Al di Là Trattoria

When we visited our good friends and their kids in Park Slope, Brooklyn, we decided to stay in the neighborhood for dinner. I have always wanted to try Al di Là Trattoria in Park Slope since I saw Chef Anna Klinger featured on Mark Bittman's book and TV show, as well as the glowing 2-star review from The New York Times. Al di Là, which means "beyond", doesn't take reservations except for a few tables for parties of 6 or more, hence our two families made one for the first seating at the early bird hour of 5:45pm on a Saturday.

I arrived at the restaurant first by myself five minutes before our reservation. When I walked pass the front door, I found the restaurant to be almost fully occupied already, except for a table for two and our reserved table for 8. The host greeted me and asked if my party is all present. I said no and the host refused to seat me at the table and even suggested that I wait outside in the heat. Frankly, I didn't see why I couldn't be seated at the reserved and empty table. I understand the policy of not seating incomplete parties later in the evening as there is no reservation at the restaurant and often a long wait for the tables. However, it didn't make sense when my reservation was the first seating of the night. It is puzzling why the restaurant cannot be more hospitable to someone who came a long way and made the reservation three weeks in advance.

The rest of my party arrived shortly after the reserved time and the host finally agreed to seat us. We were a party of four adults and four kids. My friends who live in Park Slope told me that it is a super child-friendly neighborhood and the restaurants all welcome kids. Given that two of the kids in our party are still small and typically sit and eat better in high chairs, we asked the waiter for a couple of them. To my surprise, the restaurant only has one high chair and it was already being used by another kid. Maybe the restaurant is not as child-friendly as my friends purported it to be.

For my kids I ordered a Tagliatelle al Ragù which was so-so. For myself, I started with the Trippa alla Toscana that was slimy but too spicy. This was followed by the Tortelli di Piselli, homemade ravioli filled with spring peas, butter, mint, and Pecorino. The pasta was mushy and the dish was a bit under seasoned and tasted a bit bland. I didn't finish either of my two dishes and we all skipped dessert and went home.

Al di Là was a disappointment. It certainly did not go beyond the expectations, rather quite the opposite. Maybe the restaurant had an off-night or perhaps the standards have slipped after so many years; the restaurant opened in 1988. Given that Al di Là does not take reservations for small parties and the food is only so-so, the restaurant only makes sense for people who live in the neighborhood. In comparison, a few days before our meal at Al di Là, we ate at Osteria Morini in SoHo. The food there was simply better, for instance, the Tagliatelle al Ragù was more satisfying both in terms of flavor and texture and it was only $1.50 more. The restaurant in SoHo not only takes reservations but even have more high chairs. In short, I cannot see a reason why I will ever go back to Al di Là.

New York Eats 2011

Recently we spent a few weeks back in New York City. Similar to last year, one of the main activities I did was to eat. With the limited amount of time, I went to a few of my favorites: Jean Georges, Daniel, and Per Se; revisited Del Posto and Eleven Madison Park and found both restaurants have improved; ventured into the outer boroughs with a great lunch at M.Wells in Queens and a disappointing dinner at al di la in Brooklyn; tried a few new places: Michael White's Ai Fiori and Osteria Morini, Marcus Samuelsson's Red Rooster, Jonathan Benno's Lincoln Ristorante, Mario Batali's Eataly, Danny Meyer's Maialino and Untitled, and Angelo Sosa's Social Eatz.

Below are the places I went:

View New York Eats 2011 in a larger map

Danny and Company

A good friend of mine wanted to try Danny and Company and asked me to join him. The restaurant is located in an alley between Si Wei Road and Da An Road. The public space in the restaurant is essentially divided into two parts, table seating on the inside and teppanyaki bar up front. My friend insisted that we book seats at the bar because he heard the food and the experience are better.

For dinner at the teppanyaki bar there are only three seven-course tasting menus with prices at NT$3,000, NT$4,000, and NT$4,800. I went with the middle one since I liked the items on that menu.

The restaurant started us off with an amuse bouche and one warm bread on the side. Then came the seared crab cake followed by seafood consomme. I would have preferred some acidity with the crab cake. Nevertheless all four items were fine, but nothing to really write home about. Seared foie gras was next on the menu and this was the first dish cooked at the teppanyaki bar. The foie was cooked well, but the presentation was a bit too fussy. I didn't see the need for the chef to drizzle olive oil on top with a small squeeze bottle. Also, the caramelized apple below the foie was a little too sweet. It would have also been better if the plate was warm.

