BryanZ

3/14/04 part 1 Today would be the day of my first Michelin three-star experience at Pierre Gagnaire. But before making it to 6 rue Balzac, we would need to make from London to Paris. Today's medium of transportation would be the Eurostar train via the Chunnel (£50/person). It was not nearly as exciting as one might imagine, probably influenced by the fact that I slept for all but twenty minutes of the four-hour journey. This Eurostar train left London at 6 AM, necessitating a 4:30 AM wakeup, after getting to bed at around 2 AM. Oh the lengths I go through to make it to Paris for lunch. Upon dropping of our bags at our hotel, located right on the market street rue Cler, we literally crossed the street to procure my first taste of Paris, a crepe. Ham and cheese on a buckwheat crepe Folded up for easy transport on our quick tour of the streets immediately surrounding rue Cler. Another crepe was procured before our journey from Paris to Barcelona. That one was banana and Nutella. It was even better. Pierre Gagnaire was truly wonderful. Perhaps there's something of a primacy effect going on, but it was perhaps my best overall meal in Europe when one takes into account service and overall experience. It was also interesting to see for the first time the true French fine dining model. For instance, upon sitting down the g/f and I were presented with menus. After a couple minutes of skimming using my rather limited menu French I commented on how expensive the a la carte offerings were (starters and mains ranged from €95-125 per dish) and how mindblowingly expensive the truffle tasting menu was (at "€1,35"). I made no mention of explicit prices and was simply reflecting on the generally high nature of the prices I was reading The g/f looked confused. "I don't get it. How does this work?" she asked. Somewhat perturbed, I explained that this was the a la carte menu. After all the prices, while written quite lightly in pencil, were plainly marked. I continued skimming. "Really, Bryan, I don't get this," she remarked, "I don't see any prices or anything." And then it became quite clear, she wouldn't really know what she was looking at or how much anything was because menus for the ladies in the restaurant did not have prices. The lunch menu, on a separate card, did, but only one was brought to the table and it was presented to me. Call it chivalry or chauvinism, it was certainly a cultural wake up. We'd never come across this in all sorts of fine dining in in the US. This trend would continue at other starred Paris establishments. Anywho, we opted for the lunch menu at €95 per person. Somewhat steep but not all that high compared to other comprably lauded establishments. It would prove to be a most excellent meal so spending $130 for one for lunch seemed entirely reasonable. It is also worth noting that this entire meal was cheaper than the majority of individual menus on the a la carte menu. One wonders if lunch is that great of a value or if the a la carte offerings are really that much better. Gagnaire also gave me a new goal in life, to order the €1,350 truffle tasting menu. One day...one day. Lunch menu Obviously reading French would be helpful here. Canapés One of my favorite images of the whole trip. There were all sorts of goodies here. Bread offerings Of course I had to try all four offerings. The pistachio thin cracker thing was particularly cool. Amuses I wish I could recall them all, but I gave up on taking notes in restaurants a couple years ago, or was it more? Nevertheless, those who made it to Gilt under Liebrandt and Gagnaire will see clear similarities between the two. i should also note that the service pieces here were cool as hell. The saucer/cup combination in the middle was angled up and the cup was held in place by a magnet. Definitely the coolest service piece ever in blending the modern with the classic. Crucial Detail's closest competitor might be the anti-plate, but I found this J.L Coquet design more compelling. Chicken terrine One of the most memorable dishes of the trip for being unlike anything I've ever had. The ingredients were humble, chicken forcemeat, herbs, chicken broth, leafy greens but the product was so rich and satisfying yet remaining novel and light, familiar but not. The dish was presented in a ring mold in the bowl with terrine and greens. The broth was poured over, the ring lifted, and everything mixed. In the Z Kitchen thread I spoke about making a dish greater than its individual parts; this dish was exactly that. Cod Plated tableside atop a grain risotto. The dish was not fundamentally different than the typical sweet salty combination that one often sees with cod. This was experty cooked, balanced in flavor composition, and delicious. Pre-dessert with mignardises In the center was a light, citrusy sorbet. Of the mignardises the cherry was unlike any other cherry I've had before. The white and red wafer at the front was topped with a bit of citric acid to give it a powerful zing. Those unfamiliar with the product would probably be even more shocked. Dessert 1 My favorite part was a homemade yogurt thing in the cup. My only criticism of this course was the second use of a heavy agar gel sheet that also made a similar appearance in the amuses. Dessert 2 I remember the layered item at the front being filling but to the point of being uncomfortable. The chocolate parfait, however, put us over the top. Neither of us are big chocolate fans for finishing a meal. A chocolate How cute. I purposefully took a bite out of it before the photo. I thoght it added a bit of character. The service at this meal was probably the best we encountered. Friendly without being at all overbearing. Very smooth. And they chose great and affordable wines for each of us. I honestly was expecting to see something like a €20 charge per glass of wine and would've been okay with that given the setting. I think one glass was €9, the other €10; totally reasonable. I can't say enough about this restaurant. If I were to go back to Paris I would certainly make it a point to return here, I'm not sure I can say that about anywhere else we ate for want of trying new restaurants on future visits. Pierre Gagnaire made my first European three-star experience memorable and also helped to allay fears I had held about being intimidated or not knowing enough (read: any) of the language. It was clearly French and France but I still felt welcomed and comfortable. Since we were already there we walked to the Champs Elysees, up to the Arc de Triomphe, then all the way back to rue Cler.

