rlm Posted October 8, 2006 Share Posted October 8, 2006 Oh...and Sous Chef Steve Redzikowski is no longer with Frasca. So this year they've also lost a pastry chef, master sommelier, maître d', and assistant bar manager. I saw several new faces around last Monday. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mongo_jones Posted October 8, 2006 Author Share Posted October 8, 2006 who's the departed maitre d'? are most of these people moving on to better gigs? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rlm Posted October 8, 2006 Share Posted October 8, 2006 who's the departed maitre d'? Departed maitre d' = Geoffrey (off to grad school). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rlm Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 Lachlan and Bobby are doling out Friuli tips on Bon Appetit's website: First up is chef Mackinnon-Patterson with his top food picks. Next week, Bobby Stuckey gives his favorite wine stops in the area. "Perma-links": Lachlan Mackinnon Patterson's Friuli-Venezia Giulia Bobby Stuckey's Friuli-Venezia Giulia Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bolderite Posted November 1, 2006 Share Posted November 1, 2006 FYI - Last night was bartender/barrista extraordinaire Steve Peters last night at Frasca. He is hoping to join up with some coffee roasters to start their own business in town. We are sad to see him go but wish him luck in his new adventures. He has been working with Bobby since 1994! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rlm Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 I'm bummed about the loss of Mr. Peters too, as he was the person who waited on me at the bar on my first visit to Frasca in August of '04 and had a hand in giving me such a positive first impression of the place. Besides the ownership, I believe Rose said that she and Matt are the only other original staffers left now. Bryan is handling bar manager duties now, and he's great so they will hopefully not miss a beat. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rlm Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 Since I just posted menus from Babbo and Per Se, I would be remiss not to also post our anniversary menu from The Temple of Frasca (with Mr. rlm's real name removed very sloppily with Photoshop). My scanner is unfortunately not long enough to include their logo at the top of the menu. Mr. rlm knew where we were going, but unbeknownst to him, the menu and wines were already set in advance. Even after they handed him the menu, he started scanning the page to decide what to order without initially noticing his name at the top. heh heh. We always enjoy our meals here, but every detail was really just insanely perfect and will be very hard in our minds to ever top by anyone. It didn't hurt that I ordered a wine for the main entree from a domaine that I've wanted to try for an eternity--Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. [image removed] Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bolderite Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 Are you planning on writing up your Babbo and Per Se meals or just posting menus these days Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rlm Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 Are you planning on writing up your Babbo and Per Se meals or just posting menus these days When I have time. Went to Artisanal and Les Halles too as walk-ins. Our last meal in New York: Pepto Bismol and Voss bottled water (that's all we could handle at that point). (Oh, and I have to give our own CheeseMonger props for being my better half's Foodie Guide, as this was a surprise trip for me. I found out at the airport that I was going to Babbo and Per Se and flipped.) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rlm Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 "You just need to show up and cut some Prosciutto and bus some tables and pour some Tocai." Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mongo_jones Posted November 19, 2006 Author Share Posted November 19, 2006 is it my cache or has the frasca dinner menu not updated on their site for almost a month? contemplating the possibility of an "escape from parentals" dinner sometime soon.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rlm Posted November 20, 2006 Share Posted November 20, 2006 is it my cache or has the frasca dinner menu not updated on their site for almost a month? It's not your cache. They are very lax about updating their website. I picked up take-out last week and the menu was still very similar to what is posted online, so that may be why they haven't uploaded a new one. You should try to walk-in tonight, as the chef and sommelier from A16 in SF will be there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mongo_jones Posted November 29, 2006 Author Share Posted November 29, 2006 we were planning to walk in tonight. but after last night's white-knuckle bus ride up and down arapahoe, and given the fact that the streets inside our subdivision are not going to be cleared, i'm not venturing out in the car. maybe next week. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rlm Posted November 29, 2006 Share Posted November 29, 2006 (edited) Note: So I'm editing this upon arrival at my abode to add some details and such since I was on break at work when I wrote this and sounded grumpy after another lovely snowstorm commute. Mongo, you asked about the Frasca menu on The Kitchen thread. I've been two Mondays in a row so I've indulged in the "special" menus, but they're still just playing around with the zlikrofi and risotto and such (nothing drastically different except for one brunch-like item this week). Our friends LOVED their first trip (A16 night with Chef Nate Appleman and Wine Director Shelley Lindgren in the house), even though I was accused of being Norm from Cheers. There were four courses instead of the usual three and each course except dessert offered a typical Frasca-conceived item and an A16 choice. The salumi platter also featured one of the A16 house-cured meats (Luganica). Our friends had not previously been to either A16 or Frasca (I've been to A16 twice and Frasca about three billion times) and they thought the Frasca selections were better (the word "amazing" was used quite a bit). So either they like