BryanZ

They would've been overdressed.

Although my dining "luck" may pale in comparison to some others, the fates smiled upon me last week. A friend was willing to give it to me an extra reservation she held at Babbo. On the exact day I had planned to go out to dinner before leaving for Chicago for the next few months. A Saturday. At 7:45. Stuff like this usually doesn't happen to me. Anyway, the meal was a solid one, but I found myself a little bit less moved by Babbo than on my previous two visits. The meal was not so much a step off or down as it was evidence of my changing tastes. I actually found my meal at Insieme a couple weeks back to be more compelling, showing a more refined side to Italian cuisine, both traditional and contemporary. While waiting for a table to open up upstairs, we had glasses of prosecco at the bar. The mass of supplicant foodies that surround that bar and small waiting area never seems to disperse and, as usual, barred the progress of the servers trying to get to the corner row of two tops that runs perpendicular to the bar. The maitre d was his typical douchey self, never outright insulting but slyly passive aggressive. In other words, all seemed right. We ordered what many would consider a "ton" of food. My mother, sister, and I started off by sharing the lambs tongue salad and grilled octopus appetizers and the sweetbreads entree. A nice but not mind-blowing start. People talk up these dishes like whoa, but I didn't find them to be amazing. Really good, yes, but not amazing. I thought the lambs tongue could've used more acid, the octopus more char, and the sweetbreads less sauce. The dishes were fundamentally very tasty, but it was easy to see how to make them better. Then we had the pasta tasting menu, subbing in the beef cheek ravioli for the some dude's pyramids/letters/whatever. As usual, very delicious, toothsome pastas and a great introduction to how good pasta can be, but I was looking for something a little more. Possibly because I've had and made these same dishes or ones very close to them in the past couple years (it was my first visit to Babbo that got me and my family on a MAJOR fresh pasta kick), we all felt like we were eating merely a slightly better version of things we've had before. There was no "Ah-Ha!" moment. I sound overly critical, the food is quite delicious, but nothing more, if that makes sense. Desserts showed some restraint, which was nice. A slightly-too-tough sesame cake with blood orange marmalade, a small fiore di latte with fig, and a different main dessert for each of us. The stewed blueberries with buttermilk gelato that came with the blueberry tart was one of the best things I ate all night. I also got to try the saffron panna cotta for the first time and really, really enjoyed it. There's a temparanillo/syrah blend quartino that's quite tasty and not expensive and moscato d'asti which is also really nice. Service was solid, everything taken care of in a timely manner. Our captain looked sooooo young but was a nice guy if a little bit spread too thin. Our meal clocked in at exactly three hours, which is probably just perfect for most people, but I would've liked things to move just a smidge faster. My family is boring, what I can I say. To my unique tastes, both Babbo and Del Posto miss the mark slightly in serving as the "quintessential" Italian restaurant. Nevertheless, Babbo is certainly worth visiting if you can get lucky in the reservations game as I did. ETA: Babbo is well known for its eclectic and sometimes loud musical stylings. On the night I went it was not so much the latter as the former. They actually played the entirety of the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! self-titled album, widely hailed as one of the most annoying, if critically acclaimed, discs to grace mainstream indie pop in the past couple years. For those unfamiliar with the band, it's literally like nails on a chalk board. I laughed, while rocking out the whole time.

Yeah, that was us. I hope we weren't being too obnoxious. First time we'd seen each other in several months after a hard semester at school. Shatner looked pretty gross, I'm not going to lie. It's like he was trying to dress like a young dude circa 1997. I would like to know if. he. talks. like. this. They're not THAT bad. They lack a certain punch to them, but I've never found them to be hard. The marshmallows are also something of an acquired taste. My mother finds them quite disgusting; my g/f looks forward to them at every meal.

You are sooo damn lucky. I'm almost resentful. What'd you say to get in and what was your backup plan if they said no?

Soak the avocados with the skin on in water that's maintained at about 100F for 45 min to an hour. You'll get 2-3 days out of it before it turns an unappetizing brown. The hot water denatures some of the proteins that oxidize and cause browning, I believe.

Very interesting.

