eliotmorgan

Thanks NVNV Girl, I'm a little suprised by the negative things I hear about Sub-Zero. In large part, because the owners love them, and others have friend-of-a-friend stories. I came across a negative review concerning the compressor in an old Consumer Reports, but their story seems to have changed too. My problem with buying a wine storage unit is that I'd much rather spend the money on buying more wine It's now between Sub-Zero and the unattractive unit EuroCave.

The Intercontinental Hotel was The Regent when I lived in HK. The MTR isn’t close to the hotel and since the restaurant is in the hotel it’s not close to the restaurant. MTR dependent riders don’t make up the crowd Ducasse is looking for. If you are in HK he’s looking for the folks who hang out in the Cohiba Divan (If they know you by name and know what you smoke), The China Club, the younger members of The Jockey Club, and financial and management types in Central. He’s competing with Felix, not the older crowd you’d see in Petrus. If you’re under 40 and you live at Mid-levels, The Peak or Tai Tam and you don’t consider $2000 HKD too much to hang out with friends you’re in. High end restaurants are usually loss leaders for hotels. The leasing rate breaks they receive are thought by investors to be made up in intangibles such as prestige, buzz, and higher traffic (even if it doesn’t result in higher hotel sales). Whatever deal Ducasse got, I’d bet it’s sweet. On HK types being “suckers.” I still travel there and I actually enjoy status conscience HK, because it along with Las Vegas make up a very small club of places where people mind their own business and priorities seem to be in order.

I’m seriously considering buying a Sub-Zero wine unit. My cooking school and several restaurants I’ve worked in have these machines. But I’ve heard rumors. Most unsubstantiated—friend of a friend’s friend nonsense. This is probably the most informed forum there is on kitchen ups and downs. What I can confirm is that there is a 5 year labor warranty and a 12 year warranty on the compressor. That sounds good, but Consumer Reports says the refrigerators are excellent and “repair prone (July 7, 2002).” So what do you think of these machines? Thanks in advance for your time. Special Thanks to Rickster who suggested I post in the wine forum. Since I usually just look at "Today's active topics" I hadn't realized the distinctions.

Thanks for the well thought out review FG.

Is "it" the commercial, the food, or both? Why is "it" worse? What is "it" served with? What's the protein? What does Bayless say about/during it? Are his statements true?

America needs a national bread and that bread should be Corn Bread.

The NY Times star rating means hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions in revenue. What Grimes has mastered is the underrating and the subsequent revisit. In effect, the review becomes a list of demands and when, and only when, those demands are met is the restaurateur allowed to follow his amended vision. This stifles creativity and restricts readers to the single palate, but The Times knows most people want a "safe" meal. Here’s Grimes in Slate on the eve of ADNY’s 4th Star: “Actually, this day presents real difficulties. The review I have to write is a big one, a reconsideration of Alain Ducasse, a restaurant that opened with enormous fanfare about a year and a half ago. It failed to impress me and other critics. Now it gets a second chance.” His “preview” cost the restaurant millions, and his 3-Star rating killed a near 2-year waiting list. He’ll reconsider his rating, and no doubt Mix will still be good—Pslatis is an excellent cook. In the end though, it will be different. The Grey Lady’s power is unquestionable.

I hereby award Sandra Lee, author of “Semi-Homemade” with the B. Smith Style Award for Culinary Uselessness. If she’s not able to fulfill her duties in this role the award will revert back to Ms. Smith, who until now was undefeated.

I'm a Trotter fanatic and I just got off the phone with Sari Zernich who does his R & D, and recipe testing. Here's the latest: RAW is now on his site and marked as "out of stock." You can order it now and it will ship in about a week. Next April (approx): The Kitchen Sessions--a must have cookbook--is going to have a volume 2, and a new set PBS series.

Attention Mommietalk Moms! Have I got a book for you! LOL! Cucumber Rounds with Crabmeat INGREDIENTS: 1/4 cup mayonnaise, Best Foods® or Hellmann's® 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish, Morehouse® 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard, French's® 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, Lea & Perrins® 1 can (4.25-ounce) crabmeat, Geisha® 1/2 large unpeeled English hothouse cucumber, cut crosswise into 16 thin slices (about 1/4-inch-thick slices) 8 pimiento-stuffed green olives, sliced, Star® Prep Time: 15 minutes [ How could it take 15 min. when all the ingredients are pre-prepared?]

Do the tasting menu. The restaurant itself is professional; unpretentious; and the level of service is unsurpassed. If you have any food phobias or allergies let your server know. There are surprises, so this will help avoid any unpleasant ones.

