Eating House

Hi Uncle Steve,

Eating House has been on my mind for a very long time. I really didn't know what to expect, but it has a reputation as a restaurant that chefs go to. 

But, first let me complain about technology. I have to apologize for the below link [now removed}, which should connect you to the Google Drive folder containing all the pictures for this review. The problem is many-fold. First, composing these emails on an iPhone is insufferable given their typical length. However, because Apple had to buck the trend and choose to use a different file property in JPGs to determine the orientation of a photo, it is very difficult to move photos to a computer and insert them line-item into an email. This is exacerbated by the fact that the rotate image feature in Windows won't actually cure the iPhone photo problem and so when you upload it, it still comes out in the original, incorrect orientation. And for reasons I've yet to sort out, Google Inbox has merged the insert photo and attach file button and tries to be "smart" about photos and attachments, and yet would rather take the photos from Google Drive and attach a link to it rather than inserting it into the line item of the email. God help the ignorant soul who tried to do what I did. I'm half-inclined to start the food blog because then I won't have to deal with all of the above-mentioned crap. 

So, pictures. To  begin with beverages, Eating House lacks a liquor license, but they have a wine and beer license. But Stephen, how do they serve cocktails? Answer: loophole. They can use aperitifs to create "cocktails" in the 15-20% abv range (similar to a regular cocktail). I had a Pedroni, which was about a close a take they could make of an Old Fashioned. I later had a beer (a Bells' Oarsman) and Lauren had a glass of rose. 

Eating House has a very small menu, which is both good and bad. Good, because you can grasp the entire menu in your mind. Bad, because you still want to order everything. So, on the recommendation of our waiter, we ordered the tomato small dish, the pasta carbonara, and the chicken and waffles. Damn. 

The Heirloom Tomatoes was a fantastic dish. The tomatoes were drizzled with a southeast asian inspired dressing of Thai fish sauce, peanuts, and ginger, thus lending a strong salt and savory flavor to the dish. It was then topped with this "snow" of frozen coconut milk, which maintained its frozen state for a few minutes, but melted essentially upon contact with your mouth. It was also served with a great deal of Thai basil. It was a fantastic dish. 

The chicken and waffles were excellent. Which is unfortunate for two reasons. One, I've had many excellent chicken and waffles, so I'm not sure what to say. And two, surprisingly, it was overshadowed by the pasta carbonara. 

Oh what to say of the pasta carbonara? Well, lets start with the dinner reservation. Eating House exclusively takes reservations through RESY, a app for reservations at the best restaurants. RESY is to OpenTable as Zagat is to Yelp. And so, I made my reservation. And the day of RESY texted me to remind me and, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, recommended to me the pasta carbonara. 

This dish was fantastic. The sauce was thick, you could stick a fork in it. The dish was umami (what between the truffle, bacon, egg yolk, and grana padano (a hard cheese)). The yolk on top of the dish, had to be stirred in before consumption. It was rich, it was indulgent, it was ... leftovers because we were stuffed. It is also highly recommended.

I was done for the night, but Lauren asked for a dessert menu and we proceeded to debate for 20 minutes whether to get anything. Eventually, we went with the dirt cup, which was really the grown up version of the child's dessert. It was, notably, serve in a terra cotta pot and was definitely meant for two. It is also recommended. 

All in all, I highly recommend this restaurant. It would be preferred that they had a liquor license to serve true cocktails, but I applaud their creativity. 

And hopefully we'll get this technology thing sorted out.