mattsea

I just can't imagine myself ever being 100% certain about anything!

Apparently, yes! I believe he went to both RB&Gs as well as the original Rockpool.

I don't know if I'd say that. I've heard enough about his restaurant in London to make me think style is just as if not more important. I believe Thompson now merely 'consults' to Nahm, so it's not quite 'his' restaurant in the same sense that it used to be.

I've only been to the bar section of the Melbourne RB&G, but wow. The burger is incredible. As Shinboners said, it deserves all the hype.

I can't wait to see the responses to your question! I have basically the same question as you, except that I'm 26 rather than 18, and I wonder if I've left it too late to make a change anyway.

Can anyone help me?

Trying to think who would be on my wishlist. David Chang perhaps? April Bloomfield?

Gail! This makes me so happy. I hope she keeps doing regular TC, too!!

Unfortunately there is no Amazon Australia. We buy things from Amazon UK and US, or from domestic sellers such as fishpond.com.au.

Hi, I bought some bottarga about a month ago, and it has darkened considerably in the fridge, so that it's now a purple-brown bruise colour rather than the salmon colour when it was fresh. How long does bottarga usually last in the fridge? Thanks

I wouldn't be surprised to see a paperback or otherwise slimmed-down edition in a year or so, just like the Fat Duck cookbook.

Apparently it's A3 size, which is pretty big (11 x 17 inches). It's 374 pages. The cheapest price does appear to be Fishpond, as I linked earlier in the thread. You can use this search engine to establish the cheapest price. I don't know what will be the cheapest when you take into account shipping to the US.

There was an interview with Thompson in the Weekend Australian magazine (a liftout in a national broadsheet newspaper) on the weekend in which he slagged off el Bulli in particular and molecular gastronomy in general. Unfortunately it doesn't appear to be online. You can buy the book here but it's not cheap.

Glad to hear you enjoyed your Aussie lamb! This is the best time of year for Australian lamb. The spring lamb started coming in about a month ago, and I know the West Australian lamb (from my home state) is delicious. Incidentally, I'm not aware of any non-free range Australian lamb. Lamb tends not to be intensively farmed in the same way as cattle, pork or poultry. As to low-and-slow cooking, my personal favourite is oxtail. I braise it slowly at 140c or thereabouts for 4-5 hours in a mix of white wine, crushed tomatoes, juniper berries, cinnamon, bay and mirepoix, then shred the meat off the bone, strain and reduce the sauce and serve it on polenta or under pan-fried gnocchi or blend it up for ravioli filling. Delicious. This is my gnocchi and oxtail:

Unfortunately I won't be able to afford Ubuntu, or Manresa most likely. I want to eat at Nopa and Flour+Water in SF, but beyond that I will struggle to afford anywhere that isn't at the very cheap end of the spectrum.

I see your point, but if reviewers (or writers more generally) confine themselves to only using references that will be known to the majority or totality of their readership, then surely the writing becomes bland and devoid of character. I'd rather read a review in which I don't get all the references than one where everything is spelled out and made clunkingly explicit in order to make everyone feel comfortable. I supposed writing (particularly reviewing) is a balancing act in that way, and you and I may have different views about where the optimum balance lies.

Thanks for all your help! Yes, we're in Yountville for two nights. I think we will try to get to Ad Hoc on our second night. Should be a good trip, we're going to The Bazaar by Jose Andres in LA, Chez Panisse, TFL and possibly Ad Hoc plus a bunch of places in SF (Nopa, Flour + Water, etc). I'd like to go to Manresa but I can't afford another expensive degustation on top of TFL and The Bazaar.

Can anyone confirm that it will be OK to not tip above the included service charge? Tipping in America scares the hell out of me, it's not a custom I'm familiar with at all. My inaugural trip to the States last year was filled with anxiety about who to tip, when and how much. Restaurants were fairly easy (20% of the pre-tax total) but apart from that it felt like a minefield.

I just realised that the previous post in this thread was by me, anxious about getting a reservation. After several nights of trying (10AM US Pacific time is 1AM where I live), I finally got a table for two for dinner in late November.

Thank you so much for your great account of your meal. In November I'll be dining at the French Laundry for the first time, and I'm so excited. One thing I'm a bit worried about is the wine. I don't know how to say "please choose wines for me but I am not a wealthy man so please tone things down a bit".

I am 54 years old. I have lived in various places in the US. I have never seen a butcher shop. Wow, that is shocking and sad. I was so excited by the farmers markets that I saw on my trip to the US last year, but I didn't realise that there was such a dearth of quality butchers! Here (Australia) the neighbourhood butcher is definitely less common than in decades past, but most areas would still have at least one. I have several quality (QUALITY) butchers within walking distance, one of whom has been there for over 50 years and only stocks beautiful, properly hung free range meat.

wow, I'm shocked to hear that real butcher shops are a rarity in some parts of America.

Arghhh I wish I'd noticed this thread an hour ago! I just tried and failed to truss four duck breasts that I've cured and am now hanging to dry. Thanks for the video!

Why don't you buy non-American cookbooks in English? Virtually all of them use weight-based measurements.

I want to cure duck breasts but I'm worried about the temperature in my house. Has anyone hung meat with a fan pointing at it to keep it cool? Would that work OK?