Cuban in Bergenfield NJ

I’ve been meaning to go to this tiny Cuban place in Bergenfield called “El Caney”.

It’s a stone’s throw away from our favorite Filipino pan de sal place.  It’s been a while since I’ve had Cuban and I was ready for some picadillo, chuletas, pernil, and other Cuban standbies.

I tried their bacalau with fried plantains, black beans and white rice.  I washed it all down with a tamarind soda.  It was very good, like good home cooking should be.  And also quite filling.  I also got a guava empanada which I am looking forward to having for dessert tonight.  It’s too bad they didn’t have the guava and cheese empanada.  That sounds even better.

Iliana, the friendly waitress/cashier of El Caney, said they had regulars from NYC who visited every weekend.  At one point during my meal, she took an order over the phone.  Very shortly thereafter, a NJ Transit bus actually stopped in front of the restaurant and Iliana gave some take-home Cuban fare to the bus driver.

The bus driver and a growing number of people know – El Caney is worth the stop.  I’ll definitely stop by again.

Jamaican Food Truck

“The Jamaican Dutchy” is a rather large food truck that claims to serve “authentic Jamaican cuisine.”

I came across this truck yesterday and couldn’t resist trying some Jamaican fare.  After all, I haven’t really had good, authentic Jamaican food.  I’ve tried “jamaican patties”, jerk chicken and the like but never really enjoyed them or considered them authentic.

So I was hoping the Jamaican Dutchy would change my opinion of Jamaican food.  Thankfully, it did.

I ordered a “mini-meal” of stew chicken and some red bean soup.  It was all served in styrofoam and wrapped in plastic.  The stew chicken reminded me a little bit of adobo.  Stew chicken supposedly uses scallions, garlic,  thyme and lime juice and something called “browning sauce”.

The red bean soup was thick, heavy and hearty – perfect for a cold, damp day.

Next time, I ‘ll try their cow’s feet . . .

Moroccan Dates

I’ve often heard that Iraqi dates are the best in the world.

At a recent wedding, I had the pleasure of having dates from Morocco.

They were twice the size of dates you find in supermarkets.  Stuffed with marzipan and other sweet goodies and served with little cups of milk flavored with some spice, they were perfect appetizers for the couscous and tagine that I had for my main course.

These dates were absolutely delicious and without question,  the best dates I’ve ever had.

Best Macaroons Ever

Last night, my daughter-in-law Cindy shared a box of macaroons that she bought from the newly opened Laduree bakery in New York.

I can say, without any hesitation, that they were the best macaroons I’ve ever tasted.

I don’t remember all the flavors, but I do recall my favorites – granny smith apple, black currant  and orange blossom.  They were all so delicately flavored, providing wonderful nuanced stimuli to both nez and bouche, much like fine wines.

Indeed, I regret that I didn’t get to pair them with some good dessert wines. Perhaps some port or a Sauternes.

What a great excuse to buy another box of les macarons :)

Cafe Adam

Cafe Adam is a small, 42-seat restaurant in Great Barrington, NY founded by a Johnson & Wales grad.

We visited this locavore destination in the Berkshires and were quite impressed. Most of the dishes are made with locally sourced products.

For appetizers, we had thin fried strips of parsnips which looked like long, dry blades of golden brown grass.  Delicious and addicting.  Too bad we couldn’t take some home; they were so light and fragile.  Their soft shell crab, served with avocado and tabouleh, is now one of our favorite renditions.

Our main courses consisted of a New England-style boullabaisse, made with  haddock, wild shrimp, scallop, squid, and mussels – all sourced from neighboring towns and states.  The saffron aioli was (thankfully) not very garlicky but instead more delicately flavored than the classic Marseille version.  I especially liked the tiny squid rings and plump scallops.

Other notable dishes were steak frites with an unusual ketchup and green garlic-cognac butter, and a mushroom pie with Spanish goat cheese.  We tried their local ale, which was average at best.

I think we could go back to Cafe Adam.

