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Reignking

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Everything posted by Reignking

  1. These shows have been taped for 6 months -- there's plenty of time to do it right.
  2. Does Nikki have some Atlanta connection?
  3. I sense a product placement opportunity!
  4. What's your budget? My wife and I did the vegetarian tasting menu at The Dining Room at Woodlands Inn. It was fantastic, but with the wine pairings it cost about $400. And it's in Summerville, not Charleston. We're not even vegetarians
  5. Ted's blog over on the Top Chef website sums it up nicely -- those that succeed are those that know their audience, play to them, and add their own creative twist. Not making your own sausage, and licking your spoon and re-using it are cardinal sins on this show...but Ryan was just so off. Even if the food was fine, how would you expect people that don't have a table to cut up a piece of chicken? Or a pear? Coincidentally, I've had a sandwich very similar to Richard's at Tap, a new brewpub in midtown Atlanta (it is also at its sister restaurant, Room at Twelve, I've heard). It's a great sandwich, and obviously excellently partnered with a beer.
  6. I had the salmon at Element, last spring, in Atlanta; I'd be surprised if it were Coho, then. I don't know the seasonality of salmon, but we can assume that the episode was early fall in Chicago, as well. I found this: Coho, or silver, salmon is in between king and sockeye in size but leaner than both, though the fat content is still sufficiently high for good flavor. The color of the flesh is generally not as dark as that of king salmon, and the flesh of smaller, pan-size coho is an even lighter pale pink. The coho season runs from early July through mid-September. source
  7. I have never seen or tasted it, but I came across something called NuSalt -- sodium-free salt substitute. I imagine it is the Splenda of salts. From the FAQ: # 4. What are the ingredients in Nu-Salt? Nu-Salt contains potassium chloride, potassium bitartrate, silicon dioxide and natural flavor derived from citrus fruits and honey. # 5. What is the function of each ingredient? Potassium chloride = is the salt substitute component of the blend. Potassium bitartrate = flavor modifier. Silicon dioxide = anticaking agent. Natural flavor = taste modifier. Another surprising source of sodium: canned beans. It's a shame that the preservative qualities do have a drawback.
  8. I didn't like seeing salmon or sous vide again, either, but given the water theme, it was the perfect match. Perhaps they could've been a bit more creative with the accompaniments.
  9. I've had Richard's salmon sous vide (with smoked mayo), and it was excellent. Other than the scales, I wonder what happened with the cooking of the fish... He said he wasn't comfortable cooking for that many -- wouldn't it be difficult to maintain the right temperature for the bath?
  10. This was one of the better episodes, and I think a lot of it has to do with the number of chefs left. 6 2-people teams and their dishes is a lot easier to follow than 16 going head-to-head, or 2 groups of 7 and all of their individual dishes. Blais not only won, but came in 2nd in the quickfire. Dale, who won the quickfire, then wanted to work with him because he was one of the best ones there. So far, so good!
  11. I called it! They showed [person that got eliminated] way too much, too early. Richard kicked ass, again...and then it looks like he's in trouble next week.
  12. Has anyone been to a TGIF to try some of these winners? Cmon, you can admit it if you have
  13. I'll be watching, but I don't know why.
  14. That's another reason we had sushi -- we just needed something different. None of it was local -- I asked -- but it was still quality. I loved Biarritz, too -- gorgeous area, had the best lobster I've ever had at one restaurant (La Maison Blanche), and at another restaurant had the absolutely stereotypical French maitre'd and poor food to match. So I know where you are coming from -- it has been two years since I was there and I can still pull those details...
  15. He isn't running restaurants, but he's consulting them and opening them up with his techniques and ideas. The latest is Elevation, in Kennesaw, GA...
  16. I refrained from getting too off-topic, but now I have to post Las Mananitas, in Cuernavaca (45 minutes from Mexico City), named one of the top 25 restaurants on some list...I haven't been there in 8 years, so I can't recall what I had, but I did enjoy it.
  17. You should get a shot of that government building when it is rainbow-colored If you look right over that bridge while standing on it, you can see fish dancing in the shallow water that people are trying to catch. We were there on a Sunday night, at 10, afraid we wouldn't be able to get anything to eat, and right there we found some very good sushi. Not exactly what you go looking for in Spain, but it was surprisingly good and at that time, I certainly wasn't going to be picky.
  18. Hey, I learned a new term -- soccarat. Thanks I can't stand it when they nit-pick on the names, such as Casey's Coq au vin last year, because she didn't use an old rooster. I'm sure they'd rail on them if they presented the exact same traditional dish, as well. As for Andrew's beer-fueled, Underarmor-inspired "We Must Protect This House" tirade, I'm assuming that there was some editing done to get the Tom C reaction they needed. Seemed disjointed. As for Mexican food being upscale, I think that we don't think about it because of the abundance of awful Americanized Mexican food that works with about 5 ingredients. Bringing traditional cooking techniques together with the distinct flavors of Mexico -- huit-la-coche aka cornsmut for example -- is wonderfully flavorful, but the progress of it is as slow as "Mexican time", seemingly. On that note, I wish I could be in Mexico City for tacos al pastor -- now that is a great street taco!
  19. "Shane's Rib Shack has hired Miller Zell and Momentum Worldwide to beef up its marketing and advertising for a national push."
  20. Yeah, I was very interested to find out how he put that quinoa together...
  21. Check out my reply in this thread.
  22. As soon as I saw that Richard was doing crab cakes, I said "he's going to make smoked mayo." Two seconds later, that's what he did. So, I think he made a wood-smoked mayo with The Smoking Gun (yes, as seen on The Next Iron Chef) -and- smoked the Moroccan spices that you saw come from the bowl. The smoked mayo brings a great, surprising flavor to the dish that you aren't expecting. At Element last spring -- while he was in Chicago -- I had his "smoked" salmon. It was deconstructed (!), having the sous-vide salmon and smoked mayo separately. The salmon, by itself, was nicely cooked but plain; together, you felt like you were eating smoked salmon. Not only did he use deconstruction in a smart way, but he used a newer technique in a smart way, too. He wasn't adding smoke just to be flashy... So, yeah, since I've eaten at his restaurant, I'm quite biased for him FWIW, there was live casting here in Atlanta, so it is quite possible that Nimma was more than just an audition tape.
  23. My sister just bought a 2-bedroom condo in Falls Church for 310k, and is nowhere near walking distance to a metro (maybe 2 miles, though). You pay extra $$$ for that location...
  24. Bonecrusher? From Atlanta, I believe...a bit of a bias maybe? I'm just mad that I had no clue that a local chef was going to be on -- no info anywhere about it, until I read about the results the next day on the front page of ajc.com
  25. Will you be going into Granada?
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