Bourbon Dinner at Eleven Eleven Mississippi ... How'd That Happen?

Tuesday, March 30th - Bourbon Dinner Featuring Beam Spirits ... We Were Beaming Alright!

Many of you may be wondering how in the name of all that is food-n-booze did Jay and Bendy end up back at Eleven-Eleven a mere month after declaring right here in blogsville that the place was over-hyped with mediocre food that tried too hard to be something it wasn't. That would be a totally fair bit of wah-wah-wah-wah-wonder on your part and all I can say in our defense is the promise of five bourbon tastings followed by a four-course dinner paired with bourbon cocktails went a long way towards softening our attitude. We also figured that after trying five bourbons, straight, we probably wouldn't notice if the food was good or not!

Now, all joking aside, this was another one of those events that had me doing the Nervous Nelly because our friends Anila and Artan were joining us. The last thing either Jay or I wanted was to have them attend this tasting and dinner only to be on the receiving end of bleargh-food like we had in February, so our fingers were crossed and our hopes were high that Eleven Eleven would pull out the stops and dazzle us all.

The bourbon tasting was scheduled to begin at 6:30 that evening and somehow Jay and I managed to get there with about fifteen minutes to spare. We staked out a good spot for the four of us and proceeded to breathe deep, the hovering fumes .... waahahahaha!!! Each place setting had five small glasses with half-an-ounce of bourbon already poured and shimmering seductively in the late evening light. A souvenir dinner menu was waiting there there for us as well as a fun Maker's Mark pen and a small bottle of sample booze: Red Stag Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey infused with Black Cherry.

Friends, why do booze makers insist on ruining good, strong alcohol with fruity infusions?

This stuff reeks of sweet - if you didn't know it was booze you would take a whiff and think it was Krusty Brand Non-Narcotic Cough Syrup. We're not sure that even the addition of more booze will salvage this stuff. Maybe that's why they gave everyone a free sample??

Place setting


The Bourbons waiting for us were all from the Jim Beam family ... from left to right in the picture below we tried the following: Booker's, Jim Beam Black, Knob Creek, Maker's Mark, and Ri.

Have a drink? Don't mind if I do!


Allow me to provide you with some Jim Beam Bourbon ed-u-ma-cay-shun, courtesy of the glossy tasting notes also included in the place setting.

Booker's - is considered an ultra-premium bourbon. It is bottled straight from the barrel, uncut and unfiltered so that you can experience the true taste of nineteenth century bourbon whiskey without going blind (haha). It's aged anywhere from 6-8 years and is bottled between 121-127 proof. For what it's worth none of us really cared for this one - it was too strong, even after adding a few tablespoons of water and then some ice. It didn't just taste like burning ... it felt like it burned a path all the way down my throat to my belly.

Jim Beam Black - is considered a premium bourbon and is the company's highest rated whiskey with a score of 93. It's aged 8 years and is bottled at 86-proof for a smooth, rich taste. We liked this one a lot - it really was smooth and it made a great cocktail later in the evening.

Knob Creek - another ultra-premium bourbon, this baby won a double gold medal at the 2005 San Francisco Wold Spirits Competition. It's aged 9 years in newly charred oak barrels to obtain sweet vanilla flavors and a maple sugar aroma. Knob Creek is bottled at 100 proof and it embodies the flavor of pre-prohibition whiskey ... bold and uncompromising, just like Eliot Ness! This was the universal favorite in our party of four and it did have a nice hint of vanilla but was not too sweet at all.

Maker's Mark - this is sooooper-premium! It is Jim Beam's original hand-made bourbon and is made with winter wheat instead of rye as the flavoring grain. I gotta be honest ... this one just doesn't do much for Jay or me, but we found that it made a great pork tenderloin marinade a few weeks ago!

Ri - This is actually spelled with a mark over the letter "i" to let you know that it's a long vowel sound. Pay attention because this will be really important when I tell you a story about what a dummy I can be sometimes. This is a new product for Jim Beam, a Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey which is both smooth and spicy with a hint of pepper and honey. It was alright, but Jay and I much preferred the High West Rye that we tried (and purchased) and the Harvest bourbon tasting in January.

