A Foodies Life

Commander's Palace Part 3- Jim Cantore

It was a breezy night, people were getting ready for what could have been a bad tropical storm with lots of rain, but we were on our way to Commander's Palace to celebrate a friends birthday. This is the third time in just as many weeks that I've gone to Commander's Palace. You can find the other reviews here on the site.

You've heard the saying, third time is a charm, well in this case it's not true. I almost wish that I had waited and reviewed the restaurant after I'd gone three times, like they say you should. Instead just check out the other reviews and make your own decision.

The first and most annoying thing about this visit was that we ended up waiting a long time for everything. We sat down for dinner at around 6pm and didn't even get our menu's for about 30 minutes. It seemed that our waitress was spread too thin that evening, which was strange for the abundance of staff they've had previous times. The chef had them bring out a taste of a crab and tomato dish that was wonderful. When we finally received the menu I perused it and noticed that the crab cakes that I've written about before were not on the menu. I inquired to our waitress about it and she said that she was sure they could make them if we wanted. I was just puzzled because it was one of, if not the best dish on the menu, and it had disappeared.

For my first course I ordered a 5 tomato salad it was lite and wonderful. I tasted my friends Turtle Soup that they are famous for and now I know why. For my entree I got a ribeye with potatoes and I think spinach underneath it, on top there was a cayenne butter. While the ribeye was perfectly cooked I felt like the cayenne butter on top of it was not needed. After having been seared in a cast iron pan it felt greasy enough to me. A nice hollandaise or emulsified butter sauce might have worked better.

Half way through the meal one friend got a phone call from someone saying that Jim Cantore was in town. People were on edge all ready because of Tropical Storm Fay but the fear that name brings is amazing. When I told the waitress that he was in town she visibly started cringing. Another friend joked that they had seen him during a hurricane getting a hose sprayed in his face to make it look like it was storming.

The desserts finally came at the very end of a two and a half hour meal. They were wonderful. I'd heard a lot about their cheese cake so I reached over and tasted the piece next to me. It was smooth, tasty and wonderful. I got a meyer lemon and cream cheese filled crepe that was delectable. Their homemade ice cream on their play on milk and cookies was divine.

It was great to spend time with friends, the meal was still very good. I just hope they are not lowering their standards on service.

Newseum

If you are in Washington D.C. and looking for something to do please take a look at the Newseum. This past Friday, from a tip from my sister, I retreated to the Newseum to check it out. I got there at 2:30 and closed it down at 5pm and I had only gotten to the 3rd floor. There are numerous interactive displays, including what I would call a viewing room. You can decide what you want to watch and watch in peace. I choose interesting video's about bloggers and about all of our new technology. They even had a brief piece about the Amazon Kindle and had one on display.

The most moving was by far the 9/11 Gallery. Those are the pictures depicted above. They had one of the final pieces of the building that was there during 9/11. There were also what seemed like hundreds of new paper articles from the day after it happened. Also they had a movie about it with the news reporters that covered the story. As a nice touch, although I saw some people laugh, they had tissue's on each side of the room. They also had a computer where you could look up the names of the people that passed away that day. Since I knew someone, actually a couple of people, that passed that I day I looked for his name and it was there. I find it hard to believe that it was that many years ago.

The most interesting thing about the Newseum was the front page exhibit. Every day they have a wall of tons of the days newspaper headlines all throughout the world. They change them every morning inside the building and outside the building. If your not in Washington D.C. and you want to view today's front pages just click here.

So if your in Washington D.C. I would consider checking this Newseum out, news touches our lives everyday whether we realize it or not. I know I will be back!

Central Michel Richard

I'm walking as fast as I can in birkinstocks that should not be worn for a day of walking the mall in Washington D.C. The sweat is dripping off of me as I walk through the doors of Central Michel Richard with my sister. We were rushing for our 1:30 reservation after seeing the spectacular views of our nations capitol a top the Washington Monument.

As we enter we are greeted by a hostess and maitre'd who are behind the podium. Out of the corner of my eye I notice him look at me and sneer and turn and make a comment to the hostess. Feeling two feet tall we are lead to our table. The restaurant is ultra hip and vibrant with a yuppie business crowd enjoying their afternoon lunch. As I look around I realize that I feel out of place wearing my shorts and holding a cap I bought that morning. I can't decide if I should be more upset at my dress or the way I was made to feel. I try to get over it and focus on the menu. My eyes are drawn immediately to the Lobster Burger which I decide to try. My sister and I both order the Gazpacho and she orders the crab cake. The gazpacho comes in a big white bowl with garnish chopped up the waiter then finished by serving the soup tableside in each bowl. The soup was extremely lite with a beautiful creamy feel to it. In between eating the soup my attention was drawn to the large open kitchen where the staff was working away. Our entrée's came out and while small my lobster burger tasted delicious with a crunchy sweet potato garnish and aioli.

