Sethro

That's a reicpe I'm actually a little protective of (my own specific variation at least), but what you should aim for is a truffle with apprx 3:2 cream/chocolate ratio. I like a little butter and glucose in mine too. The truffle should be plyable but not sticky when frozen. I use a simmilar recipe for the cake as you would for the batter center variety, but bake it slightly longer. Once you fool around and get your timing perfect, you can have a product with layers of molten center, batter and truffle.

Mycryo can be used as a gelatin substitute??? AFAIK Mycryo is an emulsifying and stabilizing agent (with a few other pleasant side-effects). It can set product as well?

You can pre-bake the batter-center variety in advance, but only about half-way. Usually 3-4oz size take about 7 minutes to bake, so I pre-bake them for 3.5 minutes and refridgerate for service. The truffle center variety can be fully pre-baked and reheated, but I prefer the results of half-baking for them as well. If would only freeze them raw, regardless.

Crave is a really neat place, I can't recommend it enough. I'm surprised there isn't a lengthy Eg thread on it already. I just wish they were open Sundays.

Here's mine: 300g milk 2 pieces star anise 60g sugar 2+1/3 sheets leaf gelatin 150g cream Bring the milk, sugar and anise to a simmer, remove from heat and whisk in the bloomed gelatin. Whisk in the cold cream and chill over on ice bath. Strain and mold. It's pretty mild on both the anise and sugar, so you may need to adjust it if you want it stronger or sweeter. That's the smallest incantation of the recipe, too, for testing purposes.

