As I mentioned in the previous post, I stopped at Extraordinary Desserts by Balboa Park in San Diego. It has a very good reputation, and as someone who loves dessert, it’s nice to see a place succeed that specializes in it. So often restaurants just drop the ball on their dessert menu, opting for boring favorites – creme brulee, chocolate cake, icecream, and either a brownie or bread pudding. I’d love to see more variation there, like flavored panna cotta, fruit-based desserts, maybe meringues or spice cakes or gingerbread or poached pears with cream. There’s so much out there!

Chocolate streusel from Extraordinary Desserts

I got this chocolate streusel because I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before.  Yes, that’s really all it takes to get something into my mouth. Novelty. I liked how it is an atypical dessert in general, because streusels are usually breakfast items.

Chocolate streusel topped with flowers, gold, and chocolate

As usual, it was topped with flowers, chocolate, a squirt of chocolate ganache, gold, and powdered sugar. That’s five toppings, six if you count the fact there were two different types of flowers – rose petals and a daisy. I wonder how much these accoutrements account for the price. I have to say, I wasn’t wild about this dessert. Streusel is dense and dry in general – it’s pastry, not cake. The chocolate insides were rich and moist, in contrast, but they were too one-note. It was just chocolate, no hint of anything interesting, like spices or fruit. It wasn’t very sweet, either, so it was just simply boring.

It’s a little unfair because this kind of dessert doesn’t fit my flavor profile at all. I know what I like – creamy textures, complexity, sweetness, novelty. This was novel in concept, but not novel in taste, and I really don’t like pastry that much. Croissants, turnovers, pie crust – I’m not a fan. The streusel didn’t really have a chance, so definitely take my review with a grain of salt.

Chocolate streusel, sideview

Apologies, again, for the poor lighting. I had to use flash for these photos due to poor indoor lighting.

How not to use gold

I complained in my last post about the use of gold leaf in the desserts. It was randomly smeared onto a pecan in the chocolate pecan tart. Here, they seem to have dropped it on a flower with no regard for where it stuck. Look, I don’t have a lot of room to talk because I’m not a great styler myself. My sole contribution to the display of this photo was the fork in cocoa powder, which I hacked together using a Swiss Miss packet.  It just seems so strange to me that you would introduce gold leaf, which instantly reeks of pretention, and throw it on a flower, on a dessert, with no care at all exhibited. It really reinforces the idea that it’s there just to look expensive, and I hate things like that. Don’t make it look expensive so it looks expensive and you can charge more. Make it high-quality.

Continuing my posts about the Fort, a historic restaurant in the hills outside of Denver, we arrive at my entree, the Game Plate. It was a bison filet, an elk steak, and a teriyaki quail. I was on a quest to eat things that I would not be able to easily find in New Jersey or New York, you see. I also love good steak but never order it out for dieting reasons. Since I was on vacation, I was splurging all over the place.

Please forgive the slightly lower quality; I was seated a few feet from a window in a dark building, and the sun was going down. Out of courtesy, I never use flash in a restaurant. These low-light photos were taken with my wonderful Mark II 50mm Canon lens that is amazingly only $90.

The elk chop is the larger cut on top. It was great! This was the most meat I’ve eaten in one sitting in literally years, period, because even when we eat it at home, I limit myself to 5 oz. The flavor and texture were wonderful. Sometimes gamey meat has a bad connotation to it but there was nothing ‘off’ or ‘rancid’ or ‘vegetal’ about the flavor that I recall.

Steaks at the Fort

That bird sticking out is a quail in teriyaki sauce. It’s a wee bird for sure. I never eat non-breast chicken so this, too, was an unusual feat for me, and I wasn’t quite sure how to eat it, so I tore it apart with my fork. I think that’s a good sign, as it was very tender, but this property might have do with how small a quail is. There was never more than an inch thickness of meat at any given point. The teriyaki sauce was good but I imagined it overshadowed any unique flavors of the quail. However, I thought this was tasty, and I’d eat it again.

The photo makes me laugh because it’s like the quail is the wicked witch in the wizard of oz. An elk steak fell on it instead of a house.

Quail and Elk steak in the Fort's Game Plate

I love rare meat, as it has more flavor and juiciness to me. I prefer the meltingly soft texture of a rare cut to the stringy texture of something well-done. The bison was, as you can see, quite rare, and I was pretty pleased. It’s also a lean meat – bison is low fat and in fact does not have the same ‘marbled’ property as beef at all.

Piece of bison steak

So there I was, a young woman in a dress, sitting alone, eating two appetizers, a salad, and a plate of game, to be followed by two desserts, most of which I didn’t eat. This young woman also had a camera and a bag of lenses.

Now, it’s not unusual, in the Tristate area (NJ, PA, NY), to have a manager come over to your table once in awhile and ask how you are. I have been asked that many times when I did not have a camera on me. When my waiter and then a manager asked me how my meal was, I thought that was normal.

Then the owner came over.

