Good Morning Vietnam!!!

I can't help but express my excitement to all of you about finding a new girlfriend. Truth be told, good female friends are pretty hard to find and it was by complete chance that me and this chick hit it off. Her name is Chi, she is straight Vietnamese but has lived in DC and then Florida for the past twenty years. She's around 42, skinny and gorgeous, and of course being Asian she also looks like she is about 28-years-old.

Anyways, I had gotten into the topic of food with Chi and she told me she is a huge foodie! So of course I asked all about Vietnamese cuisine, a cuisine I honestly don't know much about. We got to talking about Pho, a traditional Vietnamese dish basically consisting of rare beef cooked in a broth with noodles....from there you can add all sorts of things to it making it unique to you. At least, that was my understanding of it. What I mostly knew about it was that my idol, Anthony Bourdain has on several occasions mentioned that Pho is his favorite dish of all time. I just had to know why!

So Chi invited me to go along with her when she goes up to North Charleston to check out a new Vietnamese restaurant called Pho Bac. It got rave reviews for its Pho and she was anxious to find a place where she could get her home cuisine.

I was beyond excited to go, having never tried Vietnamese food, let alone trying it with a true expert on the stuff.

We got to what looked like a pretty deserted strip mall, not a good sign. The restaurant itself was badly decorated, with deep red walls with black lattis trim accented by sporadic bamboo plants in kitchy potters. Even with all this stacked against this place there were quite a few people getting their Pho fix in this small restaurant, most of them Vietnamese. Always a good sign. If local Vietnamese eat here, its good enough for me.

The menu comes, simple, laminated, in Vietnamese with English translation (also a good sign). When I was in Italy I learned that any menu that had Italian first and English second was usually just okay. Here, facing a menu in all Vietnamese would probably scare me off, so I was thankful for the descriptions of each dish. I mean, who knows what you could end up ordering in a restaurant like that.....dog anyone?

Chi told me to definitely get the Pho, but suggested the all beef one for me while she herself was going to get the House Special that came with meatballs, tendon, tripe, and beef. I guess she thought my delicate white girl stomach wouldn't be interested in what the real Vietnamese eat. She was wrong. We ordered the same thing and she was pretty impressed with my daring.

To start, Chi ordered a jack fruit bubble tea. It was more like a milkshake, sweet and thick and perfect for the hot day outside. I had never had jack fruit before and it was surprisingly mild and sweet with a hint of acidity, sort of like a mango mixed with an orange.

Then the main event arrived. Two huge steaming vats of indistinguishably brown liquid, topped with long strips of rare beef, green onion floating on top like mini life preservers. This thing was huge! I mean, serves two people huge. Put you to bed huge.

Hidden below the depths was a nest of delicate rice noodles, swimming amongst the broth, stomach lining, tendons, and believe it or not, meatballs. Relatively bland at the start, the waitress brought us a plate of goodies: Add-ins to spice up, tang-out, flavor up your dish. Basil, lime wedges, bean sprouts and jalapenos beckoned and Chi and I left no man behind. After we added our flavor boosters, we took to those bowls with generous squirts of Sirriacha, turning the mild-mannered brown liquid into a spicy amber hell-broth. This was like a religious experience. The dish is served naked almost, giving the eater the chance to really pay their respects to it by dousing their broth and noodles in spice, salt, flavor, and more spice. Making this one of the most interactive eating experiences I've had.

Chi wasted no time, digging into her bowl like a pro, teaching me the dance of spoon and chop-stick. Both are needed to attack this beast and I fumbled around with both until I finally got the hang of it. For such a small woman, Chi took down that bowl of goodness like a starving street baby. Finished well before I was.

I finally finished my bowl, almost sad that it was all over. My favorite part of the whole dish had to be those meatballs. So completely different from Italian style meatballs that I am so familiar with. These were denser, like solid hockey puck when frozen kind of dense. I can't pinpoint the flavors in them, but I'm pretty sure they were pork....then again, maybe the greatness of them is that they were so foreign to me. Maybe I don't want to know what's in those magical meatballs.

Some things are just best when left to the experts.

