City Restaurant Week: Domaine Hudson

By PETER BOTHUM

As a kid I was the pickiest eater on the planet. As an adult it's almost impossible to disappoint me as a diner.

In fact, these days it's pretty easy to please both my wife - my lunch date Wednesday - and myself.

Our time is crunched like a used coffee creamer by two jobs and two little girls. Suffice it to say, we don't often go to classy joints like Domaine Hudson Wine Bar and Eatery, so the only thing that could happen was Dining Nirvana.

And it did.

Even on Hump Day, smack in the middle of City Restaurant Week, Domaine Hudson was on its A-game, serving up the culinary equivalent of a Michael Jordan crossover or a Prince guitar solo at this $15, two-course prix fixe lunch.

The baked brie and arugula starter salad was like therapy for this indecisive diner. It didn't matter how you paired its ingredients - any mixture of the pears, walnuts, baked brie (slightly crusty on the outside, warm and pliable on the inside) or the roasted shallot vinaigrette got the taste buds in shape for the edible brilliance about to unfold. I wanted to go with something classy, like the sauteed rainbow trout over puy lentils, but I followed my stomach's hunger for meat over to the 3-ounce spice rubbed flat iron steak and romaine hearts.

The spice rub smacked with all the flavor you needed, but gently brushing some of the melt-in-your-mouth, rare-cooked meat into into the Roquefort vinaigrette or red onion provided a powerful, unexpected kick.

My wife reported that her seared scallop tagliatelle boasted just the right amount of doneness, and the accompanying shallot cream over semolina pasta was muscular without coming off too heavy.

The dessert, however, was heavenly. At our waiter's recommendation we went with the Polenta Poundcake, which was topped with fresh pineapple, whipped cream and coconut.

But wait just a second. Back to that polenta, whose cornmeal-batter goodness - dense, but still airy - could have stood on its own. By adding a little warmth on the inside, and allowing a little of that pineapple juice to get soaked up in the cake, and coating it with that rich cream and a hint of coconut taste for good measure, and Domaine Hudson made the dessert soar.

Mission accomplished. We have reached Dining Nirvana.

City Restaurant Week: Washington Street Ale House

By VICTOR GRETO

The Washington Street Ale House is all about booze.

It's an ale house, after all, with lots of beer on tap and an interior ambience enriched by a fine brick and duct-work interior that reminds one of early 20th-century Drunk.

But during Restaurant Week, it offered $15 flat-fee lunches that were both small and problematic tasting. The choices for appetizers varied, from "pale ale cured salmon sliders" -- rubbery and tasteless salmon liberally slathered with sour cream, between two small pancakes (?) -- and an andouille (spelled "andoiulle") sausage corndog, three of which were presented on a lettuce bed of grilled mango.

The fine deep-fried dogs were speared by - the only term for the length of these is "javelin-size" - skewers and rested on a tasty sauce.The entrees included one that a friend unfortunately had to return. This was a "smoked sea salt seared tuna with wasabi lobster tater tots," a great name for a painfully salty, dried out tuna lump, with tots that were all tater and no lobster.

When I bit the tuna, I had a flashback to my former life as an ancient Roman slave working the salt mines. However, my dish, the grilled tequila chicken with Caribbean salsa, was very good. The salsa tasted spicy and fresh, and the chicken was moist and tender. It sat on a bed of great-tasting yellow rice.Alas, the portion was as large as palm of my hand. Although I have a decent-sized guy's hand, I also have a decent-sized hunger, and it wasn't enough.

So, when I asked for a dessert menu, the bartender (we sat near the bar because I'm a guy and didn't make reservations) making the rounds actually looked annoyed with me, holding tight to the check she seemed anxious to present.

In a couple of minutes, she came back around with a small, leather notebook, which she left on the table, and which I quickly opened to find nothing inside. That was it. If I was alone, I would have ordered a Blue Moon draft -- hold the orange slice, please -- and stared at the brick wall and duct work, getting into how both these features metaphorically represented my place in the universe.

Contact Victor Greto at 324-2832 or vgreto@delawareonline.com.

City Restaurant Week: Deep Blue

By BETSY PRICE

The City Restaurant Week lunches are generous and yummy at Deep Blue.

Glance around the slammed dining room, and you could see lots of people happy with their two-course lunches for $15 each.

The majority seemed to order the crab cake sandwich or lemon glazed Scottish salmon, and you could hear, "Oh, it's good," repeated over and over.
Appetizers included Downtown Seafood Chowder, Crispy Fried Calamari, Mixed Field Greens and the Deep Blue BLT Salad, an updated version of the Ladies-who-lunch Lettuce Wedge.

Diners could also choose the crab cake sandwich, salmon, Ricotta Gnocchi, California Chicken Salad or a Grilled Reuben.

The soups and salads were huge, practically a meal in themselves. the BLT Salad was surrounded by red and yellow pear small tomatoes.

The salmon, served over toasted orzo, roasted vegetables with a lemon butter sauce, was a nice mix of flavors and textures. The fat crabcake was loaded with lump crab meat and served on a potato bread roll with tomato, red onion, avocado and cole slaw with a spicy tartar sauce on the side. It came with fries.

