Broken English

I noticed something quite odd all through the US recently. With the exception of high end places, without fail every time I ordered a starter and main course, the main would arrive when I was less than half way through the starter. How hard is it to call the main away when you clear the starter plate?

Thanks for the advice. I have a meeting with Jason Carter from Centro in a few days, I'll see how this goes before I go any further and send more resumes. I'd rather apply for one at a time rather than plaster the town with resumes and maybe have to piss people off by not taking up all offers that come my way.

Based on my current sleep patterns, this sounds like a dream job for me. Since arriving in the US, I don't think I've been able to sleep before 4am once yet. Damn time change.

They're right, it is a FILO system you're using. Not that it matters though. I guess the only way is to have multiple stacks or to take from/put away on the bottom of the stack.

Thanks. I didn't catch the description of where the truffle in the ice cream was from, so it could have been winter from Australia, so I avoided a definitive description haha.

I read somewhere that Sam Mason smokes his Coke for a cocktail. I am officially intrigued.

Just returned. Only one phrase comes to mind ... "F$%& me". Achatz is a genius. Review to follow when I come down from cloud nine.

You're welcome. There's nothing wrong with going by yourself. For me, it means I get to immerse myself more fully in the experience, which at Masa, can only be a good thing.

Tets is no longer three hats. Marque is much better in my experience, Becasse was better, and Gastro Park was easily on par with my last two meals at Quay. Nice restaurant, I've had some great meals there, but it's overrated for sure.

Not a worry. Thanks for reading.

Bit late to the thread, but I've made a coconut caramel banana puree before. I just made a regular caramel, tossed some bananas in, and then added coconut cream and salt. It worked well.

I've applied to Centro, and I have a friend who used to work at Canoe so I'm going to send a resume to them as well. Which other places other than those mentioned here are worth a look at?

I went last night, and it was brilliant. There were a few misses, one of them surprisingly on the most conventional course, ad a slight mark against the service. I'll write a bit of a review soon. It's really refreshing to see Wylie working the line, and it was really good being able to have a brief chat to him.

I headed there for lunch today. Wow. Those pork buns, that ethereal fat exploding on your mouth as you try desperately to keep it in your mouth, and off your chin and clothing. The silky, hot, slightly chewy-yet-soft buns, the hoisin. I can see why Chang made his name on the back of these. I also had the rotisserie duck, which was just as good. It appeared that the breast had been stuffed with a farce under the skin before being roasted to a beautiful pink, and it was unbelievably tender and juicy. Add a chive pancake and some lettuce, along with some fried shallots and sauce from the condiments on the table, and you have Peking duck on steroids. All the great things about Peking duck, with extra flavour, extra texture, more moisture. I wish I had time to go back, but I feel it's my duty to head to Katz's tomorrow, and I highly doubt I'll feel like eating anything after that, based on what I've heard. At thirty five bucks with a beer and a Pellegrino, it's a steal.

