Soirée Wine Aerator

A few nights ago, my father and I toasted the end of a successful school year with the Soirée and a 2009 Argentinian Malbec. This clever little piece was sent to me from the PR folks at Soirée, and was exciting for me to try out with dinner.The Malbec that we tried, upon first taste, was robust and tasty, and ended up being much sweeter and berry-like than I'd thought, with better legs than Julia Roberts and a fruity, dark nose. Alone, it was really quite delicious, but I was intrigued to see how it would taste with the addition of a little aeration.Using the Soirée was a little bit complex, as both my father and I were dubious about completely upturning a wine bottle over our glasses, but lo, with the magic of science and pressure, it was entirely plausible. And for a tiny little device, it creates a very memorable effect. Like magic, the wine swirled all over the interior, effectively covering all surfaces and aerating all the wine instantaneously.Now, color me jaded, but I'm not as big a fan of this as I ought to be. It's all very attractive and gadgety, and it sure looks pretty on top of the bottle, like a giant glass bong, but I didn't taste any difference between the undecanted Malbec and the decanted one. In fact, when I decant wine, I prefer less of a smoke and mirrors, "ta da" effect, favoring one that mulls over a little more. Wine can be just as easily decanted in a $350 Riedel bottle as a regular glass, letting it air for a bit, in my opinion. Decanting is only really good for a select few, anyhow. I'm sure it released some nice flavors in this one, but hell, you wouldn't decant a '45 Rothschild, would you?This is pretty and cute and makes a lovely gift, but as far as actually decanting, I'm on the fence. It would definitely be a hit at parties when you want to show your guests a good time and can't fit a hibachi grill on your back patio, but if you're looking for a decanter, don't look here. It's all talk and no aeration. And rhyming is for pussies.

Mars Starburst Sour/Sweet

Since I usually pay for gas with my card at the pump, I don't often go in gas station convenience stores around town. However, they tend to be treasure troves of new and old candy, and an easy place to find regional items when travelling.

These Starburst don't fall into the "new" category. I'm not sure if they are still in production, but they were purchased in a gas station, and there were only a couple of packages left. It was a risky move, but I went for it.


Sour Green Apple was so sour that it prickled my throat. The apple flavor was very fake, but recognizable.

Sweet Blue Raspberry had a nice sweet (albeit fake) raspberry taste with hints of the tart zing of the fruit, and it was probably my favorite.

Sour Watermelon had an impressive sour punch, but I didn't think it tasted at all like watermelon. It's such a mild fruit that adding sour really makes it unrecognizable.

Sweet Strawberry reminded me of ChupaChups suckers, with a fake but familiar strawberry flavor. It did seem sweeter than the normal strawberry Starburst, and it wasn't as good.

This variety was nothing special, although the sour ones were quite sour. Maybe it's just bad execution, but this variety of Starburst didn't add anything to the brand. I'll stick with the original.

Have a look at Candy Blog for another review.

C+

Starburst website

Clark's Dairy Luncheonette, New Haven, CT

This is less of a review than an homage to the late and great Clark's, closed recently due to budget constraints. My father and I went here after a job interview of mine to sit and talk and eat some pancakes.

Clark's didn't have pan-Asian African fusion or a funky mix of microbrews. It wasn't famous for any one chef and its state of the art kitchen was right in front of a few lucky diners. It was, in all its glory, another damned good place to eat.
I used to go to Clark's with my dad on rainy afternoons in New Haven, after a day at the British Art Gallery or another museum, and in retrospect I remember the setting in a foggy fashion, framed by Yale and forever looping its glory days in the mist. It was a restaurant built on chrome stools and a decades long reputation.Today, we ordered pancakes.
Dad and I sat and watched them cook a few meals. The manager came over and chatted with the chef about what it'll be like when it all closes down, and the waitress softened at the edges with a touch of sunlight, but still called everyone she saw "hun" and "sugar."Clark's, you will be missed. Our stomachs prowl the streets in vain for another classic haunt.

Morinaga Straberry Daifuku Hi-chew

I don't often blog about traditional Japanese snacks (known as wagashi) for a couple of reasons. First, I live in the United States and they are a bit hard to come by, and second, there's already an excellent blog for that!

Instead, I have to settle for reviewing cheaper candy based on wagashi, like these strawberry daifuku Hi-chew! The real thing is a strawberry covered in red bean past and wrapped in mochi. Here's a recipe for real strawberry daifuku, in case you can't track down the Hi-chew. The real thing is most definitely better.


There was no detectable mochi smell to these candies, just a strawberry aroma. Mochi was just barely present in the flavor, though the strawberry dominated. It was a tart, authentic strawberry, and it was quite good. As with all Hi-chew, the candies had a chewy, almost rubbery texture.

Red bean paste was completely absent from the flavor profile, but despite the failure at tasting like daifuku, it still made for a tasty strawberry candy. It's been a long time since I've had regular strawberry Hi-chew, so I can't say how it compares - I doubt there is much of a difference.

Check out another review at Tasty Japan.

B+

Morinaga website

Cocoa Dolce Chocolate Almond Bar

Terrible clichés, you know you've seen them. Shit, they're just there in the air, hovering like a doddering grandmother or a terrible air freshener. On Tuesday, Keepitcoming Love and I not only drank pina coladas, but we got caught in the rain like an hour later.

Perhaps some things are good enough to be true.

