ulterior epicure
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Posts posted by ulterior epicure
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To an extent, the "horse race" is what Eater is about. The basic premise (that Bruni wants that four-star rush one more time) seems to me sound, though I am not at all sure Bruni will in fact find a four-star-worthy restaurant between now and August.In my opinion, Eater got caught up in the tee vee sweepsmania and is just trying to stir the pot.Let me help him: Eleven Madison Park.
But I agree with your assessment (as I alluded to above in my post), Bruni has made it abundantly clear that it doesn't pass his smell test.
As for Del Posto, I didn't even address that one because I think it's utterly unworthy (to me, anyway).
If anything, it seems Bruni got trigger happy and wasted a perfectly fine shot on Daniel. And he seemed to apologize for it all the way through the piece.
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I think all this business about Bruni issuing an eleventh-hour legacy 4-star review is utter silliness. The likelihood of this would have been exponentially higher:
(a) Had Bruni not wasted a four-star review on Daniel (January 21, 2009), and
(b) If there wasn't a serious lack in compelling or convincing candidates eligible for four-stars at the moment. All of the usual suspects have already been awarded four stars, and the few other likely candidates have been eliminated and dismissed in Bruni's fire-side chats and fairly recent reviews.
Can anyone here, in good conscience, name a restaurant in New York City (other than the reigning four-star restaurants) that fits the New York Times four-star mold? I can think of only one: Eleven Madison Park. But Bruni seems reluctant. Then there's Bouley, the most recently speculated-about contender. But, as we know, it blew its chance (and given my latest visit in March, I think Bruni was too generous in awarding it three stars).
I've not been to momofuku ko. Given Bruni's momo-love, you find me arguing that it's not the most likely candidate. But what would justify a re-review so soon? What has changed that would warrant such a rapid promotion? It's heavily spiked, but I don't think the Kool-Aid is quite *that* strong.
Now, I know that Bruni has arguably modified the mold (some would say destroyed it), but do you really see the stars aligning for any restaurant currently open in the city? (Even now, Marea seems to be the heir apparent.)
In my opinion, Eater got caught up in the tee vee sweepsmania and is just trying to stir the pot.
Of course, I've had to eat plenty of my own words. And I may just have to between now and August.
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Great, thanks! The quince reservation won't work out since they only had 10 pm on Saturday and that's a bit late for going out after but I will be going to Aqua Friday and Ame on Saturday so I'm very excited. It's kind of ironic that these will be the culinary highlights of my fall considering I live in Chicago but I haven't had time with school, etc. going on to try anywhere new here so I guess it requires flying across the country to do that!
Nate_the_great, how was your Aqua experience?
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Anything new or just really good and old-- for an August trip to San Francisco?
Considering that California's unemployment rate is more than 11% and that there are news reports of stalwart restaurants like Aqua losing 80%-90% of its staff, I would be hesitant to recommend anything this far in advance, but I'd hazard to guess that my consistent top five will still be around:
Aziza
Coi
Ame
Swan's Oyster Bar
Canteen
Yikes, so does that mean that Aqua shouldn't be considered at this moment?
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The one thing that hasn't changed is the upshot: unless it changes - and changes with relative frequency - The Fat Duck tasting menu is pretty much a one-time attraction. Now that there is no a la carte, this becomes more true than ever.
I think that is a bit more than a one-time attraction. We went last September after a gap of about 3 years and it had changed quite a bit in that time, albeit with a sequence of fairly small changes.
Unless it changes more quickly in the future my guess is that a two year gap is probably the minimum for it to be worth going back.
Right, like I wrote, "unless it changes - and changes with relative frequency - The Fat Duck tasting menu is pretty much a one-time attraction."
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Hi,
maybe a little late, but this is my write up from lunch in January.
Please click here for my full post with photography: HERE
I heard a viscous rumour. At dinner recently, an American couple seated at an adjacent table, having engaged a friend and me in conversation, revealed that they used to eat at l’Arpège, but that was before the chef became a vegetarian.
Did the rumor flow with notable resistence, or did you mean "vicious?"
All joking aside, I'm setting this post aside for now. It has given me a quick swift in the behind to get me to write up my, even more tardy, report.
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I noticed a couple of changes this time from Ulterior Epicures visit, will have to write it up soon.
The one thing that hasn't changed is the upshot: unless it changes - and changes with relative frequency - The Fat Duck tasting menu is pretty much a one-time attraction. Now that there is no a la carte, this becomes more true than ever.
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By the way, does anyone recall the highest masa ever charged for dinner? I seem to recall that, at its peak, it charged $450. However, the hostess said that it was $600. I don't recall it being quite that high.
