chefboy24

exactly. but its not about "standing the heat" when you're a line cook, and you're at work for a 10 hour shift.....cooking really great food is not much more difficult then cooking average food. you're still on your feet, you're still busting and hauling ass, dripping sweat, etc. there's a fine way to get your cooks to produce 3 star food, and theres a bad way. the former will result in individuals who are happy with their career, will teach them how to be better cooks, and will produce food made with love (not fear).... the latter may produce pretty food in limoges bernardaud china, but will ultimately cause high turnover and a harder time for everyone.

wow thats bazarre! if i ever explained to a guest that "skate was a member of the ray family," they'd probably regret that they asked. you should have pulled a manager aside and remarked about this. this is something the management should know....that you are receiving awkward verbage. it will help them improve service, ultimately.

Much respect to you. That's called professionalism. ← it should also be the minimum entry requirement into the field. ← if it was really an absolute requirement, restaurants would not be able to properly staff their floor. being a waiter is, after all, a job. sometimes you just don't want to be there that day (or at all).. but you do it, because its work. how many people truly really love their jobs, all the time?

Is sexual orientation a/the reason you or some other waitstaff are no longer working there? ← no, definintely not, but i'm trying to paint a better picture of the vibe/situation going on over there.

My point was that it is unlikely that Eleven Madison Park will get THREE Michelin stars (a Michelin trifecta). It is inevitable that Humm will get one at Eleven, and (in my judgement) he deserves a second. I wasn't aware that there was so much turmoil in the turnover, but the restaurant seemed to be purring nicely. The price point at Eleven Madison Park is less than half that at Per Se, and at times it does show, but de gustibus non disputandum. ← oh, my bad, i misunderstood trifeca. my understanding is that a trifeca is three of something different that are all related to one another. (maybe like a zagat score, a ny times review, and a michelin ranking) yes, i think the food is around 1-2 star. certainly as good as bouley or masa, to me, but two stars in france? i'm not so sure. a lot of stuff chef does is for presentation. and theres not much i haven't seen before from his menu. other chefs in nyc are pushing the envelope a bit more. i was friends with a few of the gay waiters there. i'm a gay waiter/sommelier (somewhere else now, obviously). i may hate my job and be having a bad day, but you wouldn't know it at the dinner table. ultimately i want the guest to have a great experience, regardless of whether i like the owners/managers or not. so its not a question of acting or being fake, per se. and many good waiters are the same. you can't be a great waiter if you just don't care about making guests happy.

oh, and btw, humm got his first michelin star on his own when he was 24. not a candidate for michelin ranking? get a clue.

too bad every single last line cook (including me) quit except one because of the new chef. and the waitstaff now hate their job. you may be impressed by trendy food on limoges plates, but maybe you should be aware of the costs of the bullshit.

emphasis mine. i'm not sure i'm understanding the difference here. when i say "i don't like oak", i'm expressing a preference related to "oaky vs. no oak". if you think that i'm only saying that because i heard it somewhere then i'm afraid you're not going to be serving me very effectively. it sounds like you might have distain for your customers more than a real understanding of why they're saying what they're saying. at the french laundry, i'm almost positive that i said "i'm not a fan of oak". the discussion, and the wine selections, turned out wonderful. ← i see what you're saying but usually when i deal with guests, it goes like this: me: hi, can i help you select a wine by the glass? guest: sure me: are you looking for a white or red guest: a white me: ah huh. guest: something dry. me: ?????? i used to then ssomething to the effect of, "light in body, large bodied? do you like oak?" 9/10 times people would say they didn't like oak. so then i would never pour our piedmont chardonnay or this rioja blanca from allende, which is super peachy, cinnamony, oaky, elegant & phenominal. but if i said "let me just pour you something i think you will like" and i poured that allende, 10/10 times people love this wine. but its oaky. so now i just prefer not to bring up the oak thing altogether, unless i'm talking about napa/sonoma chardonnay. where it is expected, and preferred.

well yes the difference between 2, 3, and 4 star restaurants is in the details. 4 star restaurants dont let this happen, 2 star restaurants do. i can't be flawless with every guest every night, but i will sure as hell try.

I guess I need to explain. First, yes, I am a sommelier in midtown, and have been a sommelier at another restaurant (in the batali organization). Second, there is a wide range of oakyness in different wines, but by far and away, the worlds greatest wines (white and red) without question have all seen some oak here or there. even in chablis, producers like ravennau, rammonet, and dauvissat use oak, and produce some fucking stellar wines. So when the average guest, or the vast majority of guests who say something like "i don't like oak," to me, they are just saying this because they heard somewhere that they don't want oak in there wine. (probably because there is a lot of really cheap california chardonnay that is overly oakey and totally forgettable). further, if someone says to me, "i dont like chardonnay", i could pour them one from california, one from piedmont, one from sicily, one from puligny montrachet, and one from a premier cru chablis vineyard.......and blind, they would not be able to know that every single one was chardonnay. i guarantee it. so yes while i agree you should give your sommelier information.....there are a few general ways to do this. you always have full and light bodied. new world vs. old world. (new world wines can be a bit less austere and friendlier, but less restrained, less elegant (generally speaking, overall, there are exceptions obviously)). oaky vs no oak. floral, citrusy, racy, round, complex (for whites). red fruit, black fruit, herby, earthy (for reds). or sometimes, i'm never really looking for something in particular. i dont really have wine preferences, i like all good wine. but i would prefer to not have sauvignon blanc or sangiovese when i'm out. anything else i'm fair game to experiment, but my general faves are: barolo, barbaresco, chenin blanc, burgundy (red & white), and champagne, and friuli whites. then of course, there are the pinot grigio drinkers and the sancerre drinkers. in all my years of working in restaurants, i have NEVER ever seen someone express real gratitutide for my selection of a sancerre or pinot grigio. i have had the best italian pinot grigios and the best sancerres italy and the loire can offer, but not once has a guest ever asked me "oh could you write down the name of the producer?" On the contrary, the only people who put ice in their wine are people who order sancerre or pinot grigio. the reality is, people who order pinot grigio do not even really like the taste of wine, at all. they are the same people who modify every dish, sauce on the side, no dressing, no potatoes, no starch, etc etc. i promise you. these people drink pinot grigio and sancerre because they think they are supposed to. on the contrary, people have gone stark raving mad about how much they loved their malagouzia or falanghina (grapes i love, bottles that are phenominal for $20). all i was originally trying to say is that if you don't have preferences because you haven't developed your palette yet, don't let them know that. i don't care if its per se or olive garden........someone pouring you wine isn't going to be adventurous or open some crazy bottle if we know its not going to be apreciated. because for a burgundy lover, i might just bust out a clos vougout for a pairing with our tuna course if he's nice and well mannered and appreciative (and drink the remainder with the chef, the gm, the pastry chef, and a few captains).......but if a guest tells me he likes sweet wine and pinot grigio, i sure as hell wouldn't do something special for him. and neither would anyone else in manhattan. those are the facts, jack.

