lizziee

I am totally weird, but I love natto. When my son was little,we would take him to sushi bars and if I ordered natto; he would loudly complain -"Oh no. not natto!" One of my favorite ways to have natto is in a bowl with largely diced raw tuna and a quail egg on top.

Patrice, Where did you hear/read this? When is it suppose to happen?

Rather than just talk about Adria in the abstract, let me give two examples from his cuisine, one which was extraordinary and one which, for me, is just not food. The first is Adria's Sopa de Levadura con Helado de Limon y Huevo de Codorniz (2000). To quote Robert Brown this is "a rather incredible, complex dish and a transition between the main courses and the desserts. A "reverse engineering" of a brioche. In a bowl was a quail egg yolk, melted butter and lemon ice cream in the bottom of a bowl. The waiter poured hot juice from yeast and some unnamed ingredient that gave it crunch. The taste brought together the elements of a brioche without actually being one." This is Adria at his best. The intensity of the flavor, the deconstruction of a brioche which added up to a sum, much more than its parts." The second is "3 spoons containing flavors of the world - not food, just liquid tastes of Thai, Japanese and Mexican flavors." The intensity of the flavor is certainly there, but that is all you have - flavor without texture. This is taking the deconstruction to the extreme or more to what Steve P suggests as food in tablet form. I think the impact of Adria is in this intensity of flavor. In this world of fast food, quick and easy satisfaction, passive enjoyment, mindless TV watching, Adria and chefs like him, force us to be an active diner. There is just no way to sit back and be a lazy, complacent diner. This active participation, both cerebral and emotionally evocative, absolutely did not diminish my enjoyment of the food. The struggle is finding the language to describe Adria.

http://utenti.lycos.it/ferranadriaclub/ Adria's fan club

I have been sitting on the sidelines, yet reading every word with interest, not knowing exactly how to respond. Maybe, my quandary is evidence over my quandary with Adria's cuisine itself. It is easy to critique Troisgros, L'Ambrosie, Veyrat, Bras and even Gagnaire. This is a landscape I understand completely. Yet Adria's language is at times baffling, sometimes weird, sometimes brilliant and always very demanding of the diner. My meals at El Bulli were challenging to say the least. The focus of the entire evening was the plate. The only conversation was about the food - this single-minded focus made it an intellectual challenge, but was it an enjoyment of wonderful cuisine with convivial dinner companions - no. I think that is why Robert describes this as a meal you can have only so often - it demands so much from you, the diner, that you feel intellectually overloaded by the experience. There is an interesting article by Elaine Showalter in The American Prospect entitled "Food: My Dinner with Derrida," She mentions that Adria gives Jacques Derrida and other philosophers and theorists the credit for inspiring him. "A deconstructed dish," he explains, "protects the 'spirit' of each product it employs and preserves (even enhances) the intensity of its flavor. Still," he adds, "it presents a totally transformed combination of textures." "Of course, in the restaurant, deconstruction can be a bit of a shock, as Adria admits: "When patrons are expecting the Curry Chicken they ordered from the menu and are served a curry ice-cream with apple jelly, coconut soup, chicken broth, and raw onion rings, they are usually taken aback." She then theorizes that "for some the pleasure of being in the avant-garde of creative cuisine will soothe the disappointment." From what I can gather, from the latest reviews, Adria has just begun his experimenting. Adrian Searle in the Guardian describes Adria's latest culinary efforts. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/critic/feature/0,1169,637125,00.html "Marcel Duchamp, the father of conceptual art, was a frequent summer visitor to Cadaques. Once, he described painting not as something visual, but as "olfactory", an art of smells; oil, resins, varnish and turpentine. If a painter works in a perfumed cloud, Adria invites you to eat it, drink it, sniff it, smoke it. Adria has also described his cooking as conceptual. He is trying all sorts of new, techno things this season: atomiser sprays to sweeten or salt your food at the table, and while you're at it, how about spray-on sauces, aerosols of wine or chocolate?" Now, the question becomes is this a lasting impact and is it one serious diners want to see? I think, as FG suggests, the impact is already here. If nothing else, Adria is an unbelievable marketer of himself. There is now a Ferran Adria Fan Club (it seems it is based in Italy), Ferran Adria cooking utensils, Ferran Adria traveling worldwide (he is closed 6 months of the year), and chefs from all over the world flocking to the lab and El Bulli. The second part of the question is what has me in a quandary. I know I don't want the El Bulli experience in every temple of gastronomy. I don't want every meal to be an intellectual exercise. That being said, Gagnaire's cuisine is both for me - intellectual but also satisfying. I can only say that we are about to start an extensive trip to France and I hope that my lasting impression is great, memorable food that tastes good.

