tetsujustin

Green Zebra/Chef McClain weren't in my predictions mostly because I'm horribly biased. Having externed at Zebra. Does anyone find it odd that majority of the time, the same people are nominated over again minus the chef that won and then someone else is plugged in? (as is the case for the midwest this year) I also have noticed it in the other categories... you have to wonder if the people who vote for nominations even eat at the restaurants. But again, that may not be for this thread. As for the five year rule-- that's possibly why Chef Achatz hadn't been nominated for the Midwest last year (I think his... fourth year was last year, I'm led to believe?) Congratuations to all chefs nominated, however. It's still no easy task. Now, anyone with winner predictions? haha.

With the James Beard award nominees due to come out this Wednesday, does anyone have any predictions on who will be nominated? I've noticed most of the time it's crowded with Chicago Chefs and there is usually a non-Chicago darkhorse stuck somewhere in there. I'd like to hear your opinions on who you think might get a nod with a nomination with so much happening this year in the dining scene. For me? I'm still an out-of-towner even though I did spend a few months in the midwest. Jackie Pluton because Pluton has gotten so much good reviews this year by the major press. Tony Mantauno because Spiaggia is long overdue. Homaro Cantu because Moto has gotten so much attention worldwide (though I think he might get nominated for the Rising Star Chef as well) Michael Kornick. MK, even going up or down review-wise, has been consistent here. And a midwesterner out of Chicago that I have little knowledge about. Others to consider? Carrie Nahabedian, Shawn McClain, Graham Elliot Bowles, Bruce Sherman Again, I'm reletively away from the dining scene for a while now, so take it for what its worth. Just wanna hear your opinions! Feel free to answer if you think any of the midwesterners could take any of the more general nominations as well (best new, rising star.)

I was wondering, just because I've seen it so much around the thread Has Trotter's become a place where people dine at because "If you're going to Chicago, you HAVE to dine at Charlie Trotter's" sort've thing? When I was on externship, even though I had red a few bad reviews of Trotter's, I still had to go because it was Charlie Trotter's. When people think of the Chicago dining scene, the first thing that comes to mind is Charlie Trotter's just like the first thing that comes to mind in the Napa dining scene is The French Laundry. How much do you think Trotter's is being pushed by the "destination dining" button, and do you ever see the restaurant falling out of it. In a similar question, do you see another restaurant in Chicago moving up to that status? Just wondering.

Gee, I guess you shouldn't of dedicated a third of your AWESOME, THOUGHT INSPIRING, OVER-THE-TOP, culinary Tour-de-Force. "Soul of a Chef" to him. Did I mention the book was titled "Soul of a Chef"? Some guy who thinks he can make a decent brown sauce, named Ruhlman wrote it. ← Or even a sauce Robert. I might have to bring some extra cash if I go up and visit my friend at Case Western now... meh.

how weird, I was thinking farroto was farro, because I have had farro before and the beet farroto did have the same chewy quality as the farro that I've had before (I didn't like that too awfully much either) but the pearlage of the farro that I've had before was much smaller. Maybe I didn't have farro and they called it that... or maybe there's just different kinds. I have no idea. I may go look into this. As for my reservation... usually if you call a day in advance or the day of, there is usually a couple of cancellations in case you have a party of two or something, maybe a four-top might work too. Now... I wonder if that will work on Per Se... haha.

As for my "more than average" palate... moreso than my palate, its the experience of dining at these fine places that have helped me. The way things are cooked, the way they are presented, what to expect from dishes and service. Flavor combinations, flair, charisma in a dish. Plating, everything... it's just that I've learned so much just by eating at these place moreso than expanding my tastebuds. The factors of just information really have helped me in my learning and development as a student hoping to be a professional one day. As for plans after graduating, if you want, I could PM you about that. I (and probably the hosts) would rather have this thread be about the restaurants than about me. All questions about my development or anything personally can be directed to me in PM, I'll be happy to answer. As for where else I want to go? *sigh* everywhere. But really, I'm gonna aim for the four-stars to see if I can get that "out of this world, I'll never experience that ever again" experience. I just hope to cover a myriad of places. Also, the fact that its cold makes me want to head over to the NYC ramen thread and see what I can hustle to this coming weekend for lunch. Who ever said this was all fine-dining? haha.

Babbo After being antsy from a week off from eating in the city, I was highly anticipating my reservation at Babbo (which I secured a day before, no less.) and was to the point of having a bounce in my step as I rounded the corner off of Washington Square Park. Myself having very little knowledge and no background in Italian food, except for the cuisines of Europe and Mediterranean class that I took about a month ago, I was excited to really try a restaurant that even natural Italians revere. My limited experience with Italian food was mostly Americanized. A lot of spaghetti houses, a whole bunch of garlic, maybe so risotto here or there, but nothing that I believe could be said as food that someone who is from Italy or at least traveled there could be comparable, though I have had the pleasure of enjoying Tony Mantauno’s Spiaggia in Chicago. It also did help that Chef Batali has won a James Beard award, is a food network personality (and one of my favorites at that, because he talks about stuff that I have no idea about), holds a three star rating for Babbo, and has also secured an Iron Chef position, which I am an avid fan of and hold to this day that I will one day be. So you could imagine my expectations as I walked through the door. I wanted great, maybe not authentic, but very Italian food in flavor with great service, and a reason to believe that this restaurant is on the three-star echelon. I walked through the door of the obviously very crowded room, trying to figure out where the hostess stand was. The bar was so crowded that I had to fight and swim my way through the mounds of people to get to the stand and fulfill my reservation. I looked around and noticed how the restaurant as a whole looked like a house, like someone lived here during the day and pulled out tables at night for a restaurant, with a large round table in the middle with flowers and a whole bunch of wines. The only other restaurant in memory that I could think that was compared to this is Charlie Trotter’s where it feels like you’re dining in someone’s home. I hoped that we would not get a downstairs table as it just seemed very cramped and bunched together. The tables along the wall seemed as if they had less than a foot of space between each other... like as if you would be a part of other people’s conversations. Thankfully, we got a seat upstairs where it was much more spaced out and it even seemed like more of a relaxed feel because of less noise and movement. My friend and I decided not to get the tasting menu, as it didn’t look too horribly interesting to us, and decided we could be more adventurous if we ordered a la cart and had bites of each other’s food. I found it odd that the tasting wasn’t even listed on the menu (or maybe I just missed it?). Neither was the pasta tasting. Our “amuse” so to speak was a couple of crostinis absolutely covered in marinated chick peas. The tastes were there, as it was very garlicky and the peas were soft and agreeable, but it was hard to keep from dropping the peas as the rolled off on to the table. However, it just gave a hint of what our meal was to be like: very down to earth, rustic, and very Italian. Also, though this is nitpicky and I didn’t mind, James Beard would have left before any of the courses came out. The bread was just... not great. Cold, and it seemed store-bought. My antipasti came, which was a Pig’s Foot Milanese with rice beans, arugula, and stewed tomatoes. The pig’s foot was flattened and cooked crispy, which I found very nice because of the gelatinous properties that are associated with pig’s foot. It’s usually very jelly like and soft, and it was a great stark contrast to the crispy texture of the outside of the dish. The tomatoes and beans were nice because they gave a slight bit of acidity that cut through the slightly oily Milanese and the arugula was a good as a contrast of flavor. Nice start. My friend’s antipasti came, as he ordered Warm Tripe “alla parmingana.” I’ve only had tripe on certain occasions, all of them being in Asian food. There’s a stewed tripe with a hefty brown sauce that you can get at dim sum, tripe that in with your pho, and also I’ve had tripe that I’ve cooked at Korean Barbeque. None of that was even close to this though in flavor or texture. The tripe was very, very soft and only slightly chewy. I can tell this was stewed or cooked for a very, very long time. It had that flavor that only tripe has, but accompanied by a very rustic-tasting thick red sauce. The whole dish itself had a very “Italian countryside home” feeling to it and I must say that the accompaniment of the grilled pieces of garlicked bread was a good choice. Without it, I wouldn’t have enjoyed this as much. The Primi came, as I had ordered the beef cheek ravioli with crushed squab liver and truffles, and my friend had ordered the goose liver ravioli with balsamic vinegar and brown butter. The waiter commented that these two were the two most popular and probably best pasta dishes on the menu. I really liked my beef cheek ravioli as it had a both light taste to it as it wasn’t... stick-to-your-ribs as you ate it, but as you chewed it, the mouthfeel was very meaty. It had that braised beef flavor to it, and it also helped that it had a decent amount of truffles put onto it. The goose liver ravioli was very, very good the first couple pieces that I had. The balsamic reduction was sweet, which was a great accompaniment to the liver flavor that filled the ravioli, but as I ate a few more, I couldn’t help but wonder if I anyone would be able to eat a whole plate of this. My friend had the last one on the plate, but neither of us was fighting over it. I also must say that though I don’t expect a pasta course to have towers or great contrasting colors on it, I couldn’t help but think that maybe more care could have been taken in plating. Both plates were very sloppy as there was sauce on the rim, the food was off center, and just not completely pleasing to the eye. Also excuse the hand in the picture (it looks like my friend is flicking the pasta off), I realized his hand was there the last second and told him to take it away. haha. For secondi, I had the barbequed squab with roasted beet farroto and porcini mustard as I was staring at the pigeons in grand central when I came off the train. The squab itself was great, with the definite barbeque flavor, but also a bit sweet on the skin. The flesh was boned out with the exception of the leg and wing and was very soft and tender. As for flavor, the sweetness of the skin, the flavor of barbequing and the slight gaminess of the squab was a great flavor. However, I really just didn’t like the farroto. I’ve never had it so I have nothing to compare it to, but the flavor was a nice beety flavor, slightly sweet, the texture to me was just very chewy and gummy. I don’t know, maybe it’s supposed to be like that... as a personal preference, I didn’t like it at all. My friend had the skate with hen of the woods and butternut squash for his secondi, and I’m a big fan of skate... and this really was a nice preparation. It was dusted and pan fried as is most skate wings, (though I am curious about the poached skate win at Le Bernardin) and the hen of the woods were nice and mushroomy, and the butternut squash was... well, butternut squash. The flavors were very familiar, and not to say that is was bad, but it was a very safe dish as it pertains to flavor, though I must say I did enjoy it. For dolci, I chose a pineapple crostata with buttered rum gelato. This was a good dessert with the sort’ve tart-like crostata filled with sweet-sour pineapple, which is a great match with the creamy rum ice cream. My friend was a little more full than I was and chose to go with the selection of sorbets and gelatos. From the back, left to right, it was hazelnut, vanilla, and espresso gelatos, and on the front it was mango, almond milk, and green apple sorbets. My favorite would have to be the mango, which was one of the better mango sorbets that I’ve had, and also the espresso, but I just like anything even remotely coffee flavored. The selection was nice and a good change. All in all, the food didn’t exactly blow me over, but there were a couple good dishes, and I was more than satisfied with the food that was put out. I felt as if I went on both the adventurous side of things and also played it safe on a select couple dishes. Textures were there, flavors were there, and I was at least slightly educated on really what Italian food and especially how Italian food really is regional. Not everything is tomatoes, basil, and garlic (which I have no problem against) and for that I was relieved. However, I did have a couple frustrations with the restaurant, and somewhat partly because it was busy. Our waiter seemed to be swamped and spent a very minimal time with our table. The back waiters and bussers that mostly took care of us just seemed like they didn’t want to be there. I’ve been told time and time again that a smile can really change the mood of a meal and I think that’s what this service was sorely lacking. When the food was placed down, it was more or less clunked down by a backwaiter, who told us what it was like he was reciting something off a script in a robotic voice before he quickly hurried away. Given, that he is only a back waiter, I think our waiter could have really benefited at this point by really getting us amped and salivating about the food with the descriptions. I just believe there could have been more done. The one thing that I did like about service was that they put a serviette (napkin) down over the table between secondi and dolci to cover up any stains, which I just like as a gesture. Otherwise, when I got up to look for the bathroom, I wandered around for a minute before I had to ask where it was, and before I left the restaurant, both my friend and I asked for a copy of the menu (I use it to write these, he uses it for his collection). They only had one copy and refused to pull one out of the covers. I suppose I understand, but I guess people like me love that extra step people take to make things even more special. I’ve been told by instructors here that the hardest thing to do in the industry is to exceed expectations of the customer. Sure, I had a good time at Babbo, but I was hoping for extraordinary. I didn’t get that, but if I had a chance, I’d be back to try to food, and with a lower expectation. I also suspect that maybe I didn't have the best waiter ever, and maybe it was just really, really busy. (They turned one table a third time as we were getting up). I accept that every place has an off night. Too bad it was on my night. Also, I don’t know if there’s also a downstairs bathroom, but the one upstairs has got to be the smallest one I’ve ever been too. Not to be graphic, but people literally have to do their thing while standing on the side of the toilet. I wonder how larger people can manage. It was uncomfortable, to say the least. Out of 10? 5. The food was good, some of it was great, some of it wasn’t so great. The service was so-so at best. I was expecting a lot more. Next week: Jean-Georges

