iheartoffal

Well, he was the guest chef in the front row on Emeril Live tonight. That got him some exposure and name recognition with the large number of average restaurant customers in the U.S. who watch food shows to learn some new things beyond what they've experienced. ← Jesus, I would sh*t myself if I had to cook in front of CT. Did Emeril seem nervous?

Personally, I don't like it when people speak in absolutes about a topic as subjective as restaurants, especially when it's someone as influential as the spanish critic mentioned above. To say that any restaurant is the only place worth checking out in a city as big as NYC is egregiously ignorant, even if you happened to have eaten at every one of the thousands of restaurants in the city. I'm guilty of making the obvious and over-used comparisson with Per Se, but that's only because that happened to be the last restaurant I had eaten at previously. Ultimately, I find I enjoy eating out more when I'm not always drawing comparissons, that way I'm more able to enjoy every meal on its own terms.

I think I was there the same night as you. 4/14, right? You might have seen us...we were a 9pm three top sitting on the right side of the restaurant and closest to the kitchen. We made our enjoyment pretty apparent to those around us.

At work sometimes I'll just throw a whole bunch of veggies in a sautee pan with some chicken stock and seasonings (no oil or butter), cover it, and let it steam for a few minutes and serve it with a piece of grilled chicken. Simple, quick, healthy, and tasty!

I was about to say, the review didn't sound AT ALL like something that Ms. Robinson would write. I, too, found this review disturbing on a number of levels, and not even because I happened to enjoy my meal there. It came off more like a diatribe written by someone with little or no experience in the realm of fine dining. I'm suprised she let it be published on her site, as it will undoubtedly serve as more of an embarrasment to her than it ever could be to Per Se. While some of the criticisms are indeed valid, they are all undermined by the acerbic, ill-considered tone of the review.

Terrace in the Sky isn't far from there, I think. Weird place, but good food IMHO.

I wrote a cookbook in 5th grade. It included my mom's spaghetti carbonara recipe and a couple of cream of mushroom soup-laden casseroles. Does that count?

wd-50 The only other version of real lemon curd that I've had is Thomas Keller's version. This one was not quite as rich but was very well balanced...not too sweet and not too acidic. I didn't know that the WD-50 version was eggless. Do you know what they used instead?

