Todd36

In a show, we all see the same thing. In a restuarant, we don't all have to get the same food. It of course depends on what they are serving and who is paying attention, but I think most any restaurant can alter the food experience. This is most obvious in a sushi place, any decent sushi chef knows which of his or her fish is best and can serve it accordingly. Anyone who has ever eaten in a top sushi restaurant with a regular customer has had that experience. The same thing applies to many ingredents. Think Jean Georges or Bouley can't tell real fast which of the 30 duck breasts he has available is better? Think that duck breast is going to taste the same whether prepared by Bouley himself or by the most inexpienced line chef? Having recently eaten at Bouley with someone he knows welll, the food was not what anyone else in the room was eating, it was a very different experience.

I probably yikes, eat out 15 times a week. I think an issue with being a professional reviewer is that you probably need to eat 6 fancy dinners a week (give at least three shots to places that get a review, and the other three are for things you don't bother with or you just need to learn about) and several fancy lunches a week. That's a lot of food and it's going to be tiring. Still, I could do it for two or three years.....

Classic NYC breakfast is probably either a bagel with some sort of cream cheese or a hard roll with eggs and cheese (bacon/ham/meat is I think a minority view). In terms of places for breakfast...hmmm...on the Upper West Side that would have to be Barney Greenglass. But you'll probably have to wait for a while. My classic is scrambled eggs with onions, with nova on the side (it's better at Barney when the fish is cold, heating it ruins it I think). Basically if its fish and they serve it, it's worth trying. Herring in cream sauce in particular. Also, the never on the menu but they may have it potato pancakes. Small issues are cash only, it's possible to spend $30 a person on breakfast in what is basically a lunch counter and it's heavy food. But it's classic NY. Sarabeth's is I think past its prime, and the Central Park South branch is fair at best. Never understood why people like Popover Cafe. Good Enough to Eat is OK, but not memorable (although I've had memorable bad dates there....) Finnegans Wake on First Avenue and 74th or so has an amazing brunch special for around $8.95. Not worth a long trip, but if you are in the area. Food is good and for the money, quite good. It's a good example of an Irish bar serving good food. For an unusual, and expensive suggestion, try the cafe at Petrossian, on 7th Avenue near 58th street. They have very good baked goods and caviar.

In Wednesday's NYT food section, Robert Stehling of Hominy Grill notes that he doesn't own a food processor. He comments that some rather famous people have survived without one. I've eaten at Hominy Grill, and liked it a great deal, more than Per Se in fact, the price difference is about 6:1 BTW. Boiling in a plastic bag is nothing new. I bet Stehling doesn''t do it. I remember 20 years when an upscale restaurant in Hartford made a big thud with the concept, technique imported from France. I think the currently popularity has more to do with portion control and ability to hold at temp than the end product. Not to mention that I don't like boiled plastic in my food. Heck, it's the 37th year of pouched food, at least according to this http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/entertainmen...0et005000c.html Japanese curry.... Again, if this is the technique Per Se uses to make those lobster bits (the ones I couldn't chew), they should hike over to Pearl Oyster bar and try a lobster roll. I don't think they boil in a bag.....

Does the law impose a minimum tip? ← No, but the IRS (our income tax collecting agency) requires restaurants to report gross figures and expects tips to be reported as at least a certain percentage of that. Theoretically, as I understand it, a waiter could actually be expected to pay taxes on a greater figure than he actually collects. Of course most diners in the US who pay by credit card, also tip by credit card, so there's a paper trail that exerts its own force these days. ← The IRS has won court cases when waiters unreported cash tips as compared to credit card tips. Courts have held that if in a given restauant, people tip say 10% on cards, they should also be tipping about 10% when they pay in cash.

Peking Duck has good duck and not bad Shanghi Style streamed dumplings. Not sure about the rest of the menu. Oriental Garden has decent decor, and offers some american-chinese stuff, although not what they are best at. Not that i've eaten there, but Mr. Tang's in Chinatown might serve your purpose. There's also Shun Lee Cafe on the upper west side, pricy for what you get but not bad, with decent decor and service.

71 Irving Place also seems to have pretty good coffee.

Ate there about a month ago. Food was good to very good, but things add up fast pricewise. Service was fine, but it is very cramped and uncomfortable.

