Robert Schonfeld
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Posts posted by Robert Schonfeld
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I'd suggest asking JD(London) if he has the time and willingness to pop a loaf or two (or maybe some pane carasau) into a Fedex box. Likewise, anyone else at a distance could do the same.
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"She then offered a Bandol"
On a very disappointing visit to Chez Panisse several years ago, the waitress, who acted as sommelier, said, "We have this Bandol, which Alice likes very much."
By the time we finished dessert, it was ready to drink.
I'm a card-carrying member of the group that thinks that CP has tried and failed to co-opt the Mediterranean way of eating, while succeeding spectacularly at selling the sizzle.
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I'll play.
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I lost about seventy pounds on a low-carb no-fat high-protein diet more than thirty years ago. Meat, fish, eggs, hard cheese, yogurt some vegetables.
I took the attitude that it was best not to think about it and just bite the bullet. Made no effort at cuisine, gastronomy, or anything else, just at losing weight. It took almost a year.
I have kept the weight off ever since with a routine of exercise and a certain amount of prudence in eating. I love carbs and eat them as much as I want. If I didn't, my exercise program would suffer, but I'd be about ten pounds lighter, which I don't really need to be.
The most important thing in losing weight and keeping it off is to understand that your habits are going to change permanently.
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Our attitude is - spend your money and leave.
Without any disrespect to the PNW, its people, its produce or its landscape, all of which I know and love, you may rest assured that this is exactly what we Yankees will do.
And we'll enjoy doing it as much as we will enjoy coming home.
As to the title of the thread, if there is such a jealousy, I'm not aware of it. New York City, in particular, isn't jealous of anything. The guy with the bow tie is not our appointed spokesperson.
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the sommelier...steered us toward the cheese plate and the coach farm cheese in particular.
Isn't Mario married to one of the Coach Farm family?
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I play some blues harp. Never played with a band, though.
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Fat Guy answered it best when he said that you have to superimpose that the people who say that generally prefer Italian food to begin with.
Although not all people who prefer Italian food think it is the best.
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Jon Tseng wrote:
"I seemed to have drawn the short straw and was dished up two stubby end-lobes, whose uneven shape left them overdone with none of the melting gooeyness you get inside a nice thick tranche."
Cabrales, your capacity for argument - and I use that word in its best sense - exceeds my ability to remain interested in the topic. I trust I have made my point, and even if I haven't, I'm done.
Steve, I'm glad you share my frustration at the lack of egalitarianism, as you put it, in restaurants. I agree with you that the trick is to wring the best out of one's visit. I've pointed out before that the FG has written persuasively on how to do well in a restaurant. However, I find it especially aggravating when the restaurant works at cross purposes with that objective, as it did for you at Babbo the other night; as Babbo often does. This is the difference between making the scene at a feeding machine and slipping into a thick partnership with your host for the evening.
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Robert -- Why would you assume that the two-piece foie was served to Jon *because* he is a one-time customer (which he is in fact not) or he is a non-French person? Why could it not have been served to him out of the luck of the draw?
The reason doesn't matter, Cabrales. All that matters is that he was served an inferior portion. Not acceptable. The money Jon used to pay for the portion was freely interchangeable with the money used by the other customer; so should the portion have been.
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Cabrales, you and I have disagreed about this before, and I don't expect anything to change.
There is nothing wrong with the preferred customer - even if he or she is preferred solely for being French - receiving more truffles, or an extra course, or whatever the chef feels like doing to acknowledge such a customer, but this treatment should never come at the expense of a one-time paying customer. If the menu item is "foie gras" and the price is 30 euros, the one-time customer should receive the prescribed portion from the best part of the liver, just as the regular would. If the regular gets another piece, good for him. But serving the ends to a non-repeater, no way. Give them to a homeless shelter.
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The most disconcerting part of Jon Tseng's report is the fact that he was served a less desirable slice from the foie gras than a French diner was served. That this happens all the time, eg, that it's nothing new, only makes it worse.
