DonRocks

Had it last night. It's actually not "topped" with pickled onions, so much as it is "bottomed" with pickled onions. I talked about this soup with John, and he said he's purposely toning down the flavor of the roasted squash to elevate the zing of the pumpkin-pie-spice oil, the pickled onions providing the supporting acidity. Cheers, Rocks.

Trend Spotting When angry restaurant owners lash out against one of their best friends (Todd Kliman), this is symptomatic of a larger problem. And there's a reason for this: for too long, here on eGullet, and also on Tom's chats, people have unfairly complained about a napkin being folded wrong in an otherwise great meal, and have damaged the morale of professionals whose only intent was to please them. Here's the buzz that I'm getting from restaurant owners all over town: 'want to be taken seriously? Sign your real name to your negative comments, or shut up.' Why? Because it seems that one negative comment in a posting - no matter how relatively insignificant - has more effect on the psyche of a restaurant professional than twenty pages of positive postings from fifty people. I'm not sure why this is, but I am sure that people who anonymously "go negative" should be aware of this, and use the power of the internet wisely. Regards, Don Rockwell.

Beau Derek is now one of the insects - he started at Firefly this week. Congratulations to everyone! Rocks.

Okay, I don't want to post every newsletter that comes along, but it appears that Colorado Kitchen is finally serving beer and wine, and that you can BYOB for a $15 corkage fee. Congratulations Gillian and Robin!

Correct. Forgetting political nomenclature and turning toward the geographical, the cattle matter, but terroir matters as well. Of course it matters that it's sheep's milk cheese, as opposed to cow, goat or yak, and it matters which breed of sheep it is - but it also matters which grasses the sheep chew, and when. Riesling is a varietal grown in many regions, but the wine produced from the great Niederhauser Hermannshohle vineyard cannot be replicated anywhere else in the world, nor can it even be produced in the vineyard right next to it. I have no doubt that the burgers at Sunnyside's Burger Barn are great; I also have no doubt that they're quite different - not necessarily better, or worse, but different - than if they were produced from real Kobe beef. Cheers, Rocks.

Oyamel plantains and Komi crackers. Imagine the two in a boxing ring, a plantain in red trunks, cracker in blue, duking it out for chips-n-dip-in-hip-digs supremacy. The plantains and salsa - one floats like a butterfly, the other stings like a bee, Ali gee. These things Rock, Maninoff.

Ionmhuin sgríbhionn sgaoiltear sunn, mór mbeadhgadh do bhean asam; saor, a Dhé, ar aithleónadh inn! aithbheódhadh é dhom inntinn. -- Eoghan Ruadh Mhac an Bhaird (Dear little one, a piece of loose-tongued writing here surprised great starts out of me -- "We're free, God, from another hurt for us!" putting new life into him (my spirit). ) The OOO, pronounced: "Oh.... OH!!!! .... OHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!" is Chef Armstrong's homage to Thomas Keller's Oysters and Pearls.

What To Do At The Condom Dispenser receive (paycheck); note (disposable_income); ...select (dining_options); ......when (palena_chicken); .........order (chicken); .........eat (chicken); .........note bill of ($9.00); .........call (religious_experience); ......when (eve_pork_rillettes); .........order (rillettes); .........eat (rillettes); .........note bill of ($9.50); .........call (religious_experience); ......otherwise error; ...end_select; religious_experience: proc; hand (ten_to_server); note (change_from_ten); call (WC); do number_of_quarters = 2 to (change_from_ten/25) by 2; ...call (purchase_condom); end; WC: proc; fall (to_floor); lick (grout_between_tile); return; end WC; purchase_condom: proc; first_time variable static binary init (true); if first_time = true do; ...accept (masturbatorial_conundrum); ...first_time = false; end; purchase (condom); end purchase_condom; end religious_experience; end;

Cesare, At one time you were Executive Chef at Galileo, and before that you were Sous Chef working there with Todd Gray. How have your relationships with Roberto Donna and Todd Gray influenced you, both in terms of cooking style and in opening and running your own restaurant? When you opened Tosca, Galileo was already an institution, and Equinox had taken shape and developed its own character. It must have been "comforting" in a way to have had both of those restaurants to draw on, but what did you want to do differently when you went out on your own?

