The Fabulous Food of Fleur de Lys

Hubert Keller is one of our favorite chefs, and Fleur de Lys is one of our favorite restaurants. We decided to try the one in San Francisco the year before after seeing Chef Keller compete on Top Chef Masters. The food that we had there was amazing, so we just had to try the one in Las Vegas.

After visiting the website (www.fleurdelyssf.com), I learned about the wine room which overlooks the entire restaurant, and knew that was where I wanted to propose to Jennifer. Of course, in order to reserve the wine room, everybody in the group must have the 6-course tasting menu. Sure, fine, twist my arm.

The only order of business for the waiter was to find out who was having the wine pairing, and who was having something else to drink. It turned out that all of the men at the table took the wine pairing, and the women each had their own drinks.

As they were pouring the first wine, a sparkling Brut Rosé from Gruet in New Mexico, they began pouring into all of the cups, “just so that everybody had something to toast with”. That was OK by me. This was paired with the gift from the chef, a crab and avocado island in a watermelon soup. The soup had such an intense watermelon flavor that it went perfectly with the crab and avocado.

Our next course was the ahi tuna tartare, with a shaved fennel slaw and ginger ponzu, which is a Japanese citrus sauce. At the beginning of the meal, we had mentioned that my entire family, along with Jennifer, does not eat anything raw. So they were brought a little salad with two medallions of lobster. Unfortunately, we forgot to mention that Jennifer also does not like lobster much. I know, I know, and I am going to marry this girl! Anyways, halfway through the course, she decided to try the tartare. And she liked it. So, we traded halfway through and now she might not be quite as against raw tuna as she was.

The wine that was paired with the salad course was a 2008 Hirsch Heiligenstein Gruner Veltleiner. The yellow apple flavor nicely complemented the shaved fennel slaw, as well as the vinaigrette.

Our next course was the soup course. And to be quite honest, with was a course that I don’t think that I will ever forget. The servers came large bowls and placed them right in front of us. In each bowl was a smear of red onion puree and a bite of braised duck wrapped in a crepe, sitting on a slice of black truffle. This looked good, but it didn’t look like much of a course. Once all the plates had been placed, two more servers came forward, each carrying a silver pitcher of soup. Finally, the light went off for me.

As I mentioned, it was one of the best soups, or, for that matter, best anythings, that I have ever tasted. It was a truffle-onion soup that was so velvety smooth, and the flavors melded so perfectly, it was heaven. Even the Chardonnay that was paired with it was nice, the Talbott vineyards Logan Chardonnay from Monterrey Valley. To be honest, I remember everything pairing well, but I was so amazed with the soup that I don’t really remember the wine.

Now, on to the seafood course. This was a braised yellowtail tuna in a ginger aromatic sauce with pickled shiitake mushrooms and a grilled cipollini onion, paired with a 2008 Dr. Thanisch Kabinett Riesling from the Mosel region of Germany. At this point, I am going to stop saying how well the food and wine went together, as you are probably getting tired of hearing it. We’ll just go with the assumption that it does, unless otherwise specified, which it won’t be for the rest of the meal.

Anyways, the grilled cipollini was absolutely delicious with the tuna and mushrooms, and I don’t often like mushrooms that much. This time, I didn’t have a problem with either the texture (they weren’t slimy, which is good) or the flavor (something that tastes like earth is not often at the top of my list). But in this case, they were great.

At this point, our waiter Javier mentioned to us that Chef Keller would be in the restaurant tonight, however he would be having a quiet dinner with his wife. He also mentioned which table they would be dining at.

Now, back to the food. We had the Braised Veal and Yukon Gold Potato Ravioli. Now, this was not your typical ravioli. This ravioli was made from the potato itself. Imagine two slices of potato cooked, stuffed with veal, sunchokes, and English peas, finally sealed together in a ravioli form. Amazing. This dish was paired with a 2006 Pinot Noir by Michel Picard from Givry, France.

The final savory course was a Rack of Colorado Lamb with caramelized onions, pancetta, grilled romaine and a Harissa-Olive Sauce. The wine was a 2005 Granache / Syrah blend by Domaine de la Janasse, Terre d’Argile, Cotes Du Rhone Villages 2005. And now, I am out of good ways to talk about yummy food.

