557222 Sun Sep 14 05:34:03 -0700 2008 33 16 Mid-Atlantic 0 4033489 My two best friends and I went to the Blue Bottle Café for dinner a couple nights ago. First, let me start off by saying the service was wonderful. Our server was both warm and professional. The atmosphere was also pleasant – it was cozy without being cramped, and the lighting was not too dim. Because we were having what we call a “grown-up dinner” at a nice restaurant, we started off with appetizers/salads. I can’t remember what the dressing was on L’s salad, but it was tasty – the salad I remember had spinach, wonderfully flavorful mushrooms and asparagus. She finished it pretty quickly. E had an heirloom tomato and house-made mozzarella salad with balsamic syrup. The tomatoes were very flavorful (perfect, actually), and the texture of the mozz was great. However, I would have liked a stronger balsamic accent (though it could be just the bite I had) and less-salty mozz. Finally, I had the corn soup. I’m not a corn soup fan, but found the description intriguing – I was not disappointed. It was a smoothly pureed corn soup with a roasted vegetable relish and basil oil. The smokiness of the vegetables and the brightness of the basil oil were in a constantly shifting balance, which made each bite of the soup an exciting experience. It was really great – I cleaned the bowl. The bread that came with the meal, btw, was excellent. Three varieties – a crusty French/Italian, a multigrain and one that reminded me a little of Irish soda bread with caraway seeds and dried fruit. The entrees were more than satisfactory. L had scallops over what I guess could be described as a lentil pilaf that was heavily flavored with bacon. It was a bit salty for my taste, but L is a big bacon fan and she was delighted with it. E had the parmesan gnocchi which came with artichokes, tomatoes, Piave cheese and a little spinach in a light wine sauce. The gnocchi were among the lightest I’ve had and, because of the parmesan, very flavorful. E was very pleased with the dish. My own dish was the marinated buffalo flank steak in a cumin-lime sauce with corn cakes and tomato-jicama salsa. The buffalo was done perfectly and really tasted like buffalo. The cumin-lime sauce lent flavor but was not overwhelming. I’ve never had corn cakes before, believe it or not, but I really enjoyed these. I’m more of a mashed potatoes traditionalist when I have steak of any kind though, so I would have probably been just as happy with that. I’ve also never gotten the point of jicama – if anyone can explain its delights to me, I would appreciate it – so I kinda picked out the tomatoes in the salsa and was again very happy with those – bright, brilliant red with a full tomato flavor. Dessert was another happy event. L had a raspberry financier (kinda like a very flat, very large vanilla cupcake with no icing) with raspberry sauce and Earl Grey Tea ice cream from the Bent Spoon (all the ice cream is). The financier tasted good to me, but I’ve never had one before, and the ice cream was freaking awesome – no other way to put it. E had a celiac-friendly pavlova (she doesn’t have celiac, but the dessert looked yummy). The meringue part wasn’t that thrilling for E – I think she just realized she doesn’t like meringues. But she liked the mix of fruits in an orange-flavored sauce and the peach ice cream. I had a fudge cake with peanut butter accents and peanut butter/chocolate ice cream – it arrived surrounded by a puddle of chocolate and peanut butter sauces in a decorative pattern that was almost – I reiterate almost – too pretty to eat. It was basically decadence on a plate. I think I offered E and L each a taste and then hoovered it. Yum! Sometimes I leave a restaurant satisfied and pleasantly full. Sometimes the food sits heavy and uncomfortable in my stomach. After eating at the Blue Bottle Café, I felt completely stuffed – not because the food was heavy, but because I had basically cleaned my plate during each course. It was a great meal, and I know we will be going back. Sun Sep 14 05:34:03 -0700 2008 43173 Heatherb 1 4033517 Wow heatherb, what a great review!, felt like I was there. Very talented chef, he will prepare those gnocchi (and other items) as to the season. Lighter in the summer, changing in the Fall and Spring winding up hearty in the Winter. Sun Sep 14 06:09:19 -0700 2008 4033489 22225 tom246 1 4096143 Just had dinner at Blue Bottle Cafe last night. As it was a weeknight, the restaurant was comfortably full but not packed or too noisy. I guess weeknights are the time to visit, as the weekends book pretty far in advance. We were seated promptly, served very well, and had an exquisite meal... A new menu has started, and the food is excellent. They have upped the ante a little bit over past menus with items like a duo of duck with duck breast and healthy (atleast 2 ounces) of excellent quality foie