stealw

Laurent actually left the company, BLT, a few months back. In doing so, I believe he forfeited his previous royalties to the restaurants & the name. So in making LT Burger - and the "infringements" that are brought upon him do makes sense. Nonetheless, if one were to make such a similar concept, at least mix up the menu so it wasn't so clearly identical.

An omelet, and/or perhaps chicken.

I may be missing something, but why do you need IQF shrimp? Frozen shrimp you need to defrost anyways, and "fresh" shrimp...well, its good to go. Jim

Magnum of wine = 1.5 L, $8 not too bad, not too bad... But, on a budget friendly alternative, a box of wine (say Franzia, popular brand) 5 L = $12. Click Me That should save you a few bucks. 30 pounds should be fine, but better to be safe than sorry. For your braising liquid, instead of plain ol' water, could buy some bouillon/stock cubes. Think 1 cube yields a gallon of "stock". While not being the best stuff, better than water. clicky here I'd hold off on this, taste your braise first and see if it needs it. Jim

A couple things I'm curious about off the bat...Where are you located? Some of your measurements seem...interesting. I.e "Beef stock: 5 magnums" As for your beef, you did not take into account for trim. 75 persons, @6oz a person is 450oz, not net. You need to buy a bit more. Speaking of beef, which cut are you using? And for wine, I noticed you're buying Magnums...perhaps a look at boxed wine? Cab or Merlot? Those two items were the big bulk items that stood out the most, in regards to $$$. Oh, another thing that caught my eye... Your stock: ~2gallons for ~28# of beef. Is that enough...? Best of luck to you, Jim

Very interesting topic; as I was about to start a post of something very similar to this. The past weekend I cooked some pork belly. Scored the top, put it in braising liquid, covered only the lean meat portion with the liquid, and left the fat "naked". Then 325 oven for ~3hours or so (uncovered). The result..."crispy" skin, very moist and tender lean meat. However, only qualm about this technique is that it resulted with an almost chewy/leathery texture of the skin/fat. (My original plan was to put it under the broiler for a bit and really crisp it up, but I was out and had someone pull it out for me, thus no broiler effect) Then it dawned on me, could I have possibly cooked the pork belly like a duck breast? Duck breast: score fat-cap, place in cold pan, render, render, render...flip over and cook other side. Has anyone tried this before? I'd assume it could work, since you can roast a pork belly & duck. Perhaps I may experiment with this in good time. Until then...open for suggestions. Jim

Not being paid what you owe is quite common from what I've experienced throughout the years of cooking. Just this past weekend I was staging at a restaurant down in DC; upon talking with couple of the line cooks they informed me that they were not paid for OT. Quite shocked, I assumed their hourly would be a lot higher to compensate. Alas they did not, they made less than $15 an hour. Now in this situation, they could either A. challenge the chef/HR and bring up the issue or B. go with it and don't say anything. Majority of the time cooks go for option B, they just do not want the hassle of confrontation. In my experience, one of my previous employers were very late on payments, usually run 2-3 weeks late per check. Eventually the DoL (dept. of labor) was brought in and they shut the place down. Personally I will always go for option A, it's your time and money your investing in the company and should be rightfully compensated for it. Jim

Truffle Mac n Cheese (with oil and mushrooms + very good mornay) Side dish of some tastey corn bread perhaps or corn nuggets (fried cream corn) First two things that just popped into my mind. Good luck with your planning. Jim

Good handful of salad dressings are made with raw yolks. I.e. mayo based dressings. Often times what you don't know you aren't too concerned with. As one of my old Sous's use to put it during a food inspection, "out of sight, out of mind". Jim

Megu is very good. Service, food, and decor all superb. www.megurestaurants.com Morimoto's is very good as well. Try some saga beef if it is available. Jim

I.e. throwing steaks in the fryer and using microwaves, just to name two.. Jim

Wow, seems like you guys had an amazing trip. Was going to take a trip to Korea myself this summer but other factors dictated otherwise. Eating ventures through a new city/country are always the best. Learn so much from a culture just from the food and people present. Jim

Thanks a lot everybody. Will make some calls and hopefully remember to take some pictures too. Btw, Fulton Fish Market in the Bronx is just ginormous. Went there ~half year ago in the wee hours of the night. Though should probably go back one of these days to re-shock my eyes. Jim

Got a point there, most places with a view are quite mediocre (at least places I've tried), 'tourist traps' if you will as well. Can't win them all. Jim

Was the Liberty House a recommendations from a friend? Just curious what prompted you to try this place; perhaps random pick? I have never heard of the Liberty House before. Upon a quick google search, it is clear that the reviews for this place are quite extreme, hit or miss, usually miss. The first review that popped up was from google (Link) and received 2 out of 5 stars. By the website, it looks like some posh restaurant. In any case, glad for the heads up. Jim