ngatti

I'm not sure if I'm seeing the point of the original post. Could you be a bit more specific about what you mean by "very, very sad". Is it your starting premise that if you work at AD(insert city), Jean Georges, Lespinasse, etc..., you should naturally earn more than a cook in a foodservice establishment? (Cheescake factory, Applebees, Marriot Canteen). A Kitchen Manager( they do not call them chefs) in a Cheesecake Factory earns 75,000 dollars a year plus all kinds of additional incentives. Company BMWs and equity sharing and bonuses (for hitting goals/numbers) can probably bring that into six figures. On the other hand the executive ability to manage the kitchen in an 8-12 million dollar a year environment is what's being paid for, *not* a particular cooking skill or michelin training. I think it has to do with the context of the individual operation. For Foodservice as well as Fine Dining, the bottom line is the profit line. How the various managements choose to get there is there own business. If paying X position Y dollars is something that they feel will lead to a certain outcome (profit), then they will do so.

Oh, and Rene Mack and others may be interested in this discussion: Symposium on Restaurant Criticism and Food Writing Nick

My apologies for being terse and for perhaps belaboring the obvious; HR (Human Resources) issues aside (based on my experience, they do play a role), one mustn't lose sight of the fact that a restaurant is in the business of selling food and a hotel is in the *primary* business of selling rooms. The F&B (Food & Beverage) function in many cases being quite ancillary to the overall operation. Nick

Rene Mack said: Well, Rene Mack, I guess I'll have to read the review (still haven't, nor have I ever been there). Errr...I think you may have me confused with Tommy. But I can think of worse people to be confused with. edit: BTW, welcome and thanks for the reply. I figure we'll get you all here eventually. Squeaky wheels and nails that stick up, etc... cheers Nick

Its not illegal to serve striped bass, per se. What is illegal is taking striped bass from the Hudson River. Of course, if you are upset by the lack of PCBs in your diet, throw your line in. It is illegal to sell ( and I believe serve) it (wild striped bass) in the State of NJ. A commercial vendors liscense to sell fish in the state of NJ can be stripped if he's found in violation. It is the only state that I know of that has never rescinded the ban once the eastern fishery had returned to viability. Nick

compared to? I don't have much in the way of a chinese restaurant model to compare it to. However, the dining experience (bar, coat check, greeting, table, service and food) was...well... excellent. I have to add that all the non-food marks were hit. I've never eaten veal in a chinese resto. I did here and it was very good. and with a 7:00 res you can usually park on the street right outside the restaurant. The place works for me and I'd go back. Nick

Welcome to my world. Nick

My two meals during the past year were excellent. Nick

I don't serve it anymore. In a private member environment, I just don't need the potential headache. I have served it in the past and I have eaten it (in small appetizer type amounts) with no ill effects. It's pretty tasty stuff. I don't see a *large* problem with it, as long as people have good info about the fish and are comfortable with the potential risks. Kind of like a diabetic eating candy sweetened with manitol. Same problem. The Olestra analogy sounds right. FWIW, YMMV Nick

For your enjoyment. The Starred review: (2.5) Flirt Sushi The Diamond review: (2.5) Sakae in Ridgewood Both Japanese restaurants. Go figure. I'll read 'em later. Nick

I dunno about inside track, but there were a bunch of big-leaguers present. Some guys from Miami (chamber of commerce/convention bureau/ tourisim promo types). Norman Van Aken was the only Miami chef that I recognized, though a bunch more were cooking. Seems signature restaurant items were being served from a buffet and each resto had a butler passed hors doeuvre. Celeb chefs in attendance: Charlie Trotter, Eric Ripert, Rocco Di Spirito, Marcus Samuelson, Daniel Buloud, Michael Lamonaco, Alfred Portale. I'm sure many more that I didn't recognize or forgot. Drew Nieporent and Dana Cowin + a bunch of press badges, and oh yeah, don't let me forget the chef groupies. The guest list was tight. I was vetted twice on the way in. Food&Wine was a sponsor(hence Ms. Cowin) and I guess Moet (they were pouring a lot of it). Don't ask me what I was doing there. I still don't know (welll, as with most people, I knew someone), but it was fun and interesting. Looks like the event in Miami is going to be fun. Nick

Before I pass judgement, I have to think that when people see "Kobe", they think strip loin, rib, and tenderloin. There must be *less marketable* cheaper (relative term) cuts that could be ground into chopped meat *and* remain guilt free. No doubt expensive but hey the meat from the chuck may be expensive for chuck, but it's still chuck. I don't think grinding these cuts is so decadent. edit: It's a big cow Nick

