SauceRobert

I am opening a high end seafood restaurant and I was just wanting to find as much inspiration as possible... anyone know of the best Restaurant seafood books? I have riperts books and a couple of Nobu's. Anything suggestions from any cuisine would be appreciated!

I would hope that you would not bring children to a swank restaurant for the sake of the other diners! Yes, I have children and I do not bring them out to somewhere that is not kid friendly... the staff doesnt appreciate it and would rather not have you there... it ruins the experience for the other diners. and... I hate to tell you but i bet worse things have happened in the KITCHEN! maybe not during service, or while you were there... but it may very well have happened whre food was being prepared.... or involved...

Try a mid roast for more flavor, the darker roasts come out more bitter and astringent. too bad you are in NY and not PDX(well really not too bad im jealous actually...) I would suggest trying courier coffee roasters as, imho, they are hands down better than stumptown! sad to say tho, you cannot buy their coffee except for a cup at a restaurant... or if you are lucky and happen to know joel (owner/roaster)

Freschetta pizza... kraft mac w/ campbells cream of celery soup, ground beef and canned tomatoes (strange thing from childhood but love it)... McDonalds fries...

The best COOK has won! I dont mean to say that Micheal V is not a great Chef. But really the competition is about cooking not being in charge. I think the strongest chef in the group was Bryan. Kevin is a good cook, dont know about his ability to run a kitchen, hes just likable. The judges dont judge on who they like the most, they judge on who is cooking the best/most interesting food! and MV defiantly did that in the finale. I'm not sure how fair the whole unscripted knife packing of kevin was, but I can say that from what we saw it very much did appear that kevin had a lot of problems with his dishes that day. The only one the judges really liked was the chicken skin. Bryans dishes were all under seasoned accept the venison, but that was the only dish of his that the judges just loved Micheal seemed to really kill it, they had minimal complaints of his first dish loved the next 2 and the overcooked cake, while not ok, was minimal compared to the mistakes of the other chefs. They did say had the cake not been over cooked it would have been outright great, the flavors were there. Plus, im just glad Micheal won so we could hear all the Kevin fans complain! Makes things more interesting!

dupes= duplicate tickets that you keep at your station so you know what you have "working"(what you have cooking or on hold) shoemakers= someone who is completely inept in the kitchen, of course they usually think they can cook. but they may as well go cobble some shoes together...

At the beginning of this season, I seem to remember her saying something about how she was SO tough as nails, that she made other chefs cry in the kitchen. I find that hard to believe! Do you remember the episode at Nellis air force base? she seemed to have no trouble telling everyone what to do! and I have to second what Tri2Cook said, she wasnt in charge of people on top chef so she had to be one with all of them. being tough as nails (almost no one really is) does not mean you have to have a bad attitude or be mean to people. It really just means you can handle your own. Considering she made it to the final 4, id say she hit the nail right on the head!(bad pun totally intended)

We all know the normal kitchen lingo ie. weeds, dupes, shoemaker ect. what are some of the more interesting ones you have heard? I was in a kitchen once that called everything "titular" granted, they didnt seem to know what the word really means, it was kind of funny.

"Don't touch my f***ing meeze!" heh... not an adage, but I've heard it said, and possibly said it to many a new guy...

Well, I will have to find it, but I have a photo somewhere of the freezer at bouchon and the fries are sysco "private reserve". I did a week stage down there and Snapped a photo for a coworker of mine. They also, after frying will place the fries in a large bowl (very large food service size) with a kitchen towel taped on all 4 sides, suspended inside the bowl to wick away the fat, they are also salted while this process is happening, cause the salt wont stick very well after the excess oil is gone.

My style revolves around french technique, as that has been my training my whole life, my father is a chef and now, so am I. I do spend a lot of time (at home) making things that I grew up eating, all comfort food, just what I like to eat at home now. Meatloaf, spaghetti, chicken cacciatore, cassoulet, ect. At the restaurant, the food I cook is based on seasonal, regional and fresh. Much of the food is based on flavors france and/or spain. I like it to be playful and thought inspiring. I want people to walk out with a smile.

Saba(as it is most often referred to as), is the unfermented grape must from wine grapes. It is often used as a sauce in itself with no cooking/altering. it is very delicious and tart. I have seen it used in many new american dishes, once again mostly as a sauce, sparingly. I suppose it is generally used much like a great aged balsamic vinegar.

