Wilfrid

Or a nose full of something expensive.

Cheddar will also provide a fine accompaniment to British-style fruitcakes. I would recommend such dishes as stand-alone items, rather than something to be inserted toward the end of a meal.

Nothing legal works. Absolutely nothing. Forget it. Prom night, Tommy? I had assumed you had already graduated. (Edited to insert word "legal" in interest of accuracy.)

I shall add them to my collection. To be honest, I have trouble piecing together all this "Suvir" stuff. I did comment to John, privately, that I thought the paragraph about problems on the board was old news. But at least he didn't make it all sound like millionaires in private jets this time.

See my Barcelona February 2002 thread below, and no I couldn't open the link either. If you want any specific advice on how to get around, please say. The airport is about half an hour out of town, by taxi. There is a train from the airport directly into the Sants station, from where you can easily change to the metro system. If you have any questions, I have spent a lot of time traipsing around Barcelona on public transport and by foot - fire away. Nearly forgot: as I said in the thread below, please go to Ateneu.

Although you may not be able to get any really old Burgundy for eighty bucks, you should be able to get back to a premier cru from, say, 1988, which will give you a good idea of why old Burgundies are worth it. First Avenue wines (at 22nd) usually have some wines from Nuits-St-Georges that fit the description in their locked cellar at the back.

I went another round with Le Pigalle last week. Still has rough edges, but I am enjoying working my way through the menu. The sea food gratin was excellent again; the snails Bordelaise were averagely good. I ate pintade au choux, big tender chunks of bird served over tasty cabbage. My guest was defeated by the huge cassoulet. A convincing version, with good beans, a generous piece of duck confit, and some suprising improvisation - Toulouse sausage replaced by a chunk of chorizo! Thirty pounds a head for dinner, including tip and a bottle of wine. I'm afraid some of their wine is pretty foul. I wonder if BYO is possible? I am selfishly trying to encourage more of you to go and eat there, as I hope to keep returning!

The company enjoyment at my lunch with John was mutual. I reflected to myself some time ago (before eGullet, I used to reflect harmlessly to myself all the time) ... that the return of some excellent inexpensive ingredients to restaurant menus was very welcome. I have in mind the grand return made by such things as wild rabbit, pigeon, pig's trotters, blood puddings, faggots even! But the restaurateurs still need to make money, and the mark-ups on such ingredients are often staggering. Even the vastly expensive food emporium Dean & Deluca, in NYC, practically gives away marrow bones for free. When I lived in London, a whole wild rabbit could be yours, head and all, for two quid. If Fergus Henderson sold such dishes at a price which reflected their wholesale value, his restaurant would be a dim memory by now. I enjoyed a light snail salad, and then tender roast lamb with a very interesting accompaniment - green beans in a kind of Caesar salad dressing, with anchovies. An honest E.Guigal Cotes du Rhone to wash it down. I thought forty pounds a head was fair enough, although I would agree the menu is rather more exciting during the game season. Hmmm, not long until the glorious Twelfth, is it?

Thanks for posting those reviews. There's a lot of luck in this restaurant game, isn't there? I was just thinking that it would be interesting to see how the Elysium style would work in Manhattan, but I suspect the overheads would make it difficult to work on such a small scale. Maybe a dining room at a hotel? In fact, Peacock Alley used to be so empty, there would have been plenty of time for the chef to discuss the menu with his guests.

I agree with Bux, that I prefer my cheese nude, and I'll happily eat most varieties with a knife and fork - some are easier to convey to the mouth on bread. I keep coming across very pleasant garnishes on New York cheese plates, but they get in the way of the cheese. It doesn't matter how delicious your onion relish is, no sensible feeder is going to smear it over their Roquefort. What I relished about Picholine's cheese service, and made it worth the wait, is that Max has the knowledge and interest to rise to a challenge. In the past, I have asked him to put together plates conforming to quite specific requirements: once I asked him to pair French and American cheeses for purposes of comparison. He never disappointed, but I wonder if there is anyone else in town you would even bother playing this game with?

