SKinCA

Um, actually, I think that everyone's been calling her the "Asian chef," not "chick." ← Awk! My bad. You are absolutely right. Thank you for pointing that out to me. I must now retire to meditate on why my subconcious dubbed in "chick" for "chef". Apologies all.

First, the disclosure. I have assisted at Sur La Table in Los Gatos for the past 6 years, so know their program quite well. I now teach at the Los Gatos SLT also. That being gotten out of the way, I think for SLT, the classes quality depend highly upon the quality of the teacher. If Alice Medrich is doing hands-on chocolate, or Joyce Jue Chinese, or Chat Mingkwan Thai cooking, you will learn much while doing. It is also a good place to catch authors touting their books, if you are into that. While Chat teaches in Los Gatos, Joyce and Alice appear to be mostly in Berkeley in the next several months. The downside - classes are usually geared to people who have little to no cooking experience, so might well be too simplistic for you. You probably know more than you think you do already. I doubt you'd get as much 'hands-on' as you seem to want. as most classes have 16 people and due to organizational constraints, you would only get to work on 1 recipe. Other SF Bay area teachers that I have found excellent are: Linda Carucci, Jay Harlow, Cindy Race and Charlie Vollmer (Charlie does good hands on knife skills). Some people really like Hugh Carpenter but he's not my cup of tea. Another option - Emile Mooser of Emile's Restaurant in San Jose teaches an intensive multi-week hands on course based on classic French technique. If memory serves me right, it's not as expensive as Tante Marie. Perhaps something to keep in your back pocket, if not for right now. Here are links: Sur La Table Emile's Cooking Classes Good luck and I hope this info is helpful to you.

For people who are supposed to be things like "event planners" etc., they don't seemed to know about making things ahead. If I had to do brunch for Flay, etc. I'd probably opt out of eggs prepared to order (too much potential for screwing up unless you've done it a million times!) and do a make ahead baked French Toast. Or a Frittata. You don't really need a recipe, you throw it in the fridge overnight and bake it off in the morning. Hard to screw up, really. I do think that part of their challenge is to work with the ingredients they are given. And the real cook (Mycheal, the "Asian chick", as everyone seems to want to call her) is gone. They also seem to suffer from the "more is better" syndrome. Witness the dizzying array of appetizers offered when the guests arrived. Candace B. even commented on it. These people are fairly clueless. At least the dumped the weepy chick. Her self-pity jag was beginning to annoy me.

So, here's a practical question: I sometimes have to dine out with my father--in-law, who is the rudest person in the planet to all waitstaff (not like he's that pleasant otherwise, but that's a story for eCrappyInlaws.com!). I cringe at his behavior and, having been a waitess myself, really feel for the staff. Will "pre-tipping" help make the experience more bearable? Like, sneaking off to the restroom, grabbing the server and saying "hey, I know he's a major dickhead, here's $10 in advance to help you make it through the dinner"? Needless to say, he undertips like crazy as well and I'm always "forgetting" something in the restaurant so I can go back and correct that mistake. Perhaps this isn't the right place for this question, but while we are talking about customer/server relationships.... Humiliated daughter-in-law wants to know.

Re: your comments on Ripert, Boulud, Keller et al. It seems to me that there must be some sort of Inverse Law of Food Celebrity whereby: (Cooking Ability/Amount of FoodTV Airtime) x (EyeMakeup Squared over the Square Root of Foreign Accent) and the hypotenuse of RealChef Credibility plus Actually Breaking a Sweat Over a Stove = Actual Great Food Produced Of course, the RachelRay Giggle Factor is a given and the Bammage Theorem is applied. Then, logically, the answer is our best chefs are too busy actually producing outstanding food to be on Iron Chef or otherwise chasing facetime on FoodTV. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I guess that I believe that chasing celebrity is a full time occupation and your other job (cooking!) would naturally suffer. Note - clearly I'm as much a mathemetician as your average 18 month-old.

