No Turkey This Thanksgiving (Review: St Anselm)

24 November 2023

It’s an odd Thanksgiving, as I’m in a DC hotel and the town is so quiet. But I spent most of the morning hiking Arlington National Cemetery before meeting a friend for a late lunch. We crossed our wires as I headed outside the cemetery and they actually went through security, so I went back in. And I ended up giving them a long tour of the cemetery as well, so I managed a good 14 miles on hilly grounds.

We had a nice “linner” that afternoon before I headed back to my hotel. That was fun, but I am sore… I was growing hungry again from all the energy I burned off all day, so I was glad I have sorted out my Thanksgiving dinner. This year I was headed to St Anselm, a trendy, meat-centric place just north of Union Station.

I was running late so took an Uber. Had a very interesting conversation with the driver. I got inside and it was dark as anything. I chose a bar seat and relaxed. Soon a cocktail was in my hand and I looked over the menu. I didn’t want to do “Thanksgiving fare” so I ordered and chilled out.

After a little, my first starter arrived, some crab devilled eggs. Good stuff, a generous helping of crab that made one of my favourite snacks even tastier.

Then the pigs head croquette showed up as well. Nice, didn’t need the additional sauce. Usually not a big croquette fan, this was quite delicious.

I was more confident about this place now, and was looking foward to my main course. I switched to some wine and soon it arrived.

This lamb leg steak was underwhelming, sadly. There was just too much unnecessary adulteration to this piece of meat that makes me wonder about its quality. All I tasted was the sauce, not the meat, even when I brushed as much of it off. I just don’t like lamb when it doesn’t taste like lamb…

My sides were okay. The bacon was not bad, but I wish it was cooked better. The broccoli was the best part of this section of the meal, which was sad. Oh well.

As it was Thanksgiving, I decided on a nitecap…

A very generous scoop of vanilla ice cream, and a nice rye to go along with it. A good end to a mixed holiday meal. I headed out a little disappointed, but overall it wasn’t awful. Not a place I’ll come back to, however.

So much for turkey day, although I suspect if I ordered turkey it would have tasted like turkey. Seriously, chefs, why serve lamb if you don’t want it to taste like lamb?

St Anselm
1250 5th Street Northeast
Washington, DC

Worth a Two-Year Wait (Review #3: Nasime)

23 November 2023

Ever since I left the DC area in the autumn of 2021, I’ve been dreaming of returning to Nasime. Luckily, timing worked out on this trip and I snagged a counter spot for the late seating on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Nasime is one of very few kaiseki places in the US that actually feels like being in Japan; sitting at the counter in front of Chef Yuh Shimomura makes it even more real. I still remember my first visit here and was totally blown away, not believing I was enjoying such an experience in Alexandria, Virginia.

My last visit here was just before I moved, so it’s been over 2 years. So it was so good to be back and able to say hi to chef as I watched him work. I went with the sake pairing for my dinner.

One thing about Nasime’s dinner experience is that it is extremely high quality, again, something that makes me think of the excellent kaiseki places in Tokyo. However, for this high quality, it is also crazy inexpensive. Compared to the mediocre kaiseki dinner at Hinata in Indianapolis, where the quality was lesser and price more than double of Nasime, it makes me treasure this place even more.

And we start with a seasonal surinagashi, a traditional vegetable soup. This seasonal rendition focuses on butternut squash, as well as local blue crab. Sensational, worth the wait for my return here. As someone who is not a great fan of the season-o-squash, this was excellent.

Next up is some beautiful authentic wagyu from Japan, this time very lightly seared shortrib with a truffle shoyu glaze. Stunning, just melts in your mouth, so rich and delicious, helped on with that shoyu. Fabulous!

I knew what was coming as I was watching him cut the fish for this otsukuri course. Lovely stuff, so fresh and delicious! Just lovely, with a beautiful presentation as well from different angles. Feel free to expand on the image (any image, as always) by clicking!

Was definitely good to catch up with chef, talking about his holidays in Japan and business. He said things have changed in two years, and one thing was extending the dinner to seven courses. Amazing how he keeps the price the same!

Next up is the agedashi dish, this time featuring yuba-wrapped Chilean seabass. Delicious, love the complexity of the combination of sweet and bitter here that just plays off each other. So good.

I could smell the next dish before it arrived, as it is a beautiful lamb hobayaki – which is prepared on top of the hoba leaf. The lamb itself was stunning, already rich, accented with more richness with a foie gras miso. Just dreamy.