The story of my denseness is as follows ... I had never heard of or seen this Jim Beam product before this event. Not that I'm an expert on Jim Beam boozes, because I'm not. Anyway, when I saw the event menu and tasting list in advance of the event I thought this was a formatting error because it looks like this: (ri) ... with a long mark over the letter "i" and the number 1 outside of the parenthesis. I really just thought it was a glitch in the email ... until I saw it at the place setting that night. Wahahahahahaa!!! Color me dumb because I missed the joke!

Artan & Anila


Bendy & Jay


We were seated close to the bar so we could see them lining up glasses before making the cocktails to be served with each dinner course - we only took one picture because we didn't want to bother the bartenders while they were performing their mixology magic.

Pretty cool, don't you think?


My only criticism of the tasting portion of the event is that there was no food on the table to help soak up the very potent five bourbons we tried in about thirty minutes. I could swear when I received the original email that appetizers were supposed to be included with the tasting portion of the evening but there was nothing on the table other than booze and water. Surely a basket of bread, which is provided to all patrons having "normal" meals at Eleven Eleven, wouldn't have been too much to ask for, would it?

As it was, when that first course showed up at the table, I was one hungry, buzzing, ol' crohn. The first course, by the way, was Jim Beam Black Smoked Salmon with Baby Greens and Pineapple Bourbon Vinaigrette served with a Jim Beam Black Sparkling Cider Cocktail.

Jim Beam Black Smoked Salmon


Surprise, surprise ... they served the salmon cold and it was really good - a nice combination of lightly smoked fish with a hint of sweetness. The bread stick was nice (would have been better during the tasting) but was very chewy. And the cocktail was amazing - crisp and refreshing it would be a great drink to serve on a hot summer evening.

The second course was Orecchiette Pasta & Italian Sausage with Maker's Mark Basil-Garlic Sauce served with a Maker's Mark Basil Julep.

Under-Sauced pasta in Stinktown? That's Unpossible!

Damn! I think this was my favorite course of the whole evening - it was full of flavors, none of which overpowered the others, and had a very light application of sauce; the pasta was cooked perfectly and the Italian sausage was nicely spiced with a hint of basil coming through now and then. The Maker's Mark Basil Julep was wonderful although a little more sweet than it probably needed to be.

Our third course was (Ri) Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Sauteed Green Beans and Fig Bourbon Sauce served with Fig Infused (Ri) Bourbon.

Pig and Fig ...

This was both good and not-so-good. The pork tenderloin was wonderful - tender and juicy and flavorful but I thought it was served with too much sauce. The balance between the fig and and the bourbon in the sauce, however, was very nice and I did like the flavor, I just didn't care for the amount that was on my plate. The drink, unfortunately, was not very good. I return to my original question about the need to ruin good booze with fruity infusions - in this case rather than resulting in a drink that was too sweet we ended up with a drink that was very, very bitter. You may find this hard to believe but I didn't finish this drink ... didn't even come close.

Our dessert course was Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Pie with Knob Creek Ice Cream served with a Knob Creek Tawny Port Cordial.

YUMMY!

Having never tried sweet potato pie I was really looking forward to this and it didn't disappoint. It was like a very light, creamy, pumpkin pie and I really enjoyed it; the Knob Creek ice cream was also very tasty and paired really well with the pie. The real tragedy of this course was the cocktail - I was very intrigued by the idea of a port cocktail, but really ... I should have known better. YOU DON'T MESS WITH TAWNY PORT - PERFECTION CANNOT BE IMPROVED UPON!!!

Ahem.

Tawny port is already sweet, usually with notes of caramel and coffee and sometimes fruit. Adding Knob Creek, which was the sweetest of the bourbons we tried, to an already sweet, fortified wine, was not really a very smart idea. They should have served the Knob Creek straight, in my humble opinion, or perhaps a Knob Creek Coffee would have been a nice way to finish the evening, but the drink we got was just not good. And it looked to be a universal opinion because no one sitting at our table of ten finished it and I heard another guest say the same thing I did, "this just isn't good."

