IrishCream
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Sorry if this is redundant...epicurious.com has a video tour through the Per Se ktichen with Keller. Also a couple cooking demos and an interview.
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I was also at the Manresa dinner for 14 with Pim and the Melkors. I can attest to the fact that Kinch does well providing for those with food "fetishes". My beloved Judge eats neither seafood nor cheese!
Naturally, he missed a few courses but just when he was getting very frustrated, he was served a beautiful prime filet mignon with mashers and spinach. What a consolation prize! Given that several people at the dinner had special food requirements, I think over 30 different preparations were served. I am very impressed by Manresa and Chef Kinch. I will long remember the dinner and plan to return soon. I guess that makes me a sycophant but what the hell, so be it.
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I just returned from a week on the Big Island. Don't expect to see any lava flowing...it's dead
. My fave meals were two lunches at the original Merriman's in Waimea, lunch at Bamboo on the NW coast, and strange as it may sound, reasonably priced Mexican food and steak at Pancho & Lefty's in Kailua. Bamboo is for sale...no saying how much longer it will be serving up reliable food. Have fun! -
Two minutes after being seated at Alan Wong's my husband asked, "Where's the camera?", and my heart broke. My most important meal in Hawaii and I forgot the camera. Pictures jog my dining memories...without them I can only produce a truncated description of the meal I had two weeks ago.
Of course, I desired the 5 course tasting menu. But almost every course included fish (which the Judge does not eat), so he wanted to order a la carte. Surprise, that was no problem. I had the 5 course with wine pairings and he ordered by the course.
But perhaps that is why the service was so odd? Every course was served by a different person. Our original server only reappeared once about half way through the meal to check in. It was the same for all the tables around us. As a consequence, there was really noone I could talk to about the various dishes and their preparation. That was disappointing and surprising. How can I explain that the service was technically okay but lacking in warmth or personality? Also lacking in knowledge in terms of the wine pairings...they had to check on the year and a couple times the producer.
Service aside, the food was very good. Within moments of being seated we were each served a hot dinner roll accompanied by a Dijon-pepper butter. We were told the rolls were housemade fresh from the oven...they were torpedo shaped, chewy crust with tender inside, French rolls, the best "white" dinner rolls I have ever been served. And they were replaced constantly.
First, an appetizer duo. The "Soup and Sandwich" was a delight...if I could go to Food Heaven, this is a dish I would eat every night. The soup was served room temp in a long stemmed martini glass, yellow tomato beside red tomato, contrasting in both color and taste, absolutely smooth and meant to be sipped. The warm grilled sandwich of kalua pig (shredded pork), foie gras and sharp white cheese on thin-sliced baguette was a perfect counterpoint to the soup. The parmesan frico that accompanied it was just a bonus.
The other half of the appetizer duo was 3 silver-dollar sized pieces of ahi. The ahi was wrapped in nori and dipped in a tempura batter and seared so briefly that the batter was crepelike and the ahi was raw. A ginger relish and mild mustard sauce didn't mask the delicate taste of the ahi.
Above served with Jordan Sparkling Wine, 98.
The second course was a thick slice of Ginger Crusted Onaga. The fish was pan seared and finished in the oven yielding a crusty yet medium rare, perfectly cooked piece of fish. Garnished with a sesame vinaigrette, and a shiitake sauce with corn shoots. I need to find Onaga here. Great fish.
Served with 2001 Gunderlach Reisling, Wong private label.
Third course was a seafood risotto that included shrimp, scallops, and lobster with a lobster curry sauce. This was served in a bowl with the contents contained in a glass ring which was removed at table for the sauce to spill down almost like a risotto soup. The sauce was basically a very rich lobster bisque. I adore lobster but ... for me it was just too heavy and rich at that point in the meal. I ate about half and started to crater. I was full and needed a break to recover but that was not an option given the odd service.
Served with 2002 Raymond Reserve Chardonnay.
Then came the course I was most anticipating, grilled short rib. I could only manage a couple bites but they were heavenly. Meltingly tender but still maintaining texture with a spicy hot sauce (Korean Ko Choo Jang sauce), garnished with a huge ginger sauteed prawn. If it was in front of me now I would eat it all!
Served with a Selby Zin...noone knew the year! I doubt it mattered.
Finally, the dessert duo. The first one was called "Coconut Tapioca" but luckily for me it also had a lovely passion fruit sorbet topping the pool of tapioca. (This confirmed for me that I really dislike tapioca.) The other was layered Macadamia nut cookies (thin lace cookies) with bittersweet chocolate mousse.
No wine with dessert which surprised me.
Despite the weird service, which I hope was a fluke, this was an excellent meal. It is a bargain compared to mainland prices for a comparable meal (at least in the Bay Area). I'll return.
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I was so impressed by the Greek food I sampled while there in May that I started a blog. You have to look at the archives to find Greece because I am now on to Peru. I have pictures of Greek traditional baking, octopus beating, lots of pies, and so on.