" It is clear to me as well that today’s chefs are more risk taking than the chefs of previous generations, a luxury afforded by the many-course meal that allows much more room for error. Besides an avant-garde in the sphere of designing and preparing food, there is complicating the matter, a new modality of dining (at least as practiced by Adria, Gagnaire, Keller, Barbot, and others) of pre-determined and small, multi-course servings." Robert, This was THE topic of conversation at the dinner table tonight and I think you have "hit the nail on the head." In a multi-course, small tastes, menu there is a huge margin of error allowed. If one dish out of 10, or three out of 15 etc. doesn't work, the diner can accept the occasional flop. L'Ambrosie is one of the few restaurants that still relies on the old system of only a la carte with the expectation that a diner will order an entree, a main, cheese, and dessert and as such each one must be perfect as there is no margin for error. I am not weighing in one over the other, but I think you have identified one of the defining trends.

I wonder how many restaurants would refuse Joe Pytka as a client? He is known as a tyrannical customer. Pytka has made more than 25,000 commercials and earns between 30 and 35 million a year. It is nothing for him to spend over $10,000 at a meal (something which he does frequently). However, according to an article in Today's LA Times, he is demanding and unforgiving; one "misstep -- however slight -- might mean a tongue-lashing that could strip paint."

In the Great Chefs of France, there is a chapter about Chapel that I think embodies the pinnacle of the greatness of a chef. "It is not enough for Chapel to send through to the dining room a perfect dish. It must be the perfect dish for the person who is going to eat it. For this reason, he likes to meet everyone as he arrives. Everyone arrives in a different state of mind. If he can meet them he can judge what they expect of him. If they demand the maximum, then he is challenged to provide it... It is dishes which are particularly requested that give him the greatest pleasure, for the enemy of a chef is monotony." If only I could have gone there when he was alive.

"Hi! I have just booked Boyer ‘Les Crayeres’ for mid-October but have recently read reports that Gerard Boyer is not actually cooking anymore, having handed control of the kitchens to someone else. Is this true? Should I reconsider my booking?" "I'm not sure how official this is, but I understand that for quite some time, the actual work in the Boyer kitchen has been headed up by Thierry Voisin, although Gerard Boyer does hang around and supervise periodically. Based on a recent meal I had there, I would strongly encourage you to go. The restaurant is still suffused with the famous Boyer warmth and hospitality and the food is still terrific." This was on a thread entitled Boyer 'Les Crayeres', but I think it is appropriate to post it here. The fact that Boyer is not in the kitchen makes no difference and shouldn't. It does not mean that there is any evidence of a loss of quality. I think that is all one should expect.

"Is it okay to show up at a dinner at an expensive restaurant and to have it be an inferior experience, only to find out afterwards that the chef(s) weren't on hand?" "But I DO expect that the "boss" will maintain a certain level of excellence in the kitchen which bears his/her name, and in the staff that works under him/her and that he has trained." "I would expect that the chef would leave the kitchen in the hands of someone who could cook the dishes on the menu well." I think this is the issue we should be discussing. I am not bothered by an understudy if the quality of a performance is maintained. Maybe, the correct word would be disappointed. I am also not bothered to have the 2nd, 3rd, 4th chef in line cook a meal as long as the expected quality is still there. In fact, many of the so-called celebrity chefs are rarely in the kitchen. To cite an example, Thomas Keller, at times, has not been in the kitchen when I have eaten there and I was unable to tell the difference - dishes were perfectly executed.

