Issue: Wine with some friends on a gorgeous day.
Rule: There are some late summer days where it takes all of your willpower to wait until the evening to find a bar where you can sit outside and sip rose. You literally wake up craving the small pleasure of a glass of wine with girl friends. Yes, I realize I sound like a bit of a tippler, but you all know this feeling.
Application: Black Mountain has always held a special place in my heart as a tucked away bar that looks like a perfect vacation home. In the winter there is a fire burning in the small fireplace, in the summer there are inviting Adirondack chairs out front. Chairs that are unfortunately not meant to be sat upon. What? The gorgeous chairs are only there to tease you into believing that you can sit in them with your wine glass and enjoy the pleasant weather. You cannot. You must sit inside. Luckily, the inside is delightful enough to almost make up for it.
When we arrived there were only seats available at the bar due to a private party. This furthered my disappointment because there happens to be one window seat that may be the best window seat in all of Brooklyn. Eventually the table opened up, the party went away and the four of us were seated at a table perfect for enjoying the cool breeze.
The menu is small but with a nice selection of wines by the glass. Most of us sampled the rose which was dry, not too sweet and local. My second glass was a crisp Sauvignon Blanch which completely hit the spot. The kitchen is open to the room which means you see the staff making whatever concoction is on special that day. There were about four specials this past weekend in addition to the small menu. There were plenty of cheeses to try but I opted for the banh mi salad due to my never-ending love of all things Vietnamese. The salad was a generous portion, but light enough to feel healthy and not heavy- a great compliment to the white wine. I have also tried the mushroom macaroni and cheese in the past and it is a perfect dish for a winter by the fire- luscious and hearty.
Conclusion: We had so much fun drinking wine and enjoying the day that we decided to skip the movie. Oh well, next time. But, come on, allow us to sit in the chairs outside!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Get Fresh
Issue: What is the best place to enjoy the bounty of the season?
Rule: The markets are still full of late season corn and heirloom tomatoes- two of my favorite things and so all I want to do is be able to eat at a place where I can order that for dinner. I want to be able to enjoy a local seasonal meal that really shows off the food that looks so good every time I pass it at the market.
Application: Get Fresh used to be an interesting hybrid take out place with huge refrigerators that housed frozen meals as well as components for dinner that you could make yourself. They also had soups and sodas and cooking equipment. Some of the cooking equipment still remains as well as a few necessities including Stumptown Coffee, assorted beans and olive oils.
But moving on the to the meal, it really was the Best Meal I have had in months. Literally. I know, I know, I have not been posting that much since I have been going to a gagillion weddings and have not had much time to go out to eat. But still, I stand by this meal as one of the best in a long time. We started with two Vermont cheeses and Sullivan's bread with delicious lemony house-cured olives.
The rest of the menu is divided into awesome price fix meals and a small selection of a la carte entrees. However the best part is the vegetarian meal which is basically whatever looks amazing in the kitchen which means that each meal is different for each person that ordered it. And judging from the tables near by, it looks like many people order it. My vegetarian meal featured an amazing array of different vegetarian food across many ethnic cuisines. The hands-down best part was an amazing tamale that was contributed by the chef's mother. Besides the awesome purple tamale there was a tasty potato mash, house-made potato chips, wonderfully spiced tomato rice with corn and an awesome corn soup. The soup was light with pickled watermelons (who knew!) and a refreshing bit of cucumber. Corn soup can so often get bogged down with excessive heavy cream but this left me feeling satisfied and not gross.
Ryan ordered from the price fix menu and received scallops that were "cooked perfectly". The corn soup was his middle course as well- big hit. His entree was a pork belly with heirloom beans, potato puree and chorizo. There was a lot going on but it all balanced out wonderfully. Pork belly, along with roasted chicken are two consistent indicators of what any kitchen is capable of. Both meals could easily be too dry or not crispy enough. Not a problem here.
Oh, bonus- Get Fresh is currently BYOB. The staff directs you to local wine stores and is happy to keep it cool while you eat.
Conclusion: I want to go back right now. I want to request the tamale the next time I get the vegetarian plate and be pleasantly surprised by the rest of the meal. I keep thinking and dreaming about this place. I guess I will have to go back. ASAP.
Rule: The markets are still full of late season corn and heirloom tomatoes- two of my favorite things and so all I want to do is be able to eat at a place where I can order that for dinner. I want to be able to enjoy a local seasonal meal that really shows off the food that looks so good every time I pass it at the market.
Application: Get Fresh used to be an interesting hybrid take out place with huge refrigerators that housed frozen meals as well as components for dinner that you could make yourself. They also had soups and sodas and cooking equipment. Some of the cooking equipment still remains as well as a few necessities including Stumptown Coffee, assorted beans and olive oils.
But moving on the to the meal, it really was the Best Meal I have had in months. Literally. I know, I know, I have not been posting that much since I have been going to a gagillion weddings and have not had much time to go out to eat. But still, I stand by this meal as one of the best in a long time. We started with two Vermont cheeses and Sullivan's bread with delicious lemony house-cured olives.
The rest of the menu is divided into awesome price fix meals and a small selection of a la carte entrees. However the best part is the vegetarian meal which is basically whatever looks amazing in the kitchen which means that each meal is different for each person that ordered it. And judging from the tables near by, it looks like many people order it. My vegetarian meal featured an amazing array of different vegetarian food across many ethnic cuisines. The hands-down best part was an amazing tamale that was contributed by the chef's mother. Besides the awesome purple tamale there was a tasty potato mash, house-made potato chips, wonderfully spiced tomato rice with corn and an awesome corn soup. The soup was light with pickled watermelons (who knew!) and a refreshing bit of cucumber. Corn soup can so often get bogged down with excessive heavy cream but this left me feeling satisfied and not gross.
Ryan ordered from the price fix menu and received scallops that were "cooked perfectly". The corn soup was his middle course as well- big hit. His entree was a pork belly with heirloom beans, potato puree and chorizo. There was a lot going on but it all balanced out wonderfully. Pork belly, along with roasted chicken are two consistent indicators of what any kitchen is capable of. Both meals could easily be too dry or not crispy enough. Not a problem here.
Oh, bonus- Get Fresh is currently BYOB. The staff directs you to local wine stores and is happy to keep it cool while you eat.
Conclusion: I want to go back right now. I want to request the tamale the next time I get the vegetarian plate and be pleasantly surprised by the rest of the meal. I keep thinking and dreaming about this place. I guess I will have to go back. ASAP.
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