Krause Dining, Lawrence, KS

Yeah, it's been a long time. There are so many places in my "to do" pile, I don't know where to start. However, on Monday night (1/4/10), we ate at Krause Dining, and I wanted to do a quick post while it's still kind of (emphasis on kind of - we were mostly thinking about enjoying the experience, and not making notes of details, so there are parts of dishes I can't remember) fresh in my memory. Also, I don't want you to think we only eat at burger places and bars, so this one changes the pace a bit.

While most of these posts (not that there have been a lot of them - sorry, been really busy) have several purposes, including helping you (the public) choose places to eat, this one is a little different. One major difference is that you will never be able to eat there. After I'm not sure how many years of operation, Krause is closing, and this is their last week. If you haven't already eaten there, I'm sorry to say, you never will.

Quick background on Krause Dining (this is all secondhand from a long-time resident of the neighborhood, so I think it's pretty accurate, but I didn't fact-check). For several years, Robert Krause operated a fine dining restaurant out of his home in East Lawrence. The city kind of turned a blind eye, even though it was a violation of zoning laws and hadn't been inspected by the health inspector or anything. However, some big food critic caught wind of this "underground" restaurant and came to eat there. He was very impressed, and wrote a glowing review (calling it the 4th best restaurant in the country or something like that). The publicity from this review made it impossible for the city to ignore anymore, and they shut it down.

For the next year or so, Krause negotiated with the city, trying to get the area re-zoned, etc. The neighbors didn't want it re-zoned, because although they didn't have any problem with Krause, they didn't want a whole bunch of businesses opening up in their quiet residential neighborhood. Finally, they reached a compromise and the city issued a variance specifically for Krause, allowing the restaurant to re-open.

Since it was now an "official" restaurant, they had to make some changes. I believe in the end they actually bought the house next door and converted that into the "restaurant". It still looks and feels like a house - you actually arrive and wait in the "parlor", and walk through the kitchen (saying high to Chef Robert) on your way to be seated.

End of backstory.

As soon as we moved to Lawrence and learned of this place, we decided we had to eat there before we moved away. We were reserving it for a special occasion, since it's a prix fix menu at $80/plate (plus wine pairings). However, Jessica got an email from them notifying us that they were going to be closing, so we knew we couldn't wait anymore. Luckily, we were able to snag a reservation in their last week of operation.

The experience was all we thought it would be - as I said, you arrive and sit in the parlor (they'll serve cocktails there while you wait if you want them), and then walk through the kitchen to your table. I think in the room we were in, there were about 6-7 other tables (sorry no pictures of this one - we didn't want to drag the SLR there and be all intrusive, and once we were in the experience, we forgot about my point and shoot). It was typical, high-quality fine-dining type of service, and there were no menu choices (other than an optional 3rd course, which we did, and optional wine pairings).

First course was a crab consomme. It was a dark, flavorful consomme, with a good hint of crab flavor (and some nice pieces of crab claw meat), but not overly fishy. Very good choice on a cold night such as it was.

Second course was (other than dessert) the highlight for me. It was arctic char, appeared to be pan-sauteed to crisp the skin. It was served over a cauliflower puree, with an avocado mousse on top. Yeah, it might sound a little different (unless you watch a lot of Top Chef), but it was really good.

The third course was optional. Since this was the last time we would be able to go there, we decided to go all out. There were 2 choices, and we each got one. Mine was foie gras over a brioche crustini and I can't remember the other ingredients. Jessica knew she wasn't going to like this - she doesn't like anything duck, and duck liver is not exception. I generally like duck, and foie gras is a good occasional dish, although I wouldn't want to eat it every day. This one was very good, but it was a little much. A little foie gras is plenty for me. The crostini was awesome, though, and helped temper the extreme flavor and texture of the foie.

Jessica's third course was her highlight of the night. I tried it, and I know why - it was probably better than any of the other things that I had (and I preferred it to the foie for sure). It was lobster cooked in butter over an asian sticky rice, and there was some mascarpone component that neither of us can completely remember. It had a nice spicy bite, and the lobster was of course cooked perfectly. It was probably my favorite preparation of lobster ever.

