BryanZ

If I, as a manager, owner and/or chef of my restaurant would have overheard this, I would have had a serious talk with my steward that would have possibly resulted in him loosing his job. I think there's no harm in asking, and if you get served (your ID never checked and so forth) it's the restaurant's fault if they get busted. Again, the law is ridiculous. It should be changed back to 18 years, but as long as it isn't, don't get mad at servers or restaurants for not serving underagers. That being said, I agree some restaurants don't spend much time/resources in training their employees on how to deal with the situation. The server in Hawaii was doing the right thing, he just wasn't delicate about it. If the comps come and catch you drinking from your mother's glass, they probably won't care that the restaurant was correct before when they decided not to serve you. All they see is that there is a minor drinking, and management is responsible. Again, we don't know if they were being targeted by the authorities and feared a raid. Fact is, if the law says you should't drink, and for whatever reason the restaurant refuses to serve you (and don't even want you smelling the empty wine glasses on your table), then you should just deal with it. Now, if your issue is that the waiter, bartender and manager were rude and insulting (and you weren't), then you did the right thing. ← I completely agree with your statement. In the Hawaii instance, the waiter and management were incredibly rude in "upholding" the law in tone and action. They actually placed someone near our table to conspiculously watch us. I believe in tipping for service and I felt the service we received was inappropriate. We paid for what we had ordered and didn't feel the need to tip because the "service" actually made our night worse rather than better. The restaurant and server have a choice to uphold the law, and in doing so incredibly obtusely, lost out on increased revenue. In contrast, the EMP situation was handled less poorly (though I won't say well because he could've been more subtle about it or at least carded me from the beginning to avoid the awkwardness of setting down a glass, getting the wine, fumbling for that glass hesitantly, and asking about my age, etc). We tipped adequately, though we would have tipped more for good wine service (ie nice recommendations, insightful comments, etc) if it had been offered. I COMPLETELY agree in actuating democratic process to change many of the restrictive laws in this country that encroach on our civil liberties. Unfortunatley, however, this isn't always as feasible in practice as in theory (though I try to convince myself otherwise daily). Often times, I find myself having to rely on Sneakeater's stance that suggests that, before widespread legislative change can occur, some laws in certain circumstances will be enforced with less frequency, as their enforcement costs (in monetary and societal benefit terms) more than simply letting them go unenforced. The classic examples are driving slightly above the speed limit, engaging in sodomy in certain states in decades past, etc. For the millionth time, I have no problem with places upholding the law, as technically they are correct, but morally, philosophically, and economically these same laws are not always "right." Unfortunately, we can't talk too much about that here. ... yet you're asking restaurants to take the risk of getting an alcohol violation smear on their records (a very serious situation for a restuaurant) so that you can have a drink. Is this not correct? I'm just asking him if he doesn't see it the way I do, that he's asking the restaurant to break the law for his convenience and enjoyment, but that he wants the restaurant to take the risk, penalties, and consequences if they get caught indulging his request. ← I am asking them to take a risk*, I suppose, but I see nothing wrong with this. After all, they can deny me with the law on their side. But in return for the risk they gain the chance for a higher overall bill, a higher tip, repeat business, and happier customers. What we are discussing here is, after all, a matter of choice. The law is the law and if it happens to be enforced in a particular instance I'm not one to cause a huge scene. Only when I'm treated with disrespect is when I take things personally. Returning to the aspect of individual choice--one of the last bastions of uncorrupted good in modern free society--it is the server's/restaurateur's/proprietor's choice to uphold the law that SEEMS to be little enforced versus taking that aforementioned risk with the possibility of benefit. Again, I said that I know of bars, quickmarts, and liquor stores that would sell me alcohol but I CHOOSE not to purchase from them because I deem the risks too substantial. I assure you I've heard of many more instances where underage friends get arrested after walking out of a liquor store than I have of high-end restaurants being busted for serving underage patrons. Although simplistic, let me offer this economically-derived example. When ordering wine in a high-end restaurant risk is deferred from me, a good thing from my perspective. To simplify, if alcohol is a good that I need to obtain, the chance of my getting carded at a high-end restaurant is much smaller than at a liquor or wine store. From the restaurant's perspective, the posibility of getting busted for serving me is perhaps less than my chance of getting busted trying to buy from a normal store (on the Jersey shore and in NC stores have been known to call the police on minors trying to buy alcohol underage, sometimes locking underage patrons inside the store via a remote locking system). Overall, risk on the aggregate is mitigated. Then again, the restaurant could just deny serving me and risk dealing with the customer service consequences of that. *The risk on paper appears quite significant, as I do admit the punishments are severe. As Sneakeater points out, however, for the type of restaurant we are discussing the risk seems rather limited, otherwise EVERY other restaurant I've been to in NYC for the past four years wouldn't be doing it. If enforcement was widespread and severe, then restaurants of a high-calibre would have every incentive not to serve underage diners. That it's not means the restaurants have leeway to make a little more profit and with minimal risk to themselves and society. With just a bit of rational civil disobedience everyone wins.

Thanks, hjshorter. The duck was simply cooked on all sides in a pan. I've just been doing it this way for a while, so I kind of know what to look for. The key is to render out enough fat while cooking it to the right internal while not burning the skin. I vary my heat from med-low to med+ (not quite med-high) on my Viking. Rest for 10+ min. The quiche is chanterelle, shiitake, baby spinach, idiazabal, and parm reg. The custard recipe is exactly from the book. Percy, you may be right. Of course, I had left the pan with the chocolate sauce almost entirely off the burner on low to just keep it warm. While waiting for the profiteroles to cool, someone moved it back full onto the burner. It could've been slightly overheated in general. ETA: I should add that the tarte tatin was much better today. As it cooled and sat overnight, the apples firmed up slightly and picked up more zing. The caramel also tasted somewhat deeper. I'm still not in love with this crust, but I've found that on pretty much all tarte tatins I've had.

