R Washburn

I think the level of roasting goes Corsica>Phocea>Nizza.

I like the Happy Hour at Brasserie Perrier. Some interesting beers (Meteor, from Alsace?) and excellant food. By New York standards, the place is an excellant deal.

How about Piper's Kilt (Inwood, Picaman's rec), JudSon Grill (NY Times rec), and City Hall (Steven Shaw's pick). And make sure you are including Big Nick's as well as Burger Joint (in the Parker Meridian).

I thought they called it Burger Joint? The only real sign is a neon burger outside the entrance.

I figured that since you mentioned Nick. I have never had a particularly good Burger at either of Nick's locations. I really like Burger Joint, though. It is located on the opposite side of the lobby from Norma's (which I do not care for).

I tried their bacon cheeseburger last night and it was quite good. Well worth $6.75. I also like: Burger Joint at the Parker Meridian, (only $4.50 but I always eat two of them.) Smallish (5 oz. ?) grilled burgers with lots of toppings. Fries are $1.50. Blue Smoke ($12?). Big bar burger. I usually order spicy cheese fries as a side and substitute the fries that come with the burger for something else.

IMHO, the style of coffee at La Colombe seems to appeal to the palate's of French Chefs. That doesn't mean it will necesarily please yours, just because Jean-Marie Lacroix, Alain Ducasse, Jeans-Georges Vongerichten and Daniel Boulud all use it. Personally, I found it to be an aquired taste.

Holly, Is the larger version of the "LOVE" statue in NY the original ? It is somewhere in midtown Manhattan (6th ave. around 50th street?).

You should go for a walk. Definitely check out Jaques Torres shop while you are at it.

What if I go to Schwartz's and order a pastrami sandwich? Will they admit to serving pastrami?

Steve, Isn't the stuff in Montreal called "smoked meat", and is therefore NOT pastrami? I think you have to let Levine off the hook on a technicality, since nobody in Montreal is laying claim to serving pastrami, let alone the worlds best.

I have never experienced "pretentious" sevice at Le Bec-Fin or any other top restaurant. I would actually prefer that the servers were a little more reserved at Le Bec-Fin, but I would guess that too many people find that intimidating, so they are trained to be more outgoing. To me the service at Daniel or ADNY is the gold standard, and Le Bec-Fin has a little too much American influence to be perfect.

If you are looking for a particular champagne, I would call and ask. I think they still have Greg Moore's favorite champagne: "Diebolt-Vallois", as well as the big brands. If they don't have what you want bring it and pay the corkage.

Has anyone tried one? I think I could eat a 2lber in an hour if it was really tasty.

She has friends? I must have caught her on a bad night last weekend, because she was definitely the least friendly manager I have seen at Le Bar-Lyonnais. I really miss Andre, though, so I may be biased. I have never noticed anyone at the restaurant pronouncing the name of the restaurant "fin", I thought it was closer to "fan". I will have to pay closer attention next time.

For some, yes. Others like to prattle on about how overpriced it is, ignoring the economic realities. Does Daniel cost less ? Yes, but Daniel, Jeans-Georges etc. do two or three seatings. ADNY only one. Whether or not you are willing to pay for the luxury of a single seating is up to you. ADNY has to cost more. In your example food is acounting for only 30% of the $1000. Isn't that what I said, that you don't HAVE to spend $1000 there?

Then pay the corkage and bring a great bottle from home, or drink a modest $100 bottle. My point is that you can easily spend almost as much at Daniel or Lespinasse. You must decide whether or not having a table for the night is worth the extra $$$. I don't think the prices are unreasonable, but you won't see me there more than one a year.

I have never spent that much there, although you could. But, you could do that anywhere if you ordered enough wine.