gras, as well as a ribeye from a farm I am not familiar with, Painted Hills? When I asked about it, the owner raved of it's flavor, and while pessimistic of the $38 price tag, I went for it. First, let me say that the steak was totally edible; There was one small bit of fat in the center of the eye, but there was no inedible ring of sinew and fat around the steak like I am used to elsewhere. It was incredibly tender, sooo flavorful and masterfully cooked, exactly my version of medium rare. As for the portion size, I was also impressed, the steak was over twelve ounces at least, and with a side of local broccoli and boursin twice baked potato, I wound up taking my leftovers home. The waitress had spoken very highly of the Skatefish on the menu as well as the Shortribs, so we already know what we are having next time. Almost forgot to mention the appetizers... For starters we had the Pear and goat cheese salad, YUM! and the mussels. I now understand why people say they are the best here... I had no idea that mussels could be this delicious. Small and clean (not sandy), super fresh, and juicy plump that I only get in Maine. We skipped dessert after gorging ourselves on the other two dishes each that we ate, but we won't do that again. The table next to us was raving about some pumpkin cake that the owner had also reccomended. Hopefully it's on the menu next time we visit. Fri Oct 10 12:47:45 -0700 2008 4033489 98538 fletchphil 1 4160109 My family and I ate at the Bue Bottle for the first time last night and we loved it! The food was delicious, obviously prepared with a lot of care and attention. The atmosphere is charming and the staff is wonderful - warm and professional at the same time. We are already planning our next visit. Sun Nov 09 13:14:34 -0800 2008 4033489 63569 flourgirl 1 4252583 Blue Bottle is one of our favorites. From the outside, it's a little off-putting, but once you get inside, everything changes. Great, fresh food. Very nice service; professional, but still friendly enough to make you feel like you're at a "joint". The food has always been good. Sometimes great. The desserts are yummy and yes, the ice cream is always the highlight. Blue Bottle is nice enough for a special occasion but down to earth enough for a weeknight where you just don't want to cook. Love it. Tue Dec 16 19:13:26 -0800 2008 4033489 212539 madgreek99 1 4253213 OK, I'll play this silly game... What state is this place located in? Wed Dec 17 05:45:50 -0800 2008 4033489 172765 equal_Mark 2 4253327 It's located in Hopewell, NJ. Wed Dec 17 06:38:05 -0800 2008 4253213 63569 flourgirl 2 4253412 Mark, run a search for Blue Bottle Cafe and you will find numerous threads filled with very positive reports and reviews. Wed Dec 17 07:16:22 -0800 2008 4253213 22225 tom246 1 4484065 After a beautiful spring day in Princeton, we drove over to Blue Bottle for our 7;30 reservation. We're continuing our tour of favorite restaurants. We thoroughly enjoy Blue Bottle and last night was no exception. After seated we received 3 different types of bread, the fruit with fennel and the pumpernickel were especially good. We were determined to try some different items on the current menu which runs another 3 weeks. The menu changes every 3 months. For apps, the chilled poached lobster with grilled endive, grapefruit, roasted fennel and shellfish vanilla emulsion sounded wonderful but we chose: Gingered sweet potato bisque with toasted pumpkin seeds and spiced crema. Also had housemade seafood sausage of crab, scallops and salmon, caramelized onions and mustard jus. Both of these apps showed the skill of Chef Aaron in regards to texture, spicing and combining flavors. We split a Blue Bottle salad of mixed baby greens with sliced red grapes, toasted hazelnuts, red wine and honey vinaigrette, shaved manchego cheese. Simply a delicious salad and plenty to share. For entrees we went the carnivore route. DW had the buffalo hanger steak, housemade corn tamales, plaintain chips, black beans, corn, avocado crema and chili chocolate mole. I had the duo of wild boar: Grilled rib chop and boar meatballs with creamy orzo, smoked ham, roasted onions and cranberry jus. Both entrees prepared a perfect medium rare and went well with our Tablas Creek CdP blend wine. Scallops and handmade gnocchi are specialties here and both looked wonderful coming from the kitchen. Desserts, we were tempted by the blackberry and almond financier with blackberry sauce and Earl Grey ice cream, white chocolate and raspberry bread pudding with vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce and pineapple upside down cake with caramel and cardamom ginger ice cream but settled for just a cappuccino and tea. Service here is always top notch, very efficient with no pretentions. You will never hear "who gets the ****". Owner Rory who runs the front of the restaurant, makes sure everyone is