When we looked downstairs at the restaurant, to the place Javier mentioned that Chef Keller would be sitting, there he was. In person. We had seen him many times on tv (Top chef, Top Chef Masters, and Secrets of a Chef, on PBS), but this was the first time in person. He was just there, sitting down to dinner with his wife, who was the designer of the Las Vegas restaurant, and one other person.

Our first dessert course was a coconut tapioca soup with a passion fruit sorbet and a plantain cake, with strawberry and kiwi. This was my sister’s favorite dish, as she is totally into passion fruit.

Finally, there was a huge chocolate soufflé. They were huge. Of course, when it got tableside, the servers broke open the top and poured in a chocolate ganache. On the side was a scoop of Mocha Ice Cream. Dessert came with a 2005 Granache by M Chapoutier from the Banyuls region of France. I don’t think that anybody was able to finish the entire soufflé.

We had made it through the entire meal. It was amazing. But wait, there was more. As we were preparing to go, they brought two trays of about 20 madelines, along with a chocolate dipping sauce. They were definitely a hit with the table.

The tour of the kitchen was quite amazing, as well. Of course it was spotless and fairly spacious for a professional kitchen with anywhere from 10 – 14 cooks per day. The interesting thing was to find that all of the meat was cooked sous vide, and then finished with a quick sear to provide a bit of texture. It was the first time that I had seen an immersion circulator in use.

As we returned to our table, we each found an autographed copy of Hubert Keller’s book, “Burger Bar”. The women at the table also had a rose that is part of the wall decoration of the restaurant.

Dinner was over, the kitchen was toured, the bill was paid, and it was time to go. We stopped to say goodbye to our waiter, while Jennifer’s mom went ahead, and when we looked up, Chef Keller was talking to her. We went over, said hi, made some small-talk and told him about how amazing our dinner was. Not wanting to take up too much of his time, we thanked him and continued on our way.

This was definitely a dinner not to be forgotten.

The night I will never forget

It has finally happened. I finally asked Jennifer to marry me. And more amazingly, she said yes! It only took me 6 months to prepare for, coordinate, and try to keep it a secret.

I know that many people come to the decision to get married via rational conversations (“Hey – what are you doing for the rest of your life?” “I don’t know, how about you?” “I don’t know…wanna get married?”), oopses (“Ummm…honey, we’re going to be parents, and momma’s gonna kill me if I have a baby before I’m married…so…”), and, of course, jumbo-trons.

I knew from the beginning that the jumbo-tron was right out. And the other two options didn’t really appeal to me, so I chose the road less traveled, and went for a romantic weekend away from all of our daily stresses. We would go to Vegas. For those of you who know me, this isn’t the one in New Mexico. This would be the real thing. On top of that, I would do one of those things that they tell me is very atypical of guys…planning.

So, at Christmas of 2009, while my family was opening presents, I mentioned the beginnings of a plan to my parents and sister. I wanted to propose to Jennifer in Las Vegas, and I wanted them all to be there, along with both of her parents. As soon as I told them, it suddenly became very real to me. This was the woman that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Which leads us to another of a guy’s worst fears, commitment.

Due to conditions beyond my control, I was not really able to set things up with her parents until the end of April. After a weekend of almost mentioning it to them (always to be interrupted by something or another), I finally got some time alone with her father. It is amazing how much terror one single person can inspire in any other single person. Especially when that other single person is me.

The conversation was something like this:

Me: “Um…uh…Do you think that you would be able to travel on the weekend of June the 11^th?”

HD (Her Dad): “Maybe, why?”

Me: “Well, I thought you might want to come with us to Las Vegas”

HD: “What’s in Las Vegas?”

Me: “I kind of want to ask Jennifer to marry me…and I think that she would really like it if you guys were there.”

HD (smiling…with a real smile, not just a ‘I’m laughing to be polite’, but a real smile): “I’m sure that we can find a way to be there. (pause) Las Vegas…In June? You know it’s going to be hot, right?”

Me: “Yep, but I’m sure we’ll be ok.”