Review from last night, sorry it's so long, it also could be a little rough, given that I've only just finished it. Anyway, enjoy ... A ten dollar taxi fare, four floors up via escalator, half an hour of drinks at a lounge a stone’s throw from the entrance of Masa (a reflection of my own paranoia of being late in a strange city I don’t know) but finally the clock gets close enough to seven to make an entrance. Upon entering through the corridor, a strange feeling of tranquillity washes through me as I am led to my seat at the sushi bar. Enough has already been said about the daily-sanded wooden bar, but I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that it is the sort of wood I'd choose to bear my children, were I that way inclined. I notice there are only two people sat in the entire restaurant, one guy who clearly has some prior affiliation with Chef Masa, as he's talking about his upcoming trip to Japan, saying "I'll give you a call and we can go out to dinner" and doesn’t appear to receive a bill. The other was me. Shortly afterwards, he disappears and a young Slovenian woman (whose name I can’t recall) arrives, and our courses end up pretty much synchronised. The meal begins with unagi, served with pickled cucumber, the richness of the eel and the tartness of the pickling liquid of the cucumber combining with the refreshing crunch of the cucumber. Bluefin Toro with caviar is up next, and I really don’t think it’s much of a stretch of the imagination to describe it as ‘luxury squared’, the brininess of the eggs and the glorious fat-laden Toro melting as it is introduced to the tongue. Up next is, for my money (and there’s quite a bit of it at stake here), the dish of the night. A small cocotte dish filled with sweet, baby icefish fried over the hibachi in pungent garlic oil, with toasted croutons on the side. I won’t describe every dish in great detail as, for one thing, there was too many of them, and without the aid of a printed menu it is all but impossible for me to remember all dishes accurately, particularly as the wine flowed. I figured, seeing as I was at Masa, I may as well go all out and get the Wagyu beef tataki with summer truffles, which at a price of $120, certainly makes the head spin, if not explode entirely. While it was utterly breathtaking, the butteriness of the beef adding another dimension to the dense, earthy aroma of the white truffle, the price is rather outrageous. After a rockfish sashimi with micro herbs comes a broth in which small pieces of fish were poached before being dragged through cucumber vinaigrette, which was later combined with the broth to form the soup for the next course. I’m sure there’s an actual Japanese term for this style of course, but I’m no Japanese aficionado, so I’ll leave it at that. Suffice to say that each of the courses were utterly delicious. A lot has been said in various corners about the service standards at Masa, but I found the service to be informative, cheery and charming. The only slightly awkward part was that, at a waitstaff to diners ratio of 1.5:1, it began to feel a little like we were being stalked, with wine and water being filled every two or three minutes, almost sip by sip. I was a little surprised to see so few people; they only did three covers for the entire night. I did ask Chef Masa about this, and he said the summer, particularly summer weeknights, have historically been quieter. I can’t help but feel that the newest market crash, when combined with nosebleed inducing prices, has not helped matters. Anyway, enough commentary for a little while, onward we shall travel, to the sushi courses. I think ethereal would probably be an understatement when describing this portion of the meal. Perfect warm sushi rice, incredible quality seafood, delicately applied dabs of freshly grated wasabi and a few other seasoning and flavouring elements, I’m getting excited again just thinking about it. Good sushi, to me, has always been elegance stripped down to the bare essentials, but it is taken to another level here. A sprinkling of salt, a squeeze of lime, a slick of soy, a slight dust of lime zest; each and every piece was as perfect as I could ever have asked for. It’s for this reason alone that Masa was worth the price. From the Bluefin Toro done three ways, as nigiri, grilled sinew nigiri, and as a tartare wrapped in nori, to the uni, the octopus and truffle, the Hamachi, the abalone, the scallop, the unagi two ways and the white truffle nigiri, there is not a single misstep or false note. Everything is as good as it could be; in fact, it’s a whole lot better. Adding to the experience is the intimacy of there being just two of us at the sushi counter, both comfortably chatting with Chef Masa throughout the meal, talking about his upcoming fishing trip in Japan, the places we’ve travelled, restaurants around the world and the ingredients and food we’re passionate about. Not surprisingly, he is a man who enjoys simple, clean tasting food; and so do I. Probably more so now. The meal wraps up with an offer of truffle ice cream for the bargain price of $30, but having been well and truly sated, I decline and finish up the meal with a very simple palate cleansing dish of (poached I think?) grapes on crushed ice, before relaxing and talking with the chef for a further twenty minutes or so after the meal, at which time he graciously offers a photo opportunity. Now, onto the finale of what’s become a rather long (but I hope not long-winded) review. The only question one can ask when staring at a bill for one of $760 before tip is “is it worth it?” Unequivocally, yes. It is undoubtedly an experience I shall take with me for years to come. The produce is utterly flawless, and it is all expertly prepared by people I am going to have to refer to as no less than geniuses. That sort of experience costs money. I have to hedge my answer with the next logical question, “would you go again?” The answer to that question on the other hand, is probably not, barring a great fortune befalling me. At least, not for a good long time, and that’s not just because I won’t be in NYC for a long time. I think Masa is one of those restaurants you have to visit once in your lifetime, if for no other reason than to see how good simplicity can be.

I'm pretty sure you can split wine pairings, I've read it somewhere. I dine here on Sunday, so excited.

I think it's pretty hard to draw that conclusion seeing as they only seat very few people a night. I've never been there, that comment just sticks out at me. I'm definately keen to head to Ssam or Noodle Bar next week while I'm in NY though. I agree with you. And I highly encourage you to check out Ssam or Noodle when you're in NY (or Ko if you can get in). Apart from the fact that the post you quoted was over a year old, it was also an intentionally poor comparison, presumably constructed to prove a point. By cherry-picking meals (and prices) that served to make Ko look as expensive as possible and its competition much cheaper, the OP was trying to prove that Ko was a bad deal. Of course, if you take Ko's dinner price ($125), it's pretty similar to the one quoted for SHO. And If you take EMP's dinner price, which is $125 for the basic 4 courses, then Ko seems like a much better "deal". No point in arguing with the OP if an apples to apples comparison isn't really being made properly. There were a number of other points made that (either intentionally or unintentionally) didn't reflect an understanding of how a restaurant's costs are determined. So without looking at actual ingredient costs, it's impossible to say that Ko was making a ton of money compared to the others. In addition to basics such as the small number of covers they clear each day, Ko does quite a few raw seafood preparations that often bear a high food cost. Further, final costs of a dish to the restaurant aren't based only on the total physical weight of ingredients, so it's naive to say that Ko's "tiny courses" should only equal what the other places' larger items do in terms of cost. Prep labor, serving expenses and so on are the same for a plated dish regardless of the physical size/weight, so 15 tiny courses will cost a restaurant much more to prepare than the same amount of food presented as four large courses. Hope you enjoy whichever Momo experience you decide to try! Haha, I didn't even notice how old that post was. I'm used to forums where three pages is all one days worth. I'm sure there's lots of other holes in the comparison, but as I said, I'm not familiar with Ko. I'd really love to visit Ko actually, what's the best way to get a reservation? I'll definately hit up one of the other places failing Ko though.

