Because I have to.
Calling a bottom to the hemmoraging of money I'm doing going in to trade every day. After having lost almost 50% of my year since Nov 1, I'm giving it two more days. If I don't see any improvement, I'm calling it a (unsuccessful) year. There's got to be more flow and speculators back into the market in January. Right now it's just orders coming in through programs, everyone backs away, and with no speculators to fight with, it's just too easy to get caught in the current with noone pushing back.
Calling a top to my weight. As I approach 250lbs, a cholesterol level of 200 and BP of 145/90 while on medication, I realize I've got to put a stop to this. This will include diet, exercise, and a supplement or two. The Chinese detox pills are going to suck cause they're going to make me go to the bathroom like 5 times a day, but at this point, I don't really have any other choices. What I really need is a muse. Even though I had no shot with her, Jesse got me to go to the gym. Now she won't even take my calls or IMs. I need some inspiration.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
O Ya in Boston
O Ya is famous for being named Frank Bruni's #1 most intriguing new restaurant outside of New York: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/dining/19count.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=dining
It is also very expensive, especially by Boston standards (I spent about $230 on just food costs, although I ate about 1.5 people's worth) and I doubt you can really get out of there for less than $130.
The menu is extensive, focusing mostly on their versions of sushi (two pieces per order) and sashimi (three pieces per order), but also features cooked foods like kurobuta pork, wagyu beef, poulet rouge chicken, and other goodies. The tasting menu consists of one piece each of 15 different items on the menu, but I chose to order a la carte. I will list everything in as close an order as I can remember to being served the dishes.
Shima Aji and Uni with ceviche vinaigrette and cilantro (sashimi)
The ceviche style clearly comes through with a heavy citrus flavor and a little kick. Nice start to the meal and a good mix of textures and flavors, although the uni was noticeable but not as strong as bursting with freshness as I would have liked.
Hamachi belly with yuzu soy marinated sea urchin (sushi)
I love hamachi belly but neither ingredient seemed to stand out like I'm used to. I was hoping for the strong uni and hamachi flavors to clash and create fireworks but it was disappointingly bland for what it was.
Wild bluefin toro 2 ways: spicy mentaiko mayo and republic of georgia herb sauce (sushi)
My waiter recommended the one with the herb sauce but I ended up asking him for one piece of each combined into one order. He was right. The mayo didn't really do anything for the fish but the earthy herb sauce had such great presence on top of the fatty fish.
Fried Kumamoto Oyster with yuzu kosho aioli, squid ink bubbles (sushi)
A tasty mixture of flavors and textures, with a nice touch provided by the squid ink. However, this was my first inkling that their sushi rice is not top notch.
Kin Medai with white soy ginger, myoga, lemon oil (sashimi)
The lemon oil is too strong and comes out first.
Chilled Homemade Soba Noodles with Santa Barbara sea urchin, nori, fresh wasabi, and scallions
This was nice and tasty but nothing special and certainly not something I needed to taste here at these prices for such a small portion. The noodles seemed a little thinner than normal soba noodles, but did have flavor and bite.
Yuzu Brined Ballotine of Chicken Wing with napa cabbage and shiitake stuffing, and homemade kimchee
This sounded wonderful but they must have put too much of the toasted sesame seeds since that was mostly what I tasted. I couldn't decipher all the other flavors that went into it and this turned into an unfortunately expensive piece of sesame chicken.
Silken Tofu Tempura with wild hedgehog mushrooms and shoyu broth
This dish was unfortunate for my wallet. It was in the truffle and eggs portion of the menu despite not having any truffles or eggs. It used to have truffles but they removed it from the dish but didn't reduce the price. An unfortunately expensive piece of agedashi tofu (not really, as you can taste the tempura batter, but you get the idea). The shoyu broth was nice although too sweet to just drink up. So I ordered a side of rice (they only had sushi rice) to go with it. A closer inspection of the sushi rice in this manner did lead me to believe that it was not top notch, and had a tendency to mush more than say the rice at Yasuda's. However, the vinegary rice with the sweet shoyu broth turned into a very interesting and tasty mix.
Hamachi with viet mignonette, thai basil, and shallots
At this point I asked the waiter what dish would the chef absolutely say that I must have before leaving. This was the chosen dish and my waiter was right yet again. Just a perfect mix of textures and flavors. It really felt like 3(flavors)x3(textures)=9 different things going on in my mouth.
Grilled Sashimi of Chanterelle and Shiitake Mushrooms with rosemary garlic oil, sesame froth, homemade soy, and sesame brittle
This was a very satisfying dish that certainly seemed to get the most out of its ingredients. I think I would have preferred it if it was served hotter. While I liked this dish, it was not my favorite as opposed to Bruni.
Foie Gras with balsamic chocolate kabayaki, raisin cocoa pulp, and a sip of aged sake (sushi)
This was wonderful and a great way to end the night. The foie melted in my mouth and the sip of sake went wonderfully with it. I thought it was interesting that this was served as sushi and not sashimi, but it worked.
The place itself is in a little nook and my cabdriver hadn't even heard of the street that it's on. The door is also not immediately noticeable from the outside. Once inside, it's mostly dark except for lighting right above the sushi bar and the light from the kitchen, as the kitchen door is pretty much kept open all night. While there weren't many diners and the place isn't big, most people came in groups and it was a chatty atmosphere. I sat at the counter which was lined with stools. I recommended to the chef/owner afterwards that he needs to change them and hopefully he will listen. When you want your customers to sit for more than an hour enjoying food, you need to offer them back support. There was a nice waft of truffle throughout the night. After it was all over, I went back outside, walked about half a block, and realized I was standing right in front of the South Station bus terminal. Right in front of where I've taken many many Greyhound and LuckyStar buses (I do not use Fung Wah) back to NYC. I had no idea the restaurant was right there. I will definitely be back with a better idea of what to order (they had a slab of bluefin otoro that looked amazing).
