fry is within walking distance along the Northern beaches. I had a hard time figuring out what Fish Fry actually was, so I'm going to present it as clearly as I can here. The Fish Fry is a row of restaurants, all serving basically the same foods, emphasizing the conch and other local critters. The particular restaurant I went to was Twin Brothers. Complicating it even more, there are two Twin Brothers restaurants.



Conch fritters are the most popular form of conch dishes. Think Japanese takoyaki, but with firmer pieces of conch meat replacing the chewier squid. The fritters were cheap, about $2.50 for six pieces. Bahamian dollar is pegged at one-to-one with USD and most places take USD. Two Brothers fries a great fritter, fluffy without being dense, and has the most kick-ass spicy remoulade.



I also tried the conch salad. Think ceviche. Very simple and clean. Just conch, tomatoes, onions, jalepeños and lime. It allowed me to get a good idea of what conch tastes like at its most primal. A good conch can be sweet, not unlike abalone.

Additionally, I tried the cracked conch. It was large pieces of deep fried and battered conch somewhat akin to fried fish in a fish and chips platter. While the waitress told me beforehand that the cracked conch was significantly different from the fritters, one dish of deep fried conch is more than enough. Twin Brothers also had delicious frozen mango daquiries.

So now you know, when going to the Bahamas, eat the conch, take the shell as a souvenir.

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Homemade Beef Noodle Soup 牛肉麵 Recipe

Being Taiwanese-American, I am ashamed of not knowing much about Taiwanese cooking. Sure, I can enjoy a night on the town eating through a Taiwanese night market, but I don't know how to prepare much of what I see. Food, je t'aime did a great write-up and photo entry on Taipei's Shilin Night Market (士林夜市). So when my friend Stephen offered to make me some of his famous beef noodle soup, I jumped at the chance and asked if I could watch him prepare it too.

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Since there are so many variations on beef noodle soup, no recipe can be definitive. Stephen told me his family recipe was no secret. In fact, I called my mom and she told me she had her own recipe as well but never taught me. You may notice that this recipe does not have any units of measurement. If you're making beef noodle soup, it's likely that you'll have had it before and can determine your own proportions of ingredients by taste. If you haven't tried it before, does it really matter how accurate the taste is? Just adjust to your preferences.

This recipe is best made a big potful at a time. Good for several servings and several days. It may even freeze well.

Ingredients

Two Onions (we used red, but I don't think it matters)
Tomato
Garlic
Napa Cabbage
Green Onions
Beef Shortrib (although most beef noodle soup involves beef shanks, Stephen insisted that the better cut of meat made a better soup. Also, the long cooking time probably compensated for lack of bone for a proper stock.)
Flour Noodles (we used a Korean brand, but you can substitute however you wish)
Imperial Spice Packet 滷味香 (this is where most non-Chinese cooks may run into a snag. Stephen got his from Taiwan, but I've seen equivalent packets in Chinatown. It's a combination of spices, most importantly star anise, cloves, cinnamon used for braises.)
Soy Sauce
Rice Wine
Brown Sugar


Imperial Spice and Noodles

Stephen's simple recipe involves the use of every dorm-bound, college student's best friend, a slow cooker.

1. Chop the onions and slice the beef into large cubes.



2. Brown the beef with the onions and some garlic.



3. Quarter the tomato. Combine the beef, onions, garlic, tomato in the slow cooker. Cover with a combination of soy sauce, rice wine, water and a dash of oil. Pop in two or three spice packets.



4. Put the slow cooker on low and leave it overnight. Your kitchen will smell delicious.

5. For lunch the next day, fry the napa cabbage or any type of hearty, leafy green. Strain out the onions and garlic from the broth. They were there just for flavor. Cook the noodles separately in clear water. If you cook the noodles in the broth, the starch will thicken the soup and you'll have a hard time making multiple batches.

6. When the noodles are al dente, strain, place in bowl. Add the broth and cabbage. Garnish with green onion.




Food, je'taime also coincidentally wrote up her own family recipe here. That should give you an idea of the variation on this common, but popular dish. I don't write recipes too often, but check out my Sticky Rice Recipe too.
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Blue Hill at Stone Barns

One thing you certainly miss living in the city is seeing the stars at night. Sometimes it's truly a delight to get away from the orange hue of New York's night sky, even better when that diversion includes a superb meal. I recently joined a group of LA bloggers for a trip to Pocantico Hills, about forty minutes outside of the city for a visit and dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barns.
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We arrived in style in a rented minivan. Without a car, Stone Barns is not that accessible. Since we came directly from lunch at M Wells, we had several hours until our 5:30 reservation. Even with a brief drive through tour of Sleepy Hollow, there was still plenty of time to walk around the farm.



