Fat Guy

Even in "hard-hitting journalism" not every story has to be about every issue related to that topic. In a story about the environmental impact of shrimping, it would be negligent to leave out the issue of bycatch. Saveur wasn't doing that.

My backsplash gets banged around plenty. For example, if I have a bunch of stuff on the counter I often just gather it together and shove it to the back. That includes various metal and other objects with relatively sharp edges. Certainly the three or four inches of the backsplash closest to the counter surface take plenty of abuse in any relatively active kitchen. Also, I'll occasionally pound a piece of meat on my countertop to flatten and tenderize it, and that force has got to reverberate up into the backsplash. It just seems crazy to make a backsplash out of a single piece of glass. If I were to walk into a kitchen and see a glass backsplash I'd immediately think "pretty, but this isn't a serious kitchen."

Bourbon whiskey is aged in charred new oak barrels, where it picks up plenty of vanillin (aka 4-Hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, the primary flavor of vanilla) from the wood. Among all the wood-aged spirits, bourbon seems to have the most vanilla flavor. Many other wood-aged spirits (scotch, cognac, etc.) are aged in used wood barrels -- often used bourbon barrels, which are in good supply since they can only be used once for making bourbon -- precisely to limit the infusion of vanilla flavors. Rye is also aged in new charred oak barrels, but for some reason does not seem to have as much vanilla flavor. ← Interesting. Two things come to mind: First, is there any way there's enough vanillin in Bourbon (or dark rum, which also seems to have that vanilla oak flavor) for it to be relevant to vanilla extract? In other words, if you put actual vanilla beans in Bourbon, won't it overwhelm the small amount of vanillin in Bourbon by a factor of like a villion to one? Second, I wonder how important the non-vanillin flavors of vanilla are. Since you can make an exact chemical copy of vanillin in a lab, there's no reason to bother with all this vanilla bean stuff unless there are other important flavors that are harder to produce artificially. I'll have to try to get some good artificial vanillin for tasting later on.

It's very attractive and seems like a terrible idea. First of all, it's wicked expensive. Second, it's glass. Come on. Unless you're a totally low-impact cook, you're going to scratch and otherwise damage its appearance pretty quickly. I don't care what they say about hardness and coatings -- it's still glass, and it's not the kind of bulletproof glass they use on the windows of the President's limo either. Meanwhile, you have about a million choices of cheap tile that are far more durable than glass and look great.

Right, I'm not talking about Fodor's or Zagat. I'm talking about being able to pull up the relevant newspaper reviews, etc., about a given POI. It's something that will require a live internet connection -- no way to put that depth of info on a portable device. If you're already an XM audio subscriber, it only costs $3.99 a month to add the NavTraffic service. If you're starting from scratch, it's $9.99 a month for traffic-only, or $16.94 per month if you get audio and traffic together. But I'm telling you, the first time you avoid a massive traffic delay on your way to a dinner reservation you've been waiting a month for, you feel like your entire three-year subscription (if you pay in advance you get a substantial discount) was worth it just for that one instance.

I have a Garmin StreetPilot 2730, which has some interesting latest-generation features. For example, it has XM NavTraffic, which alerts you to road closings, construction, bottlenecks, etc., in real time in most major metro areas and offers you alternate routes. It also has XM Weather, so you can see if it's snowing at your destination, and there are all sorts of customization capabilities. In terms of what is in the database, I've found it to be incredibly detailed at least in the US. When we were in North Carolina recently, it had some pretty out-of-the-way seafood shacks in the database. It also has a lot of retail stores. It's not perfect, but it's pretty amazing. For example, on Oak Island, or rather just before you cross over to Oak Island, there's a little seafood market that sells excellent lump crabmeat. I figured no way it would be in the GPS so I got the address online, but when I went to look it up on the GPS it was indeed in the database. The GPS is mostly a convenience item if you use it that way, though. It saves you the trouble of creating maps and the like in advance. It just does what you could always do with a computer, but in a more efficient, portable manner. For me, the real revolution comes when I just drive somewhere and allow the GPS to tell me everything that's nearby. We stumbled on some really good fried chicken this way, and there's no way we could have found it without the GPS because if something isn't visible from the main road that you're on then how are you ever going to find it? Right now I don't know of a GPS unit that integrates the points-of-interest database with any sort of good editorial reviews, but I imagine once the mobile internet becomes more mainstream you'll be able to Google any POI directly from the GPS unit, which will have a built-in browser. I assume that will be standard capability in three or so years. Of course for all these advanced functions it's nice to have two people in the car, otherwise you tend to need to pull over to do any significant programming.

Interesting that there's a British recipe presented here. I've read in a couple of places (Wikipedia says so too) that the egg tart came to Hong Kong from the UK (and another version came from Portugal). I have a near-complete lack of familiarity with this item. They've come around at dim sum places and I've usually written them off. I've never actively purchased one at a bakery. I'll have to remedy that next time I'm in Chinatown.

