ASM NY

I have to agree with Dryden, I am shocked to see so little mention of this place in EG. Started a thread here.

I would suggest Modern Mexican Flavors by Richard Sandoval. It's not traditional Mexican recipes, it's more about Mexican food combined with French technique. I have found the recipes in that book to come out very very well.

I guess Spoon is better comparable... I ate there in London and while it certainly wasn't as high-end, it definetly cost as it was!

I guess with the notable exception of the dishes they mention in the newspaper article, if it is in any way like the MIX in New York, which went through many incarnations before closing down for good, I would say that it does not resemble at all Alain Ducasse's dishes served in any of his high-end restaurants in Paris, Monte Carlo or New York. That is not to say that the food is not good. It's just not what I would call "Haute Cuisine". When I ate at MIX in NY, I enjoyed the Beef Bourguignon and the Mac Cheese. If the place is more or less the same, I'd be curious to see why MIX in LV would succeed when it failed so miserably in NY. I am curious is it's because of the introduction of these dishes that it does well. Or perhaps is it because LV is always so packed with people, and MIX is in such a high profile place, that it "can't fail"...

One last thing... if anyone is considering going, bear in mind that the hotel is around 30-40 minutes outside Seville. It's a beautiful hotel, probably one of the nicest ones in and around Seville, however, if you want to tour the city, it's not very practical, not to mention that it's very expensive. I think that they use La Alqueria as a draw for people to stay in the hotel. I went around April this year (I incorrectly said last year) in the earlier post. And the most recent dishes they served were from the 2004 season. They did not serve a single dish from 2005. I was shocked to see the restaurant was only about 60% full.

Has anyone been to the hotel in Seville that would be willing to comment on the experience? Anyone been to both? ← I have been to their restaurant in Seville, it's called La Alqueria. There was a brief thread on this here. I have not been to ElBulli, but I went with my parents who have been there twice. Essentially La Alqueria serves ElBulli dishes from past years. We went last year and we went with the tasting menu. Including all the "snacks" it came to roughly 15 or 16 dishes. The problem is that you are likely to try your fair share of dishes that were created before ElBulli exploded with creative ideas (for example, one of the dishes was a tuna carpaccio). There were only 2 dishes from that year's season (one snack and one dessert). Don't get me wrong, the food and the service were very good, but according to my parents, it was a far cry from eating at ElBulli. It almost feels like a consolation prize for all of us that can't seem to get a reservation. You can go and try some interesting dishes (I found that ordering a la carte is a bad idea, as you'll only be able to sample 3-4 dishes, which are served in much larger portions than the usual ElBulli dish), additionally, don't expect them to cart out the "teppannitro" or produce any of their more groundbreaking creations. I found the experience to be a good one, but it left me frustrated with wanting to experience the "real thing" even more... hope this helps

Reading this thread takes me back to my high school days when people were applying to college: "ElBulli rejected me, I guess I will have to go to Celler de Can Roca or Arzak, my backups"

I was surprised to read this, as I was under the understanding that inspectors visit restaurants anonymously, and only care about "what's on the plate". I was also surprised to read that he was in the kitchen 6 of 8 times. Of all the times I have been there, I have not seen them there ONCE. So it sounds to me like they not only were not anonymous, but had advance notice. Am I missing something? ← I have seen J-G there two out of my last three visits and he may well have been there the other time. Why are you certain he wasn't around? ← I have been there four times. I didn't see him in the kitchen the first time. The other three times I asked.

From the NY Times article: I was surprised to read this, as I was under the understanding that inspectors visit restaurants anonymously, and only care about "what's on the plate". I was also surprised to read that he was in the kitchen 6 of 8 times. Of all the times I have been there, I have not seen them there ONCE. So it sounds to me like they not only were not anonymous, but had advance notice. Am I missing something?

I am very surprised to see Vong in there and Sugiyama excluded. It's always tell what criteria they use for some Asian restaurants, but at first glance it's one of the things that surprised me the most.

Joel Robuchon at the Mansion opened on Monday. There was an article in the New York Times today (see link below). According to the article, there are two set menus: one 9-course menu for $165 and a 16-course menu for $295. In the website for the MGM Grand you can actually look and they have the menus for both Joel Robuchon and L'Atelier. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/26/dining/26vega.html

Actually it is out, both the English and Spanish versions.

There are a few places in the city, depending how much you are looking to spend. Fiamma Osteria usually have a few items, although I am not sure they have them yet. Another good place to check (and usually where I go when it's season) is Sette Mezzo in the upper east side. It's more casual, and I generally find the food and service to be very good (note: cash only). I have heard good things about white truffle dishes at Scalinatella but I have never been.

The first shipments of fresh white truffles have started to arrive in New York. Any ideas where to buy them? In the past I have seen them at Citarella and at Buon Italia. I purchased one last year in the latter, but it was close to the end of the season and I was not impressed with the quality. Any other places come to mind?