The fourth course was the main course. It was a rack of lamb, cooked sous-vide. It did end up pretty tender and juicy (which is the purpose of sous-vide method), and it was cooked to the right temp (med rare). There were a couple of good sauces on it as well, but neither of us can remember what it was served with. Jessica says it was the rarest lamb she's ever eaten, which is probably true. For me, it was good but not great. I think rack of lamb is probably not my favorite because there tends to be a lot of tendons or something in there, and even when the meat is tender, it is hard to cut and it seems like you leave a lot of meat on the bone. As I said, I think it was well-prepared, but it wasn't my favorite thing of the night.

Speaking of favorite thing of the night, next was dessert (2 courses). First dessert was a 3-layer frozen thing in a flute (the glass, not the instrument). The top layer was a cucumber and something sorbet, then there was a really thin layer of wasabi-flavored something, and on the bottom was a panna cotta. It was awesome - very refreshing. The wasabi bite tempered the sweetness of the panna cotta, and the cucumber (and something else - can't remember what the other flavor was) sorbet was surprisingly refreshing. Great palette cleanser, to prepare you for...

The best chocolate souffle ever. They brought it to the table still warm and steamy (of course), and poked a hole in it to fill with chocolate ganache at the table. At this point, I was a little full, but I took one for the team and finished it anyway. Jessica just couldn't do it - she was really upset about that, because she had enough to know that it was awesome. If possible, I would go back for that.

We also had a few (OK, most) of the wine pairings, and they really didn't serve any wine we didn't like. They even served a Chardonnay that I liked, and I hate Chardonnay. One thing they did very well was select and pair wines. We are hoping they still have the list (need to call them before they stop answering the phone), so we can try some of those wines again.

So, overall, how was it? It was a unique experience, and I'm glad we did it. It was also the most expensive (per person) dinner I've ever had, I think. I don't think it was the best I've ever had. Porter and Frye in Minneapolis, before the management change, was better, in my opinion. However, there is something about the family-business restaurant in an actual house that made it worthwhile. It was something we'll never be able to do again, we had good conversation with friends at dinner, and there is something about a dinner where they just serve, and you don't have any choices that makes it more interesting.

Our less-than-5-star impression of the food (only slightly less - don't want to give the impression that it wasn't good) may have had something to do with what they were serving that night - Jessica doesn't like foie gras (and I only like it in small quantities), and I think rack of lamb is just not my favorite way to eat that particular animal (and I really do like lamb). For my money, in the Lawrence-Topeka area, I think I would stick to the Rowhouse.

Since you won't be able to eat there anyway, I'm not going to give this one a "hungry emoticon" rating, but if you ever have the chance to eat Robert Krause food (and you might), I'd recommend it. He does own part of The Burger Stand (at Dempsey's in Lawrence), which I highly recommend, but that's another post. So, if you get a chance to experience something once-in-a-lifetime, do you do it? Carpe diem, I say.

Free State Brewery - Lawrence, KS

The actual catalyst for starting this blog was our recent move to Lawrence, KS. Lawrence is a nice little (pop. ~85,000) college town with a semi-historic downtown district full of charming little shops and eclectic restaurants. We thought it would be fun to "eat at every restaurant on Massachusetts Street" and review them all. Truthfully, we aren't going to eat at all of them - pretty sure we'll skip Pizza Hut and Jimmy John's. However, I would like to check out most of the local ones. We might get a little sick of bar food, though, since there is an abundance of local bars on Mass Ave.

Speaking of those, I thought it would be appropriate that the first Lawrence post be about the Free State Brewery, ostensibly the "first" restaurant on Mass St. The main part of Mass St starts at 6th Street (proceeds to about 12th), and Free State is between 6th and 7th.

It's an interesting place, and nearly always buzzing with activity. It is obviously a local hangout, with plenty of University of Kansas students (about a fourth of the town's population, I think) as well as a good number of other local folks. They have a variable selection of their brewed-in-house beers, as well as other typical bar fare.

If you look at their food menu, you will notice some atypical bar fare. There are things like a New York strip, gumbo, pastas, and other seemingly "upscale" entrees, in addition to the expected hamburgers, sandwiches, nachos, etc. The menu appears, at least at first glance, to be "upscale bar food".

