pirate

If you're dining in Paris and not wearing a custom made Adriano Cifonelli suit you're obviously outr\'e.

If you're having a great bottle, the food is subordinate.Otherwise not. I always have a chateaubriand bearnaise when drinking Romanee-Conti. the wine not the domaine

If you're staying at Four Seasons/ George V by all means go to their 3-star restaurant. They'll provide you with a jacket and the wait staff will treat you better. Debrouillardism works!

Lizziee, your reply sent me scurrying to Madame Saint-Ange. She says (rough translation): " By texture, the interior at least approaches a soft- boiled rather than hard-boiled: its yellow being still in a liquid state under the white envelope which is solidified only to the point where the egg can resist shelling and the manipulations which follow. Roughly one can say that an oeuf mollet is a soft-boiled egg 'trop cuit'". As far as Pacaud, I'm surprised by his adoption of the "abus de langage" so in vogue by cooks. I dislike that usage intensely.

to Lizziee: Oeufs Mollet are not what we usually term as soft-boiled. They are boiled 5 to 6 minutes yielding a firmer yolk with a thicker although somewhat runny center. They make them exceptionally well at breakfast at the Les Muses in the Hotel Scribe Paris. Very easy to find in Germany; ask for Eier im Glas. However Lizziee I cannot concieve of what you term a "sabayon sauce" Is iit some form of Hollandaise?

Robert Brown I have no connection with any part the food business. My appreciation of food and wine is strictly as an amateur. In Fernand Point's book "Ma Gastonomie" Winston Churchill's expression (translated to French) is quoted: "Je ne suis pas difficile, je me contente de ce qu'il y a de meilleur". That expression sums up my attitude and makes me very critical. By the way Point has no recipes for foie gras with fruit. I am also a great admirer of Edouard Nignon through his books "Eloges de la Cuisine Francaise" and "Les Plaisirs de la Table"

To Robert Brown The 1970 Guide Michelin gave Chez Denis one star and that's when I ate there. !970 was my first year in Europe but I was already spoiled by excellent food at Perino's in LA and at La Caravelle in NYC .You mention ris de veau Denis but that could be a different dish from the Parfait. My favorite ris de veau dishes are Ris de Veau Mar\'echal (classic Escoffier) and Ris de Veau Grandmere where the lobe is studded with tongue and truffles and braised. I was born with a very low crap tolerence level.

to CyN: I'm not a celebrity . Yes I had the truite soufflee ( the trout flesh removed and mixed with pike(?) and stuffed back to resemble the original trout) at Chez Garin and thought it was good. The odd point was the raisin. It reminded me of the cuisine of Walterspiel in his restaurant at the Vierjahrzeiten in Munich. The extensive use of fruit was prevalent. Something like today's use of fruit with foie gras. How I long for foie gras truff\'e. with some champagne, the most calming food I can think of. Garin left Paris and opened a restaurant Le Lingousto in Sollies (near Toulon not Toulouse) He died from a concussion from falling down a flight of stairs in a drunken stupor. I was not impressed with Chez Denis. I ate there prior to the NYTimes publicity. One of his famous dishes was a parfait de ris de veau truff\'e which when I had it was unbearably salty. For Michelin addicts, Chez Denis never got more than one star and Chez Garin never got more than two stars.

I suppose I'm not really a true member since I prefer to remain anonymous, but I have dined at both Chez Denis and at Chez Garin.

You would have to buy the Hotel de la Cote d"or at ten centimes to the euro to make it a business risk.

Addendum; The sole dishes on the menu are not sole Sully. However the 2000 duck in burgundy seems like an older duck in red wine . Cabrales, doesn't that remind you of coq au vin?

The description of sole Sully was given in Wechsberg's book (page 233)as being served at the Tour d"argent. It seemed the place to go for it. Even in 1970 it was probably too costly to make. To quote Wechsberg: "Our lunch began with sole Sully, a creation of the late chef Cathelin, and one of the most elaborately prepared dishes we've eaten anywhere." I would also like to quote Wechsberg again. "At La Tour d'Argent they frown at such vulgar ingredients as cream or flour for sauces" That was no longer true when I ate there.

