jgould

I think this emphasis on USDA grade and aging method vastly over-simplifies what goes into making a great steak. ← with ALL due respect, seriously! & hopefully, i won't receive a host's reprimand; BUT that may be the most ridiculous statement i have ever heard! & not warranting an explanation, other than for u to re-read, buy a wet-aged, "prime"-only strip, & grill, then revisit or visit palm one, order their dry-aged, USDA PRIME NY Strip the same way u grilled your NY Strip, no condiments, & compare; then re-visit the statement above. s'il vous plaît

the dry-aged usda-prime ny strip @ palm one last night was sublime, as was the fried onions & creamed spinach (the best). the "monday night" salad was not as good as it once was, & @ $9 is a minor irritation, the key lime pie that my friend had looked good, but i could not eat another thing. i have not been to smith & wollensky's in a long time, who also serves dry-aged usda prime, but my friend has, & he assured me if we thought the palm was loud, it pales by comparison to the loudness @ S&W which, according to him, makes that experience somewhat less enjoyable. so, the net-net is, very good steak, but also loud, but less so than others. hard to beat the palm's ambiance which adds to the meal.

the key words, as an earlier post stated so eloquently: "what the market will bear!" end of story. the only strata of the various points - who could/can make a difference - is the consumer. if & when he/she wakes up, then maybe there is a chance of putting some sanity back into pricing. if they do not, the pricing will not change, regardless of how many wines at different price points flood the market. 95% of the world's wine production is average, at best, but i'm sure there will be the usual chorus proclaiming otherwise. i was out with a friend last night who has a 5000 bottle wine cellar, & buys from all over. even he cannot understand the amazingly over-priced wine lists at restaurants. anyway, nothing like beating a dead horse, standing alone in the forest whilst trees are falling, but no one there to hear, blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada.... its not worth the observations anymore. it is what it is, as per 95% of wines are average, 99.9% of consumers will willingly overpay, further creating that marginal demand that continues to maintain the justification for 3-4x retail mark-ups, i.e., "what the market will bear", a nice neat full circle.!

thx for the correction & good catch re: S&W serves dry-aged USDA-PRIME. so, are we to assume S&W's serves dry-aged, USDA PRIME in all their 11 locations? if so, this is quite a statement, as well as being surprised S&W was not singled out for their adherence to quality (only USDA-Prime) & excellence re: their dry-aging, apparently a very unique oddity, in a good way!! something doesn't sound right for S&W NOT to be highlighted??!! their web site explicitly states they serve only dry-aged USDA-PRIME. i assume they would not false advertise; therefore, to my way of thinking, S&W must be considered the premier steakhouse chain in the country. curious what others have experienced? the last time i ate @the nyc S&W, had the ribeye, nothing particularly special or i would have returned. on the other hand, its hard to criticize, & not just simply fully appreciate, knowing the care & pride they take in what they do. maybe i should change reservations?? i "thought" i was going to experiment @ the "only MANHATTAN steakhouse that served a dry-aged USDA-PRIME NY Strip!

Well, my friend and I "auditioned" it last week (that is, we looked at the menu in the window) and it seemed to be as if not more pricey for the same stuff they served 20 years ago. This week, the critics will weigh in. Stay tuned. ← merci m. talbott. look forward to your review.

an oxymoron: kc + bbq from a "true" southerner, pig boston butts, mustard sauce = heaven

as the risk of opening up even more controversy, a la L'Ami Louis string, what is the latest on Benoit? also expensive, but maybe even more than L'Ami Louis, the quintessential bistro?

i don't think you can use the Prime designation unless it's USDA Prime.. see http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/highland_steaks.htm, about halfway down for some support forthis.. see also: http://meat.tamu.edu/history.html but there isn't a definitive answer that i can some up with.. ← there IS a definitive answer, & not that hard to get, IF u ask the right people the right questions. holly, there ARE stonewalling. whoever u have asked does NOT want to answer u because they know the answer & it will not be what u expect. if its 1 of the nationals, they are serving wet-aged steaks, & may or may not be USDA PRIME. quite frankly, as the article did point out, most, if not all, filet mignons are NOT USDA PRIME!!! the philly palm ONLY serves wet-aged PERIOD as to USDA PRIME - vs. - the non-meaning prime, good luck in arriving at the answer to your inquiry.

i did the leg work, but feel free to follow-up. obviously if a place chooses not to specify, then the assumption, by definition, is their steaks are either dry or wet-aged - is there any other way?????? but, that is a oxymoron. any steakhouse serving dry-aged steaks would proudly specify! & yes virginia, u are going to be surprised. a top chain steakhouse could & does call their steaks prime, which is legal. it means nothing. to mean something, it must be "USDA - PRIME PERIOD - END-of-STORY.

