Carolyn Tillie

I believe the version of Berkeley Bowl and Monterey Market in SoCal is Bristol Farms. But are there items in particular you and thinking about at BB and MM that you have been unable to find or is it "that Berkeley" thing you are alluding to in a general feeling? When I lived in SoCal, most of my high-end gourmet items were acquired from Bristol Farms. If the Farmer's Market of the week didn't have the vegetable or fruit I was looking for, I could get it at Bristol Farms (or sometimes Whole Foods). Now I see that you are in Chino which might have something else to do with your lack of decent shops. Riverside county in general is somewhat of a wasteland and the closest Bristol Farms to you would be in South Pasadena. Maybe that's the difficulty...

Do tell how it went! I had dinner at Manresa last evening with a dozen or so people and Chef Kinch's sous chef did an absolutely outstanding job - he has certainly trained his staff well and the entire evening could not have gone better. Briefly (sans pictures), our meal: - Red Beet & Olive Madeleine - Citrus Salad in Jasmin Tea Gelée - Salt Cod Fritter with Truffled Honey - Strawberry Gazpacho with Almond Yogurt, Marconi Almonds, and Olive Oil - Oyster on the Half Shell with Uni scented with Yuzu - Sashimi of Fluke with Olive Oil, Chives, and dried, smoked Fish Flakes (a fav!) - Torchon of Foie Gras with Asparagus spears, Asparagus purée, and Asian Pear Crisp - Black Cod cooked on the plank with Crab and cured Salmon Roe - Shredded Veal Cheeks with Sunchoke Ravioli topped with a Veal Sweetbread and Parsnip Milk Foam - Roast Farm Chicken with Roast Vegetables (outstanding) - Roast Leg of Spring Lamb with Chickpea Frittes and house-made Marguez Sausage - Honey Tuile with a selection of Banana, Mango, and Lychee Sorbet - Strawberry and Rhubarb Crisp with Bergamot Creme - Bittersweet Chocolate Soufflé with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream - Blood Orange Pate de Fruit with Chocolate Madeleines

Food can be debated from now until kingdom come, but the bottom line is, You Must Have It. Beyond that? Get decent glassware! Reidel or Speigelau. There is nothing worse than a wine bar with thick-rimmed, mediocre glassware... Train your staff to cloth clean the water spots and lipstick residue so that they are absolutely pristine. A waiter or bartender should NEVER be seen wandering around with nothing to do - there is always glassware to be polished!

Don't get me wrong, Tana. I like 'em a lot too. But it is a known fact that J.M. "Ciaran" Byrne opened the Cupertino store which lasted ... what? ... six months? And there were plans to open four more in NoCal and 20 more over the U.S. Something went wrong in the business plan. Add to that the fact that here in the valley, they seem to ALWAYS be advertising for help. They've got a good product, I'll admit it. But I think there needs to be some hard look at the business decisions being made...

want me to tell you all about how the GM no showed / no followed up call for my interview ? ← You may not want to work for them... They are ALWAYS advertising and by trying to expand too far, too quickly, and too much, have not been able to pay their bills in months....

Best laugh all day! Thanks...

Here is the review I wrote on the place last November on Gang of Pour.com. From my interview of the owners, they got the technology from Italy. Other than that, they are keeping it a huge secret with the idea of establishing proprietary franchises.

You two are so funny.... I can see it now; "Clay Pots Anonymous" for those addicted to buying and collecting obscure pots from around the world...

Thank you, Mark. It all helps. As you and I spoke privately, you know I meant to derision to you being an entertainment reporter. It just struck an odd note that the word entertainment was attached to story when, as you indicated, correspondent could have easily been substituted and raised less of a raucous. Regardless, thank you so much for coming here and commenting and clarifying the subject matter at hand. I am sure I am not the only one who appreciates the contribution but the elucidation. We all hope you'll come back.

My cross over is far more ignoble than everyone's Lynch Bages or Latour. When I was just 19, I dated a man who brought me a bottle of Roederer, which was nice. He knew and liked wines. But it wasn't the Roederer that did it... Back then (20+ years ago), Trader Joe's was known for selling cheese, nuts, and wine. That's it. Nothing else really. Philip-the-boyfriend and I went in one day and I picked up a bottle of Tyrell's Long Flat Red, an Australian blend wine that was $1.99. The original two-buck-chuck. Later, Philip looked at what I bought and remarked what a silly thing it was. Then we opened it up and was shocked how really good it was. I had him go back to buy me a case (I was underaged, after all!). For a 19-year-old in 1983, $25 on wine was a lot of money. In 1983, money was spent on clubs and make-up and leather with spikes and... well, other things. Two years later, I met and married another man and on our honeymoon, we went to a secluded restaurant in San Diego that had that very vintage of Long Flat Red for $40!!! That was my moment, remembering the case I had bought and so quickly drank up, learning what it meant to sit on good bottles and age them.

