alanamoana

i agree with marcus on the possibilities for inconsistency at most restaurants in nyc. there definitely is favoritism on all counts, which stinks if you are a special occasion diner and happen to end up eating at a restaurant when "vip"s are present. but... cafe gray is meant to be a more casual dining experience than adny or per se. this is not to say that it won't be formal at all, just think about the chef and the physical restaurant itself, but that the kind of food he is attempting to execute may be a tad bit easier on the kitchen than what he was producing at lespinasse. also, trust me when i say that every line-cook, prep-cook, dishwasher, etc. is being hand picked and culled through as we speak. people have been waiting months for the restaurant to open with little or no income. they have as much invested in the success of this place as kunz. another thing, i don't believe they'll open for the projected seven days a week, three meals a day thing right away. it is usually the case that a restaurant opens six days a week for dinner only and gradually introduces the other options. it is a way of breaking in the staff as the initial turnover and needs of the kitchen become apparent.

To "push the envelope." Because that's what he does best. i am probably the least qualified person to be saying this, but which envelope would he be pushing? I think the envelope he is trying to push is more on the business side - the idea of pulling off a superior product in two different (in many ways) places. bilrus, i agree with you on this. it is sufficiently difficult for a chef to open more than one restaurant within reasonable geographical confines...but to attempt this cross country is an even greater challenge. it certainly puts a huge burden on the chef de cuisine to maintain the level of quality people have come to expect from arguably the best restaurant in the united states.

on another note, you can use the basic formula for lemon curd and make all kinds of interesting creams with fruit purees, alcohols...my previous boss made a red wine tart (basically a red wine curd with a little gelatin added) which william grimes (retired ny times food critic) really liked. so let your imagination run wild.

guess this depends on where you are located and from whom you can buy products. i overheard a conversation today at a pastry demo that g.a.f. seelig has a very good quality 100% sicilian pistachio paste that runs about $75/kilo. albert uster also has a pretty decent pistachio paste for about $50/kilo. most other brands aren't 100% pistachio and sometimes have almonds/artificial flavoring, etc. included. p.s. i'm writing from new york city

i guess if she had given spice market a negative review or at least a more staid review we wouldn't be questioning it as much as we are. also, if this were myself, i probably would have approached my editors and attempted to bow out of the review based on my relationship with jgv. i'd like to think that if i were in that position, my journalistic ethics would be triggered first. speaking of which, did any of us write a letter to the editor? i'm notoriously bad at saying "i should write a letter..." and then never following up on it.

To "push the envelope." Because that's what he does best. i am probably the least qualified person to be saying this, but which envelope would he be pushing? this is not to discount the food that thomas keller serves either at the french laundry or per se, but he's just doing high quality ingredients at a very high level of precision. he's not exactly pushing any envelopes. also, from all accounts of the menu at per se before the fire, the food is very similar to the french laundry. granted, all that may change once per se is re-opened and settled in to new york and jonathan benno can take the helm completely, right now it seems like you'll be eating pretty much the same food you can get in yountville. to me, the envelope pushing is at places like el bulli, etc. something fat guy said earlier (maybe someone else, can't remember) made sense too: what about all the employees who are unable to work right now? why aren't they making a call or two to the people who had reservations? you don't really need a press release to the general public (who aren't dining at per se), but information to paying customers is money in the bank. i do know that the jackhammers are still at work in the kitchen but that isn't stopping some of the kitchen staff from doing some work there.

i tend to agree with lesleyc on this one. i bought the original one before i went to culinary school (he used to teach at california culinary academy in san francisco)...don't think i've ever used it. haven't even bothered to look at the new one, much less waste money on it.

i think they're referring to bo as in "professional pastry chef" book guy.

agreed...i always check the number of stars first and then read the review to see how it matches up. seems rather exaggerated, imo. this is also another case of no information regarding who is running the kitchen on a day-to-day basis...chef de cuisine, pastry chef, etc. with all the raving you'd think she'd give credit. it isn't as if chef gray, chef jean-georges are there 24/7.

also a good addition to the citrus cure is a little citrus flavored vodka...absolute limon or mandarin might be good! i think we were cheap and just used skyy citron or something like that.