Megan, I encourage to add your impressions of Borough, St. John, and tea if you have the time. I'd love to hear what you thought.

Ah, London prices! Would you say what you got was worth the £35? I've been invited to tea at the Ritz in May, but I hadn't thought to inquire until now what the cost will be. I realise it's a different restaurant, but I don't think I'd trek into London to pay that much for what you got. ← It's clearly all about the experience more than than the culinary offerings. You could probably purchase all the items from separate vendors for half the cost or less. Nevertheless, it's worth doing once or more than once if you have the extra time and money. We also considered the Ritz but research found it to be even more over-the-top to the point of being uncomfortable. It is also marginally more expensive, I think. It's worth noting that the g/f paid for this little excursion in full because of a meal my family took her to at Gordon Ramsay's new restaurant in New York. This little tea cost almost as much per person as a three-course Ramsay lunch. That, I think, is most evocative of the brutality of the £ to dollar exchange rate.

3/13/07 Unfortunately I did not document this day's lunch. Nevertheless, I sampled several sandwiches, drinks, and "crisps" from a UCL eatery. It was refreshing to see such offerings as a duck wrap with hoisin sauce, chicken salad with a spicy roasted corn salsa, and others. As the head of student dining at Duke I am incredibly proud of my program but wish that students in this country would be as open to such diverse offerings. I also tried roasted chicken crisps and grilled steak crisps. They were an experience. After leaving UCL for the day I was able to do probably the most fun thing ever to come to London, ever. I rode the slides at the Tate Modern. For those who aren't familiar, they're huge metal tube slides located in one of England's best modern art museums (worth a visit in itself). Here's a picture and some more information. Unfortunately I was only able to ride the three-story slide, not the five-story one. I can only imagine how sweet the biggest one is. The Tate Modern is conveniently located right near the Anchor and Hope, a very well-respected gastropub that some even say is the best in London. We arrived shortly before the dinner opening for a couple nice beers. The bartender was really friendly and let me try a few before finding one to suit my tastes. We started mussels and cockles A simple dish that featured very fresh, creamy mussels. The broth was exceedingly soppable, too. Potato soup with foie gras My kind of gastro pub. The big chunk of foie slowly melted into the soup and created a creamy, fatty bowl of deliciousness. Skate, broccoli rabe with anchovy dressing A light dish that set the mild skate against the more assertive vegetable. Poached duck egg, potato pancake, morels Again, my kind of gastropub. A simple dish with some nice ingredients. This was heavy but very tasty. Pistachio cake, rhubarb The darkhorse of the evening that was much better than I initially expected upon ordering. The pistachio cake was exceedingly moist and soft while the rhubarb added a nice bit of acid to counter the fattiness of the nuts. The next morning I would leave London and head to Paris. London had exceeded expectations but Paris would bring the level of dining to a whole new level.

