The blog, not the wife and I. I am having a lot of fun with the blog so I decided to purchase a domain name for the blog. Going forward you will be able to find Mr. Smith Goes To at www.mrsmithgoesto.com. Of course, if you don't want to update your bookmarks, then you will still be able to find the blog at mrsmitheats.blogspot.com.
Thanks for reading and please post some comments!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Barcelona Restaurant and Winebar in Stamford for Dinner
When I graduated from law school back in 1998, I took a three week trip to Europe -- well the U.K., Spain and Ireland to be exact. I spent one week in Barcelona and absolutely fell in love with the city. I have not been back since 1998 and have heard from people that have gone more recently that it is not as nice as I remember. Well, I am not sure that I agree and I am looking forward to returning someday to revisit the city that I loved so much.
Barcelona opened a few months after we moved to Stamford. My wife and I had dinner at Barcelona on our second wedding anniversary. Conincidentially, my second wedding anniversary was the second night of classes towards my MBA -- my wedding anniversary was the first night of my Managerial Marketing Class. I remember that my professor was surprised that any place would be open at 9:00 pm for dinner. After having lived in Stamford for a few months I understood what he was talking about.
Okay, one more paragraph of background and then I will get on to the review. When we lived in New York, we lived very close to two tapas restaurants. The first was Sala 19 and the second was Boqueria. Sala was good, but Boqueria was AWESOME. So, Boqueria has become our "gold standard" for tapas restaurants.
Okay, now onto the review. We started dinner with the olive plate. As children, my wife and I both hated olives. In our later years, we have come to really like them. Not sure what it is about olives, but now we are huge fans. The portion at Barcelona is huge and the olives were really tasty. Next we had the Gambas al Ajillo. In English, it is shirmp cooked with olive oil and garlic. My wife and I have made these at home before as well as had them at Boqueria. The gambas are good, however, they could stand to have a little more garlic.
Next, we had hanger steak with truffle oil. The hanger steak was great. It was grilled perfectly. The truffle oil truly enhanced the taste of the meat. In addition, we had a meat and cheese plate as well. Spanish dried meats and cheeses are generally excellent. Barcelona's selection consists of the best of both. I still have dreams about the fuet. YUM!
Finally, being a Spanish restaurant, Barcelona has an excellent wine list. While most of the list is Spanish wine, Barcelona also has a fair bit of South American wines as well. My wife and I never venture out of Spain when make our wine selection. This night, we had a 2005 Priorat. It paired extremely well with the hanger steak and the meat and cheese plate.
Word to the budget conscious -- on Sundays, Barcelona offers 50% of selected bottles of wine. If you are unfamiliar with Spanish wines, the Sunday deal is a great way to sample some Spanish wines for relatively inexpensive prices. Personally, I think that Spanish wines are one of the hidden gems of the European wine world. Barcelona does an excellent job of uncovering many of those gems and presenting them on its wine list. I hope that you will agree.
Finally, for your viewing pleasure, I leave you with a clip from Pedro Almodovar's All About My Mother. In All About My Mother, the main character leaves Madrid after her son dies and returns to Barcelona, where she left after her son was born. (Don't worry, I didn't spoil the movie for you -- all this happens in the first 15 minutes of the film). Almodovar's movie shows off the beauty of Barcelona. An added attraction is that the theater shown in the film was across the street from the hotel where I stayed when I went to Barcelona in 1998. Enjoy.
Barcelona Restaurant & Winebar
222 Summer Street
Stamford, CT 06901-2303
(203) 348-4800
www.barcelonawinebar.com
View Larger Map
Barcelona opened a few months after we moved to Stamford. My wife and I had dinner at Barcelona on our second wedding anniversary. Conincidentially, my second wedding anniversary was the second night of classes towards my MBA -- my wedding anniversary was the first night of my Managerial Marketing Class. I remember that my professor was surprised that any place would be open at 9:00 pm for dinner. After having lived in Stamford for a few months I understood what he was talking about.
Okay, one more paragraph of background and then I will get on to the review. When we lived in New York, we lived very close to two tapas restaurants. The first was Sala 19 and the second was Boqueria. Sala was good, but Boqueria was AWESOME. So, Boqueria has become our "gold standard" for tapas restaurants.
