Paris Club

We use to come to Brasserie Joe often until it was closed down and this new french place took over called Paris Club.  It is very lively when we first walked in but as we sat down, there was this uneasy crowded feeling.  It almost felt as if they were trying to get the most out of their space.  The service was really good and our waiter was very attentive with great suggestions along with explanations of most of the dishes.

For appetizers, we ordered the macaroni gratinee.  They had this similar dish at Brasserie and it was really good.  I liked the small pasta shells they used because there was an even amount of cheese allocated on each of the shells so every bite is perfect.  The pigs feet bon bon was good but I didn't really taste much of the feet with the breading.  The frites fromage was flame like john wayne!  The frites were especially extra crispy and the cheese dip was an added bonus.  These have to be the best skinny fries I've had in a  long time!  Duck Crackling wasn't all that great while others liked it.  It was mostly duck skin with a layer of batter.  I tried a little bit of the frisee salad and it's pretty damm good.  I like the sunny side egg on top, with the warm lardons (aka bacon),  and gribiche sauce (mayonnaise-style cold egg sauce).  When you broke the egg and mixed the salad up, it tasted very hearty.  All the ingredients worked well for this French salad. 

For my entree, I ordered the short rib bourguignonne.  The short rib was very tender and juicy.  The word bourguignonne is a technique using red wine to create the sauce.  My wife ordered the skate wing and that was cooked just right.  It was over cooked or under cooked.  My friend ordered the coq au vin which was chicken and wine dish.  The chicken was really juicy and flavorful.   I enjoyed dinning here minus the crowded feeling inside.  I guess that was the feel they were going after but from a dining perspective it's way too crowded.

macaroni gratinée

pig’s feet bonbons

frites fromage

duck cracklings

frisée salad

coq au vin

short rib bourguignonne

vegetable cassoulet

skate wing

chicken terrine

Here is my overall rating out of 4 smily faces

Service: 8) 8) 8) 8)
Ambiance: 8) 8) o)
Food: 8) 8) 8)

Southern Hospitality in Memphis

If you love fried Chicken then I would suggest checking out this place if you are ever in Memphis.  GUS's chickens this little hole in the wall.  It's about a 5-10 minute walk from Beale Street.  I believe Rachel Ray did some special review at GUS's.  Forget about service and ambiance because this is good ol southern friend chicken.  When you bite into the chicken, it is so crispy, flavorful and juicy inside.  They must have some special ingredient in the batter because it's really flavorful.  The fried pickles were amazing as it was my first time trying it.  The fried green tomato was great but I prefer the pickles.  For all I know their oil never gets changed for that awesome flavor.  If you come here for dinner, you better arrive around 5pm because the wait will be 30-45 min wait.  The place isn't very big and it's HOT inside.

For ribs, go to Rendezvous.  There is another place too but we asked a bunch of locals about the best ribs in Memphis and they mentioned Rendezvous.  The rib portions are larger than what I am use to.  It must be the cut of the ribs the folks in the south gets because I've been to many rib places and it's nowhere as big.  The meat falls right off the bones and it's very juicy.  I'm not a big fan of dry rubbed ribs but that was a good dining experience.

Fried Chicken  with some coleslaw and beans
 

crispy!

 

Fried Green Tomatoes

Fried Pickles (SO GOOOOOOOD)

Aerial View

 



















RIBS @ Rendezvous

Dry Rubbed Ribs

 

 

2010 National Treasure Group Break Pulls

I received the cards today and here are the 2 cards from the 2010 National Treasure break.

Dexter McCluster, with a sick 3 colored patch NFL Gear Card

Ronnie Lott Notable Numbers

Blake Griffin's Dunk Put to Shame! Check it out!

They showed this on espn.  Keep in mind this guy is much shorter than Blake.

http://www.hiphopstan.com/blake-griffin-dunk-over-car-put-to-shame-by-guy-dupuy/

Prayers out to the victims of the Tsunami

I can't believe mother nature struck again!  I hope all the Japanese people in the different prefectures that were hit are okay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VopzGcBkfnE&sns=fb

2010/11 Panini Playoff Contenders Patches Basketball

These just got shipped out should be arriving tomorrow.  Will update blog.  I also just joined a group break for National Treasures 2010 Football.  Should be doing the break sometime this week or weekend.

