SobaAddict70

NYTimes Weekly Update Wednesday, 3 December 2003 A. Dining In/Dining Out Section Chocolate Is The New Olive Oil (Julia Moskin) Sidebar: The Language of Chocolate Sidebar: Chocolate Tastings The Minimalist: Classic Chinese Roast Duck (Mark Bittman) Deconstructed Apple Pie (Melissa Clark) At Lunch With: Marion Cunningham (Marian Burros) The Chef: Jaime Oliver (Amanda Hesser) Amma (William Grimes) Divane (Eric Asimov) Today's Sexiest Fruit (David Karp) Sidebar: Where To Go For Yuzu... Bits and Pieces (Florence Fabricant) The Ins and Outs of Pinot Noir (Frank J. Prial) A Day In The Life Of Chocolate (Julia Moskin) Recipes in today's issue: 1. Panna Cotta with Pomegranate 2. San Francisco Little Joes 3. Chinese 'Roast' Duck 4. Spiced Baked Apples with Maple Caramel Sauce 5. Brandied Custard B. Elsewhere in today's Times: Convention Ship Is Dropped In Favor Of New York (Michael Slackman) Cheese and Vegetarians (C. Claiborne Ray) Lowering Cholesterol (Gina Kolata) Soba

Sade's Greatest Hits, while at Diwan. What's more, the same CD over three different visits... Soba

Definitely with beans. Ancho and/or chipotle chiles en adobo in addition to the usual spice suspects, and depending on the season either fresh or roasted tomatoes. Try making it with chorizo -- Spanish or Mexican works best. Once I tried it with the Filipino kind, didn't work out as much as I'd hoped. Soba

I for one wholeheartedly applaud your foodblog, jwag. Too bad it's only a week and not a month. (I'd be interested to hear about Christmas. ) Soba

I'm in. El Gordo, if you're coming to this shindig, I'd like a ride in the Momo-mobile. Soba

I guess everybody missed my point. You can do all these things. I cannot do any of them unless I buy round trip tickets to NYC and overnight accommodations, which would truly break the bank. Which buying them at Internet prices with Fedex shipping would also do. And I hardly live in a backwater. Until it is actually available in my area, I will find it hard to believe that "NYC availability" = "USA mainstream". Without specifiying where you live, or giving us some rough idea of the state where you live, it's a little difficult to help you. Also see the sentence in my quote in bold (my emphasis) where I say you can probably find a similar example elsewhere outside of New York. It probably is in your area -- it may be that you're not looking in the right place. Although YOU cannot do these things, many other people can. With respect to its availability and cost in this day and age, foie is easily available and affordable to a vast cross-section of consumers. In fact, I'd say that ordering a tub of foie mousse from a place like Citarella would cost no more than your typical monthly cable bill, hardly something that would break anyone's bank. Perhaps the yardstick you're using to measure things is the wrong yardstick after all? Regards, Soba

NYTimes Weekend Report Friday, 28 November 2003 -- Sunday, 30 November 2003 A. Dining In/Dining Out and the Sunday Magazine Le Baguette Historian (Deborah Baldwin) Diner's Journal: Lucy Mexican Barbecue (William Grimes) If you go to the NYTimes website, you can hear a presentation given by Eric Asimov, Amanda Hesser, Chris Goodhart (wine director at Balthazar and Pastis) and Ron Miller (maitre'd at Solera Restaurant) on various red wines from the Ribera del Duero region of Spain. Click on the sidebar marked "Wines of the Times" to begin the presentation. Isn't That Special? (Sam Sifton) Recipes in today's issue: 1. Jimmy Bradley's Salad With Gruyere 2. Sausage and Mushroom Risotto With Raisins B. Elsewhere in this weekend's Times The Latest and Greatest In Diet Pet Food (Brendan I. Koerner) Rising Economic Times: Party, Party! (Abby Ellin) Partying The Night Away, In East Berlin (Eric Pfanner) 1960's Retro (David Colman) Where Tailgating Is King (Curtis Wilkie) Have a good week, folks. Soba

The menu for T-day was prix fixe, with no option for either small or large plates. Yes, my first time. The menu looks intriguing (the squab for example. the hamachi is another instance.) Service however was between middling and average. No glaring issues except for the constant plate mixup. I was observing other waitstaff, and our mistakes were repeated at other tables so I know it wasn't just us. Soba

