delmonico kitchen+bar/dkb

jalapeño corn soup

i'm a little burnt out on reviewing restaurants right now. i've been sitting on this post for thre months now, and ahhh, nothin'. have you been here? tell me what you think of it. in the meantime, here are some pretty photos of some of my favourite dishes at delmonico/dkb.

mac-n-cheese with crabmeat

boneless fried chicken w|creamy mash

kb ultimate steak burger

apple tartlette and chocolate triple crème

the breakfast menu appeals to me greatly, but i've yet to try it. here's the slightly quirky menu.

28 feb 2011: okay, let's try this one more time.....

blink and you might miss it, especially if you're hurtling down santos hill as you are wont to do. tucked into the ground floor corner of the bayview hotel--newbies, look for the mural--is delmonico kitchen+bar (dkb). with its walls clad in warm wood and bright colours, modern decor and casual air, it doesn't look nor feel like a hotel restaurant, but instead like a cool little neighbourhood café. the menu is quirky--a mix of italian, asian and american casual cuisine--but expertly prepared by a kitchen headed up by chefs eddie chien and raul cordero, of the late colors restaurant red. red never quite found its footing, but by keeping the menu relatively simple and consistent, hopefully dkb will stick around for awhile.

i've tried to keep dkb in my regular rotation of local restaurants, and for the most part, the food has been consistent and competently prepared. i tend to stick to the same entrees--the boneless fried chicken and steak burger with a flying saucer-like disc of griddled cheese are particular favourites--but i can't fault the lightly crispy battered basa fillet sandwich in a fluffy white bun, nor its more elegant sister, the seared spicy crème dory on a bed of rice with a garlic ginger butter sauce. both are tender and flaky, and the delicately-flavoured fish is somehow never overpowered by its more assertive accompaniments. they've got a temaki bento box of make-your-own sushi with white rice, sheets of nori, sashimi and tempura prawns that can be a substantial entree for one, or a fun appetizer for the table. the desserts are few and familiar, but exceptionally well-made. the crème brûlée is one of the better versions on the island, and if they've got the matcha green tea-flavoured one, it's one of the best desserts i've tried here in awhile.

the breakfast menu looks interesting; i think one of the things guam lacks is a casual brunch place for the weekends, and dkb's menu looks extensive and interesting enough that it may fit the bill. now if i could only get up in time to find out....

delmonico kitchen+bar/dkb
bayview hotel, ground floor
tumon (santos hill).
646.2300.

tv dinner.

my addiction: AppleTV. i have season passes for "downton abbey," "top gear," and my new favourite cooking show, "dinner with the band" with chef sam mason.

i have to admit, i haven't really followed the career of chef mason because he looks like a relative of mine who i'd like to decapitate and stitch his head back on with an awl on a regular basis, so i've got irrational bias. i know i'm totally late to the party, but when i read about "dinner with the band" i knew it was worth checking out--indie music? good food? add a couple of fast cars in the mix and they woulda hit a trifecta, but two out of three is rarely ever bad, even if it is a meatloaf song.

if you haven't seen the show, the basic conceit is that a band shows up at chef mason's space, he cooks a meal and creates a cocktail that is somewhat tailored to the guests, and they play some music. zomg, the music! soooo good. great bands--most of whom i'd heard before, but i'm totally loving the ones i'd not known previously, in particular theophilus london and the devil makes three.

chef mason is a good host, really at ease in front of the camera. he's never at a loss for words, but still able to carry a conversation with the bands whilst prepping the meal. he's a bit no-nonsense, yeah, he's got that hipster thing going, but he's got a quick wit and easy going manner that appeals. and anyone who has a kick-ass waylon jennings tattoo is alright with me. then there's the food, which is far more interesting than i had anticipated, yet still executable by the average home cook. i watched six episodes in a row, and wanted to make everything.

luckily, i actually had most of the ingredients on hand to make the main part of meal from the murder city devils ep: midnight burritos at the mason kitchen.

chef mason said that this was his take on mission-style burritos. and then he said he'd never been to san francisco. um, it's kinda evident he's never had a mission burrito, which is a hulking, amalgamated behemoth. this is not. this is actually the antithesis of the mission burrito--healthier, lighter, of average proportion, and orderly.

