matthewj

Does any body know that Joel is re inventing his restaurant . It will begin over the course of the summer, and it will be finished in Sept. He will remain open during the renovation.

I really wish Chris good luck, I agree with Doc, I met him in NYC at the star chefs conference, where I ate with him at butter( by the way is a really cool restaurant ). He is a really good guy.

As an insert, I think that managers and sous chef should not get included in the tip pool. But in consideration,if a manager works a station as a waiter and completes the side work, and aids in a maintenance of the restaurant, he should be able to par take in the tip pool for that night, or shift. It would behoove him or her to divide the tip with the rest of the staff, or take the tips for a night out with the staff. Now I do not know how legal that is or not. My self, I like the system in Europe where many of the restaurants the cooks share part of the tip pool, I am guessing that is similar to a service charge that is applied at Per Se. I think that makes everyone a little more invested in the restaurant.

lacroix at the rittenhouse still has the really good deal on lunch. or try snackbar... V is it open on Mondays? twenty Twenty one is an unusual off the beaten path.

S. Street oyster house. Oysters,beer, and snapper, turlte soup Vietnam Olympic Gryro, reading terminal

I am glad that Wild Bill is doing well. I heard that Tinto is packed. I did not know that it was a Basque restaurant or not, but who really cares. The press a lot of times pushes to put a definition on types of restaurants. . It makes it easier I guess to quantify it. Example: what is "Continental cuisine with a french and global flair"? That sounds more like a show to me, but that is used to describe a restaurant in Philly. It is odd how that changes the a notion of a restaurant. But if the food is good maybe that was what the influences are. A vietnamese restuarant could have carpaccio on it can't it?

what up dog

Don't you ever sleep?

Do you want the dough to rely on natural, cold fermentation,... really I am intrigued.

are you saying that the yeast does not need sugar?

V I will send you some flour that we use. we have an extruder here, as well as a a machine to help with the laminated pastas

V. do they have a Parmigiana machine, (a dry pasta extruder?)They are great. Dry pasta can be as good as it's counter part. I believe that sometimes dry is sometimes times better than the laminated pastas. Depending on the sauce and dish you want to confer. Tipo 00, and 0, can be bought online, plus Franc vin has a great 00. but for dry pasta, many times it is only semoilna and water.

well I read the review. I believe if food was Labans only observation, it looks as like Snack Bar would have gotten 3 bells. But he takes into an account the entire package. So maybe he loved the food, but did not feel that everything else warrented a 3 bells review. In any case. The review as it stands is extremely positive for Johnny Macks food. I noticed that he barely touched on the service and the decor, which he always does. Congradulations to Johnny and his staff. It, in my book is an outstanding review and endorsement for your food.

you go Na fairge

V, I will disagree. A frozen french fry from a company that specializes in French fries is 100% better than a french fry from an Idaho potato, from who knows when or where. All for the sake of what?.... A romanticised version of real fries that are cooked in house. Give me a great fry. McDonald's does the best fry. Cuvee was a close second. Both were and are great fries. Both are frozen products. Crispy and delicious. A lot has to do with the oil and the amount of fries that a fryer can take, to efficiently achieve the perfect fry. Pomme purree frozen or fresh? I think various groups who would advocate the frozen kind. Consistency is the key.

sorry V but maybe I am not as elloquate as you. I say take it for what it is. Or not. I never said that other people are arrogant. Just the comments. A bistro is a bistro. Take it for what it is, or not. Just my opinion.

Honestly. I really do not know why such a fuss is being made over prices. I mean come on V is right. The prices not only match the food but in many instances look like they are a real bargain. Braised rib for 24 dollars. $6.00 a # with 30-40% reduction in loss. You are looking at a 10.00 - 12.00 plate cost just for the piece of meat. I am sure he is using the Italian single zero strong flour. That gives an extra crunch for the pizza dough. That flour alone could warrant a $18 pizza. Everyone should stop bitching about prices. Be happy that there is a real restaurant that people can go to in Philadelphia, and stop analyzing the wine list of a bistro. It is just arrogant. This kind of talk of price balking at good food is a lot of the reasons that many good chefs are cautious to open a place. V is also correct the "celebration of the ultimate average." Now go to starbucks and get a 12.00 lait. That's a real bargin

youneed to come down here, and check out what we buy directly from France. Side note: If anyone is interested i eating great Perigord Truffles, Not that chemically truffle oil, or the Bourdeux truffles. Shuffle over to Twenty Twenty one. We just sold him 2# of gorgeous truffles. He probalbly has the only perigodines in the city. And I know his cooking is quite good. No gaseous elements involved

Jack doesn't sell Nyon anymore? That sucks. I sold tod two french oils. both slightly flavored. But the interesting thing is that the flavor was pressed with the olive, not infused after. SO the oil is very friuty and round like a French oil, but has subtle flavors of Basil, and thyme and rosemary. My parents came back from greece with a greek oil that was more redolent of Spanish oil. Green, but did not kick me in the balls. Some oils I thick would be worth a shot Picual Hoja blanca Verdial Arbequina Empeltre corniciabra Lucques is also one of my favorites.