Most recently, he taught a class on Rhone Wines about two weeks ago here. I also know he was planning a springtime trip to Burgundy and the Provence, so maybe he is taking more time off to travel before starting his new venture.

I think Kass' piece is hilarious. I especially love the play on words in this line: Brilliant!

Lorna Sass' The Pressured Cook - I was given this high-falutin pressure cooker and was waiting for an eGCI Pressure Cooking class to teach me how to use it. I've had both pressure cooker and cookbook for almost ten years now, both unused. Man Eating Bugs - it is on the shelf for occasional picture-looking shock value. I've cooked bugs in the past, but I not since I was... oh.... about ten years old. Chez Panisse Cookbook - darn pretty. Never cooked a thing out of it. Great Good Food by Julee Rosso of Silver Palate fame. Same as Chez Panisse... Those are the biggies for me, although there are probably some others.

Thank you for sharing, Derrick. It was great that you could post all of these and I'm sure all here are extremely appreciative of your efforts in this regard. You looked cute in your shower cap... And the duck pics made me hungry - gads, how I miss Sonoma Saveurs!

That THAT explains why the article was written by an ENTERTAINMENT reporter and NOT someone from the food section!!!!

If memory serves (and this almost three or four years ago), the ducks are sequestered in smaller cages so that they don't have to be chased down for gavage (versus running freely, as before). BTW, Derricks touched base and will be jumping in this thread this evening, after work. He toured the facility with Guillermo two or three times and quite recently.

Can you tell us what you saw, Carolyn? I'd like to know. ← Specifically? I saw several pens of ducks, running mostly free until their last two weeks of life. Then they are sequested for the gavage. His gavage technique is far different than the "classic" version of a hand-held funnel. His is more automated and quick. When the tube goes down the throat, the feed is inserted in just a few seconds. I saw briefly, but am going to ask Derricks to join in this discussion -- he visited it several times and wrote a piece for The Art of Eating.

Most people here know that I like foie gras. I've seen Guillermo's farm and in no way believe what he is doing is cruel. He respects his ducks and I respect the product he produces. No sense beating THAT dead horse and we can certainly go round-and-round again debating the issue, but I see no point in that. I'm just curious... Didn't anyone think it was remotely odd that the Chiciago Tribune article was written by the entertainment reporter? (Yes, I know, the restaurant critic also contributed...)

Sage & Onion was always my favored stop through Santa Barbara... The last time I was there was in the springtime when the chef had just gotten fresh fiddlehead ferns which came on a salad, accompanied with the most perfect English Pea and Fennel Soup (very spring-like). Great strawberry/rhubarb tartlett for dessert.

Della -- I never thought cassoulet froze well because the beans became mealy. However, I was shocked when I went to Wolfert's house and saw that she had several quarts of frozen cassoulet in her freezer. Her explanation is that by using tarbais beans, you don't get the mealy texture that I was accostomed to. So, I guess it is a-okay to freeze, but depending on the bean you used, it might have a different consistency when you thaw it out.

My goodness... is this a California thing? I get pink boxes at all my local donut shops and bakeries (except Bouchon, of course, which has its own signature boxes with weird green ribbons). Only occasionally do I get white ones, but they always seem to be pink...

Wandering the back roads of Lodi over the weekend (wine tasting, as usual), I stopped at a small farm stand with homemade pies. Picking up a peach-boysenberry for Easter dinner, I glanced across the room at the telling pink box which contained my bought baked goodie and wondered.... When did pastry boxes become universally pink -- and why that particular shade of bubblegum pink? Why not white or blue or green? Why Pink?

One of my greatest culinary joys was arriving in York, buying way too many books from a book dealer I had been chatting online with and, taking him to lunch at a local pub, having the most AMAZING Yorkshire pudding IN York while the Grand National was running -- and I had a winning ticket... I don't think a Yorkshire pudding ever tasted as good as that one did.

Yes, a lot of people have cooking shows and a lot of people write cookbooks. She was quite simply one of the first. Sure, lots of men have walked on the moon -- but which name pops to mind about who made it special? Neil Armstrong, of course, The First One. To walk and make a difference where others have yet to tread, in ANY field, paves the way for others. She did it with grace and charm and integrity and her life touched millions of people.

And some of us are just too plain poor to buy the wine every time around... (even those of us IN the industry!)