Ten minutes before Science of the Physical Universe 27 – better known as the food/science extravaganza that’s bringing in Ferran Adrià (El Bulli), Wylie Dufresne (wd-50), and José Andrés (minibar, Jaleo) to campus — the doorway was already mobbed. See the press release about the food science class here. .

There’s a seven minute rule at the school. Classes never start on time; students always arrive at least a few minutes after the hour. But this was something different. By the time Applied Math and Physics Professor Michael Brenner pushed his way to the door (see video below), anxious students were ready to charge through the doors.

Finally, I managed to run over to a seat, but not before almost being trampled over. People were sitting in the aisles, standing in the back, and between the seats. Some ended up just leaving in defeat.

The class sounds amazing. You can read through my notes after the jump. Except… it’s being lotteried with no preference for seniors! Even though it’s probably going to be offered again next year (albeit, with different speakers). I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll get in, but will be pretty upset if I don’t. Sigh. I’m sure taking intro to Computer Science will take up enough of my energy…

Anyway, if you’re curious about happened in that first lecture, check out my notes.

Notable events: Brenner made some insta-gel using Calcium Chloride. He also fried an egg, had students whisk up some mayonnaise, and promised that we’d make custards, sous vide eggs, molten chocolate cakes and use MEAT GLUE to make shrimp noodles. Man.

Also, there were some bizarrely actor-like chef photos that caused the audience to explode into giggles. Dan Barber of Blue Hill, I’m looking at you.

Why a food science class now?

Catalyst #1: Ferran’s 2008 talk (which was mobbed!)

Catalyst #2: Program in General Education
This was during at ime when Harvard was introducing Gen Ed, and faculty were encouraged to invent new ideas that connect classrooms.

Slide: What could be better than combining Science and Cooking: ex. Joan Roca and Wylie Dufresne.

The Main Idea

This is a science class!

We will cooking and haute cuisine as inspiration to teach science.

Our aim for the material to be so inviting that you want to learn the science that underlies it – and indeed, you learn how to ask and answer scientific questions on your own.

Teaching fellow made a field trip to WD-50

What Science Questions are posed by this recipe? (Nestle toll house cookie recipe)

- What determines the ratios of ingredients
- Why is there baking soda instead of baking powder?
- What is the role of butter. What determines the amount?
- What is the role of the egg?

- Why do you we cook it at 375?
- Does it matter how you beat the eggs?
- Does it matter the order in which you put in the ingredients?
- Why do we bake it 9-11 minutes?

So…

These questions can be answered empirically (trial and error)
OR you could understand the scientific basis of the recipe

This course will undercover the molecular transformations that are the basis of cooking.

We will learn what these transformations are; how they change the properties of the foods we eat; and how our cooking techniques (heats; acidification; stirring; etc) manipulate them.

Structure of the Class: a typical week

Thursday: 1-2:30pm – Lecture by Brenner or Weitz on scientific concept of the week

Tuesday: 1-1:30pm Lecture by Brenner or Weitz on scientific theme.
1:30-2:30pm – Lecture by world-renowned chef, illustrating how the scientific theme influences cooking.
2:30-3pm – Optional discussion with the class and the chefs on science and cooking.

Section/Lab: Every student must enroll in a 2 hr lab.
The first 1.5 hours are a lab, culminating in the cooking and optional eating o the recipe of the week.
The last half hour is a review of scientific concepts underlying class and lab to help you do the homework.

Weekly homework: This functions as a combination lab report and asks questions about science and cooking.

Optional chef office hours: Some of the visiting chefs will have office hours int he lab on Tuesdays to interact with students. Some well known local chefs will also do this. Advanced signup is likely required.

Tuesday: Harold McGee, Ferran Adria, Joes Andres

Brenner’s phase change demo

Instructor takes ice and places it on a hot plate. (visible on large screen)

“So ice has transformed into a liquid! … Now I’m going to use an egg. Let’s do the same thing with an egg. If i mess it up, I’ll get it all over me.”

“So the egg is cooking. The egg is not becoming a gas. It’s becoming a solid. If you take ice, it become a gas, if you take the egg, it becomes a solid. Isn’t that bizarre?”

Week 1: Phases!

