Stop wasting my tax money on Clemens!

Roger Clemens saga is becoming more and more ridiculous by the minute. Now there are reports that there are pictures that indicate him at a particular party hosted by Jose Canseco, which Clemens denied under oath at a recent congressional hearing. So House of Representatives have asked Dept of Justice to step in to investigate if this warrants a perjury charge.

I had always wondered why Clemens keeps denying using steroid, when public polls had shown that it wont affect his chance of getting into Hall of Fame. By going in front of Congress under oath, he has everything to lose, but very little to gain. His once close friend Andy Pettitte admitted to using HGH twice and also indicated that Clemens had told him he used it. Pettitte has no reason to make it up; nor does the trainer McNamee, whom I think it is scumbag in his own way. Who keeps syringe from years ago when he injected Clemens and others and keep it for DNA verification, if you don’t foresee this type of hearing? How calculating/paranoid do you have to be to pull something like this?

I never liked Clemens, as a Red Sucks, Jays or Yanks. He always seem distant, not genuine and arrogant. So this circus was quite annoying to me. But the main point of this post is: Don’t our congressmen and women have better things to do than holding hearings about steroids use in a game? Don’t we have more pressing issues? Weakening dollar, credit crisis, impending recession, war in Iraq? Puhlease…House of Rep should come up with some act/law that can address something a little more important and Dept of Justice should be keeping us safe from the next terror attack.

Stop wasting anymore of my tax money!!!

Alfred Portale's Gotham

Alfred Portale's Gotham has been a NYC staple since the 80s. Already a legend in the culiary world, he won the James Beard award for Outstanding Chef in 06' and the calibre of chef that has worked under him over years @ Gotham are equally impressive, Tom Valenti(Cesca, Ouest), Scott Bryan(Veritas) and Tom Colicchio(Gramercy Tavern, Craft Empire) to name a few. I decided to book it for our V day dinner, only a day early. Valentine's Day is a bittersweet, love-hate kind of holiday for restaurants. They are almost sure to be packed and people buy lots of champagne/wine and don't mind paying the "special" prix fixe menu. But it takes some wrangling to convert the entire restaurant into a room full of deuces ('table for two') and keep to the reservations time-table as lovebirds tend to linger. So to avoid the crowd and sometimes unreasonable Valentine's day prix fixe menu, we celebrated on the 13th and I will cook on the 14th.

Gotham has the look of a power dining scene, high ceilings, open space and dozens of attentive staff. Service is impeccable from the moment you walked in. There is always someone pulling your chair, folding your napkin, pouring your wine and refilling your bread plate. There is no tasting menu for dinner, so we went for a seafood-centric dinner. Sommelier recommended a fruity German Riesling which was a tad too sweet for me, but it is about pleasing my Valentine today aint it? :)

I started with the Yellowfin Tuna tartar (my weekly mercury intake :P) and Connie the Black Bass ceviche. Portale, lives up to his "vertical food" name as most of his dishes are stacked high and beautifully presented. Two very good, even great starters. I followed with a secondo of Alaskan crab risotto, Connie a Curried pumpkin bisque. My risotto is top notch. Mixed in with huge lumps of crab meat are prosiutto di Parma, butternut squash and some citris slices. This lead to Connie's comment, " Why do you always order the better dishes?" followed by obligatory switching of our plates, although reluctantly on my end. By the time entree comes, we were well on our way to being full, maybe it was also because of the bread guy keep circling and make sure our bread plate is not empty. Connie's Miso Glazed Cod trumped my Porcini crusted Halibut. My halibut was really good, with porcini, caramelized cauliflower in a white verjus emulsion. Very creamy and tasty. But the Miso glazed Cod was a notch above, even better than the Nobu and Morimoto version.

Dessert was not the first thing on my mind after our third course, but I was told to not miss the Gotham Chocolate Cake. It was indeed quite amazing. Flourless, served with some Banana Sorbet. Later with the check, came a flyer kindly suggests that the whole Gotham Chocolate cake can be ordered for $82 each. Whoa?!

Overall, the food was great, everything was done exquisitely, but nothing out of ordinary. Service is top notch. Decor is very NY power dining like, little outdated, but has its romantic touches. 8.5/10 in my book! Oh, and bring your platinum card. The bill is as grand as the food and decor.

Davis Cup time again?

It seems like only a few weeks ago, when Andy Roddick, James Blake and the Bryan Brothers defeated the Russians to reclaim the Davis Cup for US in Portland, Oregon. Their first since 1995. First on home turf since the 80s. Last weekend, I turned on Tennis Channel and saw live tennis with Roddick/Blake and Bryans again, playing Austria. Apparently the Davis Cup qtrs had started already. IMO, it is way too soon and by having it annually, it takes away the glory of winning the cup a bit. Davis Cup is a team sport and it requires dedication of professional players to take time out of their schedule and play for their country. Roddick, Blake and Bryans are all top notch world class players who have consistently commits to play the Davis Cup. They get some measly money from USTA for playing it, but mostly they play it out of patriotism. If tennis wants more fans, Davis Cup should held once every four years, or at least once every 2 years. World Cup Soccer, anyone? This makes the tournament a lot more special and appealing to an average fan, and it makes the victory even sweeter!

Speaking of Davis Cup, one of the Saturdays in late Oct last year, I was wrapping up my cardio tennis at USTA NTC. Three guys walks on to my court and 'kicked' us off. It was Andy Roddick, Justin Gimelstob and Patrick McEnroe. Everyone in my class were shocked. I actually asked Patty Mac if this is Davis Cup practice. "Yup, Davis Cup, right here baby!" was his response. Andy was standoffish and Justin seems barely awake. Connie and I stayed and watched them practice for a while and left. Watching 150mph serve this close is a pretty rare thing.

No more Toro?

Tuna has high amount of mercury is no mystery to many foodies and sushi fiends. But exactly how high has been reiterated by a NY Times article last week. The study sampled 20 top sushi restaurants in the city, including some big names like Nobu, Blue Ribbon and Sushi of Gari, and found all of their tuna has mercury level higher than EPA recommended level. 5 out of the 20 are so high that they could be legally regulated to take them off the market. The article says that more than 6 pieces of tuna sushi for an adult is over the EPA recommended limit.

It is ironic that the higher the price of the tuna, the likelihood of it containing more mercury, because they are likely to come from bigger species that are high on the fish foodchain and mercury from the pollution accumulates from the amount of the fish they had eaten in their life time. On the contrary, the canned tuna in the supermarket has much lower level of mercury since they are made from tuna that are smaller and lower on the food chain.

I was never that much a tuna fan, until I had some toro sashimi quite a while back. The look is not very appetizing (it looks like raw pork), but the texture and flavor just knocks you off your feet. It literally melts in your mouth. Now that this issue was again in the spotlight, I wonder if tuna price will drop dramtically. More importantly, does it mean no more Toro for me?