robyn

A hint about brisket. It's best to make it a day or two in advance. Slice it - cover it with your sauce (make sure you have enough sauce to cover). Refrigerate. And then reheat before serving. Brisket is generally very lean internally (except for the point cut) - and this seems to tenderize it. Not to mention that it's always easier making things in advance. As for my favorite ridiculously easy but good brisket recipe: Line a roasting pan with foil. Slice up a green pepper or two (depending on the size of your brisket) into strips. Place 1/2 the pepper on the foil. Sprinkle the pepper with 1/2 or 1 packet of Lipton's onion soup mix - again depending on the size of the brisket. Place the brisket on top - fat side down. Rub 3 or 4 finely chopped garlic gloves (I use a mini chopper) onto the top of the brisket. Put the rest of the pepper strips and the remaining half of the Lipton's onion soup mix on top. Draw X's on top of the brisket with ketchup. Add about 1-2 cups of water in the bottom of the foil. Put foil on top - and make a packet - crimping the edges tightly (but leave space for hot air circulation). Bake at 325 degrees for 3 hours. When brisket is done - mix the stuff on top of the brisket into the sauce. Robyn P.S. The absolute best thing I like with my brisket and brisket gravy is noodle kugel. Kind of hard to do at Passover unless you're celebrating it at the First Baptist Church in your town . But perfect for other holidays.

You realize we sound like a couple of old farts here . This situation falls into the "Waiting for Godot" category. Reminds me of the day or two after 9/11 - when we kept calling to see when our airline would start flying again - to take us home. At a certain point - you realize that "no news" isn't "good news". And you just govern yourself accordingly (which in our case - and the case of thousands of other people - meant renting a car and driving home). Luckily - this situation is a lot less serious. You just make reservations at other restaurants. And when Per Se reopens - you make a reservation and dine there. Robyn

I don't go to restaurants because they have the best PR and the best market research. I go to restaurants that serve good, better, best food. Some of my most disappointing meals in recent years have been at places where apparently more is spent on PR than what's going on in the kitchen . As for my point of view - I've never been into cultural relativism . I neglected to add something my husband mentioned last night. Why would Keller - with the French Laundry - even try to do this restaurant in New York? I doubt it was for the money (the costs at the FL have to be more controllable than those at Per Se). And - as for reputation - there are plenty of 3 star chefs in countries like France who never cooked anything in Paris. And New York is worse than Paris. Everyone gets angry or bored or upset so quickly. Just read that the mix at Mix will change totally very soon - and how long has it been open? So why did Keller do it? Robyn

I did a 5 second Google search tonight - and the current estimated date for re-opening is late April. As with all construction - this is only an estimate (building always takes twice as long and costs 30% more than originally anticipated). By the way - according to the NY Post article I referred to - other restaurants in the AOL Building are behind schedule too. Robyn

Guess we are a minority of two . We shouldn't forget that the fire was only about a month ago. This is the most recent article I could find about the situation. So late April is the anticipated opening date - but who can say for sure? By the way - not to make light of your problem - but do you remember the old joke? A Catholic is told he's dying - and - asked for his last wish - he says - I want to see my priest. A Protestant is told the same thing - and - for his last wish - says I want to see my minister. A Jew is told the same thing - and - for his last wish - says - I want to see another doctor. Perhaps a second opinion in your case would be the same as the first opinion - but there's certainly no harm in getting one. And there are doctors doing certain things in certain parts of the country that most doctors elsewhere can't do - or can't do extremely well (and these doctors aren't necessarily in the biggest cities - Mayo in Minnesota and the Cleveland Clinic have a lot of superspecialists). E.g., we went to Mayo in Minnesota for a surgical consult for a heart valve problem my husband has. The surgeon we met is a valve repair specialist. According to the doctors we know (some of whom are cardiac surgeons) - this guy is only one of 3 in the US they'd trust if they needed a heart valve repair. Don't know what your problem is - but shop around for the biggest deal specialist you can find - and get that second opinion. Good luck. Robyn P.S. The cardiology workup my husband had at Mayo before he even met the surgeon was very impressive. I was surprised that the cardiac surgeons at Mayo in Minnesota wouldn't even trust a cardiology workup at Mayo in Jacksonville before rendering an opinion - they wanted the cardiologists they worked with every day to do the workup.