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When I was researching restaurants with a view for my Denver trip, I read about The Fort in Morrison, Colorado. I was lucky to have stumbled upon this list because I hadn’t been looking at places in Boulder, Morrison, Aurora, and other surrounding towns. The Fort is in the foothills of the Rockies, a few miles from Red Rock Amphitheatre. It has its own slab of red rock, and it’s built entirely out of adobe mud to look like a trading post that stood on the same site in 1846.

The Fort has decided to live up to its rich history by serving game that is local to Colorado. As soon as I saw elk, rattlesnake, quail, buffalo, and other meats on the menu, I was sold. I got there at 6:00 and hoped to park at a Denver-facing window until sunset.

To start, I had a mint julep in a mason jar. I’ve never had one, but the Great Gatsby made them sound awesome, so I gave it a try. It had French brandy, peach brandy, and some mint. I’m not much of a drinker so it was a little strong for me, but I felt pretty cool drinking from a jar, having never done that before.

Old-fashioned mint julep in a mason jar

They didn’t have rattlesnake on the menu that day, which I found deeply disappointing. I replaced it with beef tongue, which sounded strange and therefore interesting. It was extremely soft and tender; it literally melted in your mouth. When you took a bite out of it on the toast, it just pulled apart. However, it was all texture; because it was sliced so thin, it didn’t have a lot of beefy flavor. I don’t know what I expected. All I know about beef tongue is a scene in a Ramona/Judy Bloom book.

I am pleased with this picture because I was seated a few feet from the window and already starting to have lighting problems because of the setting sun. A good sharpening in my graphics program helped out a lot.

Beef tongue from The Fort

The other appetizer I had planned for was indeed available that evening: Rocky Mountain Oysters. For those unacquainted, they are beef testicles. This preparation breaded and fried them, which I am told is common. I actually never eat fried things if I can help it, both for health reasons and a deep loathing for getting grease on my hands or face. This means no fried chicken, chicken nuggets, deep fried turkey/poptarts/twinkies, etc. I do eat French fries and the occasional mozzarella stick, though, so I gave these a try.

Fried Rocky Mountain Oysters

This is the inside of one. It’s pale, right? Like dark meat chicken? That’s what it tasted like. (Ironic, right?) It didn’t taste like beef — just meat and iron. I ate a few with the provided salsa but I didn’t care for them. It was like eating chicken nuggets. I hoped for something more revolutionary. I mean, it’s a testicle!  I should note, too, that both of these appetizers were half portions because I was eating by myself.

Rocky Mountain Oysters

I followed that with a jicama and pumpkin seed salad with a damiana vinaigrette. Damiana is an herb native to Mexico, and it smelled extremely familiar when I was eating it. I later found out it is used in teas and some people liken it to chamomile which might explain it. It was a nice dressing — the herbal notes really upped the vegetation factor of the salad. I want to eat a salad to eat plants, not chicken, cheese, tortilla strips, or wontons, and the damiana vinaigrette really cements that experience.

This is my favorite salad photo ever. I like the white light in the background, the shape of the bowl, the luminescence of the leaves, and the overall framing of the shot. I can see why a lot of food photographers style with light behind the subject, though I think it gets boring after awhile.

Salad

I haven’t been going to as many farmer’s markets as I’d like this year. They hold one every Wednesday in my town in the afternoon, but it ends at 6 which is precisely when I get off my train after work. I’ve recently been to one in nearby Montclair which was fun; I got two delicious cider donuts, some ras el hanout (a Moroccan spice of cinnamon, clove, cardamom, coriander, etc), and a few sugar plums. Yes, sugar plums really exist, and people grow them! They actually weren’t as sweet as I anticipated from the name.

Here is a bounty of peppers. The pale green ones on the left are cubanelles, a sweet variety.  The very slender green and red ones on the right are chile peppers. I didn’t know that until I looked it up – I assumed they were super long and wrinkled jalapenos. I also didn’t know that apparently red and purple peppers are just ripened green peppers. The longer you let the pepper sit on the vine, the more color it takes on; however, that means  a longer time-to-market and a diminished capacity for making pepper seeds, so letting peppers ripen to other colors is more expensive.

Peppers at a farmer's market

That round, purple vegetable is a Rosa Bianca eggplant. I wish I had known that when I took this picture. Rosa Biancas are Italian heirloom eggplants that are creamy, mildly-flavored, and have no bitterness. If I knew such an eggplant existed, I would have bought it in a second; I love when my eggplant gets all creamy and squishy after a long braise in tomato sauce. If there is no sauce, I definitely taste the bitterness. I try to salt it out, but I don’t think I give it enough time. This variety sounds like a great solution to both issues. Probably good in a stir-fry. This is why I need to go to more markets – to try out awesome produce like this before the season ends.

Eggplant at a farmer's market

And this is what we get after we buy the vegetables. Oh, how I love sauteed squash. I grew up in a house that only ate canned vegetables, so my first taste of sauteed squash happened in a college cafeteria. It was love at first bite. This dish came from La Taverna, an Italian restaurant in Dayton, NJ that serves some pretty tasty food in a nice historic setting.

