Lesley C

I have made brownies with Valrhona pure pate de cacao and Bakers. In a side by side tasting, the differences are minimal. And get this, I also use artificial vanilla extract in baked goods. Bakers unsweetened is always in my pantry (just for brownies) but not the semisweet which really is awful. But if there's one thing I cannot stand it's those bloody Chipits chocolate chips. Major yuck. And I have news for you about Sharfen-Berger, I hear the company has been bought by Hersheys. As for Valrhona, I think it would be worth tracking down the distributor (Farinex now, I think) rather than pay those high prices at GL. If you bake enough, that is.

Yes, sad but true. The wine service was the best thing about the place when I last ate there in the spring.

Yes, sad but true. The wine service was the best thing about the place when I last ate there in the spring.

Given his credentials, I don't doubt his cooking ability. Unless all those star chefs who had him on the line were just doing him a favour. As for the $85, did you ask for your money back? My point was he rocked the boat when his book came out and -- obviously -- Psaltis has as well. A lot of people were angry about that book too and now Mr. B is the darling of the foodie set. As for Psaltis, who knows what will happen. But having re-read the book this weekend, I'll tell you, I still don't get what all the fuss is about. And I have noticed that many of the people who enjoyed the book on this thread are A) not friends with the star chefs mentioned and/or B) chefs themselves.

Depends on the dessert. For brownies I wouldn't hesitate to use Bakers. Really. But for a pot de creme or chocolate mousse my first choices would be Michel Cluizel or Valrhona. OO King, have a look at the pastry and baking forum for a ton more answers. These threads should stick to Montreal topics.

The other day a French chef that I know who is well connected with a few of the top French chefs in NY was ranting and raving about how he would never read Kitchen Confidential because this Anthony Bourdain person was a nobody. I told him he should read the book and then make a judgment. I said, who cares if he didn't work for Guérard, he spoke for the corps de ballet of the kitchen, not the principal dancers. When Kitchen Confidential came out, a lot of people were saying exactly what that French chef was saying. I clearly recall arguing that the book was not about offending his fellow chefs or destroying the local scene and profession (as they were claiming) as much as telling it like it was. Today some of those very people not only love the book, but are friends with Bourdain. And let's not forget even Amanda Hesser, who was so critical of AB when KC came out, now dines with the man. All this to say, the Psaltis thing will blow over. The boy can cook circles around everyone who has posted critically on this thread. I don’t see any of them opening restaurants or cooking in the lousy Beard kitchen. You don't earn Ducasse's respect for nothing. I don’t care how he cooked at some freebie function for food writers. The man has worked his ass off. Let's give him that. And as for the people who claim this book is poorly written, I’ll tell you, I have had to review several food personality and restaurant critic memoirs (including one written by a critical poster on this thread) and we’re -- usually -- not talking Proust there either.

I think it's Tony Masserelli. Does that sound right?

Local, local. Be he's quite famous locally. All my Italian friends have heard of him. I'll try to come up with a name.

Quelli Della Notte is now owned by a famous Italian singer who performs on occasion. It might be worth looking into. The food used to be excellent, but I haven't a clue what's going on there now. Anyone else heard anything about Quelli?

Um, let me be very clear here. I never said Montreal doesn't have good restaurants. Jesus, i would be the last to say that. What I said is that it has been a bad year for restaurants. Very different statements. I am sure CCetP, and La Chronique are pulling off some great food as are others. And Tom what I found offensive about your post re: Toque! is that you called the food "crap," a word I find offensive when describing something made by one of the top chefs in the city. Call it weak, boring or dull and I don't give a rat's ass, but call it crap and you're just being mean. Anyway, yes L'Utopie is an amazing restaurant and one of the reasons I went was because jfl91 mentioned it on this board, so thanks jfl91!

First, if you haven't been, go to Quebec City and eat at Utopie. I was there Friday night and am still full of awe. Montreal should be so lucky to have a restaurant this interesting. And I was thrilled to see a great sommelier there, Bertrand, formerly of Anise and Pop. That man is a genius at food and wine pairings.

