My brother in Law Jake Dowling gave me a quick (really quick) tutorial on how to unshell a lobster recently. He is a native of Maine (which has too much lobster–if you did not know) so this kind of thing is truly second nature to him. He showed me how to unshell a lobster in less than 60 seconds without breaking a sweat.

As they were cooking, I was told that bigger is not always better with lobsters, and there is a perfect size for texture and flavor that is somewhere around pound and a quarter in weight. So, getting the timer running here, Jake takes the claws off first, as you can see in the image below. The next step is to grasp the body in one hand and the tail in the other, and gently twist to separate the two body parts.

 At this point Jake typically disposes of the body, but I want to step in and note that there are a few pieces worth salvaging. The legs have exceptionally tasty meat that can easily be removed by using a rolling pin. Just start at one end and roll over them, and the meat will pop right out.  You should keep a look out also for red lobster roe in the tail. If you are lucky enough to get it it’s delicious. The next step is to break the tail and push the meat out from inside. This should be really easy and yield a lot of meat.

From here we can move onto the claws. Compared to the rest of the lobster, these can be a little tricky. First you want to snap the joint and also break off the movable part of the claw. You may notice that this is the only picture that was not over a plate. when you remove the bottom of the claw, a liquid will come out of it. You can see it in the picture. You probably want to move over a sink or trash can. You can use a cracker to break into the claw and extract the rest of the meat.

All that we have left now is the back portion of the claw. If you apply pressure with your hands against the joint it should pop right open and you are good to go.

July 21st, 2008 by John (Cho-Tabetai)
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My friends and recent newlyweds Chris and Kate Miller just spent their honeymoon in Japan. I met up with them last week and they gave me this incredible looking hand painted clay container of sake as a gift. The sake has a dry flavor with a bit of a bit to it. I have been enjoying it at room temperature, and cold. Its color has just the slightest amber tint to it. I was told that the sake process has not changed for many generations at this family run place. Although the sake is incredibly tasty, my favorite part by far is this clay container. I will be refilling this for a long time! When I removed the cup from the top, there was a cork.

July 8th, 2008 by John (Cho-Tabetai)
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Right around the corner from my new loft in Brooklyn is a Japanese restaurant called Gen. I have been frequenting it quite often. My friend Lina noticed on our last visit together that they had a brunch, so I was excited to see what their offering of breakfast food would be. They have a set menu where you get a choice of a few entrees, as well as a mimosa, tea, soup, chirashi, and a dessert all for 13$.

I ended up picking the only entree I did not already know, renkon hasami age. It was renkon (lotus root) stuffed with salmon and deep fried. The renkon had a rich heavy flavor that is well suited to be deep fried. It was ofset by the salmon inside, adding a well needed saltines. It appears that there was also a shiso leaf inside, but I don’t remember tasting it that strongly. Next up was the chirashi (pictured above). The fish was good quality, as would be expected from Gen, but what really blew me away was the rice below it. It was sushi rice mixed with a schiffanade of shiso, yukari (dried red shiso), and edamade. It was so delicious, I could have eaten a whole bowl. Yukari has an even stronger flavor than shiso, it was really tangy. Also pictured is a clam and wakame soup, an unagi omelet, and a pineapple spring roll in a mango sauce.

July 8th, 2008 by John (Cho-Tabetai)
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Well, it looks like everything worked itself out. Under new a slightly new look, and new management (Sarah of Delicious Life I wonder???) Tastespotting.com has returned. One good thing that happened during the down period was the launch of FoodGawker. Thanks to the talented Lina of EatYet for the find!

June 30th, 2008 by John (Cho-Tabetai)
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I recently visited Per Se restaurant in Manhattan. It’s the sister restaurant of the French Laundry in California. I should begin by saying four years ago when I visited the French Laundry was the single most memorable dinging experience of my life. Not only was it the best meal I had had up to that point (it still holds that title) but I had become aware of Thomas Keller the head chef prior to then, and had his cookbook with me when I went to visit. I asked if I could get it autographed, and when I went down to the kitchen, he invited me to hang out for a bit and sit in on the menu planning for the following evening.

 All of these things combined led to an experience that I can hardly put into words. Needless to say I have been looking forward to the opportunity to re-experience the cooking of Thomas Keller. This leads me to my night at Per Se last week. It was a fantastic meal—undeniably world class cuisine. Why then, was I unhappy with it? I think I may have built up the night too much in my head, and my expectations were too high. Perhaps it was because the meal was not actually cooked by Keller himself, but another chef who is cooking his recipes. It may have been little things, like a bad night, or the fact that the foie gras offereing was a terrine, which I know is supposed to be the ultimate way to enjoy foie, but I far prefer it pan seared and warm.

This meal was superb, but it did not rank among my best ever. I would break down what is in the pictures, but there are too many to get into, even with the four or five courses that I forgot to photograph.

June 22nd, 2008 by John (Cho-Tabetai)
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