DINING JOURNAL: JEAN-ROBERT & "THE KIDS" AT MUSIC HALL

Back in the wintry cabin-fever days of January, Cindie and I thought it would be a great idea to take advantage of the Cincinnati Symphony's 3-for-$99 offer for tickets to any three concerts on the remaining 2009-2010 schedule. We were especially interested in booking one that would be preceded by dinner prepared by Jean-Robert and the students of the Midwest Culinary Institute. Alas, due to bad weather in February, then far-too-nice-weather-to-leave-the-river in April, we've rescheduled a couple of concerts. Our Goldilocks moment came last night; we weren't about to miss the food.

For my out-of-town readers, Jean-Robert de Cavel is a three-time James Beard nominee and 2009 semifinalist for Best Chef/Regional. In 1993, he arrived in the Queen City to helm the Maisonette, historically our city's claim to culinary fame. For 35+ years, the Maisonette was the restaurant with the longest-running Mobil 5-Star rating ever, until it closed suddenly. That was four years after J-R left to start Jean-Robert at Pigall's, which won a whole new following and many accolades, including a spot on Conde Nast Traveler's Best New Restaurants list. Last year J-R was ousted from his namesake restaurant by his former business partners, legal wranglings ensued, and much sturm und drang have occurred in the local foodie community over the whole mess.

For any local lurkers, Jean-Robert told us he anticipates opening his new restaurant, Jean-Robert's Table, in early June, about a month later than he had originally hoped, due to issues with the building, which he acknowledged he'd rather deal with now rather than later. (He's also tweeting the occasional update.)

Somehow this incredibly talented chef has chosen to remain in our Midwestern midst. While he's been restaurant-less during the past year he has continued to participate in benefits, including a recent event with Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard for the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (sadly, I was not able to attend) and Seven Days for SIDS, which he and his wife founded after the death of their daughter. He has also been named Chef--in-Rsidence and "culinary ambassador" for the Midwest Culinary Institute, whose students helped prepare and serve our pre-concert dinner while Jean-Robert greeted and mingled with diners.

We started with a layered salad of quinoa, egg mimosa, smoked salmon, and asparagus topped with a creamy citrus dressing and threads of candied lemon rind. This dish was so heavenly that we later split another portion.

We moved on to the crab cake, served over blended rice with shiitake mushrooms and a three-pepper melange and topped with microgreens and a delicate curry sauce.

Next up was beet barigould with apples, argula, and candied walnuts, served with a luscious scoop of goat cheese, a wafer of crisp bread, and balsamic dressing.

Short ribs in puff pastry were served with blue cheese and mushrooms on a bed of spinach and grapes grapes with peppery port wine sauce.

Dessert was a selection of berry tarts and chocolate and hazelnut confections (see photo at top of post).

We could happily have lingered over this sumptuous dinner longer, but the bells of Music Hall signaled it was time to take our seats for the concert. It was a lovely meal and a delightful opportunity to sample food expertly prepared by the MCI students Jean-Robert inspires. Although this was the last such pre-concert dinner for the current Cincinnati Symphony season, our attentive barkeep told us she had spoken with J-R earlier and he said he would like to continue these dinners next season. "The kids just love this," she said. And so did we.

OF DONUTS AND PRACTICALITY . . . OR . . . INSIDE OUT GRILLED CHEESE

I was in the mood for an easy dinner, and grilled cheese seemed like the perfect solution. I rarely run low on cheese in the Eggplant Kitchen, and had some Kenny's Farmhouse cheddar, chive jack, and tomme that would deliver the oozy goodness I was after.

But the only bread in the house was half a loaf of focaccia. Sturdy and dusted with rosemary and thyme, it would certainly be flavorful, but it was only an inch and a half thick. Slicing it from top to bottom would yield miniscule pieces with barely enough surface area to be worth the trouble. On the other hand, if I sliced across the round loaf, I wouldn't be able to get a crispy sandwich exterior from the top and bottom of the loaf.

Then I remembered the unique grilled cheese donut offered by Tom + Chee, a pop-up eatery that operated out of a tent last winter adjacent to the ice skating rink on Fountain Square. The name refers to their primary menu items, a variety of tomato soups and grilled cheese sandwiches, which they served along with hot chocolate - perfect outdoor winter fare. (Happily they'll be back on the Square June 1 with an expanded menu.)

Although I sampled a number of their soups and sandwiches in December, I couldn't quite bring myself to go for their signature sandwich, a grilled cheese made with a glazed donut. However, I remembered that they grilled the donut inside out - cut side, not glazed side on the griddle - and, taking a similar tack, my focaccia conundrum was solved. I fried a couple of slices of bacon and layered them with cheese between slices of crust-inward bread.

Once I get a good crust on the bread, I usually place a lid partially over the skillet to encourage the cheese to melt. But this sandwich was taller than the sides of my skillet. So I improvised, with another pot over the skillet, ajar so the cheese would melt but I wouldn't steam all the crispness out of the sandwich.

Worked like a charm. With a side of asparagus spritzed with Meyer lemon juice (which also helped balance the fatty goodness of the sandwich), it was the perfect plate of comfort food for a chilly spring evening.

POSITIVELY MONDAY

There's nothing like a road trip, good friends, a cat (or 9), and a breath of fresh air to help me feel ready to tackle a Monday.

