L'Amante Review

      For the dear wife's birthday and the fact I had been away to sunny, warm Florida for a business trip, I decided to go all out and take her to L'Amante. Despite it being around the Burlington scene for a while and despite many friends saying we must go and despite all the great reviews , we had never been to L'Amante. The room is elegant without being stuffy. And service was first rate. The menu looked very enticing but what won us over was the 3 course tasting menu. The particular night was the food of Veneto, (The Venice region). A three course dinner with three wines paired by the chef. We both decided to partake.

      The first thing you should know about L'amantes is it makes no pretense about being anything but a special occasion type of place. Anniversaries, Birthdays, all should be celebrated here. If you are going to come her on a regular basis, you better have deep pockets. Our meal was $58.00 each for a 3 course meal with wine, add dessert and tip and taxes and we were pushing $175.00. Was it worth it? Read on.

      First up some great bread served with hummus and a chicken liver pate. Man was that pate ever good, that sure woke up the taste buds. Our first course was white anchovies served over roasted red peppers with capers. And served with this a 2012 Pieropan Soave Classico. Wow talk about a grand opening, tons of different flavors with salty, and sweet, paired perfectly with a nice crisp white. This chef really knows how to pair wines , (as he should by being one the few Master Sommeliers in the world).

      For round two the chef served us white polenta , served over a wild mushroom ragu. WOW is all I can say this was by far the star of the evening. The flavors in the mushrooms (and I don't really care for mushrooms), were incredible and paired with the white polenta, that had been crisped up into a cake form, was divine. Pair this with a 2003 Nicolas Testal and you have a match made in heaven.

      The third course is where things faltered a bit. It was the course I was most excited about, grilled boar sausage, and quail with radicchio trevisano. The sausage was superb, incredible flavors and both the wife and I wished there was more of it. The quail was good but definitely overcooked, to the point of the meat being a bit dry. And the radicchio was a total failure, WAY over charded, so all you could taste was burnt leaves. This left a flavor in your mouth that overpowered the boar and quail. All you could taste was burnt. For the price we were paying this left a bit of a bad taste in our mouth (literally HA).

      For dessert, we had a great chocolate cake with an incredible espresso cream on top. A great way to end the meal. So pretty much an excellent meal with one miscue, forgivable but NOT when you are paying $175.00 for two. At this price point every portion of the meal better be perfect.

Food,                      4.00  Excellent food , but for one miscue. Did it ruin the evening , of course not but for this price it shouldn't of happened.
Beer and Wine,     3.75  Incredible selection, very expensive
Service,                  3.50 Service was very professional, just not very warm.

Ambiance,             4.5   Beautiful ding room and charming bar, possibly the best in Burlington..
Price,                     3.0  VERY pricey, but the excellence in taste and presentation make up for it. Definitely a special occasion place. And slight miscues need to be taken care of.

Overall                  3.75  A really beautiful room, innovative and tasty food. A great wine list but some small miscues and that huge cloud , the price, makes this a once a year or so place to eat.

The WIndjammer Review

      For our office Christmas party, we went to the Windjammer. Arguably, one of the longest lasting restaurants in the Burlington area. The Windjammer has long been known for its salad bar and beef offerings. And as I quickly noticed a giant menu (unfortunately, you all know what I think of giant menus).

      As you are led to your table, you quickly notice how HUGE this place is, then you notice how many people are also dining on this Wednesday, (2 weeks before Xmas), night. Between the size of the menu and the amount of people, you just know the kitchen is going to be crazy and crazy isn't always good . We sit down and are given our menus and it is huge, they have just about every type of seafood or cut of beef you can imagine. The wine list is also quite large, if rather pedestrian, with alot of "grocery store" wines on it. BUT I will give the kudos for the beer offerings. lots of local brews and some of the harder to get ones. I finally got to try the Trapp Family lager and it was really good.

      Now, I must tell you about another personal quibble, I hate salad bars. Please don't write me angry letters, its a personal thing but even with every sneeze guard in place, I just don't think their sanitary.Who knows where the 300 people in front of you hands have been? Anyways, the Windjammer is famous for theirs and I am sure that's not gonna change anytime soon, and as it comes with your meal , we all trudged off to the salad bar to indulge. The offerings are substantial but not really innovative and again I am not a fan. So for my entree, I went with ;

Chicken Rotolo- tenderized 8 oz. chicken breast with housemade VT chevre boursin, baby spinach & lump crab meat, pita encrusted and rolled, finished with sweet pepper Arrosto $22.99

        I went with this because it sounded different from their usual meat and rather plain seafood items. Looking back now that was a mistake, if a restaurant is known for something, that is what you should probably order. The biggest problem with this meal and from what I could see around the table is everything was overcooked. I think because of the large volume of orders they do in a night, everything goes under an extremely hot salamander and cooks it to within an inch of its life. Now in their defense, no one at the table had steak, (weird, huh), so I can not comment on overdone steaks, just seafood and chicken. For dessert we shared three things across the table, and they were so memorable I can not remember even one of them. Something chocolate, something berry , none really bad, none really great. And THAT in a nutshell is my memory of the Windjammer. Nothing great, nothing really bad, just unmemorable food, prepared hundreds of times a night.