My Favorite Brazilian Restaurant in New York

It’s been a while since we’ve had good Brazilian fare. Marita and I enjoyed some traditional dishes at pretty good Brazilian restaurants when we visited Rio many years ago -  so the bar has been set quite high.

We recently visited Circus Restaurant in midtown Manhattan and we were thoroughly impressed.  It’s now definitely our favorite Brazilian in New York.

Marita started with a corn soup with fried collard greens which lent a pleasant bitter taste that blended very well with the sweet corn.  My own appetizers consisted of a trio of pastelzinhos; I especially liked the one stuffed with cheese.

For my main course,  I had red snapper that was crispy on top and moist inside, placed on a bed of mashed potatoes, which reminded me a bit of Eric Ripert’s cooking.   Apparently, Ripert is a friend of the owner.  Of course, I had the obligatory caipirinha. Marita had a perfectly breaded milanesa with vegetables.

The staff – particularly maitre d’ Vasco and waiter Leo were very attentive and friendly which made the meal all the more enjoyable.  Vasco is Portuguese and Leo Brazilian so they know about cachacas, feijoada and moqueca and the many other Brazilian and Portuguese standards as well as more unusual dishes.  Leo was kind enough to give us some mango -flavored cachacas, a perfect way to top the meal.

I asked them where we could get some acaraje and they both admitted that it’s difficult to get this traditional Bahian treat in New York.  You have to wait for Brazil day and wait in endless lines to get them.  But they promised to look into adding it to their regular menu – a great excuse to go back to this wonderful Brazilian restaurant.

Traditional French at Benoit

For our 32nd Wedding Anniversary, Marita and I decided to have traditional French bistro fare.  No nouvelle cuisine, just good old-fashioned, heavy-on- the butter-and-cream French food.

We couldn’t have picked a better place than Benoit, Alain Ducasse’s bistro in Manhattan.

We had an excellent French meal.  Marita started with a plate of three appetizers: sardine escabeche, veal tongue,  and crispy pied de cochon – at $12, easily the best bargain in the house.  I had an ultra-rich cheese souffle (after we had a couple of gougere cheese puffs, which were the lightest part of the entire meal).

For my main course, I had filet de rouget (red mullet), that wonderful Mediterranean fish that I last tried in Cannes.  It was simply prepared with tomatoes and  carrots, with crispy skin on the outside and tender flesh inside.

Marita’s main course was Quenelle de brochet Nantua, the classic dish made of mashed pike fish and bechamel and shrimp or crayfish butter.  I was expecting small boat-shaped quenelles but instead got a single, creme-brulee sized mound of quenelle.  It was very rich and luxurious, and yes, very heavy.  I nearly ordered another glass of Sancerre to help me finish it off.

Dessert was poached cherries and pistachio ice cream – very good and also very heavy.

My Favorite Malaysian – Fatty Crab

I have to admit that I hardly ever look for Malaysian food.  But when I do have it, I am almost always satisfied.

The Fatty Crab in downtown NYC took part in Malaysian week so we took advantage of their relatively inexpensive pre-fixe menus.  We didn’t go for anything unusual or exotic.  Instead we opted for pretty standard Malaysian fare.

Marita had nasi lemak which was served with a half-cooked egg sitting on top of fried rice which I mixed together with the anchovies, peanuts, vegetables and other ingredients.  I had an equally unadventurous main course – beef rendang, which had a little more cartilage than I am used to, but actually was a welcome change.  I especially like the toasted coconut bits on the rendang.

Le Cirque

For my birthday, my kids treated me to dinner at Le Cirque.

I first had jamon iberico at Le Cirque, very shortly after the FDA made it legal in the USA, so I have fond memories for this gastronomic temple in New York.  I will again remember this meal at Le Cirque.  First, because I got to see I.M. Pei and Sirio Macchione, and more importantly because I was joined at the table by my year-old grandson, Dean, who probably has a gourmet’s palate like his chef mom Cindy.  My son Mark ordered mashed potatoes for Dean and he loved it  I loved them myself; they’re probably the best mashed potatoes I’ve had.

