David Ross

Maybe so, but I still think Tom looked a bit out of sync with his get-up. It wasn't really a show about good guys and bad guys, even cool hip guys on airplanes, so much as it was supposed to be about new entrees for first class passengers on Continental. What Tom wears or Padma's jewelry isn't the main focal point of the show, nor should it be. It should always be the contestants and their dishes. CJ's broccolini cast such a huge dark shadow over the first class cabin I think Tom could have worn a toga and laurel wreath and it wouldn't have made a louder statement than that awful green mess CJ put out.

Very nice dish! Give me some details on all the vegetables and the specs on how you prepared everything. Thanks.

I actually thought this week's challenge made some sense and was an appropriate challenge for a cooking show. PLUS...it was entertaining. Now morning breath and visions of Padma dreams aside, the episode got off to a laughable (literally), start with Hung serving Padma some steak and eggs and a smoothie doused in Grand Marnier. Yes, it was a laughable start because of Hung's boyish giggles-the same effusive gigglies he broke out with when Boulud approached his table during the 'gourmet burger' judging. I thought Hung was going to pee his pants on that one he was so excited. But this week we were entertained twice by Hung's googly giggles-when the Goddess Padma gave Hung praises for his steak and eggs and especially, especially that ultra-slurpy, super-boozy smoothie. God forbid if Padma had held his hand. And I got even more laughs watching Hung's reaction to that gaggle of flight attendants walking across the floor of the hangar-I'm not sure the guy had ever seen a flight attendant in heels before. Pretty funny. Now I would like to encourage Hung to get back to his more creative cooking side. Remember that unique dish of Geoduck and Black Chicken? Whatever happened to that sort of creativity? Last week it was Smoked Salmon on Cucumber Rounds, this week Steak and Eggs for Padma's breakfast, and then a pedestrian entree of Sea Bass, Baby Squash, Onions and an Herbed Tomato Sauce. Not exciting enough to win Top Chef in my book. Creating entrees to be served on an airplane would be a tough challenge for any chef. You have to realize that you are offering two or three entree choices to a wide variety of differing customer tastes. While a steaming bowl of Thai Red Curry Lobster in Broth with Glass Noodles might sell well in your local Thai place, it might not go over well onboard a Continental flight from Newark to Houston. So first, you have to create entree choices with a fairly broad appeal-a fish, a chicken, a steak. Secondly, you have to choose products that will withstand the unique rigors of the 'airline experience.' For example, this evening at 630pm, a British Airways flight will be departing Seattle for an overnight flight to London. Let's say steak is one of the first class entrees. That little filet probably was seared off in a flight kitchen around 3pm. Then it was cooled down, packed in an aluminum tray, loaded on a food cart, put on a catering truck, driven out to the airplane, and then loaded on the airplane. The passengers board about 545pm and off the plane goes at 630pm. The flight attendants start the service with cocktails and nibbles about 730pm, then after appetizers, salad, soup and breads, your little steak is served on a 'dinner plate' the size of a coffee cup saucer. The little steak that started off in the pan about 3pm is finally eaten about 8pm or so. Now trying, trying as hard as you can, to time the cooking of that steak so it is served medium-rare, and trusting the flight attendants will help you out, is an immense challenge for a cook. Colicchio sure didn't score any points in my book with that try to be hip, turned around beret and leather bomber jacket get-up. Tom, trust me, I'm in your age group and I carry your body shape. We DON'T look good trying to