silentryan

I'm trying to decide if this is a knock on SF restaurant culture relative to the stars given out last year in NYC, or if these ratings are just a half-step closer to genuine Michelin standards. Any thoughts?

In general, there is a real dearth of cooks in Boston, relative to the number of high-end restaurants. I'd just keep an eye on job posting sites like bostonchefs.com and craigslist. There should be enough leads where something will turn up. Even if people 'prefer' younger cooks, given the limited talent supply out there, if you can cook they will be glad to have you.

Sad or happy news, depending on how you look at it: SAM MASON, the pastry chef at WD-50, plans to leave that restaurant to open a spot, yet unnamed, in SoHo by the end of the year for tapas, desserts and drinks: 525 Broome Street (Thompson Street). http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/17/dining/17off.html

Undergrads love to dismiss b-school students as money-grubbing intellectual lightweights. It was like that at Chicago. Just wait until a few years after graduation. ← Graduate students and professors join in on the fun as well, but you can chalk that up to envy if you like.

I know this isn't on topic really, but I can't believe that no one has refuted this. An MBA from Harvard looks a hell of a lot better than a BA. ← I know it's off topic, but I'm with you Bryan. To say that an MBA from HBS doesn't have the cachet of, well, just about anything, including a BA from Harvard College ... well, it just doesn't compute. It's like saying 100 - 13 equals 77. ← Mmm, actually on Harvard campus "business school kids" aren't held in very high intellectual regard at all. So, insofar as cachet tracks perceived intelligence...

Yes, lets let market forces deal w/ child pornography and slavery too.

Gordon is one of the long-time downstairs cooks, so that probably just means it's a menu he wrote. As far as the cafe/downstairs difference, I don't think it's as great as that between FL and Bouchon. Still, there is a greater degree of complexity in the dishes served downstairs, if only because they only have three dishes to focus on each night, rather than 8-9. The plating downstairs is probably also a little more intricate, for the same reason.

The chef is Wesley Genovart, formerly of Perry St.

I love Chez Panisse, but if it recieves any more than 1 Michelin star, that rating system will have lost whatever significance it had left.

While the deep fried twinkie comment was meant as hyperbole, during my time as an undergrad in NC I did come across a fair share of deep fried twinkies, snickers bars, etc., mostly at music festivals in the area. Though not as well established as collard greens or grits, they did seem to be a sort of 'regional cuisine'.

Two stars. Has to be somewhat of a disappointment, no? Four would have been too much to hope for, but I think three was a reasonable expectation, given the ambitions of the place.

Certainly general life-style plays a role here, but at the same time, certain foods simply are less healthy for you than others. Moderation may help with damage control, but a deep-friend Twinkie is always going to be a net negative in terms of nutrition. Further, just because foods generally aren't by themselves sufficient for unhealth, it's absurd to pretend that they play no role at all. While much of our culture's collective weight problem is the result of the largely sedentary life-style that many of us lead, it is still true that you are less likely to have health issues if you are snacking on apples at work instead of potato chips. While I whole-heartedly agree that we as a culture tend to fetishize food as the root of all evils, ignoring other cultural sources of unhealth, the reactionary stance of denying the potential harms of certain foods seems equally as absurd. All of that said, as Tarragon points out, amongst food 'culprits', refined sugars are much more of a threat these days than are fatty foods. Though foods high in saturated fat and cholesteral can indeed be problematic, the weight gain our culture has experienced over the past half-century is due mostly to the massive increase in the use of high-fructose corn syrup. Of course, because the corn industry has an effective set of lobbyists, the issue has recieved less attention than it merits. Again, I do think the degree to which our culture demonizes food is awful. It is terrible that such culturually produced fear deprives so many of the enjoyment of something that is a naturally pleasurable thing. That said, the knee-jerk stance of 'don't blame food, blame life-style' is just to refuse to acknowledge the realities of the situation we face. We are in the midst of a serious health crisis as a nation. Certainly, life-style contributes largely to this epidemic. Nonetheless, encouraging people to eat more nutritious foods can help to alleviate the problem to at least some degree. I love food too, but not to the point of turning a blind eye to the fact that the majority of our population will soon be stricken with Type-II diabetes.

You can usually find them at Monterey Market in Berkeley as well, during the season. And while I haven't been to the Berkeley farmers market in a bit, I think you can find them there as well. I think I have heard that they are also available at the Ferry Plaza market. ← I've seen them at the Thursday farmers market in Berkeley. Not sure about the other days of the week.

That's more than enough for me. I am now convinced that it is not rigged and I am glad as I had always hoped guys like Batali would not be involved in a crooked contest. Is there just no accounting for taste? ← You must really want to be convinced, since #3 suggests that it is fixed...

Both menus are now posted.

In that case, the recipe calls for cooked garbanzos evoo black olive paste balsamic red pepper flakes fresh rosemary shredded basil leaves garlic kosher salt pepper Mix all the ingrediants, grill some slices of Italian peasant bread, and top the bread with the mixture.

I think the recipe is in the Babbo cookbook. ← It is, it's listed as 'ceci bruschetta'. I've made it at home with great success. I would post the recipe for you, but I'm not sure if that would be a copyright infringment.

As an addendum, I generally go to bed before the scores are announced when I watch reruns of the old IC, and I still enjoy it immensely.

It's a little better than the WWF/E. At least Alex Lee isn't going out there and intentionally making substandard dishes. Just watch and appreciate the exhibition of cooking skill, irrespective of the 'competition' factor.

Just got back from my trip to Berkeley. Had dinner on Wednesday in the restaurant and lunch in the cafe on Saturday. Dinner: First course was a yellow fin tuna carpaccio. This was actually my favorite dish of my entire trip, at Chez Panisse or anywhere else. The tuna just about melted in your mouth, and the flavors of the lemon vinegarette and the parsley salad were incredibly crisp and clear. Perfect example of the virtues of simplicity and straightforward showcasing of the ingredients. Next course was an asparagus soup with morel flan. Again, clear and simple presentation of delicious, fresh asparagus. The flan was, however, a bit bland. Didn't taste like much of anything. The main course was grilled Wolfe Farm quail crapaudine with mustard sauce and fried onion rings. The quail was incredibly tender, and the sauce did an excellent job of complementing the natural flavor of the bird without overwhelming it. The onion rings tasted like good onion rings, but nothing more. For dessert was a warm chocolate fondant with Grand Marnier ice cream. The fondant was pefectly gooey, which I am a complete sucker for. Good bittersweet chocolate flavor that contrasted well with the sweetness of the ice cream. I'll post the pics from lunch later, but dinner definately met my expectations.

My first contribution: This was my Peruvian dinner from last Tuesday. First course was a simple mushroom ceviche: Next course was a spicy cod soup: Last course was a yellow seafood ceviche:

I'll be travelling to Peru in early June to study the cuisine. If you are going to be there around that time, we could coordinate our research. More generally, if anyone has recommendations for where to go while in Peru, they would be much appreciated.

I don't think Le Bernardin is even eligible, since they only serve seafood. That's why the original Le Bernardin had two stars.

Times talks about the upcoming guide: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/23/dining/23guid.html One quote I found interesting: 'With that in mind Jean-Luc Naret, the director of the Michelin guides, said that in France three stars have come to mean a certain level of luxury, but he is hoping to change that perception. "The stars refer only to what is on the plate," he said. "There is no French barometer when it comes to evaluating restaurants.""

http://foodnetwork.com/food/show_ia/0,1976...D_16696,00.html You can tell they are out of order just from the episode numbers.