Jon Tseng

Clearly a man with too much time on his hands... NB cantonese roast ducks from chinatown are also nice reheated, although the skin never gets its original smooth, just-inflated crispiness J

cut the foie gras relatively thick get the pan as blistering hot as you want, brown the b*stards to desired level this will probably leave the foie gras underdone in the centre if you cut it thick enough. all you have to do is pop it in a medium oven for a few minutes until done. cheerio J

Did you cook them ahead? I thought this was interesting because its the first time I can recall someone saying cook whole duck day before than reheat it (although the christmas timing thing might also have something to do with it) gary rhodes New British Classics and Stephen Bull book also have recipes for "slow-roast" duck, but I don't think either of them take the heat as low as the Ramsay recipe (gas mark 2) J

Restaurant reviewer gets good service... ... random punter doesn't. Now where have I heard that one before?

Tokaji Aszu is also well worth a look. Many of the newer, non-oxidised versions have been described as being somewhat sauternes-like. It normally comes in 0.5l bottles, which is good if you don't want to crack a full bottle. For an intro into sweet wines, James Peterson has published a book on sweet wines (check amazon) recently which provides a good overview of the species, plus suggested food pairings cheerio J

I remember Lolas when it first started with Hywel Jones had fantastic food but sloooow (rather than bad) service. The problem there I think was more the kichen being too small for the no. of covers than the staff. cheerio J

Tokay - 2000 is an excellent vintage, on a par with 93 and 99. The 2000 aszus should be released early next year cheers J

Village Baker Dan Lepard J

paperbacks! book are going to get trashed/spilled/torn/burnt either way, just paperbacks you pay less for the privilege J

Did a goose on Sat (part ii of Thanksgiving - the turkey was the previous week). Random thoughts: 10lb goose didn't actually go that far - had nine people but would have been better for around six, IMHO. Unlike a turkey of a similar weight not as much breast meat to divvy up. Yes a lot of fat - poured it off into a bottle this evening; a little over a pint. All good - saves buying the canned stuff next time I confit! Cooking was pretty simple - none of this faffing aorund putting on the side of thirteen minutes and then standing it on one leg for the next eighteen. 90 mins breast side down at 160c (ie pretty low), then 60-90 mins breast side up at the same temp. Then 15 mins blast at the end on high to crisp up the skin. Actually the meat was a bit overdone on this method - one thing about goose is its harder to tell when done. Recipe was from the Cooks Illustrated book. Definitely less hassle than doing a turkey of similar size Oh, also dipped in boiling water for a minute then left to dry (ok, a bit short on time so got housemate to blow-dry it with a hairdrier - made for very funny pics). The whole peking duck thing - apparently supposed to help the skin crisp up. Skin was actually pretty good! Bird also pretty rammed with stuffing. cheerio J

Fat duck is half an hour out of Marylebone then a five minute cab ride, so not as bad as you might think J

mum always uses it in sweet and sour sauce, along with the juice trained from a tin of pineapples also nb the use of condensed milk eg as a dip for deep-friend man tou bread in the morning and the "sa-la" dipping sauce which is de rigeur with deep-fried prawn dim sum in london. basically consists of salad cream mixed with tinned fruit cocktail. goes very well with the crispy dumpling cheerio J

Yes, was just about to suggest this one actually i thought the selection at borders near union square was quite good - albeit from the point of view of a tourist from london cheerio j

The most straightforward thing to do if you are new to the bird is cut the breasts off and sautee them - means you have more control I guess (though no guarantee to won't overcook! best to leave a teeny bit overdone as they finish as they rest). The foolproof thing to do with the legs and carcass would then be to make stock/sauce with them - but maybe a bit of a waste as there's good meat on the legs. Alternately brown and roast the damn thing with some bacon draped over the breast - the problem being unless you have an eagle eye and/or a digital thermometer could easily overdo it cheerio J

I'm with Circe on the wine Do they do corkage? J PS I think the wine list is on the website if people want to look

Mutton vs. lamb different not better or worse Mutton probably has scarcity value in this country as people hardly ever do it. cf oysters used to be dead cheap, food for the poor. Now they're quite posh. Can get lamb everywhere so can't get mutton so ergo I might try mutton. Also more flavour than lamb. So yes, a bit wierd but it makes sense. eg if I'm in a posh restaurant and get offered the fillet steak with a truffle sauce of the oxtail I'd probably go for the oxtail. Filet is sooooo nineties ;-) cheerio J

New English how about the Rhodes 24 place? Cooking always at its best when its recently opened (and there are hordes of slavering restaurant critics to feed...) Ethnic non Indian yes, Hakkasan South Bank, Baltic perhaps (but only cuz I've always meant to go there but never got round to it!) - nouveau polish, lots of different vodka! Or RSJ. J

pas de problem, although prefer Sat J

Looks good J

Dunno, but I get the same problem with potstickers! ;-) J

Was looking at the menu on the website actually the tasting menu looks quite nice, which is remarkable. Although there is a reprehensive repetition of tortellini J

Saw a wonderful documentary a year or so back about the wild pacific salmon and their return up the rivers to spawn and how they were caught and canned. Given how expensive wild salmon usually is I thought it was wonderful you could get these magnificant fish canned, dirt cheap, really easily Then I tried a can and, as Heather said, to be kinda crappy and full of bones. A shame really, but I guess there's nothing else they can do with all that salmon J

I'd be up for Jan. The Square has been on my mean-to-visit-but-can't-be-arsed-to-arrange it places for a while. Note than Jan is a good time to book - as I am forever saying Jan and Aug are the slow months for restaurants where you can get reservations at unbookable restaurants with remarkable ease. 23rd looks reasonable J

Fascinating review. Welcome, Adam. I think one point which people have tiptoed around is what is the point of a high-end restaurant. I see two alternatives. 1) The point of a high-end restaurant is to be the best for everybody. The whole point of having the best food and the best service is that it should be able to make anybody coming in feel at home better than any other place. If a customer - be it adam or anyone else does not feel welcome, than it has failed. If a customer comes in with different expectations, doesn't feel they belong it is up to the restaurant to make the feel welcome. 2) The point of a high-end restaurant is to cater high end food and service for those who appreciate it. Think of it as a certain "genre" as you will. Some people with appreciate it, some will not. If they do not this may not necessarily be the fault of the restaurant. They may not be suited to this. A couple of examples to illustrate the point: - An example of the first kind of restaurant would be the traditional 1970's french provincial *** a la Great Chefs of France ("auberge made good"), where the locals would come in for a quick bite as they have been doing for decades, rubbing shoulders with the jet-setters who've choppered in just for lunch. The restaurant does its utmost to make both feel at home. From what I hear the French Laundry may qualify in this regard. - An example of the second kind would be conceptual places. The El Bullis or Fat Ducks of this world where it is quite clear the food may not be for everyone, and you shouldn't really be going there is you just expect a rib-eye with chips. - To take an extreme illustration, if a tramp comes into CT, with a legitimate reservation [lets assume for the sake of discussion they meet all the niceties about meeting the dress code, can afford to pay &tc] what should be restaurant do. Under 1) the restaurant should do the utmost to make them feel welcome; make special treatment to make them feel well and would be considered to have failed if they don't have a great time. Under 2) the restaurant would be doing the right thing to give the customer the usual posh service, regardless of that fact it is completely inappropriate for this kind of customer. To sum up, I suspect most high-end restaurant fall into one of these two categories, with an increasing proportion in the second category. I suspect a great deal of the debate has focused around which category CT's fits into. To restate this point in a single sentance: Is the customer always right? cheers J

Have had the lamb crisps in the canteen at work remarkably nice! J