Bobby Flay's Steak House

Hey everybody, so it's been awhile. I thought I'd give you a restaurant review from my trip down to Atlantic City which I went on for New Years Eve. I went to Bobby Flay's Steak house on the night of the 2nd. The restaurant in located in the Borgatta casino, which is one of the "newer" casinos in Atlantic City.

Bobby Flay's Steak House is one of a number of Chef Flay's restaurants, this one being the second steakhouse for him, the first being in Las Vegas. This got me thinking about the "third restaurant removed" from the original location. Many goto NYC to goto Mesa Grill, Flay's original restaurant, others vacation in Vegas and try out his west side dessert interpretation, so what happens when you goto the third city, Atlantic City, to try a chef's wares?

I'll tell you what happens, you get a show case dining room selling a chef's name under glass. I would've loved to talk positive about this restaurant, but it was missing everything I have had at Flay's restaurant in NYC as-well-as in Las Vegas. I won't say everything was "bad", but everything was not great.

The "joke" about the "chef's name under glass" wasn't so much a joke as it was a comment about the entire restaurant being encased in glass on one side, visible to a portion of the gambling crowd. The dining room itself though is worth looking at from the gambling room. A large high ceilinged room with a grand seating room to the left when you first walk in, then the main dining room to the left. The kitchen is to the back of the room when you first walk in, with some open air areas that are probably used in busy times, but being after New Years Eve, the room was slow. I can't tell you I was accepting of this though as even if you are slow, there should still be some "business" to attract more customers in, or entertain your guests there. "off season" should never be an excuse, take it from a person who is from a tourist town (Saratoga Springs, NY).

Earlier in the night I met a person who told me I just had to try to tuna tartare. As this is one of my favorite dishes I went for it. The dish was well prepared, a bit spicy, but the spice added to the flavor. For this version I would've liked a different "cracker" rather than olive oil toasted bread slices, but they weren't detracting., they just weren't southwestern.

As for entree, well we were in a steakhouse, and that was what we came for. We were told each steak is dredged in Flay's southwestern seasoning and seared on a grill to our desired doneness. I went with a rib-eye, my favorite steak, while accompanying guests had the strip steak and the mixed grill which had a fillet and lobster tail on it.

The steaks were all cooked perfectly, the seasoning was tasty, but I can't tell you it was all that different from any cajun blackening seasoning I have ever had. I would love to tell you the seasoning brought out something magical in the steak, but it really did the same as any other good blackening seasoning does, flavored the steak well and gave a good crust. Our sides were roasted asparagus (tasty), cauliflower and goat cheese gratin (sooo good) and truffled mushroom potatoes (anything with truffle oil is good).

For dessert my guests went for a creme brulee cheese cake, which didn't excite me. I went for a glass of Inninskillin ice wine and a double espresso, booze and caffeine, ahhh the way to a chef's heart. They just so happened to have my favorite ice wine as well, so I lucked out there.

So this was a good over all experience. I certainly would not deter people from going to the restaurant. I would however deter the person looking for a Bobby Flay experince. This is a "different" steakhouse experience. If you want to get away from Morton's, Gallaghar's, Grill 21, and the like, this is the place to go. Not to mention the smoking section for the casino is not to far away for you fellow cigar smokers (you can only smoke in a 25% by area location in casinos in Atlantic city now).


Bobby Flay Steak
Borgata Hotel and Casino
Atlanitc City, NJ 08401

Phone: 866-692-6742

Hours: vary by season, check website, http://www.theborgata.com

Finding a Good Cassoulet

Well the cold weather has hit, it now gets dark at 6pm and that can only mean one thing in my book, it's time to make the first cassoulet for the cold season. Cassoulet is such a delicious dish and I relegate it to the cold months for a number of reasons. First, it is a very heavy dish of stewed beans and meats and quite honestly who wants to be bogged down with a heavy stewed dish like that in the hot summer? Second I live in a small apartment and the process of making the cassoulet is one that really heats up the apartment. (Just as a note, the picture to the left there is the cassoulet that has been in my oven all night)

In the first step I am braising either pork or lamb in a pot and then in another pot I'm simmering beans with veggies, ham hocks, etc. This gives off such an huge amount of steam and heats the place up even with the air conditioning on, "it's not so much the heat but the humidity" lol. Then it goes into a 400 degree oven for an hour and then for 3 hours at 275. That really heats the place up a lot as well, "aw but that's a dry heat." I'm not going to get into cassoulet itself too much as I made a post here which was my first Gastronomical Inspirations post that had a recipe for the dish.