I hesitate to keep posting letters from friends of mine, but here's one from an expert who wishes to remain unnamed, which he submitted to a private wine mailing list I run, regarding his perception of the ageability of the 1996 White Burgundies. I reprint it here with his permission. Rocks. -------------- Without going overboard on this, I'll tack on my recent experiences with the 96 White Burgs. I started noticing some excess oxidation about 2 years ago, and was quite worried, but it was localized and not consistant. In the last month, I have had about 15 bottles of white burg and and grand total of ZERO of them have been better than tolerable. All had a lot of acidity (which I like), but the fruit was in various degrees of oxidation and dullness (if any existed at all). The bad wines included: Jadot Demoiselles, Drouhin Montrachet, Ramonet Ruchottes, Niellon Vergers, Dauvissat Clos, Preuses and Forest. My favorite producers and wines, and yet, splat. I will pose 2 questions to those who know more (and will ask my friends when I'm in Burgundy next month) about the chemistry than I do. First of all, why would ALL white Burgundy producers have used less sulfur in 96 than usual? OK, the vintage was "clean," but did everyone respond with less sulfur? Hard to imagine. Secondly, why does lack of sulfur lead to this kind of oxidation? Is it usually the sulfur that binds with the oxygen dissolved in the wine first, slowing oxidation? I wouldn't imagine that it makes that kind of difference. And finally, if sulfur is so necessary to prevent oxidation, what is the future of wines like the Fourrier wines which have zero (or close to it) added sulfur? Are they going to meet this end soon, or is this just a phenomenon of white wines? Thank you in advance.

Cesare, This ( ) spoke a thousand words. It spoke a thousand words about you and the pride you take in what you do. Your response was elegant and accomodating, and from everything I've heard about you, that doesn't come as any surprise, because people in your industry think very highly of you, both as a chef and as a person.

Now that Dean has some experience under his belt, you could call it "Varmint Knows Pickin'."

I think a lot of people here could name five female chefs in Washington, but only a few could name ten. The basal group (basil group?) has tended to avoid flashy food games, at least up until now. Why? Possible answers: 1) Male chefs drive motorcycles and skydive and compare penis sizes. 2) There is a residual collective lack-of-confidence among the female chefs which has yet to achieve resolution. 3) The female chefs are more confident in themselves, and don't feel the need to show off. 4) The sample size we're talking about is too small to be meaningful. Gender aside, I happen to be starving as I type this, and what I want more than anything in the world right now is a Todd Gray veal chop with real macaroni and cheese (doesn't that sound good?)

Sounds like eGullet.

fero style's wonderful hurma.

In 1999, there was a dessert contest in Istanbul, and my friend's mother entered and won first prize. Yesterday evening, he gave me two hurma to try from his mother's recipe, which I'm now having with my morning coffee. What wonderful cookies these are - hurma means "dates" in Turkish (the kind you eat, not the kind you take to the movies), and these cookies are named because they're shaped like dates. However, there isn't a date to be found - almonds are what make the backbone of these, sweetened by simple syrup and brought to life by yogurt and lemon juice. And butter! There isn't much information I could find about them (my friend is from the northeastern part of Turkey, near the Black Sea, and this particular recipe is said to be quite regional), but here is one recipe for them. Does anyone else know more detail about these wonderful cookies? Cheers, Rocks.

Primer for the platitudinal.

I don't know why you would ask this, Per Se.

Oh, was he at the opening?

Bob Kinkead and Todd English are two safe bets, though the odds of finding Todd English in town are smaller than the odds of the Red Sox winning game seven. Still waiting for Peter Angelos to disappear, disintegrate or melt, Rocks.

Reminder: Tom will be hosting a special online chat Monday, October 18th at 1 PM to discuss the Fall Dining Guide. Go to this link and get your questions in early. Cheers, Rocks.

Tosca's website is here, and the eGullet thread on Tosca is here.

Congratulations, creaton, and how appropriate that you'd go to Tosca given that Cesare will be a guest in our forum this week. In case people here don't speak so much Italian, let me at least help with the translation of your favorite dish. Raviolini ripieni di polpa di pomodoro biologico alla salsa cremosa al pesto di basilico, translates to Little raviolis di polpa di pomodoro biologico alla salsa cremosa al pesto di basilico. What's the difference between creaton's lovely bride-to-be and DonRocks? One got hit on at the Jefferson Memorial; the other got shit on at the Jefferson Memorial - the last time I was there in a group outing was the only time a pigeon ever took revenge on me for eating his relatives, with a direct assault bullseye full-force hit on my black leather jacket. Committing fashion atrocities everywhere I go, Rocks.

I had contacted Todd Thrasher yesterday about an unrelated issue, and these were the last four PMs of our exchange (reprinted with his permission):

Kill two birds with one stone by going to Pho Tay Ho in Bailey's Crossroads (Tay means $25 in Vietnamese).