It's hardly worth saying, but those are beautiful picture of a delicious-looking meal. I especially love the plating of the fidueas. As I've been reading your Spain posts, it's been somewhat difficult to me to follow along the exact route you took. What brought you Valencia, anything besides Ca' Sento? Do you mind me asking what the degustation at the restaurant cost so I may put it in context with other restaurants in Spain?

Great report. I must say, the most impressive meal of the bunch seems to have been the one at Cyrus. Do you mind sharing how much that meal was? I know Per Se (and TFL?) are up to $250. What are Manresa and Cyrus like?

Great pictures. The oysters and oatmeal, even to me, sounds a bit strange. Still, would love to try it.

Ask again later. ← I'm afraid this doesn't make sense. Back on topic, the article itself makes no claims to adverse health results from eating "fake" truffles. The author's disdain for the product is based solely on the fact that "fakeness" betrays the goodness of natural, unprocessed ingredients. I do not believe this to be true and find that people who hold this view take rather narrow view regarding food.

Will they seat a single diner? I move out to Chicago for the summer in a couple days but want to lock down a reso at Schwa as soon as possible. If I book for one, could I theoretically add a second if I find someone who wants to go with me?

Perhaps is the best answer I can give. Perhaps poached and dressed with a bit of butter for bit more richness.

Just because something is manufactured doesn't mean it's harmful.

Thank you guys for saying this. I read this article a couple days ago and found myself pissed off by the whole thing. Frankly, I was hoping someone on eG would post it for discussion. The "unspoken assumption" is hardly unspoken in the context of this article. According to the author, chefs who take great pride in sourcing out the best produce and meats should be aghast to learn that the truffle oil they use in their dishes is derived from chemicals. As Shal so rightly says, that's total bullshit. In the right context, truffle oil has its place, and notable chefs like Chef Shea at Cru realize this. It's when people start drizzling truffle oil over all kinds of pizzas and pastas that it becomes undesirable. Not because it's fake but because it simply tastes bad. I honestly feel that one of the biggest problems with the natural, organic, etc food movement is that it lends itself to reductionist thinking, the kind that is espoused in this article. Just because something is "fake" means it automatically has no culinary value.

I've had the turbot a couple times, and I will say I love it. I just appreciated the change of skate in this instance, as it was silkier than the usual turbot. While the turbot has a little bit of caramelization on it, if I recall, the skate had none, and was extremely delicate. The zuchinni/veg garnish on top remained the same.

I'm feeling Hung. He could also be a huge douche, which wouldn't necessarily make me dislike him, but he's my pre-competition pick.

Great report. As we discussed in my travel foodblog, I think that El Bulli, based on your pictures, offers the most pure version of modern cookery that leaves the superficial constraints of traditional dishes behind. Yes, it is plainly obvious that much of Chef Adria's cuisine is drawn explicitly from his native Spain, but the way in which the dishes are served is truly otherwordly and revolutionary. I will need to visit, somehow.

Stopped by Jean Georges for lunch on Monday of this week with a bunch of friends. We were a party of five and ordered a lot, so I was able to try a good portion of the current menu. As usual, most everything was great and the restaurant provided a great venue for which to catch up with friends whom I hadn't seen in a while. We particularly enjoyed having a late seating, so we could sit, relax, and shoot the shit with our captain. Most of my friends were also unfamiliar with this level of fine dining, so it's always fun to introduce people to new food in a relaxed setting. In an interesting turn of events, one of my friends (the only to order alcohol) was carded. It was surprising but handled firmly yet subtly, with none of the hemming and hawing of the "other" incident. This individual was of age, so there was no trouble. If a fine-dining restaurant is going to card borderline individuals, it should do so in this manner. In another interesting turn of events, William "Priceline Negotiator" Shatner was in the restaurant, much to the delight of my friends and me. I love those commercials, especially this one and this one. Anyway, onto the food. The foie gras is still served bruleed but without the brioche bottom. Now, it's the bruleed foie, bits of dehydrated pineapple, rhubarb juice and a brioche stick. A wonderful dish. The fish with the chateau chalon is now skate, more delicate than the turbot I think. Again, that sauce is mindblowing. Roasted sweetbreads are much, much better than the somewhat disappointing grilled sweetbreads with licorice and lemon. This time they're lightly crisped, served with an acidic artichoke garnish and rosemary oil. A dish that I'd never tried before but was especially pretty and striking was the grilled shrimp served with yuzu foam and a shichimi togarashi emulsion. A very forceful but tasty dish. I tried a few other things too, some classics, some newbies, all were very very nice. Desserts were fine but not great. In fact my favorite was a comped item from the Nougatine menu. It was a carrot cake with coconut creme brulee "icing" and carrot sorbet. This was an excellent dessert, probably one of the best I've had in many meals at JG. Again, a great experience. Our captain this time around, a tall Asian gentleman was perhaps my favorite of those I've interacted with. He seemed to get a kick out of my friends and me, and, as the dining room cleared out, was able to chat with us freely. My only service complaint was rather peculiar in that the staff had a very hard time coordinating who would remove the domes off the dishes and who would clear what plates in a coordinated fashion. On a couple occasions, the "one..two..three" silent count was disrupted because a runner's hands would not be in the right position, leaving one or more of our dishes unattended. Kind of strange, but we just rolled with it.

