mukki

That was me! My SO and I spent last week in NYC and happened to have a lunch reservation at Gordon Ramsey about the same time as Lorna and Henry. We covered quite a few places, too. Here's an overview. Lunch at Gordon Ramsey. The starters and desserts were the better parts of the meal for me. I thought the ham hock starter was quite enjoyable, as was the "lobster ravioli, poached in its own bouillon with celery root cream, shellfish vinaigrette and chervil veloute." The latter was so rich, though, that it made me feel a bit queasy. I found the anchovy sauce on the rabbit a bit overbearing and actually ended up avoiding it. SO had the roast lamb off of the a la carte menu which was merely good (once I find the menu, I'll add in the details of the dish). The apricot souffle was a winner... wonderful apricot flavor and a dish that was out of the ordinary. And I really enjoyed my lime and blackberry parfait. Bon bon trolley didn't wow me, though, and the chocolates had thick shells, heavy fillings and were generally uninteresting. The staff was particularly friendly here, especially once you got back into the kitchen. Gordon immediately handed us off to the chef de cuisine, Neil Ferguson, who chatted us up a bit, as did one of our servers (not sure what her exact position is). I usually find these situations a bit stiff (and I don't help things since I'm not the most talkative person), but was warmed up by the good cheer in the GR kitchen. Dinner at Otto. Escarole and sunchoke salad with pecorino (?) and lemon dressing was simple and delicious. I think I've been waiting a long time to try spaghetti alla carbonara like the one we had here. It was creamy from the cheese, but not eggy, with a perfect dose of pepper. Pizza was the worst of the lot: crust had a lot of flavor, but I didn't like the texture, and there was too much sauce. Olive oil gelato with blood oranges, candied kumquats, pomegranate, Capezzana olive oil and Maldon sea salt was one of the best things I ate on the trip, though. I couldn't believe how good this was! Lunch at Jean-Georges. Always a hit. The sea trout sashimi with trout eggs, dill and horseradish, like most of the better dishes here, had a great mix of textures and flavors. Caramelized foie gras with champagne gelee and candied pistachios and dried cherries was excellent. Although I haven't once been amazed by a dessert at JG, I find the chocolates and macarons to be very well done. I also noticed that Jean-Georges was in the kitchen during our visit. Dinner at Eleven Madison Park. I had an excellent cocktail here, which I don't remember the name of. I know it had tea in it. Very well balanced. Risotto of Acquerello carnaroli rice with parmigiano reggiano and Alba truffles was superb. Alba truffle dishes are usually quite good, but this one was a step above. Mains aren't worth mentioning, but dessert! Lived up to the hype. Sheep's milk cheesecake with roasted pineapple, pineapple sorbet, kaffir lime and kili pepper shortbread was light and tangy. The pineapple paired perfectly in my opinion. Araguani chocolate souffle with caramel popcorn and salted caramel ice cream was a perfect marriage of flavors, as well. It tasted even better than it sounded on paper. Dinner at Momofuku. Pork buns were as delicious as the first time I ate them. Soft, juicy, salty, a bit sweet with a slight crunch from the cucumber... Anson Mills yellow grits with shrimp, bacon, poached egg, and scallions was (I can't believe I'm going to say this) overburdened by the bacon. It really overpowered the dish, so I ended up leaving most of the bacon behind. The rest was quite good. Momofuku ramen didn't excite me as much as it did last time (perhaps the bacon dulled my palate). Lunch at City Bakery. I really enjoy City Bakery's salad bar, which always has a number of unique dishes that appeal to me. I also love the pretzel croissants, which are buttery and salty. Patisserie Claude: Delicious croissants. Flavorful, a bit salty, a bit sweet. Flaky on the outside, but a bit heavy on the inside (which I'm not used to, but turned out to be fine). Definitely the best croissant I've had outside of France. Kee's Chocolates: As usual, I really enjoy her chocolates, which always have nice, thin shells and taste extremely fresh. I actually had to wait 10 minutes while she finished making the Thompsons in my order. However, I did notice that the chocolate on my turtles may have developed some bloom. Mariebelle: great hot chocolate. I get the "American-style" made with milk and it's rich without being too heavy or thick. Bouchon Bakery: The TKO/oreos are rich, chocolately and very satisfying. A ham and cheese baguette sandwich for the plane turned out to be excellent. Apple cider tart had some rum in it and was well made. Caramel macaron didn't taste like caramel to me exactly, but had a deep flavor that was very enjoyable. Gingerbread with lemon icing was very good, as well.