Thanks for taking the time to do in a restaurant what I would never consider doing at home . I find that on too many occasions - a restaurant doesn't take the little bit of time to do what I do do at home . By the way - at the Fair I mentioned above - they actually make the grits from scratch - i.e., from corn - in a machine that I am sure does not meet current safety requirements for anything (to show how they're made) - and then they cook what they've milled. It does indeed take hours and hours - and the volunteers who work the exhibit are busy stirring for the entire 10 days of the fair! Robyn

This is a knee jerk analysis that is overly simplistic and I believe incorrect. The issue is not trendiness, I'm sure that is not at all the motivation of most of the posters on this thread. There are only a handful of restaurants in NYC, fewer than 10, that represent ultra high end luxury dining that aspires to culinary magnificance. These restaurants have all been around for a long time, some are in decline and others that may be maintaining their standards are not innovating sufficiently to maintain the interest of the most dedicated diners. Per Se represents an opportunity to try something new and different at this level with the expectation that it may be great. Of course one can do this six months from now, but so what, what can one do now, time counts, it's not irrelevant. Having to defer gratification is painful, and it is this pain, as minor in the grand scheme of things as it may be, that is giving rise to all of these assorted complaints that may come across as trivial and petty to a more dispassionate reader. I discussed this thread with my husband at dinner tonight. My husband is the ultimate conservative Wasp - and the ultimate foodie. He dines in posh restaurants because he likes to eat sublime food. He also dines in nice restaurants because he likes to eat very good food. He can eat blindfolded - and tell you whether he's eating at a 1, 2 or 3 star place. IOW - he likes to eat - and he knows about eating. He doesn't care if he's the first person to eat in a place when its star is ascending - or the last before the lights go out. He has been eating like this for over 30 years now. And he frankly couldn't make sense of this thread. It just didn't compute from his point of view. So if he can wait a year or two (and it probably won't come to that) - so can every 20-50 something in New York. I don't get it either. Are the people in this thread such jaded children that if they can't have what they want - NOW - they just stamp their feet and go into a tizzy? Have you never bought a bottle of wine - and put it away to be drunk years later when it has matured? By the way - perhaps you didn't mean to - but your message gives the impression that New York is sorely lacking in world class restaurants. Those that exist have been around too long - are in decline - yada yada yada. If you are that jaded - I think you should wake up and smell the roses. Or have the short ribs at Le Cirque 2000 - or the dessert trolley at ADNY - or any one of a number of other things out there (although the mentioned short ribs and dessert trolley were my recent favorites). New York is one of the greatest eating cities in the world (often on the high end and the low end, and sometimes in the middle). What would you do if Per Se *never* opened - kill yourself out of boredom? I hope not. Anyway - I will raise a glass to Chef Keller - and hope that when he gets his enterprise going again - that his food will sing - and that all of these trivial complaints will be forgotten. Do I detect a clink of glasses - and a "hear, hear" in the background? Robyn

There's nothing wrong with armadillos. Look here - they're really cool animals. Even though they're one of only about 5 species of animals in Florida that enjoy absolutely no protection whatsoever . No other animals always give birth to identical quadruplets! They make smallish but deep holes - hunting for bugs. They look like the animal equivalent of a Humvee - but they won't hurt you. Nothing wrong with the snakes on your property either (you have them even if don't see them that often - if you do a lot of gardening on the property - you'll run across the discarded skins more often than the snakes). Actually - squirrels are kind of smarmy - giant rat-like things. We have about an acre next to a swamp - and we enjoy the wildlife here. Even the mole families which live in the corners of the house and make big tunnels everywhere. I worry more about wild fires caused by lack of forest clearing than I worry about the critters that live here. By the way - when it comes to grilling - we have an excellent marinade which is sold here in Publix (maybe other places). Made in Middleburg. Pirate's Gold. I recommend it - particularly on rib eyes. Robyn