Okay, now onto the review. We started dinner with the olive plate. As children, my wife and I both hated olives. In our later years, we have come to really like them. Not sure what it is about olives, but now we are huge fans. The portion at Barcelona is huge and the olives were really tasty. Next we had the Gambas al Ajillo. In English, it is shirmp cooked with olive oil and garlic. My wife and I have made these at home before as well as had them at Boqueria. The gambas are good, however, they could stand to have a little more garlic.
Next, we had hanger steak with truffle oil. The hanger steak was great. It was grilled perfectly. The truffle oil truly enhanced the taste of the meat. In addition, we had a meat and cheese plate as well. Spanish dried meats and cheeses are generally excellent. Barcelona's selection consists of the best of both. I still have dreams about the fuet. YUM!
Finally, being a Spanish restaurant, Barcelona has an excellent wine list. While most of the list is Spanish wine, Barcelona also has a fair bit of South American wines as well. My wife and I never venture out of Spain when make our wine selection. This night, we had a 2005 Priorat. It paired extremely well with the hanger steak and the meat and cheese plate.
Word to the budget conscious -- on Sundays, Barcelona offers 50% of selected bottles of wine. If you are unfamiliar with Spanish wines, the Sunday deal is a great way to sample some Spanish wines for relatively inexpensive prices. Personally, I think that Spanish wines are one of the hidden gems of the European wine world. Barcelona does an excellent job of uncovering many of those gems and presenting them on its wine list. I hope that you will agree.
Finally, for your viewing pleasure, I leave you with a clip from Pedro Almodovar's All About My Mother. In All About My Mother, the main character leaves Madrid after her son dies and returns to Barcelona, where she left after her son was born. (Don't worry, I didn't spoil the movie for you -- all this happens in the first 15 minutes of the film). Almodovar's movie shows off the beauty of Barcelona. An added attraction is that the theater shown in the film was across the street from the hotel where I stayed when I went to Barcelona in 1998. Enjoy.
Barcelona Restaurant & Winebar
222 Summer Street
Stamford, CT 06901-2303
(203) 348-4800
www.barcelonawinebar.com
View Larger Map
Monday, March 22, 2010
Harvest Supper in New Caanan for Dinner
Walking into Harvest Supper in New Canaan makes you feel as if you’re walking back in time to Colonial New England: dark stained wood paneling, ancestral Early American portraits, copper pots as decoration…everything seems, well, Old American. Or should I say --- Olde American.
The food, however, is very New American. And very good.
Harvest Supper has an intimate setting with about 40 seats. It felt as if we were invited to someone’s home for a dinner party. So intimate, in fact, we learned much more than we ever would have wanted to know about our neighboring diners (my wife and I were convinced it had to be a first date, and that there might not be a second date in their future).
We started off with a fantastic Cremant d’Alsace Rose from Lucien Albrecht – Pinot Noir made in the same method as Champagne, great as an aperitif but also ridiculously food-friendly. It went remarkably well with all of the small plates we ordered. The beets with whipped bleu cheese and pistachios was an earthy and savory starter. Then we had crispy quail with olives, creamy polenta, and thinly-sliced pork with bok choy and cipollini onions. Very delicious. We finished the evening as we do quite often; instead of choosing a sweet dessert, we like to finish our wine with a cheese plate. On this evening, we had Raclette, a triple-crème Explorateur and a Bayley Hazen Vermont Blue with nuts and fruit. Perfect.
Harvest Supper
15 Elm Street
New Canaan, CT 06840-5502
(203) 966-5595
(The restaurant does not have a Web site)
View Larger Map
The food, however, is very New American. And very good.
Harvest Supper has an intimate setting with about 40 seats. It felt as if we were invited to someone’s home for a dinner party. So intimate, in fact, we learned much more than we ever would have wanted to know about our neighboring diners (my wife and I were convinced it had to be a first date, and that there might not be a second date in their future).