force the hipster thing. But I agreed with Tom on one of two points he made about the challenge of cooking airline food. First, Tom said that the chefs who chose meat over fish were going into the challenge with a distinct advantage. I agree. Meat, if it is put into the right dish and prepared properly, will hold up much better than fish. I think the most successful fish dishes served on airplanes are-poached, chilled seafood in salads and appetizers, smoked seafood in appetizers, caviar. But I disagreed with Tom when he said that if you start with good ingredients 'you should' get a good dish. No Tom, not always true when great ingredients are applied to the un-friendly environment of the airplane galley. Choose the wrong meat dish-like grilled, rare, slices of flank steak, and you might end up with shards of shoe leather. But if the flight kitchen takes the time to slow roast some lamb and serve the tender little nuggets of meat in a fragrant stew with Middle Eastern spices-on certain flight routes that dish might be quite popular. I think in the case of airline food it's a combination of good ingredients and proper cooking technique. Well, I guess I better get into my regular critique of the food and cooking-this time I'll take on the good and the bad. Casey-Veal Medallions with Crimini and Apple Brandy Sauce, Brussels Sprouts and Cauliflower Gratin. Casey's dish was the winning choice of the judges, and I guess I would agree. I've said before that it is hard for us to really critique the dishes since we don't taste them. I'm not sure veal was a choice I would have made. Casey apparently didn't overcook the veal which is what I think gave her the win. I think the judges really liked the cauliflower gratin, which was a great choice. It's the sort of dish that is somewhat forgiving if it sits in the galley oven a tad long-but not long enough that the cheese or sauce separates. Gratin type dishes do well going through the cook, chill, re-heat stages of airline meal service. Broccolini is another story that I'll get to. But did you catch the comments of the Continental Chef-"we don't normally serve Brussels Sprouts or Cauliflower onboard." Duh, do ya think? And guess why Casey? Cuz it makes ya fart! That's right, Mr. gas bags on your flight tonight. Eat a few of those little cabbage rolls at 40,000 feet and you're a fart machine sitting in 3A. But overally I think Casey showed creativity and the judges were pleased with her technique and presentation. CJ-Halibut, Farro, Mint Oil and Broccolinni. I think CJ had a death wish this week. Maybe he was spent after being woken up by Padma and he just couldn't muster the strength to properly cook a green vegetable on a Boeing 777. Poor Lad. I bet if CJ was serving us seared halibut at home it would be delicious-moist and just done in the inside, accented by the fresh, spiciness of mint oil and a decent side dish of tender broccolini. Not so on tonight's flight CJ. I know how horrified Bourdain and Colicchio were when that petri dish of blackened hairs of broccolini were put down on the tray table. About twenty years ago I was on a United flight from Portland to Chicago. The friendly skies made the mistake of attempting to serve seared swordfish with asparagus and hollandaise sauce. Talk about the stink of overdone fish in the first class cabin of a DC-10. And of course, the hollandaise didn't make it-it separated into little pools of oil and butterfat. And there there was the asparagus. CJ's broccolini was that asparagus reincarnated twenty years later-almost black, stringy, tough and disgusting. Just don't serve that crap dude. Leave it in the galley. Take some salad off a coach plate, cut one of the tomatoes off the coach salad into a fancy little swan and stick it on your first class plate. The passengers won't ever know. Just DON'T serve them that broccolini. I guess CJ just wanted to find an excuse to "have a beer with Bourdain and talk smack about my broccolini."

