Gastronomy - A Place To Share it!

Speaking of salmon, here is a "marinade" that I love for salmon.

Melt butter and drizzle over the salmon
Spread a nice thick layer of mayo over salmon
Top it with onion and slices of lemon
Then put the salmon on the grill (best) or bake or broil

The best part is you can leave as much or little of this "marinade" on the salmon, it tastes great!

And you can also change it up any way you see fit.

 

For those in northern Calif., there is a restaurant on the coast in Big Sur that makes Eggs Benedict with a home-made Hollandaise sauce that "is to die for!" (But you can't go there. Its mine, all mine! LOL. My wife & I make the trip about once a year just for breakfast. That nearly 4 hours of driving, 45 minutes of dining and then a day on the Monterey Wharf, then another 3 hour drive back -- all for breakfast.

 

Oh, just remembered my personal creation: the best grilled cheese sandwich (IMHO)

1. Preheat pan on medium heat
2. Butter one side of two slices of bread.
3. On the buttered side, put shredded cheese on them and press down slightly so the cheese sticks.
4. Put first slice, cheese side down on pan.
5. Add more shredded cheese on the face-up side of that slice.
6. Put the 2nd slice on top with the buttered, cheese side facing up.
7. Use palm of hand to gently press the whole sandwich.
8. Wait 3 minutes and then flip to sear the other side.
9. Wait another 3 minutes.

Now both sides are seared and the inside should be nice and gooey. I usually put a little tabasco sauce on the top. Sometimes I add a thin slice of deli meat between the two slices of bread before putting on the top slice.

EAT & enjoy!

 

My favorite place in Eugene to have breakfast!

Morning Glory Cafe: http://www.morninggloryeugene.com/

Everything I have tried has been amazing! From the Carrot Cake Waffles to the Zucchini Fritters. And don't get me started on bakery/sweet treat items. :drool:

 

@palandri,

Bonefish Grill is our go to restaurant around here. I was just there Tuesday night with clients from overseas. I am usually stuck in a rut and always order the same thing every time:

Calamari
Grilled trout with pesto sauce
Garlic mashed potatoes.

Pretty similar to what you had.

The food was excellent as always but I was disappointed in the Calamari, it was either refried or overlooked and didn't taste nearly as good as it usually does.

Great idea for a thread and I love watching Anthony Bourdain's show.

 

My experience in Turkey last Fall, fabulous food everywhere. Even though I went to work on alternative source of energy with a company that wanted to install windmills to support their manufacturing, it can easily be called a Gastronomy trip as well.

There were so many restaurants to choose from, here are a few memorable ones:

This restaurant is in Istanbul, it's called Sisli Balikcisi and is walking distance from where I stayed. You choose your fish from the store below the restaurant and while you relax and have a drink or two (there are some excellent local wines), they prepare your dinner for you.


This next one is a little restaurant called Mendirek, that's located high above where the Bosphorus meets the Black Sea, fabulous view and food.

They don't have a menu since they cook what the day's catch is.

 

Continuing on:

A little wayside restaurant called Kavi restaurant in Avanos, that serves one of the best kababs that I have had. It was set by the Red River thus offering a great outdoor dinning experience.



The next is in Goremé, it's a lamb stew that is cooked in sealed individual clay pots. You have to obviously tell them 2 hours ahead of time. They open the seal at the table.
It's delicious and melt in your mouth. It was accompanied by a wonderful home made wine.





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Enjoying a Sunday morning Capacccino.

The coffee cup is a gift and is handmade in a family run operation in Avanos, Turkey.

 

Quite steeply priced, but probably the best bouillabaisse I've ever had: http://www.restaurant-michel-13.fr/

And no, I don't take pictures of my food

 

Looks scrumptious even though I have no idea what it says.

 

Maybe but I need to know in nth. detail everything about it.

As long as we are doing menus, here is a small neighborhood restaurant that serves great food, was there couple weeks back.

http://www.meritage.us/


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It was excellent.

There were four of us and this is what we ordered:

Smoked Duck Nachos
Baked Stuffed Calamari

Rushing Water Trout - 2
Lamb Moussaka -1
Roasted Leg of Lamb - 1

 

Now you've made me want to be your friend (so I can come over and stay while I eat my way through all that fish!) LOL (If I could, I'd eat fish for every meal. Although knowing me, I'd end up with gout.)

 

If you like Mexican food and are in Dana Point area in SoCal, check out Olamendi's

http://www.originalolamendis.com/

They have the best Mole sauce I have ever had. The enchiladas covered with the Mole sauce is heavenly!

 

We go to dinner in Chicago most weekends.

If you enjoy seafood, then Boston Fish Market in Des Plaines is a hidden gem. They are one of the Midwest's largest commercial fish distributors, but they also have a small dining area and serve fresh prepared fish. Being that they are the middle man, everything is incredibly fresh. They use olives and olive oil from their owner's family olive orchard in Greece, which are both fantastic. Portions are extra generous. Word is out and they are slammed pretty much all the time, so the dining room is madness. In the summer, they have a lot more tables outside which are quite enjoyable. Highly recommended. The restaurant isn't even mentioned on their website, so here's a link to the Yelp profile: http://www.yelp.com/biz/boston-fish-market-des-plaines-2

Other places that we've enjoyed this fall/winter have been Mantra indian restaurant in Rosemont, Eataly downtown, and Umami Burger and Xoco in Wicker Park. Mantra is small but very nicely decorated and well run. Eataly is fun; the pasta dishes are great and the wide selection of items in the market is even better than Tenutas (a hidden gem in Kenosha). Umami is my favorite of the "better burger" concepts, and I've now eaten through their entire menu. All of the Rick Bayliss restaurants are fantastic, and the new Wicker Park location for Xoco continues the trend. I can't get within ten miles of a Bayliss restaurant without stopping in to grab an Agua Fresca.

Oh, and if you're near Wicker Park, all three of Bill Kim's restaurants are musts. Urban Belly (Korean fusion), Belly Shack (Korean-Latin fusion), and Belly-Q (up scale Korean barbecue) are all equally great. We especially enjoy Belly Shack.

 

There is an unusual restaurant in Milwaukee, aptly named The Odd Duck.

They serve small size portions Tapas style and all are excellent. The best way to enjoy it is to go with friends and order a few different things and share.

We ended up repeating some of the items from the initial order, we had a group of 5.

 

If you like Odd Duck, there's a similar restaurant in Lindenhurst (five minutes West of Gurnee Mills) named Ad-Lib Geo Cafe. It has a similar chef-run farm to table menu and even a similar layout inside. It's located in an odd strip mall, but don't let that put you off. We've been three or four times and have consistently enjoyed it. Their lobster broth is incredible.

They post their menu to their current Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ad-Lib-Geocafe/176570942405701

 

There is a pub/microbrewery near the MIT campus in Cambridge that has the same beer tubes. I think the diameter is a bit larger, but the same height. It's fun to use.

 

A local restaurant called Yard House sells beer in glasses that are... well, a yard tall. It's a bit tricky to drink from them

 

@palandri Dang. If you want to adopt a grand dad or uncle or something, I'll gladly tag along. (Actually, I'd be dead weight. Since leukemia and chemo, my stamina is so poor I can barely walk for about 45 minutes before I'm ready for a 2-hour nap.) But I would love to go to France just try their food. Forget the sights, just stick a platter of cheeses in front of me and watch me die happy. LOL