The "what will they do in so little time?" aspect freaked me out completely as well. And if I had $2500 to spend? - well, dip me in batter and call me tempura! - I'd be a happy little camper.

I don't know if anyone cares about this show and it might be a bit off-topic, foodwise, but I'd like to suggest a way to bring it back. Why don't we suggest our own menus for last night's challenge? I'll go first. Be gentle, good people! As I was watching, I couldn't believe the food choices, especially the so-called "artisan" team. Firstly the surf and turf idea - not French, no? Given the timeframe they had, they had ample time. Why not go the unexpected way and do a simple French instead of frou-frou French-ish? A assortment of simple canapes to start with - pate, a tapenade, tuna and olive spread? Perhaps a date stuffed with foie gras? Keep it simple. Keep your prep to a minium and depend on good ingredients. Coq Au Vin for the main course, served with delicious crunchy bread. Perhaps Pommes Anna on the side? Salad after, accompanied by a selection of Cheeses. Want to wow them a bit? - make souffles for dessert (though Flay shouldn't be wowed by that I bet the other two might) That would be what I would have done. It might not have been perfect, but I would have been confident of the flavors, much prep and assembly could have been done ahead, allowing most of the team to spend time with the judges. And for the money the would have saved on those crappy lobsters they could have bought a bucket to properly chill the champagne! Or decorated a table as fabulous as Crafty Beavers did. OT - When I cater for people, I can't afford to have 12 lobsters be bad just before I need to cook them. I would have asked for them to crack one open for me to check it out. Or gotten them live and cooked them myself. Or just ditched that entire idea or....well, nevermind. As to that American meal outside? The lady chef kept the menu kind of all American until the very end when the "gummy" truffles were trotted out. Given that they apparently were in the midst of apple season, why not all-american apple pie and ice cream? Or an apple cobbler? What's the deal with the truffle thing? How did that get to be the epitome of excellence in desserts? A good truffle is nice, but give me a slice of great pie anyday. Anyway. Thought this might be fun. It not, I promise to return to lurker mode and darken your forums no more...

I'm always on the hunt for new food magazines, but I'd wish for a bit more of a preview than two recipes before I decide. I also think that the editing on the recipes isn't as tight as it could be. Missing commas, missing accent marks. I'm a bit fussy about that stuff, though it isn't crucial to the recipe. I guess I'm going to have to wait until after the first issue is available and miss out on getting that snazzy pin. Shucks.

Took my mother to Manresa this past Saturday night as a special treat for her. She is from Mobile, AL where if it ain't simply raw oysters, it ain't worth eating at all. Seriously, the food in Mobile uniformly sucks. I can't post beautiful photographs and my higher brain functions sort of cease because the food there taps into my most primitive and atavistic pleasure centers, so no elegantly worded descriptions of the most exquisite little dishes we were served. The best I can manage is little moans and grunts of happiness- really. It's quite sad. I'm lucky my autonomous functions don't cease. Food mmmm good. Service superb. Happy me. Happy mom. Happy. Happy. Happy.

Lavender Cookbook The above is a good lavender cookbook. In the interest of full disclosure, this is written by a caterer that I frequently work for named Sharon Shipley. One thing I do know about lavender is that not all lavender is culinary lavender! There are many different varieties and you need to be sure that the patch growing outside is the right type. The wrong type won't kill you - nothing that severe! - but is will not taste nummy! Good luck! Sharon's got some great recipes and I think you'll enjoy the book. If you want to browse it before buying, try Barnes and Noble or any of the big book chains - I think it's in most of them.

I can talk but it must be inconsequential chitchat, because 80% of my mind is on the cooking. Cooking time is not the time to make major life decisions! And, I've learned the hard way not to have an argument and cook at the same time - I end up cutting myself every time!