This may be good-a challenge to prepare new meals in Business First on Continental. Given my 20 years in the airline business and my penchant for writing reviews of Top Chef, I'm starting to salivate just waiting for what they are going to serve me this week. This could be a really fun episode to critique.

Let me try to put my reviews of Top Chef in a little clearer perspective. I want to thank my fellow eGullet friends for bringing the question forward as part of our discussion of Top Chef. I was on the second season of the PBS series MasterChef USA. MasterChef still appears on the BBC. The format of our show was to take 27 of the top amateur cooks in the country and through a 13-week series of eliminations, name the top amateur chef in the country. I was fortunate to make it to the final three on the final show. MasterChef USA was really the first reality show that used cooking as the format, many years before Top Chef was probably on the drawing board. I continue to do live cooking segments on my local ABC affiliate. So trust me, I think I have a pretty broad grasp of the marketing and production of cooking programs on television. More than I sometimes want to admit to myself, I am well-schooled in the importance of ratings, shares and the power of advertisers. So I get it when we talk about the commercial aspects of Top Chef. When I started to critque Top Chef, I was coming at it from the angle of someone who had been through a reality program with a cooking format. My goal has been to couple that background with my personal world of food, cooking and food writing, to give everyone what I think is a pretty unique perspective of Top Chef. So having said that, I actually appreciate the dialog and difference in opinions between Mojoman and Carrot Top. And I certainly think the question from Mojoman as to why I watch Top Chef if my critiques portray the show as awful, is a valid point that challenges me to give everyone a little more information on where I am coming from. So again, I want to say thanks for bringing the point forward. I admit that sometimes I take an impish sort of brat boy attitude in my biting comments about Top Chef. I don't have a defense other than to say I find Top Chef entertaining and tragic all at the same time and that's what I'm trying to convey in my comments. I've pretty much kept my comments to the food and cooking, with some biting humor thrown in, to give you my perspective on the show. Let me point out that I agree with Carrot Top's point that part of what makes Top Chef so interesting, or any reality show for that matter, is that you can break down its parts into so many different elements, and each would probably catch the interest of people who would join a forum to discuss just that one part of the show. Personally, part of the intrigue for me in discussing Top Chef is that I meet so many different people during our talks and in turn I learn so much about what other people get out of watching Top Chef. And yes, that in turn is a part of how I learn more each day about the way we cook and the way we eat-through shows like Top Chef and through discussions like this one. It may not always be apparent in my critiques of Top Chef, but watching the show and writing an often biting critique is a part of my crazy food world. It is not unlike the words of a restaurant critic whose musings on a dinner may be totally opposite of our own tastes. So again, thanks for bringing the issues forward and I am surely to have confused my position even further with that long, long, too long, treatise posted above. What will I do once the season of Top Chef ends.

Hmm. I think I'm safer just sticking to my comments about the food and cooking on Top Chef and not venturing into the netherworlds of commenting on the drama that is Top Chef. I think I know food and cooking and I think I'm qualified to pass judgement and personal opinions on that aspect of the show-but as far as all this other stuff, I think I'll leave that hot potato in the oven so to speak.

Nice job on your menu. I'll need a full report, with photos, on your final dishes as presented to your guests. You should be very proud. I really like your menu. Good luck.

Oh dear, another silly Quickfire Challenge that has absolutely nothing to do with anything any of the Top Chef contestants will ever do in their cooking after-life when the lights of season three fade. Unless Guy Savoy is going to open an upscale American cereal joint inside Caesar's Palace-Hung will sadly never again have at his fingers the colorful toys to create a Fruit Loops village. Really-is sending talented young chefs down the cereal aisle a creative challenge? (Tre-God are you in a better place this week. I hope you are sipping cold beers and eating barbecued brisket in Texas). Oh Howie-if only we had gotten to know you better-uhhhhh, wait a minute-we did get to know you and you were an ass-now I remember. And you still are. Howie sort of admitted in his closing comments, just a wee bit, that teamwork is important to be being a successful chef. Do ya think so Howie? Buddy, you just shot yourself in your foot after you put it in your mouth one too many times. A lot of influential people in the food world watch Top Chef for better or worse and I have a sense Howie's foot and mouth disease has infected his future chance at taking his career really, really far. Maybe I'm wrong, but like we saw, when that pressure cooker valve on the top of Howie's head blows, it really blows and people scatter so they can get as far as possible from the splattering muck of Howie. For his sake, I hope he can calm down so people don't run for cover when he walks into the kitchen. Sure Howie, be a tough guy, say "I don't give a f@#%$^& what they (the judges) say, I thought all the dishes tasted good." No Howie, they didn't. The guests said the puff pastry holding your insipid mushroom duxelle was pasty, gluey and greasy. And were those Black Trumpet Mushrooms? Boy did that dog pile of sewer muck look bad. I thought it was a choice moment when Colicchio asked Brian if he had tasted Howie's mushroom duxelle. It was like Brian was frozen in time and couldn't answer for fear of letting Howie down and coming off as an ungrateful team leader. I don't think that was the reason Brian didn't say anything. I think he had 'that feeling' urping up into his throat and the more Colicchio reminded him of that awful Howie mushroom mess the sicker Brian got. Best to take your mind off greasy, soggy puff pastry and dog crap mushroom paste so you don't barf on tv. Say Howie, I have a few questions about your other little bites of asparagus. Howie I didn't know you were a jokemeister. Are you? Why else would you cut long spears of asparagus into short tubes and call them cigars? Do the Cubans make little stubby cigars like that? C'mon Howie, give us a few truthful answers about your asparagus cigars. I haven't thought much about Casey in the past, nor did I take her talents as a chef very seriously, but she appeared to hit a home run this week with her beef tenderloin tartare. As opposed to some of her competition who correlate the greater the budget with the better their final dishes will be-Casey used some sense to plan out a creative little appetizer bite using a high-quality cut of beef. It was quick, fairly easy to make and didn't break the bank. Sara has really been hitting her stride lately-she's shown she can stay calm, focused and meet the challenges but at the same time show some creativity as in this week's tomato tart. God knows who will win Top Chef this year. I could care less, but I sure do like all this funny business. I've got so much wicked stuff to write about. I just won't have Howie to kick around for material anymore. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall Humpty Dumpty had a great fall Tom, Padma, not even Ted, not all the King's Horses, nor all the King's men, Couldn't put Humpty together again.

