bleudauvergne

I suppose I would be a canteloupe. Don't ask why, it's he first thing that popped into my head.

Good Lord, Molto, that looked like a fabulous meal. What's that cooking sous vide?

Have you seen the contest on the website called "cook the cover"? This is a chance for people from eGullet to show just what they can do... There is a link to the recipe for the dish on the cover, and you cook it, make whatever improvements you deem appropriate, and then photograph it and send in your photo. Winners get a trip to New York. Link to the contest

It would be good to know. She had a very strange ideas of how to staff her kitchen from what I understand. She is considered to be France's top female chef and is working out of Paris, yes?

Don't forget Ghislaine Arabian - definitely notable.

I love the way this discussion has turned. Basically what I'm learning from Robert it is that the more work you are willing to put in to know the dishes, the chef, what's in season, what a particular place is known to do well, etc., the more likely you are going to experience the best that a chef can offer. Pulling it a bit more down to my own level, it reminds me of the many times I have gotten into long food discussions with chef/owners at restaurants that serve simple 3 or 4 course meals and only cook in season. They appreciate it once they see I'm truly interested, they love what they do, and they love it that my husband and I appreciate the fruits of their labor. When I go out, in my mind of course is the idea of being able to relax, not to have to break my back all over town sourcing ingredients, allowing the establishment to lift the load from me in the actual labor of cooking, I don't have to do the work of setting the table, or planning and coordinating the meal. But when I go out, under no condition would I ever want to just lay back and allow my mind to stop working. If anything, this discussion convinces me that Robert would be an excellent dining companion. As far as learning from a bad meal, well, if given the choice, I'd much rather learn from a good one.

Now there is the real 'a la greque'. It looks amazing. What kind of pepper do you use? Can you post a photo of it?

I agree that normally quality follows trust. I think what Robert's asking about, though, is then on the carte they allow people to choose the words "menu suprise" from the carte. When you trust someone enough to say "oh just suprise me", a gesture completely aside from what is on the carte, you'll most likely be happy.

I have got to get a cataplana! First I will cook this in a regular pot while I figure out how I'm going to get one.

There are a couple of places in the neighborhood I go to when I'm just too tired to go anywhere else, and of all of the other places in the neighborhood, that's where I find just the kind of joy that Margaret is talking about. I wouldn't say the food is better than what the neighborhood choice places serve, but there are places where the owner seems glad to see me and I always have a nice time there. There is this one place where the owner is a real jokester, and he remembers everything. I can go there after not being there for 3 months and he knows who I am and what I do. He speaks to the entire room when he greets the guests coming in, he seems to know half of them, and makes jokes and teases people, sometimes relentlessly, depending on the night. It's like a comedy show where the comedian gives his act while waiting the tables. The more you go, the more his jokes are funny. We once got into a very frank and long discussion later in the evening once about what he cooks at home (being a restauranteur) and what he is teaching his children. I could never have the same discussion with the owner of my very favorite place, because our relationship is based solely on the food and we seem to speak on a completely different level, that which is exchanged is much more serious. But at this place, I feel like I'm going to a new friend's house to eat. His menu has had it's glory and I've also been subject to some failed experiements there. But that's ok. There's another Italian place I love in the hood but can't eat there too often because they're a little pricey, an Italian couple that not only comforts me with the uncompromisingly good things they bring to the table, but also it's her service, she makes me feel really loved in some way. I can't really explain it. I often go there when dining alone or when I need to think.

So if we agree that a destination restaurant is a restaurant that is perhaps off the beaten track, but people go out of their way to get there, I would say yes, I'm usually prepared to make a detour for good food, if its recommended on good authority. Sometimes I also take a chance and go out of my way at the recommendation of someone I don't know, for instance if we arrive at a town where we've stopped for the night and ask someone "the best place for ---". As for tourists and off the beaten track places, I don't have too much experience with that, but if I did arrive at the place and saw a tour bus parked out front, I'd wonder if the place was recommended because the food was actually good or because it seems to be popular with the tourists.

I look for value for the money and honesty.

I take it you had a certain trust in these establishments.

I'm the same way with recettes, I always hover around a theme. What you have given is enough to give me an idea of how to do this. Thanks!

I think what Margaret is referring to are the restuarants people make pilgrimmages to dine in, like the ones with Michelin Stars, for instance.

When I lived in China, my favorite snack was dried cuttlefish. It is delicious.

Oh Loic and I love Fish! We have found out that our regular poissoniere is actually moving his operation from the Quai St. Antoine to the Halle on the square I live on! We are very excited about that because it means much more Frehs fish during the week. I'll pitch in with a photo of a dish I made for the Montignac thread in the France forum: Octopus, 'Pulpe' in French. Some tips on preparing this dish are here.