Having voiced my displeasure with the tawny port cocktail, I will now tell you that overall we were pleased with the evening. We all thought the food was quite good, which certainly made Jay and me feel better about the restaurant and our decision to come back with friends. The bourbon tasting was interesting and informative and gave us a chance to sample four new bourbons that we'd never tried before, aside from Maker's Mark. We still preferred the event we attended at Harvest because that featured bourbons from different distilleries rather than focusing on booze from one producer, but this was a good evening and we're glad we booked it. And I have to be fair and go on record as stating that this time the food at Eleven Eleven Mississippi really did live up to the hype - it was simple yet creative, and very tasty. We really enjoyed the evening, the meal, and of course, the company!

Now if they could just offer an event like this on a Friday or Saturday night so that we don't have to get up and go to work the next day ...

Hash House A-Go-Go!!

Tuesday, February 16th: We Ate-Ate Twisted Farm Food at Hash House A-Go-Go!!

Chelsi and Jason had been singing the praises of Hash House ever since we started planning this trip - they sent us fabulous breakfast food porn and linked us to the restaurant's website. Originally founded in San Diego ten years ago, the restaurant prides itself on serving "twisted farm food" ... old family recipes with a twist. Although we ate breakfast there, they are open for lunch and dinner as well. The really exciting news is that they recently opened a location on the Vegas Strip, so Jay and I may just have to pay them a visit for breakfast on our trip in May because it was truly an amazing meal!

Oh what a beautiful morning ...


In addition to the morning coffee, always a must, I ordered a sparkling wine concoction the name of which I no longer have. It was similar to a light sangria, I think made with pomegranate and sparkling wine and vodka - it was really tasty, and since we were headed to some wineries after breakfast I figured I might as well get a head start on the day's drinking!

So pretty ... so good!

There were a ton of items to choose from on Hash House's breakfast menu - I selected a Farm Scramble - ham, spinach and cheddar cheese. All scrambles included griddled potatoes and a big 'ol biscuit with a small pine tree growing from the top. And because breakfast isn't breakfast without some kind of extra pork, I also ordered a side of bacon. We don't eat bacon at home, so it's a must during a vacation breakfast.

Two people could eat this ...

Bacon ... from that most magical of animals!

I was very pleased with my choice - the eggs were perfectly cooked with lots of gooey cheese mixed in with sweet-n-salty chunks of ham; the potatoes were crisp on the outside, pulpy on the inside, and nicely seasoned; and the bacon was perfect ... chewy-crisp, just the way I like it!

Chelsi & Jason shared what I believe is their favorite breakfast entree: The Hash House Quesadilla Stuffed with Potatoes, Jalapenos, Eggs, and Tomatoes with Chili Cream. I really thought this was something Jason was going to order as well, because it's right up his alley, but he opted for something different.

Hash House Quesadilla ... it's huge!

Jason ended up going with a special that morning - a breakfast skillet with flank steak, bacon, taters, and lots of peppers topped with a big 'ol poached egg. He loved this - ate every bite and said it was one of the best breakfasts he had "dining out" in a long time.

Mish-Mash skillet hash!

We thought Hash House was tremendously tasty and are so glad we had a chance to try it while in San Diego. It was good enough that we're seriously thinking of visiting their Vegas location in May, but we're afraid it just won't be the same without our friendies. Still, we strongly suggest that if you ever have the chance you pay Hash House a visit - they serve a huge, tasty, and very satisfying morning meal!

The Shores

Saturday, February 13th - The Shores; La Jolla, California

The Shores is located on the beach at La Jolla and they were offering A "Savor & Sip Pairing Dinner" that was based on chocolate in honor of Valentine's Day. The price was great: $30 per person for three courses and an additional $15 per person with wine pairings. Chelsi & Jason had attended a different dinner series at the Shores last year and really enjoyed it - this menu sounded really promising and we thought it would be a great way to kick off the trip!

