Steve Klc

"But he did tell the viewers to read, understand and follow the manual that came with the grill." Yes, but that's about as helpful as this is for someone trying to figure out why his ice cream is gritty or his sorbet is too soft: "Place in an ice cream machine and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions." And this guy won a Beard? And the fact is, when CWS writes plainly: "I like him (Alton Brown) for his contributions to food science. But he opens himself to an occasional jab with his quirky show (that I think brings esoteric concept to light in an enjoyable manner.)" And when CWS says Alton "makes difficult techniques and esoteric concepts a lot more accessible by using those visual aids--the creep-o-matic oriental kitchen supply Nazi being my fav. It makes it a lot more interesting" I think he pretty much crystallizes all the Alton Brown-related discussion: 1) is Alton the person who should be teaching "food science" and is his science worth ingesting? He sure seems to have all the geeks at Slashdot fooled. Is he getting it right on the air and in his book? This is, I believe, the door Mark astutely tried to open; 2) can Alton the persona be separated from the show and how much do the production values of the show affect his on-air persona? Is he the on-air persona? Is Alton a putz or is he merely complicit in allowing the show to present him as a putz? The makings of a fine eGullet media thread. Carry on. (Oh, and let's try to stay away from posting about who has bigger balls.)

If you actually care about them learning and cooking and developing a usable reference library--a kind of go-to collection--I'd stay away from every magazine, including Cook's Illustrated, at this point. I'd even stay away from Dave the Cook's recommendation of the book form Cook's Illustrated. There's no passion, no sense of one person's voice and appreciation of how personal and meaningful food and cooking can be--and for a beginner, I think that's what's most important to convey. In that vein, so far on this thread I'd second the Bittman and Judy Rodgers books but add two more: Jody Adams "In the Hands of a Chef" and Sally Schneider's "A New Way to Cook." If you feel a smaller book might just get them hooked--go with Rodgers or Adams; if you don't feel something more substantial would turn them off, and sit unused on the shelf, go with Bittman or Schneider.

Some salty talk here, courtesy of Corby Kummer and the wonderful Atlantic Monthly online: http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2002/03/...ummer-cream.htm

I did not know, but I judged the graduating pastry student final exam at FCI last week and also on the panel with me was Karen DeMasco, the pastry chef of Craft. That's why I thought of her. We had an in-depth panna cotta thread going in Italy and Mamster filed a TDG piece on panna cotta a while back. Your sense of it becoming ubiquitous and your fear of some strange incarnations breaks some newish ground, though. At AZ, it counts as layered if when you ate it--the presentation and form encouraged you to scoop up those flavors and items in layers, in combinations. Imagine that same dessert built in a clear, very stylish glass--from bottom up--thin layer of panna cotta, some rhubarb in a ring around the glass, more panna cotta, topped with a gelee of like strawberry water with some complementary herb, topped with a perfectly clean quenelle of the sorbet. Maybe sprinkled with some dried strawberry/rhubarb powder. Imagine how cool it might have looked as you eyed this red "parfait" being brought to your table through the dining room. Then with each spoonful you had panna cotta--but also all this other stuff as counterpoint. That clean sorbet you loved, which disintegrated and imparted flavor quickly would be balanced by the creamy jiggliness of the panna cotta which kind of lingered. At least that's the theory. (Staying in this red theme I can see a panna cotta also working with raspberries and rose. I'm oohing right now.) I don't think it is a sense that these chefs "can't" think of appropriate desserts. I think the real question as a diner might be to ask: are the respective chef's commitment to their dessert programs strong enough--are they what they should be at their price point--and this includes developing and maintaining relationships with strong pastry chefs and then supporting him or her in their role. I bet you, as a visitor, might be able to name the pastry chef of WD-50--Sam Mason--at least you could if you read the NY Times when you arrived or linked to it online from one of our Digests on eGullet. He's been out front mentioned several times in media with full blessing of the chef and that restaurant just opened. Grimes gave his daring desserts--which I believe included an oatmeal panna cotta?--lots of play in his Diner's Journal. (Grimes is very good about mentioning pastry chefs by name!) Who is Rocco's pastry chef? I couldn't tell you. I doubt Grimes could. And I'm sorry--for $160 per person I'd hope you were getting at least one great dessert, if not a great pre-dessert and a petits fours or two afterward. This is the dining capital of the US.

