Moto

Moto, in pictures.

Our edible 10 course menu, printed on brioche. Underneath is a cashew reduction and some balsamic sauce.

The wood grain close-up is actually 1000 year old wood from an Asian monastery that they imported. It's really gorgeous.

Our cork - the wine for this evening was a Neyers, Old Lakeview Road, Syrah, Sonoma coast, CA 2008.

Menu again. Just in case you forgot our menu WAS FUCKING PRINTED ON BRIOCHE! Putting the amusement in amuse, apparently.

Me and my wine, we got a real good thing.

1st course: "Snow Man" - This little fella is actually a lemon lime foam that was made to resemble a little snowman (it snowed about 3 feet a few days before we arrived in Chicago). Below it was a pretty straightforward ahi poke. The reason the snow man is melting is because it was doused with a splash of margarita. Wasn't terribly inspired, and the tequila overpowered all the other delicate flavors. Still fun though!

2nd course: "White Steel" - Actually my least favorite dish of the night. We have a seared piece of hamachi over a bed of bright red tobiko with some carbonated grapefruit. The sauce was a vanilla sunchoke puree. The fish was overcooked, the tobiko pretty flavorless and the puree did nothing to advance either of their causes.

3rd course: "Crab Cakes" - Much more inspired than the previous courses. What we have here is a cake with Alaskan King crab baked into it, rather than a bunch of crab and bread in cake form. On top is a sweet cream cheese dollop. The white mass in the foreground is braised fennel, next to which is graham cracker crumble and a freezing ball of butternut squash sorbet. I guessed it was a playful riff off of the Mardi Gras specialty, king cake.

The server deposited this candle on our table following the second course. We were the only table with a candle. Something was afoot...

4th course: "Salsa Snacks and "Scallop Surprise" (that's my name for it, since it didn't have a name) - First up is "Salsa Snacks." Had I been a little stoned, I might not have ever left the table. It is the high cuisine equivalent of going to Taco Bell at 2am after a night of drinking. To the right is enchilada sauce glazed sweetbreads. At left is a molten chihuahaua cheese ball, covered in baked beans and baked rice, and then a smear of salsa sour cream.

Then we have the Scallop Surprise dish. We'll get to the name in a second. We have big buttery chucks of poached lobster, and butternut squash puree. As for the mini diver scallops, those are actually gnocchi, cut and seared to look like a scallop. Oh, and remember the candle. Our server came over, pulled out the wick and poured the contents over the dish, and told us that it was melted butter sauce. I KNEW IT! Our waiter actually seemed disappointed that we weren't more shocked by this revelation. We reminded her that we were the only ones with a candle and that she brought it over 20 minutes into the meal. Our Spidey-senses never let us down.

5th Course: "Baseball Snacks" - By far the most outrageous dish of the night. It's popcorn-encrusted quail (or tofu for Ann, since she's a pescatarian), Coca-cola reduction, caramel-apple reduction, very Blais-esque popcorn powder and a fun reproduction of a Cracker Jack box that's actually cherry-flavored paper.

6th Course: "Mock Maki" Best entree course of the night. What appears to be a very traditional-looking Japanese maki roll, is something completely different. The rice wrapper is actually champagne risotto. The inner wrapper is actually pressed and paper-thin crimini mushroom wrap. Inside, we have sous vide rabbit (Ann had a daikon), a roasted brussel sprout, and the additions are a thinly sliced jicama pickled in beet juice (hence the red color) a Chinese five-spice puree and dehydrated peas that look like wasabi. It may look Japanese, but the flavor was deep and rich, straight out of northern Italy.

7th course: "Maitake & Pork" - Awesome last entree. Had the Mock Maki not showed up, this would have been my favorite. Grilled pork belly, bok choy, pickled matsutake mushrooms, and then a recomposed "styrofoam" maitake mushroom. The take a maitake, puree it, place it in a mushroom form and dehydrate it. The result is a perfect-looking mushroom, but the texture is completely opposite from what you expect a mushroom to taste like. Light, airy, crisp. But still possessing the umami flavor of the maitake.

8th course: "Truffled Ice Cream" - Our first dessert...truffled ice cream, jellied Gala apples, hazelnut crumble. The pound cake is actually astronaut ice cream.

