BryanZ

When I tried to make some aiolli it turned out unpleasantly bitter; I think due to the garlic. I had to take what I made and mix that into "plain" fresh mayonnaise to make it taste good. Could this be because I was using old garlic? I can't think of anything else that might do it. Has anyone else had this experience.

Scharfenberger semi-sweet in both the ice cream and on the toast. It's good stuff. I made a couple batches of Sangria with some '03 California (Alexander Valley and Napa Valley) Cab Sauvs. From what I've heard (and personal experience backs this up) the really hot weather that year made for a collection of very fruit forward wines. So even though they were made from a "heavy" grape, the wine worked well with the sangria. We also drank a lot of beer, naturally.

Yes, Nathan, that's a great way to portray the service at Alinea. But the food at EMP is more traditionally elegant than at Alinea, thus demanding perhaps more "traditional" multi-star service. Just a thought.

Rich, I've read your posts in the thread "Service, does it matter thread?" and I do understand where you're coming from. I've actually restrained myself from responding on that thread becasue I pretty vehemently disagree on many of the points you mention. Then again, that's just me, and I do admit to looking into minutiae. Will it spoil my meal, no; but I do try to notice everything. For me, napkin folding or replacement should be a given at any decent restaurant. To bring this back on topic, however, I was more than impressed with their willingness to make the night a special and memorable one. The same can be said for their willingness to accomodate Bond Girl's request. To me, that's a hell of a lot more important than if they fold a napkin or not. And again, this place is so on-the-money right now, I can't recommend it enough. I just want to make that clear.

I was very pleased with how the recipes and ideas in this book played out in an initial run through. Results can be seen here. Jose Andres-inspired dinner party.

Yeah, we were thinking of walking out at that juncture in the meal.

I got a reconfirmation today that they'll be re-opening on the the fifth of September. Unfortunately, I'll be gone, but I wonder what kind of vibe they'll be getting in to.

Anyway... I stopped by Shake Shack right before a meal at EMP to pick up a kiddie-sized custard. The flavor of the day was fig; it was pretty awesome, if a little light on the fig. Again, this reaffirms my belief that the little cup of custard is one of the best $1.25 deals in the city.

Or you could just use an old industrial trick and throw in some xanthan gum or other thickening hydrocolloid. That'll thicken your salad dressing up right quick.

So I had a dinner reso at Gilt early next week. I received an unfortunate call today that Chef Liebrandt has moved on and they're in the works of training a new chef. They will not open until the beginning of September because of this. Anyone have any more details as to why the sudden change? I was supposed to go with the g/f for her birthday before we went back to school; now we're kind of S.O.L.

The more I eat out I'm finding that the salting of a dish is pretty much entirely dependent on the cook, who is in turn influenced by a wide variety of nearly random factors. One of the things I was most impressed with was the assertive salting of the dishes last night. And as I've stated repeatedly, I love salt with a passion.

I dined at Eleven Madison Park last night and was really floored by the experience. The g/f and I kind of planned this meal on a whim, having heard on the raves here on eG. Add to this the fact that we had two $24.07 coupons from Restaurant Week, how could we resist? The staff's courteousness has always been notable, but last night they were especially accomodating. As I mentioned, this meal was kind of planned last minute, as an addition to the g/f's birthday festivities. The staff noted this occasion graciously by giving us personalized menus and repeatedly wishing her a happy birthday. I thought this was almost over-the-top, but she ate it up and had a great time. This, however, brings me to a comment Sneakeater mentioned about the service and space not quite matching the now-amazing food. While I love the EMP room and the personable service, there appears to be a slight disconnect between the superlative elegance of much of the food and the nearly casual amiableness (that is a real word, I checked) of the staff. Our captain was great, funny, cute, very friendly, and able to relate to us from our shared young but food-passionate perspecitve, but for those looking for a haute dining experience, EMP falls just short. Sneakeater mentioned that Chef Humm's food deserves a jewel-like setting, and I wholeheartedly agree. Although the Summer tasting menu has had its praises sung many times over, I can't help but endorse it further. From the assortment of canapes to the Four Story Hill Farm veal, each savory course was more or less excellent/awesome. I did feel the cheese and dessert courses weren't quite up to the level of the savory courses, but I have no real complaints besides the fact that the cheese course was a little large and one-dimensional and the noveau-Nutella chocolate-hazelnut dessert combination has become a bit trite in the past months (kind of like the Concord grapes of last summer). The progression of the meal was as follows: Assorted Canapes Amuse 1: Seafood Ragu w/ Carrot Broth Amuse 2: Heirloom Tomato and Watermelon Salad Fantasy of Eggs Hudson Valley Foie Gras Turbot Scottish Langousine Cote de Veau Fromage Dessert Amuse: Cherry Ice Cream with Cherry Gelee Chocolate-Hazelnut Mignardises A couple minor service flaws included an instance where a napkin wasn't re-folded when the g/f got up from the table. This is most likely a result of the layout of the room and the restaurant's size which prevent the restaurant from providing the most intimate of service experiences. We tested them again (because we're cool like that) and they passed with flying colors. Also, the actual presentation of the dishes on the table (ie. the runners setting the food down) was a bit casual in execution. Finally, they forgot to give us bread and had to be reminded to do so. Obviously, these faults are very, very minor and in NO way hampered the actual enjoyment of the meal. So yeah, this place is pretty awesome now. From a pure food standpoint it pretty much trounces comprably priced tasting menus at Aquavit, Cru, Urena, and possibly even Daniel and J-G. This meal was supposed to be a warm-up for another birthday meal at Gilt next week, but I'm almost afraid the opener will surpass the supposed main event.

