robyn

I made my reservation at RHR by email. A month and a day before (ok - the woman we dealt with cheated a bit ). Of course that was for lunch - not dinner. I suspect it's a much easier ticket - but not a less important one for us. The woman we dealt with also handles reservations at all the other Ramsay restaurants. I found her to be very competent - very professional - and very nice. I'll note here - as I've noted elsewhere - that RHR has a stated policy of limiting dining times at dinner to 2 hours if the restaurant is really busy. Since we're not famous - I wanted to avoid the possibility of being served late - or rushed out early - etc. I don't know what would have happened had we booked dinner - but lunch was wonderful. A leisurely 3 hour meal at a great restaurant. Robyn

Although I wrote up just about every other meal I ate in London - I didn't write up Zaika. It was extremely expensive - and (I thought) not very good. I followed the old rule - "if you can't say anything nice". Especially since I'd never seen a bad word about it here. But now that you mention it.... I don't know much about Indian food (I like good Indian food when I eat it - but I'm pathetic when it comes to knowing whether to order this, that or the other thing). Our waiter was Spanish. No communication problem because we speak Spanish and he spoke English etc. But he really didn't have much in the way of recommendations that impressed us. So we had the tasting menu. I thought it was "blah" - at best - some of the dishes were "deconstructed" Indian dishes. Interesting intellectually - sometimes pretty to look at - but not all that tasty. I was disappointed. One of the worst things was that my husband had the "wine pairings". Not only were they not served with the courses they were supposed to come with - but best we could figure - he wound up 2 glasses short (of course - it was kind of hard to figure since the pairings didn't arrive with the courses). I didn't like the room - kind of cavernous - and I didn't like our table. It was like the tables at Cafe Boulud in New York - a 2-top inches away from the 2-top next to us. We couldn't help but learn the life history of the people dining next to us. We had a reservation for 8 on a Sunday - and the place had pretty much emptied out by the time we left after 11. We needed a cab - which looked to us like it should have been easy on that street (a relatively main street) - but it was harder than we thought. And just about when we turned around to go back into the restaurant to ask that they call us a cab - they shut the big front door - BANG. We did hail a cab - about 10-15 minutes later. I know I said I liked J. Sheekey before - and one of the things I liked about the place is we left there after 1 am on a Friday - tried to find a cab and couldn't - and when we returned - they had someone there whose only job was to make sure all the customers got home - which apparently isn't easy in the early morning in the theater district! He made the necessary arrangements for us. The place may not have the greatest food in London (although the seafood we had was very good) - but it's classy - and I liked it. Anyway - when I'm spending more than $300 for dinner - I want a better experience than the one I had at Zaika. And I guess your post gave me the courage to say what I thought about our dinner there. Robyn

You're from Dallas. I'm from Jacksonville FL. Zaika is definitely not mid-range price-wise. Dinner was over $300. Lunch at Gordon Ramsay was almost $300. Lunch at La Fromagerie was $80. Etc. Our best rule of thumb price-wise was that all the prices looked reasonable - if 1 pound = 1 dollar. Unfortunately - 1 pound = $1.80 plus. So everything will be about twice as expensive as you think it should be. Budget yourself accordingly. Note that none of these prices included big bottles of wine (some drinks to be sure - like 2 glasses of wine at lunch at Gordon Ramsay - but nothing spectacular as far as wines were concerned). If you want big wines - you'll pay more. Robyn

