tan319

You sound like the producer manager I knew who basically said he wouldn't interfere with a client if he knew that client had a drug problem because "he might screw up the chemistry" the guy had in making hit records. That "client" was in and out of rehab 3 or 4 times before he finally gave up the blow and alcohol for what looks like for good. I don't care whether someone is snorting or shooting the GNP of Peru or Mexico, as long as he or she is not fucking up, ruining product, and making me hip to it. As Malachi posted above, yes, this profession attracts a certain kind of person, and I'm one of them. I'm by no means a saint, I've done pretty much everything under the sun, and thank god I've never gotten hung up on any of them. Alcohol was a near miss, something I grew to keep my eye on, as to my using it, and I've wrestled with a few other things as well, that weren't of my own choosing. I'm not looking down my nose at anyone, guy. I just get tired of all the poseurs who think they found the combination to the frustration lock, only to find themselves locked out. And who come into work the next day, dragging their sorry asses around, not worth crap. And that bit about "out back behind the dumpster" is cool, man. Are YOU going to be out back behind there when you're 45?

That's pretty wild! Thanks for that post, lesley

You can't blame Ramsey for trying. I'm sure he did his share of drinking and drugging when he was a soccer player and maybe when he was first starting cooking, Maybe. But after awhile any smart person would have to ask themselves if it was making them a better cook, a better chef. And the answer would have to be no. Inventolux was asking people to post from experience. When I was an apprentice and first started working in a kitchen, a very high stress kitchen, my whole world turned upside down. And I was coming from being in the music business! As someone posted earlier, when I was at work, all my friends were out having a good time, enjoying their leisure time. When I got off, by the time I got home, everyone was going home and I would be sitting around drinking a scotch, trying to wind down, it's 3am in the morning. So I decided to "start" my evening @ 1am and hit the bars and stuff and drink, and drink and before I know it , it's 5 am and I'm drunk and now I can go to sleep but I can't sleep later then 11 so all of a sudden I'm ragged out, more prone to get angry, lose my shit, etc. I wasn't hip to how much I needed to drink water and this kitchen was so hot we would be drenched like we had been swimming, So one weekend I started feeling really sick and got horrible stomach cramps and ended up in an emergency room severely dehydrated. 3 bags of IV fluid needed to get my stuff back on track. A month later I ended up in the same emergency room with kidney stones. I'm sure the drinking didn't help that situation. I had already had my fun with drugs and to be perfectly honest, I never have been able to fathom being coked up or tweaked out in a hotter then hell kitchen.Plus, the head chef was a cokehead and he was such a nut forget about it. His brother was also a chef and had been in and out of rehab (and fell off the wagon) at least twice while I was there. That was 10 years ago and I don't think it would be such a bad thing if things changed just a little bit. I look at these guys doing shit and getting drunk every night and think, where are they going to be in a couple of years? You can't taste when you're screwed up. You can't. And some of you people here romanticise the Bourdain thing too much. Remember the Keith Richards thing. How many people tried to keep up with him and either ruined their own careers or ended up six feet under. Bourdain must feel incredibly lucky to have come out on top. I don't know how Ramsey will make this work. You have a point about the sous on a Saturday night. Maybe if chefs look a little harder for their work force they'll find people who just want to cook, who NEED to cook. Most of the guys I worked with in NYC, who happened to be part of that Latin workforce Bourdain wrote about in K.C., were hardworking, shithot, pretty much CLEAN cooks who didn't need much except an afterwork cerveza to turn them on, and I miss that. I wrote yesterday about the guy who toked up on the line and it was still bothering me today and I spoke to my chef ( who, btw, is a pretty clean guy himself, at least on the job) about it today. He kind of laughed and said he was going to keep his eye on him but, he couldn't fire his best cook.

When was this? When Ramsay left Aubergine and A-Z restaurants, its my understanding that most, if not all of his staff went with him to Royal Hospital Road. The same is true I believe of Marcus Wareing's staff at L'Oranger when he walked out followed him to Petrus. The impression I have got from reading about Ramsay is that his people are incredibly loyal to him. You're right, Andy. They're wrong.

