CARVERSVILLE INN

Two grew up in Carversville, so the first time One and Two went to the Inn it felt like going home. Back in the very distant, dim past - the 70's - Two's mom had a small store in the Inn. She sold her handmade lighting fixtures along with a sampling of work from local artisans. There was a restaurant there at the time, but it's owner and chef are a hazy memory for the little girl Two was at the time. 

Now, the Inn is comprised of a lovely sit down dining room and a cozy bar. We always head for the bar. The stools are invariably taken by local folks who all know each other and who are now starting to know us...regulars I think they call us. Tuesday is burger night and well worth coming out so early in the week for dinner. But most of the time we are looking for really wonderful food in a very homey environment among wonderful local patrons. Two has had the diver scallop wrapped in prosciutto twice and loved it both times. It was perfectly cooked, nicely seasoned, and set atop a bed of fragrant red cabbage with bacon and shitake mushrooms and a sweet-sour whole grain mustard glaze. The onion soup is consistently wonderful. One had homemade fettuccine with spicy sausage, smoked pork loin, sun dried tomatoes, spinach , and Two's fork which kept dipping into One's meal. 

The bread pudding is really hard to resist. Ask for it with Cinnamon ice cream. 

XOCO

Two has a student who is an aspiring chef, so between discussing artwork and which assignment should be done, they discuss restaurants. Prior to One and Two leaving for Chicago, Evan suggested XOCO, Rick Bayless' new restaurant. The name Xoco is Mexican slang for little sister which we assume refers to the big brother Frontera Grill around the corner. 

Prepare to stand in line on the street for awhile waiting for Bayless' interpretation of Mexican street food... Tortas, Caldos, and Empanadas. But the line moves quickly and it smells so good and the hostess is so efficient that it really doesn't seem so bad. Actually, the rather sour hostess at Frontera Grill who informed us our wait would be over an hour made the wait at Xoco seem like a party. 

When we finally reached a stool, we tucked into a steaming caldos, the wood-roasted Chicken Pozole with Gunthorp chicken, pozole corn, rich broth, crunchy garnishes, ground red chile, and lime. We dipped our griddle fired tortas in the broth and left nothing for the dishwasher in the bowl. All in all worth the wait for wonderful Mexican comfort food. We ordered the churros and ate them as we walked in the cold Chicago air to our next destination. We highly recommend Xoco.

TAKASHI...again

When One goes to the Chicago Dental Society Annual Meeting Two tags along for two reasons. One is the Chicago Art Institute and the other is Takashi. If you are going to be in Chicago for just one meal, grab a cab to Bucktown and savor Takashi. Every dish that touches down on the table hovers for a moment in mystery, because even if you read the description of the dish, it is always more than it promises. First of all, the presentation is captivating. It invites what must seem to other diners like strange scrutiny when One and Two lower their heads to the plate to examine the visual impact of the dish.

"What is this? How did they do that?"

Some of the dishes bare their visual souls easily. Those who hearken to their austere Japanese heritage are easier to decipher. It is within the pairings of the flavors, textures, and temperatures that the dishes gain their complexity. The first dish One and Two had the pleasure to sample was the ceviche of shrimp, squid, hokkaido scallops & octopus cherry tomato, cucumber, fennel, red onion, with yuzu-ceviche sauce. Oh wow. That list of ingredients says it all. Next to warmly arrive was soy ginger caramel pork belly, pickled daikon salad, and steamed buns. Two could eat these little puffs of pork and bun every day. We could call her BIG Two under such a circumstance. But wait...there's more. The dish that stores the most delightful mystery is the sautéed maine scallops and soba gnocchi, trumpet royale, and celery root-parmesan foam. Those little gnocchi float beneath a hot, light, rich foam complimented by soft scallops.

At this point we should have stopped. The Cava, the Reisling, and the Pinot aside, we were getting full. Did I mention we slipped in the country pate somewhere near the beginning of the fun? Try to resist the roasted wisconsin young pheasant, chestnut risotto, golden chantrelle mushrooms, jerusalem artichokes, and pearl onions. I defy you. If you order it you will eat it. And then you will use bread to get whatever is sticking to the dish. My only regret...no room for dessert.

A THOUGHT ON THE WINTER SOLSTICE

Two was in One's office today having a lovely conversation with one of his staff. He popped his head into the room and made some wise comment and then grinned and left. "He is in love. It's written all over his face," she said. One year, nine months, eighteen days, and three hours ago Two met One at La Morena in Hatboro for pork skin tacos. And every meal since then has been memorable in one regard. Set aside the service, the menu, the presentation, the wine...and what is left is the dinner companion.

As we leave behind the old and bring forward the new, as the days get longer once again, remember what really makes a meal wonderful...the person or persons that sit with you while the flavors cross your palette. One is not the only one with the look of love on his face. Two finds herself deeply in love as well on this cold Winter Solstice evening, waiting for One to meet her at an as yet to be determined restaurant...and who really cares which one as long as he is there to meet her.

PAGANINI DOYLESTOWN

I (Two) was having a conversation with my friend Pauline yesterday. We were praising our significant others for their formidable skills in the kitchen. Having graduated from the Cordon Bleu and having worked in restaurants and having cooked for admiring friends throughout the years, Two was unprepared to be intimidated by One's cooking skills. But alas, she was. One trained under two masters, his Serbian mother and her parents and the illustrious television personality of the 70's, Julia Child. One is impressive to say the least. Two has finally learned to cook along side him without wondering what it is that she thought she knew. Humility is a virtue, right? A virtue that Two continues to hone as One continues to shine in the kitchen. Pauline's significant other is no slouch either. He asked her to zest a lemon the other night for his pasta...then looked at her cautiously..."Do you know how to zest a lemon?" Whereupon she replied, "Do you even have a lemon zester?"

