marcus

There are still credit cards which don't add to the standard 1% charged by Visa and Mastercard for currency transactions, you can seek them out. I use USAA, and I believe that MBNA also doesn't add on. I used to use People's, but dropped them when they started sucharging an additional 2%. Fleet claims to not add on, but in comparative tests, they have alway delivered a significantly worse exchange rate than USAA, which I currently recommend highly.

I just got back from 11 days in France and didn't change my behavior at all, I just pretended that the dollar and euro were at par with each other. This is called sticking your head in the sand.

I believe that they are closed for the Toussaint holidays, reopening next Monday.

It's hard to really know, but I interpreted this somewhat differently. I don't think that they were making the statement that their ratings, in general, were based on a single visit. Rather, they were saying that they had never ever previously had even a single perfect meal until this one meal at Veyrat, and that this was so unusual that it was sufficient for them to raise his score to 20. One can disagree with this, but it doesn't imply to me that their other ratings are also based on one meal. La Ferme de mon Pere remained at 19.

I originally came to this site looking for the lowdown on restaurants, new ones to try, the latest info on those that I was already familiar with. One of the first things to hit me was Cabrales' review of Auberge de l'Ill, a restaurant that I know and like very well, in which she detected an off taste in the foie gras, although she conceded that other diners seemed to be eating their's quite happily. Although it took a while to really sink in, this was probably my first indicator that I wasn't goin to achieve my primary objective to the extent that I was looking for. In fairness, I have found a couple of posters whose palates are similar enough to my own that I can read their reviews with some degree of confidence. However, I also do find value in the communications aspects of the site, and that's why I stick around.

Yes, but this is really an anomaly, possibly done for marketing purposes as has been previously discussed. This doesn't change that fact that they have substantially lowered the average scores of a large number of restaurants that they have been following over a long period of time.

Christian Millau sold the company, probably 10 years ago, and the days of overt agendas are over. They have tightened up significantly, the ratings are much more strictly applied and overall have been significantly lowered on average. If I were to characterize my perception of the differences between Michelin and GM, over and above Michelin being more consistent, is that Michelin seems to place a relatively high value on execution, whereas GM places a higher value on conception.

From my perspective, the reason that I lend credence to Michelin, and hopefully Gault Millau does something similar, is that they follow a defined process that creates some level of objectivity and hence comparability.

As I participate in eGullet and other message boards, I'm coming to the conclusion that these sites are primarily about self-expression and interpersonal communication within a community of people with like interests, rather than deriving utility from the actual information and opinions presented, although there is some of that as well.

As I'm sure we've all come to realize, communicating real information via a message board is very difficult. The information is incomplete and imprecise, as well as being guided by different levels of experience, levels of discernment and subjective preferences. Occasionally one can find someone whose opinions are sufficiently similar to one's own that thay have some relevance. I know that this is not a popular view here, but when I have a real and serious new restaurant decision to make, I am still largely influenced by the better guidebooks such as Michelin and Gault Millau (not Zagat), where I believe that the results derive from skilled and trained people using at least a minimum level of objective process applied to a very broadly based set of choices. Not perfect at all, but better than most alternatives.

Yes and no. Certainly to understand the nuances, but there have been studies showing that completely untrained people can taste a series of wines and do a fairly good job of lining them up in quality order. I think that a person with a good palate, even though largely untrained, can provide meaningful criticism, which is why I envourage Adam to trust his palate.

Craig, I don't think that anyone has criticized Trotter's wine program. The list is well selected and well priced, and the sommelier's are knowledgeable and helpful. I've observed their chief sommelier a number of times at NYC wine auctions always bottom fishing, grabbing up lots that slip through at a lower price. This kind of effort is ultimately a benefit to his customers. My problem is with the food.

I've eaten at Bouley a good number of times, much less recently, because of the lack of change of the menu. I don't see the evolution that FG refers to, just the same old thing time after time. I do agree that the restaurant is wildly inconsistent. The problem that I've never had is any service problem, always seated promptly and the service is amont the best in NY, overall 2d only to Le Bernardin, much better than Jean Georges, haven't been to ADNY. However, I do believe that at its best, Bouley produces the best dishes in the city and he can be a brilliant chef. I would recommend the a la carte over the tasting menu, the individual dishes are more complex and seem to get more care. An imponderable for me at Bouley is that sometimes I'm treated like a VIP and get extra and better dishes, a half portion say of halibut with a beet sauce between the appetizer and main dish, followed by an extra main dish on the table like venison, and then an extra desert or two as well. Almost like a double meal. Other times, just what we ordered, possibly an extra desert. I don't know how to break the code on that.

