BryanZ

The great amount of respect I have have for your understanding of (food) science just took a severe and perhaps irreversible nose dive. Figure out what Adria is doing with that new spherizing agent and I might forgive you.

I kill a package of the stuff in a day or two when I'm home, so, like your friend, I have the uni-fever. I do agree with Russ, however, that it is difficult to really get the uni flavor to come through without using a lot of it. Anyway, here are some ideas. Slow-cooked egg (preferrably in a water bath but poached would work too) with uni and a light cream broth made with cauliflower or artichoke or something. Mini arancini with just a basic risotto and a couple uni tongues in the center of each. They'd be a bitch to make but would be really tasty I think. I like the stuffed pasta idea, but I think you want to do small shapes. Again, since you need a lot of it to get that quintesstially uni-y flavor, you want to minimize the pasta. Vadouvan (in a foie gras ravioli thread) has suggested rolling out your dough super thin and fortifying it with high-protein flour. You just need to find something else to mix the uni with to make the filling. I've thought about the uni custard but it seems like it'd get lost in the egg. I think the soft-cooked egg might be the subtler way to go. You're on your own with the ice cream.

While some of the "Wagyu" steaks I've eaten in my day were certainly jokes (bad ones), the Wagyu from Lobel's and craftsteak were certainly not. I'll say it again, though, I prefer prime to Wagyu... ← I did not mean to imply that great American or Australian Wagyu beef has not been available. Rather, 99% of what is served/sold here under the Wagyu (or, spare me, Kobe) moniker is pure hype. And I've not had an American or Aussie Wagyu steak that was as life-altering as what I've had in Japan. Preferences between feed, aging, etc are just that, preferences. Real Japanese Wagyu is really, really cool stuff.

Dessert like petits fours or real dessert? What are some of the entree choices?

The good ol' Bruni ethnic/neighborhood eats deuce.

The charts, the charts, the charts. That's a great story though. Sounds like the kind of crazy process I go through when I'm experimenting with new stuff.

The link that ejebud supplies gives a good approximation of what good Wagyu looks like. Though I might suggest that the detailed picture they give of a marbled strip "from Japan" (on a different section of that site) has too many large veins of fat. The best Wagyu I've seen is completely even in fat patterning. It's been discussed ad nauseum on these boards but "Wagyu/Kobe" beef in the states has been a total joke for the past several years. Don't buy it, it's nothing like the real thing.

Cabs are lame. Just have the SO bring a pair of flats that she can throw in her purse then make the switch to the Jimmys outside the restaurant. Or hire a car service.

I should note that over at Mouthfuls (top of page 6 on the GR @ The London thread) another diner noted the crazy lady who stormed the dining room last Wednesday. They were less amused than we were. I think it will be interesting to see how the restaurant deals with separating the spaces. A restaurant with this much hype will undoubtedly have people that want to see the dining room and denying them would seem like bad form. Then again, if you have people who are clearly out of place, what do you do?

American "Wagyu" is hardly different than good USDA Prime. Now that we can get Japanese Wagyu in the states you're better of splurging on that and getting the full experience. You're going to have to go mail-order and research well.

If you're looking for a bar-like dining experience, only cooler, go to Bouley Upstairs. It's relatively cheap and, like at Gramercy Tavern front room, you'll probably end up waiting for a table, too. I'd also suggest the Bar Room at the Modern for a very New York chic but casual dining experience. Upstairs and the Bar Room are radically different from one another, but both are much cooler than GT tavern room.

LOL, indeed. The results were nearly laughable but still tasty. Pretty much everything that people said could have gone wrong, did. By taking it apart as I did, I do think I damaged it too much structurally. As a poached torchon, it was fine, but maybe it was the intense heat of the oven that kind of made it fall apart, despite the fact tha I rolled it pretty tight. I also took it out of the oven too early so the doneness wasn't quite even. Think liquid foie outside and still cold inside. Again, I was using grade A and the shape was nice and even, but having not worked with truly top notch foie I can't compare how vein-y this was. I ended up serving the foie on crackers with some sour cherry relish (that was really good). Let's just say this whole experience was a learning process. Until I can figure out what I'm doing and afford really great foie, I'll stick to poaching and searing slices. For now I've got some leftovers that will make a tasty breakfast.