On a scale of 1 to 5;
Food,                Quality means much more to us than quantity.
Beer and Wine,  Based on selection and pricing

Service,             Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing

 Price,                And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     3.0  Not bad, not great, reliable in a box restaurant kind of way.
Beer and Wine,    3.5  Nice beer and wine selections, wine list is huge but rather boring.
Service,                 3.0  Rushed and not very informative but friendly just the same, like everything else not memorable.

Ambiance,             2.5  Huge and loud come to mind.
Price,                     3.0  Pricey, but not overly so. Portion tend to be very large

Overall                  3.00 If you love the box restaurants at Taft's Corner , you will love the Windjammer. BUT come here instead so the money stays local. Nothing really great but then again nothing really bad, dependable seems to be the correct word. And sometimes dependable works just fine.

Johnny V's Review

      This was on my advanced list of a places we should go to while in Fort Lauderdale. So I was extremely happy when we got a reservation for 6:30. Then I was extremely sad when I had to cancel because my boss's plane was delayed and he didn't get in till 6pm. After picking a second choice, I found I had to cancel that also, as a business meeting ran long. So we decided to head out to Los Olas Boulevard and see what pops up. Our cab lets us off and lo and behold we are right in front of Johnny V's. What a coincidence. I ask at the counter if they have a table for 4 and yes they do. WOO HOO .

      So in we go and I for one am VERY happy we did. The wine list is incredible and I started with an incredible Temparillo from Spain, with this great glass of wine we shared three appetizers, the blue corn crusted calamari, the slightly seared tune poke and the special of the night, baked oysters with spinach and bechamel sauce. All three were just incredible, the flavors, the presentation , everything perfect.

      For my entree, I went with the Duck, Duck, Duck and I must say this was one of the best entrees I have ever had. A duck leg confit, a roasted breast served medium and sliced and a bread pudding made of mushrooms and foie gras, YUMMY. Around the table, everyone else got fresh fish entrees and other than one fish being a bit dry, we all loved our meals. For dessert we ordered a chocolate samplers and there were 4 or 5 different preparations, all of them delicious.

Food,                     4.25  Excellent food, Imaginatively prepared with sometimes unusual ingredients. One of the fish dishes was a bit dry and overcooked, points off for that.
Beer and Wine,     4.0    Very Deep wine selections, list is huge and some of it very expensive.
Service,                 4.0    Our waitress was incredible, making suggestions and helping us out with the wine list.

Ambiance,             3.75  Nice space, but very narrow, some sidewalk seating, which would be fun.
Price,                     3.5   VERY pricey, but food this creative is rarely cheap.

Overall                  3.90  My favorite meal of the trip and probably in my favorite top 20 of all time. If you are in Fort Lauderdale go here

Casablanca Cafe Review

      As we were setting up the booth for the show, we realized it was well after noon and we suddenly were starving. As this particular day included 84 degree weather, with a slight ocean breeze and tropical blue skies, we decide to go outside and find a restaurant where we could eat overlooking the ocean. After a short walk, we noticed a large crowd at the Casablanca, so we stood in line to wait for a table. There was a big crowd sitting on the patio watching the ocean so when the Hostess said would you like to sit on the balcony we said sure, thinking we were getting on the patio. Instead she led us into the restaurant, up a spiral staircase and out onto a tiny 2nd story balcony holding three tables, SCORE, we had the end table, facing the ocean and getting a wonderful breeze in our faces, who said blind luck was overrated.

      Soon our server appeared and offered us some exotic drinks, but since I was working, I went with a Balik Gold beer instead. Perfect for a hot, sultry day. And for lunch, a thinly shaved, lamb sandwich, served on a warm pita bread, (OK, it was a gyro, why don't you just say so) and a nice Mediterranean salad. The lamb was perfectly seasoned and very tender. The salad nice and crisp with some great feta cheese on top. All in all, a perfect lunch plate for $9.99. And the view was incredible.

Food,                     4.0     Great flavors, nicely put together. 

Beer and Wine,    4.0     Nice beer and wine selections, reasonably priced (for Florida anyways).

Service,                 3.75   Waiter was not overly talkative but very efficient and the hostess got us a great table.

Ambiance,             4.5      All I can say is see the pictures.

Price,                     4.5      Probably the most reasonable place in all of Fort Lauderdale.

