robyn

I thought the food was fabulous at Le Cirque 2000 but it's been about 5 years since I was there. Has it gone downhill? Robyn

That apparently it detracts from the "class" of a restaurant if the patrons are snapping pictures. I can't disagree with Bruni there. Guess the moral of the story is if you love a restaurant - leave your camera at home. Robyn

Thanks! I am just starting to see these sausages in our local grocery store. Think I will give them a try. How are they for grilling? I like grilled sausages as an appetizer when I barbecue. I've never grilled them. They're basically "heat and eat" - not a lot of fat - so I suspect the primary purpose of putting them on the grill would be to get grill marks . On the other hand - that would make them look authentic - so grill away . Robyn

Suzanne basically made the same point in somewhat different words. I had a hard time figuring out exactly what rubbed me the wrong way about this. So I thought a bit - and read a bit. And I ran across an old article in salon.com (could have been slate but I think it was salon) that described a food seminar a while back where Steingarten was a panelist (or perhaps the only speaker). And the gist was that here was a member of the media who was giving a presentation mostly to members of the media (or at least it was packaged for the consumption of media members in the audience). This is not the same as "the blind leading the blind". But it is a fairly closed circle. People who write about food talking about food primarily for the sake of other people who write about food. And then the people who write about food write about the people who write about food talking about food. So you get these seminars and food festivals which feature the same "talking heads" - endlessly. They're either the speakers - or writing what the speakers say - and then the writers become the speakers. The mobius strip of contemporary food events. I've used the small number of frequent flyer miles I have in some soon to be defunct airlines to subscribe to a bunch of food/wine magazines. And there are tons of ads for these events. And it's almost always the same people (there is also a cast of "celebrity chefs" - they're the "dancers" in the productions). As a lawyer - I believe there's an unfortunate tendency to elevate lawyers to the heights of "food-dom" - probably because a fair number tend to write well - and speak well. So I guess they'd be good on panels where people want to be entertained. On the other hand - a fair number of chefs - especially newer younger ones - tend to be not so literate. The current issue of Food and Wine details its opinions of the best new chefs of 2004. For a fair number - it was a choice between becoming a carpenter and a chef. I try to talk with chefs when I go to restaurants I especially like - if they have the time. Did so on this last trip to London. I don't think these people would be witty panelists - but they can teach you a lot about running a professional kitchen (from a lot of points of view). It's instructive - and I suspect I have more to learn from them about the professional food industry than I have to learn from Steingarten - who after all - is just another Harvard educated lawyer like me (although I pay for my meals and Vogue pays for his). Perhaps the operative phrase here is - those who can't do - pontificate? Agreed this panel is a "good draw". But so is Wayne Newton. Robyn P.S. The salon article had Steingarten smoking big cigars while he was cooking at home. I frankly can't imagine a serious food person doing that.

I think my point about the BBQ sauce I use was simply that there are African Americans who aren't content to bitch about the appropriation of their heritage (whether or not the bitching is justified). There are of course many who have BBQ restaurants (and we have our local ones). But this was the first time I'd run across a sauce sold in major supermarkets that was made by a private company owned and run by African Americans. I suspect the distribution is still local - but it's a good sauce - and I hope a big company buys them out and they make a lot of money . I do agree that sauce is a sideshow. And - with most decent BBQ I've had - it is therefore only served on the side . Robyn

Robyn, may you never, ever, ever have to "ride out" a disaster of the enormity of either event, anywhere. OT too. In retrospect - the reason I think I dealt with Hurricane Andrew better than 9/11 was Miami was - at the time - my home - no matter how messed up it was (and it was messed up for a long time). If you've lived someplace for a long time - it's almost always easier to get the things that have to be done done when faced with a disaster. The things you have to do for yourself - your friends - your community (and most things were menial - e.g., trying to find water up north in Palm Beach and trucking it back to friends who weren't mobile). You just know the ropes. And it's useful psychologically to be busy - in fact busy to the point of exhaustion - at times like that. There is really nothing tourists in New York could have done on 9/11 - except pack our stuff and walk into Queens if we were so inclined - and I wasn't (I suspect a lot of people who live in New York couldn't do anything either). So we had a lot of time to think - and the more one thought - the more one got depressed. All in all - they are situations for complicated feelings. Thanks for your thoughts - and back to BBQ. Robyn P.S. My travel history is a bit cursed. I was also in the "Hurricane of '87" in Oxfordshire (UK). In the mountains of Spain in the early 80's when interest rates crashed. In Italy when the Achille Lauro was hijacked. On the road on I-10 in Louisiana when the space shuttle exploded. In Wyoming when the Iraq Iran war started. I used to do a lot of work on a trading oriented site - and they had an RGV (Robyn G. vacation) indicator. Everyone was "heads up" about their market positions when I went on a trip. They made fun of me. It's a wonder I still travel! But life is short - and good experiences beckon. I'm sure I'll make it back to New York one of these days (can't miss the Diane Arbus exhibit at the Met next year - can I?).

