Parallax and VTR (Again)

On Saturday night Colin took me to Parallax for dinner, about which I have highly mixed feelings, so I will do my best to be objective and explain my basis for them all:

Pros: The decor was lovely: sort of a hip, streamlined, ocean-y if you will palette with modern touches without being so much so that it was a discomfort (if that makes sense). Our server was friendly and polite and the wines were a joy. I am really starting to appreciate New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, by the way… (this coming from the girl who once said amen to the quip “life’s too short to drink white wine.”)

Cons: Our table wasn’t ready when we arrived (despite our reservation) so we got stuck sitting at the only remaining seats at the bar, which were by the sushi station and, therefore, smelled highly fishy. Also, since Parallax supposedly specializes in seafood, I opted for the potato pancake with smoked salmon app and scallops w/ jicama-cucumber slaw and coconut rice for my main, thinking they would be safe bets. I was a bit disappointed on both counts:  potato pancake with smoked salmon is truly hard to mess up, so in all fairness it wasn’t that they made it badly, it was just a bit too drenched in butter and capers, so the flavors of the salmon and potato took a back seat. My scallops were not bad, either, but were more resemblant something I’d expect to find at a Disney World Resort. The coconut rice did not do much for the scallops and as I always say, you can tell a good restaurant by how they treat their scallops. They are such delicate little things, they really need more TLC than they received here… Colin called them “cruise-ship-y” and I think he about summed it up.

Perhaps now would be a good time to elaborate on what I mean by “not bad” because when it comes down to it, that’s how I’d have to describe everything we ate there. Colin had the croquettes (decent but nothing noteworthy) and the trout, which was probably the least stellar dish of the evening. The fish was a bit dry and placed atop a scallion pancake that was both heavy and overwhelming to the flavor of the fish, in a sort of “play at contrasting textures” gone awry. The sorbet, which we shared, as also not what we’d hoped for. It basically tasted like your usual run-of-the-mill carton sorbet. Despite it’s rather unusual texture, I preferred the rhubarb sorbet at Bistro at Lincoln Park because it at least went out on a limb, flavor wise. Then again, maybe I am just a bit bitter that we paid $6 for a dessert Colin could have done a better job of, himself (and has).

I was also slightly surprised by the crowd, given the price tag. Apart from the sweetest day dinner-goers, we had the good  fortune of sitting between two groups of rather loud individuals whose conversations I didn’t want to but could not help overhearing and ran the gamut from profanity riddled explanations of how amazing their new sneakers were to how certain religious groups (here unnamed to protect the innocent) are trying to take over the world. I know this is nothing the restaurant can help, but it sullied the experience just the same.

So the final verdict? Go to Parallax for the interior and wine selection, but I would not recommend a dinner visit. If you’re looking for good scallops, try Fahrenheit. And if it’s potato pancake and salmon you want, well I’d say it was better at that old chain Atria’s at Legacy Village, but it’s no more…

After dinner the evening called for a little Velvet Tango Room therapy, so we headed over to Columbus Ave for some good, old-fashioned, knock-you-flat sidecars. No sooner were we in the door than the memories of raucous, dogmatic restaurant-goers began to be soothed by the gentle lull of piano and bass and whilst sipping on the pure, homemade goodness of a cocktail as it should be (festooned with a cherry so tipsy it would make Oscar Wilde blush) we settled into a Saturday evening with only one interruption: three angry VTR newbies contesting their $15 grey goose on the rocks, to which the bartender sweetly responded “well you get what you pay for here.” And we did.

Epicurious.com & Pork Tenderloin

Today I joined Epicurious with the intention of gleaning all sorts of useful tips, recipes, and other goodies. The coolest tool I found thus far is the on-line recipe box and ingredient list feature, which organizes the items in your list according to recipe or grocery aisle.

I also have to mention that I just made the best recipe for pork tenderloin that I have found thus far! It comes to us courtesy of Julia Child, from her first volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Basically you take your tenderloin and brown it in butter before baking for a couple of hours with root vegetables, which later become a gravy after the addition of stock. I made it on Sunday night (tragically I only bought a pound and a half of tenderloin) and Colin and I were both a bit disheartened to see it go so soon. This recipe relies on the same principles of success as many of Julia’s: everything’s better with butter, a few ordinary ingredients prepared properly will yield fabulous results, and good things come to those who are willing to wait. The whole thing took about 3 hours but I since I’d really rather be in the kitchen on a Sunday evening than pretty much anywhere else and the apartment was filled with such an unspeakably delicious aroma (thanks to a little Herbs de Provence) I didn’t mind the wait and used the baking time to catch up on some editing for my night class. You can find the recipe in her book, if you want the proper details. It’s the first variation in the section on preparations for pork loin. Yum!

