BryanZ

What cut of beef and for how long did you cook it?

Cous cous? Please.

Is mochi "cheese," just broiled mochi cakes? Also, is this place new? I could've sworn it's been open for a long time. Perhaps I'm confused.

Me too, me too. I've enjoyed reading your impressions of New York, gaf. The breadth, depth, and detailed accounts of your culinary experiences have in turn influenced the dining decisions of many an eG'er, myself included.

I'm not sure if weight is weight, so to speak. It might be that the alginate from Will Powder isn't 100% pure or the Rubber Chef stuff has extra additives. Or maybe there's batch variance from the crop of sea weed (or is it algae, I forget) the powder was extracted from. Possibly different extracting methods from different sources.

Shoot, I may have been proven incorrect. I think you're right; good catch.

That's curious because I've found the alginate from Will Powder to be a strong thickener in itself. Strange.

A very interesting idea, though I'm not entirely sure what the end product would be beyond the theoretical description you provide. Beef noodles have been made before, though from what I've heard, they're not spectacular.

Great post jancris. I have some questions and comments. By the way, I've thought of using a marinade injector, too, but I've got my own home-made shiboriki-type aparatus. Anyway, my problem is that it seems to set up really fast once the TG is mixed in and becomes almost gluey. This makes it seem like passing through the tamis would be very difficult. I've heard Wylie say the same thing, and I don't think he passes it through the tamis based on a couple of my experiences with his product. What if we added more water or liquid to the paste either before or after tamis-ing? Would this make them smoother still? Are you using any other kind of binder, like egg whites? Do they set up on their own? Are you still passing through the tamis? How do you do that?? I haven't had the shrimp cous cous at wd~50.

Another definite thanks. It's amazing to see the progression. It's also amazing to see how the dishes from late 80's still are quite innovative today.

This blog continues to be so elegant and pretty. Great food, too.

Somehow this just seems very Daniel.

This reminds me, I forgot to post my version of shrimp noodles I made just a little while back. Shrimp "noodles," tomato-horseradish emulsion, nori strips And a burger of USDA Prime ribeye, bound with TG, from way back. Nothing new under the sun here, just a practical application. chefjancris, I'm wondering what you used to extrude the noodles. A nice dish but they look a little thick to me. My problem is finding some way to easily extrude thin, delicate noodles. In general I've found TG to be a good but not great product. Granted, this probably has a lot to do with my lack of skill (haven't tried to make meat spaetzle or cous cous yet). It hasn't quite changed the way I cook the way I thought it would. It's still cool, though.

This will be like its own mini-blog. I'm pumped.

Recently had lunch here during Restaurant Week. Even during this "B&T extravaganza" the food was markedly improved from previous meals I've had here. The poached chicken with black truffles was one of the tastier things I've had in the past few weeks, and I've been eating VERY well.

While I'm not sure how much this post has to do with cooking, I couldn't agree more, especially on the pork fat part. I've done the vegetarian and vegan for a few weeks just to see how it is. I like my meat.

By fat do we mean creamy substance with some fat in it? Is this why the powdered caramel works at Alinea because of the milk in caramel?

Welcome to the club skidude72. It's not nearly as easy as it looks. Pounce, the idea with freezing and double dip is very interesting, though I doubt there would be enough alginate on the surface to create a firm enough gel that would actually encase the liquid when it finally melted. I would love to be proven otherwise. In other news, I had some bad luck with a mango orange caviar. The lower pH did seem to have a noticeable effect but if the Texturas demo was doing it then there's no reason why it shouldn't work. They sell calcium citrate as part of their kits so they have no reason omit mentioning it as an ingredient. Like the rest of you, I'm quite confused.

This is so spectacularly bad ass, seriously. I'd offer to help, but I'm too far away. You shouldn't have to peel the outer skin of the truffles, but you will likely have some trimmings left over. I might suggest making a truffle infused stock. Given the amount of time and truffles your have, I would probably prefer that.