interestingly enough, I was back looking for this thread in the history so I could post my newest report before I realized that it was up here. Sorry for the week off folks, I came down with a bug a couple weekends ago and couldn't make it to Balthazar. I've had some schoolwork to catch up, but here's this week's report on Babbo.

Thanks for all your replies. When it comes to my rating, I've just got to say that I really, really take into consideration service as it pertains to my meal. Probably a lot moreso than any diner would just because I've had the pleasure of really going to some top notch restaurants and in my lifetime, eaten a lot of great food. That being said, there are some times in which a dish could be good, but taste just like any other dish of the same product and cooking technique used. However, I believe if the service really sells me the product, tells me how long an item was braised, tells me how fresh the product is, tells me this and that and makes my mouth water over it, it really helps the taste. Which is why I don't mind the power of suggestion as I stated in the above post. I really felt educated in my experience at Jewel Bako thanks to Shimizu-san and staff, and that's why the rating "was so high" even if not everything was on level. Soba: No sake, sorry. I would have loved it but I usually to take into consideration that part of the meal I'm not paying for. I'll splurge fully when it's all on my tab. I'll be looking forward to it though. As for Yasuda and other sushi bars.... so little time, so many restaurants. Worry not though, they're all on my list. The same goes for a kaiseki dinner. Oof... so many places... so little time. We'll see how things go though. Sakana, I hope I'll be able to make it to another sushi bar before you come up to the city so I can give you a reccomendation. A little thing I'd like to say however, Masa and probably Essex House (though I really would like to go) are not on my list at the moment for the only fact that I know I would not enjoy it. I must say that if I ever have to worry about how much I am paying for this food and expecting so much out of service and ingredients and everything, I'm just asking for a bad time and I don't want to take a shot in the dark. However, I did mention this to my father (who is the one I negociate with when it comes to eating matters) and he said he'd love to go. So! Lets just hope that he comes up here one weekend before I leave New York so we can eat at Masa on Saturday and ADNY on Sunday. (ooh what a weekend.) Time is running short though, I graduate in the not-so-distant future. Don't worry though, I'll tear through your city as fast as I can.

