vmilor
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Posts posted by vmilor
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In the education of succeeding generations of children, they have indeed become the driving force. TV advertisers have taken over the modus operandi of the Jesuits: "Give me a child until the age of six . . ."
OK. I will keep it in mind for our 11 months old but one feels powerless...
Are you speaking of your own vantage point or, through some curiously acquired inside information, of mine?Yours. I just clicked on your link and read some of your exquisite essays which also give clues about your background. I also went to Berkeley so momentarily I felt some empathy.
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I have a simple comment about a particular sub-category of "food writing", i.e. restaurant reviews. Very often they remind me of demographic raw data meticulously assembled about a country. There is a lot of information out there but it is tiresome to read and it often obfuscates, rather than reveals, what is interesting and unique about the country. The lengthy analysis of dishes starts to make sense for me when they are geared to show what is unique about the chef, what his particular style is. In other words you need a theory, and overarching framework, to render the empirical material(that is the description of dishes) intelligeable. Of course there is no perfect theory, but to paraphrase John Thorne, the higher the sensibility of the author towards his subject, the more interesting the resulting report will be. I may then visit the restaurant in a different season when none of the dishes described by the author is available but can still make intelligent choices.
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Vedat, you've sketched an outline of post-modernist cuisine which, with very little alteration, could be a summary of the ethos and the modus operandi of the TV commercial. It is, perhaps, an illustration of the degree to which TV ads have permeated and altered the way we think about and react to daily experience -- and ultimately to life itself.
Fair, with a slight disagreement on nuance. I think this outline cum ideal type model is symptomatic of a "rigorous" social science and law training in an overworked and inattentive society. You learn to attach labels to things(even if everybody knows what those things are)so that people can remember easily. Moreover, you learn to classify and compare. Some people call this being analytic. It certainly is effective if at times unfair. TV adds are part and parcel of this same rationalization process, but they are the epiphenomenon and not the driving force. Looked at from the vantage point of a humanist comp. lit. training in Berkeley the whole thing may look quite silly and I sympathize with that.
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I wrote the previous mail a bit too quickly expressing astonishment that Darroze is given a second star. If this is not AA a la Francaise, the only explanation I have is that she is capable of very artistic presentations.
Still I think Michelin is quite good, better than the competiton, but not as good as the collective judgment here. I am a bit taken aback with Cabrales' 4 depromotions. This is called meeting of the minds. Let's wait to see Taillevent under Soliveres though. I also think Guy Savoy is 2 and a half, and Legendre will never be a 3+. Well, Prince Rainer is just too powerful so we can not take issue with Monaco. But why not 3 stars for Chibois? And Chevrier at Chateauvieux/Geneve? Take my word and go there during the game season.
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Is there a not too hidden message by Michelin that they are promoting the chic over the traditional? I am joining the chorus re. Darroze. Nothing special, but she has very aesthetic presentations. By the way I was there in the hottest day of the summer last June and the air conditioning had broken! Besson and Faugeron, on the other hand, are classic chefs. Of these 2, I thought Besson is 1 and a half stars so depromotion is not a big surprise. Faugeron, on the other hand was always a solid 2 stars who has not changed his specialties but did them well. Besides they had a great sommelier. In our visit last winter we had ordered a 90 Jayer, cros Parentoux. Unfortunately it was corked and this was the last bottle. The sommelier was even more upset than I was and he gave me a substantial discount on my next choice. I feel sorry for them.
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Yvonne points out a very interesting paradox of post-modern cuisine that I had not thought of. Thanks Yvonne. Bras may not fit the bill but I have not been there so I cannot comment.
When I coined the term I was trying to draw attention to the following aspects of PM cuisine: 1. It is a-historical, not bound with conventions. 2. It is quite denatured and not terribly interested in seasonal variations. 3. It emphasizes the "theatrical" nature of the dining experience and conceives of eating out as a ritualized play. The most stunning and blatant illustration of this last point was Jacques Maximin who had a failed restaurant in Nice designed like a theater where the stage was the kitchen and the spectators (clients) were in the auditorium, surrounded by the busts of deities (great chefs). This was meant as a joke of course, and Maximin himself is not a PM chef, but his message was loud and clear and unfortunately prescient.
