stefanyb

Thats exactly what I asked.

Christopher, When you signed on were you aware of the possibility of working this late? How long have these late reservations been a fact of restaurant life? I remember, not so long ago, being unable to do theater and dinner after, at any serious place.

My CRS will be arriving by overnight fedex any day now. I'll report on that when I've received and eaten it. As I sit here and post, I'm not absolutely sure what variety of salmon it will be, I'm embarrassed to say, but I will find out. I ordered it last year and it was stupendous. I steamed it with scallion jullienne and ate it with gusto. Also, how come geoduck is pronounced "gooey duck"?

Nix on the blender. He 's got awfully big hands.

I'm just dying to try Matsutakemushrooms precisely because of seeing them on Iron Chef. Has anyone seen them in NYC?

Do you think a kitchen can sustain top level production from 5:30 to 1 AM? Can Mario actually cook all that time and better yet, does he?

I recently called Babbo for a reservation for four people on a Saturday night some weeks hence. I fully expected to be offered, at best, a table at 5:30 or 9:30. But, I was flabbergasted when told the only thing available was at 11:00 and most of all I couldn't believe that their kitchen would still be open for people being seated at that hour. Is this good or bad?

Here's a story: Went to the Palm Too for hubbie's birthday celebration. We ordered a five pound lobster and a filet mignon to share. I am partial to eating the parts of the lobster that other people only play with, namely the body and the legs and since it was his birthday, I gave him both claws and the tail and he was in heaven (figuratively speaking). Now thats a lot of lobster. Anyway, that night, lo and behold, hubbie comes down with the loveliest hives you have ever seen. Yadda, yadda, yadda, allergist says he's now allergic to lobster. I, however, was not satisfied with this diagnosis and made some inquiries. It seems that once a lobster dies there are toxins that are released into the body of the lobster and therefore the lobster becomes mildly poisonous when eaten. We surmised that the five pounder had probably been dead before cooking. As some evidence of this, he has eaten many a lobster since with no reaction whatsoever even though the allergist said it would be worthless even to be retested for at least five years. Its a good thing you deep-sixed it.

Mark, I sent it all to you again (I checked my "sent mail" and I had, indeed, sent you directions a couple of days ago). There will be no shunning here!

Do you like asking yourself questions and then answering yourself? I guess you do.

Is it The Tonic or just Tonic? You know, I'm not sure as I sit here and write this. Anyway, its on 18th Street just west of Sixth Avenue. One thing I love about being in town for a holiday weekend- you can eat anywhere (almost). Whether or not there is anyone in the kitchen whose food is worth eating is, of course, another matter. After bringing the dog to the NY Dog Spa, also on 18th, we changed our original plan of going to Avra (Greek,fish,40's) and walked into The Tonic. It was very quiet. When you see a piece about a restaurant on Food TV or somewhere else, they always show the diners in a room that is, at most, half full. I always wondered about this because most times one dines at a fine place the tables are full and the staff is bustling about, the noise level is high and the overall gestalt is frenetic. And while that is sometimes exciting, oftentimes it hinders one's experience. Anyway, one walks into the bar area (used to be Harvey's Chelsea House a hundred years ago) and proceeds through it to the dining room. Both areas are well designed and furnished and visually very pleasing. The dining room had approximately five tables that were occupied and we were led to a very nice table for two. (BTW, we were not especially dressed) This is a white tablecloth room with a raised portion in the rear with garret- type windows, very appealing, fresh flowers and Picasso prints (B+W) everywhere. What I especially noticed was the upholstered ceiling for, I'm sure, noise control, but beautiful nonetheless. The wine list contained a full page of half bottles, a pleasing sight to my eyes as I usually don't like to drink more, and on it was a Talbott "Sleepyhollow" Chardonnay that I always look for and don't often find. We had tourchon of fois gras, pear and roquefort salad with duck confit, duck breast with crepinette and mashed sweet potatoes, cod in a lemon crust with porcini risotto, frozen lemon souffle with blueberry sorbet and press-pot coffee from a list of five possible coffees. All in all very pleasing. Not stupendous but certainly fine eating. I understand they have changed the room to less formal recently and reduced their prices. Thats my report.

The pot luck is fast approaching. Eleven of us are contributing and the menu has been set. I PM'd everyone with the address and directions. If there is any participant who did not receive them please let me know. This is going to be incredible!