Sauteed veggies at La Taverna

I love the char and the speckled pattern on the zucchini.

Sauteed squash at La Taverna

These dishes were the entrees from my lunch at the Highlawn Pavilion a few years ago. My mother ordered the steak, and it was pretty tasty. It looks so plain, right? You’d expect them to get fancier with it, but I guess they know they don’t have to. I don’t think the people ordering it are after strange sauces and foam. Even when I ate at Per Se, they kept this dish extremely simple, to their benefit.

Steak and potatoes, Highlawn-style

Can you find three types of potatoes in this picture?

I ordered the fish in an attempt to be healthy. My significant other also hates all seafood so I can only get it at a restaurant. This was Striped Bass, which I had much higher expectations for. Those disks are purple Peruvian potatoes. I have no idea what it is garnished with — is that marjoram? Young oregano? Clover from the lawn? Help  me out. Anyway, I don’t remember eating this, and my notes at the time were ‘just average’.

Striped Bass at Highlawn Pavilion

I took my mother to the Highlawn Pavilion in West Orange, NJ a few years ago. It’s an old casino perched atop Eagle Rock Reservation, which looks across the Oranges and a sea of trees all the way out to the New York skyline. It’s an upscale place with fountains, a jacket policy, and excellent food styling. Fun fact: this beautiful building had actually fallen into completely disrepair and was covered by graffiti before it was restored.I didn’t take the following photo.

Highlawn Pavilion Restoration. I DID NOT TAKE THIS PHOTO.

Disclaimer: these photos are not my best, but I thought they still looked tasty so I’m posting them. I’m following up with another post right away to make up for it.

I thought I’d start with dessert first. Mom got a raspberry napoleon, which is basically strawberry shortcake, replacing the shortcake with puff pastry and the whipped cream with buttercream. It’s official name is mille feuille, or a thousand (Mille) sheets of pastry. See, I taught you Polish in the last post, and French in this one — it’s an educational blog! Note how thin the layers are in this baby, and how big those raspberries are. It was delicious. I love frosting and buttercream especially, so I coveted her dessert.

Raspberry napoleon at Highlawn Pavilion. Berry closeup!

Here’s a top view of the pastry. I might have taken that bite out of the side.

Raspberry shortcake at Highlawn Pavilion

For coverage’s sake, I got a chocolate-caramel gateau. A gateau is a French sponge-cake that is brownie-like. It is very dense, and this particular execution was quite tasty. I love it when they outline the fork with cocoa powder like that. I think the swirling cookie is a little silly, but I still ate it. I think I recall that icecream being rum raisin. It was the first time I ever had it, and now I’m pretty fond of it.

Chocolate gateau at Highlawn Pavilion

My mother is low-carbing due to her upcoming wedding, so I took her to a seafood place, Blue Water Seafood Company, for Mother’s Day. The fish was rumored to be excellent, but it’s hard not to get lobster if you have the choice. She got a ~2.5 lb lobster, and I a smaller 1.5 lber. They serve it with flare. Look, he has a lemon fedora. I think it is a small blessing that the lobster itself is out of focus because, having looked at a lobster in a macro lens that day, I think I’d rather spare you the experience. A close up picture of the lobster’s face is after the jump if you think you can handle it.

He tasted delicious. The meat came right out – no digging around to pull it out. I wish I ordered a bigger one.

Lobster dinner at Blue Water Seafood Company.

These potatoes accompanied it, but who wants to eat anything but lobster?

Roasted potatoes

These clams were delicious; very meaty and served with both broth and butter. I’d definitely recommend Blue Water Seafood Company (what a mouthful) for the quality of its fish, but it is pretty pricey. I guess good clams are gonna cost you.

Steamed clams

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Lou and I both took Good Friday off so we could have a leisurely lunch in Hoboken. He works there, and I occasionally meet him for lunch on my days off, but it is  always a rushed affair since he has to get back at a reasonable time. We figured having the ability to walk around afterward might be a good change of pace, and it was. We went to Onieal’s, an Irish tavern sitting inconspicuously on the corner of 4th and Park, set far away from the traffic of Washington street. We had been there before, and it was a good experience; tasty food, quick service, nice ambiance.

The weather was warm and breezy, so we opted to take a seat outside where I had some natural light for my photographs. The park across the street supplied a soundtrack of squeaks and shrieks, courtesy of children and some metal swingsets. I envied them those swings.

Onieal’s menus

He ordered a burger. There wasn’t anything overtly wrong with it, but it wasn’t as good as last time. I blame the bun. I don’t really trust buns with shiny crusts. If the top of the bun has a crust like that, I anticipate the rest of the it to be slightly stiff or stale, and I like them soft. I also think the egg wash is a little pretentious — does it really add flavor at all? No. It’s just meant to look better. I guess I prefer a burger with more self-confidence. At least it was delightfully pink! Nice grind, too.

Burger dish at Oniea's bar in Hoboken.

Burger close-up at Onieal's bar in Hoboken. Hell yeah.

Quesadillas, guac, and onions after the jump.

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