Vadouvan

There is no "implication". I am saying for a fact that cooks at PerSe in conversation said that Sous chefs and the chefs at the restaurant come up with new dishes on the menu based on meeting and inventories of food on hand most of the time. This isnt in any way implying that TK is or isnt spending time there or leading by example. My point was that the quotes by ulterior epicure went into too much detail of what Keller did or dindt do right in his dinner that he was probably ascribing dishes that were composed by the cooking staff to TK personally. Frankly it sounds plausible because each new PerSe menu is laughably gratuitous in the extent that quotes are used on the menu. Must one refer to organic rice as "Biologico" in America ????? Lobster "mitts" ??? Seriously....

It does seem a bit odd that a restaurant of that caliber doesnt realise that bringing a check before it is asked for universally means "it is time for you to go". The customer should never need to ask for water or bread or a menu. Extending that logic to the dinner check strikes me as counter-productive despite the best intentions. Ulterior Epicure seem to be under the impression that TK is responsible for and aware of every detail of the menu. From a pal who works there, the chefs and sous chefs meet often to decide menu changes based on what they have on hand and what they can get. I think going to these types of restaurants especially in the USA and being under the impression that the owner /celeb chef is composing all the food is pure romance. Doesnt mean the food is any worse off but me personally, if I want to buy a Picasso and pay Picasso prices, I have to insist Picasso painted it not someone else putting Picasso's signature on it.

Back to the name Southwark I was taking the Jubilee Line of the London subway today and lo and behold there is a stop called Southwark except they pronounce it without the "W" SOUTH - ARK

While I have come to expect that different folks have different experiences, after two meals at Urena, I cannot undertand why he gives it 2 stars or calls it MODERN SPANISH, there is almost nothing spanish about it......

CONSuuuuuuuuuuuuumerism. Mathew is correct though I doubt that would have achieved anything. The root of the problem here is that ultimately Hotel restaurants cannot be take seriously as food friendly dining destinations if they have polices of allowing families with crying babies to be routinely sat without doing anything about it. So what if you bought a half million dollar condo in the building, you wouldnt take your crying baby to Le Bec Fin so why Lacroix ? You cant be a fine dining restaurant at the top of the food chain and have Chuck E Cheese policies.

Again its just more consumerism. Consumerism will be the death of culture and refinement in America. American hotels function on the "customer is always right" absurdity. So what if they are condo owners ? big deal. Restaurants cant have it both ways, you want to be a serious restaurant, then create the environment to be one, otherwise you come off looking like the "cafeteria" of rittenhouse condo owners. Back to the Opera... Thankfully, the Italians have even less tolerance for BS than the French and in fact I wont have to ask. I have been there and the offending party *will* in fact be ushered out..........not to mention 500 Italians in tuxedos and fancy gowns staring at you like death rays.

Not to turn this into a europe vs US thread but there is no F -ing way they would sit a baby crying or otherwise at a place like Pierre Gagnaire/Hotel Balzac. Forget about Paris, Ducasse at Essex House and louis XIV in Monte Carlo wont seat babies. Crying babies dont mix with sublime dinners with wine lists containing years and years of Echezeaux. It really reflects the fact that hotel restaurants in the US cant be seen ultimately as serious dining destinations they want to be. American high end hotels tend to be too consumerist and it is the job of a Maitre'd to replace the judgment of oblivious parents with his. Exactly, its just you. Believe me I dont mean to insult you but there is probably nothing worse than broadly generalising that customer complaints are "bitching" and you've heard it all. You are breaking the first rule of good service which is to listen. Although you arent at Lacroix, you arent processing the original complaint but taking a questionable adversarial route to respond. I would not use that analogy, airline flight can be sublimated to transportation. More appropiate would be to ask if someone brought the unruly kid to seat next to you during a performance of Verdi's Requiem in Row 1 at La Scala.

It would be absurd to hear a crying baby for twenty minutes in European Michelin 2 star place let alone 3.......why shoud it be acceptable in the same caliber of restaurants here.

With all due respect, in a restaurant of that caliber dismissing such complaints as "INVALID" doesnt strike me as the level of customer service one would expect. Did you say you were the dining room manager at the Four Seasons ?

I am not suprised KimWB However, it seems the lack of response may not be just arrogance or indifference on the restaurant's part. From very good sources, certain events have transpired since your dinner. 1. Executive sous chef was let go. 2. Dominique Filoni of Bianca was hired. 3. Jean Marie Lacroix is retiring or retired but the restaurant will still keep his name and he would stay on as a consultant/ceremonious appearances. Clearly they are in transition and your horrible dinner may be the least of thier problems.

All this must make the people at ZIPLOC very happy.

Well, while It was somewhat interesting last week, the show pretty much evaporated what little credibility it had this week with the incredibly stupid sex shop/dessert project. You just completely lose me when cooking intersects with subjects encompassing sex/body contact and its just plain disgusting. AND they try to have an intellectual discussion about the desserts afterwards ????????? Give me a break.