Good idea but good luck on this. Drugs are the most damaging thing, alongside of alcohol, in the kitchen . I saw a cook take a hit off a lil pipe prepping for tonights service! If I was the chef I would have thrown his ass out the door, on the spot. I couldn't believe it.

One of the shows running this week follows Ed, an itinerant cook from Newcastle, as he tries to fulfill his dream of becoming a master chef. Two things stand in his way: he has only one month to do it, and he's being "helped" by the less-than-optimistic Gordon Ramsay. A fun, sometimes touching show, and a rare chance for Yanks to see Chef Ramsay in action. The episode airs Thursday, June 12 at 9:00 p.m.; and Friday, June 13 at 12:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. (all times EDT). FUCKING GREAT SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RAMSEY IS THE BEST!!! ED TOO!! INCREDIBLE!

That's one of the things I'm talking about...

No, I don't at all feel that chefs should feel "so lucky to feed people, anyhow, anyway, anywhere." But isn't there a rather large gray area between that scenario -- in which the chef is but a craven lackey to the imperious diner -- and the scenario you SEEM to be proposing (and forgive me if I've misunderstood you) whereby the diner is, effectively, entirely in the control of the chef, who determines exactly what the diner will eat and exactly how it will be prepared? I can't help thinking that these two opposing scenarios are really about a battle for control: Who controls the diner's meal? With reference to your disappointment at people's ordering salad (used here as shorthand for whatever -- creme brulee? ice cream? -- you might regard as a nearly offensively simplistic item)....I apologize for my habit of creating analogies, but the first thing that came to mind is some fabulously interesting, complex woman, with a great deal to offer...but all the boys are interested in is her large gazongas. And with that analogy in mind, yeah, I can better understand your crabbiness. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Man, I have to clear up a few things here... First off, to Mark, I apologize for getting the restaurant wrong.I know Citrus and I still remember a lunch I had there in 1991 as a very special treat and a chance to eat food that was prepared by someone I still think most highly of. Sorry about that. To Russ, it IS called being a grownup but a lot of chefs certainly still exhibit childlike tendencies, wouldn't you agree? It's just a fucked up by-product of the business, I think. Some suffer worse then others. And it's not about thinking you're a god or godlike. It's more like that movie 'Groundhog Day' . The same scenario being endlessly repeated with things you wish you could change sometimes but it won't. And Mags, I didn't mean to infer that YOU thought that chefs should feel so lucky to,etc.,etc,... It's just become so clear that people are either on the 'I see where that chef was coming from, even if the art references were pushing it a bit' (the sundae thing was ridiculous but, the straw that broke the camels back?), and or people are on the other side ,which seems to be saying,'yes, you have every right to not accomodate the customer and be a jackass, kiss your biz goodbye'. The diner is NOT in control of the chef... yet. But, in this, I hate to say it, post 9/11 world we live in, and weird economic times, when you can hardly predict what your daily numbers are going to be, because they're ALL over the place, not just at your place,but at every restaurant in town (except for the chains, probably) and you might as well read the tea leaves, 'cause no one can come up with a solid reason for business to be so flaky everywhere, THERE is a nagging tendency to forget your mission statement and just do anything you can not to offend ANYBODY, to run down the street and get a pizza for a customer, if that's what they want, and that's scary! I'm sorry if I came off crabby, kind of. Your 'gazongas' analogy is kind of accurate but, most of the stuff I've mentioned are more observations then anything else. I'm pretty happy with what I'm doing and what people are eating from my menu.I'm a pastry chef and I have a good selection of stuff and even though this morning in both of my places I could see that I sold more classic creme brulees then the other items I have to offer, it's not really that big a deal. I just wish that sometimes people weren't so 'vanilla'. .