It is also very expensive, especially by Boston standards (I spent about $230 on just food costs, although I ate about 1.5 people's worth) and I doubt you can really get out of there for less than $130.
The menu is extensive, focusing mostly on their versions of sushi (two pieces per order) and sashimi (three pieces per order), but also features cooked foods like kurobuta pork, wagyu beef, poulet rouge chicken, and other goodies. The tasting menu consists of one piece each of 15 different items on the menu, but I chose to order a la carte. I will list everything in as close an order as I can remember to being served the dishes.
Shima Aji and Uni with ceviche vinaigrette and cilantro (sashimi)
The ceviche style clearly comes through with a heavy citrus flavor and a little kick. Nice start to the meal and a good mix of textures and flavors, although the uni was noticeable but not as strong as bursting with freshness as I would have liked.
Hamachi belly with yuzu soy marinated sea urchin (sushi)
I love hamachi belly but neither ingredient seemed to stand out like I'm used to. I was hoping for the strong uni and hamachi flavors to clash and create fireworks but it was disappointingly bland for what it was.
Wild bluefin toro 2 ways: spicy mentaiko mayo and republic of georgia herb sauce (sushi)
My waiter recommended the one with the herb sauce but I ended up asking him for one piece of each combined into one order. He was right. The mayo didn't really do anything for the fish but the earthy herb sauce had such great presence on top of the fatty fish.
Fried Kumamoto Oyster with yuzu kosho aioli, squid ink bubbles (sushi)
A tasty mixture of flavors and textures, with a nice touch provided by the squid ink. However, this was my first inkling that their sushi rice is not top notch.
Kin Medai with white soy ginger, myoga, lemon oil (sashimi)
The lemon oil is too strong and comes out first.
Chilled Homemade Soba Noodles with Santa Barbara sea urchin, nori, fresh wasabi, and scallions
This was nice and tasty but nothing special and certainly not something I needed to taste here at these prices for such a small portion. The noodles seemed a little thinner than normal soba noodles, but did have flavor and bite.
Yuzu Brined Ballotine of Chicken Wing with napa cabbage and shiitake stuffing, and homemade kimchee
This sounded wonderful but they must have put too much of the toasted sesame seeds since that was mostly what I tasted. I couldn't decipher all the other flavors that went into it and this turned into an unfortunately expensive piece of sesame chicken.
Silken Tofu Tempura with wild hedgehog mushrooms and shoyu broth
This dish was unfortunate for my wallet. It was in the truffle and eggs portion of the menu despite not having any truffles or eggs. It used to have truffles but they removed it from the dish but didn't reduce the price. An unfortunately expensive piece of agedashi tofu (not really, as you can taste the tempura batter, but you get the idea). The shoyu broth was nice although too sweet to just drink up. So I ordered a side of rice (they only had sushi rice) to go with it. A closer inspection of the sushi rice in this manner did lead me to believe that it was not top notch, and had a tendency to mush more than say the rice at Yasuda's. However, the vinegary rice with the sweet shoyu broth turned into a very interesting and tasty mix.
Hamachi with viet mignonette, thai basil, and shallots
At this point I asked the waiter what dish would the chef absolutely say that I must have before leaving. This was the chosen dish and my waiter was right yet again. Just a perfect mix of textures and flavors. It really felt like 3(flavors)x3(textures)=9 different things going on in my mouth.
Grilled Sashimi of Chanterelle and Shiitake Mushrooms with rosemary garlic oil, sesame froth, homemade soy, and sesame brittle
This was a very satisfying dish that certainly seemed to get the most out of its ingredients. I think I would have preferred it if it was served hotter. While I liked this dish, it was not my favorite as opposed to Bruni.
Foie Gras with balsamic chocolate kabayaki, raisin cocoa pulp, and a sip of aged sake (sushi)
This was wonderful and a great way to end the night. The foie melted in my mouth and the sip of sake went wonderfully with it. I thought it was interesting that this was served as sushi and not sashimi, but it worked.
The place itself is in a little nook and my cabdriver hadn't even heard of the street that it's on. The door is also not immediately noticeable from the outside. Once inside, it's mostly dark except for lighting right above the sushi bar and the light from the kitchen, as the kitchen door is pretty much kept open all night. While there weren't many diners and the place isn't big, most people came in groups and it was a chatty atmosphere. I sat at the counter which was lined with stools. I recommended to the chef/owner afterwards that he needs to change them and hopefully he will listen. When you want your customers to sit for more than an hour enjoying food, you need to offer them back support. There was a nice waft of truffle throughout the night. After it was all over, I went back outside, walked about half a block, and realized I was standing right in front of the South Station bus terminal. Right in front of where I've taken many many Greyhound and LuckyStar buses (I do not use Fung Wah) back to NYC. I had no idea the restaurant was right there. I will definitely be back with a better idea of what to order (they had a slab of bluefin otoro that looked amazing).
Early meal and late meal
I am not a big fan of brunch even when I do manage to wake up early on a weekend. Anyone who's read Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential knows that he does not like that meal either. Also, you know if you're going to any good restaurant you're getting the B-squad if you're lucky in terms of people in the kitchen.