I'm really interested in the turnip cakes, Sara, perhaps you'd be willing to describe them in a little greater detail? How they were prepared, shape, flavors, delicacy, etc? What is it about them that hooked you so?

Well, thanks Ryne, that NewCity Chicago article is a must-read and very, very compelling and it made me a little "itchy" reading it. I bet you thought eGullet was the repository of all there was to know about Grant, well, it isn't. This is the opening of Emily B. Hunt's engaging profile: "Charlie Trotter sat on the hood of his maroon Jaguar in the alley next to his eponymous restaurant in Chicago. A young cook approached him quietly. He told Trotter that he intended to leave, only six months into his employment. Trotter gave the cook his standard speech. He warned the cook that if he did not stay at the restaurant for a full year, that the cook would not exist, period. Trotter said, "Don't ever call me. Don't ever use me as a reference. Don't put me on your resume. As far as I am concerned, if you haven't worked here a year, you haven't worked here." The cook quit anyway. Five years later, in July of 2001, he found his way back to the area, as the new chef of Trio. The young cook is now wonderboy chef Grant Achatz--and he has returned to Trotter's home turf in an effort to find his own style, voice and maybe even his own fame."

We're probably going to cross post here--but in your AZ meal writeup you mention panna cotta again: "I had Rhubarb sorbet with rhubarb chunks and panna cotta. The rhubarb chunks were tiny and very hard, good and crunchy and not too acid. Tne sorbet was superb, probably the best sorbet I have ever tasted -- good firm texture, melted quickly in the mouth, and a clear but light flavor. The panna cotta was ... well, it was panna cotta, and didn't merit it's place on the plate or the menu." Here's the thing for me--how were these two desserts presented--the UP lemon version seemed like it might have been the "1,2,3" little portions, disconnected on the plate so you tasted and evaluated each separately; whereas the AZ dessert seemed it might have been a composition, layered, so you got a little of each element as you took each spoonful--was it? Perhaps it is how these things are composed and presented that's part of the problem for you? I'm not saying each component shouldn't on their own be good or interesting if you pull them apart--but isn't the whole effect what's important? Did you get all three elements in the AZ presentation or was it also little piles of "1,2,3?" I'm clearly in the anti- "1,2,3" camp and whenever I use panna cotta I go layered--so you get fruit, wine, gelee, contrast somehow as you spoon in and I hope it changes--how you perceive it changes--as you keep eating so it doesn't get boring. Craft might be another choice for panna cotta--the pastry chef there is strong. I guess the larger question might be--how reflective of the cuisine or concept of the restaurant were each of these desserts? How good a job did Rocco and Patricia Yeo do in following through all the way to the end of the meal--your emerging dislike for panna cotta aside?

Well Macrosan, the panna cotta floodgates really opened wide in the US after Keller's cauliflower panna cotta (with oyster water gelee and caviar) which was in his book, 1999 I think, and then appeared in his LA Times column later. I started noticing other savory versions, coincidence? And Claudia Fleming really put panna cotta on the dessert map here years ago as well. Her version with buttermilk and a Sauternes gelee (and preserved lemon I think) got a lot of play and clearly has been widely emulated. But there usually is a good reason for things that are widely emulated--they're good and diners react to them--in the case of a dessert panna cotta, well, think of it as a lighter, cleaner version of a creme brulee which is easier to make because you don't have to cook egg yolk--instead just infuse and set some dairy with a mere hint of gelatin. And yes, it takes flavor well in the right hands. I'm sorry you didn't get a good example of the form--had you ever had a panna cotta say at Babbo or Gramercy Tavern? A panna cotta, which allows some inherent flavorful character of a really good dairy product to come through can be one of those really simple pleasures.