Although I was getting full, I know as a lone diner I will get a good portion of the next dish, and I was right…

Look at this, a beautiful noodle pot with a succulent base of oysters from the Chesapeake and seasonal matsutake mushrooms. This broth was so good, and a generous amount of oysters too. Lovely dish, and I drained every last bit of this pot.

I am full! And then we have a nice little dessert of chestnut and red bean ice cream. A wonderful way to end this meal. Of course chef knows that I like my whisky, so we had a few – me buying rounds for chef for us to enjoy together while he finishes up cleaning his station.

This was definitely worth the wait for, but also reminded me not to wait this long to come back. I so wish there’s something remotely like this in Chicago, but frankly it may be cheaper to fly to DCA and eat and fly back! Amazing quality, ridiculously affordable, this may be one of the few things about my DC life I miss most.

Thanking chef and his service assistant, I left with a gigantic smile knowing I will be back soon.

Oh, absolutely recommended! Fly here if you have to!!!

Nasime
1209 King Street
Alexandria, Virginia

Review #3: Old House Cosmopolitan Grill

22 November 2023

After an underwhelming day of food, I at least know tonight will be good. Meeting a good friend at one of our usual haunts, Old House Cosmopolitan Grill in Alexandria, close to where we both lived. I took a very long bus ride south and aside from the airport traffic for those looking to escape early, traffic wasn’t too bad, thank goodness.

I’ve had a few good meals here at this Balkan/German place, often with the same good friend. The first time we hung out here was fantastic. He soon arrived as the weather really got bad, so we lucked out on timing. A cocktail to start as we looked at food options but also caught up as we’ve not seen each other since my last trip back to DC earlier this year. Eventually we ordered, and our starter arrived.

No-brainer we both got ćevapčići, as this is now traditional. They do fantastic ones here, and it’s always been a game winner. I can eat this non-stop; in fact, I was tempted to just order several portions of this to run me through the evening, but I needed some variety.

I decided to do the same as one of my previous visits here, with Jägerschnitzel once again too sauce-heavy. Could not taste much of the meat. I really need to just stick with other stuff next time I’m back, like their seafood special which has always been excellent. Or maybe just non-stop ćevapčići like in my dreams…

But the evening was really for hanging out with a dear friend and catching up on so much over the past few months, sharing stories, as well as challenges past and upcoming. Much needed, to be honest, very much needed.

But the evening was getting late, so we did have some dessert. I bypassed by usual baklava and went with some ice cream.

Good choice, lovely chocolate. A very strong šljivovica to close the evening as we were almost the last patrons left. We parted with separate rideshare vehicles and I headed back into DC, my head feeling much better than it has for the last few months. As I said, this was much needed, very much needed.

Old House Cosmopolitan Grill
1024 Cameron Street
Alexandria, Virginia

Back to That Food Mecca Called…DC (Kramers and Review #2: Cane)

22 November 2023

Yes, that was sarcasm…

I had no Thanksgiving plans this year, so decided to shift things around a little and head back to my old stomping grounds in DC to catch up with some friends. I beat the travel rush by taking Tuesday off and flew on a very quiet morning into DCA. Lucky my office was closed on Wednesday so I could do his with taking only a day off.

With the light traffic and early arrival, while travelling light, I quickly made my way into DC and was way early for an 11am meeting. So I wandered to somewhere I’ve spent tons of time over the past 28 years, since I first moved to the DC area in 1995, Kramers.

Formerly Kramerbooks, I guess it has gone through a rebranding as well. The books were as interesting as before, but a quick glance I decided that coffee was more important, so walked through to the cafe. I ordered quickly and surprisingly got a breakfast as I ate only some fruits for dinner last night.

Well, it’s not changed much in 28 years. The eggs are still dry, the bacon still soggy, skimped on the butter, but at least they made the toast dark as requested. The coffee tasted burnt, but I just need to wake up a little. This did its job, and helped me kill time as I headed out towards Embassy Row for my meeting…

Good meeting, and I headed out to check into my hotel. Amazingly as DC becomes abandoned from business travellers, the rates for downtown hotels have also tumbled. I think I paid about the same for three nights at my Hampton Inn room next to the White House as their usual rates for one night. Another good reason to head to DC this particular week.

