Vadouvan

It's Ubercheesy. It makes the chat become like a gameshow such that you cant actually get a lot of questions in. The chat is a great idea but I would like to see it be more of a Q and A discussion on restaurants.

When you're taking risks, you expect that some of the dishes will miss the mark. But with Snackbar, ironically, some of the safer dishes were the ones I found to be the least impressive. I know the Pork Belly has received a lot of accolades. But, quite frankly, it did not live up to the hype. The technique of slow-cooking the egg with the stock is rather conventional these days. And the pork belly itself had surprisingly little taste; the egg broth seemed to drown whatever flavor it may have had. The Vanilla Financier also had some issues. The cake was a little dry, and the layer of gel that topped the cake did not add much to the dish. Also, the Barbequed Chicken, while beautifully plated and very well-prepared, was not particularly flavorful. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While I do like and appreciate what snackbar is doing, the above quote is the very reason why people ned to take blogs at face value and perhaps reviews in general. It is no more legitimate than one person's opinion but the fact that it is in print or on the internet on a blog doesnt make it any more legitimate, you just have to read through the lines to see if the person actually know's what they are talking about. I would venture to say in most cases the criticisms like the one above tend to highlight the fact that there are lots of people who have a general understanding of food but completely lack the technical knowledge to understand why things taste the way they do. Case and point : DASHI isnt supposed to taste like effing French Onion Soup, it's a subtle japanese sea broth. Financiers arent pound cakes or brioche, it's made with mostly almond flour. How can a broiled piece of chicken covered in teriyaki/unagi glaze have no flavor ? It;s just silly, silly ,silly. We certainly dont want to dispute people's experiences but when bloggers walk the plank with specific technical information, they should at least get it right. I feel like these blog posts are more about writing than content. I also wish people would stop using the term "molecular gastronomy" in general... Edited to add: ...and the egg isnt "slow cooked with the stock"

Nice prose Phil..... I nominate Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings" as the official soundtrack for that post.... Barber actually taught at Curtis, 1 block from snackbar.

How about some laughs for starters. I *LOVE IT* when Craig is Harsh and humorous. My favourite Labanism. In relation to the defunct TRUST restaurant now elvez. On one of my visits, I walked in, greeted the hostess and showed her to my table.

Proper way to do it is use an electric sealer. Rectangle of FATA. Trimmed off neatly. Sealed *deflated* when it goes into the oven. Puffs up nicely, does not pop. Aromas released at table.

Indeed Bill, worthy of it's own thread.

From Labans discussion forum yesterday: Question. Did you read April White's Philly Mag article about Philly dining being at a fork in the road, and if so, wha are your thoughts about it brendan, philly 1/16/07 Hi Brendan - thanks for the question. That was an interesting article, I thought, but something didn't quit ring true for me in the assertion that Philly's restaurant scene is simply stuck in a BYO rut without an ambitious young rebel chefs to set a more sophisticated course for the future. I remember saying t someone recently that the premise - pegged on a quote from Food and Wine editor, Dana Cowan - probabl would have been true about 2 years ago. Then, ironically, I had a meal with Cowan last Friday and she told m that she had, in fact, said that comment at a magazine conference two years ago. In fact, she was in tow researching a more in-depth story on Philly after coming to the conclusion that our city was indeed moving out o that rut with a host of ambitious young chefs and restaurateurs - Garces, Vetri, Stern, Ansill, the Marigold people the Tria people - who were starting second restaurants, and pushing the scene forward with wine bars, smal plates, more avant garde menus, etc. That said, I find it intriguing how Philly Mag wants to have its cake and eat i too. One month, they're touting a cover story of their "ultimate guide to BYOs", next thing they're running an essa (at least the second I've seen) about how BYO's are ruining the city's dining scene. Personally, it sounds lik they've been listening to too many young chefs who feel the city needs more molecular gastronomy to be great. disagree. Some of that is fine - even exciting. But Philly needs to cook from its soul, and the BYO movement ha provided an incredibly fertile landscape from which the city's young talent could find its voice. More on this later. Craig LaBan 1/30/07

Guys..D'artagnan sells fresh Eberly poultry year round. Without any technicalities, you can get them fresh all the time.

What constitutes a "business mans dinner " ? Is it a business dinner or romantic valentines dinner. More clarity.......

Fenton: Let me know. Bluesman: Air chilled chickens absorb no water and that has a lot to do with the taste and texture. Fenton: Eberly chickens come in 4 sizes Andrew. DGordonLiddy: Highly unlikely, in fact quite dangerous to freeze/thaw chicken not to mention destroying the texture a second time around. I think it is frozen and shipped frozen.

Simply the Pot calling the kettle black. "there was a time when E-gullet was useful" *When* was eater useful... I thought deathwatches were reserved for restaurants that may close. Attaching it to internet websites with followings in the thousands strikes me as silly, people arent going to stop participating in the forum WORLDWIDE just because some egotists on what amounts to a restaurant gossip website have reached thier own silly conclusions. It's like GAWKER saying the New York Times lacks serious editorial content......

Fata isnt competing with sous vide. It's an alternative to parchment or foil. There is no point comparing Fata and sous vide. REbecca. Its just high temperature thermoplastic and much safer than say teflon for example.

Moulins Mahoub is "Tunisian" and available locally, most North African oils have the same characteristics.

You can freeze pate before cooking as long as you do it in Cryovac. The fat is stable. If you freeze it after cooking, Defrost it only once. Virtually *all* commercial Pate has been frozen at some point otherwise it would go bad.