What I do want to talk about is restaurants in Boston that sell cassoulet. I've actually been to a few that offer the dish and I thought I'd offer my recollections in case you may want to check out the locations yourself with this cold weather hitting us here in the northeastern part of the United States.

One of the first restaurants I dined at in Boston was Petit Robert Bistro, located in Kenmore Square. Their cassoulet takes the win for the least expensive at $14.00. The sausage was a traditional Toulousian, garlic sausage with good flavor, the confit on the dish was a bit flavorless, but the real disappointment was the beans, they were extremely tough and undercooked. Beans in a cassoulet should be cooked to the point that they just barely hold their shape. This is a product of haute cuisine which removed the long cooking process which you'll find in my recipe. The flavors were good though, just not something I would go out of the way for. The top was sprinkled with JAPANESE panko crumbs (not even browned), I think Escoffier just rolled over in his grave...

Another cassoulet I have had, was at The Butcher Shop. I loved the presentation here. It was served in a small earthenware pot, which honestly was probably a flower pot, but it had the appearance of a casoul which is the dish a cassoulet is traditionally cooked in. The beans were also Tarbais beans, which are an AOC product designated for the proper traditional production of cassoulet in France. The major flaw is the same that hindered the Petit Robert dish. The beans were tough, undercooked and honestly the flavors of everything in the dish were not melded together. It was almost as if all of the ingredients were simmered together and then tossed in the pot. Sad to say, I think this was my least favorite, and was not indicative of the restaurant because otherwise the restaurant is one of my favorites in Boston. However, the cassoulet had none of the traditional flavors of a true cassoulet.

On another night I had the advantage of trying the cassoulet of Brassarie Jo which is near the Prudential Center. I've been telling myself I don't like this restaurant for awhile, but for some odd reason I have returned a number of times. The service is mediocre, the food in general is so-so and the cavernous room reminds me of a large banquet hall, not a French brasserie dining room. At any rate, the one good thing this place does put out is the weekly special on Thursdays. It is a traditional Toulousian with sausage, duck confit and pork. The flavors are spot on, again the only issue is the toughness of the beans and slightly undercooked, but not to bad. This just again comes from not cooking the cassoulet the traditional peasant way.

The most recent one was a couple months ago at Gaslight Brasserie du Coin, which is the newest brasserie addition to Boston. Loud, semi-raucous, yet subdued atmosphere which seems to me to be very traditional French. Cassoulet for them is a Sunday event. Curious how the menu for both Brassarie Jo and this place look the same, and they both feature cassoulet on their menus as weekly specials. Jo has been around a lot longer though, Gaslight just opened. This cassoulet was served in an individual cast iron pan. The smells were incredible, the flavors were spot on, but it shared the same fate of the Brassarie Jo cassoulet with the undercooked tough beans.

So of the four I just mentioned, I would have to say the Gaslight Brasserie du Coin and Brasserie Jo were my favorites. If I had to choose one, I would have to go with Gaslight, because it had a bit more flavor and honestly the atmosphere and much better service are much more appealing. I keep wondering however, why do these restaurants serve this dish with the beans improperly cooked and the flavors not completely melded together by the long cooking process. If one were to tell me, it is because they can not take up the oven for such a lengthy process, then I say "why serve the dish at all?"

I think the answer lays more in the fact that people just don't know. Not only the consumer who assumes that this is the way it should be, but the chefs as well. When the constant is to make the dish this way, it becomes the norm, and that is a shame, until then, if you want the most traditional cassoulet you can come to my house, or try out my recipe, lucky for the people in my classes the next two nights they get to imbibe in my cassoulet.

Craigie Street Bistrot

It's been awhile since I've given a Boston restaurant review, so I thought I'd tell you about what has become one of my all-time favorite restaurants, Craigie Street Bistro. Located just outside of Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA this place is a must for anyone coming to the area. The location itself can be a bit hard to find, so make sure you get out that trusty GPS or proper directions from MapQuest. I found that cabbies even have a hard time finding the place, so know where you are going.

The entrance is subdued as it is at basement level of the building. The red door brings you into a nicely arranged dining room, which feels extremely comforting. On my first trip I did not have a reservation, I called about 20 minutes ahead and they were still able to accommodate me in a reasonable amount of time. Extremely friendly staff here with a superb knowledge of the menu and the eclectic wine list. The menu here changes with what is available to the chef based upon the seasons. Tony Maws, the chef/owner makes daily trips to the market for the freshest ingredients. The restaurant is unmistakably modern French with an occasional toss of Pacific Rim influence in his raw fish dishes used in his tasting menu.