Jewel Bako Trotting through the cold after the snowstorm of this past weekend, I headed down to Jewel Bako, a restaurant that I had kept an eye on after hearing great reviews previously from both egullet and citysearch, even being named a citysearch national winner in the sushi catergory (as useless as that may be.) I had previously worked at a sushi and robata bar and I was hoping for Jewel Bako to be very Japanese in taste, though not extremely cutting edge, I hoped for some new styles of sushi and a few bites from the hot side of Japanese cuisine as well, it being a cold day and all. I wanted to see Chef Masato Shimizu at work, and to just stare in awe of the deft touch of a craftsman. I wandered around the residential-looking street, wondering how a sushi bar could be tucked away in this area, before I realized that I was in New York, of course. Jewel Bako looks its part. There is no exterior design whatsoever and I almost walked right past it and its new robata counterpart next door. The interior, however, I found to be delightful, modern but very Asian, with just a stretch of bamboo at the ceiling, illuminated by a backlight. I realized why it was so hard to get a seat at the sushi bar—there are only five or six seats, depending how they stretch it. However, I was quickly seated and poured a warm steaming cup of barley tea, traditional in most Japanese (and Korean, for that matter) restaurants. The tea was really what I needed, warming me quickly. As per the suggestion of egullet I took a long stare at the menu, finding a wide variety of sushi and sashimi, however I was settled on the omakase before I had even entered, and that’s what I ordered. I noted, however, that they be as weird and adventurous as possible, as I will eat basically anything. As Shimizu-san strode into the room with a gracious smile, I realized at this point that I was in for a treat, he started to prepare his station with the utmost professionalism, but also making slight small-talk with me. I found it a little bothersome though that the seats at the sushi bar were basically a part of the waiter station and the waiters really didn’t have anywhere to stand but behind me. Though this led to quick service, it was just something in the back of my head the whole dinner (with me taking pictures and all.) My amuse was a couple cubes of marinated white tuna with ginger and what looked to be shiso. It was slightly dry and tasting a bit of canned tuna, though with a hint of gingery flavor. I wasn’t too especially fond of it because of the dryness, but that could be partly my fault as I figure anything marinated has got to be moist. The taste was ok, nothing too special. My first course was a quartet of appetizers. I was extremely pleased with the plating of this, partly because of the awesome-looking serviceware, but it just seemed to have a myriad of colors which was very pleasing to the eye. Clockwise from the top left was a toro tartare with avocado cream and osetra caviar. I didn’t find the match of avocado and toro to be too great, though not horrible, and I could only slightly taste the caviar, though I believe the textures of this went very well together. The creamy avocado and soft toro, the pop of the caviar, the creamy avocado, and the crispy garnish had a very nice mouthfeel. Next was the marinated fluke, which was my favorite because of its light, but very savory, aromatic flavor. I again thought something marinated would be a bit softer and this was very firm, but it had a nice taste of onions with a bit of sweetness, and the great texture of fluke. After this was the monkfish liver, which being the “foie gras of the sea” as Iron Chef says, was great. This was the second time I’ve had this, the first being at Trotter’s, and though I enjoyed the taste of the one at Trotter’s more this was also a good rendition, really letting the liver speak for itself with only a bit of spice of it. The texture was just like foie, but the taste is nothing like foie, it being tasting more briny than gamey. Next to this was a poached octopus with sea salt. I’ve never had octopus like this, though I realize that something poached usually breaks down the fibers of things, all the octopus I’ve ever eaten have constantly had a chewy texture. This, however, did not, and with the slight saltiness of the sea salt and the brininess of the octopus, and it was a great couple of bites. The next course I had was a soup course of a bonito broth with a yellowtail dumpling. This was very nice mostly because I was still feeling the effects of the cold from the outside and this really made me feel all warm and settled on the inside. The dumpling tasted like a Chinese fishball, but what I found nice about the soup was the zest of yuzu that I found in it along with the slight bitterness of the okra and little slivers of shallot. The flavor was simple, but the warmth was there. In a stark contrast with my previous course, I was next served fluke. I watched as he prepared this, stirring around thin slices of fluke constantly in ice water before putting it on his board and picking out the pieces. This was served with freshly grated wasabi, spicy soy sauce, and a fresh grate of yuzu on top. The bright, fresh, cold tasting fluke was a great contrast to my previous course, and fluke has a great texture. I would almost call it crunchy. I think if this were to be served as sashimi, this would be the only way to do it: ice cold. Next Shimizu-san prepared my sashimi course. From left to right: golden cuttlefish, giant clam, amberjack, hamachi, chu-toro, botan shrimp, and gruntfish (which is behind the shrimp head. This was served also with freshly grated wasabi. My favorite was the grunt fish, as the skin had a great... almost smoky flavor to it, the toro was meltingly good, and the cuttlefish was my least favorite because for some reason it had a flowery aromatic flavor to it. The Botan shrimp was very different from what I thought it was at first, amaebi, being more shrimpy in flavor, less firm, and a lot less sweet. What I loved about this was just watching him prepare it in front of me. He threw down the giant clam with authority on to his cutting board to get it to curl like that after he had scored it. Overall, it was a nice selection of very fresh fish. My next course was a warm one of three types of Japanese mushrooms steamed with sake and yuzu en papillote. The mushrooms were Shiitake, Enoki, and what I suspect to be Honshemeiji mushrooms, but I can’t remember exactly. In my notes it just looks like scribble. Though this was nice, as there was noticeable use of butter in this as well which meshed well with the umami flavor of mushrooms and the slightly sweet/sour taste that the steaming with sake/yuzu did, for some reason I just left unsatisfied with this course. I wanted something more, something else... if anything, more exotic mushrooms. The whole dish just seemed to be playing it too close and safe. My last course before sushi was a sautéed shrimp with green tea salt. I loved this because I just love shrimp prepared this way. The Chinese do a rendition of salt and pepper shrimp like this, and it’s cooked crisp so you can bite off the crunchy parts of the legs and tail, which just make a great flavor. Cooking it with the skin on also imparts a lot more flavor, though it is frustrating to try to get the meat out of the shell... so it’s sorta a win/loss thing. The salt really didn’t taste like anything, or add anything to this dish, however. Next was my sushi course as Shimizu-san explained to me that he’d be putting pieces of sushi up piece by piece and putting wasabi and soy sauce on it himself, which I found nice just because I could eat the pieces of sushi without myself bastardizing them, and tasting them as they were meant to be tasted. He’d complete a piece and place it on the ledge before I was presented it by the waitstaff. Top left was a marinated tuna marinated in something they called zuke (I think?) It looked like tuna tataki, as chef split it down the middle before presenting it. It was a nice, soft piece of tuna with tastes of sweet and sour to it. It wasn’t too meaty, but had some substance to it. To the right of it was what he called parrot-fish, a type of snapper. Though it didn’t have much of a distinctive taste to it, the sushi had a great texture, almost even... as much of a reach as this is... al dente? To the bottom left is the needle fish. This was my least favorite of all the pieces, mostly because it had an almost crunchy texture and I couldn’t really taste the fish because he added some grated ginger to it and all I could taste was ginger. To the right of this was glass shrimp sushi, he explained that each one of the lumps was a single glass shrimp and it takes a lot of work to peel each one of them, this was nice and sweet, though it had somewhat of a slimey texture that I wasn’t too fond of. I did figure that it was just a part of what sweet shrimp taste like texturally, as I have had this problem before. My next piece was a fresh scallop, he explained to me that scallop was too delicate for soy sauce and that’s why he only put a slight pinch of sea salt on it and a bit of yuzu zest. This was just a really nice piece of sushi mainly because of the mouthfeel. It was very, very soft, contrasting a nice bit with the rice. To the right of this was a chopped... I have no idea, I have it written down as chakautau, but that’s gotta be wrong. It was mixed in with grated baby ginger, scallion, and brushed heavily with soy and a bit of sesame seed. The flavor of this was definitely there after the lack of flavor from the scallop. Very aromatic, tasting of a nice balance of ginger and scallion. The bottom right is a Japanese Barracuda that he torched for me with a blowtorch. I loved the flavor of this because it was smoky and torching it gave a slight crisp to the skin. After this was the O-toro which he slightly tenderized with the back of his knife. I’ve had great toro before, but this was just great because it was so tender and buttery, even moreso than most other pieces of toro that I’ve had. It was just wonderful. The last piece of sushi that I had was his signature anago. He explained to me that most people love unagi because its grilled, but he poaches his anago (though he wouldn’t tell me in what. Haha) and I must say... there’s a reason this is his signature. It was nice and warm, very very soft and butter... even softer than the toro, and it had a great slightly fishy, slighty salty flavor. If I ever have a chance to go back, I’m going to hoard myself some of this. My desserts were a lycee-coconut sorbet, though it didn’t taste much of coconut and didn’t have the texture of sorbet, and a chocolate mousse cake that was less than impressive. The sorbet was a nice palate cleanser, and I didn’t especially like the cake, but I didn’t come here for the dessert. It’s hard to rate a sushi bar, if you’ve ever looked up on Japanese food, a lot of the prestige of the food goes towards the presentation of the food. The flavors are subtle and great textures are prime. Everything was simply prepared and the there wasn’t a large smack in the face of flavors, but everything was very balanced in the preparation of both hot and cold food. I do, however, believe that they could do more with the hot food in the fact that they could present more exotic things that would match with the out of the ordinary sushi that is presented here. I'm not taking off on the fact that the dishes were simple, because they ARE Japanese, but I think there just wasn't enough thought put into them to take it to the next level, or to make it more... different. I will say that the quartet of appetizers did fit what I was looking for though. My sushi course was outstanding and they didn’t hold back on what to serve me. I was given a whole myriad of flavors and textures when it came to the raw part of my meal, some I didn’t like as a personal opinion, some I absolutely loved. I also noticed a whole lot of yuzu being used in the course of my meal, and it being a very outstanding flavor, I may have liked a different flavor in a few of my courses. What I enjoyed about the place, however, even though the place was in such close quarters and I felt as if people were looking over my shoulder at time, the service was outstanding. They were there to take the plate for the sushi from the ledge to present to me and back when another piece was done every single time. My water was constantly full, and I was very laid back in this atmosphere. I also noticed that they started to time out my courses to when I would finish my notes, the first time this has happened. When they noticed me taking notes and would bring out my course a few seconds after I had finished jotting things down. What stood out about my whole experience, however, was Shimizu-san himself. He took in upon himself to really educate me about my experience. He even brought out this book from behind the bar filled with Japanese produce and seafood and showed me the difference of normal amaebi and Botan shrimp. He explained the details of tastes, flavors, and textures of the fish which really made me appreciate them more when I tasted them. I’m not afraid of the power of suggestion. If it makes me really taste something more and enjoy myself more, I’m all for it. He was the one who made this experience up to the next level. I’ve had good sushi before, but I believe his presence made things even better. Overall, I had a great time. The food was above average, the service was above average. If I were a resident of the city, this would be my sushi bar (whenever I could get reservations.) If not for the above average food, then for the fact that I felt so accepted here by the staff. I was happy to tip them more than I usually do. Out of ten? 7. Not everything I absolutely loved, the hot food can use some work. The raw food was great however, as was the staff... which really scores high notes on my card. Next week: Balthazar

So I'm going to go ahead and go to Jewel Bako and hopefully get a seat at the sushi bar. Does anyone have any suggestions before I go? Or should the omakase just about do it for me? Anyone know how much it'd be if I get it?

that sort of misses the point of what the kitchen is trying to do. Rather than complexity, more like simplicity. Courses tend to be a more formalized presentation of a meal's progression. "Extreme ala carte" is a simplification of what the restaurant is trying to do. The concept behind Craft is to allow diners to be in full control of their meal, right down to timing, execution and presentation. ← After reading the threads that you dug up last night, and reading so much commentary on Craft it seems to me that I just may have completely missed the boat on this restaurant. I knew that they wanted you to take control in this format, but I never thought that everything from the timing to the pairing would all completely be in the customer's hands. I find that very daring of Chef Colicchio, what if they hated the pairing they put together? What if they designed a great meal but asked for the short ribs before the scallops, and their palate was just overworked by big, bold flavors so the scallops tasted like lumps of nothing? But you know what, Craft is still going strong. My only suggestion, then is to not expect the diners to know the concept of the restaurant, but for the restaurant to explain it. Sure, the menu implies that you have control, but I had no idea that if I could ask for certain things to come out with other things and what time and in what order. I didn't even think about it till I finished reading the threads. If I have the chance to go back, I would suggest to them that the staff be more interactive, go more in depth into what you can do, and even suggest great pairs to the customer, at least to get the creative juices flowing. I wish my list weren't so long-- I may not have a chance to go back. I might drop in for lunch, though. I've already begun to formulate ideas in the noggin. As for the the rating? Yes I would go back, but I'd probably go to Gramercy first, yes I enjoyed my night, but I hope that's what it's like every time I eat, and the food was somewhat uneven... though that could've been helped if I had completely understood the restaurant at first. I'll stick to my 6. It's above average, but it's not the best that I've been to. Zeitoun, I didn't have much of a chance to look at the wine list, and I'm afraid I have to say that I don't fully appreciate wines the way I should at the moment. I would love to give commentary about them but I really wouldn't do it justice. Though I am currently in Wines and Beverages class at the moment, I'm getting more into it. At the moment all I know is that I have a sweet tooth when it comes to wines and I really need to get over that. haha, but that's like where a toddler starts, starts out sweet... moves into more in-depth flavors. Though I would really love to try a Chateau Petrus though. haha. Though who wouldn't. Rehovot, Balthazar isn't nearly close to the end of my list. I have a long way to go, worry not. Haha. Oakapple, finally! someone understands me!

