Great Taste

Best egg foo yung in Roch? Best steak just about anywhere?

Great Taste has enjoyed egg foo yung since before many readers of this blog were born. Of EFY consumed in Rochester, Great Taste likes China Star's best.

Note: EFY was ordered from CS's 1st Avenue location.

Other restaurant notes:

Michaels still keeps us satisfied with perfect steaks, prime rib, wedge salad, etc. In fact, for taste and precise preparation of steaks Michael's can go up against any steak house in the country. (Indeed Great Taste prefers Michaels steaks to those at Morton's, Manny's, and several other "big name" steak houses.) Also--unlike most fine dining options in Rochester--you can hear what your dining partner is saying, even on a Friday night.   

Jasper's Alsatian Bistro seems to be overlooked on many "best lists" and that's a mistake. Great Taste always starts a meal with house-made chicken liver pate....Jewish deli-restaurants aside, where else in the Midwest can one order this on a regular basis?   

Sontes continues to impress under Chef Bryce. This chic tapas restaurant also deserves more local acclaim than it seems to get. 

 

New cookbook on steak by Chicago chef Rick Tramonto

Here's an interview with Rick Tramonto, including some background on his latest published work, "Steak with Friends: At Home, with Rick Tramonto."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/claire-bidwell-smith/chef-rick-tramonto-on-his_b_557893.html?ir=Food

Tramonto's culinary abilities have proved to be wide ranging. In the late 90s, Tramonto and pastry chef Gail Gand opened Tru restaurant just a few steps off posh North Michigan Avenue. The new Tru was one jaw-droppingly ethereal experience: Meticulously prepared, gorgeous plates served in a decadent ambiance ideally timed with the booming real estate/internet era. 'Tru-ly," getting a table reservation was a feat.

After that serious foodie high jump (which is a going concern; visit http://www.trurestaurant.com), it seems strange to find Tramonto with this family-oriented cookbook. But the chef was also part of suburban Brasserie T, a large operation that catapulted burgers and fries--along with the rest of its casual French-American fare--to the sublime. In 2005 he opened Tramonto's Steak & Seafood in Wheeling, Illinois, among other ventures.

Tramonto has it all; he's a versatile, prolific, world class chef--with longevity. Great Taste looks forward to picking up a copy of his newest cookbook.