Vic Falls Hotel Needs to Focus Less on Dress, More on Food

Livingstone Room
Victoria Falls Hotel
2 Mallett Drive
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
263.13.44751
www.africansunhotels.com

The Livingstone Room of the Victoria Falls Hotel looks lovely - a grand ballroom decorated in deep red with glorious high ceilings. The diners look good too as the dress-code is strictly enforced. During a late-August visit, the host eyed each guest up and down, checking for collared-shirts, socks, dress shoes, and slacks for men, sending some away from the nearly empty dining room. While the goal may be to preserve the elegance of dining room at this "grand old lady of the Falls," the attention would be better placed elsewhere, such as on the quality of the food.

While the dinner presentation was attractive, the quality left much to be desired. I realize the challenges that Zimbabwe faces and that many people would love to have any food to put on the table, but the expectations are set high here as are the prices. Expect a two-course dinner to run $40 a person without wine. My money would have been better spent grabbing a sandwich and feeding some people outside on the street.
The meal started out well enough, with a cream-based corn soup that was mild in flavor (above).


A tomato and greens salad was rather skimpy and the tomato was bland (above).

The big failure was the risotto entree. It came to the table looking so tasty with garnishes of greens and cheese and as though it had a bounty of flavors, but it needed a good 10 minutes more cooking time. It was simply inedible. The host checked on the entree about five minutes after it was served as it sat on my plate untouched except for one bite. He did little more than say, "Oh," when I mentioned that it was undercooked to the point it was impossible to eat.

Go look at the hotel, marvel at the views and see the Livingstone Room. But don't waste money eating there. If you need an alternative, try the hotel/casino next door that makes a tasty grilled cheese sandwich.

Update: On October 15, I found the following on a booking website for the hotel. "As a result of many requests from visitors, The Victoria Falls Hotel has decided to relax aspects of the long-standing dress code in force in its premier dining venue, The Livingstone Room. This is in recognition of the fact that many travelers do not bring with them the more formal clothes that have until now been mandatory in this restaurant. Smart casual wear is now acceptable in The Livingstone Room at dinner each evening." Unfortunately, fixing the food will be a bit more difficult.

A NICE-Enough Meal at a Culinary School in Namibia

The Namibian Institute of Culinary Education (NICE)
2 Mozart Street
Windhoek, Namibia
(264) 61-300 710
www.nice.com.na

I like to visit culinary academies. The food may be imperfect, the service may be a bit off, but often you get a good meal for a relatively low cost and the money helps to support students’ education. So when I found the National Institute for Culinary Education (NICE) in Windhoek, Namibia, I was eager to try it out, especially reading that it was operated by Wolwedans, the exceptional safari lodge group in the Namib Desert. The school trains students to work at safari lodges at Wolwedans and at other camps. The host at my hotel, after I gave her a selection of three restaurants in the area I was considering, reaffirmed my selection of NICE without so much as a brief pause.

The restaurant is in a refurbished home. As a result there are several separated dining rooms, with each holding no more than about 20 guests. With all the small rooms, though the restaurant was quite full, there was very little noise and each dining room had an intimate feel to it. All of the dining rooms are warmly decorated and attractive – far moreso than most culinary academies I’d visited, where you might be dining in a classroom.

I had written the restaurant in advance to ask if they could accommodate vegetarians. I received back the menu with a few items marked that they could be modified for vegetarians.

The waiters are not students; only the chefs are. I was far more forgiving of the inattentive service (no checking back on the quality of the food, little attention paid to drink refills) until I found this out. The first dish out of the kitchen was quite tasty - vegetable tempura served on skewers with soy sauce.

The orange-flavored butternut soup did not have any orange flavor that I discerned, but it was good, creamy and baked potato chips were a nice topping.

The tomato-mozzarella ravioli in tomato sauce was the miss as it came out of the kitchen quite bland. Salt and pepper made it more flavorful, but it would have been preferable to have this come out well-seasoned.

The food and service may be a bit hit-and-miss, but overall the National Institute for Culinary Education gets high marks and is a worthwhile stop in Windhoek.

Kajitsu

Kajitsu
414 E. 9th Street
New York, NY 10009
212.228.4873
www.kajitsunyc.com

I owe this unique find to my friend Rachel who is fortunate enough to live not far from this charming restaurant that offers vegetarian Shojin cuisine in a space that is so peaceful that it is far easier to think you are in Kyoto than Manhattan.

Kajitsu changes its menu just once a month, offering five- and seven-course menus for $50 and $70, respectively. (Sake pairings are available.) Each month's menu is posted on the website on the first day of the month.

