tim olivett

I wish I had seen this thread earlier. I'm happy that had a wonderful time. My suggestion would have been to have any of the steaks on the menu, NY Strip, Filet or Rib Eye. I worked at Tavern on the Green as Executive Sous Chef. All of my friends said I was crazy, that I was going to unlearn everything I had done up to that point but I was impressed by the vision that Warner LeRoy had for that restaurant. In my first few months there I read through old memos between the previous chefs (including Patrick Clark) and Warner and I was always amazed at Warner's relentless pursuit of quality. He never wanted to hear about how something was going to save him money or be more efficient, he just wanted the best. Even our french fries were given a team of researchers and we followed their recommendation of storing the potatoes at a warehouse in Queens under certain conditions so that the sugar in the potatoes would age and convert back to starch so the fries didn't brown before they were cooked through. We bought osso bucco that cost 50% more than what other restaurants paid because it was the perfect center cut, you could only get one cut from the shank instead of 2 or 3. Warner spent every holiday and birthday at the restaurant with his family. You got the feeling that if the restaurant was the best it could be and he didn't make a dime it he'd be satisfied. For him it was about giving NY something special. Now, on a day to day level, Tavern has a lot of constraints put on it that make a lot of chefs stay away from trying to run it. It can seat almost 3,000 people and will have brunch for 3,000 during the holiday season. It's a union shop and that limits their ability to have new cooks come in to help breathe new life into the restaurant (every great restaurant needs to sometimes reinvent itself with new, energetic staff). On a personal level, I had a hard time there. It was a 6 day a week grind and a bit overwhelming to be more than 10 years younger than most of the staff and to try and tell them how to do their job. But on the same hand, some of the union sous chefs who run each station were some great cooks. The guy who runs the pasta station was a Tuscan who had immeasurable pride in his work. So if you go, get the pastas, the steaks or the fries and avoid the holidays. I defy anybody to do 3 star food 1,500 covers at a time. You are paying just for the ambiance (which, even though it hasn't been redone in 25 years is so over the top that it just overwhelms you). They drop the price significantly after the holiday season so you can get a good deal in Jan, Feb & March

It does seem that sweet/acidic preparations have overtaken foie gras the last few years. If you're looking for a meatier, more savory preparation of foie gras try pairing it with fresh porcini cut to the same size as the medallion of foie gras. Only fresh porcini will do, if you get a great fresh porcini,( smaller are better, also look for ones where the gills are dry and firm and not discolored) sear it on both sides then braise it with stock, butter, herbs & if you have them, shallots and garlic you'll wind up with something really special. Joel Robuchon has foie gras with a lentil cream that's delicious. Foie Gras with root vegetables like parsnips and turnips that are simply pan roasted in butter with some toasted brioche or a savory french toast. For a simple cold preparation, grab a professional book like the French Laundry by Thomas Keller or better yet by the book solely dedicated to it, "Foie Gras" by Michel Ginor and make what is called a "torchon" where you shape and wrap the liver in plastic wrap or cheesecloth and poach it briefly to present a beautifully pure flavor of foie gras. I'll try to look up the recipes for you but it's funny how many sweet preparations come to my mind although foie gras is actually very versitile. Scraps can be used in anything, sauces, ragouts of vegetables, in mash potatoes, polenta, to marinate poultry etc.

