Review: Balboa's Cheesesteaks

So, after the minor comment war after I panned Balboa's at Taste of Cincinnati, Terry and I decided that we had to try Balboa's in the restaurant, under their normal conditions. We decided, actually, to do it twice-- once during the day, and once during their special evening hours.

The first time, Terry went during the day. He got what he would normally order in Philadelphia (he spent the better part of several summers in Philadelphia a few years ago). He got a cheeseteak with provolone and tomato sauce (he corrects me: "Steak, provolone, sauce, fried onions." Okay, then.). It was towards the end of lunchtime, with no wait. It was, in his words, "Okay, at best". He commented that the bread was still a little stale. The trouble might be getting the Amoroso's rolls here-- if they're baked in Philadelphia, they're a day old at best. If the dough has been frozen, that might compromise the quality as well. There was something off a bit about the meat-- we can't quite figure out what's wrong, though we have our (unprovable) theory. He left me half the sandwich, which greeted me on my kitchen counter when I got home from work that day (accompanied by a voice mail hoping that the cats didn't get to it). I took a couple of bites-- it wasn't bad cold, but not anything to write home about. I don't think I finished it.

A couple of weekends ago, we found ourselves out late on a Saturday night and determined that it was the perfect time for both of us to try one fresh, together. The line was enormous-- we waited for 45 minutes. Several people actually left while we were there because the wait was so long. Problem? Not nearly enough ovens for the pizza. The guy behind the counter said that they weren't used to this many people. Most people were ordering the pizza, which were made individually and by hand to order. I think that perhaps there is a way to roll out the crust in advance-- this is what took most of the time. Since the pizza was so labor-intensive, there were fewer people working the sandwich line than there might have been. We-- or really, Terry, as I was instructed to grab a table to spare my feet from standing forever-- ordered two cheesesteaks, prepared the same way as he ordered a week or two before.

I may need to try the pizza, because even fresh, these really weren't worth the wait. The beef was bland, the sauce had a distinct tinned taste, and the bread was again a little stale. Terry is a bit more positive about them than I am, but I just don't get it. I would, however, like to try the pizza-- they looked cheesy and delicious. The next time we find ourselves out that late, we'll try the pizza.

Regulating dining out-- what do you think?

It's not news that NYC has some of the most progressive (or, depending on how you look at it, regressive) food service laws in the US. They were among the first to ban trans fat, and now they mandate that chain restaurants include nutritional information on their menus. I do indulge in the occasional chain restaurant, and am appalled at the nutritional information I have found. Chipotle is a pretty bad one-- their food is purported to be healthy (lots of veggies, no antibiotics in their chicken, the only thing that is fried are the chips) and compared to, say, McDonalds, it is (though McDonalds can be applauded for adding fairly healthful salads to their menu, as well as adding fruit to the choices for their Happy Meals. I'm not saying a standing ovation, but golf claps will certainly do)-- however, I discovered the Chipotle Fan website, which has a nutritional calculator. Oof. Scary. I usually ("usually" translates to twice in a year) get a salad -- for me, substandard tortillas aren't worth the calories-- and the salad, though heavy with veggies, is still about 885 calories. Let's not talk about the sodium, which is atrocious, and the fat, most of which comes from the salad dressing. There is no reduced calorie or low fat option.

If I made the same salad at home-- with a fresh vinaigrette, marinated grilled chicken, and homemade (or perhaps store-bought from someplace like Trader Joe's or Fresh Market or Madison's) fresh salsa, I know I could cut the calories in half. I think that's the problem-- most people in America now don't know how to or desire to cook and don't know what actually is involved in the ingredients of food. All of that salt, fat, and any artificial stuff that might land in there doesn't NEED to be there, but the mass production of chain restaurants needs salt and artificial stuff for preservatives and to match the palate of the average American, which is generally oversalted.

For me, banning might not be the road to go down (I have a libertarian streak, I guess), but education is. At a chain restaurant, where everything is standardized, there is no excuse for not having nutritional information on a website. A book I picked up recently,Eat This Not That: Thousands of Simple Food Swaps That Can Save You 10, 20, 30 Pounds-or More! , has healthful choices vs. really horrible choices at various chain restaurants. Outback, for example, argues that its meals are so "fresh" that they can't quantify nutritional content-- probably because they have an appetizer that has 2900 calories. Ouch. I would never, ever expect a non-corporate restaurant to have the resources to provide nutritional information, but a restaurant that develops their food in a corporate test kitchen has no excuse.