I was actually hoping to do the tasting menu, but my friend said that there were just some dishes that we HAD to try, and we didn't want to mess with their menu, so that's why we stuck with just ordering straight off the menu. As for the Brussels sprouts, I was taught here at school and at a kitchen I used to work out to leave the al dente texture but to cook it until most of the bitter texture left the sprout. I should check good ol Auguste's book to see if that's just the way that he cooked it, but I don't think Chef Colicchio practices classic French food... or French food at all. They were pretty caramelized also though, so who knows. If I ever go back, I will request that my food be coursed out for me, but you've also got to wonder if maybe the waiters should be trained to ask if they want things coming out at the same time and then explaining why, just to give the customers the option. I didn't even think about the food getting cold or my palate being overworked till it was too late. Dosconz, Soba was right when he said that the four-star restaurants should be rated on their own scale. It's just hard to fit things in there. My thinking was, I didn't hate WD-50, but I didn't think it was absolutely wonderful, so it got a 5. I loved Gramercy, but it wasn't on-the-dot-everything-was-perfect, so I gave it an 8 I really enjoyed the food and my night at Le Bernardin, but money aside, I enjoyed my night at Gramercy better so I gave it a 7. I gave Craft a 6 because it was better than average but I had a better time at Le Bernardin. I would hate to be a four-star-system reviewer... you have so little room for judgement, but you know, there's debate about ADNY/Per Se 4-star and Le B/Daniel/Jean-G's 4-star too. Some could argue that the earlier two should get a 5th star... but then where would Masa be? Haha. (sorry, that's another thread.) It's hard to justify rating sometimes, but you know what? If I feel that a place gave me better service than I was expecting, and out of this world food in a great setting and I had a wonderful, spectacular night, I just might give it a 10. And it won't even have to be one of the four-star restaurants. Also, the prices were actually very reasonable. First courses were from 10 up to around 26 (for the foie) Main courses ranged mostly around the 28's to high 30's with the topper being the 95 dollar porterhouse. Sides stayed around the 10-15 range, and though the portions looked small when they first came out, they were sufficient for the four of us. I ended up spending around 75 a head including tax and tip. Pretty good, I would say, for casual fine dining. Pan, I have a reservation for Balthazar this upcoming Saturday, but I'm not sure if I'm going because my friend may or may not go with me. If not, I may look into eating at Cru or Jewel Bako. I'll be posting it as soon as I figure it out. It would be interesting to go to Balthazar just because it's *really* unlike any place I've been to yet.

Craft As the second helping of Tom Colicchio’s cuisine in my adventures into NYC, I was really excited about dining at Craft after the wonderful time I had at Gramercy Tavern. Craft is an extreme a la carte restaurant, breaking down dishes by preparation, with choices on the first course, main courses, and side dishes, and though I understood this, I hoped that it would be just as satisfactory of an experience as the composed plates at Gramercy. What I liked most about Gramercy Tavern was just the “down to earth” feeling that it gave. It was good, honest cooking, with great service and a nice setting. I hoped that Craft would deliver more of the same. The room at Craft looks a lot more contemporary than Gramercy Tavern, as there was a large curve of a wall that had what looked to be large panels of leather. Edison light bulbs hung low in rows over the area. I really liked the look of the restaurant. It was like... almost an updated version of Gramercy Tavern, with less wood tones and frills and more space and simplicity. I think out of all the places that I’ve been to, I liked how this room looked the best. It was very chic; I can see how beautiful see-and-be-seen people would love to fill up a room like this. As we were trying to figure out how to split up the ordering, we were first presented with bread and an amuse of a scallion flan. The wheat-grain bread was very noticeably burnt, though at first I just figured it was an extra-dark crust and bit into it, but alas it tasted burnt. I sorta wondered how something like this snuck under the kitchen’s nose. However, the amuse was really, very good. It seemed to be well though out, which I’ve noticed had been lacking in many restaurants. It was creamy in texture, yet had the distinct taste of scallions... and also a hint of cheesiness, but from where, I had no idea. A great start to a meal in which I was highly anticipating. At this point we’d realized that nothing on the first course section really was calling to us... I wasn’t in the mood for foie, and though I thought the octopus terrine would have been interesting, I knew that the people that we’d brought weren’t the adventurous type and decided to skip over it. So, we all ordered an entrée and a side or two. There were roasts of beef that I wavered on getting but passed on. I sorta regretted it later as I saw it coming out with a side of marrow butter, it looked wonderful. I think it was the porterhouse, but I’m not sure. If anyone’s gotten it and would like to tell me if it’s worth a return trip, please do tell. The food was all brought out at the same time and I apologize for the blurry and horrible pictures this week and slight descriptions. I didn’t want the food to get cold since I refused to let them touch the food till I got pictures of it all so I was in a hurry. Since everything wasn’t coursed either, I didn’t take notes at all until after I’d finished my first helping so some of it may be lost in time. The braise was the star of the night, as I expected. My friend who was with us that had been to Craft before boasted that it made it feel like “your teeth were melting,” and the braised short ribs were just that. They packed a heft of rustic flavor and served with thumbalina carrots, purple pearl onions, and sprigs of thyme and rosemary. It was gone before we knew it. Another one of the entrees that we got was the roasted quail, which was very good. It didn’t have the gaminess that some quail preparations have, and I was happy to find that they’d boned it completely except for the leg, as I think is the only way to do it because a lot of meat gets lost in frustration of trying to eat quail at times. The meat was tender and slightly juicy, and a great example of how quail should taste. We got the entrée portion of sweetbreads, which though it may not be at fault of the kitchen, disappointing. My friend who had come the time before was highly touting the sweetbreads, but these were only... ok. It was coated in chestnut flour and pan roasted and served with a sherry sauce and sherried potatoes. For some reason however, it tasted a little bit like Thanksgiving turkey. They had changed the preparation of this from before and he said that these sweetbreads were nowhere nearly good as the ones he had before. To their defense, they weren’t bad, but they weren’t the best example of sweetbreads I’ve ever tasted. The thing I love about pan roasted sweetbreads is that the gland becomes very soft and yields a lot to the bite, while there’s a nice crunch of a crust. I was hoping for a better crust, but still, I wasn’t too disappointed, even if my friend was. The last entrée we had was the Nantucket Bay scallops, which were good but not really out of this world. I think they could have done a little bit more, maybe a sauce or something with the scallops. Though they were nice and sweet/salty, the flavor overall tended to be a little flat. Maybe I was spoiled by the scallops that I had at WD-50, which was great with the beet yogurt, or maybe I just don’t really love the setup of Craft... but I think there could have been something else done with this to make it taste even better. A couple of the side dishes we had included the roasted hen of the woods mushrooms (left) and the puree of sweet potato(center). I wasn’t too high on the sweet potato as it just came out too thin in texture and too sweet in taste for me, though the rest of the table loved it. The roasted hen of the woods, though were fabulous. They were done enough so that the tops were crisp, but as you bit into the base of the mushroom, you’d get a great rush of mushroom juice coming out into your mouth plus the nice browned flavor. This really went well with the braised short ribs. We also had a side of roasted cippolini onions that were nice and sweet and well browned on the outside. This was good paired with the sweetbreads. The only greens that we had that I insisted on ordering were the roasted Brussels sprouts, which were disappointing. I thought of them to be completely overdone to the point that they hardly had any resistance when I bit into it, and though I thought anything tossed in bacon bits and bacon fat could taste good, these didn’t pass the bar for me. They just basically turned into mush when I put them in my mouth and that's really not what I was expecting. For the potato dishes we first got a potato gratin which was okay, though I prefer it to have less liquid than it had after it had been baked. It was still good and had a good, cheesy flavor to it. We also had an order of gnocchi, which I found to be marvelous on my first helping. It had been finished with a sprinkling of parmesan, and it was really light and velvety in texture and very well salted. However, my thoughts on it are a bit uneven, as I went back for a second helping it just completely lost its flavor. A little bit more on this later. As we finished the savory portion of our dinner, we were presented with a dessert amuse of a panna cotta... with passion fruit gelee. Problem is, I forgot what kind of panna it was, though I do remember it was very good, but mostly because I’m a sucker for passion fruit and this had more passion fruit flavor than the actual flavor of the panna cotta. I found it interesting that the dessert menu could be set up the same way as the regular menu, though I was glad to see that there was a section in which they had already set up a few combinations up for you. One of the desserts that we got was the pre-set combination of the Brioche Pain Perdu, roasted bananas, and accompanied by both caramel and chocolate sauces and caramel ice cream. This was a wonderful dessert with what was almost a banana’s fosters sauce, mixed with the warm chocolate and caramel and the warm, soft brioche with cold caramel ice cream. It’s just really a simple dessert and the flavors aren’t the most thought out, but there’s something to be said for just good flavors and that really don’t need to be messed with or dressed up, and this is a great example of it. We also got a steamed toffee pudding, which was my favorite dessert. It was almost like a caramel bread pudding, with a nice, dense, but cakey texture, but a great simple, toffee flavor and slivers of dried figs on the side. The last of our desserts was the sample of sorbets and ice creams, and the list was a large, extensive one. We settled on passion fruit, pomegranate, blood orange, and lemon ginger sorbets, and also cavaldos spice and coffee ice cream. The only one that was a downer was the coffee ice cream as it still had whole coffee beans and coffee grounds in it, which I wasn’t really agreeable to. However, the cavaldos spice, which is an apple liqueur, was an interesting flavor, something that I took a chance on and was really pleased with. The passion fruit, and blood orange were great choices as well and were nice and refreshing. The food of Craft had its ups and downs, I was disappointed with a couple of the dishes like the Brussels sprouts, the pureed sweet potatoes, and the Nantucket Bay scallops, as they had been highly recommended, but a few of the dishes really made up for any of the bad dishes we had. The braised short ribs, roasted hen of the woods mushrooms, and all of the desserts were outstanding. There were some sides, too that were really went together with a few of the entrees like the case of the cipollinis and the sweetbreads, the mushrooms and the short ribs, and the gratin and the short ribs. One comment and suggestion that I made to the staff, however, was that though I understand the a la carte concept of Craft, and that it’s meant for customers to mix and match with the food, play with it as you will, it would have been a better idea to course out the savory courses. I believe that at some point the kitchen should intervene, especially if the customer decides to skip over the first course as we did, and really put together flavors that are tried and true. The problem I had with the fact that everything came out together was that it had what I called the “Thanksgiving effect.” We all piled our plates and passed the plates around. After trying and taking a bite of everything, your palate just gets overworked and everything starts to taste the same. If the meal were coursed out than this could have been prevented. Also, after I had tried everything and finished my plate, I went back for seconds of everything and by then, everything had gotten cold. Tastes and textures really suffer over time as was the case of the gnocchi, which had lost its taste, and the sweetbreads, which had lost its crunch. I think this could have been prevented, again, if everything were coursed out. The service was nice but not outstanding. Though it will never stick out in my mind, it was serviceable, and that’s all I ask. I left Craft slightly disappointed only because I didn’t have as good of a time there as I did at Gramercy, but I think, after to talking to chefs at the school and through all the comments on the board that Gramercy is just a tough act to follow. I agree with Zeitoun from his comment long ago, though I don’t mind this style of eating, I know now that I just prefer composed plates rather than a la carte menus. The food was good here, some of it what ever outstanding, I just would like the “professional opinion” on what should go with what, how to bring out flavors of the entire dish. It also helps with the presentation of the food. I had a nice night at Craft, but I think I’d more readily go back to Gramercy or even go try out Craftbar as someone suggested than to come back here. If I have a chance after my list is done, though, sure I’d come back. Out of 10? A 6. Some great food, some not so great food. Cool room, decent service. Maybe I just am not the biggest fan of this style of eating?