If you want an easily accessable book on the science of cooking, it is hands down Howard Hillman's Kitchen Science (actually seeing this post had me do a search and I saw that there's a "New Kitchen Science". It's $10.50 from Amazon. That one book has probably taught me more about the hows and whys of everyday cooking than anything else I own and it doesn't go way too far like McGee it just gives you the basics (and then some) and moves on. I always recommend it to my cooks. Now for cookbooks, come on guys! Larousse? Fun to leaf through but ... Now in my house I've got cookbooks on the bookshelf, cooks by the sofa, even some in the magazine rack in the bathroom but their is my "permanent collection" that's on the window sill by my bed. These are the books I look at the most, the ones I fall asleep dreaming of fall's mushrooms, summer's tomatoes and corn, all the time foie gras, oysters and truffles. All right here are ten essential books for anyone interested in the last twenty years of great food in the United States and beyond. (they are not ordered in any particular way - just to help me keep count so I don't keep listing books. 1. How about French Laundry by Thomas Keller -the most definitive restaurant cookbook of the last 10 years. No steps, techniques or ingredients are held back to be able to recreate the food of this chef who finally came into his own with a little restaurant in California wine country that was heard around the world. Welcome back to NYC Chef! 2.David Burke's "Cooking with David Burke of the Park Avenue Cafe" always winning recipes from a true (underappreciated) innovater, the first (and to my knowledge only) winner of the French MOF. 3.Someone mentioned Patricia Wells, "Simply French, Patricia Wells introduces the cuisine of Joel Robuchon". If you're gonna buy one cookbook buy this one. Great for the beginner and something I always return to. 4.Marco Pierre White's "Wild Food from Land & Sea". All of Marco's books are the same 60 or so basics repeated over and over in different combinations so why not get the one that has them all conveniently located in the index of "basics" which is longer than the recipes of the dishes in the book (I have the rest of his books anyway). Plus you should always have at least one cookbook that calls an eggplant an "aubergine" (Hint-He's British). 5.The Gotham Bar & Grill Cookbook by Alfred Portale. One of the most influential chefs in New York and the world. Helped popularize "tall food" and in his first book gives you step by step photos of how to do it at home. Alfred never sacrificed flavor for aesthetics and his food is well steeped in the classics with all the light modern touches he brought back from France to NY in the mid-eighties. 6.The Campanile cookbook by Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton. This husband and wife team met working for Wolfgang Puck's Spago in LA and went on two open the wildly succesful La Brea Bakery and it's sister restaurant Campanile. They offer a robust yet light take on handmade Italian cuisine that any serious lover of Italian food shouldn't wait to get. 7.The Elements of Taste by Gray Kunz. Seems more complicated than it is. Look closely at any single element of the recipes, a sauce, a topping, a vegetable and you'll find that it's a familiar item taken to a whole other level and dimension of flavor. One of the most creative chef's in the business whose combinations never shock you or even surprise you, while being new they suddenly seem familiar since they make so much sense. 8.Chez Panisse "COOKING" BY PAUL BERTOLLI. There are many Chez Panisse books and they're all great but this one stands out. The introductions to chapters discuss history, techniques, science, philosophy, poetry and true love for the hands on, homemade foodstuffs from Italy. Learn to make vinegars, sauerkraut, dried salamis and proscuitto, can vegetables, make pasta in a way that makes it all a seem not the least bit daunting but as reasonable things for anyone to do, in fact things that have been done for generations. I just ordered his 2nd book that was published last November over ten years after this book and that will probably make it to my bedside. Uh oh only two more to go.... 9.Flavors of France by Alain Ducasse. Allright, just to show you I'm being honest about the difficulty level of these restaurant cookbooks; this one's hard. But hey, do you always cook from every book you have. Sometimes I'll read a recipe by Ducasse, and just sit there, drifting off into the ether dreaming of his poems to food. They're poems to the essence of a dish however daunting and complicated. His combinations are classic yet individual, this is a man who spares no expense, holds nothing back. If it's at it's best with $400 worth of truffles then that's how he says you should do it (and you should, at least once a year). 10. I'm not even going to put number 10. I'd hate to have to choose one of the other. If you love food, keep buying books (also for a cookbook addict like me, never underestimate your local library, especially the main branch. I've been constantly surprised by the selection of recent releases and high quality not to mention expensive ($50 and up) cookbooks). There is something great that happens when you continue to read even if you don't cook any of the recipes. All those associations start swimming around in your head and eventually you develop an instinct for flavor combinations and approaches to products that transcend recipes. One of my favorite ways to have a dinner party is have everybody bring one product (a vegetable, a piec of meat, a starch) and to make dinner from a spontaneous collection of ingredients based on your ability to draw on as many ways as possible to draw out flavor from anything. Also, beware the new El Bulli book & cd rom, $250 of the absolute cutting edge of cuisine today. Could be the Escoffier of the twenty first century. PS. Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything" is always at the ready with a recipe for "everything".

I like to mix fresh & canned tomatoes for sauces. No matter what brand you use there are always a few tricks to coax the best flavor out of them. You definitely find people on both sides of the fence when it comes to adding sugar to tomato sauce but I have to say sugar is a secret ingredient in many chef's pantries. If you read (& I suggest you do) Tom Valenti's "From My Kitchen" cookbook, he has a great passage about seeing another chef he respected (John Schenk) having sugar right next to the salt & pepper on his station and how happy he was to see he was not alone. I use bar sugar since it dissolve instantly, in hot or cold to tweak alot of sauces. Essentially everytime you use onions or wine or most vegetables, you are on some level, adding sugar to your dish. So, as the seasons change and products vary, don't feel like your cheating if you sneak a pinch of sugar in when noone's looking. They'll all thank you for it later when your sauce has that extra "something" that always makes yours taste better than when they try to make it.