pleased. She is also knows her wine and enjoys talking about the subject. In this economy no restaurant is immune and Blue Bottle has begun a new midweek (Tuesday - Thursday) 3 course prix fixe menu for $36.00 which is a nice way to sample the many flavors of this restaurant. With the regular menu changing in 3 weeks it gives us another reason to get back there soon. Enjoy. Sun Mar 08 06:54:04 -0700 2009 4033489 22225 tom246 2 4484405 Tom - Sounds like a great meal. I'm happy you enjoyed it. Sun Mar 08 10:04:49 -0700 2009 4484065 31617 bgut1 3 4484455 Bgut, always very enjoyable at Blue Bottle. You will make a fine choice when you meet your friends there. PS: an interesting sidelight. At the table next to us was the former Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve. An interesting conversation ;)) Sun Mar 08 10:26:43 -0700 2009 4484405 22225 tom246 2 4485198 Aw jeez, now I really want to get back there before the menu changes! Sun Mar 08 16:01:01 -0700 2009 4484065 43173 Heatherb 1 4891132 What were we thinking. It had been over 4 months since our last visit which is waaay too long :) Seated promptly when we arrived, the restaurant was bustling. For those not familar with BB, there are 3 small but distinct dining rooms which keeps noise levels well in check. The breads here are a treat, we could eat a loaf of the raisin and fennel, the multigrain and ciabatta are also excellent. Served with a large ramekin of softened butter. Blue Bottle is in the middle of their summer type menu which changes every 3 months. For appetizers, the pan seared Hudson Valley foie gras with grilled Terhunes peaches, multigrain crouton and verjus rouge gastrique sounded and looked wonderful but we passed and instead shared: Chilled seafood salad of laughing bird shrimp, calamari, bay scallops and fresh lump crabmeat with granny smith apple and mojito vinaigrette. Fresh , delicious and the vinaigrette was light and totally enhanced the seafood. Also shared the Pad Thai salad with rice noodles, green papaya, Asian greens, shitakes, carrot, bok choy, peanuts and coconut curry peanut vinaigrette. This salad showed the real skill of Chef Aaron Phillipson, combining flavors, temperature and textures. A great tasting combination. For entrees, its almost painful to pass on the gnocchi preparation which changes with the season. Homemade spinach gnocchi with oven dried tomato pesto, gaeta olives, marjoram, spinach and roasted fennel. Next time I think we will order as a side :) For our entrees, DW had the porcini dusted filet of halibut, parnip puree, sauteed maitake and trumpet royale mushrooms, Swiss chard, red wine reduction. This was delicious and a substantial amount of halibut. Again showed the skill of the chef making a light sublime red reduction with the specific fish preparation. Went together beautifully. I had the pan seared dayboat scallops with wild rice, toasted almonds, baby green beans and a small ring of white gazpacho sauce. BB is a master of scallop dishes and this was no exception. All the desserts are made by Pastry Chef Owner Rory Philipson, seven in all. They are varied and some take advantage of the local fruits in season. We shared a peach shortcake with buttlemilk biscuits, poached Terhunes peaches and tarragon whipped cream. Creative dessert and the innovative tarragon whipped cream pulled this all together. Yummy. A artisinal cheese plate is also offered. Our server Diane has been with BB for several years and was a joy to talk to, nice sense of humor and very willing to guide you through the menu if your in doubt.. A coffee and tea finished our evening. Had a delicious 2006 Holdredge pinot noir with dinner. Many of the creative dishes from BB take advantage of produce and provisions from Terhune Orchards, Blue Moon Farms, Griggstown Quail Farms and Cherry Grove Farm If you have not been to BB, I highly recommend to give it a try. Owner chefs Aaron and Rory have been serving exceptional food and service for over 3 years. The many glowing reviews and reports they have received are well deserved. Sun Jul 26 06:09:35 -0700 2009 4033489 22225 tom246 2 4891171 OK Tom, you sold me. Now, where is Hopewell? ;o) Sun Jul 26 06:42:56 -0700 2009 4891132 16028 seal 3 4891218 Seal, about 15 minutes west of Princeton. There is a simple back road way to get there from Princeton (what we did yesterday) but an easy way to find on a map is to find Route 518 which is Broad street in Hopewell and where Blue Bottle is located. I admit its in the middle of nowhere, but its good :) Sun Jul 26 07:08:16 -0700 2009 4891171 22225 tom246 4 4891230 Forgot to include the link to the website. The site has poor pictures of the food. Ignore them they are very appealing in person. The directions from Princeton is the back way I referred to. http://www.thebluebottlecafe.com/home1.html Sun Jul 26 07:18:12 -0700 2009 4891218 22225 tom246 2 4891334 Tom, You