jordyn

People that no-show demonstrate a complete lack of regard for the restaurant and for those of us who diligently honor our reservations. As a result of their selfishness, we pay higher prices and have a tougher time getting reservations. I've stated this before on another thread, but I'm perfectly happy to secure a reservation with a credit card *if* the restaurant is willing to commit that when I show up they will have my table ready for me. That's how it works in comparable situations in other industries, so if we want to use the plane, hotel rental car analogy, let's make sure we have the consumer protection side built in as well.

They used to have a website, but it's been down for a long time. I believe it got hacked at some point, after which they took the site down, and it has never been brought back up since... [Edited because this is not a letter.]

According to the sncf.com website, there seem to be trains from Toulouse to Rodez. There's also an airport in Rodez, but it doesn't look like there are flights from Barcelona (there are from Paris--I didn't bother checking anywhere else).

I'm not as familiar with travelling around France as other board members, but I'm pretty sure you'll need a car. Not only do I not remeber there being train service to Laguiole, but the restaurant itself is a ways out of town. You could probably take a train to Rodez, and then drive from there.

Upon learning that my girlfriend had gained admittance to law school on Monday, we decided to stop into Bouley, unannounced, for a celebratory dinner. Fortunately, the restaurant was not particularly full, so we had no problem being shown to a table. This is my first visit to the restaurant since the restaurant was reincarnated from its Bouley Bakery guise. Others have already commented on the decor, but I love the way the arches carve the main room into more intimate spaces and the general feel of the places. The apples, of course, are wonderful. Because of the celebratory nature of the dinner, we started with two glasses of Veuve-Cliquot Le Grande Dame, 1993. Almost instantly--at about the same time we were presented our menus--our amuse bouche showed up. The amuse was salmon gravlax atop a layer of yogurt atop celery and dill. Although the timing was not convenient (I'm not sure if they expected us to put down the menus and eat or decide what to order and leave the amuse sitting in front of us), the dish itself was fantastic. I don't ususally like salmon at all, but this was one of the finest dishes I have had in months. The celery and salmon had similar textures, providing every bite with a consistent mouthfeel and allowing the tongue to understand this as one unified taste instead of a competing array of flavors. Not to suggest that there was a lack of complexity--this dish was slightly sweet, a bit salty, with the subtle, essential flavor of the celery providing a grounding for the dish. At this point, our expectations for the meal were quite high. We were excited to eat some more food, if only we could order it. After initially sending our server away because we had not had enough time to consider both the amuse and the menu, we put down our menus and waited for him to return. And we waited. And waited some more. Finally, our waiter returned. In most respects, service throughout the night was excellent--knowledgeable, unobtrusive, and responsive to our needs without anything needing to be said. Timing was an issue throughout the night, however. Shortly after ordering, our appetizers appeared. I had the "Return from Chiang Mai", a cold lobster dish served with serrano ham, artichokes and mango. The dish was dense and densely packed with flavor; there was passion fruit in the sauce, and this, combined with the mango, gave each bite a palpable zing, a tingling on the tongue that provided the only sort of counterpoint hearty enough for lobster this flavorful. Across the table, my girlfriend was enjoying a panache of three salads (although actually four appeared, arranged in small camps on a large plate.) The foie gras was just as we both enjoy it--rich and buttery, without a livery taint; the fricassee of mushrooms was excellent; and the satay of scallops and shrimp made her put down her fork and exclaim with pleasure. The only downfall of this dish, from my perspective, was that the individual salads were too small for me to sample much of, and she ate the shrimp and scallop so quickly that I didn't get to try any of it. For our main course, I ordered monkfish roasted with musrhrooms and artichokes. This dish was also quite good; the fish was excellent and flavorful, nicely sauced and well accompanied by the vegetables. My girlfriend had ordered the salmon, and was less enthusiastic about this. She felt the salmon was somewhat overcooked, which wouldn't be any surprise given the long lag time between our appetizers disappearing and the fish showing up. This dish was the only disappointment of the evening. For dessert, we had decided to share the "Sweet Pleasures", which was layers of milk chocolate sandwiching a milk chocolate ganache and chantilly, resting on top of a toasted hazelnut dacquoise. This dessert was very good, although not particularly imaginative. Before dessert, we were presented with two substantial pre-desserts. I received a trio of sorbets (prune?, pineapple, and apricot) while my girlfriend received some sort of citrus sorbet (pomelo?) along with something else that I now do not remember at all. In many restaurants, these would be excellent desserts, so we were exceptionally happy to receive them as a palate cleanser. Overall, one of the best meals I have enjoyed in New York for some time, despite some service glitches and the less-than-stellar salmon. Now that I live near Bouley, I am eager to return, and will hopefully have more reports soon. Dinner, accompanied by two glasses of expensive champagne and a half bottle of Paul Blanck riesling (and including tax and tip) was $300.

Not 66 Leonard? Now I am confused about the name...

I suspect I shouldn't have ordered fish on Monday. The shrimp was good.