I never said the laws don't apply to me. In fact, I'm very aware of the fact that they do and never go to dive bars, buy beer at lax "quickmarts," etc even though I could because I am absolutely petrified of getting arrested and having some stupid alcohol possession smear on my otherwise clean record. In this way, the law works marvelously. That I'm able to dine at nice restaurants and am accustomed to ordering a glass of wine with my parents has nothing to do with class but rather habit and precedence. All I noted was that this has NEVER happened to me before in NYC, so I thought it shocking and slightly unsettling. The first time, as they say, is always tough. I should also note that most of the time I don't order alcohol because I don't like being in awkward situations, which I will explain later. Again, I have no problem with the restaurant upholding the law, but they kind of violated the widely assumed practice of "don't ask/don't tell"--I will also get to my feelings on this policy below. I understand that this doesn't making breaking the law any less illegal, but from the diner's perspective it was (one more time) shocking. My "expectation" was based on past experience and precedence not elitism, snobbery, classism, or my overall awesomeness (that was a joke, seriously). In regards to the bit on sharing with my mommy, sometimes it's not that easy. Please keep reading and I'll relate a wonderful story. Hope, not expect. Would I be surprised, in a place like EMP, if, say, my little brother was carded? Sure. But would I maintain that he should be served? Not on legal grounds. Would I make a fuss or feel that I had a right to be upset? Not really, though I'd probably be a bit frustrated (of course, I would feel better once I had MY wine - sorry, little bro). While I agree with many here that the law is ridiculous, I recognize that it is, in fact, a law, and also understand the proprietor's right to decline to serve underage drinkers. The risk may be minimal, but it's still a risk, and the law may be dumb, but it's still a law, and whether or not they would like to break it is their choice, not mine. My gratuity in the situation would therefore depend on the server's handling of the delicate situation. ← Exactly, Megan. I was a bit frustrated since I love Chef Humm's food so much and felt that my experience was slightly soured. Again, I have no legal grounds to complain, just the fact that our very expensive experience was perhaps not as nice as it could have been. Then again, the food was really great. I'm now going to offer a couple stories I've told elsewhere just to further illustrate the woes of trying to dine out while being underage. First, there was a time when I was with my family in Hawaii at a very popular, quite fancy restaurant that attracted a good mix of tourists and locals. The waiter took our drink order but refused to serve me because I was underage (maybe 17 or 18 at the time, that's not important). Fine, he's doing his job, it's a touristy place, I'll just take some sips from my parents' glasses. A little bit off-putting but I really have no problem with this. I've done this kind of thing at nice places in Vegas too where carding is VERY strict even at high-end places with no problem. But here the waiter comes by after my parents' drinks have been poured and I've taken a sip or two and asks me stop. I find this incredibly rude, as do my parents. We explain that my parents are simply offering me sips of their wine and that they have not served any minors directly. The server sulks off and returns with the bartender and floor manager who again say the same thing very condescendingly. By this time things have really gone too far so we pay for our food, don't tip and leave. The conduct of the restaurant was really out of line and we have chosen never to return. So sometimes sharing is not an option when you've got an incredibly overzealous staff. In cases like that, you've just go to cut your losses. Now, we turn to a very well-known wine-heavy restaurant whose name starts with C and ends with RU. Upon ordering a tasting menu for myself and the g/f, the wine steward comes over and starts asking us about wine, even after we've already steered away from it (though perhaps not as directly as we should have) with our captain. The wine steward seemed to be pushing wine, but I didn't want to risk getting in an awkward situation should he then card us and forever cast an air of awkwardness over the rest of the meal, which was again a signifcant investment for two kids. Anyway, I semi-aplogize and say I really want to try some fun stuff but am underage. The steward says that he would have served us, as would any other fine dining restaurant he knows of, had we not revealed our true ages. Again, "don't ask, don't tell" is clearly the standard at upscale restaurants in this city. I'm not even saying that this don't ask/don't tell policy is morally right, but to see it violated in contrast to my previous experience was (cue the broken record) shocking. Now, I'd like to direct your attention to another completely mind boggling law that some posters here will have already seen. This still shocks me: Madness!!

This was moved by the mod to the above thread, but since it's perhaps more applicable here, I'm re-posting. Pan, the length did seem a bit long but I only felt as if things were dragging for two courses. The first course came out nicely, so it wasn't like we were waiting around for things to get going. Again, this was an early reso, but if it had been later, I might've been less willing to have a four-hour meal. As a matter of comparison, a meal of a similar number of courses only took me 2.5 hours at Per Se. As I mentioned in that thread, although things were obviously moving swiftly (thought not overly so) I prefer knowing that my next course will be out in a few minutes and the next one a few minutes after that to waiting five minutes for one course, then twenty minutes for the next. I'm not necessarily saying this latter instance happens all the time at EMP, but it is more likely. I would also like to say here, in addition to what I said in the Per Se thread, that Chef Humm's cooking does compare favorably with the best in the city. We have noted here that Chef Humm strikes a marvelous balance between soul, creativity, classic technique, and deliciousness. After some very solid meals in the past few days, I fully support and wish to further this notion. My most memorable dish between Chef Kahn's amazing desserts at Varietal, Chef Benno's perfectly executed cuisine at Per Se, and Chef Humm's tasting menu is the Four Story Hill poularde dish with black truffles at EMP.

Thanks for all the recommendations so far. She leaves tonight and will certainly check out everything that everyone has recommended once she gets situated. I think the plan is to go to Maze with her father, who is flying out there with her, on the first night and just take it from there. Please do keep the recommendations coming. I will be sure she reports back here with feedback. She's really looking forward to finding some unique eats. If I may suggest one more "type" of place that she'll be looking for, it's somewhere a decent-sized group a students can go for drinks and a decent but cheap meal. I suppose this would be a pub or something, but we're really not familiar with this kind of thing. Thanks.