However, I had already played a full session of bridge on Saturday and when the break came shortly after 1pm, I just wanted some food. I went to Brasserie Jo's, a nice place in the Colonnade Hotel (which I think also has rental residences now) that I was introduced to at the last Boston nationals (9 years ago!!!) It's a great place and is exactly what a brasserie should be. Relaxed and with big portions. I ordered the pate maison and a croque madame with mushrooms. The portions were huge (I probably ordered plenty for two normal people) and as artery clogging as you would expect. I've never been big on sweet carbs (pancakes, waffles, etc.) so I would definitely recommend this place as a good brunch spot in Boston.
Since my stay on Sunday was a last minute thing, I had no dinner plans for Sunday night. I decided to catch the second half of the Sunday night football game at the Beantown pub, about a block or so away from my hotel. The place is nice with decent food and a huge spot in the back with about 6 pool tables. What I didn't understand was that this place didn't do takeout or delivery. The place was within walking distance to at least two expensive hotels and I'm sure they'd have plenty of business from people who didn't want to order room service.
However, I had already played a full session of bridge on Saturday and when the break came shortly after 1pm, I just wanted some food. I went to Brasserie Jo's, a nice place in the Colonnade Hotel (which I think also has rental residences now) that I was introduced to at the last Boston nationals (9 years ago!!!) It's a great place and is exactly what a brasserie should be. Relaxed and with big portions. I ordered the pate maison and a croque madame with mushrooms. The portions were huge (I probably ordered plenty for two normal people) and as artery clogging as you would expect. I've never been big on sweet carbs (pancakes, waffles, etc.) so I would definitely recommend this place as a good brunch spot in Boston.
Since my stay on Sunday was a last minute thing, I had no dinner plans for Sunday night. I decided to catch the second half of the Sunday night football game at the Beantown pub, about a block or so away from my hotel. The place is nice with decent food and a huge spot in the back with about 6 pool tables. What I didn't understand was that this place didn't do takeout or delivery. The place was within walking distance to at least two expensive hotels and I'm sure they'd have plenty of business from people who didn't want to order room service.
Two dinners at Craigie on Main
While up in Boston I managed to go twice to Craigie on Main in Central Square for two excellent meals. Craigie on Main used to be the Craigie Street Bistrot and only recently moved to the much bigger space on Main Street. In fact, they had only been open a week when my friend and I went there on Wednesday. We both had the 10 course tasting menu, and I went back by myself on Friday to try eating at the bar. They change their menu every day (not dramatically day to day I think) and so I will just describe the dishes that I remember I really liked.
House-cured Greek Sardines with Banyuls reduction and fennel salad
I love sardines and actually had this both nights. I actually think the tasting menu portion was just right and the regular appetizer portion was too much. A great way to start a meal.
Salad of House-Smoked Sablefish with local beets, potatoes, mizuna, and a dijon-miso vinaigrette
I absolutely love smoked sablefish and am ashamed to say that I only discovered it about a couple of years ago and still haven't tried any from the famed New York Jewish places. This was a wonderful dish with delicate flavors and a great contrast in textures. I'm not a beets fan in general but this really worked.
Tahini-marinated dayboat sea scallop with wellfleet and razor clams, whelks, barley cous cous, green olive puree
A perfectly cooked scallop (one in the tasting, I saw someone order it as a main and had 3 scallops) but what really makes the dish is the bed of clams, whelks, and barley cous cous that it rested on. Great combination of earth and sea that I really enjoyed.
Red Chile and Sesame marinated Kampachi Kama (collar)
This was a double wow dish. Just ridiculously tasty. The description is pretty much self-explanatory.
Fricasee of Country sausage, duck tongue confit, and cocks' combs with farm fresh egg, fresh mushrooms, and celery root puree
What part of that doesn't sound wonderful? I love it when there is an egg dish on a tasting menu and I have yet to be disappointed with one. Everything tasted great separately and was even better when mixed together with the broken egg yolk over it all.
Lamb 3 ways
I had this as an entree when I went to sit at the bar. I can't recall the specifics, but there was meat (either breast or loin), belly, and tongue. Superb. And the pieces weren't precut into small chunks like at some restaurants, and I rarely see lamb belly on a western menu. Makes me have a craving for Chinese style lamb belly (brisket) hot pot.
Other dishes were pretty good in general. When I sat at the bar, there was a guy raving about the burger, and saying that he'd eaten all the fancy-pants burgers in NYC and this was better. I'm not sure about a grass-fed burger, but I do know that I went to Irving Mill a couple of days ago to try their burger and it was indeed as wonderful as all the hype on serious eats and from Bruni.
There is a big open kitchen in the middle of the new restaurant, including a small bar area with 3-4 seats with a frontrow view of the action. To specifically request those seats, you ask to be ringside when making your reservation. It seemed to be a pretty efficient kitchen as the place was getting full, with head chef Tony Maws barking and expediting and a separate guy in charge of wiping the plates as they go out. He did not seem as friendly to me as other chefs I've encountered, but that could have been the pressure from the new venture.
House-cured Greek Sardines with Banyuls reduction and fennel salad
I love sardines and actually had this both nights. I actually think the tasting menu portion was just right and the regular appetizer portion was too much. A great way to start a meal.
Salad of House-Smoked Sablefish with local beets, potatoes, mizuna, and a dijon-miso vinaigrette
I absolutely love smoked sablefish and am ashamed to say that I only discovered it about a couple of years ago and still haven't tried any from the famed New York Jewish places. This was a wonderful dish with delicate flavors and a great contrast in textures. I'm not a beets fan in general but this really worked.