The Michelin Guide has to cover all of Europe and the UK, so they obviously need more than one reviewer. By the way, FG, correct me if I'm wrong but I"m pretty sure Grimes gave Lespinasse under Christian Delouvier (sp!) 4 stars. I worked there under Gray Kunz when we got 3 stars and was always surprised that after his departure it would receive more. I think Christian had come from Les Celebrites, but like Daniel Boulud (and many other great chefs) he was smart to higher very strong sous chefs whom he listened to. This allowed him to update and lighten his cuisine. It's an irony of the kitchen that you begin your career by being mentored by chefs who have more experience than you but when you become a chef you rely on the young upstarts to expand your knowledge. A smart chef, since he is no longer working for others who can teach him, needs people who have learned from up and coming chefs to impart their knowledge back to him. I always thought Gray Kunz's cuisine wasn't well suited to the stuffy Edwardian room and service at Lespinasse while CD updated classic French was a better fit. Anyway, this is about William Grimes. I never really liked his reviewing, there I said it. I thought he lacked some of the joi de vivre of Ruth Reichl. Also, he seemed a little shaken by some of his early critics whereas Ruth let you know that her reviews were an opinion. Grimes seemed like he had to justify his reasons for whatever rating he was giving. Like the review of Atelier, he didn't seem to trust his gut feeling and just take a chance and give them 4 stars if he thought it was the best French restaurant in New York. I remember reading the review and the way he raved about everything made you wonder why it got 3 stars. One thing I like about Philly's critic Craig LaBan (besides giving us 3 bells!) is that he rates places based on his opinion and what they're going for (that's why a bar or diner can get 2 or 3 bells and somewhere that might have better food but puts on pretentious airs or inflated prices will suffer for it whereas Grimes gives Ducasse 4 stars and for a price that is 2 to 3 times as much as anybody else it would have to be 6 stars to justify it.) Also when Craig LaBan reviews someone in a given year he revisits them at the end of the year and will sometimes add a bell or take one away, a practice I wholeheartedly agree with, that way a restaurant that may have had great potential gets the opportunity to take his criticism to heart and work to fix it, so that reviews reach a role where they not only function as a preview or recommendation for guests but a legitimate forum that creates a way for restauranteurs to truly see what they've been missing and in a perfect world, work to fix it.

I think that when you attain 4 star status, it becomes an obligation to maintain it. That's one of the things I admire about the grand old chef-patrons of France. Notice the term patron, the old guard (once the revolutionary upstarts of nouvelle cuisine) like Trois Grois, Chapel, Oulthier etc were true representatives of their region and cornerstones of their communities. They received 3 stars almost waringly, knowing that they had a duty to their region, their country and their profession to ensure that it was deserved and they expected to be dropped a star if they didn't maintain it everytime the Michelin guide was reprinted. (In case you don't know, 3 stars is the ultimate designation in the guide, currently there are less than 50 in Europe, more than half in France, 2 in Spain, 2 in Germany, 2 or 3 in Italy and a couple in the UK). To get that status and not have to defend it in 5 years is a bit like being the Heavyweight Champion of the World or the winner of the World Series and not having to prove it consistently. Like my hometown star, Jean Marie Lacroix (formerly longtime 4 Seasons now Rittenhouse Hotel chef), said "It's easy to be good one night, but to be good over time is a life's work.". On another note, what Grimes said about the obsession with revealing his identity, it was absolutely true. The guy literally had a price on his head. I've known places that had composite sketches of him at the podium and rewards for anyone who spotted him (we're talking a thousand bucks or more). I've seen blurry black & white photocopies of pictures of him and they did have him, maybe ten years younger, but now I know for sure it was him. I'd still not go to Aureole if I were him, Chef Palmer was like a linebacker or something (Grimes famously upset a lot of people when he dropped Aureole to two stars, back in the beginning of his tenure). Also, I'm wondering when they'll return to Bouley since the review was a 4-star when it was Bouley Bakery (how many 4 stars in the history of NYC could you go and get a ham & swiss sandwich during lunch?) and now after Bouley's much anticipated return to the stoves, I've been surprised at the leeway they've given him to get back on track before getting reviewed (Hal Rubenstein of NY magazine gave him a review were he seemed personally disappointed in the new Bouley).