Fast-forward a couple of months (ok, to Friday, June 11^th, 2010). The ring has been purchased (a one karat round cut classic solitaire on yellow gold, for those of you that need to know), reservations have been made, and I have put my time in at seat 14 C. We have now spent one night at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay.

My family was given free reign of everything between the Luxor and the Bellagio, while we are off to Fashion Show Mall and the shops at the forum. We spend almost the entire day going from store to store, trying some things on, buying others, and in the end, return to our hotel. At this point, it is 5:00 and dinner is at 6:30. My job is to keep her in the hotel room until I get the text message from my mom saying that everybody has met up, and there is no chance that we will cross paths on the casino floor.

While she is in the shower, I use the opportunity to come up with a lame excuse (‘I’m hungry’... If you knew me, you would know that it isn’t that far-fetched of a sentiment) and head down to Fleur de Lys to let them know that when we arrive, they should seat us even though there are only two of us, rather than all seven.

After returning to the room, I wait, and wait, and wait…is this even on? and wait. Crap. 6:25 and nothing. I guess it is time to go, and I will just have to hope that we don’t run into anybody. Just to make sure, we take the roundabout path. Phew. Nobody there.

As they take us to our seats (I reserved the wine room overlooking the dining room), I walk up with my heart racing, and my hands in my pockets. On the one hand, I hoped that if I held my phone that would make it vibrate and tell me that everybody had arrived. In the other, the little drawstring pouch with a ring inside of it, drawn as tight as possible so I won’t lose it.

We climb the stairs, and my heart beats faster. As we arrive in the wine room (with a 12,000 bottle capacity), we are left to ourselves. Just me and Jennifer, the woman that I want to spend the rest of my life with. Well, it’s now or never.

Me (turning her so that she knows to look at me, rather than through the wine): “While we were shopping, I really realized that there is one thing that you are missing.”

Her: Speechless

Me (Now taken the pouch out of my pocket, and realizing that I cannot open it): “Crap…why does this always happen to me?”

At that point, I finally get the ring out of the pouch and take a hold of her hand, positioning the ring about an inch away from her finger.

Me (quietly): “Will you marry me?”

Her (I am hoping that she hadn’t heard me, because she isn’t saying anything).

Me (Still holding the ring, waiting for an answer).

Her (Eventually): “Aren’t you supposed to ask me something?”

Me (Phew…she just didn’t hear me): “Sorry, must have been too quiet. Will you marry me?”

Her (Sliding her finger through the ring): “Yes.”

Then, of course, we kiss, hug, and just hold each other.

While all of this was happening, I apparently received a text from my mother.

After waiting a few seconds, and we just kind of look around the restaurant.

“Well, you should probably call your mom.” Even though I knew that she wouldn’t answer. At that point, I figured that I should call my parents, just for show. Although, even though it was for show, I sort of expected that somebody would pick up. First, Mom. Nothing. Then Dad. Nothing. Finally, on calling my sister, somebody picked up. It is in my conversation with my sister that Jennifer realizes that both of our families are right outside, and on their way up to the restaurant.

An evening at Red Lobster

On Thursday night, I got a chance to officially meet the mastermind behind Red Lobster’s food, Chef Michael LaDuke. It turned out to be a quiet dinner for three bloggers (of which Jennifer is much more prolific than I am, but I got to go along as the plus one), two publicists, and one head chef.

I had never been to Red Lobster before meeting Jennifer 3 and a-half years ago. To be honest, I never really wanted to go to a place that my dad often referred to as the “Red Blobster”. On its own, that was generally enough to turn me off to it. But, when you pair that with remembering commercials that prominently feature fried shrimp, it was just never somewhere I really wanted to have a full meal. However, I thought I would give the dinner, and a trip through the menu, a try.

So, we battled through a Thursday night rush hour to get down to Bloomington about 10 minutes early and were taken to a table with the chef. While the other bloggers arrived, we had our chance to get to know Chef Michael. At this point, it is still the usual “Where are you from?” (Orlando, but born in upstate NY), “Where have you cooked?” (17 years at Disney, and now 5 at Red Lobster), and “Do you have a family?” (Married, with 1 boy and 1 girl). By this time, everybody had arrived and we were ready to begin our dinner.