Only a mild quibble -- service was a bit slow for a working lunch, but then again we were there at the height of the lunch hour and there were a lot of tables with six, eight and more diners.

City Restaurant Week: CW Harborside (Conley Ward)

By RYAN CORMIER

After hearing that Conley Ward's Steakhouse would change its name to C.W. Harborside next month, I wasn't sure what to expect when I walked in Tuesday night, dutifully arriving on time for my 7 p.m. reservation.

The changeover isn't set to take place until mid-May, but with promises of a new menu and lower prices, would I be walking into a restaurant in the middle of a messy transition?

My friend and I were quickly handed menus and the waitress announced it was "City Restaurant Week," guiding us to the special $35 prix-fixe menu in the back. We soon had a basket of fresh, hot crusty rolls and our drinks on the table.

All was well.

I started with a tasty mixed green salad - a small pile of baby lettuces, tomatoes, cucumber, croutons and onion. My friend went with the heartier iceberg wedge: a thick chunk of iceberg with a homemade blue cheese dressing and smoked bacon bits. (There was barely a drop of dressing left on his plate when he was done, so there were clearly no problems with the salad.)

For my entree, I decided on a non-steak dish. I was served a large portion of crab and gnocchi drenched in asiago blush sauce and topped with cheese shavings.It was rich. It was filling. And it had plenty of crab -- no skimping here. Sure, there were a few pieces of crab shell here and there, which can be shocking while eating a soft dish like gnocchi, but a few stray shell bits are expected.

About three-quarters through, I seriously thought about having the rest wrapped up to take home. And for a big guy, that doesn't happen very often. But I soldiered on and polished it off, making for a long evening of feeling too-full.

My friend went for what should be Conley Ward's strong suit: filet medallions and shrimp topped with an orange teriyaki glaze and a side of potatoes au gratin. The potatoes were soon topped with a big spoonful of butter thanks to my friend who I had thought was on a diet. (I guess not!)

His two medium rare medallions were cooked to perfection -- a bright red middle -- and the pair of healthy-sized shrimp were a perfect compliment. It was exactly the quality of meat and shrimp you would expect from good steakhouse. Towards the end of the meal, a second Bacardi and diet Coke showed up next to my plate. I had ordered the first one when we arrived, but this drink came out of nowhere.

The waitress must have read the confusion on my face."Didn't you order this?" she asked.

"No," I told her.

"Well, it's yours now," she said, realizing her mistake.

She even gave me a pity laugh when I asked her if she was trying to get me drunk. (When our tab came, neither of the mixed drinks were on the check, which came to $95 after tip.)

I rarely eat dessert, so I had little room left for my Kentucky butter cake that was soon staring back at me. It was a tower of hot, buttery cake beside a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a dollop of whipped cream. It sat in a puddle of strawberry syrup, next to a few sliced strawberries and topped with a vanilla wafer.

It was too much to pass up. Needless to say, it was possibly the best part of the entire meal and I paid for it the rest of the night, even though left about a quarter of it on the table when I left. My friend went with the Bailey's Cheesecake and once again, nary a crumb was left. (He later sent me a text message on the way to his work noting that he was driving with his pants unbuttoned thanks to the three-course monster meal he had just socked away.)

Earlier in the evening as we began to eat our entrees, a manager stopped by to making sure everything was to our liking. And considering the sweeping upcoming changes at the restaurant, my concerns about possible problems with the food or service turned out to be unfounded.

From the looks of things, all is well at Conley Ward's as they prepare for a new era as C.W. Harborside, which officially begins May 15.

Contact Ryan Cormier at 324-2863 or rcormier@delawareonline.com. Read his pop culture blog at www.delawareonline.com/pulpculture.

City Restaurant Week: Hotel du Pont (dinner)

Staff reviews of City Restaurant Week reviews are coming in. In addition to myself and Eric Ruth, we had staffers go out and experience the restaurants just as "regular" diners do.

Check back by lunchtime for Ryan Cormier's take on CW Harborside (formerly Conley Ward), and later today for other reports on Domaine Hudson wine bar & eatery, and Deep Blue Bar & Grill.

Gary Soulsman dined at the Green Room last night. (Yes, I know, Eric and I already offered our opinions on the Hotel duPont's City Restaurant Week lunch - see below - but when the Green Room, a bastion of Wilmington dining, offers discounts, we thought it was important to have someone there to check it out.

I think you'll find Gary's review very eye-opening as well as an interesting read.

By GARY SOULSMAN

It's silly to contemplate dining in the Green Room feeling less then your biggest adult self.

This vast chandeliered expanse represents grandeur from a time - 1913 - when the Du Pont Co. opened a showcase hotel. And the Green Room is thick with old warm charm while radiating empire and power.

It's like stepping into a fastidious men's club from an Edith Wharton novel and, if you're lucky enough to capture one of the high-backed chairs at the edges of the room, you've come home to a quiet refuge of privilege where movie stars and captain of industry have felt at ease.

The bothersome world is so far away, as are the other pristine tables.