Maggie, It was never personal. Regards, Eliot

I keep vodka in the freezer just so it pours cold. There are experts here, though, who may have additional reasons.

U.S. Troops Order Comfort, With Fries on the Side Soldiers Looking for a Taste of Home Make for a Booming Business at Iraq's First Burger King By Theola Labbé Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, October 19, 2003; Page A25 BAGHDAD -- Welcome to Iraq, home of the Whopper. Money quote: ""It's $2 of heaven. It's the only thing getting us through this deployment," [Capt.]Gercken said in reverent tones. " The whole story is here

Bulk discounts aren’t a mere “preference” and the implication is that such discounts are a quirky prejudice of some sort. As a business owner who gives discounts you know better. If you insist on this point please explain your “appalling” practice. ”Why the quote marks around "discount"? If I buy 20 subway rides at one shot, I get a 21st ride for free. In what linguistic universe is this not a discount? If you want to turn it around, I suppose you could think of it as an instant, guaranteed 10% return on my investment, but in either instance, it's a benefit that's not available to people who can't afford to shell out for all 20 rides at once.” No need to find your inner Chomsky on this one. You’ve apparently missed the irony of giving a certain class of folks a measly ride discount on an item largely funded by them. It’s a lot like Mom and Dad having to pay for their own birthday and holiday gifts from you when you were under 16. Though unlike your parents who at least received a gift and a thank you, albeit on their dime (it’s the thought that counts), the poor receive goods and services and respond with additional demands, argued by proxy by folks like you, who admittedly have to consult with formerly poor graduate school colleagues. Congratulations on 10 years of business success. Awesome, but this lets me in on the fact that you don’t truly believe what you said about discounts, which is why I won’t belabor the point. You’re probably just nostalgic for the old tired arguments still common at Café’s Algiers and Pamplona. As for Somerville, it’s a pit because it couples the elite conferred university degree ratio of Los Alamos with the employment and income record of Dorchester.

What are your specific problems with the Revolution 1? I know someone with the Revolution 2 model and they seem quite happy with it. The main advantage of these models is that they temper as little as 4 oz of chocolate at a time. If you're running a small restaurant or are a really advanced home user, making such a small volume of chocolate is perfect. The more expensive machines have a min. of 1-3 lbs. That's a hell of a lot of tempered chocolate for the non professional or small restaurant. I'm really interested in your view on this.

Is it really a mystery why any service provider from a mom and pop grocer to the NYC Subway system would rather you pay a large sum in advance for use of a product or service? This solves cash flow problems and reigns in operating costs. Do you rally think the discount at Sherry-Lehman on the 2000 Bordeaux futures, or the 10% case discount on 1995 Y’quem is offered as a way to stick it to the poor? I trust not. The same economic principle applies to public transportation, something else largely funded by the people who get those measly “discounts.” I’m enjoying the fact that this thread has become a raw discussion of its thesis finally. From the romance of the Chef’s Collaborative mission statement and Rick Bayless to the idealized adult poor, who through no fault of their own find themselves in poverty, conspired against by evil business folk who’d deny them organic produce, artisanal breads, and almond flour. We too took long trips to the grocery store (like your friend), but we went for lower prices, relative safety, and selection. Something not realistically to be expected from shop owners who have to pay for alarm systems, Plexiglas, and horrific insurance costs which by economic necessity must be passed on to the consumers by way of product markups. All this before theft drives the prices up even higher. Best of all, these mom and pop organizations are usually rewarded by thin margins, threats of violence, and charges of racism. “I lived on a student's stipend in bleakest Somerville, lo these several years ago, schlepping to the Star Market was a major event,” you write. Though Somerville is a pit, it’s truly vile to compare a walk to Inman Square on a student’s stipend to poverty. From what you've relayed it sounds like you were broke, not poor, and yes there is a difference. EM "The strong do as they will; the weak suffer as they must," Thucydides

If both spaghetti comes from a box and sauce come from a jar. I guess I'd agree with you times provided boiling water was already at the ready. "Potatoes. Maybe 20 minutes if you cut them up and roast them. 5 lbs for 99 cents." Roasted potatoes in 20 minutes?!!! Even Barbara Kafka (and I'm no fan of her high heat 500 degree flash roasts) suggest at least 40 minutes for a russert. "That's what you can get for what it costs to take 4 people to Burger King. And everything on that list could go from package to table in half an hour." You forgot to mention the magic dishes that wash themselves, the self cleaning pots and pans, and the source of the new found energy for the working folks to do all of this?