It’s my birthday, so I’ll have my nectarine and eat it too!

So today I am 27 and this morning my friend at the office Valentina gave me my first birthday present: a nectarine and a package of Trader Joe’s sesame crepes. Yum! I will devour them with glee and warm fuzzy feelings of appreciation. I also promised to share them with her.

Overall this has been a pretty good year for many reasons but I’m not feeling particularly contemplative so I’ll not sport with your intelligence by waxing eloquent on the meaning of life, things I have realize over the passing years, etc etc. but just say that I’m happy to have the best family and friends a girl could ask for and especially happy that the best man in the world is making me dinner tonight and taking me to Lolita on Saturday for some birthday food and drinks. Hurrah! Feeling older? Not I — but don’t ask me in 3 years ;)

Back from Dublin!

Col and I got back from Ireland on Thursday night and things have pretty much boiled down to a madhouse of catching up since then, so I’m not going to write too much about what we visited and ate, as much as offer a synopsis accompanied by links…. so here it is:

For the second day of our trip – day one was spent napping and driving around the countryside – we visited Trinity College, the Book of Kells, and the Museum of Archaeology (apparently the medieval Irish spent a great deal of their time either burying their gold in bogs or getting themselves buried in them.) The first place we ate was Munchies which is a favorite of Col’s for coffee, sandwiches, and snacks. They can be expensive but they’re worth it – I recommend the breakfast sausage and egg sandwich with tomato relish (yum!) They also do wonderful lattes and are a cosy haven from the misty, gray bustle of the street. We ended the day with a tour of the National Gallery and some take out fish and chips.

On day three we explored Collin’s Barracks (now the museum of decorative arts and history) and then trudged up to the Guinness storehouse for a tour and a pint. Following a long walk back to Grafton Street (but alas, too tired to shop) we headed home to tidy up and then back out for dinner with Col’s brother Peter and his fiance Irene, plus Rob, whose father was apparently Father Ted (who knew?) to a great little French place called Chez Max where I proceeded to gorge myself on quail and skate wings with brown butter and almonds and creme brulee… sigh….

On Sunday we drove down to Glendalough and stopped on the way back up at Avoca Handweavers for some tea and cake. Later that night we drove into Greystones and had a glass of wine at The Hungry Monk, which, along with a near-perfect Pinot grigio, has about the nicest date atmosphere you could ask for.

We drove down through Co. Kilkenny on Monday en route to Jerpoint Abbey (beautiful and very interesting site) but were slightly surprised by the general calm, considering the fact that Kilkenny had won all-Ireland hurling the day before (at least there were banners everywhere). That night, Patricia’s chicken pie (see recipe page) made it to it’s 3rd continent, with excellent results! (n.b. hearts of palm are nowhere to be found in Ireland but artichoke works in a pinch).

On Tuesday we supped with the whole family at Mao on Peter’s recommendation. The appetizers were nice and light and my Korean Fire Beef about did me in, but it was a great little place, as well as much cheaper than the majority of places around Dublin.

Wednesday was spent shopping and having one last wander around the city. Here are two more places you absolutely have to try in Dublin: Bewley’s Oriental Cafe, a relic of proper Victorian cafes with balconies and velvet seat cushions (http://bewleyscafe.com/) and Butler’s chocolates (http://www.butlerschocolates.com/) for, well, obvious reasons…

I also found a great coat at Zara for fairly cheap (yay!). Visit flickr for the pictures of everything mentioned above and then some!

Yay Julia!

For those of you who know how adorable I think Julia Child is and how much I enjoyed the recent movie about her I propose we try Bistro 185 for the next dinner because, not only does their menu feature Boeuf Bourguignon, but the restaurant is, for the month of September, doing an “in honor of Julia Child” menu that will feature one of her recipes as a special entree every night. Entrees range from $13-30 for the cost conscious among us (which, let’s face it, is probably all of us).

If you want to come, let me know and I’ll make reservations but please don’t tell me to put you on the list unless you really intend to come because we’ve run into problems with this in the past (i.e. I’ve had to apologize to irate hostesses who put together tables for 18 only for 8 people to call me within the last hour to cancel.) I’m thinking September 25th, 8:oo. How does that sound?