Each new day brings new discovery. Today's discovery is making the £ sign show up. 3/12/07 part 2 Dinner this evening would be a St. John, Fergus Henderson's restaurant. For those who don't know Fergus Henderson is known for his book "The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating" and is generally thought of as an offal specialist. We started off with a signature item, marrow bones with parsley salad. The menu here changes twice a day and this is about the only staple. The bones were deliciously salty and beefy. I would've liked just a bit more parsley salad, however, to cut through the richness. All in all, a great dish. Homemade terrine of pork, piegeon, and various types of offal. Just downright delicious, especially with a bit of Dijon mustard and toast. Chitterlings, a new type of offal that neither the g/f or I had tried before. It's pig intestines, soaked and cured in a heavy brine, cooked until tender, then grilled. A bit more information here. These were quite good, just very salty. Think like very tender, very salty ham. The sweet potato puree was purposefully undersalted to accompany the chitterlings. I enjoyed the dish and was glad I tried it but won't be explicitly seeking chitterlings out in the future. In case we didn't like the chitterlings, we ordered a "safe" dish of wood pigeon, spinach, and roasted sunchokes. A wonderfully simple and soulful dish. Crisp skin, bloody gamey meat, earthy chokes. I was very pleased. This would be the first of many exposures to pigeon on the trip and this dish was certainly the most pure. Welsh rarebit Best cheese on toast ever. This was ordered as a side because you have to have welsh rarebit in England. Bread pudding with butterscotch Again, totally delicious. I was immensely pleased with the quality of this meal. The total was about £80 with a cheap bottle of wine so it wasn't necessarily cheap but not terribly expensive either. In NY there's been a recent explosion of "haute barnyard" restaurants. This place, I think, puts them to shame in it's undeniable focus on one idea and running with it.

I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to this thread and to the eG UK community in general. I recently visited and had a great meal based on the recs in this thread and others. I made it to Borough Market and a couple other markets, The Fryer's Delight, Ranoush Juice, Harrod's food hall, Royal China, Tayyabs, tea at the Dorchester, St. John, Anchor and Hope. I even got to see a few cultural sites and, more importantly, ride the slide at the Tate Modern. For those interested, I'm chronicling my meals in an eG travelblog, seen here. Thanks so much again.

