Jan 6
Plus, working with Alex Guarnaschelli, and more.
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Plus, working with Alex Guarnaschelli, and more.
Food Network Star 11: Good Chefs Have Bad Days
Food Network Star 11: Good Chefs Have Bad Days
Tonight’s episode of Food Network Star saw the winner of Star Salvation rejoin the competition. But, unlike the last two years, where the show merely referenced that there was this other competition going on at FoodNetwork.com, the channel decided, prior to tonight’s episode of the main program, to do a special one hour presentation of all six episodes back to back. Interesting, as this is also…
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Food Network Star 11: Bitchin' Kitchen
Food Network Star 11: Bitchin’ Kitchen
With only a couple of weeks to go before it’s time for the finalists to record their pilots for judgement, the show cannot put off the live television challenge any longer. For many seasons this challenge was always the same–it came around Top Five or Top Four Week. Once Rachael Ray had her own network-carried, Oprah-backed show, it was a trip to her studios, where she graciously hosted the…
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Food Network Star 11: Holiday Helplessness
Food Network Star 11: Holiday Helplessness
It’s Top Five Week at the Food Network Star. And I’m with Arnold–holy sausage fest. This is the first time in 11 years the Top Five has been all guys. I wonder if that’s why Star Salvation did a 180 last week and now has only women left, after working so hard to rehabilitate Matthew. Not that they’re rejoining the competition yet. We’ll have to live with the sausage fest for at least another week…
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I'm shocked that I have not blogged Suzy Wong's House of Yum. I was positive that I had, I even took my big girl camera on my last visit.
Some things on the menu are positively delightful, and others make me lament the cash I shelled out for so little. I promise I'll bang out a full blog later this week, but I highly recommend the purchase of this Groupon.
Nashville (I mean actual Nashville, don't tell me about anything in Hendersonville, Gallatin, Goodletsville... I'm not going that far) really needs a nice stuck in the 80s cheap Chinese place with a typo riddled menu and an $8 dinner that is serviceable and moderately authentic. Why must every decent bowl of hot & sour soup come from a bistro?
Until then, if I'm going for frou frou, I want Suzy Wong's or Basil. May as well go 1/2 price. Arnold Myint's penchant for phenomenal cocktails hold true at this establishment as well.
Thanks to Bravo’s “Top Chef,” it’s no Nashville secret that three of our city’s hottest restaurants are headed up by the same fabulous chef. Arnold Myint owns PM, Cha Chah, and Suzy Wong’s House of Yum. He is a local treasure. Same goes for fellow chef Deb Paquette, who is widely considered one of Nashville’s best, even in the absence of her former restaurant Zola. Paquette is making plans to open Echo in downtown Nashville later this year.
Mama Myint's Miraculous Salad
I've been wanting to try Patti Myint's famous salad for quite some time. It just kept slipping my mind and wrangling enough people willing to take the challenge proved tougher than I thought. My Belmont days aren't THAT far behind me and I'm still in horror of their parking situation. It keeps me from visiting the Myint Miracle Mile as much as I'd like. You have to hit International Market at the right time if you want to park legally. (If you CAN find a parking spot, run in and get the Tom Yum soup with shrimp and chicken. Stir in a side of rice... you can thank me later. Her epic salad isn't her only good one, the Crying Tiger spicy beef salad is no slouch.)
I wish you could have seen my face when I read that Cha Chah would be serving her salad for Restaurant Week. I made our reservation the very next day.
Arnold Myint is offering an abbreviated version of his mother's famous dish at my new favorite restaurant, Cha Chah. BONUS: they valet.
Patti Myint's salad at International Market (via Nashville Scene)
According to the diagram, the streamlined version differs from hers by the exclusion of mango, cucumber, tomato, lemongrass, shrimp and squid, pork with ginger, and plain garlic.
Arnold's Restaurant Week version at Cha Chah. It's a spectacular looking mise en place, even Iron Chef Garces would approve. (Food Network geek inside joke, sorry)
This meal was so reminiscent of my mother's tremendous spring rolls. I was in HEAVEN. I'd been looking forward to it for weeks and could barely concentrate all day. Usually that sets me up for failure. Nothing ever lives up to that kind of expectation.
Until now. Everything about it was amazing and surpassed my alarmingly high culinary expectations
Let's back up a little. Two weeks ago I got tweeted a restaurant recommendation from Tom Colicchio himself. Tonight I walked into Cha Chah and saw Kevin Sbraga sitting at a table by the bar. He's the winner of Arnold's season of Top Chef, DC. As we were seated I heard heavily accented English that could only come from Patti Myint. Turns out Patti was dragging Chef Sbraga across the street to sample HER version of the famous salad. Alright, now I'm really excited. Then I see Chef Vito. Then I see Arnold. Then the ever fabulous Metropolitan (pseudo Manhattan) arrives. The night is already awesome. Then I see that Vivek has tweeted that Tiffany Derry (also from Top Chef DC) liked the salad so much, she put it on the bar menu at her new restaurant, Private Social in Dallas. Talk about making a Top Chef addict's night! At this point I'm smiling like an idiot and I haven't even eaten yet!
(via Arnold's Facebook)
Ok, I'm beyond ready. BRING IT.
