Random Rants

As far as cooking ingredients go, the Chipotle has been used and abused.  I often cringe at the sound of the word "chipotle", mainly because it seems to be in everything.  However, I recently had to put my reservations aside and start using it in my kitchen; the results made me a convert.

Parts of the Old Port (Portland, Maine) are on fire this afternoon near Benkay Japanese Sushi Restaurant, Hugo's, and Jordan's Meats.  I witnessed the smoke billowing out from across the river, but flames were visible past the Benkay roof.  At the time I noticed the flames, the police had already blocked off Fore Street and India Street while fire fighters were spraying water in the direction of the India & Commercial corner. It appeared, from across the river, that the buildings immediately behind Benkay were on fire (Jordan Meats).  I have taken various pictures of the event, and stopped shortly before 2 PM.  The fire did not yet appear to be contained at that time.

I posted all the pictures I took using my photo gallery; feel free to use at your discretion.  Credit back to my site appreciated.

Sunday, or sometime s Saturday, brunch is one of my favorite activities. We all have our traditional and weekend rituals, mine is a morning movie and a well prepared meal. Although my favorite place to eat brunch on weekends is my home, we frequently dine out. Here is my list of favorites.

Bar Lola (located at 100 Congress St. - Munjoy Hill), is another establishment not making the watch list.  I went there for dinner this weekend and walked our largely disappointed.

Bar Lola set the bar low when I walked in; the hostess was busy talking to a gentleman at the bar - too busy to acknowledge new guests.   A waitress did redeem the situation quickly by getting us a table. Ultimately our waiter came by and took good care; if only he introduced himself (I did get his name from the check).

The Price Fix menu appealed to me the most.  I eat pretty much anything so I have no problem not choosing my food.  Surprisingly (at leas to me), the $36 Price Fix menu does require you to choose dishes from five courses, but there is a $40 option which leaves that work to the chef (or whoever was responsible).    To be honest, I am not sure how to grade the chef's effort on the $4 per guest sur-charge; moreover, it is silly for a restaurant to charge for this service.  Seriously, what "fine" dining establishment does not take pride in a customers trust and charges a silly $4 for the job?!

Alright, so I think to myself: the food must be spectacular, and the orchestra of courses will be a melody like no other.  Then the "tastes" arrive and I have second thoughts.   The round of tastes consists of two teaspoons of soup, a tiny vegetable piece, in what appears to be a soap dish.  I am being facetious, but let's not kid ourselves, this is not a Michelin Star restaurant.

Moving on, the remaining dishes were equally disappointing.  The scallop with mushrooms lost all umami to overuse of vinegar; the duck confit was as dry as the Mojave, the quail over-seasoned, and the wolf-fish tasted as if it had lived in the Dead Sea.

Overall, the food was disappointing, especially when I walked out with a $150 tab for the two of us.  Now, let me point out, $75 a person is not a lot of money for food and alcohol, but it is all relative.   The dinner was pretentious at best, and undeserving of any compliment.