Sandra Levine

Yvonne, we don't know who was in the kitchen last night.

Dinner tonight with Ranitidine (Alan) on our anniversary. We had the autumn tasting menu, a very good value at $62 per person. The tasting must be ordered by the entire table. There are five courses, with two choices for each course with the exception of dessert. Each diner receives two desserts. We split the menu. I had the first dish listed and ranitidine had the second. This worked out thus: First course: R: goat cheese ravioli, with beet mustard jus S: sardine rillette with buckwheat sprouts and parmesan tuiles The sardine dish was excellent, with very good proportions and contrast between the tuiles and the smooth sardine paste. The ravioli were less successful. Ranitidine had to taste the sauce separately a couple of times to even figure out that it was beet. The sauce was a little sweet, a motif that was to recur. At this point, we asked for the menu to be brought back to the table, so we could better keep track of what we were eating. Second course: R. seared scallops with artichoke and honey sherry gastric S. steamed parsnip soup with roasted chestnut ravioli and truffle oil Scallops were perfectly fresh and cooked. R. thought these were a revelation. (And I thought I had been doing well with scallops.) No artichoke puree detected, but there were interesting chips of some kind crowning the scallops. Tiniest bit of sweetness in sauce. The parsnip soup was foamy, as a result of the steaming; the chestnut ravioli had a wonderful texture and taste that complemented the soup well. The alleged truffle oil added little. Third course: R. Potato crusted wild striped bass with broccoli puree, with Malbec maple sugar wine sauce. S. Skate braised with balsamic glaze, wild mushrooms, cippolini onion confit Relatively un-sweet considering that there was maple syrup in the sauce; skate was bland. I think this fish needs some acid or salt, or some other kind of contrast to its mild, bland flavor. It was also a little overcooked. Fourth course: R. Venison loin, with beet licorice sauce and Yukon Gold and sweet potato gratin with venison sausage S. Veal tenderloin, with parsley spaetzle, and cognac shallot sauce For S. this was the best course. R: The venison was grilled, but not charred on the exterior, tender but not mushy on the interior. Very tasty, complemented beautifully by the Rhone wine, more of which later. Dessert: 1st course -- raspberry feuillete, white chocolate caramel ganache, fleur de sel The caramel took the curse off the white chocolate in this dessert. The luscious ganache was thick oval that sat atop the raspberry napoleon. A few grains of fleur de sel sprinkled on top added texture and flavor contrast. 2nd course - La Gaufrette au Chocolate, et son Sorbet. I'm not usually fond of chocolate desserts, but it was all I could do to keep myself from picking up the plate and licking it. It wasn't overwhelming with richness, but a was balanced plate combining crunchy wafflettes and the refreshing coolness of sorbet with a luscious buttercream. The food was good, although some of the courses had a little e xcessive sweetness. There were, however, serious service errors. I arrived first and was seated at the table. Alan was not greeted, and eventually saw me and sat down. It took nearly 15 minutes to be given a menu. We hadn't noticed the time, especially, because we were exchanging gifts. The staff, believe me, was not giving us privacy, but was simply not conscious of our presence. We asked our waiter to match wines with the courses. He didn't really interact with us until the fourth course. He missed the first wine altogether, but comped us partially. Then, he told us he had a fine chardonnary-sauvignon blanc (I'm not making this up.) It turned out to be a suavignon blanc, which we drank during the second course. He served us an Alsatian pinor noir (an unusual choice) for the third (fish) course. We found it closed and somewhat thin. It's easy to see why this has never become a popular Alsatian wine. A reisling would have been the more expected and better choice. Then, chagrined after hearing our opinion of the wine, he brought two other reds for us to choose from to accompany the meat course. He gave us each tastes of both wines. Alan selected the St. Joseph, a 100 per cent syrah Rhone wine; I chose the beaujolais for the veal. We were both very satisfied. I was disappointed that there was no wine offered with the two desserts, although I was pleased that the waiter asked if we wanted our coffee before dessert or after. We always prefer coffee after. No amuse; no mignardaises. The tasting menu was $62 each; the wines an additional $54. Considering that the average price of an entree ordered a la carte is about $31, the tasting menu is a very good value. A very pleasant experience, despite the bumbling, indifferent, service at the beginning of the meal. A miniature menu-souvenir is left on a table for guests to take home. It notes that dessert tastings are available. On the oast page of the souvenir menu is a recipe for parsnip soup.

