UUBU6 Not Ready To Expand
As part of the celebration for my wife’s PhD graduation, our extended family had a very enjoyable dinner at UUBU6. We all enjoyed ourselves and the food was, for the most part, quite good. The service was excellent; I was particularly impressed by the manager’s wine pouring ability–he finished each pour with a precise snap of his wrist guaranteed to eliminate any potential of a drip.
On Monday, I read in the newspaper that the restaurant is facing some resistance to its expansion plans. Residents protest that there already isn’t enough parking, and that they must keep their windows closed to keep out fumes from the kitchen’s exhaust system. Those are both good reasons for neighbors to be wary about expansion plans. From a culinary viewpoint, I fear that they are not yet comfortable with the size they are now, and would be moving too quickly to add more seats.
Currently, the restaurant will seat 80. According to the newspaper article, they are forced to turn people away many nights for lack of seating. It is good that they have the buzz and are attracting people through their doors; however, they aren’t really fully flushed out as a unit. Their decor is very attractive. The tin ceiling in part of the restaurant is very attractive; the yellow and orange curtains down the wood-paneled walls are chic. However, the menus come to the table as a single 8.5 x 11 sheet of office paper; the wine list is a stapled, well worn packet. These bare-bones lists might be acceptable if they were updated on a near-daily basis; but the menu read “Spring 2007″ and, despite the minimal amount of work it would have taken to update the sheet to be accurate for that day (make a couple changes in the computer and run off several copies), the waiter made several audibles at the line of scrimmage: there’s no lamb today, so two dishes printed aren’t actually available; the Chilean sea bass also isn’t available, so we’re substituting grouper. Additionally, the dessert menu had an illegible and unexplained addition of “Macadamia raspberry blackberry” scrawled at the bottom. Any restaurant that’s contemplating making significant additions to their seating capacity should be able to handle something as simple as a menu for the seating they’ve already got.
I took advantage of the last dinner menu change to let the waiter know that “Chilean sea bass” is more accurately called the Patagonian toothfish and it’s an endangered species; most responsible restaurants choose to leave it off their menus as a matter of principle. The lowest mark they got on my tally was for having the fish on their menu in the first place.
The food was, for the most part, quite good. For first courses, we enjoyed the mix of russet and sweet potato french fries; the baby lettuce salad with roast asparagus and bourcin vinaigrette; peeky toe crab and asparagus risotto (which came with the crab mixed in with the risotto and some tiny baby asparagus on the side); the baby spinach salad with strawberries, blue cheese, and meyer lemon vinaigrette (which, in all honesty, I did not enjoy because I find meyer lemons to taste too much like gin, but Aurora really liked it); and (much later than the rest of the first courses), the quiche-esque vidalia onion, new potato, and bourcin tart. I’m not sure why the tart took so long to arrive at the table–it was obviously prepared in advance and only had to be reheated for service. There were only 17 people in the restaurant that evening, so the kitchen should have been able to keep up with the pace of things.
Our second courses were, for the most part, ably rendered. My father’s saffron orange American fish stew came with a block of polenta on the top that was refrigerator-cold in the center; my sweetbreads with morels and raspberry vinaigrette were lacking the vinaigrette (as best I could tell) and were made enjoyable only upon the request of a wedge of lemon from the kitchen to squeeze over top of them. The duck breast with poached rhubarb and Grand Marnier sauce with baby arugula (ungrammatically listed on the menu as ” with Rhubarb Poached, Grand Marnier Sauce, and Baby Arrugala”) was very good; my mother finished every scrap of seared grouper with macadamia nut crust (the substitution for the Patagonian toothfish). Every plate (with the exception of the fish stew) came with a serving of mashed purple potatoes that everyone at the table enjoyed.
We tried two desserts: bittersweet chocolate mousse with mint sauce and almond tart with cinnamon rhubarb and strawberries. Both were excellent; both were also the last available in the house (in fact, the waiter had originally told us the almond tart was not available, but scrounged one up that no doubt one of the cooks was trying to save for himself). Still, they had enough desserts to meet the evening’s demand (even if just barely).
I enjoyed the banter between the waiter and our table. He was a courteous and personable server who took care of things in a reasonable amount of time. I wish the sweetbreads were more seasoned, and feel that the menus should be presented in a more professional manner. There’s no reason for any restaurant to serve an endangered species; I’ve never heard of bald eagle on anyone’s menu, yet when it comes to seafood, somehow the equivalent is tolerated.
Rating: 2 1/2 oranges.
May 23rd, 2007 at 1:31 am
you mention the menus and that they should have been updated and copies made; i can’t help but find that wasteful, although clearly the system in place at UUBU6 is inefficient in other ways. aside from a walk-up counter-style menu posted on the wall or a chalkboard with the daily specials listed, have you come across any alternative ways to present an ever-changing menu without printing a new set daily? i mean, i guess they don’t have to print 80 menus for a dining room that seats 80, so maybe it’s not as bad as i think, although any amount less waste is good to me. not to mention, i remember you used to set people straight for using paper towels unecessarily- these days, i rarely use a full paper towel for anything, and i think of you whenever i rip one into thirds. not that i ever ripped you into thirds.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:26 am
I tend to avoid Chilean sea bass, as I understand that it has been overfished, but your likening of chilean sea bass to a bald eagle seems a bit excessive. Based on pretty rudimentary research (I typed “chilean sea bass” into Google), I found the following:
From the US Dept of Commerce:
http://www.state.gov/g/oes/rls/fs/2002/8989.htm
“Is Chilean sea bass an endangered species?