Oh, and I brought Greek seeds home with me and now have blooming tomatoes and small cukes in my garden.
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I have wanted to go for years and am really thinking about it this year...but its a ling drive from L.A. and with 2 kids...I dont know, but then again I LOVE garlic so much!
Well, Chris, if you decide to go let us know and we will meet up with you there. I think it is worth going to at least once.
But basically it's the same old festival food with a garlic accent...garlic fries, garlic nachos, garlic tacos, garlic sausage. And the venue is hot and sandy. You have to really love festivals. It is NOT the New Orleans Jazz Festival which has the best festival food ever.
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$150 (plus $20 foie gras suppliment plus tax plus 18% = $215 PLUS wine [and tip]).
I really dislike giving an additional tip over above a manditory gratuity, if they are going to force me to pay a tip, then screw them I say.
What is your reasoning, Painting? FL has a very high staff to customer ratio. If you think of it in practical terms, 4 or 5 staff members see to each table plus a sommelier (many people tip the sommelier separately but some don't
). So let's say the 18% has to be divided between 4-6 staff members. For a two top, the total bill may be as little as $500. So the included gratuity is less than $100. Divide that out and remember that FL does not turn many tables...many customers spend 4 or more hours enjoying their meal. If every customer stuck to the 18%, I'd bet the FOH staff would make less tips per hour than a server at a place like the Black Angus. Yet they are expected to be perfect. -
What about 99 Ranch markets? Are they worth seeking out?
Ranch 99's are great for Asian foodstuffs and excellent seafood, often live. They are also the only place where I have seen pork belly for sale.
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I lived in Clayton last year, up the street from Walnut Creek, and I can verify that there is no decent Mexican food. You may as well eat at El Torito...better food for the same price. If you are absolutely desperate for Mexican there is a passable greasy cheese place called Guadalahara in the strip mall at the corner of Ygnacio Valley and Clayton Rd.
I do recommend a Thai/Indian place called Hot Basil. It's fabulous and if you are careful you can eat for less than $10. Hot Basil
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Wow, you guys really are great...thanks!
I have plenty of places to scope out now, but please keep them coming if there are more suggestions!
I second your thanks. But don't expect them to be reasonably priced. One of the the biggest shocks moving from Houston to SF is the price of meat. And there is NO rational reason for it that I can see other than people pay the price. Just to give you an example, for 6 months of the year in Houston, brisket could be purchased for 29-59 cents a pound on sale. The regular price was around $1-1.59/pound.
I can tell you that some EG friends told me to go to the Golden Gate at the Farmer's Market because they had incredible prices on things like rack of lamb. I rushed down there the next day...ummmmmmm...rack of lamb was way over twice the price of my local grocery store. Ok...it is supposedly better quality and comes from a cool organic place. My Lobel's experiment makes me question that.
Well...I may as well share my funniest SF meat story. A few months after we moved here my husband came home very excited...he had scored a big piece of Chateaubriand at Andronico's for only $10/pound. That was about $1-2 less per pound than we could have bought choice tenderloin in Texas. Wow. I immediatley ripped off the butcher's wrap......and it was a piece of top round. I was furious. I called the meat department at Andronico's. I told the butcher that I was upset and turned out he remembered my husband well and he was very embarrassed. He admitted it was top round but cited some California rule that allowed them to call it Chateaubriand. He said we could bring it back. Right. Buyer beware in this state.
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My FL experience: seatings were at about 6:30 and 9:30...
Why is it that we make fun of early bird specials when FL = Fort Lauderdale - and not French Laundry. Perhaps I am unusual - but I like to start eating dinner between 7:30 and 8:30 - and I don't understand why I should spend more than $500 to eat at times which might be suitable for my elderly parents - or for people who are eating post-theater - as opposed to a reasonable time when I usually like to eat.
I agree with Fat Guy. There's no such thing as a 3 star restaurant (with 3 star prices) when you're talking about 2 or more seatings a night (and I don't have the slightest idea what 1 1/2 seatings a night means - because - when the house takes reservations - it expects that my table will turn over - or it won't). Robyn
Oh. Well, I apologize for starting a rumor that FL (meaning French Laundry, not Florida) seats people at uncomfortable times or is concerned about turning tables. When I ate there in September, my reservation was for 7:30. I had the table for the night. However, I observed that some people were finishing up and later some others got tables. I can't imagine in my wildest dreams how this stops it from being a 3 star restaurant. In fact, it is considered one of the best in the world.
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My FL experience: seatings were at about 6:30 and 9:30 which allowed plenty of time for a leisurely 5 course menu with a change of tables. For some it allowed time for the entire tasting menu. Many tables did not turn but a few did. I think Keller has the numbers figured out.
Also, thanks Rich for your review. Great to hear that many of the classic dishes are being served. But I am surprised that he is using smoked salmon in his signature amuse bouche. At FL, it was always finely minced salmon carpaccio (raw). Perhaps he cannot get the same quality of salmon in NY? Or Nyers prefer it cooked?