This is my recipe and I don't ever vary from it, no egg. I personally don't like the gumminess that I get with adding egg. I've tried substituting lard for the Crisco but I didn't like the heavier texture and flavor of lard so I stick to Crisco. I never mix my pie crust by machine. Like others have said-it's a matter of technique-trying to get the right 'cut' if you will. In other words, you want the right size of clumps of fat (about the size of baby peas/butter and Crisco) so that the fat will melt into the flour during baking. I cut the butter and Crisco into the flour using a pastry cutter that is probably over 100 years old. I want to be able to control the texture of the dough and I found that a food processor or a mixer doesn't give me as much control. I find that making pie crust dough in a food processor cuts the pieces of butter into basically grains of sand and that leaves me with a crust that falls apart after baking. After I cut the butter and Crisco into the flour I add only enough ice water to form a ball of dough. So the 1/3 cup is only a basic guide, sometimes I use more ice water sometimes less. I wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and let it set in the refrigerator four about an hour. Then I roll it out or shape it into tart shells by hand. I try not to add too much flour when I roll the dough out because I don't want to change the texture of the finished pie crust by adding too much flour. Here is a recent photo of the pie crust-tender, crisp yet light and flaky with a rich, buttery flavor. I added toasted hazelnuts to the dough. The filling is smoked cheddar pastry cream and poached apricots. Pastry Crust (makes two 9" shells) 2 cups all-purpose flour ½ cup cake flour 1 tbsp. superfine granulated sugar 1 tsp. salt 1 stick unsalted butter, chilled ½ cup Crisco shortening, chilled 1/3 cup ice water

I hope someday you all have the rare experience of eating a fresh-baked huckleberry pie. The aroma and the taste of that first slice of pie will forever be stored in your food memory bank-only to come back to conciousness each year when you tuck into another slice of huckleberry pie. You know, I've been thinking about those darn grizzly bears. We sure can take their lead-they love fresh salmon, especially the roe, and they can't get enough fresh huckleberries. Follow the bears. They know a good thing when they eat it. (Hopefully not human berry pickers).

A wonderful comparison to be sure-Old MTV vs. New MTV. And Old Food Network-with shows about cooking, vs. New Food Network. I almost gagged last night when the 'new and entertainment maniacal' Food Network did a 'live' show from the South Beach Food and Wine Expo and I saw Giada and company. Poor gal couldn't boil water for her pasta. Maybe she'll have better luck bantering with Matt, Meridith and Al. And back to that 'Old' MTV-most kids watching 'TRL' today on MTV probably have never seen one of those classic music videos introduced by Nina Blackwood. Rock on.

