Lesley C

The steam you want is from the dough. Wet butter seeps into the dough when you make the turns, thus diminishing the layering effect. A French pastry chef I know makes dry butter (often refered to as "beurre carotte" because it is tinted orange as not to be sold commercially) by mixing frozen butter at high speed in a big Hobart, then squeezing out any water.

David, next time you see Susur, suggest he open a restaurant in Montreal.

How does the Grand Prix crowd already know about Rosalie? Hotel concierges?

Higher than expected. 20 oz rib steak $32 14 oz Delmonico $28 rack of lamb $38 Shrimp cocktail $17 Caesar salad (not great) $9 side dish of 5 grilled asparagus $9 (tasted like propane) Black sea bass (2 lbs) $53 (!) cheesecake $12 hot chocolate tourte $15 Get the idea...

I was at 40 Ouest last night and had a good/bad dinner. The steak was quite tasteless. Very strange. Everything there is oversized. For dessert they give you a cheesecake that could easily serve three. Otherwise the decor is rather magnificent, and service is a bit on the overly-friendly side but that's OK for the West Island. The raw bar (also stunning) was packed and the restaurant was about 90% full. It seats 450. Montreal steak houses should be nervous.

Hee hee... I wonder why?

OK, could you please make at least some effort to keep this about food.

The Grand Prix is coming up in Montreal this Sunday, and with it comes the biggest restaurant weekend of the year. I'm wondering which restaurant has the best scene, does the best business, and draws in the most visiting celebs? I'm thinking Alexandre on Peel, Globe and Buonna Notte on the Main, and probably a place like Bice or Cafe Ferreira downtown. Any thoughts on this?

Hi Matthew, thank you for being so entertaining and informative (love the disclaimer) What facet of the cooking show concept do you believe has yet to be explored? Is there room for more great personalities? A new concept? Do the up-and-comers have to look like Nigella (hard to match that) and cook like Jacques Pepin (hard to match that as well), or do you think production values can cover up the lack of cooking skills and bad skin? What's the void that needs to be filled? I'm also curious to know what you think makes a great food television star? (notice I didn't say Food Network star, with you being fired and all)

Thanks for that link Craig. I knew it wasn't organic but I didn't know what the heck it translated to. Now I know. Thanks.

I recently tasted Marcel Lapierre's Morgon at an organic wine tasting. Superb. It's worth noting that his wine is produced under "bio-dynamique" conditions. I guess that would translate -- roughly-- to organic, but not quite.

To quicken the process, I used to fill the pots with water and bring them to a boil. But be careful. I once did this, forgot about the pot, and next thing I knew the flames were up to the ceiling. On top of that I ruined a pretty nice copper pot. Always remember, sugar burns -- big time!

If this is translated from the French Elle a Table, it is indeed an excellent food magazine. Pick up every copy you can.

I was just at a dinner with Benoit Gouez, an "oenologue" of Dom Perignon, who said the absolute worst pairing for champagne is chocolate. It's too acidic. He says to save the bubbly for the caviar and other salty foods. They served a 1992 Dom rosé with sauteed strawberries. Nice match.

Another great thing about the Pepin book is the recipes. I've tried many of them and they're wonderful. He was smart not to overcrowd the book with recipes. I'd finish each chapter and try to guess which recipes would be on the next page, the one that would best represent the chapter.

Thanks for that review. It's funny how so many new restaurants tend to oversalt the food. I wonder if it's nerves? But you can bet after Chopper sees this the salt problem will be no longer . That's one of the great things about eGullet for chefs who post here -- immediate feedback.

It's not about the length, it's all about the width (sorry, sorry)

Sorry David, I had better fries at Holder. I don't know if they are the same anymore but they were great. The fries I had at Rosalie weren't as good. The big fries at Rosalie were soggy and unevenly browned, and there were many little fry bits at the bottom. In fact, I remember holding up a limp fry to show David who was standing near the bar (remember the dirty look you gave me David). Interesting to note at Rosalie, though, how much the fries improved with every visit. At my last lunch there the fries were very good. So my guess by now is that they must be out of this world. But no kidding, the Holder fries I had on my first visit were brilliant. They were nice and thin, and all cut about the same size (I didn't get the impression they were pre-cut but had I known this would have turned into such an issue I would have analyzed them more closely). I see the Rosalie fries as more masculine and the Holder fries as more feminine (OK, this discussion is getting too deep). I'm going to get someone else who has had both in on this discussion.

Wow, that sounds almost too reasonable. What about the wine prices?

Note to self: send critic friend to review Les Chevres the night Guru goes out on the town.

Lychee wasn't a new restaurant. It was an established restaurant that changed chefs. I usually wait a month but Lychee was three weeks after Apollo came on board. In this case, I don't feel like it was reviewed too early. I had recently recommended their terrace and I felt I had to go back and review the place before the summer season.

Thanks for that identifiler. What a horrible experience. There's nothing like a table of assholes to ruin a night out. Funny, when I had the onglet it was almost too soft, and my fries were superb. Much better than at Rosalie (sorry David, but it's true). The salt situation was a disaster. I ended up sending back two dishes because of it -- and I like salty food. But there's salt, and then there's SALT!!! The best dish I tasted at Holder is the medaillons de veau. And the foie gras au torchon is also great. The profiteroles and creme caramel are the best in the city. I hope Holder hangs in there and gets stronger. I like the place. The decor is cool and the brasserie ambiance is hard to beat. It's a young place, but I think it shows promise. Remember the Holder brothers other restaurants? L'Oeuf, Brasserie Holder, and didn't they back Matteo's first restaurant?

Check out www.fidtopia.com.

The Vienna and Austro-Hungarian Empire book is downright beautiful. As are the Russia and India books.

Er...no, sorry, I don't want to say. It's always surprise surprise! And all these new places like Rosalie (notice me trying to keep this on topic) are keeping me pretty busy these days