Well for one there hasn't been a 4 star review since Ducasse and Bouley several years ago. I know that by it's very nature it should be a rarity but he hasn't in five years updated Ruth Reichl's 4 star reviews of Jean Georges and Le Bernadin. My biggest problem with his reviews and it may not be his fault is the length of the review. Six years ago when you read Ruth's reviews, you really felt like you'd been there or at least half the menu would be discussed. Now it's 4 apps and maybe 4 or 5 entrees and a couple of desserts. I never found him particularly eloquent but at the same time I never felt the venomous rage he seems to engender in many others (let's just say if I were him, I'd never want to see Charlie Palmer in a parking garage).

I would think lots of places. Certainly any gourmet garage or citarella's. Whole foods on 25 & 7th, Kaluystans (sp!?!) on 28th & Lex and maybe a good D'ag. If you ever see a brand called SABAROT, snap'em up. They're cheap (c'mon we're talking about lentils) and they last forever. Look for ones that say Lentils du Puy, this an appellation like Cervena venison or Champagne (meaning from a specific region that has enforced standards of production). Another good substitute for them is beluga lentils (so named for their small size and black color - they look like caviar). Belugas & Lentils du Puy (don't buy specialty red or yellow) cook up very firm and don't lose their shape. Just bring them to a simmer (some people soak them for an hour or overnight and while this is essential for larger beans to keep them from splitting while they cook and to cut down on cooking time, unsoaked lentils will cook in less than half an hour (one caveat is that soaking removes the enzyme that causes excess gas-and I don't mean unleaded). If you've got it, throw in half an onion, half a carrot, half a celery stalk, a bay leaf or two (if you wanna get fancier tie some fresh herbs in cheese cloth or half a leek and add some peppercorns or coriander). Let them cool in the liquid you cooked them and they'll keep for several days. Oh and like me, lentils love bacon, throw in a couple of strips when they cook or dice it up and fry it up and toss with the lentils oh & use chicken stock to cook them if you want. I'm gonna stop now or I'll just keep going and going.

Yeah, beanie-weenie casserole. That's what I mean about the garlic sausage. I hate when cooks buy stuff just because it's authentic and not just because it tastes good. Somehow they think buying all that stuff will make their food good for them-they'd be better off making it with really good hot dogs. I always say I'd rather have a good burger than a bad steak. Thanks for the late night tips, us poor souls who love food and get out of work after midnight usually get the shaft but I look forward to sampling Philly's surprising bar food. Neighborhood places should be like your dry cleaner, a service, unpretentious and there for you when you need it. I'm glad places in Philly have the good sense to hire good cooks instead of relying on Sysco (an evil empire food international supplier to fine hospitals, nursing homes and diners). One or two good cooks make all the difference. Up with cooks! (I can't say down with mozzarella sticks cause I gotta admit I'm an equal opportunity glutton but down with the same menu over and over again!) I have to tell you guys, when it comes to bar food Philly kicks New York's ass. (I know you all probably have a bunch of things to add to that list but give me time, I'm learning)

Bless your heart! Like I said, lately it's been latino food that gets me going and your last post has been the most exciting thing I've read yet. I'll go next week and get back to you. !Mucho Gracias!

I probably should send them here, they probably owe me a glass of wine (maybe malbec! - sorry, I couldn't resist) for my blind faith in them. I know I constantly try to search digital cities and philly.com for user reviews of restaurants I've worked at. It's always uplifting when you read something by a real person, not a critic, who was able to reap the fruits of my labor (and my support staff). It's also a real bummer when that's not the case. I remember serving smoked duck to someone who insisted it was ham to the point that we cut one in half and sent it to their table and I still see the post they left saying they were served ham instead of duck. I want to send them a case of smoked duck in the mail, it really bothers me when I can't make someone happy since one of the things I always say about why I put up with all the bad things about being in this business is; everyday I truly go to work wanting to do better than I did the day before and I know not many people feel that way about their job, let alone one that requires you work at it 70/80 hours a week (I love the first 40 hours, like the next 20 and after that it's a crapshoot). I've always felt that I don't work for the owner, they are just the middleman between me and the customer. My salary comes from the customer even though I don't work for tips. It's such an intimate thing, being in charge of something people are going to stick in their mouth, chew on and swallow. It drives me nuts when cooks don't respect that. If you don't have that drive to do things well, please learn to type and get out of the kitchen. Getting it right 90% of the time is not an "A-" in the restaurant business, it's not even passing. If your goal isn't 100 out of 100 all the time, over time, then it's just a job and if it's just a job, what a miserable job. Tomorrow I have to get up at 7 am and finish prepping for over 500 dinners, 300 of which are paying $150 per person just for the food. We purposely put items on the New Year's menu that aren't regular items that we serve because I wanted the food to have that freshness and there's a certain energy that comes from doing it that way. For a special occasion, I prefer to do it that way, even though it would certainly be easier (actually it's 1am and I'm starting to have second thoughts -ha, ha, ha). That's what makes it special. And to imagine that a server would treat someone tomorrow night, the way Sara got treated, after all the work by my cooks and chef. Well, most of the time, sadly, I wouldn't even know. That's why it doesn't matter if you're having a good day or a bad day, there are so many people, your guests and coworkers, relying on you, that to be in this business you have to be able to get over yourself, as Danny Meyer says, Whether you go to the gym, do yoga, do drugs, take prozac, whatever, just get it out of your system and the show must go on! Happy New Years Everybody! And Sara or Katie, If you're down by Penn's Landing around midnight, come on in and I'll buy you a drink on the deck and watch the fireworks with you. I caught them last year and it was the most beautiful display I'd seen, hands down.

