melkor

Of course, this is my point. Your point is that someone DIDN'T like the D'Yquem. I'm saying give D'Yquem a second chance. You're saying D'Yquem is overrated, you prefer TBA and Eiswein. I'm saying maybe he should try other dessert wines and then try D'Yquem in the future. You're saying he doesn't like D'Yquem now, he may never like it. Clearly I'm missing something, earlier you said that Adam didn't enjoy his meal at CT because he lacked fine dining experience, and that if he had a way to put the meal at CT in context he would feel differently about it. My point was that CT had the opportunity to impress Adam and they failed to do so. We don't have enough information to determine where things went wrong, but we do know for certain that Adam had a less than ideal experience there. Your previous post leaves absolutely no room for the possibility that the service or the food at CT that night was in any way less than perfect. The way I read your comment it seems that you are more or less saying that the general public is incapable of enjoying haute cuisine.

Yes, I think there are times when the untrained palate will prefer the simple Barsac because they would find the d'Yquem too complex and intensely flavored. I have actually seen things like this happen many times. Well, why didn't you send me their glass of yquem?

This logic can easily be applied towards food, he could very well have listed each course and Good, Ok, or Bad next to each of them - there is no reason that a full page description of each plate needs to be included in a review for the reviewer to be justified in feeling the way they do about the meal they had. Do you seriously believe that if you offered someone a glass of yquem and a glass of an unclassified barsac they would not only be able to tell the difference but would also greatly enjoy the glass of yquem? edit: this post crossed with Gordons.

Gordon you’re taking a completely indefensible position that somehow suggests that you need to be trained to appreciate good food. Worse than that, you're suggesting that the blame for our friend Adam being uncomfortable at CT rests with him rather than with the Trotter staff for making him feel that way. Contrary to your condescending belief that only the enlightened can appreciate good food, I’d like to point out that a few months ago when I took my younger brother, his girlfriend, my mother, and her husband to dinner at the French Laundry, none of them had eaten anywhere of that caliber and all of them found it to be an outstanding experience. I'm further confused about how on earth you've come to the conclusion that Adam should have spent time dining in France before visiting CT when he was in Chicago? It is entirely within reason that Adam would have expected to be served amazing food in a comfortable atmosphere without being forced to apologize for not purchasing wine.

I'm not the least bit surprised that you're catching this much flack for not enjoying a sub-par experience. People are awfully protective of places they have had a good experience. Providing good service means making everyone feel welcome and comfortable. If they didn't accomplish that then you have every right to feel slighted. I've had several shitty experiences eating at high-end restaurants - Fleur de Lys in San Francisco is a perfect example: poor service, unremarkable food, and a $300 bill for two. I'm barely older than you are, though apparently I've aged poorly as no one would guess my age as what it is. For the most part I'm treated quite well when I go out to eat, but there are certainly occassions when the staff for whatever reason decides that I should not enjoy my meal. Tra Vigne in St Helena, where I used to eat regularly has provided quite possibly the worst service I've ever experienced and I'm certain it was because the waiter that day decided I did not belong there. Maybe having had the value section of the wine list pointed out to me twice while I was reading the list wasn't exactly the best way to start things off... Anyway, it sucks that you had a bad meal at CT. I've never been there so I can't compare notes directly, but I can completely understand the experience you describe.

The source is a local rancher, from the conversations I've had with them they offer mixed quarters, half, and whole carcassas. I'll be working out my final order with them on friday and I'll be certain to post whatever the outcome.

I'm being offered 1/4th of a cow by weight, I haven't ruled out ribs but I have decided I want a strip loin. I have the option of having them to butcher the larger loin cuts into steaks but I'd rather give that a try myself, so the meat that will end up ground is the trim from my cutting and however much chuck I top off the order with. I'm comfortable with the individual steaks but I'm lost on the larger loin cuts, the flank/hangar/skirt steaks are not part of larger cuts and I'll be sure to include some of each in my order. What larger cuts do parts like short-ribs, tri-tips and flatiron come from? Anything in particular I should be getting to support my sausage making adventure? Thanks much for all the advice.

I'm in the process of buying 1/4 of a grass fed steer from a local rancher. Do you have any advice on what cuts to select in addition to what I've already picked (short loin, brisket, and plate)?. The ranch is willing to let me select my cuts from whatever part of the carcass I want, but I'm not sure I know enough to make an informed decision. Other than the usual steaks, roasts, and stews, I'll be curing the brisket and plate to make pastrami, and I'm planning to make sausages and hotdogs from the enevitable pile of scraps that will be left. Any additional ideas would be great also. Thanks much, melkor

I've got no experience with the salmon that ends up in cans so it's hard for me to address that. The fish that gets shipped east is no better or worse than what is available here, but it takes an extra day to get to the east coast. Any afternoon from May until late November you can go to the docks in bodega bay (an hour north of SF) and get salmon that was cought that day for $3/lb. The difference between that fish, that day and that fish the next day is significant. After freshness, the difference in quality between the fish has more to do with their diet than anything else, if the fish spends a lot of time in deep water eating krill it will have darker flesh and a more intense flavor. The copper river marketing campaign has pushed the cost way up, which hopefully helps those fishermen earn a living, but the bulk of the cost involved in getting good fish to the east coast while they are still good fish is in the shipping. I can see about same-day shipping a few fish back to NY on united cargo but I suspect that will be expensive as well. I have had the bay of fundy salmon, though not since I moved to the west coast a few years ago, and I agree with you that as far as farmed salmon goes, it's good. I've got no experience with that, but I don't have any reason to doubt it. The difference between a 10-15lb wild fish and the same sized farmed fish isn't all that obvious when it's cold smoked, however if you make lox from a 20+lb wild king salmon its a completely different story - the amount of fat in the fish makes lox that is unbelievably rich.

