saulbass

Russell Le Meridien officially closed in July for the renovation. The renovation will be extremely extremely comprehensive and looks to finish sometime in Spring 2008. The hotel when reopened will be called the SLS at Beverly Hills. As soon as we have more public info will post as I believe what we are working on with Jose Andres will be pretty groundbreaking from a concept and culinary perspective. The renovation was designed by Philippe Starck and will be operated by Starwood under their Luxury collection.

Russell...Yes that Le Meridien...

maybe both...and more...

The company i work for is currently renovating the Le Meridien on La Cienega Blvd into a luxury hotel product with food by Jose Andres. Opening set for early 2008. Will add another star shef to the LA scene along with Batali and Collichio.

"I mean lets talk about , the fat duck, les manoir, louis xv, michel bras, au crocodile, guy savoy , robuchon, do we really have that in san fran?" Not in SF, but French Laundry in Yountville deserves the ***. Also, was at Fat Duck less then a month ago and in many respects, Manresa is a very-good/better comp for Fat Duck in terms of ambiance, service standards, food creativity and location around an hour outside of a major food-centric city. However, across every metric, Manresa provided the better dining experience. Most importantly, the food quality and consistency at Manresa were far above Fat Duck.

Also, HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to David Kinch, Michael Kean and the rest of the Manresa team. Well deserved!!!

Gary Danko is one of my favorite restaurants anywhere!! However, I think from a Michelin perspective it had two factors that prevented a higher star count: 1. The restaurant turns its tables far more frequently than the restaurants that scored higher 2. The restaurant only offers a five course or less (including dessert) menu option as opposed to the much longer tasting options of other higher scorers Neither of these factors have any impact on my experience. I have always received amazing food, service and ambiance in a ultra-luxurious yet casual, relaxed and not-stuffy environment. I think that it is this balance that local diners have come to love while it is this balance that is not fully understood by the folks at Michelin.

Slanted Door for Lunch Gary Danko for Dinner

For Thursday dinner go for Angelini Oesteria on Beverly (in my opinion a step up from La Terza) For breakfast i enjoy Bread and Poridge on Wilshire at 24th.

Manresa in Los Gatos (10 miles from Santa Clara) is not to be missed Lots of discussion of the restaurant in other threads in this forum It is non-Indian cuisine but spectacular They have also been very very good at working around my dietary restrictions

Email received overnight for reservation for 4 @ 8pm on Monday Sept 11 2006 Thank you so much to the elBulli team CAN NOT WAIT

Am still waiting for reply Requested any date after April 20 Sent request on evening of October 15 Pacific Time Still Hoping...

Same Still waiting with high and increasing anticipation...

Have not gotten a yes or no yet, but on another note I received an email from Juli Soler that the English edition of elBulli 1994-1997 will be available during the first few months of 2006 and the English edition of elBulli 2003-2004 will be available during the early Spring 2006. Still hoping for a reservation for the 2006 season...

Sent in request on October 15th evening CA time... heard nothing yet but still hoping to be able to plan a trip to Europe around a meal