jsmeeker

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It's because they aren't there to do a dinner service at a restaurant. It's a TV show competition. They are there to A) Be on TV. B) "show up" everyone else. C) be on TV. They are NOT employees of a restaurant doing an actual job at an actual restaurant. What makes for good TV? Everything going smoothly? No.. That won't work. They sell the show as a bunch of misfits being yelled at by Gordon. The "guests"? No frustration. No more so than any other actors/extras in any other TV show or movie that "suffer". Am I cynical? I don't think so. It's a TV show. It's a lot of fun to watch Gordon tear into people. ← That's like saying you watch auto racing for the wrecks. The point I take away from any kind of competition show like this is that if you do what the person in charge tells you to do, you win. It's not who will rise to the top, it's who stays out of trouble the most. Remember the boot camp scene in Forrest Gump? Drill Sergeant: Gump! What's your sole purpose in this army? Forrest Gump: To do whatever you tell me, drill sergeant? ← No, I don't think its's like auto racing. auto racing is legitimate competition. The winner is determined by a clear set of rules Crossing the finish line first. Tehre are no nominations, to people being voted out, etc. Reality TV shows aer different. But can still be as much fun to watch.

It's because they aren't there to do a dinner service at a restaurant. It's a TV show competition. They are there to A) Be on TV. B) "show up" everyone else. C) be on TV. They are NOT employees of a restaurant doing an actual job at an actual restaurant. What makes for good TV? Everything going smoothly? No.. That won't work. They sell the show as a bunch of misfits being yelled at by Gordon. The "guests"? No frustration. No more so than any other actors/extras in any other TV show or movie that "suffer". Am I cynical? I don't think so. It's a TV show. It's a lot of fun to watch Gordon tear into people.

I don't think we saw him do anything to mess up and he didn't cry or complain and no one talked crap about him. But if you saw the previews for next time, I think he'll get some screen time.

ahh... Season 3 of Gordon, a really talented guy, dialing up the infamous ranting and raving at a cast of misfits. This stuff is so good that even people with NO food knowledge can poke fun at the contestants. Of course, this is first and foremost a TV show, just like "American Idol", "The Apprentice", etc. Like "The Apprentice", ths show seeks a "leader" type. Someone who can be "in charge". That rght there sets up a lot of people taking charge and taking over all at the same time. No one wants to be seen as NOT leading. This is how you get situations where someone doesn't let a breakfast cook cook an egg. They are "in charge" by putting the "lesser" person in her place, so to speak. (at least in their eyes) This all makes for great TV. We yell and scream at the TV and say "Let Waffle House girl cook the quail eggs!!". The cast of criers must be intenional. Gordon is a "mean guy". What better way to show it than to get people (including an almost 50 year old man) burst into tears. It helps sell Gordon's on-screen persona. This show starts off as a major train wreck that you can't help but watching. Eventually, good peopel rise to the top and Gordon does a good job at praising good work.

nuts!! Daniel Boulud Brasserie will be closed when I am in Las Vegas June 4th -- July 3rd for renovations. (I leave on the 4th). Grrrrrr.... I was looking forward to it. Guess I can give Bouchon a try for dinner... But man, I really wanted Boulud...

As always - it should be about the quality of the coffee, espresso and espresso drinks first, service and ambiance second and then... if and only if all else is equal... I will choose an independently and locally owned operation over a chain. As a franchise / independently owned operation I think a Dunn Brothers store has a better chance of being above average than a Starbucks, Caribou or Peet's. I know they do in-store roasting - that's not necessarily a sign of quality but at a minimum indicates that you'll get freshly roasted beans - a great place to start. I've heard that they do coffee tastings / cuppings periodically that are promoted as public events and that fact impresses me. I hope you'll visit and report back on your experience. ← I did visit a store to pick up some beans and to have a drink and jsut hang out. I bought a half pound of Sumatra for $5 to take home. It's good. But I'm not enough of a coffee guy to tell how good it really is. The espresso based drink was tasty, but it's loaded up with milk and chocolate and what not, so it's hard to judge teh quality of the coffee in that drink. (but the overall drink was tasty). I don't typically drink espresso, so I can't comment on that. (didn't have any). Overall, I liked the vibe/feel of the place. To me, that's good for a place you want to hang out in in addition to picking up some beans for home. Free Wi-fi with no registration pages or anything? Sweet.

That sounds (and looks) delicious. I love braising. Might very well be my favorite cooking technique in the kitchen. If it wasn't summer already, I'd whip this up next time I cook.

Flying Fish in Addison. Very popular. Lots of outdoor seating.

OK. I cooked a duck breast last night. First, some pics A muscovy duck breast. This is the only type the store had. I scored the skin side and it's ready to be seasoned and put in the pan In the pan cooking. It will finish in the oven. Out of the oven, resting before it gets sliced. Plated dinner!! The sauce is a cherry balsamic reduction. The potatoes were roasted in some of the duck fat. Spinach was quickly cooked in the sauté pan I used for the duck. This tasted really good. I DID overcook the duck. I kind of messed up and forgot to turn on the oven after setting the temp. When I took the pan off the burner to put in the oven, it was COLD. eek!! So, I just turned it on and decided to add some time to make up for it. Maybe that was the problem. Or maybe , I cooked the skin side too long on the stove. It was a little chewy. But it still tasted great. But now that I've done it, I think I can adjust for next time and cook the duck much rarer. The sauce turned out well, but it was a little thin. I still have a lot left. Maybe instead of going straight from sauce pan to meat (i didn't make a pan sauce), I could have ladled some into the pan I used to cook the breast and reduced it down some more. Maybe I'll try that again. Potatoes were tasty. Boiled until tender in advance. Then sliced them in half and set aside. They were simply satuéd/roasted in a skillet on the stove top. Spinach was good, but I should have put in two or three times the amount into the pan. I simply put some shallots into the pan used to cook the duck, cooked them for a bit, tossed in baby spinach and a splash of chicken stiock and cooked it until tender (which took very little time) Anyway, this was a good meal. I had a E.Guigal 2003 Côtes du Rhône to drink with it. I think that worked out fairly well.

