chefboy24

oh, boy. Peaches, basil, smoked paprika, fresh apples.....and on and on and on. These things can even occasionally be satisfactory without bacon. ← umm, skye, sarcasmn... sarcasmn...skye have you two met before?

anyone know where heather actually cooked in new york>

alright how can i get in there?

i walked into a voce for lunch with cargo shorts and a polo and addidas orange sneakers with my boyfriend, spent $300 for two on lunch, had a great time, got treated very nicely by everyone.

actually went last night great time!! packed at 9 pm. really nice hostesses. nice table. gorgeous restaurant, flowers, candles, windows, location.... very agressive but sweet but high strung sommelier. he was trying to push a gravner tocai friulano/ribolla gialla, aged in clay crazy wine from northeast italy.....definitely did not figure out what i liked. went with a really great grand cru gewurtztraminer from mann, for $78. beautiful. started with a maytag blue cheese salad of mixed greens....and some green bean and yellow wax beans, slightly carmelized, with some sauteed shrimp. really great stuff entree we shared the roasted black bass. totally head on, tail on, all the bones inside. delish. moist tender fabulous. they offered us free dessert wines because i did some bizness-name-dropping. had a really great 1927 solera pedro ximinez sherry, cant' remember the producer. good efficient genuine service, really nice cheery people. totally would go back again and again.

this is la revise, llc. which also owns brasserie ruhlman, la golue, and orsay, interesting enough.

Glad to see that someone else is as anal and irritable as me. Although that isn't the way I meant. ← haha. cheers! yeah whatever zind humbrecht is doing, i'm loving. i think he's biodynamic. blends a lot. isnt afraid of a little sweetness. full round rich stuff.

sorry guys no pictures but i went to jean georges for my birthday on monday... had a wonderful time. we were a party of 3, and 2 of us had arrived first. whlie i waited at the bar in nougatine, i couldn't help but notice the age of the front of house staff working the dining room. young young young. like 24. i recognized a sommelier i had worked with in the past, and my dining companion was a host at jean georges a few months prior, so i think it's safe to say we got received pretty well. great table....table 6, by the way, its all the way in the back near the windows and the exit to the kitchen. you have a full view of everyone and everything in the dining room. the captain approached..... nice guy, but sort of ostentatious and stiff. he presented the wine list by itself and offered cocktails.... which i'm not so sure i think is the best way to do it these days. my reasoning lately is that i pick first sparkling white or red. then i pick a price point. so i knew i was in the $100-$120 range, for whites. i had my eye on a premier cru chablis, an alsace blend from zind, some cali chardonnays, etc. but i really had no idea what was on the menu (since jean georges doesn't ever post his menus online or anywhere). i went with the chablis. can't remember the producer, but it was 1er cru from the fourchaume. super floral, really pure chardonnay fruit, green melony, definite minerality. delicious. the captain didn't ask me if i wanted the wine on the table or on ice, it sort of went on ice by default, which is a pet peeve of mine...as we were drinking that wine slowly....chablis at 32 degrees isn't exactly delious. the amuse landed, it was interesting to say the least. "chef recommends" you move from right to left, from the strawberry soup in the shot glass, to the fluke sashimi with chili powder, to the cucumber salad on the spoon. my impressions: the strawberry soup was delish. you could not taste the fluke at all because of the chili powder.... and the cucumber salad tasted like any $5 hijiki salad at any run of the mill sushi place...which is not to say it was great, but, i was not impressed. there was a long wait until the first course, where i watched the waiters move around a lot. they're very cold and robotic. some of them i watched talk about the menu with guests, some were good, but overall, very stiff movements. my honest impression was "jesus, i could work here." then i realized, "oh my god, they're scared to move." i went very french with my ordering. it seit seems that the dishes at jean georges are very classic french or very asian influenced. you can avoid the asian influence almost 100% if you like, which i did. i started with asparagus and morels. perfectly uniform, perfectly cooked, beautiful color, beautiful job peeling, hot. the morels were bound with a warm hollandaise with shallots and garlic and rested on top of the asparagus. perfection. a friend of mine had hamachi with grapefruit sorbet and coriander. i didn't try it but she said it was a miss. then i had the classic turbot with chateau chalon sauce. i believe this dish had been on the menu for at least 5 years. you can see it above in gaf's post. he didn't get a "triangular filet", he got the "tail end" piece, which is less preferable visually, but still delicious, even tho it is likely to cook less even. i got a very square pave cut, i believe. gorgeous. perfect textbook small dice of zuchini and tomato. the sauce was divine, i was scooping it up with a sauce spoon. if no one was looking i swear i would have licked the plate. chateau chalon, as it turns out, is a vin jaune, made from the savagnin grape, its very golden, aged in oak for 6 years, very rich, spicy, alcoholic, from the jura region. it was basically reduced and then the sauce was made from that wine like a beurre blanc, a golden beurre blanc. wow, i'm still talking about this sauce. okay, that's how good it was. for the third course i had char. char's very close to salmon, very fatty, rich, not fishy. i think they removed the skin, a square cut, and must have deep fried it, or at least pan fried it to get it extra crispy. then they spiked it straight up vertically in the char, resting on top. it was almost too salty, but so good, it brought tears to my eyes. there were porcinis as well. no sauce, no starch, no green vege. delicious. i ended up taking home some of my friends beef tenderloin, enjoyed it in the morning. they carve the beef tenderloin tableside, which is interesting, because its basically a medallion alrready cooked, and they slice it for you tableside. it was served on beautifully small and perfectly split in half "charred" baby fava beans. i didnt see or taste the char. there was an insanely perfect brunoise of parmigiano reggiano tossed with the favas as well.. you could tell the mise en place for the favas and parm for the tenderloin probably took hours. i ate the doggie bag in the morning, still delicious. the desserts are very complex. there were four themes: chocolate, rhubarb, strawberry and something else. each theme has four desserts in it, so essentially chocolate 4 ways, rhubarb 4 ways, etc etc. i'm not a pastry cook so i can't really talk about them, but i was stuffed and veyr happy at that point. i also had a birthday cake made for me by johnny the pastry chef, which was insane. however, the cake imploded when they started to slice, so they could only save 3 pieces, which they served with spearmint and chocolate chip ice cream quenelles. i think they comped desserts because the birthday cake fell apart? also the drinks from the bar never got transfered on to the chcek? i'm not complaining. ****************** and someone needs to teach everyone that brunoise, vichysoisse, epoisse, and nicoise are pronounced SWAZZZ, not SWAH. PLEASE SOMEONE DO IT BEFORE I LOSE MY MIND. i couldn't help but think "i'm at jean georges, and this captain can't pronounce brunoise correctly." ******************(/end rant) the petit fours were insane. 3 different kinds of maccaroons. a calvacade of chocolate things. and a big glass jar of marshmellow loops appeared, where some server actually snipped marshmellows into squares, to order. snazzy. great meal. $500 for 3. lasting impression "everyone here is young and this is something i could do myself." i would definitely return. and although i finished dinner at midnight, i woke up at 5:30 having to run to the bathroom with some emergency bowel situation, which i had to do again at 7:30 and then again at 10 am when i got to work the next day. ....hmmm

