ned

Apparently the name came from Keller's repeated answer to the question "What will the NYC restaurant be like?" He'd say "Well it won't be the French Laundry per se."

So that's the answer to that question.

I've heard that there are no cubanos in cuba. Also every cubano I've eaten (all of which have been within greater NYC) has been made by a Puerto Rican. Thoughts?

That pregnant woman is my sister-in-law! Apparently the myth that the ile flotant induces labor is just that. Avra is still carrying the baby around. Love the Chika.

Thank you all for your thoughtful responses. It had, since the original post, occurred to me that when I clean the machine, I keep the lever raised and and the entire chamber steams/drizzles out. Confirmed then is that when the lever is raised, water will flow, barring any obstructions. Of course the common obstruction is a basket with coffee in it. So I can see how maybe there would be the possibility of a self-regulating function based on the size of the basket. Based on what you've written Owen, I guess I should just be grateful for the opportunity to pull two espressos (OK one espresso and one cortado) daily using the double basket in a relatively scientific environment.

Try Brawta Caribbean Outpost Inc. 447 7th Ave Brooklyn The wife swears by it. She's picky about her patties.

Not quite "Best Bone Marrow" but rather best use of bone marrow: Boneless rib chops at Ducasse are larded liberally with bone marrow.

Feeling a little drowsy before heading out for a late dinner engagement, I decided to make myself an espresso. In the mornings I use a double shot insert, but for this job I figured I only needed the strength of a single shot. So I switched out to the smaller one. . . but as I pulled the shot I started thinking. The proper shot of espresso requires (among other things) a proportionate relationship between an amount of coffee and the amount of water that’s run through it. I think, and herein lies the reason for this post, that the manual Pavoni always runs the same amount of water regardless of the size of the insert—single or double shot. While it doesn’t so much seem to effect the quality of the shot, I can only conclude that the machine will pull only a single single and a single double or a double single and a double double. Anybody know which it is?

This is overplayed by haute types. Yes, alcohol does have a temporary anaesthetic effect when it acts directly on the nerves in the mouth. But this effect also doesn't last very long... certainly not as long as the effect of, e.g., drinking a rich, chewy, tannin-filled glass of red wine. ← This is probably not the place to continue this discussion so apologies and brevity. I think the issue is not so much the effect on the actual buds but rather on the general acuity of the reviewer both in terms of parsing his experience of the food and his memory of what he's eaten. In my experience, there is a notable decrease in faculties when a serious meal is preceded by an, albeit gin, martini.

i had the omakase back in september and it was nearly identical to everything tetsujustin had. there may have been slight differences in the specific pieces of fish served, but the rest looks really familiar. . . ← I can second that. I was there in December, had omakase and the meal was very much the same as is pictured here including grilled giant prawn, mushrooms in parchment and broth flavored with yuzu. It was an excellent meal. Also, compared to restaurants with which JB competes, I found it very well priced. That said, for about the same price, Sushi Seki cooks the pants off of JB. I did omakase at the bar there (at 2am no less) last week. Unforgettable.

I find the practice of menu-leaving maddening. I'm befuddled at what gives these restaurants the right to litter on my doorstep. I make a practice of never ordering from any place that has dirtied my doorstep with their menus. I live in a townhouse. No doorman to clean the mess and just four tenants. Sometimes I come home and find that someone has left ten or fifteen menus for me. In other cases they've just been flung onto the stairs and can be found all over the place. We have a sign that says no menus. It doesn't seem to do us any good. Each day I come home and scoop up the menus, carry them up the stairs to my apartment and throw them in the trash. Can't see how this will ever stop especially as there are many who appreciate the service. Too bad for that delivery man. The shrink and the super should have directed their ire (non-violently) towards the poor fellow's boss.

I've found a wealth of Puerto Rican food in the South Bronx near the 3rd and Willis ave bridges. Also where the 6 train lets off at 149th street. But for a most exciting adventure, there's a wholesale market under the Deegan expressway just south of Yankee stadium. You can find many African specialties as well as lots of Caribbean items. Oh year and I just discovered a Mexican place on 138th street just off third avenue called. . . I can't remember but it features tongue, cow's head, and pig skin tacos to name just a few. El something or other. Also sandwiches called tortas. Also way up toward Arthur Ave on 3rd is a halal market where they are slaughtering chickens, goats, sheep and even cows. It's a hell of a sight to see. Probably in the 160s or 170's. Happy hunting.

Paul, thanks for your thoughtful response. It's led me to realize that my question can be pared way down. Also that the experiment we did last night wasn't scientiic enough. Here's a better one: There are two pots. In one pot four cups of wine are reduced to 1/4 a cup and then 3 3/4 cups of water are added back in. Say for the sake of argument that this process takes 15 minutes. The pot is covered and the liquid simmers for 45 minutes. In the other pot, four cups of the same wine are simmered covered for an hour. At the end of the hour do the two liquids taste the same? Needless to say I'm going to try this tonight and see what happens. PS: I don't think, strictly speaking, this is a question about maillard reactions. I'm not thinking about bringing the wine down quite that far. If I did that, certainly there would be a difference.