Four hungry foodies


First thing first - once we were seated we ordered a drink. It had been a long day, what with getting up at the butt crack of stupid in Stinktown to catch a time machine to the west coast, and nothing helps ease the leftover tension travel like a good drink. Jay ordered a Blood Orange Martini made with Grey Goose, Grand Marnier, and Blood Orange while I opted for a drink called the Diva: Sparkling Wine, Elysium Black Muscat, and Aqua Perfecta Raspberry Liqueur. Both drinks turned out exceptionally well - either one could have been too potent or too sweet but they were subtle and tasty and packed a nice punch.

Thank you sir, may we have another?


Not surprisingly we were pretty hungry since all we'd really had to eat were those terrific burgers at Hodads earlier in ther day, so we ordered a cheese plate to share around the table. This was a wonderful cheese plate and a terrific bargain: for $10 we received Humboldt Fog, Point Reyes Blue, Winchester Gouda, and Green Hill Brie along with crostini, fresh fruits, nuts, and some kind of jam (probably fig). Apart from the blue, which I don't particulary care for, I enjoyed all of these cheeses. Nothing says vacation like a fabulous cheese plate!!

Cheesy does it!


The first two dinner courses allowed for a choice between two items while everything received the same dish for dessert. For his first course Jay chose the Sugar Cane Skewered Jumbo Prawns served with Sweet Potato Hash, Watercress, and Chocolate Balsamic BBQ Sauce. If we had a single complaint with this offering it was that it only came with one prawn - a single shrimpie isn't much in the way of an appetizer even if it is served with a tasty tater hash. It all tasted great, especially the balsamic BBQ sauce, but it would have been nice if they'd been a little more generous with the seafood.

Only one prawn ...


I went with the other option for my first course: Saffron Buttercup Squash Bisque with Citrus Herb Croutons, Proscuito, and Spicy Cacao Nibs. As skimpy as Jay's shrimpie dish was I felt like I was given a bottomless tureen of creamy, squashie soupie goodness. The soup was wonderful, especially with those bits of prosciuto. Both dishes were accompanied by a glass of 2008 Riesling, S.A. Prum, Mosel, Germany. I'm not always a fan of Riesling because many of them strike me as too sweet, but this one was very nice - light and bright.

Yum!


For my second course I selected the 5-Spice Midwestern Filet Mignon served with Mascarpone Whipped Potatoes, Fresh Veggies, and Chocolate Port Reduction. This was very good although I would have like more of those whipped taters - they were light and creamy and practically melted in my mouth. The filet was good and the reduction was a nice compliment to the meat. My wine was a 2005 Red Blend - Deerfield "Red Rex", North Coast, CA - I'm not always a fan of red wines because they can give me headaches but I liked this one ... in very small doses. It was a blend of Cab, Merlot, Syrah, Cab Franc, Malbec, and Sangiovese - it was strong and I ended up giving it to Jay because this is really his kind of wine.

Needs more taters, precious!


Jay chose the Pumpkin Seed Crusted Sea Bass with Portobello Mushroom Risotto, Candied Fennel, and El Rey Mole' Sauce. He really enjoyed this dish and said it was quite good - given the seeds and the mushrooms this was something I didn't even bother to taste. I know when I'm beat! Jay's wine was a 2007 Chardonnay, Cuvaison, Napa, CA - this wine I liked a lot even though it was supposed to go with Jay's fish. It was light and citrusy for a chardonnay, and not at all too heavy or oakey.

Seeds, shrooms, and sea bass


Dessert was the same for everyone: Half Baked Chocolate Molten Cake with Vanilla Bean Gelato, Sugar Cookie Roll, and Morello Cherry Coulis. We were all given a glass of 2007 Essensia Black Muscat, Quady Vineyards, Madera, CA. This was a lovely end to a very tasty meal - gooey sticky chocolate and rich vanilla gelato with a dessert wine that tastes just like port! It was almost too much, but we all made an heroic effort to clean our plates.

Mmmmm, dessert!


All in all this was a wonderful meal in a lovely setting - the food was well prepared and nicely presented, the service was good, the drinks were generously poured, the comapny was fabulous, and who among us doesn't enjoy listening to the sound of the ocean waves lapping the shore while having dinner? If we lived in San Diego we would definitely pay The Shores another visit. As it is, dining there with our friends was a great treat - one we hope to repeat some day!