When you enter, you are led to a tranquil, quiet space with minimalist Japanese decor. What stands out here are the details - from the few art pieces to the service to each little serving bowl. The website explains you may notice carefully repaired cracks or chips on some of the pieces as many are up to 200 years old. The careful repairs represent respect for the master potters.

My friend and I opted for the seven-course menu, which started with my favorite dish of the evening: chilled tomato aspic with avocado, fresh peas, wasabi and umadashi sauce (below). The combination of flavors played well, with every bite leading to something a bit new.

Noodles (kept chilled with an ice cube buried underneath them) with sesame dipping sauce were a little more ordinary and came before the soup with simmered watermelon, shiso and junsai shoots (below). The soup was another surprising blend of flavors and textures.

Buckwheat risotto with porcini mushrooms (below in cup), fried zucchini blossoms stuffed with corn and an array of fruit made for fun mix of foods, with the fried zucchini blossom a wonderful standout. The fruits were a nice palate cleanser.
The main course was a spaghetti squash stuffed with chilled summer vegetable soup served over mixed tempura. It was good and the presentation was lovely, but it was not outstanding.

After a course of asparagus rice, we finished the evening with a heavenly fresh peach mochi and then some matcha tea.

This is one of the more unique vegetarian restaurants I have visited and I highly recommend a visit. I can't wait to return.

Craigie on Main: What They Lack in Selection is Made up for in Flavor

Craigie on Main
853 Main Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
617.497.5511
www.craigieonmain.com

I put off going to Craigie on Main for more than a year after it was first recommended to me. Every time I looked at their menu online, it just didn't look like they had much to offer vegetarians. And while that may be somewhat true, what they do offer - which includes a vegetarian tasting menu - is quite good. Now I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner.

The biggest reason it doesn't look like they have much for vegetarians is that most of their offerings are variations on their meat-based dishes. The ragout of forest mushrooms (above) with farro, ramps, herbs and fresh flowers topped with a poached egg is on the menu as being served with sweetbreads. Often, I'm hesitant about a dish that is modified to make it vegetarian as it seems incomplete. That wasn't the case here. The vegetarian version of the dish made for a wonderful blend of flavors with no sense that anything was lacking.

The crispy potato galette (above) is off of the bar menu and is served with a horseradish cream sauce. On the menu it has salmon roe and bacon bits, but again the dish stood on its own, with a crispy outside and tender, flavorful inside.
The four-grain pilaf-stuffed Vidalia onion with spring vegetables (above) was tender and flavorful with the onion not being overbearing.

The surprise of the evening was a dessert I never would have ordered, but it was absolutely fantastic. It was creamy Anson Mills corn grits with a warm strawberry compote. Grits do not sound good to me at any time and especially not for dessert, but this was so sweet and smooth that it was not to be missed. I would stop in just for that.

Service at Craigie on Main is friendly and attentive. Vegetarian prix fixe is $61 and entrees ordered a la carte start at about $21. One drawback is that larger groups - parties of more than four people - can generally only be accommodated at the tables in the bar, where it can be crowded and noisy.

Molecules Fail to Line Up at Chicago's Moto

Moto
945 W. Fulton Market
Chicago, Illinois 60607
312.491.0058
www.motorestaurant.com

It's like tromp l'oeil, but for the palate. Nothing quite looks like what it is. The savory dishes look sweet; the sweet dishes savory; and the cigar (below) is a veggie dog. Molecular gastronomy takes what you know about food and turns it upside down. When it's done well, the presentation is amazing, but doesn't outshine the food. When it's done poorly, it's all about style over substance. Unfortunately, at Moto it's not done well. It's fun, it's frivolous, but the food suffers terribly. And the service leaves much to be desired as well. At about $500 for two (10-courses each and splitting the wine pairings) that just shouldn't happen.

The evening started out with the night's menu printed on bread, which you consume. The waiter promised to bring another menu out so my guest and I could follow along with the courses, but we had to remind him two more times before this happened. It only took minor revisions to the menu to create a vegetarian menu, but most things fell flat, as they did with my guest's omnivore menu. The vegetarian version of the cannoli (below), made to look sweet, but really a rolled taco, contained little more than avocado.

This dish (below) made to look like fruits and desserts was savory, and unremarkable. A bubble tea was little more than a tiny shot-glass-sized glass filled with cool tea. It counted as one of the courses, but would have made for a weak amuse bouche.

