Jerry_A

Very beautiful demo, thank you! The last time I attempted this I overwhipped my eggwhites until they were dry but still tried to finish the buttercream...not good! Next time I will follow this to the letter, your buttercream looks fantastic!

I just signed up, thanks for the tip. I found it weird how they asked for my postal code and then asked what Province I lived in

Hello everyone! I will be in Japan in early August on a solo trip and I was thinking about trying to find a kasieki meal for lunch. From what I have read a dinner would not be worth it for me, but I would love to get a scaled-down lunch kaiseki experience if possible. So, can anyone recommend a good place in Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto where I could go for this? I may have a dining companion for a couple days so dinner may not be completely out of the question, but lunch would be preferable. Thanks in advance for the help!

I love online menus, though I realize now that I must never get my heart set on anything as the menu has often changed by the time I get to the restaurant. They are very useful for getting an idea of style and price that's for sure.

I know I never post here (been out of the loop for a while) and this is sort of off-topic, but I will be dining at Rare on Friday night and I have to say this is the first time in a very, very long time that I have been so excited to dine at a restaurant in Vancouver. Thanks in advance Chef Fowke, I am sure everything will be as fantastic as it looks/sounds.

Clarification -- Yountville water is delicious as it is from a local well. In general, Napa Valley water sucks big giant rocks. Don't assume that every restaurant in the valley has the same quality water as what you experienced as there are wells all over the valley from which the wineries have to pull for irrigation. Some are exceptional and some are quite hideous. My time living in Napa involved commercial filters and Britta water systems because my local water was undrinkable. ← Well, clarify all you want, but all I know is at TFL the fancy Italian bottled water tasted like my Grandmother's basement and the Napa Valley water (which is what they called it, could have been from Calistoga or Yountville or who knows where) was exceptional. Not trying to start a water fight (unless it's a water balloon fight, those are fun) but just wanted to say that the TFL Napa Valley water we had, as well as all of the other Napa water we have had on our visits, did not "suck giant rocks" as you so eloquently put it. Maybe they only give the good stuff to the tourists.

Seeing a chef from a restaurant with which you are intimately familiar with certainly provides a different perspective on the show. Rather than watching and wondering what accompaniments went with what dish, or what sauce went with what, we pretty well knew what dishes Feenie was doing as soon as he started them, as many variations of them are available at Lumiere. This got me to wondering how often the Chefs on this show are just making the same recipes they use at their restaurants, and just throwing the "secret" ingredient in to comply with the rules. Not that there is anything wrong with this, it obviously makes sense to stick with what you know works if you are going to be cooking in a foreign, high-pressure environment like Kitchen Stadium, but I've always sort of fantasized in my head that most of the Chefs on this show, whether challengers or Iron Chefs, were trying to do something completely original with the ingredient, and make things they would never make at their own restaurants. I guess with the amount of free advertising they are getting on this show (although less here than on the original series that constantly reminded you of the challengers restaurant and pedigree) there is something to be said for playing it safe and making dishes that would entice the average viewer into wanting to dine at your restaurant. All of this being said I still think I would have voted for Feenie's dishes, even though the originality seemed to be severely lacking. So how do we get more Canadian Chefs on this show? With hockey being cancelled this show will be getting some of the attention I would have otherwise devoted to the NHL, and I need some good Canadian boys and girls to cheer for. Otherwise I guess I'll just have to cheer for whoever is battling Flay. Len.

I think that is exactly the case. I know that Gotham will not book until 05, but C and Lumiere are already largely booked. The person at Lumiere made it sound as if they had been taking reservations for quite a while. Not exactly a level playing field, as those in the know probably already have the all the reso's they want, while we are left scrounging for the leftovers.

You all better hurry. I called Lumiere yesterday and they only had a single spot left, which is probably gone by now. Also, I believe C is getting close to being full. I think all the big names will be snapped up damn quick as usual.

A couple of quick-hit thoughts on this past Friday: 1. It was great to meet a lot of new faces and to get reacquainted with some of the old. Special thanks to Arne, Chef Neil, and Chef Fowke. 2. The food was fantastic overall with the tuna, the rillettes, and the pastrami in particular making my stomach do a happy dance. Next time I have a 3 week window of time available I may give the pastrami a shot, or maybe Chef Fowke will just open a place where I can buy some (please!!). 3. Special mention to the gingerbread pudding as I had forgotten how delicious it was. 4. Anthony Bourdain, what else is there to say except this: he is much cooler than Erik Estrada, having met Mr. Estrada several years ago I can firmly attest to this. 5. ummm, no comment. Cheers.

Man, I almost feel like I should have my lawyer present tonight, just in case.

Ok, I'll return the tux, but I'm still wearin' the spatz, top hat and monacle, I figure I'll still fit in, what with Coop wearing the black dress and pearls.