I certainly did like skate until I read Basildog's post about the urine and menstruation. As a meat-eater, this is one of my preferences when I have to choose fish. With black butter, of course, of course. Recently ate skate fish-cakes at Alias in New York, topped with a slice from the wing. Very good.

Pintade au choux - yes, still working my way through those wintry bistro classics. The legs were a bit tough, even after brining, but the breast meat worked well with Savoy cabbage, carrot and smoked bacon batons, braised in beer. Followed by a ripe blue cheese from the Basque country, an English Cheshire (oh, joy), and a slice of smelly Robiola. Thanks to Artisanal.

Steve, I still don't understand why you told me to lay off John the first time he did all this?

I am always going to disagree with ratings in a guide like Zagat'. The second tier - broadly speaking - of NYC restaurants has some barmy scores. But I would find it all easier to swallow if they exchanged the "hilariously dumb" quotes for just brief, accurate descriptions of the cuisine served.

Steve, are you suffering from selective amnesia? When John first put a short item about eGullet online, I complained - indeed, I threw his own words back at him ("Are we then your raw materials?"), because I thought it was, not unethical, but cheeky. You were absolutely delighted by his piece, raised no complaints about lack of disclosure, and chided me for being "jealous", because you perceived that the piece was mainly about you. Since then, you have fallen out with John over the so-called "Suvir" issue, so your tone is completely different. John said at the time that he was going to write a fuller piece for the newsletter. And he has. Where's the lack of disclosure there? For what it's worth, I thought the second piece was better because fuller and more balanced. By the way: the idea that journalists always disclose their intentions before gathering material is naive.

Thanks to lxt for that, and especially for highlighting the "cheap eats" downside to the 1917 revolution. Although Escoffier and Soyer spent the major parts of their professional careers in England, I had forgotten Careme's sojourn in Russia. I have only just started to do some reading in response to the question, and hope to develop some thoughts over the next week or so. Just as a starter, Amy Trubek's book, Haute Cuisine: How the French invented the Culinary Profession has just arrived. This is from her conclusion: "No single factor explains the power of France in the public sphere, why, in particular, French haute cuisine came to define the practice of the modern culinary profession and the discourse on fine food...The symbolic significance of French haute cuisine cannot be denied, eventually extending to include place, people, and practice. Genealogical investigations thus lead back to France, but ultimately place becomes more symbol (of elite culture, of mastery) than simple earth, rock and water. From the beginning, haute cuisine was in demand only among elite members of European society. Only after 1800, with the rise of the bourgeois public sphere during the nineteenth century, did the 'high' part of French cuisine come to have a broader social impact. A new class of bourgeois customers emerged who paid attention to French haute cuisine; their consumption was both literal and symbolic." Unsurprisingly, historical adoption of French haute cuisine signified more than just eating what was the on the plate. The notion that so many countries decided in favor of French food for upscale dining on the basis of no more than the quality of the dishes is, of course, naive. This isn't merely a historical phenomenon: someone who chooses a fine French restaurant today is saying more about themselves than just that they likethe menu. As Dr Trubek says elsewhere, the notion that French equals "fancy" has a complex genealogy in Europe. I hope to put some meat on these bones when I have more time.

I should have thought a swift chop with a rasher of bacon would finish Sissy off. Definitely a featherweight. (If this is taken seriously as advoacting violence to women, I give up.)

In fact, "...objective in terms of an overarching agreed upon set of criteria applicable to the relevant subculture" is the only sense I can attach to the word "objective" in this context. I must say, Steven, I do not always think you are right, but at least you are usually sensible. That is not always guaranteed around these parts. There does seem to me to be a distinction between one's evalution of the respective merits of restaurants, and one's personal preferences. San Domenico must be one of my favorite restaurants in New York, just looking at how frequently I've been. I think it's one of the better restaurants too, although I am hesitant to recommend it; it has a style which would irritate many people, and it certainly helps to be a regular. Similarly, I can readily see why the cooking at Blue Hill is superior to the cooking at L'Absinthe. But I think I would more frequently have a meal which suited my own tastes at the latter. Craft would be so many places higher on my list if they would plate the food and serve it hot. Or have we discussed that before somewhere?