Overall                  4.15 This was a great find and would be one of my go to spots if I lived in Fort Lauderdale. If you are in the area, do yourself a favor and stop by.

A (Non) Traditional Thanksgiving Feast.

        For the first time ever, we decided to host a small gathering at our house for Thanksgiving, (as opposed to the 30+ usually at my parents house). Since this was our first time hosting, we went with a pretty much pre-cooked meal. All from Costco's except for the rolls, (more on them later) . For the star of the show, we went with a Niman Ranch ham from Costco's . For those of you who have never heard of Niman ranch, they produce sustainably raised meats, that have never been fed antibiotics or hormones. Yes, they are a bit more expensive but the flavor is incredible. And since they buy from 650 US farms and ranches, the money stays in the USA.

       To go with the ham, scalloped potatoes. We could of course have made some homemade, (this was the wife's wish), but I decided to try another one of Costco's offerings and went instead with frozen cheddar potatoes. Both the wife and Kris thought this was strange, as their mom's homemade did NOT include cheese. But Mike and I thought they were quite good, never having had the originals. Here are a couple of pics of the ham and potatoes;

      Now for rolls to go with this feast, we decide to try and replicate the Lamson Family tradition. And this is where things get a bit weird. The Lamson family rolls are actually cinnamon rolls. And NO they were not eaten for breakfast or dessert but rather with the meal like regular dinner rolls. Other than getting past the fact you are eating a cinnamon roll, they really went well with the meal. The glaze on the ham included brown sugar and cloves and the cinnamon in the rolls complimented it perfectly. Of course, when you are trying to recreate a childhood memory, things never seem as good. But for Mike and I, who had never had the originals, we thought they were GREAT. I will write a separate post with the exact recipe, as it is pretty involved. For now here is a pic;

      We tasked Kris with the vegetables and she came up with two great dishes of carrots and squash (or so I was told, as I don't do vegetables so much). A great meal was had by all and for dessert, another Costco's original;

      For our official Costco's ratings;

Niman Ranch Ham  A+
Main St Bistro potatoes B
Dessert Assortment  A-

      And there you go, a rather simple, but elegant Costco's Thanksgiving.

Sweetwaters Review

      Given my unbelievable skills at organization, we found ourselves with tickets to consecutive nights at the Flynn. Looking for a quick but rather inexpensive bite to eat, we settled on Sweetwaters.Located in a former bank building, Sweetwaters is a very impressive space, the main bar area has 20 ft high ceilings with a large mural at the back of the room. Lots of little nooks and crannies abound for those looking for a darker more romantic space. Also available are tables right on Church Street, (covered and heated, this time of the year).

      Sweetwaters seems to go through many up and down cycles, sometimes we have had really good food, sometimes really bad. Since we couldn't remember the last time we went, we decide to give it a try. You won't find innovative gastro pub food here, (see Bluebird review), but you also won't find $30+ entrees either. We started with drinks, (shocking I know), and they do have some creative drinks here. Wife started with a mix of Stella's beer and Woodchuck cider called a snakebite, ( a better one was a mix of woodchuck cider and blueberry beer called a Chuck Berry, HA). And I went with a new brew from Long trail to help the hurricane victims called Irene. Both were very good, with the wife's tasting alot like an apple beer, you decide if that is good or not,

     For supper we went rather simple, wife with a chicken and pear salad and me with the Bleu burger. The burger was HUGE and came with blue cheese and bacon on it, along with a very large helping of hand cut fries. The wife's salad was well done, crisp lettuces and nicely grilled chicken, though she wasn't a big fan of the poached pears that came with it. All in all a very satisfying meal with no big breakthroughs but also no big disappointments. And sometimes that is all you can ask for. I do have to comment on the service a bit, we ate at the bar, which is our usual and we got very spotty service. When the bartender was there, she was very friendly but she would disappear for large chunks of time. Seems the soda machine was broken and nobody else there could fix it?

On a scale of 1 to 5;
Food,                 Quality means much more to us than quantity.
Beer and Wine,   Based on selection and pricing

Service,              Speaks for itself
Ambiance,          Does the look fit the food and pricing

 Price,                And finally does the pricing equal the results we had.

Food,                     3.5  Dependable and tasty classics.
Beer and Wine,    3.0  OK beer and wine selections, like the food, nothing really unusual.
Service,                 3.5  Great when she was there, not really her fault the soda machine broke, more of a management problem.

Ambiance,             4.0  Nice, old building with lots of areas for dining or socializing.
Price,                     3.5  Consistent with the food, fairly reasonable for downtown.

Overall                  3.5  Nothing jumps out at me as being really sensational but then again nothing jumps out as being really bad. And sometimes this is exactly what you need before a show or a concert. Just good dependable food and drinks.