chefwoody

If you contact them directly, you can get free samples of most, if not all, of the products that they carry. In order to purchase anything from them, they require a minimum amount (I think the minimum is a 50 lb. bag - It would take YEARS to use all of that!)

I agree, lala. I think web site maintenance and upkeep is intimately tied to the idea of customer service. The website, after all, is a service that the restaurant/business provides to the customer. And yes, I find it very frustrating to find (very commonly) restaurant websites with often VERY outdated menus and information (several I have visited are a year or more old). Unless I knew something specific about the restaurant, it would take a bit more for me to visit after seeing a shoddy website.

As a former web developer, (I'm with you on this Ian - and thanks for starting this thread back up) I think the questions posed here are very important. I think the website says a lot more than people think about the restaurant. It's just another outlet of how people interact with the restaurant, just like the first call they make to make a reservation, to the service they receive when they sit down, to the feeling the staff gives them upon their exit. I think (budget willing, of course) all these facets should be given careful attention - very much so to the website, as this is the first contact many people have with a prospective restaurant. Favorites: In terms of interactivity, ease of use, photos and descriptions of the food, and that "wow" factor that just makes you want to pick up the phone and book a table, I think Nobu's site is spectacular. http://www.noburestaurants.com

His first shop just outside of Laguiole in France has a website that may explain his cuisine a bit more: http://www.michel-bras.com That's at the top of my list the next time I'm in France.

I don't know if you can make it to Hokkaido, but Michel Bras has a restaurant in the Windsor Hotel TOYA, in Toya which would DEFINITELY be worth the trip.

Lee, As far as I have been able to ascertain (I am doing more research as I type) the alginate being used to make the raviolis (and lots of other items) is only extracted from a type of brown seaweed. It appears that it occurs in the seaweed as a mix of calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium salts. Based on these facts, I am going to assume, for now at least, that it is possible that it occurs in other green plants. But, I am also going to assume that the levels of each of the salts differs in other organisms to the effect that it does not react to calcium the same way that this particular seaweed alginate does (that it forms a stable matrix in the presence of calcium). Here's a link to a manufacturer of alginate that describes much of its chemistry: http://www.fmcbiopolymer.com/Biopolymer/V2...%253D33,00.html I'll post more information as I find it.

A nice option on curd that I learned which both makes the curd lighter (it practically dissolves in your mouth) and prevents a skin from forming is when the curd is finished (still hot), strain it through a chinois into a mixer bowl and whip it on medium speed until cool (you can place a bowl of ice underneath it to speed up the cooling). This produces a great finished product.

Outside of a fine-dining setting, one could wax just as eloquently about eating sweet peas right out of the pod as eating a liquid ravioli made of them. However, having tasted a pea soup made in the same manner, I can assure you that it tastes as raw as the season that made its ingredient. Also, as should be the goal of any good chef, the peas, through careful seasoning, taste more like themselves than if they were just eaten right out of the pod; not to mention the color, which is greatly enhanced by a VERY quick (approximately 10 seconds) blanch and shock to bring out its chlorophyll. And, most importantly, do you think anyone would go to a restaurant and pay several hundred dollars for a meal that consisted of a bowl of raw sweet peas and a nice bottle of wine? While taste is paramount in matters of cuisine, I deeply believe that dining is about much, much more. I believe in the "whole picture" when it comes to restaurants and think that each element is just as important as the other. As for tricks, I am all for them. Even when these tricks are experienced, the diner eventually comes back around to another flavor, sight, smell, or texture that is very real - one that he or she can connect with.

Foodie52, From my experience, describing the flavor as the "essence of peas" is an understatement. Where I worked, we made a similar dish in which peas, with the exception of a little salt and a little simple syrup to elevate the sweetness, were the ONLY ingredient. That's one of the things I love about it so much: the fact that it undeniably resembles itself because that is of what is entirely composed. That, and a corn soup (described in the French Laundry book, except in a sauce form) are the two best soups I have enjoyed, not only because I love the two ingredients regardless, but for their purity and intensity of flavor.

Malcolm, I understand your worry and I know that it is shared by many. I have heard many who are far more averse to this movement than you are. However, I have had the pleasure of spending a short time at a progressive, very forward-thinking restaurant in Chicago and hope that my perspective on the matter might lay your fears to rest. First and foremost, a genuine respect of food, the ingredients used, and the methodologies followed lies at the very core of the people executing these progressive dishes. Although many manipulations might appear throughout the meal, the diner is brought back in each dish to the purity of its components. I think all cooking can easily be taken for chemistry, depending on the cook's perspective. I think many are saying that chefs such as Adria, Blumenthal, Achatz, and Dufresne are "doing less cooking than chemistry" simply because their techniques have moved ahead with the same speed that the science behind them has - "dangerously" accelerating hundreds of years of culinary traditions and methods not just to "contribute something to the movement," but to elevate it beyond what it is. Second, many of these new food science products, such as the alginate used for the raviolis (which is just the coolest stuff to work with, btw), agar agar, etc. are completely natural. As science moves forward, so does its ability to accomplish more with nature while minimizing its manipulation of it (i.e. the alginate and agar agar, derived from seaweed). Other examples include maltodextrins (a modified sugar with varying lesser degrees of sweetness than sugar), film forming starches (used to make Listerine breath strips), new porcine gelatins (which stabilize foams, add body to salad dressings), transglutaminase (meat glue!), and lots of new stuff that I haven't even heard of yet. What a rant! Thanks for the link, Bourdain! I look forward to seeing that aired.

Beautiful. I think maybe this lad was in my logic class in college. Possibly a symantics major.

What is your opinion of food science products such as alginates and other heat-stable gelatins, maltodextrins, and modified food starches in the fine-dining arena? I had the pleasure of working in a very foward-thinking restaurant in which the uses of these products were explored and celebrated. I am, personally, very excited to see some of these new ingredients and techniques utilized on the dining scene. Since you have quite an affinity for food science, what is your two cents on the matter? P.S. Thanks for a great TV show!

SKinCA: I'm guessing the wine you had from Oregon was WillaKenzie. That's, as far as I know, one of the highest quality and highest producing vineyards from Willamette Valley (Oregon). I'm a big fan too!