I will make one more half-post tonight to give myself a short respite (and to encourage those who have questions to ask freely). 3/12/07 part 1 Monday morning gave me a few moments to explore Selfridge's food hall before afternoon tea later that day. I had been to Harrod's food hall on the day before and many similar food halls in Japanese department stores. With that in mind, Selfridge's, conveniently located just across the street from my lodging, was not nearly as diverse or quality-obsessed. Nevertheless, I wish we had similar offerings in the States. Seeking out yet another British experience, my brunch was a beef and mushroom pie from Square Pie in the Selfridge's food hall. Extra gravy? Yes, please. The thing was pretty good and something I would certainly get again. Afternoon tea at The Dorchester was to be a somewhat classier affair than eating a meat pie out of a box with a plastic fork. The Dorchester is a pretty "posh" hotel right on the edge of Hyde Park. The fleet of Rolls Royces added a certain air of British luxury. I was duly amused. The tea room would bring this amusement to another level. You bet that's what the room looked like. Gilded, rich reds and greens, waiters in tuxedos, a live piano player. I almost burst out laughing upon seeing it and only was able to control myself for fear of being "improper." Thankfully, a financial services gentleman obviously from New York was seated only a few tables away. Our new friend Gary represented us tri-staters well; I was abdicated from my role as obnoxious American. Tea sandwiches From left to right: Roasted chicken, cucubumer, egg salad, poached pear, smoked salmon. The poached pear was served on nut bread with a triple-creme cheese-like spread. I really liked the idea, so naturally I had about three of those sandwiches and I think two of the rest. Pre-dessert Chocolate mousse and like almond liquer and like shortbread chunks in the bottom. Scones, preserves, clotted cream, and pastries The scones were delicious with the clotted cream and preserves. The pastries were somewhat heavy, but there were a coupld items worth finishing. In terms of tea, we did a Dorchester classic blend and another scented with coconut and lemongrass and a generally Southeast Asian bouquet. Tea was not cheap at about 35 Lbs per person (70 Lbs for a couple) at the end of the day. A glass of champagne was another 9 Lbs. on top of that if desired. Thankfully I wasn't paying for this afternoon excursion (the g/f's treat), but it was a nice experience to have and recommended to travelers with a couple hours to burn. My only complaint was that champagne was pushed quite hard at the beginning but once we got past that hurdle everything was smooth and relaxing. Well except for Gary and the odd intrusion of a fire alarm from somewhere in the hotel.

3/11/07 The reasons that people force themselves out of bed on lazy Sundays are varied. For many tourists, it means beating the crowds to the major sites. For the pious among us, it means getting to Sunday morning services. For me, it means getting to dim sum before noon to avoid lengthy lines, or should I say queues. Whether it's North Carolina, New Jersey, or London dim sum and Sundays were meant to be. Thankfully, several eG members recommended Royal China for dim sum, so naturally a visit was warranted. The quality of the offerings was really quite excellent; certainly the best I've had. Althugh friends at school reflect on study abroad experiences in China where all you can eat dim sum of a high quality costs about $5, I was perfectly fine paying 26 Lbs. for the two of us for a decent-sized meal. While certainly not cheap, the various dumplings and buns were obviously prepared with great care and exhibited a compelling subtlety of flavors. Scallop dumplings actually tasted of sweetness and the sea rather than MSG and filler. There were several other items, but you get the idea. We also tried these amazing fried sesame balls that were unlike any I'd had before. A black sesame milk was encased by a mochi like skin. The dish honestly would've been at home at Alinea or Moto or wd~50 it was so unlike any other Chinese dessert I've had before. Dinner that night was at Tayyab, a relatively famous Indian restaurant in eastern London. The restaurant is especially known for its tandoor items. Grilled lamb chops on the left, tandoori chicken on the right Again, quite delicious. My experience with tandoori items is rather limited, so I don't have much to compare it to. I enjoyed the spiced yet clean flavors somewhat more than the more commonplace karahi dishes that followed. Chicken karahi We also got baby shrimp karahi, the weakest dish of the night, and "dry meat" a spiced lamb dish without any saucing that was a new experience for me. Two nan and a creamy mango drink rounded out the evening. I believe the total was about 32 Lbs. for the two of us; we had a good amount of food left over, something that rarely happens.

