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ulterior epicure

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Everything posted by ulterior epicure

  1. Right, at high-end sushiyas, I inevitably tell the master, "Omakase" (i.e. put my "trust in the chef"). I have never been disappointed. Of course, you're right, in the U.S., diners have much more say and options at a sushiya, both high-end and low-end, than abroad. I think that goes for all types of restaurants, actually.
  2. While I can't say that I completely agree with the the WSJ's vantage, I will say that I am one who is always adventurous and willing to "obey" my sushi chef, as it were. However, on the flip side, I don't work my little tush off to earn a good buck so that I can pay a chef to tell me what to eat either.
  3. A recent college graduate on a shoestring budget, my sister recently received a crock pot from our dear mum. I would like to supplement that gift with a decent crock pot cookbook. Are there any out there that are particularly user-friendly for a (very) unkitchen-friendly, lazy, and thrifty cook? Your help is appreciated.
  4. No, to be sure dipardoo, I won't shoot you, if you won't shoot me for saying the same of foie gras. But sea urchin, I find utterly sublime.
  5. The Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece on the sushi bar as a bully pulpit.
  6. Thanks doc. Don't think I haven't already lost sleep over having to miss that one. It seems that the powers that be have me chained to desk until my blessed parole in December. [Europeans: cover your ears] I just hope the trend up on the USD continues at the pace it's going. If so, it's looking like a great holiday for u.e.
  7. That's oven time. Perhaps, sickchangeup was including whipping time?
  8. Am I reading this correctly?
  9. I can. Durian. I'm very fortunate; I love it. I also love sea urchin, the durian of the sea.
  10. Any recent visits to report?
  11. You know, I'm one lucky lievre a la royale obsessive to have so many hounds out there for me!
  12. Pretty smart photographing. Are you taking lessons? Thanks for the update - those cannelloni look great!
  13. What is it with these white balance-disarming, sensor-disrupting lighting that's going into restaurants these days? I couldn't get my camera to behave at graham elliot. I suppose restaurateurs are asking, what's up with these photo-snapping, food-obsessing, bloggers these days? They can't just eat the food anymore, they have to snap and talk about it too!!
  14. JG weekday lunch is $28 for two plates, $12 for each additional plate, so that's $72 for four plates -- if memory serves me well. EMP sounds ok but I think I'd rather splurge for wd-50. Their kind of cuisine is really something that I can't get back home. I'm definitely leaning towards wd-50, but I'd like to hear if others have tried this lunch tasting menu. ← I believe that additional plates at JG are now $14, if that makes a difference.
  15. Soon it'll be like the Emerald City. So when did the momos start offering prix-fixes? Sorry, I've been kinda out of the loop for a while.
  16. philadining, was it quite dark in Publican? The apparent ISO setting on that shot of the prosciutto suggests to me that it was. Thanks for the report. From the food (mind you, I haven't seen the menu or its website), it sounds like Publican is less a gastropub and more of a collision between a bistro and an enoteca.
  17. Sorry, my life has taken a bit of a derailment as of late. I think I last left off with the crawl through the RTM. Here are excerpts from my blog post about Le Bec Fin. Click here to see all the photos from this meal. ******************************************** Four years ago, I couldn’t hear my food the music was so loud. Stiff, stilted, out-dated, and aloof, the food and service on my first visit to Georges Perrier’s vaunted Le Bec Fin in Philadelphia had me vowing never to return. But I’m a firm believer in second, and sometimes third, chances. For years, it appeared that Le Bec Fin had been progressing on that other side of the hill; slipping and sliding toward a sorry end. I must have caught it near or at the nadir. The happy story is that Le Bec Fin seems to have found another hill to summit. My recent lunch (I was too skeptical and cautious to commit a full dinner) demonstrated that redemption and forgiveness were within Perrier’s reach. Le Bec Fin has gotten a makeover. No, he hasn’t gotten rid of that ridiculous doorbell, or the iron gates. The carpet and wall paper are still Versailles on a budget. But, he tossed the prix-fixe-only dinner menu. He’s toned down and updated the music (I believe Sade, or some such soother - maybe it was - dare I say it - Celine Dion - helped us through part of our lunch). And there’s a noticeable bounce in the servers’ step. If anyone doubts that Perrier is trying to shrug off some of the pretense at Le Bec Fin, you’ll only have to see the man setting the example. Monsieur Perrier was in the house during our lunch. He wasn’t in the kitchen. He was in the dining room. He was eating with, or rather, joining friends of the house – seemingly last-minute - for lunch. He was wearing a (pink) t-shirt. I kind of liked that. Click here for all of the photos from this lunch at Le Bec Fin. At $54, the four-course “Summer” lunch prix-fixe menu seemed like a reasonably fine alternative to ordering a la carte. First Course Chilled Lobster Consommé Flavored with peach Second Course Pan-seared Tuna Filet Cherries “Jubilee” style cherries and oregano emulsion. Marc Colin et Fils Cassagne-Montrachet 2002 Supplement Course Le Bec Fin Signature Crabcake Third Course Roasted Organic Duck Le Chemin Vieux Cuvee du Petit César Fourth Course Le Bec Fin’s Famous Dessert Cart The highlight of my first meal was again the highlight of this meal. In 2005, I wrote: “Perhaps Le Bec