Fat Guy

As guides go, Michelin is better than Zagat. Of course it is. The people assembling the Michelin guide have at least a modicum of experience, expertise and commitment to standards. The Zagat survey is a popularity contest with no qualifications for voting. If you try to rate culture by popularity, you get results like "Britney is better than Bach." If you have people with training doing it, you at least avoid that. The thing is, being a better list than Zagat doesn't make Michelin a good list. It's not a good list, and that's especially sad given the massive resources behind the project. It's no accomplishment to be a better list than Zagat -- any one of us could make a better list than Zagat in ten minutes.

Anolon Professional is great stuff -- it seems on par with the other premium anodized aluminum nonstick cookware lines and it has some advantages. I've had my eye on an incredible deal Amazon is offering on 12 pieces for $169.99 -- that's about 80% off retail. Here's the link: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006910G?ie=UTF8&tag=egulletsociety-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00006910G">Anolon Professional 12-Piece Nonstick Cookware Set</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=egulletsociety-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00006910G" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> There are three things I like about the Anolon nonstick: first, it comes with glass lids, which I think are excellent especially for braising because you can see how the liquid is bubbling without the need to remove the lid; second, I like the wide, relatively flat handles; third, I like the angled (as opposed to curved) sides of the skillet -- makes it easier to slide a turner in. Anolon professional is a high-quality line, and this price is incredible, especially since the set includes several well-chosen pieces. You've just got to understand that all currently available nonstick cookware is temporary. Depending on how heavily you use it and how hard you beat on it, it may go 2, 5 or 10 years before deteriorating -- but the coating will deteriorate if you use the cookware for any real cooking. Still, if you can get 5-10 years out of this set, that's a great deal. Anyway, things like the stockpot are useful long after their coating wears off -- they just become regular anodized aluminum cookware. It's the skillet that usually goes first.

Many thanks to gfron1 for this generous donation! For more information on how you can participate in the eG Shopping Block program please click here.

That's the list as Michelin released it. I assume they left ADNY off because it's just about to close and relocate, and that they'll rate it anew next year.

These are the results, according to this morning's release from Michelin: ONE STAR Annisa Aureole A Voce Babbo Café Boulud Café Gray Country Restaurant Craft Cru Danube Dévi Etats-Unis Fiamma Osteria Fleur de Sel Gotham Bar & Grill Gramercy Tavern Jewel Bako Kurumazushi La Goulue Lever House Modern (The) Oceana Perry Street Peter Luger Picholine Saul Spotted Pig Sushi of Gari Veritas Vong Wallsé wd~50 TWO STARS Bouley Daniel Del Posto Masa THREE STARS Jean Georges Le Bernardin Per Se

The Michelin 2007 results for New York have just been released. I'll start a new topic.

Bowen's Island is one of the great American food experiences. If I had to make a very short list of places I'd take an international group of gastronomes in order to demonstrate the uniqueness of American regional foods I'd place Bowen's Island at or near the top. I do hope they rebuild without sterilizing the experience. I think it can be done.

Pigs in blankets are one of the great foods, right up there with BLTs and pizza for their combination of fatty, sweet and salty. I wanted to have them at our wedding but it was a kosher-dairy lunchtime event, which improved the desserts immeasurably but the pigs in blankets were a casualty. While aesthetically the miniature, individual sausages are slightly preferable, there are some good reasons to go with cut up sections of larger units. For one thing, your selection is multiplied about a million-fold. A supermarket with two kinds of mini sausages has a huge selection, whereas most every American supermarket has dozens of full-size sausage choices. In particular, you rarely see a natural casing product in the mini size. For another thing, the rolling a longer sausage in dough and then cutting it up is much less labor intensive. Or, for a meal, you don't even have to cut it up: a whole frankfurter wrapped in biscuit dough (my first girlfriend, who grew up in Lancaster, PA, introduced me to that) is a fantastic supper. And I think if you do a nice bias cut and ditch (that is to say, snack on during production) the ends then you can make very attractive pigs in blankets from whole large sausages. Sauces: a variety of sauces is a nice touch. Some people like a sweet honey-mustard sauce, and some people think a cloying sauce ruins everything so they prefer spicy mustard. Other folks like ketchup-based sauces. Serve all three and everybody will be happy. Interesting that they're called pigs in blankets even though, at least where I'm from, they're usually made from all-beef frankfurters.

