Mas to Millers - Latest Comments

Re: Mas

Todd — Wed, 09 May 2012 10:34:02 -0000

I have been to Mas twice and really have nothing good to say about it. The staff is rude and pretentious. The food...more swings and a miss than hits. Even the hits, e.g. bacon wrapped dates, are no brainers. There is nothing creative or even orgasmic about a date wrapped in bacon.

Re: Grass & Grub Pop-up Restaurant: Lions & Lambs

Enclave — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 22:44:21 -0000

Who knew the LA Times reads Mas to Millers? :-) http://www.latimes.com/feature...

Re: Grass & Grub Pop-up Restaurant: Lions & Lambs

Kevinjameson75 — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 01:24:43 -0000

Vive la liberte d'expression!!!! I still believe you should not review restaurants with an official site until you understand cooking!!!! Just my humble opinion!

Re: Grass & Grub Pop-up Restaurant: Lions & Lambs

Jed — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 10:53:41 -0000

We'll have to agree to disagree on a number of those points, Kevin, but I really appreciate your perspective and comments!

Re: Grass & Grub Pop-up Restaurant: Lions & Lambs

Kevin — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 10:50:06 -0000

There is no artistry in cooking...or so little, such as the guy from former El Bulli.

Most of chefs just work on tradition, sometime modernizing it or interpreting it but I was surprised to have found most food pairing at place as the Fat Duck or Ducasse to be taken from old time dish or if unknown to me I could read them back home already described by Escoffier.

Now back on subject....
That you got interested by food from those shows is great but I still believe that they are dangerous and absolutely not flattering for any chef that respect his white jacket.
Many cooking schools have become prosperous surfing on this wave, bringing too many people in the industry that thing they love cooking but do not have the stomach or the integrity to do it correctly....(Pick a look inside the kitchen at Fellini!!or look at what is being served at Commonwealth!!)

Pollan is doing great into a country that have a big problem with food, but he just copied what the French, Spaniard or Italian have done since a long time. But he is wrong about all this "alchemy" stuff....A large percentage of every day or even professional cooks have no idea of what they are doing, just following what they have been told.

Cooking is simple: just a lot of training, good palate, finesse, and some IQ...and a lot of work but certainly nothing to do with a electric guitar.

Re: Grass & Grub Pop-up Restaurant: Lions & Lambs

Jed — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 10:12:10 -0000

I hear you, Kevin. I know that many an artist or professional, of any medium or industry, will agree with you – the creator should stand almost invisibly behind the creation. I know it drives me crazy in my business when I see someone posing and posturing without the substance to back it up (or even if the substance is there).

But I disagree about the value of "pop chefery." Those shows almost singlehandedly inspired me to start cooking for my family, and gave me enormous respect for the average chef. As Michael Pollan said, a kind of alchemy also occurs in the cooking process that makes for great entertainment. It's amazing – to me it's amazing anyway – to see someone take these different ingredients, which can often be quite unappealing in their raw form, add fire and/or water, and deftly transform them into beautiful dishes that appeal to us on deep, primal levels.

So, while it's true that cooking traditionally hasn't been such a performance for mass consumption, and while I hope lots of chefs continue to body forth the values you're promoting, I think there's room for some rock 'n' roll.

Re: Grass & Grub Pop-up Restaurant: Lions & Lambs

Kevin — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:23:47 -0000

Cooking and being a chef has nothing to do with Rock & Roll and Rock Stars...It is just hard work of craftsmanship and Humility.

All those Flashings Bulbs, Top Chef shows and women fawning; are trash pop culture watched by people with no understanding of the craft of cooking.

While any events promoting good food is good and will hopefully raise the level of people's food education; I personally would associate the representation of being a chef to the work of Mme Le Pic, Mr Bras, Keller or Humm which while not tattooed and thankfully not smoking are the real representation of what a chef should be.........Professionalism, humility, finesse.

Mas, Tavola and Palladio from previous visits have been good restaurants with professional cooks and get my patronage and a regular basis.

But for all this so called "kitchen stadium" shows, it only bring people in this profession that have no business to be into....

So the punk, tattooed, smoking "cooks" that you see outside many restaurants in C-ville are a real turn off and a shame. They should probably pick up their cigarettes butts from the ground, wash their hands and get back into their kitchen to learn how to cook properly so we would not have so much bad restaurants in this town.

Re: Bella’s Restaurant, The Interview

Godfather — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 21:21:03 -0000

Speaking as one who grew outside NYC in a town loaded with off-the-boat southern Italian family restaurants, I will say it is absolutely the case that "world class cosmopolitan" C'ville lacks an authentic Italian eatery. It certainly ain't that customer-intolerant mediocrity Vivace (with its Hispanic chefs) and an average cost well above $25. Otherwise, as far as "kidding", Jenny needs to realize that in the 21st century, $25 is quite modest. Perhaps she should stick to foraging for her lettuce at Food Lion.

Re: The Whiskey Jar

James Harrigan — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 19:53:53 -0000

This review seems about right to me. I went for an early dinner last week and the food was fine, not great but enjoyable and a bargain. The service was friendly and competent and the beer and whiskey selection outstanding. We'll be back.