I thought the food we had in London last month was - on the whole - great. No need for anyone in London to apologize to me . Just a few notes (have discussed most of these meals elsewhere at length). Had lunch at Gordon Ramsay (easier reservation than dinner - fabulous 3 hour lunch). Dinner at Tom Aikens was also fabulous. Angela Hartnett at the Connaught was excellent. Zaika was disappointing (and more expensive than Tom Aikens). Anchor and Hope for lunch followed by afternoon at the Tate for the Hopper exhibit was great. You have to have a bigger stomach than I do to eat breakfast before that lunch . Liked La Fromagerie but my husband (who's more of a sweetbreads person than a salad person) left a bit hungry. Really enjoyed 140 Park Lane (restaurant at our hotel). J. Sheekey's was good. It's not Gordon Ramsay or Tom Aikens - by a long shot - but it's one of the few places that looked appealing for a 50+ person after theater. If you're 25 - there are lots of other options . Forget the name of the place in Chinatown where we had dim sum - but it was excellent. Don't miss Jerry Springer the Opera. Make reservations as far in advance as possible - and bring lots of money. Note that the Fat Duck isn't in London - it's kind of like going to a place on Long Island if you're staying in Manhattan. Unless you're big on travel to/from places to eat - I'd pass if I were staying in Central London (I love to walk - and must have walked at least 5 miles a day during our trip - I actually lost 2 pounds!). Robyn

Any perfume department at a high end store (like Neiman Marcus). Robyn

I don't think that's true universally. When we came back through customs at Orlando airport last month - I think there were more "food-sniffing" dogs than "drug-sniffing" dogs. In Florida - which is a big agricultural state - the general rule at customs is - "when in doubt, throw it out". Robyn

I'll cast another vote. Best chicken I ever had. Robyn

I really liked the Pure Food & Wine writeup. After I read it - it crossed my mind that perhaps Bruni is simply someone like me - a reasonably intelligent person who's a decent writer - who has eaten his share of good eats - and who has his share of likes and dislikes. I'm not sure these are great qualifications for being the head food critic of the NYT - but it means I'll probably take a close look at his opinions. I'm curious - what's the general opinion of the "raw food" scene in NY? I think it's a little silly (except when I'm on a diet and eating at home) - but I know it has lots of rabid supporters on the west coast. What Bruni basically said is it's ok intellectually - perhaps very politically correct - but not good eats. Perhaps it doesn't take much guts to say that in NY (it would take a lot of guts in California). It would be like the head art critic for the NYT going to some art shows in NY - e.g., in the conceptual art realm - and saying the work sucks (I figure I can use the word "sucks" since Sharapova used it in her post-match interview today ). But that assumes that the NY view is identical to the California view. Are the "orthodox" foodie views the same on the right coast and left coast? If they aren't - that would be interesting news. Kind of like the current fight in the art world between the "conceptual" and "nonconceptual" people (which has given rise to some interesting sub-fights in university art departments). Anyway - I'm interested to hear what NY/California people have to say. Robyn

And do I ever know it. We have 2 Ruth's Chris here - and a Morton's - and some local places - and they all do a great business - particularly when there are major sporting events, conventions or corporate golf outings in town. Meanwhile - places that are as expensive as steakhouses - but aren't steakhouses - don't - for the most part - do anywhere near as well. I must say my basic impression of the average steakhouse customer here isn't all that favorable - but I have to temper that impression with a few grains of salt since the majority of them are members of groups of guys who are "doing the town" while their wives are back home. And then there is the famous Jacksonville Jaguars dinner at Morton's every year - but that's a whole 'nother story (although it doesn't change my basic impression). Robyn

It's never easy to find the things you want in software (there are so many "features" it's hard to find the ones you're looking for). But better late than never. Robyn

I look at the sanitation aspects of a restaurant with one eye - and the health/sociological/political aspects of a restaurant with another quite different eye. I'd like to know if a restaurant is unsanitary. But if people want to eat beef - or genetically modified food - or foie gras - or Chilean sea bass - or triple cream cheese - or any other kind of food that might be unhealthy/politically incorrect /whatever at a restaurant - that's up to them. I don't think the latter has a place in a restaurant review in the "mainstream" media. And I would appreciate it if people who don't approve of their choices confine their objections to speech (as opposed to vandalism). Robyn