As cold as it was outside, the greenhouse stayed pleasantly in the 60 degree range. Currently the farmers had planted winter greens, mostly making mesclun salads and other heartier roots like carrots. Below is an image of the colorful Swiss chard. The farm offers a variety of tours on different topics. I wonder how easy it is to take a tour dressed as you would expect to explore a farm, then change to formal attire for the Blue Hill dining room. I can tell you that walking around the dirt and ice in dress shoes was not easy.



Even during the bitter winter, Blue Hill has a menagerie of sheep, Berkshire pigs and chickens. Although we were told by the manager that the farm is much more productive in the other seasons. In fact, only 30% of the ingredients were sourced locally during the winter, while the figure is closer to 70% in the summer.





We eventually made it to the dining room, still at least forty-five minutes early. No matter; due to the superior service, we ordered some cocktails and were taken to our table within ten minutes. They kind folks even matched our coat check to our valet so that as soon as we left the table at the end of the evening, our coats and car were waiting for us.

The Dinner

The Farmer's Feast is $135 for eight courses. There is a five course for $105, but the waiter insists that the same menu be selected for the entire table. When dining with foodies, there is no way we were going for anything less than the full experience. I was confused about the number of courses though. For one thing, the menu doesn't actually list any food. As the waiter mentioned, it is more a formality than anything. The dishes you receive is based on the availability of ingredients, food preferences, the timing of your reservation and your openness to offal. In fact, during our requested kitchen tour at the end of the meal, Executive Chef Dan Barber explained to us that we would've gotten pasta if we didn't express our welcomeness for exotic foods. When we left, I could see completely different dishes leaving the kitchen than the ones we were served.

Another thing that is somewhat misleading about the eight courses description is that the meal starts with a "Tour of the Farm," in which you receive several offerings of food created on site but they do not count as courses. Think of it as an extended amuse bouche.


Maple sap - Refreshing and light. The flavors of syrup are there, but just barely a hint. A true palate cleanser to whet your appetite.


Turnip, Carrot, Cauliflower - A light dusting of vinegar is all these vegetables needed. I saw them growing in the greenhouse. The presentation reminded me of a wall motif at a Fresh Choice or Soup Plantation.


Dried vegetable chips, Kale, Lettuce, Parsnip, Sweet potato - Terra chips anybody?


Mini beet burgers - One of my favorite little snacks of the night. Who knew that beets could taste so beefy?


Salsify, Panchetta - At this point, I'm still not quite certain what salsify is. It had the consistency of taro. I thought the chef went overboard with the sesame.


Pork liver, Caramelized chocolate - I have a complicated relationship with liver. Good liver dishes, like a heavenly foie gras are to die for, but bad liver just tastes of iron. This pork was so creamy that contrasted with the bitter chocolate, I got only the best tastes of liver.


Beef bresaola, Flatbread - I could have done without the crispy, thin flatbread. Just give me several slices of the air-dried salume and I'm good.


At this point, the waiter pushed a cart by demonstrating a few varieties of the greenhouse plants currently growing. I thought it was a nice touch to periodically bring attention to the ingredients that we were eating. I also thought it was a signal that the actual courses were beginning.


Farm greens, Cured goose breast, Egg yolk
You know at fancy restaurants when a team of servers will bring out a course all at once and place the plates in a synchronized motion? That maneuver is even more intimidating when they put gigantic triangular wedges of marble in front of you, making the table look like a stone pizza. The assorted greens were topped with an orange sauce that tasted like apricots. As a table, we had a hard time identifying the little orange glob that tasted like cheese but was creamy like butter. We found out that it was a specially prepared egg yolk.


Red Fife heirloom grain brioche, Ricotta, Mustard green marmalade
I didn't realize you could make marmalade from anything other than fruit. The mustard green marmalade was savory, but had the consistency of a spread, its flavor somewhat akin to chimichurri. On top of a fluffy, yet thick toast with a heap of warm ricotta made locally and a dash of black pepper, the combination would make an idea breakfast.


