ulterior epicure
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Posts posted by ulterior epicure
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I would think the signature stuff is the best to try the first time, stuff like:
Egg Caviar
Tuna Ribbons
Foie Gras Brulee
Young Garlic Soup
Turbot/Skate with Chateau Chalon
Red Snapper with Nuts/Seeds & Sweet & Sour
Black Cod with Honshimeji & Lemongrass
Parmesan Crusted Chicken
Sweetbreads
Shortribs
And the scallop with cauliflower/raisin/caper.
Christopher
And the aforementioned asparagus with morels.
Is it just me or was that squab with lemon confit and foie a classic as well? Either way, it was great and I miss it.
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No, not a restaurant worker, by "us" I'm referring to myself and my wife. Given how cheap and how nice (and how easy to book) JG is for weekend brunch, we've invited people for lunch there a few times. They always ask how much to eat, what courses to try etc... I personally love the tuna ribbons, and have only skipped it once, but we try to limit our advice to how many courses to try rather than which to try. The reality is that it's probably easier to recommend what to steer away from on a first visit if you are trying to get a feel for the food, because at least 10 dishes are signature type dishes that you can't go wrong with.
Ah, I see.
What are your favorites? What would you recommend for a first timer? Someone upthread mentioned they added a few new things very recently.
The menu is going to be in flux for the next week or so as the bring in their spring menu. On the present menu. My favorites include the asparagus with morels, the madai with muscut grapes, the foie, the lamb, duck, the turbot with chateau chalon sauce....
Not to be a pedant, but I believe the turbot is at dinner, skate at lunch.
Also: duck? Is that the Duck "a la JoJo?" How is it prepared?
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I think sethd is referring to madai, a type of fish.
Oh, yes. Lovely dish. And pretty too.
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And I can't help but notice the similarity between the quartered "Chocolate Frivolous" and Iuzzini's "Four Play" presentation.
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It's funny that even Bruni acknowledges the lack of coverage this restaurant has gotten since opening. With that said, even after his review I can't say I got all that much out of it. OK, the desserts seem an unexpected bright spot. The egg-serrano dish is a good one. And... The review even felt a bit short to me.
I still want to go. In fact, I have a reservation for lunch tomorrow I made without even knowing Bruni was going to file today. But, like, is there that little to say?
I totally agree - he seems short on the food description and long on the interior design.
I HOPE they don't send out all of those "chapters" of sweets out at once like last time. I felt like I was being shoved out the door; meanwhile, I had ice cream melting on four different plates.
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Bruni gave them three stars:
http://events.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/dinin...ews/25rest.html
Sorry, I know this is REALLY trite, but I can't bite my tongue any longer. Is it me, or is Bruni color weak? He described the pre-Tihany Daniel as "pastel" - I recall it being sumptuously red with a gold and ivory glow. Now he's describing the old Bouley as being "purplish pink" and "a gigantic magenta gumdrop." I recall it being blood red.
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There is a biography about Chef Dennis on the adour website. He worked in Chicago at Tru and has been with Ducasse in New York since Adour opened.
He was chef de cuisine at TRU, I believe, then he was executive chef of Blue Water Grill in Chicago, then Adour. His last job in NY was at Alain Ducasse NY (separate from Adour, of course) before he went to TRU. So, its...ADNY, TRU, Blue Water Grill Chicago, Adour.
Of course, I should have checked the website, which, by the way, is a considerable improvement over its former cyberhome.
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Oh the lengths I go to. A bit more research reveals that some restaurants have both spicy-savory and sweet versions. For instance, Yeah Shanghai. This Shang version was obviously on the savory side. I swear, I don't make all this stuff up.
No, no. To be sure, Bryan, YOU'RE not the one I'm questioning.
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I've had eight treasure rice, or at least that's what it's been called, in a number of traditional Chinese restaurants. Usually it's dark brown and is full of dried meats, nuts, and other items. The same could generally be said of the rice here.
Sounds more like the filling of tzong tze, or "oil rice," rather than "eight treasure rice," ba bao fan, which consists of glutinous rice, red bean paste, sweet red dates, nuts, etc.
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... and eight treasure rice.
I'm assuming this wasn't sweet? Traditionally, eight treasure rice (or at least the ones I've encountered) are served, more or less, as a dessert.
I would like to see Chef Lee's cuisine more focused and in a more serious setting.Isn't Shang a "more serious setting?"