To expand this from a specific example to a broader base issue, how should a chef/owner respond to complaints from a regular customer? Should those complaints be handled in a different way from the every-once-in-a-while client? Might it be possible that a regular customer feels an obligation to not only praise a chef/owner for excellent food, but also let him know when things do not live up to his reputation? How should a chef/owner handle criticism? Does it make a difference who is doing the criticism? Would it be better,in the long run, to say nothing to the chef/owner and then, by word-of-mouth tell all your friends about your lousy experience?

Steve, I didn't say that you said that Lyon cuisine is dead; that was my own spin. But, I do think you have a vision of Lyon that is out-dated. Again, I can't justify this statement with first-hand knowledge, but it seems that many young chefs are being drawn to Lyon and just might be infusing the city with culinary excitement i.e. the chef from Cote Rotie.

Steve, A number of comments re Lyon. It is a perfect stop-over place on a route to Annecy or from Roanne or on the way to St Bonnet etc. In fact, that is just what we are doing --- Roanne, St Bonnet, Lyon, Annecy. Also, I don't think that Lyon dining is dead or dying. If you use Michelin as any kind of gauge, Michelin seems to feel there are up and coming restaurants in the area; this year Michelin awarded 2 stars to Auberge de I'll in Lyon and 1 star to Christian Tetedoie also in Lyon. Last year, Michelin gave 2 stars to Rotonde in La Tour de-Salvagny (11 km from Lyon). Also, of interest, the chef from La Cote Rotie, is relocating his restaurant to Lyon. If he maintains the style and quality he was doing in Ampuis, this will be a great addition to Lyon dining. As mentioned before, chef Nicolas Le Bec from Brittany is now at Les Loges and was cited by Gault Millau, 2002 as chef of the year. La Tour Rose just lost its only star, but according to someone who was just there, there is a new chef who has completely revamped the menu and is doing new and interesting cuisine. Also, I am very partial to Leon de Lyon - pigs trotters, tradtional Lyonnaise cuisine, perfectly prepared. The only restaurant I would definitely not recommend is Les Terrasses de Lyon - poorly prepared food, worse service. Comments about Bocuse, unfortunately, are true. "We dined at Paul Bocuse a good number of years ago and, in a way, I suppose everyone should dine there once, but it's an institution more than a restaurant." (Bux) I have not been back to Lyon since 1997, so I can't give any first hand reports. We will be there this year and have plans to eat at Leon de Lyon, Christian Tetedoie, Auberge de I'll and La Tour Rose. (Les Loges is closed when we are there).

A somewhat on topic aside - My husband ate lunch at Matsuhisa (Nobu's first restaurant in Beverly Hills) and Nobu, himself, was working. He might have a lot of satellite restaurants, but he still is a working chef!

Bux, Steve was in a hurry, but he'll be back.

I don't know if this is a good or bad omen, but we have reservations for lunch and dinner on Friday, September 13.