V, I have done my own olive oil tasting, So I will send you my results. A good ways to test olive oils is one set up a duel tasting. First I think that you should taste the olive oil by themselves first. Then use the same olive oil in a simple dish. Something clean, too much starch will color the oil. Another good way is to do a side by side comparison of Spanish vs, French, or Greek vs Italian. Or just pick one counrty and go with it. I feel that the french are very calm, well rounded oils, the Spanish oils like the Italians oils can smack you right in the face with the "greeness of the fruit". It depends what region or climate you are looking at. Also iF you can find whether or not the olive was stone pressed or was was it pressed by a hydrolic machine. Were the olives hand picked, or machine picked. (olives are a lot like grapes the more they get banged around starts the process of extruding the oils, they can ferment causeing a heat bulid up) . V I will send you my notes on the subject they maybe helpful. Check with Jack at downtown, he's got a good selection. Aslo talk to Tod he's got some great oils we sold him. Holly I have a very good recipe for Tiramisu. I too often find that many restaurants have too varied tiramasu. Too wet, or too dry, too much alchohol, or not enough. I worked with some Italians over the past 3 years. I have a very good recipe for you, but it requires a larger amount so you may have to scale it down.

I hated his review, if one would call it that , and I am disgusted with his editorial piece, or what ever. I once looked to the New York times as a bench mark in what goes on in the food world. Once a week I wait for it. Hoping for an interesting topic to talk about during family meal. Today, I read the articles to 14 disgusted cooks, and one French Chef (heretic). I call him Chef because that is what he is, that is his title. I could call him Mr., or Chef Donny or Chef Jean, or whatever ,but that is stupid. God forbid that cooks now get to see the light of day in a kitchen with windows. How pretentious to have a chef want a nice place to work for 18 hours a day. An actual window in the kitchen. Heaven forbid; "Back to the dungeons to you slave, no sun for you." If you would ask a chef if he or she could run a small place and make money without the flare , most would say yes. Bruni was right, the public has fostered this culture. In an ever increasing competition, to gain any profit in a business so wracked with failure. A public so bent on YUM-MO, high ceilings, bright lights and baubles and whistles, A chef/owner has only a little chance to compete with this. I mean most of the public will go to a large corporate restaurant that wreaks of mediocrity, and banality with there mouths agape and drooling like pavlov's. That is what Bruni wants really. He wants it his way.(not French) Well he may get it. With more and more corporate restaurants taking over the business. We will loose those "snooty" "Higher than Thou restaurants", with there slim profit margins. Maybe now we will all be able to book a reservation at Per-se and not show up. So that their 10 or so tables sit empty to prove a point. That would be great. That would show them that there strict no show policy is not warranted for the money that they would loose if one table not show... Good idea. OR we can go to these places, and not expect perfection every time, like everyone does. Perfection and the chefs personal touches is what I want to see. Something real and interesting, with soul. Who cares if you have to make an appointment. When is the last time you actually saw your doctor, instead of a nurses aid. You still paid them well ,no? So no specialists only general practitioners for my brain surgery. Bruni may have it his way soon. When all the "personalized restaurant demons"( I can see it now, the chanting "No good music, no good music," Turn down the Zeppelin. "Let Kenny G, and Bach reign supreme" We can not have an actual owner really put his own mark on his place right?) are gone. Everyone will say, "where are all those nice chef driven restaurants at? "they set a benchmark for others, didn't they?" MMMM "oh well they must all be working for Stephen Starr. Lets go for a cocktail." " And let's pay $80 for a side car at Budakann, I heard they have the Chinese PAC-man video game." absurd, uncalled for post..... so was his article