Agreed that PR isn't a dirty word. It just doesn't seem relevant to me in this context. We're not dealing with a double booking problem. The restaurant had a fire which was bad enough to put a huge monkey wrench into the owner's plans. I have never had the fortune to dine at FL - but I would think that in light of Keller's reputation - people would cut him a lot of slack - and feel sorry for him - especially considering that he didn't in any way (apparently) bring this problem on himself. No offense to you or anyone else personally - but this is one thing I really dislike about the whole New York restaurant scene. Everyone is upset because (I think) they wanted to be one of the first in this week's restaurant of the month. The way I look at it - this is a restaurant that should - if the chef's reputation is any guide - have great legs. Who cares if you eat there next week - or next month - or next year? It should be great. And if it's not great a year from now - who cares when you eat there? It's a social thing more than a food thing in my opinion. Whether you're a celebrity planning a party or a foodie. It was supposed to be the trendy thing to do this spring - and - good grief - if the chef has deprived us of our right to be trendy - we'll be pissed off at him. G-d forbid we should eat there 6 months after all the trendy people have already eaten there. I guess I'm just more interested in the food than the social scene. I don't have to be there first. I just want to get there eventually if it winds up being a great restaurant. I have (GASP!) even eaten at great restaurants 3 years after everyone else in the world knew they were great restaurants. Now if I weren't treated properly under normal circumstances - I'd be upset. But what happened here certainly isn't normal. Robyn

If they're deep holes - they're probably armadillos - not squirrels. Robyn

Publix is moving aggressively everywhere in Florida. It puts up stores in places before the houses are even built! Robyn

I don't know what the big deal is. The guy had a personal business tragedy. His place burned down - after he had closed his other place to open the place that burned down. I don't care what kind of business insurance Keller has - this can't be easy financially. Particularly in a place like New York - which has to be one of the most unfriendly places in the world in terms of getting any construction work done even under normal circumstances - when people aren't breathing down your neck to find out why a fire broke out (e.g., all union labor - bureaucratic building permit procedures - we'll all do the work you need when *we* feel like doing it). And it's not as if anyone made travel plans to eat at Per Se and it was in Podunk - where it's a choice between Per Se - and Denny's. This is New York City. There are lots of good places to eat. You're not going to starve - or eat garbage. Shit happens. We had dinner reservations at Lucas Carton one year and a friend who was supposed to eat with us got the flu. On a much more significant scale - we were in New York to celebrate our 30th annniversary on 9/11. Give the guy a break. Whenever he gets up and running - if you don't want your reservation - I'll take it (even though I'm not fond of New York these days - hate that smoking ban). Robyn

On another point - I have never had a som. sample wine for us - except to verify or question our (infrequent) opinion that the wine is bad. On the other hand - if the som. picks out a really terrific wine for us - we'll offer him/her a taste as a form of compliment. Robyn

no idea - i didn't look - just the awful total. on the subject of tipping - in more down market places I will always tip well good service as I know the staff depend on it. However, for top end places i see absolutely no distinction between food and service - they are one in the same. after all, i've never returned to a place where i know the service is really really good but has bad food - but I'll put up with shit service for heavenliness on a plate. Unless Paris in particular and Europe in general has changed drastically since the last time I was there - service is "compris" - in other words - added to the check automatically. As are taxes. I'd assume the tip was about 18% or so. Who knows what the taxes are??? If we get really good service in Europe - we might add a few dollars and round up the tip to 20% or so (which is our normal tip for good service) - but it is absolutely not expected. And I don't think I want to add 20% to an 18% tip. By the way - restaurants in the US that cater to a large number of European tourists sometimes do add the tip as a matter of course (because otherwise the staff doesn't get tipped) - but it is an unusual practice here. Robyn