Yes there is lemon juice bilrus--but Jose kept after me, pulling more and more of it out--so the olive oil itself could come through better. It mainly depends on the olive oils themselves--we were using this cache of a very fruity fragrant Greek evoo that was incredible, drinkable, lickable by itself, and then had supply problems 6 months after opening. The first batches using the new oil weren't as fruity so I bumped the the lemon juice and fromage blanc content up 5%. That fromage blanc can also contribute to the perception of fruitiness--and in fact it's one of the two absolute keys to whatever "technical" success the ice cream has: the Vermont Butter Company is tangy yet 0% fat and that it is made in the PacoJet. That Greek olive oil ice cream is the element I get the most positive comments about from guests and their relatives I meet who are Greek or Turkish or Lebanese. And it's one of those little things that help you realize you connected, that you make a little bit of a difference. Thank your wife for me, her favorite dish is also heavily ingredient-driven--especially the Skotidakis Farms goat milk yogurt, the Greek honey, caramelized (Spanish) pine nuts and roasted walnuts. It's tough to screw that combination up.

Two questions: was it surprising Takashi of Tribute won Best Chef Midwest over the Chicago chefs nominated and that no pieces by Chicago newspaper food writers were nominated this year? Was anyone or anything from last year overlooked by the judges that shouldn't have been? (Thank you to Andrew Herrmann at the Sun-Times for his professionalism.)

Very interesting, thanks a lot. Link?