The fish course was a poached small fillet of snapper. Instead of using a pot, the chef used a transparent oven bag tied up with a string. I wasn't sure if the oven bag helps with the cooking at all; it seemed more like a gimmick. Furthermore, I wondered about the safety of using the oven bag on the teppan. The chef claimed the oven bag can withstand a heat of over 200-degree Celsius, but it seemed to me the teppan was probably over 200 degrees already. Maybe the chef placed the bag on a cooler part of the teppan, but frankly I wasn't all that comfortable. Nevertheless, the fish was well cooked. The sauce on the other hand was a bit too sweet and not terribly interesting.  

After the fish we were served what was essentially a Caprese salad. This was a bit too simple and almost in a home cook kind of way. The flavors were only so-so and it was strange in terms of the sequence in the tasting menu.

The final savory course was a duo of beef, top sirloin cap and wagyu New York Strip, cooked on the teppan. Chef Danny personally cooked the steaks for us; this was actually the only dish that he cooked. He has often been referred by many blogs and publications in Taiwan as the "godfather of steak." I must say, Chef Danny did not disappoint as the steaks were well cooked to the desired temperature. Unlike the other hot courses, the plates that the steaks were served on were actually warm. I only wish the portions of the steaks were bigger. As I finished the steaks I also asked myself why bother with the other items on the tasting menu? We might as well just order the steak next time.

A plate of grilled vegetables were served on the side after we finished the steaks. They seemed like an after thought, and were bland and not very good; I didn't finish them.

I read on various blogs that some customers get an extra course of pasta or rice after the meat course. We didn't. I suppose Chef Danny wasn't that fond of us; then again, he only saw us for one course out of the whole meal. Frankly it was just as well since eating pasta after the meat course would have been awkward anyway. Moreover, we were actually quite full.

For dessert I ordered a molten chocolate cake, which was nicely executed with good flavors, but not terribly exciting.

While we were seated at the teppanyaki bar, only three of the seven items were cooked at the bar in front of us. The rest were done in the back kitchen. Therefore, I am not sure how much difference there really is between sitting at the bar or at the table.

The dishes at Danny and Company were fine. The ingredients were good and were well executed. However they were a bit too simple and too expensive. Let's consider the cost. The menu we had was NT$4000 + 10% service charge. NT$4400 is the equivalent of a US$122 menu in NYC (assuming a 15% tip plus sales tax). For US$122 one can have the 7-course tasting menu (US$115) at Adour by Alain Ducasse or the 4-course prix fixe menu (US$115) at the three-Michelin star Le Bernardin. Danny and Company's food is not at the level of Ducasse or Eric Ripert, yet Danny charges like them.

The saving grace for the overpriced meal was the cost of the wine. For our dinner, I ordered a bottle of 2004 Château Montrose. The restaurant charges NT$3,600, which is around 1.5 times the retail price. Besides the price, the wine was also very good.

Overall it was an enjoyable experience, however, I will only go back if someone else is paying.

Interview with Ralph Lerner

Recently I was informed that Ralph Lerner died on May 7, 2011 after a battle with cancer. I was very sad to learn the news. Ralph was the Dean of the School of Architecture at Princeton University when I was there as an undergraduate. While Ralph was a practicing architect, I knew him mostly as a great educator. He was always very supportive of my projects in reviews. Eleven years ago, I interviewed Ralph for Dialogue magazine on the School at Princeton. I have reformatted the interview and posted it online as a page in my blog.

135°F Beef Tenderloin

After experimenting with fish, it was time to try cooking beef sous vide. As Thomas Keller said, "Cooking meat may represent the pinnacle of sous vide technique; it's a category where sous vide really soars". With this first try I thought I'd use a more tender cut of meat that requires less cooking time. I found a recipe by Jean Georges Vongerichten on Food & Wine magazine. The recipe calls for the beef to be marinated for two hours prior to cooking. Afterwards I sealed the meat in individual bags and warmed up the water bath.

The cooking temperature was set at 135°F, or around 57°C and the cooking time was 45 minutes.

