Wilfrid

Good for you, but I'm a minimalist. Meat. Vegetable. Little puddle of sauce. Big white plate.

All scrumptious. I tend, rightly or wrongly, not to make meals with a series of side dishes. I don't personally like eating family style. So I tend to concentrate on the protein in the middle of the plate and try to garnish and flavor it appropriately. So the starch, fruit, sweet, bitter thing I would try to do, if anything, over the course of several dishes rather than in one. I wonder if I should add a course. Maybe some slices of simply seared venison with some interesting green leaf type garnish? Or is that too much meat?

I am really aiming at high level palates. Thanks all the same.

Good idea, Bux. The fruit would bring out the sweetness of the root veg nicely.

Oh, of course I'll be serving them with pre-dinner drinks as finger food.

I was about to say Robert Lowell's Collected Poems, but I see it was published today.

I dug out my Capital report from May this year, as it was the best meal I've had in London in some time. I have eaten Chavot's food at several restaurants and have a really high opinion. Now, none of this contradicts Macrosan's experience in any way - the question is how and why the kitchen could hit such a low. (By the way, I obviously liked the room. But as G Johnson has ruthlessly observed, I am a bit of a ponce): "I had eaten in the small, pretty hotel dining room before, and I had eaten Eric Chavot's food elsewhere, but this was the first time I had experienced Chavot at The Capital. Very classy operation, with excellent service from a French waitress and an Australian sommelier. Amuse guele was a rich, dark green cup of asparagus soup. The dishes which followed suggested that Chavot spends his spare time eating fry ups in corner caffs for menu ideas. Good, fresh langoustine were accompanied by crisp rashers of pancetta, and a potato/vegetable cake which can only be described as bubble and squeak. An unexplained side dish, which simply appeared to be an additional appetizer, was a portion of excellent Welsh rabbit. My dining companions found a lot of fried quails' eggs garnishing their dishes. The Capital should open for breakfast. I recalled Chavot's rabbit leg stuffed with squid from his Interlude days, and ordered what turned out to be a sophisticated elaboration of the dish. Torchons formed by wrapping tender squid in a rabbit forcemeat, secured again with pancetta; slices of rabbit saddle, with its crisply fried liver; a garnish of light, fried and battered calamari. Great technique and good to eat. First rate cheeses - apart from L'Ami again - and an unnecessary dessert, mint vacherin in chocolate. Several trays of petits fours and chocolates made dessert doubly unnecessary. Two extremes with the wine - a ninteen quid (yes, truly) viognier to start the meal, followed by a 1989 Cote Rotie which topped three figures. Both good for what they were. Then there was the Calvados..."

Are we talking about the butcher in that big indoor market place in Chelsea? That may be worth following up. I often cook domestic rabbit, because I don't see a ready alternative. I find them blander in flavor, and much much fattier.

Hmmm (scratches head). Give me a clue. Does one of them occasionally dress as a french maid as part of her work?

I hadn't seen the film guide. There's a Zagat guide to golf courses now. Where will it all end?

The trial with the hare, as I recall, was trying to get rid of fairly thick membrane which encases the flesh. It was skinned when I got it. I probably have better knives these days, so maybe it would be easier. I once prepared a hare over a sink in a bedsit. You'd have thought a bloody murder had been committed in the room by the time I'd finished.

Simon, if I see a snipe I might go back to the whole roast bird idea. Haven't eaten snipe in several years. I am reluctant to do the hare as I am imposing on a friend's kitchen, and my recollection of dealing with the beast is buckets of blood everywhere and much struggling and cursing on my part. I am trying to come across as Daniel Boulud () rather than Vlad the Impaler.

The Beloved and I had an impromptu lunch there about two years ago. My tasting notes are in the archive somewhere, but I recall we enjoyed it. A short menu with an obvious emphasis. I know I ate a nicely braised rabbit with black truffles. I was reminded of the ambience last time I was in Caviarteria up in the 1950s - an interesting combination of cramped and elegant. Thumbs up.

And you're back in New York for supper!

We started discussing this on the blessed Balic bio-thread, and I was encouraged to bring it up at a higher altitude. I plan to cook a game menu for friends in London in December. Here's my current thinking: First off, either a raviolo or a small empanada (okay, pasty) stuffed with one of the darker game meats - possibly wild duck, maybe grouse if they're still around. I will put some finely diced root vegetables into the mix. Or should I go with a subtle fruit touch - some berries, maybe. If it's the pasty, I thought a sweetish sauce; port with orange maybe? Perhaps a few wild mushrooms scattered around the plate. Next up a crepinette (okay, burger) made with one of the lighter meats chopped up with a little fat pork and some suitable fresh herbs. Partridge, or rabbit so long as it's a wild rabbit. An easy mustard sauce, maybe with a few cornichons chopped in. Finally, a salmis or a civet. This really depends on the available critters. Hare would be nice, but is a lot of work. Wild boar. Or maybe a bird, depending what's in the early dishes. This will be a red wine-based dish, will pearl onions and carrots. Maybe some little potatoes thrown in. So, trying for some contrast there. Will doubtless follow with cheese. I will ask for a volunteer to make dessert, as it's not really my thing (sssh, don't tell Steve Klc). Also, since I am chef, I expect the guests to regale me with fine wines. Just can't cook that sort of dinner in NYC, ecept maybe with a lot of mail ordering. Comments welcome. Anyone else cooked an all game dinner? You'll note (of course) that I am trying to avoid a plainly roasted game bird. That can be delicious, but I am thinking the lucky diners will already have eaten that kind of preparation more than once this season.

Sorry if it was dealt with earlier in the thread, but have we addressed the beverage question? Is a hip flask indicated?

Liver sausages. Do you mean store-bought liverwurst type stuff? Or are you making these yourself (ves)?

Good points, thom, although I still should have thought that the growing Zagat empire is ripe for some more thorough investigative journalism.

What's in your traditional tempura batter, Jin? - and apologies if you've told us before.

The new Gourmet (with the surprise turkey cover ) has a review of Atelier. Jonathan Gold follows meekly in my footsteps, largely concurring with my views, and similarly singling out the superb pigeon pie - nice little pic of it too.

I wrote about a similar experience almost a year ago. I've been waiting to hear of someone having a good experience since the refurb. A great pity, as it does J-G no credit, and it was such a good restaurant a few years ago.

I don't think we really need bread or crackers for the cheddars, anyway. I don't really recommend crackers, as such, with cheese, and I doubt if we need to line our stomachs with bread. I plan on arriving with the cheeses freshly cut into tasting portions and a bunch of toothpicks.

Use boquerones as one component when making panaditas - little hors d'oeuvres served on small round slices of bread (a baguette cut in one inch slices will do). Rub each slice of bread with a little tomato pulp and good olive oil. Top, for example, with good ham - jamon serrano - a strip of sweet red pepper, a boquerone. Ring the changes with chorizo, salami or whatever. A little tuna with the sweet red pepper is good. Drink a bottle of cava and pretend you're in Catalunya. Well, this is just my advice.

Yes, I recall that in Sydney one could hardly walk down the street for all the black lipped abalone.

That's starting to look expensive If you eat there once a week year round, you are paying a $134 supplement for every meal. Surely you must be able to take guests. And one must assume that Bruno will feel free to have an extremely expensive menu and wine list too. Does anyone know what a nice private New York club would set you back each year? There's the Knickerbockers, and there's that one with the nice entrance on the corner of 60th or 61st and 5th.