had me at "pan seared Hudson Valley foie gras with grilled Terhunes peaches, multigrain crouton and verjus rouge gastrique." No surprise as I am known to family and friends as the "Foie Gras Queen." lol Thanks for another excellent review. Blue Bottle has been on my "go to" list for a while, but you have impelled me to push it nearer the top. :) Sun Jul 26 08:09:42 -0700 2009 4891132 13867 RGR 3 4892034 Same here RGR. I've been meaning to go but the trip is a little prohibitive considering that we must use a sitter. Elements is another restaurant that have yet to try due to the distance. Sun Jul 26 14:09:23 -0700 2009 4891334 31617 bgut1 4 4892238 Hi R and B, yes, BB is a hike for you guys. Its 40 minutes for me, like every good restaurant :) If you decide to go to BB, let me know. I can cut the trip for two by driving from my house. Sun Jul 26 15:51:53 -0700 2009 4892034 22225 tom246 5 4893075 Tom, Princeton is 40-45 minutes from our house, so I'd say Blue Bottle is about 50. Hardly a "hike" fo us, considering that we occasionally travel to Lambertvillle and even across the bridge into New Hope, which takes over an hour. And don't forget, we're regularly back and forth to NYC. We willingly travel for good eats! :) Mon Jul 27 00:45:36 -0700 2009 4892238 13867 RGR 6 4899200 just go....... you will be happy you did. full repot to follow soon. BTW 1 hour 20 min for me and would definitely do it again. Tue Jul 28 22:54:42 -0700 2009 4893075 139941 chefMD 7 4899328 Hey chef, sounds like you enjoyed the BB. Look forward to reading your report. Wed Jul 29 04:16:13 -0700 2009 4899200 22225 tom246 4 4902033 must try both, bgut. Elements is more Manhattan nouveau with lots of molecular gastronomy thrown in for effect... food is excellent, portions small but kindai tuna is worth the price. The last time we were there we opted not for the chef's tasting menu, but built one of our own. The charcuterie was absolutely amazing and it's all made in house! Beautiful restaurant, excellent service, a seamless experience. Blue Bottle is the restaurant we all wish we had in our backyard. It's delicious, reasonable, BYOB and cozy. We try to get there for each menu but have sadly missed two of them. The newest menu is out of this world but will only be on through the end of September. I recommend the red pepper soup, to the point and brilliantly flavorful, the pad thai (well described above in tom's review) and the beef, although I ordered the beef plate with the buffalo strip steak, soooooo good... it's a black bean and queso fresco enchillada with corn and salsa verde. Sooooo good. A few things have changed over the past few months; they bought more appropriate wine glasses (yeah!), the air conditioning is amazing (hub was actually chilly) and some service changes make for an even more delightful experience... Save room for dessert, they are awesome, we tried the summer cheesecake tonight, it was lime flavored and served with a coconut and lime ice cream and raspberries; refreshing, cool and flavorful without being too heavy. Wed Jul 29 19:20:42 -0700 2009 4892034 98538 fletchphil 5 4902054 fletch - Thank you for the recommendations. I intend to make it to both. The only issue is when. Wed Jul 29 19:29:15 -0700 2009 4902033 31617 bgut1 5 4902105 "...with lots of molecular gastronomy thrown in for effect...portions small..." From our experience at elements, I have to disagree. I did not find any evidence of molecular gastronomy -- for effect or otherwise -- in any of the dishes we had. And all the portions were very generous. Wed Jul 29 19:50:47 -0700 2009 4902033 13867 RGR 6 4905204 Okay, it's not WD-50 or Fat Duck, but there were definate notes of culinary tampering; perhaps molecular gastronomy is not a correct term, but powders, foams and sous vide is above many a head of the Princeton clientle. We have become accustomed to this level of cookery from our experiences in Manhattan and abroad. I appreciated them very much, but when comparing the two BEST meals we have had in the Princeton and surrounding area, this seemed the apparent difference. Portion size is a matter for the diner to decide, and while hub normally finishes his dish at Blue Bottle Cafe, I often take a doggy bag. Perhaps their portions are too generous if there is any issue about the comparison. The other difference is the attention to detail; the chef at Blue Bottle works magic with flavor combinations, but does not have quite the honing of the little points like Scott at elements, nor the impressive plates that seem to enhance dishes even more than one would expect. We are returning to elements on Saturday evening, I look forward to posting my new review shortly! Thu Jul 30 19:45:54 -0700 2009 4902105 98538 fletchphil 7 4907926 Had dinner at BB about a week ago. Food, as usual, was wonderful. However, much to our disappointment, the service was awful. We have been to