Loren Cordain - Origins and Evolution of the Western Diet: Health Implic...

Juanita Greenbergs Happy Hour Review

There are few things I love more than a cold beer and a good taco. Recently, this budget conscious girl has been on the hunt for the best places for happy hour in the Mount Pleasant area and came across a new favorite, Juanita Greenberg's.I had already been introduced to Juanita’s many times, for a while I referred to it as “that Jewish taco place” due to the ethnically confused name. Situated next to Andolini’s Pizza on Coleman Boulevard, it is hard to miss the bright red building and turquoise shutters. It’s a festive place that like me, doesn’t take itself too seriously and always has a good crowd and friendly staff. 

View from Coleman Blvd

A few weeks ago after a long day at the beach, my fiancé, a friend and I decided to hit up Juanita’s for a happy hour margarita, just the thing to cool us down after a hot day in the sun. That is when we found out about their incredible happy hour: $2 domestics, $3 margaritas, and $1.50 traditional tacos.

Their tacos are out of this world good. We took the bartenders suggestion and got the corn tortillas, two steak and one chicken taco. Her suggestion was spot on as these tacos brought our taste buds right back to our November trip to Mexico. They were perfectly simple, just like authentic street tacos should be. The steak was grilled perfectly and was accompanied by red onion, sprigs of cilantro and melted cheese served with a lime wedge.

Happy Hour Margarita!!

The margaritas were good, fairly standard but perfect on that hot afternoon. The beer selection is superb for a Mexican restaurant, complete with a large array of imported beers including my personal favorite, Sol (similar to a corona but much tastier, served with a lime).The tacos were the true standouts, cheap and delicious. All said and done we all left more than fully satisfied and each of our tabs came out to under $20. So if you are in the mood for great tacos, a fun atmosphere and cold Mexican beers, head to Juanita Greenbergs on Coleman Blvd any day of the week.  

 www.juanitagreenbergs.com/

 410 W Coleman Blvd  Mount Pleasant, SC 29464

(843) 884-0130

Spring in Charleston

Charleston, with all its innate beauty and fun-loving spirit has finally crept into my soul and settled into a permanent place in my heart. I can say for sure that I will be here for the rest of my days, as a home base to return to after many an adventure (god and bank accounts willing).

Growing up in New York had me wanting for more, a strange concept seeing as I grew up within arms reach of arguably the greatest city in the world. However what was missing for me was peace and calm. Charleston and its' surrounding areas has a different energy, a way of life that is in tune with the natural world around it. It is almost as if the people here hum with the same pulsing force as the earth.

The seasons change and the people change with it. For a chef there is no greater gift than seasonality, it allows us to try new things, to constantly change what we keep in our fridges and pantries. A variable that challenges us to be aware of the ground from which we grow our food.

Mexico and Mole

Mexico was every bit the culinary adventure that I had imagined. In the days leading up to the trip I had semi-pornographic mental images of pulled pork tacos dripping in succulent salty fat, zesty fish ceviches, and mind-blowingly complex and spicy nuanced mole sauces.

So different from the Italian food that I know so intimately well, Mexico offered a peek into the wild. Big, bold flavors with no rules or regulations, barely a knife and fork in sight. Was it possible for me to love such a pedestrian cuisine? What I found as I explored the culinary landscape of the Yucatan was that although this is a food "of the people", it is in no way pedestrian. The flavors are well-balanced and layered with the same precision and attention to detail one might expect to find in a high-end city bistro.

The first meal in Mexico was a sign of what was to come, a delicious meal from a hole-in-the wall, made with love and by a family. This little restaurant was located right outside of the bed and breakfast we were staying in Tulum called La Selva Mariposa. The family that ran the place had relocated from Mexico City and brought with them some of their regional favorites. The menu was entirely in Spanish and we had a tough time placing even the simplest of orders, but whatever misgivings we had initially were completely forgotten once our food came out. I ordered the enchiladas mole, my favorite Mexican dish of all time.