They DEFINITELY brought it. First you get a nice tray of romaine hearts, leaf lettuce layered with rice paper, and a mound of rice noodles. It took considerable effort to stack and arrange those properly; even more to keep the rice paper at the right consistency throughout. I was impressed before my first bite.
2 cheese boards lined with ramekins of vegetables and a vast variety of accoutrements followed by two bowls of protein round out your experience.
Patti and Kevin returned at the same time the plates started arriving at our table. She told us to "Put in one of the meats and then ONE of everything else in the lettuce. Then eat it all in one bite. It's the best way to savor the "flavor explosions."
I'm a rebel and this one has both proteins. Shhh, don't tell Patti.
When she came back to check on us, she noticed all of the mini lime wedges discarded on our plates. We mistakenly assumed that you were meant to squeeze the lime on the toppings... not so. You're supposed to chew up the whole thing, rind and all. I never in my life would have thought a sweet lady would demand I chew and swallow a lime. Listen to your elders. The woman knows her stuff, it brought everything to a whole new level.
It was a LONG day. Please ignore my second chin & stringy hair and focus on the delightful Miss Patti.
From the background to the foreground, left to right you see:
row 1) Beef Pork and onions 2) chicken salad with rice noodles
row 2) sweet chili sauce, basil leaves, celery leaves, Thai chili
row 3) cilantro and Kaffir lime leaves
row 4) pickled garlic, toasted coconut, carrot, fresh pineapple
row 5) pickled ginger, roasted unsalted peanuts, red onion, tiny lime wedges (eat whole)
The chicken was good, but nowhere near as delectable as the beef pork.I swear our server told us it was pork, but we were convinced our favorite protein was in fact beef. Matching to the labeled Patti picture, I'm pretty confident it was beef. Either way, it was hands down our favorite part of the meal and precisely like my mom makes it. Incredibly flavorful and rich, it's well balanced by the bright array of veggies. Arnold's comment proves in that it was, in fact, pork. Color me sheepish.
We were instructed to try one of everything all at once, at least once. Not a single one of us changed up the line up. Go round and round with the cute wooden tongs and load up that lettuce cup. We were never able to master the one bite thing, but we happily chowed them down in two. Not to say your skill can improve at dumping things in lettuce, but the flavors steadily progressed throughout our gluttonous eat-your-own-adventure. Every bite was better than the last.
I don't know if Chef Myint knew I was a huge Top Chef fan, but I was positively delighted when he brought Chef Sbraga to our table. He was sweet, charming, and warm. We swapped notes on the Myint Empire's delectable cocktails. Say what you will about the revolutionary Patterson and Holland Houses... the House of Myint's been shaking up some inventive and fantastic drinks for years. I recall sneaking out of a night class between the exam and the lecture for a Lychee Martini across the street at PM. It's one of my favorite acts of collegiate rebellion... you know besides spiking my Sonic diet cherry limeades in Business Management ;)
By the way, when I told Chef Sbraga he couldn't leave without the Elk Osso Bucco if it was still on the menu, Arnold informed me it is for now, but they are having trouble sourcing it due to their high demand. So get your buns to Cha Chah TWICE in the immediate future.
Our sweet server, Evan, worked HARD for his money tonight. That poor guy barely made it back to our table with a few refills before we needed another round. I think we had 4 trays of lettuce. We were not shy, and they were happy to help us out. I finally told him enough with the small bowls of cilantro, bring us a big one. We killed that too. In an effort to keep up, Chef Myint finally sent him back out to collect our ramekins so he could wash them. Yeah, the owner was back there washing dishes... one of many reasons he's a bad ass.
Check out a fraction of the damage...
I picked the perfect friends to accompany me on this incredible culinary adventure. We had a fantastic time and savored every bite. I begged Chef Vito to find some of their salted caramel so we could really make a lasting impression on the girls' first visit.
I think they liked it, I know they'll be back. I'm sure I will. :)
My only words of wisdom are:
Thai chilis are by no means mild, do not try to be a hero.
The pickled ginger is a bit overwhelming if you use a full slice, feel free to break it down a bit more.
Short of a food allergy, there is absolutely no reason to not try every ingredient at least once.
Do not be shy, they will bring you more so just GO FOR IT
Standard table manners do not apply to this dish.
Listen to Mama Myint and eat the whole chunk of lime.
Thank the Myints for introducing you to this fantastic experience... and bring friends!
Hurry to Cha Chah before you miss this once in a lifetime experience
Haul your big camera and invite a proficient photographer if you can't seem to capture decent low light food photos like me... Thanks Laura!
Arnold's right. Everything is better with a hint of Myint.
Cheers-
L
ChaChah opens for dinner at 5 PM Tuesday-Saturday. That means you have 3 more nights to try this. Keep in mind it is $20 a person and you need a minimum of 3 companions to participate. You know, unless you want to shell out $100 and try this beast on your own... but then you have to explain to your conscience how you ate a three figure salad.
I’m an excellent judge of character, with a busy social calendar, which is why speed dating is, in theory, perfect for an on-the-go gal like me. Alas, I have yet to meet my physical and intellectual match at one of these events, which is why I’m featuring this one in hopes that Mr. Evie (or at least Mr. Right Now, just in time for New Year’s Eve) is among my loyal readers. Would-be suitors, don’t forget your resume!