On Tuesday night I entered the oak-lined walls with one of my most adult friends hoping for a meal that matched the setting's luster. So it is with sadness that I report feeling letdown by our excursion into Restaurant Week.

The regular menu has choices such pan-seared foie gras and grilled filet of beef. But there was none of that among the $35 prix-fixe offerings.

With three choices for our starter, main course and dessert, I began with beef carpaccio, a paper-thin slice of raw beef that came with capers, small slices of cheese and a lovely white sauce that made the dish. But why did the slices of bread seem tough?

My friend had a trio of greens with a fine vinaigrette (he substituted for the blue cheese dressing thanks to a delightfully helpful server).

But, as we got to talking about meals that had sent us into the stratosphere, we realized we were flying low.

Next came the main course and my friend pronounced the crab-and-shrimp mousse cakes ho-hum. I passed over the oven-roasted chicken breast in favor of the grilled pork loin. The meat was flavorful but tough, the sauce a friendly addition.

I grudingly cleaned my plate.

Dessert was the best dish my friend ordered - almond cheesecake with a cherry sauce. I lit into the vanilla-bean creme brulee. Normally it's one of my favorite desserts and I was eager.

However, I left half of it. I might think my friend and I were having an off night but we enjoyed each other's company and before we left we stopped by another table for a chat.

Seated at a corner power table were two couples. And at least two of the diners had sampled the Green Room last year for Restaurant Week. They'd been very pleased.

This year, there was a general feeling of letdown hovering over their table, though one the diners praised the crab bisque.

Still, the table reminded me of young people who'd helplessly watched a nogoodnik pop their balloons. It also made us wonder: Why would a restaurant take part in Restaurant Week this way?

Granted, a three-course meal for $35 was meant to be a bargain. And we escaped with a check of $110. But who would come back willing to pay more, if you left feeling disappointed?

Could this really be good for business? Is this why the room seemed a third full? Oh well, I can still love the grandeur of the decor....can't I?

Contact Gary Soulsman at 324-2893 or gsoulsman@delawareonline.com.

Say cheese, please.

News Journal photographer Fred Comegys hit the streets today for City Restaurant Week.

He popped into Cafe Mezzanotte and clicked chef/owner Sergio Pellegrino chatting with customers Laura DiSabatino (left) and Donna Pollock.

At Deep Blue Bar & Grill - across the street - Comegys snapped owner Dan Butler (below) as he table hopped with former Attorney General Charlie Oberly (left) and Bill Rhodunda

City Restaurant Week: The Exchange

Day two of City Restaurant Week coverage takes us to The Exchange on Market Street. (Pix to the left is by News Journal photographer Robert Craig.)

While I've always liked the hip atmosphere of The Exchange, the food, during past visits, has left me lukewarm.

No more. Today's lunch was, actually, quite wonderful. (And, dare I say, even better than the one I experienced yesterday at the Hotel du Pont's Green Room?)

No one's more surprised than me.

First course was a choice of one of the three: Potato leek soup with chive oil, Waldorf salad with celery, walnuts, apples and dijon dressing or beef carpaccio, shaved parmesan, arugula and truffle oil.

My pal Joanne and I selected waldorf salad and the beef carpaccio. Waldorf could be a ho-hum dish, but this was beautifully plated - the waldorf was packed into a mold for a "tall" food presentation with dottings of tangy dijon dressing surrounding the very tasty salad. Same goes for the arugula salad, a tangle of lightly dressed greens serve next to the ruby red slices of raw beef

But better still was Joanne's choice of lasagna Bolognese with short rib, ricotta & fresh mozzarella. It was creamy, meaty and luscious without stuffed pasta's usual heaviness.

I almost selected the gravlax platter of house cured North Atlantic salmon but since I had salmon yesterday at the Green Room - I went with the Moules Frittes or Mussels in white wine and garlic sauce served with French fries and herb garlic mayonnaise.

The mussels came to the table in large cast-iron pot and were plump and sweet. (Though it would have been nice to have a little fork to pick the meat from the shells and perhaps a napkin or cloth to remove the warm, and heavy, lid from the cast-iron pot .) French fries had the perfect crispiness and who could resist dunking them in the creamy garlicky mayonnaise? (Not me.)

I'm so happy to see that The Exchange stepped up to the plate for City Restaurant Week and offered some imaginative, thoughtful and delicious food that didn't seem skimpy or an after-thought. (Make a reservation - there were seats available today at lunch.)

My lunch today makes me want to return soon for dinner and see what the kitchen can do at night.

And isn't that what this week's promotion is all about?

Bravo.

- Patricia Talorico

More reviews coming today

Stay tuned readers... we have more reviews coming from City Restaurant Week.

We'll post some this afternoon as well as lunch and dinner reviews the rest of the week.

Anyone have any experiences they like to share??

City Restaurant Week: Hotel du Pont (lunch)

PATRICIA TALORICO'S REVIEW:

They were ready for us - or someone has a good eye.

Eric and I dined today at the Hotel du Pont's Green Room and while I made the reservation under a different name, we weren't exactly incognito. (Read Eric's review below.)