Jaybee, I don't believe there is a collection of Arlott's food writings. His career as a journalist was devoted mainly to sport and wine, but he strayed from the latter into food from time to time. Arlott on Wine is a good collection of his wine writings. My favorite of his food pieces, "The Hungry Travellers" can be found in an anthology, Another Word From Arlott. But there's a lot of cricket in there too.

I loved that Wechsberg book, and liked Dining at Le Pavillon even better. But I don't think, as a writer, he's in the class of Liebling. One guy who is, is Liebling's New Yorker pal Joseph Mitchell, who rarely wrote about food itself, but seemed to manage to bring food into most of his greatest stories. John Arlott wrote a handful of wonderful food pieces.

A bowl of garbure from the freezer last night - a cabbage and bean soup enriched with smoked bacon, pig's tails and other good things. It froze very well, except for the little potatoes, which had become grainy and had to be jettisoned. Then home-made oxtail empanadas. Great texture contrast between the moist, tender oxtail and the pastry cases. I added red pepper flakes to some of them.

I love lists. Cabby, I note that this is a personal list, and all such are likely to be quirky. I am surprised you list Montrachet, which I would now place much, much lower. I thought it had lost a lot of steam on my last two visits. I would agree with Cello. ADNY is inevitable. March too, although it's had mixed reviews here recently. For French, I would take Veritas, Fleur de Sel, probably Picholine, and Cafe Boulud ahead of Montrachet. Daniel and Jean-Georges too. Haven't been to Lutece under the new chef. I would take Jean-Georges, Veritas and Fleur de Sel ahead of Union Pacific or Blue Hill too, but I expect that says a lot about my personal preferences.

That surprises me. It's probably in my top twenty.

1. Of course that's what would happen with Mouton. But that's not the issue. The question is whether the price would remain the same - because of its inherent "betterness" - if it were the case that it was produced in quantities comparable to an ordinary Kendall Jackson cabernet. 2. Thank you for dealing with my other examples so convincingly. 3. I see the golden era of French culinary expansion begins during the first period France could be said to have had a democracy. How convenient.

A splendid feast, but someone has to do the picky, fussy stuff. So: I thought the sweetbreads, though flavorsome, were a little chewy. The calves' feet came in a lovely broth, but they are not too interesting in themselves - just jelly really. Pig's feet are more interesting, but pork is not part of Ali's culinary provenance. I don't know how much tripe was in the soup when it arrived at the table, but I didn't manage to locate much when it got to me. But what I found was meltingly tender. The revelatory dish, for me, was the brains. They had been infused with the fragrance and flavor of lime - not the sharponess - and fried in seasoned flour. Brains can be bland, but these were great - on a par with the memorable 'goujons' of brain Richard Neat used to serve as a garnish to his pig's head at Pied a Terre. The veal or lamb head had the consistency of tender, pulled BBQ, and was rich and sweet. I finally worked out what the eyeball reminded me of: it had the distinctive texture of the small dumplings made with beef suet which used to figure in stews when I was growing up. The spleen was the best I've ever had. And one of the liver dishes was outstanding - intense, aggressive flavor - but I'm not sure which one. This guy can really cook. What particularly impressed me was that each dish came with its own, distinct set of flavors. No repetitiveness in the spicing and flavor accents. And that's not something I could say about a number of upscale tasting menus I've eaten recently (and I am thinking of Blue Hill, Union Pacific and Tabla, where certain themes recurred unnecessarily). Finally, I would love to get more details of that Australian grenache, which I enjoyed immensely. Thank you to every one for the company.