rmillman

or in getting a reservations at one of those places that charge more for dinner for two than the cost of the book.

Last Mule Call: Last Mule with muddled lime, in a tall glass over ice with ginger beer. Hit the spot.

Try to go to Bar Agricole for an early or late drink (food is great too but you seem to be set with that).

I do: got them here (using the 12X8). Right now mostly fresh Maine Shrimp and thin sliced Waygu.

D'Artagnan is currently offering 20% off game birds with free shipping on order over $100

Two that we have like very much are Ubuntu and in SF Saisson: the latter being one of the best meals we have ever had.

We just returned from a trip to SF. Must HIGHLY recommend Saison. The kitchen was slammed so service was a little slow but the room is very comfortable and they kept the wine glasses full. My wife thought the food was the best she has had possibly ever (this is one heck of a recommendation since we have eaten most everywhere in the world unless newly open or Noma). I tend not to describe things as best etc but for me the food was incredibly well prepared, with attention to local sourcing, and each dih was creatively presented but not overly composed. We did not reserve the chef table (counter four seats) but this looks like an extra that would be worth it from the menu extras as well as the view into the kitchen and room. For a quick lunch bite, try Spice Kit. The pork buns are as good as if not better than Momofuku.

Two to note in a year that boasted many multi city food trips both in the US and World Wide. 1) Lux: Stockholm, Sweden. The highlight of a Noma-less Scandinavian jaunt that included 12 Michelin starred restaurants. The attention to detail in the sourcing, presentation and trueness to the ingredients made this a clear standout. The chefs, Henrik Norström and Peter Johansson presented dishes that were balanced in a Scandinavian way with distinctive sour and bitter notes not found in many other regions. Sadly, there was a fire in December the destroyed this memorable place. 2) Corton: NY. We ate here last Tuesday after the NY blizzard. Although the city was paralyzed, Chef Paul was rockin the kitchen and each and every dish had a depth of beauty in presentation and layering in flavor that was a cut above all else we have had this year. Out of every place we have eaten, I will go out of my way to repeat dining here (I would like to go back to Lux after the rebuild if we can score a noma reservation).

searching for the best beans: 1) cup of excellence, http://www.cupofexcellence.org/, go there, see who had the highest lots for a particular country, trace it to the roaster and buy the beans 2) coffee review, coffeereview.com, look at the highest rated in a particular month, buy and drink. All coffee is weigh

We went as part of a multicity food trip. We arrived around 12:00 at the airport on a beautiful thursday three weeks ago. Simple to get to by car, there was only two people in line when we arrived. Order our first couple of dogs and things were slow enough to have a nice long talk with Doug. Ate, ordered a second round and then off to downtown hotel to relax before dinner at Alinea.

For lunch if you have time or need an additional bite do go to Hot Doug's. The duck, foie gras and truffle dog that got him his ticket during the liver inquisition of '08 is not to be missed.

I have the Tea Source. Slightly more sweet/floral than other black teas; quite nice on a rainy day.

Once you get your ratios worked out, go here for inspiration: http://myjelloamericans.blogspot.com/

This is now my go to way top cook steak. I do not understand why people are having a char problem. I have done this now a dozen time and each time a beautiful crust: within 30 seconds of placing the chimney over the meat it starts to sizzle. Maybe people are waiting until the coal ash too much(?).

