Steve Klc

Brian--thank you for being so forthcoming and I applaud you for having the courage to take such a step. Reading your post takes me back to 1996 when I dipped my nervous foot into the waters of a local ACF competition for the first time and had to do my very first judged showpiece (a croquembouche with pulled sugar.) A specific question: how much of your costs were provided by ParisGourmet/Cacao Noel, the "sponsors" of this event/competition? Did they at least provide all of your ingredients?

Cory--I don't have time to respond to your post right now, but I think you are misreading me a bit. I answered generally because you phrased your question generally. It seems like you may be one of those in a position to benefit from competitions--especially if you are younger, have that ACF school and teaching background, work under or with others who are from that ACF background, etc. It can be expensive to compete--meaning you have to lay out some cash for travel, ingredients, downtime away from work and home, if your costs are not picked up by your school or place of employment--but you can win prize money, you can more easily cozy up to sponsorship money, demonstration gigs, getting deals on products--why do you think all these old ACF guys do this? They do it for the judging/sponsorship/corporate gravy train. Winning a competition can further the career of some. Techniques and ideas that have come out of competitions in the past few years--that can be applied to the modern pastry chef of today--depends on who you are, what your level is already, whether you plan to compete, and what you do day in and day out--like do you make showpieces? do you teach chocolate or sugar? are you asked to do plated desserts or bon bons? That isn't as easy to answer--it also depends on how much you know already. There are pastry chefs who have never sprayed chocolate well before and then there are pastry chefs just dying to try that sugar glue gun idea--yet neither the old technique or this new one might have any relevance for the job you have to do. Still, never hurts to be voracious and well-rounded. 5 years from now you might find yourself asked to do a drop-dead showpiece. That said, there's no list of "ideas" to come out of a competition that comes close to rivalling what you can take away from reading and cooking from Adria or Balaguer, for instance. Competitions are pretty basic and straightforward comparatively.

Welcome aboard--hopefully you'll be a little more unproductive but still keep your job, be less bored and less lonely--or whatever that quote was in Judith's Post article. I'm curious--how many of you--hannah, liam, oz, Mark et al--who are estimating how often you will make the trek to Wegmans once it opens--have already been to the Princeton Wegmans--or to one of their other elite high-volume stores?

Where've you been hiding Mark--hasn't DC been a metro area encompassing the VA and MD burbs in most people's food and work consciousness for a long time? Especially in the tech and consulting sectors. Aren't we spread out 270 and 66 and Tysons and the Dulles Toll Road so much so that the reverse commute is often as bad as the commute? It is only relatively recently that peopl have moved back into the city rather than fleeing the potholes and terrible city services. (For how many years was the Inn at Little Washington considered "Washington DC's" best restaurant even though it was way out in hicksville?) You don't think many Washingtonians still endure the "Edge City" in and out thing fairly well--DC to VA/MD or VA/MD to DC rather than VA to MD? Viewed historically, there's nothing misleading about this article's spin--decades ago lots of District-living "Washingtonians" drove regularly to IKEA when it first opened in Potomac Mills and to the Price Club when it first opened in Fairfax on West Ox Road. Many in my Georgetown and later Glover Park neighborhoods did. I think the article gets it right--stressing "DC-area," the impact of their prepared foods, the Wegmans "food culture," customer service and attentiveness, etc. Essentially what we eGulleteers have been preaching about Wegmans for years. We'll drive to Wegmans as well--yes, more NoVA dwellers will--but also those of us from all over who "get it," who have come to loathe Whole Foods, who are lucky our schedules might allow some drive time--and we will continue to go back. They'll be enough Washingtonian foodies making the drive. But then I would say that, since I'm one of those who has driven to the Princeton Wegmans fairly often when I'm in the NJ/NY metro area and I think nothing of driving out to Herndon just to go to small chef-owned places like Sweet Basil Cafe. Of course, I agree most of us couldn't care less about Baltimore--now that's a different someplace.