The concern I have over that is that I wouldn't be able to express my own opinion through the rating. I rated LB lower than GT because I felt that I had a better time at GT because I was surprised that it went that extra mile. It's nothing the Le B did to get a lower rating because I had a wonderful time, it's just that I think I would more readily go back to GT than there. As for rating the meals subjectively as that one seating to that one restaurant, I'm going to have to think about that... mostly because then I'd have to re-rate everything I've been to. Not a bad idea though. I'll consider it before my next meal. One of the main reasons I'm doing the thread is so we can compare/contrast restaurants. I was hoping that a rating system would help that along, not for contoversy... as it may have started (unintentionally) to be. I've got to consider that as well. Anyway, I'm sure I'll make decisions on how I plan to continue contributing before my next report. Thanks for all your comments.

and If you rate Le B slightly lower or even a step lower than GT and it's because of the food (not as memorable as that of GT) or no standouts, then I understand. However, that's not my impression of your review. Your review indicates that you loved Le B and found it "satisfying". Similar to GT. Is there something I'm missing? Soba ← Well, I sort've expected this. My ratings aren't on the restaurant overall, just on how I felt my night went compared to what I expected from the restaurant. Usually I rate on its former reviews, what the restaurant is set up to be (upscale fine dining, casual fine dining, casual, etc.), and though more than I'd like to let on, I rate on bang for the buck as well. From Gramercy, I got the exact service I was expecting, maybe even a little more. As for what I received at Le Bernardin, there was nothing wrong with the service, it was perfectly fine... very functional and serviceable, but it didn't seem to go that extra long mile... it was four-star. I had no problem with it, but I think they could have done more. I still have no problem with it, however. If anything, it just adjusts my expectations on what I think I'm going to get when (or if.) I dine at a Daniel's, or Jean-Georges. I came out of both Gramercy and Le Bernardin happy with the meal I just had. Both very satisfying, both with good food and service. I just wasn't expecting as much from Gramercy, and maybe I was expecting too much from Le Bernardin. I will say that my expectations and views on restaurant can change throughout this adventure because I'm really gaining knowledge about what it is to be a diner at some of these places. That being said, what do you guys think of me abandoning a rating at all?