Thank you everyone for everything, the birthday wishes, the suggestions, the encouragement, the thoughtful discussion. This week has been a lot of fun and I'm glad I've been able to share it with you all in this blog. I want to ensure, however, that people do not think this is how I eat all the time. Rather than a daily account of my usual eating habits, this blog sort of became an hyper-compressed encapsulation of my food-focused life in the form of my travels, my ideas about food, the types of restaurants I enjoy patronizing, and my voracious appetite (both in the literal and figurative sense) for seeking out the best possible food experiences. I realize that I'm fortunate for having the opportunity to do all this but also for being able to share it with an audience of like-minded people who remind me what I'm all about isn't completely insane. With that said, anyone who happens to stumble across this blog or who has missed proceedings of the past week should feel free to look back. I've tried to keep this blog from becoming too esoteric, so anyone may easily jump in (or back) at any time; I hope you all agree. Again, it's been a blast. Thank you. I'm twenty now, but, to be honest, doing this blog has kept my mind off that fact. I look forward to seeing you on the boards and perhaps doing another blog in the future about my dining life at school and (hopefully) the development of Z Kitchen down in the South. Until next time, take it easy. ETA: Go and enjoy Ann_T's blog now, she does some great stuff in the kitchen.

So this is the last major post I'll be making in this blog. It's been a great week, capped off by a great meal. I'll do my best to stop by one more time tomorrow morning before my time is up. Now, Gary Danko. . Any excellent meal by any standards. If I'm being hyper critical I put it just a notch or two below New York City's four-star restaurants because of a slight lack of formality (perhaps a plus for some) and a couple not-stellar dishes. We each orderded five courses. Stupidly, I forgot to ask for a copy of the menus at the end of the meal; I was too full. Let me also add that the menu here is HUGE. We kind of felt like we were ordering off of one of the take-out Chinese menus with literally hundreds of options. The sheer number of dishes offered scared me at the beginning (and perhaps with good reason). Let's begin. An amuse for the table of Thai coconut soup Me Softshell crab, capers, tomatoes, basil Seared foie gras, brandied cherries, baby greens Roasted lobster, chanterelles Wild bison, black pepper gnocchi Chocolate souffle, creme anglaise, dark chocolate sauce The real deal. None of that warm chocolate cake stuff. The Sister Corn soup, summer black truffles, ravioli Lobster salad, tropical fruit Spiced tuna, piquillo peppers Moroccan spiced squab, cous cous (aka the cous cous explosion!) This was one of the rare clunkers of the night. Too much cous cous, not enough squab, kind of just a big mush. It didn't taste bad but the amount of cous cous was just ridiculous, especially this late in the meal. In general, we found the mains to be the weakest point of the meal throughout and the portions for these mains were WAYYY too large. Cherry and chocolate sampler The Mother Glazed oysters, osetra caviar, zuchinni pearls (aka "Oyster and Pearls" a la Gary Danko) It even looks similar to the original. Horseradish crusted salmon Breast of guinea hen, Spanish rice, piquillo peppers, clam ragout, caseless boudin blanc sausage (a deconstructed paella) This was the best of the mains we had and a cool idea. Still, too heavy and, mainly, much too large a portion Selections from the cheese cart Some of the better cheese I've had. This blew the composed cheese course I had at per se last year out of the water. Great selections thanks to our captain (more on her below). Roasted apricots All in all, Gary Danko was an excellent experience. Although the highs were only very good to excellent but not revelatory and a couple of the mains were somewhat staid, the meal was still among the most solid and enjoyable I've had. Gary Danko is not a place to reach unimagined culinary heights but rather one to enjoy generally excellent food in a somewhat new but entirely logical way. Our captain was truly a standout and helped to make the night what it was. Some captains are haughty, others are cloyingly intent to please. Tonight, ours was very intelligent, well-spoken, and friendly; certainly, one of the best I've had. I did wine pairings (at a very reasonable $50) and she let me try a couple different things to see what suited my taste and gave me and my mother an extra pour for the cheese course even though it wasn't necessarily included. All of this was done subtly and without pretense or making it seem like she was really going out of her way to do us a favor. So one more time, let me bid you all good night. As I said, I'll try to check in one more time tomorrow morning to leave my final farewell before we head off to Berkeley and Stanford for some college visits for my sister. After that it's a red eye home back to a heat wave brewing in the East.