Cory--are you kidding? Sorry, at first blush I'm with Wendy! At least as far as competitions and their value in the US. You've actually asked a very broad question by phrasing it the way you did: "How much progress has pastry competitions brought to the every day pastry chef, the 4 star pastry chefs, restaurant consultants, teachers, and pastry in gerneral?" That covers a lot of ground, a lot of jobs. Quick assessment--competitions have had little to no impact on the progress of "most" pastry chefs or on how "most" pastry chefs are perceived here. There is some media value, some minor bump for those pastry chefs who play the competition game--and especially for those working in the hotel, foodservice and teaching segments. But the US public has such a poor appreciation of dessert--let alone pastry chefs--let alone competing--that competing is actually irrelevent in most anyone's worldview/grand scheme of things/career arc. (Yes, this from someone who has enjoyed competing, who has competed very successfully and who has judged competitions.) No medal or competition has even approached the direct media value of a great restaurant review, mainstream glossy feature or ever helped a pastry chef win the James Beard award for best pastry chef--and it's getting more and more media mentions like the James Beard which leads to book contracts and celebrity gigs--why do you think it is the likes of Karen Barker, Gale Gand, Claudia Fleming and Sherry Yard who win the Beard and write the books? Do you think it has anything to do with competing? No, they've never competed in the manner you're referring to--though they all have competed--and competed darn well--in the pastry career game, haven't they? Competing doesn't help you put interesting creative desserts on the menu, doesn't help you touch your clientele, doesn't attract the attention of your local critic, doesn't lead to big photo spreads in Bon Apetit wearing an Armani suit or wearing too much makeup in a local newspaper food section feature! There is one "competition" which is hot right now--and that's the competition to glom onto the molecular gastronomy bandwagon by hook or by crook--the real molecular gastronomy bandwagon or the media-perceived one. But that isn't the kind of "competition" you're referring to. It's merely the competition of staying current, staying relevant, placing your bets as the media tide changes--you gonna hold 'em, fold 'em or are you all in? There's no relation between pastry chefs pushing the envelope in this new arena or in their daily jobs and pastry chefs pushing the envelope in existing competitions--and there is often very little reward to try to do so in the latter arena. US pastry competitions are like an old-school board game with rules--they're not the latest first-person shooter on a computer--and rule number one is don't think too far outside the box. (Many judges don't react well to that--speaking artistically, creatively, degustation or form-wise--despite what they or the organizers say. Competitions usually reward obedience, obedience which reinforces vested interests, especially if you figure out the secret handshake.) I'm sorry to say "most" pastry chefs don't have support, need or time for showpieces, they don't have an audience which appreciates them, they don't have the budget for equipment like a paint sprayer even if they were to entertain trying to perfect that already-decades-old chocolate spraying technique--let alone some hot new glue gun technique. They're still trying to get their staff to bake the creme brulees and chocolate souffles right--the brulees and souffles which outsell all their other mildly more creative dessert offerings 8:1 and, oh yeah, their chef now wants them to start doing petits fours, etc. That is if they even have a staff! As we discuss often on eG: fewer and fewer chefs and restaurateurs care about dessert--or pastry chefs themselves--or the pastry chef "position"--let alone the silly proposition whether pastry chefs "compete." However, the value of competing increases exponentially if you have an ACF orientation or affiliation, or a foodservice or hotel job: I have friends at the junior college/community college/state university level who teach who literally have to compete to advance their teaching careers--and have to lead their students to compete--as a function of their job survival. Many in this hotel/foodservice/culinary school realm see competing as a valid educational tool, in other words. That said, attending and watching a competition live has some educational value for the "rest" of us, especially for younger pastry chefs. It can be fun, stressful, exciting and there is often tremendous value in ancillary networking--which usually is a by-product of going to a competition--other pastry chefs, media, suppliers and vendors and movers and shakers convene around a competition. It is often much better to attend than to compete yourself--when you compete, your focus and time is elsewhere. But when it comes to progress, generally, it is a tough thing to measure--there's 1) personal development and then there's 2) professional development and/or media relations and then there's 3) the effect competitions might have on raising awareness of society as a whole. As Michael said I have been kind of omnivorous when it comes to getting involved in many different aspects of our profession--my current assessment is once you get past a certain level of achievement I don't think competitions rank very high on any of these 3 criteria--as opposed to other things you can do with your time, focus or money. The main thing to be gained from competing is exposure and self-promotion--you compete you get your name in Pastry Art & Design, perhaps in Food Arts in their yearly wrap-up issue, it might help open a few doors, get a new job, you win you may get your picture in a few magazines and newspapers--many pastry chefs have used competing to create new opportunities for themselves. It is a serious time commitment (if you actually try versus just going through the motions to get the exposure) and it is like anything else--there's no guarantee you will get the return on your investment. Whether they compete or not, complete no-talents will continue to get media exposure while some consummate talents continue to work under the radar. The organizers and sponsors of competitions don't owe you anything they are merely trying to sell more product and leverage themselves on your backs. If you can use that to your advantage, do so. Having done it, I'd say you're better off going to Spain or France, eating your way around Herme, Conticini, Adria, Butron etc or spending a few weeks staging alongside other pastry chefs here, like Michael or Patrice or Gale Gand or Bill Yosses or Nicole or paying a weekend visit to Wendy, Ted, Colleen, Neil, Jason, Alana, Karen to see what they're up to or to anyone else you admire here or those un-named in your area. You'll progress quite nicely--and likely share and learn more meaningfully--that way. So, ultimately, I'd say competitions are a low-risk/low reward tool--competing can be used by some to their advantage--but as far as progress, impact and relevance on 1) most pastry chefs and 2) society and culture as a whole--I wouldn't ascribe too much to it outside a very narrow vested industry segment and nothing to it in the world at large. The new book by Emily Luchetti, which Suzanne F recently reviewed for TDG, will have more impact professionally and have greater effect on "progress" in this country than all the pastry competitions and competitors combined. (And it's not like that book treads on unfamiliar ground.)