Le Bernardin As my first NYT rated four-star experience I had no idea what to expect out of Le Bernardin. I was hoping that the food would be ethereal, because of my personal love for all things from the sea. I wanted skin on the fish to be crispy while the flesh be tender, I wanted a myriad of flavors and textures to take me for a ride throughout the meal. I wanted smart flavor combinations of plates, highlighting the seafood... I wanted the food to let me to know why this was a former Michelin 2(?)-star restaurant and longstanding NYT four-star restaurant. I wanted the service to show me why this was so a highly touted restaurant. I wanted to know what four-star service was. In previous non-New York encounters I had seen service be almost like a dance. Glasses being filled at the same time, a person who knew the exact second you were going to stand up to be pulling the chair out for you. All of it seamless, as if everyone in the front of the house was a captain. I wasn’t sure if this was just at the few select restaurants that I’ve experienced, or if this was truly four-star service. When I confirmed my reservation I had before at a later time of night, they asked me if it was okay that there was another table coming in two hours later. I was hesitant at first, because I knew how long tasting menus lasted. I didn’t want to be rushed, but I booked our dinner thirty minutes earlier than originally planned, and hoped it would help. We arrived at Le Bernardin around fifteen minutes before our early reservation to see a crowd already forming outside the revolving door. The waiters were just wrapping up their meeting and I could see them hustling to their positions as the door was unlocked and we all flooded in from the cold. Though we expected to wait at the saloon for a few minutes, we were promptly seated at our table. I’d seen pictures of the saloon before, and noticed it was oddly open and well lit... and for some reason, not very stereotypical “French” to me. I was expecting the dining room to be different from the saloon... as in to be more stereotypical: dim and stuffy, but it just reflected the saloon. It was wide open, nicely lit, with a lot wood tones and appropriately the color of sea blue. The walls were adorned with a lot of marine-themed paintings (also, oddly a lot of them were dated 2004 as this place has been around for a while) It didn’t feel stereotypically French at all. More like a country club, or a yacht club. Whereas I was noticeably uncomfortable weeks before with the older crowd, I hardly minded or even noticed that the crowd was older here as well. The place had... not a modern feel, but very updated French. There was still a lot of silver and the waiters dressed the French waiter part, but everything just seemed a lot more... comfortable to me. I’m not sure how to explain it further. Before our menus were even presented to us, we were given a quenelle of tuna tartare resting on a bed of julienned endive. The flavor was fresh, yet aromatic. There were definitely the flavors of green onion and chive in the tartare itself, but the endive gave it a fresh feel. I’m not sure what the classic tuna tartare is, (or steak tartare, even) but I’m somewhat tempted to call this very classical-tasting. If anything, for the amuse at Le Bernardin, it fit the part. At this point we ordered the Chef’s tasting and a bottle of champagne, and I was really at ease. Maybe it was the champagne, maybe because I felt so comfortable in the room, or maybe it was because our server seemed so gracious, I’m not sure, but my bread was warm, I was settling into my chair, and the food was coming... so anyway. Our first course was an Alaskan Wild Salmon Carpaccio with grated Yuzu and marinated baby turnip salad. This was topped with a chiffonade of purple basil and served with slices of toasted sourdough. The fish itself was and tasted very fatty, but the yuzu cut right through it and gave it a nice contrasting flavor, along with the slight aromatic flavor of the purple basil which is more subtle than its green counterpart. A crunchy bite of turnip in between was an excellent palate cleanser so you would get a “first bite” in every bite. This wasn’t the most interesting dish, but it was very smart, and a great start. Next was an olive oil poached Hawaiian escolar with a petite salad of lettuce hearts and tomato confit. Flavor-wise, this was a dish that was just very refreshing. There were bites of crisp lettuce with flavors of black olive and lavender in the salad, with the sweetness of the tomato that was served with a crisp crouton wrapped around it, then bites of warm, lush, almost velvety white tuna. Though it was served rare, the escolar was magnificent in texture, and the fresh flavor of the salad really heightened the flavor of the fish itself. As pointless as this next banter is, here it is: I couldn’t help but have thoughts race through my mind as I ate. Olives in the salad... poached tuna... tuna nicoise? No... White tuna... petite salad... Tuna Salad? At this point sorta smirked to myself. I’m not sure if Chef Ripert had this in mind, probably not. I probably just think too much into everything. Next came the Warm Ragout of Scallop, Langostine, and Clam nestled in a sea urchin topped with Iranian Osetra caviar. I was highly anticipating this dish, and it really delivered. The sauce was an Uni-butter sauce and this dish was doused in it. The selection of the shellfish was nice because they all contained different flavors and textures. The scallop with its savory flavor and soft texture, the langostine with its firm texture and sweet flavor, and the clam having the flavor of the ocean almost, and its slight chewy texture. The urchin really bound everything together with its really... indescribable flavor... almost briny, yet buttery texture, and this was reinforced in the sauce which was a bread-sopper. They knew it too, as I was presented with warm bread right after they had set the plates down. For some reason, the caviar didn’t pop in my mouth as it usually does, I wasn’t sure if it was because it was sitting on hot food, but I will say it did its part flavor-wise. After this was our Lobster “choucroute”: slowly braised saukraut in Riesling, smoked bacon, pineapple, and juniper berries. The braising liquid was poured over the lobster at the table. As for the lobster itself, in my notes it only said “really, really juicy” which I’ve never been able to achieve. When poached in butter, lobster has more of a luscious, but firm texture, but it felt as if juice was just splurting out as I bit into it. I really wish there were a way to serve the claw where the whole thing would taste good and you could keep the look intact, but even though they took off the flimsy bottom claw, the top clamp of the claw still had that taste, which is my only slight complaint from this dish. Otherwise, this dish was great and put together very well. The sauerkraut had a very refined taste to it whereas traditional sauerkraut, to me, taste very rustic and almost biting at times with the sourness. This sauerkraut, because of the Riesling, pineapple, and the savory flavor of the smoked bacon in the broth was better rounded. After the heaviness of our last dish, where the whole dish felt very high class and rich, this seemed more homey and grounded. Well done. Our next course was the ravioli of Argentinean shrimp and wild mushrooms with a foie gras-truffle sauce. I don’t really care what you pair it with, but I think anything with this foie gras-truffle sauce, I think would go well. They finished the raviolis with spoonfuls of sauce at the table which I heard somewhere a long time ago that it’s butter, foie, and truffles (I have no idea if its true or not) but it’s really hard to go wrong with it, which might’ve been the problem for the raviolis. They weren’t bad, but it was the sauce that made the dish, it really overtook the flavor of the ravioli and I could only taste a bit of the shrimpiness. However, all of our plates were wiped dry. Our last course was our last savory course, and I really think this was the highlight of the evening. It was a crispy, Chinese-Spiced black bass in a Peking duck boullion scented with maitake and enoki mushrooms. The fish was cooked perfectly with the crisp skin and soft flesh that I was looking for, and though the dish looked completely French, it tasted the mix of French and Chinese together because of the way the dish was set up. The cooking technique was uniquely French, but the flavor was very Chinese, and I think this was a great combination. The textures spoke volumes of French cooking, but the taste of umami in the mushrooms paired with the five-spice of the fish, and the uniquely Peking duck flavor in the broth brought me back home. It was a great way to end our savory courses. Our first dessert course was labeled “egg,” and let me just say that Michael Laiskonis is a stellar, stellar chef, and I hope to explain why from my limited devouring of his desserts. First of all, I know what hell it is to hollow out an egg. I saw on an episode of Iron Chef where Sakai was doing it by knife, but I don’t think he took out the membrane on this one, though I want to sharpen up my Hattori and try it out. Previously, we used an egg tapper which sort’ve dotted down a line on the egg, which we then had to take off the top using a paring knife. It’s just really time consuming because if it chipped, we couldn’t use it. You then have to soak it in a combination of vinegar and water and slowly massage out the membrane till it was clean. Doing this was hell every day, though I would try to do them three days at a time. I wonder how many they do a day here. The egg shell aside, in this dish was a milk chocolate pot de crème, caramel foam, maple syrup, and Maldon sea salt. You were asked to stir the contents of the egg, then eat, all of it together was just great because it the chocolate and maple syrup really stood out, but then the light texture and slight hint of caramel was great. What I really loved was the use of the sea salt because it really does heighten the flavor and bind all the flavors together. I used to send out sorbets with a sprinkle of sea salt on top only to have customers send it back after they saw salt on it, but this really was a great start to dessert. In times before, I had commented on tasting menus having repetitious flavors and components and that being a bad thing, but after a conversation with chopjwu, he told me that if they are utilized in different ways, then it’s perfectly acceptable. This was on display on the last dessert of a dark chocolate, cashew, and caramel tart with a red wine reduction, banana, and a malted rum milk chocolate ice cream. The chocolate and caramel were used in such a different way, that the whole flavor profile of it changed. The caramel was a lot more rich, as was the chocolate in this dish and the cashew added a nice bit of nutty crunch to it. I’ve seen on many plates where sauce garnishes like dabs of coulis were used just to add color and not much to the plate. This wasn’t the case in the dots of red wine reduction, as it really went nicely with the rum ice cream. Eaten together on one spoon, this was a really nice end. As satisfied as I was with the dessert courses, I wondered why the last portion was so large, though that can probably be explained by the types of molds the kitchens have, but I wondered to myself if maybe a smaller portion of this and then another course, maybe something fruity (even in the dead of winter) could have been served. Though I’m not about to complain, I really enjoyed the desserts. My meal at Le Bernardin was very satisfying. I think that they are an example of what consistency is in a high-end, high-class, fine dining establishment. That being said, I wasn’t completely wowed by the dishes. They were all great, but nothing stood out as something that I just HAD to have (well, maybe the foie-truffle sauce.) There were no downers in the courses, and it gave me the ride that I wanted, but as I think back, the turbot really stuck out for me at Gramercy, the beef tongue is what I think about when I think of WD-50, and the warm seafood salad is what I think was the pinnacle of my Bouley experience. Everything here was just about on the same high level, but nothing hit the “holy crap” level for me. Also, again, I’m a big fan of pretty plates, and these weren’t the... prettiest, especially for the tuna plate, I think that could’ve been a lot cleaner plate, but again, it’s just a little thing about me personally. Also, for some reason, in this restaurant even as I noticed certain things about service, like plates were set down at different times, and there was usually a long pause between the plates being down and the descriptions, I really just didn’t mind. The service here was unobtrusive and gracious, which really put me at ease in the dining room. I felt very well taken care of and happy to write down my tip when I got the check. It was just weird, as I’m really a stickler for service. Though our meal was a little shorter than usual, clocking in at two hours and fifteen minutes rather than our usual three hours, it didn’t seem like that at all. We didn’t seem to be rushed, and everything came out with a slight pause in between to ready ourselves. Overall it was a great night, I had four-star food and four-star service made with a very talented kitchen with a celebrity chef and pastry chef to equal. I had a great time, but again... for me being nit-picky and all, not everything was on point. Not everything was perfect... though for Le Bernardin? For some reason I just didn’t mind. There’s something about the restaurant. History, maybe. I’m not sure, but I would go back to Le Bernardin anytime. Out of 10? A 7. Wonderful, just not perfect in every aspect possible. Next week: Craft. Extremely excited.

Shawn McClain opening another restaurant? My guess is that he's always up for another challenge, and he has enough talent in the back to spread around, so lets just keep our fingers crossed. Happy New Year and I wish Chicago another festive year in the restaurants.

And you know, you're right. Looking back at it I really should have brought it up. I'm not sure if it would have made a whole world of difference, but it would have made a difference overall. I did, however, call a few days later and a few things were cleared up about the bill. But I've realized as courteous you have to be as a server, the guest should be just as courteous, and that was my fault.

No need to justify, Seth. My ratings are just my opinion, and you have every right to disagree. As good as I said the food was (and it was that good), I still believe that at the price that I'm was paying, mistakes in service and just overall attitude towards the customer were really that glaring. My biggest qualm was that they quoted my the price tag for the tasting and I was charged more without ever asking for any of the supplementals, nor were a choice for the supplementals ever given to me. Also, the supplementals weren't even listed on the bill. So, either one of two things happened, either they told me the wrong price or they added to it without confirming with me. Also, that hostess that rolled her eyes at me, in my eyes, should be fired on the spot. Never should I ever have anyone roll their eyes at me (and a hostess, of all things... but that's another story. haha) I was pleasant when I asked, all she had to do was walk to the back and pick up a menu and hand it to me. I wasn't asking her to do a backflip or anything. Maybe you find it harsh because I didn't rate it just as the restaurant as a restaurant, I rated it out of my expectations of what I thought I should have gotten from the hype around it, its former glories, the price I was paying, and the atmosphere and what it seemed like they were aiming for. Before I went I thought they were aiming for four-star. When I was there I thought they were aiming for four-star. I still think they are aiming for four-star. But for glaring service problems and then just a bunch of small details (details mean a lot) they fell quite short. My thinking was that I could have gone to Gramercy Tavern twice for what I paid. I could have gone to Blackbird, or Avec (which are wonderful restaurants in Chicago) three times for what I paid. I could have eaten at Charlie Trotter's, TRU, or Trio for what I paid. In fact, I'll bet I could have gotten a tasting menu at Per Se for what I paid. Maybe not the top one, but I would have gotten something. And that's why I won't be going back.