Homework 1
Due Thursday Sept. 16th
Theme of the week: molecular interactions determine the phase behavior of materials

Equation: k(b)*T = U(interaction)

Recipes of the week: 3-Minute Custards

You will learn about phase diagrams… and why they are critically important for cooking. We’re going to explain why understanding this is critical for deconstructing recipes.

Tools chefs use to manipulate:
Pressure (pressure cooker)  & température (sous vide)
Lab 1: 7 minute costards and sous vide eggs.

Week 2: Food components-Monomers and Polymers

Thursday: basic food components (carbs, fats, and proteins)

Ceviche!

Food polymers and calories

Science concepts connecting “calories” to interactions between food molecules. Calorie is measure of energy stored in the bonds.

Week 3: Texture and mouthfeel – viscosity and elasticity

Viscosity: how easily a material flows
Elasticity: How squishy or soft it is

Both can be manipulated by food thickeners and additives

Recipe of the week: fruit jellies.

Week 4: Heating, cooling and tempering

Thursday: Timescale for heating different foods.
Critical temperatures for phase transitions. (egg, meat)
Critical temperatures for tempering chocolate.

Tuesday: Heat, temperature, and chocolate
Enric Rovira (Master Chocolatier)

Recipe of the week: Molten Chocolate Cake (image of choco goo with wires strapped to it)

Week 5: Electrostatics and Self Assembly

Thursday: Interactions between complex food molecules; Electrostatics is the most controllable interaction.
pH, Charge, Coulomb’s Law under water – Milk, Cheese.

Lab: homemade ricotta cheese!

Week 6: Foams and Emulsions (I)

Tuesday: Emulsions, concept of stabilizing oil and water
Nandu Juvany (Con Jubany)

Tuesday: Emusions are mixtures of materials that do not want to mix. Two methods for doing this: vinaigrette (kinetic slowing down), mayo (molecular stabilization)

(Instructor gets two students to make mayo live)

Lab 6: Vinaigrette & Aioli (Mayo)
Recipe for Mayonnaise:
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup olive or vegetable oil
2.5 tsp. lemon juice

Week 7: Gelation

Tuesday: Cooking miracles with Gelation
Joe Andres (miniBar, Jaleo)

Thursday: Physical process of gelation
Chemical Gels (i.e. transglutaminase)
Physical gels (i.e. alginate, gelatin, eggs)
Spherification

Recipes of the week: Spherification (make your own!

He squirts alginae into tank of NaCl. (Ends up as blue water. Woohoo.)
Then squirts it into CaCl2. It forms gels, he pulls it out, room breaks out into “woahhhh.”

The Physics of making a Gel.

Polymer solution (liquid).   —> Crosslinked network (solid).

Week 8: Complex phase change, advanced concepts

Tuesday: Browning and the Maillard reaction; caramelization
Carme Ruscalleda (Sant Pau; Sant Pau de Toquio)

Thursday: Controlling heat and chemistry to manipulate food and flavor.
Chemical transitions occur at target temps.
The Maillard reaction
Advanced gelation agents (transglutaminase)
Advanced methods for stabilizing foams and emulsions

Tuesday: meat glue MANIA!

Lab 7 : Making shrimp noodles!!! (a la Wylie Dufresne. OH MAN. So excited.)

Week 9: Soil and microbes

Tuesday: Cultivating Flavor
Dan Barber (Blue Hill) Accompanied by bizarrely hunky, seductive photo of the chef. Um, what.

Thursday: Microbes and microbial science
Guest lecturers: Roberto Kolter, Harvard Medical School

Recipe of the week: Final projects!

Week 10: Foams and Emulsions (II)

Tuesday: Dessert! (!)
Bill Yosses (White House Pastry Chef)

Tuesday: The mechanics of solid foams
Mousse; meringue; cakes; breads
flour products of various textures

Recipe of the week: final projects!