Well I had my second dinner at Per Se two nights ago. In general I found the food to be outstanding, much in line with my first visit. There was however, a major glitch during dinner. It's no secret that not everybody gets the same service and the same food in a place like Per Se (as it may very well be the case in many other restaurants). In the table right behind us sat a well known food writer who was being served, among other dishes not in the menu, a dish with white truffles. When I asked the waiter what they were having, he was somewhat evasive, but admitted that they were having a dish with white truffles that was off the menu. When I asked him why he hadn't mentioned it to us, he said that they had "just arrived, only 15 minutes ago" (note it was 9:30pm). When I asked whether we could order it (and pay whatever additional fee), he seemed evasive again, and politely responded that we could not. We weren't demanding a special progression of dishes like they were having, we just wanted to try ONE dish, and we couldn't. This put a huge damper on the remainder of our dinner. Because we felt that we were lied to (about them "just arriving") and we felt like we were told "I don't care how long you waited to eat here and how much you are spending for your dinner here, you are not good enough to try our best dishes, even if you request them". Sadly, it left me with very little desire to go back. The idea of going to a place like this, spending this much money and still not being able to try the best dishes is very disturbing. The whole incident just left a very bad taste in my mouth.

Bite size cubes is what works best in my opinion. What definetly doesn't work is pieces that may be too small, as they will "overcook" easily.

I had some Fugu at Sugiyama recently. From what the waiter told us (as he was showing us some certificate that you need to have in Japan to sell it) was that it was flown in regularly, but that the fish was cleaned in Japan, not in the US.

There are many types of ceviche coming from all parts of Latin America. I think a good place to start is the traditional Peruvian ceviche, which is one of the simplest to make and in my opinion, one of the most delicious. Usually it's prepared with Sea Bass, but I like it better with Fluke. There are only 5 ingredients you need: fish, lime (key lime if available), salt, onion and aji amarillo paste (yellow pepper paste available in many ethnic supermarkets or in perucooking.com). The traditional recipe calls for fresh aji limo, but it's usually difficult to find. First cut the fish and mix with finely chopped onions. Then add salt and the aji amarillo paste (about 1 tbsp per .5lb of fish). Just before serving add the lemon juice and toss. The fish doesn't need to marinate for more than 10 minutes. You can usually add a few ice cubes and remove them after a minute or so. You can serve it with corn, lettuce or sweet potato as garnish. Enjoy!

To bad because my meal at Martin last month was better then Arzak or Akalare or El Bulli, also just wondering why does almost everyone who goes to San Sebastian skip Martin. ← Not me, I can assure you. I've always believed that Martín is the best restaurant in the area and one of the best in the country. ← Maybe I had bad luck, but in my last trip to San Sebastian I visited Martin Berasategui and was UTTERLY disappointed. We saved it for last after trying most of the restaurants already mentioned. I was only "wowed" by a couple of the dishes we had thre. The service was sub-par (servers were unsure what different things in the plate were) there was hair in one of the dishes, they screwed up one of the orders. I was shocked to see "molted chocolate cake" in the desserts. I have considered giving it a second chance, but have been unable to bring myself to do it. Especially since it was by far the most expensive meal we had.

I had lunch at a Prehispanic restaurant recently in Mexico city. Highlights: - Red ant eggs - Mosquito eggs (crunchy!) - Armadillo in a mango sauce - Rattlesnake tacos Only the rattlesnake was tasty, the Armadillo was very very tough meat. Apparently in some parts of Mexico, the Armadillo was prepared cooked in íts own blood and served in its shell...

I recently had a "Jamaica Mole" which was delicious. Sadly, I do not have the recipe, but it tasted as if a concentrated jamaica "water" had been mixed in with some of the elements of mole negro. It was very sweet and it was served with toasted Jamaica flower, which also gave it a great crunchy texture.

We were there from 3:00pm to 5:00pm, your usual business lunch crowd. Thanks for the heads-up on the mole. I just remember too many times seeing the pot with the chicken and the mole, I always assumed they were cooked together.

I just came back from lunch at Izote. It was my first time there, and I was shocked to see how empty the restaurant was. Interstingly, we had called Aguila y Sol to go there for lunch but we could not get in. Izote, however, did not disappoint. We had the same appetizers that Esperanza mentioned, the tamales and the shrimp sopes. They were tiny but delicious. I had after that a cream of corn with chipotle essence which was outstanding. It looked more like the oil that comes in the jar with the chipotle chillies, but it added a tremendous dimension of flavor to the dish. As a main course I had the duck mole. It was very sweet, but outstanding. The duck seemed to have been roasted, and the skin was very crispy, but the duck wasn't cooked in the mole. It was just placed on top of if. The flavor however, was very intense. I will still be trying out Aguila y Sol in a couple of weeks, but I am glad that today we weren't able to get in!

Berasategui is not far from San Sebastian proper, it should take you maybe 30mins to get there by car. I ate at both Berasategui and Arzak. I was a bit disappointed with Berasategui, the food was not nearly as inventive, nor the service was as good as I expected. Arzak on the other hand was outstanding. Mugaritz I have not been to, but nearly every person I have spoken to that went there was very pleased with the experience.