We started with one of the oldest items on the menu, the Lobster Pizza. Overall, this dish was pretty good. Pizza crust, lobster meat, mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, and, the most important to me, a squeeze of lemon juice. I say that the lemon was the most important because when I got a bite with the lemon juice, the pizza was very well balanced. However, when I took a bite that didn’t have the lemon juice, it was way too salty for me.

Our second dish was the first of the entrees, the Maui Luau Shrimp and Salmon, which, Jennifer and I agreed was probably one of the best dishes we had. We received one filet of salmon, and one skewer of shrimp, both brushed with a sweet and spicy sauce, and then cooked over the ever-important wood-fire grills, which are now standard at all Red Lobsters. This was served with grilled pineapple, broccoli, and the wild rice pilaf. I was perfectly happy with the amount of spice that was in the dish, at least when I used the Thai chili sauce that came with the dish.

Our next dish was the Mango-Jalapeno Shrimp Skewers. These were served with lightly battered onion rings, which I found myself returning to throughout the rest of the meal. There were only two issues that I had with this dish. 1 – I couldn’t get the shrimp off the skewers (possibly a user malfunction rather than a food malfunction) and 2 – I could barely taste the jalapeno, so to me, it was just a sweet mango shrimp dish. In all fairness, it was still tasty, but I was hoping for a bit more heat. Of course, from everything that I can tell, I like food a little spicier than the average American, which is who the cooks at Red Lobster are cooking for. When you are cooking for two million Americans per week, it is probably best to shoot for middle of the road.

Next came the one dish we tried for anybody who doesn’t care for seafood, the Maple-Glazed Chicken. This is one of the newer additions to the menu, which was developed based on Chef Michael’s love of maple syrup. Again, it was served over the wild rice pilaf. I was definitely able to taste the maple in the dish, but often I couldn’t taste very much cherry, even when I would have a bite with an entire cherry in it. The dish wasn’t bad, considering that people don’t go to Red Lobster for the land animals.

The final entrée was the Wood-Grilled Tilapia with Spicy Soy Broth, which was served with oven roasted fresh asparagus, tomatoes, and red onions. And, of course, some more rice pilaf. This was another pretty strong dish. The soy broth had just a hint of wasabi, which gave it a nice little zip. The vegetables were cooked just right, and the whole dish came together nicely. This dish cost $17.99 and was the most expensive dish that we had that night. For me, that is the upper limit of what I am willing to spend on dinner at a casual chain restaurant. However, it was not the most expensive thing on the menu.

We did have 3 desserts, which I will mention briefly, but not go into much detail about. They were the Chocolate Chip Lava Cookie, the New York Style Cheesecake with Strawberries, and finally the Chocolate Wave (a large slice of chocolate cake). All of them were good, but I did have a bit of an issue with the lava cookie and the chocolate wave. They were HUGE!We had some interesting conversations throughout the night, and the overall health of Americans came up now and again. One of the things that Chef LaDuke said was that “We can’t change how Americans eat. They will eat what they want to”. Which is fine. I, however, believe that he is trying to change how Americans eat. They have recently put in wood-fire grills to all locations. That sounds pretty healthy to me. Also, he mentioned that the menu was down to 18-27% fried now, which is down from previous years. Portions of the entrees were a good size, but not obscene, by any stretch of the imagination. But then to unload these huge desserts came as quite a surprise to me. On the positive side, it sounded like that might be changing in the near future, but we will just have to wait and see.

Overall, my experience at Red Lobster was not at all what I was expecting, and I will probably start to consider it as a possibility for a casual dinner. If you want to find out what Jennifer had to say about the dinner, check out her blog at: http://www.aselfconfessedfoodie.com

Wild about Wilde Roast

Saturday night. Hungry. Really don't want to cook.

Aha! The Bulldog. I think I'll get that turkey and avocado sand...Crap. No parking nearby.

