ulterior epicure

I know the concept seems almost foreign here, but reverting back to discussing food, I'm curious to know whether certain dishes reappear on the menu from time-to-time? I'm not necessarily referring to classics, per se, but seasonal favorites.

Certainly the daily tasting menu is of his choosing. But clearly, what my friend was asking for was a situation where Bosi had carte blanche to cook whatever he pleases (and, for that matter, charge however much he pleases), an extended, more spontaneous menu. Surely you'll admit that if you've not asked for (or simply been offered) such a menu before, or at least read about it. I don't think it's at all uncommon, at least among the crowd that reads forums like eGullet. Also, nowhere did he suggest that we deserved anything. This is the hospitality industry -- it never hurts to ask. OK a reasonable request but that wasn't how the mail was worded. If you had recognised he already did a tasting menu, and then asked if he could do a special "no expense spared" menu to show off all his talent and creativity on your one visit, then I suspect you may have got a better response. You mail -"if you would like to cook us a menu of your choosing. Whether this includes traditional Lyonnaise cooking or more modern dishes, or both" - reads like a request for a tasting menu and the implication is that you don't know he already does one. If I read it like that maybe he did. Fault on both sides? ← Perhaps, but I think that's splitting hairs a bit. Either way, Bosi's response - though not intended for the recipient - was just not cool.

I recently had dinner at Hibiscus and enjoyed most of the food immensely. I'm sad that I cannot echo all of the good things said here by others about the service. Here's an excerpt from my blog post:

I can't help you, but it might be helpful to know if you will be working in the front or back of the house. I assume you mean the kitchen?

Zeemanb, since you seem to be up in that neck of the woods often, what's the story on that Agave that opened up around the corner from the Cupini's? I see that the Backyard BBQ place got an upgrade and went to a larger, more visible spot.

That does sound good. The Philly cheesesteak omelet at Sidecar Bar & Grill sounds, um, hearty.

So true. So true.

PhilD, you make a good point about emailing a personal email address versus the restaurant's email address (or calling the restaurant). However, I don't, as a matter of common knowledge, know the personal email addresses of chefs unless: (a) they advertise it on their website, or somewhere public (and here, that doesn't seem to be the case - unless "enquiries@hibiscus.uk.co" is Bosi's email address), (b) someone gave it to me, or © the chef gives it to the sender If (a) or ©, then I'd say it's completely acceptable to email the chef; s/he has invited such "enquiries." If (b), then it's really not a call I can make without knowing the context. Without knowing how the sender came by the email address, I suppose we (me included) can't really judge the situation accurately. At the end of the day, I'm sure it's Bosi's loss and not mine anyway, since it seems he has lost a customer in the sender (and yes, I'm fully expecting someone to make a snide comment like, "then the sender's not a customer Bosi cares to have..."), and, potentially, in tupac17616. But I'll let tupac17616 speak for himself.

I think my sympathies are with M. Bosi, after all doesn't he cook a menu of his choosing everyday i.e. the 6 course tasting menu...? Therefore isn't it rude to mail him and suggest that you deserve something better. I assume he already believes he is delivering his best via the aforementioned tasting menu. No wonder he was annoyed. ← I didn't read any presumption into the initial missive. The sender specifically states that no special treatment was expected (or deserved), but that an off-menu arrangement would be appreciated if the chef was so inclined. I know many chefs who would take this request as a compliment. Without knowing this chef's disposition, I see no way in which the sender could have foreseen such a surly and crass reaction. Certainly, Bosi's response doesn't seem to have been intended for the sender's eyes. But the fact that it did get misdirected does not make me sympathetic to Bosi, especially given the email's contents. Running a restaurant puts you square in the middle of the hospitality industry. I'm not discounting the fact that many chefs probably do get rather frustrated and annoyed by a cloying public. This just may be a case of "everyone does it, but X was just stupid enough to get caught." So be it. But that doesn't change the fact that Bosi's email was not hospitable.

please. i'm begging you. i've never been to the french laundry either. please just go to per se. you'll thank me. ← Save yourself some dignity.

I see your note about it not mattering, but while I'm maybe in the minority (or entirely mistaken), I don't think of Keller as the chef of Per Se at all. It's Benno's menu every single night, he's in the kitchen all the time, and at a place where going off menu can lead to the truest pleasure, this matters a great deal. I only make this distinction because at 99% of "Chef" owned restaurants (including a couple of Keller's), the Chef de Cuisine is pretty much just executing someone else's menu (save perhaps a special here or there), which isn't what's happening at Per Se. It's a Benno restaurant in my eyes. That may be true. But I'll wager that a good half of the dishes served at per se are Keller classics. Also, after having read "On The Line," the latest book published by Ripert about Le Bernardin, it seems that the chef de cuisine, Chris Muller, is every bit a part of the creation process as Ripert is. So, again, I come back to: it really doesn't (and shouldn't) matter if the guy with the biggest name is in. Don't think that was me, I like the place a lot and have never had less than a great time eating there. In fact, I have a reservation there for my birthday dinner as we speak (just have to convince my wife that a Gourmand menu won't literally kill her... I don't think...) ← Sorry, my mistake - it was sethd.

tupac17616 - Who you calling an anti-social freak?!

