chefboy24

ding ding ding we have a winnar!

i am still hoping to read a memoir or novel that is sedaris meets bourdain (maybe i'll write it in 10 years with lots of luck)....but psaltis definitely didn't deliver. (neither did boulud or pepin or maccioni imho). i guess great chefs can't write for shit. (except bourdain). the only page-turning things in this book are when psaltis exposes the flaws of ducasse and keller, which i found to be definitely interesting. while every "foodie" in this country is blindlessly praising these 2 chefs up and down, its nice to hear valid criticism coming from the inside of the machine. the writing is not very good though. more like a clumsy dull retelling of events without passion or soul or personality. (probably because his brother wrote the goddamn book for him). the most interesting thing i read, though, about the french laundry chapter....... most of the kitchen was full of cooks who *had never worked in another kitchen,* he claims. I assumed at the Laundry there would probably be a mix of externs and recent grads with cooks with 3 years experience with cooks with 10 years experience.......but psaltis describes it like nobody there really knew what they were doing or why they were doing it, which is absolutely believable (the silverskin example). i had one account of the french laundry and ducasse from some of my cia friends who externed there and the cookbooks, now i have clearer picture. that was really the only benefit of having read his book.

i just can't get over how god damned good looking everyone on the show is. show me a kitchen where the cooks (and dishwashers) are this hot and i'll work for peanuts.

rhone and rhone like? which part of the rhone are we talking about here buddy? cote du rhone? (i hope not). cote rotie? chateaneuf du pape? syrah and oxtail is really conservative pairing.... but usually when oxtail is around, a steak is too. oxtail and gnochi is always nice...... or oxtail and root vege. and a fruity oaky cab would be fine. or a priorat, or a gran riserva rioja, or even australian shiraz. its not black and white, its not always "oxtail and syrah", "lamb and merlot", "ny strpi and cabernet" "lobster and chardonnay". c'mon now.

I have been told that as well...... In my opinion, this isn't what a three star restaurant does. It's uncomfortable, and shouldn't be part of a fine dining experience. There is a reason why 3 star michelin restaurants in France *do not* turn the tables..... you get that table for the entire night. Nobu is about turning the tables. More money more money. Sure as a restaurant you have the right to do that, but people have the right to criticize. Nobu was never trying to be serious, anyway. It's raw fish and celebrities. Who cares?

BINGO. off with bruni's head.

your assumption is not really correct. bouchon is about simple french country/bistro/brasserie food. french onion soup. roast chicken. steak frites. frisee aux lardons. mixed greens with a shallot/sherry vinaigrette. skate wing a la meuniere. yada yada. french laundry cookbook is about very high cuisine, more expensive and obscure ingredients, and elaborate preparation and presentation. depends what you like to cook.....bouchon is more every day cooking, but its still a fussy cookbook.

dishwasher / boiling water rinse should do the trick. theres so much acid in there you absolutely don't need to worry about it. close up the jar tight and leave the lemons where they can get some sunlight, as well.

i think pbs has always had higher quality cooking shows then foodtv julia child charlie trotter lidia bastianich jacque torres? sara moulton can finally cook for real now. cia represent!

actually in france these days many restaurants still keep the backs of silverware facing up. i think the idea is that there is less contact between tablecloth and silver this way. (altho if the backs are facing down towards the table, the points of the silver (points of fork tines and the tip of the spoon) are not touching the table.....and this i imagine is preferable, in theory) my $.02

with tuna tartare and onion marmalade..... i like gewurtztraminer or rieslings from alsace (you can go with the big boys... willm, hugel, humbrecht, albrecht, trimbach, etc) with ceviche i like sauvignon blanc...... you can try new zealand or loire valley or even vovray (Chenin blanc) or a nice savveniers (joly does the great biodynamic ones) chicken soup.... you can try the italian white route..... tocai friulano, falanghina, fiano.......or a "super white" from friuli... vespa from bastianich is great stuff. roast lamb (rack? leg?)&root vege ...... napa merlot or aglianico (taurasi or aglianico del vulture) choc tart..... sauternes? chatteau rissec is nice. a barsac? maybe even a moscato d'asti

with the cab you can also go the short ribs route or oxtail or marrow. more adventurous would be squab. with most american pinot noir i love roasting a chicken (well i always love roasting a chicken....and usually i pick pinot noir with it)

Absolutely. Great line cooks (or even great chefs) aren't academically the cream of the crop. *Most* of them can't write for shit, avoid calculus & science like the plague, were never A students, never ivy league bound. There are a few who are both brilliant and talented but being a great cook and being brilliant is a rare coincidence. Individuality, creativity, expression, passion, and mastery of cooking techniques are completely unrelated to "intelligence." Or maybe having all of these things is another kind of "intelligence." My post lays on the assumption that great line cooks and great chefs appreciate their food. I think thats a pretty safe assumption, though.