insane brunch! review to come. totally 3 star (nyt) experience. 100% i'll be back. ← Phil -- I saw this way too late. Did you eat there, did you get to meet Dan? ← sorry, missed your post too, hehe. no dan wasn't in but i did get a tour of the kitchen. it is HUGEEEEEEEEEE. sommelier hit the nail on the head with a nice bottle of cristom. the eggs to go that they had gathered that morning were top notch. it was really a great meal...but i think more so because i took my dad out for the first time and paid and i haven't seen him in a while. but nothing was awkward, and everythign was delicious

i thought it was pretty funny?

wow. you have no idea what a review will do to the financial success of a restaurant. not a clue. sorry. you lose.

OMG ROCKYS!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thats all i have to say about that.

oh my bad, i confuse chateau montus and alain brumont all the time. these are definitely the most two important producers in the southwest.. but anyway, yes, you should definitely try brumont's doux version, its delish.

well said. its just inconceivable for me to experience a place like that just for the drinks. but i guess for others its hard to really see why or even fathom the point of sitting at a sushi bar for sushi...... its not about a "party spot", per se (no pun intended), but about a total experience. speaking of experience, i think its nice when a host or maitre d seat you at your table somewhere and say "enjoy your experience" or "enjoy yourselves" rather then "enjoy your meal." per se would be an experience. and so is pegu club. i'd rather be drinking interesting vin de terroir like a good burgundy anyway, i'm not much of a liquor afficianado

