I just downloaded a book by Gail Simmons called, “Speaking With My Mouth Full.” Simmons is a
regular judge on Top Chef. I originally
downloaded the sample onto my Kindle.
Part of the sample had to do with the season when the final two chefs
were Hung and Dale. The judges debated for
something close to six hours on who the winner would be based on the final meal
they were served. The meal Dale cooked
apparently had higher highs than Hung’s, but also had lower lows. Hung was consistently very good. So the question came down to this: Would you rather eat a meal that was exciting
and had big hits, but also had big misses, or would you rather eat a meal that
was consistently good? For my money, I
would rather eat the consistently good meal.
Unfortunately, it was the other type of meal Cathy and I had
at Eastern Standard in Kenmore Square.
Cathy and I arrived about ½ hour early for our
reservation. Part of the reason was we
wanted to try a drink at their bar. They
have an extensive bar menu. Cathy got a Cosmo;
I went with a Haverna, which had pineapple averna and Pimm’s. Both drinks were delicious and strong. The bartenders were very knowledgeable and answered
various questions we had.
After our drinks, we went and got our table. Our waitress came over and knew that I was
gluten free. She seemed pretty
knowledgeable about what I could have and not have.
We were given a different menu than what they had on line,
which meant that they try to use fresh, local ingredients. Good start.
We both decided to have a three-course meal.
I started my meal with some Oysters. These were all local, off of the coast of
Massachusetts. For those who have never
tried an oyster, it is hard to describe what an oyster should taste like, other
than they should taste a little like the ocean.
Kind of salty, the texture should be firm…not slimy but a little
slippery. They can be an acquired taste,
that’s for sure, and it took me a while, but I now love them. These oysters were among the best I have had
on the east coast.
The second course was Moules Provencal. For those of you who are less pretentious, I
had mussels in a tomato, fennel and white wine sauce. I received a generous helping of mussels and
the sauce was perfectly seasoned, though I wished there was a little more of
it.
So far, so very good.
Unfortunately, entrée’s came next.
I got the Herb Roasted Chicken, served with new potatoes,
asparagus, mushrooms, and a truffle jus.
Let me tell you: Asparagus should
not be the star of this meal.
I got a chicken breast, a leg and a thigh, with the skin
on. The breast seemed to be cooked
right. The skin looked like it was just
crispy enough. Unfortunately, the skin
was soggy, and there was no flavor to the meat at all. It had not been seasoned properly. When you season chicken with the skin on, it should
be seasoned both on and under the skin.
This had neither. Still, I ate my
way through it, since the sauce added enough flavor to make it ok. However, then came the leg and thigh.
If you are a fan of Anne Burrell – or any chef on any
cooking show for that matter – one of the things that they always try to make
you understand is that brown food tastes good.
Look at the picture.
The skin is
not browned at all. Again, absolutely no
flavor to the chicken. It was like they
ran out of salt and pepper in the kitchen.
Cathy had the same issues with her meal.
After having an appetizer of ceviche that was delicious, and a very
tasty salad, her pasta dish was bland. Needless
to say, it was a very disappointing way to end our meal.
The service was very good.
The bill wasn’t all that bad.
$137 before tip for two cocktails, a glass of wine, and that essentially
was four appetizers and two entrée’s.
Still, if I am going to pay $70 a head before tip, I expect to have my entrée
seasoned properly.
I would go back and give Eastern Standard another try
sometime. I have to believe that, based
on how good the appetizers were, the chef may have had an off night. As Alton Brown says, “Sometimes good chefs
have bad days.” Still, I hope when we go next time, we find out that the meal we just had was the exception, rather than the standard for Eastern Standard.
Speaking of Anne Burell, her background in education and culinary expertise is very good---and she is more than qualified to be an "expert". The unfortunate thing is that she participates in shows on the Food Network that do little to display her real talents...and instead, she is portrayed as a crazy-haired female version of Guy Fieri. She's way above that...but I guess a girl's gotta make a living!
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