Are you kidding? All of these restaurants employ basic cooking principles. They just use them and think out of the box a bit more. Fat Duck A La Carte Menu CAULIFLOWER RISOTTO Carpaccio of cauliflower, chocolate jelly RADISH RAVIOLI OF OYSTER Goats cheese and truffle, rissole of fromage de tête BALLOTINE OF FOIE GRAS Jelly of mead and Sichuan peppercorn LASAGNE OF LANGOUSTINE Pig's trotter and truffle (Eight pounds fifty supplement) BEST END OF LAMB Gratin of potato and confit lamb shoulder, jellied lamb consommé SADDLE OF VENISON Celeriac, marron glace, sauce poivrade POT ROAST BEST END OF PORK Gratin of truffled macaroni (Ten pounds supplement per person) SOLE VERONIQUE Pont-Neuf potatoes POACHED SEABASS Velouté of Borlotti beans with rosemary and vanilla, "Manni" olive oil (Truffle option, eight pounds fifty supplement) DÉLICE OF CHOCOLATE Chocolate sorbet, cumin caramel TART TATIN Vanilla ice cream CHOCOLATE FONDANT Cardamom, dried apricot yoghurt and harissa ice cream SMOKED BACON AND EGG ICE CREAM Pain perdu, tea jelly MANGO AND DOUGLAS FIR PUREE Bavarois of lychee and mango, blackcurrant sorbet, blackcurrant and green peppercorn jelly I see roasting, risotto cookery, pasta (ravioli) making and cookery, ballotines, the confit (preserving) process, potato and macaroni gratin, a sauce poivrade (espangole/demi glace variation), a veloute, pont neuf potatoes, poaching, sorbet & ice cream production, etc etc. these are all pretty basic types of cookery you'd find in escoffier's books or any classic french repetoire.

there's no fraud going on..... in the finer restaurants of manhattan all the service charges go into one big pool (cash and credit card). there are either point systems or percentage systems that split up the service money collected accordingly.....management will usually take a small hit, sommeliers too, front waiters and captains receiving the largest percentage, back waiters less so, busboys even less. and then of course, taxes.

fabfoodbabe--- as a cia girl yoself you should know that the cost of cook labor at per se (almost nothing for cooks), as opposed to the cost of protein....is significant. preparing vegetables definitely requires a lot of skills and time and labor, but the cost of hiring another cook or four (at what, $10/hr? $12?) is nothing compared to the cost of buying meat. is the price justified? maybe. i would never order a vegetarian menu. how silly. getxo- maybe its just the shitty value of the dollar right now? if you convert euro prices to how much dinner costs you in dollars....thats a bad way to look at it, considering your income is dollars and not euros. then again, in france, if you are going to dine out, usually it is done proper, and so it costs more (on average). rich--- you'd be surprised with regards to how much money from your tip does not go to the waiters who served you. tips get split between management (yes, they always take their share), sommeliers, bartenders, captains, front waiters, back waiters, busboys. also a percentage is taken out for credit card charges. and finally, all tips are taxed. heavily. so if you as a server may make $700 in service charges a night, you may only make $250 a night, before taxes. no 6 figure incomes there buddy. sorry to burst your bubble. interesting to note..... per se is currently hiring a service director, and has been constantly looking for servers since may 2005. (craigslist) my $.02

she had a nice spot on the first or second episode of "martha" this season. phenominally high zagat rating, right? like 27 for food? thats the same level as gotham? they're a little too pro-women there, i think, though. something about a wine list featuring women winemakers! please, give me a break. italy is full of them, i could give a shit if the winemaker is a nice guy or not, or a woman or not (planeta for example...great stuff, upon hundreds of other women winemakers).

on the vegetarian tip: mario batali is not about vegetarian. he is about authentic italian cuisine with local ingredients. there aren't too many vegetarians in italy. i think its a pretty silly idea for babbo to have a vegetarian menu. on the waiter/pastry cook tip: melissa, awesome that you post here! but its not a waiter's place to talk about a cooks food. thats a *really* good way to get fired. maybe something should be mentioned to a manager. or maybe they were really slammed at that moment. if you are not enjoying things when they are coming out, let the restaurant know, instead of remembering the flaws with each course and posting them on egullet the next day. this is beneficial because: a) the restaurant should be made aware of the problem and will try to remedy the problem you and for future guests b) you will get better food, more to your liking c) you will get free stuff.

Ahhh, that's where I saw that guy before! BTW, you gotta love that he yelled that he was a trained chef. Most of the boys at the CIA believe that about themselves. But really, an Executive Chef stooping to hazing him? ← no. cia boys know their place. that kid is an exaduration. dont forget, a lot of nyc's greatest chefs were cia boys 10-15 years ago.

jean georges and gotham would be fantastic lunch spots. imho.

a few thoughts on these mushrooms. do not wash or soak. brush off with a brush or towel. get a pan hot. then add oil. get oil hot. add mushrooms. do not move for 1-2 minutes. i would also add nicely brunoised shallots or garlic. they'd go nice with halibut, bass, lobster, steaks, pork chops. enjoy

i've worked in several american/french manhattan restaurants front of the house, and i'm a cia graduate. its been explained to me this way: if the entree is a flat plate, and there is sauce on the plate, there should be a flat sauce spoon. if the entree is a bowl, and it is fish, and there is a nage or a broth or a lot of liquid, the spoon should be the more conventional shape (not bouillon/soup, but more like dessert spoon shape). all fish entrees must get either the sauce spoon or an entree spoon. the knotch on the spoon is there either: a) so the sauce spoon can hold the perfect amount of sauce and the rest will drip off b) as an adage to oldschool fish scaling tools.