One of the better dishes of the evening was a take-off on the Hostess Sno Ball (below). A great disappointment was that the waiter spoke so softly that it was impossible to hear what he said as he described any of the dishes.
The final course was a root beer float (below). This came with dry ice floating out and an edible 'packing peanut'. There was perhaps a smidgen of rootbeer - or anything edible - to this most dramatic yet severly lacking dish.
Overall, the food was poor and service was just as bad. The wine pairings were consistently brought out at ill-timed intervals. In a nutshell, Moto is expensive and disappointing, and in a city such as Chicago, where there are so many good alternatives - Alinea anyone? - there is no reason to dine here.

The RCC: Where Kitsch, Red Capitalist Ideals and Good Food Come Together

Red Capital Club
No. 66 Dongsi Jiutiao
Dongcheng District
100007 Beijing, China
+86 10 8401 6152
www.redcapitalclub.com.cn

I won't pretend that this is a place to get the most authentic Chinese food in Beijing. Is it touristy? Yes. Is it expensive by Chinese standards? Of course. Is it fun? You bet! And, of course, they happily accommodate vegetarians.

Tucked in an old hutong alleyway it's easy to miss the Red Capital Club. There's no sign, but there is a vintage limo that used to be used by Chairman Mao's wife parked out front.

You enter into a quaintly preserved courtyard home. The lounge is the first stop. It is filled with 1950-70s kitsch, but also memorabilia such as two sofas that were used by Marshal Lin Biao, who died in a "plane crash" after an apparent failed coup to oust Mao. Drinks are served in the lounge, with the Cuba Libre seeming most appropriate, although there is a large selection of signature and standard cocktails along with a good selection of local and international wines by the glass or bottle. In the lounge, you are presented with the dinner menu and place your order while relaxing and taking in all the trinkets and photos.

Once the first course is ready, you are moved into a dining room, adorned with yet more pieces from the Communist Revolution. Each plate is adorned with figures delicately carved from vegetables. The waiter explained this was how dishes were served to Mao.

The first course (above) was shredded bean curd skins tossed with chili peppers. This was the highlight of the meal, with its subtle, noodle-like flavor, yet just different enough to seem quite unique. I'd not seen this elsewhere.

The winter soup was a nice hot-and-sour soup. There was nothing unusual about it, but it was well prepared. Vegetable spring rolls (below) were nicely done, and obviously house made. They came with a mild soy-based sauce and a mild chili dip.

Asparagus was fanned out on a plate like so many peacock feathers. These were steamed to a nice al dente and garnished with carrots and lotus. These were simple and well-prepared.

The hot-and-sour bean curd (above) was rather unusual. Tofu cubes were flash fried to give a crispy skin and a soft interior, almost like the texture of roasted marshmallows. These were quite tasty.

Overall the food was well prepared, with several of the dishes being unique. All the dishes were artfully presented. Red Capital Club offers good food in a fun and attractive setting. It definitely makes for an enjoyable evening.

Post Ranch Inn's Sierra Mar: Breathtaking Views, Pleasing Food

Sierra Mar
Post Ranch Inn
Highway 1
Big Sur, CA 93920
831-667-2800
www.postranchinn.com

The views at Sierra Mar restaurant at Post Ranch Inn (below) are so spectacular it's easy to overlook the food, but it's just about as delightful.

The restaurant at the widely acclaimed inn, known for its organic architecture and far-reaching ocean vistas, offers a four-course fixed-price dinner menu for $105 a person. There are about four options for each course, including one or two vegetarian choices. Those with smaller appetites can order a la carte.

Dinner began with a trio of artichoke hearts (above), each uniquely prepared. One was pureed and mousse like; another thinly sliced like pasta ribbons and complemented with morel mushrooms; and the third was in a truffle vinaigrette with garlic crumbs. All three preparations were done very well. Each one flaunted the variation in flavor that creative preparation can showcase, and each was sized to leave you wanting just a bit more, but by the third it was a good sized appetizer.

The soy-braised Shiitake mushroom salad (above) was an interesting melange of ingredients, including mango, water chestnuts and cashews. The individual parts didn't seem to coalesce into a complementary blending of flavors, yet this worked surprisingly well as each ingredient stood on its own and was overall quite tasty.

The mushroom stroganoff (above) featured freshly made noodles with a generous amount of morel mushrooms and fresh-shelled peas, making for rich texture and flavors. The mushrooms soaked up the sauce to give a nice flavor with each bite.

Service was friendly, but relaxed and on the slow side. Courses didn't quite flow as they should have.

The wine list is large with an ample selection in a wide variety of prices.

Overall, Sierra Mar is a delight for dinner. To enjoy the view, be sure to make a reservation prior to sunset.