Had dinner there tonight with a friend known to the restaurant (this is THE BOULEY). Probably better than Per Se or Alain Ducasse, but then, they know my dining friend very well. Average person is not getting this. Too many dishes to name, and no, this was not off of a menu, we were simply told they would send out what the chef wanted to. Here is what I can remember: 1. Sweetbreads with prawn and moral mushroom sauce. Very rich, very good. 2. A coddled egg, served in shell, with black truffles. Very good, but not as fine as what Ducasse does. 3. Two different fish courses, both cooked white fish, second one was snapper, both sushi grade fish imported from Japan. First one was served with the best green peas I have ever had, the second one with a slightly bitter sauce based on I think asian winter melon. 4. Slices of veal chop. 5. Texas Kobe Beef. The best kobe type beef I have ever had. This had texture, it wasn't much. 6. Oysters in a sem-rich sauce, a little like Per Se's pearls and oysters, but no cavier, the sauce was not as rich, and you could actually taste the oysters. 7. 4 or 5 dessert courses, including a parfit with raw milk ice cream, corn and blueberries. 8. And there were several starters tossed in as well. It was obscene. two meat and two fish courses. I'm probably forgetting a couple of more courses as well, we had wine pairings as well, finishing with some Maderia. The fish courses were as good as any I have had anywere, any time.

seki is most definitely chinese, he is from eastern china. ← I'll ask next time I'm in the place, but he speaks unaccented Japanese and my friend has had some fairly long conversations with him in Japanese.... She's a native speaker and moved out of Tokyo when was 28. She could be wrong but...The chef who I think is Chinese is the one who works alone at night BTW. ← you never trust me??? ← It's not that I don't trust you, I trust my friend more. She says that Seki is a native speaker....given the fact that she's Japanese, was born and raised in Tokyo, went to university there, and didn't leave Tokyo until she was 28 years old, I tend to trust her when she says someone is a native Japanese speaker. She also says that Seki is an ethnic Korean family name in Japan (which may explain your point of view), but that he could have that family name and be 3'rd or 4th generation Japanese (meaning his family has lived in Japan for a hundred plus years). I check more next time I eat there. Also, Seki speaks in Japanese to the sushi chef who I think is Chinese, and that guy answers in what even I can tell is broken Japanese.

Most food crops are very regional in origan, which means if you take a broad view (which I don't), everything becomes fusion. New world foods include: corn tomatos peppers potatos many types of beans (kidney/lima/butter/pole/kidney/navy/haricot/snap/string) many types of squash (pumpkin types) peanut sweet potatos Until about 500 years ago, none of the above was known outside of America. All are widely used, which means European and Asian cooking look very different now than they did 500 years ago. No hot pepper in your Tai cooking for example. People argue about where rice comes from, but whether you think it's Himalayan or Chinese in origen, it's not native to southeast Asia or Japan. The southern Chinese and Japanese were eating millet before they knew what rice was. Cabbage comes from the Mediterranean and Asia Minor...that includes Asian types. The cause of this thread is time and orthodoxy. Time, becuase things spread really quickly these days (although hot pepper spread very, very quickly to Asia when first brought to Europe) and orthodoxy, because people think cooking has some standard identity, which usually isn't true. Everyone has some relative famous for some dish made in a "non-standard" way. Does that make it not real? Becuase it's non-standard and a bit unusual? And to go back to Bruni, I think any regional cusine is capable of a four star restaurant. If Jean George himself were operating a lobster shack, would you not go on the theory that steamed clams, corn on the cob and losbter rolls can be made by any fool and could never be four star cusine? So Bruni liked a place that natives think is inauthentic. Well, yellowtail scallion rolls are not very authentic either....but tasty.

Awash has a branch at 338 E 6th St. Had dinner there recently and it was pretty good, better I think than most other Ethiopian food in NY and seemed fresher. Also, the combo platters are well priced.

seki is most definitely chinese, he is from eastern china. ← I'll ask next time I'm in the place, but he speaks unaccented Japanese and my friend has had some fairly long conversations with him in Japanese.... She's a native speaker and moved out of Tokyo when was 28. She could be wrong but...The chef who I think is Chinese is the one who works alone at night BTW.