But Tan, isn't that true in, hell, just about every area of life? It's a drag to see people ignore good movies in favor of "Bruce Almighty." It's a drag to see people ignore good books in favor of plunking down their dough on yet another crappy James Patterson thriller. It's a (major) drag to see people ignore intelligent, hard-working politicians in favor of electing subliterate cretins (and I name no names). When I am Queen, all people who make these tragic choices will get one chance to correct the errors of their ways -- because I am a merciful-type person. After that, they sleep wit da fishes. But until such time as I ascend the throne, I will just have to live with people choosing to read crap, watch crap, be governed by morons, and order salad in high-end restaurants. Over some of these issues -- the ones that affect me -- I find it worthwhile to get my knickers in a bunch. But getting peeved because they opt to order salad??? Life's too short. And living with permanently bunched knickers is just too damn uncomfortable. Hey, I was just referring to the original line , which was about Michel Richard, a GREAT chef, being bummed about how many green salads were being ordered a day in Citronelle, instead of something that : A- Had something more to it and that he spent time developing and perfecting for a diners enjoyment. B- He has to give away and that you could have at 'Soup or Sandwich' And it's funny to me that today, in my restaurant, I was telling a server about this thread, and she told me how bummed she was that 2 ladies who were lunching yesterday completely changed their plates, and ordered green salads for sides. Is not dining at someplace special (like Citronelle,for instance) or any place that has a bit more to offer to be considered something to experience? Try something different? Why is this all about how chefs should just be so lucky to feed people anyway, anyhow,anywhere and take their money? no matter what? I don't care how many people go see 'Bruce Almighty'.It's their 10 bux .It WOULD be screwed up if they complained to the manager of the movie house that they would like them to make it a bit more like 'Ace Ventura, Pet Detective' and , btw, can you exchange the female lead? I don't like her. I'd like Courtney Cox. Books,ditto. The politics thing is a whole other matter. Movies, books, they're not personal, you see. If that movie or book tanks, it personal to those involved of course but it's a bit removed. You don't see the people who thought it stunk or didn't bother with it. And when someone comes into your restaurant, it IS personal and intimate to an extent,don't you think? Of course, you want to do your absolute best to accomodate them and make them happy and have them enjoy your food and most importantly, not only have them come back but tell other people about your place and get them to come too. But, you should be able to reserve the right to get a bit bummed about how many plain old salads got ordered that day instead of 8 other things that the customer couldn't have any day of the week.

naaa, you just have to investigate more It looks like you have a lot of books on hand. If you want to blow more bux on books, may I suggest: http://www.chipsbooks.com/slds.htm Some serious stuff there, my friend

Thank you for the info,Loufood. So, would something like Plugra (? on spelling) be a good butter? Or a Normandie type? BTW, will you do a pastry externship? I think I read that you were stoked on working with Herme. Thanks again.

Damn!!! A few hundred? Nice one. Thanks for the info.

I worked in a small place where the owner refused to serve ice cream to people who wanted to eat only ice cream, even though we kept it on hand for use in other dessert presentations. There were a lot of other things the customers wanted she wouldn't provide, either. Not only did the place close, but she went through 3 restaurants in 6 years before her husband pulled the plug on her business ventures. I've chilled out/grown up a bit since those days but am looking forward to the same thing happening again soon since I plan to start producing ice creams and sorbets again at one of my places. I've heard of pretty well known chefs who will serve you an ice cream that's a component of a plate solo if requested but will charge the full dessert price for it.

Thanks for the info. I guess Bau assumes the mix. I thought perhaps it was an ingredient you purchase.

I 've found this attitude more towards waiters and FOH then towards the customer. I often feel the blame is towards servers if they fail to sell specials,etc. The only thing I used to HATE about customers at one place I worked at was when they had a great menu of desserts, ice creams and sorbets included, and they would order vanilla ice cream. Pay $4 for a 3 oz. portion of vanilla ice cream when they could get a PINT of Haggen Daz or Ben & Jerrys for 3.59 on the way home. That drove me nutz!