Sometimes ramblin' down a different path than the one you'd planned refreshes you with the unexpected.

Even on a rainy day.

You might even find yourself across the state line and in a miniature faerie world.

Wishing you a Monday full of color.

And whatever small miracles it takes to get you through your day.

Heck, while we're sprinkling cheerful dust 'round here, why not just plant yourself a $%&## chocolate tree?

Road trips: Highly recommended. Returning home with twisted ankle: Not so much. Nonetheless, don't let your week go down the crapper without a fight.

GONE RAMBLIN' . . .

Have a fine weekend!

BRAVO POSTS ITS OWN TCM SPOILER ??!!??!!

Sure seems like Bravo posted its own spoiler for this episode. They've got a photo of the winning dish that's supposed to link to a video of Kevin Gillespie recreating it. The link is down, but the photo is up. Saw it there before the show too. Title is "Pub-lic Doman." OK, kind of a lame pun re: the pub food challenge this epi. Presumably the "Doman" part of the title was meant to be "Domain"? Sheesh.

PASTA-WHO-KNOWS-WHAT

When my grandfather was still living, our whole family was invited for brunch at the home of Hungarian immigrants who were colleagues of my father. Natalie is a spectacular cook, and an even more gracious hostess. The egg dish she prepared for us so delighted my grandfather that he asked for the recipe. Turns out it was just something she whipped together, and the flavor that so enthralled my grandfather was garlic from the salami she'd incorporated. Now, my grandfather was not supposed to eat garlic for some sort of health reasons, and at our house we always made sure to serve garlic-free dishes or make a separate portion for him sans garlic. Being a garlic lover myself, I can't imagine what a thrilling taste it was to Grandpa after so many years of doing without. When Natalie wrote out the recipe, she gave it a Hungarian title - which seemed exotic to all us Midwesterners - which translated as "Eggs-You-Know-What." I don't think anyone ever told Grandpa what he'd eaten. Why spoil such a transcendent eating experience?

In that same spirit of whipping up dishes - especially with what's on hand - I threw together a pasta dish the other night. Pasta is one of the most adaptable of foods. It can go with pretty much anything you want to put with it, and it's an easy pantry staple. So I surveyed my fridge and cupboards, came up with a few ideas, and reminded myself of some favorite recipes from one of my Marcella Hazan cookbooks. OK, so I didn't have the "perfect" pasta in Italian thinking to go with any of them. The only pasta I had in the house was fusilli. To be more exact, fusilli "bucati corti," according to the package. (not that I know what that means, or have the energy to look it up right now). I did have some plain old American bacon - another staple around here, although it's decidedly different from pancetta or guanciale, which Hazan writes about with such passion. I also had a partial can of stewed tomatoes, some mushrooms that needed to be used, garlic, shallots, a teensy bit of thyme that I had purchased fresh but was well on its way to being dried, a few stray kalamata olives, and a silly jar of "tipsy" vermouth-marinated onions that either I must have purchased on a whim or someone gave me once upon a time. (I'm the recipient of many the odd food gift. Which is not a bad thing.)

So with these ingredients, and a little white wine, I put together a dish that was inspired partly by pasta Amatriciana (the prominent features of which are a bacon-like pork product and crushed red pepper) and partly by pasta Puttanesca (another kicky dish, with olives, capers, and anchovies, although I didn't have the latter on hand). Turned out to be a good marriage of the two, a peppy, and peppery, bowl of comfort food that didn't take five hours in the kitchen. It might have been too spicy for Grandpa. But I'm sure he would have liked that garlic.

POSITIVELY . . . INSPIRED!

Last weekend's lobster-cooking adventure with Cindie and Odie for the Culinary Smackdown was big fun. Seeing everyone's entries was even better - and a whole lot less work. What a great array of dishes!

Three in particular got my culinary cortex going. The whole concept of a savory macaron from Doggy at Chez What. Troll's lemon relish, which he tells me he makes with lemon, celery, fennel, cardamom, and red pepper (what else could I pair that with besides lobster?). And the shellfish Sabayon that La Diva served with her magnificent lobster souffle.

I was salivating for lobster all over again after seeing the Smackdown entries. Couldn't afford another lobster, but I did have those lobster shells in my freezer. I was well into making lobster stock, and intent on making lobster risotto, when the phone rang (as it inevitably does when I try to make risotto). Which is why the lovely photo at the top of this post is not a food picture. However, I'll be back with a risotto post soon (possibly tomorrow night before Bourdain's new food porn episode) if the phone doesn't ring again.

Meanwhile, Cindie was inspired from another corner of the blogosphere and decided to try out MS's chocolate blackout cake. Cindie fiddled with it (she's allergic to cocoa powder), making her a bolder baker than I am. I mess around with recipes in the cooking arena all the time, but baking is a whole 'nother kettle of, er, lobster. The result was a cake that fell apart on her. When I asked her to let me know how it tasted, she said the upside to something this "deconstructed" is that you can stick your fingers into it before serving and no one will notice. Verdict: Pretty tasty.

Proving, I suppose, that silver linings can be found anywhere, and chocolate makes everything better.

With thanks to everyone who stopped by to check out my lobster post, and gratitude to all the Smackdown entrants for your inspiration, I wish you a Happy Monday!