I'm fairly certain that any confusion has been mostly the result of language barrier issues, as there are essentially no native English speakers on staff there.
I'm sure that the tall, blond hostess who gave us this piece of information and who is from Texas would object to your theory.
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By the way, does anyone recall the highest masa ever charged for dinner? I seem to recall that, at its peak, it charged $450. However, the hostess said that it was $600. I don't recall it being quite that high.
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So you're saying you (reasonably) felt constrained to tip a large sum on top of it.
Would you?
I guess I'm saying I had no idea what, exactly, the proper protocol was.
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But surely you're not saying that you wouldn't have tipped something like 20% without the "service charge".
Well, but the problem is that the receipt states: "The 20% service charge is not a gratuity and is not distributed to the service staff but is used to cover the operating and administrative charges."
Also, according to Eater, the restaurant notifies customers of this charge upon confirmation. But I never received a confirmation call. I called the restaurant the day before to confirm and no such disclosure was made.
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Why did you get the impression that gratuity was included? The $400, fine. The 20% service fee, a bit weird but I'd consider that the gratuity based on the wording I saw on Eater (I would assume this would be explained when making a reservation for those not so inclined to read food blogs).
Because I seem to recall reading it somewhere on their website or heard it in their phone recording. I just looked on their website and it seems they've taken the text explaining the $400 price tag off and left only the $200 cancellation policy up.
Also, I just called masa, and it seems that the phone recording does say that the price of dinner is $400 plus tax, alcohol and a "20% service charge." I'm almost certain that was not disclosed when I made my reservation.
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BTW, Bryan, did anyone at your lunch order a wine pairing? If so, may I ask what the wine pairing for your pork dish was?
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... the restaurant felt "stretched" on this visit. Another eG member visited on the same day, for dinner not lunch, and we independently arrived at the same conclusion.
I'm the other shoe here. I totally agree. My dinner did not rise to the level of the comedy of errors that I experienced at Bouley a couple of months ago, but it was in the same vein. There were too many careless mistakes. My entire party walked away terribly deflated and disappointed.
... while May is prime for springy ingredients, the variety simply cannot match what's available in late-August and September. Even with fewer courses at this lunch, there was far more repetition of ingredients.And I had more courses than you (dinner Farmer's Feast), which meant there was even more repetition in my dinner. I don't need a whole lot of variety, but given the list of nearly a hundred (if not more) ingredients and produce in season that they presented along with the menu, I certainly think that serving asparagus and ramps on more than two or three dishes was certainly a bit uncreative.
Like last time, the desserts were fine but not necessarily memorable for me. Some cake, some ice cream, some sauce atop or below.Actually, the beet and coffee dessert was one of the highlights of this meal for me. The other, being a lamb dish.
I'll write up more later.
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Man, I am dying to go Masa...one day!
Anyway, we can go 'round and 'round on this all day. Obviously I like L2O better than you guys. But I do agree that there is room for improvement.
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Before you go, beware:
The meal, as I understood it at the time of my reservation, was $400, which included gratuity, but not tax. After my recent dinner, the bill arrived with the $400 tariff, plus tax, alcohol and that "20% Service Charge" that Eater reported about a few weeks ago.
Despite questions as to the legality of this issue, masa continues to maintain this charge to "cover operating and administrative expenses."
So, your $400 meal at masa is, in fact, $480 plus tax and whatever else you decide to order on top of the omakase, like alcohol or supplements (the night I was there, they were offering a special cut of beef with summer truffles for $120).
But, you don't have to stop there, they also leave a line for you to write in an "Optional Tips" if you feel so moved.
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My focus here is on the raw ingredients (meaning the actual quality of the fish, not what is done to the fish after it arrives at the restaurant) that the restaurant is using.
Based on the uncooked preparations that L2O puts out, I would contend that they are using higher quality raw ingredients than many other places. The raw fish I've had there has really only been rivaled by Sushi Yasuda in NYC.
I know L2O isn't a sushi restaurant. But, if you're going to evaluate a seafood focused restaurant you have to start with the raw ingredients, and eating those ingredients uncooked is a pretty good way to evaluate what they're using.
And Yasuda is cheaper... though that comparison is a loose one, given that it's really like comparing apples to oranges. Which is what I've said all along: I don't think comparisons here are helpful.
FWIW, I just got back from eating at masa. The quality of the fish there is superior to the fish I've had at Yasuda (but Yasuda's rice is still better). But masa is also thrice as expensive as Yasuda.
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But it has certainly vaulted to the top tier of Chicago’s restaurants and is undeniably one of the country’s outstanding newcomers, with a few dishes as impressive and enjoyable as any I’ve come across in many months.