I didn't see any Florida responses here. Publix is the hands-down winner in Florida. Not because it is outstanding in any category - but because it is the best overall compared to the others. Note that we have the following markets within 10 minutes of my house: 2 Publix markets, Winn-Dixie, Food Lion, Harris Teeter and Fresh Market. Costco and Sams are 20 minutes away. Harris Teeter and Fresh Market might be more competitive with Publix had they opened larger stores here (both were timid in terms of their expansions into Florida). I have in fact spoken with the manager of the Publix I usually shop at - and he thanks his lucky stars that Harris Teeter opened a small footprint store here - the kind of store where you can never find the kind of paper towels you want to buy. As it stands - about 60 cents of my grocery dollar goes to Publix - the remaining 40 cents is divided among Harris Teeter, Fresh Market and Costco. Robyn

The problem with veggies here isn't the soil - it's the bugs - and the birds! I tried tomatoes one year - they looked great. Couldn't wait to eat one. The minute the first one got ripe - the birds decided to sample it. They didn't like it. So they tried lots more. Didn't like them either. Then the bugs arrived in force. So every tomato that didn't have a peck hole had worms. Yuck. I am not a serious vegetable gardener - so I am not willing to do what it takes to raise $20 worth of nice looking veggies in my garden. If you want to give it the "old college try" - I suggest subscribing to the Clay County Contact - a little newspaper put out 6 times a year by the University of Florida agricultural extension. It tells you everything you need to know about raising plants and animals - including your pigs and cows - in north Florida. It costs all of $3/year. I think you can get subscription information by calling 904-284-6355 or 352-473-3711. By the way - I find that most herbs are relatively bug and bird resistant. Except for things like parsley which I plant as larval plants for caterpillars. I am a much happier gardener now that I plant things mostly for the bugs and birds to eat. I know my milkweed is working when the monarch caterpillars have eaten every leaf off every plant and the butterflies and hummingbirds are going to town on the flowers . P.S. My coons know how to remove the drip pan from my BBQ and lick it clean at night. Have yours learned yet ? Robyn

I cook grits frequently. I've tried several artisan grits - and I don't think they're worth the time and trouble for the average cook. My favorite is Quaker quick (not instant - instant is horrible) grits. Ten minutes start to finish for basic - and you can doctor them any way you want (e.g., cheese grits). For what it's worth - I'm not sure anyone could tell the difference between Quaker quick grits and any artisan grits in a blind tasting after mixing them with a half pound of cheese and/or a lot of other stuff (which is what I recall was in the New York Times article recipe). For those of you in the Jacksonville Florida area - you can try artisan made from scratch grits at the Clay County fair - which starts this week (they usually have an exhibit in an authentic cracker house where they give out free samples of foods cooked just like they were cooked 100 years ago - this exhibit will not make you long for the good old days). Robyn

Actually - apart from the Orrefors I got years ago - my glasses and stemware are a total hodgepodge. Some stems are BB&B - cheap. Others are expensive glasses bought at deep discount at a factory outlet place. We have terrible water where I live - and if you put any glassware in the dishwasher - it's shot in no time (totally etched and cloudy). I handwash the Orrefors - but I don't have enough time to make washing glasses by hand my life's work. Robyn

Nope . Guess I've been picking out my husband's clothes for too long . Robyn

I've haven't yet found a way of tipping good service but withholding part payment for miserable food. I'll let them fight it out between them. I have never worked as a server - but I don't think most restaurants give the servers anything extra over the pool of tips. And at least here in the United States - the server has imputed income of X% of gross sales for federal income tax purposes. So if you stiff a server in the United States - that person will have to pay taxes on income he or she didn't receive! And - to ask the question I asked again - didn't the restaurant add something like 15-18% for service as part of the bill? Robyn

When my husband gets to the third rolling (fresh pasta is his project) - he just calls me and asks me to stand still with my arms held out . We are not very experienced preparing foods like this - and - even with the Kitchenaid attachments - fresh pasta seems to be a 2 person project. Robyn