I know. How about Brasa? Well, their parking lot is full also, but it only fits 8 or so cars on a good day, and there are no meters on the streets around it. There's one! I think I'll get the braised pork and...Whoa! There are more people standing in line waiting for a table than there are actually seated.

OK - new plan. Wander the street until I find someplace that will feed me. As I headed down Central towards University, I passed Wilde Roast coffee shop. Thinking nothing of it, I just kept going until I passed the window and looked in to see that people were actually using silverware. And drinking wine. I may have found a coffee shop that I could frequent. I think I'll give it a try.

The first thing I notice when I walk in is the heavy curtain protecting the patrons from the outside air. While I have seen that done before, I haven't seen it done in a coffee shop before. Then, there was the large portrait of Oscar Wilde, the inspiration for the shop, above the bar. That, coupled with the nice fireplace and comfy-looking chairs made me really want to like this place.

The dinner that I ate there fell quite short of amazing. Actually, it was only a little bit above mediocre. Initially, I ordered the Pot Roast, only to find out that it had been removed from the menu a long time ago, they just haven't updated it in a while. So, I moved on to the turkey meatloaf ($12). It was a very moist meatloaf, and every couple of bites exploded with flavor. Unfortunately, every couple of bites is just not good enough. The garlic mashed potatoes really didn't have any flavor, and couple that with the bland mushroom gravy and it was a recipe for disaster. The plate did come with vegetables, which were cooked correctly. The best move of the night on my part was to get a slice of carrot cake to go. The cake was moist, and the frosting was delicious. It was worth the $6 that it cost.

As I mentioned, I really wanted to like the place, so I felt that I had to give it one more shot. Just maybe not at dinner time. So, when Jennifer mentioned that she had a class assignment to spend a couple of hours in a coffee shop and observe the atmosphere, I knew just where to go.

I got the Breakfast Burro with sausage ($8.50). Basically, as you may have guessed, a breakfast burrito with eggs, cheese, and sausage. It was quite tasty. However, I was not a huge fan of the salsa that they tried to serve with it. All of the components tasted good, but they were way too heavy-handed on the garlic. Raw garlic first thing in the morning is not something that I am a huge fan of. Jennifer ordered the waffle with blueberries ($5.00) and a hot chocolate. Both of which were top of the line. The waffle came with real maple syrup, not something straight out of squeeze bottle.

The crowd in Wilde Roast is quite diverse. They do seem to be quite popular in the GLBT community, with what looked like many write-ups in Lavender magazine. There were artists, business people, students, and many other random people, many of them working away on their laptops or catching up with old friends. It is a great place to go and just hang out. It did get a little bit noisy during the lunch rush.

In the end, Wilde Roast is a great place to hang out or study, or even drink coffee. If I were to go back during the evening, I would probably stick to the sandwich or pizza. But I can definitely recommend the breakfasts.

Overall: 2.5 out of 5

Ambience: 4 out of 5 (Did I mention the fireplace? And dark wood paneling.)

Noise: 3 out of 5 (5 being the loudest)

Service: 2 out of 5 (Order at the counter, like any coffee shop. Food is delivered tableside. Drinks can be picked up at the bar)

Website: www.wilderoastcafe.com

Address: 518 Hennepin Avenue East, Minneapolis, MN

Foie, Remade

Today I used the rest of the Foie Gras that Jennifer's parents sent back with us. I feel like I am on Top Chef in saying that the theory of it was good, but the execution was just lacking (however, I did kind of like the presentation piece as well). What I attempted was foie gras with polenta and a port wine reduction. I'll start with the high notes.

1. The port wine reduction was pretty good. I mean really, most of the time, when you take 1 cup of a tasty liquid, and then reduce it to 4 tablespoons, it is going to taste pretty good. So here is what I did. I took:

1 Cup Port

2 Tbls. Honey

Pinch of Thyme

2 Shallots

Following the pattern of Farallon's recipe, I minced the shallots, and then combined everything in a saucepan. I let this simmer for 20 minutes, and then strained out the solids and returned the liquids to the heat, reducing it to 1/4 - 1/8 of a cup.