chef mason lines up the ingredients in such a way that plucks at my OCD heartstrings, so of course i had to as well. the innards of the burrito contain chorizo, green cilantro rice, refried lentils, goat cheese, queso fresco, and watercress salsa verde. when i first heard the components, i was doubtful but damn if this isn't one fine burrito. (okay, if you call this a burrito in my 'hood, you'd get laughed out of town. so let's say this is one fine mexican-inspired wrap.)

the lentils are a particularly nice addition because they are so much lighter than the traditional refried beans. the goat cheese was an eye-opening, mouth-watering surprise--the sharpness and musty creaminess adds extra depth, and the watercress salsa verde is soooooo nice. the original recipe calls for fresh tomatillos, which unfortunately i didn't have, so i had to make do with some frozen roasted ones i chucked in the freezer mumblemumble months ago. still, the peppery spice of the watercress played well with the heated spice of the jalapeño, and the fresh herbiness works well with the roasted fruit (i'm guessing tomatillos are fruit). i look forward to whatever season brings in fresh tomatillos on island, because the original sauce is a beautiful, verdant, springy green, and i'm sure the salsa verde will just knock my socks off. if i wore socks.

here's the band:

who freakin' rock it out. and here's another link to the recipes. i wish i had enough tomatillos to make the agua verde cocktail, but there's time enough for that.

my notes:
--i used frozen pre-roasted tomatillos in the salsa.
--the chorizo is a local product, and pretty freaking awesome. i used the chicken chorizo, which didn't produce a lot of oil, so for the lentils, i drained off some of the 'rizo juice and added a small glug of olive oil.
--i used regular lentils and didn't mash them down that much as i was looking for more texture.
--even though there are a zillion components, it is actually not that complicated. from start to finish, i had all the components made and the burritos assembled in just about an hour.

"dinner with the band" is on IFC, or by download on itunes.

cheesy poofs.

you guys. do you know when i started watching football? saturday, october 23, 2010, stanford v washington state. i had just finished reading "the big short: inside the doomsday machine" by michael lewis (recommended) and had just cracked open "the blind side: evolution of a game"--not because of the movie, not because i even like football, but because i like lewis (i also highly recommend "moneyball: the art of winning an unfair game." i don't like baseball, but i've read this book twice.) i wasn't particularly interested in reading "the blind side" because i knew next to nothing about football, and didn't really spend the time to figure out why i disliked it. but as i got into the book, i read something that made me believe that the defense is always out to kill the quarterback. is that true? because in the NFL, it really seems true. where is the sport in that??

ANYWAY. back to the stanford game in october. i had the game on because i lost the remote and just needed background noise. and then the announcer said something i had never heard in a game before. he gave the grade point average of the player. andrew luck--team quarterback, majoring in architecture, with a 3.5 grade point average. i looked up. is this normal? or is it just because it's stanford that you get the GPA? anyway, i thought "golly, i hope they don't kill the qb with the good grades." and the more i watched the game, the more i realized that college ball was far more interesting to me than pro ball--i could follow the game, understand the plays, and there was the sense of sportsmanship i had previously found missing, even if yeah, they sometimes want to maim the quarterback a little.

so now i watch football. but only collegiate, mind. i still don't know when the super bowl is, but apparently it's soon. and there are a bunch of recipes online for people getting ready for superbowl parties. chef ludo lefebvre (you know, this guy) offered up a "cheese puffs" recipe on daily candy. these cheese puffs are actually gruyère gougères, a sort of cream puff shell loaded with gruyére cheese. they are light, puffy and hollow--slighty crispy, slightly eggy, and nicely flavoured by the nutty sharpness of the cheese. you could probably eat a whole batch of these on their own, straight out of the oven. or even split and fill them--if you want to go a classic '70s cocktail route, try crab or tuna salad, or, if you want to do elevated comfort food, maybe a little prosciutto and strawberry preserves for an upscale take on a monte cristo sandwich.

if you are going to get your su'bowl party on, what are you going to serve? where does cheese puff fall in the realm of football party food?

once again, a link to the recipe.

my notes:

--used the second set of ingredients given in weighed amounts, instead of volume.
--didn't use an electric mixer at any point, just a wooden spoon.
--used 1/8th of a teaspoonful of kosher salt instead of a pinch (technically, 1/8th is two pinches).
--follow the times carefully--you really do need to mix and dry the dough for up to ten minutes.
--if you drop the dough by spoonfuls, a heaping teaspoonful will yield about 3 dozen, and take 20 minutes in the oven. if using heaping tablespoonful, you'll get approximately 1 1/2 dozen and it will take approximately 30 minutes to bake (check five minutes prior).
--try to drop the dough on the sheet in tall mounds--the dough will spread a bit, you don't want flat puffs :)

statement of facts.

1. food. i have a love/hate, love/indifference relationship with it.
2. blogging. see above.
3. i like you. i really do. which is why i am going to try to shift the current hate/indifference mode to L-O-V-E, and embrace the foodie and blogger within.
4. there are too many food franchises coming to the island, i hope all the new folk on island will not stick to the frozen, salinated mass-marketed option. so this year i will try to blog about more local restaurants and what can be offered on a non-microwaved basis.
5. i might actually cook this year.
6. i like guys in suits. especially if they are adroit and adept at what they do.

just sayin'.

these are the contents of my fridge, so as you can see, there might be an easing-in period. see you soon.

"a fish needs a bicycle."

(please excuse the poor quality of the photos!)

we were in the province a couple of weeks ago, and just as the sun had set, we heard a bell tinkling at the gate. it was a man on a bicycle, with bamboo baskets piled behind his seat. it was a traveling vendor from a neighbouring village, selling tinapa, or smoked fish. he and his wife work at home, preparing various fish that they procure from the wet market in the morning, or sometimes from their own nets. they work hard at this backyard tinapahan--the catch they get in the morning is more often than not smoked and sold by sundown.

making tinapa is slightly different from the traditional western style of smoking fish. the local method involves the fish being boiled in a brine first, then arranged on a bistay, or woven bamboo tray that is a signature of trade. they are dried in the sun before going through the smoking process; hardwood and sawdust is often used, and the smoking time usually around four to six hours.

the fish were still warm by the time the vendor reached our house. he pulled out his inventory, carefully setting the bistays on newspaper he laid out on the ground before him. (unless there are some curious puppies, in which case, on a nearby table.) my aunt inspected them thoroughly, amiably chatting with the vendor, but also asking many questions about the provenance of the fish. he only had galunggong or mackerel scad left; it is a common fish, quite oily but tasty. it was once known as "the poor man's fish" in the philippines, but has gained quite a bit of popularity in the past decade and purportedly it now has to be imported from china to keep up with the demand. however, today's catch, he assured, came from local waters. my aunt remained a bit skeptical, but the fish were firm of flesh, plump, and the smoky aroma was irresistible. we bought out the rest of his supply, which he carefully wrapped in bundles of six, in half sheets of newspaper. amusingly, my little bundle was decorated with news of lindsay lohan. a little entertainment for the evening.

although tinapa are thoroughly cooked, most people fry the fish before serving. we don't; just a little time in the oven or microwave heats them through, without drying them out or diminishing the lush smokiness. served with a simple vinegar mixed with sliced shallots and a pile of rice suffices. nothin' poor about that.

wow, can't think of a title for this.

do you remember the days before the internezz when most information was word-of-mouth and you never bothered to check the facts? wait. sounds like the internet age anyway!

**

a cousin told me about gelatissimo; said something about this new gelato shop in greenbelt 5 in makati that was really, really good, and had all sorts of amazing flavours. and! the kicker was that it originated in cebu, which is like, a sort of beachy, sleepy town in the visayas, and how it was like, the best thing to ever come out of there since like, kenneth cobonpue ("who?", you say? well, g'wan, click on the link!) . i was all, "right on!" i could get behind a new filipino company especially if it was good. we decided to check it out after dinner.

when we got to the shop, i admit i was expecting something nice, but it was more posh than i had imagined. schmantzy sign, lots of product attractively displayed in refrigerated cases, intimate but adequate seating area. wow, sooo not beachy, baby.