I don't think you were asking me - but I posted this a couple of weeks ago: We just got back from a week in south Florida. A couple of days in Boca - then 4 days in Miami. Some quick dining notes. We settled on Legal Seafoods in Boca for dinner with my parents. It is quite good for a chain if you like decent seafood in pleasant surroundings. Plus - it had interesting wine flights - about $12 for 3 glasses. We had four dinners in Miami. Bizcaya Grill at the Ritz Carlton in Coconut Grove - Pescado and Mundo (Norman Van Aken's new place) in Coral Gables (both at Village of Merrick Park). And Casa Tua in Miami Beach. We picked these places because they were supposed to be good - and because they were convenient (we were staying at the Ritz Carlton - Village of Merrick Park was a 10 minute drive - and my brother lives on Miami Beach - we had dinner with him one night). I cannot caution visitors enough that the traffic in Miami Dade County is dreadful - and that there's no better way to spoil your meal than by spending too much time on the road fighting traffic to get where you're going. Especially around the Miami Beach area - it makes sense to take a cab. When dining in Miami - you have to remember that while there's lots of good food - none of it is really top echelon world class. Keller and Ducasse have nothing to worry about. But it's a really interesting fun place to eat when Jupiter is aligned with Mars. And they were for us on this trip. I can recommend each of the four restaurants. I am not a taker of pictures or a maker of detailed notes about what I'm eating (too much like work) - so I just have a few comments. At the Bizcaya Grill - my husband and I were surprised that the chef remembered us even though we'd only dined there once a year ago. He made a special effort during our dinner - and we appreciated that. Had several excellent courses - although my husband's favorite was his starter when he had lunch with a friend later during the week. I don't think this would be a restaurant for a typical south Beach vacationer - but I think it's one of the best places in town for an elegant dinner or a power lunch. The Village of Merrick Park is a new upscale shopping center - and Mundo and Pescado have spared no expense in building out their spaces. Pescado had a nice outside area where you could have a drink in big comfy seats - then you could dine inside or out. The jumbo camarones in my shrimp main course were really jumbo (which is unusual). We had the tasting menu at Mundo. I would say it was a mistake because I couldn't make it beyond course 4 (of 7) - but - at $65 - it was a bargain compared to the rest of the menu (e.g., one of the tasting courses was an excellent duck and sausage pizza - and instead of a taste - they served us a whole pizza!). Mundo and Pescado are more in the category of enjoyable casual places in terms of ambience (not prices). Casa Tua was my favorite. It is unusual for the Miami area - and South Beach in particular. Totally civilized. Very elegant Italian. Just like you'd expect to find in Italy. We had four courses (split the pasta and dessert courses) - and left feeling satisfied - not stuffed. Foie gras and lady pear salad - excellent pasta course - little quail legs roasted on skewers - desserts that were so light they almost floated away. Impeccable service. I'd be happy eating like that every day. Now I'm sure I could discuss at least 2 or 3 things I found lacking in each of the places we dined (e.g., the service at Mundo - which hasn't been open very long - needs work - I suspect when Charlie Trotter dined there last week - he didn't have any service problems but we did). But - since our experiences were - on the whole - very positive - what's the point? I am just glad that Miami dining has matured and that I can get 4 very good meals in 4 different places. As someone who lived in Miami for over 20 years - I'd rather dwell on the positive - not the negative. And when you are dining out on a lovely patio with a balmy breeze blowing through your hair - it's very hard to get upset about those small negatives. Please note that all of these places will set you back about $50-100 per person (or more if you have expensive wines). Reservations are essential for all on the weekends - and for Casa Tua on any night (although Casa Tua has a no reservations allowed walk-in chef's table for 20). In addition - Casa Tua requires a credit card for a reservation - and you will get billed if you're a no-show and don't call to cancel. Robyn

I think you're right - and wrong. Some of the stuff is simply outrageous. Some of the stuff is pricey - but terrific (my current favorite is the cornbread mix). Robyn

Your message was kind of general - so I'm not sure what your standards are. I hate to get reasonably dressed for dinner and wind up eating next to people in jeans - even if the jeans cost $300. If a fancy restaurant's dress code is simply "no shoes - no shirt - no service" - well - it will save me a lot of time and space packing when I travel. Robyn

Well at least he wasn't wearing "pants" . Robyn