BryanZ

Chef Achatz, I feel like it's hardly worth it to praise your restaurant any further, but I will anyway. It's truly spectacular in every sense of the word. I have a few somewhat related questions. As a young chef who is undeniably shaping the future of American fine dining, what is your opinion of high-end restaurant groups? My experience is predominantly in New York City dining, but I was wondering your opinion of firms like Union Square Hospitality, Jean Georges Enterprises, or Starr Restaurant Organization. Do multi-concept restaurant groups have a legitimate place in the future of American fine dining or will explicitly chef-driven establishments dominate the development of American fine dining?

I usually don't like cooktops but that thing looks sweet.

The fact that I could've been at this meal makes me so very sad.

Pierre's is BYOB on Tuesdays. Otherwise, they charge corkage.

While I feel like a lot of Bruni's criticisms aren't fair, especially considering the amount of extra courses one currently receives at Gilt, I did feel like the wines by the glass were rather obscenely priced. I don't know wine that well, but upon looking through the wines by the glass I found all of them to be uncharacteristically expensive. The Cakebread Sauv Blanc that Bruni mentions in his article wasn't that great and seemed over-priced to me, even given the surroundings.

I completley disagree. I find that as my tastes evolve I never crave more than a few bites of a given dish. The sight of a large piece of protein, sauced, and accompanied with the typical garnishes doesn't excite me except in the rarest of circumstances. I love the trend toward what Jackal10 refers to as a "series of canapes" as long as each dish builds off the last.

Not to put a damper on this thread but I've had some pretty mediocre experiences with personal chefs. For a while the g/f's family had a personal chef who would come in the early afternoons and prep dinner for that day and perhaps work on a couple other items. In general, the food he prepared was forgettable and the fact that most food had to be reheated didn't add to the dining experience. It's hard to recall specifics but this guy wasn't very good and doesn't bode well for personal chef-ing in general. I suppose it's all about finding someone who meets your family's needs and someone who you can build a culinary relationship with. On a somewhat separate note, good food doesn't have to come from a "private chef." The g/f recalls having an Italian housekeeper who made amazing food. Again, it's all about finding someone who works for the family at hand.

The people I watched this with picked up on this, too. (They have personal experience with the sous vide method from my experiments). But anyway, I found this to be a very good battle, very representative of Wylie's cuisine. I found myself being able to predict Wylie's dishes even in the very early stages. Getting back to Daniel's observation, I find that woman judge hard to watch. I know I'm being judgemental, but I really don't think she should be on the show. She just doesn't exude any class to me and just rubs me the wrong way.

This is probably my last significant post in this thread. I'm traveling this weekend and will be going back to ol' Duke early next week. Here we have pork tenderloin sous vide and foie gras sous vide. An elegantly small pork tenderloin vacuumed and seasoned with salt. I cooked at 61C for about 4 hours. It wasn't as pink as I wanted at the end but still very tasty and tender. As usual I browned very quickly in a pan afterwards. Plated with drizzles of artisinal honey, maple syrup, and foie gras fat. The honey added a nice floral sweetness, the maple syrup gave a nice rich sweetness, and well foie gras fat is delicious no matter the application. I served this with lightly browned potatoes and sprinkled with some Maldon sea salt for a little more texture. This dish was very heavily inspired by a dish I had at Alinea. Slice of foie gras out of the bag. I cooked at 60C for about 20 minutes. It melted out more fat than I thought. Next time, I'll probably use a lower temperature. Thankfully I was able to use most of the fat to drizzle the pork with. The texture was also very, very soft, almost to the point where it had lost almost all of its structural integrity. Sliced and plated on little toasted slices of baugette. I topped this with a lightly pickled apple. The apples were quickly cooked in just a bit of butter and some salt until just softened. I then soaked in cider vinegar, sugar, and some mirin for about 10 minutes then rinsed. They were sweet, with a slight hint of pickled acid. This was a very tasty meal, and really quite simple.