Hmm, big subject. I will say this. I have been re-reviewing many of the city's top restaurants lately and disappointments have been many. Also, some excellent chefs are no longer cooking their best. Has it been a bad year for restaurants? Yes, lousy even especially compared with 2004. But fear not, there are some good ones to come. As for awarding three stars to a restaurant like Moishes and two and a half to others like Cafe Ferreira, Les Caprices and Bronte, here's a clip from a story I wrote for the Gazette last year explaining how I go about that. The ranking breaks down into three key factors: the type of restaurant, its ambitions, and its success in reaching its goal. When I say type of restaurant, I refer to the cuisine being served, i.e. French, Italian, Chinese, fusion, sushi, and so on. When reviewing a classic French restaurant, I compare it to the city’s other classic French restaurants to determine where it fits in the category. For example, a restaurant like Les Halles would be in the same category as La Rapière, and on the steakhouse front, Gibbys would be in the same box as Rib’ n Reef. As for ambitions, it’s clear some restaurants merely aim to please while others beg to be taken more seriously. That’s where expense comes into the equation. Are we talking about a luxury restaurant like The Beaver Club, a high-end restaurant like Cavalli, or a restaurant verging on the casual like L’Express? And expense necessitates added features such as a seasoned maitre d’, a well-schooled sommelier, extravagant ingredients used in imaginative ways, and topnotch tableware such as fine china, heavy cutlery, the appropriate stemware, and fresh flowers. Restaurants gunning for the four-star rating must exploit the finer points -- the extremes -- of the gourmet experience. We reviewers keep that extra star in our back pockets for restaurants that go out on a limb and succeed. For that reason, one cannot compare a restaurant like Rosalie to Toqué!. It’s obvious the former’s ambitions are topped at the three-star level, while the latter is shooting for the moon. Once a reviewer has established the ambitions of a restaurant, the goal is to figure out whether or not it is fulfilling its potential. When a recent review of Toqué! garnered a three-and-a-half-star rating, a reader wrote in asking why it was still so high given the number of criticisms. To me, this was a case of a revamped restaurant still shy of its potential -- potential that had been fully realized at its former location. Dropping it down to two stars would have diminished the obvious hard work and expense that went into uplifting it to the higher ranks. Where it failed was not in the obvious structure, but in the less-than-obvious details.

Another vote for Pepin's La Technique tome. The pictures are what make this oeuvre so educational.

Cassis is black currant, not red. Red currant is groseille. When I interviewed Robert and Richard Lachapelle they gave me the same sort of line. They can say what they want, but taste-wise, IMO, the French cassis is just more full-bodied.

Funny, cassis was one of the only flavours there that didn't wow me. Sorry for sounding like a foodie here, but when you have tasted the cassis in Dijon and Lyon, that other stuff doesn't even come close. It lacks a certain special zing I remember. I think the HdG's cassis is local, no?

Well, there are many sidebars and full pages dedicated to technique in the book. Look at p.765 and you'll see a page on blind-baking, p.205 has tips on cooking pasta, and p.336 shows you how to clean soft-shell crabs. Also, there's a lot to be said for a well-written recipe. You can, to a certain extent, learn to cook by following recipes. That's what we all did before mags like Cook's. I grew up cooking from Gourmet magazine, and by the time I got to cooking school I knew a ton just by reproducing all those Gourmet centerfolds.

I like the fromage blanc/strawberry ice cream and the strawberry sorbet, which not only tastes great but is technically perfect. And, of course, their vanilla is wicked.

Bought a gorgeous turkey today at Boucherie AGA at 4927 Jarry E. in St-Leonard Tel: 327-7771 Talk to Carmello, he'll point you in the right direction. And while you're there, pick up some veal chops for the last barbecue of the season.

Those brothers at HdG are so sharp.

The New Joy of Cooking The New Best Recipe How to Cook Everything and, yes, The Gourmet Cookbook

I never quite understood the Sélections mondiales. The SAQ had a hard time stocking the products and there were just too many. Though there were some real finds in the winners, on the whole, I'm happy to hear the project has been scrapped.

Yeah but there's no a lot of room for a sense of humor or sense of humility in the four-star restaurant world. With Bourdain it worked well because he kept reminding us he didn't take it all that seriously. With Psaltis, his serious approach to the profession appears to be his raison d'etre. I mean, anyone who has met Ducasse knows he's no barrel of monkeys.

I hate to speak for all MTL reviewers here but that rarely happens anymore. Dining-out budgets aren't getting any bigger and most of the reviewers are freelancers. More time spent on the job doesn't mean more money. So the idea of the three-visit review is just dying out -- a shame but there it is, a matter of economics.

Best post on the entire thread. Thanks for getting it out straight chefboy. Some of us tried to say the same thing, unfortunately using even clunkier, clumsier sentences.

My assumption that he is telling the truth is just as disingenous as your belief that he is not. Excuse me for giving him the benefit of the doubt. You're all but calling him a liar. And, BTW, so sorry to disrupt your vacation.