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kpzachary

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    Berlin Restaurants

    in Elsewhere in Europe: Dining

    Posted

    Ming Dynastie (not new but always great authentic Chinese which is not easy to find in Berlin)

    Kuchi (great affordable modern sushi in a cool relaxed environment)

    Reinstoff (Higher end, haven't tried it yet, but when I get a chance, this is first on my list. Modern cuisine, getting great reviews)

    Ma or Uma (Tim Raue, Ma is high end modern east asian influenced, Uma is high end sushi)

    Berlin Restaurants

    in Elsewhere in Europe: Dining

    Posted

    44 in the Swissotel is a very good restaurant (one star) with a modern take on German cuisine. The cuisine has a great sense of place which I really enjoyed. Although, when I ate there the chef was Tim Raue who has since departed for another restaurant yet to open. To be honest with you most of the "high-end" restaurants (with stars) in Berlin are more French influenced.

    The character of Hollandaise sauce

    in France: Cooking & Baking

    Posted

    Remember hollandaise is one of the five mother sauces. It is ment to be very basic on ts own, and you must add lemon juice to it to be a true hollandaise.

    The idea of the mother sauces is that they are bases for other, more "advanced" secondary sauces. Adding things to hollandaise like the vinegar and tarragon reduction to make a Bernaise Sauce or a bit of tomato puree to make a Sauce Choron are just a few examples.

    How about a bit of truffle juice and chopped truffles, or soy sauce and wasabi, or chopped jalepeno and cilantro, or pureed carmalized onions and chopped chives.

    You can also substitute a bit of foie gras fat, chorizo fat, parma ham fat, or bacon fat for the butter for another demension of flavor.

    There are thousands of sauces that can be made from this one mother sauce.

    Overcooked Food as Homey, Traditional & Authentic

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    My ex sister-in-law who apologized for her under-cooked green beans as she had cooked them only 2 hours instead of the usual 3.

    When I read some of my older cook books from the 50s and earlier, I'm amazed at instructions that say to cook asparagus for 25 minutes. My dad always wanted his vegetables cooked to mush. That may be partly because he refused to go to a dentist.

    I think it's more a generational  and cultural thing.

    My whole family, with exception of myself, loves dead green beans cooked forever in a pressure cooker with bacon and onions. I know that this is a very "southern" way of cooking beans, but I can't stand it!

    Dining out in Frankfurt

    in Elsewhere in Europe: Dining

    Posted

    During the month of December, the best place to eat is in the Weihnachtsmarkt. There, you will find the traditional German cuisine you seek, along with the regional fare. It is inexpensive and in a beautiful atmosphere. Most of the large cities have more than one, and they are usually not all the same, so you can find something different to try in each one.

    But, if I were in Frankfurt, and I wanted a special dinner, and price was not an option, the obvious choice is Amador. It is about thirty to fourty min. southeast of Frankfurt, but well worth the travel. They were just awarded their third star this year.

    Charlie Trotter Topic

    in The Heartland: Dining

    Posted

    A while back, two fellow cooks that I worked with, took a short road trip to Illinois to eat at Trio (when Achatz was there). They had one extra day to tour Chicago. One of the stops they chose was Charlie Trotter's. They had no intention of eating there. They just wanted to check out the restaurant since they were both, as many cooks are, big fans of Trotter's work. When they were there, they were also taking pictures and looking inside, trying to get a peek of the dining rooms, like a couple of kids looking into a toy store.

    Then, a man appeared at the door. He was the restaurant manager. He asked them what they were doing, and they told him. He said something to the effect of, "Why don't you come back tonight and have dinner? It'll be on the house." Of course, they accepted the offer.

    They showed up and were presented with the grand tasting, wine included, free of charge. But, that's not the best part. Out of the kitchen, into the dining room, comes the man himself, Charlie Trotter, with two bags in his hands containing a personalized autographed copy of every book he had published up to that point.

    So, you are not alone in this feel of jealousy that you experienced. I still feel it about four years later, everytime I read something about Trotter's.

    There are may things said about Trotter, both good and bad. But, one thing is for sure, there are few chefs or restaurant owners that can compare to his generosity.

    I'd like to share an experience that happened to some friends and coworkers of mine this weekend.  I'd love to hear if anyone here has heard of this, as it seemed almost too serendipitous to be real.  Unfortunately, I was not a part of Saturday afternoon's events, but I was informed of what happened in intimate detail by my glowing friends.

