Mimi Sheraton

Thanks Kim, and glad you did not recognize me as someone did at O'Keefe's Water Club, an incident you may well recall.

Here's the problem....they all know me now so it is very hard to evaluate service and, for that matter, even food...let me think about it and see if I can come up with an answer before signing off tomorrow, Sunday.

Well, it never hurts to try and even if only a few become aware, that's a help..I suspect what is really on the Italians' minds is the selling of olive oil, cheese, etc. It usually comes down to that..and natural (!) wine. But not even average Italians are listening. Women there work also and pick up take-out or an equivalent..or eat some convienence food..the real challenge is to get good quality, honest, convenience and take-out foods..then one can cook when there is time and eat well and conveniently when there is not...that is what is happening here right now..I think what bothers me most about the Slow Food Movt. is the moralistic aspects....I also must reiterate...bad food can take as much time to prepare as good food....It is not slow food we should be trying for, but good food.

A four-star restaurant is what it is to whichever publication and critic are rating it. Some use no stars at all..maybe numbers like Zagat, or maybe nothing. What constitutes four stars for one critic may not to another. I am against standardized standards throughout the field becasue that fosters orthodoxy which I loathe. As soon as you make a rule - like, say, a four star must have tablecloths or a dress code - you come against something marvelous that does not have either and it is worth 4. All I can tell you is that for me, I know a 4 star restaurant when I have eaten in one and I have very few fixed requirements... broadly what those are is fantastically good food, a pleasant and appropriate setting (not necessarily luxe). efficient, thoughtful and polite service, and where it fits a good wine list and beverage service.

I have not had it...sorry.

Nice brown stock with flavor-hint of white wine, lots of softly cooked golden onions..very.very hot....I prefer it not gratineed..just with a crouton and grated gruyere added at the table...if it is gratineed. bread should not be too soggy or thick nor cheese topping too thick...

I think you've got it right..are you related to my friend, colleague and neighbor,Calvin?

Rachel, I think it would be unfair of me to make such assessments as it has been a long time since I have been to those I suspect I would feel that way about.....Also, when you say top-rated, what do you mean? Which critics? All? Zagat? Or do you just mean the ones most talked about and celebrated? If you think it a good future subject, I might keep it in mind for NYC restaurants...getting around the country, as I did last time, requires a budget like Vanity Fair's..which it was. I wouldn't like to say that of anyplace I had not visited within the past 6 mos. to 1 year.

It makes sense for those of us lucky enough to have time to contemplate metaphysically..but for a Mom trying to get dinner on the table after a day's work, it might be discouraging..one might make the same case for all of the steps and operations and materials that go into mass-produced pasta...after all, wheat has to grow and be milled for that too, workers must get to factories, wheels must turn and gears be oiled, boxes made and delivered to stores, clerks must stack and check-out....and so on for all other ingredients in aglio-olio. Just because something is bad, doesn't mean it was easy to make...that's the saddest part to me....

Many thanks..I'll look forward to meeting you there...

It certainly give one something to chew on...and I will do that. Thanks Geetha

Here are a few..for the very casual, light meals very moderatelt priced, Elephant & Castle on Greenwich Ave. A step up for more complex choices still casual and reasonable, Good, also on Greenwich St. Other are Village and W. 9th Street, Tartine on W. 4th St., Pearl Oyser Bar, Da Silvano and Bar Pitti, Spotted Pig, Babbo (of course but no secret), Jarnac for really great interesting food, Cafe Loup, Otto for business lunches to nibble and talk, August - a new favorite - La Metairie for elegant, original French food in a lovely setting, Arturo's for pizza, Lupa for lunch, Artepasta for a lusty, inexpensive pasta fix where mussels are also good but not other cooked dishes, Taqueria for the tortilla soup, and the new gavroche on 14th St. In Meatpacking District: Pastis, Vento and above all Spice Market which I am crazy about..I'm thinking of moving in. But I will not tell you my two favorite Greek coffee shops because then I would not be able to get a booth. And that's the short answer

But it's what I consider fast..so time is not what we are talking about, is it? Ditto an omelet. I think you;ve got something in McFake....