I really do not know how to respond to... or to answer back to posts such as these. I agree that a restaurant being young, needs time to adjust and needs time to find it's way. I also agree that someone in the restaurant business, reviewers as well have an unwritten code. To at least wait. But in saying that. I wonder if the post came from someone else.Whether it be part of the foodaphiles group on egullet, or a regular Joe. Would this post be so scrutinized? I wonder, because it came from a food service professional. I believe that BB, no matter what his professional standing in the business has a right to comment as a "consumer, and a customer". I also believe that Holly is correct. I do think a lot, whether they like to admit to it or not, critics and food writers look to the gullet for some bench mark of information. It may or may not influence their judgments on a place to review more quickly or wait awhile. But it is very influental I think sometimes a post on egullet may actually "bite them in the ass", except for V (kiss the napkin ring) (as it did me. I am willing to live with that, and make no apologies for it.) Any who. When Lacroix and I first came to the Rittenhouse. It was a disaster for us. The Condo residence hated us and the staff hated us. We had waitstaff soliciting guests to write to the owners expediting our removal . Letters were written, tons of hate mail. These letters although not public forum could have altered our standing at the Rittenhouse , They were written by very very public people. Critics wanted to review us in the first month we were at the Rittenhouse. We were still Tree tops. An article was posted in the Inky saying that Jean Marie was at the Rittenhouse, before we even arrived. People flocked to eat the Four Seasons food, and were very disappointed when they did not get what they expected, believe me they were very public in slamming us. It was only when chef stepped in and used his influence to delay the review for a year, or until his name actually appeared on the door. So that just gave everybody time to sharpen the claws. Fast forward one year, We opened the doors, it took less than 4 weeks before the first review. New restauarant, Double the staff, double the kitchen size, and a new menu concept that had not been tried. The menu has 3 different plates 3 course $45, 4 course $55 and 5 course $65, with dessert included, or an option of the cheese cart instead included. After all of this What did the review say. "eewww Sweet breads". It also stated we were expensive.???????????? Does anyone think that review and the "expensive tone" did not effect business for a long time. ? Although my story was long, my point is this. I too opened a restaurant, with extremely high expectations. I realized that if we priced ourselves to high in the beginning we would be screwed. 90 dollars is a lot of money for a tasting in a BYOB. Expectations are always high, and there is always some one to comment good or bad. Take it and learn or ignore it and be foolish. Criticism stings, it did to me. But one needs a thick skin for this business. Especially in Philadelphia with this group. I believe that James will be fine. Everyone should try for themselves. Knowing BB I am sure he will give it another go. I know he had no intentions of hating the place. (that's my role ) They may have made an error in judgment. Unfortunately the error went to people in the business that they "said lets cook for." side bar: I write how I think. Never in a straightline, but some how we get there. JML acutally closed the door BB.to yell at you? It was usually head to head with him and I, in the kitchen, in the dining room ,in the pdr, in the bathroom, at the hospital, in the car.............

hey v

Remember what Hambone always said BB "it's all words on a page" Obviously the door swung both ways. Sorry to hear about your truly unpalatable meal. 90 dollars for a tasting menu without wine is unacceptable. When we started the chefs table at Lacroix, for 10 dollars more than that you had the wine flight.

I have been reading this forum since last night. A couple of things. I saw the show. I mean really, who care if they shaved their own heads, they have to go around looking like thumbs. I really doubt Eric Ripert really cares about if they shaved their heads or not. Knowing Ripert I am sure Tom and Eric feigned horror, and then went out after the shooting to have a long laugh over dinner. It is amazing within Gullet we es-toll and celebrate all the virtues of Anthony Bourdain "ruff house-derelict cooks " theory. When those actions lie right in the faces of everyone, people are aghast, and condemn the very behavior they once romanticized about. I am surprised that Marcel did not get his a.. kicked a little earlier. He is a arrogant ,sniveling passive aggressive rat. (I mean what is a master cook any way?) Who is about nothing but himself. And his food is terrible. Granted it is a cooking competition, but there is also edicate, and unspoken rules in the kitchen, a credo if you will, that cooks no mater what the circumstance follow. He refused to help anyone during their plate up, then we are supposed to feel bad for him when his salmon crashes to the floor. This is not the first time I have seem his higher than thou attitude. I wonder if that plate up would have been acceptable at his former kitchen? I believe that this was a issue of rough housing that one of the parties did not like. Grant it I felt it was stupid Fraternity behavior, but that is what is encouraged on the show. If anyone believes that Eric, and Tom C are appalled, have not been in many French kitchens. I think they have seem much worse acts of "assault", physical, and verbal. Seeing the kitchens they trained in I am sure it was not a P.C. ,all friendly kitchen environment. This what happens when TV exploits a side of the competitive cooking and restaurant environment. Pandora's box is suddenly sprung open, and no-one wants to see what is inside. Kitchens are not all glamor and pontificating about food. This is all good TV. (Look we speak about it here in this forum.) The producers of the show gave; I am sure allowed the Alcohol, and encouraged the behaviour. When it gets out of hand, it not only makes great Television , but they are now forced with the option to throw "Cliff under the bus", with the contract. Personally I think Cliff was going home anyway, when you heard the judges comments about his food.