Far be it from me to tell you what to order, but there is quite a bit more to making a first-class steak than merely getting the doneness right. The big steakhouses age their meat, which makes an enormous difference. They are also able to get higher quality beef than is found at your typical community supermarket. Even if you have the same product quality and age it yourself, it is no small feat to produce the "crunchy, tender, smoky, earthy" taste Bruni referred to. If you can do all that consistently, I congratulate you. But lastly, there is of course the pleasure of having it all done for you, which is one of the reasons we eat out. Agreed that the review comments seem to be inconsistent. Perhaps Bruni's standards are different than mine. I like my beef rare - and I don't care how good the beef is - if I don't get it rare I send it back. In fact - the better the cut of beef - the more of a tragedy it is to overcook it IMO. I'm sure New York has great places to eat steak - but so do many other cities (my own included). And it's something I can do myself very easily on the rare occasion that I want to eat a steak. When I travel to a place like NYC - I want to eat the things I can't get at local restaurants - things I'd never ever consider trying to cook in my home. Just a personal preference on my part. Robyn

I was talking about the fact that the steak was overdone (according to the review). I'm sure it's possible to do that with any piece of equipment - but I certainly wouldn't excuse a restaurant because it had high end equipment. Like I said a few messages ago - about all you you can do wrong cooking a steak is not cooking it to the proper degree of doneness. And this restaurant flunked that test (according to the review). Whether they could have done it with the equipment they had - I don't know. The fact is that they didn't. For what it's worth - my Weber does a pretty good job. I'm not sure exactly how hot it gets. It's certainly not the 1800 degrees advertised by Ruth's Chris - I suspect it's more like 700-800 degrees on a warm night. And I probably get a bit more heat because I like to cook ribeyes with a lot of fat. When the fat ignites - you get little fires. They're really hot - and they make a nice crust. Perhaps the best thing about the Weber porcelain in my opinion is it hasn't totally corroded after being left outside for over 6 years. When you're dealing with Florida heat/humidity - anything that's supposed to be "Stainless" steel isn't. Robyn

I was at Troisgros about 15 years ago - and I'm glad to hear that nothing has changed (the town is still unremarkable and the restaurant is still fabulous ). Congratulations on your first anniversary and may you have many more (I'm coming up on my 34th in a few months). Robyn

Regarding LA - I know I'm in the minority - but I like the city. And if you're on a budget - you can (as in most huge cities) - find lots of ethnic inexpensive eats (like Monterey Park for Chinese). We're not talking the traditional inner city places these days (your Grandmother's "Chinatown") - lots of middle class first/second generation immigrants are living on the outskirts of major cities now (which means you can probably find a decent inexpensive place to stay too). I think the singularly most important recent building in just about all of California these days is the Getty Museum. What a world class architect can do when given an almost unlimited budget. It's a "don't miss" in my opinion. And it's near a very good dim sum restaurant. Robyn

Actually Luger's, and probably Wolfgang's as well, uses a broiler that is far far hotter than any found in a home kitchen, and the result is very different. So if they're using fancier equipment - shouldn't their results be more precise - not less? Why should a steak ever be overdone? I'm not a big steak eater - but when I do cook a steak about once a month - I want it rare - very. My husband likes medium. I know the cut of meat I buy - and I know my grill - and I have a Polder timer. I sometimes have to adjust a little if I'm grilling in the 90 degree summer - or the the 50 degree winter (we do get under 50 - but I don't grill then - it's too hard to adjust for the cold). Otherwise - it's simply a matter of setting the timer. Presumably a restaurant kitchen can keep a more constant temperature. Like I said - I like my meat rare. And when I first started to grill I got lousy results cooking really thick steaks at home (burnt outside - raw inside). I then ate a few times at places like Ruth's Chris and Mortons - mostly to see what they could do with those fancy high temp grills. If you want a steak that's "rare" inside - and you order a very thick cut at these places - it will basically not be hot when it's served (and you are so warned on the menu). IOW - same results as I got at home. So when I cook at home - I use thinner steaks (not skinny - but not really super thick). Max of 4 minutes (2 minutes a side). Nice outside - rare inside. Anyway - I'm not sure what you're saying. Because these guys have grills fancier than my Weber - their results are worse? I suspect you're saying something different - but I don't understand exactly what it is. I will add that that there was a suggestion in another message (not yours) that because the NYT is national now (and I do get home delivery of the paper here in the hinterlands) - that the nature of the food reviews was somewhat compromised (presumably for us "hicks"). Nothing could be further from the truth. We have steak places - and we even have our own grills. I have never (and will never) dine in a NYC restaurant to eat something as basic as a steak. When I go to the Big Apple - I want something that's very far removed from what I can get at home. Perhaps New Yorkers need reviews of steak places because they don't have their own grills? Robyn