Michelin and fine-dining junkies, to which camps I proudly subscribe, will have to wait until Paris and Spain for dining of that nature. With that said, I was immensely pleased with the food I sampled in London. Although I believe there is truth in that statement that for the same money you can probably eat better on the average in France or Spain, a little research and planning yielded some wonderful meals. 3/9-10/07 After wrapping up class on Friday afternoon I embarked from North Carolina to Newark Liberty International Airport (my real home) then finally to London's Gatwick Airport. Upon dropping off my luggage at a University of London dormitory on Oxford. St., my European base of ops, it was off to the famous Borough Market. For those familiar with Union Square's Greenmarket, Borough Market is absolutely nothing like that, at all. Nevertheless I was impressed with the quality of the product, not so happy with the hordes of people. The g/f, whom some of you met in my transcontinental, whirlwind eG foodblog last summer, and I managed a solid lunch, however, by procuring a meaty salt beef sandwich from Roast and a venison burger made from local deer. This was accompanied by samples of cheese from a Neal's Yard location just outside the market and a nice bottle of hard cider. Borough Market The off-angle shot is evocative of my feelings toward taking pictures at functioning food markets; in other words, I was trying to get out of the way of the main entrance. If I was actually shopping I wouldn't want people blocking my way taking pictures. You'll have to forgive me for not having product pictures here and at the Boqueria in Barcelona. Salt beef sandwich Like corned beef brisket, but beefier and less "cured" tasting. Venison burger Neal's Yard A raw milk blue was particularly tasty. Dinner that evening was at The Fryer's Delight, a no frills fish and chip shop that made me feel very quintessential. Quintessentially what, I'm not so sure, but it seemed authentic. Fish and Chips Fat fries and a big hunk of cod. Salt and malt vinegar were liberally applied. We also had another fried white fish that was similar to flounder or sole. And, a fried weiner, barely visible in the back right of the above photo. Like a corn dog, only worse for you. This place is BYOB and dinner for two was about 12 Lbs (I don't know how to make the currency symbol). Late that night, after a drink at a Spanish bar by the UCL campus, we went to Ranoush Juice, a restaurant serving Middle Eastern food located right near Marble Arch. I believe the chain is Lebanese, specifically. I had a mixed shwarma and the g/f a falafel wrap, ranging from about 3-4 Lbs each (again, that's currency not weight). The falafel wrap was very good, the shwarma was mindblowing. Roasting meat None of that greyish mystery meat here. This big hunks were essentially the heartiest, most delicious forcemeat ever. Mixed shwarma with spicy sauce After a quick jog down Oxford St. the shwarma was unveiled in the privacy of a cramped dormitory room. The experience was mind-opening, and I honestly believe this was among the most fundamentally delicious things I had on the entire trip. There was a handful of pickled peppers on the side that added a nice bit of heat. I had another shwarma on my last night in Europe, a week later. And thus Day 1 of Bryan's European Adventure came to a conclusion. ETA: One thing I forgot to mention was the latte at Monmouth Coffee. I'm not a big coffee guy, but the g/f got a latte here and it was incredible. After the shwarma, the best thing I had all day. It really opened my eyes to how good a latte could be.

Hello, everyone. From March 9-19, 2007 I spent a week in Europe, eating to gross excess while keeping excursions to culturally significant sites to a bare minimum. This was my first trip to Europe, a fact that may be surprising to those familiar with my Europhilic cultural leanings. Nevertheless, I would like to use this space to recount my week spent in London, Paris, and Barcelona. This travelblog has no affiliation with the ongoing eG foodblog series, and I hope that all you eG readers will have the viewing capacity to humor me for the next few days while I upload pictures and share my meals. In keeping with the "Food Culture" nature of this forum, I will also be making cultural observations interspersed throughout the larger collection of food commentary. For those who have never traveled to Europe or have not been in far too long, I hope these musings will imbue the travelblog with a bit of life so that it is more than just a string of pictures of food. What, after all, is great food without the cultural and personal context surrounding it? But on the practical level I will be giving detailed information on the restaurants I visited beyond what is easily found here or via Google or by largely incompetent American Express conceirges (more on that later). Traveling on something of a budget, one of my greatest frustrations was not knowing for certain how much I would spend at a restaurant. I hope that by including prices for all my significant meals, individuals who follow in dining footsteps can make more educated restaurant choices. I'm pretty sure that everywhere I ate on this trip was initially based on an eG user recommenation in some form, so I would like use this space to further add to the wealth of practical information available on this forum. Finally, I would like to extend a more explicit thanks to all the wonderful recommendations and guidance I received from a host of eG members. Without your help my trip would not have been nearly as successful. Now for the good stuff. Here are some of the meals I will posting on: London Lunch at Borough Market Fish 'n' Chips at The Fryer's Delight Dim Sum at Royal China Dinner at Tayyab Afternoon Tea at The Dorchester Dinner at St. John (Fergus Henderson) Dinner at Anchor & Hope Paris Lunch at Pierre Gagnaire Dinner (tasting menu) at Les Magnolias Lunch (tasting menu) at l'Astrance (Pascal Barbot) Dinner at Chez l'Ami Jean Barcelona Jamon Iberico and cava at Jamonisimo Tapas at Tapaç 24 Dinner (tasting menu) at Abac Breakfast at the Boqueria Lunch (tasting menu) at El Celler de Can Roca Dinner (tasting menu) at Cinc Sentits Brunch at Cerveceria Catalana All that plus other little snacks made for a week of intense eating. If you've read this far, the rest is easy. An epic onslought of pictures is forthcoming.

