Rambles Along the EDGE

When I travel on business I usually eat alone. When I do, I eat at the counter if there is one. It allows me the opportunity to watch people.

One place that I really enjoy eating at the bar is the Empire Bistro in Norfolk, VA. It is part of the Little Bar Bistro chain in that area. Normally, I avoid chain restaurants. The larger the chain, the less chance there is of finding exceptional food. The Little Bar Bistro chain consists of four locations, all in the Hampton Roads area. Of the four, I have only been to the Empire Bistro on Granby Street, but I get the impression that each is similar in concept with slight variations in execution.

To begin with, the Empire Bistro is a bar. There is no denying it. It opens at 5pm daily and remains open until 2am. The dominant feature is the bar itself, which runs along one wall. Four 4-top tables line the opposite wall with a 5th at the front window overlooking the busy street. Another 16 seats are at the bar. The amount of alcohol is impressive. In addition to rows of neatly arranged bottles along the counter, I count in the neighborhood of 70 gravity feed bottles containing single malt scotches, rye whiskeys and the like . This is in addition to an wide assortment of beer, both bottled and draft. There is a nice assortment of local microbrews. I like the wine list though. Everything is available by the glass.

But I don’t go here for the wine, the beer or the single malt scotch. I go for the food. Instead of the usual bar food consisting of burgers, wings or other snacks of variable consistency, the food here is absolutely fantastic. This is a tapas restaurant.

Located in the redeveloped downtown district, I have only been in during the early evening. When I leave my business meetings, I can make the drive for dinner prior to returning to my hotel. The atmosphere probably changes as the patrons change from diners to drinkers over the course of the evening. I can picture the place filling as professionals working in the downtown area stop in on their way home each evening. Then later, theater crowds and late evening shoppers from the nearby mall would be replaced by locals from the many upscale apartments in the area stopping in for a late night drink. I can see the appeal to everyone. The place is non-smoking until 9pm and I would not hesitate taking my wife or anyone else.

A tapa, which comes from a word meaning ‘to cover’, is a small snack originally from the Andalusia region of Spain. Originally, it was a slice of bread or meat served in taverns to prevent fruit flies from getting to the sherry. It was soon discovered that alcohol sales were increased by these covers, (It couldn’t have been because the meat, ham or chorizo, was salty!) and tavern owners began adding other items and creating small dishes for their patrons.

Now, hundreds of years later, many restaurants have such an extensive tapas menu that you can literally make a meal by mixing and matching these appetizer sized portions. It’s a fun way to dine. It’s also a great way to try various foods without breaking the budget.

I have been to many restaurants featuring tapas. Most seem to be a simple expansion on the original tapas idea, combining olives or a bit of olive salad with a small piece of bread or meat. Tasty, but gone in two or three bites. The Empire Bistro takes the tapas idea and expands it to the level of fine dining. Each portion is about the size of a side dish. Two or three portions make an entire meal. This is not a new concept, but here it is done extremely well.

I’ve been in several times and have yet to experience a bad dish. The menu is halved with hot and cold items to make selection easier. (I’m not sure that works!) Selections such as the Cranberry BBQ Duck Leg Confit w/ Brown Sugar Baby Carrots  or the Roasted Pumpkin Hummus w/ Baked Pita make those decisions difficult. It would take weeks of dining here each day to run through the entire menu. The real treat though is the daily specials. A chalk board over the kitchen area at the end of the bar usually lists a soup, about three dishes, and a desert or two which isn’t on the menu. I strongly recommend ordering at least one of those items. Almost everything is made in house. The ingredients match those used in a high end restaurant. Many of the dishes would not be out of place on the menu of those same restaurants.  The chefs take care plating the food, so that each item is a visual experience in addition to being a delight to the palate. Each trip is a wonderful dining experience. It’s no wonder I keep going back.

The menu states that for an additional $10, most items can be served as an entree sized portion with bread and a salad. I don’t see the appeal of that, although there have been times that a particular dish was gone much too quickly. I can easily select items which fulfill any need for vegetables, fruits or bread.

One of the joys of dining out is trying different dishes. The Empire Bistro is certainly capable of meeting that need. The fact that everything seems to be of consistently high quality adds to the appeal. If you find yourself in Norfolk, please give them a try.

Zane Melder EDGE Books Kentwood, LA

I had a wonderful meal this evening. One of the dishes was a Greek salad. It was layers of crisp lettuce, slices of cucumbers, roma tomatoes, and red onions, mixed with capers, kalamata and black olives and feta cheese. A thin coating of an herb vinaigrette coated everything. The construction was such that I got a fair mix of the items in each bite. It was fabulous.

