Reignking

Why Robuchon? Because it has an open kitchen? I loved the kitchen, but the food? IMO it wasn't worth the money.

Did you ever find any BBQ? I didn't do the tent this year, but as you probably found out, Charleston is awash in food entrepreneurship. They made for great partners for our wedding years ago, to get some local business and flavors involved.

Great stuff. My wife thinks I'm nuts for wanting to do this, but these pictures and explanations should change that

You can't just post pictures without telling us how it was!

Bottled water. Because taps are too difficult to use. Seriously, I know there are good things about it -- your water at home is off, you are on the road, you don't have carbonated coming out of the tap -- but the explosion in bottled waters is/was excessive.

Check out this thread.

Ug. I hate how over-regulation can increase barriers to entry and dissuade some from nurturing their food-related business dreams. *raises hand*

If that's true, I would recommend doing that for Sunday lunch... Since you are staying downtown, you've got only a few restaurants that I would recommend. In walking distance are FAB, Room at Twelve, BLT Steak, and DrinkShop. I've enjoyed FAB; Room is good, and probably more relaxed; BLT is quite new and much more expensive, so maybe not what you were looking for (I haven't been); Drinkshop is a cool new bar that I'm anxious to check out. Cabbing, of course, opens up a lot of possibilites.

I've really enjoyed Joel the last two times I've been there -- last week and during the fall. If you want a relaxing Saturday night, Flip would drive you nuts. I ate at Home the weekend the he left; I came away unimpressed (OTOH, I really enjoyed Flip).

I tried gjetost for the first time this weekend, which tasted like a caramelized, grainy cheese ala dulce de leche.

Anyone else go to the Charleston Food & Wine Festival? The weather was fantastic. Because the most popular restaurants were booked for Festival events (oh, if I could've grabbed tickets to Brock/Wylie Dufresne at McCrady's), we had to try something new. Our Charleston friends recommended Fish, on Upper King, where they had gone a few weeks ago. Fish is -outstanding-. The prices, too, are great -- six dollars for a cheese plate that even had gjetost fondue (a carmelized, melty, grainy cheese) for only $6. They had a local menu that night for 3 courses for $35, which none of us got unfortunately. The menu is described as Asian-French fusion. My meal was something that I've always wanted to try -- cassoulet. However, it wasn't the traditional stew that I was expecting. "Nico's duck cassoulet" ($19) was deconstructed. There was an excellent seared duck breast on top, perfectly crisp green beans, other shelled green and white beans, and a fantastic aromatic sauce that was probably a gastrique. My wife's coq au vin, also a lighter version of the classic, was also as well-prepared as my dish. When I go out to eat and drop decent money, this is the type of food I hope for but rarely get. It was nice to find a pleasant surprise after I've had so many disappointments recently (in Atlanta). One other thing -- they had a great cocktail menu, and they are definitely trying new things. I had a High Fashion, which was a very good updated Old Fashioned. Another drink used hibiscus and was even garnished with sorrel. The vanilla sky -- Stoli vanilla, elderflower syrup, and dry lavender soda -- intrigued me with the last two ingredients, but was overpowered by the vanilla. Only $7-8 for those.

Yeah, those tickets were sold quickly. I'm still looking for reports...

Blais confirmed that FLIP is coming to Nashville, and another somewhere in Atlanta.

Fantastic idea.

My primary one was charcuterie. My current one is cheesemaking (there's a lack of it in Georgia and in the south).

Fish, an excellent restaurant in Charleston, was using hibiscus this weekend, even garnishing with the sorrel flower. I'll try to find out what they were mixing...

Oh, ham in Spain is a transformational experience. I would go to a market just to try and see and sample the many many versions...I'm salivating right now. You must try to find stuffed piquillo peppers -- I had some fantastic ones at Los Cien Vinos, near Cava Baja, actually: C/ Nuncio 17 28005 Madrid, Spain They were so good that I can remember them 6 years later... I think we could really help you out by suggesting different foods that you need to try; patatas alioi, for example -- the hot ones (the cold version, usually found in Madrid, in what you would know as potato salad). What were you eating that had mayo? Ensalada rusa?

I know they recruited Blais, but I don't know how often that has happened.

No, I think we need to see if Becks or Posh can do it.

What are you all talking about?

Wow! Joel Antunes fired from the Oak Room in NYC.

Keep working on that business plan. You'll be able to vet the idea and see if it is worthwhile.

FYI, Craft Atlanta held an audition on Sunday for the next Top Chef. More information

Why is it being assumed that the "swipe" was at Alinea's expense, and not one of the many other MG restaurants, or MG as a whole?

I wonder how we would all react if the restaurant were at the other end of spectrum -- fast-food or TGIFriday's, for example. Or if the product had been Berkshire pork or Kobe beef.