Busboy

Your assertion is not an empiricle fact. In fact, this entire thread is essentially devoid of empirical facts. Thus, we await your statistically sound survey of the wine-service habits of local New York restaurants with two stars or more with bated breath. Actually, I'd like to see responses broken down by star, average check and zip code to see what, if any, variation we find in the sub-categories. Breakdown by waiter, owner and sommelier would be fun, too, but likely too costly and time-consuming. (I took a quick gander at the NYC website but couldn't find anything but a few press releases. Have a happy MulchFest, all.)

Your entire premise is based on the idea that no one cuisine is objectively better (on the whole yada yada) than another, and that if it's perceived so it's only because of some aesthetic hegemony by a buch of hacks, romantics and fops. I would argue that you are wrong. I cannot speak to English food, but I would say unequivocally that French cooking is (on the whole) better than Greek cooking or American cooking. Objectively. Further, in defense of our still anonymous Arizonan, (no links? Now I'm curious) I would say that way too many local food writers spend so much time fluffing their local food scenes that the food scenes suffer qualitatively and become insufferable egotistically. I lived in one city (I'm trying to be nice, so I will leave it nameless) where the chefs and the writers all seemed to be involved in a non-stop love-in and I kept thinking that maybe if some of the restaurants there got bitch-slapped instead of French kissed by the gentry and the local culinary journalists, they would cook better. Or charge less. Or do something to lift the scene from the second tier. There is just always something admirable to be found in any artistic style, whether it's Pre-Raphaelite painting, rap music or pub grup, and real criticism discovers and popularizes that. But the critic owes his or her audience a little bit honesty, too. Though it's hard to quantify sometimes, some things are just better than others -- French food, Rothko, the Grateful Dead -- and that should be pointed out as well, because that's how we learn to demand better or to provide it.

Do you tip less if you stand at a bar than if you get a stool? IMHO, when you sign on for lunch, you sign on for a standard tip, too, regardless of posture. ← Well, I'm not convinced, since I wanted to sit down and they had the space and it was about 45 minutes standing up (not relaxing). Can you imagine if at a regular bar they didn't let you sit down when stools were available? I would not have tipped if I had just taken the same things for take-out. They really want to be "Italian" with the stand up espresso bar and I am inclined to tip what I would in Italy for stand-up service -- much less than for sit down. ← When in Rome, do as the Romans do. In New York, they have other customs.

We love Olivers Meats on 6th and, when my wife was going back to Denver for work more regularly, she would alwasy phone a massive order in for pickup on the way to the airport. (At some leve this is the mirror image of my dropping by a favorite Thai restaurant in DC when we were living in Denver and I was flying back to DC regularly). I can't see us getting to Boulder as our time is short, but we will explore the downtown locations. Thanks.

I disagree entirely. Whether or not French food is better than English food or Phoenix lacks decent chefs has very little to do with the " web of national, cultural and class preconceptions behind it." It has a great deal to do with what's for dinner in England, France or Phoenix. A thousand word article on the subject may well be trite these days -- though without a link it's hard to make a judgement -- but it's certainly easy to see why a writer would be tempted to grind one out. It may be just as easy to get bad food in Paris as in London these days, but it's a hundred times easier to get good food in French provinces as it is to find it in the American equivalent. Spend a few years reviewing American expense account restaurants and it's almost a given that a few nights at wonderful, $35, four-course, three hour dinners washed back by relatively inexpensive local wines would tend to make one wax a bit poetic. (I may jot down a few verses myself, though it's been a few months). It may be true that, in our francophilia, Americans go overboard for French cooking. I find the opposite to be the case more often, though. Americans, particularly outside of our handful of great restaurant cities, tend to lavishly praise on establishments -- and here I'm not speaking of those featuring "indiginous" cooking like Cajun or New York-Italian -- which are expensive, tired and mediocre. All the history in the world doesn't change that. The point isn't to construct elaborate justifications of an alleged, misplaced inferiority complex. It's to demand better food and support better cooks.

One advantage I have for Breckenridge eating is that my wife doesn't ski much (but she has to go to Colorado because her office rented the house and it would be bad corporate manners not to go ), so we'll probably stock up on decent raw materials in Denver and then she'll spend the day braising. It works out well all around. On the other hand, we won't be chaining her to the stove, either, and out favorite butcher in the world is in Denver -- no need to eat out for steak and 'taters -- so your suggestions are much appreciated. Any good wine shops?