Do you make choices at restaurants based on health or caloric content? I'll admit that lately I haven't, but when I lost a bunch of weight in 2006, it's all I did and found places like Panera, that had nutritional information online, a godsend. Counting calories can be a bear, but for many it works and at the very least allows the diner to go in knowing what they're in for. So what do we need? Calorie counts? A more educated public? I'd argue for both-- not on the menu, per se, but at least available on websites. As Americans, our perception of portions has become distorted ("value" = "big portions"), but we've also got a major collective fear of fat (both in foods and on our waistlines) which leads to some nutritional schizophrenia. What are your thoughts?

Still under construction...

...I'm still working on a template I like. This one may just stick for now, considering that Blogger likes to eat sidebars. Yuck.

Meanwhile, I'm working on reviews of Cincy Chic Chic Chef (last one in the series is this coming Wednesday!), Kellogg's Country Kitchen, Mt. Adams Fish House and a lovely dinner Terry made for me this week, so don't think I've stopped eating. I probably SHOULD, but I haven't.

I can has domain name?

Lolcats do rule the world, don't they?

Anyhow, you can now reach my blog via http://winemedinemecincinnati.com The RSS feed has not and will not change-- I just wanted an easier way to tell people how to find my blog if I didn't have a card on me.

I'm going to do a bit of housekeeping and make a few improvements over the weekend. Stay tuned!

Good stuff: Just Cured

I mentioned that I had bought some Just Cured salmon last week-- great, subtle flavors and it's local! Val over at Cincinnati Locavore did a great post on his process. Go and check it out, and check him out at Findlay Market this weekend!

Mini Review: Chan's Asian Wok

Oof.

I call this a mini-review only because a) I've only sampled one dish and b) twice now, I've eaten my meal without taking a picture. Bad blogger!

Chan's Asian Wok is next door to Half Price Books in Mason, near my office. I wandered in there one day when I left my lunch at home and had an inkling to grab a quick sandwich at Subway. Chan's was between Half Price Books and Subway, and it smelled really good, so I went in.

Wow. For $4.50 I got some of the best take-out, "Americanized" Chinese I've had in a long time. I got the chicken teriyaki with steamed rice and veggies, which had a bunch of not too sweet, not overly salty sauce over bits of chicken breast and crisp-tender vegetables. According to their menu, everything is fresh, nothing frozen and they try to cook healthfully. It's incredibly obvious-- this is not your usual, sickeningly-sweet, overly salty, nearly-unidentifiable dark meat, but some really high quality stuff.

I stopped in there today and got the same thing-- again, it was quick, fresh and delicious. I also saw a huge new banner-- apparently they were just voted to the Top 100 Chinese Takeout Restaurants in the country! Pretty nifty. If you're in the Mason area, check them out.

Review: Taste of NFL

Okay, okay, anyone who knows me knows that I'm sort of sports-stupid. I really like watching baseball, but every game Terry and I go to, he ends up spending half the game explaining things to me. I know TJ Houshmanzadeh, Carson Palmer, and Chad Johnson by sight; everyone else is just a big guy in a jersey. I know more about football than I used to, thanks to Terry and our friends Tracy and Ron, who have all at some point or another explained things while we watched a game. My lack of football knowledge stuns my mother, who is a huge Bengals fan, and who had season tickets while I was growing up. She's also still despondent that I don't know how to swim, despite several summers of swim lessons. It just goes to show you that just because you expose me to something, it doesn't mean it will stick.

My lovely blogger-buddy Shannan emailed me a few days before the Taste of NFL event to see if I wanted to go-- 30 chefs? Sure! Good cause? Even better! The event was a blast-- lots of Bengals players around to sign autographs, several of them pouring shots of vodka for anyone who wanted one, some really cool auction prizes, and all of it benefited the Freestore/Foodbank, which is so important, particularly in a time of economic downturn. I read somewhere that demand on food banks are doubling and even tripling, so having a huge organization like the NFL raise money and give money to food-related charities is so important.

Another great sign? Many of the executive chefs were serving food behind their tables. I chatted with Chef Travis Maier from Seny, spotted Jean-Robert de Cavel slinging French Castles behind his station, Chef Paul Sturkey was at Mesh's station-- everyone brought their A-game to this event, and it showed.

I don't think I tried all 30 dishes, so I'm just going to highlight a few of my favorites.

Julie's favorite dish of the night: mesh's pork belly with sweet potato mash.

The pork belly was braised in cider, the sweet potato mash wasn't too sweet or too overspiced, as sweet potato mash can be. It was not the perfect summer dish, for sure, but it was perfect for fall and football (pigskin? get it?).

Terry's favorite dish of the night: The Palace Restaurant's Croquette of Wild Mushroom and Oxtail with Port Wine Reduction.

Crispy outside, rich inside, melt-in-your-mouth good. He went back for a second one, which we didn't do for any other dish.

Other awesome dishes:

Seny's "steak and potatoes".

