Ron Johnson

If I had an allergy to eggs that could result in my death, I would ask everytime I ordered food and wouldn't feel ridiculous at all.

Is that a national chain? We have a Napa Valley Grille (sic) in Louisville also. For the record there is no Napa Valley in or near Louisville as far as I know.

What if I go to WD50 and tell them that I am allergic to everything except salad?

Martin, I agree wholeheartedly, and thought my post reflected that. Of course, I have no control over the manner in which he characterizes my comments. Which is why "Methinks . . ."

Methinks the lady doth protest too much. You took that well Brad, really. edit: For macrosan.

Oh good, I thought this thread of opinions on ADNY might be confined to those who have actually eaten at ADNY.

Well, those lawsuits are what I do for a living, and sometimes its not an issue of personal responsibility. If the person goes into a restaurant and tells the waiter that she is allergic to peanuts and the waiter brings her a dish with peanuts in it anyway and she dies, then I think her estate has a very legitimate lawsuit. However, if she doesn't tell the waiter about her peanut allergy and then dies from eating a dish with peanuts, I would advise her estate that it does not have a good lawsuit. The insurance industry has done an excellent PR job convincing the public that all lawsuits are frivolous, when that is far from the truth. The truth is some are and some are not. To lump them all together as good or bad is really kind of silly.

So everytime a person orders the turkey sandwich, the waiter is expected to tell them it has bacon on it, rather than everytime the person who cant eat bacon orders a sandwich he should tell the waiter? That seems backward to me. Lets say the turkey sandwich has sprouts and bacon on it but the menu just says turkey sandwich. Two people come in to eat, one doesn't eat bacon and one is allergic to sprouts. Both order the sandwich and neither tell the waiter of their dietary restrictions. Is it the waiter's job to guess which customer has which food restriction, if at all, and then make warnings accordingly? Wouldn't make sense for one diner to simply say, "Oh, and I cannot eat bacon," and the other to say, "and I am allergic to sprouts."? Then the waiter can say, "Oh I am glad you told me, our sandwich has both on it, so I will tell the kitchen to leave those off of yours." Now, if something is labeled as "vegetarian" then it should not have meat in it. Likewise, if it is labeled vegan, it should not have meat, dairy, or eggs. But that is different than asking a restaurant to warn every customer of every potential dietary restriction contained in every item of food it sells. Placing an order in such a scenario could an hour at each table.

Martin, You are the only one who has defined duty in a legal sense. Nowhere in my post did I state that. Surely, you are not advocating that it is a server's responsibility to assume or guess which customers have which foodborne allergies and make suggestions appropriately. If I am allergic to peanuts, I should not expect the restaurant to guess this and clairvoyantly warn me as to all dishes that contain peanuts, nor should the restaurant feel obligated to set forth the exact list of ingredients in every dish so as to warn customers of every potential food reaction. Instead, the customer need only say, "I am allergic to peanuts. Can you make sure nothing I order has peanuts in it?" To which the server can easily reply, "Sure thing." It can be very easy.

It is not the duty of the restaurant to make the seller aware of every ingredient in every dish that it makes. If the consumer has dietary restrictions, it is the consumer's responsibility to convey that to the seller. One cannot blame the restaurant or the server if one never told them of one's dietary restriction.

When you go to the Firehouse, ask Jack if he ever wanted to kick Bobby Flay's ass. No wait, ask him if he ever did kick Bobby Flay's ass. Thanks.

La Turque would be very special indeed. I had the 1990 La Mouline once. God it was good. I should've bought a case back then, but I was dirt poor.

They had this when I lived in St. Louis. At first I thought it was really cool until I realized that the grocery stores mainly sold crap. Now, with stores like Whole Foods, there are some good bottles available. Problem is that most grocery stores dont want to have to deal with managing an inventory of wine, so they just let the distributors tell them what to order.