I think I mentioned it before - but in case I didn't - you have to keep in mind what you're going to do with the pictures. In my case - I mostly upload them to the internet - send them to friends/family - or look at them on my computer. Except for looking at them on my computer - I always have to make the pictures less detailed than they were taken. I think on EGullet - I was uploading about 10-20% of of the original resolution. And with Ebay - I can't use the "Best" setting for taking pictures. Only the "Good". And that's with a no-big-deal 3 megapixel camera. What I do of course varies a lot from what a professional or serious amateur photographer does. Anyway - I'd keep this in mind when you're tempted to get carried away by the latest gee whiz technology. For what it's worth - I wouldn't even own a camera if I hadn't made a bet with my husband that I could pay for the camera by selling stuff on Ebay. He lost the bet . A digital camera is a great closet cleaning tool. Robyn

I use Sausages by Amy Andouille Chicken Sausage in a lot of dishes. I use it because it's relatively low in salt - fat and calories - and it tastes good too. Means I can eat sausage more than once a year . I buy it at Costco (you probably have a Costco up in your neck of the woods). Robyn

We get all kinds of "Florida" shrimp here in Florida. E.g., here where I live - we get fresh "Mayport" shrimp (Mayport is in Jacksonville - and the shrimp boats aren't that big). But our "Key West pinks" are flash frozen. In Miami - my brother can get Key West pinks fresh. And he doesn't get Mayport shrimp at all. These are the 2 kinds of shrimp I use 90% of the time - but there are others from Florida - and other places - in our stores. I find that Publix is scrupulous about labeling its seafood prominently in terms of place of origin - farmed or wild - fresh or previously frozen (Fresh Market and Harris Teeter are good too). Some of our local seafood markets aren't so scrupulous. So I pretty much stick to Publix - Fresh Market and Harris Teeter. Robyn

OK - I'll bite. Why are supermarkets a force for evil? I rather like a couple of my local supermarkets. You're the first person I know who has ever admitted to liking Barry Manilow. I won't hold it against you . I'm not from Chicago - but I vacation there a fair amount. It's a wonderful city for art - architecture - design - etc. If you have any interest in these things - I'd be glad to tell you about my favorite places (which aren't exactly "undiscovered"). If you don't have an interest - you should develop one - because Chicago is one of the most exciting cities in the world to explore these things. By the way - I'm sure there are people who know lots more about the restauants there than I do - but if I think I have something to offer - I'll try to help. Robyn

Correct on both counts in my opinion. After we were in London for about 24 hours - we figured out that what costs $1 in the US costs about a pound in London. Which means that it's about 80% more expensive. I think the person who started this thread is from Canada - so his sticker shock will probably be greater than ours. Robyn

