adegiulio

Very well put..

That's absurd. There are college students all over the country earning their way by waiting tables. And they do a great job. It's not brain surgery. ← Good point Stone...Not to mention, these aren't beauty school students, they are Culinary School students. Supposedly the future of fine dining rests in their hands. That may be a bit of hyperbole, but you should expect more from them than from your average server...

Can't I do both? I love eGullet. One can always find answers to questions by polling its members. Sometimes though, members use eG as a soundboard for their own opinions and values. While I appreciate the time everyone took in their responses, I'm not too crazy about "advice" I need to wade through to. I've gone through the arguments in my head as to the benefits and costs of silver vs. stainless. I want silver. I don't want a lecture on how to spend my money; i.e. children's education or silver. I can make that decision myself. Thanks again for your time...

I want silver. I want something to give to my children. I want something to give to myself. A Chevy and a BMW will both get you where you want to go, but the BMW will do it with more style. I would like something traditional. I am interested in a set for 16, but putting a price on a total set is tough since there are so many other pieces not included in a "basic" 5 piece setting. For a complete set I can see us spending over 10k to get what we want. We don't have to buy it all at once and they last forever (I just have to be careful who I invite for dinner.. ) I don't agree with that 100%. Sure, it doesn't make sense to spend a ton of money on something that will be used once a year, but that doesn't mean we can't reserve "the best" for special occasions. If you wore that special cashmere sweater everyday, or ate caviar daily for breakfast, it wouldn't be as wonderful when you did indulge. We entertain a lot . But otherwise I do see your point. I'm not a big fan of people who never use their special "stuff" because an event isn't "special" enough. That doesn't mean it should be used everyday, of course. Any specific recommendations out there?

Exactly what I am looking to do...

Yes, real silver. Like you, I can't afford a full set all at once, but I am young and would like to start building a set now. That is one of the reasons why I want a top name and a good shop so I know I will be able to continue adding to my set for years to come... Thanks for the response!

Gifted Gourmet's interesting post about the history of flatware got me thinking about my own flatware. One thing I love about top notch restaurants is their beautiful silver. The difference between great silverware and plain old stainless flatware is worth the price when it comes to setting a holiday table. So... What brands/makers should I be looking at? I like a nice heavy piece... What stores carry the best selection. Where can I find great prices? Online resources??

Well, I, out of good manners, will eat mostly anything put in front of me. I just won't enjoy it.. I recall one time I was flying back from Chicago to Newark. I was sitting in my tiny seat when I look up and see every single young man's dream...a beautiful woman was about to sit next to me for the next few hours. We struck up a conversation. She was laughing at all of my jokes, it was terrific. I was just about to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming when the helpful flight attendant served us a "meal". It was some kind of beige-ish gray-ish brown-ish meat. Even after I was told it was chicken I still had a difficult time figuring it out. Ugh, this was not looking promising at all, and I have eaten some pretty lousy food in my day. Well, just as I was pushing this poor chicken away, I look over and see this gorgeous woman, the highlight of my trip, devouring her chicken like a starving dog on a meatloaf. Oh man!!! I immediately divorced her in my mind. How could she be eating that with such gusto, such relish?? She sure was pretty though Amy, you're not reading this are you??

I hope nobody takes offense at this, but I just can't take this thread anymore. Between recalling my own pain from my first post and reading of others' tragedies, this whole thread is bringing me down way too much...much more than I think was the intention... I miss my poor Vinnie

When I look back to the most painful episodes in my life, I don't think there is anything in the world I could cook to make me feel better. Having said that, cooking will improve what is already a good mood...

Arzak in San Sebastian ← I can see why you are always smiling...

Yes, it was a Boot Camp. I will post my impressions in the General Food section. In a nutshell, it was a lot of fun, but not a lot of learning. I had worked in restaurants for a long time, so it was great to get back into a professional style kitchen after years away. As a gift from my wife on our First Anniversary, it was a great time, though I don't think I would have done it on my own... So, your last avatar was a picture from a dinner at per se. Where is this one taken?