Hodads - Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA

Saturday, February 13th - Hodads Burgers and Paradise on Earth Two Thousand Miles and a Beach Away from Stinktown!

Considered one of the best burgers in America and recently listed by CNN as one of the five best burgers in the entire country, Hodads has been flipping beef patties in Ocean Beach since 1969. The place is something of a dive but don't let that fool you; these burgers are so good that people - the four of us included - will stand in line outside the store front for a table inside the cramped little establishment where burger nirvana awaits. I'd say we waited in line for about 30 minutes before a four-topper opened up, but who cares about wait times when you're with your lovey, your long-lost foodie friends, and are standing two blocks from the beach in 70-degree temperatures with an ocean-kissed breeze blowing through your Stinktown hair?

Pacific Ocean with high waves


Hodads from a distance


Some interior shots of the establishment for your viewing pleasure:

We all ordered tall glasses of refreshing water along with some beer to get the trip properly started; Jason, Chelsi and Jason (yes, there are two Jasons ... get used to it!) also split an order of onion rings which came with "I'm not crying" hot sauce for dippage.

Onion Rings o'Plenty

I ordered a bacon cheeseburger with tomato - they held all the other stuff that normally comes with the burger (onions, lettuce, mayo) because I don't like any of it, especially on a burger. Jason ordered a bacon cheeseburger basket, which means his came with fries. This was one of the best cheeseburgers I've had in a long, long time. The meat was juicy and flavorful without excess grease; the bun was fresh and soft; and the bacon was amazing - rather than plop down a couple of slices they formed a sort of bacon patty that was placed over the hamburger patty, ensuring that each bite was filled with bovine-porkie goodness!

Bacon Cheeseburger


Bacon Cheeseburger Basket

So, was Hodads worth the wait?

Hell, yes!

Would we go back again?

Absolutely!

Should you pay Hodads a visit when the opportunity presents itself?

Yes indeedy, because as they so succinctly state on their website: cows taste good!!!

Eleven Eleven Mississippi

Saturday, February 20th - Jay & Bendy Try a New Dinner Spot Way Far Away in Downtown St. Louis

Here's how it all started:

STL Foodie offered a really unique and fun product around the Christmas holidays: a pack of 52 playing card-sized gift certificates worth $10 off a meal at 52 specific St. Louis restaurants. They are all owner-operated establishments and many of them are trendy hot spots - for $30 we were able to buy the entire pack and a portion of the proceeds were donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I can't pass up something like that - a worthy cause gets some much needed money and my belly gets some much needed food!

Jay and I had tickets for the St. Louis Symphony's performance of Bugs Bunny on Broadway this night and since we were already going to be driving so far from home we thought we might as well use one of our gift certificates to try a new restaurant. I chose Eleven Eleven Mississippi because it's located about five minutes from Powell Symphony Hall and because their menu really sounded appealing. They market themselves as a blend of Northern Californian and Tuscan influenced cuisine operating as something along the lines of a wine country bistro. The restaurant is located in a restored historic brick warehouse in the Lafayette Square neighborhood. That doesn't mean much to either Jay or me ... we just want good food, especially if we're driving 45 miles out of the way to eat it.

Now, to be totally fair and upfront, I was sick last weekend when we dined here. I brought home a nasty cold from California and I'm more than willing to admit that my tastebuds may have been off. But I will say this: Jay didn't disagree with my final assessment and he wasn't sick then and still hasn't gotten sick one week after the fact. So, he either agrees with me one hundred percent or just doesn't care enough to offer up a dissenting opinion. ;-)

Our reservation was for 5:30PM - we arrived a bit early but were seated immediately. The restaurant was only about 1/3 full at that time but when we left the place was packed. It's popular, no doubt about that. Our waiter took far too long to make it to our table and thankfully a completely random waiter brought us some water to drink ... he probably thought I was going to choke to death with all that hacking I was doing at the table.

