Sunday, February 03, 2008
Food, "Dish"
Sweet and sour
A Brazilian street party revs up as an unpleasant host almost ruins a birthday dinner
Courtesy of Leblon
Celebrate Carnival with a caipirinha, the national drink of Brazil
By Kirsten Ott, Life, Food & Style Editor of The Sunday Paper
FOREIGN AFFAIR
If you can’t make it to the festive streets of Rio de Janeiro to celebrate Carnival, the four-day pre-Lent Brazilian party from Feb. 2 to Feb. 5, you can still indulge in the pleasures of the country. The national drink of Brazil is the caipirinha (pronounced kai-pea-ree-nya), which is created with fresh fruit, ice, sugar and cachaça (pronounced ka-chass-uh), the Brazilian rum made from distilled sugar cane juice. One particular brand of cachaça is making a big splash in Atlanta’s swank restaurants and lounges, and that’s Leblon. The velvety-smooth spirit is refined and gives the traditional liquors a run for their money, as it can be used not only in caipirinhas, but also mojitos, margaritas, cosmos and other inventive cocktails. Make your own caipirinha by placing three lime slices in a shaker and adding two tablespoons of super-fine sugar (or one ounce of simple syrup, or one packet of Splenda or Equal). Muddle well, releasing the lime’s juices and oils. Fill the shaker with ice and two and a half ounces of Leblon cachaça. Shake vigorously, pour into a rocks glass, and garnish with a slice of lime.
www.liveloveleblon.com.
STRIPPED DOWN
When I went to Strip Steak & Sushi for the first time last weekend, I wasn’t there undercover to report on the service, ambiance, décor or the food. I was there because two of my closest friends were sharing the night for a dual birthday dinner. However, as a food editor, I inherently pay attention to every little detail when dining out. Our party was only seven people—not too many details for the restaurant to pay attention to. We had a reservation for 8 p.m. on a Saturday night, and we all arrived on time.
A full 50 minutes later, our buzzer still hadn’t gone off, yet we saw empty tables throughout the restaurant. We’d had the reservations for several weeks, so naturally we were annoyed. One of my friends went to find out what the holdup was, and that’s when the night was almost ruined. Thomas, the host, snippily told my friend that we had only been waiting for eight minutes, to which my friend became flustered and repeated to him that we had all been there on time. This is the point in any given evening at a restaurant that the host should just say, “OK, how do I fix this?” Instead, Thomas began arguing with my friend, raising his voice at her and insisting that we were in the wrong, pointing to the computer as if it had run an eye-scan on our party when we arrived.
Had it not been my friends’ birthdays, I would’ve walked out. But it was Saturday night, now 9 p.m., we were hungry, and we’d have to wait anywhere else. However, we quickly learned that at Strip, having reservations—or at least customer service—doesn’t mean much to Thomas. Perhaps he was having a bad hair day or some other trite problem that wasn’t our concern, but he brought it to work and he took it out on the patrons that were essentially paying for said bad hair. Having worked many thankless hours in the service industry, including a stint as a restaurant hostess, I know how crucial first impressions are for any business. And this host was killing our high hopes for Strip.
The evening was salvageable though. The saving grace came when a helpful manager intervened, asking what the problem was, which was great timing considering that Thomas had just thrown his hands up and said, “I can’t deal with her.” The manager (whose card I later got; his name is Randall Cooper) took over, got us seated in less than 60 seconds with a rock-star waitress named Bree and had two complimentary delicious appetizers sent over to our table immediately. Bree indulged our party with five-star service, making us almost forget that tumultuous first impression we had of Strip. Dinner—a spread of sushi, steak, pork chops and salad—was delightful. The pork was served almost rare, but a quick handover to Bree had it back on our table in a few minutes. She checked in on us frequently and kept the table happy. The evening ended well, though our first impression of the place was tainted. Perhaps we’ll return, as long as Strip gets a handle on its staff.
www.heretoserverestaurants.com. SP
Life, Food & Style Editor Kirsten Ott dishes culinary and cocktail insights in this space every week. Send her some of yours at kirstenott@sundaypaper.com.