See this thread on that issue: Manresa and the Infamous Egg Chef Bourdain - we've known about David Kinch and his wonderful cooking here in the Silicon Valley for a bit, but welcome to the party!

I ate at Babbo's last time I was in New York. I noted none of the ambience issues mentioned in today's review. Granted, the bar area was crowded, but the fact that Babbo accomodates walk-ins is, to me, an example of excellent service. I was unable to solidify my plans in New York and consequently couldn't make reservations anywhere. I took a chance and asked a friend to meet me at Babbo's early - around 6pm - hoping that we could grab an early or late table or be fortunate enough that there would be a cancellation (it was a thursday, btw). I arrived first and went in. I walked up to the people at the reservation desk and, prepared to beg, asked if there were any way at all I could get a table for two at any time. I was shocked, pleasantly so, when the gentleman smoothly replied "No problem at all. Welcome. We'll have a table for you in about 20 minutes. Would you like to have a drink at the bar?" I was gobsmacked (as the Brits say) and happy to be so! My friend arrived, we enjoyed a lovely drink, we were shown to our table and treated like royalty throughout the entire meal. My friend is vegatarian and the waiter was very helpful in suggesting appropriate dishes to suit us both. The sommelier was remarkably helpful in suggesting an appropriate bottle of wine, taking into account both what we were eating and our request that it be "moderately" priced. (I don't recall the particular wine, but I do recall the price $28 - moderate indeed!) The food was delicous, the service continued to be attentive, but not hovering. We didn't feel rushed or harried at all. As to music, I don't even remember any. Certainly it wasn't loud. I would have noticed as I have some difficulty hearing in the presence of background noise (too much loud music in my 20s!) Perhaps it's more frenetic in the main part of the restaurant. Perhaps it was a quiet thursday. I admit it was early - could have crowded up later. But this was close to one of the best dining experiences I've every had. I think that although a less crowded waiting area (ie: without walk-in area) would perhaps be more pleasant when the restaurant is more crowded, the desire to serve walk-ins is commendable. Chef Batali certainly doesn't have to. I think doing so is representative of his wanting to put customers first. I think that's a very good trait in a restaurant. The star issue - eh - who cares? 3 or 4 stars, people are still going to keep eating at Babbo because, bottom line, it's a great place.

I learned this from Kelsie Kerr, who currently cooks at Chez Panisse, when she was teaching classes in the SF Bay Area. You must have absolutely ripe, delicious tomatoes to do it. Concasse ripe yellow tomatoes and ripe red tomatoes - keep them separate all the way through every step of the recipe. Puree in a blender until smooth. Season to taste with salt, white pepper and a little EVOO. Chill. Or serve at room temp. Serve by pouring both into a bowl at the same time so that you end up with 1/2 of the bowl red and 1/2 yellow. I confess that I do this in a bowl that is small enough that I can use my flexible dough scraper as a divider. You can garnish with a little drizzle of oil, or some croutons or snipped chives or an edible flower.....you get the idea. If you don't mind rustic you can skip the concasse part, or you can puree and then strain if it works better for you that way. This gives you remarkable bang for the buck. It's certainly reasonable, calorie-wise. And when tomatoes are in season - yummy, yummy!

Am I too obessessed with food if I'm actually considering commuting from San Francisco to do this? What a wonderful thing!

I do. I am! I bought myself one of these about 2 months ago and I find myself using it again and again. I agree with your rave revue. What I particularly like about it is how smooth it is on top as compared to a Global, for instance. I've used Globals and I find that they irritate the base of my right index finger. The Furi rests comfortably against that spot, cuts cleanly and is very nice to work with. Congrats on your new knife. As my mother would say "Use it in good health!". And didn't we meet at IACP? The infamous Gouda error at the Beer and Cheese tasting? Recently had an Enkater aged Gouda (hope my spelling of that is correct!) and it was delicious!