Ah, for those halcyon days of mom spending the day in the kitchen, dad winning the bread and schedules that allowed all to eat the fare of iceberg lettuce, boiled meat, and dessert made from a box. It was even worse outside of Europe, and until the liberty revolutions of the 18th Century the general population ate like crap and it took the better part of a day to do so. Do you really think the pretty precious food in Saveur, the African-American fare in an Edna Lewis book, or a Madhur Jaffery whose food has as much to do with daily life in India as Thomas Keller’s does in America, represents the past? It represents the future, and an idealized one at that. Ask someone over 60 to go with you to Johnny Rockets and they’ll describe it as a greasy spoon without the grease. Kinda like what the house of Blues is to a real blues joint like the Checkerboard. All cleaned up for ya. Great line from Woody Allen's Radio Days: "Brooklyn was rarely this beautiful and rain swept, but I always remember it that way." If you can think of a time in the past when people generally ate safer, cleaner and better food than we eat now please note it. If you can think of a time when that food could be prepared and still allowed couples to have separate careers then great! In the meantime, I’ll check the Flux Capacitor for you and make sure the DeLorean can get up to 88 mph.

"eliotmorgan, You haven't made a point yet. Or if you have..." Which is it? "The food is what matters to a cook, nothing else." Exactly the point I made. I'm glad we agree. "I see ADNY as business only." Let the team there prove otherwise. We love to cook; I'm not there anymore but I know they'll do whatever it takes to win you over. Call; note your skepticism; and let Chef Didier and the team prove you wrong. Go to Mix and let Chef Doug prove you wrong. Can you imagine getting to work at 7am and working until your 3 hour break at 2pm, and then using it to catch a train uptown to Kitchen Arts and Letters to look at cookbooks? With the exception of half hour lunch and dinner breaks this was is the enviornment. Back at 5pm to work to 11:30. No day guys; no evening guys. One team. The media has not served you well on this point, and it stinks. I'm not angry and I'm not seeking a flame war here, but Ducasse is excellent and a lot of good cooks from Mr. Ducasse on down to the comies have been ill served by the media. They don't serve Lunch anymore, but at $65 it was the best deal in New York. "Will Per Se propel Keller to the next level? I hope that HE thinks so." Here we agree. I hope he does too.

Bored? Irrelevant. Hit a creative wall? Eat there and find out, instead of speculating. Cashing in? Jeezus. You said business was business, so what’s the point of that question? You also stated you worked with him 18 years ago, so what gives with the cheezy foodie questions?

Dave, mine was not crusty, but since the baguette is purportedly made “in house” there may be variations. I’ve eaten one in Chicago, and one in Omaha, Nebraska. You and Steve are probably right about the meat. Maybe I wasn’t attentive enough. Usually the protein in a fast food joint is something to be masked with spices. I’m accustomed to ignoring it. I’ll see next time. Bayless says it's a step in the right direction. For reasons I stated above I agree.

I recently recieved an email telling me I should have it by the end of the month. If it comes any earler I'll let you know. The book is not on the JB Prince site anymore, but you can order it at www.gourmandbooks.com. If you are in NYC give a place called Kitchen Arts and Letters a ring.

Here's what I think of the Bayless meal in detail: The Sandwich at 350 calories is actually flavorful, but the baguette is the bright yellow kind you’d find at an Au bon Pain, and it’s actually soft. The whole point of a baguette is crust, so this is indeed a negative. The chicken is white meat and has faux hibachi grill marks, like the kind served on a 2 hour plus flight. That said, for fast food it is respectable. It’s not like a McRib, it is actually an intact piece of meat. The grilled peppers and sauce were also respectable at this price point and had no off flavors. It comes with a 4 oz salad of tomato, iceberg lettuce, radicchio, and carrot batons. A 16.9 fl oz (1.05pt) 500 ml Aquafina non-carbonated water comes with the “combo.” Total price $4.89. Actually $5.17 with tax. I chose the Ranch dressing by Kraft, which comes in a one ounce packet (28.35g) which is fat free and considered a full serving at 40 calories. With the exception of this which does indeed have preservatives, Xanthan gum, artificial color, monosodium glutamate, yellow dye number 5. You don’t have to put it on, if the above puts you off. I tasted it for this review and prefer the salad alone. It was crunchy and not wilted. I decided to buy this again because I simply called the sandwich ($2.89) palatable. It is indeed that. I wanted to give more details though. I do believe it’s better than most of the junk BK and McDonald’s offers. This I believe is good news for those who find themselves to busy to seek out a proper meal (we're American's and we don't have Siesta's); and its good news for the economically disadvantaged who frequent these places anyway. Would an eGullet person seek out this meal or prefer to eat this meal to a sit down dinner? Or even a Cosi or Panera Bread Sandwhich? Of course not. I’m putting on my asbestos suit now Steven