Sorry, no buffet at The Venetian. When Sheldon Adelson built The Venetian is was reported that he said he'd never put a buffet in the building. Why I don't know-buffets are very popular and draw throngs into the casinos. Adelson is apparently a control freak and was very involved in the design and decor of The Venetian so maybe he felt a buffet would water down the Venetian theme. Whatever, it probably wouldn't have made a difference to the customers-they'd probably eat up an Italian themed buffet. Right now I would rank Wynn number one and Bellagio number two for gourmet-high end buffets and Bally's Sterling Brunch on Sundays as the 'over-the-top' buffet experience. I think the Sterling Brunch is in the $75 range right now and the lobster, champagne, rack of lamb and prime beef are what put it in the Las Vegas showgirl-gaudy-gilt range. There are lots of comments on Las Vegas buffets at egullet so start searching and reading for others opinions. But if I was truly a player at the tables, I'd put my bet on the buffet at Wynn.

I've mentioned in some of the other recent Las Vegas dining posts that my friend, John Curtas, is not a big fan of the new David Burke at The Venetian. I'd count John as probably the top critic on the Las Vegas dining scene. He's got the insight that only a resident critic can put on his resume. I find it refreshing to hear the voice of a local in addition to the posts from my fellow egullet writers who travel to Las Vegas to dine. John has years of experience writing and commenting on restaurants and he does a regular segment on KNPR radio about the Las Vegas dining scene. You can hear Podcasts of his "Food for Thought," show by going to the KNPR website. I haven't been to David Burke myself, so I'm not qualified to give you my opinion about dining with David in The Venetian, but knowing John is an accomplished critic, I think you will find his current piece about his dinners at David Burke informative-especially those of you planning trips to Las Vegas. You can find John's piece on the John Mariani site-just click over to the current Virtual Gourmet Newsletter. John's piece is the first one and he comments about David Burke, B & B Ristorante and Rao's.

The dove looks and sounds delicious. Would your recipes work as well with quail?

You can easily smoke the tomatoes using your gas grill. Just put some wood chips in a foil packet and place it over the hot part of the grill. Put the tomatoes on a cool part of the gas grill. Shut the grill and the heat will start to cook the tomatoes and the chips will start to smoke. It's basically the same method I use on my charcoal grill. I put the whole tomatoes in one of those disposable aluminum pans and drizzle them with some olive oil and season with salt and pepper. I smoked them in my Weber kettle grill with a charcoal fire for about 20 minutes. I soaked some alder chips in water and added them on top of the charcoal and put on the top of the grill. I smoked about 8 large tomatoes. The skin of the tomato had started to crack so they were easy to peel. Then I cored the center and removed any seeds. I put the tomatoes in a food processor and added a bit of olive oil, chopped fresh basil, salt and pepper. On occasion I put the pureed tomatoes into a saucepan over medium heat and add a bit of tomato paste. This helps to reduce the tomato soup and thicken it up. Then I strain out the solids and chill the soup in the refrigerator. You end up with this intensely flavored cold tomato broth. For the cucumber salad I started with your basic cucumber that I peeled and seeded. I use a Japanese slicer to cut the cucumber into strands that sort of look like cucumber spaghetti. I add some dill, salt, pepper and a bit of rice vinegar to the cucumber strands. It adds a nice crunch and another flavor to the tomato soup. I learned the method of butter-poaching prawns out of Thomas Keller's French Laundry Cookbook. I use this method a lot. It is a wonderful technique of cooking prawns, lobster or scallops. The prawns in this dish were tender, juicy and had a delicious silky coating of butter. I've often heard a story about the reason this butter-poaching works so well is because seafood lives in water-aka a liquid-and as such, it should be cooked in some sort of liquid-like butter and water-to keep it moist. I combined about two tablespoons of water and a stick of butter in a saucepan over medium low heat. The water keeps the butter from browning. You let the butter melt into the water and add raw prawns. Then you gently swirl the prawns around the saucepan, basting them with the butter/water bath. I used extra large prawns in the 8-10 per pound category. The prawns were done after about 4 minutes. This is a really great late Summer dish because it uses the last of the Summer's tomatoes. In our area of Eastern Washington, September tomatoes are the best because they are so sweet and tender. It's a refreshing and light dish, even with the added richness of the butter-poached prawns. Let me know how it turns out for you.

