Eating at Walter's

We walk by Walter's in Fort Greene frequently. And it looks so inviting. Something about the lighting and bar layout make it feel like a neighborhood restaurant that I'd want to make "our place." Last month, we went as a family (I rarely like going out for dinner with the little ones, but that's a different story).

Walter's was great. We had a great time. The food was fantastic - from the spicy, crunchy wings to the shared steak. There wasn't a single dish we didn't enjoy. That steak was something special. Not in a melt-in-your-mouth way. Strangely, I felt like the meat was seasoned from the inside-out. The steak had chew, not tough. I still think about it a month later.

Talde (6 out of this year's 12)

We visited Talde in August and had a fine meal. It was our 6th of 12 restaurants to visit this year. I've been trying to figure out why we didn't love it. Finally, I realized: at this price the service and atmosphere felt too casual. In many ways, Talde has the feel of a poor-man's Blue Dragon (in Boston). That's probably unfair; Ming Tsai's been a restaurateur for 12+ years. And liking a Boston anything over a Brooklyn anything pains me.

You can see what we ordered.


Strangely, I'd say our favorite item was the Chow Fun. It was flavorful and had a great texture capturing crunch and chew. The Kung Pao wings were also delicious - great exterior and moist (slightly bland) meat.

Then the other things were fine, not great and nothing terrible. The BBQ Negroni was much more innovative and interesting than the Navy Grog.

Mai Tai - my dismay

So I put a lot of work into making the mai tai a reality at home. And after all the work and effort, tweaking and note-taking, I realized something. I don't think I like the Mai Tai. That makes sense because I dislike almond flavored anything (aside from straight almonds).

To make an authentic Mai Tai, you need to make falernum and orgeat (pronounced or-ZHAT). Neither is particular difficult to make, but I found that orgeat doesn't keep well (maybe one week in the fridge), so that means you need to make many drinks, in a hurry.

My final recipe:
2 part white rum
1 part Lemon Hart overproof rum (or other Demerera rum)
1 part orgeat
1 part falernum
1/2 part lime juice
1 Luxardo cherry

1. Smash ice in a lewis bag or crush ice somehow. You really want small, small pieces but not a slushy. Fill Collins glass with smashed ice.
2. Add ice cubs and all ingredients except cherry and Lemon Hart to a cocktail shaker.
3. Secure shaker top and shake vigorously for 20 seconds.
4. Open and strain into Collins glass.
5. Pour in Lemon Hart slowly.
6. Float cherry on top of ice
7. Provide a straw to stir and drink through

If you'd like me falernum or orgeat recipes, comment below and I can send them (they're long).

Gwynnett St. (5 of 12)

On Friday night, we dined at Gwynnett St. for the first time. Everything about the restaurant is wonderful. We could see a lot of trial and error went into each dish. There were strange and wonderful combinations that I loved. There were others that the wife loved. For all that trial and error, I'd expect to pay significantly. And pay significantly we did ($170 - all-in - for 2 with one cocktail each).

I had it in my head that this was as remote as Roberta's and it clearly isn't. It's right off of Grand. We noticed (reservation at 7 on Friday) we were amongst the youngest diners there. And we're old!

Onto the food and drink.

Cocktails
1) "Same, Same, But Different" - Perfect for the wife; more sweet than bitter but not overly sweet. The cocktail (served in a beautiful coupe) was also a great shade of green and highly aromatic.
2) "Crow's Nest" - Kind of reminiscent of  a lot of cocktails (Old Fashioned and Sazerac) but with the aged rum there was a caramel/wood flavor. Two thoughts: (a) this is delicious and (b) I have a long way to go before I'm making drinks this original and this good.

Dinner
(note: I was starving.)
We started with "Whiskey Bread" which was the most amateur and uninteresting dish. If you've ever made irish soda bread, you can make this at home. But, it came with this tremendous butter. We eat some awesome butter at home but this was something entirely different. The butter was salty, grassy, creamy and even slightly sweet.

We ordered two appetizers: the stinging nettle soup and the chicken liver (fine mousse consistency). The soup was really average. In the end it tasted like a broth with finely pureed any-green. The chicken liver was the opposite. The tiny pieces were so complex and delicious, redolent of chicken, animal fat and then a lot of other tastes. We could order it four times over and be happy and full (and broke!).

We ordered an entrée to share as a middle course. Tofu. Tofu? This is homemade from cashews served with cauliflower and black garlic. Tremendous. If you go, you'll think about not ordering this and that would be a critical mistake.

Our entrees were dorade with wheatberries and pork with parsnip. Both were lovely, I think the dorade was a bit more enjoyable than the pork, but maybe I just like fish more. The wheatberries seemed like there were steamed, deep-fried, and pan-fried, all at once. I liked them even more than the fish.

Two appetizers and three entrees. We were full but had no problem going for a bit of a walk. But I'll think about that butter and chicken liver for a long time beyond today.

Yopparai (4 of 12)

Last month we ate at Yopparai with my cousin and her husband. Yopparai is a self-proclaimed "sake bar and restaurant." It is a hard place to describe accurately. There are numerous sakes. The staff is well-versed, helpful and willing to talk sake. There's some sushi (we didn't order any). There are numerous cooked dishes (we ordered a lot).

First and foremost the service is great. We never felt rushed or obligated to order more. The food was fantastic. We ordered the homemade tofu. It was nice, but not as lovely as the tofu at Hibino.

We ordered a series of onigiri that were grilled. They were lovely.

Then we had simmered dishes that came bubbling in clay pots. Those were fantastic. I can't think of a single dish we didn't enjoy. A month later, the Jidori Tamago Toji was the most memorable dish.

There's a timely and more eloquent description at the New York Times.