The book is indeed very enjoyable. Although I've loved my experiences cooking out of TFL cookbook when I've taken it out from the library, this book is more immediately appealing. The dishes, though traditionally simple, are challenging enough such that each recipe makes you feel as though you've learned and accomplished something. Here's the quiche I made from the other day. Again, not the right pan, but it was soo tasty. Tonight we did a slew of savory recipes and desserts. From foreground to back: Roasted beet salad, red onions, cara cara oranges (p.7) Duck breast, mustard sauce, wilted spinach (p.137 sort of) Cauliflower gratin (p. 246) (The asparagus weren't at all from the cookbook) The salad was nice and the red onions added a good bit of texture and alium. The cara cara oranges just added a bit of unique sweet acidity. The duck was very different than the book's, but I kept the sauce effectively the same. I added some baby spinach during the last minute or so of cooking. I slightly oversalted this sauce, but it was still very good. The cauliflower gratin was probably the best of the savory options. I added some leeks leftover from last night's salmon with leeks to the stem puree. Topped with parm reg and idiazabal rather than Comte. The velvety sauce/puree and perfectly cooked florets are a great textural match. Then a series of desserts we put together this evening: Creme caramel (p. 264) The weird thing about this was that the plastic melted a few minutes into cooking. I used Glad because it doesn't have plasticizers. After this mishap we topped the caramels with parchment paper, and carried on. Still, I found this puzzling. For the sake of comparison, I cooked a couple custards in my water bath very long and low. For some reason my bath was vibrating slightly (possibly b/c there was so little water) and this caused the caramel to become somewhat dispersed throughout the custard over the long cooking process in addition to being pooled at the bottom. The slow cooking yielded an even smoother final caramel that was just barely set. I preferred this one. The rest of my family preferred the slightly more traditional, more structurally sound version cooked in the oven. In both instances, we were very pleased with the texture. Tarte tatin (p. 276) I was least impressed with this dessert from the technical cookbook and taste standpoint. Tastewise, it was fine, but not spectacular. For some reason, it just lacked punch. The crust also was too thin and didn't add much to the dessert. From the cookbook writer's perspective, I was disappointed that they chose not to include a clearer picture of what the final dessert is supposed to look like. For those unfamiliar with tarte tatin, such as my sister who spearheads pastry operations at home, the printed instructions aren't that clear. A clear picture would have explained everything in terms of the placement of the apples and what the filled pan is supposed to look like. Profiteroles (p. 300) Making the pate a choux was a slightly harrowing experience for a first-timer. It looked like a really strange roux in the pot. The end result, however, was a very tasty puff that held our ice cream quite well. In both the picture in the book and mine, however, there is simply way too much ice cream to get the ideal balance between pastry, ice cream, and chocolate. We've got a bunch of puffs left over that will be filled with cheese and all sorts of goodies for snacks in the coming days. In terms of the chocolate sauce in the book, I found that it tasted good (we used Scharffen Berger 62%) but didn't fall in smooth ribbons. I'm not sure why this is, but it just didn't seem to behave correctly off the spoon. I'm so full now.

I've been continuing to cook out of the Bouchon cookbook with the rest of the family. Yesterday, we spent a couple hours knocking off a few recipes, today, more time on more recipes. I decided to take pictures for the sake of the Bouchon Cookbook thread but thought I'd post here, too. Again, I'm really unhappy with the image quality because my lighting is all off, but I do what I can. From foreground to back: Roasted beet salad, red onions, cara cara oranges Duck breast, mustard sauce, wilted spinach Cauliflower gratin (The asparagus weren't at all from the cookbook) Then a series of desserts we put together this evening: Creme caramel Tarte tatin My mother strategically placed that apple in the background, not me. Profiteroles Everything except for the ice cream was done in-house. For those interested, I'll be posting critical commentary on the recipes and results in the Bouchon Cookbook thread.

I've discussed this a lot elsewhere, but Sneakeater, I think you've got it exactly right. Yes, the law does exist, but since it is so rarely enforced in this type of setting, it becomes a judgement call on the server's part. It becomes a question of what the server's primary responsibility is. Is it to proactively uphold a law (in this case asking outright) that is rarely enforced or is it to provide customers with an enjoyable, stress-free dining experience. I take no issue with people who side with the former, but I personally subscribe to the latter. Yes, laws exist for the protection of everyone, but philosophically I believe that there are times when they can be bent or overlooked by individuals. There are consequences to this, yes, but again it is a judgement call that depends on what one's motivation or responsiblity truly is.

Got this book for Christmas and have cooked a little from it. We were inspired to buy it because of the quiche we had at Bouchon earlier last summer. Anyway, we've made the quiche, though in a shallow tart pan, which was crazy out of control good. We've bought some springforms, so hopefully they'll work. Also made the salmon with leeks and beurre blanc. A nice dish, though not that spectacular. It was made exactly how I might imagine. I do like the idea of only cooking the fish on one side, though this technique is certainly not for everyone. Also made the onion-fennel confit. I caramelized it somewhat because I wasn't paying attention, but it's nice to keep around for sandwiches, to put in custards, and to eat with cheese and cold cuts. The roasted chicken is sooooo delicious. We did the salted, as opposed to brined, bird and even I was shocked at the amount of salt he called for. Since our bird was about 6.5 pounds I used about 1.5 tbs. We served it with the mushroom ragout. The ragout was pretty typical as I would have made it without a recipe, but went very well with the chicken. The pastry side of this operation tried the lemon tart. In an absolutely inexplicable oversight they used a reactive aluminum bowl for making the sabayon. Now, we have a tart that tastes of iodized lemon. Mmmm, delicious. This recipe has the potential to be good, we just have to work on it. The pine nut crust appeared very difficult to work with and I found it a bit too crumbly and light. We'll be back to this recipe, though. I guess I'll start taking pictures of what we continue to make from this book. We've got creme caramels going in the oven as I type, and other goodies to be made for dinner this evening.