My first time in France and Paris was 1970. Wechsberg's description of Sole Sully was the great enticement to me. And so lunch at the Tour d'Argent was a must. I had quenelles which had no pike flavor and paste for a sauce. The main dish was the noisettes of lamb also described in Wechsberg. Nothing special to it. I don't remember dessert. Wine was a Nuits-St. Georges. Another time many years later I had quenelles de brochet Nantua at Nandron in Lyon, then 2 rosettes, and they were mediocre. Taillevent served slices of a loaf of brochet with a beurre blanc sauce at that time. At least there was pike in it, but the beurre blanc was poorly executed. Actually far and away the best quenelles de brochet Nantua I've had was at La Caravelle in New York back when they had classic cuisine. Getting back to the Tour d'Argent, I have never returned because I had been ripped off. Now Cabrales may hunt for Coq au Vin, but my quest would be for Sole Sully. That's authentic haute cuisine for me.

cabrales; Actually a small library. Less than a hundred books. I donate books that I don't feel worth keeping to the county library. Alas the German "Gourmet" ceased publication with the 100th issue. I only subscribe to "Feinschmecker" now.

Let me give some references and comments. Since royalties from intellectual properties are part of my livelihood (yes I get pirated) I'm very reluctant to violate copyrights and quote. In Dumaine's "Ma Cuisine" his recipe for Le Coq au Vin is on page 163. Main point is marinade.Non-numerical recipe. Some white wine incorporated with the red. The impeccable Richard Olney in his classic book "The French Menu Cookbook" ,pages 308-312 in original edition, gives an excellent discussion and recipe which helped me understand Dumaine's recipe. Apart from this, I have found that the designation "volaille de Bresse" is too broad to guarantee quality; the chicken and duck I've eaten in France in the last few years has diminished in quality. I find the chicken and duck I've had in Japan superior. Also with respect to the quality of ingredients the red wine used for cooking is also the wine served. I would be impressed with any restaurant that did it that way.

Cabrales. It is plain to me that they should have recognized you as a connoisseur of food and wine based on your early communications with them. Their behavior was reprehensible. There does not seem to be any definitive recipe for coq au vin. A good discussion is found in Courtine's book "The Hundred Glories of French Cooking" pp235-239. As far as origins, I quote from Courtine (hopefully not in violation of copyrights) "The origins of the coq au vin are distant and doubtful. The Auvergne claims that the original ancestor was made with its Chanturgue wine. Burgundy claims its invention as one of the province's glories and local traditions" Corroborating this is the fact that in Curnonsky's book "Traditional Recipes of the Provinces of France" recipes are presented for Auvergne (page 325, color illustration on page 323 from Restaurant Blanc, Paris) and for Bougogne (page 335, color illustration on page 349 from Restaurant Dumaine, Saulieu0 Courtine feels every wine region has its "coq au vin" with either red or white wine. In fact the recipe he chooses to give is from Mme. Maigret. I quote " The wife of Simenon's famous detective was of course originally from Alsace. And so the coq au vin that she cooks,simmers with love, for the world-famous inspector, is a coq au vin blanc. And, moreover,a white wine from Alsace. But even , Mme Pardon, her friend, confesses to her one day that she detects something different, a subtle and flavorsome nuance in its taste. 'Ah' Mme. Maigret replies with celestial placidity, 'that's because I flavor my sauce with a drop of sloe gin' I have tried the recipe.And flavorsome indeed it is" The recipe uses 2 tsp. of sloe gin instead of brandy. Okay, Cabrales, your next assignment is obvious.

Cabrales: I made that remark with respect to Dumaine and his times compared to ours. There are many excellent chefs today but we're beset with "corporate culture" taking over so many aspects of life. I'm thinking of Alan Ducasse and, in particular, the revealing Wall Street Journal interview with him some time ago - typical "corporate culture speak",. Though tempted by his reputation and the reviews, I don't feel I want to a client of his restaurants. I was fortunate to have eaten in the old "Aux Lyonnais" and loved the French bourgeois food- la France vieille to me. Do you believe that Ducasse and his partner have the honesty and integrity to give us something other than a Disney version? Sorry, Cabrales, I'm a hopeless idealist. But I'm entertained by your becoming the gadfly of the website.

Vieille France. I miss it.