In fact, after the first course, the dining room manager came over and asked if the dish met the critics standard. Chef Patrick D'Amico later poked his head out of the kitchen and came over to our table.

Oh well. So much for anonymity in tiny, little old Delaware Maybe Eric and I should have worn wigs like former New York Times critic Ruth Reichl used to do. (But sorry, that's just, well, bizarre. And don't you think it would have been even weirder for us to don wigs and pretend to be other people when the staff spotted us immediately?)

Last year, we had a disappointing experience at the Green Room: They didn't give us Restaurant Week menus until we asked and the service was slower than Ryan Howard's base running.

But it was a completely different experience this year - the Restaurant Week menu is now opposite the regular menu. And the service was much improved, though it does go at what I like to call a fine-dining "Green Room" snail's pace. (If you're on a one-hour lunch plan, let your server know.) But take your time if you can; this is your chance to enjoy one of the most beautiful dining rooms in the state, if not the country.

Rainy days and Mondays may have kept some of the Restaurant Week dining crowd away. The Green Room was less than half full. I hope it picks up later this week, because this was a nice meal. And anytime you can get a $15 two-course lunch at the Green Room is a bargain.

Eric had the cold champagne and cantaloupe soup and I opted for the greens with candied pecans and an apple-balsamic vinaigrette. Soup was very good - it has touches of mint and infusion of cardamom and tiny confetti of fresh cantaloupe. On a cold, rainy day, I would have preferred something hot, but D'Amico told us he planned the menu when the temps were hitting 70 and above. (Like last week.) Maybe it's me, but chilled fruit soups remind me of smoothies. I usually have my fill after three or four spoonfuls.

On the other hand, the dressing on the salad was delicious. D'Amico roasted apples and blended them along with aged balsamic and olive oil for the sweet dressing that paired beautifully with the candied pecans. It was simple and light.

For main lunch courses, you get a choice of a grilled chicken breast sandwich with melted white sharp cheddar, guacamole and spicy chili relish - along with French fries and coleslaw. The second choice is pan-seared salmon with sweet onion puree, roasted fingerling potatoes, pink grapefruit and cilantro salad.

The chicken is definitely a "guy" kind of meal and the fish is the "girl" meal. (Guess what I ordered?) Yep, salmon. My one quibble - my salmon was slightly overcooked. But again, both are fine meals. Drinks aren't included - coffee was $3 and iced tea was $3. The Hotel also gives you a basket of warm rolls - made in house - and a plate of their famous almond flavored coconut macaroons for dessert.

Total cost: $36 (We added a generous tip on top of that.)


ERIC RUTH'S REVIEW:

Eating at the Green Room during restaurant week is like getting invited to your friend's brother's wedding reception in the Hamptons -- for a moment, even we working-class slugs get to act like royalty.

For the price of admission (a paltry $15), there may be no cheaper ticket to the loftier echelons of Wilmington culture, making it all the more perplexing why more people don't leap at the chance.

On this drizzly and gray Monday, just a few tables were filled, though I'm more inclined to blame typically meager marketing efforts than meteorological conditions.

A shame, considering it's the perfect chance to see why the Green Room continues to astound me, both for its regal nature and its occasional mindless lapse.

Chef Patrick D'Amico's lunchtime offerings for Restaurant Week are thoroughly pleasing, if occasionally shy on the kind of upscale refinement we associate with the GR -- the simple mesclun salad benefitted from a fruity, aptly balanced apple-and-balsamic dressing, but cried out for a few more titillating details.

Chilled fruit soup deftly balanced soft sweetness of cantaloupe against champagne, bracing the fruit softly against a background of cardamom and mint.

Such coolly fruit-forward dishes will suit hotter days far better, and maybe warmer weather will also thaw out the Green Room's glacially slow service a bit. Still, if I have to cool my heals waiting for lunch, there's no better setting for just sitting, especially when patience is rewarded by an elegant (and somewhat overcooked) plate of roasted salmon with a subtly rich beurre blanc.

It's a dish with far more elitist credentials than the chicken breast sandwich D'Amico has crafted, but maybe a little less excitement as well -- chicken's the kind of humble character that benefits from sassy treatment, and here D'Amico gives it his all, offsetting the slow burn of pepper relish against creamy coolness of avocado.

It's messy, it's drippy, it's thoroughly un-Green Room -- and it's completely delicious. Who needs fancy, when $15 buys so much fun?

City Restaurant Week - reviews coming soon

Today is the kick-off to City Restaurant Week - 10 downtown and Riverfront eateries are offering $15 two-course lunches and $35 three course dinners. (Beverages and tips not included.) To see menus and participating restaurants go to www.cityrestaurantweek.com

Eric and I are checking out a restaurant today at lunch.

Look for our reviews here later today.

And we're sending News Journal staffers out to participating eateries to pick up forks and share their experiences.

We also want to hear about where you've been and what the lunch/dinner was like.

Comment, comment, comment.

Reader mail

Another story today on City Restaurant Week - this one is our 55 Hours cover story.

We take a look at Ameritage Bistro, the new restaurant at the corner of Ninth and Orange streets in Wilmington. (It was formerly Brandywine Brewing Co.)