As for comparing it to other restaurants, it's inevitable given what they're serving.
And what is that? Very expensive (over-priced?) food?
It doesn't make it right though. It's like all the nonsense with lumping Achatz, Bowles, and Cantu together. Maybe it makes sense superficially, but if you really understand how all 3 cook it makes less and less sense.I'm not sure I see it as a right/wrong issue as much as I just find the comparison utterly worthless and incoherent. What does Achatz's, Ripert's, Vongerichten's, and Chang's food have in common? The only one I can think of is that their food is presented in a "haute" manner and comes at a high tariff. I suppose you could argue that much of it is technically French-based. But then that comparison could go on almost ad infinitum.
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Whilst Frank Bruni comes to (largely) the same conclusions as I did about L2O in his recent article in the New York Times, I find his comparisons of the restaurant with le Bernardin, momofuku ko, and Jean Georges confusing and unconvincing. I'm not sure why more than just a few feel the need to analogize this restaurant to another.
I'll admit that I don't think Gras's food is unique enough for it to be completely incomparable. But, I don't think that just because Gras shaves frozen foie gras, or features a cauliflower dish makes comparison of Gras's dishes with other famous frozen foie gras and cauliflower dishes (done in completely different ways) remotely worthwhile.
Any updates from fellow eGers?
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On the current "Spring Awakening" prix fixe at The Modern (dining room), one of the first courses is "Gyromitre Soup with Peas and Herb Salad."
Now, perhaps the alteration of one letter might change the game entirely, but, if I'm not mistaken, aren't gyromitr*a* mushrooms toxic? They're the morel look-alikes, no?
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This is a long overdue update on Guy Savoy. You can read more and find the photos at the ulterior epicure.
In many ways, Savoy’s dishes are more sensory experiences than purely gastronomical ones.Descriptions were short and abstract. Dominated by “signature” dishes, the menu was an assembly of flavors, techniques, and presentations summoned from all corners and dimension of the world.
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Though little sank, little sang. Most of what I sampled was more interesting than inspiring.
Dishes seemed to fall into two camps.
I preferred the one that offered boldness and comfort. This included Savoy’s signature “Soupe d’Artichaut a la Truffe Noir,” a velvety thick soup perfumed with black truffles and Parmesan.
The single-best forkful I had at Guy Savoy was the “Volaille de Bresse Confit et Lacquee” that Sylvie ordered for her main course. It was one of the two off-menu specials offered that day.
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By the turn of that same coin, Guy Savoy seemed stretched and strained when aiming for subtlety.
My first course, “Bar et Rouget Comme Un ‘Carpaccio,’” is a good example. An opaque glass bowl bore silky slices of sea bass and rouget dotted with tiny dehydrated crayfish tails, and julienne of bamboo shoots. The assembly was dressed with a very light “bouillon d’agrumes” (citrus broth). Effete and delicate, it came across as an unconvincing reach for some Asian puritanical ideal. The flavors here were too ascetic – coy in the wrong ways, too obvious in others.
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Is Guy Savoy a Michelin three-star? I’m not qualified to say. I’ve only been once. And I’ll admit that my visit was somewhat atypical, given the attention we received.
I’m not sure that enough of the food at my meal measured up to the three-star standard. Savoy states, “[A] dish may originate from anything, be it a sensation, a memory or a chance meeting. It takes shape through a series of stages, each stages designed to elicit an emotion.” And this was, perhaps, a little too true. At times, it could be highly rewarding - taking one back to one’s childhood, like the pintade. Most of the time, however, it was a bit disorienting - a little too emotional and attention-deficient. It lacked focus and cohesion.
But the food doesn’t seem to be Guy Savoy’s primary concern. He goes for the total effect: “Dining at Guy Savoy means weaving your own personal fine, almost intangible, path between flavours engaged in dialogue with one another… you won’t be sure whether your best memory will be the taste of the langoustines, the touch of the fine linen, the sparkle of the crystal, or a dazzling smile. True character cannot be defined so easily… it can’t be forgotten so easily either.”
This one is not like the others. This one is an haute couture carnivale, replete with pomp and pageantry. For that, I can understand why Guy Savoy has been cherished and adored.
Here is what we had:
Amuse Bouches
Foie Gras “Club Sandwiches”
Soupe de Potiron
La Truffe Blanche
Entrees
Bar et Rouget Comme Un “Carpaccio“
Coquillages en bouillon d’agrumes.
Coquilles Saint-Jacques “Crues-Cuites“
Pommes de terre et poireaux aux algues.
“Radis-Foie”
Escalope de foie de canard poelee, puis etuvee en papillote avece des radis roses.