The dining room is small, with probably no more than 45 seats I would guess, so don't be like me, make a reservation of you plan to go. The few times I have been it is always packed. Besides Chef Maws' regular menu which includes many traditional and contemporary French dishes like terrine and much lighter choices, ures he also features what he calls the Chef's Whim , this three-course prix fixe ($38) menu is available all evening Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday; and after 9:00 pm Friday and Saturday. In addition there are multiple tasting menu options, one being a four course prixe-fixe at $75, the other is a seven-course Chef's Tasting Menu available after 8:30 on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at $135. Those who know me know I took the seven course option and it was worth every single penny.

Some of the items in the tasting menu were on the regular menu as well, but for the most part the menu consisted of items Maws came up with just for the menu. Be prepared to be here late if you take this option. A 9:00 dinner reservation will easily keep you there until 1 am, but it is about the experience of the dining event.

My last trip consisted of an amuse of Kona Kampachi Sashimi with avacado, green grapes, pickled pistachios, chervil and salmon roe. Second I received a Foie de Lotte au Torchon with a maple soy vinaigrette. Next came a dish of the most perfectly cooked Wellfleet clams I had ever eaten served with squid and vegetable noodles and a cubanelle pepper puree, followed by a Potage of Local "Butter and Sugar" corn with "CSB"-smoked bluefish pate crouton and parika oil. The next ridiculously good dish was a Ragout of Local Forest Mushrooms, Veal Sweetbreads and Parsley Root along with a slow-cooked egg, Smithfield ham, sea urchin sauce and herbs and edible flowers. You have not had great veal bone marrow until you've had Maws' which was roasted and served with a ragout of shitake mushrooms. My final savoury course was a Vermont Organic Pork Two Ways: Suckling Confit and Slow Roasted Belly, paired up with smoked farro, spinach, early fall vegetables and ancho chile jus. Desserts consisted of Rooibos Tea-Infused Panna Cotta, Ocumare Chocolate Mousse Terrine with peanut butter ice cream, and finally a Raspberry Sorbet with candied fennel.

Words can not even describe how great the meal was. Although they do not undertake a wine pairing, there are many many great French wines that will go along with the whole menu. I went for an Alsatian 2003 Pinot Noir "Strangenberg" Pierre Frick, very different and very tasty. They do offer two appertifs, one being the traditional Kir Royale and the second being their CSB Champagne-Charentes Cocktail, which I had and I highly suggest.

The restaurant was rated tops in 2007 for "Best in Service", Boston Globe Magazine," Award of Excellence," Wine Spectator," "Best Restaurant -- General Excellence," Boston Magazine (Best of Boston). They have also many more accolades in the past, this is just the tip of the iceberg. They also have a blog that is updated occasionaly to tell their guests about upcoming events and menu items.

I highly suggest Craigie Street Bistrot and highly suggest you come with an appetite, but also a large available balance on your credit card if you really want to enjoy the experience.

Hours of Operation:
Tuesday: 5:30-10:00 pm
Wednesday: 5:30-10:00 pm
Thursday: 5:30-10:00 pm
Friday: 5:30-10:30 pm
Saturday: 5:30-10:30 pm
Sunday: 5:30-10:00 pm
(Closed Monday)

Reservations are accepted and recommended. Walk-ins are also welcome, space permitting. To make instant reservations online, click here, or to make reservations on the phone, call them at (617) 497-5511.

Neptune Oyster, What a Dissapointment

As mentioned the other day, I wanted to talk about my dining experience on Saturday night at Neptune in Boston's North End at 64 Salem st. I had heard many great things about the restaurant, particularly about their oyster selection. They are known for their seafood dishes as well and an eclectic wine selection.

The street front as you can see from the picture is interesting with a nice blue awning and a huge picture window. When walking by the restaurant you can see the entire inside and watch the oyster shucker at work. The restaurant easily could have been a diner or at least a lunch counter years ago but not with the marble and wood adornments. It had a nice feel to it, the marble counter/bar had a large mirrors behind it informing the guests of the day's oyster selection. The tables lining the opposite side of the dining room were marble topped and unadorned. Simplicity seemed to be the key for this room, evoking the feeling of walking in from the wharf to have one's fresh seafood. This theme played into the napkins as well which were what I call "side towels" but others would think of a kitchen towels, Jasper White does the same thing at the Summer Shack as does, Gaslight, B&G Oysters and others, so it is obviously a trend.