although they do have bigger and more powerful stick blenders out there...none of them are as good as a regular blender for ice/smoothies and the like. but that doesn't mean a stick blender (burr mixer) doesn't have its advantages! i love mine and we use the same model at work in the restaurant (most restaurants that i have worked in use them). it is the cheapest model braun and costs around $25US. from what i can tell, they got rid of the $19 model altogether. the next one up comes with a little chopper attachment also which looks great for nuts, etc. my advice for the "too little sauce in the pan" dilemma is: save your plastic quart containers from things like yogurt or take-out...they are tall and narrow and you won't feel bad if you ruin one with hot tomato sauce or something like that because it didn't cost you anything. saves you the mess...and if you're like me and save everything, you can just throw the container away when you're done to make room in your cabinets!

wow, just tell that to the people at the "cheesecake factory" restaurants...that's the only accompaniment they use with their cheesecake (not to say that they are experts on cheesecake or anything...but they do make money off of them).

just a note, the claudia fleming panna cotta is great, but it isn't one which can stand alone (meaning unmolded)...it is not set with much gelatin so it should be served in a container.

i just looked up this place and it was the first one that caught my eye: baking supplies i'm sure there are more sources online. they didn't have the liners, but most of them are just some sort of canvas, which i'm sure you could fashion yourself. when i've seen bakers use these bread forms with or without liners, they do tend to flour quite a bit.

my pastry chef just made these great "croustades"...dried apples, prunes, apricots (and something else, can't remember), all chopped in a buffalo chopper...tons of armagnac and a special tea (can't remember the name right now) all of this is soaked for a while then, in strudel dough layered with butter and cinnamon sugar the fruit mixture is stuffed like a little beggars purse, sprinkled with more butter and cinnamon sugar and powdered sugar to carmelize in a hot oven until crispy. they are quite divine and you could use them as a breakfast pastry or as part of a dessert.

yeah, they also had a small flood there about a day or so before the opening of the "mall"

if you don't get a chance to find the orange flower water before tomorrow, i think a good sub would be: orange zest vanilla bean simple syrup simmer and allow to infuse maybe dilute the solution with a little bit of sweet wine or water to taste

partnership between jean georges and gray kunz

i did this for a party once and cut the spam into thirds. they were tiny spam musubis and sooo cute! definitely looked like nigiri...

skchai, this isn't much of a revelation to you i'm sure, but this is how i make musubi not just "the blandness of the large block of rice underneath"... i make a really nicely seasoned sushi rice (vinegar, dashi, all that), make sure that my spam is cooked to a nice crisp turn, use wasabe flavored furikake on top of the rice (sandwiched between rice and spam is fine) and then seaweed. man, i love it! i looked on the zippy's site, it costs $14 to mail one can of freakin' spam! was i disappointed! do they still have the commemorative hawaii spam on the shelves? i may ask you hawaii eGulleteers to send me some...cheaper, i am after all, pake!

i didn't read the link yet, but i used to go to "eggs and things" in waikiki. i worked at the ilikai hotel on the graveyard shift, so when i'd get off work at 6 or 7 am i'd go there for breakfast. i'm not normally a breakfast person...but this was more like dinner for me since i had just worked for 8 hours! they had a great spinach and bacon omelette!!! sometimes, i'd drive over to rainbows and wait til they opened and just get a plate.

i appreciate the points you have made. again though, the chef's name is always mentioned...regardless the impression made. it is somehow required of the reviewer. i guess the pastry chef's name isn't always on the menu (and some of the other stuff, like signing menus, etc.) due to the size of the savory chef's ego and/or the pastry chef's misunderstanding of how things work in order to further their career. that said, i don't think mentioning the pastry chef's name is just "furthering the cause of pastry chefs". i believe it is just as important in a review to find out or even point out that desserts aren't made in house. i guess for me it is just in the interest of full disclosure. and on with the discussion of per se... p.s. unfortunately, i didn't win the $222mil mega millions, so i won't be eating at per se any time in the near future

i also have a reasonable one, i'll post it when i get a chance.

from what i understand, sebastien is here to stay. his wife just had a baby and her family is here in new york. i believe he used to live here as well, but i don't know about his work experience besides the french laundry. it isn't a disparagement fg, i think i (and i don't think i'm the only one) would just like pastry chefs to have a little more attention given them when the discussion is supposedly primarily about the food. good or bad, it is helpful to know what people think of you...what you did well and what you can improve upon. if one does partake of desserts, it is usually the last impression of a restaurant (that, and the coat check ).

a little off topic but, again, a food writer making no note of the fact that they actually have a pastry chef. well, guess what? they do! his name is sebastien rouxel. i may as well start my rampage on eGullet as anywhere else . let's give credit or constructive criticism where due please. edited to clarify rambling stream of consciousness writing...