Sunday, December 6, 2009

Extra Helpings: More From The Chowder House Cafe

After my last wonderful visit to Chef Louis Prpich's restaurant Chowder House Cafe in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, I made a mental note to myself that I needed to return soon for another experience. Sadly, given my crazy holiday schedule, "returning soon" turned into a several month hiatus. Finally, however, I had a free Friday night and I just so happened to be in that part of the world. Knowing that it might be tricky (if not impossible) to get a table without a reservation on a Friday night did enter my mind, but I decided to throw caution to the wind and go anyway.

I arrived at 7:30 PM to find that while the place was definitely hopping, there were still a small handful of tables available. The hostess showed me to my table and left me with the menu. It turns out that the regular menu is exactly the same as it was last time, which kind of surprised me a little bit. I had commented in my previous blog that the menu seemed a little simple; I had kind of thought that after being open for several months now that it would've been tweaked somewhat. Fortunately, as was the case last time, there were some additional daily specials. I don't want to get ahead of myself in this review, but I do think I should warn you, gentle reader, that both times I have eaten here, the daily entree specials were significantly more expensive than the regular menu items. It's not that I don't think the entrees were priced inappropriately. But I think the servers should make you aware of the prices when they are describing the specials given that they can be twice the price of the regular menu items.

While the potato-less clam chowder was still on the regular menu, I decided to go with the daily soup special, a rustic sausage soup:


First, the good. This soup had a marvelous flavor to it and was excellently seasoned. It very much reminded me of an Italian Wedding Soup without the pasta. The sausage, which had been sliced instead of crumbled, added a nice meaty texture to the beef broth based soup. I would take a hot cup of this soup on any cold winter day. Unfortunately, I didn't receive a hot cup of this soup today. In fact, it was barely lukewarm. To add insult to injury, the piece of bread served with the soup was beginning to go stale. I'm assuming that this bread had been sliced at the beginning of dinner service and was just now being placed on my plate.

For my dinner entree, I decided to go with one of today's specials, braised beef short ribs over mashed potatoes and asparagus. Here was a shot of my dinner when it arrived:


You'll have to forgive the "glitter" effect in the above photograph; the fat suspended in the sauce and the flash on my camera didn't play well together. Overall this was a solid dish. The short ribs were tender and very soft. The mashed potatoes were obviously handmade as they still had a bit of lumpiness to them (which I actually preferred). The roasted vegetables, carrots, onions, tomatoes, and whole garlic cloves were a wonderful addition to this hearty dish. The asparagus, while not in season right now, actually had a sweetness to them that made me think about late spring and early summer when this vegetable is at its peak. I had only two critiques, one major and the second minor. First, both the meat and the potatoes just needed a tiny bit more salt. I think it would've really made the flavors on that plate of food really pop. Second, and sadly, a bit more serious, was the discovery of an entire bay leaf hiding in the sauce:


In the darkened restaurant, I didn't actually see this before putting it into my mouth and only after starting to chew did I realize I had something inedible that needed to be fished out. Bay leaves are obviously a wonderful way to add aroma and flavor to soups and stews, but because they are a choking hazard need to be fished out before serving the food to your guests. While not as bad as finding, say, a used BandAid in my food, it still shouldn't have happened.

That being said, it didn't stop me from cleaning my plate:


After finishing my entree, I decided to take a fifteen minute break (the dining room was now mostly empty, so I wasn't worried about being accused of "camping") before proceeding with dessert. I did, however, decide to have a cup of decaf while I waited:


Fortunately this was one choice they had added since my last visit. Previously, only regular coffee was available. Speaking of beverages, I overheard another server talking about the restaurant's wine policy. When my server returned to check on me, I asked her about it. Currently the Chowder House Cafe does not have a beer and wine license. However, if you bring your own beer or wine, there is only a $5 corkage fee. For those that don't know, a corkage fee is a charge for opening the bottle of wine and providing you with wine or beer glasses. $5 seems entirely reasonable to me. Hopefully they'll be able to secure their own license soon so that they can begin offering their own selections.

Having sat for a few minutes and digested, I finally made the decision to move forward with dessert. Since I had tried the chocolate torte the last time I was here, I went with the only other dessert available, the caramel pecan cheesecake:


Both the chocolate torte and the cheesecake are made locally by a home-based baker named Bernie Tetzel. I have searched what seems to be the entirety of Google and found nothing reliable about her or her business. Apparently she supplies many local restaurants with desserts. Since I enjoyed her chocolate torte the last time I visited, I figured the cheesecake would be a home run, too. It was. Sort of.

The dessert featured your standard New York style lemon flavored cheesecake as the base. By itself, the cheesecake was quite tasty and the tempered sweetness from the custard went well with the bitterness of the coffee. The moistness of the custard was nicely in the middle of ultra-creamy and dry and crumbly. As a piece of cheesecake, I enjoyed it. However, the "caramel pecan" portion of the name only came from the fact that the finished cheesecake had been drizzled with a caramel sauce and then finished with pecan halves on top for garnish. There was no integration of these flavors in the actual crust or custard itself. As such, the predominant flavor I got when taking an entire bite was still lemon. It wasn't the dessert itself I objected to, but how it was described.

It wasn't until I received my check that I realized that the braised short ribs entree was actually $19. Was it worth $19? Yes. Should my server have mentioned this fact when she was describing the daily specials given that most of the other items on the regular menu ring in at between $7 and $10? Hell, yes. Granted, I can't be completely absolved of blame here as I could've asked. But like most people who eat out, if a price isn't given for a daily special, it is a reasonable assumption to make that it will be in line with what you can see on the restaurant's regular menu.

