BryanZ

Seriously all I had were eggs and potato chips. It was meant to be.

I quickly threw together the potato chip tortilla today to surprisingly good results. I used Archer Farms (Target brand) kettle cooked sea salt and black pepper chips about six eggs. Came together quite well, I must say. A pleasantly tasty surprise and soo easy.

Do we know anything about the production processes of these holiday blends? More importantly, do we know what they taste like? JohnL, Vadouvan has given us some background, now we need the first hand results.

If only Bourdain had met Stephen last season. I dream about encounters like that.

Not to hijack this thread, but there is a thread on methocel. Vadouvan is right in that the precise geling temperatures make it the gelling agent of choice for a delicate application like this. I recently came upon a wealth of methocel information and I'm quite certain the methocel would word well here. Incidentally the reason I'm all talk and no action is because my samples are in transit as we speak. Dow was kind of hard to get a hold of but supposedly they'll be here early next week. Now all I got to do is find a good source for some foie around here and I can give your recipe a whirl. Is the wheat gluten to give the ultra-thin dough added strength during the fabrication process?

Paula, did you happen to note what the "club" menu was or included?

This was my exactly thought as I read through the original post. "Why not just bind with some methocel?" I'm glad at least some of my ideas make sense. Actually doing the above, however, is very different than simply coming up with the idea.

I believe shipping is included in the approx $283 price for the case. I'd say you've got the right idea, though. The WF stuff won't be bad, and when you you buy a case you can do a true comparison between all three types.

Just finished cooking for detlechef and the rest of his party. I think the food turned out quite well even though I was serving a couple dishes for the first time. Here are some technical notes for those interested. For the "couscous" dish I took Wylie's shrimp couscous and made a version with both shrimp and squid. I then tapas-acized it by placing the couscous on top of roasted piquillo peppers, goat cheese, and chorizo. I sprinkled some toasted almond powder on top of the whole thing. I feel like while this is a fun dish in theory it might literally be too dry. I'd like some sort of light sauce to bring the dish together (literally and figuratively). Perhaps next time. I also went higher on the pork belly than I usually do from about 65C to 70C; kept the same 48 hour cooking time. As expected the texture was more braise-like but still maintained some structure and textural meatiness. Anyway, I'd like to thank detlechef for coming in and offering his resources and insight as a true professional to someone with much less experience. Perhaps he'll post here, but I've been informed that he's been known to spend some time on Chowhound. The shame, the horror.

I am indeed down with the uni. I ate an entire package last weekend while I was at home. That idea is great, though. I'd pair it with some sort of silky seafood bisque to play with the smoothness of the oysters and to contrast with the crunchy bread. I'll try to bring some down the next time I go home, but it's quite fragile and perishable. I've yet to find a source down here. For those interested, a night at Z Kitchen was profiled in the Independent as part of the DISH issue. Here's a link. And here's an excerpt. What would I do without eG?

The addition of the balsamic should work well. I've made a version of Batali's recipe and it turned out quite well. Make sure your pasta is appropriately delicate and thin.

Manni is sooo tasty. I'm guessing this is in NYC because I've never seen it in WF locations in Jersey and N. Carolina. I would be skeptical though, since it's probably not his one of THE two blends. Can you take a picture of the bottle or find it online?

Look in the miror ← Indeed. Seriously, though, in this context it means looking forward and experimenting with food. Beyond that it's really just a catch phrase of sorts, a way to set myself apart from other people holding private dinner parties in their apartments. It's a competitive market. I would consider the likes of Minibar, El Bulli, et al truly hypermodern. I'm just employing modern and novel techniques to make my food more interesting and thought-provoking. Many ideas I come up with myself, many others come from other places. On the aggregate it's fun and innovative, but somehow that doesn't have the same ring as "hypermodern." Here's a menu. Tomorrow's diner hasn't seen the v.2 last-minute changes yet, so hopefully all will be okay.

What do you have in mind?

If only life were that easy.