I think they were referring to steakhouses serving wet-aged prime. Holly, do the Philadelphia locations of the big chain steakhouses (Palm, Smith and Wollensky's, Ruth Chris, and Morton's) serve wet-aged prime? Or is it non-USDA graded wet-aged beef? ← no, they were referring to the national chains, of which all, BUT the orginal Palm serve wet-aged steaks & even @ the palm there are nuances.

your Q has subtlies that are hard to answer. the article did provide a chart, etc..

going to palm one tonite specifically for their ny strip which is the only "chain" restaurant to serve real honest-to-goodness dry-aged, USDA-Prime ny strips. all the other "chain steakhouses here & all over the country only serve wet-aged!!! & in many cases serve "prime" WHICH DOES NOT = USDA PRIME!!!! away from the "chains", only PL's & BLT Steak & Prime, i believe, serve dry-aged, USDA-Prime meat within nyc. away from ny, bern's is the only well-known other steakhouse serving dry-aged, USDA-Prime!!! would think gallagher's would as per their infamous window of hanging steaks.

Alas, a google search for biche only brings up sites in French. No Surprise there. Worse yet a recipe for Filet de biche sauce poivrade crémée is illustrated only by some nicely turned vegetables for garnish. It's a form of game or deer. If I'm not mistaken, le cerf is the male, and la biche is the female of the species. Faon at birth, bichette at a year old and biche after two years of age. Biche is also a term of endearment. I suppose "bitch" is as well in several American subcultures in and out of prison. photos ← assuming that a "faon" is female > bichette > la biche therefore: ______ ? is a male at birth > chevreuil > le cerf where does le/la daim fit in?

Bitch = a young female dear; biche = a young female deer; vs. chevreuil = a young male, cerf = an older male and daim = a buck, as in young buck. All kidding aside, biche is the nicest in my book. ← a young female dear BWHAHAHAHA!! Love inter-language puns. ← if a chevreuil is a young male deer, what is a buck - young or otherwise????

Juanito, Now don't get me wrong I liked L'Ami, but if you are going to spend that for a meal let it be at Le Bristol or some where of that kind. I do think that kind of level for good not great bistro food is out of line and there are other bistros in town that are just as good for half the money. If you wish to see a little Paris nostalgia than L'Ami would have to be on your list and you will get a good meal in the process. Molto E p.s. something has to be said for a restaurant that can spark this much conversation ← merci beaucoup molto!

not being critical, & appreciate comment(s). actually like l'express ok'ish, but not wild about its parent co.

on closer inspection, michael, there are 2 somewhat faint notches/scratches!! one on the feb, the other on the 06; therefore the "best before" 2/06 does = the co's statements of about 6mo freshness which is another + for brooklyn brewery. i don't know about others, but when a product does things right & is responsive to customers &/or potential customers, it creates a helluva lot of goodwill in my book. my initial response to a "brooklyn" brewery product was more of "how could a locally produced beer be any good" particularly when compared with many other well thought of beers? to "why shouldn't it be?" btw, fyi, the date u are referring to is called the "julian" calendar, which BB also uses on their bottles. the rtgs are just rtgs, somewhat similar to wine tastings, but i added just to get an indication where certain beers "kinda" ranked relative to those i was drinking, a la harps heineken sierra nv, anchor steam chimay. the only beer on the highly ranked that i would like to re-taste is the san miquel dark. i don't remember where or when, but i do remember how excellent it tasted. hope it wasn't just the "place of mind". also, have noticed recently, the very limited selection of local places i go. the same bottled beers - heineken, corrona, bud light, etc... i have been told draft is the way to go, BUT i have also been told that unless a bar is scrupulous about keeping its lines very clean, etc... draft tastes quite bad. plus, i have also been told many many times about bars that simply move the line from any empty keg to another, so those who think they are drinking what they ordered, are not!!! at least in a bottle, u know.

molto, i doubt that u need another kudo, & at the risk of being moderator-whipped, your photos & coments were fucking awesome! questions: 1. how long were u in paris? 2. how much wt did u gain?

adding cafe loup - village bistro ← removing DeMarchelier - recent visit, no soap in men's bathroom, when told manager, he just shrugged his shoulders. UMMMMM, wonder where the kitchen help wash their hands after using the same bathroom the customers use.

recently communicated with brooklyn brewery - very professional, very helpful, makes u want to support there good products!

adding cafe loup - village bistro

OK, let me try to reframe this one more time. It is clear that l'Ami Louis arouses deep opinions and prompts disputed facts on the part of our members (COI disclosure: I am among the negative folks). But, on this Forum we try to be helpful, informative and civil. Can I respectfully suggest that if something has been said, one need not repeat it. It has been heard/recorded. Let us move on; there are bigger issues than l'Ami Louis. John ← john, u are once again a gentleman, and possibly more important, an excellent moderator/host. although, i do have 1 comment, this topic IS appropiately titled, therefore logical re: l'ami louis issues, n'est-ce pas, s'il vous plaît?

THANKS VERY MUCH FOR THE INFO!

good example! i have been, but like u, haven't been in awhile. if memory serves me correct, i enjoyed the meal & the ambiance. time for a revisit. thx

there is a cut at the end, at the 06, i bought just recently. so assume "fresh thru 2006?? doesn't really make any sense, & assume its a marketing gimmick. as u state, there should be a "produced on" date to really define freshness. just how long does a non-refriged bottle of beer last, stored decently, whatever that means? thought u might find the following of interest re: several examples of ratings: ales: brooklyn's e. ipa 4.1 of 5, sierra nv's pale ale 3.2, yuengling's porter 4.1, chimay's red label 4.7 stouts: rogue shakespeare 4.8 lagers/pilsners: san miquel dark 4.4