I'm hearing really good reports about the food. Just one little tweak, according to an restaurant industry person - who knows his stuff: while he really enjoyed the food, he thought that the market in the front was kind of jarring in a restaurant with such nice interior.

"They should think about moving that," he said.

Everyone has an opinion.....

Click on the Restaurant Week story - it also includes menu highlights and some dining news such Conley Ward Steakhouse is now CW Harborplace. (New name, new menu, lower prices.)

Also, visit Second Helpings EVERY DAY next week - we are BLANKETING City Restaurant Week, starting Monday and will have short reviews/recaps written by our staff from all 10 participating restaurants. We're chewing then we're chatting.

OK, on to Reader Mail.....

QUESTION: The old Taco Bell on Kirkwood Highway near Red Mill Rd. has been repainted & has a new sign, "Philippine Bread House", or something like that. Any info on this place? Thanks, Suzy.

ANSWER: Suzy, I've heard about this for some time, but last time I checked they still weren't open. I'm make a trip out there today or this weekend and report back.

Could Pilipino be the next up and coming cuisine?

City Restaurant Week

So if you haven't read the story today, then maybe you don't know that Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant is no longer a part of City Restaurant Week.

Significant? Worthy of a front page story?

I think so - though I don't make the call on what to put on the front page.

Here's the thing: Iron Hill is one of Wilmington's largest and most popular restaurants. And for the eatery to bow out of a program that supposedly attracts at least 15,000 diners is telling.

This is certainly clear - when you get a bunch of strong-willed restaurateurs together you're going to get a lot of opinions. And you know what they say about too many cooks in the kitchen.....

I understand why organizers want to bring visiblity to downtown and Riverfront restaurants, and there are GREAT places to eat there, but I still don't quite get why the invitation hasn't been spread out to other city eateries, such as Moro.

Hey, Rehoboth's Restaurant Week which begins May 4 usually has more than 20 eateries participating. City Restaurant Week has 10.

Moro owner Michael DiBianca says he would certainly consider it - if asked. And he hasn't been. Getting a discount meal at Moro is certainly a bargain - just as a $35 three-course meal is at the Hotel du Pont's Green Room, which is the state's and East Coast's, most beautiful dining room.

What do you think?

Top Chef recap

Anyone who can make tofu tastes good, in fact, taste wonderful, deserves to win a "Top Chef" elimination round.

So kudos to Dale.

Here is the always entertaining Ted Allen's take on last night's episode.

Domaine Hudson back to one chef

Robert Lhulier has left Domaine Hudson wine bar & eatery. (That's Lhulier in a photo from his now closed restaurant The Chef's Table in Old New Castle.)

Jason Barrowcliff continues to run the kitchen as its sole executive chef.

"We initially hired Robert last November to help us expand our service, which we have
successfully accomplished," said owner Tom Hudson.

"We appreciate Robert's guidance and creativity and know he will be successful lands."

According to a press release, Lhulier and Hudson mutually decided to end the arrangement this month.

New "Dinner: Impossible" host

Robert Irvine got the boot as host of "Dinner: Impossible."

Now, according to a story from the Associated Press, one of the Food Network's Iron Chefs is taking his spot behind the stove.

Ohio chef Michael Symon now becomes the guru of all things supposedly culinarily impossible. (The series challenges its chef to prepare meals under crazy conditions.)

Symon won the network's The Next Iron Chef competition in 2007. He appears on its Iron Chef America series.

Irvine, the host for four seasons, left last month following revelations that he had exaggerated details of resume.

Symon will begin taping 10 new episodes this week. They will begin airing this summer. Also new to the show will be a one-hour format.

By the way, Irvine DID cook at a recent Harry's Savoy Grill charity dinner. He told some guests that he'll have a new TV program on another station soon.

Given Irvine's ability to stretch the truth, well, let's just say, we'll believe it when we see it.

Meals from the Masters

The Meals on Wheels fund-raising brunch at Bank of America this morning was an amazing culinary experience. (And it should be for $175 a ticket!)

Actor Kevin Dobson - or as someone called him "the guy from Knots Landing" or "Kojak", depending on your age - who was appearing in the DuPont Theatre production of "Twelve Angry Men" was sipping a drink and chatting in one room near the atrium. His face looked so familiar to me, but I kept thinking he was a liquor salesman I once met. It reminds me of when I once started talking to a guy at a gala I was attending in New York. I thought he went to UD with me - turns out he was once a cast member on "The Real World."

Every year, it seems, the chefs turn the volume even higher than the year before. To evoke a "Spinal Tap" moment, this year's volume was cranked to 11.

One of my favorite dishes - just for the sheer audacity and taste sensation - was a crazy combination from Joseba Jimenez de Jimenez. The Seattle chef created a bombom of foie graswith crispy rice, licorice and Nantes carrot cotton. Basically this was a nub of creamy, foie gras on a stick, coated in something that tasted like Pop Rocks and then with a swirl of cotton candy and a dusting of dried carrots.

Really, REALLY weird and wonderful.