Tahini-marinated dayboat sea scallop with wellfleet and razor clams, whelks, barley cous cous, green olive puree
A perfectly cooked scallop (one in the tasting, I saw someone order it as a main and had 3 scallops) but what really makes the dish is the bed of clams, whelks, and barley cous cous that it rested on. Great combination of earth and sea that I really enjoyed.
Red Chile and Sesame marinated Kampachi Kama (collar)
This was a double wow dish. Just ridiculously tasty. The description is pretty much self-explanatory.
Fricasee of Country sausage, duck tongue confit, and cocks' combs with farm fresh egg, fresh mushrooms, and celery root puree
What part of that doesn't sound wonderful? I love it when there is an egg dish on a tasting menu and I have yet to be disappointed with one. Everything tasted great separately and was even better when mixed together with the broken egg yolk over it all.
Lamb 3 ways
I had this as an entree when I went to sit at the bar. I can't recall the specifics, but there was meat (either breast or loin), belly, and tongue. Superb. And the pieces weren't precut into small chunks like at some restaurants, and I rarely see lamb belly on a western menu. Makes me have a craving for Chinese style lamb belly (brisket) hot pot.
Other dishes were pretty good in general. When I sat at the bar, there was a guy raving about the burger, and saying that he'd eaten all the fancy-pants burgers in NYC and this was better. I'm not sure about a grass-fed burger, but I do know that I went to Irving Mill a couple of days ago to try their burger and it was indeed as wonderful as all the hype on serious eats and from Bruni.
There is a big open kitchen in the middle of the new restaurant, including a small bar area with 3-4 seats with a frontrow view of the action. To specifically request those seats, you ask to be ringside when making your reservation. It seemed to be a pretty efficient kitchen as the place was getting full, with head chef Tony Maws barking and expediting and a separate guy in charge of wiping the plates as they go out. He did not seem as friendly to me as other chefs I've encountered, but that could have been the pressure from the new venture.
Week in Boston
Was away up in Boston during the week of Thanksgiving. This coincided with the Fall North American Bridge Championships (referred to as nationals) and so I got to see a lot of old friends from bridge as well. I got two invites for Thanksgiving dinner but decided to just hide out in my hotel room eating Chinese food all day (my hotel was walking distance to chinatown).
My hotel was nice. Booking through hotwire, I ended up with a standard room at the Boston Omni Parker, which was literally two blocks away from the Boston trading office. I never knew that highly rated hotel chains had rooms for one, but that's what I got. The maximum bed size in the room was a double bed, but other than that, everything was fine and there was room for a desk, chair, and an armchair. As it began to rain on Sunday, I decided to avoid the other holiday commuters and stay an extra night on Sunday. Again I booked through hotwire, which doesn't give you the hotel name, but I figured out the hotel and didn't even have to move to another room for my extra day.
I didn't play much bridge, deciding that if I played the main events my trip would be hectic and rushed. That was probably a good thing, since I didn't really play well and on Friday played the worst single day of bridge I can remember in over 5 years. I was in and out of it the whole entire day. I would be fully concentrated for 8 tricks, and then completely lose my mind at trick 9. A while back I remember joking to my friend that I might have ADHD, and he said that was unlikely since I could play 2 to 3 sessions of solid bridge in a day for a few days at a time. My experience Friday makes me wonder about that all over.
Since bridge was not the main reason I went up to Boston, I managed to have a nice and relaxing time anyway. I ate at a couple great places and I should be posting about them shortly.
My hotel was nice. Booking through hotwire, I ended up with a standard room at the Boston Omni Parker, which was literally two blocks away from the Boston trading office. I never knew that highly rated hotel chains had rooms for one, but that's what I got. The maximum bed size in the room was a double bed, but other than that, everything was fine and there was room for a desk, chair, and an armchair. As it began to rain on Sunday, I decided to avoid the other holiday commuters and stay an extra night on Sunday. Again I booked through hotwire, which doesn't give you the hotel name, but I figured out the hotel and didn't even have to move to another room for my extra day.
I didn't play much bridge, deciding that if I played the main events my trip would be hectic and rushed. That was probably a good thing, since I didn't really play well and on Friday played the worst single day of bridge I can remember in over 5 years. I was in and out of it the whole entire day. I would be fully concentrated for 8 tricks, and then completely lose my mind at trick 9. A while back I remember joking to my friend that I might have ADHD, and he said that was unlikely since I could play 2 to 3 sessions of solid bridge in a day for a few days at a time. My experience Friday makes me wonder about that all over.
Since bridge was not the main reason I went up to Boston, I managed to have a nice and relaxing time anyway. I ate at a couple great places and I should be posting about them shortly.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Water cooler talk
I will be going to Boston next week for the fall bridge national championships. Still looking for someone to take me in for thanksgiving dinner if I get eliminated in the blue ribbon pairs event. Anyway, here are some interesting tidbits discussed while hanging around the office the last few days. These thoughts and opinions on the current economic situation come from a number of different opiners.
1. On the CDS market, a coworker says, "So it's kinda like I can buy fire insurance on someone else's house, then set it on fire and collect all the insurance money."
2. After reading online that Platinum Grove Asset Management froze its largest fund, I'm beginning to wonder at what point should they just take back Myron Scholes' nobel prize? "Nono, stop saying you're a nobel winner to get backers so you can blow up another hedge fund."
