eljo

I have booked lunch at Le Bristol later this month for my birthday, largely as a result of the raves on this site, and especially the mind-blowing photos above. About that chicken: what makes it so great? I understand the AOC designation for the Bresse chicken, but there must be something about this preparation that puts it over the top. It is, in effect, a poached chicken, no? The presentation is spectacular and it will be hard to pass up, but there are other luscious-sounding items on the carte (lobster, pigeon, duck) and as we are a party of 2 we won't be able to snag tastes from someone else's plate if we go with the chicken. (By the way, props to the Bristol for keeping an up-to-date menu, including prices, on its website. www.hotel-bristol.com There are several mentions here about the Bristol being a good value. I suppose the 90 euro lunch is a good value, relative to the carte, but the choices are quite limited. Has anyone here been happy sticking with the set lunch?) I am a long-time lurker and have been unable to travel for some time, but I have gathered a lot of great info on this forum and appreciate your sharing of expertise. Many thanks.

We have similar plans for next month - a few days in Paris, 2 nights at Les Crayeres, and back to Paris for a few days. I don't think we will have as many grand meals as you did, though. We are having dinner at Les Crayeres our first night. Glad to know you enjoyed it. It seems to have fallen off the charts since the original chef retired, but I have wanted to visit for years so we are going for it this time. Do you have any advice for touring and visiting the Champagne houses and countryside? We will only have one day for this, though I gather there are some wineries right in Reims that we might be able to visit while we are touring the town. Did you book tours in advance, etc. I thought I might ask the hotel to make some arrangements for us. We definitely want to visit some smaller, independent makers but don't have any specific ones in mind. Our French-speaking ability is almost non-existent, though we have managed a fair amount of wine-touring in France with reasonably amiable vignerons. Many thanks.

Did you have the set lunch menu or a la carte at Le Bristol? The menu looks nice, but limited. I am considering Le Bristol or Le Cinq for a Sunday birthday lunch but want to stick to the set menu, if possible. Will I feel left out? Any thoughts on Le Cinq vs. Le Bristol for lunch?

Thanks for the report. It sounds very promising. I am glad you liked the artichoke dip, but just curious - why did you order it?

Sorry to say that Le Refuge and Le Gaulois (new owners) have really gone downhill in recent years. They both have a French-feeling atmosphere but the food is just not enjoyable anymore. I have never been to Chez Andree, but nothing I have heard about it would lead me to recommend it. Having some idea of your taste from your posts on the France board, I doubt that you would find any of these satisfactory. If you really want a French bistro, Bistrot Lafayette (on King Street the same block as Le Gaulois) has better food than the others you mentioned - good but not great. If Eve is out of your budget, do think about Majestic Cafe. I am never sure what "New American" really means, but their menu is creative with a Southern (US not France) influence and we have enjoyed numerous meals there. Unfortunately, their website has been "under contruction" for months so I don't know if you can find a menu anywhere. I am sure they would fax one to you if you ask. I live in Old Town and have tried practically all the restos there. Majestic is probably your best choice within your parameters. Bon appetit.

I was in San Francisco last week and paid several visits to the Cowgirl Creamery cheese shop in the Ferry Building. (DO NOT miss the Ferry Building Market the next time you are in San Francisco - it is fantastic.) In addition to their own artisanal cheeses, they sell wonderful cheeses from around the world. At the Saturday Farmers Market in front of the Ferry Building (also a must do) they had a booth where I met the owners of Cowgirl Creamery. They told me that they are planning to open a shop in Dupont Circle, hopefully within twelve months! Both are originally from this area. This will be a tremendous addition to DC. We talked briefly about Cheesetique, of which they were familiar and complementary. I hope their plans pan out. I have only been able to get to Cheesetique on weekends, when it is quite a zoo, so a Dupont Circle fromagerie will be great.

