Writing With My Mouth Full

Rouge Tomate

10 East 60th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues
212/957.5550
$72 each for a group of five, with tip
♥ ♥

I’ve been hearing about Rouge Tomate here and there so I wasn’t surprised when my girlfriends and I ended up there for dinner. The space is massive and perfect for big groups. It’s the first restaurant I’ve been in a long time where the servers all had custom-made uniforms versus the all-black outfit. The interior design screams money (from the architectural firm Bentel & Bentel) and I was saddened to think that the business might not make it past these economic times. Four days prior, I easily scored a table for five on a Friday night at 8pm. This would have been a difficult feat in regular New York time. It wasn’t exactly empty when we walked in, but the crowd did dwindle after 9:30 and we ended up being the last group by 10:30.

Rouge Tomate has been talked about as the latest restaurant that features local ingredients and farm to table philosophy. Yada, yada, yada, right? For the past two years, I’ve always said that that philosophy in the kitchen should not be a feature anymore–it should just be a given. Every restaurant should just be in that bandwagon today or risk being different, and not in a good way. That said, Rouge Tomate has some well-flavored dishes that spoke louder than they could present them–our waiter could not edge himself between us talkative women. Oh, this is not so bad, was the common response at our table after every taste even though we dismissed every waiter who approached our table.

I opted for the $35 lamb a la plancha. Our waiter explained to all my Spanish-speaking friends what “a la plancha” meant, but could not tell us which part of the lamb was on the grill. I’ve learned my lesson from other restaurants and I’ve always made sure that I’m not paying $35 for shoulder. When the waiter returned and confirmed it was loin, two of us ordered it. Another chose the Berkshire pork and the rest shared the fish in Thai curry. We thought it was a nice touch when they split the fish in two separate dishes, but alas, our bill at the end of the night counted for two of them. We had it corrected, to their chagrin, because our waiter had left mid-service and could not confirm the mistake he had made.

MIstakes aside, the lamb loin was so delicious I found it hard to share it with my group. It was perfectly medium rare served with string beans and tomatoes. The pork loin was naturally sweet that I could have eaten it without the vegetables on top. The Thai curry was delicious even though I always find sea bass a pretty bland fish. The appetizers fared better at our table: the fluke ceviche was bright and fresh; the frisée and fennel salad with prosciutto was my kind of salad, while the asparagus with maitake mushrooms and warm farm egg just made me happy.

I loved the blueberry crepe dessert that tasted like fluffy pancakes. Not too sweet, it was light enough to finish without forcing it down my throat after a pretty hefty meal.

Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes and Arugula

Dear, Anna. Believe it or not, the sun-dried tomatoes I used in this recipe are still from the batch you sent me a year ago after your trip to Argentina. I only had a handful left but I felt bad about throwing them away. After a few minutes in hot water, they softened up and I was able to chop them in smaller pieces. Off they went with some heavy cream and into my stomach for dinner tonight. Thanks again, Cia.

Ingredients:
2 cups of penne pasta
1 cup of sundried tomatoes, soaked in hot water, drained, roughly chopped
a few handfuls of arugula
pancetta, chopped
1 cup of heavy cream
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small red onion, sliced
a handful of basil leaves, chopped

1. Cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. Drain pasta and set aside.
2. While cooking pasta, render some fat by cooking the pancetta. Remove the pancetta and set aside. Using the fat, sauté garlic until brown and then add onions until soft. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and add return the browned pancetta.
3. Pour in the heavy cream and simmer for 10 minutes. Mix every so often to avoid drying up. Turn off the heat and fold in the arugula to wilt. Add the drained pasta in the skillet and mix well. Toss with basil before serving.

Where to eat in Darien: Coromandel

I had to ask the Indian developers at work for approval before I tried Darien’s Coromandel. Once I had their okay, I dragged five other co-workers to eat lunch with me (and also to make sure I didn’t have to walk along the highway). For lunch, Coromandel only serves an all-you-can-eat buffet for $12. The choices are plenty and unlike the buffet selection Iâ€™m used to at Balucci’s in New York City.