You put the whole bite in your mouth and it was like firecrackers to the palate. Too exotic or just flat out weird for you? Well, Joseba had a line of people waiting to try it.....I want another one now.

The Washington chefs had a very strong showing - Tom Douglas's crab foo young was another crowd favorite - mine too! He flew the Dungeness crab in from Seattle. (NJ features reporter Shruti Mathur did an incredible job helping flip crab cakes - atta girl, Shruti! - cooking sure is some hot and hard work and you made us proud.) - and I adored the Wagyu beef tongue tonnato from Holly Smith from Cafe Juanita in Kirkland, Wash. It's the one cut that can taste you back but Smith made it melt-in- your-mouth tender. Pooh-pooh to you if you weren't brave enough to try it.

Dan Butler's folks offered a truly luscious wild boar tortelloni, the Hotel du Pont's Tom Hannum and Pat D'Amico were on their game as usual with a braised veal cheeks Milanaise with truffled risotto , micro arugula and drizzles of balsamic and the homemade lamb salami from the guys from Osteria/Vetri (two of my favorite Philly eats places) was another highlight.

I chatted for a few minutes with Tre Wilcox, former "Top Chef" contestant. He made a beautiful and delicious wild king salmon with a smooth and creamy fennel puree, along with ramps and morels.

Wilcox, who is now a private chef and wore a black T-shirt that said "Chef" just in case you didn't know who he was, says he wanted to make a very seasonal dish - hence the ramps and morels.

He also said he wanted a dish that would "appeal to the ladies." Really. Those were his words. Then he said something about how some of the dishes from the other chefs may not have been keeping in line with a spring theme like he was doing.

For a moment, I felt like saying, "Um, Tre, you're not on 'Top Chef' any longer. This isn't a contest. You don't have to pack your knives and go."

821 IS CLOSED

Huge blow to the downtown Wilmington restaurant community as well as a major bummer.

Just received from an email from Nate Garyantes, one of the owners, and the very talented chef, of 821 in downtown Wilmington.

The Market Street restaurant "has closed its doors for service....An economy on the brink of recession, rising operating costs, and a difficult city location are all reasons for the owners to close the restaurant," he wrote.

"We are particularly sorry to have to close right before Meals from the Masters and Restaurant Week, both events that we have always thoroughly enjoyed being a part of. We are extremely grateful to all of our patrons for our three and a half successful years, and are honored to have received the recognition that we have." 

Nate Garyantes (in the photo at last year's Meals from the Masters event at the Bank of America building in Wilmington) and co-owner Alysha Garyantes bought the eatery from former owner Tobias Lawry in 2004. 

Nate wrote that he is continuing to pursue other opportunities as a chef and restaurant consultant.

Let's hope so.

Nate, good luck and let us know where you land. 

Reader mail

It's been a while, but it's back - the Return of Reader Mail.

You ask. We answer. On Fridays. (But, heck, I'm early today.) Keep the letters coming....

Here's what's in the mailbag:

TURN DOWN THE VOLUME

Patricia and Eric,

Recently the Washington Post decided to add noise ratings to their dining reviews: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2008/04/04/AR2008040402735.html.

I would LOVE if you all would do this too, or at least include some critique of how noisy a restaurant is at peak times. My family and I LOVE Jasmine, especially for celebratory or other special family dinners. However, for the 10 or 12 of us that there are we have to reserve their back room because we cannot hear each other in the main dining rooms.

When we were thinking of where to host a birthday dinner for one family member this was a real concern: Harry's Seafood, Jasmine (in the main dining room), Potstickers, and Mikimotos were all considered generally too noisy.

Letting us know how loud a restaurant is, with or without noise meters (as the Washington Post is doing) would be great!
-Rebecca

ANSWER: Rebecca, I often wonder if I need a hearing aid when I go out to dine. Maybe it's the cranky, old, hard-of-hearing lady inside me, but I often feel myself straining to hear someone in some restaurants. I know the Philadelphia Inquirer's restaurant critic Craig LaBan brings along some kind of device that measures noise when he goes on reviews.

I'll talk to the Big Cheeses here at The News Journal and see what they think.

Readers, what do you say? Is it too loud in some restaurants??

NEW MARKET DOWNTOWN?

Hi Patricia,

I just saw a sign in the window of the old Corner Market that says Lapp's Market is coming soon.

Do you have any further info?

David Mathe

Hi, David. I don't know what's up. I tried calling Corner Market when they closed and left several messages, but never heard back. But I will check it out the new sign and let you, and readers, know ASAP. Thanks for the heads-up.

Top Chef recap

Go Bears - go home Ryan.

Even if you're a metrosexual - as Ryan gleefully admitted last night on "Top Chef" - and you have absolutely no interest in sports, the task last night was to make food that people could enjoy at a Chicago Bears tailgate.

So this California bonehead makes bread salad with chicken and poached pears for dessert.

That's a fumble. But I think I know the reason why Ryan went home and not sloppy Mark who had a penalty flag thrown for dipping a spoon into his soup, tasting it and then using the same spoon - without washing it! - to serve the judges. (Man, Colicchio you were brave to eat that soup! Talk about taking one for the team. )

Ryan just stunk of elitism and a very off-putting I'm-not-a-sports-guy, but I'll-show-you-slack-jawed-football-fans-how-to- eat kind of attitude.