It used to work like that, and many people remain under the impression that it still does -- until they try to get a stage at a Michelin three-star or other highly regarded restaurant. Today, with the simultaneous explosions of cooking-school enrollment and well-to-do amateur interest in the culinary arts, stages are worth something. Students need to be at the top of the class and come highly recommended in order to have a chance of breaking in to the best places. Amateurs are often expected to pay -- for several years now, many of the top restaurants have been selling stages as part of high-end food-and-travel packages. There are still some back doors: it's still relatively easy for journalists to get access to most restaurant kitchens, good customers are sometimes allowed behind the kitchen doors if they express interest and a friend of the chef can usually negotiate something. Still, it's getting harder and harder to gain access to the top places.

I'm glad you started this topic, as I have also been applying myself to the task of drinking a glass a day. I haven't been very successful, but I've been working at it for a couple of months and have acquired some experience. First, I long ago (on a previous failed attempt) gave up on trying to resist the tyranny of the 750ml bottle. You simply have to buy your wine in that format in order to have the best choices. Yes, there are half-bottles and even quarter-bottles and there are boxes but your choices will be laughably limited if you go that route. Also, if the idea is to learn more about wine by exposing yourself to variety then the box is just not a good idea. Second, I've found that preservation is just not as big an issue as a lot of people say. Stick the cork back in the bottle and refrigerate. It's fine for several days. The wine does evolve slightly each day, but so what? Sometimes it even gets better on the second day. Depends on the wine. My glass a day is a quarter-bottle (just a fraction over 6 ounces). On the fourth day I sometimes perceive unequivocal deterioration (as opposed to changes that could be characterized as evolution), but it's never very much and it's sort of interesting to taste the wine through its post-opening life cycle. If you go out to dinner on some of the nights and the wine really starts getting long in the tooth, just freeze what's left in a zipper bag and use it in cooking when needed. Third, give yourself a monthly budget and then diversify within that budget. In other words, buy some cheap bottles and some not-so-cheap ones. Depending on your budget, and assuming in a month you go through six bottles, you might get four at the low end of the price range and two higher priced bottles. Fourth, take notes. In terms of looking for specific wines to buy, that's sort of a fool's errand. The distribution system for wine is so screwed up that you can rarely find a specific wine without great effort unless it's some mega-mass-produced junk you don't want to deal with anyway. Just go to a decent wine shop and get stuff that seems interesting, and if you can get help from a competent salesperson that's even better. See if you can get a 10% discount on a mixed case -- some places will do that.

A chef endorsing a restaurant is more like an athlete endorsing a piece of sporting equipment than it is like an athlete endorsing, say, a car. The difference is the presumed on-point expertise and experience. Now, if an athlete endorses a great piece of sporting equipment -- for example if a runner endorses the sneakers he actually uses in competition -- there's nothing wrong with that. If the runner has consulted on the design of the sneaker and improved it, that's an even more meaningful endorsement. The problem arises, however, when that runner endorses crap sneakers he'd never wear, recommend or care about if he hadn't been paid a hefty sum for the endorsement. Worse, if he signs off on a product he doesn't believe in, allowing the company to portray him as a consultant when in fact he just hung around with the actual designers for an hour, he's a fraud. It's the same in the case of a celebrity chef. If a chef thinks the Waring blender is a great product and does an ad for it, that's great. If a chef endorses awful food for money, that's a shame. I have no idea what the situation is with Tyler Florence. Maybe he has improved the Applebee's menu. If so, what would be wrong with that? It's not as though he has a history of being anti-Applebee's the way Rick Bayless was with all his local-seasonal-organic talk before Burger King came along. In this case, I'd want to taste the food in question and understand its context a bit more before forming an opinion.