Supreme de Volaille de Bresse
Foie gras et artichaut, vinaigrette a la truffe.
Canons de Legumes
Champignons et herbes, bouillon ferme et jus de champignons.
Soupe d’Artichaut a la Truffe Noir
Lamelles de truffe noir et copeaux de Parmesan, brioche feuilletee aux champignons et buerre de truffe tartine.
Plats Principaux
Agneau Crostillant-Moelleux
A la graine de legumes.
Volaille de Bresse Confit et Lacquee
Pintade Pochee en Vessie
Riz basmati, jus “truffes-foie gras.” (pour 2 personnes)
Desserts
Poires et Citrons
En saveurs d’herbes.
“Exotiques”
Autour de Coing
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Petits Fours Trolley
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Better late than never, I hope. Here's an excerpt from my blog post about a meal I had at l'Ambroisie in December, 2008. Photos and (much) more reading can be had at the ulterior epicure.
... I admit that I misunderstood Pacaud’s intentions at the table and in the days that followed. At the time, his style (and the astronomical prices) struck me as ostentatious and self-righteous. But, as weeks passed and I was allowed to reflect on my meal, I realized that Pacaud’s cooking is quite selfless. It showers the diner with attention, slathering and saddling them with a thick coat of luxury falling just shy of suffocation.The white truffles at l’Ambroisie, for example, were top-shelf. And they’re shaved with a hyper and happy hand.
Madame Pacaud, perhaps the cheeriest face in Place des Vosges, presented us with a glass jar bearing a white truffle the size of a baseball (it had been trimmed pretty evenly around, so I can only imagine its original size). The smell (which penetrated the glass before she opened the jar) knocked me horizontal. Heads turned from all corners of the room.
And caviar – golden oscietra the size of large game shot – was dispensed in eye-popping quantities.
Done on any smaller of a scale, Pacaud’s cooking would seem smug. Colored with just the slightest shade of modernity, it would feel false. Rather, it’s confident and comfortable in its largesse.
Yet, in its generosity, his food remains guarded and reserved. The plating is very controlled and manipulated: everything is plated with circular symmetry. It does not invite an open discussion, insisting, instead, on intimacy. There is no table-side shaving or saucing. Everything is plated in the kitchen. What arrives is the completed work.
There’s a sense of loneliness and sadness about it all. Pacaud has not the joie de vivre of Guy Savoy, or the playful imagination of le Squer at Ledoyen. The morbid service aside, Pacaud’s dishes seemed designed to be your last (and not because there’s a heart attack waiting with the final tab). It’s not depressing food necessairly, but it makes you eat very slowly and deliberately.
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My initial reaction to l’Ambrosie was one of ambivalence. It had its highs, which were very high (sea bass, the chocolate tart, and the butternut veloute). And there were lows - like the lobster and the mint sorbet - which aren’t hard to have when prices are so incredibly high (I mean, we were essentially clearing through whole tasting menus’-worth of money with each dish).
So here’s the question I’ve asked myself repeated over the last four months: Why, more than any meal I had on this trip to Europe - more than l’Arpege and The Sportsman, both of which left a very deep impression on me - does l’Ambroisie haunt me the most? It throbs in my memory.
Perhaps, when you spend that much money and invest that much hope into something, you wed yourself forever to it as the faithful worshiper out of a fear of having been played the fool, no?
Or maybe, l’Ambroisie is a temple - a place of reverence, worship, and religiosity - wherein a glint of ecstasy can be glimpsed.
Here is what we had:
Amuses Bouches
Gougeres
Velouté de Butternut
First Courses
Corolle de noix de Saint-Jacques
et broccoli à la truffe blanche d’Alba
Oeufs mollets à la Florentine
râpée de trufe blanche d’Alba
Main Courses
Escalopines de Bar
à l’émincé d’artichaut, caviar osciètre gold
Fricassée de Homard à la Diable
châtaignes et potimarron
“Gibier français Selon a Chasse”
Perdreaux rotis avec truffe noire
Pre Dessert
Sorbet Menthe
Desserts
Tarte Fine Sablée au Cacao Amer
glace à la vanille
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“Assortiment de Desserts et Pâtisseries”
Sablée Praliné aux Coings
(crème fouettée à la cannelle)
Arlettes Caramélisées au Fromage Blanc
(crème success)
Tarte Fine Sable au Cocao Amer
(glace à la vanilla)
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Mignardises
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What should I do with the souvenir laundry clips?
Go green - hang some laundry. Fancy that.
Bruni moves on . . .
in New York: Dining
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Again, I maintain that he had, and lost, his chance there with Daniel.