9th Course: "Pineapple and Chai" - Compressed pineapple slices, with vanilla bean, sasparilla ice cream, coconut powder, and marshmallow. Fun dessert, and the compressed pineapple packs a punch. The sasparilla ice cream would sell like gangbusters at any store.

10th course: "Tea Time" - Navel orange gel, lemon butter cookie crumble, earl grey ice cream and chocolate mousse. So, if you want to know which dessert was the best...well, here you go. We didn't even stop to take a picture. Just an aftermath of deliciousness.

One final dessert beverage: Tonka bean soda, with a lemony freeze dried "packaging peanut" that steams when you eat it. I want every drink now, in a graduated cylinder.


So, about a third of the way through the meal, we struck up a conversation with our server. We both told him we were huge fans, admirers from afar, and that this would be a highlight of our trip.
"Do you guys want to check out the kitchen after you're done?"

Um, yes!

Ann and I squealed. Audibly.

Here's the photos from the downstairs lab and kitchen.

There's Ben (Executive Pastry Chef), finishing up the last of the night's desserts.

The Moto team that made our awesome meal.

Me, pretty much dumbstruck.

Mangia la pasta? Produca pasta.

Pasta Dough in the making

Nick is noodle obsessed. He would eat noodles or pasta of some kind just about every day if he had his druthers. We've become pasta snobs; only ordering pasta at joints that make their own in-house rather than using dried pasta. Pasta, after all is about the pasta itself: the chewy, nutty, al dente goodness that fills your belly with complex carbohydrates.

For Nick's Christmas present, I purchased him an Imperia pasta roller, pasta drying rack and signed us up for pasta-making classes at Cook's World behind U-Village. He was like an excited little boy when he tore open the gift wrap and excitedly realized he had gotten a new toy!

Cook's World Class

A ravioli made in class

We donned aprons and took a few hours of a Thursday evening learning the ins and outs of making pasta from scratch. The pasta making course was taught by the executive chef at Serafina and its new Mediterranean spin-off, Cicchetti. There, we learned the ins and outs of making:

• A wetter pasta dough for a filled pasta, specifically ravioli

• Gnocchi - literally meaning pillows. Pillows of amazing goodness that is.

Fabio from Top Chef: "They are like little pillows!"

• A pepper and lemon-infused black pepper linguine

The class was fun albeit a bit slow in pacing. The chef made everything in the center with the class watching on and volunteering to participate (probably with Nick and I doing the lion's share since the class was shy). I would have preferred either a faster class or one where each group got to be hands on cooking something along with the chef. Regardless, we learned some important tricks:

• You can always add more flour to pasta dough but you can't add more liquid. If your dough is too dry, you'll need to scrap it and start all over again.

• We learned how to fold the dough up in thirds in order to roll it and what consistency it should be before you narrowed the roller opening and smoothed the dough further.

• Note: knead dough and lay it on a wood surface. (It's an Italian grandma thing that you have to roll it out on wood). Use lots of flour to keep the dough from sticking.

• Apparently 00 Flour is the best flour to use to make pasta which just means the flour is really fine but you want unbleached flour since the protein content is better. Bob's Red Mill all-purpose is great, which is what we used. You can use any all-purpose flour or a whole wheat substitute but should look at other specific recipes for semolina or other types of flour since the protein and gluten content is different and the liquids you add is different.

The Lab and Experimentation

Rolling out our dough

What's the use of taking a class and not putting your skills to the test? The next weekend, Nick and I experimented with our newfound knowledge and made ravioli. We got a bit of aggression out of pounding a bunch of dough into a slab of wood and rolling out sheets and sheets of pasta into perfect, soft yellowy pieces and cook up a storm of delicious fillings.

A long pasta sheet

Nick took a twist on his buccatini with Dungeness crab, chili and mint concoction into a ravioli filled with crab, jalapenos and mint. These were delicious but I personally prefer his original recipe since the crab was more distributed rather than concentrated in the middle of the pasta.

Nick's crab ravioli

Fresh, seasonal ingredients

Stealing from a restaurant emperor and the next Tom Douglas, I used the Ethan Stowell cookbook to make a ricotta and Swiss chard ravioli filled with egg so when you speared the ravioli with a fork, you'd get melty, bleeding yolky goodness: my favorite sauce. Ethan's original recipe called for duck eggs but we used normal eggs and only made two of these heaping raviolis (very carefully). After all, how many eggs can you eat?