Grading:

Weekly assignments: 20%
Sections and lab: 20%
Midterm: 15%
Final project: 25%
Final exam: 20%

Other announcements:

1) Look on course web site later today for details about lottery
2) Look on course web site in next day for Math review lottery
3) math review session will be held on Wednesday night 7-9pm in Science Center

Related posts:

1. A Vietnamese cooking class with Harvard University Dining Services’ Director Martin Breslin
2. Cooking for a Cause, Boston Symphony Orchestra food drive – Boston events
3. Asian Girl Cooking: The Great Pizza Update

I picked up some beautiful heirloom tomatoes at Rubiner’s in Great Barrington, MA. One of them was truly a beaut: a giant green tomato that tasted better than any ketchup-red supermarket pretender. But it did cost about $5.

The finished display, with slices of mozzarella, drizzled with olive oil and liberally doused in kosher salt.

I have to say, if you’re in Great Barrington, Rubiner’s is a must-see. They have a beautiful selection of artisanal cheeses and other rotating specialty foods. One time, my better half and I decided to get the smallest possible quantity of five different cheeses for a picnic lunch. The employee was extraordinarily gracious about it.

Good job, Rubiner’s.

No related posts.

My name is Josh and I just started a new Meetup Group, called the New York Epic Food Adventurers Club. The idea of the club is that we will go on long walks to get to our food destinations as a way to explore the city, get exercise, and work up an appetite. For the first meeting, this Saturday, September 4, we will meet at the Manhattan side of the Queensboro Bridge at 9am, walk across it, and make our way to Flushing, where we will dine at the Golden Shopping Mall. I intend to use Lingbo’s guide (basement guide here) as a reference.

Anyway, I just started the group and I am trying to recruit members. If anyone on your team is interested, or if you even think the group merits some kind of note on Serious Eats, I would very much appreciate it. Thanks!

Josh Goldblatt
Founder
New York Epic Food Adventurer’s Club
http://www.meetup.com/New-York-Walk-to-Eat-Club/

Related posts:

1. Best food in Flushing, Queens: 11 food stalls, 1 monster post
2. How to eat Flushing, Queens
3. Why is Chinese food so cheap? Guest blog by Chinese food expert Sam Lipoff

I ignore a lot of press releases, but I got an interesting one recently about a Persian/Italian dinner done by Lala Rokh and Bin 26 enoteca.

I had to reread the description before I figured it out. This is not some fusion dinner, per se. It involves two courses at Lala Rokh (Persian homestyle food) before getting up and walking over to Bin 26 enoteca (for the Italian portion). You can also pair it with wine for a surcharge, of course. Click through the jump to see the menu and deet – it’s every Tuesday. I actually might go.

I’m also doing a review soon of some cookware (ehm, I’m thinking of a chef’s knife or a cast iron skillet) sponsored by CSN who sells all kinds of crazy stuff in their 200 niche e-commerce stores – shoes, kitchen tables, etc. They’re also Boston-based, which is cool. I wonder if they deal with wholesalers or dropshippers. How many people doing SEO. Whether they outsource support staff. Anyway. That’s the ecommerce/Tim Ferriss-obsessed nerd in me.

Lala Rokh and Bin 26 Dinner: “When Persia Meets Puglia”

First Course

Persian Sampler

Borani-Esfanaj (spinach and yogurt)

Kashk-e Bademjan (velvety roast of eggplant)

Zaitun-e Parwardeh (olive pate)

Persian Smash (Persian cherry juice, lemonade, splash of soda)

Second Course

Morgh Pollo

Chicken simmered in tomato saffron sauce over cinnamon, cumin & basmati rice

Pinot Grigio, Alefurlan, Friuli, Italy, 2008

Third Course

Cocoa Tagliatelle

Porcini mushroom ragout scented with nepitella

Dolcetto, De Forville, Alba, Italy, 2008

Fourth Course

ThreeRamisù

Trebbiano/Malvasia, Le Fornaci, Vin Santo di San Gimignano, Tuscany, Italy, 2003

Tuesday evenings beginning September 14; Menu changes monthly

6:00pm or 8:30pm seating

$49.00 including tax and gratuity. $29.00 for beverage pairings.

Address:

Lala Rokh -  97 Mt. Vernon Street

Bin 26 -  26 Charles Street

www.lalarokh.com www.bin26.com

Reservations equired.  Call 617-720-5511.

(Hi PR professionals reading this blog, I have a question merely because I am curious. Do you guys use Aweber? Automated scripts? I’m curious how technical the email process is, or if it’s just the standard bcc’d email list + press send.)