I was planning to start a separate thread about our meal at Menu - but it seemed like a good idea to add my thoughts here (no sense having numerous threads about the same restaurant). This was my third favorite meal in London (after Gordon Ramsay and Tom Aikens). It was excellent - but not quite as excellent as number one and number two. I chose to eat at Menu instead of the Grill because I smoke - and was told that all the Grill had to offer (that Menu didn't) was non-smoking and a few old traditional dishes. The decision was a no-brainer for me. The room is elegant in an old fashioned British kind of way. But the restaurant isn't stuffy. This is probably due to the staff. A lot of the people we dealt with were from Italy. They were knowledgeable - and friendly. They even put up with our terrible Italian . The tables are well spaced. We had a table for two near a table for 8 - and we couldn't hear a single thing they were saying! I chose this restaurant as one of the places we'd try on our recent trip because: 1) I like to support woman chefs (there aren't many of them - and just a few have Michelin stars); and 2) I had read that Angela Hartnett was trying to inject an Italian influence into what was formerly a very stodgy room (can't vouch for this - this was my first time dining in the room). And influence is the right word - this is *not* an Italian restaurant - it *is* a restaurant with Italian influences. My husband and I started with an amuse of celeriac soup. Delicious. My starter was the roasted breast of quail with onion ravioli. I love quail - and I loved this dish. My husband started with roasted Scottish sea scallops with a smoked red wine sauce. I tried some of his. Good - but I wouldn't give him half of mine . We had to make an important decision before this trip. Offal or no offal. We figured what is eating in Europe without offal? And we're getting old enough that we won't die young anymore (of mad cow disease or anything else). So our mains were all offal - all the time. My husband had a special not on the menu. Liver (fegato) with potatoes and cabbage. I had the carmelized sweetbread with grilled asparagus, green beans and veal reduction sauce. Here - we had a wash. Each of us ate half of the other's dish (as well as half of our own) with great gusto. These dishes both showed the Italian influence. They were relatively restrained - and allowed the main ingredient to shine. For dessert - first there was a dessert amuse of tiramisu. Somewhat of a cliche these days - but it's a cliche because - if made properly - it's delicious. And this one was made properly. Then I had the poached pear with gorgonzola cheese. I will never pass up a poached pear anywhere. And I was correct not to pass it up this time. This particular gorgonzola was creamy and not too sharp - a perfect foil for the pear. And when we ran out of pear - we finished off the rest of the cheese with some cheese biscuits (which the staff was glad to bring over). Again - this was an Italian influenced dessert - fruit and cheese. My husband made an unfortunate choice for dessert - the passion fruit baba au rum. I don't recommend it. As for wines - like I've said before - my tummy doesn't get along with wine - but it seems to embrace champagne. I had perhaps 3 glasses of the house champagne (can't remember what it was). Very nice. I haven't mentioned it before - but at every fine restaurant we went to in London - I loved watching the people who poured the magnums of champagne - balancing the bottles on their arms. Perfect pours. They should have signs on their backs though - DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! My husband had wine by the glass (as he frequently does). He can't remember what he had - although I remember that he enjoyed the white with his starter very much - and was disappointed with the red (this is unfortunately common - it's easier to get excellent white wines by the glass than reds in finer restaurants). For those of you who drink wine by the bottle - there are tons of relatively inexpensive Italian wines on the wine list which should pair nicely with the food. All in all - a really nice meal. Relative bargain too. Three course fixed price dinner for 50 pounds. It's a Michelin one star - and I think that's exactly what it is. Not the best in London - but very fine indeed. Robyn

We have springs in Florida - and one large brand - Zephyrhills (which I think is a subsidiary of Nestle) - comes from those springs. So we have domestic water. I have a simple rule about bottled water. I never drink it at restaurants in the US (except a few - mostly rural places - with disgusting tap water). And I always drink it in Europe - simply because that's the way they do things there. When in Rome - etc. Robyn

I'm not a crowd person either. The Miami Beach food festival got some negative press because a lot of people who had paid good money for the event thought it was just too darned crowded. In response to an earlier message about sweet potato pie - it's really common in the south - and not just at African American BBQ places. Perhaps it's more common in African American BBQ restaurants in other parts of the country because the people who own/cook in those establishments are from the south. That said - it's yummy - and everyone has a favorite recipe (including me). Robyn