Though Zaytinya did not win Best New Restaurant, it was great for DC that a DC restaurant was nominated up against the entire national scene. And the Post sure did look prescient running that nice huge Judith Weinraub story on Jose just last week. Let's also not forget two other Washingtonians did win a Beard this year: Phyllis Richman for a Gourmet magazine piece and Post writer Candy Sagon won in the "Newspaper Feature Writing with Recipes" category for her "9 x 13 In Praise of the Perfect Pan" story. I've missed Candy and hope she writes more, and Phyllis is doing the best work of her career. Quite an achievement. As far as the awards--I think it's important to note that Journalism is handled differently--in terms of process, makeup of the judging panels, etc--than the Chef and Restaurant awards. And depending on how the composition of the awards panels shifts and changes, and who serves locally, it's pretty easy to accept that some chefs and restaurants are viewed more positively or negatively as certain critics or editors or writers serve. Very interesting question frogprince re: Jose/Cashion but not on its face a silly one--there's one professional critic around town who writes for the Washingtonian, Robert Shoffner, who doesn't seem to "get" Jose the way other professionals get Jose. (Not unusual with the inherent tension between critic and chef and critic against critic in the same marketplace.) He's inferred much the same thing about the Cashion-Jaleo connection. I don't know the answer to your question because I was not a Jaleoist then and cannot compare the flan then, say, to the flan now. (I like Jaleoist A LOT, by the way, but I'm much more a Joseist.) However, one might approach it from several avenues. Here are my suspicions, as I've never asked Jose this and don't know Ann Cashion, so I'm not in the best position to comment on what constitutes her genius. But, I use genius very, very sparingly when it comes to food and people who think about food. I'd suspect there isn't a single recipe in the current Jaleo book that hasn't been changed by Jose or created by Jose. Not a single dish, even of the longstanding ones, that isn't cooked differently or sourced differently or made differently due to some quirk or realization or technique or idea or some cost-cutting measure of Jose. Just because chorizo sausage and mashed potatoes may still be on the menu 10 years later doesn't mean it is Ann Cashion's dish. The guy in the back mixing up the sausage mix and stuffing it into the little casings isn't necessarily following the same script even if that dish is still in its "old" form. Then there are all the little dishes that just scream Jose once you get to know him--like the tomato and watermelon on skewers, the crema catalana a la moderna--that come from his unique inspiration as a result of Ferran Adria and the way he sees food--the way he uses those little gel sacs of tomato seeds which every other chef throws out or fails to appreciate. But there's something even more significant to consider here. Post-Cashion the kitchen has been remodelled and Jose has gotten that small kitchen to do incredible volume with no loss of quality if not greater quality over the years--if you knew the numbers it would blow your mind given their size, given the numbers they did back in Cashion's day when that part of town was a dump. Food costs and profitability and consistency--that's part of Jose's mark as it is with other successful, profitable chef-partners, say like a Mario Batali in NYC. There's a bottom-line aspect to this business that the "geniuses" can't lose sight of. That's where some real under-appreciated cheffing savvy and judgement also comes into play--how can I tailor recipes and production and presentation to do volume AND not suffer a loss in quality. That's all Jose because they rock now number-wise and have retained a very moderate price-point in an era when moderate-priced restaurants are disappearing--you have high and low and no middle. I doubt any of the chefs running the restaurant on a day to day basis--the guys like head chef Rodolfo Guzman and his sous like Oscar and Elmer--worked under Ann and even if they did they certainly weren't shaped and yelled at and made better chefs by anyone but Jose, teaching them how to cook the squid or pulpo just so--quickly--on the plancha--or slowly for a long time--with no in between--to get tender squid rather than tough squid. That kind of thing. Jose takes these guys (and gals) inspires great loyalty from them and moves them from dishwashers to the line--and they stay with him for years and years, longer than I've seen anywhere. This might seem a somewhat deeper appreciation of a chef or restaurant--but you don't win Beard chef or restaurant awards without assembling a team which shares your vision and works harmoniously day in and day out--and it doesn't actually have much to do with "menu" per se. That's the direction and driving force of personality, the ability to communicate commitment, vision, instill a sense of mission and offer customer service--all of which, again, is ongoing and dynamic--and not something static like an opening menu concept. This spreads from Jose (and his other partners) down to the GM, to the great wine selections, to the service staff, most of which stay within the restaurant family. To give you an idea--two years ago my wife and I got married in Jaleo--this was long before Jose asked me to join his culinary team--and virtually all of the managers, assistant managers and servers from that event are STILL with the group somehow: Christopher Vasquez is now GM at Zaytinya, Maria Chicas is now GM of Bethesda-Jaleo and many of the servers who did my wedding reception are still happy, still thriving and respected on the floor at Jaleo. To a certain extent, all the chefs nominated this year and in years past are trying to do this. This is also why it's pretty easy for a savvy foodie to sense a decline in a chef or restaurateur--to sense when a chef starts to mail it in, to rest on his laurels, because all of this takes so much work to prevent a decline, to avoid that tipping point toward something precipitous, something dulled. You have to be in the restaurants every day, you have to care, you don't see your spouse as much, and you have to keep the people around you caring so they don't see their families and still make wise decisions without you. That's what Jose does so well across 4 very significant and profitable restaurants--with another two coming later this year and then there's that magical 28 seat restaurant--or was it a mythical four seat restaurant?--that he's still planning and dreaming about down the road. (We can only hope to see that level of his genius realized.) So, Jose won this Beard award but really, he'd be the first to say he shares that award with a lot of other people. And my sense is that he hasn't revealed but 25% of his real depth, his reservoir of ideas and creativity. You saw some of it realized at Cafe Atlantico starting back in 1998-99 and is still present there, but to date, his very best stuff, his transcendant stuff which really grabs other pros and knowledgeable foodies, comes out for special dinners and special events around the world. I hope he decides we're worth revealing all of that to.

Very timely of you Suzanne--I just heard Takashi Yagihashi of Tribute won Best Chef-Midwest, my friend Jose Andres of Jaleo/Cafe Atlantico & Zaytinya won Best Chef-Mid-Atlantic and Grant Achatz of Trio won Rising Star Chef. I'm impressed someone is updating the site so quickly!

Aside from this particular event and Marge assigning some relative value to the ticket amount--there are other non-monetary ways for everyone reading this thread to "help out some less fortunate folks" as David mentioned. If not Table to Table then some similar food recovery operation where you live. One big way you can make a difference is by giving your time--call these organizations up, ask for the volunteer coordinator and offer to come in on your days off or on the weekend to cook or assist with food prep or offer to drive their vans around to pick up food to recycle or to drop it off at homeless shelters and soup kitchens. You don't get the gala treatment, but some might find it more rewarding than taking out their checkbook and organizations like this need all kinds of support, all kinds of volunteers. And they need it year-round not just for one night. There are many different ways to show you care and many different ways to make a difference beside buying a ticket. Find the way that might work best for you. If you're a chef, and already volunteer in events like this--use your network to get other chefs involved or use your corporate connections to foodservice suppliers to get them to make a significant donation of cash or product to help organizations like this; if you're a professional writer--get your magazines or newspapers to headline or sponsor events like this. At the very least get them to run a picture of the event after the fact. Every little bit helps.