It's simply not true that the average boat is catching fish that is inferior to farm raised fish. It may not be very good by the time it gets to the east coast, but there is absolutely no comparison between the two breeds when they are both fresh.

I seriously doubt that anyone is trying to argue against all aquaculture. Some fish are better suited to farming than others. Looking at the card from the Monterey Aquarium, 10 of the 23 fish they recommend as best are farm raised. Salmon just aren't suited to living in pens, if the fish are bread in a way that changes that it will pose an even greater risk to the wild salmon population when farmed fish escape their pen and breed.

3) farm raised fish taste like shit

Almost all salmon in stores is farm raised, there just isn't very much wild salmon and it's not the least bit affordable anywhere other than the west coast. I have seen wild salmon in the frozen section at Trader Joes, but I'm not sure if thats available everywhere or only in CA. I've been avoiding farm raised salmon since I moved to California and have had access to wild pacific salmon for six months of the year at $3/lb for whole fish. I buy a few large fish around the end of fishing season, fillet them and toss them in the chest freezer to get me through the winter. Even frozen wild salmon tastes better than fresh farmed salmon.

Don't you see, it's the magnets. Hmmm... Well, the earth does have a very large magnetic field... Yes, but are they rare earth magnets?

Actually... I hear that, if you run biodynamic wine through a Wine Clip under a crystal pyramid while there is strong sunspot activity, you get cold fusion! I read it in an article published on the prestigious Internet, so it must be true! Well shit, in that case the wine clip would be a bargain at twice the price!

Clearly the bigger question here is being overlooked, is the wine clip compatable with biodynamic wine? or does it cause them both to burst into flames?

Harrison (all biodynamic) Quintessa (25% of the vinyard is biodynamic) Robert Sinskey (5 of their 6 vineyards) Grgich (22 of 365 acres) Araujo (the entire Eisele vineyard) Benziger (estate wines are biodynamic)

Another interesting point about biodynamic vineyards is that they generally look much better than the non-bio/organic vineyards, the cover crops and flowers make them look much more lush.

Oh? Is there any actual evidence that this is the case? I'm not asking this facetiously, I'm actually curious. Give it a try yourself, buy a packet of alfalfa seeds and set up a test in your kitchen. Take a papertowl and soak it with warm water, fold it into a square small enough to fit in whatever bowl you decide to use, and sprinkle a dozen or so seeds onto it, add some water every day or two just to keep it moist and keep track of how long it takes for the sprouts to get big enough to eat. Repeat every once a week and you'll see that it the speed the plants grow seems to corrispond to the phases of the moon. From personal experience it seems to work, though I don't believe in it enough to actually plan my garden around it. It's interesting to have things germinate in 2 days sometimes and 10 other times.

It's hard to ignore some of the astrology aspects of biodynamic farming, if you plant seeds a few days before a full moon they will germinate much faster than they would if you planted them a few days after a full moon. The things that are planted in sync with the moons cycle end up significantly stronger and often produce better fruit. How that carries over to grape farming I haven't a clue, though some of my favorite producers practice biodynamic farming.

I've never noticed an over abundance of wine country posts compared to SF ones. I find that observation rather odd. Though we certainly have a lack of South and East Bay posts. We need to make a concerted effort to encourage all our members to post about their local restauants, good and bad. We have a lot of SF posts, we have a lot of Napa/Sonoma posts and we have very little else. My point was not that there is no SF content, but that the east/south bay is sorely lacking. So, IC where is there good eats near where you live?

I've been buying willie birds since I moved to california, they are raised an hour or so from here, without any bullshit. They seem to offer mail-order but it looks pretty spendy. I don't know of any better source for turkeys in california.

Asparagus tarte? Oh that sounds interesting. Any recipe in particular? It's fairly simple, start with tarte pan with a pie crust pressed into it, blind bake the crust until its golden. Blanch the asparagus and shock them in ice water pat them dry and toss them into the tarte shell. Mix some eggs, half-and-half, tarragon, parmesan, salt & pepper and toss the mixture over the asparagus and bake at 450 until the top browns. Let it cool a little before serving. You end up with a crispy flakey crust and a custard filling. It's seriously good. For the custard you'll want 1/3 cup half and half and 1/4 cup parmesan for each egg, use however much you need for whatever size tarte your making.

We haven't really started planning our thanksgiving menu yet, but it's format is more or less set. Start with many bottles of champagne/prosecco and finger foods while we are in the kitchen. Sit down salad, somehow making use of the duck confit we recently made. No idea what wine we'll have since I've got no idea whats going into the salad. Then soups, two cream based soups in the same bowl, haven't decided what to use yet. Again it's too early to decide what wine. For the turkey, it will be a brined willie bird, smoked over hickory for an hour or so, then roasted in the oven to give us lots of drippings for gravy. Mashed potatoes made with german butterball potatoes and an obscene amount of butter, creme, and roasted garlic. Some sweet potato dish, Some sort of cranberry thing, a bunch of veggies, one of which is likely to be an asparagus tarte. Since there really is no good wine pairing for all these things together we are likely to end up with 3 wine glasses per person and each person can decide what they like. Wines will most likely be a german riesling, a cali rhone blend, an older cali zin, it depends on the rest of the veggies. We'll have the usual pumpkin, apple, and peacan pies, a flourless chocolate cake, and whatever else we end up making. Finish with coffee and biscotti (the amazing almond/coco nib/frangelico biscotti ms melkor makes) A lot of this stuff will be decided the wednesday before thanksgiving when we do most of the shopping at the farmers market.

The bulk of the SF bay area stuff at the moment is in wine country, just because that's where a few of us live, and that's where an awful lot of tourists end up. I'm down in the south bay from time to time and I've got no idea where to eat. Where do you recommend down that way?