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PorscheGuy

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Posts posted by PorscheGuy

  1. Second the recommendation for the Spectator Hotel.  We had an awesome experience there.  You get your own butler to use if you want.  I thought the rooms were huge and it is right in the center of everything, so you can walk to most of the city.  Breakfast delivered to your room every morning.  

    Plenty of restaurant recs in this thread.  Husk should be #1 on your list and the coconut cake at Peninsula Grill is legit, food was good too

    Ft Sumner tour is cool

    Historic Walking tour is worth it.  Hotel set it up for us.

     

     

     

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  2. Have not been to ZaZa Houston in a while, but I imagine it still has a decent party scene.  Last time I stayed at ZaZa Dallas, they were burning so much incense throughout the hotel I got a damn migraine, not sure if they still do it in Houston.  Also, ask for a room far away from the bar and pool, unless you want to hear club music until 2 AM.  If you are going to party, it may not matter and will probably be a lot of fun.  Probably can pick up an extra friend at the bar to take back to the room if you are in to that kind of thing.  

    Also, NRG is a fucking nightmare to get out of if you drive and park there. 

  3. Charleston was a cool city.  it was almost empty last week, which was nice.  For anyone who is looking at going, HUSK is a absolute must.  I had very very high expectations and it exceeded them in every way.  The food is straight forward, completely "low country"  and phenomenal.  Liked it so much I canceled our reservations somewhere else and went back the following night.  They were fully booked, so we ate at the bar upstairs and they still killed it with their bar menu.  

    Peninsula grill was really good too.  Thanks for the rec on the coconut cake, it lived up to the hype too.  

    It's nuts to think of all the james beard level chefs packed into that small of a footprint.  

     

  4. Booked a last minute trip to Charleston for four days next week for the wife's birthday (still no pics).  Looking forward to it.  It's a way over due trip, we have not been anywhere sans-kids since last summer.  For once, we have no big set plans other then relaxing, eating at some hopefully killer restaurants and drinking all day long.  Going to hit up the Ordinary, Husk, Magnolia, Lewis BBQ, Peninsula grill, Henry's, Blind Tiger.  I'll try to report back details.  

  5. Finally  made it to the Charles.  It's menu is "loosely Italian based" but has something for everyone.  Service was stellar from start to finish.  Everything we ordered was really good to freaking fantastic.  Loved the oysters and pasta dishes.  The short ribs were really good.  Desert was perfectly decadent. 

    The Charles is now near the top of my Go-To list.   

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  6. Finally made it to Lucia last night.

    Full review

    Food was PHENOMENAL! You really feel like you are in a small restaurant in Alexandria or San Francisco.

    Everything is made in house. Even the butter.

    House cured Capicola with charred arugula and pepper jam and thin sliced parmigiana was awesome.

    Pasta dishes (we had the butter parmigiana noodles with white truffle and the sage squash ricotta ravioli with brown butter) was as better then anything I have had in Texas. Food was on par with Spiagga in Chicago.

    Approachable wine list, service was good.

    All that said, the experience ended a little sour when we got the bill. When we were seated our waiter was explaining the menu to the table behind us, no big deal, not in a rush. after a little bit of a wait he comes over and noticed we did not have a wine list and says I’ll bring you some Prosecco to enjoy when I bring back the wine list to look over. He did made a spot on recommendation for a bottle of wine. He made it sound like the bubbles we comped for the slip up at the beginning. Service from that point on was perfect.

    In the end, it was not enough to spoil the evening, just seamed like an unnecessary money grab when you are already well over $200 for dinner.

  7. Headed out Saturday to check out the campus with one of the little ones.

    List looks good for grub...what about music and/or entertainment with someone under 21?

    \m/

    Just don’t go to the grand ole opry. Complete tourist trap for people who are too old to go to Branson. Average age is 80, plus it’s 30 minutes away.

     

    As far as music goes, one of the things that’s hard to fathom the first time you go is that every venue has great music, even if you have not heard of them. Check out 3rd and Lindsley. Cool spot a little off radar that you can really get up close to the music. Tootsies is cool, but not sure about age restrictions.

     

    If you can get tickets, blue bird cafe will blow you away. Every now and then someone huge will pop in un announced. Garth Brooks, Keith urban and Taylor swift will just show up and play. If you are going around the holidays, odds are in Your favor from what I have heard since most huge stars have homes near by.

     

    It’s hard to not have a great time.

  8. Bullion: updated but classic French, in a really cool space downtown.  Dallas' only Michelin star chef.  Definitely see and be seen, but the food and service measure up.  Great place for special occasion.
    The French Room: classic Dallas dress up spot.  New chef that worked at great places (including Heston Blumenthol's place in London) is rolling out his new menu.  I think this is the last place in Dallas that requires a jacket for men in the main room.
    Flora Street Cafe: more hip than the above two, but still a place to dress up and have a grown up night out.  Do the tasting menu if you are somewhat adventurous eaters.
    Fearing's.  Start with a drink at Rattlesnake, then go in for a big meal that will be excellent.  Service is perfect and they will do up your anniversary.  That's what they do.
    The Mansion:  jury is still out on the changes the new chef is making.     The bar scene is still great, if a bit douchy.  
    Lucia:  if you can get in, this is a different way to celebrate.  Much more casual and homey, but service is very intimate; it may be the best meal in town.  And walking around Bishop Arts after - go to get a slice of pie and or some chocolate at Dude -- can make this a romantic night.
     
    Skipping obvious big steakhouse style places (Al Biernet's, Prime, etc.) because of your post and focusing on chef driven places.