Try the blue cheese with a good sweet white wine next time. Preferably one with a little acidty and not a flabby sweet wine. Sauternes, Jurnacon Moelleux or Coteaux du Layon would all work without being disgusting. Blue cheese and beer is fantastic as well. Perfect balance.

Yeah, for sure. I was referring more to the plethora of people who think that tasting from the same spoon is a culinary crime worthy of prison.

I think it's pretty hard to draw that conclusion seeing as they only seat very few people a night. I've never been there, that comment just sticks out at me. I'm definately keen to head to Ssam or Noodle Bar next week while I'm in NY though.

My apologies, it seems there is more going on there I was unaware of, I don't exactly google Gordon too much anymore, since I found the more exciting and less publicised chefs in the world. The shark thing, yes it is hypocritical, although two sharks taken as trophies are hardly big news. The Puffin is irrelevant, as it isn't served in any of his restaurants, and was a one-off. The Eel thing I can understand to a degree, and I was unaware of the various endangered fish he was serving, but you can't put that on the same level as shark finning, because at least they're using most, if not all, of the fish (portions, stocks, staff meals etc). He may be morally wrong, and slightly hypocritical, but he's campaigning against a morally reprehensible practice. I can't see how anyone can take the other side on this one. I'd be fine if the whole shark was used, but that's not the case.

To be honest though, I think the whole 'ew, germs' thing has made a lot of people more susceptible to viruses that ordinarily would not have made them sick if they'd been exposed to them a little before. Immuno compromised, already sick, yeah sure, be wary, but paranoia about tasting from the same spoon just makes me mourn for humanity. I have eaten an inordinate amount of things in my life that could have possibly made me sick, but I can count on two fingers the times I have been actually genuinely sick from food (I'm not counting those times I've just gotten greedy, eaten way too much and have a tummyache afterwards). Both those times it had nothing whatsoever to do with someone's mis-handling of tasting spoons.

It is, it's pure unadulterated food porn, but bear in mind that if you cook from it, it's incredibly likely you won't be able to cook most of the dishes without foregoing all the exotic 'specially grown for Quay' garnishes and substituting them for something a little realistic.

Just came back from L'Atelier, I wanted to be able to go to the full-scale Robuchon, but unfortunately it is closed until the 18th of August (must be some sort of curse for me, as Per Se is also closed for the entire time I'm in NY). I was going to order the full tasting, but in some ways I'm glad I didn't. Although I'd eaten lunch about 7 hours before, and by some strange turn of fortunes, I still wasn't particularly hungry. I instead settled upon 4 courses from the tapas-style menu. Hand sliced Belotta Iberico with tomato bruschetta was simply stunning, with the top grade ham simply shining in all its nutty, fatty, slightly-chewy glory. At $38 though, it was a very pricy plate of ham. Seared duck foie gras with cherries and almonds was a great combination of flavours, although the foie was slightly overcooked, and could have done with a bit more resting time, and there seemed to be so much oil already drizzled on the plate, and the fat leeching from the foie made for a very oily plateful. Delicious oily plateful, but oily plateful nonetheless. Quail stuffed with foie gras, served with a frisee salad, truffle vinaigrette and pomme puree was also respectable, although very small, and the pomme puree was nowhere near as rich or buttery as the version I've eaten in London L'Atelier. A "chocolate sensation" was incredibly rich and decadent; a dark chocolate ganache and milk chocolate mousse layered in a bowl, topped with white chocolate sorbet, a tempered chocolate disc, and oreo crumbs was over the top in the best way possible, providing a very rich, satisfying finale. I'm regretting I wasn't all that hungry, because at $155/head for ten courses, the tasting menu was much better value than the $117 I paid for four courses (that’s not including tax, beverages or tip). Maybe it’s just because it’s Vegas, but the prices are far more inflated than last year’s L’Atelier in London. I was also a little dismayed not to see a caviar dish on the menu, as there had been last year. In all though, it was a good experience, but I certainly wouldn’t rate it at the level the pricing seems to suggest.

Wow, what a guy... So, its okay for him to fish for and kill endangered sharks for sport, but its not okay when others want to eat them? Why is he even lecturing others what to serve when he was serving endangered animals after his campaign? If he wants to do something, why not focus on the endangered fishes and animals that he serves at his restaurants and which his audience eats instead of going after a chinese delicary that he and his eaters weren't going to eat in the first place. It must be so much easier and convienent to lecture others about what not to eat instead of looking in the mirror. You're going to have to clue me in here, which one of his shows portrays him fishing for endangered sharks? Oh, and what endangered animals is he serving in his restaurants? That post seems ridiculous in more ways than one.