Restaurant Week at Seasons

Okay

So we weren't able to get reservations for a more ideal dinner time but we got one anyways especially on restaurant week where everyone is grabbing every possible open time slot at this restaurant.  I didn't like that we got a 9pm slot but some reservation is better than no reservation in the Season's hotel. The dress code here is sports jacket and business casual.  I like to be comfortable when I go eat so dressing up is not my thing but I made an exception here.

Cauliflower soup with Salt Cod Beignet

Winter Greens w/ Duck Prosciutto

Pork Cheeks

Monk Fish

Lobster

Dates drizzled with Caramel with
Aged Cheese from Wisconsin

Chocolate Ganache , bittersweet chocolate
with espresso ice cream

Snap Crackle Pop

Macaroons, jellied candy and chocolate

When we were taken to our table, and seated the whole decor was very classic and expensive feeling.  The plate settings was pretty interesting.  The plates they had in place for each setting was different for everyone and I think it was mainly for the looks  until our dishes were ready and we got new ones to replace the "show" dinner plates.

I ordered the cauliflower soup with cod beignet.  At first I wasn't sure what to expect because I didn't know what a beignet was and that with the soup made of cauliflower was a mystery to me but that's why I come to these places to try new things!  The soup had a nice smooth texture to it.  A bite of the cod beignet with a hint of salt and a spoon full of the soup was delicious.  My wife and friends who ordered the salad said it was very good, light and refreshing.  I'm a huge fan of cured meats and I loved the thinly cut prosciutto duck that came on top of the salad.  For the entree I had the braised pork cheeks and those were sooooo good.  The meat was cooked perfect along with the enoi mushrooms that came with the dish.  The mini mushrooms looked so cute!  haha 

My other 2 friends ordered the monk fish and when they first got it, the presentation was perfect.  However they said that the rice was really soggy and there was a lack of flavor in the fish and rice.  When we told our waiter, they quickly came to resolve the issue and got them the braised pork cheeks.  They were satisfied with that dish.  Service here is impeccable.  The waiters knew everything about the dishes and they knew how to interrupt your conversation in a classy and professional way without being rude.  They had a way with words when you had small conversations with them.  I love it when a waiter knows a great deal about all the dishes because that makes me enjoy the meal even more knowing all these additional facts.

The desserts were very playful as you can see in the photos above.  I ordered the snap crackle and pop and it was really fun to eat.  It's brilliant how they used the snap crackle  pop candy in the dish to give it that texture.  When we got the bill we also got some macaroons, jellied candy and some chocolate.

Overall I had a great experience here.  I would go back again and order off their regular menu.

Here is my overall rating out of 4 smily faces

Service: 8) 8) 8) 8)
Ambiance: 8) 8) 8) 8)
Food: 8) 8) 8) 8)

2005 Chrome Xfractor Aaron Rodgers AUTO RC #391/399

So yeah I bought 2 of these off of ebay.  One of his top 4 auto rookie cards.  This is a sick card!

Eatt on State and Hubbard

Sorry I wanted to post this just forgot to do this a while back in January :)

After we were outside for a few hours of ice skating and shopping we were heading home to grab something to eat.   We ran into Eatt where I couldn't remember what use to be there and then it dawned on me Vongs Thai Kitchen.  I wasn't going to step in there at first but my wife wanted to give it a try.

When we stepped inside, the decor and atmosphere was really nice.  It's like an upscale diner in the River North area.  The prices were a tad bit pricey but that usually doesn't discourage me from trying a new restaurant.  I'm a true believer of, if you charge me a higher price I have a higher expectation with the food and service.

I've been reading lots of reviews about the breakfast and people being unhappy with certain things so I decided to try their dinner entrees.  My wife ordered the lobster mac and cheese, the chopped salad, and I ordered the signature burger at Heatt.  The mac and cheese was good but I've had better and the one at English is way better.  The salad was also good.  When I come to a diner, I'm pretty much expecting their chefs to screw up the burgers since I usually order medium rare.  My wife made a comment about how if a place has a section on the menu that defines the different ways you can order meat, they should know what they are doing.  I didn't agree with what she said =D

When I got my burger first thing I check is the meat.  I was very impressed that the meat was medium rare all the way through.  It was made just right along with a pretzel bun and all the condiments.  The pretzel bun was very thin so when the meat settled the bun was really soggy.  I literally inhaled the burger in 4 minutes.  Maybe I was just hungry but I also asked my wife to try it and see if she agreed and she did.  The burger had some familiarity with the way it was seasoned so  I asked the waiter who was the owner of Heatt.  He replied, Rose Bud.

