macrosan

One of my favorite dishes, whole roast duck The latest add-on feature in out house is that my cook lets the duck roast for about a half hour, then (once a fair amount of the fat has melted thru the scores in the skin and the skin has just started to crisp), she brushes maple syrup all over the skin. Yummmmm. That sems to get the skin extra crispy, and the flavor is excellent.

We have had much discussion at eGullet about the alleged international pre-eminence of French cuisine. Do you accept that for historical reasons French cuisine became the international bench-mark when people started to "live to eat" in addition to "eat to live" ? Or is this just a localised perception in certain Western countries ? Do you believe that French cuisine has maintained any pre-eminence in terms of its use of ingredients, its general methods of cooking, and its innovation ? Or do you believe that Italian cuisine has achieved comparable international stature ? What would you define as the cruucial or unique characteristics of Italian cooking ?

See, Gavin? I told you the Great Majum was your man Oh where were you, Simon, in those distant days when I could have benefitted from such wisdom ?

Gavin, I think no-one on this board will dispute that Simon himself is the world's leading expert on this subject. His eGullet posts regularly incorporate related amorous events. Quote from Wilfrid I find this to be a faddish issue. Every now and then (according to public mood) this appreciation of austerity takes hold. It lasts a short while, then reverts to "normal". My own rule is very simple. The way I entertain my clients incorporates a view of the importance to me of the client, and their own standards. So the MD of a large company, who is used to eating at expensive places will be taken by me to an expensive place; a middle manager in a small company will more likely be taken by me to a 'local' middle-market restaurant. That is the same rule I apply to entertaining guests at home, where the level of entertainment takes into account the relationship I have with the guest, and what I perceive to be the standard of cuisine and wine they are accustomed to. That is as much to do with making my guests feel comfortable as it is a pecuniary "value for money" judgement. The latter consideration is obviously important in the business concept. Incidentally, I do not believe that business entertaining has ever directly brought me any business. What it does is help to develop a 'social' and informal relationship which makes doing business easier, and indeed more enjoyable. A business lunch is an opportunity to exchange personal information and attitudes which rarely come to light over a desk, and often a mutual knowledge by me of my client's attitudes and vice versa will lead to a stronger and more mutually respectful business relationship.

I hope this was a non sequitur resulting from nothing more than a careless use of adverbial conjunctions. Otherwise, this looks like an unwarranted sneer at Transylvanian squab, which I am sure are just as good as squab of any other nationality. Robert, as Lake Garda is on my "next stop in Italy" list, can you tell me which town(s) you stayed in, and give a brief flavor of the style of the town(s) ?

BlindLemon, in my case it's not nearly as hard as you might suppose. For a start "prospective" client is more than adequate. You just have to be able, with the merest soupcon of credibility (oh shit, where is the cedilla on my keyboard ?), to convince me, my accountants and the Inland Revenue that there is a hypothetically reasonable chance that you might one day think of spending money with my company. Even having a possible future advisory connection with such a person would qualify. You just have to have something to do with the magazine publishing industry, so I guess if you have ever read a magazine, you're in the frame. Then you have to know my phone number, you call me, you say something like "I'd like to discuss spending a million or so with your company, I'm free at 12.30 tomorrow, and I'm very hungry" and there we are --- job done.

Great post, Simon. Of course you said it all with your "Rules for taking clients..." even though you missed a fourth rule, which is that the wine list has to be superb and very very expensive I used to dread client lunches when they were paying, because I'd usually end up hating the food and not being able to say so. I became practised at saying "Oh yes, fine" in response to the "How is your meal?" question, whilst hiding the agonized grimace behind a napkin. When I'm paying I follow your rules for those clients I don't know very well, or with whom I have a formal relationship. Places I have taken them include Rules, Tate Gallery, Savoy Grill and The Atlantic, none of them as bad as your description of Pont de Tour, but all chosen primarily for reasons other than the food. I take my 'comfort' clients to places that I would choose for myself. Recently these have been Foliage, Petrus, St John and Chapter One. Client lunches are certainly a great (and personally cheap) opportunity to try out 'smart' restaurants. It's not often an opportunity to really enjoy great food, because you're playing host and have to remain alert for problems with food, service and so on. That's why I absolutely agree with you that the service and ambience come first. If that's right, then you can at least relax a little.

I'm here Gimme a date, two days notice (preferably) and I'll be there.

That only leaves one candidate, then. A rather large, erudite and much recently-travelled one

...and of course they named a cheese after cabrales ... ...of course, of course ...