In Frederic Bau's book, he lists 'dry' butter for puff paste as an ingredient. can anyone tell me about this? Thanks, as always

can anyone tell me how much those extra canisters for Paco-Jets usually cost?

Steve, is the timbale mold the 4 oz. mold on the JBprince site? M183 D? I was looking last night on the site and saw them. Also, do you bake the cake ala minute?

I don't support dressing down any customer but, I don't think it has anything to do with showing anyone how brillant you are either. It has to do with designing a menu for people to experience your food the way it was intended, not withstanding food allergies and such. If chefs wanted to have a place that cooked anything, anytime of day for customers, they would open a diner. If someone strolls into ,say, WD-40, for a meal, and ends up ordering a piece of salmon and a green salad, should he serve it? I don't think so. Maybe if he wants to charge them a whole ticket for it (if it's prix fixe). It is a drag sometimes for chefs who see stuff they think is much more interesting and flavourful get ignored for a green salad. It bugs me to see how many creme brulee dishes are in my rack every morning sometimes but I put it there for a reason. It's the 'chicken' of dessertland. And that's cool. I love selling a lot of them because it pays for stuff, like my salary, for one. But I'm not going to make an oreo cheesecake, or a brownie sundae, just because I'll sell a bunch of them. They can go to Chile's for that. My chef didn't want to sell salmon for awhile. It would bother him that that's all the people would order on the fish side of the menu. He replaced with opa and other stuff. Dead. So now he has put it back on Fridays and Saturdays as a special, with components that excite him and a 24.95 price tag, which is pure profit. If people want the 'chicken' of the sea, they'll pay for it. I like the idea of making people happy with my food because they like 'MY' food, If they don't like it, I'll have to go back to the drawing board.

My vote is for the Braun one that comes with a whisk attachment and a food processor cup. I think I paid 39.95 at a Bed, Bath, and Beyond. It breaks down, which is a big plus when you are working on stuff and don't want to unplug the whole thing. It rocks!

pixelchef, Could you give me a source? I can't seem to find them anywhere in my area. I will be decorating a child's birthday cake soon and would like to use them as part of the decore. Thank you ever so much. My daughter got an 'Easybake' oven from Santa last year and we made a cake recently that we decorated with a leftover Peep from Easter. She loves them.

I had read that review awhile ago and missed the 3 star thing. Much like I missed the '1' star he gave Douglas Rodrieguez' new place, 'Ola', after a pretty great review. I don't get it... I used to live down the the st. from Bolo and had quite a few dinners there at the bar (dining solo). I used to love Brachman's desserts. I liked the food quite a bit, although it was kind of heavy on the butter, it seemed. I used to eat at Mesa Grill alot too. His demeanor on his tv shows do kind of make one think he's a bit of a prick though.

Banana and Manjari Chocolate Clafoutis with Macadamia Nougat and Caramel Ice Cream $13 This looks damn good!

They're all over New Mexico. I don't think it's great ice cream. It's kind of too milky or something. There's another co. too, called 'Marble Slab', I think.(Kind of has an Mortuary ring to it,no?) But , if I can ask a question, since some people here are talking about other joints. Does anyone remember a place called Farrells? It was a restaurant that had big portions, more of a messy sandwich place (like Reubans) that featured ice cream concoctions. They had one called 'The Pigs Trough" that was HUGE and if you ordered it, people would start marching around the place while a big brass band played over the sound system and pig oinking and snorts were piped in too. It was messed UP! But cool too Also tasted good They had one right outside of DC, in Landover Mall in Landover, MD. In the late 70's,early 80s?

I first has Absinthe in France. Someone bought a bottle in San Sebastian and brought it back to a town we were in called Leon, near Dax, in the SW of France. This was in 1996. It was interesting. Just had an alcohol effect. The next time I had it was in NYC. Someone gave me a bottle of it that was coming from an (bootleg?!) operation in Boston or New England somewhere. It seemed like it was a higher proof and left an unpleasant feeling (and aftertaste) the next day, no matter how little you drank.