Two days ago, someone linked to the DCist post on Corduroy in the Les Halles thread with the headline "dcist says Les Halles made the list of unsanitary spots". No one sprang to the defense of Les Halles or suggested it was scurrilous to make any reference to this public information. Maybe Les Halles is not considered a "respectable" restaurant. That post did generate a defense of Corduroy, though, since anyone following the link would have seen the info about the Corduroy closing. There is really no need to try to suppress this. The Corduroy chef made a very good defense of his restaurant. The closing was reported in the Post, but someone reading it there would not have learned the backstory, unless perhaps they found the discussion on dcist or here.

Does anyone know what happened at Rick's? The eponymous Rick, who was founder, part-owner, and manager, was apparently banished by his partners. (I heard he took a job with Bobby Kacher.) The new wine manager, Rob Stewart, seems knowledgable and helpful, but is not around as much as Rick was. Still reserving judgment about the other new folks there. We have always liked their Rhone offerings, but since turning our focus a bit to Italy have been somewhat disappointed with the selection.

What is the waiting time like these days for a weeknight dinner at 8-ish?

Yes, that's it. I made it in high summer when tomatoes were at their best, but the long cooking time for the marmalade would probably enhance the flavor of end of season tomatoes. Depending on what you plan to do with it, I thought it might be tasty to add some spice to the marmalade, e.g cinnamon sticks, allspice, star anise.

What was the per person cost of this meal? I agree with the comments about the incredible tomato marmalade tart. I tried it at the restaurant after watching the Chef demonstrate it at the Thursday Freshfarm Market in Penn Quarter this summer. In fact, he distributed the recipe, which may be available on the Freshfarm market website, and I have since made it myself when I had an overabundance of homegrown tomatoes. If you try it, beware that you will have a lot of the tomato marmalade left over. I cut the recipe in half and still had more than a pint left after making 8 servings of the tart. Not really a problem, though, as it should keep quite awhile. I am still trying to come up with ideas for how to use it.

As I understand it, U.S. labelling requirements are more stringent than European and virtually all wine sold in the US must have "Contains sulfites" on the label. Not so in Europe. My friend recently asked me why a Spanish winemaker would add sulfites to wine exported to the US, but not to the same wine sold in Spain? Huh? I asked. She said she got headaches drinking a certain wine bought locally, but when a friend brought back a bottle of the same wine and vintage bought in Spain it did not contain sulfites and she could drink all she wanted, no problem. Since most people don't like to hear "its all in your mind", I did not tell her the only difference was the label. I did tell her that sulfites are a natural and inevitable component of wine and some had more than others, but .....

Not sure how far south you are going in Virginia, but Rowe's Family Restaurant in Staunton is a great, old-fashioned, country Sunday supper kind of place. It is just about where I-64 crosses I-81. Look for the giant Cracker Barrel sign - it is just across the service road from there. I always have their impeccable fried chicken, but other dishes are supposed to be first rate as well, e.g. pork chops. The never-ending basket of yeast rolls is heaven, and the house-made pies fantastic. Sides are just passable. Place your pie order with your dinner order to make sure they do not run out of your favorite. I think there is a good write-up on Roadfood.com.

Trying to put this in a non-metric context I can understand (I'm trying, I'm trying) what is the approximate equivalent in teaspoons of 800 mg of salt? About 1/3 of a teaspoon. Thanks. That seems like rather a lot for a cup of rice, but I think cooked rice is about three times the volume of uncooked. So, adding one teaspoon to a cup of uncooked rice is not at all excessive - in fact a little light I would think. I prefer my food well-seasoned but not salty tasting (except for salty snacks and frites, etc).

Trying to put this in a non-metric context I can understand (I'm trying, I'm trying) what is the approximate equivalent in teaspoons of 800 mg of salt?

Where has he worked before?

Alberto's Where is Alberto's?