Cabrales: I hope I'm not violating any copyrights. Conversation between Dumaine and Wechsberg, Dumaine speaking "...In the music of the cuisine, the sauces are melodies. Some chefs use as many as four different sauces in a single dish, but do they blend them into a harmonious symphony? That's where the trick lies. Nothing is ever perfect. I've made my sauce for coq au vin for thirty years and I'm only just now beginning to get the proper balance. This morning, by the way, it came out especially well. Here,try" Again I tasted, and again I could find no fault "Thirty years to achieve that" Dumaine said. "yet some young men think they know all the answers after two years of apprenticeship. When my boys move on to other jobs, they know the rudiments of technique and the laws of chemistry. Whether they'll not only work hard but bring to their work that extra spark that distinguishes the good cook from the mediocre one there's no way of telling" Also from the same book. Mrs. Dumaine speaking about her husband: "He's always in the kitchen - cooking, experimenting, creating, improving" she went on "He's a wonderful man, monsieur. He lives, thinks, dreams only cuisine. He used to like to hunt - woodcock and partridge - but he's given that up. He's happy nowhere but in his kitchen. It's his home. And it isn't the same when he isn't in it,either. If he stays away longer than forty-eight hours, monsieur, it's disaster. Once a year, in November, we close the place for a couple of weeks, to give our employees a rest. My husband and I go to Nice to visit my sister, and all the time we're there, my husband walks the streets, lonely for his kitchen. He has the obsession of the real artist, monsieur. He sleeps in a small room upstairs facing the highway. He first moved into it because he felt no guest would want it, on account of all the heavy trucks going by. Well, now he has become so accustomed to the noise that when traffic lets up, after midnight, the quiet often wakes him. And then what does he do? He switches on the light and sits up in his chair and reads recipes. He reads recipes the way conductors read scores" One final quote: On June 24, 1933 Mrs. Dumaine wrote to her husband; "Beloved Tempest, I wish I were a magician, so that I could pass on to young people something of the fervor of your labors and aspirations, something of your achievements and the objectives toward which you strive incessantly, and thus re-create for their benefit the struggles of your life. Struggles that have given both of us a most wonderful adventure, a life so rich in understanding and so full of the only things we can take with us ...."

Cabrales: If you like ceremony go to de Carmeliet (the showbiz aspects that get you 3 rosettes) It's not a restaurant I personally would revisit. I would choose Comme Chez Soi if at all possible. It was truly outstanding (4 separate meals) based strictly on food.

Cabrales, you are correct with respect to wagyu=japanese beef. There are many "eleveurs" (the French term seems a propos)in Japan with probably most of the best in Kansai region which includes Kobe. The richest I've ever had was Matsuzaka (Sp?) beef . It is extremely marbled. But there is also not very good Japanese beef. For example beef from Hokkaido. On this last trip I lunched at one of my past favorite French restaurants "Cam chien gripp\'e" (the dog with the grip). They served Hokkaido beef and it was not very good. The restaurant has declined based on my last visit and a prior one. Getting back to Wagyu, the best I've had was simply labeled Kobe beef and was served at a buffet (a chef working at a grill served) for an international conference in Kyoto. The beef at the Cerulean Tower restaurants was very similar, very flavorful, tender but not overly fatty. I didn't inquire about where it came from.

The question should be why is Nobu sucessful in New York and London. Long before Nobu, I liked Matsuhisa in LA. I no longer patronize it as there are better Japanese restaurants in LA. I've not been to any of the Nobus because they are too hyped. The black cod was a fine dish at Matsuhisa but I've eaten better black cod dishes in Vancouver ( at C and at Blue Water Grill, for example). I admired Morimoto on the "Iron Chef" (he was chef at Nobu NY at the time) but was disappointed by a meal at his restaurant in Philadephia last July.

I spent a few days in Tokyo. I stayed at the less than 2 year old Cerulean Tower which turned out to be an excellent hotel. The Park Hyatt is more deluxe but the Cerulean Tower is more lively . It's in Shibuya. I liked the Italian restaurant at the hotel: Japanese beef with rucola salad was excellent. The Japanese restaurant was distinctly inferior to Kozue at the Park Hyatt. There is a new Four Seasons in the Pacific Century West office tower in Maranouchi. It is reversed; the first seven floors are the hotel and the office tower looms above it. The lobby, restaurant and bar are on the 7th floor and you descend to the rooms. This is a boutique hotel with 57 rooms. It has sleek contemporary design differing from the usual plush clutter of the practically all Four Seasons. Undoubtedly the taste of the Chinese owners. Only one restaurant with a French chef. The restaurant is very attractive and the food is nouvelle cuisine executed well but not distinguished. This restaurant in food and ambiance was better, in my opinion, than its counterpart at the Park Hyatt Paris. I would, however, prefer the restaurants at the Park Hyatt Tokyo. The high point gastronomically was a lunch at Kyobey. I had a selection of sashimi chosen by the chef followed by a selection of sushi. As you would expect he selection of fish and seafood differs to certain extent from that of USA places. Everything was very fresh. There are more sauces and use of citrus. But a big difference was the superb quality of the rice. Service was excellent and the atmosphere was very friendly and informal. Kyubey is clearly superior to Kuruma Zushi and Sushi Yashuda in NYC. Cost about $130.