3. There is speculation that the huge drop in oil (and other commodities) was sparked by China basically deciding it did not want to pay those obscene prices and started buying up certain currencies to force the unwinding of all the carry trades.
4. While there is now talk of deflation, one coworker strongly believes what Jim Rogers describes as an "inflationary holocaust" will come into being soon enough. I think I was one of those people who originally agreed that Bernanke was going to lead us into stagflation. I still blame the severity of the current situation going foward on Greenspan and his handing out of money, "believing that banks would protect shareholders' interests first".
5. A few of us believe that continuing overleveraged bets and the many instruments that facilitate these bets are a big reason for the consistently high volatility and the selling strength seen at each new low. There are more and more stories every day of executives liquidating to meet margin calls. As if the SKF wasn't crazy enough, there is now the FAZ, one of a group of 8 new TRIPLE-leveraged ETFs from Direxion. It used to be that all manner of derivative bets were side bets. Now, they've all become the main bets. One huge bid in one of these short-oriented leveraged ETFs is enough to send 200 programs chasing over each other to hit the bid in the corresponding stocks. It's hard to analyze which stock you want to short, then borrow it, then manage the risk. But now, with a touch of a button, you can get short the equivalent of 100 stocks without any of the hassle. Who's going to still trade actual stocks?
1. On the CDS market, a coworker says, "So it's kinda like I can buy fire insurance on someone else's house, then set it on fire and collect all the insurance money."
2. After reading online that Platinum Grove Asset Management froze its largest fund, I'm beginning to wonder at what point should they just take back Myron Scholes' nobel prize? "Nono, stop saying you're a nobel winner to get backers so you can blow up another hedge fund."
3. There is speculation that the huge drop in oil (and other commodities) was sparked by China basically deciding it did not want to pay those obscene prices and started buying up certain currencies to force the unwinding of all the carry trades.
4. While there is now talk of deflation, one coworker strongly believes what Jim Rogers describes as an "inflationary holocaust" will come into being soon enough. I think I was one of those people who originally agreed that Bernanke was going to lead us into stagflation. I still blame the severity of the current situation going foward on Greenspan and his handing out of money, "believing that banks would protect shareholders' interests first".
5. A few of us believe that continuing overleveraged bets and the many instruments that facilitate these bets are a big reason for the consistently high volatility and the selling strength seen at each new low. There are more and more stories every day of executives liquidating to meet margin calls. As if the SKF wasn't crazy enough, there is now the FAZ, one of a group of 8 new TRIPLE-leveraged ETFs from Direxion. It used to be that all manner of derivative bets were side bets. Now, they've all become the main bets. One huge bid in one of these short-oriented leveraged ETFs is enough to send 200 programs chasing over each other to hit the bid in the corresponding stocks. It's hard to analyze which stock you want to short, then borrow it, then manage the risk. But now, with a touch of a button, you can get short the equivalent of 100 stocks without any of the hassle. Who's going to still trade actual stocks?
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Dinner at Esca
Since I'm hemorrhaging money every time I go into the office to trade, I might as well spend some in an enjoyable manner. So this past Friday, I decided to try out Esca. Esca is not a very big restaurant, and the named chef, David Pasternak, is in the kitchen most nights. From most online accounts, he seems obsessed with freshness, and many chefs speak very highly of him. The restaurant specializes in seafood, especially crudo, an Italian style raw fish dish.
The place did not really exude a date place type of atmosphere. The bar is small and kinda just thrown in there, with about 6 seats (but they have Hangar One vodka!!). The restaurant is located right off the theater district, and as expected most of the diners there when I went at 5:30pm were of the pre-theater crowd. The kitchen is remarkably efficient given the space, keeping things up at a good pace for the people who have to make their shows and slowing things down for people like me who were there to enjoy the food. The waitress mentioned that most solo diners like me who came for the food tended to come from within the restaurant industry.
Ok, let's get to the food. The basic tasting menu is $75 and includes one sample of the crudo. For a $25 supplement, 5 additional samples of crudo were provided. A spanish mackerel bruschetta with cannelloni beans was provided for each diner to start.
The 6 crudo were:
(I think Belon) Oyster
Mediterranean snapper
Fluke with black radish
Horse mackerel with a dried tomato sliver
Razor clam with scallions and peppers
Sea urchin with caponata oil in its own shell
Most of them were simply dressed with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Simple and definitely fresh flavors. I was disappointed with the razor clam that seemed too covered with other stuff and the piece was too small to really get much flavor. The portion of sea urchin was also small.
Next was the Spaghetti Neri. This is on the regular menu. House made squid ink spaghetti with cuttlefish, green chilis and scallion. While there wasn't much in the way of extras (cuttlefish piece) the flavor was fantastic. It's easy to make a sea urchin pasta taste good because of its creaminess, but not all chefs can make a squid ink pasta that manages to really get the taste through. This was very very tasty.
Next was the Squalo alla Siciliana. Sicilian style mako shark. The preparation that I had seemed different than the version described on the regular menu. It was lightly breaded and cooked medium with some leeks and spinach. Great nutty taste and texture. I was very impressed by this dish.
The final fish course was a local wild striped bass with mushrooms and something else. The fish was cooked as best can be for a pretty thick cut of that type of fish with the fish skin perfectly crispy. However, there was nothing here that wowed me.
Next was a simple cheese course. I've been getting lucky with cheese courses it seems because this was really tasty yet simple. Buffalo ricotta with a slight drizzling of honey. The cheese was creamy without being heavy and the honey gave it that slight sweet and nutty flavor that just matched perfectly.