and then i went to peruse the flavour selection and was really surprised--not only were there the standard flavours but semi-wacky ones like honey, toffee and malt, black sesame, cinnamon donut, teddy graham cracker biscuits, profiterole. which, you know, sound super sexy and less fattening in italian: miele, caramello e malto, sesamo nero, ciambellina di cannella...uh, teddy cracker di farina di frumento and erm, profiterole. i went with the cinnamon donut gelato which kinda blew me away--it actually tasted like a cinnamon donut, not just cinnamon, but also baked and cakey, too. but all in a spoonful of creamy, cool, smooth milky confection. bella scoperta! who whudda thunkit? not i said the fly.

i was really impressed with the product--not only was it some of the best gelato i'd had in the city, but anywhere outside of italy. i was told that it was so good that they had they opened up a shop in florence, italy. pardon my sopranos' italian but oogatz, they got some stugats to breeng this stuff to eeataly, youknowwhaimsayin'? but from what i sampled, i thought "yeah, okay! awesome. meravigliosa."

in the next few days i tried a few more flavours--the green apple sorbet, dark chocolate sorbet (pictured at the top of the post), pineapple, and rum raisin--all of them very, very good. the chocolate sorbet was actually quite welcome on a hot, humid and oppressive day--it was rich and dark like black coffee without the acidic bite, a little bit fruity and very, very light in texture, despite the strong flavour. the "weirdest" flavour i tried was a buttered caramel popcorn, which i don't know if i could recommend. it tasted exactly like lightly buttered, lightly caramelized popcorn, like something you'd get in a movie theatre. it also tasted sort of stale. like something you'd get in a movie theatre. at least it was authentic.

**

so. i was excited by this new discovery of mine, i was all blah blah blah love it! gotta try it! gotta tell everyone about it! so i thought i'd email a friend. while i was writing the email, i thought i'd check online if they had a website. and duh--i mean sí, certamente of course there is a website. which of course tells the REAL story, which is that it's a big ole australian chain and it's everywhere, and of course it's awesome, fool. i smacked my head, thought of some nasty things in italian to call my cousin the next time i saw him. then i thought "hm, i wonder what new flavour is out today?"


gelatissimo,
worldwide. but also
greenbelt 5, space 2-045, second floor
ayala center, makati.

waving, not drowning.

hallo! yes, you! i'm blogging at my LA blog for the moment, see you there!

cool you

i've blogged about it before but i love this stuff. guinomis, a tasty (vegan!) treat of tapioca pearls, agar gelatin, palm sugar syrup, coconut milk, toasted pinipig rice flakes, and lots of shaved ice. just a little something to cool you down and fill you up. deliciously.

breakfast at noon.

which of course, is nothing more than brunch, but i'm going for a continuity thing here. indulge me, people!

kinda like what we did here: challah french toast, slathered with nutella and drizzled with raspberry preserves, topped with caramelized bananas, crispy bacon, and powdered sugar. served with maple syrup, whipped cream and whipped butter. AS IF. surprisingly not as sweet as you'd think, plenty savoury without the bacon, which in fact was just another example of how bacon does NOT make everything better.

and then we tried to be a little healthy with the salmon mousse plate: marinated salmon, salmon mousse, poppy seed onion bagel crisps, caper berries, sweet fig marmalade and fresh dill.

guess which one got demolished.

gratuitous shot of good-looking waitstaff. why not.

mr. jones
greenbelt 5, garden level
legaspi st, legaspi village
makati, philippines
501.3682/83

breakfast at midnight.

it seemed like a good idea at the time. the pancakes themselves were heaven--lemon ricotta blueberry pancakes that were light and fluffy, tender, and only a little bit sweet, studded with fat, fragrant blueberries, dusted with powdered sugar and topped with candied lemon zest. phew! AND there was whipped cream, whipped butter, and a maple-y syrup on the side. not that they needed any of that.

but i did need a wheelbarrow to be rolled outta there afterwards.

brought to me by this guy, at mr. jones. (more on this place later)


mr. jones
greenbelt 5, garden level
legaspi st, legaspi village
makati, philippines
501.3682/83

breakfast at bizu.

