Yesterday was Valentine's Day... filled with love, chocolate, and (for some) fantastic meals...
And after reading a post about Romantic Dinners at Eat This Fort Worth, I felt obligated to test out one of the restaurants on my fiance, as I was sure she wouldn't mind.
So I made reservations at 8:45 PM at Bistro Louise, a highly recommended French/Italian/Spanish Bistro...
I'll give you a quick review and then break down each course... Overall the food was fantastic. Definitely something that I had questioned I'd taste in Fort Worth. The mix of styles in the limited Valentine's day menu offered very very very bold flavors. The service was less than par as I believe they oversold their "by reservation" seats, not counting on people wanting to dine for longer hours.
Now onto the details...
The first course was a sweet-onion tart topped with red-wine onions and a shooter of warm zucchini and basil soup. The tart tasted as advertised, topped with confectioners sugar. The zucchini and basil shooter came in a tall shot glass, served warm. It was one of the best tasting, simple things we had the whole night.
The second course found us with Hawaiian Kona Kampachi Shashimi with Thai Guacamole and another dish composing of prosciutto wrapped plums with Asian greens, goat cheese, and a champagne vinaigrette. Both choices we definitely wished we had more of. The shashimi was incredibly thin sliced, not much meat, but the Thai guac (guac + wasabi was what I gathered) and red chile sauce definitely gave the whole dish a zing that was welcomed. There needed to be more Kona Kampachi as you could barely see it on your plate in the low lighting. On the other hand, the grilled plums wrapped in prosciutto was a very warm and welcoming taste. I'm a *huge* fan of goat cheese and the vinaigrette gave a nice bite to the salad. Both excellent dishes.
The third course was a tough decision, with the selections not lending to a clear winner. Becca shot for the saffron pappardelle with veal ragout, grilled quail and a breast of guinea hen. While I chose the lemon sole with tempura lobster, chanterelle sauce and lobster mashed potatoes. The pappardelle with ragout and game birds had a very heavy sage taste. Earthy, homey, and borderline spicey. Probably my favorite of the two main course dishes. The lemon sole had a buttery, lobster taste. Given the lobster mashed potatoes and tempura lobster bite, I figured the sauce would be a buttery delite, but not necessarily a lobster tasted all the way around. I'm not quite sure where the "lemon" came in with the sole, but it was still a rich and savory dish. The plating was a little rushed, as when you're serving sauces, you can easily observe the mistakes. Not a huge issue, but I like the sauces on the dish and not on the edges of the plate.
For the desert course, it was hard to pass up the Bistro Louise's strawberry craquelin, as strawberries are my favorite fruit, but there was something about the other choice that led me it's direction. Profiteroles with coffee and pistachio ice creams, port-cherry sauce and hot-fudge sauce. While waiting for this last section, we ordered coffee and waited... and waited... and waited until our cups were filled with a bitter tasting burnt coffee. The saving grace was the pistachio ice cream, though small in amount, it was a nice sweet treat.
And finally, the service. One word: oversold. We had reservations at 8:45PM and upon arrival, we waited another half hour before we were seated. So much for "reservations". The woman at the bar was a hostess, not a bartender as who know's where the *real* bartender was. She served us a "vintage" 2008 Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. The meals were oddly paced as the first two took some time to come out while the last dishes, including the desert were push into our faces just after removing our previous course plates. There were several people *after* us who were waiting for their table for well over a half hour. Not to mention I was told on the phone, by Louise herself, that I had a special table secluded in a corner... which apparently means a small, two person table near a post along the bus boy route... It felt as if they over sold their reservations for the night... and that with the crowded tables and fumbling service staff, it could have been more special.
So overall... the $261.20 price tag (including wine and tip) was slightly hefty, but well worth it. It's nice to be able to treat my fiance to a wonderful Valentine's Day dinner, where we get to dress up and fine dine.
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Editor's note: My thanks to Jake for the post.
He can be found at: http://www.thoughtstoblog.com/
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Abraham Lincoln
Today is President's Day, the day we honor our nation's Chief Executive. The modern American p
resident is an odd combination of prime minister, preacher, and king. We don't like to admit the king part but, our president is treated more royally than any European PM.
One year ago, I devoted the President's Day post to George Washington. Today, since it is the celebration of the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth, I will say a few words about my second favorite President.
In passing, I should say that George Washington receives top honors on this day because his presence at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 was considered a tacit approval of the Convention's ambitious and revolutionary plans. His absence would have made the necessary perseverance to Union improbable, and the compromises necessary for a ratification impossible. And the unanimous support for his presidency raises him to a different level.
So much has been said about Abraham Lincoln that one wonders how to separate the truth from the fiction. A search on Amazon's books for "Abraham Lincoln" returns 62,000 results, exceeded only by George Washington with 90,000. But Lincoln's books are more polemic and less biographical, his every decision has been evaluated and interpreted by every imaginable scholastic discipline, including, theologians, historians and business consultants, and some not so scholarly, like psycho-therapists and astrologers. Everyone wants to claim him as one of their own.
Abe Lincoln was, as they say, a common man for uncommon times. His first childhood home, the log cabin, was barely big enough for the family to sleep in. He received little formal education, and worked as a rail splitter and store clerk before teaching himself the law by reading Blackstone's Commentary on Law. His favorite Bible to read was the Authorized Version or "King James" version from which he learned proper English and probably and his classic writing style. Not all presidents come from the privileged families, even today. Reagan certainly did not, and Hope, Arkansas isn't exactly the Hamptons. Our current President has as unlikely a childhood as can be imagined in Presidential preparation. Americans naturally like the scrapper, the outsider, and the untainted, which, if I may digress for a moment, is one of the hopeful American qualities, that is, the recognition of personal accomplishment as a virtue to be admired and rewarded.