The dessert was an affogato di gelato. A vanilla gelato with some mascarpone cheese on top with a shot of espresso thrown in. A tasty typical italian dessert.
Overall the meal was great, the portions were just right, although I strongly suggest getting the crudo supplement if you choose the tasting menu. I will definitely be back.
The place did not really exude a date place type of atmosphere. The bar is small and kinda just thrown in there, with about 6 seats (but they have Hangar One vodka!!). The restaurant is located right off the theater district, and as expected most of the diners there when I went at 5:30pm were of the pre-theater crowd. The kitchen is remarkably efficient given the space, keeping things up at a good pace for the people who have to make their shows and slowing things down for people like me who were there to enjoy the food. The waitress mentioned that most solo diners like me who came for the food tended to come from within the restaurant industry.
Ok, let's get to the food. The basic tasting menu is $75 and includes one sample of the crudo. For a $25 supplement, 5 additional samples of crudo were provided. A spanish mackerel bruschetta with cannelloni beans was provided for each diner to start.
The 6 crudo were:
(I think Belon) Oyster
Mediterranean snapper
Fluke with black radish
Horse mackerel with a dried tomato sliver
Razor clam with scallions and peppers
Sea urchin with caponata oil in its own shell
Most of them were simply dressed with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Simple and definitely fresh flavors. I was disappointed with the razor clam that seemed too covered with other stuff and the piece was too small to really get much flavor. The portion of sea urchin was also small.
Next was the Spaghetti Neri. This is on the regular menu. House made squid ink spaghetti with cuttlefish, green chilis and scallion. While there wasn't much in the way of extras (cuttlefish piece) the flavor was fantastic. It's easy to make a sea urchin pasta taste good because of its creaminess, but not all chefs can make a squid ink pasta that manages to really get the taste through. This was very very tasty.
Next was the Squalo alla Siciliana. Sicilian style mako shark. The preparation that I had seemed different than the version described on the regular menu. It was lightly breaded and cooked medium with some leeks and spinach. Great nutty taste and texture. I was very impressed by this dish.
The final fish course was a local wild striped bass with mushrooms and something else. The fish was cooked as best can be for a pretty thick cut of that type of fish with the fish skin perfectly crispy. However, there was nothing here that wowed me.
Next was a simple cheese course. I've been getting lucky with cheese courses it seems because this was really tasty yet simple. Buffalo ricotta with a slight drizzling of honey. The cheese was creamy without being heavy and the honey gave it that slight sweet and nutty flavor that just matched perfectly.
The dessert was an affogato di gelato. A vanilla gelato with some mascarpone cheese on top with a shot of espresso thrown in. A tasty typical italian dessert.
Overall the meal was great, the portions were just right, although I strongly suggest getting the crudo supplement if you choose the tasting menu. I will definitely be back.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Why do Americans love baseball?
This is a question I get a lot actually. Because if you bring people who didn't grow up watching baseball to a game, their first impression is usually, "this is boring". And that's because it is boring. So why do Americans love it so much? Besides the simple reason that it has history and culture on its side (that you grow up learning to watch and play baseball), I'm going to include here a phenomenon I've noticed (again it's a generalization, comments welcome) that might shed some light on this question.
The thing that I've noticed is that if I rank American sports based on popularity (not including nascar), it'd go something like this (again feel free to disagree):
1/2 Baseball
1/2 Football
3 Basketball
4 Golf
5 Ice hockey/Soccer
6 Tennis
Now, I'm going to throw out golf and hockey and focus on the team sports. My theory is that Americans prefer discreteness in their sports compared to continuousness (yes this is a word, I looked it up). Ice hockey and soccer are the most continuous of the sports on that list. The clock doesn't ever really stop in soccer while substitutions are made continuously in hockey. Basketball has a continuous flow back and forth, but each possession is limited by the shot clock. Football is separated into every down of every drive of every possession. Each point in the game can be modeled by time, down, position on field, score, etc. to determine the next course of action. Then there's baseball, where every pitch of every at-bat of every inning is separate, and baseball is the most individual of the team sports.
This leads to my belief that Americans love the game of baseball and not the sport of baseball. There is usually more athletic ability on display in the more continous sports, and those tend to be more popular around the world (rugby, soccer, hockey, basketball, etc.). But baseball (and American football) offers more climactic moments for a fan because of the discreteness of plays. For example, there's a lot of buildup and cheering when a football team is trying to complete a crucial 3rd down. But nothing beats standing up and cheering on as the batter has two strikes on him with men on base and two outs with the pitcher looking to get out of the inning. And when the ball is fouled off, we get to sit down then stand back up and do it all over again. So my belief is that there are more dramatic situations in baseball and that's a large part of its popularity.
Another thing to look at from the discreteness of plays is the buildup of the score. In basketball, soccer, and hockey, a goal is a goal. There may have been a complicated process (pick and roll, passes, set play designs, faceoffs, etc.), but most will just remember the shot that scored the goal. While that also happens in football and baseball (one big play or a home run), there's also the 13 play drive in football or the bunt/stolen base/infield hit scenarios in baseball that build up to that score and make it seem more exciting.
So yes, to me, baseball is a boring sport and I rarely watch a regular season game even if I have a monetary interest in it. But I love watching the big games in late September and October when there's just so much drama built up into it.
