Review: Bocanáriz

13 July 2017

Ugh…drank way too much the previous night. The crazy drinking, plus the lack of sleep from the red-eye flight, turned me into a zombie…I actually didn’t get out of bed until the afternoon…crap… A wasted day, but I needed the rest. I felt more like a human being in the afternoon.

Strolling around the area during the afternoon was all I was capable of doing, but at least I’m not hungover — which is a shock. Dinner tonight is at the much-lauded winebar/restaurant Bocanáriz.

My liver fluttered as I got to Bocanáriz since it’s just next door to Chipe Libre, the source of my excess last night…

Shuddered for a second and walked in. I chilled out, ordered some wine and looked over the menu and smiled. I ordered and took in the chilled environment…ah, Santiago, I can really get used to spending more time here. I love the feel of this town…

Soon my first course arrived, and it was a nice one…

A nice urchin dish, done in the usual South American acid fashion. Not bad, a generous helping to be sure. I enjoyed that. More wine, and soon the main course arrived.

The pulmay de la casa — an excellent stew of pork and seafood. Lovely broth and some very tasty ingredients. The fish was especially nice. A really nice, rustic dish to have for a South American winter with good local wines! I was enjoying myself so much when they asked if I wanted dessert I said yes and ordered — and was greeted with a smirk…

I had more wine before my dessert arrived…

Yeah, why not, right? A dozen locals, 4 oysters per type. I actually got way more because they had a cluster that had 4 oysters growing together. Not really shucked, so had to do it myself, but they were very tasty. What a great dessert!

I was now too full and didn’t want to push the drinking having drank the equivalent of a bottle by now, so called it a night. I can see why people like this place and why it has so much buzz!

I walked back to my hotel — a lot smoother than last night’s walk-of-semi-shame… Anyway, highly recommended! Again, I am loving Santiago!

Bocanáriz
José Victorino Lastarria 276
Santiago, Chile

Review: Peumayén

12 July 2017

I got to Santiago after an unpleasant red-eye flight where Delta gave away my booked exit row seat…sigh… But after a long morning and afternoon of exploring that included a nice lunch (to be detailed later), my first dinner of this long South American trip takes me to Peumayén.

The full name of the place is Peumayén Ancestral Food, and I love the ethos of this place — to highlight the very rich and diverse culinary culture of this lengthy country, from the northern edge to the southern tip, as well as the islands. I was so looking forward to this dinner.

As I looked over the menu I had to get a pisco sour…why not, right? As I enjoyed it a nice amuse was offered…

Mmm, a nice croqueta with some horse tartar. Nice. I ordered and was told that is a lot of food, but why not, right? I chilled with the pisco sour until the bread service arrived and I was blown away…

Yeah, that’s the bread service. It again highlights the varieties of breads using varied ingredients from grains to roots — including a taro-based one from Rapa Nui (Easter Island). Touch of honey on one, a wonderful spicy dip on another, smooth texture on some, complex texture on others, it’s just a wonderful variety!

It was a treat to take a trip up and down this country with these most humble of staples. Amazing!

And it didn’t take long before the starter tasting arrived, and again I’m blown away…look at this spread…

From left to right we have razor clams and cuttlefish, shredded fowl, lamb tongue, a tongue pâté, sweetbreads, and rabbit. Wow… The shellfish were amazing, so fresh. The fowl was lovely, full of flavour, as was the rabbit. The sweetbreads were superb. Wow, this was something, and huge as they said!

I finished this off, loving it. I was starting to worry about my main, which I was told was a large spread too. But before then a unique palate cleanser…

Fried seaweed with avocado. Nice! Then with another drink in hand my main arrives and I’m drooling once more. This is the “From the North” special…

A whole bunch of stuff here, from some amazing tripe to goat cheese, to some nice local maize to a soup cooked by a heated rock. But the star here of the already amazing spread was the stew on the top left. Amazing spicy flavour, one of those things I can eat all day and night!