it should never happen..... but it happens because the sommelier/captains are doing 201897203481972304198234 other things at that exact moment. and sometimes you really dont know exactly when a course is going to come out of the kitchen. you know within a range, because you fired the food to the kitchen, but some times you think you have time to get things done before the food gets dropped, but you dont. not offered as an excuse, but as an explanation.

definitely don't tell them your palette is not developed, or that you like sweet wines. speaking as a sommelier, to me, i would not certainly not bust out impressive and more expensive wines for you. just don't really say anything about how much you know and leave the pairing up to them. pay attention to what you're drinking and remember what grapes/styles you like. the worst thing a guest can say to me is "i want something dry," or "i don't like oak" or "i dont like chardonnay/merlot/" "i like pinot grigio"......those 4 things pretty much instantly make me aware that this guest is not a wine drinker. without getting specific, you can sound immediately informed about wine if you say something like "i want wine that speaks of a place" or "i want terroir driven wine" or something like "lets stay in france for this evening if possible..." if i went, personally, i hate wine paired with food (with each course, of a 7 course tasting). you get 2-4 ounces of something, and you never really get to learn that wine. its always best to go from a bottle of white to a bottle of red. or do half bottles.

very interesting. when its business people i say something like "ladies gentlemen, would you prefer i pour bottled water throughout the course of the meal?" and most of the time they say yes. if its a 4-top usually i will ask after the 3rd bottle. and i will always ask if they are on the dessert course. and i will always switch the glass if they switch to tap.

since pinot noir is my new love. and i can't afford chambertin on a daily basis..... what are yoor fav pinots for the $? today on my day off i am enjoying a wonderful 2002 reserve cristom, willamette valley. totally red cherry strawberry raspberry. even cookie dough. i always heard this descriptor but never believed it for myself. but if you close your eyes, this pinot is totally cookie dough in the finish. delish!! $40..... but castle rock carneros for $12 is pretty darn good too. also nicholas potel's generic bourgogne is delish for $17. blacker fruit. but delish your thoughts?

i mean bouchon is what it is. its like the shake shack of bistro. how good can a spinach quiche be? well: that good.

yaffa cafe on st marks. huge outdoor garden. insanely affordable brunch prices. highly recommended. very east village. or you could do eleven madison park (new chef, daniel humm) aquagrill on spring street.......

um. no one has comments on my pictures? tough crowd.

ramps.

resized pics over here: http://www.rhythmism.com/forum/showthread....ed=1#post635691 sorry!

whoa. wow, if any mods or anyone can help me shrink/resize, i'd be indebted. edit: i figured it out, give me few minutes to resize

we need pics!! sorry about the bad quality, i hadn't figured out how to make my phone take pictures in high res yet. i'm not really one for restaurant reviews but. really warm genuine service. gorgeous view of central park. quiche lorraine: ($11) eggy, creamy, spinachy, perfectly seasoned, perfect temperature. salad was dressed perfectly (walnut vinaigrette?) bouchons: delish. not orgasmic, i've had much better chocolate desserts. the vanilla ice cream was superb. had a nice $8 glass of a macon fuisse. long finish, appley, good burgundy for the $. it was served in a water glass, which was a bit weird. they were out of the mille fueille, and didn't know they were 86 so my server was embarassed to tell me they were out. the ended up comping the bouchons ($7?) it was nice, on the check, it read, "complimentary" instead of "food comp". i liked that.

i wish bruni wrote more then 2 sentences on service, as well. i think more people are more interested in service then decor. i mean, if you go to urena, and your waiter was a rude aloof f---, you'll remember that, and you won't remember the wall sconces. know what im sayin?

i dont know...french laundry and per se do the same things. there are dishes now being served, today, at per se that are in the french laundry cook book that came out in november, 1999! people obviously don't seem to mind. when a restaurant has a classic dish, people get angry when a chef takes it off. so they keep it on. like the egg / caviar at jean georges, the foie brulee, etc.

http://dinersjournl.blogs.nytimes.com/index.php bruni diners journal. maybe 3 stars are comin! i enjoyed my meal there for sure. easily on the same level as country or blt fish or l'impero

You have a quibble with the dessert menus? Curious... ← no the quibble being that the dishes stay the same year after year.