The thing that I've noticed is that if I rank American sports based on popularity (not including nascar), it'd go something like this (again feel free to disagree):
1/2 Baseball
1/2 Football
3 Basketball
4 Golf
5 Ice hockey/Soccer
6 Tennis
Now, I'm going to throw out golf and hockey and focus on the team sports. My theory is that Americans prefer discreteness in their sports compared to continuousness (yes this is a word, I looked it up). Ice hockey and soccer are the most continuous of the sports on that list. The clock doesn't ever really stop in soccer while substitutions are made continuously in hockey. Basketball has a continuous flow back and forth, but each possession is limited by the shot clock. Football is separated into every down of every drive of every possession. Each point in the game can be modeled by time, down, position on field, score, etc. to determine the next course of action. Then there's baseball, where every pitch of every at-bat of every inning is separate, and baseball is the most individual of the team sports.
This leads to my belief that Americans love the game of baseball and not the sport of baseball. There is usually more athletic ability on display in the more continous sports, and those tend to be more popular around the world (rugby, soccer, hockey, basketball, etc.). But baseball (and American football) offers more climactic moments for a fan because of the discreteness of plays. For example, there's a lot of buildup and cheering when a football team is trying to complete a crucial 3rd down. But nothing beats standing up and cheering on as the batter has two strikes on him with men on base and two outs with the pitcher looking to get out of the inning. And when the ball is fouled off, we get to sit down then stand back up and do it all over again. So my belief is that there are more dramatic situations in baseball and that's a large part of its popularity.
Another thing to look at from the discreteness of plays is the buildup of the score. In basketball, soccer, and hockey, a goal is a goal. There may have been a complicated process (pick and roll, passes, set play designs, faceoffs, etc.), but most will just remember the shot that scored the goal. While that also happens in football and baseball (one big play or a home run), there's also the 13 play drive in football or the bunt/stolen base/infield hit scenarios in baseball that build up to that score and make it seem more exciting.
So yes, to me, baseball is a boring sport and I rarely watch a regular season game even if I have a monetary interest in it. But I love watching the big games in late September and October when there's just so much drama built up into it.
Dinner at Corton
With a review like this on Bloomberg including lots of name-dropping:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601099&sid=aCfaHplwcO3Y&refer=dine
how could I not venture a taste?
The reviews on the web and among the food blogs have generally been very good for Corton, which only opened a little over a month ago. I usually believe in going to a new restaurant about 3-4 months in - after many of the kinks have been worked out, but before the named chef decides to leave. But this being a Drew Nieporent establishment (he's responsible for the way too many Nobus in NYC), it's already in great shape. In fact, he was there seating guests when I arrived for an early Friday sitting (6pm reservation for 1, easy to get the night before).
The atmosphere is wonderful. Simple black and white colors, comfortable sitting, and enough light to see everything clearly, while not too much that it would take away from a date ambiance.
I went with the 8 course tasting menu (actually 7 plus amuse) for $110. I will try my best to list the dishes and its components, but there were many parts to each dish so I could easily leave out some stuff.
Amuse of oyster in a gelee of it's own juices. Simple, clear flavor of oyster. This, however, would be very different from the rest of the meal, in which many flavors were used in each dish.
Santa Barbara uni in a konbu gelee with a cauliflower creme. Delicious starter with the slight bitterness of konbu working very well with the sweet uni. I would have preferred a crunch in this dish to go with the jelly and creamy textures, but overall very nice.
Braised octopus with burgundy truffle slices, in a potato consomme, with apple cider jelly cubes and a squid ink brioche tuile. The octopus was perfect and the broth was nice. Again the apple cider and tuile provided a wider range of flavor with some hints of sweetness and slight bitterness. I found them unnecessary.
Turbot in a spiced almond crust over an herb puree with a coconut citrus jus. Accompanied by squash puree, black garlic jelly cubes, and a side of small gnocchi with bacon and baby bok choy. The turbot was perfectly cooked but the almond provided very little flavor or texture as it was far from being a crust. The coconut citrus jus felt too strong for this dish and the constant theme of throwing in the sweet and slight bitterness on the side was not getting it done for me. I much prefer the turbot entree at David Burke and Donatella. The side was fantastic though. Simple flavors that go together well and excellent small gnocchi.
Scottish red-legged partridge au jus over red cabbage with sweet potato puree, a dollop of concentrated black garlic, and a side of partridge leg "royale" over a polenta cake. This was a much more successful dish with the partridge over some sweet red cabbage. I would have preferred a gamier meat to the rather chicken-like partridge, but the combinations worked well in this dish.
Small wedge of Brillat-Savarin with sour cherry pate de fruit, a chickpea chip and some celery root. This was my favorite dish of the night. Brillat-Savarin is a brie-like cheese that is wonderful. You can find a description of it on wikipedia. The combination with the sour cherry pate de fruit was amazing. This was also the first dish where it didn't feel like the chef was forcing 5 or 6 flavors into one dish and just let two terrific flavors and textures that went together shine.
Predessert of mango sorbet with some lime stuff. I'm not a big fruit person so I ate it but it didn't really do anything for me.
Creme cake soaked in orange custard with 3 fruits on top (i only remember one was fig) and amaretto ice cream. The orange custard/creme went really well with the cake and made me really enjoy the fruits on top as well, even though I don't actually like any of them. This was wonderful.
Gianduja Palette with coconut ice cream and yuzu. Chocolate and coconut are a good combination but I thought the yuzu was out of place, especially as it wasn't a very rich dense chocolate.
Finished off by a great assortment of petit fours. In fact after sampling every type they gave me a bunch of chocolates to take home.
