DutchMuse

Interesting reading, this thread. I'm not a food profesisonal, just a professional eater. But it seems there are two camps: those non-food professionals who seem to enjoy the book, then the 'culinary establishment" (Bourdain, Sheraton, etc.) who circle the wagons to defend their peers (Keller, Ducasse).

Irish...please read lots of comments above. Some posters (who suggest they have 'inside information') have insinuated Psaltis was fired b/c of this incident.

Anybody know if Roberto's allows BYOB?

I've not been to Lombardi's but hear its great. Care to comment?

I thought the two stars were a disconnect with the text. In the article, he seemed much more positive; I was surprised after reading the review to see only two stars.

Hi Soba I understand your point and I'm sure we generally agree. Guess I was thinking that (and I was born and raised in the USA) Americans tend to singularly empahsize the food whereas in Europe and other places, the 'experience' as a whole is more prized. (I hope I don't get bashed on this, but I really believe its true). Therefore, for a reviewer to emphasize atmosphere and things like that, to me, is to encourage the entire experience be excellent rather than just acceptable with great food. For me, I wish restaurants would also focus on a great experience as well as great food. Years ago, I took a friend from Europe to a 'fancy' restaurant in LA. We had a great dinner. After dinner, my friend ordered cognac (Louis XIII in fact). He asked that he be served slightly warm. It came virtually boiling with steam pouring out of the snifter. "How did you do this?" my friend asked the waiter. "We've never done this before, so we put the espresso steamer in it" was the reply from the waiter. OK, the story is no doubt extreme and would be rare, but such a thing should never happened in a top restaurant. IMHO, management had not paid sufficient attention to teaching the staff about the 'entire experience.'

Absolutely they should be mentioned. If there's, say, outstanding food but in a 'broken down' atmosphere, I want to know that. Yes, he should definitely mention it. Its important information for me; therefore, not filler.

I ate there last night, and though the atmosphere is a bit erratic and frazzling, the food was excellent. My pulled pork was great as were the baby back ribs. Excellent bbq.

Thanks much for the helpful thoughts. The NY forum though is for restaurants, isn't it?

Not sure which forum to use for this, but I'm a dedicated foodie/egulletier and am working my way through Ducasse's Livre cookbook. It suddenly occurred to me that it would be great to secure the guidance of a professional chef to guide me through some of these recipes. My thought is the person would come to my apartment and we would cook some of the recipes together occasionally. Any thoughts of how I might go about finding such a professional in NYC? Thanks! BTW, I can be reached at: musettanyc@aol.com.

WOW, major news. Probably a victim of Bruni's star ratings, and gearing up to get ***. Others' thoughts? This is major.

Agree with Lugar's wholeheartedly, as well as Daniel (to an extent; have enjoyed the food, thought the service is not up to what it could/should be), Eleven Madison, and Craft...those would be on my list. Have been to each of these places at least 3 times.

I'm really enjoying reading this thread. Some favorite BYOB places of mine off the top of my head: Craft Danny Meyer places-- Gramercy Tavern Eleven Madison Tabla/Bread Bar at Tabla Blue Smoke Le Zie Montrachet Per Se Ruth's Chris Keene's Chanterelle Artisinal Biltmore Room L'Impero Again, these are just places I sometimes go and routinely BYOB. Lots of others...there are lists on the net you can find, but I vouch for these. Used to BYOB at Le Madri in Chelsea as well before it closed.

Nice thread and very good point (and counterpoint) regarding wine markups. I'm a wine collector. I regularly BYOB all over Manhattan, at regular and top end restaurants. Many restaurants now allow BYOB--such as Gramercy Tavern, Per Se (they have a hefty $75 corkage)--its almost the exception that doesn't allow it. When they discover I enjoy wine and am not bringing in Mondavi Woodbridge or some such thing, its usually not a problem. But of course I always call first and check as to policy, etc. When I first moved to NY from CA in 1996, it was the exception re BYOB and I got the attitude some posters above mentioned. But in 2005, its the exception when the restaurant does NOT allow BYOB for a corkage fee. And try Montrachet on a Monday night where BYOB has no corkage; its great. Minor point re the initial post--Turley Petit Syrah is a highly sought after wine that retails for approximately $80 to $100 (check out www.winesearcher.com for prices in the USA, the 2002 ranges from $75.00 to $149 in wine stores) so $120 isn't really out of line for that one. But I agree with your basic point.

I simply find the writer and article not credible. It isn't believable. I do not believe food started arriving within a second after ordering, and that the courses were so large to be each a full course from a tasting menu. Simply not credible. Also, the writing is poor. It's hyperbole to the extent he appears to have an ax to grind, such as in the herd of elephands comment. I am under the impression the Times of London is quite a solid paper, though. Weird.

What's the BEST way to cook pizza at home? I have a pan from Williams-Sonoma that has holes in the bottom, and a friend (who made an amazing pizza) recommended putting it in an UNHEATED oven in the bottom, then heating the oven. But...better/other recommendations for pizza at home? I want to make a great pizza.

I got the email regarding the white truffle menu at ADNY and very much want to go. Anybody had this menu yet and thoughts/reviews?

It will open up in the decanter, but once you put it back in the bottle with the cork, it will not evolve appreciably beyond what occurred in the decanter.

Sad to say this has devolved from good food to a "scene" which is the attraction rather than food/service. As such, it'll be hot today but what will tomorrow bring? Too bad as I had liked the food. I was out to dinner last night with a friend in the restaurant biz, and I was telling him of my recent Spice Market woes, and he said, "Wow, my last time there I had terrible service too. Thought it was a fluke."

Today I got lots of plums for a plum tart a la Joel Robuchon cookbook, plus a pheasant I'm going to fix tomorrow (also from a recipe in his cookbook) and serve with a terriifc 97 Domaine Leroy Volnay Santenots. Yea!

So again I ask, New Yorkers, where can we find such a bird in New York to cook at home and try?

Question from an amateur cook...why are the measurements in grams? I can use a conversion calculator for US measurements, but the decimal values is a bit confusing. What do the US based cooks do, or do you use a scale calibrated to grams?

This is really informative. Does anyone know how one can actually get one of these chickens in NY? I doubt that Four Story would ship just a couple. Maybe they're available from some purveyor in NYC like Dean & Deluca?? Anybody know?

I am a dedicated 'foodie' and have enjoyed a number of Michelin 3 star restaurants in France and other parts of Europe, and must say, I very much enjoy the food at Daniel, and would put it on a par (again, in terms of the food) with any *** restaurant. That's not true of the service, which is always outstanding, but not typically up to European 3 star standards. I'd say ADNY is the only restaurant in New York, IMHO, that provides that standard of service, but again IMHO, the food there has never risen to the level of Daniel. I so enjoy the cuisine of Daniel that I have come to have them cater dinners in my home occasionally (have done 3 such dinners so far). The food is just as good as in the restaurant (two chefs come along with a captain and a waiter), and its terrific. I think any restaurant can have an off night, but I must say, I've never been anything less than thrilled with the food there. But the service could go a notch or two higher. Then again, if it did, I think it might feel overly stuffy, and that wouldn't be good either.

I am of two minds re JG and the question, "Is he slipping?" If the question is limited to his grand restaurant, the answer, for me, is no. It's a great place, and again to me, as good as ever. However, the same cannot be said of him as represented by his larger enterprise. That is what is causing his reputation to be affected. 66? Spice Market? V Steakhouse? All equivalent to one star restaurants (disregarding Amanda Hesser's review of Spice Market). The J-G enterprise is one thing; his signature restaurant bearing his name is another.