Yeah, I'm sorry, the last thing I meant was to offend you. I hope you understand that my underlying feeling was to encourage you to go back and have a good time. I had just eaten at Salt last night and maybe because they know me, they're always more than willing to accomadate me. Reading your reply made me realize that he was obviously blatantly crappy to you and that is inexcusable. At first I felt that maybe you were reading too much into their statements (sarcasm, blank stares etc). Like I said before, (during my little restaurant manifesto thing) I am always saddened when people in this business don't go that extra mile, that is what makes (that and only that) a restaurant great. In the mean time I can only hope that you have better experiences and again please accept my sincere apology, I didn't mean to make any assumptions about you personally, I only meant to encourage you to have a good time and to not let other people, no matter how lame they can be, ruin your night. I guess I feel overprotective about a chef who is doing great things and isn't represented well by the people out front who can obviously, as seen here, ruin what is a huge effort on part of the kitchen.

Mmmm, cassoulet. I worked in Gascony for a summer and over there they say cassoulet isn't a recipe, it's a reason for people from different villages to argue. If you can try to find one made with Haricot de Tarbes (or Tarbais, you see both spellings). These are large, soft white beans that absorb that rich poultry stock well. Sweet white runner beans are a good substitute. The use of quail and chorizo that you mentioned sounds yummy, I hate when people use that "authentic" French Sauccison d'Ail (garlic sausage), it tastes neither garlic or like good sausage. I think tomorrow, I'm going to have to go try that, I live near the Dark Horse too and have never been there - thanks for the post!

A month ago I had a great entree at Salt that combined Lobster and sweet breads, the textures really played together well. Again, a great example of how sweetbreads rise above all other offal in their versatility. Anybody ever have lamb sweetbreads? I've read about them (french laundry, novelli) but never tried them or seen them.

I worked for a chef who would peel the clementines and then puree them with cooked (steamed, boiled or roasted) butternut or acorn squash and some hot chicken stock and a touch of cream and butter in a blender and serve that as a sauce for white fish like striped bass, grouper, sea bass, snapper etc. They'd also be great in the classic shaved red onion, shaved fennel salad. Juicing them would seem to be a waste. You could make a nice salsa (standard salsa is some diced red onion, peppers, your chili of choice, lime juice and a little oil and either cilantro or some mint) or chop the segments roughly and fold them into a butter sauce at the end, use them as a garnish on a lemon curd, or a dessert salsa with some fresh preserved ginger (julienne ginger and then blanch in three changes of simple syrup (1 cup water to 1 cup sugar - bring to a boil then change syrup twice, the last time boil and then cool in the liquid) - lasts for months in the fridge and makes the ginger sweet and easy to eat - great to add to sweet and savory dishes).

It works great as a final touch to many sauces in place of cream. Even added to a vin blanc or beurre blanc just before serving will add a needed touch of acidity. That's essentially what's great about creme fraiche, that tangy acidity. One of the best ways to make sure it'll keep longer is to let it sit out in a glass container that you've washed out with hot water and a little lemon juice. I love it on apple tarte tatin - unsweetened, it adds a delicious creamy and tangy (again) counterpoint.

Well, my favorite strange technique is to take some goat cheese and wrap it in potato shredded on the julienne blade on a mandoline (squeeze the water out and season heavily) then wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap and tie a knot to form a tight ball. Drop it in the deep fryer and watch the plastic pull away but allow the potato to keep it's shape and not explode. I always enjoy telling cooks it melts to the potato but you can't taste it, they get the funniest looks in their eye. Another good technique is to dip your hands in ice water, then tempura batter and stick them in the deep fryer; of course then you walk around dipping your fingers and eating them. (by the way don't try this at home-only trained professionals and lunatics with diminished brain cells).