I wish work and eGullet did not interfere with my reading of this fascinating book.

My point, exactly.

Jin, I meant yours.

The question is, Jinmyo, would my son eat it now?

That's it!

My son has hated pea soup since day one. His father, though, loves it. Homemade is best, of course, but he used to be be very fond of canned yellow pea soup that we would bring back from trips to Canada. When my son was about 7, his favorite book had a cozy scene in which the two characters ate pea soup. He begged me to bring this literary creation to life, using my husband's zealously hoarded yellow pea soup. I explained that yellow or not, it was still more or less the same soup he had always loathed. He insisted, over a period of hours, that this time it was different. He really, really wanted that pea soup and he knew that he would like it so much that he would eat the whole bowl. Against my better judgment, I gave in. He was brimming with anticipation as the soup heated up on the stove. When I put the bowl in front of him, the pea-scented steam wafted gently to his nose. The smile faded. His little nose wrinkled. Bravely, he dipped in his spoon, hesitated just a bit before putting it in his mouth...and swallowed. He even managed a second and third spoonful, but the upshot was a lesson learned...art is sometimes better than life.

I didn't notice whether they are still serving afternoon tea. I know that pre-9/11 they did.

Too bad it won't be Thursday!

Alan and I will be at Fleur de Sel on Thursday, Dec. 12 at 8 p.m.

That reminds me of an hors d'doeuvre I used to make. Chop of the tips of small chicken wings and freeze for the stock pot. Separate the rest of the wing into its two components -- the "drumstick-let" and the "wing-let." Marinate in a mixture of honey, soy sauce, garlic and a little Tabasco for a while and broil. Haven't thought about this in years. Sounds impossibly sweet to me now, but everyone used to love them.

Toby, did you use regular long-grain rice? This sounds delicious, too. With a salad, it would be enough for dinner.

Sounds delicious, Nina.

I love oatmeal, even plain old Quaker Oats. I use water and add raisins at the beginning, so they plump up. Usually, I cut a banana into the bowl and just pour the finished oatmeal over them. They heat up just enough. I finish with a puddle of milk. No sweetening other than the fruit. When I was in college, oatmeal on the breakfast menu was enough to get me up that early. I used to take a side order of bacon and cut that up into the cereal. I haven't had that treat in years, but I just may this weekend. OH NO -- Atkins!

Do we have a local Col. Klink? CathyL, do you have a smoker?

I always wanted sisters.

Here's what dukka is, in case anyone was wondering.

Elizabeth Schneider in Uncommon Fruits and Vegetables recommends 6-7 oz per person for a side dish.

In my family of origin, these were known as "salmon kakletten" (salmon burgers). I loved them and used to make them regularly, too. I think I would find them terribly salty, now.

I always have a few jars of different honeys in my pantry. My absolute favorite is Tasmanian Leatherwood. I rarely put honey to culinary use other than spooning it over yogurt, ice cream or biscuits. For a honey/apricot cake that I make for Rosh Hashanah, I have found that the simplest, blandest honey gives the best result. Here's a link to the recipe. When I have a sore throat, I sometimes take a spoonful of honey mixed with a squeeze of lemon juice. Very soothing and delicious.

"Duplicity" implies lying. I think "hypocrisy" describes these actions better.

Last night: Roast chicken in the approved eGullet manner (lemon inside, etc.) with latkes and green salad Tonight: Braised short ribs with red wine, mushrooms and onions Roasted carrots Watercress salad Guigal Cote de Rhone (best wine! come on! Spiced poached pears (cardamom, cinnamon, clove, lemon zest) Quady Orange Muscat

My guess is that the finished-looking latke was just turned. The other had not yet been flipped.

There is a female gingko tree outside my office. A few weeks ago, an elderly Chinese couple spent an hour or so harvesting the nuts.