My recommendation would be for you to try the mousse just like you're planning to. Taste it and then figure out what else might go well with it--what other tastes, textures? Consider 1) Something more fruity--because the mousse will be diluted. Maybe turn some of that puree into a more concentrated gelee. That's easy. Maybe add a few fresh berries. What about crunch? Dried raspberries are nice, light and very concentrated. Maybe hide them inside the mousse as it sets--meaning push them in the bottom when it is semi-set up--or sprinkle some of the dried raspberry powder over the dessert when you are done to layer the flavor. 2) Consider something creamy or eggy--like a creme brulee or panna cotta to pair with the raspberry mousse as a contrast. Or something dark chocolaty, or white chocolaty, a mousse or cream, as a contrast. 3) Then ask yourself what glaze or covering or sauce would go well with that. Would dark chocolate? It might end up being white chocolate, right? If you go dark, look for Michael Laiskonis's glaze. I just don't think tempered chocolate is going to work or "eat" as well as you think it might. There's nothing as icky as those thick solid chocolate shells or containers in desserts--and to think, some pastry chefs still use them! By the way, there's a very nice, very traditional white chocolate/raspberry dome with raspberry parfait in the great "Michel Roux Finest Desserts" book which may be the kind of thing you're looking to do. It might be instructive for you to compare that with Roux's "Cardinal Gateau" in the same book for contrast. One white, one dark. Check them out and report back. Good instructions for a fruit glaze, several mousses, one frozen-one not, and you can see how one pro approaches raspberry as a flavor. Note that in the Cardinal he doesn't try to glaze the whole thing--just the top. At home, this might be the way to go.

Matthew--are you trying to emulate something you've seen or had in a restaurant? If so, describe it or link to it. I'm all for experimenting, trying things, playing around, etc. And I don't want to hinder any of that. But then there's the pro side of me that reads this and wonders. So maybe I'll just share a few general things for you to chew on and see if it helps. Jon's right, mousse and bavarian--especially the ones with a bit of gelatin--freeze very well. Freezing anything and then dipping it in chocolate--tempered or otherwise--will not give you shine. Ever. The cold dulls the shine. In chocolate making--if your ganache is the least bit too cool--nowhere near as cool as the fridge--and you dip or coat in chocolate it will be dull, let alone anything coming out of the freezer. Dull and thick--the temp chills and thickens the chocolate immediately. How those commercial chocolate ice cream things deal with this is use a very thin chocolate coating--which is actually quite yucky, thinned with vegetable and palm oils. Anathema to us chocolate purists. (Try this sometime, pull off some of this shitty pseudo chocolate from a Dove bard or whatever you have in the UK--and then assess it as chocolate. Oily dreck.) Jackal pretty much covered the raspberry mousse and bavarian options--all pretty straightforward. You can easily freeze your raspberry mousse/bavarian into shapes--molds like a demisphere--unmold and then glaze--either by pouring a glacage over them or by spraying them. You can also pour it out into a sheet, cut out shapes and spray them or use them in kind of a layered napoleon effect building up a dessert. Freezing the bavarian allows you to cut it easier. Well, it's not so easy for a home cook to do this--but as long as you're willing to experiment and are somewhat dexterous you can handle this. But it doesn't involve dipping. Where I might just gently disagree with jackal is on how to get the shine on this molded mousse. It isn't going to happen by dipping in or pouring tempered chocolate over this really cold molded mousse. What I guess you're talking about as far as chocolate coating is concerned is not dipped, instead it is either sprayed onto the molded desserts or sprayed into a mold first or poured onto the molded form a la a shiny glacage. (Fancy French term for glaze.) The spray is usually a mixture of chocolate couverture and cocoa butter and we've had threads and discussion about this chocolate spraying technique on this board before. We've also had some discussion of shiny dark chocolate glacage recipes--and Michael Laiskonis posted the one he's using currently, which came from Oliveir Bajard, one of the best French pastry chefs working today. So you have to decide if you want this mousse inside a very thin shell of really shiny firm chocolate (so you have to crunch through this thin chocolate outer layer to get the mousse) or you want a shiny "glaze" on the outside that isn't pure chocolate--that isn't hard but instead soft. The latter is easier to do at home. The former requires a bit of skill and a trip to Home Depot--or the UK equivalent--to buy a paint sprayer. And Miss J--as long as couli doesn't have too much sugar added to it, it freezes just like anything else. Most frozen fruit purees are shipped frozen. Some even make very nice granites scraped right out of the package. Though most are a little too sweet--with 10 to 20% added sugar already.