    Absolutely spot on list, Well done!
  9. Cross posted from sous vide thread.
    Lamb shanks, sous vide @ 142 deg for 48 hours. Red wine reduction of the drippings out the bag. With cauliflower mash. #TuesdayDinner
     
    AE225-EE7-030-A-4952-8-E77-A4-D2-FC6-EA6-BB.jpg

    Would devour. I’ve done cauliflower rice a bunch, what do you use in your cauliflower mash? Blend it with milk, butter or heavy cream?
  10. Tomorrow, I will be cooking almost 10 filets for my parent's birthdays and I'm trying to figure out the best methodology to use.  I want to sear them in a cast iron and then use the small amount of drippings that are left over to make a merlot sauce that will accompany the steaks and potatoes.  I was thinking about seasoning the steaks, pulling them out of the fridge (cold) and searing them all earlier in the day, followed by refrigeration.  As food time approaches, I'll pull the steaks out,  bring to room temp,, and then pop them in an oven to finish at desired temp (M. Rare, except for SIL who is an unwashed heathen that takes it well done).  Has anyone used this method or should I just cook them all (in batches) to order and forgot the sauce?

    No lie. Friend of mine who has ownership in a high end restaurant swears that it’s near impossible cook a filet well done consistently. So whenever they get an unwashed heathen who orders one, they cook it medium with a seared outside and throw it in the microwave for 90-120 seconds to cook it from the inside out without completely drying it out. After they switched to this method, no one bitched about their well done filet, while he laughs all the way to the bank not giving two shits he just nuked your $65 steak.


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  11. 5-6 a day is hard core. Hard to imagine functioning, much less driving. 3-4 is the sweet spot. That’s around 20 glasses of wine before dinner

    Gott’s is a great for lunch

    Check out Reddwood in Yountville. Best pasta dish I have ever had. Fucking magical. Still dream about it. Went back and got it again. It was a summer squash ravioli in a brown butter sauce with sage, balsamic and hazelnuts.

    Don’t sleep on mustards roadside either. Another great lunch spot.

    Bottega was really good.

    Bouchon was a disaster. YMMV. Had a coked up waiter that ruined the entire evening.

    Bouchon bakery lived up to hype though.

    There are a lot of great suggestions throughout this thread.

    Cardinale and Kapskandy are supposed to be ridiculously great small wineries with blow your mind stuff.

    I got talked out of Caymus / Wagner by wine snob friend. Still wish I would have gone.

    Man, now I want to go back.


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  12. Great thread. Really appreciate all the posts. We are making our first trip out there in the off-season, late February.

    We are not big spenders on wines, so I’m trying to figure out the best place to stay and how to focus on our first trip.

    I drink mostly reds and the wife drinks mostly whites. We will be with two others who’ve been before and buy fairly expensive wines, so it will be a little bit of a mismatch, but we will manage it.


    We went for the first time last February and had a great time. Try not to stay in Napa. It’s really south of everything and will add to your travel time. Plus is very commercialized compared to the rest of the area with outlet malls and fast food.

    Look at staying in Yountville, St Helena or a little further north. We stayed at the Vintage Inn and I would highly recommend.

    A trip to Napa will not go easy on the wallet. But you can save a little here or there. Splitting the cost of a driver with another couple would be smart. I was able to use Uber and Lyft with relative ease and probably saved $300-$400 a day versus a hired driver.

    Map out the vineyards you want to visit and try to get reservations that are close together. No sense spending all your time riding up and down the highway.

    Check out vineyards in Stags Leap, Howell Mountian and spring Mountian. Look up cellar pass for reservations and reviews. If you can do a private tasting when available. Well worth it.

    Highlights from our trip:
    Schramsberg — cool cave tour, champagne decent wines. Good place to start the trip

    Barnett. Top of spring Mountian. Awesome views, one of the best in the area, really good cabs, their rattlesnake cab is awesome but $200 a bottle. But they will wave the cost of the tour if you buy one. White wines were good.

    Odette. Awesome vineyard. Best wine we had hands down. Do a private tour. It will include plumpjack, Cade, and adaptation. We joined their club and get shipments every 90 days.

    Frank Family. Their reserve Chardonnay was our favorite. Still have some delivered from time to time. Not overly expensive for their non reserve.

    Anderson’s Conn Calley. Really small producer of good cabs. You will most likely be the only ones there

    Hall. Great wines. Very crowded and high price tags

    Shaffer. Beautiful, nice people. Was not impressed with the wine for the price tag.

    There are plenty of review sites like trip advisor, cellar pass, etc that will give you a good idea of what to expect.

    Can’t go wrong on food. It’s all awesome.



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  13. Baylor already put their "max-effort" in to try to "beat Texas" which failed, so without accomplishing their primary seasonal goal, they will mail-in the rest of the season.
    Nothing new here; 1234.

    My Baylor bears are not even good enough to mail it in.


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  14. Terrace Point Cafe at the Wynn is fantastic for brunch. Sit on the patio overlooking the pool and you won't be sorry. Bottomless mimosas and the huevos ranchero skillet were a great start to the day. Hash House a go go  was huge portions and good food. Very crowded and the wait was pretty long. They make killer drinks though, so there is that.

    Second for Terrace point cafe at the Wynn.


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  15. Boxster S, and it's not even close.  And that is not an "automatic".  It will be PDK dual clutch manual.  Granted it is a manual transmission that operates flawlessly in automatic mode, but it is a manual transmission.  

    Agreed boxster s all the way. Plus the bmw has the smaller engine compared to the 440i.


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