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The only thing that's changed is that the lounge area OUTSIDE the dining room (which I'm guessing was formerly limited to those with reservations?) now allows people without reservations to stop by, order food and drinks and mingle on the couches. I'm guessing this is close to a non-event as far as the kitchen is concerned, preparing a single extra course here and there off the menu for a restaurant that's staffed to prepare double digit courses for 60+ diners a turn should be trivial. I'm guessing it's the servers and bartenders that are seeing the effect of the changes, especially the latter.
As long as you were properly dressed, it was always possible to stop by Per Se and have a drink in the lounge, regardless of your reservation status.
Unless I'm mistaken, lounge visitors (i.e. Those without a reservation dropping in for a drink) were not able to order food in the past, whereas, henceforth, they shall be able to do so. For the Keller cult, this IS/SHOULD BE big news.
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Has anyone here had the Parmesan chicken? I know of people who have had the confit of chicken, but not the Parmesan version.
Never mind, I see that they are the same.
"Parmesan Crusted Confit Leg of Chicken, Salsify, Basil and Lemon Butter"
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Has anyone here had the Parmesan chicken? I know of people who have had the confit of chicken, but not the Parmesan version.
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Who's the new(ish) chef, again?
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I was toying around on opentables.com late last night and stumbled across BRUNCH reservations for April 12. I assume that this is a one-time exception for Easter. Unless they also do the same for Mothers' Day.
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3. What I didn't disclose in my initial post (and what I didn't discover until reading some of the restaurant profiles) is that there is an emphasis on terroir and locavorism. That automatically narrows the field. Most of these twelve restaurants fit the bill.
How does Robuchon fit this bill, especially in Las Vegas?
You're absolutely right. It doesn't.
Bolded Red for emphasis.
I did see that U.E., but I wanted to be specific and am trying to find rhyme or reason for this list. If terroir or locavorism were the unifying factor then The French Laundry might have replaced Robuchon, since much of their produce is quite local indeed. I'm not saying that Robuchon isn't a great restaurant or doesn't belong on a list like this, just that that restaurant sa wonderful as it is specifically does not fit that particular profile.
Yes, but as with Chez Panisse, which I mentioned above, as an editor, I'd want to avoid contributing one more syllable to the culinary stutter. There's only so many times a reader (like me) can see an article about certain restaurants before we start rolling our eyes and sending them to the round file.
I had a fantastic meal at Chez Panisse, less so at The French Laundry. And, I too agree that both are VERY important restaurants in the U.S. - as are alinea and half a dozen other restaurants (I'd argue minibar sets a standard that very few, if any other restaurants in the U.S. can/have met). But Waters and Keller are more than usual suspects now. Their presence seems mandatory. And, indeed, you have not much further to look than page 48 of this very issue of Saveur. There's an article entitled "Alice and Thomas." I'll let you guess their last names.
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3. What I didn't disclose in my initial post (and what I didn't discover until reading some of the restaurant profiles) is that there is an emphasis on terroir and locavorism. That automatically narrows the field. Most of these twelve restaurants fit the bill.
How does Robuchon fit this bill, especially in Las Vegas?
You're absolutely right. It doesn't.
Bolded Red for emphasis.
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I disagree. Frontera is more an outpost of down home pan-Mexican cooking, while Topo is more a bastion of upscale gourmet Mexican. I think both are wonderful and clearly related, though not the same.
Right, right. Fraternal, not identical. Still joined at the hip. And one sibling still has more expensive taste.
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9. Jean-Georges Chocolate Cake, Jean-Georges (New York - and, like Nobu's miso black cod, available at many other imitators the world over.)
Interesting, considering that I've always been given to understand (from people I trust to know these things) that the "molten center chocolate cake" was a conception of Michel Bras and not Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
As have I. Then again, I've heard it attributed to about half a dozen chefs. The common denominator there was that they were all French.
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I don't think any of the others are so intrinsically linked and long lived in the community as they are.
Right, but how does one write about Chez Panisse in this manner without sounding redundant?
I suspect these are JUST twelve restaurants that matter, NOT the ONLY twelve, or even the TOP twelve, or the BEST twelve, or... you get my point.
I agree with you on the "just" part, but can't help wondering "why" write the list article without a defined point of view? I really can't come up with a common denominator to make this list appropriate in my mind. I'm probably in higher agreement with the signature dishes than restaurants that matter.