Found the Jacques Torres Alize heart recipe: Hearts of Passion 2 pounds milk chocolate, tempered 1/4 cup heavy cream 1 tablespoon corn syrup 1 cup fresh passion fruit juice 18 ounces milk chocolate, chopped 5 tablespoons passion fruit liqueur (reccomended: Alize) 2 tablespoons butter Special Equipment, see source link for information: Heart-shaped molds Here's the link to the complete recipe, with alot of good instructional tips: http://www.foodnetwork.com/foodtv/recipe/0...5,20809,00.html Here's the basic process in my words: Ladle tempered chocolate into molds, pour chocolate out, invert on cooling rack a few minutes, and then clean top of mold with spatula, to remove excess chocolate. Combine cream, corn syrup and passionfruit juice in pan and scald mixture. Pour the hot cream mixture over the chopped chocolate and blend until smooth. Add Alize and butter and blend until smooth. Allow the ganache to cool to 85 degrees F. Place the mixture in a piping bag and pipe it into the chocolate filled molds. Let set overnight. Seal bottoms with milk chocolate and allow to set. Slightly twist molds to free chocolates and then rap on bench to remove them. Yield: several dozen hearts.

bripastryguy is blacklisting this site, because they failed to honor a price on their website, but they do have what is to me some good chocolate prices. i think the Valrhona Jivara is a very good price ($4.85/lb.) if you don't mind buying 3kg. Now that I am making chocolates, it isn't a problem! Assouline and Ting I did a price check on my order today, before I finalized it. The only discrepency was the 3kg of Valrhona cocoa went up 15 cents (and it is now adjusted on the site). Obviously, they think it is okay to be lax about updating their prices. Here is what I ordered: VALCOC Cocoa powder- Valrhona 6.6lb. $35.15 COCOAB Cocoa Butter-Pure 2.2lb. $18.50 VALJIV1 Valrhona Jivara 40 per cent Cocoa-6.6lb. $32.01 FedEX ground shipping to New York City: $12.00 Look around though for other wholesalers, this is just the only one I have dealt with. Robert I just received my order, even though I wasn't expecting it till monday. I guess I am going to be making chocolates tonight.

Valrhona can be had for<$5/lb., Callebaut for <$4/lb. I don't know any cheap sources for Scharfenberger. To my tastes Scharfenberger>Valrhona>Callebaut, but all three companies make good stuff. I just ordered 3kg of Varhona milk chocolate for my candy making endevours. Valrhona makes a bunch of "single estate" chocolates, but I don't know much about them.

Can Pittsburgh support even one Mobil 5-star restaurant? Philadelphia has only one ("Le Bec-Fin") and its population is almost 10-times Pittsburgh's. I think it is more reasonable to expect some very good restaurants in Pittsburgh, but there are not enough people to support a world class establishment. What are the best restaurants in Pittsburgh? I do occasionally make it out there, so I would like to know more about the restaurants there. I assume they are probably stronger on more casual fare, which is okay with me. Robert

Any other important "trucs" for us novices? Also, what are the basic guidelines for liquer flavored fondant? I made some "strong" fondant (118 C), and I would like to flavor it for fillings. Thanks, Robert

Is this the book to get? It looks like there is only a section on chocolate making and the book costs $120. I will get it though if it is the best resource. They recommended another book at JB Prince (I will post it when I check my notes at home. The downside of the other book was that the recipes all use professional, European sourced ingredients. I made some chocolates last night in the "Seafruits" mold from Beryl's. The two piece mold makes for some really beautiful shells and seacreatures. I used Callebaut white chocolate with a Scharfenberger (62% Cocoa) chocolate ganache for a filling. I infused the cream with peppermint tea and added some creme de menthe and crushed peppermint candy for added flavor. The chocolates came out nearly perfect, and are very tasty. I did have some thin spots in the white chocolate where you can see the dark filling, but that is okay with me. I am going to try making some flavored fondants next, for filling. One thing I am going to try is evaporating some Alize for an Alize fondant filling. Thanks for the advice everyone, Robert

I am using corn syrup, since my source sells invert sugar in 5 Gal containers. What about acid hydrolyzing surose into invert sugar? Do you know of an invert sugar recipe? I tried your Alize ganache recipe, but it definitely doesn't have the intensity I am looking for. A more intense puree would help, though. Do you think I could cook down and intensify a larger volume of Alize to provide more flavor?