While I was disenchanted from the start of the meal they won me over with their food. I would recommend Central Michel Richard if you want an upscale lunch. If you want great service maybe try somewhere else.

Commander's Palace-Destin, Florida Part Two

Last night I had planned to go to dinner with my friend A, who is a bartender at my favorite place. I was shocked and happily surprised when she suggested that we go to Commander's Palace. She wasn't sure about her choice so I thought we should go have a drink. I knew that if she saw the menu she would difinately want to stay. I'm always up for fine dining, although my wallet may think differently. You can read about my other Commander's Palace experience here. When I'm with A she always wants to sit at the bar, which I think by the way is the best place to get good service. If a bar isn't crowded, and even if it is, I tend to think that you get better treatment there. Think about it this way, they want to serve you alcohol so they want you to spend more time there cause you'll drink more. When your meal is done at a table your pretty much ready to go, most likely your not going to stay and have a few more drinks or order up a few more appetizers, right?

I helped that one of our friends was tending bar that night as well. Just as I thought as soon as A saw the menu her mouth dropped open and I knew we were staying. The first thing we ordered was a play on a corn dog. It was a shrimp and tasso corndog with a pepper sauce. It had just the perfect kick that it wasn't over the top. Then we each ordered a spinach salad that had spinach, brandied walnuts, cheese and a delectable dressing. Then I ordered the Hake, which is pictured above, and A ordered the crab cakes that I suggested because Dad had them last time. We asked our friend the bartender what Hake was and he said it was almost like grouper but much better. He was right, the fish was wonderful, the sauce great and there was a beautiful red tomato on the bottom.

A and I had wonderful discussions about everything you can think of, a trip she just took, panic attacks and compromising situations. And after that our dessert came out. It was a repeat of the dessert we got last time. I got the bread pudding and she got a chocolate cake. I feel like a lucky person going there again I'll be back next week!

The Onion

Have you ever had a baked onion? If you haven't you haven't lived. Ok, just kidding but they are a low cal and delicious accompaniment to a meal. How do you do it? You get a big Vidalia, did I spell that right, onion and peel it. Cut a hole in the top of it and then get a bouillion cube. I usually use beef. Wrap it up in tin foil really well. Put it in a baking dish because if you don't you will have juices all over the oven. Then all you do is bake it in a 375 degree oven for about an hour. When it's done you have this juicy wonderful onion. If you like onion soup you'll love this onion!

Waiter Rant, by The Waiter

How fitting that I received an email from my favorite food blog, The Amateur Gourmet, about a new book that has been written called The Waiter Rant. I started a week long vacation yesterday and thought how perfect it would be to sit down and read a book. That's exactly what I did.

Waiter Rant is written by a thirty something gentleman who spent six years working in a restaurant he called "The Bistro." It details many different adventures in the restaurant and his experience of writing the popular blog also called Waiter Rant. I always find books written by bloggers interesting. Maybe it's partial jealously because one day I hope to be a writer as well. It's interesting to me how blogging can turn into that.

Anyway, it's not often that I sit down and read a book in two days. My mind races, my cell phone rings and to put it bluntly I must have some form of ADHD. For some reason I didn't have any of those issues with this book. It moved quickly and was about a topic that I've always been extremely interested in.

In the beginning I was extremely concerned that it was going to be a book just about incidents in the restaurant industry and my interest was going to wane quickly. I was pleased to find that it was a cohesive story and not just little snippets of certain nights.

The author says that "20 percent of the American dining public are socially maladjusted psychopaths." He describes the waiter as a jack of all trades which I agree any good waiter needs to be. What I found most interesting about this book wasn't the stories about the customers but the self discovery of the author. Sure he became a waiter at the age of 31 but that was a springboard for a writing career. He details a scene of a woman who used to frequent the restaurant with her lesbian lover but since had broken up causing her downward spin to alcoholism. He sees the fear in that woman in himself and uses it as a catalyst to leave the restaurant.

As much as Waiter Rant is about restaurants and waiters it's also a story about life, love and finding your way. Give it a read, you won't be disappointed.