But in all honesty, it might be time for me to just face the music and consider another typical pairing in the gastronomical world- chocolate and almonds. It's hotter than a two dollar whore or the average body temperature of an attendee at an ICP concert, and definitely noses its way into a ton of different candy-related situations. Almonds are one those ingredients, like sriracha or L'Heure Bleue, that lends itself to a myriad of possibilities.This particular chocolate almond bar, by Cocoa Dolce, is downright indulgent. There are no chips of almonds, but entire nuts, and every single nut is circled by a shitton of chocolate. A metric shitton. The chocolate is smooth and bites well, without crumbling off and flaking like a deadbeat parent at a carnival. It's not too sweet, but maintains a slow melt, almost like a liqueur, that makes it richer and more indulgent than just the plain stuff. A very piercing and deliciously imparted flavor from a milk chocolate.Each almond is perfectly roasted and doesn't shed that gross almond skin. The combination is both nutty and pure, slightly bitter and caramely sweet. This bar is enough to serve two happily, and surpasses all the other chocolate almond posers with their screamo music tutorials and crappy scene kid hair cuts.

Bitches are just jealous of this bar.

Village Whiskey

If there's a blockbuster movie, you can bet that I'll wait the 9-12 months for it to come out on DVD, and then wait another year or two before I watch it...if even at all. Similarly, with great patience and disinterest is about how I approach much-talked-about restaurant openings. I'm in no hurry to be seen, or be in the know.

And so, I waited for a good while to visit Jose Garces' whiskey emporium, Village Whiskey. In fact, I never even planned on visiting Village Whiskey until I saw that the neighboring restaurant I intended to dine at did not have outdoor seating, and, well, it was such a lovely evening, so decided to take up residence at one of Village Whiskey's outdoor tables.
Village Whiskey showcases over 100 bourbon, rye, Irish, blended, and Scotch whiskeys, but don't miss the wines, beers, and delicious sounding cocktails also on the menu. With most drinks costing more than the food, we went the economical route and ordered a bottle of Village Sangaree for $28. One of the better sangrias I've tasted recently, this mix of whiskey (of course!), orange curacao, red wine, Fees Barrel Aged, Fees Orange, sugar, and lemon juice poured out 6-7 healthy wine glass servings, making the Village Sangaree one of the wisest drink choices.

Vegetarians will find most of their choices on the small menu under the bar snacks column: tater tots, deviled eggs, soft pretzels, and cheese puffs. If there is a deviled egg on a menu I will order it. Village Whiskey's deviled eggs are filled with a creamy, salty (but not too salty), pickle-studded filling. Perfect and familiar. Nothing avant garde, just classic.Also, be sure to check out the assortment of pickled vegetables, each individually served in a hinged canning jar accompanied by black olive tapenade, whipped ricotta, and toasted sourdough. A steal at $4, the cherry tomato pickles were both sweet and tart without being overwhelmingly so. Perfection, really. Thanks to Meal Ticket and the recipe for Village Whiskey's pickled tomatoes they posted, you can recreate them at home this summer. I've heard many complaints about Village Whiskey's duck fat fries being limp, but our fries fried in vegetable oil (not on the menu; you have to ask) were perfectly crispy. Maybe skip the duck fat indulgence next time, guys. I'd also skip the Sly Fox Cheddar cheese sauce; it was so mild and flavorless that the flavor of the potatoes outshined the sauce. The cheese sauce was ignored in favor of plain ol' ketchup.
Garces' 8-ounce beef Village Burger tops most Philly burger connoisseurs' list of best burger in Philly, but how does Garces' veggie burger stack up? Well, the crunch and tang of the bright pink pickled cabbage was not enough contrast to the mushy black bean burger, creamy guacamole and soft sesame seeded bun. The veggie burger was tasty enough and a pretty bean patty, but it does not live up the the Garces legend. Stick to the starters, my veg friends.

With the exception of the $26 famed foie gras-topped Whiskey King burger and the $28 Lobster roll, the food prices at Village Whiskey are quite reasonable. What is not reasonable are the drink prices, especially the straight whiskey drinks, which will put you back anywhere from $6-$70, with most parked somewhere right in the middle.

If I had to do it again, I'd do it all much the same — cheap and delicious bar snacks with an economical bottle of cool sangria.

Village Whiskey
118 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-665-1088
Mon-Thurs: 11:30am-12am
Mon-Thurs: 11:30am-1am
Sun: 5pm-12am

Nestle Mixed Juice KitKat

Every time I review a snack, I try to approach it with an open mind. Whether it's something I know well or something I suspect I won't like, it helps to try and forget expectations and taste as if everything were brand new. Of course, a little prejudice is normal and unavoidable - taste buds are strongly tied to memory.

I ordered some Mixed Juice KitKats from NapaJapan, knowing full well that they wouldn't be a likely hit with me. It was quite a challenge to forget that notion as I sampled it, but review blogs are 99% subjective, so I don't feel too bad about it.


The KitKat smelled like sweet fruity cream, and at first, all I could taste was white chocolate. After the chocolate melted a bit, the fruit flavors emerged, but I could only pick out banana and a hint of peach. When mixed in with other fruits, banana tends to dominate, so I wasn't surprised.

It wasn't bad, just very sweet and heavy on the banana. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of the vegetable juice KitKat of last year, without the nasty aftertaste. Overall, it was a forgettable KitKat and one of the weaker offerings so far this year.

Check out more reviews at Jen's KitKat Blog, Japanese Snack Reviews, Tasty Japan, and Razterized.

C+

KitKat website