It's probably worth distinguishing between "soft" garlic bread (as served in many old-school Italian-American restaurants) and "toasted" garlic bread (as generally, but not always, preferred by gourmets). Both have their place, I think, but it's helpful to think of them as separate foods. To focus on restaurant-style soft garlic bread, which is I think what a lot of Americans remember from their childhoods, there are a few things I think make a difference: - The bread itself should be low-quality "Italian" bread (semolina) with sesame seeds, as sold in long white paper sleeves in many supermarkets. - The bread should be sliced on the bias into many slices, not into two long halves. When slicing, don't go all the way through the bottom crust -- you want the loaf to hold together just a bit. - The topping should be a compound butter consisting of butter, salt, crushed garlic (as in with a garlic press), finely chopped parsley and a little olive oil. - Spread the butter on both sides of each of the bread slices. - Wrap tightly in foil and bake at 325 degrees F for at least 15 minutes.

There's a press release available in the Applebee's media area. The gist of it: I wonder if the food is any good, or an improvement over Applebee's prior offerings.

I enjoyed the excerpt as well as the whole book. One thing I think might be a little misleading about the in-your-face, politically incorrect title is that it leads one to believe this might be a humor book when, in reality, it's not only a serious cookbook but also contains a healthy dose of heartfelt, high-quality food writing. Kendra, how have you been faring with the title choice? On the one hand, it's a brand so maybe the book benefits from that. On the other hand, I imagine some of the less imaginative media might feel the title is too hot to handle.

When I was there, in the last section of the exhibition there was a section covering that subject, with several of Homaro Cantu's pieces displayed. There was also a panel discussion , as part of the exhibition lecture series, entitled "Presentation: The End of the Plate?" with Katsuya Fukushima, Homaro Cantu, Grant Achatz and Martin Kastner. I went to the panel discussion with the intent of writing it up but the level of the presentation was pretty basic -- it was more about familiarizing the audience with what's going on at these restaurants (a topic covered in detail in so many eG Forums topics) that about anything that would have represented new coverage here. Anyway . . . I'll try to check whether the Cantu pieces are still on display.

Definitely not, for a couple of reasons. First, any eGullet Society member should feel free to be in favor of or opposed to this ban, or to take any position in between. We don't have an official position on this. I happen to think the ban is a very bad idea, but that's just me. Second, we aren't a political lobbying organization nor do we engage in electioneering. As a 501c3 nonprofit public charity, we don't go there.

To be clear, the Harvard School for Public Health doesn't disagree with me. The Harvard School for Public Health disagrees with the expert sources cited in the New York Times article I've linked to above. To wit: In addition, the Harvard recommendation -- "replacement of partially hydrogenated fat in the U.S. diet with natural unhydrogenated vegetable oils" -- is not what this regulation achieves. The regulation in question would require replacement of partially hydrogenated fat, but not necessarily with "natural unhydrogenated vegetable oils." For deep frying, vegetable oils would work, but not for pastry and baking applications. Lard would be a perfectly acceptable substitute under the regulations, as would beef tallow, poultry fat or butter.

Also Denny's.

Many of the studies I've seen indicate that some trans fats are indeed themselves beneficial, specifically the trans fatty acid CLA (conjugated linoleic acid). In addition, I'm not sure it makes sense to speak of the trans-fats themselves not being beneficial. If they're essential elements of meat and dairy, then meat and dairy don't exist without them. Though I suppose you can pick apart any piece of matter and get it down to "carbon itself isn't beneficial." http://jds.fass.org/cgi/content/full/86/10/3229 The statement "trans fats are bad" is simply false. Some trans fats are likely beneficial, some are essential parts of beneficial foods and some may very well be harmful in quantity.

I'd suggest taking another look at Times Square. To say it's the same as a suburban strip mall is to ignore a lot. Public art displays, events, Good Morning America, Design Times Square, Broadway on Broadway, hotels, New Year's Eve, all those brightly lit signs, new theaters and plenty of good places to eat from Virgil's to Havana Central to Blue Fin, not to mention the new offices of the New York Times, Conde Nast, et al. -- I think it's misguided nostalgia to pine for the bad old Times Square. Even the generic elements of Times Square often have special elements: for example, many of the chain stores are the flagships of their chains. While I can't say I actually like Olive Garden and its ilk, I still think it's great that the national chains all seem to see New York as the big achievement, the place to be. Let them come. The evidence is pretty overwhelming that they're good for the city's tourism economy, without which we'd be done for.