I eventually headed out for lunch, looking to revisit Cane. After a lengthy delayed bus ride, I arrived and it was empty. Hmmm. I know the former Chef Peter Prime has left, but has business become so bad from that? Was it the odd holiday week lunch shift? I relaxed and ordered from their very cut-down lunch menu, and sipped on some sorrel juice.

I had a good dinner here a few years ago just before I moved out to the Midwest, so I’m hoping for some good quality oxtail for lunch…

…And I didn’t get it, not by a long shot. Compared to the excellent ones on my last visit, this was pretty lame. There was no complexity of flavour, just salty. And not cooked well either. Plus the rice was mushy. Sigh, I guess the former chef leaving was a major change here. I couldn’t finish this, and headed out after settling up.

Well, DC is still a mecca for food (yes, again, sarcasm) that I remembered it to be, hype or no hype. Oh well, it’s starting to rain pretty hard, so I’m gonna head back to the hotel before it really starts coming down…

Kramers
1517 Connecticut Avenue Northwest

Cane
403 H Street NE
Washington, DC

An Excruciating Sushi Experience (Review: Sado)

12 November 2023

I made a quick visit to St Louis as there was a few things I wanted to do this weekend, including catching a non-staged performance of Cavalleria Rusticana. But really, it was a cheap Southwest flight that did it, a rarity these days since they jacked up all their prices earlier this year.

As much as I was busy all day Saturday, I was looking forward to an early, pre-concert dinner at Sado. This is the new project from Nick Bognar, who created an excellent dinner for me during my last visit at his popular eatery, Indo.

I got back to St Louis mid-afternoon and quickly checked into my hotel and got my bearings before heading out for an early seating. I got there and a line built up, but quickly I was led to a corner at the sushi bar. This should be good.

A cocktail in hand and I poured though the menu. Goodness, they have nodoguro! I was nearly in tears from the nodoguro at Aji just a few weeks ago, so I’m definitely doing that. In fact, I’m just gonna do all nigiri tonight. So I ordered and finished my cocktail.

Took a little to get my server’s attention to get some sake, but it soon arrived, and we begin with the aforementioned nodoguro.

It’s been a long time since my heart sank so drastically so quickly… What did they do to this fish? Why so much adulteration, with an incongruent spicy? This didn’t work at all, and it really saddened me. I don’t think I’ve had nodoguro that made my frown before in my entire life. I was almost in tears for the wrong reason here…

Maybe it’s an anomaly, they just overthought the adulteration for a seasonal fish. Let’s hope that’s the case. At this point they comped me itoyoridai.

It’s okay, but nothing special. Again, it’s overwhelmed by all the noise on top of this fish, far more intense and intrusive than most modern omakase places. What’s wrong with complementing the fish instead of fighting it? It’s like how modern chefs drive me crazy, they think they know better than mother nature on taste. Instead of bringing the fish out, they just overwhelmed it with other stuff – ostensibly to show that they are doing something?

That was confirmed with the saba. So much unnecessary work on this, plus the texture was ruined by the misplaced sesame seeds. I could barely taste the richness of the mackerel here. Are they hiding bad ingredients? I don’t think so. But why all this? And it’s not like Aji and other top modern omakase places around the country, this is wholesale “let’s change the taste profile of the fish” adulterations.

Two more minuses. The rice is barely keeping together, and there’s some poor knife work here, especially on the back side of this (thankfully not shown).

They comped me a bowl of brussels sprouts, and I had to admit this was quite good. And I sighed, as this turned out to be the best part of the dinner.

A rather meh unagi was next, and I was just waiting to finish this dinner and get out of here. Plus service has collapsed, so I was nursing my sake knowing it’ll be impossible to get another drink (or even my server’s attention) before I am done here. And the next item made the evening even worse…

This was just poor knife skills. The otoro was nearly shredded, and it fell apart in my hand. Oh, did I mention the rice was poor, and it was barely intact all night? This shows you how poorly this beautiful fish was cut.

This piece literally fell off the fish. So ridiculously bad this evening, I almost forgot I had one more item, uni.

I won’t even comment, I’m done.

Took ages to get my server’s attention to get the bill. And it comes. And it’s more expensive than that excellent omakase at Aji. In fact, 10 pieces of sushi here, and some sake, cost more than any omakase I’ve been to in years, including in more expensive cities. And 10 pieces of questionable stuff, from bad rice to terrible cutting to just ridiculous adulteration. And they already tack on a mandatory 20% service charge…for absentee service? Friendly, nice, but when you cannot get service, nice just doesn’t deserve 20% on an over-the-top expensive dinner for terrible quality.