I can see that in social science post modernism may be mistakenly considered anti status-quo. My own view is that the supposedly radical aspect of PMism is skin deep because it refuses to have an objective benchmark against which to critique the positivist paradigm. Radical subjectivism is more like the mirror image of narrowminded empiricism. I have to think little bit how to translate this metaphor into cuisine. But perhaps the mirror image of Blumenthal is the tired old brasseries who turn out insipid dishes.
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Can there be a gender dimension to this issue of disgust irrespective of historical/cultural context? Bugs and spiders for example. Mine is an unrepresentative sample, but ladies I have met from differents parts of the globe, irrespective of where they come from, seem to have a visceral reaction against them. Our baby Einstein VCR is trying its best to endear bugs to our 11 months old daughter, cleverly introducing bugs in between bunnies and kittens. I doubt it will succeed.
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I second Francesco about Ca Peo in Leivi. We had dinner twice there In June of 2001. They are on the very top of the hill and it is very panoramic. The owner is a oneophile, his wife is in the kitchen and they have some amazing 64 Barolos for reasonable prices. Fiammenghilla Fieschi in Sestri Levanti was equally good but from what I gathered reading 2003 l'espresso guide is that they may have lost the chef. Michelin also removed their star so I am not sure.
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. M Haeberlin is expected to supervise a restaurant to be opened around 2Q 2003 in the Europa Hotel in St. Petersburg. Apparently, P Haeberlin apprenticed with the chef who was the last to prepare cuisine for the Romanovs.
Last Spring I stayed at this hotel and had a very good meal at their beautiful restaurant. It was a solo dinner. There were very few tables and the stuff was gracious and cordial. After gulping down beluga with vodka, they brought the daily special, roasted venison Romanov style. It was very good. At some point I closed my eyes and imagined myself to be transported to a different era. Well maybe I had a prescient dream....
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I disagree, in part, with vmilor's delineation of which chefs are "Renaissance" and which chefs are Post Modern. For example, Keller is firmly rooted in tradition. From the Soul of A Chef (Ruhlman) Keller says, "When you're trying to be inspired, where do you turn? My favorite dishes are very traditional dishes, sole Veronique, quiche Lorraine, daube of beef, the short ribs that we do." In his sole dish, Keller tries to keep "the integrity of sole Veronique, but ... given it a modern interpretation."
Thanks Lizzie for taking the time and bringing those wonderful dishes to our attention.
May I ask who is Marcon?
Of course the best of the post-modern chef is rooted in tradition (see Lord Michael Lewis' first message in this thread). My problem is that after they become very famous, they start de-emphasizing these traditional dishes in favor of post-modern ones, like Veyrat. As for Thomas Keller, I certainly value his cuisine very highly. One problem is that you have to be a group of four in order for him to prepare his best classical dishes. Otherwise and because he is very generous, he sends two different things with each course, and if you split each dish with your spouse, you end up having one and sometimes half a bite of each dish. Of course the real problem is the cultural expectations within which the restaurant is embedded. He has to dazzle people. The typical reaction is: "I cannot remember what I ate there last night but, oh gosh, it was wonderful and so much..." On my part, both his daube de boeuf and short ribs are world class, and I wish they came earlier and in larger quantities.
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The discussion is taking many unexpected turns for which I am grateful. Jaz' well informed intervention raised my hopes that maybe there are some limits to what one observer aptly named "cuisine of the absurd". At the same time I was thinking about Lord Michael Lewis' terse statements that some cultural contexts are more likely to be welcoming to denatured, absurd cuisine. He and Whiting are apparently residing in Britain, and they can talk with more authority about the situation there. As for this side of the Atlantic, perhaps Goethe was on to something in the poem "To the United States", whose opening lines read:
Amerika, Du hast es besser
Als unser Kontinent der Alte,
Hast keine verfallenen Schlosser....
America, you are better off/Than our old continent/You have no castles in ruins....
Well, of course many learned observers, including Tocqueville, cherished America for this unique historical heritage, and the thesis of what became known as "American exceptionalism" held the view that this is an exceptionally fortunate nation because of not having castles in ruins, because of coming to democracy without having to endure democratic revolutions.