Forget ribs (like Dale) or pork and potatoes (like Stephanie) or burgers (Richards), this guy BELIEVES poached pears and chevre are what football fans want to eat. That or he simply doesn't care. (He's really lucky he didn't pull that at an Eagles tailgate. Boo Birds can get really ugly.)

Ryan, this is the Planet Earth. Have you never watched a Budweiser commercial?

And what was up with judge Gail - again - dissing someone for using rosemary in a dish? Rosemary is a beautiful, aromatic herb and Stephanie used it in a pork dish, which is a natural pairing. Weird.

I dunno I'm having less enthusiasm for this season and these cheftestants.

Don't have any favorites or anyone to root for. (And I still want to knock Spike's hat off his arrogant head. OR punch a hole through the top of it with my fist and put it back on his head. I think I need to do some yoga exercises.)

Seafood and Venice

Had a meeting today with some folks from St. Anthony's Italian Festival. It made me long for Italy. Sauteed some beautiful sea scallops and had a glass of Soave. Simple, fresh seafood almost always transports me back to Venice, which I visited (again) during my 3-week European jaunt last October.

I love Venice. This is a romantic view from the Grand Canal. (The Santa Maria della Salute Church is in scaffolding.) I didn't take this photo while sitting in a gondola - are you kidding?? a trip in one of those long skinny boats is more than $150 and there was no way I was spending that kind of money on a boat trip that's essentially for tourists.

No, I'll take the much more economical vaporetto any day. (Sorry, but all my weak American dollars always go toward a good meal and wine - or maybe a great Italian opera. And dinner and the La Fenice opera theater in Venice certainly ain't cheap.)

New Thai restaurant

Just noticed the sign for the new Thai restaurant in Pike Creek Shopping Center - Soybean Asian Grille.

Haven't yet checked out the menu/food. But I will soon.

Phone number is 636-0800. It's open 11 to 3 p.m. and 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. Mon.-Thurs.; 11 to 3 p.m. and 4:30 to 10:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat.; and closed Sunday.

Anyone been there yet?

821 temporarily closed

Hi everyone,

I'm back after a scary health emergency with a family member, who is now on the mend. Thanks for the kind emails/comments.

Just tried to call 821 restaurant in Wilmington after I noticed that they're no longer listed as one of the participating eateries in the upcoming City Restaurant Week 2008 - April 28 through May 3.

Hmmmm.....What's up with that??

Phone message says the eatery is temporarily closed "due to unexpected emergency repairs. We're not sure when they will be finished."

Stay tuned.

I'll be back soon

Hey Second Helpings readers,

I had promised to be back today and I planned to have lots of updates - but then a scary family health emergency suddenly changed things.

It's been the kind of day where you hope for the best as you struggle with cold fear and try not to show it, while somehow managing to adopt the strongest, most positive attitude you can have for someone you love dearly.

I'm exhausted and my stomach is in knots. I think about the only thing I can think about eating right now is something comforting....like chocolate pudding. I don't even care that it's sugar-free chocolate fudge.

I hope to be back to regular blogging later in the week. Please keep checking back. I haven't abandoned you - just need to direct my attention somewhere else for a couple of days.

Thai New Year feast and new restaurants

Hey gang,

I won't be around next week so here's some food news to chew on until I return April 14.

The Thai New Year, known as Songkran, is celebrated every year from April 13 to 15.

"Water wars" are often a part of the festivities. Water ceremonies are a tradition meant as a symbol of luck to bring rain for the spring and summer crops

"We play with water because Thailand is so hot," said Sung Falke, owner of New Castle's Tasti Thai restaurant, which will be holding a Thai New Year celebration on April 13. "I'd like to do it [in Delaware] but it's still cold here."

Falke is planning a special New Year feast - albeit without the water tossing. The banquet will feature many varieties of Thai food including grilled fish and chicken satay, from 12:30 p.m. to about 2 or 3 p.m.

Tickets purchased in advance are $15. At the door, the cost is $17; or $12 for university students with an I.D. and $10 for children 10 and younger. Call 322-1306 for more information.

The Tasti Thai eatery in the Community Plaza Shopping Center, off Del. 273 and Airport Road, celebrates its two-year anniversary this May. It’s open daily for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and for dinner from 5 to 9:30 p.m.

NEW DOWNTOWN EATS

Armitage Bistro, a new downtown Wilmington restaurant at 900 Orange St., recently began welcoming customers.

The bistro, which had been the home of the former Brandywine Brewing Co., is owned Michael Hynansky and his partner/general manager Henry Dawson. It includes a market offering sandwiches, salads, DiBruno Brothers cheeses and pastries from Miel Patisserie and Hockessin's Liz Marden.

Executive Chef Sean Holland, formerly Wilmington's Moro and the Farmhouse Restaurant in Avondale, Pa., is creating such menu items as Chilean sea bass over a citrus-fennel-onion salad with black truffle vinaigrette and Parisienne gnocchi with lobster, brie cheese and roasted garlic.