Fin’s signature feature is their famed “La Charette de Dessert” - their dessert cart. Indeed, it was very impressive looking. The Rolls Royce of food carts, ornately gilt, majestically lumbered out of the kitchen, accompanied by an entourage of servers. It bore a stunning display of iced, glazed, brulée, butter-creamed, rum-imbibed, infused, and macerated sweets.” And this time, the cart was no less spectacular. Everything looked great. But that’s putting the cart before he horse, almost literally... And so was our second course, a generous medallion of pan-seared tuna luxuriating in a foamy sea of oregano emulsion and attended to by “Cherries Jubilee.” Unorthodox? Surely. The treatment was something you’d more likely find with les gibiers. But here, Perrier zoomed in on the steakier side of tuna – leaving the middle blood red and upending the loin cut, presenting it like a piece of red meat. It was an entirely surprising and successful accomplishment made even more successful by a fantastic wine pairing: a glass of Marc Colin et Fils Cassagne-Montrachet 2002 that was juicy and hit all the right spots. Our first course, a chilled lobster consommé was more interesting than good. The clear, tea-colored broth was poured over fanned slices of peaches. The menu described this course as “flavored with peach.” I got no peach flavor whatsoever, either from the broth or the sliced fruit, which was shockingly under ripe, crispy, and devoid of all character. The broth, on the other hand, was heavily perfumed with lobster flavor – more shell and brine than meat – and was slightly sweet. It was French and Japanese at once. Light and “summery” though it was, it was my least favorite course. Thankfully, the rest of the meal was stronger. Because it was so memorable the first time, I suggested that my friends and I split a full order of “Le Bec Fin’s Signature Crab Cake” as a supplement to our lunch tasting. Although I remember it being a mysterious novelty and I felt the need to revisit it and to make sure that it really was as fluffy as I recalled it to be. It was. As I had described it three years ago, the “cake” was more of a soufflé. Actually, it’s more like scrambled eggs meets crab meat in a cloud-form. It’s impossibly light and airy. The plump round wore a thick, velvety coat of cream sauce flocked with mustard grains that gave just enough vinegary zing to capitulate any reservation one might have. Our last savory course, slices of roasted organic duck, would not have been half as interesting if our server had not recommended a pour of a rather humble French table wine ( Le Chemin Vieux Cuvee du Petit César ) that paired dazzlingly with the single sweated, grilled scallion on the plate. The breast meat was nicely cooked, and the rind of fat sufficiently crisped, but it wasn’t the star of this show. But back to that cart, which seemed more like a chariot this time - instead of lumbering out, it was driven out, steered by a sprightly face. We were encouraged to try anything and everything, and so my friends and I unabashedly asked to try it all: 12 cakes, lemongrass-soaked pineapple, Grand Marnier-macerated strawberries, and ile flottante. Our dessert fairy told us that anyone could walk in off the street and order this course a la carte and ask for a taste of everything. At $16, that’s quite a steal. While I can’t single any one item out as being sub par, there were quite a few that etched a deeper impression in my taste memory... Le Bec Fin’s not the somber funeral parlor I remembered it to be. It’s starting to show a more upbeat side. There was a little more laughter in the room, and little more verve in the air. The restaurant has relaxed and let down its shoulders, which made this experience much more enjoyable than my last one (which, admittedly, was dinner service). Le Bec Fin is far from a bistro – that’s not what Perrier, or anyone else, wants the restaurant to be, anyway. The food is certainly not bistro food. But it doesn’t achieve that highest level of classic French finesse either. It’s confidently upper-bourgeois, if you will. I can’t say that my recent lunch at Le Bec Fin was a complete success. The highlights were quite bright, but there were a few dips. But there were no disappointments, no frowns, and no smug side glances. And that was an improvement that I’ll take happily. Never say never – and even though I did, I’m glad I didn’t really mean it. Le Bec Fin won’t be at the top of my list when I return to Philadelphia next, but it certainly won’t be excluded. At the very least, I may just walk off the street and ask for that sugar bomb to be driven my way by the dessert fairy.
  18. Reading that menu has now exhausted. I'll have to look into the others tomorrow. Thanks MikeTMD.
  19. Bump. Has anyone been lately?
  20. It looks like I might be headed to HK in February. I know it's early yet, but it's never too early to start obsessing about restaurants and food. Looking for high-end restaurants for dinner. Other than L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon (which I'm not interested in), what others are out there? Are there any "haute" Chinese or Cantonese restaurants out there worth visiting?
  21. I can't conceive why they would. Two of DM's other places (Gramercy Tavern and The Modern) are starred. On the Michelin thread, numerous people mentioned sub-par meals at 11MP. That doesn't comport with my own experience, but obviously it does happen. ← ... or against Humm, personally, although I can't see why since the boy did earn a star in Europe. I can't imagine that skipping the Continent would be the reason either; many others have and have earned their star(s) here.
  22. Cassis has closed.
  23. Actually, from your description, it sounds like they're aiming straight for the two-star category.
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