This is a more accurate statement. The portions of antipasti and pasta were smaller, however, than the a la carte portions. There was some degree of literal monetary savings. I'll discuss this further below. This raises a point that, while off-point to this thread, picks up on a comment Bryan made in another thread that I found interesting. I'll just say this here, and if any discussion develops we can start a separate thread for it. Bryan, you said in the Perry Street thread that you don't like to order a la carte but prefer tasting menus (the unavailability of one at Perry Street being a reason you'd defer returning). Accepting oakapple's correct observation that the $49 menu at Del Posto is a prix fixe rather than a tasting menu,* does this fit into your preference? If so, what is it about a four-course prix fixe that makes it seem more attractive to you than ordering a traditional four-course Italian meal a la carte? I can see that multi-course tasting menus have the advantage of letting you sample a large number of dishes that you expect the kitchen selected because they are believed to show the kitchen's cooking at its best (with the concommitant disadvantage that portion sizes can be too small to permit you to fully savor each dish). But in my experience, the only advantage of prix fixe menus over a la carte is price. The component items often seem to be chosen more for cost and universal palatability than for any esthetic reason. (Unlike tasting menus, prix fixe menus almost never seem to feature the most interesting dishes from the a la carte menu.) From the totality of your posts, I can't believe it's a question of cost. Much less an inability to choose things to order. So what is it? So the main advantage is price in this case. This wasn't really a "special occasion" meal; we simply wanted to try Del Posto for ourselves and judge accordingly. You're right, I could just as easily have gone with the expensive tasting menu, but I am a student after all and like to spend my money on meals I KNOW will be good or interesting. This was more an exploration and trial, so to speak. Getting the prix fixe in this case featured smaller portions so that we were able to add more pasta courses, effectively turning our meal into a tasting menu that allowed us to sample more dishes. Based on the quality of the meal I would definitely return and order a bunch of pastas, but probably would not order the full tasting menu. (emphasis added) At least over the summer (and I haven't heard they've ended it), there was a similar four-course $49 prix fixe available in bar area (but, unlike this new Sunday menu, not the dining room) during the week. ← The bar prix fixe menu is now $41, I believe. I don't think there are any choices, however.

The new menu seems to be a mere shadow of Gilt's former incantation. If anything the bar sliders sound like the most appealing thing on all the menus.

We were stuffed. But, Daniel, you should know that the g/f and I eat far more than what is advisable, healthy, or even considered normal. When I was at Del Posto, the vibe was much more calm than my meals at Babbo. When I dine at Babbo I always request to eat upstairs since the main floor is just too dark and crowded. Del Posto was a lot more sedate, but this was perhaps due to the fact it was a Sunday night. Sneakeater, you're right, it's not in the middle of nowhere, but it's far from the area I usually hang out around. I love how Babbo is right off Washington Square Park, so walking from the 14th St Path station to Del Posto was not as enjoyable a walk. And yeah, L 'Impero is really in the middle of nowhere; the area is more pleasant, however. Finding that place was a bitch, having to walk up those stairs from like 42nd St or whatever.

The service problems aren't all that bad when you consider that, outside of the expensive tasting menu, this restaurant is no more expensive than Babbo and much cheaper than "comprable" French/New American restaurants. The captains and assistant captains are good at what they do and everything flows well, it's just not remotely close to four-star levels on the aggregate of the service front. One thing I forgot to mention in my report was that the space is not nearly as cavernous and sterile as people have suggested and lamented over. The ceilings are high but I thought the room was still welcoming if not cozy. When you consider that a restaurant like Urena charges the same or more, you can appreciate the the space Del Posto provides. Granted, it really is in the middle of nowhere, like seriously.

Dining at Del Posto on a Sunday evening is a great way to experience the restaurant, despite the cheesy Sunday-only, all-Sinatra soundtrack. As others have mentioned, they appear to drop their prices on Sunday--the a la carte menu prices were lower than those on the website--and offer a basic tasting menu for $49. The g/f and I decided to partake in said economical tasting menu with an additional taste of two pastas for each of us. In the end, it was a very substantial and enjoyable meal for just under $100 p/p. We only ordered one glass of wine total, but had I read this thread more recently perhaps it would've been wise to ask for an on-the-fly wine pairing. A table next did something like that, splitting glasses throughout the course of their meal with the help of their captain and the wine steward. While much of the food on the Sunday tasting menu was good and sometimes very good, the two best dishes of the night were the extra pasta dishes ordered. Perhaps we chose well, but the spicy crab spaghetti and zuchinni blossom raviolini with rabbit ragu were standout dishes that reminded me how good Batali pasta can be. The garganelli bolognese lacked lasting impact and the cress and bean pesto with the potato gnocchi lacked depth of flavor. Both were good but perhaps inferior to similar pastas at Babbo in "soulfulness." While service was friendly and competent, it was not nearly at four or even three star levels. Runners had no idea what they were serving, and the assistant captains and captains only made rare and seemingly random visits to describe the dishes. This was true across all tables I observed. All direct questions about the dishes met with acceptable responses, however. Presentation of the food itself at Del Posto is perhaps where the restaurant is most lacking. I understand this is supposed to be cucina rustica or something like that, but if a cook can't hit the center of the plate when plating pasta something is wrong. I know this doesn't fundamentally change the flavor of the dish, but it does affect one's initial impression and overall enjoyment. Quintessentially Italian touches like the lardo served with the bread are great, stray drops of sauce or oil on plate rims are not. Besides dramatic roasted pieces of meat and fish, the presentations were often haphazard and sloppy. The amuse, two not-quite-the-same-size sticks of fried eggplant and a randomly placed spoonful of tomato coulis, was evocative of the visual impact much of the plated food had. Detractors who say this restaurant is overpriced are largely misguided. At least on Sunday, Del Posto a la carte is no more expensive than Babbo and offers a much more elegantly sedate experience. While I might prefer the atmosphere and overall experience at Babbo, getting a reservation is such a hassle that Del Posto is highly substitutable alternative. The Sunday menu isn't listed on the website so I'll transcribe it briefly here for those interested. Salumi misti, Erbazzone, cantaloupe (house-cured meats, spinach tart) or Rucola, barbabietola, triple cream goat cheese (arugula, beets, goat cheese salad) Garganelli, ragu bolognese or Potato gnocchi, string beans, wax beans, cress Pork loin, cipolla riplena, roasted black figs (roasted pork loin with onion and fig) or Artic char, grilled vegetables, summer truffles (I didn't see any truffles) Apricot Cassato (bake meringue, gelato, and an apricot broth)