Loved the article. Disappointed, though, to find that the recipe for Maury Rubin's stuffed gingerbread cookies wasn't included.

We ate at El Churrasco earlier this year. I found the meal to be just ok. We ordered the salmorejo and, after eating it, noticed that all the Spaniards in the room had ordered it with what looked like fried potatoes. Wish I had known that before I ordered, as I think it would have been tastier. Salmorejo from El Churrasco

Depends what you're growing. The chickens I was dealing with were completely free-range and wandered the equivalent of blocks away. Not only did various wild edible plants grow in the area (including wild lemongrass), but the following crops were growing, either in front of my house, in the side yard, or just outside the kitchen: Cashew trees, limau nipis (fragrant lime) trees, coconut palms, a papaya tree, an asam gelugor (called "tamarind" in Malaysia, but actually a type of fruit) tree, long beans, chilis, turmeric, ginger, sweet potatoes, and probably some other things I can't remember (regular potatoes?). None of those crops were at risk from the chickens. ← I wondered about how devastating chickens would be on a garden. I've been thinking about adding two to my small, suburban yard for eggs (the eglu looks interesting albeit ridiculously expensive), but wouldn't want them to wreak havoc on my plants.

I concur about the smaller pot size. I've been using a 2 3/4 qt. LC pot and it produces a nicely-shaped, tall loaf (top almost touches the underside of the lid). I'm letting mine rise 21 hours on the first go and I believe it's improved the flavor.

Thanks for posting about this! What a great event to attend. The emphasis on egg yolks and sugar reminds me of the yemas I bought at San Leandro convent in Sevilla. Here's a picture, which I was going to post in a Spain trip report, but never got around to.

I've always wanted to make agnolotti and thanks to this thread, I did for the first time last night. I'll eventually try the traditional stuffing, but l had some leftover smoked turkey so I added some kale, garlic, pecorino romano and eggs. Very rewarding!

I'm very interested in this line. You haven't by chance run your piece through the dishwasher, have you? I know that All-Clad says not to ("dishwasher use will deteriorate the exterior beauty of you pan"), and I assume that's just so the copper band won't discolor too much. Even though I usually hand wash my pans, I'd rather avoid lines that can't go in the dishwasher at all. I'm tired of my Sitram Profiserie pans. I just don't like the disc bottoms.

Yum, I love sufganiyot. I use the recipe from Martha Stewart Living's December 2003 issue (which is not the same recipe listed on the website). They're the only doughnuts I make now.

Not great. We stayed there last year. Even though I sent an email months before we arrived and received a "confirmation" of availability, when we arrived, we were told that they do not actually reserve rooms. (??) We were then quoted the "El Bulli rate" of 100 euros. The room was small, a bit run down, but clean. Bathroom was adequate, but we definitely felt like we were roughing it a bit and were glad to leave. I would never stay there again; however, I will say that it was VERY convenient since it's right next door to El Bulli.

Having heard so much about Vivace (and living in Cleveland where I can't just hop in the car and go try them) I decided the best I could do right now was order some beans and try them in the La Pavoni. I wanted them to be primo fresh so I asked for the $17 shipping (for 1 pound of coffee) for second day air. Well they roasted it on Wed but shipped it Thursday (and UPS will hold it over the weekend) so I'll get it Monday afternoon and get a nice pull off my week old stale coffee (shipped express) this coming Tuesday... Lovely. I sent them a note saying I was pretty disappointed at this. It was ignored (I guess people in Cleveland don't even rate a reply). Overall I'm already disappointed. I'll see Tuesday whether the coffee has any life left in it........ I have serious doubts. Ken ← I've been ordering twice a month from Vivace for almost 2 years and have never had a problem. I always choose 2-day priority mail; only once during the holiday season did it take 3 days. Coffee always has a roast date correlating to the day it was shipped. And, the one time I thought the coffee was "off", I was sent a new package. By the way, I do think their beans result in a better/more complex brew in the winter... whether this is due to the air temp/humidity or the actual beans, I don't know.

Well, that stinks. Why'd they do that? I take it the recipe isn't worth trying, then? It sure sounds good.