No worry: Executive Chef Aaron London rocks!!!! We cannot comment on how it was but we can say that it currently is amazing. We visited Ubuntu last week as one of the stops in a multicity food trip where we on successive nights for our ten year anniversary\. During this trip, we visited The Inn at Little Washington, Alinea, Ubuntu and The French Laundry (more on that in a separate post). We were looking for a more casual meal in Napa, not too heavy given the previous two nights, but one that needed to be satisfying and up to par with our other stops. We booked Ubuntu, a Michelin One Star vegetarian restaurant and requested a tasting menu. It was interesting that as we described out upcoming trip to friends, several in the industry specifically asked us about Ubuntu mentioning they had heard great things. In summary Aaron London, Executive Chef, does an amazing job presenting incredibly fresh ingredients in a wonderfully artful way in dishes that are both satisfying, filling and imbibed with a sense of reason and purpose. The room is wonderfully bright and airy and the servers are knowledgeable about the dishes and techniques used in the preparation. We would highly recommend this to anyone. We were staying in Yountville and before our drive to Napa for our dinner, we stopped at our hotel’s desk to pickup passes etc for the next days wine tours. When we mentioned we were headed to Ubuntu, the hotel staff smiled and said it was a wonderful Vegan restaurant. We were a little concerned during our drive down since our general experience with Vegan has been less than stellar. However, this did lead to a lengthy discussion between my wife and I about the differences between raw food, vegan and various flavors of vegetarianism. We were quite happy to find out when we arrived at Ubuntu that the menu is vegetarian in that no meat products are used (even agar-agar is used in place of gelatin), but dairy and eggs are employed. Several dishes can be prepared as a vegan dish however. The room is open, with a long central communal table, a nice bar and several tables and booths in the room. Modern themed artwork is arranged through out and an open kitchen is found in the back part of the house. Sound level was always low allowing for both conversation and an enjoyment of the food and visit. Further, there is a yoga studio enclosed on a second level above the back part of the house. The menu is based on what is available with products being mostly sourced locally, much of which is grown in Ubuntu’s own biodynamic gardens. Our tasting menu consisted of the following (pictures were taken but some did not come out): Amuse: Local marcona almonds with vadouvan and coriander Tokyo turnip soup, blistered pardon, preserved lime and egg Savory: Clear cantaloupe and sage gazpacho, compressed and blackened melon, ‘rat tail’ radish, fork crushed avocado, ‘banana’ mint, Basil bud marinated beets and ‘udumalapet’ eggplant, wax bean vinaigrette, spicy pickles, nasturtium panade, ‘poha’ berries, Torn brioche, baby head lettuce and sliced tomatoes, juniper spiced bread crust sauce, smoked tomato droplets, mustard croquant Ubuntu steam bun, stuffed w/ burrata and coated with crunchy corn, tomato aigre doux, ’surrey’ arugula, ground cherries, pole beans Organic Arbuckle grits, whipped chicken egg, crispy “skin” goat’s milk ricotta, hong vit, chanterelle and green tomato chow-chow Young potatoes, cucumbers, roasted/raw/emulsion/ash, Mexican sour gherkins, horseradish, ’sheep’ sorrel Hudson ranch “cranberry cannellini” bean and green fig ribollita, “sessantina” rapinni, hon tsai tai, smoked kadota figs, parmesan cracklings Garden inspired extruded pasta, spiced fiore, confit ‘gajo de melon’ melted tomato, assorted basils, ‘midnight moon’ goat’s milk gouda Gargouille; leaves, flowers, roots, lightly dressed with lemongrass oil, herbs, soil truffled pecorino Dessert: Coconut sorbet float, lemongrass soda, passion fruit tapioca, lime granita, cilantro Cider apple pain perdu, brioche ice cream, pickled red fuji apples, quince curd Smooth ‘tcho’ chocolate with figs and violet, candied cocoa nib, amaranth, fig leaf ice cream We have found that taste is always a subjective call and generally do not comment on the strengths or weakness of any particular dish. We found that the menu was well thought out and executed. Since the menu is produce based, each tasting menu will likely vary to some extent each time some one visits. We visited with Chef Aaron London at various time of the meal. He is extremely passionate about his menu, the availability of fine ingredients and the cooking techniques (he has high hopes of one day getting a gastovac and showing the world what magic can be done with it, can someone get him a loaner?). The servers were all very warm and had knowledge of both ingredients and techniques. This can only occur when there is a good working relationship between the front and back of the house. The wine list was well rounded. Our tasting menu was $75 and the wine pairing was offered at only an additional $35. We did however choose to take advantage of the reasonable $20 corkage fee and had a wonderful 2001 Bressler cab I bought around the corner at Backroom Wines. We would recommend this to all except for entrenched steak and potato people. We at no times missed “meat protein” components during our meal (we did think that a couple of things would totally rock with bacon, but then again, what doesn’t). The food was well seasoned, deep in flavors and lively with multiple textures. We truly hope that they maintain or exceed their Michelin one star when the SF guide comes out in a few weeks because one, if not two are well deserved for Ubuntu.

Le espalier would be your best bet: you can do anything from the three course power lunch to a full 7 course tasting.

Are there any places open on Sunday worth a try? We will be in Stockholm in two weeks and have not been able to find anything yet for a Suinday dinner. Thank you

Any foodies going to be around Copenhagen and the Aug 20-29 food festival? Are any of the events a "you need to go" (other than the sold out taste events)? Is Eat2010 worth going to? Crayfish in Malmo: a yes or no? We were not able to get anything at Noma (but are dreaming that our wait list will be successful). We were able to, over the week and half, book Era Oro The Paul AOC Formel B Herman Kokeriet Is there one we should absolutly not miss that is not on the list (or not go too on the list)? Thanks for any information

We are going to Quito before a galapagos trip. Anyone have any update on food in Quito? Thank you

Phoenix Single Grove Honey Fragrance from teance. Sweet yet with a slight bitter bite: wife thought I added honey since it was so forward on the nose and taste.

jingsteashop in china. ordered several samples and small 25g batches to try: looking for my perfect roasted oolong, fruity oolong and puerh. 1998 Raw Feng Qing Tuo 1999 Raw 7352 puerh tea cooked 93MHgr Feng Huang Milan Dancong AAA Competition Shui Xian Mao Xie Shui Jin Gui

Mao Xie from Da Ping Village via JingTea. Nice, very sugary with a citrus nose.

The best meal from a taste perspective from our El Bulli trip was a dinner we had three nights before at Can Fabes.

Mu Za (honorable mention) from j-tea. nice partially roasted oolong that still has fruit presence over the roasted notes.

The dark roast was the 2009 winter San Lin She, Taiwan. By the fourth steeping it was less malty on the front of the mounth but still had the malty drying umami like mouth feel with more clear fruit tones. This morning is the last of a Imperial Tribute Harvest Purple Tip Pu-Erh from imperial tea co. Not my favorite as it has almost a kombu seaweed iodine like presence. Leaves the mouth nice and coated for a long lingering woodyness but still with the kombu like taste.