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

I'm throwing a bbq gathering with friends and family this coming weekend and some of us were looking to get some oysters. Main area I'm looking at is in North Jersey. Primarily from Morris County and East, toward the city (Passaic, Bergen, Essex county etc). Only criteria I'm looking for is reputable seller. I tried calling Whole Foods, Fairway, Chelsea market (in manhattan) and even Stop n Shop. While Stop n Shop were very reasonably priced, at 5.99/dz., not knowing what kind of oysters they were, except that "they are from the Pacific", did not settle too well with me... The other retail venues sold them all by the piece, starting at $1 to $1.50. Getting 3,4 dozen of them would add up. Anyone know of any other spots to check out? Was also considering the Fulton Fish Market...though not too sure on the process on how to buy from there. Went once only to browse around and I believe the min. order is at least 10#'s Thanks, Jim

As of yesterday, the 9th, it was not open yet. Called up friend who lives in area to check it out. He reports back still under construction

IMO when new fast-food chains open up, a flurry of hundreds upon hundreds flood to get a taste of what would be deemed "ordinary" for most in other locations where it has been around for over a decade, quite insanely bizarre. I'm not saying five-guys is overrated, their pretty good. But very recently a Sonic's opened up around here and they had to issue police to go over there for crowd control... Oh what media has upon people these days. Jim

Maybe this is just me, but when going back to a restaurant I've been to previously (or even a new one) I would just just leave and start my journey without double checking the address, just in case. This bad habit creates perhaps a 1 out of 3 chance that I would totally mess it up and have to call for help. Jim

"All Day"...caught myself saying this today to my mother when asking me to make copies for something Kitchen lingo can so easily be transported into everyday life. I.e. Calling up your friend coming over to bring: 5 onions all day, quart of milk and an apple, on the fly! Jim

While taking Spanish may seem more "practical" for the industry use...IMO and experience, it's so much easier to be used and learned while applying it on a daily basis. I.e. actually using it in the restaurant. Learning a language in a classroom is deff. not the same as using it in real life. I'm currently taking my last semester of Spanish in college, and while it's nifty to learn all the proper conjugations, grammar etc...it hasn't helped me tremendously while in restaurants / outside. In my personal experience, once you know the basics you just have to keep using it and pick up vocab. One way I helped kick start my Spanish is just asking coworkers how to say this and that in Spanish. Though have to be careful not to ask too much or they get annoyed. In return, they may ask me how to say it in Mandarin, and we would exchange words. Quite fun during prep or down-time. Jim Oh yes, you mentioned you want something practical for the food industry..If that you mean restaurants & hotels...then should prob do the Spanish thing. If you were speaking of more international overseas ventures, say import/exporting goods to Asia (for example) in regards to food trade...then perhaps an Asian language. Quite a large industry...

So what you're saying is, they're just reducing the amount of glass used now? To summarize...Weight reduction without sacrificing the structural strength? Excuse my confusion, but are they just using less glass is what you're getting at? Jim

There's a nice little town about an hour north right after you enter the Thruway from NJ. Exit 18, New Paltz (it's about 5minutes right after the exit on your left). They have a nice little Bakery, Thai, Indian and Sushi. Also on that exit, little further down the near the river, is the CIA (Culinary Institute of America), which is about 30 minutes off the thruway. I will get back on the exact addresses of the places mentioned Jim

Honestly, first reaction when I read your menu was, "bland". Reason for saying so is that the items listed would be typical of any diner, per se. I would spice up the items making it unique, your own. Something to give a guest a "wowing factor" and make them want to order that right away. Need something to give yourself an edge on your competitors, what makes your restaurant superior to theirs? Jim

A mean solution could be to bully him into a corner and force him to quit. Peer pressure wears on people after awhile. If that doesn't work, could always sabotage his prep. Or use it all for family meal, throw it away, etc. etc.. If the chef doesn't recognize that his kitchen has not been running as efficiently as before, there must be an issue...New Chef, perhaps? Jim