Related posts:

1. The votes are in! For my NYC splurge meal, you have chosen…
2. Tim Cushman’s O Ya in Boston – The Best Meal of My Life
3. Excess, Delicious Excess: 5 Course Meal at Crabtree’s Kittle House Inn, Chappaqua, NY

This exclusive tip just in: Zinneken’s, a Belgian waffle shop, will be opening in about four months in Harvard Square.

Zinneke in Brussels dialect means someone of mixed origins, which not only represents the founders, but also their ambitions to introduce authentic Belgian food to Bostonians. They promise that Zinneken’s baked-to-order offerings will to put your standard Americanized “Belgian waffle” to shame. Zinneken’s signature showpiece is the Liège waffle, aka sugar waffle, which is sweeter, smaller in size, and denser than their conventional brethren.

But it gets better!

All photos courtesy of Nhon Ma.

These sugar waffles ($4-6) are named for their caramelized sugar coating and will be served with everything from Nutella to Chantilly cream. I particularly like the proposed “Oreos Freakin’ Party” (no joke) special which involves a grind-tastic blend of Oreos, strawberries, and whipped cream. See the menu from their brochure below.

Harvard Square’s Waffle Pioneers

Who would chase the perfect waffle recipe across continents? One founder, Nhon Ma, is a Harvard grad who jumped from the corporate world to pursue his true passion: food. But it wasn’t a random coincidence, by any means. In fact, his mother was the only Asian chef to ever get a coveted Michelin star in Europe. After spending his childhood taste testing her creations, Nhon cut his teeth by working for her.

He met his business partner Bertrand Lempkowicz in high school, who’s leaving behind his Brussels communication company to join the venture. They’re still in the process of signing the lease, but envision the shop will be “a cosy European atmosphere” that serves up authentically light and fluffy waffles to passing crowds.

Photos from their Facebook page and Twitter show a test run of snackers munching on waffles with a variety of toppings.

Beyond waffles, Nhon promises that Belgian chocolate, French macarons, flourless fudge, Belgian chocolate brownies, and sweet crepes are also in the works.

Their retail space will be at 1 Mifflin Place, #400. Looking on Google Maps, it looks like it’ll be near FedEx and Harvest. Actually, this is their administrative space – the actual location is under wraps. Nhon reveals that it’ll be closer to Harvard Square, not far from Tommy Doyle’s andUpstairs on the Square.

Can’t wait! Look forward to an interview with Nhon Ma coming soon.

Their tentative proposed menu – with delicious photos! – after the jump.

Related posts:

1. Food porn of the day: molten chocolate cake, coffee ice cream at Finale Harvard Square
2. Some food porn from Harvard Square
3. Russell House Tavern in Harvard Square is here to stay.

I was cooking up breakfast one Saturday morning for my better half when the urge hit me. You know. The urge. That crazy little idea in your head.

Yeah, I thought. Yeah, I’m a cooking badass. I’m going to make EGGS BENEDICT.

You don’t understand how exciting this idea was. I had never successfully poached an egg, nor had I ever attempted a French sauce. This recipe also contained four simultaneous (sort of) components.

To my “lazy girl curry”-making self (instructions: chop up onion/garlic/ginger, fry and add curry paste + protein + veggies, dump in coconut milk, cook it ’til it tastes good) making eggs benedict seemed like nothing less than scaling a cooking Everest.

Ok. So a real cooking Everest for me would be doing something like brining and deep frying a Thanksgiving turkey, but regardless.

There was only one problem. No, two. No bacon. No lemon (for the Hollandaise).

Being like any other lazy human being, I didn’t want to put on clothes to run to the corner store. I preferred to let the oil splatter my bare skin, of course. (Don’t try this at home, and don’t try it in high heels.)

So I subbed in hot dogs from the freezer and figured out I might as well use up the chicken stock in a velouté sauce, a French sauce made by combining roux (flour and butter) with stock. It’s more often paired with poultry and seafood dishes, but hey, I was gonna try.

Click on the link to get my humorous (but totally serious!) recipe.