There's always cocktails...a lot of them employ egg whites. Start with a Pisco sour. Dale DeGroff's cocktail book is a real winner if you want to go down this road. Or maybe suggest a few of these drinks at work and then you won't have to take all those whites home (or feel guilty about not taking them home.)

No need, I'm sure they've both read this thread already--and perhaps have even seen that both Sietsema and Jeanne McManus, the Washington Post Food section editor, have already sat in for eGullet Q&A's. Yes, Tom holds a weekly online chat of his own on the paper's site--and as a result he doesn't have the time to post here often, if at all--but he fielded Q&A questions anyway. His readership gains by his having that online outlet, that opportunity to interact with his readership and to dispense much more timely information than can ever be fit into a fixed length/frozen in time print review structure--or perfunctorily answered in individual e-mails. It shouldn't come as a surprise that newspaper media--critics, writers, editors--read each other's sections voraciously. They have all the scuttlebut on each other. The LA Times scrutinizes everything the Post does, the Post scrutinizes everything the Times does, etc--if a Sam Sifton of the NY Times can read eGullet with a fine tooth comb, as he does, he's certainly reading the other print sections, those of his more direct competitors, especially since all this is now so easily accessible online. They all know each other, sit on awards panels with each other, poach from and are prodded by each other, many socialize with each other when they're in town, just like we do as chefs when we travel. I think the real issue for Laban and his local readership comes down to how old media chooses to deal with newer media opportunities: why isn't Laban and the Inquirer doing anything like what Sietsema and the Post do online? Would his readership not be better served and would all of you not be drawn to their website a whole lot more often? You speak to this, Katie, when you write Laban's "e-mail address is printed at the bottom of each article/review he writes. One of his points to me about NOT joining in the discussion at eGullet was that he already had plenty of mail to answer on a weekly basis from his readership." How inefficient, if indeed true.

Katie--does LaBan do anything like what Tom Sietsema, the restaurant critic of the Washington Post, does: conduct a weekly hour-long chat online at WashingtonPost.com where he answers reader questions and opens himself up to all sorts of flack? Or does LaBan limit his public "accessibility," and hence any ongoing criticism or exploration of his positions? Is the archive of his reviews all there is--his only public accountability? Does he come out with a Guide or compilation periodically, where he has had to state his criteria, and how it may or may not have evolved, over time?