I'm afraid I don't do provocative very well. I don't understand the mystique behind creme brulee. I mean, lots of desserts are good, but not as popular as the apple pie of the post-modern era. Let's face it, pecan pie done right is an amazing thing. So is chocolate anything, ice cream, apple pie/pan perdu/apple crisp/apple cobbler/tarte tatin and creme brulee's twin stepsister -- tiramisu. However, none of these seems to approach the popularity behind creme brulee. How many variations of creme brulee have you come across? Let me count the ways: mango creme brulee, espresso creme brulee, cinnamon creme brulee, last night's Thanksgiving-themed pumpkin creme brulee. I believe someone raised the possibility of a cardamom creme brulee. While in San Francisco two years ago, I came across a black pepper/vanilla infused creme brulee. And those are just the perfect ones. We haven't gotten to the bad versions yet. Yeah, I suppose it's popular because it's so good. But so is chocolate cake with a molten center and how many of those do you see around? I'd wager there's more creme brulee and creme brulee variations out there than there are death by chocolate desserts. Soba

How much else you want to do has a lot to do with how turkey'd out you are. Simple dinner with few courses, or simple dinner with more than three courses? Soba

That means adding too much other "stuff" to it. I am a creme brulee purist. So a dessert sauce such as a sabayon or a coulis would fit the bill? On another note, I guess my real question is, what makes a dessert interesting? What's the "wow" factor like with respect to dessert? It's so easy to determine what the "wow" factor is with regard to things like carrot foam and regular food, but not as easy (to my mind) when it comes to things like dessert. I'm not talking about plating and presentation. If you were to see a dessert menu and half of those items were new things, and the other half old chestnuts like tiramisu and creme brulee, would you go for the interesting thing as opposed to the old standbys, and if so, what determines whether something is interesting as opposed to just a variation on old hat? Soba

Florent is a glorified diner located in the meatpacking district in New York City. Foie appears there in the form of rilletes (sp). You cannot deny, if you've ever been to Florent, that the restaurant is decidedly not "high end". I mean, for goodness sakes, meatloaf and hamburger deluxe make regular appearances on the menu along with grilled porkchops served with plum chutney and cassoulet. A dinner at Florent will not break your bank any more than a dinner at a typical diner will -- the only difference with Florent is that the restaurant serves a higher quality of food and provides a better atmosphere than you would find at most diners. Annisa serves foie in the form of soup dumplings. Certainly within the realm of affordability, and it's nowhere near GT's league of expensiveness. You can get foie gras lobes at $50 to $100 a lobe at certain specialty shops here in New York, but why would you want to when you can get a tub of foie gras mousse for a fraction of that price at Citarella? I'm sure you could find the same situation on the West Coast, in San Francisco for example. My point is that foie is within the reach of affordability for many people, and to perpetuate the notion that it's "for rich people only" is just wrong and serves no constructive purpose. Soba

When people get cute with creme brulee, what does that mean? Oh and another thing: if they made a tiramisu version of creme brulee, I'd be willing to bet that'd be the next big thing on most dessert menus. (Two for the price of one!) Soba

Last night at dinner with three eGulleteers, I raised the question of why creme brulee appears on so many dessert menus. Creme brulee is the apple pie of the post-modern era: it appears on every dessert menu that I can think of and it refuses to die a natural death. Like foie gras, creme brulee suffers from the misperception that its associated with haute cuisine (and thus difficult to make) or only accessible with respect to fine dining when the truth has no bearing on reality. Creme brulee is one of those desserts that apparently you can make ahead of time, as much as six hours ahead of time (please correct me if I'm wrong) and still have it come out looking freshly made. Share your creme brulee stories -- the good, the bad and the indifferent. And also, why creme brulee is the equivalent of a dessert menu's salad and roast chicken. Soba

I would like to add that the perception that foie is for rich folks only adds fuel to the fire. Foie has, in recent years, appeared on many restaurant menus that cater to affordable experiences outside the typical sphere of culinary influence that its normally associated with (i.e., haute cuisine). You know that foie gras has arrived in the mainstream arena when you start seeing foie appearing in places like Florent, Gramercy Tavern and Annisa. Soba