Very definitely. I will messenger the location to each participant within a few days. Its all set!

1)Some people's raison d'etre is to discover ever new reasons to be offended. 2)I don't recall anyone contributing to this thread speaking to the fact that perhaps the restaurant contained too many tables for their patrons to have a conversation without an audience. 3)OTOH, people out in public need to always consider that they are not alone and that everything they do or say is part of everyone else's environment. So, now that I've seen it from all sides, I do think that the woman should have asked to move her table if she had a problem with Jaybee's choice of topics. She could have even left.....This reminds me of the many people I know whose credo is "it never hurts to ask". I've got news for them- it sometimes does. The way I see it, these people are not taking responsibility for making a thoughtful judgement and are placing the responsibility on others. Jaybee had every right to talk about anything he liked at a modulated tone. She had the right to move. They both have the right to not frequent any restaurant that makes it impossible to have a reasonably quiet, reasonably private conversation. If she was still in mourning, then she had the right to stay home. Its not Jaybee's responsibility.

Howie, you can ramble to your heart's content. A great read. More please......

Tart tatin would be lovely. Please decide in the affirmative.

Those coming to dinner: Liza B Edulis Sandra Levine Stefanyb Mark Stevens Helena Sarin Cabrales Nina Wugmeister Rachel Perlow Jason Perlow Soba Addict Everyone please confirm and messenger your list of possibilities. Specific details like address will be sent by messenger to you. Also, everyone should bring a bottle of wine (it doesn't have to be anything esoteric although its okay if it is )

Love to have you! Sunday, June 2nd around 5 o'clock, downtown Manhattan. I think cooking there would be fine but messenger B edulis to confirm that and also tell what you would like to make. Great!

Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. Did I forget my emoticon? Did you? :wow:

Tommy, I advise sitting for you may well fall down drunk otherwise. Anyway, what do you mean you don't want to sit? You can stand and drink anywhere you choose; try a bottle in a paper bag on the subway. I'm not getting this concept. Whats so special about standing and drinking? Frankly, to me, that sucks bigtime. An outdoor bar that doesn't have seats? Who in their right mind would want that? Well, I guess I answered my own question.

Steve: Its not a question of adding or subtracting value as much as its the narrowing or widening of the narrative. All work has a narrative or I should say narratives. These change over time, change with each audience and change by what is written or said about the work. What an artist says can unduly narrow or limit the narrative and if part of what one is after is an open narrative then one probably would want to refrain from joining the conversation. I could take this line of discussion on to the concept of time in art (because that is what is inherent in any discussion of change) and have it bring us to a discussion of Cubism, but I'll control myself. Speaking on a personal level, I can imagine that it is possible that Da Vinci had no clear cut intention regarding Mona Lisa's smile. Work often takes on a life of its own and even the artist may have to wait and see how something turns out. Everybody: IMHO Art is an elitist activity. Like Pan said, a cultured "palate" is necessary for a profound understanding of certain areas of our culture. Now for the BIG QUESTION. Is Egullet an elitist activity???????????

In a word, yes. You've said it better than I could. Thanks Robert. Pan: Warhol, great artist, absolutely, IMHO.

(Okay, okay, did you think I could let that one just sit there)? I must admit to being a little out of practice at that. Maybe it's a lost art or a metier? Is this something out of work moile's do? Wilfrid, given a choice between peeling testicles or spatchcocking, which would you choose? J. What makes you think that Wilfrid would know what a moile is? (That's how you spell it?) S.

Steve, Fantastic story and review of Craft. I guess you're now a celebrity. You may have the chance to influence our whole food culture. Oh, the power! Robert, You are quite right. Of course, Steve was using the artist/chef analogy again and I'm not sure we ever even settled the validity of that. But be that as it may, what an artist says about her/his work is often wholly different from what the art critical world would say about it. And, an artist is speaking from an interior voice. It can be important to not demystify the work by referring to one's personal sources. How the work is received depends upon the arena in which it exists and who is examining it. I, personally, think that a dialogue between these elements is often not beneficial and I would, therefore, hesitate to participate in the discussion. After all, I would prefer to "say" what I have to say on the canvas.

Truffle oil is used sparingly as a last minute addition to a dish. I don't think one would ever actually cook with it. Its more of an enrichment at the end right before serving. I am, of course, open to any correction of the facts. PS its a great gift to get and costs a small fortune