"Lizzie, are you asking about the Troisgros cuisine or international cuisine?" Bux, I am only referring to the cuisine at Troisgros as it exists today in contrast to what it once was. I went on at length about the historical background of Troisgros because I wondered what the original "spirit" of Troisgros was and if, in fact, it does or could exist today. The quotes from e-gullet members that I found particularly important were: "Our meals in the 1970s and early 1980s were more focused and disciplined because they were all about France. Now the baton has been passed to a chef-restaurateur whose palate and tastes reflect the internationalization of food."(Robert Brown) That was the reason I referenced Troisgros' comments about the lack of difference between Paris and the provinces, the effect of publicity and the duplication of Troisgros dishes in the major capitals of the world. "What Michel Troisgros is not famous for is for creating an entire menu on his own that is at the level of what you call "the greatest of the day." In fact none of the younger chefs in France seem to be in that league if you ask me." (Steve P) "What comes through in your post is not just the recipes and the lack of a discernible French identity, but a carelessness in the preparation as well as concept. Of course I place some hope in Steve's theory that the personal history for you was too strong to allow an accessibility to the new Troisgros style. It is easier for me to accommodate strange things in England and Spain than in France, where I've been too happy dining in the past and where my tastes were formed. France is my retreat and it is far more threatening to lose what I have there, then to be confronted and confounded elsewhere." (Bux) This, for me, is the most distressing. I would hate to think that France is no longer what you refer to as a retreat. France has not only been the most influential in forming my own personal taste but has also been the scene of my most memorable dining experiences. I would hate to think that this is going by the wayside. I was using Troisgros as THE example (although any other 3 star could be substituted) since Robert is able to make the comparison between the past and the present. In light of this, I wonder if there is there a new Troisgros style? Is it based on the same principles that have made it famous? Has it strayed from the family-run restaurant? "So I can chalk up your meal to the vagueries of French cooking given the time we live in. Which is mostly framed by our experiences with the Chapels, Robuchon's etc. of the world who cooked when cooking was cooking."(Steve P) Bux and other e-gullet members have you noticed similar discrepancies between what once was and now is? Is it possible that Steve P is correct and that it is almost impossible to have a "wow" factor? Are we too jaded? Are our expectations too high? Or is a Troisgros doing what it set out to do - be an extraordinary family-run restaurant in Roanne.

In the Great Chefs of France, there is a long chapter on Les Freres Troisgros which I think is important to summarize. It gives an historical perspective to the restaurant as well as Jean-Baptiste's vision. Les Freres Troisgros was never meant to be a temple of gastronomy; "it is the epitome of a French restaurant, a meeting place, a home-from-home, a neighbourhood establishment, stamped with the personality of the patron, serving excellent food." Of course, the canny Jean-Baptiste, for all his protestations that he wanted just a neighborhood restaurant, sent his sons to Lucas Carton and La Pyramide to train and learn. "It took the brothers ten years to achieve their second star and three more to get their third, and this rather slow progression may, considering their talents, have been due to the rather casual atmosphere of the place. One certainly has no impression here of reverence, in fact planned irreverence might describe it better.... It hardly occurred to them that they would ever get three stars and, asked how they achieved it, Pierre says, laughing, 'It has something to do with the cooking, I believe.' Jean, on the other hand, says more seriously, 'It is the family atmosphere. It is the Roannais, the people of the town, who make it. We created an ambiance, children are welcome here." Robert, I wonder if you found this "planned irreverence" to be true the first time you were there and if it is true now? From our one meal in 2001, I did not find Troisgros to be a temple, but I also never considered it casual or particularly "neighborly." There is also a telling remark made by the brothers. "Nowadays, they say, there is too much news and publicity. They produce a new dish, their mosaique de legumes truffee for instance, and six months later it is on every menu in France. There is no difference between Paris and the provinces. Their salmon with sorrel, created for Giscard d'Estaing's lunch, now appears on menus in London, New York and Tokyo." (As a footnote, the salmon with sorrel was based on an improvisation by Pierre Troisgros' mother-in-law when she had a lot of left-over sorrel after she had made sorrel soup.) "Were it not for the need for tourists, much of this would be anathema to them, for their hearts are really in that first image of a neighbourhood restaurant." Again, I wonder if Michel Troisgros is caught up in the globalization of cuisine to the detriment of Troisgros' original concept. "Light and digestible, pure and clean is how the brothers describe their food." Steve, Robert, Bux, Cabrales - how would you characterize the cuisine of today? Is it still pure and clean.? Another telling comment - "To do a good dish for a month is easy. To do it for twenty years, that is hard, say the Troisgros, suggesting that absolute consistency is the hardest learned part of the chef's art." Does this suggests that ordering Troisgros classics is more in keeping with the Troisgros philosophy? Finally, Anthony Blake and Quentin Crewe characterize the cuisine of Troisgros circa 1958 as "earthy simplicity." "No all-purpose bases for sauces and no starch for liaisons. No complicated presentations, but everything served on a large plate, and certainly nothing cooked or finished in the dining room. In essence it is family cooking which the Troisgros most admire.... Much of the menu is inspired by peasant cooking." with the major emphasis being on the quality of the produce. Since, I wasn't lucky enough to have eaten at Troisgros in the 80's, does this same emphasis and approach still exist? Or has the need for tourists, the publicity and introduction of "foreign" ingredients and techniques changed Troisgros from this original concept?