"No."

"Well I have two!"

Again, more humility in the kitchen. But honestly, what a wonderful lesson to be faced with learning - to have two great cooks in the kitchen.

Which brings me to our sad lack of entries this summer. We cooked from our garden. We cooked from Marie's garden. We went out, but mostly to sit at the bar and drink martinis and munch on bar snacks. Well, it's time to head out again. Last night we went into Doylestown for dinner al fresco. If you wander down past the Doylestown Inn you will come to a number of restaurants that offer outdoor seating. Paganini has a great outdoor garden festooned with trumpet vines that remarkably blocks much of the noise from another restaurant, 86, that features some sort of loud music. The fountain is also a lovely touch. All of the sauces are made to order, with each night featuring three pasta dishes. One had speck, peas, cream, and parmesagne linguine which was just right on richness, though One wanted more speck. Two had the special, rotini with red pepper flakes, capers, and feta. Also very good. Buffalo Mozarella and fresh tomatoes started the meal. There have been restaurants that blew our palettes right out of the atmosphere, stilling conversation as we marvelled over the unusual and sublime. This is not what you will find here. This is very well crafted Italian comfort food with fresh ingredients and rich flavors. By all means try Paganini.

MEALS

Meals has been in Stockton New Jersey forever. Two worked in the same building as an assistant pastry person years ago before it became Meals, when the restaurant was called Cakes and Catering. Not much has changed. Two's parents swear by the brunch served there, Two has had a number of nice homey meals there, and recently Two thought she might introduce One to a nice local place to eat...no strip mall in sight.

The evening started off on a great foot. Phillips Fine Wines is across the street from the restaurant,convenient since Meals is BYOB. Two knew One would love it. And he did. He asked the proprietor, Dick Phillips, if he had an obscure bottle of Chinon, which he did, and a true wine geek relationship was formed. Phillips is a wonderful wine shop and if this were a wine blog, Phillips would be tipping the edge of four wine bottles. Wine in bag, One & Two walked across to Meals and sat down to the worst corn fritters ever created. The fritter was a soaked in oil saturated soggy fried mass whose inside was full of bits of corn slogging through uncooked batter, none of which was improved by the slightly warm raspberry mayonnaise. The fritter dish sat piled with it's picked over carcass cooling on the plate while we sat and sat and sat...and sat. The wine bottle slowly emptied. The restaurant slowly emptied. We saw the lettuce part of the salads that we ordered appear on the prep bench in back and then they sat. The crowd had dwindled to two tables when the grilled duck met it's plate of lettuce. One ordered the flank steak to adornhis lettuce. Two has found more palatable and interesting lettuce in January than that cushioned her duck. The dressing was equally blah. The duck was not bad. One's flank steak was not bad either. It would have been better if there had been some wine left to go with it but alas we had to occupy ourselves somehow while waiting for our meal. Two knows plenty of people who have had good meals at Meals, so give it a shot. Maybe someone/everyone at Meals that night were off their game. The fritters didn't even make it to the field.

KRAFTWORK

Michael Thomas has left Bar Ferdinand to help create a new restaurant called Kraftwork. Sculptor Andrew Jevremovic, whose work is self described as sensuous, sustainable, and otherworldly has designed the room which additionally houses lighting made from unknown objects found outside the restaurant as well as the remnants of wall finishes found during construction. The resulting ambiance is casual with a strong industrial, yet relaxing sensibility. The place retains a sense of its history without being overly historic. The wine list is small but chosen with respect for the menu. One and Two had a lovely Rioja with their meal. Kraftwork is also a beer lovers paradise with over 20 beers on tap and take out growlers. Again, One and Two sampled two different beers and loved them both. The menu is seasonal and local wherever possible, reflecting Chef Michael's passion for a farm to table experience. Our first dish was Crispy Pork Croquettes. The plate was very reminiscent of Bar Ferdinand, with a refreshing shift from tapas to a more homey blend of flavors. The croquettes sat atop a honey mustard sauce, more mustard than honey, with a parsley caper salad and pickled red onions. The pickled onions, in our opinion stood out above salad and sauce. Pork croquettes were good as well. The charcuterie board, again reminiscent of Bar Ferdinand was very good, particularly the rabbit terrine. It came with a wonderfully creative herbed flat bread. Chef Michael is talking about creating his own sausages on premise so stay tuned for that event. We ordered the new Jersey asparagus with fried egg and shaved Manchego from the specials page. Each spear tasted like Spring...toothy and tender at the same time. The fried egg provided a simple, almost rustic sauce accent and the shaved Manchego....we wanted more of that in the ring with the asparagus. Last to arrive were the Ricotta Dumplings served with Roasted Red Pepper Harissa sauce. They were good. Everything was good, from the decor to the beer to the food to the wine to the casual, yet hip and fun staff. There is not yet transcendence. One and Two have had dishes at Bar Ferdinand that elicited a sigh from the first bite. Our Kraftwork experience did not provide that, though from all appearances, that experience is soon to come as everything aligns itself at this great new place to go in Fishtown. Definitely go and try Kraftwork.