Prices range from $6.50 to $22.The bistro is open for dine-in service from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Saturday. The market serves foods and beverages from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday. Call 427-2300 or visit http://www.ameritagebistro.com/.

POP OPEN A BOTTLE AT A NEW CHADDS FORD BISTRO

Bistro on the Brandywine is Wilmington restaurateur Dan Butler's new eatery in Chadds Ford, Pa.

The 70-table "French-leaning" BYOB, housed in a former antiques store off U.S. 1 and Pa. 100, sits next to Butler's Brandywine Prime restaurant.

The restaurant kitchen, headed by Deep Blue alum Seth Harvey, offers stone hearth baked gourmet pizzas and dishes such roasted skate wing, salade Nicoise, moules frites and coq au vin.

Diners can bring their own bottles (corkage fee is $5), though the bistro will have an abbreviated wine and beer list.

Longtime Toscana manager Paul Bouchard is the managing partner of the Bistro and it's on-site "Bistro to Go" coffee shop. It's open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Call (610) 388-8089 or visit http://www.bistroonthebrandywine.com/.

In other news, Brandywine Prime now has new chef, Danny Marcantuno, banging pots and pans. Marcantuno was the former executive sous chef at Philadelphia's Brasserie Perrier.

Crab cakes and Reader Mail (UPDATE)

I don't know about you, but I rarely order crab cakes at a restaurant. When I do, I'm often disappointed. That was the basis of today's Dish column.

I love crabs and hate to see a restaurant kitchen take this sweet meat of the sea and turn it into a leaden lump or a mealy mess. To think a crab gave up its life for a poorly produced patty just, well, bums me out.

So I was skeptical about Henretty's Prime Meats $5.99 crab cakes. But I must say, these cakes, made by the Hockessin shop off Old Lancaster Pike, aren't bad at all. For $5.99 crab cakes. (That's a photo of the cooked cakes.) Don't get me wrong - it's not the BEST crab cake I ever had. But, again, for $5.99 not at all bad.

The crab cakes at Valle in Pike Creek are certainly worthy of the accolades, but each cake is $13.50, (two for $27). Steep, steep. And that's all you get for that price - crab cakes. I got a side order of grilled asparagus. It was $4. I'm not saying it wasn't tasty, but if you're on a budget, this isn't the meal for you.

Where have you found top notch crab cakes? Let's hear it. (I thought the crab cake at Sambo's Tavern, $11.50, in Leipsic were very good. See earlier post.)

Comment, comment, comment. I feel a follow-up column is coming.

UPDATE: Here's an email I received this morning:

Believe it or not, Seasons Pizza has amazing crab cakes - they got their hands on the old Tiffin Restaurant crab cake recipe and they give you two, huge crab cakes which are loaded with sweet lump crab meat - Very Good!!

Top Chef recap

Take a memo, Memo: You're out.

Manuel a.k.a. "Memo" falls on his knife after failing to impress anyone with his leadership abilities and his cooking - or lack thereof - in the Elimination Challenge, which was to base a dish on a favorite movie.

It could have been a very cool challenge - but the dynamic duo of Manuel and Spike, whose stupid, stupid, stupid "I'm so hip" pork pie hats I want to knock right off his arrogant head - picked "Good Morning, Vietnam"????!!!!???

So they made a very predictable Vietnamese spring roll - with a weird side dish of pickled swiss chard - that had zero appeal. Kind of like Robin Williams.

I'll give this episode a big, fat Eh. Here's judge Ted Allen's take.

Get the mallets ready

Sambo's Tavern, a Kent County seafood eatery in the tiny, tiny town of Leipsic, has reopened for the season. No hard-shell crabs available - just yet.

The crabs are coming soon - call ahead, 674-9724, before you go if you're interested in doing some mallet mashing - in meantime get the very meaty $11.50 crab cakes. (Next time though I'll ask for mine broiled instead of fried.) Wasn't as crazy for the crab bisque; it was a little thick for my taste.

The more than 50-year-old crabhouse, about 5 miles northeast of Dover, just off Del. Route 9, is a quirky, and charming kind of place. It's a Delaware institution. If you're looking for a real authentic crab house, this is the place. Newspapers blanket the tables and rolls of paper towels are used as napkins. It's very casual - most people wear blue jeans, T-shirts and ball caps- and bring cash. No credit cards accepted.

Windows in the back dining room overlook the Leipsic River - and it was gorgeous during yesterday's summer like weather. Maps hang on the walls with push pins and tags bearing the names of customers and their places of residence. Photos of NASCAR drivers - it's apparently a popular driver hangout - also line the walls.

Keep in mind it is decidedly NOT kid friendly. Sambo's only has a tavern license, so noone under 21 is allowed.

But some customers believe that's part of the charm.

There's not much to Leipsic. I walked up the street from Sambo's and wanted to check out a very dusty, ancient looking antique shop, but it was closed. No worries. I'm sure I'll be back in town a few more times this summer and before Sambo closes for the season in November.

Giada's new addition

Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis and her husband Todd Thompson have welcomed a new baby girl, Jade.