I think we will know as entries for this year's contest come in..If no other scandals are hidden in their books and with a new director they might survive mainly because there is a vacuum in that area..IACP just hasn't developed the prestige...and awards kind of put a cap on things,

Usually almost nowhere but about three weeks I did have the real thing - and very delicious it was - at Vento, a new Italian restaurant in the Meatpacking District...but huckleberries are very seasonal..these were probably from Oregon or maybe Michigan..I'm not really sure..

First, fortunately I did not become a reviewer until my son moved into a college dorm. As I say in my book, Eating My Words, I could not have done the job if it meant leaving a child alone for dinner every night. I eat at home now about 2 1/2 dinners a week..generally something simple (but good) as we tend to save calories for restaurants. Perhaps tow or three nights a week I eat in modest but good and interesting neighborhood restaurant of which there are many in Greenwich Village..for the rest, I try to keep up on new restaurants with friends, or go to some of the intriguing ethnic ones. I love to cook for comnpany and do so a lot in fall-winter and in summer outdoors.

Me too on Robuchon's wonderful Atelier..No I don't think the chef has to be in the restaurant to have perfect food if he/she does not...It depends on how personal they want their cuisine to be, a la Andre Soltner. What I object to is the PR of chefs said to have golden hands and therefore, worth the price of their meals, and then realizing they need not be there at all..it's their names that are supposed to condone the prices..That's the come-on....I say they can't have it both ways... Now if they billed themselves as owner-managers, such as Drew Nieporent or Danny Meyers, that's different.

Of course there is something in what you say about some things that ship well and some that do not...But I still find it hard to believe Driscolls are the best that can be produced...For the record, on imported wasabi, I meant roots, not powder, not that that is a big point..You may find the bagels and bialys you get acceptable if second-rate substitutes, which I understand, but strawberries and tomatoes that we get from Calif. are not...Nor are they from Mexico....It's not just a Calif. thing..

Maybe be perfect bistro food now, but not in April of 2001..neither was Jeanty, by the way...Think there may have been a major change in Bouchon since my visit...I have never been to the one in Vegas where I have not been since 2001..part of same trip and story as to FL and Bouchon...on Zagat for Food & Wine. I hate current Vegas scene but used to love the funky old one...I'm amazed at the bursting rest. scene there. Can't tell how it will turn out, but isn't everything there a crapshoot? Now dinner is too...

Generally, I think slow food advocates are preaching to the converted. I am not sure what they really mean by slow food either...must it take a long time to cook and be made only of local ingredients and reflect only local styles? If so, it is doomed to be nothing more than a boondoggle for those who want to go conferences in interesting places such as Torino. I am wary of such labels and especially when they are based on Mom spending more time doing more cooking..Mom doesn't have the time not that I think the right answer is chain fast food. Is an omelet fast food or slow food? Is pasta with oil and garlic fast food ro slow food? Pan-broiled steak and burgers? See what I mean?

And let's not forget she-crab soup..hard to find fresh anyplace else.

I have to dwell on that for a few hours...hate to say it of any I have not been to recently and for the most part I have been in NY, Paris and Italy...

Having never been to an all raw vegan restaurant I cannot say how it plays out but I am prejudiced against it..some raw food is fine and some isn't, so I agree with you about choice. Does that mean all of the food is cold and is some sauced with raw ingredients? Imagine a crudo restaurant where you get a raw lamb chop with some raw broccoli and an uncooked potato...

Maybe not demanding but still hard to render. Would you consider Bouchon a clone of French Laundry as it has a totally different menu? When I was at Bouchon last in spring of 2001, I found it very disappointing not as compared to FL, but to good bistro food. FL was sensationally good. Olives in the "W" hotel on Union Sq. in NYC was, when ot opened, better in my opinion than the original in Boston, but English's restaurant in LaG airport was hideous. I have only been to the original and current Spago in Bev. Hills, do don't know how that is playing out. Wolfgang's pizza places in airport are fair..not as good in my experience as airport Calif. Pizza Kitchens...but whenevr possible in airports, I stick to hot dogs...the local variety..Brooklyn Deli in LaG, Vienna beefs in O'Hare, and Nathans wherever they appear.