I will write restaurant review. Eventually (and of course sooner is better than later), I will have my own restaurant critique writing style. I read that the best critiques are negative, and it's the stereotype for food critics. Anton Ego, the food critic in Ratatouille reinforces this. But I'm not sure that it's the best way to do this. So ... we'll see how it goes. So without further ado, I present ...
Ciao Baci de Little Rock!
With the exception of 2011 when my friend and I were both out of the country, we have gone to dinner at Ciao Baci in Hillcrest for Valentine's Day since 2010. We have seen chefs come and go. The current chef, Jeffrey Owen -- and coincidentally a former classmate of mine -- always tries to find ways to be innovative. Needless to say, my friend and I were quite excited when we saw the 2014 Valentine's Day menu.
I had planned to get a main dish and a dessert, but unfortunately when we arrived and saw the menu, it wasn't the same as had been publicised. The dishes were almost the same, but there were a few tweaks here and there - mostly in regards to the price. For example, the rabbit that I had my heart set on was now $34 instead of $28. That's a $6 price difference! I had planned to use that money for dessert. Thus, as a student, I could not order both. Besides, the "soufflé" that they said they were offering was not offered. There was a similar dish with raspberries and oranges, but it wasn't exactly what I was searching for.
The amuse-bouche was a Korean dumpling, called "mandu (만두)." Usually in Korea, mandu and kimchi (김치) are served together like it was here at Ciao Baci. If you don't know what kimchi is, it's the most famous Korean side dish, called "banchan (반찬)," containing peppers and vegetables (usually Chinese cabbage) which has been fermented in a brine. But wait! This blog isn't a Korean cuisine blog ... Yes, it's true. But the Hallyu wave, a cultural wave of all things South Korean, est very popular in France now and does not stop with its music and TV shows. It's also quite popular in the food world. And the chef here gave the mandu a twist. Usually mandu are filled with minced meat, tofu, green onions, garlic and ginger. I'm not sure exactly what ingredients were in this mandu, but I know that it had minced pork and leeks. Leeks are rarely found in Korea, and when I think about leeks, I usually think about French cuisine. So, it was a lot of Korean flavours with a little bit of French fusion. The mandu was really delicious. After I finished eating it, I was sad. In conjunction with my past experiences, I had high expectations for my main dish.
Like I already said, I ordered rabbit. I mean, I ordered rabbit three ways (from left to right in the picture on the original blog): rabbit pot pie; slow cooked leg with mesclun salad; and rabbit loin, wrapped in bacon, with some kind of carrot sauce. The rabbit was very beautiful and I couldn't wait to start eating. I ate from right to left, and unfortunately, the right was best. Sometimes chefs want customers to eat in a certain direction. Maybe I should have started with the left. Maybe he wanted the WOW to be at the end. Because WOW is not what I felt by the end. The loin with the sauce was super delicious and met my expectations. However, the leg was simply mediocre and tasted like a chicken leg. And that pot pie? What WAS that? It was mostly flaky pastry with some ... thing ... that had been waaay over-salted in the middle.
Overall, despite this experience, I will return to Ciao Baci, and I recommend it because I know that Valentine's Day is very busy, and in my mind, three perfect experiences shouldn't outweigh one bad one. Come down to Hillcrest and try it for yourself!
Next time, I hope to have a critique for you on 42, a restaurant in the Clinton Library. Until next time!
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Merci beaucoup !