TAPrice

Thanks for the responses. As a gut feeling, Wells' statement just didn't seem to be as problematic, but I couldn't put my finger on why that was. Bux, I guess what you're saying is that part of Wells' authority derives from her close association with Robuchon. It would be odd for her not to draw on that while evaluating other chefs. That makes sense. It's the context of Wells' experience that makes all the difference.

My God, you guys went everywhere!

Yeah, I'm more likely to notice when someone is smoking. It's pretty rare. It's not even that common in bars. It just seems to contradict the attitude in New Orleans to ban smoking in bars. This is the place that has never heard of last call.

According to the Times Picayune, the Louisiana Senate is considering banning pretty much all indoor smoking: http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/ind...07193277020.xml I gave up smoking years ago, but I'm still a little sad that people might not be able to smoke in New Orleans bars soon. I'm perfectly happy to see if disappear from restaurants. Of course, the casual respect for the law down here might mean that the ban is never enforced.

Brooks, I loved my rotisserie attachment. The sound of its creaking motor always made me happy. I had to give away the grill and the attachment when I moved to a studio apartment. It still makes me sad. I also have to agree that maintaining a low temperature was never a problem. Stick an oven thermometer on the grate and slowly feed the kettle fuel. As long as you're willing to tend the kettle for hours, it's not a problem.

Soggy, scorched potato chips perhaps?

Wow. I thought you guys must surely be exaggerating. That's one of the most unappealing photos I've ever seen. Maybe they wanted a realistic image of how most people grill? Yikes.

Yeah, there are plenty of New York chefs on cable! It's even funnier because the most celebrated chefs in New Orleans certainly aren't celebrities.

I don't think she is plugging the book (for all I know, it's out of print). It's more a question of when a writer should acknowledge potential conflicts when making subjective judgments. Personally, I'm not even sure if this is an ethical lapse. That's why I'm asking the question. On the face of it, though, it seems parallel to the lapse that caused Hesser such grief: the gratuitous mention of friend in the review of another chef's restaurant. As I asked before, it may be entirely different that Wells praised with the comparison while Hesser damned. I suspect that nearly any chef would be happy to play second fiddle to Robuchon. Would either of these versions dramatically change the sense: 1) The two best dishes of the evening were a first course dish of razor clams in a spicy sauce, the best razor clams I have ever tasted, except at the hands of the chef Joël Robuchon (full disclosure, I once wrote a book with Robuchon). 2) The two best dishes of the evening were a first course dish of razor clams in a spicy sauce, the second best razor clams I have ever tasted in my entire life. I know, this is starting to sound like a college philosophy course.

I was struck by this particular paragraph in Patricia Wells' group review of Hong Kong restaurants in the NYT (originally printed in the Times owned IHT): http://www.nytimes.com/iht/2005/05/26/dini...T-26trfood.html "Sitting there, drinking a very crisp and very chilled French Chardonnay from the south of France, we feasted on some spectacular and super spicy fare: The two best dishes of the evening were a first course dish of razor clams in a spicy sauce, the best razor clams I have ever tasted, except at the hands of the chef Joël Robuchon. They were moist, meaty, festive and fun to eat, whole morsels of protein and density." Wells has written a book with Robuchon in the past. Should she have disclosed this connection? Is this any different than Amanda Hesser's transgression of dreaming about Jean Georges while reviewing another restaurant? Does it make a difference that Hesser used a comparison to damn a restaurant while Wells uses it to praise a dish? I'm posting this not as an accusation, but because I would be curious to hear how other people see the ethical issue. Every food writer no doubt has many friends in the food world. Is full disclosure of that relationship necessary every time a name is mentioned? Do the ethical issues play out differently in reviews and features?

But Jason, that just gives a reason to come back again. Casamento's is really worth a return trip.

Oh man do those photos make me hungry. I helped finish off that plate of Willie Mae Seaton's chicken and can attest that it tasted as good as it looked.

This used to be my least favorite phrase. Then waiters started asking me, "Does everything taste all right?" That seems to set the bar very low. No, nothing is rotten or rancid, thank you. Recently, a waiter managed to annoy me even more. The only verb he knew was enjoy. When he checked on the table—"Are you enjoying everything?" When he wanted to clear the plate—"Are you still enjoying these?" When he retrieved the empty dessert plate—"It looks like you really enjoyed dessert." Get that man a thesaurus!

Oh Brooks, that's too easy. Walk outside your door and head uptown a few blocks until you hit the cemetery. Hang a left towards the river and follow the line of under-dressed tourist. It's the building with all the cabs in front. Actually, I guess that only works from my house. One little warning about Commander's lunch. They promise 25¢ martinis (or is it a dime?). If you call for any variation from the signatures martinis on the menu, however, you get charged full priced. Not a big deal, unless you drank four or five like I did one day. Also, speaking as a recent immigrant, I can tell you that financial stability was never an issue when I applied for my papers.

Excellent. That's an interesting website you found. I'll have to work my way through all the pages.

There were maybe 150 people in line when I drove by at 11 a.m. Too long for me, but maybe I'll give it a shot later in the week.

Who else's name would they use? Frank Brigtsen? Susan Spicer? Rather than slagging Emeril, shouldn't we be pleased that he's using his celebrity to help save the Gulf shrimpers? If this marketing program is going to succeed, it will have to win over people who aren't foodies. Emeril has the kind of appeal to do that. We're not talking about foie gras, where a few artist chefs and their expensive restaurants could sustain an entire industry. Average consumers have to understand that all shrimp are not the same and purchases should not be made strictly on price.

August runs a great deal at lunch: $20.05 for a three-course meal. In fact, I think that's the only option at lunch.

Ok, here's the skinny. Besh still has a consulting relationship with the location in S'port. All is fine and dandy with the NOLA location. Same name, same relationship. I got the info from Besh's PR rep.

Could be. He's said that the consulting gigs for the casinos and soup company were a way to raise funds to purchase August. He also brought over the manager of the NOLA Besh Steakhouse for August. I'm checking on it and will let you know.

Just curious where you heard this?

I will certainly be there. Not sure which days. Probably one day the first weekend and 2-3 the second. Perhaps we should move this to the ISO Dining Friends on the Louisiana board and plan to all meet, greet and eat?

I managed to look through the first 300 in New Orleans before the system locked up. Only five of those had poor ratings. Oddly, four of those five were mid- to upper-end place (don't want to name them from memory). You would think expensive places would have better success than dives, but that didn't seem to be the case. Any thoughts on that? Has that been the pattern in other states that list these inspections?

Take a look at Wolke's WHAT EINSTEIN TOLD HIS COOK. The author is a nuclear physicist (or something equally impressive) and writes a food science column for the Washington Post. He addresses irradiation in the book. If I remember correctly, he mocks the critics for their bad science. He's amused by their claim that irradiation changes the molecular structure of food, since that's what all cooking does. He also thinks it's funny that an argument against irradiation is that the process would kill a human. As he says, they are welcome to step into his 400 degree oven if they think that standard cooking methods aren't lethal. I'm just recalling his comments from memory. I could find the book if you want more details. You could probably email Wolke with questions.

I do have a way to find out more and I'll report back later this week.