Trailer Trash Eggs Benedict

Serves 2 of questionable taste

Ingredients:
- Two English muffins, split
- Two hot dogs, halved and sliced lengthwise in 3-4 slices
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon flour
- About 3/4 cup chicken stock, although you might want to add more
- Vinegar, for the poaching water (it’s been debated if this actually helps)
- Some oil. I used peanut.
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

1) I toasted the whole wheat English muffins lurking in the fridge.

2) Then I tackled the roux. After dropping in the last end bit of butter into the pan, melting it, and putting in a tablespoon of flour, I let it turn tan before slowly putting in the stock. It immediately turned semi-solid.

Cooking magic!

2) I tried to make the hot dog as bacon-y as possible by cutting them in half, then splitting them lengthwise into 3-4 slices. For some extra flavor and crispness, I sauteed them in some peanut oil on medium heat until they got some color, then set them aside.

3) After adding all the stock and whisking like the industrious, neurotic person I am, I let it keep warm by improvising with a rimmed bowl perched over a pot of simmering water, plus the occasional whisk.

4) Then it was onto the poached egg. This should be your last step. I’d never made this successfully before. Mark Bittman had me do this in a deep frying pan, which seemed to make it a lot less scary and easier to get the eggs out. You have to crack each egg in a shallow bowl, then slowly slide them into gently boiling water. After about two minutes, ladle them out in a slotted spoon. (I just used a flipper/spatula thingy with two slots in it. Ghetto.)

5) Assemble like so, bottom up: muffin slice, hot dogs, egg, sauce. I shaved some extra sharp cheddar over there for extra trashy flavor. Season liberally with kosher salt and pepper. Serve to confused but supportive better half.

TIPS

• Don’t worry about over toasting the English muffins. I tried to resuscitate somewhat dried out bread, a big mistake. The toppings are moist enough to hold up against crunchy carbs.

• Don’t feel like you should stick with my veloute. I actually would probably attempt a real Hollandaise next time. The veloute added a nice, velvety texture, but definitely needs some salt.

• Poaching eggs is actually not that hard. Just try not to show fear, slide the eggs in gently, and use something more spoon-shaped to retrieve them. Unlike me.

• Actually, ignore my tips. What do I know?

Related posts:

1. A love letter to poached eggs – brunch at Zaftig’s Delicatessen
2. How to read a recipe
3. How to make and eat biscotti

There are some things in life that can only be elegantly described as “WTF?”

This statue (with me hamming it up on the left to convey scale) was found in Queens’ Flushing Mall en route to the Flushing Mall Food Court. Photographer Robyn Lee was equally perplexed.

Yes. WTF indeed.

Related posts:

1. How to eat Flushing, Queens
2. Best food in Flushing, Queens: 11 food stalls, 1 monster post
3. A Culinary Day in Flushing, Some Political Protestors, and my Hairdresser

Egg drop soup, courtesy of Serious Eats’ Robyn Lee

I got an interesting comment on my post about why Chinese restaurants are so cheap about a month ago. (And my friend Sam sent in an excellent post about the culinary fundamentals that work against Chinese chefs.) The reader was Jack Neefus, a Baltimore resident who works in finance and dabbles in cooking and travel. He’s been to China few times, including my dad’s hometown of Heilong Jiang.

I asked if I could repost his comment, so he took an extra step beyond to rewrite it into a thoughtful essay. For space purposes, I’ll recap the beginning and excerpt my favorite parts. (I’m so high on my editorial power. You have no idea.)

Jack makes an economically-driven argument for Chinese restaurant owners’ motives. Chinese restaurants, he contends, are frequently owned by immigrants who view their businesses as a relatively stable form of income, compared to the restaurateur driven by love of cuisine and hospitality.

In his writeup, oversupply and price competition are major issues. One interesting point he raises is that American Chinese food tends to favor cheap, bulky vegetables that don’t require a lot of cleaning or cooking, and maintain volume. Ex. broccoli and onion. He also touches on the commodification of Chinese food, and how it’s now viewed as another fast food category with a factory-issued menu.

I found that his personal experiences (let’s call them abbreviated case studies) added the most value to his argument. He draws on his connections in China as well as Baltimore to make some pretty provocative statements.

Jack also breaks down the variety of niche, higher-priced Chinese foods, ranging from jacking up the decor to regional dish specialization.