I have a question that perhaps you or others can answers. I think some discussion and exchange of strategies can help our collective buffet-experience. At many Chinese-ish buffets there are a couple of big ticket items, designed to draw in the crowds. Often times you see advertisements for unlimited crab legs, jumbo shrimp, lobster, etc. Unfortunately, these items are not out at all times, and when they are they're often replenished very infrequently. For example, your suggestion of hitting the buffet early doesn't always work in scoring these luxury items, as they're not even put out until later in the evening when more people are in the house. My question is how do we increase our chances of obtaining these items. Yes, a strategic post in the restaurant paired with a watchful eye can help, but what if those items simply aren't there when the restaurant advertises they should be? If dining early, can one ask for the luxury items that are usually only available later in the night. Similarly, can one ask a manager to replenish certain items if they've been absent for a lengthy period? Who should we ask, the manager, our server, a food runner? Often times language is an issue at this type of place, what is there to do?

In no particular order: Eleven Madison Park tasting menu under Chef Humm x2. The food here cannot be beat. StudioKitchen If SK is allowed to be on the list, the I'm going to say cooking for people at Z Kitchen. This is not at all to say what's served there even remotely approaches the calibre of cuisine or experience from the diner's perspective of the other restaurants on this list, but cooking for and serving people in an intimate setting is incredily enriching and enjoyable. Per Se tasting menu; the elegance of the experience is second to none Gary Danko tasting menu; a great female captain really made this meal special even though a couple of courses were actually memorably not enjoyabe. Aquavit tasting menu; whereas Chef Humm is NYC's big, underdog newcomer, the overall experience at Aquavit was the most unexpectedly enjoyable. Lunch at Jean-Georges (although no particular visit stands out in particular among my numerous lunches over the past couple years, the food is always compelling, the experience always wonderful, and the prices are such that that I can afford to visit more than once a year). Gilt under Chef Liebrandt. A year after this meal, I'm still bitter as to why this restaurant wasn't a success. I am anxiously waiting for his next NYC project. Dessert tasting menu from Jordan Kahn at Varietal. Honorable individual mentions: Quiche at Bouchon in Yountville, Sardines at Cafe Chez Panisse, foie gras at Gordon Ramsay at the London along with seeing Jean-Baptiste being Jean-Baptiste, Sugiyama for being able to share something resembling traditional kaiseki with the g/f without having to fly to Japan

Blowout meal at Per Se tonight with the g/f. We do one blowout a year--last year was a night in Chicago for the Tour at Alinea--so we thought we'd do Per Se, as the g/f has never been to a NYT four-star/Michelin three-star for dinner. The experience was a great one, but the food wasn't completely mind blowing. Every course was very tasty and perfectly executed, but it lacked the soul and personality (dare I say, point of view) of my meal at Eleven Madison Park from the night before. Per Se was far and away the better experience when the space, service, elegance, and overall quality are accounted for, but underdog EMP's highs were as high, if not higher, than Per Se's. Here's the menu: Service was as good as one can expect. Totally attentive, friendly, smooth, relatable yet refined. Overall, I still prefer restaurants where I can interact with one server in a more casual, friendly fashion, but for its type Per Se's service can't really be beat. Our meal was paced quite quickly--we were done in about 2.5 hours--but we eat quickly and don't really linger. I thought some courses came out slightly too quickly, and the fish course was actually served too hot for the g/f, but I'd rather have even, quick pacing than than wait around for interminable and variable amounts of time. Per Se is able to put out dishes so fluidly because of its relatively small size and few choices. Interestingly, however, I saw a couple otherwise identical dishes go out on different china with different platings. The components were the exact same but they were definitely arranged differently. This was puzzling. The Oysters and Pearls is such a classic dish and was, predictably, a highlight of the evening. Creaminess, saltiness, and brininess are rarely matched so well. We did both the heirloom beets and the foie between us. The beets were as good as can be expected though not transcendent. A great example of a beet dish but not necessarily more; I would've like some cheese to give it more body. The foie was very, very tasty and more "meaty" than any other torchon/terrine I've had. It seemed to really taste of duck/duck fat. I'm not sure if this had to do with the quality of the foie or the preparation. The apple chutney was actually a highlight of the night for its texture and convincing use of winter-y spices. The texture was like a firmer version of the salmon cornets and rather than using acidity or bitterness to counter the foie, it used nutmeg/cinnamon/clove notes. We got the nice but kind of strange "brioche turn" and thoroughly enjoyed the dish, but I don't think it was worth the $40 surcharge. The Loup de Mer was actualy quite similar to the snapper dish I had at EMP the night before. This was a lighter, more acidic take that was very Jean-Georges-esque. I may have enjoyed the EMP version slightly more for its addition of sweetness, but this was the more elegant dish. The vegetables added the slightest bit of crunch and as the perfectly cooked fish yielded some of its fat and juices it really balanced the acidic lemon vierge sauce. This dish grew on me as I worked through it, and I was sad to see it go. The sea scallop was pretty huge and had a great, dark crust on it, though I couldn't pick up on any herbal notes in the scallop itself. I really, really enjoyed the progression across the plate from subtle, vegetal, salty celery coulis to sweet and root-y tender celeriac, to rich and satisfying mushroom puree. Between this mushroom puree and Chef Kahn's mushroom caramel I've got a whole ton of umami I can unleash in new ways in my own dishes. My favorite part of this dish was the yam puree. More than any other component of the entire night, this tasted exactly how it should have and was a prime example of "yam." To me, this focus is a very Keller trait. The duck itself was damn tasty and I can't say anything negative about the rich duck jus. In the meat courses especially, Keller/Benno's kitchen has talent for creating extremely rich, sop-worthy animal-based sauces. The rack of lamb was another great example of a typical fine-dining lamb dish executed extremely well. The garlic and tomatoes adding enough sweet alium notes and acid to balance the rich lamb and jus. Another sop-worthy course. Although I really enjoyed both the duck and lamb dishes, the proteins themselves did not particularly amaze me. These dishes were prime examples of strong technical cooking driven by great ingredients and conceived under a watchful eye. Everything tasted as if it belonged together, but the dishes did not at all venture out on a limb. As I have alluded to and others have noted, I find that Per Se is great for an occasional top-notch meal but the cuisine is reluctant to push the boundaries like that at other, "lesser," restaurants. I'm not sure if this is a knock at Per Se or just simply a reflection of how my own tastes have changed. Two years ago I was enlightened by a meal at Per Se that ultimately led to my current fascination with modern cooking. Today, I loved the experience but wasn't moved holistically by the food. Certain elements were special and eye-opening, but there is more exciting cooking going on throughout New York. I don't know, however, if a better overall restaurant experience exists in the city. Perhaps if we could get Chefs Humm and Liebrandt to team up in Per Se's space with its staff. I'll let Chef Achatz continue ripping up Chicago; the Second City has to have somehting going for it. The cheese, desserts, mignardises followed and were enjoyable but not revelatory. The quality and quantity of post-savory offerings is unmatched at anywhere I've ever been, but at that point in the meal it seemed like too much. I felt this on my previous visit, too. We were too full for coffee and kind of nibbled at the offerings while letting the food, wine, and view sink in.