I really couldn't wait to try this, as I knew it would be something interesting. It was a fun twist on steak and potatoes-- a piece of rare strip steak topped with potato skin "caviar", with a side of pickled potato and avocado puree. It was presented to emulate sushi. Very pretty and quite tasty. I talked to Chef Travis and asked what people thought of the dish-- he said people loved it once he explained it, and he really wanted people to ask questions so he could educate. Awesome!

Jeff Ruby's Surf and Turf of Tuna "Bacon" and Braised Pork Belly on Spiced Watermelon-Sweet Corn Emulsion

This one was really good-- loved the emulsion, loved the amazingly light-tasting pork belly-- but was thrown off a little by the chunk of slightly underripe watermelon. Still, the tuna/pork "surf and turf" was delicious.

Cincinnati Cooks! Maple Chicken and Ribs

I didn't try the ribs, but I did try the chicken. Lovely, sticky sauce-- very maple-y. I'd like to try this at home, actually, as it seemed simple and had that air of home-cooking. Cincinnati Cooks is itself a program of the Freestore/Foodbank. It is a job training program, and graduates of the courses are hired by local companies, and the food they use to cook and cater is all donated. The catering brings in revenue, which allows the training program to flourish. Fantastic! Their catering menu looks really good, too; I will keep it in mind for my next catered event. Check them out here.

My only complaint (if I can call it that) is that it was elbow-to-elbow, making it a little hard to eat at times, but such is the nature of an event like this. It was a great time, for both foodie and football fan. This is the kind of event where someone could take a spouse or friend who wasn't a huge football fan and they would still have a great time. I hope to check it out again next year, but in the meantime, I need to get to the Palace restaurant-- Terry wants some more croquettes!

Mini Review: Florence Freedom

Terry and I love minor league baseball. We used to have Dayton Dragons seasons (well, part of a season pack), and we occasionally go to Florence Freedom games. They're fun-- you don't really watch the baseball, you watch all of the silly stuff that goes on between innings. And compared to GABP? The food is fantastic. The Dayton Dragons' food is a home run (did I really just say that?)-- awesome hot dogs, sausages with sauteed peppers and onions, really good nachos, microbrews, the works. Florence Freedom food isn't too bad, either. I've had several things that were decent there: grilled hamburgers (a little dry, but tons of condiments), fries (really good!), saratoga chips and chicken fingers (actual chicken tenderloins; a bit dry but A for effort). Plus, it's a lot less expensive than GABP (great for familieis with kids), and they have days where beer is $1.

If you have the opportunity, check out the minors-- you can see up-and-coming baseball stars AND get a pretty good food experience.

Cincinnati EATS: Lavomatic

The first Cincinnati EATS appeared to be a great success-- a ton of people, all happily munching on Chef Joanne Drilling's food at Lavomatic. Our friends Ted and Tracy joined us, where we met up with Vudutu and his lovely significant other Donna as well as Jean-François Flechet (the Taste From Belgium guy). We were a darn lively table.

A couple of issues-- I don't think Lavo is quite set up for this many people all eating at once, but it was a pretty good try. The menu was chilled cucumber dill soup, chicken, and a pavlova.

The chilled cucumber soup was creamy, with plenty of dill. It wasn't low fat by any means-- I could taste the heavy cream-- but it was perfect for the steamy day we had last Tuesday. This was my favorite part of the meal, but I am very partial to chilled soups.

We're going to pretend that picture is in focus, okay? The chicken was a great idea-- lots of zucchini, roasted tomatoes, and garlic-- but the final product was not so great. It was a bit dry and needed some more sauce for both flavor and moisture. This was where you really noticed that the kitchen wasn't used to turning out 100 chicken breasts at the same time. It was obviously high quality chicken, but even really good chicken won't hold up well to overcooking. Definitely an A for effort, and I expect that if I tried this on a regular evening, it would be fine.

And now we have one of my favorite desserts that, sadly, won't be available much longer: pistachio pavlova with strawberries and citrus curd. The curd was perfectly sweet, yet tart, and the pistachio meringue was crispy and just a tiny bit chewy-- probably from the humidity. Meringue doesn't do very well with humidity, thus we won't see this on Lavomatic's menu until next spring. The salty-sweet combination is always a favorite in my book.

In all, I really can't wait to see what Cincinnati EATS comes up with for their next get-together. For $36, this really can't be beat.

Congratulations! AAA Four Diamond awards announced

Congrats to Boca, The Celestial, Daveed's, Orchids, Jean-Robert at Pigall's and The Palace for winning AAA's 4-Diamond award. The Palace has been winning it for 20 consecutive years. This is AAA's highest designation; we have no 5-Diamond restaurants or hotels in Ohio.

Remember when we used to wait to see if the Maisonette would get its Mobil stars? Sigh.