Cooking at Casa Belvedere I went back to Staten Island the next night to an area known as St. George, located just off the Staten Island ferry. A restaurant, Ruddy & Dean North Shore Steak Company stakes its venue on the main road of Richmond Terrace, along the water. It's Happy Hour and the bar is busy.
As we are seating I view what appears to be a waiter. No, it's the Executive Chef and owner, Danny Mills. A wine list is presented on one long heavy grade paper. The menu is a copy and neither are in a book. That's the way Danny wants it.
A glass of Cadonini Pinot Grigio to start off the meal. My friend Deveka and I toast. "May you live 'til Wednesday". It's been a running joke as many would say, "May you live to a hundred". Out comes the basket of bread with a blend of butter and parmesan cheese.
Special for the evening are raw oysters: Kumamoto, Wellfleet and Blue Point. Mignonette sauce, cocktail sauce, and just in case you want to clear your nasal passages, Danny has fresh horseradish.
The Lobster Bisque sounded good and tasted great. Good Broth. Creamy but not overly and I like the fresh herbs atop.
Let's go with fish for an appetizer! Sesame Crusted Yellow Fin Tuna. I usually stay away from this as I either like my tuna totally raw or totally cooked. What I appreciated about this one was that the very rare inside did not have a fishy taste. It didn't have that "the tuna is cooked" flavor. Loved the accompanying pickled ginger, wasabi and soy dipping sauce.
Fish again on the entree. Twice Cooked Diver Scallops. Olive oil poached and then seared. Served with Haricot Vert (fancy string beans) and fingerling potatoes with a saffron aoili. UMMMMM...was that delicious!
This is a Steak House for Pete's sate (I wonder who Pete was). Long list and many dry aged. In fact you can see them just beyond the host stand. Danny said that the one called a Bone In Cowboy Cut was one of his favorites. So, we went with that. I got to pick two sides. I chose Creamed Spinach and Mashed Sweet Potatoes.
Steak came out perfectly cooked as I requested. Love the potatoes and the spinach was neither overly creamy or had that "cooked spinach after taste". Danny says that he uses baby spinach. Other flavors in it. Can you say, "doggie bag?"
I wanted to save room for dessert. No menu. Raspberry mousse with berries atop. Chocolate lava cake...you know, the kind that you cut into and the chocolate oozes out. Everything is made on the premises.
After dinner we walked up the hill and a few blocks away to the St. George Theatre. Talk about an old theatre! It's been renovated but you can see the great intricate artwork along the sides of the stage and some in the ceiling. I heard that the show "Smash" is filmed here and that is the stage used.
We were there to see Judy Collins. I personally didn't enjoy that Irish tenor opening act. Judy was great! Still has that sweet voice. Played her guitar, which seemed to need retuning quite often. She sang one song as she played the piano. Otherwise, I believe that it's her hubby who accompanies her at the piano.
So, at one point she dedicates a song to the hero firefighters from 911 and one guy in particular who headed a battalion in Staten Island. She stated his name along with his wife's. Hmm...that was one of the women at the cooking class yesterday. What a small world!
