Pittsburgh: ELEVEN (September 2017)

Eleven - Always a Great Meal in a Trendy Atmosphere

My spouse and I dined at ELEVEN for dinner on a Friday evening in mid-September 2017. We have dined here several times previously, both in the dining room and at the chef’s table. On our most recent visit, because it was late in the evening, we dined at the bar. (The kitchen closes late at 11:00 pm on Friday and Saturday nights.) ELEVEN is open for lunch (weekdays), dinner (daily), and brunch (Sundays). You can book a table using the online Open Table reservation system.

ELEVEN is technically located in the Strip District, although it is closer to the downtown area than other Strip District restaurants (like sibling Kaya). ELEVEN is located next to the Senator John Heinz History Center (museum) and diagonally across the street from the Hampton Inn. (The still-under-construction AC Hotel [by Marriott] is right next door.) The restaurant is named because it was the eleventh restaurant opened by the Big Burrito Restaurant Group (which also owns Shadyside restaurants Casbah, Soba, and Umi; the Strip District’s Kaya and ELEVEN; and many locations of Mad Mex [eight in the Pittsburgh area, one in Erie, one in Columbus, one in State College, and three near Philadelphia).

The chic, modern restaurant space is expansive. You can dine in the high-ceilinged spacious main dining room on the street level, or on the narrower second floor that overlooks the main room. An adjacent space offers a bar and lounge seating, with additional dining tables on the second floor “catwalk” that overlooks the bar area. In warmer months, ELEVEN offers outdoor seating both on the sidewalk/street level and on a second-floor outdoor balcony with roll-down fabric sides. Depending on where you dine, you may be seated at a regular-height table, a high-top table, a booth, at the bar, or on the comfy lounge furniture. One booth in an alcove off the main dining room is positioned within view of the kitchen so that you can watch the staff work as they produce tasty dishes. (We once ate a great multi-course, chef-selected tasting meal at that “chef’s table”.)

ELEVEN offers modern, contemporary cuisine. On previous visits, we have chosen options from their fine dining menu. This time, because of the late hour and our seating at the bar, we ordered from the tavern menu, which includes a few favorites from the regular menu, as well as more casual options. We chose a burger and fries (phenomenal, topped with a short rib mix), and a meatball sandwich with a side salad (regrettably, although the meatballs were delicious, the roll fell apart and we ate it with a knife and fork). We could not pass up their delicious banana cream “pie” for dessert; ELEVEN’s version is an elegant, creative spin on the classic dish. We were also thrilled to sample their "Rosalita" cocktail, which showcased Calvados, an apple brandy that originates in Normandy France, where we had visited just two weeks previously (also made with vodka and grapefruit).

The quality food, trendy atmosphere, and great service make ELEVEN one of our favorite restaurants in downtown Pittsburgh.

New York City: Jewel Bako (May 2017)

Jewel Bako - Great Omakase Tasting and Personable Sushi Chef

My spouse and I dined at Jewel Bako for dinner on a Saturday evening in early May 2017. Jewel Bako offers dinner on Mondays through Saturdays (closed on Sundays). You can reserve your table using the online Open Table system, although you must telephone the restaurant if you want to reserve a chair at the sushi counter. The restaurant has held one Michelin star for the past eleven years.

Jewel Bako opened in 2001 in the East Village on East 5th Street near Second Avenue. Sister restaurant Degustation adjoins Jewel Bako. (The owners also once operated Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar and Jewel Bako Makimono, both of which are now closed.) As with other distinguished sushi restaurants in the city, the entrance to Jewel Bako is discreetly marked. Inside, dramatic, arched wood slats creative a high curved ceiling in both of the long narrow dining rooms. Closely arranged tables on either side of the dining space each share a long padded banquette on one side, with individual chairs on the other side. The back of the restaurant offers an 8-seat sushi counter, where we interacted with talented itamae Mitsunori Isoda. (This chef previously “cooked” for us in August 2016 when he worked at Brushstroke/Ichimura.) On the night that we dined, Chef Mitsunori was assisted by three other sushi chefs, one of whom was his son.

Jewel Bako serves Japanese cuisine, with an emphasis on sushi and sashimi. The restaurant offers either an a la carte menu or one of many tasting menus (sushi, sashimi, omakase sushi, omakase sashimi, or omakase tasting). Prices are slightly higher for the tasting menus when you sit at the counter instead of at a regular table. We ordered the omakase tasting menu, which for $150 per person ($25 less at a table) included some hot and cold appetizers, a sashimi selection (served all at once), two seasonal hot dishes (served together and meant to share), a sushi selection (served individually), and dessert. The chef served our sushi across the counter one piece at a time as he prepared it, but servers delivered the other courses by placing the dishes in front of us from behind.

Some of our courses follow.