Word.

my crystal ball says you may get your wish on both counts when Montrachet re-opens. ← Does this crystal ball have any sort of timeline? Unfortunately I will not be in NY for the majority of the summer, and I need to start planning my meals now.

I brought back some chorizo Iberico with no problems. Just a small vac package, didn't declare it, no problems. It's delicious. I'm not sure how a large hunk or leg would travel, however. It might make for a good, though somewhat risky, story.

Where's FoodPassion when we need him?

I had the pleasure of cooking for eG member MVN this evening. The scallop, egg, and squid dishes I put together tonight are pretty much the final evolution of those I've been working with for the past few months. As I wind things down in the coming weeks I want to come back at the end of the summer with new dishes to refine throughout the year. I still have several other engagments in the next couple weeks, but I figured this was a good time to share and reflect. Menu I thought I had posted a picture of this exact version of the scallop dish before, but it seems I hadn't. Nevertheless, what matters in this discussion is the flavor profile, as the presentation stayed largely similar. The last I posted on eG, I was pairing scallops with roasted cauliflower and braised dried stone fruits. I like using mushrooms a lot more because it really kicks up the umami factor and is a stronger foil to the herbal, bitter sweetness of the fruit. Egg My obsession with the egg has continued. In my attempt to tighten up the dish, I thought I'd pare it down but do so intelligently. I've paired just about everything with the slow-cooked egg both at dinners and on my own. Here, I have the egg topped with truffle salt topped with sottocenere (semi-soft cow's milk truffle cheese). The toast with truffle butter further solidifies this theme, adds texture, and serves as functional eating untensil. The Black Forest bacon I'm using now is a nice product; it's sweeter than the Nueske I had been using previously. I cooked the bacon in sliced chunks sous vide at 60ish C overnight. This cooking lightly solified the blocks so that they behaved as one piece of fragile meat. The thought here is that you pop the egg, you break down the bacon, and you get spoonable, scoopable bites. The bacon was broiled to crisp it slightly and the sugar in the glaze adds a lightly caramelized note. Squid The main difference in this dish is the availability of chorizo Iberico that I recently brought back from Spain. In the past I had been mixing smoked paprika into the beef filling, but the wonderful sausage significantly helped this dish. The mixture of wine, lemon, and pork fat makes for a better sauce than the garlic cream I had previously been serving. Lamb A newer dish I have yet to post on eG. Nothing particularly groundbreaking here. Sous vide at 55C for about 3.5 hours to get the meat meltingly tender. The rosemary honey takes the place of mint jelly. Cheese Unable to find ramps, morels, or peas, rhubarb was my spring ingredient of choice. Here a light puree was made and slightly thickened with a touch of xanthan to give it a smoother, more "dessert sauce" like texture.. At the rear is a raw pear chutney with a bit of ginger and meyer lemon juice. I love idiazabal and thought that the Cleron's inherent woodsiness would be a good transition from the pineyness of the rosemary in the previous course. Dessert Rum-roasted pineapple, passion fruit seeds, chai ice cream, all topped with mango foam. A lot of textures going on here. We had a bit of a problem with the mango foam (post-photo); things got messy. It happens.

