GordonCooks

This may not be news to everyone, but I was shocked to find this out. It's a very common practice for the servers in an many Thai/Vietnamese restaurants to revert their tips to the house. Many are paid just a salary.

Kim-Chee

Turley Hayne Vineyard ? I've tasted both these wines within the same week and the Turley (I'm referring to the '96) is not even close. There's no complexity, the wine is seriously out of balance, is distracting to drink and goes with nothing- it is a monster wine, but there's no way it will last IMHO. The Chave is also a monster, but one with balance, some hints of complexity (it was pretty primary when I had it), it's well structured and we'll be able to taste it again in 10,15,20,25,30 years. The Turley's a freak show, the Chave is a great wine. Simmer down boys, I concur....just wanted to check everyone's reaction time. They only JL Chave I've had the oppurtunity to enjoy was an 82 and it was erect-tifying.

You're the best

Turley Hayne or Aida Vineyard ?

I've always considered cooking as more craft than livelihood. As with many artistic occupations - speed and quantity are the new vanguards, replacing quality and uniqueness. I, myself, have always had the delusions of grandeur of running my own restaurant. I have the business know-how, the connections, the culinary ability (in my small market), but realize that I would seriously have to make some lifestyle changes to make it. Mores hours for less money – also, I really prefer to cook for people I like.

I'm not sure this is true. Larger dinner checks don't automatically mean larger profits. Also, given that food cost is almost certainly higher in a top restaurant, I don't think bigger checks necessarily mean the margin (expressed as a percentage of sales) is higher, either. Only in the case of a fine dining restaurant with a fair amount of sales in wine/beer/spirits would I concur. Many establishments may have more or less stringent bookkeeping polices also when dealing with cash. A multi-chain establishment would need to audit things more closely in order to get an accurate rating of how profitable the operation in compared with other such stores

interesting, not only we have look-alike dogs (btw, do you know if they exchanged emails eventually?), we also have similar development of taste in wines... They claim that once one develops her wine appreciation, one moves towards more elegant, subtle wines, leaving Parker behind in the process. Are we against the flow? I'll have to ask Dooley about the emails - he's been putting in a lot of hours at work (He's a greeter at PetCo) and the last I knew, he was seeing some bitch from Syracuse. Wines - I know a few winemakers and just about all of them prefer Burgundy as their wine of choice for collecting and celebrating. My taste has changed significantly over the past five years, Pinots to Zins to Cabs to Bordeaux to Rhones......I'm curious as to how this progression will end

I remember reading somewhere that 1996 was the last vintage Don Van Staaveren had a hand in (Steve Reeder did the final tweak) and it was aged in new oak barrels. Maybe this explains the difference. As someone who is starting to prefer some heavier wines, I'd like to get my hands on some 90-95 Cing Cepages.

I popped a 99 Cinq Cepages last night for the first time. A friend had some 96 kicking around and I wanted to do a little side by side. I also contributed a 1997 Lewis Reserve to pair with a different food course and mix it up a little. The 99’s nose was ripe with Bing cherries & DiNobli cigars. Tasting showed a surprisingly smooth texture for a 99 (I expected firmer tannins). The 1996 was a little more muscular than the 1999 (little more leather and fudge.) If I was blindfolded – I would not be able to distinguish the 96 from a 1990 Ch.Figeac enjoyed the week previous (I’m far from the expert many of you people are) I prefer the 96 to the 99 – the 99 seems a little lighter in style. I’m curious to see how these wines will age. I paid a little under 60.00 for the wine and got my money's worth but not much more. I don't believe I'd order off a restaurant list at a probable 125.00 - 150.00 PS - The 97 Lewis was very concentrated with spicy cedar and tart berries. This powerhouse will only get better.

Bada-Bingo !

This will hopefully help us with some of the idosyncracies of Latin Indo-European languages. This sound byte is from Enrico De Nicola 3rd Naples Native New Dean of Italian studies at Brown University Former UN Italian Cultural Attache and translator Accademia della Crusca

A much more interesting topic would be How do you say "Manicotti or Capicola"

My Grandma to be is from Naples and spends a month there annually. She says the correct pronunciation is "oh-toe" Would anyone care to cross-examine ?

I've looked into some of the cellar-mate systems, but I think they're a little overpriced. A restauranteur friend is trying to get me a unit like the one they use in their display cooler. It can be had for less than a grand and keeps the unit a steady 55 dgs It won't be a issue until the weather starts changing Thanks

I'm in the process of retro-fitting my new wine cellar. The old house had a pretty straight-forward closet in the basement that maintained a constant 50-55 year round. The new cellar will be larger and will require addtional cooling, Any recommendations for cooler units. What's the average power consumption ? PS I have 2 large mini cellars for Whites - I'm talking mainly about reds.

They had a blurb about Vintages on Wine TV. I did see the Hermann Weimer Reisling as one of the featured wines. Looked like a great little shop with a lot of NY food products as well.

i want to pair duck with quesadilla. cheese goes with the territory. i'm relatively sure that pairing duck confit and cheese, or fat at the very least, isn't a new or obscure idea. especially considering *this* group. and, as i said, cheese isn't necessary. i'm looking for ideas on how to execute the concept of "duck confit quesadilla," rather than mixing duck with cheese on a tortilla. ediot: speeling. I've made a Duck Meat burrito before that easily converts to a Quesadilla. Shredded Duck Meat Rice & Pintos Manchego Cheese Some chopped scallions. I used a sweet tomato and Ancho chile sauce on the side. For you Maybe a Tomatillo and Mango salsa with cilanto ?

I recall Veritas having a very respectable selection of halves (including Chateau Lafite and Chateau Latour). I like the half-bottle myself, I dine mostly with my girlfriend and can have 2-3 different wines with a meal this way.

Gordon, I sincerely hope that is intended to be ironic What's ironic about a 50.00 ticket that gets me to Paris for the weekend. All 50.00 does for me is get me to Kennedy a hour late.

A friend has a Margaux vertical ( I've enjoyed a decent 66, and an awesome 61 at his expense) He has a 67 but told me that most of the vintages between 62-77 were good at best. I would probably buy it for the price but a more astute collector may pass it by.

I envy the fact you have all of Europe practically at your doorstep.

I may see him at the OPUS One dinner/auction at the Park Hyatt in May with Jamie Kennedy - other than that, I'm clueless

I think he's still doing the high-end, small group dinners out of his loft and some catering.

I love Avalon, it's always consistent. I haven't been to Centro since Marc left but apparently he is doing good stuff at the Fifth. Joanne Yolles who left Scaramouche to raise her family in 1994 after 11 years as the pastry chef, has recently returned to do sweets at Pangea. I don't know if Bymark does lunch on Sat. but I can check. Marc Thuet at the Fifth There was a blurb in Toronto Life about Chris McDonald of Avalon who apparently was going down south to cook for a sold-out crowd at Tapawingo in Ellsworth, Michigan. He was going to cook poached beef tenderloin with oxtail and two other star chefs from Seattle and Detroit was going to do appetizers. Chris brought his own oxtail but the US immigration stopped him because there was no mention of "chefs" on the NAFTA list of professions allowed to visit the US for that type of job. McDonald showed the official a letter that indicated that he wouldn't be paid but the response was: "Then you must be doing it for personal promotion and that's stealing the promotional possibility from an American chef". So Chris went home. Definitely their loss. Chris is doing some wonderful things. I love the fact he offers an All Canadian Wine Pairing with his tasting menu. Thanks for the link