Mystery Dish
Considering there was no menu, technically all the dishes were a mystery. No, we weren't served charcoal. The waiter brought this tray out to explain how the farm makes its own charcoal out of different types of biomass to try to impart the flavors onto the food. He prefaced the next dish by mentioning how it had been hanging above the grill for eighteen hours cooking in its own skin. At this point, we were all salivating thinking of the Berkshire pigs we had seen earlier. I imagined an entire lechon style roast piglet brought out to the table.


Pea stew, Tapenade, Red cabbage puree
Okay, those are odd accoutrements to a roast pig...


Smoked tropea onion
Surprise! One of the courses was an onion. Yes, half an onion. Even paired with the three sauces and smoked for hours, it wasn't just an onion. I would've taken an Awesome Blossom over this.


Potato onion bread, Farm fresh butter, Fennel salt, Carrot salt
At last the bread came out. While the bread itself was nothing special, the carrot and fennel salts were intriguing.


Poached egg, Red Cardinal Spinach, Black truffle
One of my favorite dishes of the night, a pairing of black truffles with egg is always a hit. Even better, once the yolk spilled out, you could soak it up with the potato onion bread. While the truffle shavings could've been bigger, they were in adequate abundance to impart the earthy flavor.


Calf brain, Eight Row Flint corn Polenta, Red onion marmalade
Again with the savory marmalades. But as I can imagine onion jam, this one wasn't quite as odd. I wasn't distracted by the marmalade for long however, as this was the first time I tried brain of any animal. Lightly dredged and fried, the preparation was similar to the most common usage of sweetbreads. But the texture was so delicate and creamy that it fell apart in my mouth. Besides the texture, I don't recall any specific flavors of brain.


Finn Dorset lamb loin and rib chop, Pecan, Squash, Cranberries
As much as I love gamey meats, the sign of a sophisticated lamb dish is one that can counteract the gamey taste. Cooked well and dressed nicely, I was satisfied with this as my main meat course and the last savory course of the meal.


Yogurt, Green apple, Celery, Noble Sour vinegar
The first of the desserts was light and fruity. As I expected, the next one would be chocolatey and dense. If anyone has any experience with Noble Sour, I'd like to hear more about it. I'm contemplating buying a bottle after having this dish. Oddly enough, I think the vinegar may have been the primary source of sweetness compared to the other tart ingredients.


Chocolate brioche, Granola ice cream, Oatmeal hazelnut dust
Molten chocolate cakes are overdone. Yet, somehow a brioche just seemed especially appropriate for a "Farmer's Feast." I was more interested in the granola ice cream. It brought up memories of a bowl of granola, but had a rich and decadent texture.


Honey vanilla milkshake, Chocolate caramel hazelnut crunch
Lastly, the mignardises were especially refreshing. Just as starting off the meal with a shot of maple sap, the milkshake smoothed out my tastebuds after a variety of flavors. The crunch was reminiscent of a praline.

As one of the best meals I've had in New York, Blue Hill will be on my list again in the near future. Most promising is that their menu is constantly changing. I certainly want to come back again in the summer for their tomatoes and other local produce. And if I needed any other assurance that this was a good restaurant, we spotted Martha Stewart in the dining room.

Thanks to Kung Food Panda for the pictures!

Blue Hill at Stone Barns
630 Bedford Road
Pocantico Hills, New York 10591
(914) 366-9600
They're only open Wednesday through Sunday for dinner and Sunday for lunch.

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Tipping and Its Harm on Service

I just returned home from an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant that would otherwise be unnotable except for one particular policy. No, it wasn't the "you must eat everything you order," which is a standby at any place that would offer AYCE for $20.95. It wasn't the "no sharing" policy either. That one makes perfect sense. Instead, this restaurant, Yuka on the Upper East Side, has a strict no tipping policy.
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It's no big secret that wait staff are commonly underpaid under the premise that tips would make up the rest of their salary. The result is wide divergence in the earnings from waiter to waiter, or even the same waiter day to day. The entire custom of tipping is ludicrous. People should earn a good salary for the work they do. When they go above and beyond, they can receive a tip as a gratuity for their service. By definition, a tip is not mandatory. When it is mandatory, it constitutes a fee. Let's not fool ourselves, when we dine out, we're paying at least 15% of a fee on top of our meal, not to mention the tax.