Overall: To me it was hit or miss. As I've mentioned before, I like simple flavors that go well together. Some of these dishes seemed forced in the use of the extra sweetness or bitterness. I really liked the sides, which were more concentrated simple flavors. I think I would go back again but I would order from the prix fixe ($76 for 3 courses) and try to add the brillat savarin course. That way I'd probably end up with something closer to what I like. Overall it was a pleasant experience and there was a definite show of the chef's skills, and the service was terrific.
Because I was early for my reservation I walked around a little bit and came across a little girl and her father. It looked like they were looking for a place to eat but the places around there were all too "grown up". As the two of them were talking I overheard the little girl say, "Tribeca is not Manhattan". Thoughts anyone?
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601099&sid=aCfaHplwcO3Y&refer=dine
how could I not venture a taste?
The reviews on the web and among the food blogs have generally been very good for Corton, which only opened a little over a month ago. I usually believe in going to a new restaurant about 3-4 months in - after many of the kinks have been worked out, but before the named chef decides to leave. But this being a Drew Nieporent establishment (he's responsible for the way too many Nobus in NYC), it's already in great shape. In fact, he was there seating guests when I arrived for an early Friday sitting (6pm reservation for 1, easy to get the night before).
The atmosphere is wonderful. Simple black and white colors, comfortable sitting, and enough light to see everything clearly, while not too much that it would take away from a date ambiance.
I went with the 8 course tasting menu (actually 7 plus amuse) for $110. I will try my best to list the dishes and its components, but there were many parts to each dish so I could easily leave out some stuff.
Amuse of oyster in a gelee of it's own juices. Simple, clear flavor of oyster. This, however, would be very different from the rest of the meal, in which many flavors were used in each dish.
Santa Barbara uni in a konbu gelee with a cauliflower creme. Delicious starter with the slight bitterness of konbu working very well with the sweet uni. I would have preferred a crunch in this dish to go with the jelly and creamy textures, but overall very nice.
Braised octopus with burgundy truffle slices, in a potato consomme, with apple cider jelly cubes and a squid ink brioche tuile. The octopus was perfect and the broth was nice. Again the apple cider and tuile provided a wider range of flavor with some hints of sweetness and slight bitterness. I found them unnecessary.
Turbot in a spiced almond crust over an herb puree with a coconut citrus jus. Accompanied by squash puree, black garlic jelly cubes, and a side of small gnocchi with bacon and baby bok choy. The turbot was perfectly cooked but the almond provided very little flavor or texture as it was far from being a crust. The coconut citrus jus felt too strong for this dish and the constant theme of throwing in the sweet and slight bitterness on the side was not getting it done for me. I much prefer the turbot entree at David Burke and Donatella. The side was fantastic though. Simple flavors that go together well and excellent small gnocchi.
Scottish red-legged partridge au jus over red cabbage with sweet potato puree, a dollop of concentrated black garlic, and a side of partridge leg "royale" over a polenta cake. This was a much more successful dish with the partridge over some sweet red cabbage. I would have preferred a gamier meat to the rather chicken-like partridge, but the combinations worked well in this dish.
Small wedge of Brillat-Savarin with sour cherry pate de fruit, a chickpea chip and some celery root. This was my favorite dish of the night. Brillat-Savarin is a brie-like cheese that is wonderful. You can find a description of it on wikipedia. The combination with the sour cherry pate de fruit was amazing. This was also the first dish where it didn't feel like the chef was forcing 5 or 6 flavors into one dish and just let two terrific flavors and textures that went together shine.
Predessert of mango sorbet with some lime stuff. I'm not a big fruit person so I ate it but it didn't really do anything for me.
Creme cake soaked in orange custard with 3 fruits on top (i only remember one was fig) and amaretto ice cream. The orange custard/creme went really well with the cake and made me really enjoy the fruits on top as well, even though I don't actually like any of them. This was wonderful.
Gianduja Palette with coconut ice cream and yuzu. Chocolate and coconut are a good combination but I thought the yuzu was out of place, especially as it wasn't a very rich dense chocolate.
Finished off by a great assortment of petit fours. In fact after sampling every type they gave me a bunch of chocolates to take home.
Overall: To me it was hit or miss. As I've mentioned before, I like simple flavors that go well together. Some of these dishes seemed forced in the use of the extra sweetness or bitterness. I really liked the sides, which were more concentrated simple flavors. I think I would go back again but I would order from the prix fixe ($76 for 3 courses) and try to add the brillat savarin course. That way I'd probably end up with something closer to what I like. Overall it was a pleasant experience and there was a definite show of the chef's skills, and the service was terrific.
Because I was early for my reservation I walked around a little bit and came across a little girl and her father. It looked like they were looking for a place to eat but the places around there were all too "grown up". As the two of them were talking I overheard the little girl say, "Tribeca is not Manhattan". Thoughts anyone?
Been Away
My AC adapter for my laptop melted (again) and so I wasn't online at home for a few days. That was probably a good thing for my blog since my NFL picks last week would have sucked again. But I'm back and there should be a few posts coming soon.
A quick word on the election. Congratulations to Barack Obama for winning by a sizeable margin. That was the most important thing that he took a bunch of states away. As for his first address on Friday as President-elect, being 15 minutes late was not cool. The squawk guy on our futures feed from the pits seemed really pissed that he was late. Or he was probably just pissed as a Republican.
A quick word on the election. Congratulations to Barack Obama for winning by a sizeable margin. That was the most important thing that he took a bunch of states away. As for his first address on Friday as President-elect, being 15 minutes late was not cool. The squawk guy on our futures feed from the pits seemed really pissed that he was late. Or he was probably just pissed as a Republican.
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