[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid: September 17, 2012]
Three grand feasts around this time in September ten years ago: Aquagrill, Congee Village and Craft.
But no before I had spent a couple of evenings at home, over braised veal, with carrots and pearl onions in a velouté sauce, with Rabbit Ridge cabernet to keep it company.
Somehow managed some key lime pie to finish, though. Zind Humbrecht Pinot d'Alsace '00 with the fish.
Another evening of home cooking, trying to reproduce the great fritto misto dish (with demi-glace on the side) I always remembered fondly from the Pearl Alley Bistro in Santa Cruz. Some Montgomery cheddar to follow, and a bottle of Abadía Retuerta. Partridge two ways too: crispy with a grape/champagne sauce, and slow-cooked in red wine, with a bottle of '96 Moulin-du-Bourg.Then off to Congee Village for an extended meal in a private room, arranged by eGullet experts. This amusement park of a restaurant, with its endless menu, can really cook when it wants to. Among the dishes tried:
Congee with dried scallops
Congee with squid
Abalone with broccoli
Goose intestines with asparagus
Spicy jellyfish
Chicken feet
Beef tongue salad
Ducks' tongues
Mixed meat with noodles
Whole baked fish
Steak with beans
Roast pgieons
Fried bread with crème anglaisCould I ever eat again? Yes, apparently I could show up at Craft a couple of days later and share:
Duck terrine, brioche toast
Foie gras, pickled lemons
Daube of veal cheeks
Grilled quail
Carrots, swiss chard, and those awful oily potatoes they used to serve
A Saint Joseph 1998 with the meal; a glass of Huxerebe Trockenbeerenauslese instead of dessert.
I think reading James Villas's autobiography, Between Bites, must have made me hungry.
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