So a little more about my experience at WD-50... I remember getting out of the cab and protesting to the driver that this, in fact, couldn't be the right area. It didn't seem like the place where you'd find anything other than bodegas, much less one of NY's hippest eateries. Sure enough, though, the cross streets were right--I was in the right spot. I could tell that I was in for an entirely different experience than the one I had at that 10 Columbus Circle place... I arrived about 45 minutes early for my reservation, so I sat down at the bar for a cocktail. I picked their Haru no Sake martini, which--if I remember correctly--contained aerated sake, shiso, citron (I think), and cubes of aloe gelee. It reminded me of a similar martini I had at Bar Masa, but it was much more complex and yet very refreshing. Sitting at the bar also gave me chance to talk to the bartender about the restaurant, etc. Occaisionaly other members of the floor staff would come over and join the conversation. What struck me was how laid back everyone was--even at their high level of professionalism. Being a waiter myself, I was jealous! Not that I dislike my job or anything, but this place just seemed like a blast to work. Once my friends arrived, we sat down at our table. I laughed when I saw that the tables were set with almost home-style placemats. There were lots of little touches like that that added to the feeling of unpretentiousness. We hadn't even begun to eat when we all agreed unanimously that we loved the place. As much as I wanted to go for the tasting menu, out of deference for my friends, I opted for the a la carte menu. In the end though--between tasting eachother's food and the cool little extra courses that came from the kitchen--it felt as if we had had a tasting menu. Anyway, here's what we had: Apps: Mussel-olive oil soup, water chestnut, orange zest This was potent yet subtle. At first all you can taste is overwhelming essence of oyster, but after a second or two you can taste the bite from the orange zest. The olive oil tied the flavors together nicely. Octopus, celery pesto, pineapple, mojama, marcona almonds I ordered this strickly based on the fact that it was, well, octopus. I had never had it up to that point. The meat had such a great texture and flavor..an instant favorite. The almonds added a nice counterpoint to that texture. Foie gras, grapefruit-basil crumble, nori caramel This was the dish I was most looking forward to (being the foie gras nut, I am). For some reason the foie gras dish is always my litmus test of a restaurant. Not that it's an accurate gauge or anything. It just seems that chefs really try to put their signature touch on it more than most other dishes. This dish was great. To me, it showed how the odd juxtapositions present in Wylie's dishes are simply means to an end and not meant for shock value. The nori caramel, while a lot stronger in flavor than I imagined it, didn't overwhelm the rich foie. I thought it was so cool how it came rushing out of the tourchon. I want to know how he did that! The brioche croutons were a nice touch, but I found myself wanting a little more of the grapefruit's acidity to cut through the nori flavor a bit. Slow poached egg with parmesan broth, chickpea noodles and tomato powder This was one of the tasting menu courses that the kitchen sent to our table, much to our excitement and gratitude. The slow poached egg (poached for an hour at 147 degrees, if I remember correctly) had the most luxurious, melt-in your-mouth texture which was contrasted nicely by the crunchy chickpea noodles. Depth of flavor was added by parmesan broth. To me, this showed better than any other dish Wylie's subtle mastery of flavor and texture. We all had ear to ear smiles. Mains: Monkfish, oyster mushroom, squash, pumpernickel cocoa, pear consomme I didn't get to try too much of this dish, but what I had worked nicely. The natural sweetness of the monkfish was echoed nicely by the pear flavor. I'm not sure what effect the pumpernickel cocoa was supposed to have, though. Wild King Salmon, quinoa, blood orange puree, toast oil Wow. Man, this was one of the best things I've ever eaten, period. I normally don't order salmon when I go out to eat, but when I saw "toast oil" listed as one of the accompaniments, I simply had to see what the heck it was. I didn't think it was literally going to be a toast-infused oil. By golly, it was! And it was good! It tied all of the elements of the dish together in a way that, well, only toast oil could have. It tempered the brightness of the balsamic-poached salmon beautifully. Later on, Wylie and one of his assistants who came up with the idea explained it to me. The oil was made from toasted sourdough and grapeseed oil, and the idea behind it was to echo the flavors of orange marmelade on toast (hence, the blood orange puree). I guess it was originally concieved to go with vegemite (!) paper in another dish. Needless to say, I've been irritating everyone with endless accounts of this dish lately. Short ribs, smoked flatiron beef, kimchee spaetzle, papaya ravioli I'm a big fan of kimchee and, well, short ribs, so I knew from the beginning I would love this one. It didn't disappoint. Desserts: Grapefruit in grapefruit This was the other little extra taste that came from kitchen. The name pretty much sums it up. It was basically grapefruit foam around a scoop of grapefruit sorbet with a little bit of struesel on the bottom. It had a great refreshing, cleansing effect after the savory courses. Olive Clafloutis, tangerine sorbet, cherry-walnut emulsion I ordered this one mainly because I wanted to see how they could manage to work olives into a desert. I thought the olive would completely overwhelm the entire dish, but it dovetailed beautifully with the tangerine and cherry flavors. Truly an engaging dish. Lemon curd, basil meringue, blackberry chutney I love basil in sweet courses and it really added another dimension to the otherwise lemon-heavy dish. French Toast, brown butter ice cream, raisin puree I want to eat this every day for the rest of my life. Afterward, I got to spend a minute or so in the kitchen and meet Wylie and some of the other staff. I was a bit star struck and at a loss for words, but everyone was so cool and willing to answer questions. It was a great way to cap off an amazing evening. While I have a giant list of restaurants in New York that I want to visit, I have a feeling this will become a regular destination.

Just ate there last night. Just absolutely incredibly enjoyable on every imaginable level. I simply can't imagine it getting any better. I'll try to elaborate more on my experience this weekend sometime. Three words: Toast oil rocks!

I'm not sure just how to take that? It always bugs me when people act as though a particular chef is not in their very kitchen that anyone should somehow receive a vastly different meal. I think that what people so often fail to realize is that in high end professional kitchens (like Per Se) all of the cooks, their movements, their mise en place, their seasoning, their cooking, their plating are all so highly orchestrated that should one individual not happen to be there it doesn't change the fact. Sure, there is a personality element that a chef can contribute to a service or a menu but to suspect that the food would be held to any lesser standard is absolutely ridiculous. I understand that many people may have the attitude of letting things slide when the boss is away, but most of the people in these types of kitchens all want to be the boss someday so the thought of them operating at a lower standard of quality is highly unlikely. Sure, it is convenient and sometimes fun for us to poke fun at the fact that Thomas Keller, Alain Ducasse, Daniel Bouloud, and the like cannot all be in every one of their restaurant kitchens at the same time and that it may be a reason for a flawed meal. The people who work in these operations are professional through and through and I have the utmost confidence that the actual execution of a restaurant service varies very little from one night to the next, regardless of who is at the helm. I am so tired of the dart throwing at these types of chefs. Get over it already... These guys dont cook your food anyway. ← Correct me if I'm wrong, but no one made the implication that there should be any cause for concern that Benno wasn't there... So why the diatribe?