Okay, so I have opened up the other pound of vanilla beans and divided them into eight smaller bags containing 20 beans each. There are 13 left over. That means there are 173 beans in this pound. Amazing. 173 vanilla beans for under $10. What is that, like 5 or 6 cents a bean? Anyway, if anybody is interested in getting in on the experiment, I'll be glad to mail you a bag of 20 beans. The following "rules" apply: - You have to post about your progress - You have to be in the US - The first eight participating members (staff count too) to PM me with their US postal mailing addresses will receive the beans, however Society Donors get to cut the line if they respond before I've mailed all the beans out - I'll say when they've all been claimed, so the mad rush can stop

I wouldn't characterize the croquettas or cheese plate at Degustation as haute. They're just really good. I think the mixture of high and low holds. It holds at Bar Room too, especially given that the tarte flambee is a signature. I do think Degustation is simply not as good as the others. Of the list Momo-Ssam, R4D, Upstairs, Bar Room and Degustation, Degustation is the least good. Which isn't to say it's bad. But, as Sneakeater says, lack of excellence alone isn't necessarily a disqualifying trait. I think for me the issue with several of the items we tried at Degustation is that they were lazy. There was nothing about them that indicated any sort of commitment to excellence. Compare Momo-Ssam's country hams to Degustation's plancha shrimp/prawns/cigalas. Neither is particularly haute, however the country hams at Momo-Ssam represent superior sourcing and care. All three kinds of crustacean at Degustation feel like utterly unremarkable lazy afterthoughts, not great, not good value. Then there's the matter of the crowd. The Degustation/Jewel Bako crowd just doesn't seem to fit with Momo-Ssam, Upstairs and R4D. This is the Bar Room's weakness. It also has a relatively stuffy, older crowd. It doesn't meet the crowd or vibe criteria all that well. But the food is staunchly new paradigm, I think. So, as I was saying, you've got a number of factors and some restaurants are stronger on some than others. I'm willing to accept Bar Room and Degustation as being on the dartboard, but neither is a bullseye.

(They also make one with just pepper, which can be nice for desserts.)

Oh, not the herb-garlic Boursin. They make one that's great for desserts. It's called "Boursin Fig, Raisin & Nut."

There was a good review in $25 and Under in the Times back in '05. Meehan described it as "a cheaper, Egyptian stepsister of Estiatorio Milos." http://events.nytimes.com/2005/06/08/dinin...53b853a&ei=5070

And there are certainly a few new paradigm dishes on the menu. You could put together a tightly focused tasting that could pass muster: croquettas, tortilla, the other egg dish, stuffed squid, cheese plate.

Retail, the big Spanish cigalas like they serve at Degustation go for $75 a kilo, and you get about 18 of them, so that works out to $4.17 a piece. Maybe they can be had a little cheaper from a restaurant supplier. But since most restaurants run in the range of 24-34% food cost, $10 seems like a reasonable price from an economic standpoint. They are totally not worth $10, though. The plancha items just aren't worth it.

How about Boursin?

I actually thought the big hurdle in making this argument was going to be the Asian issue that Momo-Ssam presents. It's interesting that Asian influences and cuisines are now so entrenched that nobody has really focused on the East/West divide.

I think the term "chef-driven" was offered uptopic. I think if you take an old-school place like La Grenouille, no matter how good that food is it's not going to be new-paradigm food in any setting. But I think if the food is in the range of what's offered by Jean Georges etc. -- the more modern, chef-driven four-star places -- but being served at communal tables in the EV then it's new paradigm regardless of how often the menu changes.

Yes, but the difference isn't a food difference. The idea is that you can get Jean Georges-quality food without a reservation, at 9pm, for $17.

Didn't they add the whole Italian menu at some point? Also, I had no trouble procuring a tasting menu of items at least some of which didn't seem to match the printed menu.

The hope is that if she has good knives she'll take care of them, however over time I've come to realize that old-dog-new-tricks trumps pride-of-ownership almost every time. I've brokered many knife purchases but have only once -- once! -- successfully converted someone to decent cutlery habits (sharpening, honing, proper storage, using the right knife for the right job, etc.). You've also got to realize that some people actually prefer dull, crummy knives. The greatest generation, in general, has awful cutlery habits. Cooks of my mother's generation are accustomed to feeling that sort of dull-blade resistance when they cut, and they like to be able to cut mushrooms against their palms or whatever. It's wacky, but it's really common.

The thing that's amazing to me is how fresh and delicious the peas and corn taste at Upstairs. I wonder if the restaurant bought mass quantities and did the freezing in-house. I think it might be outside the new paradigm to serve crappy ingredients that are crappy because they're out of season, but serving excellent ingredients despite the fact that they're out of season is what all the four-star restaurants do. I mean, you can go to Jean Georges and get young garlic soup 365 days a year, right?

I'm having trouble finding the link to the article you're referencing, and would love to read it.

For a bachelorette party, you might consider some naughty/suggestive things like chocolate body paint or candies in the shapes of, you know, things. Depends on the personality of the group, though.

Great to see Esca getting some play. The following is what I wrote when it first opened, when was that, around 2000 or so? Pre-Gullet. I've been several times since, though not very recently, and have found myself agreeing with myself each time. Anybody have a different view? Any of my old facts out of date?

Then again, the chains have tried time and again to offer salad, vegetarian and various other healthy options, and have promoted them in advertising. It doesn't seem to have done much. If the goal is to reduce obesity, I think it's probably most pragmatic just to skip over the calorie-information phase and move on to more coercive measures. Because the information won't help in any statistically meaningful way. Even those advocating these programs can't possibly think they'll accomplish anything.