you know i heart bizu, but we were both getting a little old, tired, and frayed around the edges. so i stepped away for awhile, and we got our acts together. or at least, bizu greenbelt did, moved into a new house, with a new attitude. gone are the garish, wonka-ish walls, dusty and fusty florals, replaced with a new coat of white paint, light and glass, for a more refined, calm and mature space.

it's a good mix of old and new, european and native, modern and classic. much like the menu. clever boots, those bizu folk.

even the servers no-longer-so-fresh funky bunch uniforms have changed to a sort of casual continental concierge look.

you can still find the lovely rainbow of macarons

and the french-inspired confections with local flair. or local confections with french-inspired flair. whaaa

even though they are known for their free-range egg specialties--their wild mushroom omelet is a particular favourite of mine--and you gotta try the pancakes with fresh mangoes and chantilly cream!, i opted for something lighter and healthier after all the too-typical culinary indulgences in all that manila has to offer.

bizu is one of the few places that regularly offers freshly mown grass clippings fresh wheatgrass shots.

and they transform cut up fruit and fermented milk products to new heights. instead of boring old yogurt they take boring old kefir and freeze it into little balls of tasty lacto-bacterial and fermented goodness.

which is what i have for breakfast there most days. don't ask me how i can pass up their savoury crepes, boneless bangus and garlic rice, or eggs florentine. really. because i will make you drink wheatgrass shots with me, i really will.

bizu patisserie and bistro,

greenbelt 2

makati.

757.BIZU (2498)

bakery bench

did you know that the house that fried chicken built has a bakery? it's a pretty good one, too. it's called max's corner bakery and you can find it...in the corner of max's restaurants. HA. some of them anyway.

i was walking by the one near my flat early one morning, and came across this lovely tableau of assorted pastries, waiting to be arranged on their tidy shelves. i rather like where they are.

because you had a hot day.

taotaomona sundae: three scoops of ice cream, bananas, brownie chunks, nuts, strawberry sauce, and a cherry on top. at mount lam lam sno' n' ice cream.


mt. lamlam sno n ice cream
route 8, near the other house of liberty
barrigada
671.734.4765.

men and their meats! lunch at churrasco.

whoo, carne! although i had not been a previous fan of brazilian barbecue-style restaurants, i gotta say, the owners of churrasco brazilian bbq and salad bar in tumon are totally canny for bringing the rodízio-style all-you-can-eat meat festival to guam. and even more genius for keeping the prices relatively reasonable, and hopefully keeping the quality high.

churrasco opened last month in the former mac and marti's space in pacific bay hotel. it is a light-filled dining room with a glass-enclosed wine room at the entrance, a sleek bar behind it, outdoor seating in the hotel's courtyard, and a glass-enclosed grilling area at the back.

the restaurant does not take reservations, but the dining room is large, and despite the enormous salad bar off to one side, they manage to create walkable aisles so you don't go bumping into everyone on your way to and fro.

the basic set up: you get your salads from the nicely varied salad bar at your leisure. at lunchtime, there is a hot food station with various starches--rice, red rice, and mashed potato, along with black beans and steamed or sauteed vegetables. at dinnertime, this is replaced with a cheese and bread board, along with smoked salmon and typical accoutrements, with the starches, beans, and veggies served at your table. at your table, you'll find a little plastic chip that says "yes" on one side, "no" on the other. flip to "yes", it means the roaming gaucho-esque servers with swords of grilled meats will stop at your table, then carve and/or serve whatever they have on offer; "no" technically means you're not ready for more, but the genial servers will sometimes stop anyway (just in case you don't really mean it). brazilian barbecue is usually just salt rubbed cuts of beef or pork, grilled on an open fire--the flavour comes from the cut of meat and can be enhanced with various sauces.