Friulian-style cuisine better than that of Campania or the Frasca kitchen didn't do justice to the A16 dishes or the Frasca dishes are just better conceived. Having been to both (although the A16 trips were when Christophe Hille was the exec chef), I can say the wine service is superb at both places (Shelley does as great of a job with their wine program as Mr. Stuckey does with Frasca's). The two joints have quite different atmospheres/crowds, but neither of my A16 meals left me with stark-raving mad cravings for any of their dishes, whereas Lachlan's stuff does that with regularity. Our friends ordered one Frasca-esque menu and one A16-ish menu and shared them. Mr. rlm and I both went with the full A16 choices. The A16 tuna conserva (fava beans, dandelion greens, crackers) was pretty bad. It was like a canned tuna salad your babysitter would serve you when you were five. I wonder if they couldn't get the appropriate items for it in Boulder because I don't remember their version in SF being like that at all. The Frasca antipasti item was a Toc (polenta with swordfish, eggs, and parm). It looked great as usual, and from the "oohs" and "aahs" coming from the other side of the table, I'd say it probably tasted pretty decent too. The Frasca primi selection was the Zlikrofi (Long Family Farm Pork and Mascarpone Ravioli with Brown Butter and Ricotta Affumicata Carnica). Same story with this one--lots of cooing from our friends. We had the A16 Chestnut and Ricotta Gnocchi with Roasted Chanterelle Mushrooms and Prosciutto Brodo. Not bad, but the A16 "Secondi" was stellar (Pork Meatballs with San Marzano Tomato Ragu). Nothing fancy, but very tasty and incredibly filling. The Frasca selection was the Grilled Wapsie Produce "Capponne" Breast with Cure Farm Veggies and Sugo Rosmarino. The dessert was an excellent combo of savory and sweet--a Chocolate Budino with Sea Salt and Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Bobby started us with some Prosecco as per usual. Shelley poured us an anise-scented Murgo Brut bubbly from Sicilia. Benjamin poured us an Alois Caulino Falanghina '05 and an amazing 2000 COS "Scyri" Nero d'Avola, and Matt presented the '02 Villa Raiano Aglianico. We had some Banyuls that Rose suggested for the dessert course, and Danette poured us some Moscato while we were waiting on our ride home. Our friends were asking Bobby qustions about local farmers they use (since an organic farmer we know is claiming to have a Frasca connection). Bobby did a little "floor show" chatting about artisan polenta and tomatoes and such, and I think they were really charmed by him. (Well, who isn't?) I have to give Rose "props" for doing such an exemplary job going through the menu with our newbie friends. She was really "on" that night and gave them a good first impression of the place. We were there late this Monday for the "Great Grower Champagnes of Terry Theise Selections" dinner--so late we could actually hear the music playing, and before we'd gone through the entrees, Bobby, Lach, and the wine rep were all seated at the salumi bar chowing down. We had to go to this Monday-nighter because the Mr. and I are nuts for bubbly. It was my first-ever wine experience (in college) and it was with him (not that his intentions were entirely honorable at the time, but neither were mine...heh heh). The Coppa from New York is back on the salumi plate (it had been replaced briefly with a Fra' Mani Toscano from California). The “starter” bubbly was the only non-Champagne selection of the bunch--it was an Austrian sparkling Gruner Veltliner Brut Reserve from Schloss Gobelsburg (how's that for different?). We both ordered half-portions of the full menu. The first starter was a creamy onion soup that was amazing (one of my most favorite Frasca soups ever), followed by the Zlikrofi with bluenose snapper, cauliflower, and parm. This Champers was a Pierre Peters NV Brut Grand Cru. For the mains, Mr. rlm proclaimed that the risotto prep looked like a plate of oatmeal (and it did). It was a creamy white chanterelle mushroom risotto (presented by Quaker Oats?). It was way too rich and needed to be more visually-appealing. If you ever wondered what Frasca would be like at brunch, one of the mains told us. It was "Prosciutto Cotto" (Cured Pork Leg baked in Brioche with Soft Poached Egg, Steamed Onion, and Sugo di Cappone). Reminded me of my favorite brunch dish at The Kitchen. Incredibly flavorful and, as you might imagine, perfect with Champagne. My favorite bubbly of the evening was the H. Billiot NV Brut Rose Grand Cru. I can't imagine a better food wine. The other bubbly with the mains was a Vilmart NV Brut "Grand Cellier." The dessert was sooooo orgasmic--Valrhona Chocolate Mousse with Coconut Gelato. The wine rep seemed like he didn’t want to be there. He poured the two bubblies for our main entrees while we still were working on starters and gave the most abbreviated presentation ever. He didn't seem like he was spending much time at any tables, as he was lurking by the decanting station for most of the evening. I'm not sure how many tables were actually ordering the bubbly flight though. Too many people reserve the fizzy stuff for celebrations. Or warm weather. What's wrong with them? On a side note, I read in Wine Spectator recently that the European Union ruled that Friuli can’t label their wines as Tocai after 2007 after complaints from the Hungarians. They will have to call them “Friulano.” And I had similar "fun" last night driving from Aurora starting at 7:30 pm. Only took 1.5 hours to get home. Then I got to get up at 5 am and do it all over again in reverse. Edited November 29, 2006 by rlm Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rlm Posted December 10, 2006 Share Posted December 10, 2006 Run to Frasca now. For the last week they've had an off-menu special of tagliatelle with Montasio cream sauce with white truffles shaved over the top table-side (or bar-side, in our case). $60 a bowl, but so worth it, especially if you accompany it with an intense Barolo. They said they would serve an appetizer portion or split out a plate between two if you want a taste of decadence without the full price hit. They start their prix fix holiday menu on the 18th... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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