Jaybee, The one problem about asking e-gullet members for their opinion is that there will never be a consensus! However, that being said, this is the only group I would even begin to trust with recommendations.

Robert, Another thought just occurred to me. The menu you had and as set forth on the web site seems to have changed considerably since 2001. My review, already posted, for last year: "After a number of amuse - don't have my notes on these, we had tete de veau - a pressed pork head with tomato in olive oil basil vinagrette. Next the frog legs beignet was perfect - almost like a tempura batter with a remoulade of celery- blanched shredded celery served with tangy mayonnaise and vegetables cut in 1/16" cubes in an olive oil mixture.Then a tomato fritter with snails.. Next their famous salmon in sorrel sauce - rare 1/2" thick salmon with enough sorrel in the sauce for sorrel with each bite. Then crunchy grilled sweetbreads, natural sauce, tomato petals and potatoes. After cheese we adjourned to the garden for desserts, pastries, coffee, Armagnac and for my husband a Montecristo #2. It was a perfect evening - great food, super service and perfect ambience." Do you think Michel is over-reaching at this point?

Robert, First of all, an incredibly detailed, well written, intelligent, "You are there" review. Thank you, Robert. We will be at Troisgros in September and I imagine, by that time, the menu will have changed. However, as we are having a lunch and dinner on the same day, I am trying to figure out the best way to order. Below is Troisgros' menu from their web site. If you were going again tomorrow, for lunch and dinner, how and what would you order? Would you stay away from the Japanese influence? Would you order the menu or stick to a la carte? Do you think Michel Troisgros is capable of duplicating the famous dishes of his uncle and father? From your descriptions, it would seem that Michel Troisgros is not at his best when his dishes emphasize "the internationalization of food." Starters Fresh sea bass tartare with coriander Warm oysters in a vinaigrette with rock samphire Pelmenis (Russian ravioli) with a green pea and almond filling Bain-marie of grey shrimp and celery Seared foie gras slices, gooseberries fishes Salmon scallop with sorrel (a recipe from 1960) Red mullet fillets with tomato candies Pan-fried eel slices coated with “hazelnut and rosemary”, gherkin butter Steamed sea bass fillet in a delicate seaweed infusion with “Koshi-Hikari” rice John Dory roasted on the bone, many-coloured plums with ginger, carrot sauce seafood, shellfish Crayfish tails with sweet-and-sour chicory Langoustines with a horseradish and lime mousseline Blue lobster grilled and flamed with Calvados, Cancalaise butters poultry Spiced Challans duckling, pickled shallots, potato puffs (for 2 people) Crisp squab and foie gras «Pushkin café» lamb "from Quercy" Saddle marinated in chilli-and-coriander harissa, toast with garden vegetables (for 2 people) Chops studded with cloves, caramelised spring onions, “Paolo” potatoes veal "from the pays Roannais" Milk-fed chop with croutons and sage, desert roses (for 2 people) Slice of liver cooked with butter and almonds, garnished with griotte cherries and chopped mint Kidney fricassée with romaine lettuce and olive oil, anchovy-basil sauce beef "Charolaise breed" Two classics : Fillet with Fleurie wine and marrow, Forézienne potatoes Fillet with coarse-ground pepper and ginger, lacquered with meat glaze cheese Fresh and ripe Over the fourme and the pear Warm goat’s cheese cannelloni with herbs desserts by Sébastien Degardin (to be chosen at the beginning of the meal) Cherry and wild strawberry nage with kirsch White peach contrast with verbena Brioche with poached apricots and citronella Suave chocolate cake, mint ice cream Passion fruit soufflé, pineapple brochette Raspberry jalousie (latticed pastry), ginger sabayon Iced vacherin with sweet-and-sour strawberries Sweet temptations (a tasting plate) MENU L'amuse-bouche Court-bouillon d'écrevisses glacé "Manoa" Raviole de grenouilles, jeunes épinards à l'huile de noix Rouget barbet à la chapelure de noisettes et romarin Canette de Challans en aiguillettes "dolce-forte" Les fromages frais et affinés Instant de douceurs Fines bouches 150 €uros par personne, PARFUMS, SAVEURS et FASCINATION DE LA TRUFFE NOIRE Aspic de cèpes citronné De fines lames de Saint Jacques et de truffe, du basilic sur pain "melba" Une râpée de truffe sur un cannelloni aux chanterelles grises Noix d'huîtres chaudes et de la truffe en julienne La langoustine, la truffe, la poire, le poireau Le lièvre de deux façons : en royale et en aiguillettes rosées Brillat-Savarin, salade truffée Instant de douceurs Quarts sucrés 250,00 €uros par personne,