I've heard so much about the peanut butter ice cream at Veil that I thought I'd mention that the recipe was in Bon Appetit's Sept 06 issue as part of Veil's "Peanut Butter Shortbread with Peanut Butter Ice Cream and Peanut Crunch."

I'm not liking my new pro 600 too much. Maybe I'm just not used to it... but it makes a weird whining noise when mixing that my 325 W doesn't. Plus, I'm now sending it back for the second time because a piece of metal broke off and fell out of the bottom when I adjusted the bowl height. KA didn't want to send me a new one since it technically still works, but, really, it's a $400 mixer... I'd rather have one without a metal chunk missing from the interior. If I don't warm up to the next one, I think it's going back!

We had an unimpressive meal at Providence last week. I thought the food was "good", but was disappointed given the caliber and price. I would definitely not return. One caveat: I had eaten suckling pig at Lucques two days earlier and also stuffed myself at Langers, so perhaps I was coming off a food high. Three of us had the full tasting menu; one person ordered the wine pairing and thought too many "sweet" wines were served. Japanese Kanpachi, soy, matsutake, wasabi sorbet: tasty starter, but the highlight was the wasabi sorbet. Compared to the lovely raw fish dishes at Jean-Georges, though, this was a bit boring. Santa Barbara Sea Urchin Sabayon, served in an eggshell, truffle, brioche croutons: probably the most interesting dish of the night, although the truffle (I assume it was of the summer variety?) was completely lost in the sea urchin. Brioche croutons were a little too large and crusty. I guess the idea was to dip the brioche "soldiers" into the egg, but the sabayon was better eaten with a spoon. Sweetbread, parsnip/parmesan soup, truffle fondue: I can't even remember this dish. Again, truffle was lost and not worth adding to the dish. Pork Belly, red beets, cippolini onions, preserved black bean: I've never eaten a pork belly that I didn't like, so I enjoyed this dish. However, it didn't stand out and the other elements didn't really add much to the pork belly. Monkfish, cranberry beans, squid, chorizo, artichoke: the chorizo came in two forms, a powder and I believe an oil. Monkfish and chorizo were tasty on their own, but I think the latter overwhelmed the delicate monkfish. Cranberry beans were flavorful. Dishes went readily downhill from here. Quinalt River Wild King Salmon, celery root, red kale, applewood smoked bacon, chanterelle mushrooms: Salmon was very lightly cooked and came across too mushy and flavorless to me. One companion said that hers was fishy, which is unacceptable at a restaurant of this caliber. Again, the additional elements didn't add to the dish at all, a theme which seemed to carry throughout the meal. Market Cheeses: boring, comprised of cheeses readily available at my local supermarket. One of the cheeses was Red Hawk. Grapefruit Sorbet, campari, tarragon: not much to say here. Sorbet is generally likeable and this was no exception. Having said that, this didn't hold a candle to the grapefruit sorbet with grapefruit foam I had at WD-50 last year. Pumpkin Bread, "mole", carrot-coconut ice cream: after all the raves I've heard about desserts here, I was really looking forward to this course. In fact, I was initially disappointed we were only going to get one dessert course. The pumpkin bread wasn't special: it really did taste like regular old pumpkin bread. The "mole" was a dark loose paste that tasted mostly of spice. Not good on its own or with the bread. Ice cream was the best part. Great texture, nice flavor.

After reading this article in the LA Times, I think I might make Maury Rubin's Cranberry, Caramel and Almond Tart instead. I think his tart crust is perfect and every tart I've made out of his book has been delicious.

I might have to try some of this. I remember my mom getting excited when I was little about corn pudding made from this same product since she'd eaten it growing up near Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania (I think my grandmother shipped some from PA to CA for her). Didn't do anything for me at the time, but now I'm curious.

I'm actually thinking of making Ina Garten's pumpkin banana mousse tart. I haven't tried it before, but I like the idea of a pumpkin mousse (I like pumpkin, but not in a traditional pie form) with an undercurrent of banana.

Regarding Kee's, you might want to take a look at her selection on-line and request any flavors that interest you a few days in advance. I've found that when I just drop by, she usually doesn't have a wide variety available and I'm therefore disappointed. Of course, I know what I like so pre-ordering is easy. Some of my favorites are the creme brulee, turtles, yuzu, key lime and thompson.

