Bond Girl

A nice light nage with a biit of toasted saffron. Saute a bit of sallot until caramelized, add a bit of the liquid you use to cook the ravioli with and add cut butter a little bit at a time until it thickens. Meanwhile toast some saffron thread and crush it into the broth. Garnish with chives.

Do the cheese cake, it's awesome! A bit different from your average cheese cake but worth the trouble and easy too.

I went to Modern yesterday with a wine maker friend. It is a beautiful dining room that overlooks the garden of the musem. The service was a bit on the disoriented side, but the sommelier seemed to be very knowledgeable and the wioatsatff efficient, albeit a bit cold. The silverware is incredibly modern but difficult and uncomfortable to use. The amuse arrived with a rhubard bellini, vegeable mix and a long spoon with little cubles of rhubarbs. Overall, the amuse lacked balance, it;s as if someone had forgotten to season the dishes, and the rhubarb bellini was on the watery side. I ordered the spring tasting menu which started with a tuna carpaccio paired with grapes and fava. It's a lovely yelllowfin tuna and very well prepared with the clean sweet taste contrasted with the sharp peppers. Then came a perfectly seared piece of foie gras with cherry reduction. The sweet rich velvety taste melted perfectly with the slight tartness of the cherry reduction. Each component of this dish would be boring by itself, but together it's wonderful. The skate that came next was too salty, and disappointing after the foie gras. Although it was a very pretty plate and the chicory on the side tasted fresh after the rich foie gras. I sailed into the lobster in cream sauce not knowlng what to expect, but it was a succulent piece of lobster and the cream sauce was so delicious that I was mopping it up with bread. The final course would have been duck, which I do not eat, so they gave me a beautiful loup de mer that was brightened by a tart earthy tomato confit and soft tender spring vegetables on the side. The loup de mer was by far one of the most successful dish in the tasting menu, and I was happy once again. Dessert consist of a mini lemon basil sorbet that reminded me of the lemonades in the summer and cleansed my palate, and then I ordered a strawberry panna cotta with strawberry compote and strawbberry sorbet. My sorbet was a bit melted by the time it got to me but I forgave them being it's 11pm and who cares about efficiency at that point? Modern is a place for design fanatics. I want to poach a number of the items in the restaurant, especially the bread basket. Some of the flatwear ans water pitcher work, others just seemed clumsy and pretentious. And a few even borders on the rediculous and seemed to create more form than function. And, this is coming from a girl who buys things around the house because they look good. It seemed that much of the restaurant is still ironing out the kinks. The breead server is slow to replace the bread. My dining companion end up filling my water glass most of the evening. Although they seemed pretty quick wth the wine glasses. I'd go back in about a month and keep my fingers crossed.

Doc. You are always the voice of reason. For now I am Nicoise out! Having consumed a variation of this stuff for a week and a half....Will return to the subject in a week or so. Meanwhile, if I get an answer out of Marco, I will post his suggestions on the thread.

Here is a recipe from Marco Canora at Hearth: You render some prociutto until the fat is released, cook some onions, carrots and celeries in it, put in the beans, and stir to coat. throw in bouquet garni and add just enought water to cover and simmer at very low heat until tender.

So I went out and got a can of the Ortiz Ventricia Tuna Belly....the thing had the same smelly oil and tinny taste that I hate about canned tuna. Should I be buying the jar variety?

I wonder if Sullivan Street Bakery is on your list? And the new Bouley's Bakery.

Therein lies the problem, I've never owned one. I have a finance background and understand how a business needs to work but have not worked in the industry.

Interesting bit about the rice, Jose. The few times that I made paella, I used a rice that friends bought me from Valencia. The basic paella recipe I have seemed simple enough, although I never knew the finer points of it. What do the other pots look like? Do you have a picture of it? Would you care to expand on the finer points some more? It may inspire me to take my paella pan off the wall and use it again.

I am planning to put in 10% of what I need, against my accountant's advice, and would like to be included in your prayers... Please tell me about your albergho! I love to hear more about it!

what would be the correct amount of time?

My accountant told me that if I seriously want to, I have enough money to put in about 10% of what I am looking for, but he advised against it. I've also talked to a fund that will invest in ventures in downtown New York, but then the fund itself was having trouble getting started. Small business administration is an option, but the maximum loan they will give you is nominal. I am downsizing the kind of place I want. Then, another investor came around that seemed interested but wanted to do trendy mediocre restaurants with high volume turnover, thumping music and nice looking service staff....oh dear, haven't I heard this a thousand time before. Next week, I'll see what I can round up in the West Coast area.

Adam, that would make sense. The boiled potatoes would turn the whole thing very heavy. I ran into Marco Canora, chef at Hearth, last night and asked about his poached tuna. Will try to get the recipe from him and share it with all you guy.

going back to the tuna...a can of even the best quality tuna has to start with the fish itself right? Any idea how tuna became canned tuna? Why can't this be done at home? Having said this I will go out to whole foods in search of some ortiz tuna.

Hey do you cook the quail eggs the same way as normal egg...sorry, this is one thing I don't normally work with.

I also love the idea of salted tomatoes...I was once taught a recipe of poached tuna by Kevin Garcia who used to work at the Boca Raton resort that involved first salting the tuna in a mixture of salt and sugar,leave for an hour then rise off the salt and gently poach it in olive oil at a shiver....his version is nice and moist, although I've never successfully emulate it at home.

Not speaking for the original poster, but I have very rarely had a canned fish product that didn't have what I consider a strikingly unpleasant taste. ← Exactly why I hate canned tuna...but having said that I've never had the "high quality" variety only because my experiences with canned fish products have been disappointing. Anchovies are a good idea, but how do I use fresh anchovies? Does anyone know how they used to do it? The seared fresh tuna is also an idea...the tomato concasse with quail eggs sounds absolutely precious...Thanks for the Idea Jinmyo! Will head out to hunt for quail eggs this afternoon.

I know that most recipes called for canned tuna but I abhorred anything canned...and, what do people us before industrialized canned tuna was invented?

I don't normally like French food, nor do I like my fish cooked. But, over the weekend, I dreamt of the most perfect tuna nicoise, the kind you get in a bistro that came with a piece of toasted baguette. So I set about assembling the Nicoise salad. Starting with poached tuna. I got a 1/3 pound piece of sushi grade yellow fin lay it on a bed of onions, garlic and peppercorn, threw in a bouquet garni and pour enough olive oil to barely cover the tuna. I set it over lowest possible heat and watch for the occasional bubble. An hour later, the last part of red just about disappeared, so I turned off the heat and let it cool. Here I ran into a hitch, the tuna wasn't bad but it was on the dry side....Any ideas on how I can make it moist and tender? Or, is it supposed to be dry so that one can flake it into bits and mix it with mayo?

It is a crime against food. Why do people buy packaged stuff when there are so many glorious produces they can cook?

I had my first milk shake at the shake shack today. Caramel milkshake. Awesome!

That shows you how much I know...I would think this is the NYC derivative BBQ. I guess it's not authentic,, but for a late night delivery, it's a notch above Pizza and greasy chinese food.

Paul, can you tell us about funding the restaurant? I think it's one of the hardest part that every restauranteur must endure.

I am taiwanese, so my knowledge of Cantonese Chow mein is a bit limited, but besides how the noodles should be, isn't hard to come up with a definitive version of chow mein. Afterall, the dish was invented to incorporate whatever spare vegetable that is left over in your fridge. So each chow mein should be different from the other.

Is this down home or down under style BBQ? ← If I tell yoou that I know the difference, I'd be out right lying! It taste pretty good, whatever it was.