paulbrussel
-
Posts
377 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by paulbrussel
-
-
In a way GaultMillau is a restyled magazine; it started its new year months later then planned (I think the first issue was in April instead of January).
In the three issues so far, there have been other 'confrontations' - two chefs cooking together and preparing one meal.The last time it was Barbot with Troisgros.
Now there are Camdeborde and Fréchon, preparing one meal with different plats.
They do admit that since they met at La Tour d'Argent (1987) they have changed. They worked also together in le Crillon (1988-1992 when Camdeborde left to open its own La Régalade), perhaps for both the most important period in their career.
Camdeborde has become un "aubergiste", but very personal and modern but more brut; Fréchon tries to reinvent dishes at the Bristol. Nevertheless interesting to see their differences.
Different dishes that are presented in GM (with recepies):
Yves Camdeborde: "Variations autour de la tomate", "Pot-au-feu de pigeon rosé", Gelée Campari aux fraises garriguettes".
Eric Fréchon: Bar aux figues, citrons confits et amandes", "Poêlée de ris de veau et girolles au vieux vinaigre", "Cerises au Guignolet".
-
I had one dinner at his earlier restaurant. I thought it was very good and and remarkable bargain.
The GaultMillau magazine of September 2003 has a 'confrontation' betweeen Eric Fréchon of the Bristol and Yves Camdeborde of La Régalade.
-
Try the website of Michelin, but out of the 15 two star restaurants, I don't think any of them has a Japanese chef.
Nobu in London has one Michelin star as well.
-
Another question: has there already been a thread about his book?
Need you really ask? This is eGullet.
El Bulli 1998-2002 Txs Robert! Since El Bulli and Adrià are coming up so often at eGullet, it makes searching quite difficult...
-
I also heard it would be October. I have already ordered it and I will be called as soon as it arrives at my bookshop; I could inform you about it.
-
Txs a lot! How wonderful it would be to get there again... I was going to book on 15/1/2004, but now I know, txs to you, that it could be a bit different.
It's amazing to realise that when I was at el Bulli in 1999 and 2000, there was no problem of booking a few days in advance...
Another question: has there already been a thread about his book? I would like to know whether it is doable to make some stuff described in there.
I heard that the Spanish edition (15.000 coipies) is almost sold out and I saw it a couple of days ago - well, it is all about the CD-Rom of course. Very nice, but my Spanish is not much. So I ordered nevertheless the English copy to be published in October.
Any experiences here with using the Spanish edition?
-
Where does all the good publicity about Bristol come from then??? Aren't there any positive reviews?
-
Unfortunately I was very disappointed by the Bristol restaurant a couple of months ago, although GaultMillau is very fond of them.
I love some feedback on your Bristol dinner. I know Eric Frechon and the hotel really want a third star. How were your expectations not met?
I was here in May 2002 for dinner, after having had lunch at Pierre Gagnaire. So I took the 3 course menu (60 €).
First I had something to go with my aperitif: one cherry tomato confit on toast – just quite simple.
Then I had as amuse-geule: a mousse of tomatoes with cucumber – just OK.
First course was: Sardine de Méditeranée confite à l'ail, pequillos farcis, compotée de tomate et poivrons doux. And now I got a bit bored: tomato again! And with this came… some bread with tomato again, some fried lettuce that didn't add anything to the rest! The peppers did add something to the sardines; as a whole not too bad a course.
Main course was: Bar de ligne mariné au poivre, poêlé à l'unilatérale, oignons nouveaux à l'orange et vinaigre.
The sea bass was excellent! However, the marmalade was much too dominant for the fish, and therefore I didn't think this was a course in balance.
My dessert: Abricots rôtis au caramel – riz chocolaté, glace à l'infusion de thé jasmin. This was very nice, and the first course which, I thought, could deserve perhaps two stars. The other two didn't at all! And far too much repetition of ingredients in a two star restaurant.
Service was not that well. Being alone and very early, I got a table right in the middle of the room, although almost all tables were available. [When I asked to change tables, they didn't make any problems.] They never knew whether to speak English to me or French. [i started in French.] I didn't notice some of an 'esprit d'équipe'.
My conclusion: disapponting and not to be repeated…
[Michelin: two stars; GaultMillau: 17/20; Champérard: 18,5/20. My rating: 14/20.]
-
They are not bankrupt yet - friends try to help them out to start again or to continue. The restaurant remains closed however. I will update when more news is available. There are lots of articles in the Dutch press now.
-
Well... I had once, just after opening in October 2001. It was a disaster, as well as the food (however well prepared, but rather plain and there was no choice at all: you could only take the Work-in-Progress menu), the wine list (e.g. since it wasn't entirely opened, there were not many wines, only about 18 of which astonishingly one third (!) was champagne - already bad priorities in those days...) as the service. The latter was extremely poor - rarely seen such a service.
Stories I read afterwards, did not convince me of giving it a second chance.
Although, I almost entered last Saturday for lunch! But I was too occupied with visiting art galleries and didn't manage. But I suppose they would not have been great on their last day.
That very evening I went to Vermeer** where Pascal Jalhaij is in charge. Indeed was his career in Michelin very fast, and do keep in mind that when Kranenborg left La Rive to start his own restaurant, Jalhaij was his sous-chef and of all people: the sous-chef got his second star earlier then Kranenborg did!
I am afraid the arrogance of both chef and Vincke, as well as their extreme high prices according to Dutch standards have brought them where they are now...
-
Perhaps it might be useful to signal that the Gambero Rosso magazine of August 2003 has a special about Amsterdam (in which strange enough La Rive** in the Amstelhotel is not mentioned at all).