We had an interesting mix of dishes including scrambled eggs with caviar, soft shell crab,  wild mushroom consommé, Osso Buco Milanese; standbys like Flounder “Le Cirque” and Paupiette of black cod; Wagyu beef and foie gras.  But the most memorable dish – at least for me  – was Poussin “Under a Brick” or chicken cooked under a brick.  The video below shows how to cook this very simple, rustic dish.

We had Guinness ice cream at Mark’s apartment, made by Cindy.  As usual, I had one scoop too many.

Blue by Eric Ripert

In a previous post, I wrote that my dinner at Joel Robuchon’s Atelier in Las Vegas was my best meal ever.

Well, it looks like I can now accord that distinction to my dinner at Blue Restaurant in the Grand Cayman Islands.  It’s an Eric Ripert restaurant so I guess I’m really giving him back the #1 spot in my book.  Ripert’s Le Bernardin was tops on my list for the longest time until the Robuchon meal.

Dinner at Blue was special, first because it was my wife’s birthday, and second because we were given absolutely world-class service by Filipino waiters.  Even the restaurant maitre d’ was Filipina

We splurged on this one.  I got the Blue Tasting Menu with wine pairings and Marita got the Eric Ripert Tasting Menu.  It was a wonderful meal, yes the best I’ve had, and I won’t even bother to describe them.  I’ll let the menus below speak for themselves.

Well – let me at least highlight some of the unusual items.  The striped bass was served with a sambal sauce and paired with a 2008 Coeur de Vignes, a red wine from Catalanes Roussillon with only 800 cases produced.  The snapper was also accompanied by another relatively unknown but excellent red wine made of Mencias grapes. The swordfish was paired with yet another red from Carmenère grapes.  So 3 of the 5 dishes were paired with red wines.  My favorite from Marita’s dinner was the tuna-foie gras which is actually one of  Ripert’s signature dishes at Blue.

This was an all-seafood dinner and the matching of red and white wines was perfect.  And I can’t say enough about the superb service by our Filipino waiters.

Marita and I need no excuse to eat again at Blue.

Blue Tasting Menu
Ceviche
Peruvian Style Conch Ceviche, Citrus, Jalapeño, Red Onion, Cilantro, Aji Amarillo Foam
2009 Riesling ‘Rotlack’ Kabinett Schloss Johannisberg Rheingau Germany

Ravioli
Seafood Ravioli, Parsnip Puree, Tomato Chutney, Soy Butter Sauce
2009 Viognier K Vintner Columbia Valley Washington North America

Striped Bass
Grilled Striped Bass, Pickled Christophene, Fennel Agnolotti,
Spicy Sambal Sauce
2008 Coeur de Vignes ‘C’ Domaine Vidal Cotes Catalanes Roussillon

Swordfish
Grilled Smoked Swordfish, Baba Ghanoush, Pomegranate Vierge
2006 Carmenère Terrunyo Block 27  Concha Y Toro Cachapoal Valley Chile

Snapper
Local Snapper, Sweet Potato, Plantain, Avocado, Spicy Sancocho Sauce
2004 Mencia ‘Cepas Viejas’ Dominio de Tares Bierzo Spain

Chocolate-banana
Rich Chocolate Mousse, Caramelized Banana, Mango-Saffron Sauce, and Cocoa Sorbet
2008 Vidal Icewine Peller Estate Niagara on the Lake Canada

Eric Ripert Tasting Menu
Tuna-foie Gras
Layers of Thinly Pounded Yellowfin Tuna, Foie Gras and Toasted Baguette with Shaved Chives

Crab
Warm King Crab, Grapefruit, Fennel Salad, Lime

Halibut
Poached Halibut, Lemon-Artichoke Risotto, Pistachio Pesto

Escolar
Olive Oil Poached Escolar, Asparagus, Red Wine Béarnaise Sauce

Snapper
Bread Crusted Snapper, Saffron Vegetable “Fideos”
Chorizo-Smoked Sweet Paprika Sauce

Passion Fruit
Passion Fruit Mousse, Mandarin Sorbet, Cherry Pearls
Mandarin-Lavander Sauce