Text 7220, 155 rader
Skriven 2008-05-17 00:43:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: Sibling Rivalry 322
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Michael, brother of my friend Ellen, was in town to play
with Herb Alpert - they flew to Hanscom on a G5 and then
limoed it in, the ride from Bedford taking as long as the
one from Washington. We met him at his hotel and then
hightailed it to Toro (Ken Oringer of Clio's very successful
mining of the tapas market) to see if we couldn't get a
table there (reservations not accepted). Party of 5? No can
do, 90 to 120 wait. So I said, let's point ourselves down
Tremont St. and see what we can find. There's Tremont 647,
B&G Oysters (impracticable as Joel and Ellen and Sara keep
Kosher), Hamersley's, Aquitaine, Metropolis, Pops, Gaslight,
Masa, all within a stone's throw of one another. We ended
up at Sibling Rivalry, which had a table for 5 available
almost immediately (Michael, henceforth referred to as Tom,
as he's "The other Michael," exercised some of his amazing
ladykiller charm with the young hostess, and that was helpful
and impressive - I'd never be able to learn to do that in a
million years).

This is a joint venture between brothers Bob and Dave Kinkead
("Chef Bob," who lives down the street from my friends
the Virginia Fishers, has Kinkead's in Washington, which I
don't care for, and maybe other irons in the fire, and "Chef
Dave," for whom this appears to be his main vocation). The
schtick is that the brothers have designed dishes based on
particular key ingredients, Iron-Chef-like, if you will. For
example, let's say the ingredient is liver. Chef Dave will
come up with "Silky Terrine of A-Grade Foie Gras with Braised
Ox Tail, Parsnip and an Essencia Gastrique," and Chef Bob counters
with "Pan Roasted Calves Liver with a Shallot Confit-Walnut Crust,
Lyonnaise Potatoes, and a Sherry Vinegar-Pancetta Sauce." Or for
tuna, Chef Dave presents "Pristine Sushi Tuna Two Ways Seared Rare
with Miso Vinaigrette and Cucumber Tartar on Crisp Warm Potato
Cake and Spicy Aioli," while Chef Bob offers "Tuna Carpaccio with
Pine Nuts, Currants, Lemon, Parslay and a Salad of Shaved Fennel,
Red Onion and Arugula"; and so on. A fitting venue for a visit
between the director of the Massachusetts Suzuki Festival, steeped
in Classical tradition, and her brother, one of the most renowned
pop/jazz drummers in the country. Especially given their loving
but sparring relationship.

The place has an affluent, low-key chic vibe: the buzz is quieter
than at some of the others, but it's still there.

We were shown to a circular corner nook, perfect for 5 or 6. Very
trendy multicolored stoneware on a stone counter. I can't see why
there's a line at Toro and not here. I'd guess that a meal at
Toro might cost $10 less, but that should roll right off the
backs of the target clientele. Anyhow, it wasn't too crowded,
wasn't too noisy, and the service was smooth and professional.

We cemented our relation with the various hovering waitstaff by
clearly knowing what we were about in the food department. I
ordered one of the low-end stars of the wine list, the Bastianich
Tocai di Friuli 05, a lovely citrus-and-apricot-scented lightish
wine with plenty of acid: a nice aperitif and went well with the
vegetarianer of the appetizers (none of which I had).

We were amused with an amuse of avocado puree in little cups,
after which we ordered multiple appetizers, ignoring the main
course list almost altogether.

My starter was "Peppered Gnocchi with Crisp Veal Sweetbreads,
Blue Foot and Oyster Mushrooms, Basil, Garlic Confit and Dried
Tomatoes," which, in common with everything I tasted, diverged
from the menu description. In this case the gnocchi (quite mushy
but at least not gummy, but not a patch on those served in more
reputable restaurants, for example, United Airlines) were not
peppered, the bluefoot mushrooms were absent, the garlic confit
was limited to one lonely little clove that looked just like a
gnocco (a little joke from Chef Dave no doubt), and the basil
and tomatoes were missing. I'd sort of expected a reddish
presentation with bits of tomato or something; instead, the
gnocchi were bound by a simple but pretty respectable demiglace.
The sweetbreads, for which I'd ordered the dish, were crisp and
yummy, and I took much consolation in this.