-
Unfortunately it is closed now till September 1st; I wanted to reserve for mid September, but that will be impossible, since they only take reservations by phone, I think.
Does any one knwo whether that will be a problem when I reserve for about ten days later?
-
Rome is quite expensive indeed. Although I do like the more expensive La Pergola, in another price category you can find nice restaurants like:
Ditirambo
Piazza della Cancelleria 74
0039 06 6871626
If you want to taste nice wines (less go there for the food):
Cul du Sac
Piazza Pasquino 73
06 68801094
More trendy:
Campo
64 Piazza della Cancelleria
06/68301162
Nice but only vegetarian:
Margutta, Il
Via Margutta, 118
06-32650577
More traditional and filled with many Romans but quite good:
Dal Toscano al Girarrosto
Via Germanico 58
And not bad either, more traditional:
Paris
Piazza San Calisto 7/A
39.06.5815378
(PS: some of them I haven't visited in recent times, so I don't know hwo they are now.)
-
Unfortunately I was very disappointed by the Bristol restaurant a couple of months ago, although GaultMillau is very fond of them.
The restaurant of Le Crillon, Les Ambassadeurs, lost its second star this year - that may say something; the other Crillon-restaurant seems to be good as well in another category, but I have never been there.
-
You are right, Robert: it is extremely difficult to give advice to other people unless you are quite aware of her or his preferences - but even then.
Sorry for my misunderstanding about La Régalade :-)
And I never stay at Le Crillon - in fact normally I go to Paris for a day, since it is only 1h25 from Brussels. However, I have been twice to Les Ambassadeurs, in the 'good' days (1996 and 1999), which I found one of the most beautiful dining rooms I have seen in that style.
-
Well, I think I would recommend Pierre Gagnaire, but that is all quite personal.
La Régalade I found very nice, but it is very low profile and perhaps not the one to pick for the sort of occasion you are pointing at.
But at my last visit a couple of weeks ago, I was very much impressed by Le Carré des Feuillants (but you can have a look at my review here about the four meals I had there, including at le Grand Véfour).
-
I do agree with you on the ratings of Michelin for other countries compared with those in France. In fact, I always say that most of the *** in France are the ** elsewhere, or perhaps better: the other way around.
Anyway, for my trips to Paris for example, I always consult Michelin, GaultMillau and Champérard guides to make my choice. Now, I will definitely include eGullet as well
. -
vserna,
the rumors about a restricted number of ***-restaurants are going around about Belgium as well. There are two (or three) restaurants that could have been awarded their third star, but they don't get it. There is a ***-restaurants that has its three stars already for decades, and many people (amongst which you can count me) do think they don't deserve it anymore. It is a sort of Paul Bocuse-case, the chef being ambassador for Belgian cuisine, president of chefs associations etc. As long as that restaurant doesn't loose its third star, it is presumed that one of the others won’t get theirs. The chef is about to leave, but I suspect that he will stay because of the fact that his son-in-law is more or less the chef now and I suppose he knows very well that the 'institution' in Belgium will loose its third star as soon as he officially leaves the restaurant. [i have watched the roll of him and his father-in-law quite well in the kitchen, although they denied afterwards in a little talk with them that one of them was more in charge then the other.]
Therefore the guide of GaultMillau for Belgium needs to be followed as well, since GM doesn't have that sort of restrictions.
Nevertheless I do think it is quite injustice, like you said, at Michelin's to have this sort of rewarding policy.
-
You may have a look at their website: http://www.canfabes.com - it is a bit outdated, but nevertheless, it gives quite a lot inof about the restaurant and prices.
(Since I will go to the restaurant in 5 weeks, I can update about the prices.)
-
Last time I had lunch there (I do admit, august 2002 - but I am planning to go there again this year) I had the following:
Salad of roasted John Dory with crab cous-cous, grilled English asparagus and sauce vierge
Sautéed fillet of wild salmon with crushed garden peas, new season girolles and a creamed horseradish sauce
Pan-fried breast of black leg chicken with herb tagliatelle, leek fondue and a raosted onion velouté
Roasted baby peach with a clear caramel and warm vanilla rice pudding.
But I do have the impression that all those books offer less complex dishes then served in those restaurants.
-
Girona I will do later this year then. Just for one day. I am very curious for that restaurant, since more people are very positive about it here.
-
Just a final check by all these highly involved people that have already given me very good advice.
Do I miss something very important in Barcelona when I make reservations for the following in September?
Day 1 dinner: Comerç 24
Day 2 dinner: Abac
Day 3 lunch: Can Fabes [already reserved]
'dinner': Espai Sucre
Day 4 lunch: Gaig [already reserved]
dinner: Alkimia [any one knows whether this is open on Sundays?]
Day 5 lunch: Hisop
dinner: Cata 81
By the way, El Bulli is too far away for me, as well as the **-restaurant in Girona, will be impossible to reserve, and I have been there already twice.
Txs in advance!
-
Since I am very curious about L'Astrance, tighe, I really hope you manage to make a reservation. I tried over the past 2 1/2 years (!) but I didn't know at the time that you had to reserve really early in the morning.
Hope to see your review!
Nevertheless, sometimes people say that L'Astrance is a bit over estimated... So if you can't get in, there doesn't seem to be a big problem...
-
Txs victor! Now I am getting afraid that 5 days BCN will be too short
I was already convinced that everything culinary in Europe is happening in Catalunya, but there is even more to taste than I thought
Honeymooning in Paris in September
in France: Dining
Posted
In what way? I was at La Régalade last December and I liked it a lot; it is indeed pure, but modern. I liked it more then the Bristol, as you know. [My ratings: La Régalade: 15/20, Bristol: 14/20.]