I made a suggestion to the waiter to let their management know if they brought their pretzel bun over from Rose Bud, the burger would be perfect.  Before I forget about the truffle tater tots, those were Great!  I love the tater tots.  Even if you don't want to order the burger you should order it as a side.

Maybe I selected the right items on Heatt's menu but I will definitely recommend this to others.  I will want to try their breakfast menu and see if it's consistent with what others are say but for now I'm a fan of this new place.

Here is my overall rating out of 4 smily faces

Service: 8) 8) 8)
Ambiance: 8) 8) 8)
Food: 8) 8) 8) 

Restaurant Week at Tompolobompo

We came here for lunch for restaurant week in Chicago and we were lucky enough to make reservations to Tompolobompo when we found out the names of the restaurants that were participating in restaurant week 2011. 

First Course

Sopa Azteca
Pasilla flavored broth with grilled chicken, avocado, Meadow Valley Farm hand-made Jack cheese, thick cream and crisp tortilla strips.

2nd Course

Puerco en Mole Poblano
Red chile-marinated, grill-roasted Maple Creek pork loin in Mexico’s classic fiesta sauce, mole poblano. Black beans, grilled green beans.

Dessert

Crepa con Cajeta
Warm, buttery crepes filled with plantain custard. Nieve de crema (sour cream sorbet), peanut crunch, homemade cajeta and bittersweet chocolate drizzle.

The decor has a modern intimate setting with lots Mexican arts and paintings.  Even at lunch hours there are tons of people waiting in line to get into the restaurant.  When we first arrived they gave us some chips and guacamole.  That guacamole has to be the best guacamole I've ever tried.   So when the first course came out, I was not too impressed with the Sopa Azteca soup.  It felt like a better version of a tortilla soup I had back at some Americanized Mexican restaurant.  I was not impressed at all.  However the entree made up for it.  The pork was cooked perfect where it was nice and tender.  I was afraid it was going to be dry because it was cut so thin.  The mole sauce and black beans helped give it the flavor and tie everything together.  The dessert was good but not something I would come back for if this was on their permanent menu.  Overall, I thought the food was good, but I think it's over hyped.  Maybe I need to come back here and order off their regular menu since the restaurant menu offerings seemed kind of basic and limited.

2010 Bowman Chrome Redemption Packs

So I bought 4 boxes of 2010 Bowman Chrome last month and I sent in 4 sets of 18 wrappers for 4 redemption packs.  I got them yesterday and when I opened them,  I was lucky enough to pull a Stephen Strasburg!!

4 Box Leaf 2008 Rookies & Stars crackingparty

I bought these off of eBay and they seemed reasonable since I don't usually buy football cards.  My brother convinced me to give it a shot.  I really like the quality of the cards Leaf has produced granted it's 2008.  I don't like boring dull cards.  It's like dating someone who has no personality which makes that time that you spend with them slow and boring.  The boxes I purchased was a fun cracking experience for me.  I really like the game used jersey patch included in the cards and some have autographs also.  I love the refractor cards because it gives that card an extra wow factor compared to a regular base card.  Here is what the box looks like with Adrian Peterson on the cover.

Of the 4 boxes I had 1 box in particular that had a lot more of these insert & parallel cards.  Here are the Game Used cards with a piece of their jersey on 12 of the cards I got.

Tarvaris Jackson #54 SN/100
Dallas Clark #43 SN/350
Laveranues Coles #68 SN/350
Lee Evans #12 SN/100
Roy Williams #32 SN/350
Willis McGahee #7 SN/350
Peyton Manning #40 SN/350
DeAngelo Williams #14 SN/350
Vince Young #94 SN/250

Reggie Wayne #42 SN/350
Jordy Nelson #DS-8 SN/100
Jerome Simpson #F0-6 SN/100 

Click on the images 2x to get a close up look at the cards 

 

I also pulled these refractors.  If anyone is interested in these refractors, I am selling the lot below for 10$ paypal gift includes shipping (approximately .50 per card).