How about because they could get a lot of publicity for busting a high-end restaurant? I'm sure you can imagine the New York Post and Daily News headlines. ← Yes, and it would be extraordinarily negative publicity. Whoever was responsible for the decision to send an undercover, underage cop, and a second officer posing as his mother, into EMP, spend $300 of taxpayer money for a couple tasting menus and a bottle of wine, and then shut down a New York Times three star restaurant for serving alcohol to an accompanied 20-year old, would be pilloried in the press and most likely forced to resign. There are two related points here. The first is that it is much more feasible for the police or ABC to go after bars or clubs than fine-dining restaurants, because an undercover officer can catch a violation with no outlay of money or, at worst, a small cover charge in the first two cases, but it takes an expensive dinner order in the last case. The second is that, potentially unlike the case of minors getting drunk at a bar or club, the situation of a minor having wine with dinner accompanied by his parent would be universally considered by elite NYC opinion to be a totally victimless crime, and thus public support for pursuing these sorts of infractions would be near zero. (To address a point made earlier, this is in marked contrast to Spitzer's investigations of various corporate and financial market malfeasance.) Of course this would be little comfort for Danny Meyer and EMP, which would still be guilty of a violation, but all of this explains why the danger that the authorities would break with precedent and start going after fine-dining restaurants is extremely unlikely. ← Are you arguing that laws should be differently enforced based on how expensive an establishment is and, by extension, how privileged their clientel is? I'm sure that whatever "problem" drinking age laws are meant to prevent are more prevalent outside the hushed dining rooms of the four-star scene. But, were I the proprietor of (for example) some college-type joint and I knew that the laws were never enforced in upscale places, and that it was assumed by the Platimum Card Crowd that their kids didn't have to play by the rules, I'd be plenty pissed. And I'd call someone. While I'm sure Bryan is a wonderful person (who takes cabs), it's almost as easy to get liquored up on good Burgundy and kill someone on the drive home (which is why the drinking age was raised) as it is to do it on Red Bull and vodka. People of wealth and taste screw up, too. (BTW, I assume that an ABC official wanting to test an upscale restaurant would just have the kid(s) order a martini or something straight off and not go through the whole tasting menu.) Back to the original question of the thread, my son just turned 18 and though he is not much of a drinker, I have noticed that, in nicer spots, the waiter will give me the questioning eye indicating that it's pretty much my call. And when I waited tables in a tux, we didn't much care who had a glass, not the way we did when I worked in the bars. The nicer you are dressed, the better you behave and the more money you spend, the more likely a server is to turn a blind eye. Also, avoid ordering drinks featuring sweetened juice or sour mix.

This thread is simultaneously moving both further off topic and around in circles. Please recall that this is a restaurant and not a law or philosophy forum. Though sodomy and jaywalking are both compelling subjects, and a certain level of abstraction is fine, let's keep the discussion close to the spirit and content of the original posts. Grazie.

I believe that the next issue has Rockwell doing a "Best of" on wine lists which was booted for space reasons this month. I, too, would be eager to see such an analysis, particularly if it included a "value" angle. And speaking of Citronelle (not a value destination) it does seem that Washingtonian under the old regime was loathe to give Sommelier Mark Slater his due. Perhaps that will change.

If you do the whole eight hour (or whatever) cookdown, the extra onion problem is not, to my recollection, a significant one. There ain't much left. TK Blue playdough recipe: "...after dehydration, puree the organic sloe-berries and macerate in a potatoe-based vodka for 48 hourse, or until liquid has become a deep purple (the color will blue-en after contact with the 0-0 semolina flour...) and strain through a tamis, chinoise and 400 count bedsheet, in that order..."

Sadness. Then again Play Doh (I think that's how you spell it) is edible, but I'm not sure TK would approve.It was bright blue, so even if the taste was Ok the color would have put me off. I have another 8 lbs. on the stove right now. ← Playdough in the soup is much more an Achatz/Alinea thing than TK/Bouchon, I think.

Do you tip less if you stand at a bar than if you get a stool? IMHO, when you sign on for lunch, you sign on for a standard tip, too, regardless of posture.

