MichaelB

Off Topic Alert I am going to venture a guess as to which Ken you are. My wife and I enjoyed a terrific meal at your place a couple of weeks ago -- sandwiched between visits to the FL and Danko. Every aspect of the meal was wonderful, particlarly the Canneloni Head to Tail with Alba Truffle. Michael

For lack of a better place to post, I'll provide my non-traditional menu from Thursday. Mrs. B and I generally have done Thanksgiving alone, but occasionally do dinner with my large family. This year we entertained another couple without children who decided not to travel to their families this year. Butternut squash soup with seared scallop Risotto with shaved white Alba truffle Butter poached lobster with celery root and grapefruit salad With the first 3 courses, Kistler Dutton Ranch Chardonnay 1999 Roasted duck breast with wilted arugula, chanterelle mushrooms, duck confit flan, cranberry relish and pinot noir duck sauce Calera Jensen Pinot Noir 1995 Cranberry buttermilk bread Apple, cranberry and ginger pie

The $45 supplement was quite a bargain, actually. The risotto arrived unadorned. Then a server presented a wooden humidor that when opened revealed a pound or so of truffles inside. You could smell them any time the box got cracked anywhere in the dining room. Then another server shaved, and shaved and shaved some more truffle onto the risotto. Mrs. B's dish contained at least 1/3 an ounce of truffle -- so at $1600 a pound, or $100 an ounce, there was $35 in cost of truffle on the plate.

OK, by popular request (actually 2 PMs), here is the 9 course tasting menu from Wednesday November 9: 1. Gougeres 2. Salmon cone 3. Oysters and Pearls 4. Salad of Jacobsen’s Farm “Musquee de Provence,” Swiss Chard Leaves and Ribs, Spiced Green Pumpkin Seeds and Picked Pomegranate “Vinaigrette” OR “Carnaroli Risotto Biologico,” Castelmango Cheese and Shaved White Truffle from Alba ($45 supplement) (One of each at our table) 5. Grilled Fillet of Mediterranean Sea Bream, “Confit” of Navel Orange, Caramelized Fennel Bulb and Nicoise Olive “Puree” 6. Maine Lobster Tail “Cuite” Sous Vide,” Glazed Baby Onions, King Trumpet Mushrooms, Crispy Bone Marrow Flan and “Sauce d’Homard a Facon Bordelaise” 7. “Crepinette” of Wolfe Ranch Quail, Brussel Sprouts, Sierra Beauty Apples and Applewood Smoked Bacon Emulsion 8. Ribeye of Elysian Fields Farm Lamb “en Persillade,” “Cassoulet” of Autumn Pole Beans and Thyme Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil OR Herb Roasted Sirloin of Australian “Wagyu,” Princess la Ratte Potato “Puree,” Glazed Sweet Carrots, Wilted Pea Tendrils and “Sauce Perigourdine” (Serves Two - $80 supplement) (Lamb at our table) 9. “Saint Nectaire,” French Laundry Granola, Parsley Shoots and Red Currants And a different composed cheese course for my wife that I didn’t taste but was prepared because she is allergic to the sunflower seeds in the granola 10. California Boulevard “Feijoa” Sorbet, “aux Agrumes d’Automne et Feuille de Bric Croquante” 11. Valrhona Chocolate “Dome,” Wildflower Honey-Sicilian Pistachio “Nougat Blanc,” Cocoa Nib “Coulis” and “Cerceaux de Sucre” 12. Two custards, Crème Brulee and Lemon Custard 13. Cookie 14. Chocolates

My situation proves one of Fat Guy's main points in his book -- loyalty pays. I have been a loyal guest of Relais & Chateaux hotel properties for 20 years and, as a result, have relationships with several general managers. I simply asked one of those people to make a call for me. He did. Interesting side note. We met a couple at the inn at which we were staying who visit Napa Valley once a year and eat at the Laundry three nights in a row each visit! I did not get to ask how the restaurant arranges menus etc for such a guest. Of course, a guest like that probably gets to make the next years' reservations during this visit.

Mrs. B and I dined at the Laundry last week. It was a truly memorable experience. Each course was flawlessly executed. The service was as good as, or better than, anything I have experienced. The French Laundry -- particularly the service -- is now the standard against which all others are judged. Enough said. Menu on request if anyone is interested. MB

I should have posted this Monday, but was traveling. This, to me, is important news -- it is first US restaurant-only (not associated with a Relais & Chateaux hotel) Relais Gourmands outside a major metropolitan market. To date, the restaurant-only Relais Gourmands have been in New York (Daniel, Jean-George, Le Bernardin, Aureole), suburban New York (Ryland), DC (Citronelle), Atlanta (Seeger), Chicago (Trotter, Everest, Tru), LA (L'Orangerie, Patina) and SF/Napa Valley (Danko, French Laundry). This puts the US in a position more like France where there are perhaps a half dozen restaurant-only Relais Gourmands in smaller cities and towns. Pigall's inducted into elite restaurant group =R= ←

