I thought I had visited the Epicurean, but I had visited the restaurant next door, and could never quite figure out what was going on, until this visit.
I got to see the real thing on a very nice hot spring day.
Unfortunately the pleasant young lady who seated me did not alert any wait staff, so after 20 minutes or so I walked up to one of the bustling staff members and asked if I could have some service at my table.
By that time I was not only warm and thirsty, I was a bit exasperated.
So of course I was very pleased to try the birch beer with ice. Yum. I love that distinct taste.
Since it was a hot spring day, I thought the salad with grilled chicken sounded wonderful. It sounded like they had put a special effort into the make up of the dish, with nuts and a special fruit dressing and cheese.
Dear Chefs everywhere:
When you grill meats, the blackened edges can add a certain piquant flavor when all the meat is at peak strength and there are plenty of other sensations to complement it.
When that meat is left to sit for an evening and a morning, the charcoal flavor is going to dominate over any meat flavor which is going to recede due to refrigeration. Re-cooking only spreads the char through the meat.
Charcoal is not a nice flavor, it's very very bitter, and no amount of greens or fruit dressing is going to make up for it or make it nice.
Please take this into consideration when you're planning on making up salads with yesterday's grilled meats and trim the char off the meats before storage.
Fondly,
L
I'm wiling to believe that the Epicurean can be a wonderful dining experience, as many people have acclaimed over the years, so I'll try them again since I do pass by there irregularly.
This time, it wasn't so good.
I got to see the real thing on a very nice hot spring day.
Unfortunately the pleasant young lady who seated me did not alert any wait staff, so after 20 minutes or so I walked up to one of the bustling staff members and asked if I could have some service at my table.
By that time I was not only warm and thirsty, I was a bit exasperated.
So of course I was very pleased to try the birch beer with ice. Yum. I love that distinct taste.
Since it was a hot spring day, I thought the salad with grilled chicken sounded wonderful. It sounded like they had put a special effort into the make up of the dish, with nuts and a special fruit dressing and cheese.
Dear Chefs everywhere:
When you grill meats, the blackened edges can add a certain piquant flavor when all the meat is at peak strength and there are plenty of other sensations to complement it.
When that meat is left to sit for an evening and a morning, the charcoal flavor is going to dominate over any meat flavor which is going to recede due to refrigeration. Re-cooking only spreads the char through the meat.
Charcoal is not a nice flavor, it's very very bitter, and no amount of greens or fruit dressing is going to make up for it or make it nice.
Please take this into consideration when you're planning on making up salads with yesterday's grilled meats and trim the char off the meats before storage.
Fondly,
L
I'm wiling to believe that the Epicurean can be a wonderful dining experience, as many people have acclaimed over the years, so I'll try them again since I do pass by there irregularly.
This time, it wasn't so good.
