Restaurant Review Roulette: C & T Wok

July 21, 2010

Authenticity.  Greg Cox loves the “hole in the wall” restaurant that offers traditional, “authentic” cuisine.  And he really likes traditional Chinese food, so I suspect that he’s going to give a favorable review of Morrisville’s C & T Wok, a place that offers standard Chinese-American and Thai food, but it also has a traditional Szechuan menu.  Here, Cox can fulfill his cravings for organ meats and tendon dishes and the heat that this cuisine provides.

Greg Cox enjoys his fine dining, but it’s this type of place that really gets him excited.  Now I have no idea of whether the folks at C & T Wok do it well, but I bet Cox will like it just fine.

I’m saying 3 to 3.5 stars for this one.

5 stars — 963 to 1

4.5 stars – 19 to 1

4 stars — 9 to 2

3.5 stars — 5 to 3

3 stars — 3 to 2

2.5 stars —  5 to 2

2 stars — 4 to 1

1.5 stars — 9 to 1

1 star — 27 to 1

So who’s been to C & T Wok?  And why does this place make me sing, C+C Music Factory’s “Everybody Dance Now?”  You can thank me for the rest of the day for planting that song in your head.  Along with “Wok on the Wild Side” and “Wok This Way.”  The puns have ended.  Nothing more to see here.

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Edit, July 23, 2010: As expected, Greg Cox liked C&T Wok, giving it 3.5 stars.  And now I’m going to have to try that clam soup.

4 Comments | Morrisville, Restaurant Roulette, Restaurants | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Varmint

Swedish Chef Rocks to Popcorn

July 16, 2010

Do you love the Muppets?  I know you do.  And you really, truly love the Swedish Chef.  Well, you’re gonna love this one, with the Chef rocking out to the electronica classic, “Popcorn.”

1 Comment | chefs, General, Video | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Varmint

Restaurant Review Roulette: Courtney’s Bistro

July 14, 2010

If you ask a local for a good breakfast spot, Courtney’s will get mentioned as much as anyone else.  There are a few Courtney’s locations in the Triangle, and many people swear their breakfasts are the best in the area.  I don’t agree, as the food has always been decent, but not great, but I can understand the appeal.  Courtney’s also serves lunch, offering soups, salads and sandwiches.  Courtney’s has not, however, traditionally served dinner.  Until recently.

Enter Chef Orobosa John Uwagbai.  And Courtney’s Bistro.  Chef Orobosa is a native Nigerian who has been cooking low country fare in the Charleston area for some time, and then worked at Gregory’s in Cary.  The Courtney’s Bistro website claims he’s listed as one of the top 25 chefs in the country (although they don’t list the source of that list).  He’s now partnered with the owners of Courtney’s to offer a “unique and exquisite dinner service.”  Now this is quite a combination, combining crystal and linen with the diner-like feel of Courtney’s.  The menu certainly focuses on low country specialties such as shrimp and grits and gumbo, but he also offers traditional fare such as rack of lamb and pasta dishes.

And now Greg Cox gets to review this bizarre combination.

I have no clue how good the food is.  I have no clue how this concept works.  I have no clue if Greg Cox will love or loathe the place.  What to do, oh, what to do?

Punt.  That’s what I need to do.  But, alas, this being Restaurant Review Roulette, I cannot run away.  I have to establish the odds.  There is a substantial amount of betting going on, I’m sure (snicker), and so I offer this week’s prognostication: Courtney’s Bistro will garner 3 stars.

5 stars — 200 to 1

4.5 stars – 20 to 1

4 stars — 9 to 2

3.5 stars — 2 to 1

3 stars — 3 to 2

2.5 stars —  5 to 2

2 stars — 3 to 1

1.5 stars — 7 to 1

1 star — 17 to 1

I don’t know a soul who has tried Courtney’s Bistro.  Let me know your thoughts.  And your predictions.

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Edit, July 16, 2010: Greg Cox gave Courtney’s Bistro 3 stars, just as I predicted.  However, the description of the food sounds as if Courtney’s Bistro could have merited at least another half star.  I guess the guy has a problem with formica tables.

2 Comments | Cary, chefs, Restaurant Roulette, Restaurants | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Varmint

Lucky Me Tastes the Menu at Lucky 32

July 13, 2010

Image courtesy of Lucky 32

You might have heard of Lucky 32, and you might have even eaten there over the years.  There are  two Lucky 32 locations, one in Greensboro and the other in Cary near Regency Park, and until last year, I didn’t think much about the place.  My recollections of Lucky 32 were of a glorified, slightly high-end chain restaurant in the ilk of Tripp’s.  The menu was all over the place, with food representing cuisine from just about every major country.  People who have never been have told me that they thought it was a Chinese restaurant.

Last October, while attending the Southern Foodways Alliance’s annual symposium, I was waiting in line to get some grub and started talking to this guy with long hair pulled back into a pony tail and a bitchin’ goatee.  He told me his name was Jay Pierce, and that he was the chef at Lucky 32.  In a moment of Southern food snobbery, I wondered what the hell a chef of a high-end Applebee’s was doing at the SFA symposium.  I quickly learned from Chef Pierce that Lucky 32 was a completely different restaurant, that it had a focus on Southern cuisine with locally sourced ingredients.  I couldn’t believe that Lucky 32 had changed so much.