I've also stated my feeling before that every diner is entitled to exactly the same quality, execution and service of any given dish. Like the money paid for them, the dishes themselves should be fungible. I've also said before that inequities in this regard support my contention that there is no such thing as a three star restaurant, only three star meals, which you may or may not receive when you go to a given establishment.
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Deleted duplicate post
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We have numerous females as street trees in our neighborhood. There is competition for the nuts. We collect them when our supply runs low. (They can be frozen.) They stink.
Hulled, washed and dried, skewered, grilled or sauteed with soy sauce. Bitter, but delicious.
New York City also has a significant number of large, mature gingko trees that are spectacular specimens in their appearance.
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Does this mean that if I go to a decent restaurant in NYC (or anywhere else for that matter) and don't order wine, the meal will be sub-par? I can't just go there to have good food?
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But that isn't the standard that most businesses operate by.
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letting the chef cook for you can be a good thing
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A really special opportunity, Mogsob. I'm looking forward to your report.
You might even try the Italian Cultural Office, in addition to the usual food sources, for an idea in Florence. If nothing else, you may get a bunch of Italians to call home and ask their families. Also, Faith Wellinger lives in Florence, and would surely have the skinny.
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Jubilee is hampered by an undistinguished room with several uncomfortable tables, and a classic Franco-arrogant hostess, not to mention the awkward curtained entrance, beyond which one finds onesefl directly in among the tables. The Sutton Place crowd loves it, though. Must be the bargain moules/frites.
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Enjoyed the report, Steve. Thanks.
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Steve, I wonder what the number of Alsatian Jews was in 1937, and what the number is today? That's what I was getting at.
As to authenticity, I can't see any reason whatsoever to place that stamp more so on Jews who came from poor circumstances, as oppposed to those who were (much) better off. I know that it occurs, along with the reverse, and many accompanying issues, but it's not my thing from either point of view. I would be interested, though, to know what the preferences and practices of Our Crowd were regarding latkes, both here and in Germany. If anyone has a primary source citation on that, please pipe up.
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My family were regulars at Shun Lee Palace in the early seventies. Many is the time we had the pleasure of allowing Ed Schoenfeld to order for us. I can remember Michael Tong saying, "Oh, Mr. Schonfeld, Mr. Schoenfeld will take care of you." And he did.
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Sufganiot are chanukah doughnuts filled with sweet cheese or preserves and often served along with latke.
Azlee,
I dreamt all night of these. Thanks for opening up my horizons even further in my quest for all things sweet.
I shall now be on a new mission. Finding authentic Sufganiot. But till then, I shall make some donuts at home... or even go to Krispy Kreme if I am too lazy.
But thanks for explaining to me (and certainly other lurkers who like me did not know this) what Sufganiot are.
Again, in case you missed it, there are variations in sufganiyot that are equally authentic that in no way resemble doughnuts, except that they are cooked in oil.
Sufganiyot are served at the same time of year as latkes, and often at the same meal, because they are both cooked in oil, but they are not served together. One is sweet, the other savory.
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Thanks, Steve. The best you've ever had. I understand.
About sufganiyot. My late mother-in-law, an expert Israeli sephardic cook, made them by passing the batter through a funnel into the oil, resulting in abstract fried strands, which were then dusted with powdered sugar.
I have a sense that the latke is probably the eastern European version of a rosti. The version that many Jews know has come down from poor families. No doubt the Alsatian Jews - both of them - and other prosperous Jews would have no trouble including things in their potato pancakes, including truffles and bacon. But for the vast majority of us who know them through our immigrant families, and who prepare them traditionally, just for Hannukah, they are special and simple and delicious in their homeliness.
Ricotta Cheese
in New York: Cooking & Baking
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That guy on Arthur Avenue, Jaybee. Ask the FG or Ellen Shapiro. They should have the name.