Since first coming here several months ago, I have been to the Free State a number of times. I don't really want to talk about everything I've had there and exactly how it was, so I'm going to boil it down:

- Cheddar Ale Soup: absolutely the best thing on the menu. This is the best beer cheese soup that I've had anywhere. It's not overly "cheesy", but they obviously use good cheese (pretty sharp cheddar, as far as I can tell), the vegetables were sauteed to the right consistency, and I really didn't have any complaints about it. Pretty much every time I've gone to the Free State, I've gotten a cup of this soup. If you go there, you should not pass this up.
- "Upscale" food: I've gotten both the gumbo and a steak. Gumbo was just OK (hey, you're not in Louisiana) and the steak was sort of disappointing. I'm a bit of a beef snob, but I'm pretty sure it was chemically tenderized. It had that mushy consistency that was a dead giveaway. Also, I ordered it medium rare and it came out medium.
- Burgers/sandwiches: above average. The burger WAS cooked correctly, and they have a good selection of them.
- Salads: I actually got a salad once, and it was decent. Not much else to say about it.
- Beer: Like I said, they have a bunch of their own microbrews, and the selection varies depending on what they have available that day. One thing that is kind of neat is the sizes - you can get a 4 oz "taste" for something like $1.50, which is an interesting way to try them all. Their barleywine is very malty, which makes it pretty hearty. If you're looking for a hoppy barleywine, look somewhere else. Personally, I think overhopped stuff just tastes bitter, but some people like that.

We also went to the Free State with a large group (about 30 people) one time. If you ever have a chance to do that, well, pass on that. They are not used to groups that large, and the service was not good. With the amount of money we were spending there, I expected a lot more, and they didn't deliver. With smaller numbers (like 4 people), I've never had an issue with the service. Stick to small groups.

So, bottom line: if you're looking for decent bar food, and interesting local atmosphere, and microbrews, it's worth checking out. If you do, get a cup of the Cheddar Ale soup. I'd recommend that accompanied by a burger or something. Stay away from the other entrees - in my humble opinion, not worth the price or calorie intake.

It's a tough call, but I think this one gets 3 hungry emoticons. It was on the bubble for 2 1/2 because of the poor service experience we had there, but the cheddar ale soup brought it back up to 3, by the skin of its teeth.



Blog postscript: I apologize for the lack of pictures in this post. We went to the Free State before we really started this official "reviewing" blog, so we didn't take any pictures of the food. Just for reference (and since the atmosphere is a good part of the reason to go to the Free State), here is a picture of the restaurant, decorated with Christmas lights:

Shrimp Shack in Punaluu: Oahu, Hawaii

While we're on the Hawaiian theme, I'll have to post about my favorite Hawaiian hole in the wall. On the side of the Kamehameha Highway, on the North Shore of Oahu, there is a yellow truck. Out of the back of that truck are served some of the greatest culinary works of art to ever come out of a yellow truck. Okay, that might be setting the bar a little low - not a lot of culinary works of art come out of a yellow truck. Anyway, it's great "fast food".

The Shrimp Shack is, as I mentioned, a yellow truck parked by the side of the road.

The menu is pretty short (written on a surfboard - see picture), and frankly, I haven't had everything on the menu. The first couple of times, I got shrimp and crab combinations. However, the last time, we just got shrimp - their "famous" sauteed shrimp and their coconut shrimp. If you've never had coconut shrimp in Hawaii, you should. Both of these shrimp dishes are excellent. The service is always friendly, in true North Shore fashion - I had pretty long conversations with the proprietor a couple of times that I was there. But the real reason to go is for the food.

The plates are simple - in fact, they're styrofoam. Each one has a couple of scoops of rice (pretty sure she uses an ice cream scoop to dispense), and a pile of whatever kind of shrimp you ordered.

The shell-on sauteed shrimp are more work to eat - you have to follow their "complicated" instructions ("suck, peel, dip, and eat") in order to get the full flavor.

There's a little heat in the sauce they use to sautee - provided by red chili flakes, I believe. There's also a good garlic flavor, and quite obviously lots of butter (you can see the remnants of it on your plate when you're finished).

Most of this flavor is on the shell, since they are sauteed shell-on. That's why you have to suck on them before you peel and eat them. The coctail sauce is good - proper amount of horseradish heat, very tangy. However, it's frankly unnecessary. They are good as-is.

The coconut shrimp were excellent as well. They come with a sweet dipping sauce - I don't recall what kind of sauce it was, but it complemented the (coco)nutty flavor of the breading perfectly.