The results were extraordinary. Unlike the traditional technique of roasting where often times the exterior of the meat is well done while the center is rare, with sous vide the entire piece of meat can be cooked to the precise temperature. Since we still want a seared exterior from high heat, after taking the meat out of the bag, it was pan fried very quickly in a sauté pan. Following a short rest the meat was served and it was very tender and juicy.

There is no doubt that sous vide is an excellent way to cook meat. The only question now is whether I will go back to the traditional way of using high heat to roast meat. The short answer is probably not.

Taipei MRT Signage

The MRT in Taipei is one of the great things about the city. The subway is clean, fast and efficient. All the stations have public restrooms, which is unimaginable for subway stations in New York. However, the signage system for the restrooms in Taipei's subway station is ridiculous and hideous.

Below is a picture of a restroom in a MRT station. For now, let's leave aside the design of the translucent screen and the potted plants, and just focus on the signs. For this little men's restroom, there is a total of 5 signs on the walls, plus one hanging off the ceiling not too far from where I took the picture. While Taiwan probably has the highest percentage of people with myopia, there is absolutely no need to plaster every surface with signs. Furthermore, why bother designing the walls when the signage contractor will "decorate" them anyway?

122°F Salmon

Reading about sous vide on the internet, it seems the easiest thing to cook is salmon. Therefore, that's what I decided to do. I used a cooking temperature of 122°F (50°C), based on a recipe I found. Some people such as Heston Blumenthal, Joan Roca, and Nathan Myhrvold use lower temperatures. I didn't because I was afraid my wife and kids will find the fish to be too rare.

I always like to get my two kids to be involved with the cooking. Often times, when the kids help make the food, they tend to want to eat it. With sous vide, since the temperature is low and there is no fire, the kids can actually be more involved: press the button to seal the bag, put the fish in the bag, press to seal and vacuum the bag, and drop the bag into the tub with warm water.

The salmon took around 12 minutes to cook in the water bath.

For the salmon I simply used some salt and pepper. Since I don't have a chamber vacuum sealer, I didn't want to add any liquid, such as olive oil, which would require the additional step of freezing the oil first.

The result of the salmon cooked sous vide was very good. I used to pan fry, steam, bake, and poach salmon fillet. With sous vide, the result is definitely different. First of all, the color of the cooked fillet looked raw. However, the fish was definitely cooked evenly throughout, which produced a soft and succulent texture. The texture is actually closer to smoked salmon. The flavor was very good and certainly more intense.

My two-year old happily ate the fish. I am not sure if it is because she helped with the cooking or because she actually likes salmon. Nevertheless, I cannot help but wonder if she gets accustomed to eating salmon cooked precisely by sous vide, will the texture and taste produced become her standard.

Modernist Cuisine

I cannot remember when I first heard about Nathan Myhrvold's Modernist Cuisine, but since late last year I have been casually reading Modernist Cuisine's blog. I finally decided to pre-order the books on Amazon.com in the middle of February; one of the few times I purchased an expensive item without seeing it first in person. The books arrived in Taipei on April 11 via UPS.



Typically when I order books from Amazon.com to be delivered to Taipei, I don't have to pay import duty, as the costs of the books are usually small. With Modernist Cuisine, I was actually charged with a little tax, hence the orange C.O.D. sticker on the box in the above image. UPS said the shipment was too big and it didn't help the list price of the book was shown clearly on the box.

While the weight of the books is over 40 pounds, they were packaged extremely well for the shipment. With several layers of boxes, the books arrived in pristine conditions.

There are a total of six books with over two thousand pages. So far I have managed to just flipped through all of them and read a few parts.

Anyone interested should look through Modernist Cuisine's very informative website. I won't go into the details about the books except to say they are just stunning.



I will enjoy this set of books for years to come. For now, I cannot help but just marvel at this extraordinary achievement.

Arbitrage: Jean Paul Hevin Macarons

Jean Paul Hevin recently opened a boutique in Taipei. I was quite excited about it until I read on the news that a single macaron is priced at NT$138. I don't know who came up with the pricing, but that is just ridiculous.

A macaron at the Jean Paul Hevin boutique in Hong Kong costs less than NT$75 (HK$20). Below is a box of six macarons I recently purchased at the IFC branch, and they were delicious.

There is no reason the price in Taipei needs to be almost double the price in Hong Kong. I am tired of shops coming to Taipei and treating the people here like suckers.