When I was in Egypt in December (great timing), there is a culture of tipping called baksheesh. Tourists will recognize it most in the open palms of anyone that aids you, from police point out the best photo spot to bathroom attendants enforcing a pay-to-pee fee. Many Asian countries are moving towards tipping as well, even though they traditionally have no culture of it. I like to blame Western tourists for creating this culture of handouts and corrupting the highly trained Asian service economy.

So what can you do as a customer? You can't stiff the tip at the expense of the poor waiters, unless they truly deserve nothing. Tipping is so ingrained in our culture now that it reflects badly on you when you leave less than 15-18%. What we need are more restaurants like Yuka that have a policy of no tips. In fact, any money left on the table will go to charity. Instead, Yuka charges a management fee of 12% for parties less than six and 18% for six or more. While I applaud the no tipping policy, the mandatory management fee makes me suspicious. Presumably, if it goes towards paying the higher salary for the staff, I can full get behind the charge. The restaurant cannot simply price in the management fee into the food; the restaurant business is too competitive at the price level.

What we need are more restaurants following this innovative policy for the benefit of both customers and waiters, not to mention all the people who work at back of house who don't have an opportunity to earn the tip on their own. Let's put a stand to the spread of mandatory tipping. I support no more nickel and diming customers and a fair wage to service people.



Yuka
1557 2nd Ave
(between 80th St & 81st St)
Upper East Side, NY 10028
(212) 772-9675
All you can eat sushi $20.95

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Fast Food is Best on Wheels: Frites 'n' Meats Truck

Update 4/12/11: The Frites n Meats truck exploded yesterday. Luckily no one was seriously hurt besides some minor burns. Hoping they'll come back to the street soon.


I've got wide tastes when it comes to burgers. Sometimes I'm satisfied with a McDouble. In fact, sometimes all I want is a McDouble and nothing more. But on the other end of the spectrum, you just can't beat Minetta Tavern's infamously difficult to photograph Black Label burger. Lately I've been getting my mid-high end fix at Mel's Burger Bar, not too far from my apartment. But Mel's has a wickedly bad wait time and is on the pricey end for what it is. Wouldn't it be nice if great burgers could come to me, cheaper and more delicious? Enter Frites 'n' Meats.
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Recently, food trucks of all different types (Korean tacos and Taiwanese Cravings Truck specifically) have been appearing outside my school. I always thought that outside a grad school would be a great locations for lunch trucks, but maybe students don't have the lunch budgets of office workers around mid-to-lower Manhattan. Hence I haven't seen very much food truck activity before this recent flurry.

My first experience with Frites 'n' Meats truck was actually with their frites and not their meats. Their handcut double fried Belgian frites are golden and crisp. They even withstood the dreaded soggy effect of leaving them in the bag too long when carrying them as takeout. A little on the salty side, but both their garlic aioli and horseradish aioli took the savory edge off a bit.

When the truck came around again, I knew I had to get a burger. They emphasize their quality ingredients--DeBragga & Spitler, Balthazar Bakery and Murray's Cheese Shop. I opted for the grass fed Angus on a potato onion bun topped with goat cheese, onion, tomato and mesclun greens. They also offer American wagyu and skirt steak sandwiches, but my preference for a burger is usually a heartier beef. American wagyu, even though it is a cross breed of Japanese wagyu and American Angus, tends to lack the beefy flavor of pure Angus that I want in a burger. The rich marbling of wagyu is best in small quantities.

As you can tell from the photo above, they make a pretty burger, especially since sandwiches are rather difficult to photograph well. All their burgers are cooked medium-rare, a commendable risk but gives you some confidence in the source of the meat. They even undercook to account for the carryover cooking when you order to go. As I've mentioned before, I've come to really appreciate the beef as the critical component of the burger. Too often, we're distracted by the fancy sauces and accouterments when what is most satisfying is biting into a rich and flavorful patty. Frites 'n' Meats obviously takes their burgers seriously, and I'll gladly patronize a place that loves its food as much as I do.

$5.50 for the burger
$.75 for cheese
$3.00 for fries
fritesnmeats.com
Check their blog and twitter for locations.


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