Ruth Muscovy Drake Breast / Grimaud Farms / D'artagnan

The fist thing they teach you in sauce and stock making in any cooking school is clarity (of viscousity and flavor) Butter will emulsify by stratification into meat Jus. Meat Fat just tastes oily and nasty. Practical being the keyword.. Go to the butcher and buy some inespensive lamb cuts such as a bone in shoulder or neck bones. Roast them in the oven and use them along with standard mirepoix plus tomato and chix stock to make a nice lamb jus. Since you are reading the Bouchon book, check out the sauce section of the Laundry book. To make a just into a gravy, you could always thicken with a bit of brown roux, though I dont really use roux for sauces, its great for gravies.

Absurd ! As Mr Aman said, the FDA regulates both, while the criteria is slightly different there are ingredients that bridge the differences in the form of food additives and supplements. The FDA already has guidelines for Vacuum pouch cookery, the NYC health dept trying to focus on sous vide is hypocrisy and absolutely stupid since they ignore all the restaurants in Ny that dont have tile floors, floor coving, 3 compartment sinks, FRP or equivalent walls, hand sinks, dedicated ice buckets, lower than regulated bacterial spore counts in thier ice machines....shall I go on ? Its like the CIA arresting you for googling information on Nuclear weapons while ignoring the fact that you sell contraband AK 47-s to the Bloods and Crips is Los Angeles. 90 % of all deli products are cooked sous vide commercially. If they crack down on sous vide now, i cant Imagine what they would do in terms of required certification onec they get wind of the use of ingredients and enzymes like Xanthan Gums, Carrageenan, Transglutaminase, ect ect. Are chefs going to be required to have chemistry degrees ? The europeans must be in stitches right about now. So much for the most cutting edge food city in America....

I am sorry but that whole recipe is a bizarre departure from any sauce/gravy technique I have ever heard of.

Pulling the bones through a pasta machine ???? Say What. Trimming out the fat and rendering it only to then roast the meat /bones from which the fat was sourced is simply redundant and a waste of time. You should just roast the bones.

Hey, not everyone is a "sophisticated eater" I am sure the french laundry accepts money even if Plebians and philistines come to dinner.

Believe me, the intent is not to come here and trash the restaurant but my experience there was solidly mediocre by any standard. I understand that when new restaurants are opening, there is some pressure to open due to financial projections but at the same time, the worst thing you can do is open the restaurant before the physical space is visually complete and the kitchen and service staff is able to communicate the vision of the chef to the diners. This was the case of my dinner at Urena. Unfinished Millwork, electrical conduit cable coming out of the wall (barely terminated) and well within view of diners entering, the open kitchen doorway which just gives you a view of a semi cluttered corner, the super bright lights, asking what wine we want to drink before showing us a menu so we can in fact pick wine based on what we are eating. Cold food was too cold, hot food was barely warm, with 6 people in the restaurant, the pacing of the meal was way too long. Food was wrongly described on the menu without the server acknowledging that the menu was wrong (a U-12 scallop isnt a nantucket bay scallop). As far as the food being Spanish, the only thing spanish about it is the use of some spanish originated ingredients like piquillo, Bouquerones ect ect. No Serrano, Mojama, Pimenton Ahumado ect ect. The overwhelming flavor profile does not taste spanish at all. There is no clearly defined message or philosophy behind the restaurant.

Amen brother. There are more ladies walking around New York with BOtulinum TOXin injected in thier faces than recorded botulism infections in New York restaurants in the last 20 years.

The difference is a blanket ban on a specific process because it's in vogue isnt the same as banning an unproven drug with possible lethal side effects. Sous Vide is already proven safe, just because of the possibility that a few clueless fools arent following general requisite sanitation practices ( which happens all the time in Non sous vide cookery) isnt a reason to ban the process. Its like banning people making stock because some people may not cool it down properly in an ice bath or blast chiller. By the way, speaking of "FDA aproving drugs that may kill you before fully understanding that the aforementioned drugs might very well kill you therefore prompting a recall" Ever hear of..... Celebrex Vioxx Bextra ?

I reheated two seperate portions that were braised together. One in the microwave completely submerged the other simmered on the stove top. Microwaved portion definitively came out tougher and lost something. Probably would not have noticed but in a side by side comparison, it was clear. Guess its because microwaves cook from the center of the product while braising embalms it.

Sure you should go to Gilt. its very good and avante garde. Food is more Gagnaire than it is Aduriz. A few of the staff have apprenticed at Mugaritz. I actually plan on eating at Mugaritz in August. Would definitely rather eat at Gilt than anywhere in NY for a high end meal. More interesting exciting food.

The very fact that you have started this thread should generate some action. Quite a few of my friends who work at Lacroix read this board daily. The most frustrating thing for cooks is to see the hard efforts of the kitchen "lost in translation" I politely ask to be moved when these situations happen. If they say no, leave politely. Its entirely too much money to spend for not having peace of mind. I dont think anyone who intends to dine at Lacroix would head to Boathouse bar instead, It isnt exactly a toss-up.

PERCY.....hits the newspapers plus e gullet mentioned. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/living/food/14051043.htm