Ate there again tonight for my 30th birthday. 1st course: Cod Threads, Pistachio Yogurt Asparagus The cod was very dry and chewy, like munching on flakes straight out of the bag, but without the strong salty flavor. It and the yogurt were actually both quite devoid of flavor. The asparagus was somewhere short of crisp, and slightly slimy. Oddly, although WD-50 is my favorite restaurant bar-none, I've rarely had a first course that worked for me there. 2nd Course: Carrot Coconut Sunny-Side-Up I thought this would have made a much better opener, being "breakfast" and such. The carrot flavor in particular really popped, aided by the perfect amount of black pepper, with just a mild sweetness. The coconut "white" actually tasted stronger of green cardamom than coconut, but thats fine with me. 3rd Course: Foie Gras, Candied olives, Pea Soil, Beet Juice For my money, no restaurant in New York does a better job with foie terrine than WD. I thought I'd never like a foie dish more than last year's offering with the nori caramel, but this was even better. The terrine itself was a perfect soft cream, with perfect textural balance from the pea soil and perfect sweetness from the beet. The dish would have been a 10 out of 10 even without the candied olives, which put the dish out of the realm of human comprehension and somewhere into the kingdom of etherea. I asked if I could have a bag of candied olives to go, and I was not kidding. Those things are AWESOME. The plate was stunning too, colorful and clean, with a great use of negative space. 4th Course: Shrimp Cous Cous, Dehydrated Papaya, Avocado Puree We opted away from the shrimp canneloni, having already sampled it twice in the past. This was basically a re-working of last years scallop cous-cous. I enjoyed this alot more though, mosty because the cous cous hit the table hot, and tasted like it had the help of some beef or bacon fat. The papaya was ok, but the avocado was completely lost. Decent dish, but nothing spectacular. 5th Course: Hangar Tartare, Bernaise Ice Cream, Asian Pear We also opted away from the tongue standard, having already sampled it twice as well. This dish was another stand-out. The meat was rich and perfectly seasoned, and the bernaise ice cream was as good tasting as it is cool sounding. What really did the trick for me was the healthy dose of clove and rice vinegar (I think) which dressed the pear. I loved everything about it. 6th Course: Langostine, Celery Root Fry, Bannana Mustard Probably the best cooked piece of langostine I've ever had; absolutely butter in the mouth. Everything else on the plate was forgetable to me, but man was that a well cooked crustacean. 7th Course: Corned Duck, Chinese Vinegar Reduction, [something I can't remember] The duck didn't really taste corned. Also it's skin wasn't crisp, and it was a little under-seasoned. The squid ink and vinegar reduction could have been a little more assertive. It wasn't a bad dish, just nothing I would order twice. Intermezzo: Tangerine Sorbet, basil, olive oil I liked this alot, although it was clearly a granite and not a sorbet at all. The citrus and olive oil worked great together, but I wish there was more basil. You really can't have too much basil. 1st Dessert Course: Coconut Cream Chese Sorbet, Carrot Foam, Carrot Cake Crumbs Loved the hell out of this! This was basically last year's Grapefruit-in-Grapefruit updated, but even better (which is saying alot). So smooth and so bright, the perfect dessert. 2nd Dessert Course: Manchego Cheesecake, Pineapple Foam, Bosc Pear After all the hype on Eg, I was actually a little let down. It was a very good cheesecake, but nothing new or unique. The pineapple foam was great and stood up on the plate like a champ for about 5 minutes, and played well with the cheese. The pear was pretty unnecesary and there was a manchego tuille that I thought was way too savory for a dessert course, and actually pretty nasty. Still, it was very good overall. 3rd Dessert Course: Kumquat Confit, Carob Ice Cream, Soy Caramel, Thyme Syrup This was my favorite dish of the night; everything on the plate worked in complete harmony. The kumquats were so juicy and tender, yet still pleasingly bitter. The carob ice cream was so earthy and rich. The soy caramel carried a perfect salinity to it that really tied the dish together. I could probably rate this as one of the best desserts I've ever had. I would have liked a bit more thyme syrup though, it was important to the dish and there was only a ridiculously tiny drizzle of it. 4rd Dessert Course: Butternut Squash Sorbet, Pumpkin Seed Cake, Chocolate Soil, Mole Paper I loved the flavor of the cake, although I wish it was slightly more dry and firm. I also loved the soil, and would gladly eat a bowl of it it with milk every morning. Unfortunately the sorbet really clashed texturally with everything else on the plate. I think it would have been better suited as an ice cream, which also would have subdued it's sweetness, which was mildly cloying. The mole paper was impossible to taste, which is a bummer because I really wanted to taste it! 5th Dessert Course: Caramelized Banana, Stout Foam, Smoked Chocolate Ice Cream This had a very interesting and chalenging flavor profile. The guiness for the foam had not been reduced or decanted at all, so it carried alot of hops and sourness, which really battled with the abundant smokiness of the ice cream for dominance of the tongue. Bananas...well I hate banana in desserts, so It's not really fair for me to even judge. I think I would have really liked the ice cream alone, but the foam just wasn't doing it for me. 1st Additional Dessert: Braised Pineapple, Mustard Ice Cream, Coconut Foam Cooked pineapple has a really peculiar taste that I've never fully been able to wrap my palate around. I liked the ice cream pretty well, but with the pineapple, everything was SO bright and SO acerbic. If the foam was a little more coconut-y it might have helped cut the sourness, I really couldn't taste it. It was a huge helping of pineapple too, and looked kind of heaped on the plate. A strange dish, and one that I'm not sure if I liked or not. I think it would have benefited from something mealy and earthy, like pine nuts, soy nuts, or some type of grain or rice. It felt a little unraveled. 2nd Additional Dessert: Chocolate Mousse and Orange Tuille "Birthday Candle" First of all, as a pastry chef, I looked at this and instantly thought "Hello! How could nobody have thought of this before?!?" The tuille formed a cylidrical "lamp shade" which enrobed the candle atop the chocolate base. Godamn ingenius and pretty damn tasty too! Petit Fours: Red Pepper Gelee, Chocolate Curry Almonds The almonds are still great, and the red pepper is a nice addition; a pate de fruit that actually isn't too sweet. DISCLAIMER: I feel the need to be totally objective when reviewing food, but I don't mean to come across as snide. Wylie and Sam take a lot of chances with their direction, and more often than not the result is something delicious and more importantly stimulating--inspirational even. I have tons of respect for what they do, regardless of whether I love every single dish they produce.

The fine crumb and crisp exterior makes me think financier. This might work for you: Almond Financier 6oz cake flour 6oz almond flour 12oz sugar 1/4tsp salt 6oz softened butter 6floz egg white 1tsp vanilla extract Combine all the dry. Beat in the softened butter for 2 minutes. Beat in the wet in 2 incriments, for 2 minuts each. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. This is my recipe for individual financiers, so I don't have it scaled for a pan, unfortunately.