Neither Actually......both have been eclipsed since the advent of FATA PAPER a year ago. Now you can see your food cooking in the package. http://www.jbprince.com/index.asp?PageActi...ROD&ProdID=3583

Pumpkin Market, opening on south street, like the Lolita/Grocery Trifecta. Good for the neighborhood.

Anyone read this yet ? http://marksquires.com/art_lcb-bargains.htm

Katieloeb... This thread is the reson E-gullet needs to create 2 new boards : The Food Politics Board and the I Like to Hear Myself Talk Board. So the PA, NY "RESTAURANTS,CUISINE board can actually be used for that purpose.

Serpentine : If you think it's revolting, why do you oppose the city doing something about it, that position makes no sense. Certainly municipal governments can br guilty of posturing at times but that isnt any rationale to turn a blind eye to what is a public health crisis. Politicians only care about getting re-elected, whether or not you ban transfats isnt going to make up the voters mind. It's much more dangerous to know it and oppose anything being done about it than to not know it at all. K8 MEMPHIS : Probably because you own a bakery and it isnt out of any concern for anything but your bottom line ?

Arent we being Drama queens......clearly this conversation is going nowhere. I am just waiting to see if it concludes like the Ny transfat thread.....

HD 73 : That is absolutely correct. The salient point of this whole discussion is this : There is no reason for anyone or entity to oppose this ban. The majority of evidence show's that the "have not's" are the people who live in the poorest urban communities in America. There just happens to be a collateral issue of people who eat deep fried foods every now and then. The "have not's" as we have chosen to label them pretty much eat fried foods for 90% of the time. Typically a fast food breakfast, a fast food lunch or fry shack lunch and possible another fried dinner. It's easy to sit on the computer on e-gullet and dine in fancy restaurants but it really wont change the lives of the people on this forum. Go to North Philly, Trenton, Baltimore, Atlantic city,Detroit and see what the poor people eat. The only two other points are these : THE COST ISSUE : The cost issue is pointless because the people who refine frying oils already have alternatives on the market at insignificant cost increases. We are talking the big agrodudes like Archer Daniels Midland. The markup on breaded deep fry foods in fry joints is high enough to absorb the slight increase in oil. Even if they pass it on to the consumer, the "have not's" will still continue to buy it because they have no options and that is what the are used to. The cost issue is Invalid. THE CIVIL LIBERTARIAN ISSUE : The food libertarians want you to believe that allowing the government to legislate food is a slippery slope and thus there should be a blanket denial of government involvement in what we eat. It's frankly absurd because there are laws on the books and procedures determining what is safe or adulterated. As medical research gets more sophisticated the law catches up. Most of our elected officials are intelligent enough to draw the line between politics and absurdity. Case and point: Governor Eliot Spitzer isnt going to allow a Foie Gras ban to Pass in New York but isnt opposed to a trans-fat ban. He is *actively* opposed to classifying Foie as an adulterated product simply because of witchcraft science by the PETA nazis. They arent going to slowly take our food away but to continue to let the poor people die of heart disease is Immoral. Even if we dont care, guess who pays for it, social security, medicare and emergency rooms. Translation : YOU.

HD73: I have to say I agree. But also most of us are missing the point that the effects of transfats on different communities varies. In most inner city American low income neighborhoods such as councilman Ramo's, there is a high proliferation of Asian owned "fry joints" and in all honesty those places are slowly killing the residents. In this case a small dose of regulation in probably good.

Thanks I have Aguibal's Trio of the spanish ones, Tucan, Sicilian, Lombardy. I will try to find a Nyons from Francvin in New York Next week.

Andrew Fenton : Andrew, I feel even something so seemingly simple like that would mask the flavor. In order to develop the flavor of a white bean soup, you need strong aromatics, Mirepoix plus garlic for one, Smoked ham hocks or shanks and for ultimate flavor, duck fat as the cooking oil for sweating the mirepoix. Olive oil garnish would be mostly visual, in order to make a flavor contribution to such a soup, I would go the route of an extra virgin hazelnut or pistachio oil like the keller oils. I feel like dishes should not suffer for thier garnishes. And that's the whole point, garnishes as opposed to garnishes that are a lynchpin of flavor. Although I am thinking some kind of Crudo-sashimi type thing would be great, I poured through my library and though I am loathe to reproduce recipes, there is an interesting dish in the Tesuya book. Raw Scallop with tomato sorbet, this would be perfect for a fruity ripe Olio. Here it is on Amazon, you can even peek inside : http://www.amazon.com/Tetsuya-Recipes-Aust...f/dp/1580082947 WKL: Again Bill, Same theory as above, mashed potatoes always need cream and butter or in my opinion its garbage, once it's totally smooth, it needs butter (maybe not the proportions Murkury uses at Ze Atelier... ). However two things would work well. 1. Pomme Ecrasee with chervil. 2. An Italian "potato Salad". Boiled in skins, cut open,salt, pepper, red vinegar and heavily doused with olive oil while it is steaming. MatthewJ: Thanks Matt, what kinda oils did you sell Tod / I generally despise greek olive oils, they tend to get rancid quickly, I am trying to get my hands on a Nyons Olive oil ? Any Ideas ? I remember Jack used to sell them , I think you and I were the only people who bought it ? http://www.domainerocheville.com/olivea.html

It wasnt dusted with cocoa, it was topped with cocoa nibs. It definitely was wierd but I still tried it. Possibly the least favourite thing I have ever eaten there which is strange because I love all the components in different preparations, the citrusy jam on the side was great but the combination was a not so appealing I do understand the intellectual thought behind it but sometimes intellectual thoughts work well on paper not in practice. "Wierd" on paper doesnt necessarly mean wierd in flavor as JKahns desserts show. It's all a matter of perception.