I don't think "fusion" and traditional cusine are unrelated. The Japanese still call Ramen "Chinese Noodles", they've only been popular for the last hundred years or so and they did come from China and Tempora was picked up by the Japanese from the Portuguese (and either they got it from Italy or the other way around). If you want to go on, more than half the stuff on a typical menu in a traditional Japanese restaurant is fusion in nature. It's very difficult to find a cusine that is "pure" and non-fusion, you're going to have to find an isolated culture. Staff gets passed around a lot; the Japanese Navy picked up Curry from the British Navy, who in turn picked it it up in India. By the time it hit House and S&B pre-pack, it doesn't look much like Indian curry. I also think that recipes and ingredents are less standard than you think. People have written comparative cookbooks on this, for example, James Beards "American Cookery." Even something like meatloaf comes in dozens of "traditiona" variations. Like olives baked on top of yours? Ketchup, tomato based or brown gracy based sauce. Not to mention what kind of meat(s). Also, with todays markets, things spread very, very fast. The Japanese traditionally had one kind of onion, its a long thin non-bulbing type. Think that's all you'll find in Japan today? Before we comment on "fusion" cusine, we have to understand what the "traditional" cusine is. For example, northern Chinese eat steamed bread, not rice. I've never seen that one on a menu in NY, although I had in NY. I can see someone not knowing better calling that fusion cusine....True fusion cusine to me is when someone takes unrelated cusines and combines them in ways that the local people don't. For example, Japanese don't use Basil, although Shiso leaves serve a similar function....

As a side note, it seems that this kind of cultural export of "typic" restaurants was a real fashion of that time. In many cities of Europe, you can still find German "beer halls", Spanish bodegas, Viennese coffeehouses etc. all founded at the end of 19th century. I believe this was strongly influenced by the "world exhibitions" which have been very fashionable at that time. ← That's probably part of it. Like what we are talking about in the current Bruni thread, I think societal forces are a significant factor as well. The middle class is getting larger, there is more money available, the cost of eating as a portion of your income is dropping (which means more money is available to spend on luxory goods, e.g. eating out), New York has a pool of single men who will prefer to eat out etc..... There are many things in that King book that are interesting. One is that it covers a wide price range of restaurants. Another is the sterotypes it is creating...or repeating. For example, Japanese restaurants are described as clean and wholesome. Whoever wrtote the food section clearly was eating out in ethnic restaurants or knew someone who did, across a wide variety of cusines and price ranges.

It's been so long sice I've been there I guess I forgot. . . the Neue Gallery's restaurant Cafe Sabarasky which is a cousin of Wallse in the west village makes a nice espresso. Interestingly, they always serve it with a small glass of sparkling water to be drunk after the coffee. It's a nice tradition--an Austrian one for those not familiar with Wallse and Sabarsky--the fizzy water wipes the oily coffee off the tongue leaving the drinker sharpened in mind and fresh in mouth. ← They also use Meinl coffee ....whice is not that expensive nor that fresh....which makes you wonder about certain things...I like their coffeee as well.

I actually think that who makes the coffee is critical. I eat out frequently enough in the same places where I can see the person operating the machine to conclude that technique is critical. I live on the upper west side and frequent several cafes. For example, the coffee at La Fortunia is quite good, but only when this one guy from Columbia the country makes it. For people with home machines, I'd be curious to see what would happen if you bought a can of Bustelo...I wonder how bad it would be...maybe not as bad as you think, my guess is that with technique it would be decent coffee. I've also noticed that high end restaurants have good coffee, meaning say Jean Georges. In a lower price range, try Cafe Trotsky on Orchard Street, they use Meinl coffee and its good. And you thought I could only give odd opinions of Japanese restaurants and bizzare circular arguments....

I suspect the source of your query is the traditional lack of fine dining restaurants in many countries. In countries with social stratification, in particular poorer countries, labor costs are cheap and the well off tend to operate their own internal restaurants, its called live-in-help. If you get tired of your own cook(s), you go over a friend's house for dinner and try out his/her cook. With a reasonably large circle of friends and party invites, you don't need a restaurant to go to. 99.9% of the people living in your country have no idea what the rich eat, only the rich get dinner invites. Rich people with their own cooks who have time and money to experiement creates fine dining. Europe didn't really have restaurants until after the French revolution, before then, the rich ate at home. The closest thing to a restaurant was an inn/pub, which generally wasn't a place the rich were eating in most of the time. The French Revolution rearranged the economy, and also created a large pool of unemployed chefs of the former rich, who proceeded to open restaurants to service the increasing middle class. But France had fine dining in 1700, just that few people had access to it. This is covered in several reference books, don't have a title handy. My friend who grew up in the Philipines had I think 6 servents, at least 2 of whom cooked. She says they didn't eat out much, except at friends houses, who also had their own cooks. She wasn't eating what you would think of as traditional food, but I would bet it was traditional, if you had money. Anthony Boudin makes the same point in one of his books, he wants to experience fine North Africian dining and that requires visiting a wealthy persons house, he describes the compound and courtyard in detail, and waiting as the servants and women of the household prepare a fancy meal. In that kind of place, you can only get the local fine dining in someone's home, and you and I are unlikely to get an invite or even know what is being served. You can also look at some cookbooks to get some local flavor, for example, Shizou Tsuji's cookbooks clearly show high end Japanese cooking is not what most people think. Seen Snowdrift Tilefish with Silver Sauce or sake simmered mackeral or yellow flower shrimp or stuffed crab or shrimp wafers on a a Japanese menu in NY recently? I haven't, not even in a place like Sugiyama. Might also show that middle-brow Japanese cooking isn't what you think, beef negimaki which seems like a very Americanized dish really isn't, it's one of several similar dishes, one of which is beef rolled around burdock. There is not enough market demand in NY for a true 4 star Japanese restaurant in NY, but the indingious cusine in Japan can clearly deliver 4 stars.