vogelap, I wish you had described your experience at Morimoto more in depth - descriptions of the dishes, preparation, relationship to other dining experiences, wait staff service and knowledge, wine pairings if any. In other words, could you recreate the experience in such a way that I can vicariously dine with you.

Some fun things to ponder: 1. A client is presented with the amuse bouche and sends it back, saying, "I didn't order that." 2. A client is presented with his wine, Chateauneuf du Pap, and says to the sommelier as well as his wife, "This is one of the best Provence wines ever!" 3. At Lespinasse, 1998, a Texas client orders 1961 Chateau Latour. After his first taste, he exclaims, in his loudness drawl, "This here wine is shit!." Joseph Nase, the sommelier at the time, asks, "Can you explain what you mean?" "It's just shit and I can't drink it." 4. At the French Laundry, a client asks the waiter, as his plate is being bussed, "What are those little black things I left on the plate?" (They were black truffles). 5. At Route 57 in New York, a waitress exclaimed, That vinatge does not matter, because it's a chateau." 6. To add to the fingerbowl story, at Le Cirque, a client picked up the fingerbowl, drank it, and said it was one of the best lemongrass consommes he had ever had.

Robert, You have us collectively holding our breath. I can't wait to hear about dinner - I do hope you write and type fast!

This is Jean Blanchet's recipe from Ciboulette in Atlanta, Georgia. It is also an unpublished recipe and as such has not been "tested." Lobster Sausage Ingredients: 2 lb fresh raw lobster meat 1 1/2 cups heavy cream 1 egg white 2 cups fish stock 1 cup sherry 1 cup white wine 1/2 cup cognac 1/4 cup chopped shallots 1 tbsp fresh tarragon Blanche lobster meat, set aside to cool. Reduction: Combine fish stock, sherry, wine, cognac, shallots, tarragon and boil for 5 minutes. Strain and return to saucepan. reduce til syrup or 3/4 to 1/2 cup. Set aside and cool. Mousse: Put 1/2 of the lobster meat in cuisinart and blend. Add slowly egg white, reduction and cream. Cut remaining lobster in small chunks, fold under mousse and refrigerate until firm. Place mousse on 10 x 5" sheets of parchment paper. Roll into sausage form. Then roll sausage in aluminum foil and close tight on both ends. Poach for 10 minutes and let cool. Take sausage out of aluminum foil and paper and cut with electric knife into half inch slices for hors d'oeuvres.