Sure, there’s the usual vindaloos and paneers, but when was the last time you remember having jardaloo sali boti, or lamb cooked in apricot? The three times I’ve been to Coromandel, I’ve skipped the complementary tandoori chicken just to make room for that lamb dish. It’s so soft and easy to eat and that hint of sweetness makes it a stew like no other. Not that the staples don’t make the cut: the chicken vindaloo, though not as spicy as I would like, is flavorful in that perfectly burnt sienna sauce color. I fell in love with Indian food the very first time I had saag paneer and they do saags very well here without being too mushy. The combination of shredded cabbage, broccoli and carrots peppered with black sesame seeds is their best vegetarian option, as well as the lentil dahl with chickpeas. A smaller table houses the chutneys and the sides. If you’re so inclined to start with a mixed green salad, you can try different chutneys from coconut to mango to tamarind.

It’s just too bad I can’t live without the warm nan nor the basmati rice to make room for everything else on the table, but of course, there’s always room for the kheer, or rice pudding. Hmm, maybe I should think about walking from there back to work.

Coromandel has several locations in Connecticut, but I go to the one in the Good Wives Shopping Center at 25-11 Old Kings Highway in Darien, CT. Call 203-662-1213 for their daily buffet menu or to ask about a la carte dishes.

Related post/s:
Or you can just go for Colony Pizza

Wusthof Classic Wave Knife

The first time I held the new Wave knife from Wusthof, I thought, This isn’t sharp at all. And I don’t mean the blade is dull; I meant that it’s not one of those scary knives that you can’t even comfortably hold. The feel is definitely heavier than I am used to but it also means the grip is more stable and that it feels safer in my hand.

The extra wide blade is similar to the shape of a Santoku knife and it has a reversed-scalloped edge that slices smoothly and efficiently. I’ve never seen anything like it before. It’s attached to a Hostaform-C black handle with triple rivets to make them durable and feel solid, a signature feature that all Wusthof Classic knives share. (Hostaform-C is a plastic molding used in products under abrasion stress to prevent degradation which also makes the knife hygienic even if it ages.)

I had corned beef that has been in the fridge for a few weeks and I sliced through it without any difficulties even though I did not give the beef time to cool down to room temperature. If I had used a serrated knife, it would have torn the beef into crumbs.

The new 7-inch Wusthof Classic Wave Knife is now available in your favorite department store for a suggested retail price of $99.99.

Recommended tool/s:
Compare the Wave knife to the Santoku knife

Fusilli with Octopus

My supermarket in Harlem had these octopus in cans on sale. The idea of a cephalopod in a can sounded odd but the ingredients list didn’t have any weird stuff in it except for octopus and olive oil so I thought it wouldn’t do me any harm to buy a couple for less than $3.

With some fusilli pasta boiling in a pot–you can use any pasta you have handy–I sautéed leftover vegetables I already had in the fridge: mixed greens, dried mushrooms, parsley and garlic scape. The dish turned out really well and it served two meals with a few glasses of Verdejo wine.

Ingredients:
2 tins of octopus in olive oil
2 cups of fusilli pasta
1 cup dried mushrooms, soaked in water for 15 minutes, then drained
a few handfuls of mixed greens
1 garlic scape, chopped
1 small red onion, sliced
a handful of parsley, coarsely chopped
a small wedge of Piave cheese
red chili flakes
oil, salt, pepper

1. Cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. Drain pasta and set aside.
2. While cooking pasta, heat some oil in a skillet. Sauté garlic scapes until fragrant and then add onions until soft. Add octopus with its oil and toss. Add the mushrooms, the mixed greens and the parsley until well combined. Season with chili flakes, salt and pepper.
3. Add the drained pasta in the skillet and mix well. Serve with grated Piave cheese.