Sugar and isomalt are two different things and behave differently--if the idea is that you are practicing to do a task--this cake--you should practice with what you're actually going to use, regradless of how expensive isomalt is. That way you have the confidence you can deliver, you have your timing down, etc. That said, you can't dilly dally with this process--and one of the tricks for doing this in volume is to cut off all the splines of a whisk. I've also seen a special tool for this sold with lots of nails imbedded--but an old snipped whisk works just fine. When and how you wrap the cake depends on many things--how humid the room is, whether you do it on site or transport it, how big the cake is. If it is at all humid, even with isomalt, you probably should crank out all your strands and then keep them in a separate closed container with some dessicant until set up. And don't forget--isomalt doesn't caramelize a la sugar--so unless you want white spun sugar for your cake you'll need to color your pan of isomalt with a drop of yellow or brown before you make the strands to simulate caramel.

I'll throw another hat in the ring--the Euro-Pro 1066 hasn't gotten a mention yet but has performed very well for me--it has a very good price point (I paid $69), disassembles easily, nice clean lines, 5 L, 1700W, it's digital, has the magnetic "breakaway" cord and gets quite hot--which to me is as important as a rating--this actually gets to 385 quickly and easily should you want it that hot (I usually don't.) And yes, the oil below the heating element stays maybe 50 degrees cooler than that above it. Best Buy and Amazon have it. As an aside, no matter which unit you choose the recovery issue is always going to be user-manageable to a certain extent--you can adjust the amount of oil you use or you can reduce batch size--how much you fry at one time--at given heat points or wattage ratings.

Let's see--beautiful, yummy and not-so-expensive. You're going to have a tough time getting all three, since the top echelon of cake people have been in the top echelon for a long time and charge accordingly. In fact, even getting one or two of the three might be tough, depending on your standards and level of expectation. Some artists work better in certain mediums--say fondant or buttercream--and less well in other mediums--like chocolate. Some have taste to match their visual styling, some don't. Of cake artists, I admire and recommend Ron Ben-Israel, Margaret Braun, Colette Peters, Toba Garrett, Rosemary Littman and Ellen Baumwoll for different reasons and for different clients and projects. You'll have to see who is a better fit for you. On the pastry chef side for large cakes, you might consider Biagio Settepani of Bruno Bakery or Martin Howard here: http://www.martinhowardcakes.com/ eespecially if you wanted to work chocolate into the cake. Good luck!

Restaurants like Citronelle have dress codes which are enforced. Jackets, ties, no sneakers, no sandals, whatever, are a restaurant's way of defining expectation, defining acceptable behavior. They often have a wine "code" as well called a corkage policy. Why shouldn't we expect baby codes? If a restaurant doesn't develop and enforce a baby code--and also take the time to explain the existence of such a code to everyone making a reservation--as Citronelle does by informing everyone making a reservation of the dress code--then I'd suggest a restaurant, and unfortunately you Mark in this case, is on pretty thin ground complaining about or getting frustrated by activity which is within your power to curtail. You dictate acceptable attire for your diners, you dictate whether wine can be brought into your restaurant, why isn't the onus also on you to dictate acceptable behavior or impose other conditions as well--like bringing little kids into your restaurant? Then the marketplace chooses whether your dictates are acceptable or not. And you're covered as long as your dictates are clearly delineated and consistently enforced.

Joe--you should be using yolks only. Start with the Jacques Torres creme brulee recipe in Dessert Circus for a baseline and adjust according to the taste and flavor you want.

I wouldn't be surprised if you eventually see Todd's new column online. You have a smart new full-time food hire, you defy expectation by giving him the freedom to write about more than just the predictable cheap eats/ethnic beat, and you have a chance to position that person almost immediately as a second lively and relevant weekly food and restaurant read after Tom--seems a no-brainer for CP to archive Todd's stuff online. We'd certainly talk about it more, which might drive more people to their new restaurant rater pseudo-Zagat gig.

You think if Chevy Chase or Gerald Ford had walked in wearing sneakers they'd have been turned away? What if hannah's "sneakers" were Italian, handstitched in Milan and of the finest leather Joe? You'd still prefer $20 Hush Puppies as some kind of valid podiatric litmus test? Of course, by now we all know you'd sing a different tune if you heard that Roberto Donna allowed his female patrons to wear those same chi-chi Italian-designed sneakers. And if the Le Relais example is any guide, it seems restaurants--or chefs--who choose to enforce too many pretentious, inherently hypocritical, rigid and/or antiquated policies, in service of their equally Mesozoic clientele, just might find themselves out of business (or up for auction, as the case may be.) Remember the title of this thread--"Le Relais est fini?"