Chowder Questions: You make the stock a couple of days in advance, and from what I understand, you are using the whole lobsters, head and all. Have they been steamed in advance or are you chopping them up raw for the stock? This is then put through a moulin to eliminate what's left of the shells and inedible remainders? Do you crush it through a chinois? Is this stock then seasoned before the several day resting time? I suspect the seaweed acts as a thickener of sorts. Do you refrigerate the stock without touching it for the few days or do you simmer it for a little while each day? What remainder of the weed is left after this process? Does it completely desintigrate? I want to ask my oyster man to bring me some seaweed from Brittany (he drives in from the coast for the weekend St. Antoine Market) but I need more info on the type of seaweed. Can you take a close up pic? The fennel - a perfect compliment to seafood, is this something you always do or something you are doing because you had some? Also, how smoky is your slab bacon? What proportion of milk do you add? 30% something like that? I notice your attention to the final texture and chunkyness of the soup. Any more insights on things you've done in the past to add to that experience? Sorry for all the questions.

Seeing all that's going on here, at this moment I am convinced that this pot of chowder is the mother of all soups. I am truly inspired. Half of it's the way you're teasing us, Johnnyd.

I recall from a recent discussion of Genepi Maison that they adjust for flavor with sugar before bottling it, because the brew always has a different strength, it really depends on the strength of the plants going in and that varies year by year. A little bit of bitterness is good for the strong stuff, but mine is hovering on the border of tasting like a kind of medicinal elixer. I want it to be a refreshing drink. I also note that I felt rather sluggish soon after taking a slug. I think something in it may have emphasized the barbituate properites of the alcohol. I will dilute and sweeten as Elie suggests, but if it doesn't taste like something I can serve, I can always save it and take a little when I'm having trouble getting to sleep...

Hey ho Johnnyd! What's the difference in taste between a ti'punch and a caipirinha? Is it really worth it for me to go out and get a bottle of this stuff? Wow they look amazing and I have to make a punch tonight, even if it's just made with rum... You are doing an excellent job with the blog. I love your images and interesting stuff you've got going on. The seafood is just wonderful! Your fridge with the staircase is cool. What do they call that feature? As you know from my visit to Portland this summer, I have since got a new digital reflex and have been battling that learning curve and other aspects of the big pricey camera woes. Last night while fretting about my expensive equipment as a magret de canard spattered and sputtled all over the place while searing, I was thinking I should just keep the ole Powershot A30 as a "kitchen camera" and use my fancy new one when I am out doing the markets. I thought I was going to make a complete switchover and give my old one away, but I realize I do really love that old powershot. I'll never give up using it - that is, until it dies.

From the photos it struck me as pretty honest food. When it's well done, what more can you ask?

There is only one restaurant where I don't order, and I trust him implicitly. He does not offer a "menu suprise" on the carte. Chefzadi hits the nail on the head when he specifies that the patron is a regular, and the idea of the "menu suprise" mentioned on a carte that Robert's describing seems to me to mean - you wish you had a special relationship with a chef, a priviledged relationship, but you don't, therefore we're going to offer you an "in" on what a real regular might get... But this is a sales pitch, I can't see it as anything more. When my favorite restaurant suprises me, it's contingent on the fact that he knows what I'd be suprised by. Sometimes to draw my attention to a preparation of a particular game bird, help me to discover a certain sauce, something fresh and in season, some very local dish that I've been asking about, something he's proud of. Often wines get involved. It requires a certain benevolence on his part. Robert's assertion that a blind "menu suprise" is bogus is completely valid, especially in the month of August in France, I think. I certainly would not order one in a place I'd never been in or from a chef I didn't trust completely.

You're very unlikely to be ever turned down. I was only mentioning a very ancient French law: the obligation, in a café, to give a glass of water for free to anyone who asks for it. It is not only a law, it is a tradition linked to hospitality. So you can imagine how it feels like for a French person to see that sign "Pas de verre d'eau". It's just like reading "We're big fat jerks and proud of it too" signs pasted all over the café. It's only one café in Saint-Maur, but I sure remember it. I was just about to order coffee there and refrained from it as soon as I read the sign, not only one sign, but six or seven of them pasted here and there. I said nothing and walked out. ← This is very interesting because it confirms something in my mind. My French in-laws, during our visit to the US this summer, their first time, made it a point to mention that they loved the nice tall glass of water presented in most restaurants once we were seated. I now have a bit more insight about why they were so pleased by that. Is it legal after all to say 'no salad as a meal'?

Good lord, the salads on that menu are pricey already! I cannot imagine not being able to order a 16€ salad (for example the salade de crabe et faiselle), especially for lunch! They're pushing the limits!