I know that the experience of even the best meal can be lessened by even one off moment between the host (restaurant) and the guest. Certainly, being in the restaurant business should mean that you want to give people the ability to; celebrate the special events in their lives, celebrate the gifts and bounty of the earth through wine and food, celebrate a relationship. etc... After working for years in the business, I'm always (truly) saddened by the fact that people are in this business not because they're generous to the point of being gregarious, sociable, well mannered, have true joi de vivre, savoir fare, etc... I've always felt that to be great in this industry, you should be someone who derives their happiness through the happiness of others. That being said, I've also seen many people who start out that way and lose it from the constant pressures, stresses and pitfalls it places on people. Every night is a performance and judgment. And this could've just been a bad night for everyone you dealt with and of course that is no excuse to diminish the good time you wanted to have with your friends. I've been to Salt several times and have had nothing but great experiences with the staff. I love Chef Vernon Morales's ideas and executions though I think he is still finding his footing and I look forward to eating with him along the way. From reading the original post, I see a lot of things that make me wonder about how you perceive the experience. I don't mean to be a dime store psychoanalyst but it seems that you are ready to interpret people's behavior as a direct reflection on you and what you think they think of you. I remember some comedian or someone saying something to the effect that we all walk around thinking that everyone is looking at us or judging us (what we're doing, what we're wearing, our shoes don't match, bad hair day,etc.) and at the same time everyone else thinks we're looking at them. (That you're too young, you'd be bad tippers, you're spoiled, don't know about wine) I always tell coworkers who get paranoid about the gossipy nature of the business, that if you think people are out to get you eventually they are because you wind up treating them that way. Basically, I think when you go out to eat you should be encouraged to let go of the dreary day to day world. That's why when you go to a new restaurant that has taken over an old one, they rip out everything and create a brand new identity - it's about transporting yourself. For a few hours you get to be in a different environment, look at the range of styles in Stephen Starr's restaurants. It can be fantasy or comfort or high design or anything in between. So when little things go wrong, let it go. It's not UPS misplacing your package or the airline losing your luggage. It's not supposed to be the real world and 9 times out of 10 (I wish it was 10 out of 10, too) the people in restaurants will be many times over, more helpful, accomodating and friendly then in the real world. Have you ever been treated so nicely by your dry cleaner or deli counter person or the septa token guy as by a server in a restaurant. Now, for granted, I've had some shitty servers and I'm always shocked and saddened because I feel that I'm so understanding of their job, I wonder what went wrong. But at a restaurant like Salt, I'd really, really be surprised if anyone there would be that outright terrible. I think you brought some insecurities of your own that you matched to some of the problems. Even with wine, hey it might not be the Malbec but I bet a lot of people would love to have either a $60 riesling or shiraz anytime. Wine is like making love, my fiance and I have been together five years and I don't compare any moment to another, sure there are some that I'll always remember but they were all different, I'd never think I could absolutely recreate one (though it's always fun trying!). One time I was visiting my mother in Lancaster and we went to some new subarban chain bakery/cafe. They offer a selection of artisanal breads seemingly culled from most big city high end bakers; black olive rosemary, sourdoughs, 7 grain bread, foccacia. A guy came in to get a bread he had a few weeks ago and they had sold out. He just could not understand that. After a lifetime of going to the supermarket or McDonalds (you ever see an 86 list at a McDonalds?) he probably never conceived that somebody actually "made" his food and that it would be made fresh. When it's made fresh, you make enough for what you hope to sell, plus some. It's the same in restaurants. I'm always happy to run out of one or two fish after 8pm on Sunday night. That way I'm not serving friday's fish on tuesday - but people always freak out, like we're incompetent when really, we're committed to serving them the freshest fish possible, we're on their side. It saddens me for America, these things seem more ingrained in Europe since they are not so removed from the process. ANYWAY, I can't encourage you enough to go back to salt, Vernon Morales is one of the only chefs in town pushing the envelope in such an accessible way,and the wines are varied & terrific (even by the glass!). And don't worry if anyone thinks you're too young, spoiled Rittenhouse Square brats or whatever. The great thing about restaurants is that no matter who you are, where you live, or what you do for a living, for a few hours you get to be transported to a wonderful environment where people will respond (within reason) to your needs and enjoyment.