Hi Stella How exciting ! First of all, I was also forced to see the Lion King in the company of my granddaughter and others. I was totally captivated Now to the main business. Anyone who wants to eat well at low cost should get right out of central London. The good restaurants are certainly few, but they are there -- you just need to know where to find them. I can point you to some places in Croydon and Bromley (the south-east fringes of Greater London) and Kingston and Wimbledon (south-west) and I'm sure others here know places to the north of the river. You can find first-class food (albeit generally without Michelin stars) at half the price of equivalent places in central London. I'll compile a list of the places I know, and messenger the details to you. If you prefer, send me an email address and I'll send you a Word document.

I sympathize with Kikujiro and his over-zealous waiter. The problem is that if you're chatting at the table, you often don't notice the ewaiter's pouring the wine till too late. Taking the waiter's side, if he doesn't pur the wine unbidden, some people may object that they're not getting his attention. Maybe restaurants could supply a nice "lid" which you can place on the top of the glass when you don't want any more.

Well thank you, Lady T. Wilfrid is here only for the purpose of teaching us something new every day. And generally he succeeds.

Are you absolutely sure, Wilfrid ? Aversionary, or maybe aversitive, perhaps even averting. But aversive ? Are you there, John ? Or Adam ? Or even LML ?

I was in Taormina last August, Jeanne. My arrival seemed to set Mount Etna off, and we left a few days before they had to close the airport What would you like to know ?

Thanks for that info, Adam. I'm going to try that, since we have an excellent local producer of honey, and I'm going thru my sneezing period right now

Reading Tommy's post, I have to agree that I wasn't "blown away" this time either, and it was the service that made the difference (on my last visit we were served by Christopher Russell, and the difference on this occasion was very marked). I wasn't aware at the time of Tommy's problems ordering the wine (just shows how well he fulfilled the duty) but he was absolutely right about the way our server seemed taken aback by a request for the cheeseboard. Stefany and Mrs Tommy both declared they wanted cheese. At one point Tommy said he did, then he changed his mind. Immediately, the server seemed to be relieved that the cheese order was cancelled, and quite peeved when we said the other two still wanted it. Incidentally, the highlight of the cheeseboard was the presence thereon of a generous chunk of Cabrales I said in my post that the service was "cloying" and this was symptomized by the server, when I asked for the tapioca dessert, telling me how it was his favorite. I do hate it when they do that, because firstly it's patronizing nonsense, and secondly it's frankly of no interest or value to me to know what this guy likes. I remember I got the same in Club Gascon in London when the waiter said the wine I ordered was his favorite :confused: --- he'd probably never even tasted it. My comment to Tommy about the service on the night was that it was clear the staff were trained to deliver good service, but "style" was something a person either did or didn't have to start with, and lack of "style" would never be compensated for by any amount of training.

I think there are two distinct issues here, Tony. The first is a physical reaction to certain foods, akin to an allergic reaction. I know many people who are allergic to melon, for example. Generally not water melon, but honeydew, ogen, canteloupe, etc. They report an unpleasant tickling sensation in their mouth and tongue. I sometimes get that from unusually strong kiwi fruit. Honey, of course, is derived from pollen, and I could readily understand allergic reactions to that. I suppose any pollinating vegetable or flower would equally cause selective reactions. Allergy to wheat or milk products or eggs are also well documented. Salmon is a common reaction-causer, altho I'm not sure this is strictly an allergic reaction. Food allergies seem to be becoming a new growth industry. Un the UK, shops are popping up all over the place which will run a same-day series of tests on you to tell you exactly what elementary food allergies you have. While I am a natural cycnic regarding such things, there is no doubt that there is a fundamentally valid basis for them. The second issue is, as you suggest, the environmental experience. I cannot eat raw fat, because as a child I was trained to remove it from meat and leave it on the plate. If I accidentally put some in my mouth, it actually makes my nose wrinkle in distaste (not a pretty sight, because my nose is already plenty wrinkly enough). My pet hates are spinach, mackerel and tinned tuna. These are not foods I was brought up to dislike, nor do I recall any traumatic experience with any of them. So I guess I've just taught myself to hate them. I've always assumed it's just a tongue thing (altho Simon would be more expert on that anatomical connotation)