I commend you sir for finding an appropriate way to voice this... I absolutely agree, but did not want to say anything so as to sound like a dirty old man! On another note, some people might not like Mike V's attitude, but he is a young and eager chef and there are not too many chefs that have made it very far by being humble. You just dont see that side of a lot of them as they hide it from the public eye, but go into their kitchens and see how they are. I'm not saying he should be a jerk (as he has been) but his talent is at a very high level for his age... and what has top chef really been about? who is the best ever? or who is the best up and coming chef? I believe the latter. They made Top Chef Masters for a reason...

potential spoiler? can you give more info? i dont want to click if it talks about who is the winner...

That's a tough one... First inclination was Joy... but now the more i think about it, it may be the complete Robuchon... but latley its been ad hoc... I dont know!!! so many good ones, ooo or the flavor bible or culinary artistry!

Well, I have never thought of Kevin as stupid. as long as you have a knowledge of how to do it, it can be done. so I would say it is a risk if kevin is stupid, otherwise not really so much. sous vide is not a kind of cooking that you rely on your senses too much to tell if it is done... if you have the right instructions, it is a no brainer as long as you have some idea of how it works, and any chef of his level should know something about it. We are talking about Kevin here, not what some other top chef contestant has done. she obviously didnt have very good instruction on how to do it.

I do think kevin has played it very safe, and unless you can come up with something other than sous vide, you cannot change my mind. sous vide, with the right equipment(a chamber vac and an immersion circulator, and the correct temp to run it at) is VERY easy to do. He has the V bros on the show do it, and im sure he has seen others not on the show do it. Basically, you put it in the water with a specialized thermometer and pull it out when it reaches the desired temp. and the water being at such a low temp, it will hold at the correct temp for quite a long time (10-20min for something small). its actually very hard to screw up, one of the great benefits of it, not to mention the different textures and such you can get out of it. so no, I do not think that it was a risk for kevin to do sous vide.

Absolutely beautiful stuff! Do you cook for a living? and if so, how do you find time to do this at home? I make food like this at work, but i never want to spend that much time in the kitchen at home... you seem to do it quite often as well...

Some of the people commenting on this forum are far too into the reality aspect of the show (exactly what bravo is looking for)... First off, Jen should not be dismissed (i didnt like her at first, but now shes growing on me. she had an attitude at first) she was taught by eric ripert who is the best chef in the country when it comes to fish cookery(imho) Kevin, while I liked him at first, and I dont doubt that his food is good, IS PLAYING IT TOO SAFE! I mean maybe he will win if everyone else screws up, but if jen or one of the V bros nails it in the finale, he will go down. as for Michael V, come on you didnt notice the heavy editing on that?! they played the same line over and over, he didnt repeat it! it wasnt nice but damn! they sure played it up (and yes that is the kind of food most chefs cook on their day off, doesnt mean its bad, it just is so) I think bryan may take it all the way, he has the level head(most of the time) and the skills to do it(i mean come on the guy worked for Charlie Palmer for 10 years!) but who knows, maybe kevin will take it, we will just see...

I like the comment on that article, "Unless you are in a group of 10 or more than the restaurant usually has the right to charge a certain amount." where the heck is there a law that the restaurant has a "right" to charge for gratuity? I just thought it was something that restaurants just did. if you dont want to pay it then dont go.

haha thats great... stupid politics... I always order burgers mid rare, steaks rare, eat raw oysters and raw eggs... hmm im sick alot too... hehe just kidding!

I went to one of the culinary schools here in Portland last year (not the one getting sued, haha. Had I not gone, I would not have been working at one of the top restaurants in the city for the past year. I learned a lot of basics in school, but before that I did not have any fine dining experience. So for me school was well worth it. You just have to put your mind to it, listen to the instructors, be there everyday and work hard! If you do that, the instructors will most likley help you find a good place to work. Oh and don't go to a school that costs you an arm and a leg, there are good schools our there that do not want to take you for all you've got.

some angel! It may dull your knives but only if they rub against other things (not that big of a deal) But what about your husband?! That could cause a nasty cut!

the downtown area is not really the night hotspot in portland. The most busy areas at night are hawthorne, alberta, belmont (all on the east side). there are many a cart over there that only close 3-5 hours of the day.

People were excited about a gravy boat? were they elderly?