Oh, I’ve not had such a bad dining experience for a long time. I think I need to avoid St Louis again…

Sado
5201 Shaw Avenue
St Louis, Missouri

* It’s a shame, since Cavalleria Rusticana turned out so good this evening. What a damn shame…

Review: Taiwan Cafe

This was a strange trip overall to New England. Some interesting surprises, some unhittable curveballs, and unseasonable warmth on my last day here. I had a long day planned, which included a lot of hiking in Cambridge and Boston.

Hours, and 13 miles later, I was tired. My flight wasn’t until later, so I decided to decamp quickly in Chinatown for an early dinner. This turned a little later due to the utter disfunctionality of the T, even on lines that are not being shutdown for inept construction.

I decided to have that early dinner at Taiwan Cafe, a much-lauded bit of authentic Taiwan tastes. Always rated as one of the best in the East Coast, I happily got there just as the skies opened.

I relaxed and placed an order for a few items and relaxed. The irony of this evening is that several of my work colleagues are in Taiwan for a conference, so I figured why not. And unlike the rather tame and borderline watered-down stuff I had at Flushing a few weeks earlier that proved to be so disappointing, I was hoping for authentic. And I got my answer soon.

Now this stinky tofu is for real. I could smell it before it even got to my table. It’s a very acquired taste, and I’m so glad I got some real ones, not like the really poor quality ones I had in Flushing. But a large dish, so I’m a little worried I over-ordered…

The sausages came and I calmed down a little, as the plate is now smaller. These are delicious too, but a little less salty than usual. And finally, the fried intestines.

Stop sneering at this, it’s a fabulous dish, and they do it fabulously well. One of the best I’ve had in years. So many places do this dish so poorly but it’s like when you find a place that does chitlins well, you never let it go.

I took my time finishing my food. I could have ordered more, but it was filling up and I don’t like to fly after a large meal, so I thanked the staff and headed out into the humid evening for South Station and Logan to fly home.

This trip ended on a good note. Highly recommended, if you want authentic Taiwanese cuisine.

Taiwan Cafe
34 Oxford Street
Boston, Massachusetts

25 Years in the Making (Review #4: Taberna de Haro)

6 November 2023

I headed out from Portsmouth back towards Boston, but hugged the coast. Spent part of the day in Gloucester and other towns along the way. As much as I wanted to grab some clams on the way, everywhere was packed with cars lined up out of the parking areas. Probably because of this rather warm temperature? At least I have that wonderful dinner from Franklin last night to keep me going.

But sadly, no clams for me, at least not yet. I made my way back into Boston, not dying despite the Massholes on the road, and fought some heavy traffic back towards Logan. Dropped my car and made my way to my hotel all the way in Watertown.

It’s my last night on this trip, so I had to deal with some logistics for tomorrow night’s flight home. But then what awaits this evening is a return trip to Taberna de Haro for dinner, one of the very few Spanish restaurants I will eat at in the US. Way too many faux Spanish places all over the country, but this place is a gem.

Chef/owner Deborah Hansen spent a good part of her career in Madrid and environs, and she has a true understanding of the food and drink of Spain that few other US-based chef has. You can’t just stage there, you need to live the soil to really understand it, and she did.

This is why I love her food, and her incredible wine and drinks selection. My last visit was five years ago, and I still remember how good it was.

Taberna de Haro just celebrated its 25th anniversary, and it’s still going strong. On a windy Monday evening, the place was packed, and people kept coming in. I had a corner at the bar and I relaxed to enjoy this fine evening of feasting and drinking!

Starting with a fancy sherry flight, I relaxed and enjoyed being back at this awesome place. One minor disappointment, no pigs ears on the menu, a dish I’ve had every time I’ve visited. But there’s plenty of good stuff, and soon, that joy of being back here was rewarded with a trio of items.

No points guessing what this is. Delicious, and for a second I had a flashback to that awful night at Bavette La Boucherie in Milwaukee with the deli-slicer-sliced travesty. This is what it’s all about…

Oh, and some marconas came with my sherry flight, and they comped me some pan con tomate…

Chef Hansen wasn’t in tonight as she had another celebration to attend, but I was super appreciative of the extra treat! That was an excellent open! I ordered a few more things and switched to wine at this point. Nice to chat with staff and long-time patrons, including some who remember when it first opened a quarter of a century ago. Shows how much people like this place, both old and new fans.