No. But large, unreported catches from illegal fishing of this valuable fish has made effective management difficult. In 2000, more than 16,000 tons of Chilean sea bass were legally harvested in the Antarctic management area. Estimates vary, but there may be up to twice that amount taken illegally. Some Chilean sea bass fisheries are managed in a responsible manner, but there are some areas where the species has been and continues to be overfished.”
This posting is from 2002, and from Department of Commerce, not Fisheries or wildlife, so it’s not exactly authoritative.
I also found this from Whole Foods:
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/seafood/chileanseabass.html
“Chilean sea bass have returned to our Seafood Departments after a seven year hiatus. In 1999, it became clear that this popular species (also called Patagonian toothfish) was being overfished at an alarming rate, threatening its extinction. In accordance with our strict sustainable seafood policy, Whole Foods Market stopped selling Chilean Sea Bass in August, 1999.”
So — this seems more recent (2006). And Whole Foods seems like a pretty credible source on sustainability and food. The release goes on to note that it is working with the Marine Stewardship Council to work only with fisheries that the MSC has certified as sustainable.
So, based on what I found, it is possible that the Chilean Sea Bass on the menu at UUBU6 was either poached or not from a “sustainable” fishery, but it also could have been caught under MSC approved conditions.
Do you have more recent or better information on the toothfish’s situation? I don’t want to eat it if it’s really going extinct, but I also don’t want waiters getting undue earfuls either.
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:30 am
There is a difference between using a disposable paper towel, and reusing a single piece of paper for a menu. For one, the single piece of paper is probably reused many times over in a week or so (whatever its lifespan may be). I do think that this single piece of paper probably should’ve been encased in a reusable folder of some type, to eliminate folds, bends, and spill stains. Also, if it is in a folder, it could be printed on again on the reverse side (assuming it is thick enough that the writing wouldn’t be seen through the paper) used a second time. Also, if it is recycled paper to begin with, that’s even better. Regardless of how environmentally friendly we want a restaurant to be, it is still a good idea to have a professional and accurate menu, so I see Jesse’s points and agree.
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Okay, so you caught me using hyperbole based on outdated information for the toothfish– I hadn’t looked it up since I worked at a restaurant that served the species, which was in 2004-2005. I’m glad to hear that the toothfish have made a comeback in the meantime, and hope that they continue to thrive.
May 23rd, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Regardless of whether Chilean Seabass is overfished, endangered, or otherwise designated, I highly recommend checking out the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s seafood guide. They’ve got a different pocket version for each region and it’s pretty handy to inform your ordering preferences. I will note that Chilean Seabass is on their “Avoid” list for the Northeast U.S., while swordfish (also on the UUBU6 menu is much less clear of a consumable, given how and where it is caught).
May 23rd, 2007 at 3:05 pm
Oh, and the link for the seafood guides:
http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_regional.aspx?region_id=2
May 24th, 2007 at 6:45 am
I love swordfish . . . I’m lucky if I get to eat it once a year, it is very hard to find in the grocery store and on any menus in Pittsburgh. I remember a time when you could pretty much find it everywhere.
I hear that most of the time, swordfish won’t even pass a food safety inspection and that is what makes it hard to find.
May 25th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
As you mentioned, I finished every scrap of my grouper and it was absolutely delicious. Personally I can’t imagine ordering the thymus glands or pancreas of some poor defenseless little calves. Therefore, I can’t feel very sorry for you if you weren’t completely satisfied.
I just looked up sweetbreads and found a definition at the following site:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_055a.html
As a nutrition teacher, I’m always interested in the portion sizes served in restaurants. The portions served seemed to be quite adequate but were not so large as to be intimidating. Everyone seemed to have enough to eat. I usually can’t finish my whole meal in a restaurant so when I can eat it all without being stuffed, the restaurant passes my personal portion test.
I really enjoyed the meal and would definitely go back there given the opportunity.
May 29th, 2007 at 9:51 am
Okay….I had the swordfish at the restaurant even though I got grief. Here’s my reasons for making the choice….
I was looking for a lighter entree feeling somewhat full from previous days consumption. The encrusted Grouper (that sounded excellent), the Duck both sounded like more than I wanted.– not a sweetbreads fan and the stew had unknown fish…and the fact that I’m truly trying to monitor my cholesterol. I absolutely loved the better for me grilled fish….which I could not finish even though it was an adequate portion.
I should/could have asked for something not on the menu, but I rarely do that unless I’m familiar with a restaurant and know they are amiable. But, I will be making choices for health reasons….regardless. I don’t have much choice if I want to enjoy eating out and enjoying family gatherings.
July 19th, 2007 at 12:42 am
I also listen about this restaurant UUBU6 that the food and service is very good and also there collections of wines are best. I want to go there but lot of work and it very far from my home I didn’t go there. Maybe this weekend I will go there.