A few weeks ago, I had dinner at BluePointe in the Buckhead section of Atlanta. I did not have a reservation, but simply wandered in at around 9:30 and was promptly seated--no surprise, as the reservation was less than a quarter full on a Monday night. The space is enormous, with a large number of seats and a soaring ceiling. Tables are reasonably well spaced, but it was tough to get sense of what the noise level might be like if the restaurant were full because it was so empty. The design touches are all modern, with a bright red metal "wall" element dividing the room and serving as a contrast to light wood walls. Blue, green and red tones are present throughout the room, which is generally attractive. I was dining alone, and service generally seemed to be smooth and responsive, without rushing me through my meal. Questions about the cuisine were handled competently, although without a tremendous degree of insight. I started with shrimp potstickers with a toasted peanut vinagerette. These were fairly good, with a pleasant shrimp flavor and good mouthfeel. The vinagerette was a pleasant acoompaniment, and the overall dish had a good balance between sweet and slightly sour. For my main course, I ordered cashew crusted halibut in rice paper. This dish was much more interesting to read about than to eat. The halibut did not seem to be of particularly good quality, and there was not much flavor throughout the dish. The rice paper added an interesting textual note, but was another bland element that threatened to underwhelm an already underwhelmingly flavored dish. I chose not to have dessert. Total for the meal, including a glass of Brancott Sauvignon Blanc, tax, and tip, was $45. Overall, I'd probably give this restaurant another chance. The room is nice, service is pleasant, and one of my two dishes was good. It's possible that other entrees are more interesting, although I will confess that few of the items on the menu really sang to me while I was reading them.

Just to follow up on this point. Although everyone's entitled to do whatever they want, sharing information like "how to get a reservation at El Bulli" seems to be one of the strengths of eGullet. Even though I didn't start reading the thread until after the 15th, I must admit that I feel disappointed that the date was edited out so that some eGulleters might benefit at the expense of others.

I just looked at this for an upcoming trip to Paris, and according to Michelin Pre Catelan is only open on Sundays during the warmer months (from May 6 to October 26).

David: I think I recall hearing that the price is at about 90 Euros for dinner these days. I have no idea where that number in my head is coming from, though. In other news, I called L'Astrance this morning, and was happy to get through right at 0930 Paris time, only to discover that the restaurant is closed from February 16 through the 26th. So, anyone considering waking up early over the next few days--don't bother.

To follow up on David's question, I'm a bit confused. An earlier post indicates that Astrance takes reservations starting at 1530 Paris time; last time I tried (for a reservation in May), I think the time was 0930 Paris time. Can anyone shed light on when they start taking reservations, and whether it's a month in advance or 30 days?

I too, would gladly volunteer to eat any surplus bread that may be created in conjunction with this event.

Hello chefs: I confess that I haven't actually read Anatomy of a Dish yet, but based on the descriptions here and in the media, I think I understand that it has a real emphasis on building dishes with vegetables and the foundation. Based on recent visits to Verbena, though, there seems to be not very many (I think only one) actual vegetarian entrees on the menu. Also, for each of my last several visits to the restaurant it seems to have been the same choice, even while the rest of the menu changed, as one would expect for a restaurant so closely tied to the adjacent greenmarket. Do you find that there is simply not enough demand for vegetarian entrees to justify spending a lot of time creating new choices, or are there other factors involved in this phenomenon?

Good food is generally what makes me want to go back to a restaurant. Having said that, bad service is the thing most likely to keep me away.

I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. Compass is significantly better than Cafe Lux.

I would guess it's because: a) They don't want to undercut their retail channel, especially to the extent that they are dependent on it for distribution into many states. b) The winery likes making lots of money.

Boo! Due to an unexpected family visit, I'm going to be unable to attend. I will be very sad and jealous instead. Jordyn

Okay, since no one else responded, I'll bring some blue cheeses.

Okay, now that I've had time to think about it, I was leaning towards bringing a few types of honeys. I could bring another type of cheese, instead, if people would prefer that. Maybe either various triple-cremes or blues.

Okay, I am a bit slow. I want to go. I know the event is full. Please add me to the waitlist. Please let me go so I don't have to picket against eGullet exclusivity outside.

I would like to go, if there becomes room.

The scary part about my list (to me) is how much of the diversity is from the past two years. I'm not counting Germany, where I've eaten, but only in airports--you have to leave the airport for the visit to count. So, I count 31 "areas" or 28 real countries (Hawaii, Scotland, Northern Ireland go away) on my list: Fiji, Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand United States, Canada, Mexico Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay Aruba, Dominican Republic England, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, France, Netherlands, Austria, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland Ghana, Zimbabwe, South Africa Singapore, Hong Kong

Zeb: Thanks so much for all of the suggestions. I made reservations at Magnolia Grill for my expensive meal, since that's the place I've heard of and you have favorable things to say. In terms of cheap food, I don't have any particular price range in mind. Barbecue would be good, or any other food experiences that are relatively unlikely to show up in New York. For that matter, it doesn't even have to be so cheap if it's unlikely I'd be able to get something comparable in New York.

Actually, on United at least, meal requests should be taken in the following order: 1K (highest level of frequent flier); all other revenue passengers regardless of fares paid; non-revenue passengers. Within each of those three groupings, orders are taken front to back or vice versa, depending on the direction of travel. I think I read recently they may be changing this to add more layers of granularity, but on most American airlines, frequent flier status trumps fare paid when prioritizing people. (This mostly makes sense; your frequent flier may not be paying a lot today, but why make them angry if you know there is repeat business, versus a one-time high-paying cusotmer.)