As I mentioned in a related post, I spent a week up at CIA Hyde Park. One of the restaurants we dined at was the Escoffier Room, the CIA's French restaurant, and what some people may call its flagship. The ship has sunk... Since we were a large group, we ate in their "Library Room." It's a pretty cool semi-private room that could probably fit 12-14 diners. Our waitress had but three weeks to go before graduating, and I think her head was already at her post-graduation party. She was nervous and unsure, her voice crackled in response to all inquiries. Topics of conversation swung from her dental hygiene habits to the weather in Southern California. Her knowledge of the menu was limited. Her desire to be serving us was non-existant. She hated us. Again, the basics went unattended to. Martini glasses sat empty for hours until I quietly mentioned to someone that they should be removed. New silverware was placed before the preceeding course's dishes were removed. Forks and knives were haphazardly placed in no particular order on no particular side. I seriously think that my young puppy Weimaraner could have done a better job...This was the worst service we experienced at the CIA, and probably in the lowest 5 percentile of all restaurants I have ever eaten in. Our food was a step up from American Bounty, but below what you would expect from a place like this. One nice dish was a Napoleon of Scallop, Truffles, and Potato in a Vanilla Buerre Blanc. A terrine of Foie Gras with Braised oxtail was quite good and very well prepared. Several people at the table enjoyed their John Dory with tomato and a cream sauce. Some clunkers were braised Veal Cheeks and some duck dish I don't recall.... To sum up, it is clear where the focus is in these restaurants. Some will be content to know that the bad service is simply indicative of uncaring students. That is, the students don't care about service, its just not important to them. I feel that anything worth doing is worth doing well, and the difference between shitty service and decent service is not that much. It doesn't take much more work to do things right, it just takes more care. Care is one of those qualities that differentiates the elite from the competent. The elite realize they can elevate their game by just sprinkling their work with an intangible quality. Call it diligence, call it care, call it respect. I feel a student that doesn't care about service might not care about cooking. When its 10:50 on a Tuesday night and the kitchen closes in ten minutes, the elite cook like its 7:00 and Paul Bocuse just sat down. The competent scrape together some grub for the hobo that just stumbled in. Sure, most student chefs at the CIA will never see the front of the house when they enter the working world. Knowing that, and still providing top notch service, is a sign of excellence. More students need to know that...

I spent a week up at the CIA in Hyde Park last week. As part of the course, we dined at three of the restaurants: American Bounty, Escoffier, and St. Andrews Cafe. All three were underwhelming to say the least... American Bounty is the CIA's "Modern American" restaurant. Like the other restaurants on campus, it is run by instructors but mostly staffed by nearly-graduating students. In the old days, all students worked at all of the Institute's restaurants. Now they have a choice to finish their education at either American Bounty or Escoffier. The restaurant itself was well decorated and had a very cool bar area. One could mistake this for a swank NYC place. The similarities end as soon as the guest is seated and the students take over. Let me just start by saying the service at all the CIA restaurants has a reputation for being lousy. Often this is explained away by noting that the student waitstaff would rather be floating on a life raft in the Northern Atlantic than waiting tables. For them, the front of the house is someplace they never want to be, and by forcing them to learn that aspect of the business, there is an attitude of resentment. True, there will be an occasional over-achiever who likes to excel at everything, but for the most part, the students in charge of your hospitality couldn't care less. It doesn't take long to realize that fact. Our server was quite pleasant. That's all she had going for her. She and her support staff were slow, poorly trained, and inept at all basic functions of service. Water glasses went empty for hours. Courses were served out of order. Bread showed up minutes before our third course. Requests for anything went unanswered or unfulfilled. It pains me to recall everything for this post. I'll move on to the food... For my first course I order seared foie gras with something I don't remember. I don't remember it because I never ate it. The foie gras was the most awful, vein and tendon riddled, overcooked piece of liver i have ever encountered. When it was presented to me it looked like Sonny Corleone on the causeway, all cut up as if someone was poking into it to test its doneness. It was done hours ago, boys...I tasted it, but it was clear this foie's best days ended with a funnel in its hosts mouth. I sent it back, annoyed that I had waited 45 minutes for it. My next course of pork loin with a peanut crust and some other stuff was forgetable (I wish). I really could have used some water in my glass to wash down this dry, though flavorful, meat. The 45 minutes I waited for THIS course wasn't worth it either. Let me point out that my dining mates were equally upset with their food. The menu is designed by a real live chef, but the cooking is the responsibility of students. Clearly, nobody is watching to make sure things go out properly, just like nobody was watching the front of the house. Sure, there was an instructor Maitre d', but he was nowhere to be found. I think it is easy to distill this evening down to one short phrase. When it comes to American Bounty, DON'T GO. Save your time and money, and choose one of the other fine restaurants in this region. There is no bargain to be found here simply because this is a "teaching restaurant". I can think of no redeeming quality, which upsets me since the CIA is such a highly regarded institution. As I will post later, the other two restaurants I dined at were no better. The Apple Pie Cafe makes a mean Chocolate Croissant....