But then comes a brilliant individual, Louis Hartz, whose contribution to the literature on American individualism is, according to Alfred Hirschman, (another brillant thinker) "a coup de theatre". Now I am quoting Hirschman who says that Hartz, in THE LIBERAL TRADITION IN AMERICA (1955) "....fully accepts the idea that the United States is uniquely exempt from feudal relics....His book is in effect a long lament about the many evils that have befallen the United States because of the ABSENCE of feudal remnants, relics and the like....Hartz' reasoning is basically very simple-this is why it is so powerful. Having been 'born equal' without any sustained struggle against the 'father', that is the feudal past, America is deprived of what Europe has in abundance, social and ideological diversity. But such diversity is one of the prime constituents of genuine liberty....What is still more serious, this lack of diversity stimulates the ever-present tendencies toward a 'tyranny of the majority' inspored by America's 'irrational Lockianism', or its 'colossal lIberal absolutism'."
Well, I suppose this lack of real diversity and market friendly absolutism is propitious ground for the triumph of post modernism which prides itself for its a-historical, artificial stance. It also jibes well with market economy a la American because it is scaleable, "easy to imitate and market" as M.L. put it. It will survive as long as the lights are on and the fad is in full swing.... and then in 10 years we will have something "new", possibly worse. What is more sad for me is to think that even Michelin is not immune to this influence as they picked on the most vulnerable in London (Kaufman) and possibly they are going to do the same thing in France too.
Vedat Milor
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This seems to me a quantum leap in marketing. The article mentioned that you can add AMP to your coffee made of cheap ingredients but the aftertaste is like raw fish. So they may create the illusion for a short moment but not for long. Think of farmed fish and sterilized oysters. I don't think one needs to have eaten in great restaurants to appreciate the difference between, say, farmed sea bass and a bar from bretagne.
One still needs to address one question raised by Lord Michael: why is it that the renaissance/neo-classical school is not media friendly? Why is there little hope for the best of these neo-classical chefs outside of the mediterranean countries?
Also on a different note inspired by Robert Brown's comments. I had eaten at Chapel in 1985 and did not take notes. When I thought about it I fondly remembered all dishes but the desserts. I have eaten 3 times at El Bulli in the last 4 years and can only remember 2 dishes without looking at my notes. What is the significance of this fact?
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Peter P:
I will spend one night in Milano in less than one month. I want to try some traditional Milanese stuff and for sure risotto al salto. Do you think Il Carpaccio fits the bill? And could you tell us where it is located. Thanks.
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Hey-great idea. You two and Plotnicki can taste and score all the wines and I'll hoover up what you've left just to make sure that you've made no mistakes.
What does" hoover up" mean Tony?
As to your proposal, it certainly is inappropriate. I pride myself for good judgment and you like it or not, my opinion is that, when it comes to judging wine you certainly have more knowledge and experience than I do. This is also a tragedy because those like you take refuge in a sort of romantic positon instead of confronting the guru. I see here some metaphor re. old Europe versus the new tyrant, but superior wisdom should not justify staying on the sidelines. The second best position of playing the game( even if you do not like the rules), i.e. establishing a hierarchy (but subject to caveats that one can state upfront)is preferable to adapting an elitist position.
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Il Carpaccio ... with a different girl each time
Did the girls give up because of the food or the guy???
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There is tremendous improvement in this discussion. Wavelenghts are approaching one another.
Do we all agree that taking him on will be a team effort? There are people who have gray hairs because of studying Germans, Loire, etc., so one needs a team to launch a new publication with individual decisionmaking (scores) in each region.
The beginning needs to be sensational. Legitimate questions raised by porkpa have to be addressed. Team members can study WA and pile up a list of where WA went wrong, positive or negative.
50 pointer is the standard, like it or not. There is no need to squabble over it.
Besides admonishing WA for judgmental errors the new publication needs a battle cry which rings true. How about proclaiming that Parker is promoting an international style and we need the best expression of terroir to maximize satisfaction?
Wine merchants should be natural allies. As things stand, they either play the game and become conveyor belts. Alternatively, they (most of them I know are passionate) speak out but this raises a trust issue on the part of their clientele. They may champion an alternative publication and recommend it.
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And it can only be Retsina with My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
I take my hat off to this suggestion. I had Retsina, and it made a lasting impression.
I have Vega Sicilia, but I'm still waiting to uncork it. Does anybody know how it is doing?
Also, I need some urgent advice. Upon the positive comments received by Adaptation (I haven't seen it yet), I checked out Being John Malcovich, by the same team. This will be seen on our tete-a-tete dinner on Friday with Mrs. M. Any compatible wine suggestions???