i see your points. but. does anyone really (or should anyone?) go to a place for the sole reason to enjoy the "genius" of mixology of a perfect cocktail? no. one goes to enjoy the company of their friends, the relaxation, the buzz, the alcohol, the room, the vibe. while i love a great meal at per se, part of the whole per se experience is the energy in that room, what the room looks like, the view, the people, and the company you're with. the "genius" of pegu club didn't go over my head. believe me. that's border line insulting. i do apreciate the gin and whiskey and bourbon and ice cubes and juices........ but then again ... how many gins do you need? i need one good one. maybe 2. and there is nothing wrong with that. sitting at a sushi bar for sushi has obvious appeal to me and is pretty self explanitory. people like to watch chefs at work. do people like to watch bartenders at work? its cool for a bit but ultimately you are there to drink. but since when in new york do people ever go somewhere for drinks to be educated and have a whole "experience" for me to go enjoy drinks in some location in new york.... it is for a social and relaxing (or maybe even business) purpose, not some sort of bartender / mixologist worship. please. it would be akin to going to jean georges with your significant other or best friend and talking about nothing except the food for two and a half hours. theres more to a meal then the preparation of the foodstuffs on your plate.... and theres more to a great bar then the quality of ingredients in your drink and the skill of the bartender. A good metaphor for me is going to a nightclub to see a DJ. Are you going to worship a master at work? (and some of them are). Or are you going to enjoy the whole experience of the club....the vibe, the room, the energy, the new people, the old friends.... There's more to a great night out then a genius dj. Know what I'm sayin?

there is a non sec version and the grape is petit manseng? and its delish, i pour it in my restaurant every day.........

i went last night with this guy i'm dating. definitely delicious cocktails... i think i had the whiskey smash and then a manhattan with rye and some specific kind of bitters.... my boy had compass box whiskey, asyla, upon my recommendation, which i think is the world's most delicious whiskey, hands down. and then a tasty gin martini, with cucumber slices, which was nice. my manhattan was pretty good, altho i think i didn't really prefer it to a makers manhattan up with 3 cherries made by any decent bartender..... the whiskey smash was pretty cool, i can't remember what was in it except whiskey, mint, bitters, maybe orange? the ice cubes are phenominal. huge. they don't melt. but is this idea so revolutionary? huge ice cubes? fresh juices, soda out of glass? surely someone else in new york can do it at that level with a better view then houston street and a sexier room? my server wasn't really warm and genuine. she was sort of bitchy, for lack of a better word. well, i can think of a better word, but it may not be apropriate for some of the people who read and post on this messageboard. then again, pegu club may be very serious around 1 am, i went around 7 pm....

i agree with you the quotes are ridiculously annoying. he uses quotes on the menu for any foreign words, usually french words. which is frustrating, because yes, it is really foie gras, and it really is a coulis. there are no english words sometimes for a lot of french culinary words, so they are never translated. (like veloute, for example). and they go in quotes.

i know at least 3 top-of-the-game manhattan sommeliers that pair it with cheese, especially something like pouligny st pierre. and its rediculously perfect. really. have an open mind.

i hear this often from a lot of people they proudly proclaim they "always tip 20%" well great. i've been a waiter for 8 years and i would easily tip 10% without hesitation if the service was horrible. more importantly tho i would talk to the manager and let him know what was so wrong with the service so he has a chance to improve the situation. also, do not confuse bad food with service. great waiters cant teach cooks how to cook, but they can make you forget about the food if they know how to work it. anyway, back to your topic. i agree, for cocktails, at a bar, i would usually tip $1. definitely on $6 rum and cokes, but probably still on a $10 martini. i think if you're at a wine bar and you're only ordering glasses of wine, around 15% is okay......because on a $20 glass of nebiolo or puligny or something like that, is it really neccesary to leave $4 for about 5 seconds of work from the bartender? (remove stopper, pour wine) but then again if i were having like a panini or tapas and a bottle at a wine bar, and the service was good, i'd probably leave 20%

i dont understand your musical metaphor

this is a really big huge round oaked wine it would go with a buttery lobster, halibut maybe? foie sounds good. definitely a roasted poultry. even the sec has a significant amount of residual sugar the regular is way too sweet to pair with savory food, i would pair it with cheese or dessert only.

what do you mean ran the kitchen? he was chef de cuisine? one of several sous chefs?

I'm showing my ignorance, but I thought "confit" meant "cooked in its own fat." There is no fat in grapefruit, so what does "grapefruit confit" mean? ← confit actually means, strictly, literally "preserved" like confiture is "preserves" like jam, a fruit jam, etc. with citrus, you can confit the zest, or the flesh, if you cure the citrus flesh in salt, it would make it dried out and dehydrated looking.

inoteca! only place i go to in the les besides sin-e and wd-50