at lunch we were offered mostly beef cuts--i don't remember them all but do recall picanha, or rump cover steak (part of the top sirloin cut), brisket, and tenderloin. the picanha has a strong, marked flavour--think less beef, more cow. the salt coating was quite noticeable and none of the cuts were particularly tender; however, when we returned for dinner a few weeks' later, the salt coating was more moderate and the meat noticeably tender. i appreciated the fact that most of the cuts were medium rare to rare once carved; however, if you prefer well-done meat, they will bring well-done carvings from the kitchen. we were also offered pork ribs (meaty, tender but still resilient), two types of pork sausage--one smoked, one cured--and two types of pork loin--one that may have been basted in barbecue sauce, and the other encrusted in parmesan cheese. the sausages were lovely, rustic and juicy, but both pork loins were tough and stringy each time we dined there. the surprise hits for us were the chicken offerings--marinated bone-in chicken thighs with crispy skin, and bacon-wrapped boneless pieces. both were moist, tender, and actually tasted of chicken. unfortunately, churrasco does not have any regular seafood offerings (although i heard there were lobster tails on mother's day), but we had a surprisingly tasty grilled pineapple at dinner.

churrasco has five sauces: a thin vinegar based barbecue sauce, two kinds of finadene (regular and a reduction), red wine vinegar, and a chimichurri-type sauce. the chimichurri here is different from the one i am normally accustomed, which is a green sauce made with garlic, parsley, vinegar and olive oil. this one is red, possibly from finely minced red bell peppers, along with garlic, vinegar and olive oil. none of the sauces are particularly spicy, but they do pack quite a bit of flavour nonetheless. the serving containers are cute as all get out, but the ultra-stylish spoons are a little unwieldy; it's easier just to take them out and pour it directly from the palm-sized flask. i personally did not find a need for the sauces, but i appreciated that they enhanced the flavour of the meat instead of masking it.

the starches available were somewhat disappointing; although the red rice was good, the white rice was surprisingly overcooked and mushy. i like the mash potato, which seems to be nothing more than potato, mashed--i didn't detect much seasoning. the fried yucca offered at dinner weren't particularly crispy and i suspect weren't actually yucca, but sweet potato (these were too orange and mushy). the nicest carb on offer are the small pao de queijo, or gougères. think cheese-topped cream puffs without a filling.

i do want to note that one of the things i dislike about most brazilian barbecue places is the saltiness of the food--not just the grilled meats but also all the sides. luckily at churrasco, they have a light hand with the seasoning of all the side dishes, and the barbecues are the least salty of any i've tried.

we capped our lunch with a small pudim de leite condensado, or brazilian-style flan. it was firm and very, very rich--muy condensado, lol--so much so that the whipped cream, caramel, and white chocolate chips actually cut through the milky fattiness. eep.

i like this place. the prices are reasonable--$19.99 for lunch, $33.75 for dinner--and the quality of food and service are high. it's a good place for a celebration, or to take out-of-town guests, but probably not so good for vegetarians or pescatarians. (however, the salad bar is fresh and abundant, and there is a bar tapas menu that has a couple seafood offerings.) i've only dined there twice, but there was marked improvement between visits. i will definitely return to see how they continue to fare.


churrasco brazilian bbq and salad bar
in pacific bay hotel,
that white bldg with the flower shop and chinese restaurant.
1000 san vitores road, tumon.
671.649.2727.

coconut, sashimi-style.

it's coconut harvesting time in the homestead again, so expect a few coconut-based recipes here. although, i have to say, i prefer coconut mostly unadorned, and as fresh as possible--adding ice to cool coconut water and scraping meat straight from the nut is as much as work as i usually do, and is pretty much all that is necessary. however, it doesn't make for much of a post.

something so simple and something so lovely and unusual is to serve the coconut sashimi-style, cut into bite-sized strips, accompanied with a sushi-grade soy sauce and wasabi. the condiments transform the flavour of the meat into something akin to ika, or raw squid. no, it's not fishy, but it seems more savoury, milky, and slightly sweet. it makes a good palate cleanser if you are serving several types of sashimi, or a nice alternative for a vegan or non-fish eating member of your party.

top tip: use the youngest coconut you can find. the sweeter and softer the flesh, the better!

fat tuesday.

this is why tuesday's fat. momofuku's crack pie. half a pound of butter, half a pound of sugar, not to mention eggs yolks and heavy cream. the recipe would like you to dust the top with more sugar, but that's not gilding the lily, that's...aahh, uh. i don't know i'm falling into a sugar coma neerggh