Giant ravioli with egg yolk inside

I also did a sautéed mushroom ravioli with walnuts, and sage and tossed in a bit of truffle oil; these were nutty, earthy and delicious. I made up this recipe but it was tasty and probably the best ones that would hold up frozen.



Crab Ravioli



The results? We did a great job except that we rolled out the dough a little too thick; we should have taken the dough through a thinner setting on the pasta maker. It was hard to gauge until we cooked up the ravioli and ate it since it didn't seem thick at first except it took longer to cook than we had expected. Still, the end results were delicious. It was a fun way to spend an evening, make a mess, grate up tons of parmesan on the new microplane and eat way too much.



Nick really REALLY loves pasta



My ravioli is bleeding yolk



Chard, ricotta and egg ravioli with more reveal



Saving myself for Moto

I’m flying in a cramped Alaskan flight right now, on my way to Chicago. I am operating on one hazelnut Americano, some in-flight OJ and an oatmeal raisin cookie. The reason behind that spartan breakfast is simple. I’m saving myself for Moto tonight. I’m expecting it to transport me, shock me, and do things to my brain (and tongue) that I’ve never experienced before. And like previous “first-time” experiences, half-expecting to be let down from the weight of colossal expectations.

I’ve been a huge fan of what Homaru Cantu has been doing at Moto since he wow’d me during a late-night viewing of Iron Chef. It’s not often you find a chef that lugs in a massive laser printer into Kitchen Stadium, takes a photo of himself and his chefs doing a champagne toast, then taking that champagne concoction like a mad alchemist and putting in the printer. The result? Printing an edible, champagne flavored paper wafer dessert, that they then served to the judges. With the photo of their toast on it. Holy shit.

Personally, I feel as though the whole culinary gastronomy fad is fast approaching an apex. The originators will begin to fall away from those cutting edge techniques and playful approaches as more pretenders use nitros and foams and spherification compounds. But Moto is different. They are doing something beyond whimsical forays into cuisine chemistry. They are looking at ways to completely turn food upside down, shake whatever is clinging to the bottom out, and then proceed to reshape it without regard to convention or tradition.

That’s why this meal is special to me. It will be unlike anything I’ve ever had before, and unlike anything I’ll ever have again.

Ann and I are experiences people. We’re not big on buying lots of clothes or fancy electronics. Those types of things, as Tyler Durden succinctly said, end up owning you. It’s the transformative experiences that we really crave.

Happy anniversary, my love.

Future of food

Ann and I have reservations in two weeks for Moto in Chicago. For those not familiar with Moto, they are doing some seriously cutting edge stuff with cuisine. And I'm not just talking about doing foams or powders. They make edible menus. Sandwiches that look like cigars. They cut their food with a Class IV laser (the type you'd find in a NASA lab).

Here's a video of head chef Homaru Cantu and pastry chef Ben Roche talking about what's next for food at TED conference in Chicago. Awesome, awesome stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk52YkSV8PE&p=ED72624222C8684E

More Reveling in Revel

An addendum...

Eating with groups is fun but it really sucks as well. It is hard getting reservations for 8 people at the last minute in Seattle at any good restaurant. We called around and it was incredibly difficult getting any traction an hour ahead of time. That is, until we remembered to call Revel. 8 people at 8:30pm?  Done.

Nick and I got to the restaurant early, going in the main entrance this time but heading straight to Quoin for some cocktails. I think Quoin will be my new neighborhood bar; it's a charcoal gray contrast to the stark white Revel, has sumptuous industrial-chic lightning and delicious cocktails. I sipped Nick's evo manhattan with its rich, complex rhubarb flavors complementing the bourbon and my light, refreshing Quoin 75 - a version of a French 75 with Cynar and Hendricks. Amidst the bottles behind the bar were these giant jars of marinating liquid; a quick glance at the drink menu told us that they were shojus infused with either hibiscus, meyer lemon, lemongrass or oranges. Try the lemongrass margarita - it is lighter, cleaner and crisper than the heaver than its sugary, fake-tasting sister often found at Azteca. But the best part was Brady - a man's man bartender who floated around making drinks quickly but with ease, all the while chatting us up. He had a very light touch, a sweet smile and amiable attitude that made you want to eat and hang out in the bar instead of the restaurant. When we left, he shook our hands and told us to hang out in the bar with him next time. Definitely, Brady.