Alright, now that I see you have your heart set on this, I'll chime in with advice for other than cakes. (and, althought I am not a pro, I have done risotto for 100+ as part of a multi-course tasting menu perhaps 5 or 6 times.) First, quantity. Who are your guests and what do you expect their appetites to be? Picture an average portion. The 7 pounds of rice I had for cakes will get you a scant half cup per person. Alex's 17.5 pounds will get you well over a cup a person. You decide. For each pound of rice, you will need: 4 ounces butter 2 ounces minced shallot 2 cups wine 5 cups stock rice salt and pepper 4 more ounces butter 6 ounces (total) of your three cheeses 1 or 2 (depending on the size) hard plastic cafeteria trays You will also need: 1 or 2 large rondeau. Borrow them if you can, rent them if you can't, buy them if you must -- you won't be sorry. Cook the rice to three quarters and spread on the caf trays. Do not add the last butter or cheese. Refrigerate. You can do this days in advance. You can do the whole thing in two batches in a rondeau. You will end of with a lot of trays. You can combine trays when completey cold. Think about your refrigeration needs. You've got the cold rice base and up to a gallon of stock until service. Before you start ont he base, you are going to have up to 5 gallons of stock to keep cold. This is where the pros can't help you. They have walk ins galore. You need to think about where and how you are going to keep this -- and all you other food -- cold. At service, heat the stock to boiling in a pot. Put the cold rice in batches into a rondeau. (This is where you want 2 of the rondeau; finish a batch; start a second as the first is finishing; clean the first pot; start the third). Add the boiling stock in only 1 or 2 additions per batch. Add the cheese and butter; adjust seasoning. The final cooking will go very fast. Don't let lots of risotto sit on the buffet for long times. Slow down your finishing batches if necessary. Good luck.

If I were you and had my heart set on risotto on my lunch buffet, I would do risotto cakes. I don't like the idea of fully cooked risotto sitting in a hotel pan over a steam bath turning into a congealed mess of overcooked glop. The cakes are perfect because you can fully cook the risotto the day before your party, spread it into sheet pans and chill ovrnight. On the day of the party, cut your cakes, brown them in saute pans (or better on a griddle), then lay back onto sheet pans. At service, just reheat in the oven. 7 pounds of rice should get you 150 cakes 3inches in diameter and a half inch thick.

The best hams I have gotten were from: Calhouns Ham House 211 South East Street Culpeper, Virginia 22701 (540) 825-8319 Uncooked, you can keep whole hams, oh, nearly forever. Cooked, sliced and well wrapped in fridge -- several weeks.

Funny you should ask. From today's paper: Auction Story The auction is also going to be webcast. You can bid from your desk or easy chair in DC. Auction Site I have no prediction for the next step in Nat Comisar's career. A former managing partner of the Maisonette, Michael E. Comisar, is the general manager of a local private business club, the Metropolitan Club.

In my household of two adults a quart (paper packaging) of whole milk will generally still be good 30 to 40 days beyond the "sell by" date. Note that my refrigerator holds temperatures at 30-32F.

Graeter's has the cheese crowns.

Servatii Pastry Shop and Deli, many locations. Main location 3774 Paxton, Oakley 513.871.3244. Downtown location 35 E. 6th, 513.421.2253. Bonbonerie, 2030 Madison Road, O'Bryonville 513.321.3399 Graeter's, many locations. Web Sitefor a list. Le Cezanne, sadly, closed earlier this summer. The owner is the new executive chef at one of the hotels in Moscow -- the Ritz, I think. I heard last week that someone is opening a new pastry shop at the Wyoming (neighborhood name) location. Shadeau Breads, 1336 Main Street, Over the Rhine 513.665.9270.

Ah, there's the big difference in our perception. The beach as a place to swim has no interest to me whatsoever. I got wet only to midcalf walking the dogs. I imagine that it does take till mid-August for the water to get very warm; and even then it wasn't overly warm. Grabbing the dogs' tennis balls from the surf made every kitchen scrape on my hands sting like the devil. Salt water really isn't my thing -- except for providing the environment for things I like to eat.

Thanks again to everyone who posted shopping advice. With your help, I was able to purchase everything I needed on my way into town. I got corn, tomatoes, fruit, etc. from a farmer's stand just inside the DE/MD border. The seafood came from Afishionado; the specialty groceries from Beautiful Foods; the remainder of the produce from McQuay's (several trips over the weekend, but only a block from the house). I enjoyed my time in Rehoboth; and will comment on the following quote from Mark Sommelier There were some things that sucked. Traffic! I could never have a weekend place that was as nerve racking to get to as our Friday afternooon/evening drive from DC. I suspect that if I had been able to arrange my life to arrive 3 or 4 hours earlier, I would have been a lot calmer when I arrived. The traffic would have been more tolerabe had I been staying longer than 2 days also. Sticker shock! Specialty foods were all at least 30% higher than I am used to paying. Limes, for example, were 3.5 times what I pay for them (in a store very similar to where I shopped in Rehoboth) -- good thing I only needed to buy 3 dozen! Restaurant. We had dinner Saturday at Zebra. I don't feel comfortable criticizing based on one Saturday night visit in a large party. Let's just say I was underwhelmed. What I really liked. Once I parked the car and got onto foot or a bike, I loved the town, the homey feel and the people I saw and met. Had my first visit been in winter, I probably would tell Mark S. that he is nuts. I suspect that if I get a chance to visit in winter, I will fall in love with the place. Michael edited for speling