I'm itching for a taste of the toro tartare. I hear it's completely amazing. I then want to drive over to Philly and go to Morimoto's and see if it's the same. Haha.

I would post the list of restaurants that I've compiled, but I think it would be more intriguing if I just went along giving a week in advance notice on which places I will be visiting. I will say though, that I think I've hit a lot of parts of the New York fine dining spectrum in my list. I do give noticable nods to restaurants that hold celebrity chefs and James Beard award winners and nominees, though I didn't choose them all. I do also like to take a look at the menu and just see what intrigues me. I love Japanese food, and Nobu is definitely on my list. I was toying around with the idea of Jewel Bako also, and all five four-star rated restaurants are on the list. You're right, compiling my list was absolutely great. Haha. I also must say that it helps if the restaurant is on OpenTable, because my schedule doesn't exactly give me a prime time to call for reservations during the week. As for dining companions. One of my friends up here is basically a lock to go with me every week given he doesn't book a reservation himself for another restaurant. Otherwise, I've just asked around my friends just for notifications a week ahead of time before I book places in case they want to go. Problem with that is that I have like a list 10 deep that want to go to Per Se. haha. I don't exactly want to dine alone? but I'm not against it. Again, I'm here for the food and the education. And Pan - Michael Laiskonis is pastry chef at Le Bernardin? I must've missed something, I knew Chef Takashi left Tribute, I didn't know he did too. Wow. I'm even more excited now. Happy Holidays everyone. Feel free to continue to comment, I'll still be around though I won't eat again till the new year.

A front waiter is usually a person who has communication with the customer, in some restaurants there are more than one front waiter, but one will be a captain, as in to lead the team with decisions throughout the night. A backwaiter I believe is just an expanded version of the bussing position that you see in many other restaurants. They clear plates, refill water, but also in finer dining restaurants they replace silverwear and also are able to bring out food and tell descriptions to the table of what they're bringing out. Backwaiters usually also bring out bread, refill water and other drinks, and usually polish glasses at the end of the night etc. more of the back of the house sidejobs. I'm sure different people and different restaurants have different descriptions of these jobs, but from what I've experienced, this is a general overview. As for my rating system I will be perfectly honest and tell you all that I have a hard time gadging these things sometimes, but I just really look at what I was expecting from the restaurant and then rate it on how much I think it fulfilled my expectations. Price does factor in because if I'm paying more, I want more. If the restaurant has a lot of hype around it, I want to see why... and no doubt, I could probably give a lower end restaurant a 10 if I just had a perfect night. If the food was great, if the service was attentive, if there were no lulls or hiccups in service, and I also take the "bang for the buck" factor into consideration. I even concede that the rating that I give a restaurant may not actually reflect the restaurant. It just reflects on what happened on my very own experience. A restaurant with usual bad service could get a high grade if they did everything correctly for me. A restaurant with usually outstanding service could get a low one if they kept on messing up that night. I've been in restaurants, I know it happens. I try to be as fair as possible for my ratings, but you know, just take them with a grain of salt. It's only my opinion. I'm not Bruni or anything. haha. Though that would be a frickin great job though, wouldn't it?