Eleven Eleven prides itself on having a comprehensive wine list. It was decent but I can't say that Jay or I were bowled over by it. Maybe if we'd had a server who was more interested in discourse we might have pursued it a little further and opted for a wine flight, but he really wasn't overly helpful so we just selected a glass of Pinot Grigio for me and a Shiraz for Jay.

We split an appetizer that had tremendous promise based on the menu description: Wild Boar Ravioli with Tomato Vodka Cream Sauce and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Raviolis


My issues with this dish were two-fold; first of all it was drowning in sauce and secondly there was hardly any filling in the ravioli. It's a Stinktown failing to smother pasta in so much sauce that it's impossible to taste anything else, but I do not like that habit one bit. A little bit of sauce goes a long way and when there is a surfeit of it I always end up wondering what the kitchen is trying to hide. In this instance I think they were trying to hide the fact that these little pillows were only half filled with beef ... or boar ... or whatever it was supposed to be. There was just a hint of gamey flavor but with all that damn sauce it was really hard to tell what kind of meat went into that filling. I was disappointed - this sounded so wonderful when I read it on the menu and the result was mediocre at best.

Jay and I both ended up ordering dinner specials for our entrees. I selected the Pan Seared Day Boat Scallops with Grilled Spinach and Apricot Risotto - there was also a port wine reduction mixed with a buerre blanc. The scallops were pretty good - I did get one that was way too chewy and gristly to eat, but the rest were cooked very well and were light and silky. The sauce was a nice compliment to the scallops but again ... there was major disappointment with this dish and in this case it was the risotto. I expected the apricot to be very subtle but instead it was overpoweringly sweet and I couldn't eat more than one forkful of it. I will give them credit for cooking the risotto well but the apricot was a total mis-fire and ruined the whole effect of the dish. Who wants to eat sweet risotto with their scallops? BLEH!

Scallops and plain old bad risotto


Jason ordered the veal shank which was served on a bed of creamy mashed taters and vegetables that unfortunately included mushrooms. His dish was the real winner of the night - the meat was tender and flavorful and those potatoes were a creamy dreamy taste treat! Luckily he shared them with me so I was able to experience some spud-love.

Veal Shank


I was less than impressed by the dessert menu. I must be turning into a demanding snob in my old age, but it seems like everyone has the same damn dessert options: creme brulee; bread pudding; dark chocolate cake; some kind of banana-y dessert; and maybe gooey butter cake as a nod to local tastes. We went for the one thing that we thought sounded different and chose the Peanut Butter with Dark Chocolate Tower, Peanut Brittle Crisp, and Concord Syrup. We both ordered cappuccinos to drink with dessert.

The mousse looked promising and was very light; the initial taste was reminiscent of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup so I thought that we might have found a winner but then unfortunately it finished off with a really sour aftertaste that no amount of chocolate could erase. We also were under the impression that the sauces on the plate were supposed to be salt caramel and chocolate ... instead we got something that tasted like runny grape jelly and simple syrup. Too sweet again - BLEH!

And, just to continue the nothing made Bendy happy at dinner theme, there was far too much foam in my cappuccino and not nearly enough coffee. So there!

Foam-u-ccino and a horrid peanut mousse thing


We really felt like the restaurant was trying too hard to impress. There are some great ideas on the menu and the presentations were nice in most respects but the flavors need work. In many cases what we found was that certain aspects of a dish overpowered the primary item; for example the tomato sauce that covered any taste of the wild boar ravioli. Perhaps Jay and I are just becoming more discerning and demanding after having a chance to try different things around the country; perhaps my under-the-weather-ness influenced my taste pickiness; perhaps the kitchen had an off night. All I know is that the experience wasn't good enough or impressive enough to warrant a second visit.

As an end note, I'd just like to say that Bugs Bunny on Broadway was tremendous fun and if the show ever makes an appearance in your city and you have the opportunity to attend, do so! The show has great cartoons including What's Opera Doc? The Rabbit of Seville, and a Corny Concerto and truly wonderful classical music performed by a first class orchestra. Even though I was feeling pretty punk I'm glad we decided to go - laughter is the best medicine after all!