I would also suggest heading down to Madison Square Park; it's near Broadway. Tabla is good for a bit of the ethnic vibe, and the savory cooking at Eleven Madison Park is so on right now it's almost unreal.

Indeed, there is a lot of nice stuff in here. I enjoy how in many dishes he takes a very rustic, traditional dish and really makes it into something unique. I hope I can start doing this, too. I'm having a small Spanish-Cuban-themed dinner party in a couple days and will try do some things inspired by this book. Currently I'm playing with the idea of a haute version of Jose Andres' romesco that will look elegant and smooth on the plate to go with a vaca frita-style beef dish.

JG is now $14/plate and the minimum is two plates; servers will try to upsell softly, however. And yes, if you're looking for modern food in a elegantly hospitable setting, JG is THE place to go for a mid-day meal.

I've tried unsucessfully to get liquid nitrogen. No one at school was too willing to give me some, but I'll try again when I go back in a few days. Supposedly you can get it from welding shops or something, but I'm not sure how that would go over.

So I bought this book today. We'll see where it takes me.

I understand where you're coming from Shalmanese, but given my circumstances I'd say these are a compromise of sorts. I have grand designs in how I'd outfit my ideal restaurant with all types of service pieces and flatware but unfortunately cost is a signifcant concern. In addition, I'm trying to "sell" a unique experience to what will primarily be an unexpecting and relatively inexperienced audience. With this said, I want to make the aesthetic memorable, so even if the diner doesn't love the flatware they will be able to draw some sort of clear connection between the food, the hospitality, and overall vibe of the experience. As an aside I was wandering through the tableware and design sections of the International Gift Fair in New York today and was very disappointed with the flatware and service pieces. Even high-end design houses presented items that seemed to be "modern" as simply an end in itself, similar to the flatware we're discussing here. Nothing got me to exclaim, "Wow, that's a brilliant/new/innovative idea/design!"

I think he just wants to do something that looks like an egg yolk. Wylie has already done that, so watacetti can look at pictures of his "egg" dish for inspiration.

Thank you guys for all the suggestions. I think I'm going to send them to Angelo and Maxie's. While it's not dirt cheap, it fits the budget for the steak part of the meal, and it's up to them if they want to otherwise splurge on wine and/or sides. I looked into Tad's and it seems just a little bit scary, but the thought was right. If for some reason Angelo and Maxie's disappears off the face of the earth this afternoon, Tad's will be a interesting cultural experience for everyone involved. And for those of you who suggested Les Halles, it is, as Lucklies said, not 'merican. It was one of my first thoughts, however, until I was directed elsewhere.

I have a problem that needs a rapid solution. Some Japanese clients are in town for the International Gift Fair and want to eat "a big American steak" on the cheap on Tuesday evening. They're young salary men who aren't all that into food but simply want some kind of American steakhouse experience. While they'd be okay with something like Outback [shudder] I think we can do somewhat better. The restrictions are as follows: -Steak (can be a la carte but a veg or something would be a nice bonus) must be $30 or under. That's a firm restriction, so $32.95 won't cut it. -Steak must be "big" so no 7 oz. petit fillets. -Restarant must be easy to find so no higher than say 85th and no lower than around Washington Sq. Park. Obviously only Manhattan. -A reservation must be available for Tuesday evening. Doesn't have to be a prime slot at 8 o 9pm but normal dining hours would be appreciated. I appreciate any suggestions you might have. I know this is a tall order for an unexciting end product but I know you guys can come up with something.

I guess all this means the lines will be marginally shorter. I'm going to be brutally honest and say stuff like this doesn't really bother me. I'd still eat there.

Agar noodles you could prob transport. The spheres, however, will continue to gel even after you've rinsed them. If you're transporting more than a few minutes you'll have a gooey mess that's not too appetizing. I would suggest mixing the two components, the alginated mixture and the CaCl bath, and storing them in plastic sealable containers for transport. Then fabricate the spheres on-site. People will be amazed and dazzled and all that fun stuff.

I suppose I was inquiring if people repeatedly find themselves cooking from this book and if there are key concepts that can be carried into one's personal style of cooking. It seems that this is the case, but I'd love to hear from people who cook often from the book.

Carlovski, I understand where you're coming from, but cost is a major issue, unfortunately. These were cheap and fit the "vibe." I don't have a dishwasher so everything will be hand-washed regardless of whether it's easy to clean or not.