I had the opportunity to partake in another of Chef Humm's tasting menus tonight as my prepenultimate meal of the holiday season. This was my third meal under Chef Humm, and it was a good one. Things have changed slightly since my last visit at the end of the summer. The restaurant continues to become more elegant with improved bread service including new warm gourgeres and cheese brioche, slightly more attentive service from the backwait, and the ever-improving cuisine of Chef Humm. In addition the tasting menu has grown in written length but there are fewer amuses. After the canapes, you get right into things. Overall, I'd say this is better because you end up getting probably one or two more more "serious" dishes. A la carte diners still get the seafood-y soup-y thing before receiving their selections. Unfortunately, the space still doesn't feel quite right for the cuisine. I still love the room, but I would rather eat Chef Humm's cuisine in Jean-Georges or Gordon Ramsay where things are more intimate. The low point--it wasn't THAT low--was our server who seemed to be new. You could tell he was trying hard and therefore the service experience wasn't quite as smooth and seamless. The meal started on a somehwat stressful note when he took my and my mother's drink order but upon bringing the glasses for wine would not serve me because I may not technically be 21. So, yes, he does have the law and all that on his side, but this has NEVER happened to me, and I eat out a ton. For one, I'm with my mommy, I'm not getting wasted. Secondly, back when I was like 17 or something I felt the need to aplogize to the wine captain at Cru for not ordering wine at a restaurant known for it because I was underage. He flat out said that the unofficial, official policy for good restaurants was one of don't ask, don't tell. Needless to say I was thrown off my game, as I may have known persons who may have been underage who may have enjoyed many a great glass of wine while dining at EMP, but with that unfortunate event behind us, the meal began. I'm interested to hear what people think about this. Here's the menu: I love the Fantasy of Eggs dish, but it wasn't as good this time as on a previous occasion. As others have mentioned, the egg yolk in two of the three dishes served to us was overcooked. Rather than mixing deliciously into urchin broth/foam, I had to cut through the yolk with my spoon. This was a little bit disappointing, but the flavors were still on. The pink beet cube (more so than the more traditional golden and red varieties) in the salad course was really special. A different kind of sweetness than I'm used to when eating beets, and I eat and serve them frequently. Of course, this could have all been in my mind since I so enjoyed the pink color, but I'm going to say it tasted better, too. Things really picked up with the scallop ceviche. A great balance between salt and acid that still maintained the dish's harmonious, fine-dining air. The geoduck clams added a nice bit of texture. The foie was cocoa was a good dish, but perhaps our least favorite of the savory. The cocoa added a bit of bitterness and saltiness, while the quince gelee supplied a subtle amount of sweetness. Little bits of candied quince upped the sugar and acid in small bursts. Again, this was good dish but comparatively not as good as the others. I liked the more traditional torchon I had at Ramsay last month and the bruleed foie at JG last week more. At the red snapper dish, things start getting out of control good. The red snapper dish was one of the better fish dishes I've had this year. The snapper was nice and crisp, perhaps an itty bitty bit overcooked but I'd take that any day for skin this crisp. The highlight was the interplay between the fennel puree/confit and the olives--in the candied and sauce Vierge form. There was also a sweet puree beneath it all that could have been persimmon or citrus-infused, I'm not sure. This dish was so tasty and the flavors just came together beautifully. An excellent, four-star dish. The lobster was perhaps the most interesting dish of the night. The veloute had apples and bananas (Thomas Keller, eat your heart out) in addition to the lemongrass and was topped with an at-the-table drizzle of kaffir lime oil. Three nice chunks of lobster were served out of the shell in this broth. While I would not eat lobster like this everyday, this was such an interesting and bold play on flavors that I have to respect it. The banana was a really smart way to bring out the sweetness of the lobster but was grounded by the lemongrass and kaffir lime notes. Another great dish with added points for creativity. I love everything Four Story Hill. I'm by no means a great chef nor am I one for celebrity farmers, but this hasn't stopped me from trying to get product from them. Chef Humm's poularde is an improved version of another truffled-poularde dish I had at EMP for lunch earlier this year. This time black truffles are stuffed in the breast and little cubes of truffle dot a potato mousseline. The dish is sauced at the table with a truffle jus. This was sooooo good. I'm guessing sous vide since it was so amazingly tender. Again, soo good. Probably the best poularde dish I've had in memory. Sooo good. Sooo good. Sorry. Usually, I'm disappointed by final meat courses on tasting menus, as they usually put a few slices of meat on a plate with some red wine sauce, some starch, etc, etc. In fact the only final meat courses I can remember clearly are Chef Humm's veal from a tasting menu earlier this summer and a beef dish at Per Se a couple years ago--and one at Aquavit that I remember because it was disappointing in comparison to an otherwise awesome meal, so we won't count that. Anyway, this course didn't quite measure up to the ones preceeding it, but it was still better than its competitors. A red wine puree, was a fun and surprisingly tasty take on the mediocre sauce I have come to fear. Ironically, I don't remember any trumpet mushrooms and I think Cheff Humm left them off in favor of the puree, or maybe they were just that forgettable. The venison was amazingly tender--another SV application I believe due to the even coloring, too--but tasted like beef, much like all venison served in this city. Desserts were good, but not great. I'm not sure if Chef Kaplan is still around, but they were still very "her." The pre-dessert of Satsuma tangergine was actually bordering on very good but could've been more refined and more acidic to serve its purpose in the meal. The chocolate souffle was that. It was fine, but I'm getting bored with chocolate at the end of meals. But then again, even Jordan Kahn adheres to this age-old trend. Our meal clocked in at 4+ (6:30-after 10:30) hours. Too long but not unbearably so. I would've liked to see things move at a more even pace as some plates were sent out very quickly while others had noticeably long waits. EMP, more particularly Chef Humm, is special. I know it's become something like a foodie favorite in the past months, but it's still worth checking out for the first time, or again, or again again. Ignore the flashing cameras of fellow diners, cavernous room, and not-quite-perfect service and timing and enjoy food that hits all the high notes of the big boys. I've got Per Se tomorrow, so we'll see how Chef Humm stands up to the biggest of the big.