eGulleteer (and James Beard Journalism award nominee) Kathleen Purvis weighs in on the North Carolina scene: http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/...ews/5694294.htm

A link to a nice site: http://www.gourmed.gr/dessert-recipes/show...w.asp?recid=382

otm--first, this category is huge, we're over-saturated with new American comfort cooking in this area--I think the issue, though, is it's just so tough to maintain a compelling restaurant with "moderate" pricing like Evening Star. Any restaurant. At the moderate price point you're more likely to find way more interesting food at Jaleo or Lebanese Taverna or ethnic, no? Based on meals in the past year or two, here's how I'd rank moderate and expensive local restaurants in this "new American comfort" niche: Jay Comfort when he was at Bistro 309 Vidalia tie--Grapeseed/ Majestic Cafe Equinox tie--Cashion's Eat Place/1789/DC Coast/Carlyle Grand I would have had a tough time choosing overall between Susan Lindeborg when she cooked at Morrison-Clark and Jay Comfort when he cooked at Bistro 309 in Fredericksburg--both offered complete confident consummate experiences with no holes. Some caveats: I'm not the best or necessarily reliable source on this. I don't choose to eat in this niche too often, certainly not often enough to keep up with changes over time, as you can see my list is weighted toward new American that might be less overtly comfort and a little more refined in presentation. I loathe the huge entree power dining places. I loathe typical conservative DC cooking. Maybe I expect too much imagination even in my comfort food. I don't like boring food. I also weight some moderately priced restaurants higher and downgrade some expensive restaurants for a variety of factors: because I value "value," I value the chef in the restaurant though not necessarily cooking, service, attitude and the complete restaurant experience rather than just the reputation of the food or chef, fair wine pricing and interesting wines. I hold expensive local restaurants to a national standard not local. Restaurant Seven--when it opened was wonderful--we ate there a bunch of times and it was a breath of really fresh air in this niche. Then they went and screwed it up. But that's old news. They don't make the list. And I have not eaten at Corduroy, Chef Geoff's, Greenwood, or Palena, nor at any of Grapeseed's new American competitors in Bethesda, like Blacks, Persimmon, it's just not my scene. I live in Virginia. But they all would be in this niche as well and you should try them. I've heard very good things about them. Haven't been to Zola or Poste since chef changes but plan to soon. I'm sure there are some I am forgetting and I apologize in advance. So that's where you need to rely on a professional critic you trust initially, a critic you take the time to understand, to tell you how to put all these places in context--because he's been to all of them. Then you need some friends to keep him honest over time and report changes in his weekly online chat. And then you go to all these places anyway with an open mind and make up your own mind.