Thanks all for the suggestions. Wintzells is a must for my daily oyster fix. Dot's still there. Paper plant closed but I remember that smell! It's funny that for a town with a rich history, right on the coast with excellent access to seafood, great ante-bellum architecture (right up next to the Popeyes, of course!) that Mobile has no really good food. I'm toying with the idea of eating in N'awlins on my way in, since I'm flying through there and I'd rather be eating than caught in traffic. Won't be able to drink, but a good meal to tide me over would be the right thing to do. Been to Bayona (and wasn't it one of you who suggested a Thomas Keller vs Susan Spicer match - hilarious! She rocks!) but might see if as a solo diner I can walk into Nola. Thank you all again.

It's exactly what I expected GG. Of the restaurants on that site's lists, I've been to: Justines- I had to send my plate back because the fish was raw and I'm not sure, but I think that was the place that I couldn't have a burger med-rare because, as the waitress explained to me "it's just not safe to serve it that way". Loretta's is ok - they try but but don't always succeed. Dreamland is actually rather good bar-b-q. I don't know - anyone want to move to Mobile and open a restaurant? Town's wide open, as far as I can tell. Hooters! Olive Garden! <snort!>

Hi all, I'm headed to Alabama first thing in the am. I've been going there all my life and it seems to me that, aside from oysters, I don't really have high expectations of the food there. Am I missing something? Is there something off the beaten track or a new place that's worth checking out? Help me out! I can eat oysters every day for 6 days, but on the 7th I need a change.

I'm hopping in on this fairly late, but I'm hoping to do a kitchen renovation of my own. It would help me if I understood where, geographically speaking, everyone is located. I enjoy the blessing/curse of living in No. Cal (Silicon Valley) and I'm distressed at how expensive contracting costs are! I can get all the organic vegetables I want, but no one to install flooring! My kitchen is also too big! I'll be following this saga with interest. Thanks for posting it.

I can second Andrea heartily on this. I love Kasma's books and cook from them frequently.

Not related to food? Getting woozy...universe spinning out of control...got to remain concious......no food??? AAAARRGGGGGHHH!

I find myself going back to The New York Times Cookbook quite a bit for essentials. For cookies and cakes, Cookies Unlimited and Perfect Cakes, by Nick Malgieri - they will unfailingly A) work and B) be delicious. And ditto what many others have said, particularly Cookwise (if you haven't had Shirley C's Touch of Grace Biscuits, you haven't really lived, IMO).

It actually works out that way. There are a group of his friends that I will no longer cook for - he cooks for them himself or takes them out. And I was probably indulging in a little bit of whining hyperbole - it isn't as bad as running a restaurant - but I do find grown people to be rather babyish about food. Since I will eat almost anything (and have!) I find people who won't try things trying. Don't get my started on my father-in-law's wife, who once brought her own food to dinner party......grrrrrr. edited for a missing word

You may be right, but the important thing is to have a good idea of what your guests will or won't eat. Sounds like you may need to press them a little harder on what they do and don't like to eat. You know, I do ask people before I have them over and I'm more than willing to deal with vegetarians, religious beliefs and food allergies. But when you start to question 6-8 people about their particular food preferences, you're not talking about having a dinner party anymore - you're beginning to be running a restaurant! I'd either have to make everything so bland and boring that cooking would be a chore or cook to order for each guest. For free, that I won't do! I think it's the feeding of non-foodies that are a big issue. Many of the pickiest eaters are long-time friends of my husband and not the friends I would have chosen myself. It's just a killer to think carefully about a menu, spend time preparing it and then have people reject your offerings out of hand because they are walking around with a bunch of food baggage. And, I knew there was a reason that I like Jeffrey Steingarten so much. He's right on the money - what if it take you 100 times to like something and you give up after only 99 tries? Also, the amount of swill I've had to choke down at other people's tables, politely, would choke a horse! I can pretty much promise they are getting better than swill at my house - so I'm back to "just eat what I give you!" Me <-----apparently can't take it easy.