If you’re nerdy about food (as I am), this is a fun read. I don’t necessarily agree with all of his logic or assertions, but that’s part of the fun.

Please chime in with your own experiences, thoughts, or rebuttals.

Will Chinese Restaurants Ever Become More Expensive?

by Jack Neefus

Here’s a cross-section from my experience seeing Chinese restaurateurs driven more by economics than culinary aspirations:

1) Tony has run a modest restaurant for years, carved out of a gas station on the Maryland Western Shore.  He has been successful enough to set up restaurants in other cities for each of his children.  But he is not particularly interested in food per se, and spends much of his week now hiring Chinese day laborers and subcontracting small commercial renovation projects.

2) Wu-Jin has owned seven ordinary Chinese restaurants in Baltimore. She saved enough to buy a small apartment building, and has sold her restaurants to focus on multi-level marketing.

3) Pan came to the US from Fujian without his family seven years ago. He is working class, illiterate, and has never learned to speak English.  He opened a restaurant in Florida which netted $70k annually at its peak.   He then took on two partners to start a large Chinese buffet in Florida and went bankrupt.  Pan now lives New York’s Chinatown and is working construction.

4) Li-Min, my girlfriend’s brother, owned a seafood restaurant in Heilong-Jiang before giving it up in a divorce.  Li-Ping has encouraged him to come to America and start a higher-quality, more authentic Chinese restaurant, possibly a hot pot establishment.  However, he runs a heating and appliance business with his brother now, does not speak English, and he would see it as a big step backwards to emigrate to the US.

These stories are typical of Chinese restaurant owners and illustrate why the industry has never been a source of culinary innovation in the US. [Ed. note: Pretty strong statement. Do you agree or disagree?]

Attempts to create a higher-end segment of Chinese restaurants are hamstrung by price expectations set by downscale places that rely heavily on takeout. But most restaurant owners would like to be able to charge more.

Is there a potential market for more elite, expensive Chinese restaurants with more accomplished chefs and more authentic dishes?

There are actually several ways this may take place:

1) Inauthentic Chinese Food in Better Surroundings. Strangely enough, one of the few places to have broken through the price wall is PF Chang’s. While not authentically Chinese, they serve versions of American Chinese dishes along with cocktails in a nicer atmosphere in locations where American consumers expect to spend more. PF Chang’s competes with places like The Cheesecake Factory and The Macaroni Grill, and the average bill per customer reflects that.

2) Chinese Specialties that Appeal to American Tastes. Authentic Chinese hot pot or ‘Muslim restaurants’ goes over very well with Americans.  It is commercialized in China by chains like “The Little Fat Sheep,” but stateside has only been introduced into California.  There’s no reason this segment shouldn’t become nationwide.

Dumpling restaurants are another authentic Chinese category that goes over well in the US.  There are a few storefront restaurants, such as China Bistro in Rockville, MD, who offer an expanded range of dumplings as the main draw, but nothing like the establishments in Chinese cities.  Ingredients can vary from vegetables to lobster, and presentation can be upscale and whimsical.  In the right setting, it could easily become a trendy category.

3) Authentic Haute Cuisine. Americans tend to dislike many authentic Chinese luxury dishes such as shark’s fin or bird’s nest soup, and are unwilling to pay high prices for them.  But American foodies tend to like a variety of unusual items on the menu even if they’re not ordered.  Having them on the printed English menu, and not just the verbal Chinese menu, may now draw customers rather than repel them.  With the huge influx of upper-middle-class Chinese immigrants, the potential to find consumers and not just voyeurs is greater as well.

Americans expect a fine dining experience to include décor, and here too trends are changing slowly but noticeably.  China itself has experienced a wave of lavish and artistic restaurants, and some new Chinese restaurants have gone beyond the fish tanks, horoscope placemats, and mountain posters.

Hunan Taste, a new storefront restaurant in Catonsville MD, features hardwood floors, carved calligraphy, and high-end furnishings imported from China.  Their menu has items like fish intestines along with spicier and more authentic Hunan dishes than American patrons are familiar with.

If that trend continues, you may one day be able to walk into a restaurant in New York and order bear’s paw or Pao Yu snail in a spectacular setting for the same outrageous prices you used to pay at the Quilted Giraffe.

