Vinotas

If we're OK to promote our own blogs, I invite you to read mine, http://vinotas.blogspot.com/ It follows me as I drink/eat my way through the world as a wine broker. I offer readers my thoughts and bring them along for my adventures. Basically, you are there as I taste through hundreds of wines a day, but at least your teeth don't get black. Cheers!

I agree, while it was OK, this was not one of his best episodes. I would love to see him back in Paris and perhaps exploring more of the French countryside as well (hello, Burgundy!). Cheers!

I might also add l'Auberge du Cedre, which I recently posted about on my blog, at the foot of the Pic St Loup, outside Montpellier. Beautiful setting, delicious food, it's the epitome of a Languedoc or Southern French restaurant. Here's the website: http://perso.orange.fr/auberge-du-cedre/index.html As usual, no relationship, just a very satisfied (and full) customer. Cheers!

A friend of mine refers to her as the poor man's Jennifer Anniston, and he's quite right. Between Padma and Casey, well, frankly that's where I'd like to be.

LOL! I was just about to recommend O Bontemps when I saw this post. Cheers!

Me too. This season, I've found that whenever they focus too much on one single contestant, out they go. About 30 minutes into this one I said, "Dale's out". Oops.

I have to say I was fine with this week's elimination. I never did like Sara and didn't believe she deserved to be this far in. The cooking was basic, good ingredients done well, which really shows a chef's talents. This one really spoke to me, I have to say. I think Casey and Hung will be the ones to beat unless there's a major screwup on either of their parts. Hung has the technique, but his food is less soulful than Casey's. And that might make the difference at the end. And good God, what was Padma wearign at the FCI???? It looked like a fancy potato sack. Cheers!

Just finished watching this episode on my DVR (which didn't screw up this week). I thought it was OK, not great. The Rachel Ray and the priest bit were my favs, but the rest of the episode was just so-so. I don't know why, these are first impressions, but there you have it. I am, however, looking forward to the Tuscany one next week. Cheers!

I have heard rumors of a cheese which is said to be covered in live maggots but have yet to have seen it. Can anyone confirm its existence? ← Yes, it's made in Sardinia called Casa Marzu. It's a Pecorino that's infected with a fly's larvae. Apparently the larvae can make some surprising leaps, and eye protection is recommended while eating the cheese (no joke). More info can be found here: http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/comments/4112/ Bon Apetit!

Damn! I was just on the UWS this afternoon, if I'd read this I would have braved the hordes to get some of those butters. In any case, Grace's, which isn't far from me, carried some of these I believe. Cheers!

Ptitpois, Great blog! I really enjoyed reading it and was drooling at the descriptions of the butter. The closest we get in NYC is President and Isigny St Mere, at $3.99 per 250g brick. I buy those because the taste is just amazing compared to even the best farmer's butters. Merci for all the info! Cheers!

I love the Japanese version when they dubbed it, it was like watching a bad Hong Kong action flick. What really got me was they even dubbed the laughter, having some American woman giggle as the Japanese women covered their mouths to laugh. That was always fun to watch. With Ruhlmann on the show, I might actually go ahead and unblock Food Network on my cable box. Cheers!

I noticed that too, though I was thinking the same thing as he was. If Padma were to throw open my bedroom door and almost jump on my bed, well, let's just say I'd be making her lunch (or even dinner). And maybe the next day's breakfast.

Yeah, and everyone was WAY too awake at 6am. I don't care how used to waking up early you are, nothing's making me jump like that unless Padma's in bed with me. And I guarantee I am NOT getting OUT of bed... Still, I thought it was an interesting challenge, and I wish they'd put a little more emphasis on showing the challenges airlines have in making food that's remotely good (apparently an issue, as it's rare that anything I'm served at 30,000 feet is even barely edible - another reason I bring my own food). I thought it was interesting that Colicchio felt the need to dress all hip, with the backwards cap. He looked more like a hipster doofus, trying to impress his dad, Bourdain. And Tony was completely wasted on this episode, though the doll's head comment was hilarious. I was sorry to see CJ go, though his food definitely merited it. I also think Brian is coasting along and will be thrown to the wolves next week. And God, Padma is still so damn beautiful it hurts to look at her. Cheers!

Great show, though I could have done without the knife to the bull's balls part... I think it's one of the first times I'd seen Tony blanch. I know I couldn't have watched that. Though, in retrospect, better the bull than me. The gauchos were hilarious too, and I loved Tony's reactions to them. Perhaps all that time on the plains without human contact affected them...? Too bad there was nothing about Argentina's burgeoning wine industry. Cheers!

I'd be interested to hear folks' ideas as well as I am thinking of moving part of the year to Paris and like Druckenbrodt I want to be close to a good market. Right now my preference is the Place Monge and Rue Poncelet markets.