I have not been to any of these chains (not a big steak-eater), but I have been told that the steaks are cut to different thicknesses so they all cook for the exact same amount of time for the desired temperature. As I understand it, there is a pile of steaks for "well-done" that are, say 3/4 inch thick, in the medium-well pile they are a little thicker, rares the thickest. Then all are cooked for 8.5 minutes or whatever, et voila - robosteak. Don't know if the thicker cuts are smaller in size to keep the weight the same, or if the people with enough sense to order their steak rare get a bonus couple of ounces.

Methinks Steve Klc is right. If you deconstruct this one, it is just too perfect, especially if you regularly follow Tom's chats. Starting with the first line - it has to be a birthday celebration this weekend. Though usually it will be more like "today is my husband's 50th birthday and I want to take him out for a memorable dinner tonight with our ten closest family and friends who are flying in from all over the world for the occasion - any ideas?". Ever think of planning ahead? I also love "price is not a factor, but please no $100 per person meals".

What is Tokyo Jpanese Steakhouse like? I always assumed it was a Benihana clone so never had any interest in checking it out.

Thank you for your interest. Your website is fantastic. Once we have the details of our trip nailed down, I hope I will be able to take one of your classes. How far in advance is it necessary to book for late September/early October? I think this place is on the opposite (West?) side of the main highway from Fonte de Medici. The somewhat vague directions I have are from San Casciano to go in the direction of Cerbaia for a few km to find a road called Via Empolese. I understand the Antinori cellars are on this road, not the agriturismo, but maybe the working winery. The villa is then down a small road past the Antinori facility. If you know anything about this general vicinity, I will be grateful for your advice.

I am planning to rent a villa in Tuscany the first week of October. Man, there are a lot of choices to consider. We want to be in or near the Chianti region, and plan a few days in Florence before moving out to the country, so will not need to make day trips there. What looks like the best option for us (price/quality/facilities) is 6 km from San Casciano Val de Pesa, apparently just near the Antinori cellars. I don't find much info on this town or general area as it is not on the typical tourist itinerary. Minimizing tourist activity of course is a good thing, but I am trying to figure out if the reason for that is that the location is less than pleasant. It is closer to Florence than we might want to be (about 20 km I think), so perhaps it is more built-up and less scenic than other areas. The photos of the views from the villa I have seen look nice. It seems to be only avout 10 km from Greve, which appears to be closer to the "popular" parts of Chianti. We will, of course, have a car and plan day trips around the region but also would want to be in a 'hood that will be conducive to walking the countryside as well as decent places to go when we want to have dinner out without a long post-prandial drive. Does anyone know this area of Tuscany? Other nearby villages/towns are Cerbaia, Montespertoli, Tavernelle Val de Pesa. I think I have found just about every company and website that rents villas, so I am trying to narrow, rather than expand my search at this point. Thanks for your input and advice.

Full WASP Disclosure: The first time I ever had hamentaschen was about 2 years ago (or if I did before that I probably just thought they were cute little danish). I have since tried the version at Pastries by Randolph on Lee highway in Arlington, next to Arrowine, and thought they were quite tasty. They definitely had prune, apricot, and maybe other fillings as I recall. Authentic? Dunno.

At a small place in St. Remy-de-Provence, called La Serre I think, about a year and a half ago I had for dessert a rosemary sorbet and a red pepper sorbet. The rosemary was not unlike other herbal sorbets I have tried and made (lemon basil - yum), but was quite good, and evocative of Provence itself, with rosemary growing wild everywhere. The red pepper was amazing. It was late September, so the peppers were dead ripe and, of course, very sweet. The flavor was intense and the sweet/savory balance was perfect. It was one of the most memorable dishes I tried in Provence. I have not tried to reproduce it, but I would guess substituting a red pepper puree for, say melon, might work. I think you would want a reduced sugar content, though, and I know the proportion of sugar to liquid and other ingredients is key to sorbet success.

But how did they miss the White Spot's other specialty: the Grillswith. Glazed donut fried up on the grill until almost melting, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. If you are watching the calories, or lactose intolerant, you can have a Grillswithout - same gooey donut, no ice cream. Mmmm. Also needs to be after last call to be willing to try this.