I'm guessing that's 475F. That's in contrast to what Chef Johnny says though and apparently he's worked with TK extensively. Oh boy.

Yeah, low internal temps don't bother me, especially when I'm just cooking for myself and family. As for that sous vide/fry recipe that sounds really interesting but 60C for foie sous vide seems way warm to me. I've done foie at that temp, waiting for the internal temp to stabilize at 60C and found it way runny. I guess the freezing nullifies that; I don't know. I don't have my baths with me here so sous vide is out for today. Does anyone have a rough time I should using to roast my foie torchon? Again, low temps don't bother me, but I want to minimize melt out while at least warming the center. I can't decide if I should do 250F for a longer time or 400F for a shorter time. Which will be less prone to melt out and disaster?

As my girlfriend said last night, "I'd do Ilan, but I'm not sure he swings my way." While it's relatively easy to come up with cool ideas, executing them for the first time, without outside help or research, for a group of highly discerning judges can be intimidating. I know I wouldn't be able to come up with a recipe for sweet potato madelines off the top of my head, and terrines are so prone to failure if you're not confident in your technique. Still, I agree the food was disappointing.

Given ChefJohnny's experience I'm incliined to trust him. So here's my problem with this foie gras preparation. First of all my deveining technique sucks as it is. I've read the resources, looked a diagrams, etc, but I've never been taught by someone who knows how with an actual liver to work on together. Furthermore, I'm too anal to let the small veins I see just go. I know you don't HAVE to take them out when doing a whole roasted foie, but if they're there I, personally, HAVE to remove them. When I make poached torchons I end up passing the whole thing through a tamis to make sure there are no veins at all. The end result is a foie that's rather mangled and now resting in the shape of a torchon rather than a whole liver. Not exactly what I was going for, but I'm sure it'll do. I'm also not sure if the quality of the foie I was working with today was all that great. Even though it was grade A there seemed to be more bruising and blood spots that usual. Perhaps there were more veins, too?

Really, I had no idea. I could've sworn that Chef Ramsay has called him a frog on his shows, but maybe that's every other French person/thing he encounters. You'll have to excuse the length and meandering nature of my review. There was a lot to say, and it was late, and yeah. I think GR is fine restaurant with mass appeal. As I said, I wasn't blown away but found the food and experience to be without major fault (save for the bread). Given that this is safe food, I think it will remain popular with both the NY dining cognoscenti and tourists, as Chef Ramsay is perhaps the chef who best balances his media image/brand with the restaurants to back it up. Add in the central location, and I can't see the restaurant failing. Should it get four NYT stars and three Michelin? As of now I'd say no, but that doesn't mean it will have failed from a business perspective.

You don't mention if the leftovers are still in the bag or not. If they're out of the bag, it's like any other cooked meat product. Still in the bag, somewhat different. Either way, if they were chilled soon after cooking you'll probably be fine. I've not yet died.