A month or two later, I got an email from Jay, asking me if I’d be willing to come over and go through a tasting of the new winter menu.  I was intrigued by what they were doing, and so I came over at lunch time and joined Jay and General Manager Shane Garrity in a whirl-wind tour of about 15 dishes.  These were dishes that were sometimes classic Southern, but always inspired by Southern traditions.  I offered my comments to Jay, telling him what I liked and what I would change slightly.  I told Chef Pierce that Lucky 32 had become a high-end “meat and 3″ place, as the side dishes were as much of a feature as the mains.  He liked that concept, but frankly, I had forgotten about it until recently.

Flash forward to two weeks ago, when Jay invited me back to try to summer menu, which he was calling “Suddenly This Summer.”  I was excited to get back for two reasons.  First of all, because I had failed to write about my first tasting experience, but second, and more importantly, because I wanted to see what he was going to do with summer produce.  As I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed that the name of the restaurant had slightly changed; it’s now “Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen.”  It appears this transformation to a high end meat and 3 is complete, so I was anxious to eat.  This is what I tasted, and the comments I gave. Read the rest of this entry »

11 Comments | Best Of the Triangle, Cary, chefs, General, Restaurants, Southern food | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Varmint

Restaurant Review Roulette: Cantina 18

July 7, 2010

Greg Cox reviews Cameron Village’s new Southwestern/Mexican joint, Cantina 18, in this Friday’s News & Observer.  Cantina 18 is the creation of Jason Smith, the chef of 18 Seaboard, and it has received mixed reviews from my friends and colleagues.  Those who are well-versed in authentic Mexican food don’t care for it all that much, whereas folks who enjoy a burrito from Moe’s recognize that this is a step up from that chain-restaurant fare.  Some people have complained about the prices (particularly when compared to a taqueria), but this is more uspscale, and the tacos come with rice, beans and slaw.  I’ve yet to eat there, simply because the place had so many initial problems that needed to be resolved.  I’m now ready to give it a try, and I suspect I’ll like it just fine.

But that’s not all that relevant or important, as what we really are concerned with is how many stars Greg Cox will give the place.  I suspect he’ll like the fact that this is not a typical cookie-cutter Mexican restaurant, that Jason Smith took some chances.  I think he’ll like the fact that it’s in Cameron Village, a place that needs some originality with its restaurants.  I think he’ll like the food, too.  But I don’t think he’ll love it.  To me, this is a 3.5 star place all the way.  We shall see.

Here are the odds:

5 stars — 99 to 1

4.5 stars – 13 to 1

4 stars — 3 to 1

3.5 stars — 5 to 3

3 stars — 4 to 1

2.5 stars — 7 to 1

2 stars — 11 to 1

1.5 stars — 21 to 1

1 star — 33 to 1

I’m hedging my bets here intentionally.  This is a place where Greg Cox could have had a great experience, or a lousy one.  How many stars do you think it deserves?

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Edit, July 9, 2010 — It’s a 3 star review for Cantina 18, with Greg Cox saying there’s been a marked improvement over the preceding visit each of the three times he’s visited.

2 Comments | chefs, General, Raleigh, Restaurant Roulette, Restaurants | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Varmint

Things I Don’t Get

July 1, 2010

I’m about to lose some credibility as a foodie/gourmet/gastronome/whatevertermiscurrentlyinvogue, but I have a confession to make: There are a small number of foods that I really don’t love or fully appreciate.  Foods that some people think are the best in the world, but to me, they’re just OK.  This came to me last night when I had two gorgeous green tomatoes that just came off the vine.  I sliced them thickly, soaked them in buttermilk with some green Tabasco, then dredged in cornmeal with salt and pepper.  I fried them quickly in a skillet until a rich golden brown.  I dug in and, just like every single fried green tomato I’ve previously eaten, they were fine.  Just fine.  Nothing all that special to me, and certainly nothing close to an “Oh my god, this is so good” moment.

I don’t get fried green tomatoes.  And before you tell me, “Oh, you haven’t had mine” or “You need to try so-and-so’s,” let me remind you that I’ve had fried green tomatoes dozens of times from dozens of places.  I always allowed to get myself excited by the hype, and I tried to convince myself that they were fantastic.  But they were just OK.  Nothing all that special, but certainly a good way to get rid of the end-of-season green tomatoes (although making soup out of them is a far better thing to do).

And then I realized that there are other food items that I enjoy just fine, but they’re nowhere nearly as exciting as what others proclaim.

Exhibit B: Soft shell crab.  I first have to admit that I am a soft shell crab neophyte.  I’ve had it before, but I hadn’t even eaten an entire soft shell crab until about a month ago.  It was cooked by Ashley Christensen, whom you all know as my favorite chef in the area.  And I enjoyed it.  But as I was eating it, I was also thinking, “Boy, I would love to have some blue crab or dungeness. ”  I understand that  soft shell crabs are different, in flavor, texture and how they’re cooked, and they’re more sought after because they’re available for only a limited time.  But to me, they’re not so good to cause me to groan in a food-gasm.

Exhibit C:  Fiddlehead ferns.  They have a fine flavor, but again, I suspect these are so desirable because they’re available only for a limited amount of time and they are a harbinger of spring.

Now there are some transient foods that I do get, and how.  Morels are at the top of the list.  As are truffles.  I really like ramps.  And the first of the season’s asparagus.  The height of the summer peach season sees me looking like a fool, with peach juices constantly dripping down my chin.

I obviously haven’t thought long enough to come up with other foods I don’t get, but I’m sure there are plenty.  I just don’t like calf liver, but that’s another story altogether.  What don’t you get?

25 Comments | Cooking, General | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Varmint

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