First of all, I have to say not having eG over the past few days was tough. I went through major withdrawl. I've got three great meals to report that I've had in the past several days. Here's the first. I stopped by Varietal on Wednesday night for a few savory bites and to jump into Chef Kahn's creations. I'm something of a modern cook in one of my other lives so having Chefs Stupak and Kahn now in New York (in addition to Chefs Goldfarb and Mason) is incredibly exciting for me. Although I have yet to try Chef Stupak's work at wd~50, I was thoroughly impressed with Chef Kahn's at Varietal. I think Varietal has the most exciting pastry in the city and to me some of the most compelling. Although I make no claims to having any kind of expertise in pastry at all, Chef Kahn's desserts really spoke to me in a powerful way. In an attempt to not sound so shill-worthy, I will say that Varietal is not necessarily an amazing restaurant, despite the significant talents of its pastry chef. The savory offerings were good, sometimes very good, but nothing was completely transcendent. Our server was a really nice guy and very accomodating, but a couple minor issues kept the service from being truly top-notch. For one, there is a definite drop from the captains to the supporting waitstaff. Although this is true everywhere, I felt it in particular here. In addition, our table wasn't crumbed after our savory courses although it clearly needed it, and they failed the "napkin folding test" when the g/f left the table mid-meal. These are very minor complaints, but the kind of stuff I notice. It was also refreshing to see modern china that wasn't Bernardaud (although it appears the Mikasa Maxima line is effectively yet another take on Bernardaud Fusion). And there are really, really cool knives. Anyway, I digress. Overall, I predict a Bruni deuce, especially given his more traditional leanings. The crowd here was also quite young, younger than most at this price point. There were a couple times when the g/f and I feared we weren't the youngest couple in the room. Thankfully, these suspicions proved false, but just for context, the the table next to us, the g/f and I, and our sever had a nice conversation about Justin Timberlake's SNL "Dick in a Box" skit--please watch this. Stuff like this doesn't happen at most of the places we eat. The g/f and I had an appetizer each and split and entree. Then, Chef Kahn entertained us by doing two separate four-course dessert tastings, allowing us to sample most everything on the menu and two off-menu items. I'm usually aprehensive to ask for this kind of treatment, as I know it throws off the kitchen, but I wanted to try everything I could. Again, I can't say enough about Chef Kahn and his creativity, flexibility, and overall coolness. He came out to chat with us afterwards and was very easy to talk to. Sam Mason now has some competition when it comes to piquing the g/f's less-than-wholesome desires. For appetizers, we had the "baby octopus, olive oil poached, sunchokes, salsa verde" and the "venison, Szechuan peppercorn seared loin, sheep yogurt, soy roasted quince, chesnuts." Both of these were very solid dishes and tasted damn good, but they were nothing all that new. I really enjoyed the baby octopus and thought it was a well executed and conceived dish, but it didn't move me. This isn't criticism at all, just in contrast to the pastry to come. I actually found the venison a little bit less enjoyable but more interesting. The soy roasted quince had a very interesting, deep, salty flavor and the yogurt brought a nice amount of acidity to the dish. Unfortunately, I didn't taste the Szechuan peppercorns on the venison itself. For our main, we shared the pork, roasted & cider-tobacco braised belly, celery root puree, baby collards. This was a good dish that could've been made very good with via sous vide for the roasted loin component. The loin was cooked very nicely and had enough flavor but was simply not tender enough. A little bath would've eliminated that problem and would've brought the loin to the level of the very tasty and meltingly soft belly. I think I tasted the tobacco, but I'm not sure. The desserts simply must be tried, as they're much too complex to analyze in this type of setting. With that said, I found myself wanting to apply many of Chef Kahn's individual flavor profiles and condiments to my own savory cooking. At times, I felt as if individual components did not stand out as much as I would have liked, but this did not necessarily detract from the dishes themselves. The only dish we were not able to try was the "Celery Root Abstract"--due to a kitchen mishap according to Chef Kahn--with the already infamous cherry wood ice cream. I suppose that's reason in itself for going back. My favorite dessert was probably the "Wolfberry, lime sabayon, tonka bean, broken macaroons, ketjap manis." The textures and wide variety of flavors in this dish was really astounding. The ketjap manis is such a cool condiment, I want to use it on everything; think savory licorice or something. The mushroom caramel on the "Chocolate Gel" was also incredibly tasty as it combined sweet with umami in a very clear but appealing way. Visions of this with pork tenderloin are dancing through my head. The "Absinthe" was the only dish that I wasn't in love with, primarily because of a bad experience with the stuff that still makes me nauseous to this day. That Chef Kahn was able to serve something absinthe-like without triggering nauseous seizures is a testament to his abilities. The "White Chocolate Cubism" is a beautiful plate that speaks more toward my aesthetic leanings, but I must say that Chef Kahn's plates are more striking in person than they are in pictures. Please go, support modern cooking; it's easy with pastry this tasty. Although people have given a lot of shit to Chef Goldfarb for being too out there or something totally untrue like that, it is Chef Kahn's dishes that require more attention and an open(er)-mind. This is not to detract from either chef, as they're both clearly doing their own thing, but as more modern pastry perspectives flow into the city hopefully more people will be willing to explore.