We started off with a fantastic Cremant d’Alsace Rose from Lucien Albrecht – Pinot Noir made in the same method as Champagne, great as an aperitif but also ridiculously food-friendly. It went remarkably well with all of the small plates we ordered. The beets with whipped bleu cheese and pistachios was an earthy and savory starter. Then we had crispy quail with olives, creamy polenta, and thinly-sliced pork with bok choy and cipollini onions. Very delicious. We finished the evening as we do quite often; instead of choosing a sweet dessert, we like to finish our wine with a cheese plate. On this evening, we had Raclette, a triple-crème Explorateur and a Bayley Hazen Vermont Blue with nuts and fruit. Perfect.
Harvest Supper
15 Elm Street
New Canaan, CT 06840-5502
(203) 966-5595
(The restaurant does not have a Web site)
View Larger Map
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Dressing Room in Wesport for Dinner
Today is Wednesday and that brings us to the Dressing Room in Westport. Every Wednesday, the Dressing Room has an oyster special -- for $15.00 you get 12 oysters and a beer. Last Wednesday was our first dinner at the Dressing Room. I am sure that it won't be our last.
Much like Le Farm, The Dressing Room believes in using locally grown foods in their menu items. This philosophy was the brainchild of its founder, Paul Newman. Yes, that Paul Newman.
Mr. Newman's philosophy continues at The Dressing Room and his presence is still felt, even though he is no longer with us.
The Dressing Room's oysters are from Connecticut. They were unlike any oysters that I had tasted before. They did not taste fishy or briney at all. The oysters were creamy and smooth. I could swear that they had been harvested from the ocean that day -- THAT'S HOW FRESH THEY WERE.
My wife and I started with the radicchio salad. The radicchio was grilled and served with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. For dinner, my wife had the chicken pot pie. It was incredible. Usually, chicken pot pie is very soupy and heavy. The gravy used in The Dressing Room's is not made with cream but roasted sunchokes. As a result, the pot pie does not leave with you feeling full.
The restaurant is decorated with posters of shows that had played at the Westport Playhouse, which is housed in the same building as The Dressing Room. It makes for some fun dinner conversation to see posters showing Bob Denver and Jeff Conaway in their Westport playhouse debuts. For people interested in more current events, The Dressing Room has information about the upcoming season of shows at the Westport Playhouse. My wife and I are thinking about getting tickets to a few of the shows.
Dressing Room
25 Powers Court
Westport, CT 06880-3621
(203) 226-1114
www.dressingroomhomegrown.com
View Larger Map
Much like Le Farm, The Dressing Room believes in using locally grown foods in their menu items. This philosophy was the brainchild of its founder, Paul Newman. Yes, that Paul Newman.
Mr. Newman's philosophy continues at The Dressing Room and his presence is still felt, even though he is no longer with us.
The Dressing Room's oysters are from Connecticut. They were unlike any oysters that I had tasted before. They did not taste fishy or briney at all. The oysters were creamy and smooth. I could swear that they had been harvested from the ocean that day -- THAT'S HOW FRESH THEY WERE.
My wife and I started with the radicchio salad. The radicchio was grilled and served with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. For dinner, my wife had the chicken pot pie. It was incredible. Usually, chicken pot pie is very soupy and heavy. The gravy used in The Dressing Room's is not made with cream but roasted sunchokes. As a result, the pot pie does not leave with you feeling full.
The restaurant is decorated with posters of shows that had played at the Westport Playhouse, which is housed in the same building as The Dressing Room. It makes for some fun dinner conversation to see posters showing Bob Denver and Jeff Conaway in their Westport playhouse debuts. For people interested in more current events, The Dressing Room has information about the upcoming season of shows at the Westport Playhouse. My wife and I are thinking about getting tickets to a few of the shows.
Dressing Room
25 Powers Court
Westport, CT 06880-3621
(203) 226-1114
www.dressingroomhomegrown.com
View Larger Map
Monday, March 15, 2010
Tawa in Stamford for Dinner
In addition to a number of Italian restaurants, Stamford has a number of Indian restaurants. One of the nicest ones in Stamford is Tawa.
My wife and I both like Indian food, however, we haven't had any Indian food since we moved to Stamford last Spring. Last Friday, after trying to have dinner at a few different places we decided to give Tawa a try. We are glad we did.