California Day 3: San Francisco to the Napa Valley First of all, let me say that the weather, and particularly the temperature, difference between the coast and the inland valley is extreme. It's chilly here in San Fran but scorching hot up by the wineries. Being in a convertible only magnifies this effect. Anyway, onto the food and wine. Bouchon Thomas Keller's bistro just down the street from The French Laundry. Unfortunately, The French Laundry itself will have to wait for another trip. I could only get a reservation for yesterday the 15th for an early lunch and since we were in Carmel it was pretty much impossible. At least I know what to look for when I get back. Back to Bouchon. People have asked me what food I eat "everyday." I would have to say that this is the food I would like to eat everyday if I could. Perhaps it's a little richer and saltier than what's good for me, but this is the bistro fare that I love. Confit de Canard - sauteed duck confit with red cabbage salad and toasted pistachios Beignets de Brandade de Morue - cod brandade with tomato confit and fried sage Quiche du Jour - Florentine This was ridiculously good. By far the best quiche I've had and up there with the polenta with wild mushrooms and truffle reduction from Alto earlier this week in its revelatory nature. Steak Frites - pan-seared prime flatiron served with maitre d'hotel butter and french fries I really liked this cut of steak. I can't find it back in the East, but it's meaty, tender, with a bit of chew. Great, very potato-y frites, too. Poulet Roti - roasted chicken with a ragout of fingerling potatoes and garden arugula Bar a la Provencale - black bass with fennel, picholine olives, and lemon confit Such a nice dish. Simple in theory but complex with great flavor components. We also had two desserts, the lemon tart and the profiteroles. Both very nice and surprsingly not that heavy. Bouchon is a great bistro. Is all of the food mind-blowing? No. But it is very well executed and at a relatively reasonable price. We ordered some of the more expensive items off the menu but one could theoretically dine there for not much more than $30 p/p. My only complaint is that the portions are a little large, even a little uncomfortably so. I know you can easily just leave a dish and not finish it but when it tastes so good that's hard. We were VERY full at the end of this meal. We stopped at two wineries, one big, one small. Domaine Chandon and Miner Family Wines. We took the tour at Domaine and did a basic tasting. The tour was relatively informative but the tasting was a bit too touristy for my tastes. The sparkling wines weren't all that great either. Path to visitor's center Still wine aging cellar at Domaine Chandone Miner Family Wines is a less known winery that buys grapes from across California to make some very interesting blends. It was still crowded but the experience felt more authentic. Two of the wines, the Garys' Vineyard Pinot Noir and The Oracle (a merlot, cab sauv, and cab franc blend) were really quite special. They also didn't give me any trouble about my age, while Chandon made it somewhat more difficult for me to try their wines (I had to share with my mother). Tasting room at Miner Family Wines Wine tasting menu Looking out to the acres and acres of grapes with the rising mountains in the background. And for those who haven't been to San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge. It's actually quite cool seeing the fog roll in on it. And now to get dressed for Gary Danko. My Gary Danko post will likely be the last signifcant post of this blog. I have until tomorrow morning (Pacific time) to answer any questions and make final remarks.

I pickle my cherries in a mixutre of white wine vinegar, cider vinegar and sugar. I just mix until it tastes about right, so I don't have any proportions. The Bouchon and Napa post is in production.

To be honest, I've never had a version of this that I've found to stand out. While I love fried foods, I'd rather eat a nice fried shrimp ball and a "naked" crab claw then have the two combined. This rendition did little to change my mind, unfortunately. So now I'm about to hop in the shower to head up to Yountville for my meal at Bouchon. We'll try to visit a winery or two or time permits. I've never been to the area, so we'll see what we're able to find.

California Day 2: Carmel to San Francisco Another great drive up the coast. For today we decided to eat more economically and sample two ethnic cuisines more typical to California than New Jersey. Lunch was at a random taqueria in Santa Cruz. I'm sure this place had a name but all the outside said was "taqueria." It was crowded even at two o'clock so we decided to give it a try. Everything was very tasty. Though still a bit Americanized overall, the tacos tasted especially authentic. Much better than anything I can get back home. Carne asada, chicharron, carnitas tacos Chicken tamale and tostada combination plate The tamale sauce was actually quite complex and the tostada was delicious. Snapper burrito I thought this picture of the drive today was especially cool. For some reason, dozens of kite surfers congregated on this one beach. It was quite dramatic. After arriving in San Francisco we decided to do some dim sum and Chinese at Ton Kiang. Dim sum The shrimp and coriander dumplings were highlights. More dim sum The stuffed crab claw was the only weak item of the bunch. The soup dumplings were rich and almost creamy. We supplemented our dim sum items with a couple other dishes. Chicken and pickled vegetables in wine sauce This was a really cool dish. Both sour, a bit sweet, great textural contrasts, too. Something I would never order at home but a big success. Seafood cooked in a clay pot The tofu and shrimp picked up the most of the rich sauce's flavor. The calamari on the other hand were kind of bland. Not bad at all though. Another long day concluded, though this time with very different food than I have been eating all week. Sometimes a change of pace is nice, but something tells me that my meals tomorrow will be in an entirely different stratosphere.