Wilfrid

I think you are onto a very good topic. Why not cut and paste it up on the Media or General boards?

Strolling by the other day, I see Valenti has put a braised tripe dish on the menu. Maybe time for my first visit.

I am with frankj on this one. Maybe I was lucky, but my first meal at Emeril's is still about the best meal I've eaten in the United States. My second meal there (which was more modest) didn't refute my initial judgment. Here the details of the tasting menu I ate, sitting - as Rachel described - at the comortable service counter: "Happened by chance to stumble across my notes last night, so i can at least give you the menu (as I recalled it the next day, not directly transcribed): Oriental cucumber salad with salmon carpaccio and dill Chilled mussel chowder with three caviars (each served on a half shell), wild thistle and mussel croquette Filet of escoular on garlic potato puree with tiny fried fish, onion rings, ganrished with a single chive Filet of salmon wrapped in duck bacon, sauce a l'Americaine, red pepper puree, parsnip crisps Spatchcocked Louisiana quail, tranche of foie gras, puree of blackeyed peas, spiced collard greens, three onion marmalade, herb polenta Salt-crusted loin of lamb over apple, mint and cheese risotto, garnished with rosemary sprig Louisiana cheeses, crushed nuts, walnut and almond biscotti Choc chip brownie, blueberries and raspberries, hazelnut ice cream, chocolate sauce and creme Anglais Strawberries in dark and white chocolate, white chcocolate and hazelnut praline, white chocolate liqueur sauce Wines: Champagne (unspecified) Mondavi-Rothschild Opus One (lost the year) The house Grenache/Syrah (with the cheese) Quady's Orange Muscat Comments: It reads a little overwhelmingly, but I recall the balance between many facets of interest in each dish, and restraint and harmony in composition and presentation. These dishes were far from messy. The ideas were wonderfully executed, and not by Emeril himself who was away that night (but phoning in regularly to check). I might single out the astonishing use of wild thistle with the chowder, the delicate adaptation of Southern ingredients such as black-eyed peas and collard greens, the fantastic apple, mint and cheese risotto, and Opus One was more than potable. "

In my home, these all make excellent toys for baby, getting booted around the floor. Actually, eggs are least suitable for this purpose.

I didn't notice you having a problem with the staff at Jimmy's Corner. When it comes to the clinetele, I confess to being the diamond in the rough.

I will try making it this year, I promise. About the time I make the confit for the winter.

I don't buy it. At that temperature and with my thirst, the beer isn't getting carefully savored anyway. And, hey, I think there's water in the beer already!

Yep. I just looked at some of the pictures. Okay, next question, is the outlet at 72nd and 2nd likely to be as good?

And I shall say that only once.

Could you hint at why the restaurant's unpleasant to visit? If it's a crowd and noise thing, I'm most likely to be tempted on a weekend afternoon, so it may not matter. I am feeling very positive about those rib tips.

No point getting hung up on usage of particular words - which is an empirical question, and who's going to gather the data? Focus on the issues (like me ).

Interesting. I have to refrigerate butter, in the summer anyway, because I don't plan on eating half a pound per week. Certainly I try to leave it out for some time before eating it. Ketchup. My Beloved insists on refrigerating it. I never have. Is that a British thing, leaving ketchup and brown sauce at the back of a cupboard for (literally in the case of brown sauce) years? Most important thing throughout this summer has been keeping big, thick beer mugs in the freezer. Only way to get a cold one to stay cold while you drink it. Life saver.

Halibut steak from Wild Edibles at Grand Central (on a Monday, I know ), gently poached in fish stock with snips of tarragon. Green beans. Baked figs to follow. Inexpensive Trimbach Riseling. Oh yes, a scoop of sauerfleisch and a pickle served as an amuse guele while I toyed with my Campari and Ting.

I use commercially made demi-glaces, which are essentially veal stocks concentrated into a jelly or thick paste. A fancy butcher in the UK may well have some. They look expensive, but they go a long way. Whether you mix them with water or just add them to a sauce really depends on what you are cooking.

Adam, big mistake. For all my Beloved's quirks, she does adore offal and game birds, the smaller and crunchier the better. Conversely, I try to ban candy from the house, especially cheap and nasty kinds, and McDonalds because of the vile smell.

I deeply regret not sampling desserts. My Beloved baulked on dietary grounds and I was suffering from a severe cheese craving. If it had been just me, I would have managed cheese and dessert. Next time maybe.

I am fairly hardy, but I am not sure I like things wriggling in my mouth. Except hamsters, of course.

Well, I dunno, this is actually an interesting conversation, so here I go again: I don't think a great deal separates Steve from Tony now they have explained their positions a little more. It's a sliding scale, I think. Tony would agree that on some questions of taste there is little room for disagreement, such as judging quality among tomatoes. Steve would like to extend this rigor to eating/drinking experiences which I think they would both agree are more complex, such as pairing beverages with food - plainly more complex, because you've already got at least two different items involved. I think the apparent disagreement stems from Steve's perception that Tony will not recognize rigorous standards of judgment in any circumstances, and Tony's perception that Steve will expect rigorous standards to apply in a simplistic way however complex and fuzzy the situation ("extreme Plotnickiism"). Whereas neither of them, I believe, is going quite that far. Not to put words in your mouths, guys, that's just my reading. Personally, I am inclined to err more than Steve on the side of caution when applying standards, but I think both positions are respectable, and not ultimately incompatible.

Dammit, Nick, and I bet the evil genius in the kitchen at Sammy's got through the evening without a scratch. So unfair.

Oh , the list is endless. Frogs legs, pungent curries, al dente pasta, and anything with uncooked olive oil poured over it. But we are making progress. Snails used to be high on the list, but the Beloved ate a mound of winkles at Aquagrill recently, and what's the difference?

I empathize with the sense of deja vu, but the topic is re-sparked every time someone either says "I'm right about this particular dish/restauarnt, everyone who knows anything agrees with me, and if you disagree you have no palate," or "Everyone has their own preferences and everyone is an equally good judge of what tastes good, so anything goes." Both positions seem to me to be inadequate, but I do weary of explaining why. Still, bet we come back to it.

I will do as you command.

Yes, I like Jean-Georges for those kinds of reasons. If they have a table available, they give it to you - even if there's only one of you. Then they treat you well and don't rush you. Not rocket science, one would think.

Not the Edgware Road in London, surely. Maybe Balic has a new signature line.

Steve, I did take a look at that issue too, and felt it reinforced the point. Either Jean-Georges, Lespinasse, Daniel, Le Bernardin, Nobu, Gramercy Tavern, and Union Pacific have been overtaken by The Four Seasons, the Pearl Oyster Bar and Cafe Boulud in the last two years, or Gourmet isn't taking its lists (or its readers) terribly seriously. I know which I vote for.