I had the 2000 Trimbach Riesling this weekend. Wow. Only one word for the nose. Merde! I mean it was extra poopy. I left it uncorked in the fridge over night and the stink blew off mercifully. The next day it was lovely.

I think it would be fun to pair a different wine from Alsace (pinot blanc, gewurztraminer, and riesling) with each course. You could do this with one producer or mix and match different producers. I would recommend Trimbach, Leon Beyer, Weinbach, Zind-Humbrecht, among others. Personally, I prefer Trimbach's style over all others. Let us know how it turns out.

1998 Ogier Cote Rotie Belle Helene (if you cant find it then the regular Cote Rotie is great also) or 1999 J.L. Chave Hermitage Rouge (The 1997 is closed and the 1998 is extremely tannic right now, it is a much bigger wine than '97). I would avoid producers such as Chapoutier, Jaboulet, and Guigal. They are more mass market wines and would not make as special a gift.

I will second those who have recommended Andrea Immer's book and the Wine Avenger by Gluckstern. The best thing about Gluckstern's book is that it dispells so many of the myths and hype that exist in the wine world today, especially the fawning over huge brawny super-extracted reds that really dont pair well with food at all. Gluckstern explains how wine goes with food better than anyone. If you want to take your wine knowledge to the next level, I recommend Kevin Zraly's book, which I believe is called the Windows on the World Wine Course, or something like that. No other book so simply breaks down all the different types of wine and geographical regions where they are made. Plus, he teaches you how to read a label. As far as wines go, I highly recommend whites wines from Alsace. Pinot Blanc, Gewurztraminer, and Riesling from that region are delicious, well-balanced wines that are lower in alcohol and pair very well with a wide variety of foods. Some are off-dry and will tickle your sweet tooth, others are bone dry and have great acidity to make your dinner even more mouth watering. Trimbach is good example of the latter style and is easily found in wine shops everywhere. If you are more comfortable with American wines, try the rieslings from the Finger Lakes region of New York. I like Dr. K. Frank, Swedish Hills, Goosewatch, Knapp, and Shelldrake. For reds, try those from the Loire Valley, namely Chinon and Bourguiel. These are medium bodied, fruity reds, made from the cabernet frnac grape. They drink well young, so no ageing required. They have a great raspberry flavor and pair well with lots of food. I would also recommed trying reds from the southern rhone valley and languedoc. Wines such as Cotes du Rhone, Corbieres, Faugeres, Coteaux du Languedoc, and Costieres de Nimes, may sound intimidating, but they are very afofrdable and delicious wines made from Grenache, Mourvedre, and Syrah grapes. Good luck.

Is it like tar or asphalt? I have never had that in a beaujolais, but if it was to be found in one it would be Moulin a Vent, which is the most complex of all the crus. If that is the smell then it is not a fault. I actually the love that tar or creosote smell in my wine.

Corked wine has a mouldy, mildewy, wet basement, wet cardboard type smell. It is caused by TCA contamination. Wine that is damaged by heat is different, imparting a cooked or madeira-ized effect. I have had beaujolais that smelled strongly of bananas or bubble gum, maybe that is what you are smelling?

Ah yes . . .olfaction, thats what I meant to say.

If I am hiking and not car camping, I usually take salami, bread, nuts, oranges, dry pasta, garlic, EVOO, baggies of herbs, a hard cheese, among others. All of its is fairly lightweight, durable and does not require refrigeration. Car camping is different story all together.

Ones ability to smell is crucial to tasting. Its the most important aspect of tasting. To see the difference take a bite of food and breath through your nose as you chew and savor it. Then take a bite and hold your nose until you swallow. You will barely taste the second bite at all. Miss J, I am sure your partner has learned to compensate over the years.

Awbrig, Are you under the impression that there is a different type of alcohol in liquor than there is in wine?

Hot sauce is served on the table as a condiment.

Well, aren't all the ones listed in Wilfrid's post currently 3 star restaurants according to the Times? I didn't think any in that list were less than 3 stars.