    Anyway, as part of a scavenger hunt a large group of us was doing as part of a company bonding weekend (bear with me), one of the stops was Charlie Trotter.  Not for a meal, but just for a picture in front of the restaurant.  My group arrived before many others, took our picture, and headed on our way.  It was my first time seeing the restaurant so I was poking around outside a little bit, but there wasn't a lot of activity.

    About five minutes later, several other groups arrive (about 15 people total) and began taking pictures in front of the restaurant.  A man walks out of the restaurant and says something to the effect of "Why are you taking pictures, you must be cold [it was snowing at the time], you've got to come in an eat."

    Since I was not present, no one in the group recognized Chef Trotter immediately.  Chef Trotter proceeded to let them into the restaurant, into a private room, and served them a four course lunch, with wines, gratis.  Seriously.  I'm still bitter I wasn't there more than a day later.

    So, has anyone heard of this before?  Chef Trotter claimed that he does this from time to time.  I can't imagine why.  The people were all young, college-aged individuals, many dressed in jeans and hooded sweatshirts.  There is the chance that my firm set this up as part of a private, "secret" event, but even the recruiters were completely shocked by the events that transpired.

    My theory, if we assume this wasn't planned, is that Chef Trotter foresaw a good deal of no shows for that night's service due to the bad weather and decided to take pity on a bunch of cold student-looking types.

    Three new German three-star restaurants

    in Elsewhere in Europe: Dining

    Posted

    Thanks for the info. It is funny to see how Germany is so underestimated and actually ignored in terms of fine dining. I definitely will keep going with my series on those now nine German 3*, with two little towns that have two 3* each. But which one will be next, this is a really difficult question.

    My money is on Aqua in the Ritz Carlton Wolfsburg as the next 3*, but we'll have to wait until next November for that.

    Texture

    in United Kingdom & Ireland: Dining

    Posted

    I read an interview today in Conde Nast Traveller with the chef of Texture and I hope that he was only mis-quoted but when asked where his favorite foodie destinations were, he replied"New York and Miami." He mentioned that there is a very good French restaurant in Manhattan called WD50. His favorite place in Miami was a place called Per Se.

    I'm sorry but this made him look like an idiot.

    WD50 is not even a French restaurant and Per Se is nowhere near Miami!

    Sarah Weiner on Arte; what's the deal?

    in France: Dining

    Posted

    Sarah Weiner has a restaurant here in Berlin. I believe it is Ausrtian based cusine and very casual. She is on a cooking show here in Germany as well. I caught an episode of her Arte show. It wasn't my style, and I was surprised that she is doing a show about culinary adventures in France, but anything that gets Germans more interested and educated about the culunary world outside of Germany is ok by me.

    Philadelphia Hotel/restaurant

    in Pennsylvania: Dining

    Posted

    The Four Seasons and the Ritz Carlton are the best hotels in Philly. I don't know if I would call them cool, but the service is next to none. In my opinion, the Lowes hotel is a great, cool hotel, in a great location at a decent price.

    The one thing I have to ask is why are you not going to Vetri? This is in many peoples opinion, includng Mario Batali's, the best Italian restaurant in the US. Don't get me wrong, I loved everything about Morimoto, but Vetri is one of my top five in the world.

    Starr Training Program

    in Pennsylvania: Dining

    Posted

    It was not that strict when I worked at Tangerine. Although, that was a few years ago (the first three years of opening). After about two or three weeks trailing, the servers would be tested on the menus. One thing I do remember is that the really good servers could walk out with anywhere from 600 to 1000 a night. That is with an army of bussers and back waiters. So if they know that they will be making that kind of cash every night, I think they might be willing to go without tips. Not that they wouldn't get tipped out from the servers like the bussers or the back waiters.

    New German Cuisine?

    in Elsewhere in Europe: Dining

    Posted

    There were wonderful Pfifferling in May already. Pfifferling season is not Steinpilze's. I agree that there were early Steinpilze this season, but that dos not change the fact that Steinpilze are lat summer, fall mushrooms and Pfifferlinge are summer mushrooms.

    I personally was finding my own Steinpilze in Hinterzagen in mid July, and then again, here, just north of Berlin, last month. July is not late summer, or fall.

    New German Cuisine?

    in Elsewhere in Europe: Dining

    Posted

    Seriously, though Porcini july to september? Aren't you confusing with Pfifferlinge? This year the summer was particularly automnal but Porcini season starts at the end of summer, like all mushrooms save girolles/pfiferline/chanterelle, no matter where, when it gets less dry and still warm enough.

    This year in Germany, the Steinpilze(porcini) season was unusually long. They were available in markets as early as July through the second week of September). Same for the Pfifferlinge season. They first appeared the first week of August, and are still showing up in the markets in good condition.

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