Whatever you do, don't forget to play around with jaggery--it can add depth and flavor in its own way much like muscovado can.

DC still has a Chinatown? I've had perfunctory, rather than commendable, Asian cooking for too many years now. Even the supposedly good places underwhelm, especially if you've been to real Chinatowns elsewhere. Matchbox and Ella's might have been good short-notice bets. Signatures as well.

How did you conduct your tasting? Did you taste all the wines against the same chocolate variety or against the same dessert? Which chocolate or which dessert?

Dave--you cooked it on the stovetop like a creme anglaise or in the oven? Are you referring to air in this "preset" mixture or air stirred into the raw base and then baked? On this thread we seem to be talking about different methods of making brulee--the hotel high volume "creme anglaise" way (usually with a few extra yolks and or gelatin added) and the traditional way and I think both present different challenges. "Most" people still make creme brulee the old fashioned way. Have you also done it (and observed the same effects)--in this baked way--either in a convection or a conventional oven with a water bath--and if so at what temperature? Oven-baked, and just from trials and observations, too many bubbles formed into a spongy layer on top seems to occur when the mixture is 1) whisked too vigorously and or 2) baked uncovered at too high heat. Bubbles can also be created by sloppily/too quickly pouring the base into the ramekins. It's certainly possible there are other factors--but torching away surface froth, lowering the heat, NOT whisking vigorously and covering with plastic wrap does produce a wonderful smooth brulee with a glassine surface. Any of these will help Fish improve his product. It seems the suggestion of making the unbaked base mixture a day ahead is also worth testing out side by side. Stove-top seems to present differently. It's possible to do a very smooth bubble-free "stove-top" brulee literally on the stovetop or in the microwave, as it is a lemon curd. It "seems" to me that gradual heating in the microwave is gentler, more even and less bubble-activating than on the stovetop. The slower temperature rise and gentler stirring tends to promote more cohesive bonds possibly. Stove-top brulees poured in ramekins after cooking "seem" to work better when you allow the mixture to cool first--and even overnight--then re-warmed slightly and pour. I never get bubbles and I pour it out very thinly into a wide shallow bowl--and then allow it to-re-set--cover with plastic and I'm good to go. (I don't brulee these, just build a dessert on top of this thin layer.) I cool my stove-top batches down with plastic pressed down on the surface--and when cold spoon out quenelles or pipe or pour as a cream. Sometimes I've poured it into half sheet pans or into flexipans to cool and freeze, but that has been for use as a component, not for use as a primary showcase--as it might be poured into a large ramekin.

The torch does seem to get rid of the micro-bubbles. I know a few people who also cover their trays of brulees with plastic wrap, tightly stretched right down to the surface. Seems to keep them more moist and helps prevent the surface from overcooking.

Nice to see Candy Sagon's Washington Post article picked up elsewhere.

Just an fyi--I've merged and cleaned up this thread. I hope it reads more coherently. And a bonus fyi--for anyone lucky enough to live near a Williams-Sonoma outlet, like I do in Leesburg, VA: they have refurbished Kitchenaid K5A/K5SS selling for $129 at the moment. As I've mentioned on the other K-aid threads, I think these 5 quart bowl models offered the best price to performance to build quality ratio going. If we didn't already have several K-aids I'd have grabbed up another one.

What I'd like to know is--has any other food media entity covered this story, and Rick's "mistake," to the extent that the Washington Post has? How has Bayless been treated by his hometown press? Is he still on the masthead of Saveur? Has he been excised like a bad tumor from the Chef's Collaborative?

Jenny, I recommend one...we do a tres leches at Cafe but it is, as you might expect, very personal and not what the Saveur magazine authenticity police would consider traditional. It's cubes of a good cake soaked in the three milks, and arranged with a trio of pineapple--carpaccio, gelee and chip, caramelized almond powder and caramelized milk, which has the texture of a milk gelee. I wouldn't be surprised if David at Ceiba is doing his version of tres leches--you could have a tasteoff and report back?

Wow, Rocks, it's nice to have stood up to such scrutiny. Next time you are in the Quarter, throw in the Arroz con leche a new way and the Basque cake with leche merengada (both from Jaleo) and you'll have hit all of our best sellers.