I have a friend who will be studying at University College London at the University of London for the next semester. To put it briefly, she's looking for all kinds of places to eat convenient to her area of the city. She comes from the New York area so she's a very experienced diner and eats pretty much anything. All cuisines are fine. Obviously, she's looking for some good local, neighborhood joints that are pretty affordable, but is able to splurge on meals if they're worth it. Since I'll be spending a week in London with her in March, as much help as possible in assembling a list of solid restaurants, markets, etc would be great. Obviously, there's Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road--we just ate at his new restaurant in New York--the Fat Duck all the way out in Bray, etc, but what else is there that we don't hear about in the media. Her dorm will be at 36 North Row, at the NW corner of Hyde Park, right next to the Marble Arch tube station. So, again, we're looking for specialty markets of all types, solid gastropubs, a great sandwich shop or creperie, and a few Michelin-starred establishments. Quite the range, I know, but if it's in the area or easy to get to, go wild. The student's budget doesn't necessarily have to be considered explicitly but rather as a means to guide the "vibe" or "feel' of the places she's looking for. Thank you so much for all your help. Should any of you ever need New York or, umm, North Carolinian suggestions, please don't hesitate to ask me. As an aside, how might one get to the Fat Duck cheaply and without too much hassle? Taxis seem prohibitively expensive.

The "lite" aspect of Perry St. refers not necessarily to the heaviness of the food--not many of JG's dishes are heavy in general even in the flagship--but rather their somewhat simplified nature. If you've had JG's food before and you're into his forays into the bitter, spicy, and sour ends of the flavor spectrum you'll be okay at Perry St. If you want like the opposite, try to do lunch at Ramsay. Does A Voce do lunch?

This idea was also brought to my attention by someone reading this thread. Flavors are not always best extracted with quick bursts of high heat. Although that may work with teas and herbs, most stocks and such start with cold water and long-cooking. I know that's not exactly apples to apples, but it's worth considering.

So Bruni's Sasabune report was right on I thought. It reads like a two-star food review (which the restaurant is) but he gives it one star for the restaurant's quirks (of which it has many). Bruni comments on many of the aspects I noticed were unique based on my recent visit. The efficient but not overly welcoming servers, the temperature of the rice, the strong use of vinegar or citrus on certain pieces, occasional pieces sloppily presented. Bruni has been all over the place when it comes to Japanese restaurants, and from the prose itself this reads a lot like his "two star neigborhood joint" reviews, but he understands the restaurant well as one that is perhaps not for everyone. Again, this review seems incredibly premature, as Kenji suggested that he might begin to offer cooked offerings in the next couple months, but it does sum up the overall feel of the place.

Buy the tamis. I use it for EVERYTHING.

This seems like a cool idea, but I'm not entirely sure what you gain by doing it. Granted, I haven't seen results, but aren't you effectively driving off water to make the powder only to reintroduce it via the espresso machine? Would the flavors be purer than simply making a quick beet (or whatever broth) and straining through cheese cloth?

Going tomorrow. Will pay particular attention to the desserts. Is it best to spend the majority of my funding on the sweet side of things? Recommended dishes, sweet and savory?

What kind of jeans? If she dresses them up she could do JG. Perry St. wouldn't be a problem at all. Drinks at The Modern are still feasible, too. I'm sure your wife can pull it off. It's something like a compromise.

Tried the super low method of 200F. I thought it was fine and certainly yielded pretty results but the meat didn't seem as tender this time around. I think it was more to do with the quality of the meat than the method itself. Just for reference, it was 4 lb. boneless rib roast, dry-aged in-house for five days, trimmed, then seasoned with S/P, garlic, and thyme. Roasted at 200 for a few hours until I hit 118. Rested for about an hour, if not more, while I was throwing together the rest of the meal. The temperature stablized at 129/30 for quite a while. This method seemed to result in less rendered fat for Yorkshire puddings, which I guess makes sense since there's less harsh heat to render out the fat on the outer layers of the rib eye. After the 500+F blase for about eight minutes I rested about another ten minutes more while I was getting everything on the table. Again, the doneness was very even thanks to the low temp, gentle cooking process, but for some reason this roast wasn't as tender as I would have liked. The flavor was on though.

Can you take us to the beach? Please.

