New site!


Right, so back by popular demand, the restaurant review site, but in a new format. Many of these reviews are old, just haven't gotten around to posting them until now. I'll try to date them where I can. You can still check out the old site here

Unlike other foodie bloggers, I however don't own any fancy camera gear - just an old Sony digital camera that works. Maybe if it breaks I'll look at getting something else, but likely just another simple point and shoot type thing that I won't break easily!

So here we go!

"Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter-faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn.

To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living.

Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, an affront to all I stand for, the pure enjoyment of food. The body, these waterheads imagine, is a temple that should not be polluted by animal protein. It's healthier, they insist, though every vegetarian waiter I've worked with is brought down by any rumor of a cold.

Oh, I'll accomodate them, I'll rummage around for something to feed them, for a 'vegetarian plate', if called on to do so. Fourteen dollars for a few slices of grilled eggplant and zucchini suits my food cost fine."
― Anthony Bourdain

Friday, March 23, 2012

Manuel Latruwe Patisserie

Manuel Latruwe

Alright, so after having heard great things about their pastries and cakes, and reading their menu online, I had to stop in to take a gander at their baked goods.   As other co-workers had brought in their croissants from time to time, I'd had small tastes of them, and was looking forward to more.


I'd gone and picked up a couple of croissants earlier in the week, and spotted some great looking cakes, but they'd been sold out of the lemon tarts, and as I'm a big fan of lemon, I went again in search of them.   As an aside, the croissants are super buttery, super flaky, and incredibly light.  So much so that they can't possibly be any calories at all.  Nope.

Anyways, this time my goal was the lemon tart, and black forest cake.   Growing up, we always had black forest cake as our birthday cake, or for special occasions.   There was never any other kind, so I'll always have a soft spot for that chocolate cake, layered with cream and cherry sauce, topped with a maraschino, but I digress.   The reason this one was on the list to try, was the strange look of it - it didn't look like a cake at all, but a chocolate tower.   Luckily for me this time, I also was able to procure a lemon tart.  

First impression of the desserts?  Holy crap they're pricey!   We're talking $7 each for individual desserts!   That's more than most in sit-down restaurants, and you're taking this to go!   Second thought - wow they're cool looking!    Thirdly - WAY too sweet!   I love the look, but I guess I don't have that big of a sweet tooth.  

On the black forest cake, the chocolate surrounding is milk chocolate - I think it'd be far superior with a dark chocolate instead, personally.   The cake itself, is incredibly moist, and there is a good amount of cherries in such a small package, but overall, too sweet - likely due to the excess of milk chocolate.  If on the other hand you love chocolate, you'll likely love this too.

As for the lemon tart, I'd hoped for something with a sour bite to it, and it isn't at all.  There's something that is like a meringue crossed with a marshmallow on top, and it's exceedingly sweet - then the filling itself, while lemony, has no sourness to it whatsoever.   The texture of the lemon part itself is also a bit odd, but that's likely due to me comparing it to a standard lemon meringue pie.   The crust itself is great, light and crispy, but I do wish there was more sour to it.

In any case, there won't be any scores here overall, due to this place not really being a restaurant (they do serve sandwiches and waffles though!), but I'll just say it's a high price to pay, but comparable to other high end patisseries like Thomas Haas in Vancouver, or Jean Philippe in Vegas.  
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