I'm a piker compared to most of the others in this thread, but I'll throw out two, both of them tied together by their utter simplicity, but differentiated by vast gaps in formality and price. The first was at La Merenda, in Nice. There, Dominique Le Stanc -- who once pulled down two Michelin stars about ten minutes walking time from La Merenda at Chantecler in the Hotel Negresco -- puts out a bowl of stockfish so nasty that the waiter will make you try a cup before giving your order to the and so compelling that you dream of it after. As explained to me, stickfish was cod that had been cured but not salted (much) and it is so pungent that only a preparation involving vast quantities of garlic, plus tomato and olives, can stand up to it. La Merenda is a tiny place without a phone or a credit card machine. You drop by and ask for a reservation later in the day. If you get one, you are seated cheek-by-jowell with a crowd that runs from chic to motley (the Dane whose knee was rubbing against mine was indeed wearing a Motley Crue t-shirt, in fact). It's a blast. Dinner for three with beaucoup de vin and a modest tip above the servic charge ran under a hundred euros. At the other end of the spectrum, Keller-protege Eric Ziebold has just made CityZen Washington's newewst 4-star restaurant (one of three accordind to Washingtonian, one of four according to The Post) and, among the other things he served us on my wife's birthday, we had a white pizza topped with a sunny-side up egg and shavings from an egg-sized chunk of alba truffle. Again, almost peasant-like in its simplicity, but brilliant in its flavor. But, this time, served in one of Washington's most elegant dining rooms and at a $30 supplement to an already pricy tasting menu. Maybe next year I'll get around to one of those foam-merchant places, but this year, simple worked out real well.

Wait -- you stiffed the waiter because he did the job that he was legally required to do, after you made an issue of the drinking in the first place? I would suggest that it was not the waiter being rude in this case. "Shocking and slighlty unsettling?" You seem to have a very delicate constitution.

I have a Sabatier roughly the size and heft of a medieval broadsword -- it rusts if you're not careful, so it may well be the au Carbon (rather than stainless). I love it. Though it needs to be sharpened fairly regularly (I do it myself on a stone), the edge is unbeatable -- I still remember losing that fingertip and hardly even noticing.... Generally, I think knives are sufficiently personal that advice is almost useless. I have mine, my wife as a sleek little Japanese thing, I bought my son a stainless number when he turned 13 that he guarded zealously until it got left in some campsite during a cross country road trip whose details I am not eager to pry into. (My daughter will get hers next Christmas). HdB is right: just go down to the store and see what feels right. And don't go cheap: $100 knife will feel wonderful every time you use it, hundreds of times a year. Few things are a better investment.

Actually, it appears that I will be in Nuevo Vallarta, next door to Puerto VAllarta, if that jogs anybody's memories.

Had lunch at Bistro du Coin, whose menu proudly proclaims "Cigarettes, cigars OUI!" and, on the way out, stumbled across the owner having a cigar outside with a few French types. I teased him about the "oui" and he laughed and said that it was now only a metaphore. A few doors down, the day bartender at Timberlakes was sneaking outside to get his niccotine fix. It's a brave new world. I had my last bar smoke at about 4AM New Year's Day, and I don't suppose I'll miss being able to light up too terribly, I only smoke about three cigarettes a month. And I am not an anti-government zealot, ready to rail about the "nanny state." But it does strike me that something is lost when there's no place left to to have a beer and Marlboro and enjoy the odd camraderie of a smokey bar. A lot of us moved to the city to get away from clean living and ordered lives. Based on the well-scrubbed types buying $600 thousand condos into neighborhoods they would have been scared to walk through (assuming they could even find them) ten years ago, that's not the way it works any more.

I think you pay. Nice if the restaurant notices your distress and comps something, but they have no obligation to do so. You have to tip, too.

Is this the place? Or are you thinking of the legendary Oyster Bar at Grand Central?

My wife and I will be in that neck of the woods later this month, so any "old" restaurant recc's would be appreciated as well. Month on the beach. As my French teacher would put it "la vie est dur."

A few months ago I ruffled a few feathers by suggesting that Denver, for all its charms, was a second-tier restaurant city, in this thread. I have the good fortune to be spending a night in the Queen City of the Prairie (assuming it doesn't get snowed in again) and wonder if someone who's still speaking to me wants to suggest a restaurant or two within cabbing distance of downtown. My wife and I have spent a little time looking over the endless Westword "best of" list and, while I was pleased to see a couple of old favorites like Potager and the Bonnie Brae Diner (is it true that The Saucy Noodly has gone down hill?), it also still touts Le Central and PF CHang's and is thus suspect. As much as I enjoy causing trouble, I enjoy a good meal even more, and would be delighted to have my earlier statement proven wrong. In March, we will be heading to Breckenridge. Expectations for reasonably-priced slopeside dining are always low (though we had an excellent meal in Steamboat one spring, I wish I could remember the restaurant's name), but recommendations for anything from burger joints to fine dining establishments would be appreciated.