It probably goes without saying that Indian cuisine is known for its breads. Poori is a whole wheat bread that is deep fried. It comes out puffed up like a ball. To eat it, you simply tear it apart. Within five minutes of it be placed at our table, we tore through the two pieces that came with our order.
After the poori, we had the Malai Kofta and the Mehti Murg. The Malai Kofta is a dumpling stuffed with mixed vegetables. It was lightly fried and served in an almond sauce. This description does not do it justice -- IT WAS FREAKING UNBELIEVABLE. The Mehti Murg is a chicken dish with tomatoes and onion and a hint of yogurt. Indian food is also known for its innovative use of spices. The spices in both our dishes were incredible. My wife and I spent several minutes trying figure out which spices were in each dish.
Our dinner was rounded out with a bottle of Moet & Chandon Imperial Champagne. Champagne goes very well with Indian food. My wife, the wine expert, could do a better job of explaining why, so I won't even try here.
In Stamford, you can be faced with several choices for an Indian restaurant. For the best value and taste, I suggest that you eat at Tawa.
Tawa Indian Cuisine
211 Summer Street
Stamford, CT 06901
(203) 359-8977
www.tawaonline.com
View Larger Map
My wife and I both like Indian food, however, we haven't had any Indian food since we moved to Stamford last Spring. Last Friday, after trying to have dinner at a few different places we decided to give Tawa a try. We are glad we did.
It probably goes without saying that Indian cuisine is known for its breads. Poori is a whole wheat bread that is deep fried. It comes out puffed up like a ball. To eat it, you simply tear it apart. Within five minutes of it be placed at our table, we tore through the two pieces that came with our order.
After the poori, we had the Malai Kofta and the Mehti Murg. The Malai Kofta is a dumpling stuffed with mixed vegetables. It was lightly fried and served in an almond sauce. This description does not do it justice -- IT WAS FREAKING UNBELIEVABLE. The Mehti Murg is a chicken dish with tomatoes and onion and a hint of yogurt. Indian food is also known for its innovative use of spices. The spices in both our dishes were incredible. My wife and I spent several minutes trying figure out which spices were in each dish.
Our dinner was rounded out with a bottle of Moet & Chandon Imperial Champagne. Champagne goes very well with Indian food. My wife, the wine expert, could do a better job of explaining why, so I won't even try here.
In Stamford, you can be faced with several choices for an Indian restaurant. For the best value and taste, I suggest that you eat at Tawa.
Tawa Indian Cuisine
211 Summer Street
Stamford, CT 06901
(203) 359-8977
www.tawaonline.com
View Larger Map
Saturday, March 13, 2010
116 Crown in New Haven for Dinner
Let me apologize for not posting for a while. Keeping up a blog takes a lot of commitment. Sorry I have let my two faithful readers down. Now, onto the reviews.
The nearest Ikea to Stamford is in New Haven. Anyone that knows my wife and I knows that we like Ikea. Heck, we've even been to an Ikea in Finland -- and yes, Ikea's Swedish meatballs are exactly the same in Finland as they are here. Also, all the items have the same crazy names, except in Finland the names don't sound so crazy.
After our shopping trip to Ikea we drove into downtown New Haven to find a place to grab some dinner. This led to our discovery of 116 Crown.
116 Crown is a beautiful space. The decor of the restaurant is very modern. There are white birch branches everywhere. Also, the bar is made of white onyx and is lit from below. It runs two-thirds the length of the restaurant and has seating on both sides. It looks like this:
.
116 Crown's bar is put to good use with the excellent cocktails. My wife had the Glitterati, which is made with Plymouth Gin, creme de cassis, lemon juice, simple syrup and brut champagne. I think that Fairfield County lacks a good cocktail bar. I find this kind of depressing because there was an awesome cocktail bar, called The Flatiron Lounge, very close to our old apartment in Manhattan. The cocktail menu at The Flatiron Lounge mostly consists of cocktails from the 20's, 30's and 40's. 116 Crown had similar cocktails on its list, as well as cocktails which were inspired by their classic forefathers. Since moving to Connecticut, 116 Crown is the closest thing that we have found to a real cocktail bar. So close, in fact, that I seriously thought about renting a hotel room in New Haven and having a few instead of being the "designated driver."
