Jump to content

BigboyDan

participating member
  • Posts

    578
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by BigboyDan

  1. Not always the case. ← Then move to a restaurant where they do. The wine staff must have an incentive to sell, upsell, or just get out there on the floor and push product - Lord knows that they also do a lot of related work before, and after, service. The wine staff should get, in pay, 10% of all wine sales - we've done it that way for thirty years.
  2. Inexcusable. You should have sent it back. You can eat as much of any of the cheeses that you want. "Affordable"? You can get that 50 euros bottle of Merlot at Harrods... Hmmm. I last ate there in March 2006. I will again eat there on the 5th of November 2007. I'll compare notes.
  3. Cooks do not need to be tipped - we get to eat all we want.
  4. No tipping the wine staff - they get their pay from the check gratuity.
  5. Casey's looks played a part in her being cast for the show of course - that shot of her in a bikini sitting in the hot tub did show that she was not born with that cup size...
  6. That's really quite a unique achievement. ← Agreed. Hyperbole aside, there is just no other restaurant like it.
  7. Here in Central Texas, we sere the pork loin over high heat in a saute pan and then smoke it at 225 F until meat is 160 F - been doing it that way for, ohhh, 100 years...
  8. Vollrath Tribute pots and pans - what we use in a professional kitchen. The Tribute line is totally functional and half the cost of All-Clad, but does not have the beautiful stainless steel finish. Available at any restaurant supply store. The All-Clads that you have will last a lifetime, though... just fill-out with necessary pieces as you go along.
  9. Le Louis XV is a "Michelin 4-star" restauant - it can not be duplicated elsewhere because of a myriad of reasons. At the least, London will get a new high-end restaurant, and it should be judged on its own merits. Ducasse is Robuchon's best professional foil... and Joel has responded well...
  10. slkinsey has it right. You may need to rethink how you cook certain items. In a commercial kitchen we use non-stick pans made by Carlise, Vollrath, etc. for omlets and quick vegetable saute. A nonstick coated pan shoulod never be used over high heat - over 375 F. We replace the non-sticks pans every four months. For high heat saute we always use well seasoned steel French-style fry pans or stainless steel pans.
  11. Last week I looked at a small herd of bison on the Santa Ana Pueblo (just north of Albuquerque). I was told that bison available for food comes from culled animals. (There are animals culled by hunters too, around $1000 per ticket). There is not a great demand for bison therefore the retail price is not set by a true market - the meat is considered more of a delicacy, even in areas where the animals are raised.
  12. Best handmade chef's knives - period: http://www.nenoxusa.com/
  13. I love the food photos in the Denny's menu...
  14. Independent, elegant, high-end restaurant (100-120) diners a night, $80 per person), wine service, dinner only, open 6:00pm-10:00pm, closed Sun-Mon. Private parties and some catering. Over $2.5 million in total sales per year, serving 25000+ patrons per year. Four primary owner/investers. Each day: Back: (hourly work eight hour shifts) Chef, two sous, eight line cooks, ten prep cooks, one butcher (two hours daily), three dishwashers. Baker, two assist bakers. Pastry chef, two assist pastry. Front: 75 seats, 20 tables, 4K bottles of wine in-house. One GM, one assist GM, Maitre D', six waiters, six asssit waiters, four bussers, one sommelier, two hosteses. Three bartenders: one for service bar, two in the bar (seats 25). Accounting: three in office, two CPAs on retainer, one law office on retainer. Cleaners: each Monday a contracted service does heavy cleaning for the entire restaurant. Costs always run: 35% food and beverage, 30% labor, 15% overhead. Average 20% gross profit per month.
  15. The ICA and TC models are derived from the ACF Master Chef Rating certification - you can read about it in Ruhlman's book, The Soul of a Chef.
  16. Uhhh, first, you might want to consider a restaurant that does Christmas fare rather than a French or Thai place... Recommendations: The Four Seasons, Ceres restaurant at JW Marriott - Las Vegas, Ritz-Carlton - Lake Las Vegas, and both Delmonico and Micheal Mina have special menus for dinner.
  17. One has achieved success when one knows that the restaurant is in no danger of closing anytime between now and six months - that, and making a monthly profit. What happens in five years is far away from the attention span of a restaurant owner, we worry about tomorrow and the next six months...
  18. Hung was too good for the show, ask Rocco. If you worked in a kitchen, you'd know that the food is everything - we put up with bad personal behavior just to eat the food. Cooks, gladly, work like slaves in kitchens with Sous Chefs like Hung. It's the food. Colicchio may be a great chef, but Hung's better - just younger.
  19. Hung was better than his judges, and because of that fact he should despise them... And most lifer cooks who've worked in high-end restaurants end up hating their patrons - the way that it is...
  20. I garnish the Camarones Diablos with cilantro... Anyway, here's the recipe that was requested; found it at Food & Wine rather than at Gourmet: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/stir-fr...mint-and-chiles
  21. Nice place for an authentic Freanch meal - no pretence there. Manuel Martinez is a Meilleur Ouvrier de France recipiant and is well respected by those who work for him. And, after dinner you can burn off those calories walking the same footpaths near the Seine as Louis XIII, Cardinal Richelieu, D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers.
  22. Even better: replace the mint with strips of jalapeno. Stuff six 21/25 deveined-butterflied shrimp (leave tails on) with asadero cheese, the jalapeno, and wrap with a third of a slice of bacon; skewer with a toothpick; in a hint of olive oil, saute for two or three minutes over medium heat; plate with a dribble of heated chipotle/tomatillo sauce: Camarones Diablos - been serving them for thirty years...
  23. Hung's a sous for Guy Savoy for Heaven's Sake, he should have won, and did... reminder: technique counts in the restaurant kitchen biz, especially when judged by other kitchen chefs...
  24. "2. In retrospect, I probably should not have participated in the wine event at Paleys' Place. Eric Asimov" Ding! Ding! Ding!
×
×
  • Create New...