Cmon, people. Just walk another ten minutes and go to Florent!

Rosewater is kind of gross to me, but I love candied rose petals. I used to do a cool component that was cubes of vanilla ice cream w/candied rose, coated in crushed almond cookies. I find almond and rose work really well together.

I refridgerate anything bruleed involving custard for at least 2 minutes, even creme brulees during service. I think 5-7 minutes does the job just right; cool custard and crisp sugar. That looks friggin awesome btw, I could go for a stack of crepes right now...

I ate at the UWS Gari Thursday night (despite cautionary Egullet reviews) and was very impressed. The sashimi was admirable--not quite Yasuda level--but the sushi was amazing. I personally like my sushi to be dressed (in terms of sauces and adornments--I'm not a purist), and everything I tried was very clever and well executed. Tuna belly with a healthy dollop of tangy tofu mousse was a particular stand-out. Fluke with pine nuts and mitsuba vinegrette was also very nice. Most importantly, the rice was AWESOME. Some of the most perfect sushi rice I've ever had, and I worked at Nobu for a spell as well as being an avid sushi snob in general. The price tag is ridiculous of course; $75 for 5 pieces sashimi and 5 pieces sushi. I may go back to sample some of the kitchen menu though, there were some good sounding hot aps (seared foie with tamarind plum chutney and pineapple brule).

Heh...are we supposed to infer Morimoto from that?

My pleasure!

If you want to go with something besides cucumber, you can spread fruit puree very thin on a silpat and bake at low temps until its pliable, then cut.

Speaking of UWS Japanese, I was really surprised when Fujiyama Mama closed its doors last Fall. It had been open for over 20 years. The food was consistantly very good for the price range, and the decor was a welcome departure from the standard UWS drab. Apparently they were going to re-model and re-open as a Jap-fusion, but got lost somewhere along the way. I remember seeing the place under construction for months, and then suddenly newspaper on the windows and a "Space For Rent" sign. Too bad.

I buy them already toasted from Asian Market, which is actually cheaper than raw from anywhere else.

I really don't like the flavor of sesame, personally. It reminds me of stale popcorn. I do a "sesame square" petit four, though, which gets alot of complimetns. It's basically just a rice krispie treat using the excess marshmallow from another petit four (I was too lazy to scale down the recipe for my new marshmallow pans, heh), melted butter, toasted brown rice, black and white sesame and salt. At another restaurant I worked at, the chef loved sesame. There was a banana sesame dessert that sold really well, in which we ground equal parts white sesame and sugar together for coating bananas before wrapping.

I could go onto citysearch rigt now and spend 15 minutes voting for Ninja untill it had a 5.0 rating. Citysearch ratings are white noise.

It would help to see the recipe. You might want to try adding a little stabilizer (or guar gum, xanthan, etc).

I use my longest serrated knife, dip in VERY hot water and dry between each cut. It eliminates any sticking in my experience.

One cool thing I figured out I could use it for is thickening liquid flavorings that otherwise were impossible to fold into whipped cream or meringue. For instance I've thickened soy milk with xanthan and then folded it into stiff cream so I could have a quennel-able "soy cream". Same thing with teas. I also use it with fruit purees for mousses as it makes for easier incorporation and less breaking/running.

Going again tonight for a few aps and the 5 course dessert tasting. Reports forthcoming...

Guittard 61% is better tasting IMO. Its my default chocolate for sauces, mousses, frozen components, ganache and the likes. Although I always ran into problems baking or tempering with it (I really have no idea as to the exact reason why). I had a molten chocolate dome on the menu that worked perfectly with any other chocolate in the 60-70% range, but always fell apart when I used the Guittard. Weird, right?

That was tough to watch. First Danza plated the dessert upside down and then he threw the garnish right into the sauce. "There it is, Jean George, everybody!". Yikes.

Pizzabolla on Amsterdam&92nd is so so so SO much better than the UWS Patsy's. As a matter of fact I believe Pizzabolla is one of the better pie's in the city, and they do damn fine ceasar salad and garlic bread as well.