Common denominators:
1. In composite, this list of restaurants covers the four corners of this great country.
2. In composite, this list of restaurants covers a relatively diverse set of cuisines. Name me the most "important" Asian restaurants in the U.S. I bet The Slanted Door might just be at the top of most people's list. Likewise, Topolobompo for Latin - especially Mexican - cuisine.
3. What I didn't disclose in my initial post (and what I didn't discover until reading some of the restaurant profiles) is that there is an emphasis on terroir and locavorism. That automatically narrows the field. Most of these twelve restaurants fit the bill.
There may be other thematic under currents here, but I'll have to think about it a little before I venture any other observations.
Though, I would argue that Frontera Grill is more important than Topolobompo. But, six and one half dozen - they're basically twins conjoined at the hip. One just happens to have more expensive taste.
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I don't think any of the others are so intrinsically linked and long lived in the community as they are.
Right, but how does one write about Chez Panisse in this manner without sounding redundant?
I suspect these are JUST twelve restaurants that matter, NOT the ONLY twelve, or even the TOP twelve, or the BEST twelve, or... you get my point.
I agree with you on the "just" part, but can't help wondering "why" write the list article without a defined point of view? I really can't come up with a common denominator to make this list appropriate in my mind. I'm probably in higher agreement with the signature dishes than restaurants that matter.
Common denominators:
1. In composite, this list of restaurants covers the four corners of this great country.
2. In composite, this list of restaurants covers a relatively diverse set of cuisines. Name me the most "important" Asian restaurants in the U.S. I bet The Slanted Door might just be at the top of most people's list. Likewise, Topolobompo for Latin - especially Mexican - cuisine.
3. What I didn't disclose in my initial post (and what I didn't discover until reading some of the restaurant profiles) is that there is an emphasis on terroir and locavorism. That automatically narrows the field. Most of these twelve restaurants fit the bill.
There may be other thematic under currents here, but I'll have to think about it a little before I venture any other observations.
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I don't think any of the others are so intrinsically linked and long lived in the community as they are.
Right, but how does one write about Chez Panisse in this manner without sounding redundant?
I suspect these are JUST twelve restaurants that matter, NOT the ONLY twelve, or even the TOP twelve, or the BEST twelve, or... you get my point.
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Tangentially, I got to flip through more of the magazine while I waited for the sandman to arrive last night. There's a one-pager that profiles 9 "Signature Dishes."
Here they are in the order in which they appear (though I don't think the order here really matters):
1. Snapper (Turtle) Soup, Bookbinder's (Philadelphia)
2. Oysters Rockefeller, Antoine's (New Orleans)
3. Lobster Savannah, Locke-Ober (Boston)
4. Orange Beef, Shun Lee Palace (New York)
5. Baked Goat Cheese with Garden Lettuces, Chez Panisse (Berkeley)
6. House Smoked Salmon Pizza, Spago (Los Angeles)
7. Chicken for Two Roasted in the Brick Oven, Zuni Cafe (San Francisco)
8. Black Cod with Miso, Nobu (New York - and available at all 18 Nobu establishments)
9. Jean-Georges Chocolate Cake, Jean-Georges (New York - and, like Nobu's miso black cod, available at many other imitators the world over.)
Jean Georges and Nougatine 2009 & Beyond
in New York: Dining
Posted · Edited by ulterior epicure (log)
n.b. The immediately preceding iteration of shrimp (Seared Gulf Shrimp, Silky Pumpkin, Ginger and Basil) expired as of the day before yesterday. I was offered the current incarnation, which had not been printed on that day's (lunch) menu.
Steamed shrimp (dotted with wasabi) with chanterais melon balls. A tepid carrot broth, with a touch of lime is poured over the carousel of crustacea tableside. I'm giving this one a green light (with the caveat that I, personally, would have liked a touch more wasabi).
Also, a new iteration of peeky toe crab is on the lunch menu. Off went the dumplings and in came a cold crab salad laced with an aggressively lip-tingling mustard emulsion. I can easily see how this dish may need to be calibrated to suit a wider audience. I, however, enjoy a good kick in the nose and mouth. I loved it. I can see how more timid tongues might be put out.
Full report later.
*COMP DISCLOSURE* The pastry chef generously sent out more desserts than I could count. I think we managed to cover every square inch of our linen-lined top with saccharin. I could have swam the Atlantic that afternoon.