4 of us at Amuse tonight -- three eGulleteers and myself. Worth noting that even though none of us ordered turkey, the chef sent us an order of regular stuffing, corn bread stuffing, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. My memory is sketchy so if my companions want to, they can correct me. You know what they say about the mid-30's, it's the little gray cells that are the first to go. Or maybe it's the little waist cells... Schneider Cabernet Burgundy 2000 (I think). My wine education continues. I managed to down the equivalent of 1 glass this time before feeling the effects and decided to call it quits for the evening. Amuse-bouches: duck and melon balls; pastry petit-fours enclosing cheese and sliced figs; puff pastry spheres enclosing cheese and ham. Chilled White Asparagus and Leek Salad (Tarragon-Mustard Emulsion) (me) Salmon Two Ways (salmon tartare and salmon sashimi, rustic potato cake) Chanterelle and Goat Cheese Tart ---------- Venison Filet Mignon (endive marmalade and roasted fig reduction; lavender sea salt) (me and one other person) Veal Chop (caramelized brussel sprouts, can't remember the other accompaniaments) (this was extremely overcooked, yet "tasty") Truffle Crusted Atlantic Salmon (baby spinach, can't remember the other accompaniament) ----------- Toffee Cake Apple Crisp Chocolate Napoleon w/chocolate laced puff pastry (milk chocolate sorbet w/chocolate caramel tuille) (me) (fourth dessert on the menu if anyone is interested was a pumpkin creme brulee with a spiced sabayon. we skipped that one.) Prix Fixe of $55 per person, not bad actually. More to the point, the company was the main star of the show this evening. Service was spotty tonight -- they need to train their staff more, because I can't count the number of times someone got the wrong plate over the course of the evening. Amuse's regular menu seems very "Craft-y" -- worth a return visit to experience the food, imho; otoh, if service issues aren't your cup of tea, then perhaps not. Amuse's web site can be found here. Soba

Haute Steak Cuisine (Alex Witchel) (from today's DIGEST. You may have to scroll down for the appropriate link.) It's possible that in going to Robert's Steakhouse, that the food itself may not be on your mind once you get there. Or it could be, that the steaks might be all the distraction you need, if the "entertainment" isn't your cup of tea. Chef Adam Perry Lang, formerly of Monzù, Chanterelle and Daniel, presents dry-aged steak and other delectables at Robert's Steakhouse, a restaurant that's part of the Penthouse Executive Club, located in midtown Manhattan. Adventures in eating, anyone? Soba

NYTimes Weekly Update Wednesday, 26 November 2003 A. Dining In/Dining Out Section Table Manners (Florence Fabricant) A Dining Table As A Compact Cosmos (Guy Trebay) Taster's Choice: Holiday Food Shopping, Online (Marian Burros) Haute Steak Cuisine (Alex Witchel) At My Table (Nigella Lawson) Cooking with Robert Shapiro: Risotto Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar (William Grimes) Golden Gate (Eric Asimov) Truffle Inflation (Eric Sylvers) The Minimalist (Mark Bittman) Gracias de Mexico (Susan Guerrero) Bits and Pieces (Florence Fabricant) Correction Recipes in today's section: 1. Meatloaf 2. Polenta and Orange Upside-down Cake 3. Seared Halibut with Anchovies, Capers and Garlic 4. Corn Bread Chorizo Stuffing B. Elsewhere in today's NYTimes The State of Food Insecurity In The World 2003 (Somini Sengupta) Soba

I heard somewhere that you can mix a bit of horseradish with cranberry sauce. (I'm not making this up.) I'd say, add a smidge for that mysterious hint of flavor. Soba

And what do you like to serve with them? Me, I waffle between fruit and bread. Soba

Truly excellent post, jeffj. Welcome to the site, and we look forward to hearing more from you. Regards, Soba

Speaking of fusion mojitos, there's an article on Asian fusion cocktails in this weekend's NYTimes DIGEST by William L. Hamilton. (You may have to scroll down for the appropriate link.) Soba

Black truffles taste like money, because when you manage to sample a few shavings, you break into a sweat when you realize exactly how much you're going to be set back once you ask for the check. White truffles taste like sex -- well, let's put it this way -- they taste like the best sex you've ever had, if sex could be thought of as food and experienced by just about anyone imaginable. The aroma alone is worth the price of admission. Whatever one may think of truffles, and whether one happens to like or dislike them, I think that there are very few things on this Earth such as truffles that make people have such visceral reactions as what's been spoken of them on this thread. Soba

Cheese is a wonderful thing....except for certain of the odiferous variety. (hmpf) my top three are: Parm-Reg, fresh ricotta and brie. In general, I prefer soft/fresh cheeses over hard ones, although a wedge of Romano is a thing of beauty. Oh, and add queso blanco to the list. Yes I know that makes four, but it's all good anyway. Soba

I suppose it can't be a newbie too much...I mean, it has to be someone whose picture is somewhat recognizeable, you know, for those whose job it is to keep track of such things, so that when Mr. or Mrs. X dines out at Restaurant Y, the chef, the staff and FOH know that Mr. or Mrs. X is the NYTimes restaurant critic and act accordingly, Ruth Reichl's disguises notwithstanding. Soba