Commander's Palace

Tuesday was my birthday and the one thing that I wanted and asked for was a dinner at the new Commander's Palace in Destin, Florida. I'd never been to Commander's Palace in New Orleans so I was excited to experience it's new restaurant. My mother made reservations for us and asked about the dress code. We were told that the dress code was Jacket's requested, no shorts. Since they only requested jackets I decided I would just wear a nice shirt and some dress pants. Dressed and ready to go we got in the car to drive to the Emerald Grande, a monstrous out of place building in destin. After a few minutes maneuvering the parking garage we found our way to the restaurant. Outside was a deck that overlooked the water and other shops that were down below. We spent a few minutes looking at scenery because we were early for our 6:30 reservation. We decided to go in and check the place out and as soon as we walked in I was greeted with a friendly face and a drink waiting for me at the bar. One of the former bartender's from Hammerheads was working. The decor in the downstairs was very modern and chic. If only it was golf carting distance!

After talking with my friend for a few minutes we decided it was close enough to our reservation time that we would make our way upstairs. The staircase was grande, the walls lined with wine bottles. We arrived to the hostess and were seated. The walls in the restaurant were glass so you had a beautiful view where ever you sat. And let me tell you when you sat it was an event. While we were getting ready to sit down there was a staff that felt like a small army every step of the way. The table was set with chargers, napkins etc. Those napkins weren't for me, I had black pants so a black napkin was placed on my lap.

We had perused the menu before hand and I had all ready decided that I wanted to eat the Southern Comfort Spiced Peach salad with Blue Cheese and Walnuts, the Crispy Red Snapper and their famous bread pudding souffle. Dad decided on the crab cakes and something that had the name Court Bouillon in it, mom decided on shrimp and grits, the same salad I got and a chocolate cake. You can see pictures of the souffle and chocolate cake above. We argued a few minutes on how to pronounce court bouillon, mom saying that it sounded very different than it was, me arguing that it might be something I know. We asked the waiter when he came back and it was exactly as I thought!

Our salads came and they looked delicious except they looked like they had shaved apples on them and not peaches. I asked the waiter afterwards and he said they were white Alabama peaches. They didn't taste too much like a peach because they were soaked in southern comfort. Not something I'm going to complain about. At the beginning of our meal they brought us each a water and then half way through they replaced it. My father commented that he hadn't even had any of his water, he was told that they didn't want it to sweat on the tablecloth.

Entree's came out and they were very good, not fabulous but very good. Except that the crab cakes were per bliss, probably the best I've ever tasted. They were pure crab meat and none of the cake. Yum. Dessert came it was wonderful too.

We will definitely be back to Commander's Palace, actually in a couple of weeks. It was the perfect birthday dinner!

Big Daddy's House- The New Food Network Star!

I suppose you can't call Aaron McCargo Jr. from The Next Food Network Star that anymore, he's now the new Food Network star. He proves it in his new series Big Daddy's House. On his first episode his food looks delicious. Nothing on it seems like it should be too difficult but boy does it seem tasty. He had two dishes, a pork sandwich and a chicken tender salad. His incorporation of his kids was a nice touch. My favorite thing that he made was some oven baked fries, that he seasoned with a special seasoning and herbs.

I'm tempted to make them at work but we'll see. Just on a little side note, I was going to link all the recipes to this review but I just went on the Food Network website and could find an excerpt about the episode but no recipes. Hope they fix that soon!

Have a great day!

Funny Youtube.

Ok so I'm playing around a little. I've spent sometime this morning watching youtube video's because I got sucked in. These guys are hysterical. I'm trying to do this embedding video stuff on my site, found them through the Amateur Gourmet, Adam Roberts.

Also saw this one on his website. It's the funniest thing I've seen in a long time.

Poppy's Grouper Trinadad

So for the longest time I didn't really have anything good to say about Poppy's Seafood Factory located at Baytowne Wharf in Sandestin. At least about the food that is, I love the staff. They are very friendly and have put up with me for years now.

Until recently I haven't eaten anything there I would like. I liked the salmon dish that I mentioned in the previous blog about them. If you scroll down it's not too far from this post. But last night because I was feeling crowded at Hammerheads, and one of my friends was working at the outside bar at Poppy's I figured I'd give it a try. So I went over and perused the menu. Not much was jumping out at me except a grouper dish called grouper trinadad. If I could remember the menu description I'd tell you but I honestly can't. While I was waiting for my meal a nice bagguette came out, which I devoured. I would have and should have taken a picture of this dish but I has imbibed a little too much and needed food.

The bartender placed some salt and pepper by my plate just in case but I thought instead of being rude I'd taste it before I added salt. What I tasted was the most delicious combination of spices and acid I have ever tasted. The dish was composed of grouper topped with crab meat on a bed of spinach and roasted potatoes. It was bliss. I did not add an ounce of salt to it. I will definitley be ordering it again. So if your ever in Sandestin at Poppy's check that dish out.