Nothing is better for the self-esteem -- as though mine needed a boost -- than seeing one's long-held prejudices confirmed in print, and so I was charmed and warmed by Washingtonian's exile of Huong Que (Four Sisters) -- long touted as the best Vietnamese in town -- in favor of its next-door neighbor and Busboy family favorite, Viet Royale. I also took a little snarky glee in seeing Pizzaria Paradiso demoted...and some of the un-snarky type in seeing Jamie and Carolyn Stachowshi's Restaurant Kolumbia making the grade. Completely aside from their restaurant, they are just plain good people and it is wonderful to see their work transforming a hellish 70's office building space into a personalized and delightful dining room recognized. The big news is probably The Inn at Little Washington's descent from the four-star stratosphere to three-and-a-half, while The Only Chef My Wife Thinks is Cuter than Johnny Monis, Eric Ziebold of CityZenCityZenmoves into the top tier. Bravo for Ziebold, who is another nice guy (Washington seems to be blessed with a number of talented chefs who have failed to embrace the stereotype of screeming assholes, a la Gordon Ramsay) and frighteningly good in the kitchen. Citronelle's ongoing hold of the top spot is no surprise, but the magazine is almost worth buying just for the picture of Michel Richard's Mosaic Surf and Turf, if the hot chef-boys (shortage of hot chef-girls this year) on the cover don't grab you. One could almost argue that the 3-1/2 star categeory is more interesting than the four-star gang: Eve, Palena, Minibar, Komi, Marcel's....there is some excellent eating to be done at these places and, while they aren't cheap, you can generally get a reservation on short notice and you don't need to get the suit pressed for dinner (though you should, dammit!). Palena and Marcel's both offer their full menu in their less formal lounge areas, allowing you sample their best cooking on the spur of the moment -- as well as less interestign bar food. I was a little surprised to see L'Auberge Chez Francois on the list at number 33. Given its decades-long run as the magazines top reader's choice and it's slightly fusty reputation, L'Auberge is something of a punchline amongst the area's cognoscenti. Since I've been meaning to get there since, oh, 1986, maybe it's time to make the long drive to great falls. Sadly, my favorite fusty old French place, La Chamiere, was bumped off the list this year. No matter -- sentimementalists like myself and and old-guard Georgetowners will still line up for the pike quenelles and other classic dishes that you just can't find anwhere else. The Landrum selection as restauranteur of the year is such a no-brainer that it almost doesn't draw comment, until you remember that this is a guy who opened up his first restaurant in a suburban strip mall with no money or publicity, and came damn close to losing the whole thing, succeeding only by dint of damn hard work and near psychotic commitment to quality and value. Congratulations are much in order. Anyone else got a word or ten to add?

Wrong, dude. You have likely been decieved by someone touting "Oregon truffles," or "summer truffles," or even "winter truffles," which are not the same. Real, expensive, French, black, truffles are pretty dang tasty. I've been shaving through a couple of expensive ounces of the things over the last week (and just now finished a reheated boudin blanc made with some of them) can confidently assert that they make life better. Much better. Particularly shaved atop a white pizza that has been further garnished with eggs fried sunny-side up. If I were you, I would open the jar and sniff. Gently. If the first impression is that a deeper whiff would have left you in kind of a nauseus bliss, you've got some decent truffles on your hands. The first time I huffed a bag of six ounces of black truffles, I thought I'd chemically burned my nose as I might have with ammonia. Only I wanted to do it again. If the first whiff makes you wonder what the fuss is about...you can make Pommes Anna with a layer of truffle in the middle. Actually, this works very well for good truffles as well. +++++ I, too have heard that truffle oil is made with fake scents manufactured in New Jersey or wherever, and loathe the few attempts at "bargain" truffle oil I have encountered. The expensive stuff (think an airline liquor bottle for $10-$20) -- whether made with real truffle shavings or just better chemicals-- rocks, though. No less a personage than Thomas Keller combines (white) truffle oil and truffles in the same dish, using the former in his risotto and then shaving the latter on top. +++++ Timely thread.

I honestly can't recall. Your suggestion seems spot on.

Here's one a bartender friend and I made up for an (alas, yet-unpublished) article on gin I was writing. It was surprisingly good. All we need now is a name… NO NAME COCKTAIL 1-1/2 oz gin ½ oz fresh lemon juice ¾ oz simple syrup ½ oz Lillet Blanc 3 star anise ½ oz gin Lemon slice Pour the ½ oz gin on the star anise and let sit for three minutes. Mix all other ingredients in a shaker with plenty of ice. Strain anise-gin into the shaker, shake well and strain into a chilled martini glass Garnish with lemon slice and one anise star.