After that, I ordered "Hand Rolled Beef Canneloni Slow Braised
with Ramps, White Asparagus and Garlic Butter," another pretty
successful dish that didn't correspond to the words. The hand
rolled part was accurate - the pasta was lasagna sheets rather
than tubes, "hand rolled" around a quite nice short-rib stuffing.
The ramps were not in evidence. White asparagus took the form of
two spears crossed on top of the two cannelloni. The garlic butter
that was advertised was very scanty, but that defect was made up
for by another dollop of demiglace.

Other things at the table:
"Tuna Carpaccio with Pine Nuts, Currants, Lemon, Parslay and a 
Salad of Shaved Fennel, Red Onion and Arugula"; "Salad of Roasted
Hearts of Palm, Beets Roquefort, Walnuts, Bib Lettuce and Sherry
Vinaigrette"; "Warm Parmesan-Garlic Flan with Roasted Asparagus
in Herbed Brown Butter." All were deemed excellent, and all
seemed to have at least more of the listed ingredients than my
dishes did.

Tom bucked the tide and had a main course, "Portuguese Seafood
Stew with Littleneck Clams, Chorizo, Shrimp, Lobster, Scallops,
Squid, Salted and Fresh Cod in a Garlicky Tomato-Fennel Broth
with Romesco Croutons," which I believed was as advertised and
which he enjoyed ... about as much as he could considering he'd
recently been dining at places such as Michel Bras and Alain
Senderens ... showing me pictures of such places on his snazzy
camera phone. Also shots of him and his gal cozying up to his bud
Jean-Michel Cazes (owner of Lynch-Bages, Ormes de Pez, and such
places). I was out of my depth but didn't show it other than
admitting that one Michelin star was all I could afford to
experience at a time. How a musician, a jazzer no less, can
afford this life I have no idea.

With my meaty main course appetizer Archetype Shiraz 05 (Barossa)
seemed to be the ticket. It was appropriately berrylike and spicy
and not too sweet, but I found it a touch sour, more so than when
I'd had it before, which was I believe at Mu in Christchurch
(lost the writeup). Went well with the food, though, which was a
little underseasoned.

For them, I ordered the Voss Sauvignon Blanc 05 (Napa), which was
appropriately tropical fruity with hints of green and cat pee.
Also with an aftertaste of pears. I just did the wine bottle
opening ritual and had no more of it.

Sara wanted dessert, so she ordered something people could share,
a sampler called "creme de la creme" - a lovely smooth subtly
seasoned creme brulee, a rather unsubtle but okay and not too
sweet bread pudding, a quite attractive butterscotch pudding with
whipped cream and pepita brittle, and a tuile cookie.

Joel and Ellen split a cheese plate: St. Andre and three other
cheeses I wasn't interested in, with some neat garnishes - a
delicious fig jam, for example, and sliced perfect Pink Lady
apple slices.

As the others were having dessert, I had another course -
"Crispy Ground Lamb Brik with Cumin, Soft Poached Egg, Curried
Lamb Jus and Cool Cucumber Salad" to join them. Well, it was
crispy, and the lamb was lamb, and the cucumber salad was both
cool and almost palatable. But there was scant seasoning and in
fact next to no cumin; the advertised "jus" was really, as one
might guess by this point, unadulterated demiglace; and apparently
they couldn't get anyone to poach an egg at 11 pm, so that was AWOL.

There's a line on the bottom of the menu that says "Menu Items
Subject to Change." I guess so.

Tom, being wise beyond his years, just had a glass of Cachaca
for dessert.

The bill was enormous. We staggered out, wounded in wallet but
comfortably filled, after most of the yuppies had cleared out -
it was after all a work day next day.

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