-I used to think that I actually knew something about food, now I realize that I knew very little. -I have become much less productive at work.

When I think of Nutella I think of the fresh, warm crepes on the streets of Paris filled with Nutella and sliced bananas…fantastic! Also, I have a friend who sticks a whole (peeled) banana on a plate, microwaves it until it’s soft and heated through, then just globs Nutella all over it; saves having to make the crepes.

Richmond, that's where the airport is right? I thought I needed a passport to go there. I can honestly say I have never dined anywhere in Richmond, except at the airport Starbucks, and that's not really dining. For some reason when I think of going out to eat, Richmond is usually the farthest place from my mind (and house). As far as all of the other places on my list, there are many: C (at the top of the list), Bishop's, Tojo's, Pear Tree, all of the 'good' Italian restaurants in the city because I almost never go out for Italian (at least not expensive Italian), and probably a hundred others that I have forgotten.

The Eau de Vie I had was, I believe, called G. Miclo Poire. It was one of the medium priced ones at this particular establishment. Whether that is a good one or not I would like to know, because if not I would like to try a better one to see if I could taste the difference. Otherwise I guess I'll just stick with a nice Tawny as my after-dinner drink of choice.

Thanks for all the info. I found the website very interesting as well, and can imagine using Eau de Vie to cook with as long as you allowed enough of the alcohol to burn off. However, if I were to follow the suggestion of pouring even a little over fuit etc., I think it would just overpower the whatever it was I was eating, I mean this is pretty potent stuff. Maybe I just sampled a bad one, and the others are not quite as strong, although the server gave us a tasting of a raspberry Eau de Vie as well that she had sought out while in France and that was not really any easier on my already sore tastebuds. It did however have a wonderful aroma.

Ok, I had a glass of pear Eau de Vie after dinner the other night. This was my first time trying it, and it knocked me on my butt, not what I was expecting at all. I figured it would be a sweet liqueur-type drink, I did not expect the exceedingly strong alcohol flavour. Pardon my ignorance on this subject, but could someone please explain this drink to me, such as what to drink it with, how to differentiate between a good Eau de Vie and a bad Eau de Vie, etc. When I'm feeling brave again and this first glass has finally worn off, I may try it again. Also, I have to say I really enjoyed the look of the whole pear in the bottle thing, but is this just a gimmick, or do they actually have to do it this way? Thanks.

So do they have a little gas pump shaped soy sauce dispenser? That I'd like to see.

Well I for one have appreciated Arne's tireless treks to Go Fish, they saved me going down there before it was ready. As far as his 13 year-old is concerned I wonder if he/she is available for ghost (post?) writing, as he/she seems much wittier than I could ever hope to be.

As long as they keep making them like Guu, Hapa, Kintaro and Gyoza King....bring it on!

I only had two glasses of wine with my meal and it still cost double that.

Blue Water Cafe: Overpriced and underwhelming is how I'd describe this meal. When I am paying over $30 an entree there are certain things I expect, and this place did not do any of them. I expect a fish knife with my fish, my coat to be hung up not draped over my chair and dragging on the ground, and I expect not to have to pour my own wine. The only real highlight was the crab and honeydew soup that was a part of my appetizer, very nice flavours, crab, honeydew, cantaloupe, and mint. Parkside: We decided to partake of their newly priced and stylized menu, $10 for an app, $24 for an entree, $40 for a three course. Excellent meal as always, the standout being the duck pot au feu which had all of the wonderful richness that I have come to expect from Chef Durbach's cooking. As a bonus we learned the recipe for their Lillet cocktail which is no longer on the menu due to an apparent shortage of the stuff, lucky for us we have a bottle sitting in the fridge. Anyway, this was easily the second best meal I have had all year. Westwood Plateau Golf Course: We were here for a wedding just last week, the final of three we have had to attend in the past month or so (thank god it's over). This was a buffet and was barely above the low standard of all of the other weddings. Overcooked lamb, bland sauces, etc... What is it about wedding food at these places, are they trying not to offend anyones palate, well if so they failed, my palate was offended. Although the open bar made it go down a little better.

I always use a water bath at home, and let them cool slowly in the oven as suggested above, and have never had a problem. As a corrective measure, after the cracks have occurred, I would use a trick someone taught me in the restaurant I used to work at way back when. Once the cake has cooled and you see the unsightly cracks, put a covering of plastic wrap over the top and put some very hot water on top of it. Swish around and the cracks will magically disappear! Obviously be careful not to drip water down the sides of your cake. We did this every time we had an inexperienced baker who would invevitably have cracks in their cheesecakes, as we never used water baths at the restaurant. Although I'm sure all of the serious bakers here would string me up by my toes for suggesting this, this was one of our many dirty little restaurant secrets we used in times of crisis. Anyway, good luck in your future cheesecake endeavours!

Fish and pork worms??? Way to ruin my day.