Mole is the generic term for sauce, but the mole that I am talking about is red mole. A beautiful symphony of earthy and other-worldly flavors that harken from a tradition much older than all of us gringos. Mole is the delicate balance of two very fundamental Mexican flavors, chilli and chocolate...and about 20 other ingredients. It is very easy to mess up a mole, if it's too sweet, too bitter, too chocolatey, or not chocolatey enough. In culinary circles, the ability to pull off an authentic and properly balanced mole is a technique that takes years of study and a great deal of trial and error, something not often achieved and rarely perfected. Once I tasted the mole at this restaurant I knew that this was a recipe that that family had passed down over generations, something tried and true, done the same way every time. It was incredible. Topped with a little crema and queso fresco, the enchiladas were really only a vessel manifested for the sole purpose to transfer the mole from plate, to mouth.

The first of many culinary adventures on this, my first trip to Mexico, this was a huge success. I was shown, right off the bat, that the food of Mexico is complex, flavorful, and unique. I am now a true lover of Mexican cuisine and will forever be searching for a mole that can rival that from a tiny little restaurant in Tulum.

Turn For The Better

Life has taken a turn in a not-so-unexpected way. After several months of indentured servitude as the pantry chef at Trattoria Lucca I have quit my post in search of bigger and better things. It is completely unlike me to quit a job, I usually don't have the guts to do so. However after a break from the kitchen and a much needed vacation to Mexico with Matt and the parents Pontius I came to the decision that my future does not lie in the restaurant world. I no longer yearn for culinary greatness the way I did in school, I don't want my own restaurant. My goal now is to have balance in my life. To have a successful career that revolves around food and a loving family that I actually get to see.

Matt has a client named Merrit who is a private chef and is looking to expand his business and plans to meet me this week to discuss possible employment. I need to work and I need to learn more. I feel like I am heading in the right direction but I am a little scared.

The Dinner of the Critics

I had my first experience with the Charleston culinary elite this past week.


My usual day off is on Wednesday, however this past week I was told on Tuesday night that all of the back-of-house staff were required to be at the restaurant by 9am Wednesday morning in order to prepare for the Critics Dinner. The Critics Dinner is a four course culinary spectacle in which five chefs are selected by the top food critics of Charleston in order to delight and indulge the rich foodie patrons of the low country for the reasonable price of $300 a person.
In a town this size, reputation means everything and who you know means just as much as how good your food is. Therefore the usual suspects were in attendance: Sean Brock of Husk and McCrady's was the highlight for most diners, offering gastronomic wonders such as fish fume foam and flounder "head cheese"Jacques Larson of Wild Olive totting along a cacophany of black truffles.
Mike Lotta of the highly acclaimed Fig restaurant, and my Chef, Chef Ken Vedrinsky of Trattoria Lucca. I accompanied my chef and leader, Chef Ken Vedrinsky and we put out what I and many others considered the best course of the night, a thrice-smoked deckle steak with a peanut potato and grilled lobster salad on a puree of parmeggiano reggiano fonduta.There were so many talented chefs at this event I felt more than honored to be able to meet all of them and more importantly to meet their sous and line chefs. After all, the line chefs of the world are ones that really keep things running. I found a great connection with a guy named Mick, the line chef that accompanied Chef Jacques Lawrence from Wild Olive to the event. They prepared a fantastic salad of barley, rabbit confit, and black truffle. the combination was earthy, seductive and aromatically intoxicating. The rabbit was unbelievably tender and it was by far my favorite of the night besides Chef Ken's deckle, of course.The whole event took place on Fort sumpter, a mysterious and desolate island off the coast of the Charleston harbor that reminds us all of the turbulent past of the south and of America as a united nation. The location itself was less than beautiful, a brick facade filled in with black concrete in order to create the illusion of a fully established space. The night went off without a hitch and everyone praised us all for the unbelievable meal that was put before them. For my part, I felt undeserving of any praise , for after all I am only a lowly prep cook and student of masters.
The most amazing thing that came out of the night was the opportunity to get to know some of the biggest names in the Charleston food scene. I got to meet and talk with Sean Brock, who is obviously the wonder boy of low-country food and who is likely to be up there with David Chang and Wiley D. in the next few years. It was a perfect place to let people know who I am and that I am a force in the world of food, little package, pony-tail and all.