And here is an excellent dish, sardines. Lovely stuff, cooked in a way that brings out what sardines are. I get into the head too, as there’s some lovely stuff there. Remember how I destroyed the plaice at Iluka in Copenhagen a few weeks ago? Did a good job with these.

I was enjoing myself so much I decided to order more. I skipped lunch (as almost usual on these trips), so I was hungry. As I was awaiting my dishes, another comped snack came out.

Mollejas! I’m not the biggest sweetbread fan in the world, but these were absolutely delicious! I need to order this next time I come in! As I was snacking at them, my other dishes came out…

Lovely almejas, you can’t go wrong with clams in Boston or anywhere on the New England coast. Lovely stuff, plump and juicy, with the lovely touch from the wine sauce.

And I absolutely love the frog legs here. Chef Hansen changed the prep here, as she used to do it (like during my first visit back in 2015) in garlic. Now it’s a tomato base, and it’s as interesting and delicious as always. Love it when frog legs are done right!

Wow I am absolutely full. I relaxed with an amontillado and looked at the dessert menu. Why not! I chilled out and then I smiled when it arrived.

“Trufas porrera” they’re called, I chuckled, but it was delicious. Lovely deep chocolate truffles with a good drizzling of olive oil, making a dreamy combination. A wonderful way to end the night!

Not quite! A necessary brandy as I wait for my Lyft. I thanked the excellent crew and enjoyed my last tipple, glad that the Lyft wait time was longer than usual.

So recommended. I can’t wait to come back again! Here’s to another 25 years!

Taberna de Haro
999 Beacon Street
Brookline, Massachusetts

Review: Franklin

5 November 2023

A quick escape to New England, as my office is closed for Election Day (for some odd reason as there are no elections where I am at) and half my team are travelling, so I took Monday off to make it an extended weekend. I got in on Saturday and had dinner at Stages at One Washington in Dover, New Hampshire, of which I have chronicled many times here in the past.

But I needed to run back down to Lowell for someone late morning, and that created an odd loop back to New Hampshire, this time nearby Portsmouth. I was going to go up to Portland, but decided to focus this trip on New Hampshire and north-east Massachusetts.

I didn’t die from driving, despite many New Englanders’ wish to kill me by driving on the wrong side of the double yellow line. Absolutely the WORST drivers in America. But I rolled into Kittery, Maine, just across the border from Portsmouth after a long day. I had planned to meet with a friend, but something unexpected came up so I was dining solo tonight.

I had a few options but decided on Franklin, as the menu looked intriguing – especially the monkfish stew. Plus I wanted some oysters.

I almost didn’t make it there as there’s an absolute lack of rideshare vehicles here…took over 20 minutes to even get a driver confirmed… But I eventually got there, and it was sadly very quiet. I took a seat at the bar and a friendly crew got me started with a cocktail and I relaxed.

Oh no, the monkfish stew isn’t on the regular menu, because it is Restaurant Week! Oh now what am I gonna do? But I wanted my oysters, so I ordered those. I sipped on my drink and chilled out and then it arrived.

Wow, these are good. An excellent combination of three different local oysters, plump and delicious. What a wonderful way to start this evening, alongside some good drinks. However, I want the monkfish stew still, so I need to do the proper thing and go for the Restaurant Week menu after all.

I was enjoying myself, so why not. An excellent team here, and it was fun chatting with them. First up was the smoked salmon dip.

Mmmm, this was better than I expected, and a generous portion too. A good smoky feel here, and the grilled bread was tasty enough that I ran out before I finished the dip. A good start. Now for what I wanted to try here since I saw the menu, the monkfish stew.

Wow, this did not disappoint, not at the least. A very generous portion of monkfish, which I love, and a lovely base with a slight kick that added to the fun. Throw in some sausage and mussels, you got one heck of a winner. And again, a surprisingly generous portion of monkfish, a rarity these days. Fabulous.

Most places I’ve been to during any Restaurant Week tends to not do well, or have skimpy portions, a great example is Biga in San Antonio a few months ago. But The Franklin has brought its A game for this Restaurant Week. And now we close with the banana bread pudding.