As I polished off the food with glee, I had to ask the staff what the music was, and it was from a progressive folk band called Los Jaivas. Amazing musicianship and sound, a perfect soundtrack to tonight’s dinner! I knew something was up when I saw them tweeting a picture of Geddy Lee visiting the restaurant last year!

I was stuffed… Could not attempt a dessert, so they brought out a nice little cinnamon-themed closer for me…which was aromatically awesome. So why not, I asked for a pisco flight…

What a nice way to end this excellent dinner!

I’m blown away by the amazing diversity of flavours and ingredients, some I know I will never see again unless I come back to Chile! Just that bread service was overwhelmingly fantastic. There is frankly no better way to introduce oneself to Chilean culinary diversity in one sitting as this! I am so glad I did this first!

Oh this was such a fantastic dinner and a fantastic start to this trip! This place is a MUST for so many reasons!

Peumayén
Constitución 136, Providencia
Santiago, Chile

* PS…well, the night didn’t end here. Despite being utterly knackered from the red-eye flight I stupidly went drinking. First up was Chipe Libre, one of the best cocktail and pisco spots in town. I don’t know how many cocktails and pisco flights I drank, but it was a LOT. Then for some reason I vaguely remember drinking a beer with some locals in a local dive bar as I became something of a curiosity for the confused locals…oh my I’m gonna pay for this…

Review: Miller Union

11 July 2017

After the meh dinner at Soby’s in neighbouring South Carolina I was hoping for something better tonight. I made my way on a very hot day back to Atlanta. I had a booking at the well-loved Miller Union before my flight to South America.

Got there and it was still empty, as it was early — just to make sure I make my flight. Unfortunately the service was not ready, and the kitchen was even less than that. I ordered, and took about 40 minutes for my starter to come…

And these belly pieces weren’t even that good. Ugh… I asked how long the main will take as I couldn’t risk a longer wait. They say it was coming…

Well, it did, but it was not good. It was a stew with squid, andouille and other things. Problem was some of it seemed undercooked. Was the kitchen sleeping?

For goodness sakes, if the kitchen is not going to be anywhere near ready at opening time, perhaps it’s time to just OPEN LATER? Don’t sell what you can’t promise.

I gave up and asked for the bill. A place that has so many accolades like Miller Union should not be putting this crap out and claiming it’s acclaimed. The kitchen needs to wake up. Pathetic.

Another James Beard joke.

Miller Union
999 Brady Avenue NW
Atlanta, Georgia

Review: Soby’s

10 July 2017

It was a long day of travelling that eventually got me to Greenville, South Carolina. Pushed thru some bad weather and worse traffic thanks to some poorly-planned construction, but it was beautiful when I arrived. I headed to dinner, exausted and hungry (not eaten all day).

Dinner tonight was at the much-heralded Soby’s. Chilled out when I got there. Ordered a cocktail and then the food. Smooth sailing so far before the first item arrived.

Some nice fried oysters. Not bad, advertised as “Nashville” style whatever that means (hot chicken-ish I guess). Mild. Not bad. Then the second, the she-crab soup.

Not bad, but wee salty. Not as strong as I would have liked, but it’s doable. Then the main.

I ordered the pork chop special. Not bad, but the lentils were absolutely awful underneath. Meat done pretty well, a so-so dish I guess. But nowhere as good as many recent pork dishes, especially in Iowa.

I chilled and decided since I was rather full I would only go with the fruit and berry plate…

…and this is what came. WTF. This was a plate for a bunny! A bunny would be happy with the nanas, but this prolly cost them 80 cents of fruits. Plus the mutilated oranges. I sent it back…

The apologised and ended up comping me a sorbet that I basically abandoned. Lost my appetite… Oh well…

This didn’t work as I had hoped, not at all. I left disappointed. I thought this would be a good one, but…sigh…

I’ll drive pass this town next trip I guess… Not a great way to start a nearly 3-week trip…

Soby’s
207 South Main Street
Greenville, South Carolina

Review: Sofia

17 June 2017

After that nice trip to Montana (despite that joke of a steak), I headed back East, landing at Newark on a stormy late afternoon. A busy day later, I headed to Englewood, ostensibly for a concert celebrating the life of someone very dear to me, the late great John Wetton. It saddened me greatly that this hero of mine had died after a brave fight against cancer and the resulting sepsis; I knew that day standing at the Vatican that something had happened, and I was right…