Bouley I do my fair share of research when it comes to the restaurants that I choose to go to, about its past, its reviews, the chefs, where they’ve previously worked at, so on and so forth. As I was looking up on Bouley and its colorful past, the one spot that really stuck in my mind was that Bouley previously was a four-star restaurant as reviewed by William Grimes in years past. In my mind, once you hit a certain point, especially if you hit a pinnacle such as getting a four-star review, you never want to go back. If you lose that star, you work harder to get it back. Therefore, though I don’t know on what philosophic premise that Chef David Bouley reopened Bouley with, but I walked into the restaurant with the mindset that this was an above average French restaurant who was charging hard again for that fourth star. From pictures that I saw of the dining room, I expected it be more of an uptight sort of atmosphere than say Gramercy Tavern in which I took part in last week. I wanted the room to be elegant, the service to be pampering, and the food to be very French, though infused with heavily with new flavors. I arrived late to the hulking door of Bouley, which looked like a cozy little spot along West Broadway, though I found the green Christmas lights outside on the bushes to look a little tacky, and I rushed in about 15 minutes late in meeting my friend, who had seated himself early. I took a quick glance over the menu, though I already had my heart set on the chef’s seasonal tasting menu. Our waitress was dressed very proper with jacket and tie, and the backwaiters actually looked like most frontwaiters would look, which really set a tone on what I was expecting that night. The room was dim and completely red, which might’ve been alright had I looked for a romantic evening, but tonight really wasn’t the case. There were booth seats against the back wall with soft-looking pillows, and each table was adorned with either their own small table lamp or candle. Everything that I came to expect as I settled into the comfortable chair. The flatware and serviceware looked elegant, and the room was filled maybe halfway with a crowd that was well... considerably older than we were. Haha. My only problems at the moment was that the cord from the table lamp was right in front of my foot, and I was having a hard time not kicking it. The problem with kicking it was that every time I did the light went out and it was completely dark for a second, which would get frustrating as the night progressed. Also, there was no music and there was this faint drone that I could hear, probably because of the air conditioning, but that too, became frustrating as the night went on. Our waitress said that the chef’s tasting menu was a ten-courser that the chef sends out as he is inspired. She quoted us a price tag which I found pretty agreeable. Double the amount of the regular tasting menu, and it was double the courses. The Chef’s canapé came almost a second after she had left the table. A martini glass filled with parmesan foam, which they said was a parmesan cloud, apple, cauliflower, and grated hazelnut. It was a nice opening, as the foam was light and fluffy, and had a deep, rich parmesan flavor to it. The only problem with it was that I only wanted a bite of it, and being stated as an amuse or canapé, it should have been. This lasted a few bites though, and my second and third bites really became hard to swallow because of the richness of the foam. Our first course was my favorite of the night. A warm seafood salad of diver scallop, squid, Maryland crab meat, and a phyllo-crusted shrimp with ocean herbal broth. All the components of this dish were cooked to perfection, with the diver scallop being the crown of it all, with its sweet, succulent flesh, and though I didn’t really see how the sauce was a broth, it complimented everything well. I really wondered how they had cooked the squid, as most that I’ve had tended to be at least somewhat chewy. This was not the case at all with this dish. Very nice start, I was excited about what was to come. However, in the middle of eating, the bread cart came around and interrupted us, and though their flaxseed bread was outstanding, I found it rather curious that a restaurant of this caliber wouldn’t wait till in between courses to present the bread. Our next course was a yellowtail with ginger sauce and Japanese mushrooms. I couldn’t hear what the waitress said the mushrooms were called, so I figured I’d just look it up later on the menu. More on that later. The sauce tasted like the miso-ginger dressing that come on side salads at Japanese restaurants... which some might think bad of, but I love that sauce. Except this wasn’t grainy at all, it was smooth and thin and coated the yellowtail well. The mushrooms were a very nice compliment, almost having a comparable texture to the fish, which was very nice... it was like they felt soft against your tongue, but firm to the bite. Another nice dish on what had started out to be a nice meal. Next came a Rouget with a crust of fingerling potatoes that had been seared crisp and cut to look like scales on the fish. It came with a saffron risotto, parmesan sauce, and a line of smooth tapenade sauce. What I loved about the way they cooked the fish was that the skin was still intact though they put the coat of fingerlings on top. Fish cooked with the skin on holds a lot more flavor, and the skin has a good contrasting flavor to the flesh, in my opinion. Everything on the left side of the plate went well together, the parmesan sauce, the saffron risotto, and the fish, but for some reason I just didn’t understand the tapenade sauce. Maybe it’s classical? To me it was just a very harsh flavor to what seemed to me to be a very controlled dish. Not too strong of a saffron flavor, not too strong of a parmesan flavor, but the tapenade... tasted like tapenade, very pungent. Everything else worked well, though. The course after this was our egg course... and I want egg courses everywhere I go. I love them. This was an organic soft poached egg (from Chef Bouley’s farm up in Conneticut) with parmesan, truffle pate, Serrano ham, and 25 year old balsamic. My friend made the mistake of eating just the egg first, and decided that it needed salt. He then tasted it with all the components and regretted it. Haha. Everything on this dish had a very strong flavor, which was a nice idea considering the flavor of egg. Salty ham, truffly truffles, strong parm, sour balsamic, and when eaten together it was a great inhalation of different flavors, the most prominent being the truffle. I had two problems with this dish though, the egg, in my opinion, was overcooked. The yolk didn’t ooze when I cut into it, it sort’ve slowly dropped out... like The Blob, and also, we just had the flavor of parmesan in the last dish, and if you’ve read my report on WD-50 before, I hate the idea of having the same flavors in dishes over and over again, back to back, no less. We then went to our fourth fish course of the night. Sturgeon with leaves of Brussels sprouts, mango, wild mushrooms, and truffle essence. This wasn’t a bad dish, though it, again tasted of truffles. Not that I hate truffles, because I love them, but it tasted like the last dish because the essence overpowered everything else. The only difference was a slight bitterness of the Brussels Sprouts, which I’m glad are getting their due nowadays, and the tougher texture of the sturgeon. Sturgeon isn’t the type of fish you can cut into with a fish knife, it doesn’t flake apart. You sort’ve have to pull it apart, and I’m not sure this was the right fish for this dish. If anything, this was one of the more unimpressive dishes of the night though I might’ve thought differently had it been served on its own in a dinner where the course beforehand didn’t taste like it. Our last fish course was Maine Day-boat lobster with a ragout of fresh garbanzo beans and mango sauce. Mango again? The last dish didn’t taste of mango... but with the amount of great produce flowing around (even though it is winter) again, tasting menus should not have reoccurring flavors. This course somewhat baffled me. Up until now most all of the courses had a very French flavor. This course, however, was a complete switch in gears, as the mango sauce made it very... Thai flavored, almost. The lobster, just as everything had been up to this point, save maybe the egg, was cooked very well. The worked to an extent to fit the dish well, and the sauce was nice, but it was a very unexpected change in motif of the meal. Again, maybe in a different meal, with a different setting, and different courses, I would have loved this, but I was a bit confused. Our first meat course came in the form of a small piece of seared foie gras with mango (Again?) Caviar, and beet puree. I was willing to overlook the repetition of mangos again because I love foie, and this dish was so good. A correctly seared piece of foie is magic in itself, but the flavors really worked on this one. The beet puree gave a nice neutral flavor as opposed to the sourness of the mango caviar and the foie gras flavor. Mine had a vein in it, but I’ve fabricated foie. Sometimes it happens... though I’m not sure a restaurant of this caliber, again, should let something like that happen. Next came lamb, with a truffled potato puree... a green sauce which I forgot what it was, and a mixture of favas and peas with a reduction sauce. I loved the presentation of this dish, especially since the lamb had a good amount of height to it... and again, I’m not too fond of lamb, but this was surprisingly good. It again was cooked to perfection, and though I downed it in a few courses before, the truffles were once again welcome in this dish, just because I had a break from it. The beans, however, were undercooked, or cooked unevenly. Some of the favas were hard. Same with the peas. Our final meat course was Texan Kobe Beef with a side of potato puree, parsley sauce, and... something that I forgot the name of. It was like... raw shallot-garlic... or something. I love Kobe beef, I’ve had it a few times, but most of those were Washington State bred. The difference I found from those and this beef was that the flavor of this beef came in very big as you put it in your mouth, it plateaued really quickly, and by the third chew, the flavor was gone. Again, potatoes were used as the starch in this dish, though I wouldn’t mind all my mashed potatoes to taste of this. Cheesy and silky smooth. I was a bit skeptical about the piece of raw garlic, but upon taking a bite of it with the piece of beef, it worked very well... the beef cancelled out the spicy raw taste that raw garlic brings, and it left a permeating taste in your mouth that went away easily with another bite. Our first dessert course came in as a yogurt sorbet with honey gelee, and fresh citrus. This was a welcome dessert, a nice palate cleanser, though it would’ve been horribly rejected as a main dessert, but after having something like the garlic in the dish before, this was well thought out. The flavor was a bit sour, yet smooth. Nice start to the ending. The next dessert was actually one of my favorite desserts that I’ve had so far in my adventures. It was a napoleon of sorts with a chantilly of pineapples, and curry ice cream. The standout in this was the curry ice cream, which was a sweet curry, and it wasn’t a bombarding flavor. Very gentle with hints of curry that went well with the crisp phyllo, and nice fruity firm flavor of the pineapples. The next dessert though was mildly disappointing after the first one. It was a chocolate brioche with a saffron tuile, and what seemed to be a caramel ice cream. The brioche was very chewy and doughy in texture, and not at all what I was expecting. The tuile tasted too much of saffron and really didn’t seem to work very well with the other components of the dish, and the caramel ice cream was good, though I probably would have preferred just to eat a dish of the ice cream without the rest of it. Also, the waitress brought out a bottle of Olivares Dulce Monastures Port from Spain. 2000. Very strong bouquet, full of flavor of cherries and figs. I got tired of it after half the glass. What came out next came out at the same time as the brioche dessert, which I found a bit baffling because it was two desserts that could have lost their properties with the heat of the room. It was a passion fruit parfait with mint granite, and a flash frozen block of white chocolate foam with yogurt sugar. The parfait was good. I could have ended it right there, but the block of foam was just too interesting. If you cut into it, it looked to have a cakey texture, but as you put it in your mouth it melted away to nothing. It was the most interesting of what I had eaten, though I found that there was too much of it. If I were to grade Bouley on dishes alone, they would be up there. Way up there. Each dish alone had the chance to be great. Plate ups were good, and I loved the plates. Everything save an egg and some beans were cooked to perfection. I can tell that the back of the house is full of talented cooks. However, as a tasting menu, I came out very disappointed. The chef’s tasting menu should have enough thought put into it for there to be a myriad of flavors and combinations for the palate, not just a slapping together of your favorite dishes, which I thought it was. The progression of the food was nonexistent, and as I stated beforehand, there was just way too much of repetition of flavors. Too much mango, mango back to back, truffle back to back, yogurt used twice in four desserts. Also, I will admit that I’m a big eater, but in a tasting menu I want to come out full and satisfied. After this meal though, it hurt. Yeah, you could say that I should’ve stopped eating, but at this price, I don’t think I’ll ever do that. If I want to hurt after a meal, I’ll pay 10 dollars to go to China Buffet up here. I think that should have been taken into consideration. Something also has to be said for service as well. I read reviews where service was spotty, and I was a little worried. I see what those reviewers meant. Our waitress was nice, and for us, the backwaiters seemed to be fine, but I saw dishes brought to the wrong seats at least two times that night on two different tables. Also, there was a definite lull in between courses. I should never ever yawn in between the course, and I never should run out of things to talk about with whoever I dine with. That said, I should never actually want to leave the restaurant, which near the end, I did. This wasn’t even a problem for just one or two dishes, there was a long wait in between every single course after the first course. We were there for close the four hours. It shouldn’t ever feel like we were there for four hours. As for the price. I was quoted one price, but was charged more for it. I hate to be a stickler about price, but when you say 150, I want 150, not 175. I could have understood, as they may have charged a supplemental for the port that we didn’t ask for or the kobe beef that we didn’t ask for, but that wasn’t even put on the bill. However, I just didn’t feel like arguing at the end, as I just wanted to leave. Looking back on it, I may give them a call. Also as we were leaving, my friend asked for two copies of the chef's tasting menu and only one came back, so when I realized that outside I went back in to ask for another one and the reaction from one of the hostesses... was less then pleasant. An eye roll, but still. It left a sour taste in my mouth. One of the reasons I can't exactly name everything on my reviews too is because they gave me the wrong menu, as they gave me the regular tasting menu. I just didn't have the heart to go back and ask again. I wanted to have something close to a four-star night this past Saturday, but it didn’t happen. The food is there, but just the thought process in what goes into a four-star restaurant seemed to be missing. There were a lot of loose ends that were never properly tied into place. I really wanted to love this restaurant, and I hate giving bad reviews, but I didn’t enjoy myself after the fifth course or so, which is a shame because all of the food was very, very good. Maybe I’m just not old enough for this type of restaurant yet. There was a considerable age difference between our table and the rest of the clientele, and maybe it was a bad idea ordering the Chef’s tasting. We might have been better off with the regular tasting which was considerably cheaper. I don’t think I got my money’s worth in what I was expecting. Though the food was great, there has to be something said about other things than just food. It’s only one of the pillars that hold up a house, without the others, the house will unstable or uneven. That’s what I thought my night was uneven, even again, as much as I enjoyed the food. I think Bouley was going for top notch, and priced it as so. It just didn’t quite reach it for me on this night. Out of 10? A 3. I won’t be returning. Next up (after the new year, Jan. 8th): Le Bernardin

Interestingly enough, I worked there as a backwaiter for a grand total of one weekend. Yes, the room is completely wonderful, and even better, when you walk in... since they have the room full of apple barrels it smells like an apple orchard in there. I loved it. I was sorry to have to tell them that I couldn't work for them just because I think driving 6 hour a weekend for backwaiter's pay was a little too much for me.. it actually almost put me in the negative considering what I'm driving. haha. As for Craft, I'm still excited about it just for the plain fact one of my friends ate there and loved it. Or well, loved the braised shortribs so much he said, "it felt like my teeth were melting along with it." He said the rest of the meal was good as well, but it just sorta got me worked up about the place. I think it'll be interesting when I get a chance to go to see how the two stack up. And Pan: I meant "not pristine" as in... well, sort've untouchable. As much as I loved Gramercy, there were a couple of little hiccups here and there. Though small blemishes, still, not everything was correct. I will say though that it's going to be hard for everything to be correct in one night... but I think it would be silly of me not to expect it at all at least once in my lifetime. I think there has to be a belief that there is a "perfect," or else there would be nothing to aim for. I sorta think of the "pristine" restaurant as if you were dreaming the whole time while you were there... like the service at TRU and the signature dish of the finest chefs in New York City all at once. Of course I have my opinions... but pristine to me will most likely not be be "pristine" to anyone else. Maybe I'm using the word wrong. haha. I dunno.