But Abraham Lincoln had as physically difficult a childhood, as any before or after him.
Some of my friends are not as enthusiastic about Abraham Lincoln as I am, mostly because of his expansion of executive power and privilege during the Civil War, or as they like to say, the War Between the States. Maybe so. I am sympathetic to some of the ideals of the South, their sense of place, their distrust of the northern Unitarian, and Calvinist utilitarian -- but I am a Federalist and think it offers us the greatest hope of liberty for all. If the south had been victorious in the civil war, the despicable practice of slavery would have continued at least another 25 years, and the union would have been severed in at least into two parts, and probably 3 or 4.
One man had the courage to face and challenge slavery as an acceptable cultural norm and he was our 16th President. If he overstepped the authority granted him by the Constitution, so be it. The ends justified the means. It is easy to speak in purely philosophical terms when you are the owner, not the slave.
They say that Mr. Lincoln was not a happy man, at least in the modern sense, of the word. He possessed a melancholic temperament and suffered many personal trials including the death of his young son. He was criticized by all sides of the slavery debate, even within his own administration, he was mocked for gawky features, ignored for his lack of formal education, and he rose above all of it by excelling in a few virtues, like courage, patience, and long-suffering.
Maybe he was our first "modern" president who "opened the door" for the establishment of an ideal we all knew was right, that ALL men are created equal and possessed certain inalienable rights. Presidents, in times of crisis, do not need all the things that we think they need -- but they do need the Guiding Light of Truth, and the courage to follow it.
Read the Gettysburg address today.
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/
-----------------------------------------------------------
Interesting Facts on Abraham Lincoln
http://www.abrahamlincoln200.org/lincolns-life.
.
resident is an odd combination of prime minister, preacher, and king. We don't like to admit the king part but, our president is treated more royally than any European PM.One year ago, I devoted the President's Day post to George Washington. Today, since it is the celebration of the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth, I will say a few words about my second favorite President.
In passing, I should say that George Washington receives top honors on this day because his presence at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 was considered a tacit approval of the Convention's ambitious and revolutionary plans. His absence would have made the necessary perseverance to Union improbable, and the compromises necessary for a ratification impossible. And the unanimous support for his presidency raises him to a different level.
So much has been said about Abraham Lincoln that one wonders how to separate the truth from the fiction. A search on Amazon's books for "Abraham Lincoln" returns 62,000 results, exceeded only by George Washington with 90,000. But Lincoln's books are more polemic and less biographical, his every decision has been evaluated and interpreted by every imaginable scholastic discipline, including, theologians, historians and business consultants, and some not so scholarly, like psycho-therapists and astrologers. Everyone wants to claim him as one of their own.
Abe Lincoln was, as they say, a common man for uncommon times. His first childhood home, the log cabin, was barely big enough for the family to sleep in. He received little formal education, and worked as a rail splitter and store clerk before teaching himself the law by reading Blackstone's Commentary on Law. His favorite Bible to read was the Authorized Version or "King James" version from which he learned proper English and probably and his classic writing style. Not all presidents come from the privileged families, even today. Reagan certainly did not, and Hope, Arkansas isn't exactly the Hamptons. Our current President has as unlikely a childhood as can be imagined in Presidential preparation. Americans naturally like the scrapper, the outsider, and the untainted, which, if I may digress for a moment, is one of the hopeful American qualities, that is, the recognition of personal accomplishment as a virtue to be admired and rewarded.
But Abraham Lincoln had as physically difficult a childhood, as any before or after him.
Some of my friends are not as enthusiastic about Abraham Lincoln as I am, mostly because of his expansion of executive power and privilege during the Civil War, or as they like to say, the War Between the States. Maybe so. I am sympathetic to some of the ideals of the South, their sense of place, their distrust of the northern Unitarian, and Calvinist utilitarian -- but I am a Federalist and think it offers us the greatest hope of liberty for all. If the south had been victorious in the civil war, the despicable practice of slavery would have continued at least another 25 years, and the union would have been severed in at least into two parts, and probably 3 or 4.
One man had the courage to face and challenge slavery as an acceptable cultural norm and he was our 16th President. If he overstepped the authority granted him by the Constitution, so be it. The ends justified the means. It is easy to speak in purely philosophical terms when you are the owner, not the slave.
They say that Mr. Lincoln was not a happy man, at least in the modern sense, of the word. He possessed a melancholic temperament and suffered many personal trials including the death of his young son. He was criticized by all sides of the slavery debate, even within his own administration, he was mocked for gawky features, ignored for his lack of formal education, and he rose above all of it by excelling in a few virtues, like courage, patience, and long-suffering.
Maybe he was our first "modern" president who "opened the door" for the establishment of an ideal we all knew was right, that ALL men are created equal and possessed certain inalienable rights. Presidents, in times of crisis, do not need all the things that we think they need -- but they do need the Guiding Light of Truth, and the courage to follow it.
Read the Gettysburg address today.
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/
-----------------------------------------------------------
Interesting Facts on Abraham Lincoln
- Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809.
- Lincoln had a dog named Fido.
- Lincoln was 6’4”, the tallest president.
- Lincoln was born in Kentucky.
- Lincoln was the first President born outside of the thirteen colonies.
http://www.abrahamlincoln200.org/lincolns-life.
.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
The Healing of the Blind of JerichoNicolas Poussin — 1650
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Gospel Reading from Saint Mark's Gospel
A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said,
"If you wish, you can make me clean."
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched him, and said to him,
"I do will it. Be made clean."
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean
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Mass times in the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth: www.fwdioc.org
Fort Worth's Catholic College: www.cstm.edu
Picture from Art and the Bible: www.artbible.info/
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