Re: Monsoon Siam

Bethany — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 17:50:28 -0000

I am actually wondering what happened to the old Monsoon. They seem to have new management or owners, and definitely a new chef. I love love loved the old Monsoon and seriously mourn the loss of the best panang curry in town.

Re: Saigon Cafe, a Vegan Review

Lisa @ Just here. Just now. — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:39:17 -0000

I have been wanting to try this place. Thanks for doing a vegan review! I've been a lifelong vegetarian, but I am now leaning into veganism, and it's wonderful to have a good place to add to the list!

Re: Bella’s Restaurant, The Interview

Wahoowa — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 16:59:48 -0000

Anyone remember Faraguggios? Sounds about exactly the same.

Re: Bella’s Restaurant, The Interview

jamesharrigan — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 14:01:06 -0000

Eric, I'm hoping "I am a classically trained French chef" was intended to be tongue in cheek. I agree with your bottom line though - good luck to them.

Re: Bella’s Restaurant, The Interview

Jenny — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 14:00:47 -0000

Ugh, $25 are you kidding me!!! I am a vegetarian and I love Italian food, but I certainly don't eat $25 worth. The portions are too big and the price is too high, I won't be eating there!

Re: Bella’s Restaurant, The Interview

Eric — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 11:03:31 -0000

I was curious about the statement of being a "classically trained French chef." Penn Foster is a distance education program, isn't it? And being a line cook at Applebee's and X-Lounge, while steady work, doesn't seem to qualify as the Culinary Institute of America, Le Cordon Bleu or Johnson and Wales. I don't mean to seem overly critical, but isn't it better to say "I've apprenticed in different restaurants and am looking forward to learning how to cook traditional Italian food" than to boast beyond one's actual resume?

In either case, I wish them all well and hope the restaurant is a success.

Re: Bella’s Restaurant, The Interview

Jed — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 09:45:08 -0000

Yes, a pretty bold claim to be the "only real" Italian restaurant in town! I'm very curious to see how much that will hold up to scrutiny after they open. It'll be at 707 W. Main, right next to where Star Hill was.

Re: Bella’s Restaurant, The Interview

jamesharrigan — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 09:38:39 -0000

A few questions: so Tavola is not a "real" Italian restaurant? Do "real" Italian restaurants serve "family style", or in such enormous portions that you can't eat it all? Where is this restaurant going to be?

Re: Brunch at Brookville

Jed — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 17:24:09 -0000

Recently tried a spectacular new addition to the menu – the Porktopia Sammy. Tenderest pork belly you ever tasted, rillette, arugula, mozzarella, and sriracha, on perfectly buttered crunchy toast. A masterpiece.

Re: Hazelnut Heaven at Blue Moon Diner

Jed — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 11:02:39 -0000

I'm not sure that's really to my credit :-). But it's true, as one Facebook commenter said, that bacon has invaded everything. In all my samplings of sweet dishes punctuated with bacon, I've only had one that really didn't work – a bacon ice cream sundae – but even then it was really more a matter of texture than flavor. The bacon was too grisly and chewy. Should've been rendered down more. If you haven't tried many of the sweet and salty-bacon combos, I recommend starting with Brookville's bacon chocolate chip cookie and working your way up to something like Hazelnut Heaven, though you won't find me arguing with the position that a strip of bacon on its own is superior to any dish that incorporates it...

Re: Hazelnut Heaven at Blue Moon Diner

Kevin Jameson — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 07:42:52 -0000

Let me see: Bacon + Banana + Nutella....That is really gross.

But to your credit I have seen people eating much worst; there is no accounting for taste.

Just not for me.

Re: Hazelnut Heaven at Blue Moon Diner

Jed — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 12:32:48 -0000

Note: The menu says the bread is "French toasted," which the waiter informed us was not actually the case before we ordered, though I think the eggy softness of a light French toasting would be brilliant.

Re: Bashir’s Taverna for Lunch

Jed — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:09:50 -0000

I saw that. Miller's too. (See here: http://goo.gl/j3W8L .) There are things to like at all three, but it's an odd selection.

Re: Bashir’s Taverna for Lunch

Jed — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:03:29 -0000

I have actually developed a habit of going to Bashir's for the lamb sausage with yogurt mint sauce, which is excellent, even though the accompanying salads are almost always drowning in oil. One time they weren't, however, and they did indeed compliment the lamb very well. So we can agree on this point, even if the rest of it – NYT award for that sandwich included – is still baffling to me.

Re: Bashir’s Taverna for Lunch

anyuka — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 09:57:20 -0000

Both Bashirs Taverna and L'Etoile have been recommended by the New York Times as places to eat in Charlottesville January 26 2012 see article on Jefferson and Slavery in Monticello.

Re: Brunch at Brookville

curry — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:37:55 -0000

I went yesterday with my husband and we both hands down both agreed it was the best brunch we'd had ever! He ordered the pancakes which were amazingly fluffy and moist. Also, the coffee is french press is served from a french press and is delicious. It's not the watered-down folger's in a cup you see around town.