Cool thread, I'm glad it was resurrected... My dentist gave me and my wife free cleanings the week before our wedding. Probably a wedding gift more than a comp, but I doubt they do that for everyone... There is one restaurant that I rave about which is in a town that we are building a house in, Red Hook NY. We love it there and really like the people who run the place. We ALWAYS get comped something, whether it is some Prosecco before our meal or a dessert afterwards, or some homemade grappa after that. Usually there is more than one comp per meal. Now THAT is generous. Food is so good that we would love it anyway....

I don't think it sets the bar too low to say that chefs should be able to prepare things better than I, or Larry, can at home. Like you say, for most people, this is setting the bar pretty low, but I think in the context of eG and its participants, the bar should be higher. I don't think the people here are "most people" when it comes to cooking and food. Having said that, I'd like to toot my own horn and say that most things I eat in restaurants I could prepare as well or better at home. The reason I go out is so I don't have to bother. That, and to see other people and be a part of society.

While well prepared pasta with oil and garlic, or fillet of snapper are very tasty, simple dishes, I expect more from a chef than that. Most of us can knock those dishes out of the park in our own kitchens. While I don't expect chefs to be as off the wall as Dufresne or Adria, I expect a little more attention than excrutiatingly simple food would provide...

I'm afraid of commitment...especially at this place

First, let me start by saying that I saw a few books mentioned, but didn't see "Becoming a Chef" talked about. I have read the others in this thread but think BaC is the best book on this sort of thing. It has a lot of anecdotes from big time chefs and their rise up the ladder. The new edition also has a letter by me in the front (thanks Curlz!) I worked in the kitchen for a big portion of my employed life. I loved it, but it is very hard work. It is repetetive, hot, stressful, and the hours stink. Oh, and you stand all day. Since I left the business and went to work in a field that I went to college for, I look back and wonder how I did it. Of course, the flip side is pretty damn good. I continued to learn until the day I stopped cooking. In a good kitchen with a good crew, the camraderie is awesome. You spend more time with those people doing stuff you love than you do with your family (which may or may not be a good thing). For me, being able to take raw ingredients and turn them into something that people enjoyed was a big thrill. People talk a lot about passion in the context of cooking. I'm not sure why that is, but you will soon realize that there must be something motivating you to put up with all of the downside of a culinary career. To be sure, the money, hours, and working conditions don't sell the job... I don't know you. I don't know what kind of shape you are in or how much money you have in the bank. Having said that, I hope you forgive me when I say that you are nuts to think about what you are thinking about. But, I guess that's true of all of us! Good luck and read that book! Here it is...

OK, so I am checking out this forum and see a nice banner ad for this company specialtycoffee.com. Has anyone tried this company? Reading their website, I really like their attitude. I normally order from Peets, but am tempted to give them a shot when my coffee runs low...

I forgot to mention that I really admire what farms like Stone Church, Bobolink, Flying Pig farms, and others are doing. They raise tasty animals in a humane and healthy way. I am content in paying a premium to these types of establishments, realizing that the meat from these happy animals costs more to produce and is in tighter supply. Often, the heirloom varieties of livestock make for a wonderful dining experience. Though I am not excited by the products at Stone Church, I whole-heartedly endorse what they are doing. If you are looking for great pork, look no further than these fine pigs.

I ordered a bunch of their ducks back in the spring. I roasted them up according to my patented recipe and discovered that I spent a lot of money on duck that wasn't better than what I can get from my butcher. First let me say that the ducks needed a lot of work to bring them up to condition. They were covered with feathers and feather "stubs" I felt like I was boning out an endless salmon fillet. Also, there was considerable viscera inside which made me think someone rushed the job. The meat was tasty but scarce. I could easily eat a whole duck myself, probably two. I know that "factory" ducks are bred for, amongst other things, their meatiness. These ducks were bonier than Urkel. I don't think I would order them again. They were very expensive, especially when factoring in the low meat yield. I forget the two varieties I bought (one had the word "French" in the name) but my complaints are consistent with both. I'm not one to get uptight about spending money on food, but there really wasn't much there to make me buy more.... Just one man's opinion. One very smart, charming, funny man... Ant

Ah, if only we could harness that brainpower for good...

I can BYO at Starbucks??

I would consider Taylor Ham "ham" as much as I would consider a hamburger "ham"...