To make a long story short, lunch at GR was a solid NYT three-star experience. These are not Bruni stars, but rather my own. I've not had better a better version of this style of food in New York. With that said, nothing completely inspired or enlightened. The best was simply really, really, really tasty and perfectly executed, but I was never in total awe. This to me signifies a three-star experience. With that said, dinner if elevated just slightly could move into four star range. And with Bruni awarding three stars to Cru, Country, Del Posto etc, GR blows these restaurants out of the water. With the star business out of the way, I'm going to ramble on about this meal. Talking about food, service, and other less significant musings. First, the room is quite attractive if not completely striking. Tables are very well-spaced, giving the illusion of a dining room that feels bigger than it actually is. The swiveling chairs make me wonder why other restaurants haven't come up with this before. Ingress and egress are actually made that much easier. The rotating wall panels aren't that cool. One side is like marble green, the other an etched wood. I should also note a very small detail that the dining room isn't completely finished yet. If you look up at the molding, one section actually isn't place, so you can actually see the occasion wire up above. Just a minor detail I noticed, kind of like sections of worn carpet at Jean-Georges that also bother me to no end. Service was quite good, if slightly unorganized. Nothing was wrong by any means, but I felt somewhat unsure as to who I should be asking for certain things. A couple people dressed like captains stopped by at various times to see to some issues while we were helped primarily by what seemed like a backwaiter not part of the British staff. A couple minor miscommunications and quirks also kept the service from being truly top notch. When I wanted only to order two glasses of wine right off the menu our captain went immediately to fetch a sommelier. Although I made it clear that I knew what I wanted and wanted to order immediately (to go with the canapes), he still made us wait to place the order from the sommelier. If anything, he was probably being over anxious and wanted us to have a better wine ordering experience, but I also feel like any member of the floor staff should be able take a simple request without having to search out someone else. They passed the napkin test each time, but only refolded and did not replace. Again, not a problem but an interesting choice. Bread is really not good. Like shockingly not good for a restaurant of this caliber. Two types, neither all that interesting. I was severely disappointed since I love bread so much. At least the brioche with my foie was tasty. Another amusing occurance was that of the flying crumber. While crumbing the table, with great gusto I might add, our backwaiter lost grip of her crumber. It proceed to ricochet between of two glasses and lodge itself magestically in our butter. She apologized, we laughed. It broke any remaining stiffness between her and my party for the rest of the meal, and it appeared she invested more in our table after that. As I mentioned, this is simple food, but it is very well executed. I went in not knowing what to expect--my personal tastes shade toward the modern but numerous Michelin stars count for something--and ended up with reaffirmed faith in a style of cooking I previously found boring. Chef Ramsay's cuisine is quite different than that of his NYC rivals; it's far heartier for one and relies more on a synthesis of deep, enriching flavors than striking contrasts (JGV) or laser-like focus (TK). Vadouvan noted that the appetizers outshone the mains and desserts, and I would certainly agree. The foie ballotine is a beautiful plate both in appearance and on the palate. The artichoke veloute and trout were also very, very tasty if not completely memorable. The same could be said of the mains of lamb and rabbit. Both were incredibly satisfying "restaurant food" of a very high calibre, but months from now I won't remember them. A plate of dourade with sweet corn and fig gastrique was more memorable probably because its flavors were radically different than those of the lamb and rabbit. I really enjoyed my pear and chocolate dessert; a chesnut puree with milk gelee was also tasty and thankfully not too sweet; the coconut sorbet with tangerine was different than described on the menu, as a couple components listed were not present. We did not receive the same number of extra courses (only the duo of canape spreads and an amuse of white bean soup) as Vadouvan, but then again we're nowhere near as cool. Whores of Chef Ramsay's UK television shows like myself will undoubtedly notice Jean-Baptiste (not that imposter Jean-Phillipe from US Hell's Kitchen) manning the dining room. I'm guessing he's the GM right now, because he was moving throughout both dining rooms and seeing to many business-related manners rather than schmoozing with guests. He's the cute Frenchman and the g/f has the expected crush on him. In an amazingly entertaining series of events, much of the GR FOH staff dealt with a very eager and very out of place woman on her own self-guided tour of the main dining room. Walking in a flannel shirt, backback, "trainers," and baggy jeans she proceeded to engage several members of the dining room staff about the menu, room, and mignardises cart. How the hostess ladies did not intercept this woman is beyond me, but the staff in the dining room entertained her graciously. J-B, upon reentering the dining room and seeing her, does something of a double-take and ever so sweetly and encouragingly, with a guiding hand, escorts her out of the room after her thorough inspection. He then proceeds to close the frosted door between the London Room and the main room that had remained open for the previous two hours. He utters something in French and puts on quite the bemused face. It was endearing. So I hope everyone's visit to GR can be as eventful as mine. While the restaurant was not eye-opening in the intellectual sense, it was immensely satisfying. How it will stack up to Bruni, Michelin, and its four-star competitors, however, remains to be seen.