I might have good news for you and there is a glimmer of hope left for you to enjoy a huckleberry pie in New York City. I was at White Box Pies in Spokane this morning. I bought a fresh huckleberry pie for $20.95-the usual price we pay here for huckleberry pie each year. I told the baker that I had been corresponding with some folks in New York who were wondering about huckleberry pie. She said they ship them all the time! I forgot to ask her if they are shipped fresh or frozen. She said as long as there are pies they will ship them, but she is worried that she will sell out of huckleberry pies early this year because of the small crop. The huckleberry crop this year wasn't good in terms of the size of the crop-but the flavor is just as good as always-tart, yet sweet and with that unmistakeable perfume of wild huckleberries. The shop is closed Sunday and Labor Day on Monday. If you are still interested in a huckleberry pie, you should call them at 509-927-8850 on Tuesday morning. Here are some photos for everyone of the pie I bought today. Next week I'll post photos of my own huckleberry pie in the dessert forum.

I bought a case of the most beautiful peaches yesterday. The peaches are from an orchard in the Yakima Valley-it is in the central part of Washington on the East side of the Cascade mountains. I'm not sure the exact variety but I really don't care-they are huge, tender and juicy. I bought them at my local produce stand. This year I canned the peaches using a 'Spiced Peaches' recipe out of an old Betty Crocker cookbook. I've used this recipe before and it's really good. If you are a fan of home canning, the old cookbooks have tons of wonderful recipes. The peaches are really good in the winter with pork chops and also really good for breakfast or in peach desserts. I'm not a great canner in terms of packing the fruit in the jars. I sure won't win any ribbons at the State Fair for presentation, but the taste is really good.

In Eastern Washington, this is the best time of year for produce at our farmer's markets-we still have days in the 85-90 range, but it is cooling down a lot at night. So our produce is still ripening and getting sweet during the day and then starting to slow down the growth cycle at night. I always say September is our best month for summer vegetables and fruits. I made a Smoked Tomato Soup last night with some huge, fresh tomatoes from over in the Yakima Valley. I smoke whole tomatoes in the barbecue and then skin, seed and puree them. I add a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper and some chopped basil. Then strain so that all is left is smoked tomato juice. I served the soup chilled with a salad of cucumber that is tossed with dill and rice vinegar. I served the cold soup with some butter-poached prawns. Then a New York strip, Shoestring Fries and very sweet yellow corn from the produce stand. I don't like that funky 'bi-color' corn-I think the yellow corn we get is the sweetest and has the most pure corn flavor. Lots of butter on the corn.

To my original point-which was to ask the question as to whether or not Giada's appearance on The Today Show minimalizes her impact as a cook on Food Network-in my opinion, the answer is yes. And while I realize that the Food Network is as much about commercialism, entertainment schtick and marketing as it is about food and cooking, I think that the more the talent is promoted into mainstream media like The Today Show, the more that it dilutes Giada's impact as a cook on Food Network. That's just my opinion and I'm not saying it's a shared opinion or a fact. Do I care? Yes and no. In the grand scheme of the American food and restaurant scene today, Giada appearing on The Today Show probably doesn't make a hill of frozen lima beans of difference as to the way America will eat in the next 20 years. I think a discussion thread on eGullet about finding Huckleberries in New York City that I have been a part of for the past week is far more interesting that what low-cut dress Ms. Delaurentis wore on this mornings Today Show. That's just to give you a perspective on my true interests in the world of food and cooking. If Giada is successful and the Today Show hires her as one of the hosts of the expanded show this Fall, then hot tomatoes for her. On the other hand, I do care, but not a lot,about a Food Network personality moving into the mainstream bowels of network television. There is a part of me that doesn't like it. I care because for once, just once, I'd like to see a cook on Food Network be true to the serious side of food and cooking and leave it at that. Just a simple show ala Rick Stein's Food Heroes on BBC America. That's all. A simple show and a simple cook who doesn't care about 'standing out on The Today Show plaza' greeting the fans of Chris Brown, the latest hip-hop boy toy. Is it wishful thinking on my part? Yeah, probably, but I suppose it's o.k. to wish isn't it?