This might be for another topic, but I don't believe that European eggs are necessarily any more dense or rich compared to American eggs. This is perhaps true when one compares American supermarket-level eggs to European supermarket-level eggs, because supermarket-level eggs are on average fresher and higher in quality in Europe (well, let's say France and Italy) than in America. However, I wouldn't say that, in my experience, European eggs are any more rich or dense than good-quality American eggs I've bought. The main difference is that European eggs tend to have a much darker yellow colored yolk, but this is merely a function of the pigmentation in their feed (marigold in particular), which I don't think has much of an impact on flavor, richness or density. One thing that does greatly affect density is age. The fresher the egg, the more dense the white and the less the white will spread from the yolk when it is fried, poached, etc. If greenmarket eggs seem significantly more dense than supermarket eggs, this is a function of age: the greenmarket eggs are only a few days old at most. For sure, any eggs you get from anyone at the greenmarket are going to be a lot better than anything you can get a the supermarket, and compared to the prices I've seen at Whole Foods, sometimes even less expensive. ← This is actually what I was trying to convey, as most of the eggs I used to buy in NYC were from the Food Extortium downstairs, while when renting places in Europe they're usually (not always, however) from farmers' markets. I really notice it when beating the eggs for omelettes. In Paris and Beaune, they were denser and the end product was one of the best I'd ever made. In NYC, supermarket eggs make so-so omelettes, whereas the Tello eggs I've been using lately are coming as close to the French ones. Fat Guy, As for the other Greenmarkets on the UES, I've visited the one at 82st and have to say I wasn't impressed with the choices. And you're right, if money's no option, there's plenty of places to find good ingredients on the UES. But I'd rather support the farmers than the big boys. And since I'm doing the kitchen over, I'm trying to watch my ducats. So, I don't mind the trip to Union Square. Thanks for the link to the Yorkville CSA, I'll look into it. Cheers!

Wow! Thanks so much everyone, I'll be looking for these folks next time I go. I live on the UES, and it can be a real gastronomic wasteland sometimes. Even though it's a long walk, I think it's worth it to get fresh ingredients. Depending on my work schedule (I work from home), I usually hit the market between 9:30am and 2pm. As it turns out, I have eggs from Tello that are fantastic. In my opinion, they're the closest to European eggs (which are denser and richer than American eggs). My Mom, who is French, even says that they're almost like the European ones she eats on her trips to the Old Country. And I picked up some great leeks from Paffenroth the other day, making linguine with spicy leeks and fresh tomatoes, and a delicious extra-sharp leek vinaigrette. Glad to see I may have found some of the better places to shop. Thanks again! Cheers!

Even though I live a few miles uptown, I've been going more and more often to the Greenmarket at Union Square. So I am curious what are folks' favorite farmer's stalls, ie who's your "go to" for most fresh products? From whom would you say you buy the most produce? Thanks in advance! Cheers!

My recommendation also - Casa Mono is simply terrific! ← LOL! I was at the market on Wednesday and stopped at Casa Mono for lunch. I had the cock's combs with cepes and they were glorious. Also, a glass of 1996 Ronda which was delicious. So I heartily recommend Casa Mono as well. Cheers!

In Reims, definitely hit Brasserie Boulingrin, it's not too expensive and has a HUGE list of NV Champagnes at decent prices. We had a 4-course lunch (forgot the price but it was quite decent) with a bottle of NV Billecart Salmon (40 Euros) that was lovely. Real old brasserie atmosphere, it's a rush at lunch but dinner can be leisurely. We started at 8pm and ended at 12:30am, hanging out with the waitresses and watching the sun go down (it sets very late, you're at quite the northern latitude). I've never been to Les Crayeres, but I've heard wonderful things. Definitely do a search on the Forum for recent reviews. There's so many places in Paris that I don't know where to start but to tell you to do a search and check the new map. Cheers!

I taped it, Vinotas, but since the season is almost over, they'll be re-running it soon. You might want to check travelchannel.com/bourdain under schedule - monthly. It'll show everything upcoming. ← Claudia, I tried doing that but they're not replaying it all month as far as I can tell. If they are, I couldn't find it. Nothing on YouTube either. I will say that I doubt any Time Warner DVR has ever been subjected to such varied multilingual verbal abuse at one time, I used my full English, French, Spanish and Hindi repertoire on it. Cheers!

Now that's something I'd pay good money to see. I have to agree, TC's judges are becoming rather full of themselves, though I should probably narrow my criticism to Colicchio. He does seem to think all the challenges are easy and he could do them drunk, blindfolded, one arm tied behind his back and with Padma sitting on his lap. As someone else pointed out earlier, the Judgement Segment seems to be consuming more and more time, as opposed to the actual cooking and contestants. Soon, they'll start having to call it Top Food Critic. Cheers!

Damn! My DVR had a hickup and it didn't record the Clevelan episode, anyone know where I can get a video of it? Thanks!

Actually, funny you should say that, I was watching the show and thinking that this season's been dragging on a lot longer than previous ones. And I also feel like they're starting to reach for sponsors (Glad bag?). What happened to the famed "Kenmore Kitchen"? That said, I am think Howie's time was up, between the Quickfire debacle and his greasy "cigars". Even though he was the "bad guy", I always had a soft spot in my heart for the big lug, but that was when he was actually cooking stuff. Not this episode, however. Can't wait for the Bourdain episode next week! Cheers!