I'm going there tomorrow night. Can't wait. As much as I wanted to go for the tasting menu, my friends are ordering a la carte, so I have to go with the flow. Oh well, I'm sure it will still be an adventure.

I'm less of a mise en place kind of guy than I am a mess en place kind of guy.

Sounds like you're making the Roulade of Pekin Duck Breast as one of the courses. Let me know how that goes...I was going to try that one next (partially because I need to learn more about making stocks). As far as sourcing hard-to-find ingredients, have you ever tried asking someone at a restaurant to order something for you through one of their purveyors? I'm not sure if this is a common practice, but my restaurant has done it for a couple of people before. The owner has no problem with it as long as they're willing to pay for it. Hell, that's how I get all of my odd ingredients for home cooking (of course it helps that I work there).

"I, regrettably, will not be attending the ceremonies--until the audience is at least 50% Mexican." Does Rick Bayless count?

I think at this point people are really belaboring this issue...

we did grilled cheese "trio" today...little sandwiches with smoked gouda, goat cheese, and gruyere respectively. served them with red beet chips. people seemed to enjoy the combination.

I don't like hearing stories of people who have tried hard to get a reservation someplace only to have their table given away to a walk-in VIP. I was pleased to hear that Per Se actually turned away a couple of well-known actors who came in demanding a table recently.

Try peeling them, parboiling them, slicing them, and sauteeing them with some onions, cashews, a touch of honey, and salt and pepper to taste. Delicious.

The owner of my restaurant bought it--one for the kitchen and one for the bar. They were actually pretty neat for the couple of weeks before they both broke.

I've tried several of the recipes and I find all of them pretty much doable. I think the key is to read the recipe over several times before attempting and really have a plan of attack. The first recipe I tried was the chocolate veloute' with cinammon stick ice cream. Everything went well until I realized I didn't have any gelatin sheets! I guess it goes for any recipe, but yeah, being prepared is always a plus. Other recipes I've tried: Tomato Tartare with Haricot Verts and Frisee This one was pretty easy. The only problem I had was that the yeild of tomato confit from the amount of tomatoes I used was nowhere near what I thought it would be. Several large tomatoes only ended up yeilding about half a cup of confit. Lemon Sabayon Tart with Pine Nut Crust and Honey Marscapone Cream This recipe is very easy and delicious. It helps to have very small tart pans with a removable bottom. I had to use a baking dish and use a circle mold to cut out pieces for serving, which was a little hard to do. Pacific Moi with Soy Orange Glaze I substituted salmon as the fish in this course and it worked quite well. This is one of my favorite preparations. Goat Cheese Mousse In Parmesan Crips As easy as this was, I found that I didn't like the way that goat cheese tasted against the pamesan at all. Perhaps it was the quality of the cheeses that I had. All in all, I think I've learned more from this book than any other book I own. It's truly a gift to cooks of all stripes.

Truffle oil.... It's the ketchup of the fine dining scene. As much as I love truffles, I'd also like to be able to taste the other components of a dish.

That's awful...

Thanks for the suggestions. The robo/cheesecloth thing worked quite well. Also, yelling at the carrots was highly effective.

Here are a few of the shots I took during last night's dinner service. I feel like I'm advertising here, but I just thought I'd share these in case anyone felt like taking a gander. Sauteed Alaskan Halibut with Glazed Sunchokes, Watercress and Parsley Oil Baked Macadamia Crusted Cod with Grilled Potatoes, Asparagus, Ginger Beurre Blanc and Macadamia Coulis Cilantro-Lime Shrimp with Whipped Peruvian Potatoes, Spicy Green Beans and Citrus Vinaigrette Grilled Niman Ranch Pork Chop with Potato Pave, Sauteed Arugula, Beet and Carrot Essences Tempura Shrimp with Spicy Tomato and Avocado Purees