Elsewhere I presented the hypothesis that one reason why Ferran would come to be seen as the most significant chef in history is because he is the first chef to break free of the yoke of the "signature dish"--some brilliant, oft-repeated, career-defining dish upon which a chef could hang his hat and which haute-y diner and food media alike could readily embrace. That Adria, with his extraordinary record of creativity in essence transcended the mere notion of a signature dish. Lissome, in a powerful, reflective post, seems to support my sense with her reason 3) when she notes that "defamiliarization and surprise were two traditionally mined AG techniques." I wonder, perhaps, if you could extend beyond Adria defying "signature" dish to say he defies "style?" Chefg perhaps would agree, by saying "What style they are cooking in is irrelevant" to him when considering the effectiveness and skillful preparation of a dish before him. Robert and Jonathon--did anyone in your party of eight wish they had some familiar dish to wrap their fingers around? Did anyone long for some culinary reference point that legions of followers had waxed poetic about for years? Are either of you more willing to take a step closer to my hypothesis? Robert--you wonder about universal impact and indigenous ingredients--which reminds me of a previous "transportability of cuisine" thread--but I ask you: would you tend to view this in a different light if you realized Adria still doesn't have any signature dish, and his creativity is in no way limited, within the framework of his "indigenous" ingredient and cultural framework? And I'm not prepared to completely divert this thread--but I would think great talents like Adria, Veyrat, Bras and upcoming-great talents like Grant would be great where ever you dropped them in whichever local flora and fauna. They'd just be great in a different way, develop different signature dishes, or in the case of Adria, transcend the limitations of signature dish or style wherever he ended up. The smart chefs aren't copying Adria's style--they are copying how freely he thinks about food. And that's the point Robert drives home very well by commending the value inherent in recording and archiving his canon.

Clay, welcome, as well, a question for you: who gets to decide what's truly artisinal and what's "just" small scale? Where do you (personally) draw the line? Because on your site you said this: "There are actually very few artisanal chocolatiers who make their own chocolate starting with buying and grinding their own beans. Among the best are Michel Cluizel and Bonnat from France, and Domori from Italy. The US has a couple, too; Scharffen Berger and Hawaiian Vintage." The reason I ask is don't you think "artisinal" carries some cachet with consumers--a confusing cachet, something we discuss often on eGullet in other contexts and might as well in chocolate--yet in a blind taste test or when I put a chocolate through its paces performance-wise--artisinal doesn't matter. How it tastes plain and how it performs and tastes once I've transformed it or manipulated it is what matters. Artisinal isn't necessarily conveying the same kind of feel-good attributes of "organic" or "fair trade" labels either--both of which do, depending on the certifying agency at least, mean something to the consumer. What is it artisinal means to you and who gets to use it by your definition? Also, maybe you could tell us a little more about what Pureorigin is--how it started out, where it's going under your direction? Some of the chocolates that you mentioned above--Cluizel, Domori--and have reviewed on your site--you also sell or have sold on your site? And in reference to Cluizel "They are one of the only companies in the world that is both chocolate maker and chocolatier, and have been able to successfully combine large-scale manufacturing techniques with hand-finished attention to detail." The only problem is, at least when I was there a few years ago, they didn't use their higher quality, more flavorful couvertures in their line of bon bons for their packaged products, their stores in Paris or their private label stuff, like for Fauchon--it's just the sweet stuff. Commercial grade for a bulk commercial product. And that hurt their reputation among European pastry chefs--on the one hand pushing this great stuff like the two Haciendas or their 45% milk chocolate and then on the other popping a bulk bon bon in your mouth that anyone who knows chocolate would find too sweet? I haven't tasted anything new on that front either in Paris at the Salon du Chocolat or at the New York Chocolate Show. Do you think they've changed their focus or just found the mass market stuff and big accounts too lucrative? Do you know if they have developed a high end bon bon line? (I can vouch first-hand they have the talent and palate to deliver a superior bon bon.) By the way you've carefully phrased a few things--like last you heard Jacques was using a Belcolade couverture--and that some "mix and match" to create their own blend, "which is what several chocolatiers I know of do" you also get back to one of my ongoing themes: In your experience--in New York, around the country, do you find that chocolatiers are hesistant to admit publicly which chocolates and blends they actually use? If so, why do you think that is?

Lord Michael Lewis: "The most interesting part of this process is the wide variation there can be between tortillas when considering the relatively limited variables." No surprise, at the Jaleo 10th Anniversary party the other night my friend Jose Andres served his version of "tortilla de patatas" in a martini glass, from the bottom up it consisted of: onion "jam" or marmelade drizzle of yolk, thickened slightly potato espuma drizzle of olive oil fried potato cubes, very finely diced, brown and crispy sprinkle of sea salt So simple yet so complex. Oh wait, someone else said that already.

