BryanZ

Thankfully Whole Foods in Durham stocks Sottocenere, a firm cow's milk cheese with shavings of black truffles. It's one of my favorite cheeses and makes eggs transcendent. They also carry Brillat Savarin, but I only enjoy that when it's really ripe and has developed some more interesting flavors.

According to who? Is this confirmed?

Do they have a website yet?

The zucchini gazpacho is a very interesting dish. It's like a deconstructed soup that uses flavors that are rather harsh on their own but more soothing when put together. I must admit it's not one of my favorites on the menu but, as usual, something that needs to be tried at least once.

My editors were skeptical of it. I have nothing against, Blue Nile itself, I'm just not sure if I will be writing about it in the near future.

I enjoyed the Ethiopian food at Blue Nile. The restaurant itself is somewhat, how shall I say this, kitschy. My friends, however, simply did not like the food. And while this is certainly no reason to forgo writing about it, I often have to keep in mind that my greater audience is not nearly as adventurous with food as I am. Since I am still a new writer, I have to toe that line between offering places that are new or novel and offering places that might just be a little too out there for the common palate. I'm trying to build up an identity as a writer so that people can trust me and my dining choices. But that's just my schpiel. Any other recommendations are always welcome. I'm especially looking for Mexican places, as we are trying to run a showcase on Mexican food in the area. So far I've got Melinda's and La Villita.

Thanks for the ideas. I've been to Chosun Ok and will be writing about it shortly. I'm also debating about writing about Blue Nile. I enjoyed it but some of my dining companions were not fans. I'm not a big fan of Pao Lim, in general. I will check out the 9N9 place, though I have to get away from Asian ethnic cuisines, as I just wrote about Grasshopper. Any other ideas are greatly appreciated.

Looking to enjoy a meal a meal at Yasuda soon and was wondering how much omakase is running as of late. I don't really want to spend more than $100 per person and was wondering if this was possible. Is it easy to set a limit with the waitstaff or is it better just to order a la carte.

While it is true that most of this review reads like a high-end 2-star, Bruni stresses that when JG scores, he scores big. Maybe his repuation has something to do with it, but I think that JG's control of a wide spectrum of flavors is what sets him apart. Therefore, although there may have been disappointments on the brief menu, this review leads me to believe that the best dishes are of true 4-star quality.

I enjoy your writing style. Great review.

Other than the UNC hat, everything looks amazing. Props to Varmint and everyone who made this whole thing possible.

I'm doing some food writing for Duke's newspaper and am looking for interesting places to try out and write about. I'm trying to set this thread apart from "The Best Restaurant in the Triangle" thread and am simply looking for everyone's favorite dining spots in the Triangle (preferably in/closer to Durham). An ideal suggestion would be one that's relatively inexpensive and somewhat novel or undiscovered. So far my ideas include: Detlechef's new Grasshopper restaurant LocoPops BLTs at the Merrit Store Guglhupf Local ethnic restaurants (i.e. best of local Mexican, Korean, etc) Further suggestions in this vein would be greatly appreciated.

Another wd-50 rec. It simply owns in terms of creative and exceedingly tasty desserts and dessert-type items. Also the J-G style, as others have said, is fun because it allows you to try a few different variations on a theme with each platter. It's not the kind of place you can go to just for desserts. I feel like you could probably get away with that at wd-50 if you ordered the whole menu and explained your position and desire to do some good "research".

It was very tasty, seemed relatively simple, and fit the "retro-childhood" theme of the dish very well. Our sever actually said that it was made with Rice Krispies, thus making it crispy and not crunchy, as one might initially expect. In its most simple form, it seemed to be a peanut butter flavored cereal product that was enjoyable by itself but clearly elevated by the other components of the dish. Sorry I can't offer more.

I had the pleasure of enjoying my second tasting menu at wd-50 this past weekend. The restaurant was, again, excellent, and it solidified its spot as arugably my favorite restaurant in the city, four-star big boys notwithstanding. My meal at wd-50 came immediately after the traditional tasting menu at Babbo, another of my favorites, the preceeding evening, and the stark differences in the food at the two restaurants is so striking in such rapid succession. The differences between the tasting menus in July and August were subtle enough so that this time I felt in control of the food that I was eating and was able to understand the dishes and their various components. The new dishes I tried, however, were excellent and just as intriguing as nearly everything else on the menu. Both of fish courses I tried on this most recent visit were particularly noteworthy and superior to those served on my visit in July. The blood orange sauce with the sea trout was especially striking. Unfortunately, the poached egg dish is no longer offered on the tasting menu. Also, the "grapefruit in grapefruit" has been replaced by a celery sorbet with crispy peanut butter and poached raisins. This dish was especially playful, as it is a reimagining of the "ants on a log" snack that many remember from childhood. I believe that neither Chef Dufresne nor Chef Mason were in the restaurant, but I noticed no difference in the quality of the food. In conclusion, another great meal at one of the city's best restaurants.

The falling pig was hilarious in the Malaysia episode. Certainly the highlight of the series. The voiceover was quintessential Bourdain.

The above echoes my sentiments exactly. This review seemed to far even further from the food than Bruni's typical. He tells so little of the food that I would expect to see this type of restaurant review in a magazine like People.

Any preview of the dishes? Are we talking traditional Asian plates that are just updated, or different Asian-inspired flavor combinations?

Most restaurants won't serve only one tasting menu. I would call ahead to prevent being disappointed. Their tasting menu is a fair amount of food but it offers the opportunity to try many different dishes if both you and your wife order one of the two choices offered at each course.

A very attractive concept. Though I don't love this restaurant, I would definitely go to try the Tavern menu. This type of food at this price range is what the area needs.

I am so ready to come back and try these restaurants. The combination of these three could be the spark in the Triangle that I, and many others, have been waiting for. I've been cooking all summer and have been eating my way through the best of NYC's restaurants, so when all these places finally open, it would be very cool if some eG'ers in the area could get together and have a mini-inauguration to celebrate detlechef's newest openings.

Ideally you'll be too blown away by the food to even notice the chairs, or the people around you for that matter. You might even be levitating in a state of nirvana. On a more serious note, I'm going back to wd-50 with the family this time and want to do the tasting menu again. If I'm going with 3 people would it be uncouth to ask for 2 normal tasting menus and one made up one. As some of you know, I went recently with one other person and was blessed with two different menus. I would like to recreate the experience but am considering if asking for 2 different tasting menus for a party of 3 is a little too confusing.

I'm sooo there as soon as I return to NC.

I think it'll be coming in the fall. As I understand it, they're only showing the "summer" shows on the website for now.

As a general rule, I think the sentiments presented above are well-stated.