There should be fresh huckleberries available in late September, even with this Summer's smaller crop. If you don't find fresh berries-there should be bags of frozen berries from this year's crop available. Here are some sources to try-just do a Mapquest search for directions: -Kootenai County Farmer's Market in Couer d'Alene, Idaho, on Saturdays. It is only about 5 minutes off the I-90 freeway. -Spokane Farmer's Market in downtonw. Right off the I-90 freeway. -Green Bluff grower's market and store. They also sell fresh and frozen peach pies and have fresh peach ice cream. -Small produce stand at the corner of Argonne and Sprague in the Spokane Valley, only a few minutes off the I-90 freeway. -Yoke's supermarkets sells frozen huckleberry pies from the Green Bluff grower's/farmer's market. They are about $19 a pie. They are in the frozen case by the frozen desserts.

6 of my girlfriends and I just ate at Davidburke earlier this month and LOVED it! I had eaten at davidburke & Donatella in nyc which is why we decided to check it out. From the decor to the excellently priced wine menu, flawless service (even making us the signature nyc dish that was not on the menu, of ostrich scrambled eggs with lobster served back in the huge egg shell with creme fraiche and caviar). Since we were a large group we decided to order5 starters, 3 salads and 4 entress plus the cheesecake lolipop tree for dessert. add 1 bottle of white burgandy and 2 bottles of very nice CdP and we each paid $145 including tax and tip. I would absolutely go back, I can't imagine why your friend would be so turned off about it. ← Thanks, a first person restaurant review is the best kind of review. Once I hear John's comments on Burke I'll let everyone know what he thought.

I didn't get specifics from John Curtas as to why he didn't like David Burke at The Venetian. John's got a piece that he's written about Burke that should be appearing on John Mariani's site soon-with a pointed review of Burke's place in Las Vegas. I do know that they have made some changes in the kitchen staff and the place is only a few months old so that isn't a good sign. There are plenty of other good dining rooms in Las Vegas so maybe let the dust settle and then give Burke a try next year-if they get the bugs worked out. When I find out more I'll let everyone know.

The Alladin Hotel is now a Planet Hollywood Hotel. However, I think they did retain the 'Spice Market Buffet' from Planet Hollywood. I can't attest to the buffet as I haven't been there for about three years. At that time it was good, not great, and cheaper than Paris and Bellagio. While many of the food selections-i.e., chilled shrimp, prime rib-may be the same at the buffets, each has its own character, style and differences in food. Right now my top buffet choices are Wynn, Buffet at Bellagio, Cravings at The Mirage and Dishes at Treasure Island. Cravings is not as expensive as Wynn or Bellagio. And a small detail I love at Cravings-the big glasses that they use for ice water, with a twist of lemon. It's pretty hard to top a big glass of ice water in Las Vegas. The set up of Cravings is a bit difficult at the salad station as you have to ask the cook to prepare your salad for you-they don't have a lot of pre-made salads that you can just choose from without dealing with a cook. On three recent visits in the past year, I found some of the stations were not even open-and that was at the height of the dinner hour. It's dissappointing to go to say the Asian station looking for some potstickers only to find the station either closed down or only offering sushi. Dishes is a fairly new buffet-I think Treasure Island opened it about a year ago. Treasure Island by the way is now referred to as "TI." It is no longer the theme of a family-oriented pirate cove. They still have the pirate theme, but think of the outdoor pirate battle now being called "The Sirens of TI" and you get the idea. Dishes buffet is styled to be enticing to the younger, hipper crowd that TI is targeting as their core customers. It is very good for breakfast. Cheaper than Wynn or Bellagio and those tiny little donuts are marvelous. The cook will dip it in chocolate and add some sprinkles for you. Very decadent. Between the high-end buffets at Wynn or Bellagio I prefer Wynn for the quality of the food but Bellagio for the larger selection. Bellagio has very good fresh seafood, salads and often serves wild game meats like venison or elk. Recently I've enjoyed their fresh sardine salad and Korean kimchi salad with octopus. Quite unique for Las Vegas buffets. The setting at Wynn in the garden room area of the buffet is beautiful. That's the main dining hall as you enter the buffet. The buffet line and food areas are a bit cramped but the quality of the food is really good. While it may sound odd for a high-end buffet, their fried chicken is the best I've found at a buffet. And their dessert station is the best in my opinion-tiny little bowls of floating island with caramel sauce-an old-fashioned dessert that you can't ever find at a restaurant. And their cupcakes with mounds of pink frosting!