Nice post, Jesikka. Just a few points, however. It's interesting how you note how you often prefer modern cooking to be "easy." Your observations on Alinea are largely on target, and this is something I have talked about with other eG members. For all the show and crazy service pieces, Alinea's dishes are relatively grounded in flavor combinations. Although some people will never get over the restaurant's showy fireworks (which I also love), it is fundamentally a more approachable restaurant that wd~50. Your point on Gilt is well taken, too. Liebrandt was trying to emulate something closer the French fine dining model where a three course meal could include upwards of ten different dishes. At the time I thought Gilt was totally radical in doing that. After a couple recent three star experiences in Paris I see that Liebrandt was simply following that formula. There remains nothing like that in NYC to this day. I would like to extend your ideas, however, and proffer that for modern cooking to gain a greater foothold in NYC, it does have to be much more accessible. And even more accessible than what Goldfarb is doing at R4D and Dufresne at wd~50. Both are still quirky restaurants that have yet to gain the unwavering admiration of somewhere like Ssam bar that everyone seems to love, regardless of their culinary convictions. Personally, I would love to see a mix of both types of places. More accessible places like Tailor that offer modern cooking at a moderate price point to a young, hip crowd. At the same time, I also want an Alinea in NY, the return of Gilt under Liebrandt, Kahn to do whatever the hell he wants. There is a place for the simple and fun little Les M liquid ham sandwich (which I recently had but felt was a little gimmicky) and Kahn's mushroom caramel or wolfberry plate (which I feel really push people to think about food in a different way).

Sounds like Chef Mason has put together a great team. In regards to rich's question, if it is indeed serious, I think it's quite clear that Bruni doesn't always make or break a restaurant. The real question I think, is whether or not New York is accepting of this type of cooking. In a small, casual venue like what I'm guessing Tailor will be, I think it will.

tan, I'm right with you on this one. I posted something to a similar effect on the Bruni thread.

Stuff like this makes me want to die. I don't even order bottled water but for a restaurant to ban it? Seriously? There's talk about a restaurant in New York by the name of Varietal that recently got slammed pretty hard hard for being too pretentious. To me, choosing to ban something as basic as bottled water is downright offensive. Claiming to have the environmental upper-hand/moral high ground makes almost as nauseous as the decision in the first place. Yes, there's the whole vote with your feet thing, which I'm a huge proponent of, but a decision like this just makes me angry. I won't be visiting Chez Panisse anytime soon so there's little I can do about this (besides post on internet web boards).

Trauma Center is soooo good.

Me too, I'm kind of pissed that thread got shut down. For seemingly no good reason. L'impero and Alto are good bets. Never been Felidia. You should be eating Japanese in that area, though.

But he didn't really review the desserts. His comments seemed like throwaways because he had to say something about them more than his usual schpiel. It was disappointing in that regard.

I don't think anyone has said Varietal should have gotten a higher rating.

I felt as though Bruni did fully evaluate the desserts as he did the savory offerings. He simply listed some of them, their ingredients but refrained from going into much detail. In a restaurant like this, I felt like this was an oversight. I also feel that he pigeonholed Varietal into a more pretentious restaurant than it is. Many restaurant have esoteric ingredients, stark interiors, and give thanks to farmers. Although it is clear the Bruni does not favor "gonzo" modern cooking, he also does not like anything bordering on pretentious on the "haute barnyard" side of things as well.

Just make sure to make resos if you plan on hitting some of the four-stars. And tell them you just want to eat dessert. This is probably easier at places with bars/lounges/less formal rooms such as Daniel, JG, etc.