The kick-off was this past Tuesday at Tuscan on 3rd and 40th here in NYC. I guess a press preview of the festival. Nick

why is it hat Prosciutto di Parma is legal now and not 20 years ago? I assume that the airborne pathogens (the excuse often cited for it once being illegal) have not mutated to a state of harmlessness. I assume that the chef's are talking because the resources of the cheese police are quite stretched at this point (although there may be liability issues I confess quite publically that I have served illegal wild striped bass (It only seems to be illegal in the state of NJ). I expect to be cuffed and hauled off to jail any minute. My co-conspirators being UPS and FedEx. edit: I would imagine Wilfrid, that the chefs in question may also think that certain laws are ridiculaous and have weighed the possible harm to themselve or their careers. Nick

For clarification's sake, I really was not comparing food with music. I was comparing chefs with musicians, or on another level, I was comparing the act of cooking with the act of composing or playing a piece of music. I think there are some useful parallels to consider there. And why, may I ask, is that dangerous? It was supposed to be a sort of mental exercise. Yes Ian, I agree with JAZ. With only my own personal subjective experiences to go on. I find the *cooking* process to be very analagous to a musical one. Meals can be orchestrated, ingredients and dishes are underlying or dominant themes and notes, etc...Although perhaps not to the avant garde extreme that I sense in your post. As with the music you speak of, the culinary music we speak of is, of course, limited by context (equipment, variety of ingredients). It works for me with menu and dish *composition*. I also think food and cooking can also appear in a vacuum. That is to say without the underlying need to make a profit. Nick

With all due respect to everyone here; it has occurred to me that dismissing Auguste Escoffier as irrelevant to modern cuisine is akin to dismissing Sir Isaac Newton as irrelevant to modern physics. Certainly, within this particular context, a case can be made. I have consulted Le Guide Culinaire and continue to do so. Claudia Fleming's book contains a recipe for Apple Blini. Whether or not she developed her blini recipe independently of Escoffier, the fact remains that hers is almost identical to the one presented in the Guide which was published in 1903. A minor tweak here and there to adjust for ingredient differences (the milk of 1903 is not the milk of today) is all that is necessary. In all fields there are great shoulders which we stand upon in order to look a little farther. We should acknowledge the strength of those shoulders and be thankful for the height which allows us to see the new horizon, for that will give us the strength to support the next generation which will stand on our own shoulders. Nick

As someone who has witnessed the birth of and been so much a part of the the continuing NYC restaurant and culinary revolution, I'd be interested to hear how you view the future of the business in NYC and what part does your decision to open Blue Smoke play in that view. Was Blue Smoke the end result of a natural evolutionary process? Or is it a portent of where you think restaurants in NYC are heading. What part did these views play (or not play) in your decision to open Blue Smoke? Is Blue Smoke intended to take the NYC dining public to a more casual style of dining in general? Is your philosphy taking us to a more casual place in terms of cuisine, price point, styles, etc.... In other words, within a Blue Smoke context, do you think the dining public is headed for a more casual and accessable type of eating and do you think we *ought* to be headed there? Kind of like Danny Meyer does Clark Wolfe. Thank you Nick

Can we rightly divorce a discussion of Escoffier and his relevancy from Cesar Ritz? Nick

Sometimes they forget (Northjersey.com, not the Record). Northjersey.com which post the on-line versions of the reviews is responsible for the on-line content. Nick

Here are this weeks offerings from the pages of The Record. Dynasty Buffet reviewed by the Road Warrior Chef's Table (one of Tommy's faves) Nick

doublet

You can thank me later. Nick

No ricotta for this one. It's the texture AND the look. I find it off-putting. My own taste YMMV Nick

Green papya salad (Som Thom) Spicy Beef salad (rubber underwear time) Moo Ping (see above, wear two layers) Drop Dead Gorgeous, IMO. Nick

It is at this point that I interject a thought that has occured to me while reading this thread. I get the sense from the thread that as we attempt to insert culinary matters into some sort of hierarchy of arts; we seem to assume that the activities of painting, sculpture, literature, theatre etc. belong in that hierarchy. Fine, but I make the observation that throughout this conversation we continually seek metaphor(s) for culinary matters (often time pulling the metaphor from within the exisiting ranking), before we are willing to place them within the hierarchy. Nick