Day 6….. Burlap….. Restaurant Week! Good morning Mr. Phelps (Mission Impossible theme gently playing in the background). dum…dum… dum, dum, dum… dumm… dum .. dum… da da dummm, da da dumm, da da.
Your assignment, should you decide to accept it, is to check out your last restaurant for Restaurant Week, gather pictures and produce a report with all indications about your experience. This tape will self destruct in 20 seconds.
CLOUD OF SMOKE.
Ok. Well. I’m not Mr. Phelps. I’m Chef Marian, and I do feel like I’ve been thru a battle spending every night of restaurant week getting people to commit to and pay for their seat at Chef Marian’s Table in advance. (Ya see, people actually show up when it’s a pre-paid thing)! And we did a table of 6, 8 and 12, depending on the restaurant. Heyyyy…. DUDE! This is not my job! lol
I’ve made many new friends including chef Anthony Sinsay, who I am having lunch with shortly….. which brings us to tonight’s meal at Burlap! Shall we start with dessert AGAIN?
No. Not this time. This time we start at the beginning.
Spicy tuna – Crispy Rice. A very different experience and totally reflective of the food at Burlap. Not your grandma’s jeans….. or is that ‘your daughter’s jeans’?
Well either way, it’s something OUTSIDE the box.A crispy rice? Not a fried coating? Flavored Crunch-ability.
See what this chef is doing to me? Making me create NEW WORDS to describe his food! lol
Spicy caper mayo. How many chef put those 3 words together. Interesting flavors….
Scallops with the flavors of street corn, lime & xo sauce.
Aaah… memories of Hong Kong and pointing to that fish in the window swimming, or the shrimp, or lobster…. and having them pull it out and prepare it. Lunch is served.
There are flavors achieved based on a strong, well educated palate. And that’s how I would describe the scallops.
Moving on to the ‘pick of the evening’…. Braised Short Rib….. and listen to THIS!
Rootbeer, fingerling potato, carrot, wasabi creme fraiche.
Did I say ROOTBEER? And was that the ingredient that made it so flavorful? It was yummy with a soft ‘fall off the bone’ texture. Mmmmmmm. YES. You missed it.
Pam who sat across from me spending much of her time just listening, caught my eye. “YUM”, she said.
Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about. Flavor. It’s king.
I had the Char Siu Pork Tenderloin, with collard greeens and shishito pepper cornbread. Ok. I did cough a couple of times. There WILL be pepper! But the flavor was there as well.
My grand finale….. the Dirty Del Mar…… was lots and lots and lots of dessert. NO ONE finished theirs. Picture mocha ice cream and as you dig in – underneath, a coconut chocolate brownie in small chunks. And a cream topping. They didn’t give me a dessert menu to take home, so I can’t tell you exactly what. But it was a nice ending.
And for others, the nicest ending was the Carrot Cake. “Carrot Cake? Is that what they’re giving us for dessert”? one diner asked the table?
Yes. Virginia. And there is a god. One who takes homemade brittle and places it gently on top, like no other Carrot Cake you’ve ever had!
So with that, I bid adieu to Restaurant Week…. wait a sec…. ARE you kidding me? Some of the restaurants are extending Restaurant Week another week? Burlap is extending another week? And Mike is begging me to go back to Cucina Urbana?
What do you want to do? ROLL me out of the house? lol
No my friends…. time to get back on the treadmill, continue vegetable smoothies every morning (which I think saved my ass etts) lol and get back to Chef Marian food, taking ‘baby steps’ and making slight changes. Losing calories… adding flavor. TWO WORDS: Roasted Garlic. Yeah. That’s what I’m talkin’ about! heheheee
At the end of the day, I’ve experienced some wonderful choices in food, wine and new potential friends. I got to renew friendships with those I’ve known. And I’m a happy girl. Happy I splurged? Yes. No really. I’m good. And it’s ALL good in the hood!
For shizzle your nizzle!
(Made you laugh – I hope)!
Happy eating,
Chef Marian