you plan a trip to Las Vegas and get bummed that you only have four opportunities to have dinner, the wrack your brain trying to figure out which places to go to.

tasty and laid back? Go get some brisket tacos at Mia's

after reading some other threads here, I think Wing Lei has bubbled to the top of the of places I want to add to my list. The Peking Duck tating menu intrigues me. One question, though. My experience with restaurants and tasting menus is that they typically are only done for the whole table. Would that be the case at Wing Lei? Would everyone have to do the peking duck menu, or could 2 or 3 do it, while 1 or 2 go a la carte? The firming up list.... Fix Daniel Boulud Wing Lei Need one more. Not sure if it's gonna be a "blow the budget" place or something "lesser" like a return to L'Atelier.

I'm off to Vegas next month for my foruth trip in as many years. Time again to start thinking about food. I've already started a thread about LUNCHES in Las Vegas, but this post is to work on some dinner ideas. I'll be there four nights. Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Monday dinner is already "set". I'll most likely be going to Fix with a large group of people. So, I've got three slots open. One place I want to try is Daniel Boloud Brasserie at the Wynn. That's a defnite. That leaves two open dinner slots. Here are some of the places I am thiking of Delmonico Steak House (Emeril is OK by me. I had a very nice meal at the chef's table at Emeril's Fish House two years ago) Bouchon (went there for lunch and breakfast last year. Would like to try dinner, but maybe Bouchon + Boluoud in the same week is too much of the same? L'Atelier (went there last year, too. It was great. I get the impression that the discovery menu could be totally diffferent than what I had last year, which would be good) Guy Savoy (this trip doesn't have as many of the hard core foodies willing to drop a pile of cash on a meal as previous trips, so I'm not sure if I could find other people to convince or twist my arm some to go. Still, it's an option. I like the idea of the "express" menu served in a non-express way) Obviously, that's more than enough places to fill my limited slots. But I'd like to hear other suggestions. I see a lot of talk about Alex and Wing Lei. Give me some more.

I've seen the Lotus of Siam suggestion many times. Maybe I'll finally give that a go this year. In-n-Out is good, but I've been many times to locations in the L.A. area. The idea of the Eiffel Tower Restaurant is interesting. Wouldn't think they would be open for lunch. I really do love French food and plan to hit some places for dinner (Daniel Bolud, maybe Bouchon again). Thanks for the suggestions so far. Keep 'em coming.

We have a lot of discussions here about Las Vegas dining, but it typically focuses on dinner. I'll be going back to Vegas in early July and am looking for LUNCH ideas. Last year, I can only think of one really nice lunch that I had, and that was Bouchon on Sunday. If I go back to Bouchon, I'd probably want to to dinner this time (and maybe back again for a breakfast). So, what are some nice spots for lunch? I'll be staying on the strip at TI and I tend to pretty much spend all my time on the strip (yeah yeah, but I like it there and it's easy to get from hotel to hotel)

this is all great! I'll give it a try sometime later this week.

This is a great way to eat a whole shrimp.

I've never cooked duck before. I'm single and live alone, so I'm typically coking for one. I'm used to cooking small pieces of protein (steaks, chops, chicken parts, fish fillets), but have never done duck. I can get boneless duck breasts at the local grocery store and I think it's time to give it a try. What kind of duck? I think I've seen a few types at the store. Cooking method? I am guessing it will be like most things I do where it's either done totally in a skillet/sauté pan or a combo sear on the stove, finish in the oven method. What about a pan sauce to go with it? Any particular side or accompaniment?

I do coddle my egg for my dressing, but I know it's not going to make a difference safety wise. Still, I'm not worried. I can get in the shell pasteurized eggs, but for me, it seems silly to buy a dozen of them when I only need one for the dressing. If I needed a lot of eggs that were not going to be cooked (to make some egg nog, maybe?), I'd get some. Then use what's left for mayo or whatever.

Another set of votes for sautéed onions and avocado.

I've done a day or two and have not had issues. Just a quick whisking to re-combine the ingredients. And have used regular raw eggs. But if you want, you can get in the shell pasteurized eggs from some grocery stores.

Not sure if these are "tourist" spots, but they are popular with the locals.. Table 8 (recently re-opened after a renovation) Lucques A.O.C.

Can anyone tell me more about Dunn Bros.?? There is a new location that just opened up near me, with another location in the general area as well. From what I know, they roast all their coffee in house, which seems unique for a "large" multi-location chain spread across many states. Also, each store is supposedly locally owned and operated. How do they stack up? Against Starbucks, Peets, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, etc.. I plan on checking them out this weekend (to buy some beans and to grab a drink), but I'm not an expert on judging coffee places.

Richard, Thanks for the post on Dunn Brothers. I've seen their LBJ/Tollroad location many, many times. Seeme like an awkward location to me, but it may be worth it. Also good to know there is a location on Beltline at Marsh (I don't get over that way these days like I used to). That's still a bit closer to me than Drips down in the Park Cities area, as is the LBJ/Tollway location. I'll go check them out this weekend.