Go to your local Barnes & Nobles and pick up a copy of "King's Handbook of New York City 1892". It's a reprint. It has an extensive description of restaurants of the time. I bet most people would be surprised for example to learn that New York had multiple Japanese restaurants in 1892. There was much more diversity than one would have suspected, most general areas of cusine found in New York today were represented. The proportion of the mix has been vastly altered.

Another point is that there are a significant number of four star restaurants in the world that serve steak or chops with potatos and vegetables, with a quite simple preporation. Is that the real reason Alain Ducaisse fell from for stars, because he serves a steak? I have an ex-girl-friend who grew up in Manilla and went to one of those prep high schools in Manilla that sends its grads to Harvard etc (she went Ivy league herself). She might be wrong......but she thought that there was local fine dining food there.

Casse Croute Tribecca, on West Broadway, just south of Chambers. Make sure Sophie makes your coffee (she is not always there). It's very clear that technique is critical.

Seki is a native Japanese speaker, I am doubtful that he is Chinese, although I suppose he could be ethnic Chinese raised in Japan. The older chef who works to Seki's right is also a native Japanese speaker. That man orders and preps the fish and in fact seems to be in charge in some ways, I strongly suspect he is a part owner of the restaurant. My dining friend is a native Japanese speaker and based on her conversations with them, she's not sure who is really running the place. Seki might be the business man in overall charge, the older guy seems to be in charge of the fish and what they do with it. The man to the older guy's right is not a native Japanese speaker and is probably Chinese. The man to his right is a native Japanese speaker, and he is not a full fledged chef. The rest of the staff seems to be almost 100% native Japanese speaker. Dining at a sushi bar with a Tokyo native and Wasada graduate has its advantages.

It is highly likely that any country above a small minimum size is going to have some kind of fine dining tradition. I base that assertion on the fact that every country I know of has social stratification and socially stratified sociaties will have a wealthier class that is going to eat different, more expensive food than the rest of the population. I would also like to point out that we know based on historical fact that large chunks of "classic" French cooking is based on recipes imported from Florence (in Italy) when Catherine d'Medici married into the French royal family. Florence in the 16th century has plenty of social stratification. Most of us would probably agree that Japan has a very long fine dining tradition. But until the 20th century, most of the Japanese population was living off of boiled millet, preserved salted fish and pickles. Rice was expensive and not something many people could afford to eat. Japan also had quite significant social stratification, which explains why they have a very developed fine dining tradition. I strongly suspect that both Ethopia and the Phillipnes histoirically had social stratification, its tough to name a society that large that doesn't, and therefore have a local fine dining tradition that could be four star. It's just that none of us are familar with it.

It's not 'Wichcraft. Had a BLT there today. Very salty bacon, not the same bacon they use on the meatloaf sandwich. OK tomato and lettuce, bread not quite substantial enough. The final sandwich was not as enjoyable as what many delis turn out.

This goes back to the "there is no such thing as a four star bowl of noodles or hamburger or beef stew or loaf of bread or lobster roll or shrimp dumpling" argument. All of that stuff is more or less home cooking. Or to put it another way, if Alain Ducasse showed up at your door and said "you've won the lucky prize today. I'm here to cook for you a spinach omlet, made from scratch bread, fruit salad, some sausage I made and chocolate chip cookies", would you say "sorry Alain, that's all typical stuff any home cook can make, don't bother coming in"? If that's your view, please send him my way. The second best baked thing I've ever eaten was a simple chestnut tart at the old Bouley Bakery take-out....not exactly haute cusine. Every cusine on the planet has four star possibilites, as long as you stay away from say peanut butter and jelly...which probably can't hit four stars, but who knows.