The relevant quote is in my post: "eliminating trans fat could cause an inadequate intake of some nutrients and create health risks." I mention this not because the regulation, which only bans (severely limits) artificial trans fats, is going to eliminate trans fats from meat and dairy but, rather, because it's not even possible to have a reasonable discussion if we can't get people past the "trans fats are evil/toxic/carcinogenic" fallacy. It's much more complex than that. There are different types of trans fats, quantities are important and we also have to look at the substitutes.

Last week we dined in the formal dining room of the Modern, and had an exceptional meal. We were a table for seven with a time limit, so we weren't able to do a long tasting, and it was a business group so there was minimal sharing (though, by dessert time, the social barriers had fallen and I was able to try seven different desserts). The best savory item I tried, and one of the best dishes I've tried all year, was the poached egg over wild mushrooms and mushroom veloute. A tiny bowlful of pure lusciousness -- definitely the next step up in flavor and refinement from the excellent mushroom soup served in the Bar Room. I remain mystified as to why the top New York restaurants don't do more with eggs. Also excellent, I thought, was the hamachi braised in grapefruit juice, spice-crusted and served with all the fennel I'll need to eat until 2010. If you love fennel, this is the dish. Even if you don't love fennel, it's a great dish. Even though we were tight on time, we managed to squeeze in a cheese course. The cheese guy made up two platters for the table, with a total of about 12 cheeses on each. Keeping with the Modern's minimalist theme, the cheeses are served ungarnished. It's getting harder and harder to impress with cheese courses in New York, because all the good restaurants are using the same few suppliers, however the Modern maintains a gorgeous cart with a lot of winners on it. Besides the egg, the other highlight of the meal was the dessert course. I'm sure I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Marc Aumont is an incredibly talented pastry chef. Very few restaurants are operating at this level of technical proficiency. In addition to seven different plated desserts about which the only complaint was that we couldn't agree on which was the best, there's a generous selection of petits fours and mignardises -- in the past couple of years, in my meals out, only Ducasse has outperformed the Modern in this regard, and I think there are a few items the Modern does better than Ducasse, such as the macaroons.

Trans fats are not bad for you. The consumption of small amounts of trans fats is not only harmless but beneficial. Trans fats occur naturally in many foods, such as meat and dairy products, that are essential elements of good public nutrition. The FDA says "eliminating trans fat completely from the diet would require such extraordinary dietary changes (e.g., elimination of foods, such as dairy products and meats that contain trans fatty acids) that eliminating trans fat could cause an inadequate intake of some nutrients and create health risks." http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/qatrans2.html#s2q3 Potential health problems (specifically the lowering of "good" cholesterol) occur when people eat large quantities of trans fats and saturated fats. There is some, not much, certainly not enough to justify regulation, evidence that trans fats ounce-for-ounce have more impact on blood chemistry than saturated fats. Most people eat many times as many saturated fats as trans fats, though, and there is little if any evidence that substituting saturated fats for trans fats will have a positive public health impact (not to mention, a couple of decades ago we were told we'd all die unless we replaced butter and lard with margarine aka trans fats). As the New York Times reported (quoted above):

Here's a link to that story: http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...372/1005/NEWS01

Nothing significant, as far as I know. This is close to a zero-loss, zero-cost regulation. Which is totally beside the point. The problem with this regulation is that it's based on flawed and dangerous reasoning. It mischaracterizes trans fats as toxic/carcinogenic when in reality most foods (trans fats included) are safe to eat in moderation but have toxic/carcinogenic properties when consumed beyond a certain threshold. All the same justifications being offered for this misguided regulation can be used to justify the prohibition of most any ingredient out there. Restaurant food contains a lot of fat, sugar and salt, not to mention all sorts of flavorings and colorings especially in the mass-market places. That's just the way it is. Does anybody who has ever turned on a television set still not know this? If so, that's the problem to address, rather than the use of trans fats that will just be replaced by saturated fats.