Could I do this at home? I have actually done the sauteed shrimp at home, and they turned out decent. However, I don't have shrimp that just came out of the ocean to start with, I don't have the ocean breeze blowing across my picnic table, and I definitely don't have fresh-from-the-tree coconut to bread my coconut shrimp. There is something to be said for the experience.

Criticisms? The only one I could come up with is, by the time you're finished eating it, it might not be hot anymore. The cool breeze off the water, the fact that you're eating outside, and the fact that you have to peel each shrimp all conspire to cool off the food before you're finished. That breeze also means that you need to hold on to your plate sometimes if you don't want it to blow away. That's all part of the experience, though. All in all, I think it's a "don't miss" if you're on Oahu. I know that there are other shrimp trucks along the side of the road, but this is the "original" one, and it's the only one that I've been to. I recommend that you go there too.

This one gets 4 1/2 hungry emoticons:

Bubba's Burgers in Kapaa, and Ono Char Burger on the Coconut Coast: Kauai, Hawaii

At first blush, the title picture for the blog might seem a bit incongruous (if the title picture changes later, this will make less sense - you never know what Jessica will do with a little time and Photoshop). A picture of a greasy burger next to the words "food snobs"? Really?

Well, that's kind of the point. Good food is good food. It doesn't have to be fine dining to be good. In fact, I have a feeling that as we continue to add posts ("reviews") to this blog, the majority of the places will be of the "hole in the wall" variety. Such is this inaugural post.

On our honeymoon, we spent several days on the island of Kauai. What we discovered there, food-wise, is that every place on the whole stinkin' island claims to make the best burgers in Hawaii. Who knew that Hawaii was even known for burgers? Anyway, two such places seemed like they might have a legitimate shot at backing up that claim, so we gave them both a try.

Frankly, they were both pretty good, and it's been long enough ago that I can't really recall what was better about one or the other. Jess remembers thinking that we enjoyed Bubba burger a little more, overall. I really think that the burgers were pretty comparable. The one thing that definitely made Bubba superior was the wait time - I do recall waiting nearly an hour at Ono. It was pretty outrageous for "fast" food. Of course, nothing is truly "fast" in Hawaii anyway.

Both burgers were very good, and the onion rings/fries were good as well. Everything appeared to be made fresh, and they did have their own special taste due to the use of teriaki sauce (and in one case, a pineapple ring). However, I wouldn't go so far as to say it was the best burger that I've ever had or anything. Like many other things that we eat in restaurants, we're convinced that we could do as good or better making it ourselves at home.

So, if you find yourself on Kauai, where should you go? I'd still recommend Bubba burger (pictured above) - truthfully, there wasn't a lot of variety of restuarants on Kauai, and if you enjoy a good burger at a charming little open-air diner, it's worth the stop. And Ono? Well, it definitely seemed popular, both with locals and tourists. It was very good, and the selection of burgers was admirable. If you're going to make that stop, though, definitely plan to do it somewhere outside of "normal" lunchtime hours. You don't want to sit there waiting for 45 minutes while you watch everyone else that was ahead of you in line chow down. Speaking from experience, it's not fun. My take was that this place was one of those things that you "check off" - yep, went to Ono burger, don't have to do that again. I don't think that I would.

While I'm on the subject of food on Kauai, there is one other place worth mention. I actually didn't recall the name of it, but I was able to look it up - there is a little bakery in Kapaa that makes great muffins, called Sweet Marie's. Everything is gluten-free (she uses rice flour), and we had them a couple of times - excellent! They are just the right "weight" - very moist and fluffy, but still substantial enough to be enjoyable.

I know this sounds like a very vague description (and kind of random - I thought this post was about burgers!), but if you knew how small Kapaa was, you'd know that you will be able to find this place. Just keep following the road (seriously, there's only one) through town. If you're headed toward the North Coast, it will be on your right. You should definitely stop in - good food, and the place is so tiny, you can actually watch her making whatever delectable treats she might be working on at the time. Tell her we said hi.

I could go on about places in Hawaii, but I think I'll save that for another post. I've already talked about 3 different places in a single post, so I think I've reached the limit for this time.

Ratings:
Bubba Burger gets 3 1/2 hungry emoticons:


Ono Char Burger gets 2 1/2 hungry emoticons due to being overrated:


Note - we just started this blog, so we're "making up for lost time" by posting about some places at which we've eaten in the past. This one was from spring 2008. Hopefully pretty soon we'll "catch up" and our posts will be more current.