Polite and friendly, no? Or so we thought at least. Chef Bosi must have read it and tried to forward it to his receptionist, but accidently replied to my friend instead: Lovely response, no? I certainly feel more than welcome at his restaurant now... ← Your friend's email to Chef Bosi was certainly very polite. It's too bad that Mr. Bosi is not more careful with his words, or his spelling, which is rather tragic, or his relationship with the "SEND" button.

I hope that in your letter you spelled B-A-T-A-L-I correctly.

Thanks for all of your kind words. I'll confirm BryanZ's statement above and agree with his no-flash sentiments. EoPandaBear - I will be the dissenting member of the board here and put in a vote for Le Bernardin over per se. Admittedly, I don't have as much experience at either restaurant as many others here do. But I preferred my two experiences at Le Bernardin to my two at per se. If you're curious, read about my latest meals at each, here (Le Bernardin 2008) and here (per se 2008). For me, neither restaurant provided heart-racing excitement. But Le Bernardin has (both times) left me with a feeling that I got a very solid and steady meal, whereas per se has (both times) felt a bit hollow. As to the other topics being thrown about (I quickly skimmed through): 1. Agreed, le Bernardin's staff does have more trouble with English than per se's, but so do most Americans, so I figure it works out fine. My first visit to Le Bernardin (2004) was a bit frustrating in that respect, but my second visit (2008) was just fine. 2. Staff members were smiling both at per se and Le Bernardin. 3. I would agree that the fringe tables at Le Bernardin are less well-positioned than the worst tables at per se. Actually, there are no bad tables at per se save, perhaps, the first couple inside the door. But those two are still way better than the ones near the entrance at le Bernardin or the ones at the far back of Le Bernardin, near the hallway to the restrooms and Salon. 4. For the record I saw Eric Ripert both times I was at Le Bernardin. Keller was not at per se either time I was there. Neither was he at The French Laundry when I ate there (2006). But, I'll be the first to say: at this level, it doesn't (and shouldn't) matter. 5. It was a Supreme Court Justice (I think Stewart) who said he knows porn when he sees it, not a Senator, if I'm not mistaken. 6. chefboy24 - It makes me sad that you've not had an experience to your liking at Le Bernardin. The same goes for sickchangeup at Eleven Madison Park. Those are two of my favorite restaurants in New York City. 7. Given that I named le Bernardin my best meal of 2008 (before it was eclipsed by an eleventh hour meal at The Sportsman in December), I'm wondering if Bruni and I are more similar in tastes than I would care to admit? 8. EoPandaBear - as to your trip to France in May, throw out a line on that forum and I'll be happy to jump in. But, I'll just say here: my recent meal at le Cinq was less than thrilling, which leaves me terribly confused given the raves that Briffard gets from certain sectors. I'm still slogging through my reviews. I'll get it posted... one of these days. 9. EoPandaBear - and, yes, I'll agree that l'Auberge de Pont de Collonges is a bit of a theme park. But, it is the original theme park and I enjoyed my meal there.

You can request anything you want. Whether or not it will materialize is another thing. moosnsqrl - what's wrong with joiei's company car? ← Nothing - 10 gallons per mile is perfectly acceptable fuel consumption ← make that 13. ← Ohthankgoodness. I was really worried about your company's bottom line (and our environment) there for a second.

You can request anything you want. Whether or not it will materialize is another thing. moosnsqrl - what's wrong with joiei's company car?

OK, now I'm going to have to stop by there tomorrow night for some cocktails and gougeres. They've been a horrible addiction for me since having them in Paris and at Central Michel Richard. ----- In regards to Bluestem in general, my wife and I have been going here since we moved to KC in 2005. By total coincidence we happened to pick an apartment that you could literally see Bluestem from (Cityplace) so it was a natural choice as the place to become "our restaurant" in KC. It's always an excellent place to have a great meal and excellent cocktails. I think my favorite experience there thus far was an Empson wine dinner that featured some Jermann wines and picolit. ← I hope I didn't get ChefCAG in trouble here. They were offered as an amuse in the dining room. However, Twohearted, I could be compelled to join you in lobbying for their addition to the Lounge menu. They also have a char with an arugula-vermouth emulsion that was the apple of my eye. And Ms. Garrelts is offering a sous vides caramel apple dessert with HOT BUTTERED RUM. But that's all neither here nor there.

Looking back on 2008, one of the best desserts I had was at Michael Smith. It was called "Fresh Bartlett Pears" and featured a whole, very ripe, Bartlett pear cut into wedges, drizzled with honey, and served with chunks of Parmesan cheese. It was kind of brilliant. If you hurry, you might still find it on the menu.

They had gougeres last night. They were filled with warm, whipped goat cheese spiked with truffle oil.

I'm sure I couldn't possibly name just one dish, but I won't regret naming either of the following: Savory: Black Bass Tartare at Le Bernardin Sweet: Claudia Fleming's Coconut Tapioca at Gramercy Tavern

How much is it? ← I THINK it was in the low $30s. ← $21 is what I heard. ← It was $40 the day I was there. ← That certainly seems more accurate.

How much is it? ← I THINK it was in the low $30s. ← $21 is what I heard.

Also, I think JGV has better business sense than to post about food in his restaurants that "regulars" can't access.

Yes, I did see it on JGV's blog, though I also heard it from another source (though I'm not certain if that person, like mjc, happened to be there on the same day as JGV).