You're right. I don't. The last time I was in New York was on 9/11. A "pleasure" trip - my 30th anniversary. It was a very unpleasant experience for a variety of reasons I won't repeat here (although I can't fault the staff in the hotel where I was staying - they were champs). I had been through disasters before - like Hurricane Andrew - where over 100,000 houses were rendered uninhabitable (including mine for a while). So it wasn't the tangibles - it was the intangibles. All things considered - I'd prefer riding out a disaster in Miami than in New York. And when I go to big cities these days - I find myself gravitating to places like London. As for the event in New York - this caught my eye: 3:00-3:45 p.m. All-Star Barbecue Sauce Tasting An informative and entertaining tasting of the award-winning sauces featured at this year's Big Apple Barbecue Block Party, from three of our country's leading authorities on taste. Colman Andrews, moderator, editor-in-chief, SAVEUR Jeffrey Steingarten, author, The Man Who Ate Everything Calvin Trillin, author, Feeding a Yen Whatever I think of these people - I find it hard to believe that a city of millions couldn't come up with someone slightly more authentic to render opinons about BBQ sauce. When I think of BBQ experts - Steingarten and Trillin don't exactly come to mind (I'm not familiar with Andrews). But I guess they cover H to Y (Harvard to Yale) - and that passes for expertise in all manner of things in New York . Robyn

Agreed for the most part. And let me add another factor. Post civil war - and up until very recently - a large part of the south - black and white - was poor. Politicians don't serve grits and grunts at events like the 4th of July picnic because they're a culinary delicacy. They serve them because that's what a lot of people remember growing up eating (much like my family has its traditional "hard times" dishes). And when there's an "expensive" ingredient - like shrimp - in local dishes - it's because they're local and people could go out and catch them for free. I don't think a lot of people here had a lot of money to spend on the pork, beef or chicken that I see in BBQ these days. So is this just another case of the "elite" watching blacks and whites from poor backgrounds (or blacks and whites pretending to have poor backgrounds) fight another fight that isn't worth fighting about (there's sure a lot of that in the history of the south). By the way - as we say here - I ain't got no dog in this fight. My family didn't move to the south until 40 years ago - and the few Jewish families I know who have lived here for over 100 years had ancestors who kept Kosher (a lot were traveling salespeople - and when they were on the road - about all they'd eat was hard boiled eggs - the most Kosher thing you could eat in a non-Kosher environment). Robyn

Hispaniola of course includes both the Dominican Republic (which you don't read about very much) - and Haiti (which is in the papers all the time). As far as Haiti goes (and Haiti is a "big deal" in Florida because of the large local Haitian population) - the last article I saw in the NYT about food mentioned that the people were eating some kind of cake in which a major ingredient was dirt. So I don't think most people there are too worried about BBQ traditions these days <sigh>. Robyn

I live in the south. Why would I go to NY to eat BBQ? Per Se and dim sum - yes. BBQ - no . Robyn

I just don't get it. Best I can figure out - "native Americans" invented the cooking technique. Spanish explorers came up with the original word. And lest we forget - pigs (the current haute cuisine of BBQ) came from Asia and Europe: "HISTORY It is thought that the common American pig is a descendant of two wild swine. History shows us that one European species of hog bred with a Southeastern Asian hog and were domesticated in China some 9000 years ago. Europeans continued the breeding process until Christopher Columbus introduced the domesticated animal into the States in 1493." Are we so parochial as Americans that we think there was no history before 1776? This looks like a quintessential US "melting pot" thing to me. Why do people who are many many generations removed from the original (and who had nothing to do with original) fight? Let's be glad we have so many people in this country who took the basics and worked at perfecting them - and take it from there. Robyn

The BBQ sauce I use is called Copper Kettle. It's made (or used to be made if the company has been sold) by local African Americans (and it has a picture of a dark brown person in chef's clothes on the bottle). I've talked with some of the people who demo the product - it's grandma's original recipe . It's also relatively low in salt (for BBQ sauce) - and kosher . There aren't a whole lot of those original "New World" native Americans in the southeast, the islands, central America and south America left to fight about these things. Many died from imported diseases. And of those who were left - many inter-married. I'm sure that most who remain have more pressing problems than claiming their ancestral right to be known as the creators of BBQ. So that leaves groups of self-centered Americans to fight about the issue (and the only thing I'll say for sure about this is that I know my Jewish ancestors from Eastern Europe can't claim any credit ). And I agree it's kind of a silly argument. I'd rather go to a BBQ cooking demo or contest than a seminar where a lot of people fight about who invented the technique. I care more about eating well than having politically correct thoughts about food. For what it's worth - if anyone is interested - we actually do have the oldest US city down here where I live in north Florida - St. Augustine. And you'll find references to barbacoa in the history of St. Augustine (although they come after the DeSoto travels). As well as a lot of other interesting food/animal history. E.g., many of the early settlers brought pigs to these parts - and when they escaped into the swamps - over the course of several hundred years they wound up evolving into wild pigs like boars you think you'd only see in Africa - we see them on the road once in a while. Robyn P.S. If anyone reads the translation I cited - you'll see references to barbacoa cooking of little birds. Whoever got the idea that real BBQ doesn't include chicken is inaccurate historically!

