Donna Covrett
Critique The Critic
Because a good portion of my job included critiquing restaurants, we thought it would be fun to turn the tables and invite chefs and restaurateurs to critique me. So we created a Sunday night pop-up dinner, invited a few dozen restaurant industry folk, charged them money, and handed out score sheets. We asked them to be honest. They were.
Jungle Fever
At the six-and-a-half acre Jungle Jim’s International Market in Fairfield, things can get really wild.
Zula: Room With a View
There’s a seat in Zula that may be the best of the nearly 1,200 or so found within the four-block radius of restaurants and bars surrounding it.
Remodel Village: The National Exemplar
Sean Daly has a considerable task: breathe new life into someone else’s 30-year-old restaurant, but don’t piss off the regulars—some of whom have been loyal customers for nearly as long. Owning and operating his own place must have been easier.
Chocolate Mousse
This is the mousse I made at Mecklenburg Gardens in the late '70s. I am indebted to Master Chef Eugene Bernard, a Frenchman, disciple of Escoffier, renowned respected chef, and generous teacher. It is a classic preparation using hot sugar syrup and therefore requires attention and a gentle hand. Your patience will be rewarded—to this day I have never found a chocolate mousse I like better than his.
The Contender: Kaze
Kaze showcases many dishes and traditions of Japan, but it’s a stretch to identify it singularly as a Japanese restaurant. It has roots in an *izakaya* eatery, best defined as casual gastropub or small plate restaurant, traditionally serving noodles, skewered meats, sushi, and sake (*izakaya* translates somewhat to “hang out in a sake shop”), but Kaze still has one foot in the great American canon of hearty main courses.
OTR Restaurant Stars on Cooking Channel
Local restaurateurs Dan and Lana Wright and their restaurant Abigail Street star in an episode of America's Best Bites, a new series on Cooking Channel.