I suspect their research indicates that -- in the context of the US restaurant world -- consumers will be less confused with a separately stated service charge. Picture these two checks at Per Se (dinner for 2, tax omitted intentionally): Food $350 Wine 250 Total 600 SC 120 Grand 720 or Food $420 Wine 300 Total 720 Now, the menu and bill both say service included. Do you still feel obligated to leave a meaningful "tip" because that's the way things are done in the US? What if you are a German tourist and you are used to service compris but you understand things are "different" in the US? I think the service charge is a middle road that most people will understand better.

After 6 pages of holding back, I will throw my 2 cents onto the table -- even though I acknowledge that I am not speaking from a terribly defensible base on several counts. The indefensible base: 1. I really don't dine out when I am in my home town. I have been out in my home town 4 times in 2005 and two of those were to a service compris establishment (Jean-Robert at Pigall's). 2. I couldn't even tell you what my average tip is. It has been so long since I tipped on a "straight" check, I can't remember when it might have been. I know though that the average for the last 5 years is meaningfully north of 25% of my restaurant checks. 3. I am a kitchen rat at heart. I cannot express my emotions when I think about the relative equities (and contribution to my perceived value of the meal) of (a) the line cook who is $40,000 in debt from his eduction at CIA, NECI, J&W, etc., makes $11+ an hour and works 11 or more hour days and (b) the waiter who works perhaps 6 hours a day on average in air conditioned comfort and makes well over $50,000 a year, one-third to one-half undeclared. That said: The US restaurant world is the only place (that I can think of) where the "tip" represents both an independently meaningful amount of money and a substantial portion of the cost of the overall experience. (For example, even if I use the heck out of hotel services at a high end hotel and expend $25 a day in tips, that $25 represents and insubstantial portion of the several hundred dollar a day cost of the room; the general tip to a cabbie is not an independently significant sum; etc.) Like Bux, I find it demeaning to both me and the servers that I am expected to pay a substantial portion of the operating cost of the restaurant directly to the employees and that the servers are expected to entice me to do so. Service is an integral part of the dining experience. I see no justification for unbundling the cost of that service from the rest of the cost. I see even less justification for my getting to determine that value of the service portion of that integrated experience. Please Mr. (Ms.) Restaurateur, tell me the value that you place on an experience in your establishment. I'll let you know if I perceive an equivalent value -- by becoming a patron or by staying home. (All quoted amounts are in the context of a place like Per Se.)

Sorry, I simply cannot resist this one. Just which one of you gentlmen was once a member of the other sex?

An excellent description Corinna. I was so upset when I finished the book that I had to get it out of the house. I shipped it off to an out-of-town friend in late February. Maybe it is time to get it back.

It actually freezes as a solid layer to the sides of the vessel. It gets broken up into chunks when the ice cream is finished and then mixed into the frozen ice cream.

My apologies if this has been answered already, but why not simply raise prices by 20% and have a "service included" note on the menu? I have no problem with including service in the cost of the meal, but I'd prefer it if the restaurant were up-front about it. ← I am not sure about the law in New York but can guess. In most states, there is no sales tax on a separately stated labor or service charge. So, you pay sales tax on the food drink and service is 20% of the food and drink charge. If the restaurant raises prices by 20%, you pay another 8.5% (NYC rate, IIRC) on the 20% -- or an additional 1.7% on the basic food and drink charges -- in tax.

Busboy, thanks for posting this question and thanks to all who responded. Mrs. B and I are invited to visit friends in Rehoboth Beach next weekend. I have offered to cook one night. This thread has given me everything I need to do some shopping when I get to town. If I come across anything of interest, I'll add to the thread in a couple of weeks.

The perspective from one local business writer: Cliff Peale's Sunday column Edsel, there is no connection between La Petite Pierre and the Maisonette. The owners of La Petite are the daughters of Chef Pierre Adrian -- the chef at the time Maisonette received its early 5 stars.

At least tell me: is it a good one? Who reviewed? Oh, dear. That makes me so sad! I'm sure some of them have worked for the Comisars forever. ← The ususal -- Dawn Simonds. The sub head is "La Petite Pierre has grand ideas about fine dining." That tell you enough? Many of the Maisonette employees were there for more than 20 years. I think there were 3 or 4 left with more than 30 years experience. The story referred to above is at: Money Problems We'll hear more soon I am sure.