Lingbo’s caveat

I thought I’d add here as well – just as there are great Chinese chefs who care about their craft, just as there are lackluster American chefs who just want to put out a burger that doesn’t get sent back.

Related posts:

1. Why is Chinese food so cheap? Guest blog by Chinese food expert Sam Lipoff
2. Why is Chinese food so cheap?
3. The perils of being Chinese in China

It is, however, two years out of date. Craigie on Main “will open in November 2008″ on their Central Square directory. Yeah… But worth a glance if you’d like to browse a comprehensive list of eateries.

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2. Tony Maws’ Fried Pigs’ Tails at Craigie on Main, Cambridge
3. How to pick a date restaurant

The Chilean sea bass, the one thing I would sort of recommend here.

I visited Umami in Brookline because UrbanDaddy wrote it up.

The food is creative Asian (billed as Japanese, but it’s not that exclusively). From the menu, it reads, “Asian Inspired Global mix of culinary imagination with a creative twist.” I first had inklings of what was to come reading the Umami menu, which sounded more like a hopeful amalgam of seasonings than a clear vision. Also, they picked an ugly font, so the typographer in me balked.

Service was bumbling, but earnest. I liked our server, actually. He was kind of awkward, but very sweet.

My suspicions as to the food, however, were confirmed with their free “appetizer.” So there’s nothing wrong with free appetizers, but I mean… just look at this:

The matchstick cucumbers were actually the wet, seedy cucumber innards. When you picked on up, it flopped.

Somewhere, a supermarket veggie platter was crying its little ranch dressing tears. (I keep rereading this sentence. It’s so harsh. I feel kind of bad. But it’s true.)

The Southeast Asian black tiger shrimp were fine and unremarkable, and more noted for the absence of their promised complex flavor-amalgam. (garlic butter, smoked cayenne peppers, lemon thyme, baby cilantro) Unannounced was the high onion presence. I guess that’s ok – I like onion.

My dining partner’s Chilean sea bass fine but unremarkable, sitting on a bed of sweet potato and some bland bok choy. He asked for salt.

The real story of the whole meal, however, was my steak tips. Being an offal lover (brains, balls, and everything in between), I was excited by the promise of star anise-scented tripe and mashed taro. What came was truly confusing.

Some pieces of the steak tip gave my jaw a workout. Their heirloom tomatoes came in large chunks, to which the kitchen thoughtfully applied some grill marks before plating. The Chinese-ness  and texture of the stewed tripe felt as alien as a male Wellesley student – a stranger bobbing amidst a sea of otherness.

And the mashed taro. Oh my god. I don’t know what they did to it, to be honest. I usually eat pretty much everything on my plate, even if it’s not very good. (Like bags of stale popcorn.) I left 95% of that thing on my plate.

The main issue with Umami is that it doesn’t deliver on the flavors the menu promises. If executed right, they would have some really interesting food, a more Japanese and ambitious Myers + Chang, say.

I’m predisposed to the concept – I love Asian food, particularly anything that aims to make it more creative and upscale. But with dishes like the steak tips with tripe, it points to the problems with innovating versus executing. What sounds good on paper doesn’t taste so good on the plate. And so it should be back to the cutting board.

I didn’t get the see the inside, but the outside seating was lovely.

The table next to us were some senior citizens chatting with the next table down about how great dinner was. My dining partner and I looked at each other with a kind of ferocity of disagreement. It had been a tense weekend, I remember, and our mutual feelings about dinner seemed to be a leveling ground. And to be honest, I felt embarrassed. I couldn’t fault Umami for their earnestness, but there’s a lot of work to do.

Related posts:

1. Genki Ya in Brookline: the worst Japanese restaurant flub ever
2. Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are
3. Capsule Review: Yak Butter Tea

I have been observing Deuxave’s construction on Mass Ave and Commonwealth for months now. I’m frequently found traipsing around Back Bay these days, so an ambitious new neighborhood restaurant is much welcomed.

The food is seasonally inspired new American, with emphasis on sourcing local ingredients, and priced at around $26 an entree. The whole shebang is set to open “around” Labor Day (September 6th) and is the foodbaby of exec chef Chris Coombs (formerly of Ming Tsai’s Blue Ginger; Aujourd’hui; Troquet; and the Food Network’s Chopped) and owner Brian Piccini (of Aquitaine and dbar).