The joviality that seems to permeate through everything at Alinea, from the food to the service, really makes this place special. I think jesteinf does a great job of encompassing that throughout his entire post. I have to give a shoutout to my 93lb g/f who made it all the way through the tour, only faltering on about the last 1/3 of the chocolate (26th) course. She eats with the best of them.

Another vote for the KA attachment. I was debating if it would be worth the extra cost over a manual crank version. As far as making home-made pasta goes, the KA is the easiest way to go about doing it.

I'm using the torch less than I imagined--it's been quite finicky ever since I bought a new canister of fuel and I actually find a pan sear or quick broil to be superior in most applications. I still haven't found anyone to confirm the byproducts, however. To be honest, I haven't done anything at 65C for that long. But, in general, as long as you just check on the process every several hours and add warm water as need be, you shouldn't run into any problems. A temperature variance of a couple degrees for a few minutes in the context of 12+ hour cooking process will have no discernible effect on the final product.

Ditto.

Mitsuwa's extensive rennovations are essentially complete as of a few days ago. The store is now much more spacious, with all new freezers, a nicer food court area, and a less cluttered feel that extends from the entrance to the spacing of products. The chu-toro and sashimi scallops I bought from their fish department were of especially good quality this time around. As of today not everything was completely finished and stocked, but overall the store much more attractive.

Sous vide really makes you rethink cooking. It seems absurd that one can cook a steak in water that merely feels "warm" to the touch, especially when most home cooks are all about high-heat, fast cooking (i.e. searing, sauteeing, broiling, grilling). The unique and pure flavors and textures that sous vide imparts really allows one to step away from traditional cooking charts that espouse obscenely high finishing temperatures and highly variable advice such as "cook about 4 minutes per side" or "roast for about 18 minutes/lb." It seems overly philosophical to say this, but if one can try sous vide cooking he or she can really obtain a more pure understanding of the essence of the food that he or she cooks.

They appear to be eggs. But at 40C, interesting. When I did eggs at 40C they weren't that impressive.

The piney flavor was certainly more pronounced at Alinea since it was actually plated over a burning piece of juniper in the huge bowl. At Gilt, the venison loin is presented whole, roasting over pinecones and branches, but is sent back to the kitchen for slicing and plating. At Gilt you're still getting that intense olfactory sensation of burning pine but it's less in your face during the eating process. Stated crudely, at Alinea you're almost literally eating meat off of a burning bush. At Gilt, you simply know the meat was cooked over a burning bush. They dishes are similar in fundamental preparation but too different to choose a favorite.

Was this a special for you, or is anybody who walks in is getting all of those courses for $92? ← This peripherally brings up an interesting point when it comes to fine dining. I usually only dine with my mother and my sister or just my girlfriend (when this is the case we're always the youngest party in the restaurant), so sometimes we don't necessarily receive the most attentive service. Perhaps this isn't on purpose, but that's just the way it seems. Other times, however, servers seem to take a special interest in our table, as we all, or at least my sister and I when I'm dining with family, demonstrate a intense passion for trying all types of good food. Anyway, this latter instance seemed to be the case at Gilt. We received a few more courses than perhaps the "average" customer of the evening. We also happened to be seated next to some one who was obviously known to the restaurant so he got a pretty awesome looking tasting menu of luxury items, but that was certainly a special case. Regardless, everyone, at least during this initial opening period, receives a wide assortment of canapes, amuses, and extra courses. In our case we just happened to get a few extras on top of the already generous extras.