After looking through the threads I want to make sure to mention a little BYO in Old City called Tropico. I've been twice now, after going out to eat around most of Philly's hotspots. Lately, I've had a real hankering for Latino food. I've been to Alma de Cuba, Cuba Libre and frequently eat at the bar at Pasion but now I have to say I'm more prone to go to little Tropico, it's on 2nd and Chestnut between Adriatica and Philadelphia Fish & Co. The kitchen is run by one guy who seems to be the chef/owner and every meal I've had there has been tasty and carefully done. Now don't expect Pasion type presentation, most main courses come with a little chopped salad and rice and beans and the bread basket is two little slice of cheap bread. But, the bread is warmed to order on a panini grill and spread with a little garlic - parsley oil and the tomatoes on the salad are marinated and seasoned to be sweet & vinegary. One night I had a special of chicken piccadillo (a traditional stew flavored with capers & raisins) served inside a perfectly ripe fried plantain that had been split open. It came with a bowl of the house chicken soup which came served with all spice berries still floating in it. With dessert and tip it was just over 20 bucks and perfect. The next time I went I had the app sampler which is a little downmarket, (fried string cheese, beef empanada & a creamy chicken croquette) but good and I had a more traditional rendition of the exact same dish I had at Pasion a week earlier - A delicious, homey stew of chicken flavored with peanuts and garnished with shrimp. While I've had chicken and clams and chicken with shrimp in gumbo, I never thought much of this combination until I had a bite of the chicken and shrimp at the same time and the shrimp just made the chicken seem extra juicy and sweet. I really wanted to post something nice about this place since it seems to not be very busy. Now when I go out, sometimes I almost get into a panic attack since I don't want to waste my money when I read dishes that could be good and then I start to worry about who's cooking it, who's watching them cook it etc. I've worked in enough restaurants and kitchens to know how the most foolproof combinations of flavors can be screwed up by poor cooks or because they were busy or which, oddly, can be the case a lot of the times, because the restaurant is slow -surprisingly enough, more things seem to go wrong when it's slow because people don't have the rhythm of a busy night. I also hate getting ripped off, as a chef I know how much it costs to put food on the plate and I don't want to pay $14 for some penne that was probably cooked in water that wasn't seasoned right and then tossed with some crappy tomatoes that got prepped 3 days ago etc. So what makes Tropico special is that you've got a guy there who obviously grew up eating and appreciating this cuisine (I think he's Dominican). When my imagination is active I like to think of him at his grandma's side learning her croquettas recipe. I can't emphasize enough, that when you find a place like this that doesn't have a staff of 10 or more, all with a wide variety of skill and care, and instead everything on the menu is prepared by one guy who obviously tastes and tweaks everything as he goes along, it's a jewel. Again, it's not the kind of place you'd go on a date or special occasion, but if you're hungry and just want some consistently good food without any pomp and circumstance, I'd head to Tropico. In fact, I started typing this to kill time (it's almost 6 o'clock) before I go right now. I'll let you know.

I don't want to seem opportunistic and I don't know if it's ok to mix business into the posts but I'd like to offer (especially during the winter months when it can be hard to find a job) the chance for former employees of Striped Bass to Email me their resumes for employment at the Moshulu. I know we always are looking for talented, committed professionals for both the front and back of the house. We opened in May of 2003 and had to fill over 60 positions so, as anybody in the business knows, we probably hired about 4 or 5 "keepers" If you'd like to email me a resume or brief summation of your experience & goals, feel free to send it to timolivett@comcast.net. Even though we are entering the "slow" season, I know we have positions open and of course come spring our restaurant opens the deck which is a 200 seat restaurant onto itself. In the kitchen, I'm always willing to "collect talent" even if it's not cost effective in the short term, since I know that you are only as good as your weakest cook. Thanks and my heartfelt condolences go out to everyone in this hard situation, when I lived in NYC, I had just started at Peacock Alley in the Waldorf Astoria, two weeks before 9/11 and afterwards they closed the restaurant for three months. A few weeks later, my girlfriend and I went to an "open call" and there was 10 times the amount of people I had ever seen apply for a restaurant job (it looked like the cattle call for the show "The Restaurant"). We actually moved to Philly (as did alot of NYC chefs) once my unemployment ran out (hard to keep justifying paying for those multi-thousand dollar Manhattan shoeboxes) but we are happy that we did.

