Robata RuBi An
52 Chamachi, Yonago, Tottori
Tel. (81) 08 59 32 0021
Opening Hours: Mon-Sat 18:00-22:00; Closed Sunday
Mr. Hirofumi Gion took over his father’s coffee house and made it into a Robata-style restaurant, specializing in fresh seafood, as he had the foresight to see that too many coffee shops would be opening in the area. He only offers daily catches of fresh seafood and when the catch runs out – he closes.
Agora Restaurant
Nogawa Bldg. 1st Flr., 14 Chamachi, Yonago, Tottori
Tel. 0859-32-2267
Opening Hours: 11:30 – 14:00 18:00 – 21:30 Closed Monday
Agora is a fairly recent addition to the dining scene in Yonago, along with Cous-Cous and some others. It is a one man operation with the chef acting also as waiter, wine steward, table runner, pantry man, and dishwasher. Granted, it is one of many chef owned micro-restaurants popping up all over Japan and only has five seats at the counter in front of the open kitchen and one table seating a maximum of four however, it takes a lot of precision to get all of the timing right – and he does. The cooking is very good and as I have just stated, there was no real waits for courses to arrive. Bravo!
Among many hotels in Seoul, Korea Lotte Hotel’s French restaurant Pierre Gagnaire initiated a One Hour business lunch in place of its more than Two Hour business lunches served in the past, there are other choices however, for people that have no time constraints.
Renaissance Hotel’s Irodori Japanese restaurant has begun delivering bento boxes, Japanese-style lunch boxes to executives in the area.
It seems that speedy lunches are becoming a trend as well as lowering of prices for lunch in line with the economic downturn.
The 2011 Bordeaux falls short of the two previous excellent vintages and is not going to compete in terms of quality, and prices need to reflect this. Last year, Chateau Lafite en primeur, or still in the barrel, hit £ 10,000 a case and appreciation is not expected, say merchants.
Consumers in China and other areas of Asia continue paying inflated prices for wine, cognac and Scotch whisky, more as a status symbol than for enjoyment.
Mos Burger, established in 1972 operates outside of Japan in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand and now Korea. Mos Burger was the first to develop the teriyaki burger and a burger using a bun made out of rice (rice burger).
Korea has two distinct markets for burgers: the inexpensive fast-food market dominated by McDonald’s and the upper-tier burgers captured by Kraze Burger; Mos Burger is going to position itself somewhere in the center of these two groups.
Starbucks has opened their first Evolution Fresh store in Washington State after acquiring the brand a few months ago. Evolution Fresh plans to build on its product line-up with new seasonal and core juices that are never heated through high pressure processing.
“Evolution Fresh™ store introduces customers to a unique, premium juice and food experience. Combining fresh, natural ingredients with culinary and globally-inspired recipes, each order is personalized and handcrafted to create delicious offerings – including wraps, salads, soups and more. Evolution Fresh is also offering vegetarian and vegan offerings – to help customers get the most out of life, whether in-store or on-the-go”.
“After cold pressing and squeezing the juice, an innovative technology called High Pressure Processing (HPP) is used to retain more of the flavors, vitamins and nutrients of raw fruits and vegetables”. Whatever, that means?
By Sandy Driscoll
The Bar at Cyrus
Cyrus Restaurant
29 North Street
Healdsburg, CA 95448
Phone: 707.433.3311
Website: http://www.cyrusrestaurant.com/
Hours: Thursday thru Monday, 5:30-9:30 pm
As one of only a few restaurants in the USA which has been given two Michelin stars, Cyrus is the quintessential
special occasion restaurant destination in the beautiful California Sonoma wine country.
With too many accolades to list here, Cyrus offers a choice of a five or eight course tasting menu. Although one
can order a la carte in the bar area, the tasting menu is the way to go for a splendid dining experience. Formal and
beautifully orchestrated service and food come together to make for a memorable evening.
Our party of four was celebrating a birthday, and the chef and servers produced three lovely surprise and unique
birthday desserts with a flair that had all of us smiling. Scattered among our eight courses were several little
‘gifts’ and amuses…….delicious tastes that appeared just at the right time. This is a dining experience that takes
an entire evening, is fun, beautiful and memorable. Each of us was also given a printed menu….. a memento of
all the courses we had, 18 in all!
A tour of the kitchen at the end of the evening gave us a behind-the-scenes view that made the evening complete.
Lobsters in the prep kitchen (a separate building) All images copyright 2012 by Sandy Driscoll & Restaurant Dining Critiques.com
The very busy well organized kitchen
In the kitchen with Chef Douglas Keane
Pelo Del Perro Cocktail – Charbay Blood Orange Vodka, Chinaco Blanco Tequila, Agave Nectar,Grapefruit Foam, Sea Salt,
Grapefruit & Lime Juices, Vitamin B 12
Chestnut and Sherry Soup with Chestnut Confit, Fennel Cream
Kampachi Sashimi with Ice Plant, Kumquats and Sweetbreads, Matcha Vinaigrette
Roasted Lobster with Cauliflower Cream, Uni Emulsion
Carrots, Brussels Sprouts and Cabbage with Pumpernickel and Horseradish
Foie Gras Torchon with Blood Orange and Pistachio
John Dory with Braised Romaine, Yuzu Kosho Butter
“Nakamura Miso” Glazed Tofu with Parsnips and Pickled Goji Berries
42 Hour Short Rib with Potato, Mustard Greens and Crimini, Sauce Bordelaise
Crispy Chicken Thigh with Truffled Risotto and Celery, Parmesan Froth with Shaved Black Truffles
Hot Farina Fritters
BIrthday guest Rod watches as the waiter prepares a very special dessert!
Yuzu Cremeux, Bergamot Meringue and Cream Cheese Ice Cream (One of the most memorable tastes I’ve ever had!)
Dinner guests Karen and Rod with their Cyrus gift bags containing Mignardises
for the following day!
A corked wine smells disagreeable and musty
In the 1950s several US and Australian wineries started implementing screw caps on inexpensive wines for economic reasons. These days wine spoilage in bottles with cork stoppers has been found to be due to tainting of corks by a chemical compound called trichloroanisole (TCA). Presently, 10% of cork stoppers are suspected of being infected with TCA, and in a recent tasting by Wine Spectator in Napa they found 7% of the wines tasted were “corked”. This is a threat that might signal the end of cork wine bottle stoppers. There have been accusations from the cork producers that bottles with synthetic closures may be prone to another aroma taint: sulphidisation, which arises from the reduced oxygen supply which concentrates sulphurous smells arising from universal preservatives but this has not been entirely proven. The image of opening a bottle of fine wine sealed by a screw cap closure in a top restaurant is an unpleasant thought, at least in my mind. However, it is certainly nothing new, as in many fine restaurants in Switzerland (Swiss wines are mainly sealed by screw cap closures) they have been doing exactly that for many years now, and everyone has accepted it as standard practice.