I just stumbled across this: http://www.emilykaiser.com/ A nice bit of background on one writer mentioned in this thread--which includes an archive of all of her recent freelance work for the Post--the Furstenberg and line cook pieces and her very nice piece on Peter Pastan of Obelisk--whom she cooked under before realizing writing about food might be a better career choice than preparing it professionally. I suspect Emily is going to have a bright future as a food writer.

Minor corrections Joe--Maestro was not nominated this year for the James Beard "Best New Restaurant" Award--the only Washington, DC area restaurant nominated for this national award was Zaytinya--alongside Atelier, Fiamma Osteria, L'Impero and 40 Sardines. Fabio Trabocchi was, however, nominated for the Beard "Rising Star Chef of the Year" alongside Grant Achatz (user "chefg" of eGullet) Melissa Perello, Luke Sung, and Tory McPhail. Fabio and more about Maestro here: http://www.ritzcarlton.com/hotels/tysons_c...ro/default.html And I remember Roberto Donna winning a Beard for "Best Chef-Mid Atlantic," maybe back in '96--when did he pick up the Beard for top toque nationally? As long as we're on the subject of DC and Italian cooking--to complete the triumvirate--there is the spare, 40 seat Obelisk, less glamorous and much less expensive than either Laboratorio or Maestro, but offering its own version of modern Italian cuisine. Their chef, Peter Pastan, would probably be held in high esteem by many of our eGulleteers who treasure the simple pleasures of a true Italian trattoria. He also happens to have been nominated this year for the Beard "Best Chef-Mid Atlantic" award. Here's a link to a nice article about Peter, by a freelance writer who used to cook for him at Obelisk: http://www.emilykaiser.com/text/000303.php Earlier in this thread I mentioned Vetri in Philadelphia as a creative upscale Italian restaurant in America which deserved some consideration. The James Beard Foundation seems to agree--the only chef outside of Washington, DC nominated this year for "Best Chef-Mid Atlantic" was Marc Vetri. Here's the review of the 35-seat restaurant by the Inquirer's excellent critic, Craig LaBan: http://ae.philly.com/entertainment/ui/phil...7&reviewId=4588

I agree somewhat otm. I have zero tolerance for service issues and if I were you I wouldn't hesitate to e-mail Sietsema to report rude ones if you could not get satisfaction bumping your problem up the chain of command within the restaurant . I think there might be several factors worth exploring which might take Tom off the hook--it is at that moderate price point, as long as he doesn't go around saying what a great value it is, he's ok; some critical appreciation of it might mingle with Cashion's Eat Place, a better restaurant with higher aims and with (I think) impeccable service, and, who do you think is doing much better work in town in that safe, accessible, not too expensive "American comfort" niche? That's why it might be recommended as best in its category and style. (Of course, our dining scene is over-saturated with this kind of "American comfort" cooking.) I don't know about you--but I do cut moderately-priced restaurants more slack than those "aiming" for the four-star level with prices to match. That's where some of the usual suspects--Kinkeads among them--take the more deserved hit. Another factor to consider--there is widespread praise for Ann Cashion within the food writer community for a lot of reasons--don't forget she was nominated for the Beard award alongside Todd and Jose and Peter Pastan for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic. The lead reviewer from Washingtonian magazine, Robert Shoffner, is very very enamoured of her abilities as well. This stuck in my mind from his review of Zaytinya: "Although it opened last October, Zaytinya has yet to achieve the impressive performance that distinguished Jaleo during its opening weeks. At that time, Andrés's energies were not divided among two other restaurants, and he shared command of Jaleo's kitchen with the perfectionist Ann Cashion. In time, Zaytinya may develop into a restaurant as consistently praiseworthy as Jaleo, but for now, it vies for the chef's attention with Café Atlántico and the two Jaleos." So, as far as Johnny's Half Shell is concerned, I think Tom's off the hook. There's no room left ON the hook. However, if diners like you keep e-mailing him and keep questioning him, would you agree he listens and reacts and advocates on behalf of readers? Remember, Kinkeads was praised in Sietsema's 2000 Dining Guide. No more. While Kinkead's is still being lauded by Shoffner as an elite four star experience in the most recent Best Restaurant issue.