I'm so happy somebody wrote that. I'm the chef de cuisine at the Moshulu so let me know, I'm always looking for a reason to sway the chef/owner over to putting some offal on the menu. The thing about sweetbreads is that compared to any other organ meat they are so tame it's criminal that people prejudge them so much. They're just great texture. Flavor wise they'll pretty much sponge up whatever you pair them with, they're so mild. I never went for the straight poached ones. I like'em poached, pressed, sliced and then breaded and sauteed up crispy. Maybe fresh breadcrumbs plain or herbed or mixed with hazelnuts or dried crispy shallots or...now you've got me going. In NYC we used to do a great entree where we spiked them with batons of salsify and wrapped them in pancetta and accompanied them with buttery pommes puree and a very lemony veal demi glace. I used to have to make so many in a wood fired oven that one time I fell asleep and started to dream that my girlfriend was the sweetbread (not a bad pet name) and her pajamas were the pancetta and of course her arms and legs the salsify. Anyway, I'm going to have show your post to the chef to convince him. Plus, during the slow months (jan, feb, mar) we're going to have more specials and degustations so I'll be sure to include them. I love'm in sausages or crepinettes or as a garnish to a main course ( a sprinkling of little cripsy nuggets)-I think I'm going to go pick up the phone and call some in-well maybe after New Years. Anyway, Thanks!

I went to Vetri with my Chef when we were able to knock off work a little early one rainy night since we had both been looking forward to going and are somewhat new to Philadelphia's dining scene. I hope that it was just that night, but like someone said, I had high expectations. Then again, hey, give me 30 seats and I'll just kill you every night. I have to say it almost made me depressed for weeks afterward because I felt like I lost what had been in my mind, a great option for eating out and celebrating special occasions in Philly. I was going to take my fiance for her birthday over the summer and they were closed and I'm glad we wound up having the omakase at Morimoto instead. The meal (it's been a few months so I'll see what I can remember) Pastrami cured Foie Gras for an amuse, OK to nice, the texture was nice, presentation felt a little undeveloped, just a slice and some mustard fruits on a b&b plate. A selection of pastas; His wonderful and justifiably well known spinach gnocchi with brown butter and ricotta salata, certainly the quintessential "little pillows" (the literal translation of gnocchi). A boring tasteless wild boar ragu with chestnut fettucine (or tagliatelle) that had an unappealing texture. The pasta was kind of translucent and gummy with out any particular flavor, chestnut or otherwise. Crispy oxtail lasagnette which had a pool of oil on the plate and believe I'm not averse to a shmear (chicken fat) on things, fat is flavor and all that, but this just seemed to be a misstep. A crepe with radicchio and gorgonzola cream was my favorite thing, the gorgonzola was probably dolce, the sweet younger gorgonzola and it was nice, pungent without being overwhelming and it played well off the bitter tinge of radicchio. Then we had braised baby goat with which came accompanied by pommes boulangerie. I distinctly remember biting down on several miniscule, sharp pieces of bone. Now and then , I will eat in little mom & pop carribean places to get a fix of oxtail or goat with some plantains and expect to get it chopped right through the bone with some shards that eventually wind up in the stew. So I'm not a priss. And I hate when people say "at these prices" but that's how I felt. For a $75 tasting menu I don't even mind when it came still on the bone. But I didn't think I 'd have to look out for ones smaller than a tic tac. For $75, you can pay somebody to come in an hour early and pick out the little bones. I'd never serve it like that, it certainly took away from the lusciousness of the dish. I remember seeing Marc Vetri go through the dining room and I'm not sure if he went back in the kitchen as they were winding down. Like I said before, we showed up unannounced and I know they probably went a little further in accomodating us because of us being the chefs at the Moshulu but I would have been more particular for my peers (then again, the best philosophy is that every diner and every plate is important-that's what makes great restaurants great, instead of just good). I certainly appreciated the maitre d' making room for us on such short notice and I feel a little guilty for this post, but, hey 4 stars and a $75 tasting menu? I remember when Mario Batali was at Po and had a 5 course, $35 tasting that was a notch above this. The main thing was that I felt it was competent cooking, sort of what the Olive Garden in Heaven should taste like, but there were no surprises, no fireworks, no memorable twists. That's not enough when you have the responsibility of having that status (4 Bells) to be competent. I remember when we got 3 bells. It made me want to come in an hour earlier every day instead of figuring, ok, I can coast now. That all being said, I could go for some of those gnocchi right now. Again it was a dissapointment, not a disaster, I'll give it another shot soon and post back. I'm still rooting for him but this time I think I'll order ala carte and make a reservation.