Last night a chef friend—Todd--and I braised a quarter of a baby goat in red wine and veal stock. I started by browning the goat in grape seed oil. Following that, I removed the goat and browned mirepoix vegetables and a couple of pieces of mildly salt-cured pork belly. Then I deglazed with three quarters of a bottle of red wine. Shortly thereafter and before the wine did any significant reducing, I added the veal stock which was a large frozen hunk. And herein lies the reason for my post. Todd looked over from what he was doing and said whoa, whoa, you’ve got to let the wine reduce before you add the stock. Respecting his superior knowledge I pulled out the stock but demanded that he explain himself. He said that as the wine reduces, its flavors change in a way that is different from what would happen if wine stayed at temperature for a certain length of time. Complex flavors result from the sugars doing their thing in response to heat. I don’t understand why those sugars would combine and complexify in a way that is different while the water is evaporating from it versus while wine is simmering in a closed environment maintaining its water content as in a braise. I am not talking about concentration of flavor. Certainly as wine reduces, its flavors concentrate. I’m talking about the quality of the flavors in these two cases. In response to this discussion Todd and I did a little experiment with sliced onions, white wine and beef stock. (French onion soup was the result) We did two versions, one in which the wine was reduced before beef stock was added and the other in which the wine and the beef stock were added at more or less the same time. Both were then covered and left to simmer for 35 minutes. In the former case the result was mellow with nice acidity and sweetness. In the latter case, there was a slightly acrid flavor, a harshness in the back of the mouth. In both cases the flavors were equally concentrated. Were the test a braise rather than a soup, extending cooking time and infusing so much other flavor, I’m not certain I would have been able to tell the difference between the two. I feel that there are things I don’t understand about what is going on in wine during this process. I would very much welcome knowledge anyone has to add on this subject.

I was in Newark's Ironbound district yesterday and was afforded the opportunity of answering the question I've posed above. You can get Ginja in the US at a liquor store on Ferry Street. Lisbon Liquors or something. They stock two different kinds of Ginja and both are $14 a bottle. They also have a sizable selection of Portuguese wines and loads of vintage ports.

I strongly encourage a trip to Boston if you haven't already been. Port Antonio is a lovely place to visit, or to live for that matter. Eat pork at the main stand at Boston and then go a little further back and eat chicken sausage. If you are in the mood for lobster get a jerked one of those. Bring enough J's. Boston is rootsy but it ain't cheap. Then at sunset, providing that they've reopened by now (hurricane damage) go to the Trident and get a rum punch and hang out with the peacocks. Watch the waves crashing and play a game of croquet.

We had a phenomenal service experience. Just by chance we palled up with the manager on entry. . . can't say how it would have been otherwise except to say that the manager is new in the last year or so, is aware that there have been service issues in the past and is eager to resolve them. If your visit was more than a year ago I encourage you to try again.

Dirty Gib 2 pts Miller's gin 1 pt Noilly Prat vermouth splash from jar of Vietnamese pickled leeks shaken and served up garnished with 3 pickled leeks

A few months ago I asked one of the older fellows working in the dining room at Patsy's E Harlem about this. He told me they had sold the name to the Manahttan Patsy's chain (I assume that's the same as licensing it).

I found myself in Miaim Beach last weekend hunting around for some food that wasn't produced by a hotel kitchen and stumbled upon Tap Tap. It was marvelous. Best mojito I've ever had, and it was made with Barbancourt's. Followed that with conch salad, conch fritters, fried plantains, these little fried got chunks I can't remember the name of and then grilled goat with rice and beans, the rice and beans seasoned with clove and nutmeg. Alongside all this is a homemade spice served in little metal cups. cabbage, minced scotch bonnet peppers, white vinegar, sour orange juice and salt. Fiery and great throughout. Also pumpkin soup, then more goat this time in a stew. I've a fondness for goat and it's not so easy to find in the U.S. so forgive the focus of my ordering. And all along is playing live Haitian music. Great place. Ate there the first night of our short stay and and decided we couldn't go wrong returning the second night.

I really like fish sauce. I want the best bottle of the stuff that money can buy. I've no idea what the best fish sauce would be like, I'm just curious to taste it and see how it differs from what I normally taste. Like when you are used to a certain quality of olive oil and then one day somebody gives you a teaspoon of this fabulous spanish stuff and your whole idea of olive oil changes. People say three crabs brand is good. It still only costs ten bucks for a liter. Can't be the best. It's too cheap. How can fish sauce be so cheap anyway? Some brands that people say are pretty good only cost five bucks for a liter. Two and a half questions: 1. Why is fish sauce so cheap considering all the trouble it takes to make it and then the round the world shipping? 2. Is it possible to spend, say, fifty bucks for a precious little bottle of the really good stuff and if so where can I go and do that?

Here it is Chufi. I love the love. The camera flash makes the crust look a bit darker than it was.

Here are two pics that pretty much describe Thanksgiving chez Baldwin: Four Story Hills Farms Cote de Boeuf and Irv: Squab breast, foie gras and cabbage in squab consomme with shaved white truffle: Back to work.

Great pics. Particularly the fois. I'm headed to ADNY on the 8th of December. These pics are working as a slow-acting aperitif. Thanks. More. More.

I've only been just this time so I'm really not qualified to say. I'd be suprised if Bruni who reviewed the restaurant favorably could eat what we did and then write the things he wrote.