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I eat dim sum in Oakland Chinatown a lot.
Tin's is consistently very very very good, and sometimes spectactular. L. Palace is very spotty. Sometimes wow, sometimes, why am I paying twice as much as Tin's? L. Palace's dim sum menu is a little more extensive than Tin's.
Tin's waitstaff is also very friendly and accommodating. Great with special requests. Tin's HK chow mein with chicken and yellow chives is outstanding. IrishSpring, gknl and I have dined at both places, and we prefer Tin's.
That's IrishCream!
But yes, Tin's is good food in an unassuming atmoshere. And very inexpensive. It just changed owners in the last month or so...hope it doesn't deteriorate! -
I think that all of us who have eatan at the French Laundry prior to its closing (today?) are very lucky. I can not imagine it will be the same. I hope it will maintain the same quality but in almost every case that I can think of when great chefs expand...quality goes down. Keller was almost always in the kitchen...he can't be in the future. But I do wish him the very best of luck.....I want him to take NYC by storm.
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Congratulations and welcome, Ian. We'll look forward to hearing about your Bouchon experiences. I think I'd second Carolyn's recommendation to head for the Bay Area and get a feel for your new surroundings before you have to start work. If you decide to bypass LA by heading north through Las Vegas be sure to stop at Lotus of Siam for excellent northern Thai cuisine.
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Don't you mean a pink elephant?
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It's just remarkable how someone could respond to a call for disclosure, after being critical of others, with "Discussion with [unidentified] friends about trust and professional ethics."
Bux, I am glad you brought this up. I really do not understand why Rail Paul and Sandra Levine were asked for full disclosure after expressing their opinions on this thread. It wasn't like they wrote a review. They didn't do anything different than Pan, Soba, Marlene, etc. It strikes me as extremely odd.
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With the increasing incidence of e.coli contamination in beef, and increasingly virulent strains of e.coli occurring, I suggest, with respect, that you may want to give that some more thought.
So beef has become dangerous? No more carpaccio?
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Ok... I do not think that journalists exist in a vacuum. I studied journalism in school and I was Managing Editor of my university newspaper. And like every other kid who ever took a journalism class, I learned that full disclosure was absolutely necessary in order to maintain the integrity of the paper. No quibbling, no coyness......if you had any kind of personal relationshiop with the people you were writing about that had to be revealed. No ifs, ands, or buts. It was a very simple rule that journalism students learned.
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I wonder. It's a pretty sure thing that the Times visits restaurants a few times before awarding stars. If the chicken was raw every time, probably wouldn't (certainly shouldn't) give four stars. But once might have been ignored as an anomaly, especially if everything else was fine.
Excuse me. But one thing that is NEVER excusable at a restaurant is raw chicken. Raw beef...sure...black and blue won't kill me. Chicken is a different matter. What boggles my mind is how many mistakes my fellow EGers are willing to accept.
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If I was lucky enough to have foie gras...I mean a fesh piece not a canned one...I would definitely make the Torchon of Foie according to Thomas Keller. While it takes a few days preperation (only minutes per day), it requires no last minute work...just slice and garnish and feast. Sublime.
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What about about adding other items to the dough (like spinach), and your opinion on using a food processor or mixer to knead the dough?
Sorry to be so late...blame it on the season. I have tried making dough by hand, Cuisinart processor, and Kitchen Aid. My best results have been from the food processor with the STEEL blade, not the "dough" blade. I am referring to fresh pasta made with flour and eggs only. It takes about 2 minutes and the dough is ready to be put through the (Atlas) hand-cranked pasta roller. No need to knead...the Atlas does it for you. Makes a lovely pasta.
I agree that adding other ingredients does not add much to the taste plus makes getting the pasta the right consistency much more difficult. But one reason to bother might be for the presentation of a particular dish...colors can be impressive.
I have wondered if squid ink pasta actually has a distinct taste?
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Here is a link to the actual petition that was filed with the Mayor of Sonoma Petition.
The claim is made that at Sonoma Foie Gras, "Some birds literally burst open from force-feeding, choke to death on their own vomit, or become so weak they are unable to fend off rats from eating them alive."
Now I have my doubts about that claim though the implication is that it is backed up by a news report. However, if it is true, then surely there is a problem on that farm which needs to be corrected. I love me some foie and confit, as many members here do. But if those allegations are correct, even if it is just a small percentage of the birds, I am troubled. Does anyone disagree?
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Excellent article! Thank you.
The Balic family pasta sounds delicious. I love the idea of pasta soaking up the juices from a roast.
So what did I buy recently that was labeled fine semolina? It is like a very fine grainy cornmeal. Any way to utilize that in pasta making?
Where to go since Manresa will be closed?
in California: Dining
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Max...what an incredible list. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. You summed up the South Bay in one post. I wish someone could do that for San Francisco and the East Bay.