·         Amuse: chef’s sushi selection topped with a maple radish

·         Edamame

·         Phyllo cup filled with tuna tartare accompanied by a pea shoot salad

·         Sashimi tasting (including toro, amberjack, clam, mackerel, salmon, shrimp, and presented on a slate decorated with a prawn head; unfortunately our server did not explain the various fish to us, but he did offer us freshly grated wasabi)

·         Two hot seasonal seafood dishes including one cooked “en papillote” (in paper)

·         Sushi (including golden eye snapper, barracuda, madai [sea bream], sayori [needle fish], chu toro, and uni)

·         Japanese custard pudding (which they called “bread pudding”, served with a fruity sauce)

Service from the regular waitstaff was slow. Our beverage glasses sat empty for most of the night without anyone offering a refill. We also waited about 15 minutes after we finished our sashimi course for the hot dishes to arrive; in fact, we thought that our meal might be over at that point, and we were ready to request our check, when the hot dishes arrived. But we enjoyed talking to Chef Mitsunori as he worked, and his sushi courses were timed perfectly.

Overall, we had a great (and extremely filling!) omakase chef’s tasting meal at Jewel Bako.

 

New York: Empellon Cocina (February 2017)

My spouse and I dined at Empellon Cocina for dinner on a Saturday evening in mid-February 2017. (“Empellon” means “a push or shove” in Spanish.) The restaurant is open for dinner only on Tuesdays through Saturdays (closed on Sundays and Mondays). You can reserve a regular table using the Open Table reservation system, but to reserve one of the four spots at the chef’s table for the tasting menu, you must make (and pre-pay) for your reservation using the Tock online system. Chef/owner Alex Stupak, a former pastry chef, has worked at NYC’s wd-50 (now closed) and Chicago’s Alinea. He operates Empellon Restaurant Group, which includes Cocina, Al Pastor, Taqueria, and the soon-to-open Empellon.

When the East Village’s Cocina was renovated in April 2015, the restaurant built a special table that overlooks the kitchen where two to four guests can interact with the kitchen staff while dining on multi-course tasting menus. You can choose a smaller 18-course 1.5-hour $95 menu (available weeknights at 7:30 pm or weekends at 6:00 pm), or the longer 22-course 2.5-hour $165 menu (only available weekends at 8:00 pm). Accompanying beverage pairings are priced at $30 and $50, respectively. The high-top chef’s table is separated from the regular dining room by an open bookshelf, and it is a table, meaning that it does not border the kitchen as a chef’s counters would, but instead allows room between the table and counter for your personal chef to plate and present. Jason Beberman (formerly of Dressler, Miller’s Tavern, and Gramercy Tavern) was our chef for the evening, and he was informative and personable. 

Empellon serves Mexican-inspired cuisine a la carte that you can order a la carte or as a 3-course $42 per person tasting (which includes guacamole, one starter, one main course, and one dessert). A large format meal, which must be pre-ordered, feeds 6 to 8 guests, and includes a whole roasted pork shoulder served with tortillas, fried rice, chicharron, black beans, pickled red onions, mixed salad, and salsa. Reportedly, Cocina boasts NYC’s largest selection of tequila and mescal. Our tasting menu was inventive and unique and employed a variety of ingredients, preparations, and plating. A few ingredients displayed nixtamalization (an age-old alkaline chemical reaction that renders normally indigestible raw field corn edible). Our list of courses follows, but without too much details so it won’t spoil the surprise:

1.        Finger lime candy

2.        Conchas (“shells”) with cultured butter (fantastic rolls and butter with an incredible maize shot)

3.        Natas (“cream”) with uni
(Although a luxury item, uni is not my favorite ingredient, but this was excellent!)

4.        Savory rice pudding with caviar
(After eating the tasty uni dish, I thought to myself, “If only Chef could make me like caviar like he just did with sea urchin”, and Wish granted! My caviar dish was delicious!)

5.        Gordita inflada (“inflated”) with salsa verde mousse

6.        Trout flauta (This was one of the most memorable dishes, because it included trout sushi wrapped with trout skin and then topped with trout roe: it was like eating trout three ways! Somehow Chef managed to make the crispy shell stay together even when we had to bite it in two.)

7.        Kumamoto oyster with nixtamalized popcorn kernels

8.        Pozole explosion (sort of like a Mexican soup dumpling)

9.        Rice and beans (nice and crispy and served in slices)

10.     Burrito ends with sour cream and caviar (My spouse is still proclaiming the simple brilliance of this dish and wondering why other chefs don’t offer it!)

11.     “Scotch” egg (but with chorizo)

12.     Grilled chicken with “mole” (Mexican bittersweet chocolate sauce)

13.     Salsa (customized with our choice of peppers, garlic, onion) and served with masa crisps (made with the largest “molcajete y tejolote” [mortar and pestle] that we have ever seen!)

14.     Quesadilla with chicharron and “quelites” (greens)

15.     Inverse tacos al pastor (pork and pineapple from the “trompo” [rotisserie])

16.     Hoja santa “sacred” leaf summer roll (We thought that this licorice-tasting brilliant dish was the lone dessert course, but it served as more of a palate cleanser before the actual sweet offerings, which were terrific!)

17.     Ice cream tacos

18.     Orange sorbet with sal de gusanos (a little bite in an elaborate presentation to end this phenomenal meal)

Our extended tasting menu dinner at Empellon Cocina was one of our all-time favorite meals – we loved the casual atmosphere, the constant personal interaction with the chef, and the unique ingredients, innovative dishes, and varied plating and presentation. Highly recommended!