I absolutely agree with this point, we had a really excellent 1989 Pichon Baron at a fair price the last time I ate at Trotters and it made a big difference. That is, a fine wine with mediocre food averages out to a much better meal than the food alone without the wine. More seriously, children's tastes shouldn't be used in this kind of comparison. I believe that it is fairly well accepted that pre-teens really do taste things differently, and so have different preferences than adults and that this is physiologic rather than education and experience based.

Adam, you've been presented with a lot of condescending stuff and gratuitous advice here, and admittedly your inexperience led to some discomfort, but the bottom line is your palate, which you should trust. I have eaten at Trotter's twice over the years and disliked it both times because of the food. I don't find it comparable to the best restaurants in New York, let alone Paris. In particular, for someone who makes such a big deal regarding the sourcing of his ingredients, the actual preparations are perfunctory, often overcooked and with a lack of the extraction of natural flavor that I associate with fine preparation. The dishes themselves are more like one note etudes, rather than fully realized creations. So do understand that there are a variety of opinions regarding this restaurant, and that you inexperience is not the issue.

My understanding is that Astrance is very straight about giving out reservations and that Americans get them quite frequently. It is just a very difficult reservation and you need to follow their rules. The situation is very much like the French Laundry. In this case, you need to call exactly one month in advance at 10 AM Paris time, which of course is 4AM in the eastern US. I am sceptical as to whether concierges have any have special influence, there are very many more concierges at deluxe Paris hotels than there are tables at Astrance.

You might consider Benoit, lots of information on this board, which is a bistro deluxe and is the only bistro in Paris that still retains a Michelin star. The restaurant has a festive atmosphere. You can stay in the $75-100 range if you're careful.

My biggest complaint with Marie-Anne Cantin is that the last time I was there, I felt that they were pushing their less good stock, because they didn't know me and considered me to be just a foreign tourist. I have never had that perception at Barthelemy, and also have found the cheeses to be finer with greater depth of developed flavor. In terms of Parisians voting with their feet, the crowds at Barthelemy are many times greater than at Cantin which is usually not crowded, while the prices are certainly no lower. My wife and I have done blind tasting comparisons of the Saint Marcellin at Barthelemy and Aloesse, with Barthelemy winning by a narrow margin. Neither quite compared to my memory of Marie Richard's in Lyon which gets my vote for greatest cheese shop in the world. Barthelemy also sells preserves that are 65% fruit which are the best that I've had commercially packaged, better than Fauchon which had been my benchmark.

I'm an east coaster, but I couldn't agree more. I raised this very same point earlier on in this thread, but the discussion keeps moving back to New Jersey, go figure.

loufood, I have had much, much better experiences with Barthelemy. Their Vacherin is a wonder of the world. How do you compare these shops?

Jonathan, when I look at your post in its entirety, the message that I get is that we should all pack up and go home.

At my meal this year, we had rabbit brains, no ears, but there was a lamb dish with Thai spices, that had a very substantial piece of meat, considering that the menu was composed of about 30 courses. The taste of the rabbit brains was distinct, but refined and quite good. El Bulli is definitely worth a try, I personally find that chefs are the last people (a bit of an exaggeration, but not much) that I would look to for recommendations, they often have the most rigidly formed opinions, considering the time and effort that they have put into arriving at their own approaches. To summarize, my wife hated the meal, she could have written Matthew Grant's review verbatim, but although I can't say that I liked it, I also didn't feel that I understood it completely, and would like to try again. What I can say is that the visual values had primacy over flavors. At the most extreme was the apple caviar that was beautiful and looked just like caviar, but had no taste. I also found too much repetition within the meal, possibly just an instance of poor dish selection for this particular menu. In particular similar strong citrus flavors kept recurring, which became boring. There were also two dishes based on a quail egg, an appetizer and a desert, but both were sweet, and although they were two of the best dishes of the evening, it was really one quail egg too many.

My last dinner about 2 years ago at Il Latini was downhill from previous visits. I had heard that the brothers had split up acrimoniously, and the one responsible for the good cooking had opened a new restaurant in San Gimignano. Doesn't seem to have affected the crowds which are about 50% tourist and 50% Italian with more tourists at the earlier seatings. Does anyone know anything about this?

I stopped in once at Tan Dinh a number of years ago when it still had a Michelin star and was underwhelmed, Piment D'Or reads like a much finer choice. Tan Dinh's claim to fame is its list of Pomerols, perhaps the best in France. It is also notorious for not accepting any credit cards, which is extremely unusual in Paris today, and if you plan to order one of their very expensive wines, you need to be prepared.

Are you familiar with E Curti in Sant'Anastasia on the north slope of Vesuvius. This is my choice for the ultimate trattoria in Campania.