Why is it so difficult for some restaurants to toss a salad prior to serving it? Even in some high end establishments, the salad seems to be an afterthought. A pile of greens (iceberg lettuce, ugh.) on a dish, perhaps a few cherry tomatoes or other items, then a big dollop of dressing on the top or the side. I’m in a restaurant. I’m seated at the table preparing to have my meal. I don’t have the facilities to toss a salad. That should be done in the kitchen. The dressing should evenly coat each piece of the salad. All the ingredients should be evenly mixed. I shouldn’t have one bite with far too much dressing dripping from it while the next bite has little or no dressing. I shouldn’t finish my greens and find half the other ingredients still on the dish. I shouldn’t, but I do. All too often.

A perfectly baked potato is a delight. It will have crisp golden skin and will be pure white and fluffy on the inside. Russet potatoes are best. I’d sure like to get one in a restaurant.  Instead, I get a potato brought to the table in aluminum foil. Wrapping the potato in aluminum foil will produce a soft skin (not crispy), but technically this is steaming rather than baking (as the moisture in the potato remains trapped) and the light, flaky texture will be missing. The texture of a steamed potato is entirely different from that of a perfect baked potato. It is not as good.

That aluminum foil does more than change a very good dish into something mundane or outright bad. The kitchen staff could easily remove it prior to bringing it to the table. It’s already served it’s purpose. That potato should be hot. I’m supposed to unwrap it at the table? With my fingers? What do I do with the trash? I’m supposed to clutter my table with the foil? The only reason to leave it for the diner to remove is to make sure that everyone knows that you have a potato. As if they couldn’t tell.

The kitchen staff is very busy. They have to ensure that many things happen to make your dining experience better. It shouldn’t be a matter of policy that relatively minor things routinely go undone. Please remove that aluminum foil prior to serving my potato. And toss the salad!

Zane Melder EDGE Books Kentwood, LA

“Got to Go! So many buffets, so little time!”

So ends a frequent commercial on a radio show I listen to regularly. It jabs my sensibilities each time I hear it. I love to eat. I equate the word buffet, however, to a short step above a hog trough. An amount of (usually) not so good food is put out on a serving line and people line up to ensure that they ‘get their money’s worth.’ A lot of buffet’s are served for as little as a few dollars. I’ve seen them for quite a bit higher, $40 and up in the better establishments. But, in the places most people I know eat, $20 would be an outrageously high price.

People! If they were served a plate of food for $4.95 that contained the same food as that on most buffets, they would complain. Somehow, the idea of ‘all you can eat’ makes it OK. A restaurant is not going to lose money on a buffet. The food is poorly prepared. It’s made from poor quality ingredients. It’s put out on a serving line and left to come to room temperature. What should be hot is lukewarm. What should be cold is lukewarm. If the food is not good, why would having more of it make it better? I just don’t understand.

I can understand that some individuals simply want to ease their hunger. Nutrition or taste has nothing to do with it. You have to eat something and you have to eat it now! I’ve been guilty of that. I travel frequently and subsequently spend a great many nights in hotels. A buffet breakfast is available and I eat. I am never happy with what I eat, but I’m not hungry anymore. And I don’t have to get out and try to find a better breakfast at a time of morning when I am usually rushed and anxious to get on with my day. I do try to order off the menu occasionally. Then I watch in frustration as the waitress walks over to the buffet table and dishes up my order instead of having the kitchen prepare it for me fresh and using better ingredients. And I’m supposed to pay the higher, a la carte, price for the same food as that on the trough . . . er, buffet? 

But on a normal basis, why go out of your way to eat something that’s not good for you? We are constantly bombarded with nutritionists telling us that the snack food and fast food that we eat is loaded with empty calories. I agree wholeheartedly! But can a buffet at a bargain price be any more healthy for us? I don’t think so.

I can understand a young mother with a car full of kids needing to get them through the day without blasting through her meager budget on a single meal. It’s something that has to be done. In the long run though, is it worth it? All she is doing is filling their stomachs. She isn’t providing them with the nutrition they need. In addition, like the individual in the commercial, she is promoting an unhealthy way of life to her children.

It’s not just buffets that are the culprits in this. A few of the New Orleans restaurants have quite a reputation. They are very popular with the locals. Do you hear anything about how good their food is? No! But they serve large portions!

Huh?

Zane Melder EDGE Books Kentwood, LA