Stopped by Sasabune for a very nice dinner tonight. Sat at the counter, did the omakase thing, then ordered a couple extra pieces, etc etc. I have a lot to say even though this is a very small, very simple restaurant. First of all, I'm not one of those "I'm so downtown I don't go above Delancey" types, but 73rd and 1st might as well be Newfoundland. At least we didn't have to walk through Times Square, which was a total zoo later on in the night, on the way there. To say the space is modest is putting it lightly. Some may say that it gives it a more "Tokyo side street" feel. Others may liken it to a strip mall sushi joint. Take your pick. Anyway, with the standard sushi bar greeting out of the way, we were served immediately, even before tea, water, or other drinks were offered. I thought this was kind of weird since there were only two other parties in the restaurant, but it's clear they like to keep things moving, more than any other sushi bar I've been to. After taking a moment to decompress and obtain some of the aforementioned beverages, we began feeding. I stole our "fish receipt" so I actually know what we ate. Sashimi - Albacore sashimi with ponzu - This was very tasty. Salty, buttery, acidic, and slightly sweet. The only problem was that there was seriously at least 4 ounces of fish on the plate. It opened the palate but, even for me and my ravenous appetite, it was too much. Furthermore, this dish is listed at $12 and could have easily been shared by two diners. Then the sushi barragge began in very rapid succession. If you think things move along at Yasuda, then get ready for warp drive here. This wasn't so much a problem for me and the g/f since we eat at warp speed, but other diners were kind of letting the pieces sit for a minute or two before actually going at them. Tuna - yellow fin and blue fin chu toro Yellowtail - loin (toward the "back") and belly Kanpachi Salmon - Scottish with kelp and sesame seeds. Interestingly this was my favorite piece of the night and I requested a second one. Salmon is always tasty but often boring. The kelp added a nice bit of "green" salt and the sesame seeds a nice bit of nutty bitterness. Scallop - Creamy, sweet, damn good. Though I missed Yasuda's sea salt and yuzu treament. White tuna Fluke- Caught off the coast of Boston. The daikon-chili topping on this one really added a nice bit of bitter spice to this piece. Spanish mackeral - More assertive pieces suck all the more in the mediocre sushi places making good versions all the more satisfying. Obviously, this was satisfying and one of the more recognizable varieties offered. Bonito - Similar to the mackeral, another fish that is ignored in medicore places but was nice here. Both the bonito and mackeral had a bit more texture and chew than most of the other pieces, in a good way. Black cod - This was cooked and topped with the sweet eel sauce. A nice piece that was rich and warm and offered nice contrast between the others. Oyster - A pair of Kumamotos from the the left coast. I loved slupring them up, then biting into the the briny goodness. Crab roll - Here blue crab was used, which I thought was interesting. I think I still prefer the more typical snow or king crab preparation, but this more "rustic" preparation was still very tasty. Kenji then asked if everything was satisfactory and if we had any requests. I requested oh-toro and uni only to find out they didn't have any that day. I was heartbroken. To clarify, he did say that they had some uni but said he'd rather not serve it because he wasn't getting the best stuff from Catalina because of weather. Not sure if I buy it, but at least he didn't serve me what he deemed an inferior product. So instead, I got another piece of the aforementioned salmon, some wonderful ama-ebi (sweet shrimp), a piece of fresh water eel--very good but not as memorable as Yasuda's--and a piece of aji. Was it more than I needed? Yes, but all the pieces were tasty in their own right. The damage for the sushi and a shared small carafe of hot sake, including tax and tip, was $105 per person, about what we expected to spend. Service from the support staff was fine and generally efficient but not really evocative of true Japanese hospitality. No complaints other than tea and water glasses that could've been filled more frequently. That and paper napkins. Why?! In critically assessing the sushi itself, however, I still find myself without a New York sushi restaurant that truly blows me away. For me, Yasuda hit the transporting level from time to time and Sasabune slightly less often. Although the quality at both is very good to excellent, I find problems with both. At Yasuda I feel that the fish is cut too thinly and isn't quite in balance with the rice to my preference. At Sasabune, the hot, heavily seasoned rice (lots of salt and vinegar) sometimes overpowers the fish despite his more generous cuts. At Yasuda you sometimes find yourself wanting just a bit more fish to accentuate his great rice. At Sasabune you find yourself wanting the rice a little tamer to let the great fish really shine. Sushi experts will cringe at this, but I sometimes crave the gargantuan slices at Tomoe just so I can really get into the fish part of the game. Yes, you're right, I should be eating sashimi if that's what I want, and I agree, but that extreme example kind of exposes the feeling I've experienced at both Sasabune and Yasuda. Sushi is technically about the rice, yes, but it's the fish and the inherent balance with that that keeps me coming back for more. I'm going to end this pissy sushi rant on a good note. I really, really liked the fish quality at Sasabune, despite its somewhat limited selection and its having to compete with the rice. Not a single piece was a clunker and for this I am grateful. Regarding another popular topic of discussion when dealing with top-level sushi bars, Sasabune admits to serving different meals and charging different prices to Japanese vs. non-Japanese customers. For some background, I had my mother call to make the reservation (in Japanese) for me since I thought I'd have a better chance of securing a chance at the counter if they thought Japanese patrons were coming. When I had her call back to confirm the reservation she started talking the reservationist/host about the rough price of the omakase. The host plainly explained that they serve different things to Japanese patrons and more basic items to non-Japanese diners. When my mother revealed that it was not her coming and instead her white-looking son and his very white-looking girlfriend (pardon the ethnic reductionism) they said the chef would only serve us the more tame omakase. For the first visit, the reservationist claimed, the chef wants to observe how open patrons are to the restaurants offerings. A similar thing happened to me at Yasuda. Damn my white father. Damn those stubborn Japanese sushi chefs. If there is some justice in the world, it lies in the fact that Japanese customers do have to pay more for their more unique offerings, not less as supposedly happens at other top establishments. Furthermore, toward the end of the meal I upped my Jap-cred and was served an extra course not served to another, less engaged party at a table behind us. But then again, we had to pay for that extra course anyway. You win some, you lose some.