116 Crown's cocktail list can be a little overwhelming. DO NOT HESITATE TO ASK FOR HELP! The bartending staff is very nice and will ask you a few questions and bring you exactly what you could have wished for -- at least that is what they did for my wife.
The drinks were not the only thing at 116 Crown worth mentioning; the food was also excellent. We started our dinner with the brussel sprouts. They were very simply prepared with a little olive oil and salt and the chef cooked them by placing them under the broiler for a few minutes. They were very simple, yet tasted incredible. In addition, we split the duck special. The duck was grilled medium rare and served on a bed of greens. It was perfectly cooked and likely the best duck we have ever tasted. Finally, we had roast beef bone marrow. I know, you probably think bone marrow is gross. Well, you'd be wrong. When it is cooked, bone marrow becomes gooey and spreadable. The marrow was served in the bones. You eat the marrow by scooping it out of the bones and spreading it on bread. The best thing to do was to spread it on the bread and wait about 30 seconds or so before eating it -- this allowed the marrow to soak into the bread. Yum.
So, the next time you find yourself at the Ikea in New Haven or, just want a cocktail from days gone by, I highly suggest you eat at 116 Crown.
116 Crown
116 Crown Street
New Haven, CT 06510
(203) 777-3116
www.116crown.com
View Larger Map
The nearest Ikea to Stamford is in New Haven. Anyone that knows my wife and I knows that we like Ikea. Heck, we've even been to an Ikea in Finland -- and yes, Ikea's Swedish meatballs are exactly the same in Finland as they are here. Also, all the items have the same crazy names, except in Finland the names don't sound so crazy.
After our shopping trip to Ikea we drove into downtown New Haven to find a place to grab some dinner. This led to our discovery of 116 Crown.
116 Crown is a beautiful space. The decor of the restaurant is very modern. There are white birch branches everywhere. Also, the bar is made of white onyx and is lit from below. It runs two-thirds the length of the restaurant and has seating on both sides. It looks like this:
.116 Crown's bar is put to good use with the excellent cocktails. My wife had the Glitterati, which is made with Plymouth Gin, creme de cassis, lemon juice, simple syrup and brut champagne. I think that Fairfield County lacks a good cocktail bar. I find this kind of depressing because there was an awesome cocktail bar, called The Flatiron Lounge, very close to our old apartment in Manhattan. The cocktail menu at The Flatiron Lounge mostly consists of cocktails from the 20's, 30's and 40's. 116 Crown had similar cocktails on its list, as well as cocktails which were inspired by their classic forefathers. Since moving to Connecticut, 116 Crown is the closest thing that we have found to a real cocktail bar. So close, in fact, that I seriously thought about renting a hotel room in New Haven and having a few instead of being the "designated driver."
116 Crown's cocktail list can be a little overwhelming. DO NOT HESITATE TO ASK FOR HELP! The bartending staff is very nice and will ask you a few questions and bring you exactly what you could have wished for -- at least that is what they did for my wife.
The drinks were not the only thing at 116 Crown worth mentioning; the food was also excellent. We started our dinner with the brussel sprouts. They were very simply prepared with a little olive oil and salt and the chef cooked them by placing them under the broiler for a few minutes. They were very simple, yet tasted incredible. In addition, we split the duck special. The duck was grilled medium rare and served on a bed of greens. It was perfectly cooked and likely the best duck we have ever tasted. Finally, we had roast beef bone marrow. I know, you probably think bone marrow is gross. Well, you'd be wrong. When it is cooked, bone marrow becomes gooey and spreadable. The marrow was served in the bones. You eat the marrow by scooping it out of the bones and spreading it on bread. The best thing to do was to spread it on the bread and wait about 30 seconds or so before eating it -- this allowed the marrow to soak into the bread. Yum.
So, the next time you find yourself at the Ikea in New Haven or, just want a cocktail from days gone by, I highly suggest you eat at 116 Crown.
116 Crown
116 Crown Street
New Haven, CT 06510
(203) 777-3116
www.116crown.com
View Larger Map
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