I was getting my picture software in order on my new computer today. There's a "Batch Processing" command under "File" in Photoshop Elements. Check it out. I think it does what you want. Robyn

Agreed. If you're in my neighborhood - come on over and I'll serve you a steak that's perfectly done to your liking. I mean - how much is there to *cooking* a steak apart from getting it to the desired degree of doneness? Any restaurant that can't do that doesn't deserve any stars in my book. Robyn

I hate to be repetitive - but here it goes. It is not the best (of that I'm quite sure) - but I use Sausages By Amy Chicken Andouille Sausage which I buy in Costco (you can also buy it through the Williams Sonoma catalogue but it costs a heck of a lot more there). It's relatively low in the bad stuff (fat, salt, etc.) - and it's relatively easy to get if you live in a place where andouille sausage is unavailable or the stuff you can find is just plain nasty. Robyn

I drink Beefeater's gin and diet Ocean Spray cranberry juice with a wedge of lime all the time. I think of Beefeater's as a "middle of the road" high end gin - and I use it for everything (perhaps because it's dirt cheap at Costco). Robyn

Although there may be a way to do more than one picture at a time - I haven't figured out how to do it either. Perhaps someone who has figured it out can help both of us out. Robyn

Resize like from 4x6 to 5x7 etc. - or some other way? I have tons of milkweed in my yard. That's how I get the monarchs to pose . There was a bad migration this year (no one is sure why). So when I got the few travelers who wound up in my yard - I basically sat for hours to get pix of them. I'm not sure this was the best pix - I just pulled it out of several dozen. I think that one of the keys to photography - unless you're dealing with fast action - like sports - is patience (grasshopper). We have a place near us called the Alligator Farm - which is a world class bird rookery. There are a lot of professional photographers there for nature magazines. They'll sit there for many hours - many days a week - with incredibly awesome cameras - looking to take the shots that will wind up in magazines. If the pros take so much time - who am I am think I can do it faster? Robyn

Why orders for low carbs only? My husband (former marathon runner) has a blood pressure problem. His father had it - his grandfather had it - etc. - etc. I think the keys to control are: 1) maintaining proper weight (and at 162 pounds - you seem to be doing ok there unless you're 5 feet tall) - both as a result of keeping an eye on calories and exercise; 2) reducing salt intake (and water retention); and 3) taking blood pressure meds if necessary (my husband is about 160 - fit - and still needs a lot of meds). We eat everything - in moderation (99% of the time). I'm not sure how reducing carbs can lower blood pressure - unless it's part of a diet you're using to lose weight. Robyn

Let's see. The guy is (judging from his name) Italian - and he's spent the last X years of his life in Italy. Now I've had some mighty terrific food in Italy (and I also happen to be a pretty decent cook when it comes to Italian food - I even make stuff like my own pasta and pesto from time to time) - but I think when it comes to NYT and Michelin stars - "the Best of Italian Cooking" isn't what pops into your mind when it comes to definitions of those star ratings in the higher range. Perhaps it should. I went to a restaurant in London (1 Michelin star) where the basic construct was French with a big heavy dose of Italian. It really worked. And my husband and I were happy campers. By the way - I have never been to Babbo - but I went to Felidia's a while back. At least for the meal I ate there - I thought it was probably about 1 Michelin star in terms of food/service. I'd ask for comparisons about Felidia's/Babbo - but those comparisons would be talking about today - and my experience isn't current. Robyn

I'm not familiar with Paint Shop Pro - and I have to admit that I am probably using only about 5% of what Photoshop Elements can do. But - since they're both in the same price range - I think people should probably take a look at both before they buy. Robyn