Delicious, a good brown tipple to go with it. What a nice evening! Too bad it was so quiet, as this place is fun, with good service and generous pours of tasty drinks. Plus the food is quite excellent. Definitely a good find!

Highly recommended if you are in the Portsmouth area!

Franklin
148 Fleet Street
Portsmouth, New Hampshire

When a Shitty Day Ends Shitty (Review #3: El Che Steakhouse)

30 October 2023

Since I started at my current job I don’t think I’ve had as stupid of a day as today. Needless to say, I needed to unwind. Luckily I had booked a place at El Che Steakhouse a week earlier, anticipating the unnecessary workplace drama. It’s amazing how you break your back helping a client and they go ballistic over something trivial that happened due to their own inability to anticipate problems.

Nevertheless, I myself faced a problem I didn’t anticipate, but let’s go back to how I got there. I got to El Che and seeing the bar rather full with no comfortable slots, I opted for a table. I know table service is less good for a lone diner, but knowing the quality of the food, I was happy with it. A pisco sour in hand, I ordered and relaxed.

My first visit here was such a wonderful discovery, as they did a wonderful version of one of my favourite things to eat, tira de asado. My second visit was less good but still good, but did make me think a little if the quality was sliding a little.

After awhile I switched to wine anticipating my food’s arrival. And I was certainly happy when this landed on my table.

My smile remained after a taste of the chorizo, which was delicious. However, when I cut into the morcilla, I was surprised – not in a good way. It’s like they changed their recipe or source, and this was just boring – both in taste and texture. That was a big disappointment.

The side of broccolini was nearly inedible. It was mostly fibrous stalks, and barely cooked. Wow, what is happening to this place, a victim of their own success? The tira de asado was good, but also nowhere as good as usual. The portion is noticeably smaller, sliced up.

I grew increasingly disappointed with the food, as the morcilla was just not good and I barely finished it. And I could not get another glass of wine as my server was busy and there were two other servers just loitering near me but chose not to react until I literally was flailing my arms like a certain robot on Lost In Space. This is just a FoH training issue, as my overworked server did good. It’s the other jokers standing around that’s doing a crappy job.

With the skimpier portion of tira de asado, compounded by the inedible broccolini, I was done. I could have ordered another set of tira de asado, but I was tired of this place this evening. Sadly, another “safe” place that I thought was an oasis for me on bad nights showed it was no longer one I can rely on.

Whether I come back to this place again I don’t know. Very disappointed, a shitty end to a very shitty day.

Recommendation withdrawn.

El Che Steakhouse
845 West Washington Boulevard
Chicago, Illinois

My Pre-CSO Routine (Review: Remington’s)

28 October 2023

It was a restful Saturday. Although I had a lot of logistics to deal with for upcoming travel, I took some time to relax after a very long week – and a longer one coming up. I was headed to the Chicago Symphony this evening for a performance of Mahler…wait, Mel, Mahler? Yes, I do despise Mahler’s excesses, except for a few items.

And one of them is on tonight’s program – his First Symphony. With Bloch’s Schelomo on the bill as well, this evening is one that celebrates Jewish musical themes, something we sorely need in these ugly times of hate on the streets.

But before the concert, I’ve had a little tradition whenever I go to the symphony – to stop at Remington’s for an early dinner. And I did the same tonight.

I’ve had some good food here, and their aged ribeye is quite nice. However, I was in the mood for a prime rib, and their version is on the smaller side, so good for a pre-concert dinner. Considering how awful my last prime rib was at Tortoise Supper Club, this should be a treat. As I finished my martini and asked for a glass of red, my food came.

And it was pretty good. Again, not spectacular, and it was on the small side, but overall quite good. The mash was surprisingly good, garlic-laden – which I love. With a bit of jus, it provided an additional delight to the dinner.

I just finished my wine and decided to have a wee dessert with a nice tipple, and it was a good one.

I do love key lime pie, especially if it retains enough tartness in the prep, and this version did the job very well.

The concert start time was coming up, so I thanked my server and headed out for the few blocks to the hall. This should be quite a good evening, helped by this nice dinner.

Remington’s
20 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois

* It was a wonderful performance of Mahler’s First, as well as the “removed” Blumine movement, played at the beginning of the evening. The middle segment, Bloch’s Schelomo, was beautiful, but felt somewhat distant and more disharmonic compared to versions I’ve enjoyed before. But overall an emotionally refreshing night, that’s for sure.