phatbastard

Wow, so many mentions of mustard and mayo. I actually despise both. (I know, I know, bad foodie! *slap*) My three would have to be: 1. Ponzu 2. Ketchup 3. Sriracha

This probably sounds a little "out there", but peanut butter and bacon sandwiches are absolutely delicious. Same with peanut butter and vidalia onion sandwiches. Of course, you can spruce them up a bit by using an organic peanut butter (or cashew butter, or pistachio butter, etc.) and some nice Italian pancetta. Delicious stuff. Also, buttering cookies is quite tasty. :) Grab a handful of Chips A'Hoy and butter 'em up. Of course, this will take about 20 years off your life expectancy, but it's well worth it. :)

You should taste his food.

Expect perfection. I realize that doesn't offer much at all, but it's as true a statement as I can make. Just go with an open mind, time to let it all soak in, and a curiosity for what comes next.

Yea, he works at Tapika restaurant and Michael Jordan's Steakhouse. He and Flay are still close friends though, obviously. I'm pretty certain Wayne was just filling in for Vicki Wells.

Delicious! Did those tomatoes taste as vibrant as they look?

Vancouver?

Puttanesca is definitely my favourite "quick" pasta dish. Usually with spaghettini or capellini. Failing that, carbonara is always great. And a simple dish of penne tossed with store-bought pesto, butter, parm, lots of cracked pepper and fresh basil is a lovely thing.

I just wanted to thank you for doing this, Adam. This is quite honestly one of the best threads I've read on ANY website ANYwhere. Bravo. Simply outstanding.

turkey, apple, sage, bacon. venison, red grape, red wine, jalapeno. scallop, lime, thai chili, tobiko.

The photos are absolutely stunning, Jason. You're becoming quite the food photographer! Oh how I wish I was a New Jersy-er/New Yorker. :(

Mmm.. Coke with orange sounds like it could be great. So does this new-fangled regular Coke with lime. That is my soda of choice, actually. Regular Coke with freshly squeezed lime. If it even comes close, it will certainly be a convenient replacement. I now must engage in a quest to find the magical exlixir.

Awesome battle. The best yet, in my view. I really love Rob's presentations. They remind me a lot of Thomas Keller and Charlie Trotter tied together. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Chef Feenie was the first challenger so far to take down an Iron Chef America. Bravo.

I don't have the words in my vocabulary to describe how amazed I am right now. These are, by FAR, the most gorgeous pastries I have ever seen. An honest question: does it get better than this? I mean, is there really a shop anywhere on the planet that can equal or better this visual orgy? I need to get out more.

Exactly. Clearly the man has his legions of fans, I'm not disputing that. Whether you think he's the best, or I think he's the worst, really doesn't matter. The people that don't enjoy his food won't eat there, so that gives his fans more opportunity to explore his cuisine further. And for the record, it is my OPINION that Chef Achatz is far above Chef Trotter at this stage in his young career.

Heh, thanks Ronnie. I'm not just speaking out of my ass. What I've said has merit. We'll leave it at that. And yea, CT is surely doing fine money-wise, and will always be financially stable. I mean, with his new place opening in New York, he'll always have his foot in the door with America's best. I just think he's lost his spark. His big claim to fame has always been that he does things differently.. conceptually speaking. He pairs flavours that aren't commonly thought of as harmonizing with one another. He was the Grant Achatz of the early 90's. Now, Grant's amuses are likely more complex than Trotter's main courses. Grant is the future, and Trotter is the past. Now, this isn't to say that I think the avant garde is the only way to approach cuisine these days. You can certainly do delicious food, but you're going to have to have something that draws people to your restaurant. Keller for example, doesn't fiddle with all kinds of space-age concepts, but he DOES apply little twists that refresh tradition. This is all just my personal opinion in regards to Trotter. The fact that there is no love lost between CT and Grant is fact. At least, it was last year. Cheers all,

My honest viewpoint on this is that Trotter's star has almost fizzled out. He's struggling. Grant is shining bright, and becoming more and more a force to be reckoned with every day. Essentially, I think Trotter is doing whatever he can to save his sinking career. Grant certainly doesn't need the publicity.

Interesting. I thought I remembered that Trotter and Achatz aren't exactly the best of friends. Trotter going so far as to deny Grant ever worked in his kitchen. Anyone else remember that? I wonder what has changed.

The photos of your children drawing on the walls are priceless. Just those photos alone indicate what type of family dynamic your home enjoys. I can only dream of what it would be like as a child in your home. :) Except for me, given such liberty when I was young, would likely result in various scribbles of boobies. Actually, that'd be the case even today.