BB many times and have never had a service issue, so this came as a very unwelcome surprise. Possibly, the server was new, but at a place of this caliber, you expect that even a server new to the restaurant has had prior training at a similar establishment. Hopefully this will be an isolated incident, as BB is one of our favorites and we don't want to cross it of the list! Fri Jul 31 18:30:26 -0700 2009 4905204 212539 madgreek99 5 5090078 fletch ant tom - I'm finally making it over to BB for dinner this weekend and I'm hoping for the best. I also got to try Elements the other day for lunch. Some good points and bad points. I liked the room and the service but was somewhat disappointed with the size and pricing of the dishes. For example the lunch appetizer of oxtail ravioli consisted of two small ravioli with some broth and a few mushrooms. At $13 for the app I felt a bit disappointed. The lack of flavor in the broth had me searching for the non-existent salt shaker while the lack of oxtail in the ravioli had me proclaiming "where's the beef." On the other hand, the entree of atlantic cod with romesco, chorizo, cipollini onions and mushrooms was excellent. The fish was prepared perfectly and paired very well with the romesco sauce. Two errors in preparation however detracted from the dish: the chorizo was leathery and served cold while a few inedible mushroom stems (I thought I was chewing on wet cardboard) where included. All in all, not a bad meal and while the kitchen shows both promise and talent, I'm not rushing to return. Thu Oct 08 20:45:16 -0700 2009 4902033 31617 bgut1 6 5090449 bgut my friend, you won't believe this but before we left for Ca we set a reservation for this Saturday at Blue Bottle. We wanted to be ready to test the new menu, number 15. Its on their website. I guess great minds do think alike :) Fri Oct 09 05:13:51 -0700 2009 5090078 22225 tom246 7 5091382 That's crazy Tom. I know we joke about it but it has to be something more than coincidence. I'll see you and your wife on Saturday. :) Fri Oct 09 11:08:15 -0700 2009 5090449 31617 bgut1 8 5092031 Perhaps, twins in a former life? lol Fri Oct 09 14:55:50 -0700 2009 5091382 13867 RGR 6 5090480 bgut1, I hope you and Tom enjoy your night out on Saturday. :-)) I haven't been to the BB for a while but Tom's mention of a new menu got me to thinking that it's time for another visit. BTW, you might want to consider having the moderators move the appropriate part of your post to the elements thread. You are not the first to mention some "bad points" about elements and I think it would be better if your comments appeared there. Fri Oct 09 05:36:37 -0700 2009 5090078 57768 ambrose 7 5091411 Will do Ambrose. Thanks. I had intended to write just a small blurb in response to an earlier recommendation in this thread but unfortutantly the blurb turned into a review. Fri Oct 09 11:17:14 -0700 2009 5090480 31617 bgut1 1 5097103 New menu at The Blue Bottle, a lot to explore and we had a very enjoyable meal on Saturday. First is the top rate service, from owner Rory greeting you at the door to the smart efficient service all through the meal. Certainly makes for a relaxing evening. Nice assortment of breads, I'm a sucker for the raisin fennel along with the fresh butter, yum. For the apps we had and shared: Shrimp Bisque with tarragon, diced shrimp and a bit of cream. Very flavorful, wonderful texture and perfect on this cool fall night. Other app was the Vietnamese Vegetable Roll full of yuzu marinated trumpet royales, savoy cabbage, celery root, squash, radish mint and scallions. Came with miso and rice vinegar dipping sauce. This was an attactive and large portion, fresh tasting but could have used a bit more overall flavor. Entrees were Tamarind Braised Shortribs with wilted baby spinach and sweet potato dried fruit Israeli cous cous. Hearty and rich flavor, the cous cous is a great choice for the starch. I had the Pan Seared Dayboat Scallops with butternut squash, raisin and apple chutney, sauteed turnips, toasted pumpkin seeds and sage brown butter sauce. What a great Autumn preparation for scallops. Sweetness from the ingredients plus savory flavor from the prep, comfort food for the season. Both entrees were excellent and we barely were able to finish the portions. Of course that didn't stop us from splitting a dessert :) We chose the Pineapple Upside Down Cake with salted caramel ringing the cake and Bent Spoon cardamon ginger ice cream. "From an old family recipe" we were told and it sure tasted good. We enjoyed a stellar group of wines including a 2004 Fisher Vineyards Chardonnay, 2007 Bethel Heights Pinot and 2002 Jones Family Cabernet. If your anywhere near the Princeton area this is the place to try. Here is a link to their new website which contains the current menu. http://www.thebluebottlecafe.com/ Mon Oct 12 10:01:11 -0700 2009 4033489 22225 tom246