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Matching wine with the right movie is a much harder thing than either matching movie with food or matching wine with food.
Here are some recent pairings:Band a Part(Godard) with Thevenet Morgon
Piano Teacher(Haneke--sado-masochism)Woody and bubble-gum Ca chard.
8 women(Ozon) with young Meo Parentoux(keeps changing in the glass)
My Son's Room(Moretti--sad but really deep) with 61 Conterno Monfortino
Talk to Her(Almodovar-tasty, grandiose, gimmicky) with $400 CA cab.
Lady and the Duke(Rohmer at his "reactionary" but very classy) w. 61 Latour
My Big Fat Greek Wedding(Oh so nice plot) with Turley Zin
Leopard(Visconti) with Biondi Santi Brunello from the first half of the century.
More pairing ideas welcome!(should we start a discussion group on this?)
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The problem with Parker is that he doesn't have any competition. A clear voice with a different point of view has not figured out how to reach the marketplace.
This is a big chunk of the problem. Clearly there are barriers to entry in this imperfect market. My hunch is that, since Parker is now so well established, all wineries in all parts of the world (even those who hate his taste)are now vying with one another to get him to taste their wines. I doubt that new entrants will ever get such attention and convince established producers to spend time with them and to share their resources.
The second part of the problem is that the market is not only imperfect, but it is shallow. There isn't any institution of verification to check on Parker's previous scores and report on the ageability of the wines. Sporadically Parker and WS report on verticals, but overall colossal mistakes get unnoticed. Of course, it is easier to criticize than to remedy the situation. My only expectation is that three or four anti-Parker people with deep pockets and intimate connections to the wine industry (but without any financial interest in the industry)will come together and start another publication. I'm saying 3-4, because even Parker is not getting any younger, and he has an associate. Deep pockets are necessary to burn the initial funds, because wineries will be sceptical and not provide a free lunch, like they do to Parker. But of course, this is not an easy task and may not materialize in the forseeable future.
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I was just asking him to expound on what he said.
I am happy to oblige.
Sabel/Piore's The Second Industrial Divide, which was published in 1982, set up a new paradigm in organizational theory by arguing that small scale organization based on flexible division of labor and a handcraft mode of production may be more efficient and higher value added than large scale bureaucratic organizations applying standardized techniques. The case in point was Northern Italy, especially those shoe/apparel/furniture manufacturers, which were very successful, took on much larger rivals, and became market leaders. A whole new literature follows from this, but the paradigmatic case of success remains the so called Third Italy (i.e. neither the government nor the big firms).
Another very interesting book is by Robert Putnam, called Making Democracy Work, Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, published by Princeton U.P., 1993. Putnam argues that due to historical reasons the general level of trust and norms of reciprocity has been higher among northern Italians, compared to the south. He calls this social capital. Social capital lubricates economic transations because it reduces mistrust and transaction costs. As a consequence, Putnam claims that both the level of economic development and civic involvement in politics has been much higher in the north compared to the south.
jaybee is much more knowledgeable than I am about the current big business climate in Italy. When I refer to large scale organization, I primary had in mind the government, and I vaguely know that Fiat and Olivetti are not faring very well right now. At any rate, it may be possible that some large scale organizations in Italy will do very well because they will be able to spawn off many autonomous units which will cooperate to mutual benefit and encourage individual creativity.
Reading the past debate, it also strikes me that both Craig Camp and Peter P. are close and acute observers of the Italian scene, and unfortunately some of their excellent points are not being elaborated on.
Vedat Milor
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I do not think I had a storage problem with Calera because he was shipping directly from his winery to the Bay Area to my cellar. I vaguely remember that he had a drought problem in the late 80s. I heard that he does not like to give free wines and hence the journals do not promote him((and he plays good tennis!). In the end who cares? Here is a guy who is very talented and passionate and principled and he impressed the likes of Jacques Seysses(Dujac).
By the way I had Reed 83 in the late 80s, long ago in a Napa restaurant, and my then girlfriend was so impressed with it that she saw me in a different light and agreed to my proposal.