Just returned from a very, very good meal at Gilt tonight. Had a 6:30 reservation and took up the table for about 4 hours. Things could have gone faster but it was in no way dragging. The space is quite appealing, tons of rich wood paneling, red lights, and large tables. My only design complaint is that the open kitchen door is somewhat unbecoming to the elegant feel of the restaurant. It's not quite an open kitchen so seeing the kitchen in action through a small sliding door was perhaps a little bit inappropriate given the space. Service is polished and attentive but perhaps not as engaging as Alinea or as smooth as Per Se. Nonetheless, the staff seems to care about its customers and the food the restaurant serves. Our 3-course meal was more like a 20-course one. We started with an assortment of canapes, amuses, and other preappetizers too numerous to recall concretely. Bread service is also very strong, one of the best I've had in the city--both butters and olive oils are quite delicious. When you add in the pungent truffle butter that came with one of my dining companions foie gras, and you could've made a great meal on bread and condiments alone. From the menu my party of three had: "First" Ballotine of Foie Gras - A delicious dish. Thie foie gras was very creamy and subtle and was paired with quince in two different forms. It was a very intriguing combination as the quince seemed to show its characteristic frutiness but also some flavors evocative of sea salt--not sea salt in the traditional form but perhaps subtle sea water Oysters & Black Truffles - Another very tasty dish, but perhaps the weakest of the "first" courses. The beaufort cheese tartlet actually worked well the oysters giving the oysters a depth and richness when eaten together. The truffle flavor was subtle and perhaps could've been more pronounced. Flavors of Winter - A wide assortment of five dishes. The peekytoe crab was like a reimagined crab cake/salad, very tasty and probably my favorite of the group. The sweetbreads were also excellent. The sea urchin aspect should've been more pronounced, but then again I love sea urchin and wanted something more akin the sea urchin in the raw as opposed to a sea urchin mousse. "Second" Four Story Farms Milk-Fed Poularde - An amazing dish. Probably the best chicken I've ever had and the best dish of the night. It's easy to make good foie gras, lobster, or find a nice tender piece of venison but this was damn near transcendent. So rich, so good. Maine Roasted Lobster - Another great preparation. Very attractively presented, the whole tail, tightly balled and glistening--food porn at its finest. This was also served with the chopped knuckle meat and small sous vide scallops in a separate dish. This "side" dish could've been a course in itself. Millbrook Venison - Similar to Alinea's bison preparation, this is roasted over pine branches and pine cones and presented in this au natural state right before going back to the kitchen for plating. The smoky flavor is a subtle and fitting match to the rich, tender, and just faintly gamey venison. The carrot foam was a nice sweet counterbalance to the slightly sour red cabbage marmalade Desserts were also quite good, though not as inspiring as much of the food. Still, they were more than sufficient, and we certainly got a wide sampling of them. We were sent out two complimentary palate cleansers and an extra dessert since they overhead me remarking to my family that I wanted to try both chocolate ones. All in all, Gilt is an excellent restaurant. $92 for "3"-courses is on par with the cities most exclusive dining destinations, but this meal included more courses and much greater range than tasting menus I've had at both Jean Georges and Daniel. I'm not saying that Gilt is explicitly better than either of those venerable NYC dining institutions but on this night it seemed to rise above its more established brethren. My sister remarked that Gilt seems to encompass some of the whimsy of wd-50 while capturing the bold flavors of JG and the elegance of Daniel.

62C for duck seems a little warm to me. I'm sure it was still very tender but I think you might lose out on some of the beautiful rosy color. Just a thought.

Ha, the g/f actually said the same thing about the black cod. I thought flavor-wise that one could've been the "worst" but I thought the texture was fine, evocative of a sous vide cooking process that some find objectionable in flaky fish. I wish I had the black truffle pasta. I wish I had everything. I honestly feel like I could've eaten every dish that came out of that kitchen. Sigh.

As someone much closer to your daughter's age than most others here, I would find Wendy DeBord's most beneficial. If she really has a passion for food and cooking, why not give her the opportunities to realize this potential.