The food was something else. We basically ordered one of everything on the menu but skipping the salads and added one of each ice cream sandwich desserts, plus on average, two or three drinks each. The bill for 8? Including tip, about $40 each. Bananas. Group dining is the way to go.

Shrimp pancake left, potato pancake right

We ate everything family style and dished out bites onto everyone's plates. We tried all three of the korean-style pancakes: pork belly, shrimp and edamame and chive and potato. All were crisply fried without being greasy but our favorites were the pork belly and potato; the shrimp and edamame one was too light on shrimp and heavy on the starchy edamame. Their steak special with bacon and broccoli rabe was a hit with a good balance of powerful flavors that allowed the food to sing. And the dumplings! Crispy pan-fried with house made wrappers had deep flavors; the short-rib filled dumplings were gone in 60 seconds. The earl gray ricotta ones were rich and perfumey with bergamot but balanced out with the sauce and pecans so it didn't stray too sweet. I prefer my dumplings to either be steamed or lightly pan-fried so you have a seared and chewy texture but Revel's were more on the crispy-side. Folks lapped up the duck meatball noodle soup which was nothing but a pile of garnish and soggy noodles all too soon. The clam and zucchini soup had those green house-made shaven noodles reminding me of Shanghai Garden; a thick chewy al dente noodle swimming in a delicate clam-juicey broth. One of my favorite dishes was the tuna rice bowl: a beep bim bap of seared tuna, kimchi, veggies and a perfectly cooked, runny egg in the middle to spread its yolky goodness around. My only complaint is because they are catering to the masses, their kimchi is not as pungent as I'd prefer. But I suppose that's good for everyone else and for the couple sitting next to us on a first date. A stinky kimchi kiss?  Not so much.



Dumplings ahoy!

Dessert was simple but elegant at the same time but our recommendation is to go for the pound cake. It was the most unassuming of the ice cream sandwich trio and I would have ignored it on the menu entirely if we had not ordered all three options. You can get pound cake from Sara Lee at safeway and put ice cream on it - boring, right?  *Alarm buzzing sound here* Wrong! The pound cake triangles were sandwiching a complex but subtle coffee ice cream made more sinfully delicious by the addition of milk jam on the side. The milk jam was this carmelly sweet dulce de leche that is sure to be my new crack at some point once I've figured out how to make it... We asked our awesome server Dale what it was and he assured us it was only cooked sweetened condensed milk that carmelized and cracked so it would form burnt sugar crystals within the milk caramel. Heavenly. The maracoon ice cream sandwiches had rich notes of the toasted coconut and kaffir lime but each mararoom was a bit thick and heavy compared to the ice cream it was sandwiching. The chocolate chip sandwiches packed a surprising afterburn with chili infused chocolate sauce. All of the ice cream sandwich desserts were lick-the-plate-clean good and we all had nibbled the last crumbs away as we continued to chat. After dinner, we were happy with happy little bellies. 

I've read those Yelp reviews on Revel. Many that start out stating why someone was qualified to make a real review and then proceed to rip on the restaurant, mostly about the service. But Nick and I can unequivocally tell you that both times we were here, we have had nothing but excellent service from people who seemed to want to ensure we had a wonderful experience. How else do we know the servers and bartenders and cook's names? There were people to greet us as we got there and ready to thank us as we left. Dale didn't bat an eye at splitting the check 8 ways by credit card and Brady didn't get flustered with a ton of drink orders came his way and he got behind; he apologized to the servers and spoke to folks at the bar to provide a status update - not sure what else I needed other than a, "Your drink will be right up in a moment."

My full plate of good stuff

As for the food: it wasn't cheap by any means but it wasn't expensive either since the priciest dish will set you back $14 or $15. I'm not sure why people get hung up on $9 dumplings when they would pay for $15 worth of calamari or $10 for a quesadilla as a starter... You can go to Chinatown for cheaper food but you don't get chorizo or earl gray ricotta in your dumplings or braised pork belly in your ramen washed down by a manhattan dotted with rhubarb.