But before the concert I needed to fuel up a bit, knowing I’ll get sloshed at some point, so I went for a hearty dinner at the nearby restaurant Sofia. A nice place, lots of other folks in town for the concert so it was a nice few hours there. Cocktails weren’t bad, though the service was a bit odd; some rather nice folks, a few dour ones, and one downright unpleasant…

But the food made up for it, evidenced by this veal chop. Far better than that joke of a steak in Helena a few days earlier. Cooked nicely, very tasty. A side of sprouts made this a necessarily filling dinner, having skipped lunch earlier…

But I had to run out quick because I had to meet a friend before the show, but by now the service had deteriorated a bit and took ages to get my bill. I paid and ran out the door towards the venue.

I enjoyed aspects of the concert, despite moments that were tough emotionally. Still remember first time I met him in Virginia in the mid 1990s, during both of our very heavy drinking days. He quit. I didn’t. Frankly I’m surprised that he’s the one gone and I’m still wandering this ball of dirt we call Earth…

I left the concert drained, and I actually went back to Sofia because I had left my card there after rushing out (because I was running late). So I stayed for a few more drinks, took a nice late-night snack of stuffed hot peppers to go (they were good), and went back to my hotel and held down a spot at the bar until way too late…

I can’t imagine why I would go back to Englewood, but if I have another gig to go at the Bergen PAC, this is definitely a good place to eat. Highly recommended. Tho that hangover…

Sofia
36 Engle Street
Englewood, New Jersey

PS: I headed out for a 2.5-day trek after that, exploring the mountains of northern Pennsylvania and southern New York, dealing with bad roads in horrible downpours, climbing steep hills that were far more treacherous when hiking downhill, and tolerating more bad food that I won’t waste my time for reviews…but that closed off this long, 4-part trip that took me from Omaha/Des Moines to Seattle to Montana first…

Review: Silver Star Steak Company

14 June 2017

I gladly headed out of Seattle after a few trying days. One good meal, two amazing King Crimson gigs, one fine meet-up with the infamous Foodmancing, but too many driving headaches to justify spending more time in this town. Flew out to Montana, landing at the capital Helena an hour later.

Montana marks my 49th state — just Alaska to go now (which will be done for my birthday this autumn). I landed mid-afternoon and headed out into the Big Sky, with the sun blazing but the temperature mild. Perfect. Explored the town a bit, visited the Capitol, and then headed to dinner at what is often listed as the best place to eat in town — the Silver Star Steak Company.

I got there and chilled with a martini that was made right — a good sign. Friendly service but seemingly clueless, as she kept missing basic descriptions. That’s never good. But I didn’t want to play around so just ordered the rib-eye.

As I waited and tried not to laugh at a first Tinder date’s convo near me, I was annoyed not getting the server’s attention since she had to basically cover the entire section. Finally got it and asked for some wine — and of course it came way after my food.

They call this a 16-ounce steak…yeah, perhaps before the brutal trimming! This thing was barely in one piece after that! Seriously what were they thinking? Just leave it be! Amazing how steakhouses think they know better what the diner wants and sends out this surgically-altered item. Not as bad (nor stupid expensive) as that horrendous thing in Rockford (IL) as this was cooked well enough, but it was extremely meh. For a state that prides itself on beef, this was embarrassing tho…

I wasn’t gonna write a review about this ridiculous example of a steak, but I decided to add this to the name-and-shame list of dodgy steakhouses…sad…

I could not get my server’s attention again, so I lost patience for a dessert. I just got a closing drink and settled up and left. Disappointed with my first dinner here in Montana. Could have been so good, but…

Silver Star Steak Company
833 Great Northern Boulevard
Helena, Montana

PS: The next day was a long, long one that took me to Missoula, Butte and Bozeman, before having some decent BBQ at Bad Betty’s Barbeque — far better than this ridiculous steak…