Eat. Here. Soon.

Tags

fancy dining, ottawa, ottawa restaurants, seafood, steak house, the shore club, Westin

Ottawa peeps, The Shore Club is located in the Westin downtown. It is gorgeous, the food is delish, the wine list is crazy and the view outside of the canal is lovely. 

We love seafood and this restaurant has it. During the week they have buck a shuck oysters and 2$ jumbo shrimps…and I mean jumbo. 

For the most part the menu is pricey but it was worth it and I would go back again soon. A typical steak is between 35-50$ and the fish courses around 36$. We loved the seafood platter, lobster, king crab, oyster, smoked salmon and calamari. 

If you can’t swing a dinner, go for happy hour from 4-7 during the week for a glass of wine and some snacks, you won’t be disappointed. 

   
    
    
   

The Best Of San Fran

Tags

best burritos in America, burritos, La Taqueria, San Francisco, tacos

La Taqueria in the Mission has been declared to have America’s Best Burritos and Tacos and after eating them I can see why. 

Miguel Jara opened the taqueria over 40 years ago in the Mission. Back then burritos were 90 cents and tacos 60 cents. Today considering inflation the food is very reasonable… Tacos are 3.95 each and burritos 5.95. He has been asked many times “What makes your food so good?” His answer “Everything is made fresh every day”

When I was there last week I ate the beef tacos. I ordered 2 and they were massive and so delicious. 

If you are ever in SF you need to stop by the Mission district and eat at La Taqueria…you won’t be disappointed. And if you are lucky, you may even get serenaded by a Mariachi band 🙂

 

    

           

Deep Dish Pizza

Tags

Chicago food, chicago pizza, deep dish pizza, pizzeria uno

Last week I had the opportunity to go to Chicago for work. What do you do in Chicago other than shop on the Magnificent Mile? You eat deep dish pizza!

I went to Pizzeria Uno which opened in 1943. This was a first for me. I love NY style thin crust but I had to try it.

So what exactly is Chicago-style deep dish pizza? Chicago-style deep-dish pizza is up to three inches high at the edge, slightly higher than the ingredients, which include large amounts of cheese and chunky tomato sauce. It resembles more of a pie than a traditional pizza. I heard some people describe it as a pizza casserole. 🙂

The thick layer of toppings used in deep-dish pizza requires a longer baking time – usually 45 minutes total. Because of this, the toppings are assembled ‘upside-down’ from their usual order on a pizza. The crust is covered with cheese (generally sliced mozzarella), followed by various meat options such as pepperoni or sausage, the latter of which is sometimes in a solid patty-like layer. Other toppings such as onions, mushrooms and bell peppers are then also used. An uncooked sauce is added as the finishing layer.

The Verdict: Don’t get me wrong the taste was delish! But this pizza is too much of a pie for me. If I had to choose, I would pick NY style pizza every time.

Central Bierhaus review – Prost!

Tags

beer, brauhaus, burger, Central Bierhaus, food, kanata restaurant, ottawa, oysters, restaurant review

Joel and I popped into Central Bierhaus last night for a bite to eat. What a transformation from the old O’Connors! I love it. Maybe that’s the German in me, but it reminds me of German Brauhaus. The only thing missing is the girls in dirndls.

Menu

They have been open 3 weeks now and are still having a few growing pains in the kitchen but otherwise it was a smooth experience.

When you sit down they greet you with “Das Bier Buch” (English translation The Beer Book). They have so many beers to choose from it is unreal. I ordered a Stiegl Radler (my new favorite summer beer) and Joel got a Stiegl.

We started off with raw oysters and they were delish! They have a number of different east coast varieties (King Kong, Raspberry Points, Malpeques, and many more) It is nice to have a place in the west end of Ottawa that servers oysters. Another recommendation for you, around the bar they have smoked Hungarian sausages in containers that are 4$ a piece. I highly recommend getting a smoked sausage with your beer. They are salty and smoky and pair perfectly with it.

Raw Oysters

For dinner we order the Augus Burger which was recommended by our server and some mussels. The mussels were ok. I wouldn’t order them again. They were missing flavor and they were over cooked. The burger was amazing. I haven’t had a burger this good since I visit Umami Burger in NYC last fall. The Angus Burger is served on a brioche bun and topped with smoked cheddar, applewood bacon, caramelized onion aioli and your standard lettuce, tomato, pickle. It was so juicy. It comes with a small salad and french fries. I will 100% order it again and I invite all of you to order it as well.