Last weekend I made a delicious monkey bread from the recipe that came with the Williams Sonoma monkey bread mold that's currently being sold. Balls of slightly sweetened yeast dough are coated with brown sugar, cinnamon and butter and baked. Then, you make a syrup with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and maple syrup and pour it over the baked bread.

Congrats on the copper kitchenaid! I am so glad you bought a 6qt KA! Now you can give some great feedback to the forum on your actual experience with a K5A and your new model. Like, which mixer does what better. I am really interested in hearing your thoughts on the two mixers. I am sure your comparisons will be worth waiting for. ← I don't have it yet, it is being shipped from New York and the guy told me he was double-boxing it. Actually a triple as the KA box is already in a cardboard box and they are adding a double-thickness butressed cardboard box, whatever that is.... ← I bought one of these during the Williams-Sonoma sale this summer for $274. The copper colored finish had actually "leaked" onto the styrofoam in the box, but Kitchenaid sent me a new one. Anyways, it goes with my kitchen more than my previous yellow 4.5 qt. Going back to the original topic, I've always wanted a second bowl which I think I'll use more than both mixers (unless I'm baking up a storm). Luckily, the free extra bowl offer was in effect when I purchased mine. ETA: Does anyone know if copper inserts or bowls are sold anywhere for a reasonable price? French Copper Studio sells them for $198+, but that's a bit more than I'd like to pay.

ludja, your Christmas Eve feast sounds delicious! I'd love to try all the cookies. I'm not a huge fan of Thanksgiving. This year I've ordered a smoked turkey from Texas, so we'll see how that goes. I do *love* bread stuffing/dressing the way my mom made it... plain white bread, butter, eggs, chicken stock, sage, salt, pepper. Yum. I also really get into cranberry relish (not sauce); I usually just buy it from Gelson's since I like their version so much. Other than that, I could eat a whole batch of homemade Ischl Tartlets (recipe from Kaffeehaus). We also order 1/2 lb. white truffles from Oregon which are really good and relatively economical. And I'll be ordering another Kurobuta ham from Snake River Farms this year.

We have a GE Profile from 2000. It definitely gets the dishes clean (although I pre-rinse/wash, so nothing is ever very dirty), but is a bit loud. No repairs needed in 6 years. I've just started using the speed cycle instead of the full wash and everything comes out just as clean, which means more energy saved. Clearly, I should have been doing that all along. If I had to replace it today, though, from the comments here I'd lean towards a Kitchenaid. I'd also like to have a washer than can take care of Riedel stemware; one of the worse things about hosting a dinner party is having to hand wash and dry all the glassware afterwards. There is a china/crystal setting on our GE, but I haven't been brave enough to use it yet.

Do you go to several different grocery stores? Definitely. Trader Joe's for dairy (milk, butter, cream, sour cream, creme fraiche), eggs, bacon, some frozen goodies (bon bons, Tarte D'Alsace), and some condiments. Gelson's, which is down the street, when I don't want to drive very far; sometimes I walk there. Albertson's on the rare occasion to stock up on basics like sugar, vinegar, gelatin. 99 Ranch when making dumplings. Mitsuwa for Japanese groceries and "English" bread for toast. India Sweets & Spices for spices. Every once in a while, Gonzalez Northgate for Mexican goods. HK Market for Korean BBQ meats. Mother's Market for bulk organic flour, eco-friendly goods and raw milk. Do you clip coupons? No. What do you usually buy at the grocery store? Well, I guess I covered that above. I usually get produce at a farm stand (there's one I like in San Juan Capistrano that has a wide variety and everything is organic). Do you tend to buy more meat or more produce? More produce, overall. Are you too ashamed to make purchases from the "reject bin?" I don't recall seeing any reject bins in the stores I frequent. Do you make a list? Sometimes. How many refridgerators and pantries do you have for food storage? One side-by-side refrigerator. Do you enjoy grocery shopping as much as I do? Probably not... I get frustrated driving to different stores for the basics, but I suppose I do it to myself. I have to get my dairy here, I don't like to buy veggies there, I'd prefer to buy organic flour here... why isn't there more humanely-raised meat available?

The shots of her shopping have definitely been filmed in NYC so far. The first time she was buying chocolate cake at Dean & Deluca and the cheese shop she visited was Murray's. I'm not really enjoying the foods she's been making so far. They do seem like they're targeted for North Americans; what I've liked about her shows in the past is that the foods are different from what you usually see on the Food Network.