zooming by

yes that would be time- since I last posted I have been on another trip and then moved north for the summer and been in a whirlwind social schedule for the six days I was in Chicago before heading back down to Florida to close the condo for the summer season.... so I will get back to my trip in a bit but for now this will be a post about the social whirlwind we have been in...

I arrived on Sunday with Lucy and eight cases of wine and the computers etc etc... crashed after the 20+ hours of driving... Monday we had dinner with Mike & Leslie who were in town for a meeting Leslie had for business... We went to Salero with them.  On Tuesday we met Ron & Mary at Anna's Asian Grill and then Wednesday we had dinner with Suzanne (in from Portland for business meetings) at Tanta and Thursday dinner with Steve (in for a visit with us! LOL) at Ruxbin and Friday dinner with Steve & Suzanne at Oriole which will of course be its own post... Saturday morning I am headed back to SRQ for ballet on Sunday and all kinds of other errands - car recall getting handled and the usual end of season clean up etc.

So here we go on photos-

The first dinner was Salero - with Mike & Leslie- and we had many good things but the wines were all that were recorded LOL-  we loved the suckling pig and the octopus and olives with manchego- liked the hamachi crudo and jamon serrano and marcona almonds - we also had the halibut and the paella and a couple of other dishes along the way so we definitely didn't go hungry LOL

the next meal on the calendar was Anna's with Ron and Mary- and of that I managed to capture the starter of stuffed avocado - but here it is- a work of art for your mouth! LOL

you can see we had many other dishes - all excellent - but we got wrapped up in conversation LOL so no photos-  LOVED the sake baby ribs and the buns with pork belly and peking duck.... all the rolls were excellent too- and they have a patio for outdoor eating in the summer! Definitely a place to return to!

Then on to Tanta with Suzanne on Wednesday night - two cebiches and two tiraditos as well as the corn cake and the Chaufa and octopus and empanadas and the very good chocolate mousse dessert with cocoa nibs ...that was yummy!

then Ruxbin on Thursday with Steve- LOL - this was interesting because they have redone the interior and I didn't think it was for the better- less intimate setting for dining -

we chose the wedge the foie gras and the pork belly and then followed with the fruits de mer and the duck and the steak and we all had the chocolate dessert

we all LOVED the foie gras course-

and the pork belly got three thumbs up-

 two views of the fruits de mer-

perfectly prepared duck was another fave

hanger steak was tender and had terrific flavor!

so to make it to our next meal we tried a neighborhood place for lunch of pizza - new to us and it was good pizza not brilliant but good pizza (I liked it better than Phil) and tonight we are all pumped for the big meal of the visit - ORIOLE- which will get its own post.... then I will go back in time and cover the DART trip with TB to Maryland and Delaware--- many things to recount with that travel... but I am off to a computer less location for the next five days - back in May to fill you in again...

sometimes it gets busy LOL- so stay tuned - eventually we will be up to date - we will get the DART done before we head to NYC and the NYC done before cousin Michele visits for memorial day and then Ireland LOL - so always something to report on....

return to tanta

So last night we returned to Tanta to see if it was as good as we thought it was the first visit.  And yes- it was...

we had some things that were repeats and some new items which looked good to try-

we started with the two favorite in the Tiraditos and Cebiches categories- classico and nikei

both still terrific!  Then we went on to the pulpo - amazingly tender and beautifully spiced! (new to us dish)

a repeat of the carne empanadas which we LOVED both times I would go there just to eat these!

another new to us dish - from the sea - scallops with foam of aged Parmesan - Phil liked this one better  than I did -

then we went on to our very favorite from the last visit - the pork fried rice dish which was our main reason for returning! 

and we had it with two new to us entrees - the short rib and the duck - we thought the whole fish was too much for just the two of us and the chicken was the least inspired dish of our last visit so - on to some new things-

the short rib was served with a marvelous tarro puree and the duck with a fab verde rice both incredibly flavorful for starch accompaniments -

plenty of left overs came home with us and served as lunch LOL-  

tonight we are meeting a new acquaintance at Osteria Langhe... we met her last week at TFL Next - she was our wine somm for the evening.  We got to discussing wine and thought it would be fun to get together in a more relaxed environment.... so we know the food is great at Osteria Langhe and the Tuesday trifecta a reasonable prixe fix menu seemed like the perfect choice for dinner with someone we barely know LOL.... more later on that evening.  Then on Wednesday we are headed way out west to a chef's kitchen dinner at Hanbun...

 more on that one too! stay tuned...

terrific tanta

I love it when you can use alliteration in the title of a post - LOL... especially when the food is terrific like the meal we shared with friends Kevin & Shari tonight at Tanta.

So let's skip to the favorite overall- LOL this would be the dish voted to be the most outstanding regardless of category- the one that transcended its label - and that would be this dish-

LOL- more on that later!

we wanted to try Tanta and we were in luck that our friends - culinary scouts and front line adventure eaters were up for it... we all love ceviches and sashimi and trying new things as well- so we ordered a panoply of menu items to get an idea of what is on offer here at Tanta.

first here is some info from their website-

A JOURNEY: “Our menu is like traveling throughout Peru from the Pacific Ocean to playing in the desert to touring the Andes mountains, the reflection of the Lake Titicaca over the Altiplano, through the amazing colors and sounds of the Amazon Jungle... traveling, celebrating, sharing the flavors and joys of Peru and having fun with respect and gratitude to the Earth.”  - Gaston Acurio

those of you who have checked out the food scene in Lima in recent years will be familiar with the name Astrid & Gaston (which was for years the absolute top place to dine in Lima) and funny - LOL - this guy is Gaston too... not really he is renown and it is the SAME Gaston....

Gastón Acurio Jaramillo is a Peruvian chef and ambassador of Peruvian cuisine. He is owner of restaurants in several countries.   Together with his wife Astrid, he managed the restaurant Astrid & Gastón since 1994. It opened in the district of Miraflores in Lima and expanded in Latin America and recently in Europe, opening restaurants in Santiago de Chile, Bogotá, Quito, Caracas, Mexico City, all South America and Europe.

For years this guy has been the world wide face of Peruvian cuisine and he put it on the map....

 But let's get back to our meal- terrific tantalizing tasty Tanta... here is the menu piece by piece and what we chose and the photos of the beautiful food

the tanta (namesake) and the nikei-

my plate with the two ceviches and two tiraditos on awaiting tasting! 

the cremosa with salmon- and the classico from the tiraditos section and then the corazon from the Anticuchos section-

the chicharron from this section of the menu-

from the next section we had kick-butt empanadas and the amazing aeropuerto - pork fried rice- the winning dish (who knew fried rice could taste this divine?)

before the final table side mixing -

we were slowing down so- although the scallops with Parmesan were tempting - we went with the fried fish- and the pollo a la brasa-

despite its prominent placement in a box, we all decided that the chicken, while good, was less impressive than the other choices and we would skip that one next time-

believe it or not - there was still a dessert course - which we all tasted and approved of-

the chocolate mousse -

here is the menu in full and the cocktail I ordered to give it a try (Pisco Punch - caravedo pisco, lemon juice, watermelon juice, paprika)

the plates before we started the feast- which were switched out in each section of the meal -

so worthy of a return trip for sure - next time we can try a few new things and have a few old favorites - and just in case you wanted to eat outdoors they have a roof top bar and dining area as well.... first rate meal with first rate company- we both brought sparklers - an Argyle 2007 Julia Lee's (blanc de blancs) from us and K&S brought a Veuve Rose - both worked well with the variety of things we ate and especially given the citrus notes of many of the earlier courses.  Looking forward to a return visit!