Needless to say, I was a bit disappointed with the food today at the Chowder House Cafe. Certainly nothing was inedible or had to be sent back to the kitchen and clearly the flavors were quite good, but several small and not-so-small problems made their way into my dining experience tonight that made it less stellar than my first experience. Since it is only Chef Prpich running the kitchen, I can only imagine that he was having an off night. I'm still recommending that you give the Chowder House Cafe a try, but make sure you heed some of the information I've given you today, especially if you are interested in the daily specials. I intend to return, and I think you should, too.

The Chowder House on Urbanspoon

4 comments:

mr.diner42 said...

The best chowder ever! After tasting chef prpichs chowder I made it a mission to find a better one.... I travel all over especiall the east coast.... None compare to his.... Once while at the Chowderhouse I heard a group of ladies chanting throwdown, throwdown.... Challenging Bobby flay to a chowder throwdown.... That would be great! My bet is on chef prpich.... I overheard him talking to another table about adding some items to his menu befor feb.... Looking forward to that.. I recently had his cassoulet and I tell ya it was world class! I have had cassoulet in the south of France and chef prpich should hold his head high on this one.... His cassoulet could god it's own in any southern France bistro! Without knowing it he is probably on his way to creating a must visit restaurant in a little town in Ohio...his passion and feel for food is obvious in everybite I take.... It's been a long time coming but I think our little area has the begiinings of a world class chef..... One word of advice to the chef.... Count your bay leaves.... One word of advice to the blogger.... If your ordering shortribs, scallops or other such entrees expect them to be substantially more than a 7 dollar sandwich!

mr.diner42 said...

I am an incredible fan of chef prpich.... Not only is he bringing a certain casualness to great food but he is doing it with an approach not seen to much anymore. His food is consistantly outstanding, his standard of product is as high as I have seen and now he is doing it for under 20 a plate. Wheny I am dining in any restaurant and hear the specials being presented I pretty much have an idea that if it's shortribs, salmon or lobster ravioli that they are going to be substantially higher in price than a 7 dollar sandwich. Chef prpichs clam chowder is the best I have ever had..... I have heard customers praising it at there tables even a group of ladies chanting throwdown, throwdown... This in regards to Bobby flats show "throwdown"..... After tasting his chowder I have been on a mission to find a better or equal chowder.... Nothing even close! I overheard chef talking to his sous chef saying he had made 300 gallons of chowder in the last week..... It seems like a small place but I can tell ya from the times I was in that it was crazy busy... Everyone eating chowder! Chef prpich is slowly and quite possibly accidentally a restaurant that will draw people from all over to get his chowder.... I heard he is redoing his menu by feb.... I hope he takes nothing off and only ads some more goodness that he creates in that tiny kitchen.... Given his couragous efforts in today's economy to open a restaurant my hat is off to him! Just count the bay leafs next time!

Tino said...

@mr.diner42: Please, sir, if you are going to leave such long run-on diatribes posted only 4 minutes apart, proofread before posting.

As for Bobby Flay and his throwdowns, he has already done both a Manhattan chowder and a Boston clam chowder throwdown, so I doubt the Food Network would have him do another one.

As for the assertion that I should expect a shortrib dish to be substantially more expensive than a $7 sandwich, if the average cost of menu items are $7-$10, then I (and many others I have talked to as well) will assume that daily specials will be in the same price range, unless otherwise noted. As you can read in my review, I didn't mind paying $19 for the shortribs. What I minded was that a daily special was 2-3 times more expensive than the average dish and the price wasn't announced during the recitation of the specials before I ordered. Now that I know this is the norm and not the exception, you can bet that I will ask from this point forward.

And finally, as for the revised menu, I also hope that he only adds and does not remove items as the menu needs to be rounded out a bit more now that Chef Prpich has been open for several months. While it was an acceptable menu for a restaurant open only one week with just the chef cooking in the kitchen, I was a bit disappointed this time around because it hadn't been expanded a bit.

Anonymous said...

wow someone told me about this blog the other day....its funny because though i do speak with the akron food writers and participate in some media events i am always amazed to read things about me that i didnt even know was written....its always a customer who tells me....its cool though....so a few comments about what i have read....tino, thanks for the blog...sorry about the bayleaf and yes i added to my menu....u can check it out at www.chowderhousecafe.com......i dont totally disagree with mrdiner....if you are ordering scallops u have to expect them to be more than 10 dollars.....and though i find it reasonable for the customer to ask what the prices are i do ask my servers not to dictate the price.....on that note the customer rarely asks the price.....theres an old saying in the business..."if you have to ask the price you cant afford it"....i think thats a little over the top but we are very descriptive about our specials so that the customer gets a good chance of figuring out the prices arent under 10 bucks for rack of lamb or jumbo scallops in a brandy cream....i am happy to say that business could hardly be better....we served 102 customers last nite and 135 tonite....i seat 35 so thats awesome....come back and check out our new menu....the crab gratin is wonderful and i added a pork riette dish that is different but good....all in all i added 12 items and took off only one.....mr.diner....i would not put myself in the same category as booby flay or any other iron chefs.... ilove what i do but mostly i love watching a customer eat everything on there plate and seeing them come back once a week....love cooking....thanks for the compliments and glad you have enjoyed my cooking!.....chef louis

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