I instinctively kind of like Coombs – he knows to spin his youthfulness to his advantage. How’s that for a PR lesson, college kids?

One thing that perplexes me is their pronunciation. It’s explained as “doo-ave” in their press release. But I remember that in French class, there’d normally be a “z” sound to transition between vowel sounds. So I’d been thinking of it as “duhz-ave.” Any French speaker input?

To see their sample menu, click for the jump.

Deuxave Menu

DEUXAVE APPETIZERS

A Duet of Prime Beef Tartare and Wagyū Carpaccio

herb encrusted wagyū beef, hanley style prime tartare, quail egg yolk, petite arugula, escabèche of chanterelles, potato gaufrettes, cornichons, rosemary-mustard aioli

“Night Moves” Scituate Lobster Gnocchi

with mushrooms, corn, green grapes, potato gnocchi, curried walnuts, & pearl onions with fresh herbs in a citrus fricassee

Crispy Crescent Farms Duck Confit

with petit heirloom tomato & frisee salad with bacon sherry vinaigrette, bing cherry sauce.

DEUXAVE ENTREES

Pan Roasted Atlantic Line Caught Halibut

with sweet corn succotash, chanterelles, peppers, herbs, Okinawa yams, laughing bird shrimp in ginger, espelette, tomato, and burgundy butter sauce

Seared Hawaiian Ahi Tuna

with pink peppercorns crusted big eye, pork belly, pineapple “aigre-doux”, sea beans, summer radish, cucumber, Asian flavors, lobster red curry emulsion and petit flowers

A Vegetarian Celebration of Summer

ragoût of wards farm corn & hand made gnocchi, porcinis, tempura celeries, fried blue aracuna egg, pousse pied & tomato salad, radish, saffron-heirloom tomato coulis and aged balsamic

Moroccan Spiced Colorado Lamb Saddle Pistachio

persillade crusted, persian style tabbouleh, a baby carrots, beets and turnips “en cocotte” minted cucumber raita & roasted red pepper vinaigrette, natural jus

A Duet of Giannone Farms Organic Chicken

crispy skinned roasted breast, and a crépenette of thigh, sautéed chanterelles, Ward’s Farm Silver queen corn, soft polenta, fresh herbs and sauce périgeux.

Deux ave opening hours, address

Deuxave

371 Commonwealth Ave
Open for dinner Sunday-Wednesday 5-10pm, Thursday-Saturday 5-11pm

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There are some embarrassing photos in there. Yes, I wore a spike bracelet and red zebra print tank tops. I thought I was pretty badass.

Thanks to mutual friend Mindy Z. for the introduction! (and Danielle for the introduction to Mindy.)

CampusTweet.TV Episode 3: Dinner with Lingbo Li from lynne guey on Vimeo.

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Uncorked Tasting Series, Morton’s The Steakhouse Back Bay is asking Boston vinophiles to submit wine suggestions for the August 30 tasting (theme is “You Tell Us”) for the chance to win four comp tickets to the event.  All folks have to do is send suggestions (sky’s the limit) to cm.mbo@mortons.com by August 26.  The winner and three guests will be treated to five wines paired with five signature Morton’s hors d’oeuvres at the August 30 tasting from 6:30 – 8:00pm at Morton’s Back Bay (699 Boylston Street).  Tickets are also available for $40 each (call 617-266-5858 to reserve a spot).

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This is truly epic, and I say this with no twinge of marketing bravado. You should take a look at it, even if you have no interest in visiting Queens, because you want to see what a truly obsessive, twisted blog post looks like.

Seriously. This stuff took weeks. And there’s a video coming.

Check it out.

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Don’t miss my most recent post for Serious Eats, a monster roundup of Golden Shopping Mall’s first floor. Yeah, I did all the graphics. Because I’m obsessive and like twiddling bits on Photoshop for hours and hours.

My roundup of the basement is tomorrow, and there will be a Flushing Mall food court post as well! Finally, I’m working on a video to accompany these posts where I’m the genial, marrow-eating host who interviews chefs in Chinese. Exciting!

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