I didn't read it that way to be honest. Bruni seemed to separate the food from the kaiseki experience when it came down to the rating. Platt, in his scratchpad, made it quite clear he wasn't into kaiseki as a whole and therefore didn't award another star--specifically there was some two vs. one language there that I think can be extrapolated to his final star rating.

I've used the Keller beurre monte method and agree it produces probably "better" result than the CSV with butter in the bag method which is very similar. The CSV method does produce a somewhat different texture, probably because of the longer, slower cooking time. When I use the beurre monte I keep it at lke 160ish too, but on the 5+ min side than the 3 min side in regards to time. You can cook anything in beurre monte, including lean meats. Cooking tenderloin in butter then quickly searing the beef is an interesting preparation. You can also sear first then hold in beurre monte, though I don't like this as much. The beurre monte poach followed by a very quick sear allows for some of the butter to brown and adds more flavor. I also do asparagus poached in a truffle infused beurre monte.

Glad you enjoyed it, Shal. As I mentioned, the holistic approach to a great dish was made very clear to me in a few resonating instances. It was also interesting to see how each chef used his country's terroir uniquely to create a different experience and perspective on a given cuisine. This was magnified by eating across international boundaries in countries known for their pride in their respective cuisines. I feel like this kind of influence is lacking in American fine-dining. Regarding Z Kitchen, there are some ideas I'll take back. Unfortunately, my favorite dishes were those that were executed at a level I won't easily be able recreate or relied on local produce and ingredients that I can't procure. In that way, I'm able to use ideas from eating out in NYC much more easily.

But Platt seems to subtract a star based on the fact that he doesn't really like the kaiseki experience.

If you cut off the bottom of a typical flavor injector syringe thing, it makes a great contraption for stuffing squid tubes and doing other "freeform" sausages. You can also inject slow-cooked eggs with maple syrup or what have you for an unexpected surprise. The syringes are also good for getting soups or sauces into tiny serving vessels like egg cups, shot glasses, etc. I've actually never used for injecting marinade in meat but find them incredibly useful for other applications.

Here's what I do for private dinners. Do all your prep off-site, finish up the fabrication of the various components to your dishes on site a couple hours before, then plate in the dining room. If the hosts have a large enough dining room a 5' table with folding legs is the perfect size for plating for up to 8 people. That way you can do the important stuff in the kitchen, away from distractions, and do all the pretty plating while everyone oooohhhs and aahhhhs.

I do lobster CSV at 120 for about 20-30 minutes. The texture is somewhat different, more gelatinous, and to some chewier, at that low temp. I follow Keller's hot bath method to deshell and have had no problems. I also do an olive oil "poached" salmon CSV at about 123. You can let it go for like an hour or more and it gets really silky. I also poach tuna in olive oil, but I'm not convinced this method is the cooking strategy for tuna. Maybe I'm just not partial to it. I hold my oil at like 150 and cook until the center is just medium-rare, so not a confit like the others have mentioned.