Like we said, it's new and ironing out the kinks but we had an enjoyable experience. The only reason I wouldn't recommend it is if you will all crowd it too much and I won't be able to get a seat... In that case, please go away and check out the taco cart across the way...

Revel in Asiany Goodness

Want to eat at a restaurant that's probably going to be amazing but want to be so cool that you eat there before everyone else does? Then, when the place becomes incredibly popular and everyone else has to wait two hours to get in, you get to walk by on the street and say, "Oh I've been going to that place for forever. Yeah, their ramen is amazing. Sorry that you'll need to wait a couple of more hours to experience it. Tell Chef Rachel hi for me."

Perhaps that was a little exaggeration, but Revel in Fremont is going to be a hit; it's a casual Asian-fusion comfort food joint with a menu reminiscent of the Momofuku Noodle Bar in New York. (Think East meets West in the best way - homage to the East with incredible Western ingredients here and there). Nick had been following the restaurant's development for a while and as soon as it opened a week ago, he has been clamoring to try it out. One morning, when we were trying to figure out where we wanted to eat for brunch, Nick suggested that we try Revel.

Revel was started by Chefs Rachel Yang and Seif Chrichi of Joule fame.  It's a very Fremont-appropriate urban spin-off of Joule across the street from Kaosamai; it's open with a giant counter by an open kitchen, nondescript from the outside but chic, minimalist and hip on the inside with white walls splashed with local pop art. Nick and I entered through the bar Quoin and weren't even sure it was open at first since we couldn't see into the restaurant area.

The folks working the line were warm and friendly; they greeted us immediately once we were seated at the counter. However, with the exception of Rachel, we could tell that the chefs were still being trained and were still learning the menu. The waitstaff was courteous and accommodating, but hadn't fully explored the menu yet, telling us that it had only been their second day serving brunch.

We later learned that the day before, an excavator outside had struck their water main so they had to stop brunch service until the situation could get fixed by public utilities. They apologized and let us know that technically we were dining on the first full day of brunch service. It's okay. We like being guinea pigs if we get to experience the beginnings of great food.

Their menu was concise but everything sounded lovely: Korean hangover soup with blood pudding, chocolate and kumquat pancakes, eggs, bacon, scallion hash browns and toast. Nick opted for the pork belly kimchi ramen and I had the kitchy shrimp egg foo young with thai basil. He was in love with the ramen. The noodles were housemade, the broth was rich, the pork belly delicious...in fact I'll him discuss the dish himself:

"I've been a noodle slut lately. Maybe it's been the back-back head colds, or just the general dreariness of January in the Northwest, but all I freaking want most days is a big bowl of noodles. I've been making a ton at home, usually dressed down versions of Momofuku's ginger-scallion noodles.

The kimchi ramen with soft egg and pork belly sounded perfect to me this cold Sunday morning. Earthy, elemental, with the right amount of heat and sweetness to pair against the deep savory broth and egg yolk. Loved the three thin slabs of pork belly, falling apart between my chopsticks. And a nice trio of mise garnish: uniform sliced scallion, nori and sliver-thin ginger. I could literally have that every morning for the rest of winter, and be completely content (not to mention, about 20 lbs overweight)."

Nick's "I want to eat this every day" ramen

Egg Foo Young Omelet

My egg foo young was tasty with perfectly cooked prawns and was smothered in a savory oyster-style sauce although I would have liked the eggs to be either a bit more well cooked or creamier and fluffier rather than wet. An arugula salad adorned the omelet to help cut the richness and saltiness of the sauce.  Another perfect addition to this would have been a little pan-seared crispy rice cake and I regret not giving them that feedback. Their lunch and dinner menu seemed delicious and I wish I could have had a smidgin of the food on it. That menu listed amazing things that my friend Skye would cook: korean-style savory pancakes, dumplings and tuna rice bowls. Comforting stuff with yummy ingredients like green onions and shortribs just like mama Skye would make.

Our suggestion?  Try it now but don't hold any grudges against it yet.  It was blatantly obvious that they were still working out the kinks. Everything we experienced including service and food was promising although not yet perfected. But if you wait for the joint to be straightened out a bit, you may have to wait in a long line. Might as well get yourself a cocktail.