I am glad to hear that it is still doing well.As to the ageability of Pinots: it is a hit and miss game, more miss in CA than in France but when it is a hit it is a HIT. Too bad that the CA hierarchy changed so much. I had good old Hanzell, Mount Eden, a name I can not remember(who was an airline pilot but passed away)etc. Some Kalin cellars were touted as DRC level when they came to the market and (apparently they were manipulated wines which fooled the experts). Now they are too astringent and nothing else. Some Kistler and Marcassin Pinots are receiving stellar scores and I reserve my judgment. Overall the market is not too imperfect and CA PNs do not disappoint when one considers how much they cost.
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I could not see how to improve the dish, although I could offer dozens of suggestions as to how to make it more complicated or fanicer in presentation.
Intuitively this may have been my criteria for judgment but I never expressed it so succintly. Looked at from this vantage point maybe we can advance the debate on objective comparisons of restaurants within and across national borders. This statement also holds true for other forms of art. Let's consider, for example, how very elegant ladies dress: just optimum accessories and color combinations where anything extra will deduct from the overall effect. It holds even true for professional fields, i.e. when one spends too much time revising, say a contract or an article, there is a point beyond which the extra effort will not add but detract from the overall quality. Thanks for the stimulation.
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You really are the proverbial Ugly American aren''t you?
Please gentelmen , please.
You like it or not, I lump you in the "humanist" category.
Prior to World War One there was an internationally oriented elite which squabbled over trivialities and did not notice the simmering anger of the masses and of those who manipulated the masses. We all know the results.
Personally I am learning a great deal from the contributors to this forum and I am sure Italians, French, etc., will be equally pleased.
On a different note: there is serious literature on the Italian ability to excel in small business and fail in large scale organizations. If you are interested drop me a mail.
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I can add very little to what has been said before except:
I had a meal at Chez Michel on January 3rd 2003(friday). It may be as good(or almost as good) as La Regalade. However there are 2 issues with these very popular places. First, 30 Euro is deceptive because more fancy stuff costs extras and with decent wine we usually end up spending 150 or so(still a good value) for 2. Secondly, esp. on busy nights they try to kick you out as soon as they can and do not even welcome innocent maneuvers(such as ordering a digestive) to lenghten your stay. This may ruin a romantic dinner, unless you make a 10pm. or so reservation.
L'Ardoise is so so.
Do you like a whole really fresh grilled wild sea bass for 2 without sauce? The funky(amazingly Michelin gave a star!) Marius et Janette is my recommendation for simple seafood lunch. They also have great apple tart and fondant.
Pre-Catelan is romantic. The cooking is uneven but on the whole I have no qualms about its 2 stars. Service is very kind and good. It will jibe well with the exhibition labeled "The time of Marcel Proust" if it is still going on in the Marais.
I had once had good food and terrible experience with the sommelier at Ledoyen when Ghislaine Arabian was cooking. We went again a few days after the millenium. We had even better food(Le Squer is a very good chef)), esp. re. shellfish and fish(desserts were not on par), but we had a catastrophic experience with the sommelier. I won the battle and got what I wanted(95 Meursault Perrieres from Coche Dury for 550FF), but I lost the war because the whole experience was ruined. I will spare you the details. Hope they are not now distinguishing among people on the basis of French versus others but on a more principled basis, as fortunately the majority of great restaurants in France do.
In the event you visit Les Ormes and/or Les Muses please tell us about them. Both chefs are apparently from the Robuchon network.
Michelin 2003 results ...Promotions and Demotions
in France: Dining
Posted
Thanks for posting the Figaro article. It is very interesting. The gist of it is that perhaps Michelin is bending more to political and market pressures. They may be selecting the winners on the basis of advancing Michelin's marketability rather than the restaraunts' intrinsic value. The losers will be hard working but shy chefs who cannot self-promote. Le Figaro agrees with the collective judgment here about Darroze. Actually I had forgotten to note in an earlier post that the lobby of the restaurant is really trendy. For a split second I thought I was in a very upper end beauty shop. It was very impersonal, but with quite a few gorgeous women dressed in black which intimidated rather than exhilarated me. It could have been a place in New York. Le Figaro also notes the fickle nature of modern taste, and its quickly changing nature. Well this is the post-modern times, and France is not immune to trends, and crises of self-confidence may afflict the inspectors. But Michelin still has the guts to deservedly depromote Les Ambassadeurs (part of the powerful Taittenger group). Lets hope that they do not evolve towards the populistic direction under the new leadership.