Lesley C
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Posts posted by Lesley C
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Interesting, and thanks for all your answers. I'll keep an eye out for the producers you mentioned. I guess it's "Bonjour Mr. Selosse."
Meanwhile, I'm thinking I might just get Champagne for the friends and drink something else.
I'm going to try to get to the bottom of this Champagne-makes-me-sick thing one day. And I'm happy to hear I'm not alone. I once drank a glass of that Mum's Napa sparkling wine and the next day I was so sick I considered jumping out the window. I can only wonder what additive in that wine could cause that kind of distress to the metabolism.
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New Year' s is fast approaching and I've planned a bit of a gourmet soiree with friends. Problem, they are Champagne drinkers and I am not -- it makes me sick, as in major hangover, headache, sickness, the whole nine yards.
Now I've noticed that Dom Perignon does not make me sick, but I'm not sure I want to drop $200+ on a bottle (2006 was a year worth celebrating, but jeez, $200???).
So I need advice. Is there a Champagne at a lower price point (not too low though) that would give me the lovely Champagne experience without making me ill? Are Champagnes full of sulphur? Which I'm thinking might be the additive that's making me sick. Also, I would prefer one that doesn't have that yeasty flavour I don't really enjoy.
I mean, for the money it costs for a top notch Champagne, I'm thinking a fantastic white Burgundy would be a better choice -- and cost me about $120 less. I could also find a bio-dynamic one that wouldn't cause the day-after queeziness. Come to think of it, are any Champagne makers working in bio-dynamic methods?
Any advice?
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Track down the recipe for Almond Cake in Amanda Hesser's book, Cooking for Mr. Latte. It calls for 7 oz of the stuff and it's delcious.
Otherwise, vacuum pack the leftovers. There's nothing worse than crusty marzipan. Also, make sure your hands are super clean when you handle it. That stuff can ferment, and when it does, major yuck.
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Wow, I never thought I'd see broccoli in a three-star French restaurant.
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Maybe he heard about the small size of the Raza kitchen!
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What happened?
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I loved wearing those short-sleeved vests back when I was a chef. Mind you I was a pastry chef, so there was little chance of burns. I hated the long-sleeved vests, they were hot, heavy and I spent half my day rolling up the bloody sleeves.
I say way to go Gordo!
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Try Capitol at the Jean-Talon market, or Les Douceurs du Marche at the Atwater market. Gourmet Laurier would be another good place to look, as would either location of Le Fouvrac.
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I always thought the only chocolate Callebaut really nailed was their white couverture. It's the white chocolate that got me into eating white chocolate.
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It always drove me crazy that the moment the guides were released there were already a couple restaurants that had closed, chefs that had switched jobs, and prices that had risen or dropped. And for the amount of work, the pay wasn't all that interesting. Flavourville I and II sold a lot of copies, but in a very small market. At least with the web, you have the chance to reach outside your usual perimeters.
A web site could be a guide, and a whole lot more. I write about more than just restaurants, and have been doing so for years. Once articles are published in the paper --poof -- they just vanish into thin air. I would like to bring back some of the better food stories, as well as interviews, food items I like and gadgets I've tested. Maybe even bring on other local writers I admire.
As for subscription, I can't imagine how complicated that would be. It seems advertising is the way to go.
We're just working on design at this point.
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Now if we could only get a new version from that certain other critic......
If I'm that other critic don't hold your breath. I'm working on a web site instead.
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This is what I wrote up in the Montreal Gazette last week:
The Montreal High Lights Festival has been in a bit of a funk for the past few years. Alsace was the featured region last year, which meant plenty of fine wine, but a lineup of chefs little known outside Strasbourg. However, the 2007 festival - or more specifically the 8th edition of the Air France Wine and Dine Experience presented by American Express - promises to be a knockout.
Whoever decided on New York as the featured city should be given a raise. And kudos, too, for festival organizers for nabbing one of Manhattan's star chefs, Daniel Boulud, as honorary president.
Boulud, chef-owner of restaurants Daniel, Cafe Boulud and DB Bistro Moderne, will be cooking for one night only on Feb. 23 at Toque!. The dinner is $300 per person and it's almost sold out. Yet foodies, despair not. There's plenty here to match that event for star power.
First on my list is an evening with Gray Kunz at Nuances ($95 or $150 with wine). Kunz, chef and owner of Cafe Gray, has long been considered one of New York's brightest stars and unlike most of the chefs who are here for only one night, Kunz will be in town for four days from March 1 to 4. Not to be missed.
Next, I would choose from a handful of sure-to-be-amazing meals prepared by Alex Urena at Raza (March 1, $70 or $120 with wine), Bill Telepan at Europea (Feb. 27 and 28, $90), Paul Liebrandt at Vertige (Feb. 26 and 27, $100, $150 with wine), Anita Lo at Lemeac (Feb. 26, $60 or $110 with wine), and Laurent Tourondel, who will be preparing a steak dinner at Globe (Feb. 28 and March 1, $120 or $160 with wine).
Decca 77 will host three topnotch events, including dinners with Dan Barber of Blue Hill (Feb. 27, $90 or $150 with wine), Kurt Gutenbrunner of the chic Austrian restaurant Wallse (Feb. 24, $90 or $150 with wine), and returning chef of Vancouver Island's Sooke Harbour House, Edward Tuson, who wowed diners at last year's festival (March 2, $90 or $150 with wine).