Just like I started the Stephen Aspirino fan club last season. I hereby proclaim the formation of the Marcel Vigneron fan club. Cooks at The Mansion, into MG, young, and has both a sweet name and goofy hair. My kind of guy.

Theoretically if you're holding it at 63C it shouldn't have any carryover cooking. I have noticed for some reason, however, that the longer the eggs are in the bath, say over 1.5 hours, the less runny and more pasty they become. I'm not sure if that's a result of having an inaccurate bath or something else. Nice dish though, Percy.

In completely unrelated news, it appears that Paul Liebrandt is the high bidder on this infamous eBay Pacojet. Paulieb76, I'm pulling for you. ETA: I just realized that some of you might not know who Chef Liebrandt is. Besides being a huge inspiration of mine, he recently was the chef at Gilt, New York's only hypermodern fine-dining restaurant. Now it appears he's surfing eBay and buying up Pacojets.

Against the advice of many a wise eG poster I headed to Country instead of The Modern for my sister's birthday. Those of you who have read any of posts on eG know that my tastes skew toward the new and much of the food I have been cooking and serving of late falls into that genre. Therefore, when choosing between the two restaurants I decided I wanted to try somethign "unusual" for me, a classically elegant dining experience. In the experience category Country does quite well. The room is elegant and lively. The service young but polished. From that perspective Country infuses a bit of energy into what is ultimately a classical upscale hotel restaurant. Before I proceed, let me make two notes regarding the hotel front. First, the good. If you're driving as I did, try to make private arrangements with the valet captain out in front of the hotel's entrace. A simple enquiry about the nearest parking lot for dinner led to our car being parked right on the curb in front of the hotel for the duration of the dinner for less than what it would have cost to park it in a nearby garage. If you enter from the hotel side there is no clear signage or greeter to direct diners to the upstairs dining room. The bar was crowded and only upon chasing down a passing server were directed upstairs to the main dining room's host stand (the stairs are somewhat obstructed from view from the hotel/bar entrance). Other parties experienced similar confusion; this was not the most elegant way to start an evening. The food here was solidly good, but rarely very good. Again, my tastes skew toward the modern but some of the combinations, especially in the more seasonal dishes, were almost laughable. They tasted fine, but a dish of pumpkin ravioli was swathed with an ample amount of cinnamon, nutmeg, and what seemed like a maple syrup-based sauce. A matsutake mushroom risotto featured said mushrooms for their season-appropriate piney aroma alone. These appeared to be younger specimens that lacked the depth of flavor (in addition to the piney aroma) that I've encountered in matsutake dishes consumed in Japan. Finally a fricasse of pork included various portions of the animal served with chesnuts and another rich and sweet sauce. In many ways it was an autumnal overkill. Dishes that I most enjoyed were very good but not unlike those of at a host of other "nice" New York restaurants. A scallop dish with capers and cauliflower was one of the standouts of the evening but not as good as the Jean-Georges version it was clearly inspired from. A foie gras terrine with grapes, pomegranate, and pear was tasty if a sliced a little thinly and not awe-inspiring. A soup with kumamoto oysters and a fritter of American caviar was perhaps the highpoint and most creative dish of the evening. A whole poached quail was an interesting method of preparation, but I think I prefer the more prevalent grilled or oven-roasted-until-crisp varieties. In what was a somewhat amusingly tense moment for my party, I had mentioned that we were celebrating my sister's birthday, and at the sweet juncture in the meal we were unexpectedly presented with a large cake with a thoughtful chocolate "Happy Birthday" plaque. While this was a thoughtful gesture, we also thought it might be an expensive one, as a cake like that could easily have gone for $40+ in a restaurant in that category. In the end, the large and surprisingly tasty slices of cake we received were gratis. Next time, I'll ask for a happy birthday cheese course. All in all, Country provides an enjoyable dining experience that rises above the quality of the food itself. This is good restaurant food with an excessively seasonal bent but a lack of creativity. A safe choice, an elegant choice but not a particularly impactful one. ETA: Here's an analogy. Country is what Eleven Madison Park could have become had it upped the elegance quotient but maintained its cuisine in its recent makeover. Instead, EMP went toward the refined and modern thanks to Chef Humm and is a more successful and enchanting restaurant because of this.

The Pacojet pitch didn't go over too well with the 'rents. Maybe another time. As an aside, I think I'll be picking up a case of Manni olive oil in the coming weeks. So yay for that.