Betty so needs to go. All in all the food was so disappointing. With only five people in the elimination challenge it was clear that the producers and Tom wanted people to stop trying to blend into the middle of the pack and encourage more creative cooking. Still, Carlos and that damn salad. Roasting squash, cutting mire poix, for four hours? Give me a break. Marcel also disappointed me with this challenge. I was expecting more. A cranberry gelatin mold with cranbery foam? The foam had no role in the dish. As a rule, foams are for emphasizing lightness, with the thick cranberry gelee already there it seemed more style than substance. And why call it a "thermal immersion circulator?" Colloquially it's just a water bath, and for an application like that you don't NEED the it. Wrapped well in plastic, poached at 160 with a decently close eye on the thermometer would've more than sufficed. If they weren't provided with thermometers, however, then that's a slightly different story. I liked Ilan's sunglasses.

Just returned from lunch. All-in-all a great experience. Traffic throughout Manhattan is not fun right now, so that put a slight damper on my day, but I have no real complaints about the restaurant. I will post a full report later tonight. For now, I will say that GR is already executing at a level higher than but a select few restaurants in the city. The food is not ambitious in itself but the execution of it is so on point that it almost makes the food seem more ambitious than it is. I'm still full and tired from the drive, so clarification will be coming later.

Sweet potatoes with brown sugar and butter and marshmallows are actually a pretty new thing for me. I was never served it as a kid so only in the past couple years have I been made privvy to that cloyingly sweet but delicious combination. I keep it simple with the just three aforementioned above ingredients, but I do think it's tasty and will be serving it for Thanksgiving for the second year in a row. It's retro, kinda gross in concept, but damn tasty nonetheless.

Food and prices are good to very good and certainly a welcome addiition to the area. The $25 three-course dinner is an ample amount of food and fairly priced. Service is good, but I've found the location is terribly understaffed. Simple things like water glasses not being refilled and silverware not being replaced are pet peeves of mine and unfortunatley happened too often on my visits. I'm ambivalent toward the waiting/call-ahead policy. Either do one (no call-aheads) or the the other (all call-aheads with a couple tables saved for walk-ins). I wasn't impressed with desserts. Would like to see more wines by the glass and perhaps a revised wine list that explains some of the flavor profiles of these somewhat obscure French wines. If I could order wine, I wouldn't know what to order and monopolizing the few servers as we talk over wine isn't something I'd want to do. I may sound like I'm being overly-critical, but I really like this place. It's got the same local, great food of the Federal, only much classier. Come next Thursday I'll post my full review.

I saw that note about being on time, too, but I think that's entirely fair. On another note, I'm going tomorrow for lunch and am very excited. I've eaten in the casual bar room of GR's in Japan on the second day of its opening. I found the food well-prepared but very simple. Service there was top-notch, but that could be more a result of Japanese service ethic than the Gordon Ramsay training program.

I'd like to roast or poach a large piece of foie gras (at least a pound) for Thanksgiving but don't know how best to approach this task. I've only cooked foie gras via searing, sous vide, or stuffed inside of pasta. I know Keller has a method in his cookbook, and I will try to procure a copy in the next day or so, but I'd love to hear advice from people here? Which method yields better results? If I poach, what should I poach in? I know gerwurtzaminer is a popular choice, but I'm assuming I should cook off the alcohol first or dilute it somewhat. If I roast, what seasonings besides S+P, and what temperature for how long. Since I'll want to keep it whole should I just devein it roughly, removing only the main veins in each lobe? Should I even devein at all? Naturally, I'll soak it in milk to draw out any impurities but what other prep goes into a whole foie preparation like this. Thanks for the help.