Pastry lovers will also be spoiled this year as three of the world's top patissiers will be on hand. Will Goldfarb of the all-dessert New York restaurant Room 4 Dessert will prepare a dessert tasting menu at Le Bouchon de Liege (Feb. 27 and 28, $75 or $140 with wine). France's Valrhona chef Frederic Bau will collaborate with La Chronique's Marc De Canck for a sweet-and-savoury chocolate dinner (March 1 and 2, $175 with wine). Florian Bellanger, named one of the top 10 pastry chefs in the United States, will hold a dinner, demonstration and conference at XO Le Restaurant in the St. James Hotel (March 1 and 2, $80 or $145 with wine).
Many local chefs are planning impressive events as well. Anise's Racha Bassoul and uber-sommelier Francois Chartier will collaborate on food-and-wine pairing evenings featuring spices (Feb. 22 to 24 and Feb. 27 to March 3, $175 with wine). Tea aficionados should not miss the English tea tasting at XO Le Restaurant by Montreal's premiere tea house Camellia Sinensis (Feb. 25 and March 3, $45). And Champagne lovers will flock to the seven-course, all-Champagne tasting menu at La Chronique (Feb. 24, $195 bubbly included).
Not all events are as pricey. Fine-dining restaurants will be pulling out the stops, but several casual establishments are offering lunches as low as $11.95. Then there are the larger events like the free Quebec cheese tasting at Complexe Desjardins from Feb. 22 to 24 and March 1 to 3, and La Grande Raclette convivial meal (March 3, $45). And if that weren't enough to distract Montrealers from frigid temperatures, the team of the Old Montreal gourmet shop Europea will be cooking up a ton of apple sauce in hope of making it into the famous Guinness World Records. Now that's what I call taking a bite out of the Big Apple!
For a detailed schedule of events, pick up the festival guide at participating restaurants, public markets and gourmet shops. Or check out the website at:
www.montrealhighlights.com.
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I think when noted restaurant critics in the city say "that's too bad" it almost goes towards confirming the rumour.
Who are the "noted restaurant critics" who said that here? Can you give an example?
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Ares and Les Touilleurs are not restaurant supply stores.
Look for Tzanet on L'Acadie, Pascal restaurant supply on de la Gauchetiere, Russel Rinfret on St-Laurent, and Monas on Parc.
For pastry, try France decor (a.k.a. Vixit) on Henri Bourassa.
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Well, Amy, I've also picked up on a lot of other bits of restaurant news on this site, that turend out to be true.
For instance, the first "I heard" of Les Halles closing was on eGullet. So you know, you take the good with the bad, sort through the sources, call the people involved for confirmation and then you have a story. Be it the milkman or an anonymous poster on eGullet, rumours will always be rife in this business.
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Not so fast Ian.
There are a lot of other people out there working the tea beat and Camellia isn't necessarily for everyone (my boss went there recently and found it too serious), or nearby in all cases. This summer I found another nice tea shop on Laurier called Esprit de The at 112 Laurier W. Thay also have a new line of tea chocolates from Christophe Morel. Very nice.
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Three and a half.
I'll PM you the review, but keep in mind, prices are no longer what they were.
When Club Chasse opened no main course was over $30.
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Wow this is great news!
I was sad to hear these rumours, which hopefully now will be put to rest.
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Basha, I'm sad to hear your report.
I was just at Le Latini interviewing Mr. DiMarchi the other day and he showed me some tennis ball-sized truffles that smelled intoxicating. He certainly has the goods (no restaurateur or chef in the city can match Moreno's stash), but I wonder why he's not sharing them as he should. Did you complain, and when I say complain, I mean complain nicely?
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On the last chocolate show she started in London, shopped in New York, made a sandwich in her London kitchen and ate it in a cab in New York.
Weird. Did the producers not think viewers would pick up on that?
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Would you have questioned the novice critic's credentials if the review had been a rave?
So true!
But my favourite are the chefs or restaurateurs who throw a fit (or threaten to take legal action) over a poor review, claiming the critic is corrupt or has lousy credentials, who never complained about corruption or credentials when they had previously received a rave from the very same critic.
You can't have it both ways people, you can't have it both ways.
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Hi Dorie,
Thank you for taking all this time and contributing all these wonderful answers. It has been a treat to read through them and cook from your new book.
Or should I say bake...which brings me to my question.
Having worked with both pastry chefs and what what I call "regular" chefs can you comment on the differences between their approach. I'm married to a wonderful pastry chef, but I'll tell you, he's not such a great cook. He cooks like a pastry chef, if you know what I mean (follows the recipe to a T, rarely tastes, and rarely seasons the food). And though I know many "regular" chefs say they can make desserts, I have seen few who really can.
Do you think these two professions are radically different? Are pastry chefs and "regular" chefs cut from the same cloth?
Also, could you offer up a few comments on how Pierre Herme works and what, in your opinion, is his greatest strength?
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I interviewed Nigella about a month ago and asker her if the new show was filmed in a studio. Her eyes bugged out and she said "No!" She seemed surprised that I thought so.
I know the dining room is the same, but the kitchen lighting is completely different. And I can't say I like the new background music as much as the old. The show is very different in feel, less natural, probably because she doesn't live in that house anymore. She told me she works without much in the way of a script.
As for the food, though, I'm almost certain all the recipes from the show are straight out of her 2004 book Feast.
I think her best series was Forever Summer, when the kitchen sections were interspaced with tight studio shots of the food with voice overs. And then there was that lovely summer house near the beach...
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I gotta say the Latini menu is worth it if you have the cash. If I remember correctly, Moreno gets his truffles from the same man who supplies Ducasse. They are amazing, the size of tennis balls. And utterly delicious.
Craftsteak
in New York: Dining
Posted
Now that's what I call a review!