I sat myself down at the bar/counter. The server plopped a list for oysters down for me with a pencil to select what I like and a full menu as well. They carry a large variety of raw oysters as well as clams and shrimp cocktail. I ordered five different oysters, two each, and one shrimp cocktail. Those who know me, always know why I order the shrimp cocktail at a restaurant. If you can not cook one of the most expensive ingredients in your kitchen properly, the rest of the meal is going to be awful as most other ingredients do not cost as much as shrimp. The oysters were excellent, the shrimp on the other hand was not deveined and it was severely overcooked. When overcooked, shrimp is dry and tough as this was. Not a good way to begin the meal, but I had a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc in hand and as others had suggested I try the place I figured I'd continue.

The menu reads well, some traditional fish house looking items on the appetizer list like clam chowder, oyster stew, crab louis salad, steamed mussels, fried clams. There were some other eclectic items like fried cauliflower with anchovies, bottarga, fresh mozzarella; lump crab scampi with with green garlic crepe, fingerling (potato) crema, spec ham; fried oysters with pickled beef tongue, cabbage, warm gruyere and Russian dressing. The people next to me got the fried oysters, they fried oysters were sitting on a bed of cabbage and were drowned under the dressing which seemed to have the tongue in it. I felt bad for the crispy oysters as they became soggy under the sauce.

I opted for a "Crudo" (as the menu stated for the Italian neighborhood feel) or salad as my appetizer, which was sea urchin with fried chickpeas, grilled eggplant, cucumber, torn mint and a "nero style" vinaigrette. I could have gone for the sea urchin along with the grilled eggplant, cucumber, mint and even the dressing and maybe a few of the chickpeas. What I got was this honking mass of leathery greens that had seen better days, mixed with everything else and this odd "crema" Ill say on the bottom as a few of the dishes have what they called a crema on them on their menu descriptions. There were enough stale fried chickpeas to feed the dining room for bar snacks on my plate. Our path toward entree isn't looking too strong at this point, luckily there was still the Sauvignon Blanc.

Entree time, the menu has nine options for entrees, seven of which are seafood items, the others were ribs and a steak. A trout dish that has in its description "multi-spring onion invasion". Well they must be invading, because it's late summer; a traditional looking Cioppino which is appropriate for an Italian neighborhood (if only I ordered that), salmon with a saute of crispy duck, sounds interesting; red snapper with sweetbread butter, mortadella, green bean artichoke lace (I'm confused); roast monkfish and clams, charred broccoli, olives, white cornmeal; and the two items I was torn between a marlin duet tartare with sweet pea crudo, mint yogurt, then flash grilled(?), carrot marscapone, chilies and pecorino; the other option is the one I went with was Columbia river sturgeon with a black current caviar "pearl" jam, plum/graham cracker panzanella and marrow crema.

I've had fresh sturgeon once before this, and telling the waitress this and that I disliked the overly dirt flavor you get from it (hence most sturgeon is smoked), she stated it was subdued and the sauce complimented the flavors of the fish. If there was more sauce I may have been able to cover up the flavor of the fish, I'll give the kitchen credit as the fish was perfectly cooked with a nice crust on it, but wow it was like eating properly cooked fleshy mud. The sauce was incredibly sweet, the "panzanella" was as such in name only. I understand trying something different, but all ti was was crumbled graham crackers with wedges of plum, truly a disappointment. Mind you also, this dish is $25.00, not inexpensive. I am willing to pay even higher for a good dish as I have many times, but this was not one of those cases in which I was pleased.

Would I go back? Maybe for oysters and to have some wine. I might even try one of the traditional dishes on the menu, but this visit literally left some bad tastes in my mouth. The service was pretty darn good I have to say, and she was very attentive and helpful as well. I also met a great couple who were out for the day in town that were really into food.

At the end of the meal I have to say I went back over to Marco to see the great people I had met a couple weeks prior and had some great traditional Italian food to recover from the experience at Neptune. I always tell people to make their own judgements on a place, so feel free to try out Neptune, but do so with caution with some of the menu items. Shrimp cocktail, I should have stuck to my rule-of-thumb

Appetizers: $10-$15.00

Entrees: $21-$34.00

Sandwiches: $12-$22.00

Sun-Wed 11:30am-11:00pm

Thu-Sat 11:30am-12am

Phone 617-742-3474