I spent a few days in Paris staying at the Park Hyatt on the rue de la Paix very close to the Place Vendome. It opened during the Summer and consists of five apartment houses gutted and rebuilt fon the inside with exteriors kept basically unchanged. The interior was designed by Tuttle who is responsible for the Amanresorts. I haven't stayed at any of the latter. If you think of a semi-abstract sculpture of a man with hands raised , the kind of sculpture that might accompany an appeal about world hunger, you'll find it everywhere in the hotel, sometimes in pairs. On light fixtures, some door handles, and so on. Rooms have tall ceilings, higher than width in my room. Subdued colors except for gold paint on some door frames. Bathrooms include an open space with luggage stand and a couple of draers beneath and a shelf and hanger rod above. There is a sink with a large mirror. The bath and shower and a smaller sink with a mirror one step up. The shower is an overhead rain type and a handheld. one uses one or the other by switching the faucet. Typical large deep European bath. Lighting while plentiful was almost all overhead and so shaving was difficult. In room apart from ceiling lights to dramatize window, etc. fixture were one or two of the ubiquitous brass figures hold open solid cylinders. Reading in bed very difficult and the single fixture over the desk provided very poor lighting. Heating and ventilation fans were much too noisy for this class of hotel especially since it was just built. Elevators noisy compared to many hotels. At the Adlon in Berlin the elevators are deliberately noisy. The rooms at the Adlon are much better. The Park Hyatt in Tokyo is my top hotel choice and is far superior to this Park Hyatt. The Widder in Zurich which consists of old houses rebuilt into a deluxe hotel is also superior to the Paris Park Hyatt. Tilla Theus who designed the Widder should have gotten the design job. Except for foyers and corridors the ground floor is taken up by two courtyards one glassed over , a restarant with an open kitchen, a bar and an informal dining and drinking area covering one of the courtyards. The other courtyard has tables and chairs presumably for outdoor use in Summer. The glassed over courtyard has a mirrored ellipsoidal shaped shell in which a large fixture used for the buffet breakfast is housed. Continental breakfast not up to standards of other Paris deluxe hotels. The Park restaurant has the open kitchen which is quite noisy. Add background music! I had one dinner there which was competant but undistiguished except, perhaps, for the chef's "gimmick" of offering a selection of mustards matching the main dishes. Two meals worth mentioning. On a Monday shortly after noon I asked the concierge to try for a lunch reservation that day at Le Grand Vefour for one. The restaurant is a ten minute walk and I arrived at 12:30. Table not the greatest but restauurant completely filled up. I chose the 72 euro lunch menu, a Perrier and a lalf bottle of a 1997 Chablis premiere cru of Durop. 1997 was a wonderful year for Chablis but this speciman was rather ordinary (48 euros). Startind with a delicious expresso cup of creamogf cauliflower with small chunks of lobster. Followed by a couple of ravili of foie gras; good but not distinguished. The entree was a slice of tuna and vegetable jelled in a checkerboard fashion in a terrine. This was good but bland. The main dish was cod on a bed of soy beans and a side dish of green vegetables with some olive oil. The cod was slighlty brown fresh and firm, absolutely first rate execution and the fixings enhanced the main ingredient. This was followed by a cheese course (very good) and dessert( just some ice creams and sherbets). There follows a parade of jellies, mignardises, and chocolates which I didn't try. A plain gateau de Savoie was offered with my coffee and I had a slice. The service was excellent. Wine pricy but overall very good value. The second meal was also lunch at the two Michelin rosette Les Muses in the Hotel Scribe, a short distance away. I chose the lowest priced menu at 41.5 euros. I had a Perrier and a half bottle of 1999 Beaune Marconnets (Bouchard I think) (around 39 euros). It was good but could stand more aging. There were some cheese puffs at the table. A small piece of foie gras with some fresh fig sauce started the meal. Excellent. This was followed by the entree of thinly sliced scallops and beets arranged on overlapping concentric circles. Good. The main dish was a thick grilled slice of calves liver with a small galette of potatoes Anna and a delicious clear brown sauce at the side. I loved it. This was followed by dessert which was a nice finish but I can't remember what it was. Excellent mignardises offered. A really fine value. I had stayed at the Scribe a few years ago and had only breakfasts in Les Muses (one Michelin rosette at the time). They made perfect oeufs mollets for me. I flew from Paris to Tokyo.

On a stop in Stockholm last Spring I found the food as unexciting as in the past. While I haven't been to Trotter's recommendations, I think they're just hype. Sweden is DULL but neat and clean. Give me Rome.