The earliest reference I could find to "barbacoa" on the internet was this translation about some of De Soto's travels in the "New World" in about 1540. Perhaps you can find an earlier reference. So the concept and the phrase go back a long time before the "black culture" you're talking about. I think it likely that the style of cooking was appropriated from various "native Americans" by more than one group of people - and that the word describing the cooking was appropriated from the word the Spanish used to explain what they saw. Overall - I think you're looking at a very old complicated "family tree". Sounds like someone could write a doctoral thesis about it (if someone hasn't already). Robyn

I've spent the last 2 days setting up a new computer - and I'm glad the first message I read here made me laugh (f I run across one more MSFT wizard that acts like a dunce - I think I'll strangle the icon ). As for the people in Australia - we have a big country - and we're very far away - so I can excuse them. I'm not so sure I can be as charitable about some of my fellow countrymen. Robyn

If either you or he is into gambling - it will probably cost you more than dinner at Picasso . But there are some really interesting gambling things there. Like the craps tables (never could understand them - but the guys working the tables will take the time to try to explain if you're there relatively early before the hot action starts). And there is a sports bar where you can place sports bets right at the bar. And - believe it or not - last time I was - they even had nickel slots (seemed kind of odd - but I guess they must make a ton of money on the slots). Robyn P.S. I could never meet my uncle in Las Vegas because he's a compulsive gambler. It would cost me a heck of a lot more than dinner anywhere in the world!

I don't live in Atlanta. I live in Florida. But I've been traveling to Atlanta for business/pleasure for about 20 years. And I agree with Therese. I don't get "stupid" when I'm in cities other than London or New York - and I don't demand chitlins and greens or Miss Pitty Pat's Porch (or whatever the heck the name of it is - the place across the street from the Peachtree Plaza downtown where I walked in once 20 years ago - never to return again) when I go to Atlanta. I'll buy the best the city has to offer (assuming I don't have to drive 20 miles in rush hour after a few drinks to get it - which is why I find fine hotel dining rooms agreeable). I don't know about you guys up north in Atlanta - but I get mighty tired of northern folk thinking that all we have to offer in the south is gussied up BBQ - with an occasional dose of Cuban food. Sometimes - when I hear northern people talking about eating in the south - it reminds me of stories about rich folk slumming. And - on my part - I don't care to eat like that most of the time. Nor do I want to travel over 1000 miles to get a meal that's classier than "grits and grunts". So let's support our local fine dining places - and to heck with what the rest of the world thinks. Robyn

My first thought would be a steak house too - except that if he's from Texas - well I imagine he's eaten a steak or two in his life. And he's probably eaten what he *knows* are the best steaks of his life. You didn't say what meal you'd be taking him out for. If you have a fair amount of time - why not try something like the lunch/brunch at Bellagio - or even the breakfast? That's certainly not stuffy - but it is a heap of good food for a reasonable price (I especially like the desserts). He'll probably try things he hasn't tried before - and then perhaps you can get a better read for a possible dinner. Take what you saved on the restaurants and treat him to a bit of time in the casino there (I'm not much of a gambler - in fact - I don't gamble at all - so I can't give you any advice in that arena - but the casino is very elegant). Or - if he's not a gambler - something else he might consider to be a special treat, Last time I did something like what you're doing - I took my aunt and uncle (both 80-ish) who live in San Diego out for brunch at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. They really liked the setting (romantic) - and the buffet ambience wasn't intimidating. They especially liked being picked up by the hotel limo when we went for a walk on Rodeo Drive! It was something they don't get to do but once in a blue moon. So I'd suggest coming with up the "once in a blue moon" wrinkle for your uncle (and it might not have anything to do with food). Robyn