Angus Burger assembly

 

For 4 beers, a smoked sausage, a burger, mussels and oysters the bill was 124$ with tip. I can’t wait to go back.

Check it out today! 

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I am a girl who loves food. I grew up with a Mom who was an excellent cook. She wrote a cookbook when I was a child, and as they say, the rest is history. Started a catering business in 2005 and haven’t looked back. I am a mom to 2 beautiful girls and I want them to love food as much as I do. In the meantime, I love life and love my job @ http://www.monicaskitchen.com

Eating my way through Chicago

Tags

Art Smith, Chicago, Chicago food, Chicago Restaurants, GEB, GEB Chicago, Graham Elliot, James Beard, Masterchef, Southern Food

I feel like Chicago is often overlooked when it comes to food meccas. But here’s the deal, they have some epic restaurants Alinea, Next, Blackbird, The Purple Pig and Girl & the Goat. While I wish I could have scored a reservation at one of these restaurants, I did score 2 great places on my trip.

#1 GEB Chicago – Graham Elliot Bistro

Most people know Graham Elliot from MasterChef, but he is so much more than that. At the age of 27 he became the youngest Four Star Chef to be named in any major U.S. city and was named one of Food & Wine Magazine’s “Best New Chef” in 2004. In recent years has accrued several prestigious accolades, including multiple James Beard Foundation nominations. He is very cool.

GEB is a hip bistro. The food is divine. Normally as you know, I take pictures of everything, but at GEB I was start struck. As we sat down and ordered a drink, who walked in? Graham Elliot himself!

Me and Graham Elliot

Let’s talk food. I started the night off with the pumpkin soup. Probably the best soup I have ever had in my lifetime. It was topped with a coffee spiced granola, fried sage & creme fraiche. Best $12 ever spent. The main course. Strip loin, bone marrow, onion jam, truffled fingerling potatoes and grilled sourdough bread. Oh. My. God. A vegetarians nightmare and my dream come true. It was an incredible plate of food. Hands down I recommend eating at GEB, I cant wait to do it again.

#2 Table fifty-two

Chef Art Smith is a southern boy. He was Oprah Winfrey’s personal chef, he was on Top Chef Masters, and he is a James Beard award winner. Table fifty-two is the home of Southern hospitality in Chicago. Who doesn’t like southern food?

The atmosphere at Table 52 is so relaxing. You feel like you are in the south, sitting in a grandmothers dining room. It is beautiful, and the food… the food is sinful.

Roasted beet salad

Fried Green Tomatoes

Pickle Board

For starters we had a roasted yellow beet salad served on top of whipped ricotta, fried green tomatoes served with pimento goat cheese and a southern pickle board. What is a southern pickle board? It is a southern charcuterie board made up of cheeses and homemade crackers, pickles and meats. All the starters were amazing.

Fried Chicken

The main course. When you go to a southern restaurant what is the first thought that comes to mind? Fried chicken perhaps? It was the juiciest, most crispy chicken I have ever had. It was made with love and I could taste it. And what goes best with fried chicken? Mac & cheese.

Sinful Mac and Cheese

There is not much I can say about this mac and cheese. It was made with butter, cream, and 3 types of cheese. It was the richest thing I have ever eaten and I still dream about it.

Hands down Table 52 is a romantic, relaxing restaurant in downtown Chicago that serves up the best southern food I have ever had. Next time you are in Chicago, try one or both of these restaurants, you will not be disappointed!

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I am a girl who loves food. I grew up with a Mom who was an excellent cook. She wrote a cookbook when I was a child, and as they say, the rest is history. Started a catering business in 2005 and haven’t looked back. I am a mom to 2 beautiful girls and I want them to love food as much as I do. In the meantime, I love life and love my job @ http://www.monicaskitchen.com

 

Great burger in NYC? Two words. Umami Burger

Tags

BBQ, Burgers, NYC, Umami, Umami Burger

The last time I was in NYC I was on a business trip. After working a tradeshow I hooked up with a colleague (Hi Mike!) to grab a bite to eat. Mike is a New Yorker, he likes to eat, and he knows I love good food. His suggestion – Umami Burger.