The first course, "Hot Potato" was a great and assertive start to the evening. A well thought out exercise in textures, temperatures, and aromas. The dish was served with a slice of white truffle, rather than black as the menu states, and this truffle essence lingered on the palate until the moment the next course arrived. I was enthralled with anything created on the antigriddle, ie the "Mango," "Nicoise Olive," "Peanut"--it's like taking the concept of the sorbet or chilled soup and taking it to the extreme. I want to buy one and play with it. If only I could come up with a about a grand. The butter listed in the "Gingerbread" course was also so cool. They do something like: make a beurre monte with some sort of calcified solution (I think), then immerse it into another chemical that makes it into the butter orb (at first I thought it was an egg yolk). The outside is gel, the inside is totally liquid, when you pop the thing it pretty much explodes hot butter into the warm gingerbread. Such an awesome way to present something as simple and melted butter. I thought the air pillow with the "Duck" was a little bit gimmicky, but I'm a gimmicky kind of guy. Was it necessary? No. Was it cool and unique and did it add to the experience of the dish? Yes. An inspirational course in the same way that the "Bison" was inspirational in its use of juniper aroma (read: smells like my house after we burn our Christmas tree). The scents of both the mace and the juniper were simple in the themselves but their applications in the context of the already complex dishes are what made them so special. I could talk about this meal for hours. But those courses were probably my favorite.

I had the opportunity to partake in the Tour at Alinea on December 30. I had been looking forward to this meal for months, ever since I sent my mother there with a client during a tradeshow this past summer. This fall I convinced her to fly me out to Chicago for a day to eat at Alinea for my Christmas present of sorts. Needless to say, my expectations for this meal were very high, especially given the added expense I would be incurring just to eat there. After braving high winds at Newark and freezing rain at O'Hare, the g/f and I finally made it to Alinea and would be blown away for the rest of the evening. The menu was as follows: I don't like to take pictures in restaurants, so unfortunately I don't have a photo journal to capture the scope of the meal. It was, in a word, awesome. At restaurants like Per Se and its other NYC Michelin 3-star brethren it's hard to deny the quality of the dishes being served, but sometimes these dishes don't move, provoke, or challenge me. At a restaurant like wd-50, everything I've ever tried there is a gastronomic intellectual exercise which mostly, but not always, succeed. Alinea seems to strike the ideal balance between the two. (Most of) the dishes are grounded in concepts and flavor profiles I can understand, but the way they are presented is completley out of this world and beyond my reach. For some reason, the sweetness of a frozen olive cookie was vaguely familiar to me, even if its preparation on the antigriddle is unlike anything I've ever tried before. If anything, I'm upset at myself for being unable to even attempt to recreate Chef Achatz's dishes. As others have noted, the space is elegant and chic but still very comfortable and relaxed. Service is passionate, polished, and gracious but down-to-earth. All my numerous and detailed questions were respectfully answered. And Maitre d' Chris Gerber is the standard by which all others in that position should be measured. He seemed to take a genuine interest in my interest in food and, despite my relative youth, honestly wanted to make sure I was enjoying myself to the fullest. I spoke with him for a short while (about NYC restaurants, my dining best experiences, the wonders of Frank aka "Edward" Bruni, JJ Redick and Duke basketball) after the meal and also got to meet Chef Achatz in the kitchen. I can see how some might not appreciate Alinea, but I simply cannot level with them. Alinea is a uniquely American restaurant and also happens to be the best restaurant in America. I do not claim to have eaten everywhere of merit in this country, but I have a hard time believing that anywhere else has the ability to affect a person with my tastes to the same extent. Alinea is a special place, and I can't wait to go back.

Tonight was beef tenderloing sous vide. I got a pretty nice looking USDA prime tenderloin steak and dry aged it in my fridge for about 36 hours just until it started to change color and get a little bit "beefier". Seasoned liberally with salt and vacuumed (I forgot to pre-brown like I did with the eye round). Then cooked for about 3 hours at 54C. Coated with pepper and a little more salt and seared to form a light crust. I served it sliced thinly with a herb garlic vinegarette, analagous to a "tataki" style preparation in Japanese cuisine. I loved the color on this and found it to be superlatively tender. You don't really get the char that you can get on a broiled or grilled steak, but this was much more subtle. It was very interesting to watch the color change on the beef once sliced. As soon as a cut edge was exposed to the air, it almost immediately turned a much more vibrant red. I am led to believe that this is because the meat is oxygen starved under vacuum and the hemo/myoglobin oxidates and gives the red color once exposed to air.