2. Polenta is fun because it can take on any texture that you want. It can be runny and creamy if you want (in that case you do a 5-to-1 ratio of liquid to polenta), or, as in this case, it can be a bit more firm just a 3-to-1 ratio. I chose to do the firm polenta because I wanted a contrast in texture between the polenta and the foie gras. Foie gras has a texture that is smooth and buttery, and even though I seared it to give it a little crust, it still has a very velvety mouth-feel. Sorry...I digress.

1 Cup Polenta

3 Cups Water

.2 lbs Gruyere Cheese

1 1/2 Tbsp. Butter

Salt and Pepper to taste

To make the polenta, bring the desired amount of water to a boil, and add a large pinch of salt. Add the polenta to the boiling water, stirring the entire time. Actually, you want to stir the polenta until it has finished cooking, in this case, about 5 minutes. At this point, you can get creative with the polenta. I added about .2 pounds of gruyere cheese, 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter, and salt and pepper to taste. After cooking the polenta, I poured it into a baking dish and spread it to about 1-inch thick. Go ahead and put the dish in the oven to dry it out a little bit more (Jennifer had a stew in the oven, so I dropped the polenta in there with it). When it is dry enough for you (I left mine in for 10 minutes), I took it out and cut it into the desired shape.

3. Now, all you have to do is cook the foie gras as I mentioned in the last post, and you are all set.

Put a piece of the polenta down on the plate, top it with the foie gras, and drizzle with the port reduction. Bon Appetit

New Year, New Food

I spent this past weekend in Des Moines, celebrating the new year with Jennifer and her parents. And with the new year, came a new chance to cook with a new food. I had had foie gras many (OK, a few) times in the past, but even at the culinary academy, I never got the chance to cook with it.

A few days before we the New Year, Jennifer gave me a heads up that her parents ordered a lobe of foie gras and a rack of veal. Along with this news came a question. “You’ve made this before, right?” I quickly started going through all of my cookbooks and searching the internet for anything that might be good. What I settled on was from Farallon restaurant in San Francisco.

The recipe is for Seared Foie Gras with Apple Galettes, Watercress, and Calvados Syrup. The nice thing about this recipe is that almost all of the components can be made in advance. The order of our operations were as follows:

1. Create Apple Galettes – A galette is the name for any kind of freeform tart. These galettes were some of the easiest possible, as there was no crust needed. All that is needed is:

2 Tbls. Olive Oil

4 Large Apples, preferably Granny Smith – Cored, Peeled, and cut into thin slices

1 Tbl. Fresh Thyme (We had to substitute a pinch of dried thyme for each galette)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425. Brush four 4-inch tartlet molds with the olive oil. Arrange the apple slices in concentric circles, like a tart, to about ¾ inch above the top edge of the molds (The galettes will shrink as they cook). Sprinkle the tops of the galettes with the thyme, salt, and pepper. Then drizzle with as much of the remaining olive oil as you want. Place them on a baking sheet, and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a knife. If they are not browned on the top, put them under the broiler to finish the browning.

2. Make the Syrup –

¾ C. Calvados (Apple Brandy) or Cognac

¼ C. Sugar

2 Tbls. Fresh Orange Juice

2 Tbls. Apple Cider Vinegar

2 Shallots, minced

2 Tsps. minced, peeled, fresh ginger

½ Tsp. ground Allspice

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Strain the sauce, and return it to medium heat. Reduce until there is about ¼ of a cup of syrup remaining. Keep the syrup warm until you are ready to use, or it can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.

3. Prepare the foie gras – All you need for this is 1 lobe of grade A foie gras, salt and pepper.

The foie gras I was working with was mail-ordered from dartagnan.com. We received 1 full lobe that had already been cleaned of any veins. All that I had to do was to cut it into ¾” slices using a hot knife.

Heat a pan until it is hot, but not smoking hot (you don’t even need to add any oil, since it is all fat). Lay the slices in the pan, and let them cook for 1 ½ - 2 minutes per side. You will start to see the color working its way up the side of the foie. That is ok. Flip each piece, and let it go for another minute or two.

To assemble the dish, lay down one of the galettes, place a piece of foie gras on top of it. Drizzle the syrup around the plate, and garnish with the watercress.

Enjoy!