Boy, I am jealous, I would eat too well if I spent a month in Las Vegas. A tip would be to call Wing Lei ahead of time. Tell them you will be there on Friday and give them your name and reservation time. Mention that you would like the 'seasonal' tasting menu if they are offering it. The seasonal tasting menu would be more unique than say the Peking Duck tasting menu. I contacted the restaurant prior to my dinner in May and requested a seasonal tasting menu and they were more than happy to oblige. I was served a menu not printed and offered to other diners. Fleur de Lys is a different dining experience than L'Atelier. Fleur de Lys would be more formal in terms on sit-down tableside service. What is fun about L'Atelier is sitting at the counter and watching the chefs create your dishes. So choose between the two based on what kind of experience you are looking for. The cooking at both is good, but at L'Atelier you'll get many more small courses for the money. I'd try Bouchon but only for breakfast. It is a beautiful setting to have breakfast with fresh pastries out on the patio. Check out some of the different threads about the restaurants in Las Vegas, there are lots of great comments from your fellow egullet foodies. I'm not too good with the local restaurants but there are plenty of others who can chime in on that. Have a great time, (when you aren't working). You are going to a great, great, restaurant city.

I'd call myself a huckleberry expert, and there is no substitute for them. They only grow wild and have never been harvested successfully on a commercial basis. The plants have to be in a high-mountain environment to thrive, and it wouldn't be practical for a commercial venture. I doubt the US Forest Service or the Weyerhauser Forest Products Company would like to see a bunch of huckleberry farmers wandering through the woods. And another problem with a commercial venture is that huckleberries can only be picked by hand, one at a time. The commercial 'scoopers'-those small shovels used for raking berry plants like blueberries, are really not recommended for huckleberries. It probably wouldn't be economical for a commerical huckleberry operation. Our berries are selling for around $45 per gallon bag this year. That's a nice source of extra cash for the folks who sell hand-picked berries at the markets, but imagine the mark-ups that would have to be put in that $45 per gallon cost by a commercial operation. By the time that gallon bag got to market it would probably be double the cost. Our local paper ran a story last Sunday asking huckleberry pickers to not use raking devices because they strip the branches and bushes of the plants which can inhibit next year's growth of huckleberries. However, if we pick huckleberries by hand and take care not to tramp down the bushes and the forest, the plants do just fine. Many families in the Northwest have gone to the same 'secret' spot in the mountains to pick huckleberries for years. So I don't agree with the guy from Oregon who once said it was 'immoral' or illegal to pick wild huckleberries because it could lead to their depletion. That's not really accurate. If huckleberries are picked by hand and the plants are respected, they'll grow back every year. And try telling an 1,000lb. grizzly bear that it is immoral to pick huckleberries. You'll be the entree after their dessert of huckleberries. I'm lucky to live in Spokane because right now there are probably 7 or 8 farmer's market stands that are selling huckleberries and even one grocery store that has fresh huckleberries. There are both frozen and fresh huckleberry pies at a few stores in our area. But as a huckleberry purist I avoid the jams, jellies, candies and huckleberry cordials this time of year. This time of year we only use them in fresh pies and freeze the rest to use throughout the year. So if you have about a week or so and don't mind the price of gasoline for your car, you might just have to head West out of New York city and get on I-90 to Spokane and head to the farmer's market or a local produce stand. Now that would be one expensive bag of huckleberries!