Just had my third dinenr at the bar on Saturday. I still rate this place as my favorite restaurant in the city. Starter was "Neci" salad, which was mashed chestnut on a crepe, covered with shredded daricchio and shitake mushrooms. An interesting combination of clean flavors, and a great starter. Main was barbecued squab. The meat was superb, but my first reaction to the beetroot it was served with was that the beet flavor swamped the meat. I was astonished to discover that after a few more mouthfuls, I had changed my mind and found it a beautifully balanced dish. Amazing! Dessert was a kind of creme fraiche in a chilled rhubarb soup. Just excellent. I got to see Mario, who was greeting some guests at a nearby table, famous shoes and all. He is much bigger in profile than the frontal view on his book suggests. Service at the bar was OK, but noticeably offhand compared with my previous experience. They weren't busy --- in fact whiole I was there from 6 to 7.30 pm, only two other people were eating at the bar, and at 7.30 I left the bar empty except for two people drinking (and name-dropping like crazy to the bartender). For a Saturday night I was surprized !!!

Had my second visit to GT last Friday, in the excellent company of Stefany and Tommy and Mrs Tommy. Overall, another first-class meal. Starter of cheeks of veal, served in a consomme, was good, but maybe a little salty for my taste. Main of Organic roast chicken was superb, the chicken being beautifully flavored and tender, set off by a variety of vegetables. I had to try the tapioca dessert after all the discussion on this thread, but sadly I was disappointed. Yep, it was just like I remember from my schooldays, but maybe a bit better cooked . The service was maybe a trifle cloying, but they did try hard. But the wonderful company more than compensated. So I'm still voting for GT as one of my top 3 restaurants in NYC (with Babbo and Peter Luger), but maybe Le Bernardin will come into the reckoning after my first visit next Monday. I have less expectation that Union Pacific on Wednesday will surpass those, but who knows

Thanks for that, Steve. Is that post a record ? The first time you've ever used a smiley ? Happy whichever birthday. See you next week.

I just have to recount my experience when SteveP, Cabrales and I had dinner at La Trompette some weeks ago. Steve had us moved from a corner table to a better one right in the middle of the restaurant. During the course of an excellent evening, the table conversation moved on to the political situation in Israel, and touching on the ethics behind suicide bombing. Steve was expressing, mainly to Cabrales, his very firmly held views, when I suddenly became aware that a number of people at the tables round us had stopped their own conversations, and were listening intently to Steve. There was not a hint of annoyance in their body language, and my guess is that they learned a lot they didn't know about the subject. Incidentally, Steve was speaking at a perfectly normal, conversational level, not at all unduly loud. I shudder to think what might have happened if someone had come over and asked Steve to chnage the subject :wow: I go along with the view that the rules for conversation in a restaurant are just the same as the general rules which govern civilized and considerate behavior. Whatever is reasonable is allowable.

I've had two meals there, both excellent, but the dish that really stood out for me was the lamb chops --- a quite exceptional dish, and possibly the most "perfect" complete dish I've eaten anywhere. ...now is that a trifle OTT ? ..... Nawww, not for Tommy

It's years since I stayed there, but the most exceptional "Country House Hotel and Dining" experience I have ever had was at Mallory Court near Leamington Spa. The accommodation was superb. I stayed in the Wellington Suite which had a bathroom with two baths and two showers, fabulous bed, superb furniture, and was HUGE. The attention to detail in the room was exceptional. For example, there was a huge bowl of fresh fruit in the room. On our first day, we ate all the apricots, plums and cherries. Next day there was an additional bowl of just apricots, plums and cherries. Public rooms were also first class, and the service was the best I've ever experienced in a hotel. Altogether, the long weekend we spent there felt like being a guest in someone's splendid country house. The restaurant matched the hotel. The food was very rich, maybe a little too fancy for my taste, but it was superbly presented and prepared. My geography isn't up to whether or not this location matches your requirements, Yvonne. But if you do go, please let me know how you fare --- I might try it again myself.

Yes, I absolutely go along with Mao here. It's interesting that my very first post at eGullet asked the question "Where are good restaurants in NYC for solo diners?" since I do a fair amount of business travel, and I dislike eating alone. The replies I got pointed me to those restaurants with good bars, particularly Babbo and GT. I find the dining experience at a bar is far preferable to sitting alone at a table. It's less 'isolated', you have the choice of chatting to a neighbor or the bartender (or not), and the service is definitely better ! Having said that, I absolutely agree with Wilfrid that those who choose to dine alone at a table, if their reservation is accepted, should receive exactly the same quality of service and attention as a group. I don't have a problem with restaurants declining to accept solo diners. That's their commercial choice, and they will stand or fall by such choices.