Umami Burger is an American restaurant chain that specializes in serving burgers. Their burgers are infused with secret ingredients with umami properties, a flavor that falls outside of the traditionally accepted tastes of salty, sweet, bitter and sour. The restaurant chain was founded by Adam Fleishman. The first location opened in LA in 2009 and since then Umami Burgers have branches in California, Florida and NYC.

Burger stamped with a “U”

What a cool place. When Umami Burger first opened in NYC in July 2013, people were waiting up to 3 hours just to get a seat, now the wait is around 45 minutes and TOTALLY worth it. It is a simple menu made up of, fries, fried pickles, burgers and beers.

I ordered the Truffle Burger –  (truffle glaze, truffle cheese, and a slather of roasted-garlic aioli)…OMG It was DELISH. The meat is freshly ground Wagyu beef formed into loose six-ounce patties, then sandwiched into brioche-like buns branded with the letter “U.” Upon ordering they ask if I would like my burger cooked medium rare. For those of you who know me, I eat my steak blue…but a burger I need it well done. I just cannot eat a blood red burger patty. Cooked well, the burger patty was still juicy.

Sauces, Fries and Pickles

The truffle fries (something I had never seen before) are pretty tasty, as are the fried pickles. They offer up 4 different types of sauces to go with them too. What goes better with a burger? A Beer or two. They offer a large selection of craft beers. The prices are very reasonable at Umami Burger. Burgers range from ($11-$15 dollars). For us, 2 burgers, 3 beers and 2 appetizers came to 76$.

I can’t wait to get back to NYC just to eat at Umami Burger. Awesome burgers.

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I am a girl who loves food. I grew up with a Mom who was an excellent cook. She wrote a cookbook when I was a child, and as they say, the rest is history. Started a catering business in 2005 and haven’t looked back. I am a mom to 2 beautiful girls and I want them to love food as much as I do. In the meantime, I love life and love my job @ http://www.monicaskitchen.com

 

Carbone NYC – Review

Tags

Carbone, food, NYC

Being a foodie, and taking a trip to NYC involved a lot of research. I knew there were a few places I just had to eat at, and Carbone was one of them. A reservation was tough to get, I called about 8 weeks ahead of time and got a 5:45 pm seating on a sunny Saturday evening in August.

Carbone is located in Greenwich Village. A gorgeous area of beautiful homes and small boutique shops and restaurants. Carbone is an Italian-American restaurant created by Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi and Jeff Zalaznick. The restaurant pays homage to the essence of the great Italian-American restaurants of mid-20th century in New York, where delicious, exceptionally well-prepared food was served in settings that were simultaneously elegant, comfortable and unpretentious.

When you walk into Carbone’s it is like walking back in time.. or at least onto a Godfather movie set. It has a funky old school vibe. We also happened to be sitting 2 tables down from Jason Biggs of American Pie fame, so we are pretty cool. 🙂

This guy was actually our waiter.

The food. Bring your wallet and then bring someone else’s wallet. The food is amazing, don’t get me wrong, but the bill could give you indigestion.

Half eaten bread basket.

They start you off with a delicious bread basket, a huge chunk of Parmesan cheese drizzled with honey and pickled veggies. The menu is full of wonderful items like pastas, veal dishes, seafood, but no prices. For an appetizer we had oysters on the half shell. Tasty. Then my husband had a steak (he ate it so fast I could barely take a picture of it) and I had the lobster special.

Lobster special you ask? It was a 2 pound… yes a 2 POUND lobster stuffed with poblano chili’s, corn and basil. It was amazing, it also cost 89$.

At the end of the meal they offer you either limoncello or grappa.. both are like drinking gasoline IMO. The experience was fun. The food was delish. Would I go back? Yes of course.. after I rob a bank win the lottery. Dinner for 2, 2 drinks each, shared appetizer, and two meals cost $367.

All in all it was an experience. I had fun 🙂

 

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I am a girl who loves food. I grew up with a Mom who was an excellent cook. She wrote a cookbook when I was a child, and as they say, the rest is history. Started a catering business in 2005 and haven’t looked back. I am a mom to 2 beautiful girls and I want them to love food as much as I do. In the meantime, I love life and love my job @ www.monicaskitchen.com