Busboy

I've seen repeat mentions here of the mussles, steak and frites, and duck confit. I actually eyed all of those on the menu before reading this thread, but is there anything else I should consider? I'd hate to have my entire meal planned over a week in advance. No excitement in that. ← I much prefer the onglet or the filet to the steak frites which, in traditional fashion, is made with a rump steak or some other less-tasty chunk of meat. I'm also a fan the the Bouche a la Reine which ibvolves chicken, sweetbreads and mushrooms. The cassoulet is uneven, but always tasty.

Glad you got good cherries, but my experience with long-distance fruit has been that a Safeway nectarine in a Safeway nectarine -- in summer when they are grown locally and in winter when they come north from the other hemisphere -- and that they are nasty. And Whole Food rarely gets the job done much better. Though some fruits and vegetables seem to do better than others. Pitted fruits almost always suck, strawberries hit or miss almost randomly. While you can't count on them, they're almost alwys worth a sniff or two. Asperagus seems to travel well, as do green beans and other less-sexy green vegetables, but tomatoes are loathsome. I think "fresh, seasonal and local" make a fine guideline, but a bad religion, but am most reminded of its limits not now but when the farmers markets start up in the spring -- and there's nothing to eat but lettuce and rhubarb for six weeks.

I s this a reference to Updike's "Rabbit Run?"

I think the article was in, in may ways, right on. I can't comment on Per se or Le Bernadin, but the unfortunate fact is that for vast swaths of the country, it is far easier to buy a quality handgun than a decent meal. And for every good restaurant that opens up -- Per Se, or the excellent places that Steve works with -- there are dozens of Applebees and Outbacks that open up, drawing many times the number of diners that the good places draw, every night. I had the good fortune to speak with Michael Landrum of Ray's the Steaks just before Christmas, and he seemed slightly mystified by the cult status his excellent restaurant has achieved. He said, (I hope I am parphrasing properly here) "in any other country in the world, my restaurant is just a neighborhood restaurant" -- delivering an honest, quality-driven meal at a reasonable price. But, because the bar is so low here, Ray's becomes a regional phenomena. In recent years, there have been some heartwarming trends. For the relatively small percentage of Americans who appear to care about such things, cheese, wine, excellent produce and meat, and restaurant food that would have been considered stunningly innovative a couple of decades ago -- and that's still pretty good today -- are available. But, drop randomly into any zip code in the US that isn't an ethnic enclave and pick a restaurant for dinner. The food will suck. Someone upthread said that a true dining culture starts at the grassroots level and I think that's true -- and that's why, despite the emergence of some excellent chefs, the US dining scene is still in the dark ages.

"Ooze on into" The Venereal Sore

True. On second thought I suggest a blanc de blanc, with tiny bubbles to reflect the glow of the city of lights. You have the best dilemmas.

Maybe I'm cynical, but did you really expect FN to present cutting-edge cooking shows? Do you expect Fox to give you cutting-edge drama? Or MTV to present cutting edge music? New York City, Mid-West, Florida or right here in our Nation's Capital, the Gresham's Law of programming dictates that bad TV -- cheap, mass-produced pap that appeals to the lowest common denominator -- is going to drive out good TV. The more channels, the faster the race to the bottom. I guess people got their hopes up early, when there were some good shows on, so I can understand the consternation. But think about this: for every good restaurant that opens up in your area, how many Applebee's, Cheesecake Factories and Outbacks open up? If you're a network exec, who are you going to target -- the Outback people or the other group. Until someone sees fit to produce a premium channel, or we can make the Internet work in real time for mass audiences, Rachel Ray and Emeril are in charge. In the mean time, PBS runs some pretty good shows.

Thank you very much, Paula. This looks great, and different enough from what's generally available from the butcher to be worth spending some quality time with.

In Toulouse, it is the only way to top a cassoulet. It is, and was, absolutely necessary to the making of the dish to create a crust. Years ago, it was traditional to send the filled cassole to the local bread oven for baking. YOu can imagine that in the center of town it would have been rare for locals to have their own bread oven. Thus you couldn't possibly break the skin up to 7 times. On the other hand, in the mountainous regions around Carcassone, everyone had their own baker's oven and they could push the cassole around and get at it in order to break up the crust. Both methods make great cassoulets. For example, yours looked wonderful. FYI:when and if you ever use an earthenware cassole and the hearthkit oven now available at sur la table, (This clay inset replaces the steamy bakers oven ) you could try either method with great success. ← Speaking of Toulouse, do you have an opinion on what constitutes a "saucisse de Toulouse" besides stuffing the casing without twisting off links and coiling it like a rope for display and, one assumes, cooking? Nothing I've been able to find on line has been more specific than pork, wine (some), and spices, and the coiling thing. The French recipes I've found don't even call for spicing the pork. Any insight or educated guess you had would be gratefull received.

Shhhhh. Out-of-towners don't know that. Have you heard anything about the food lately?

Out-of-town clients travelling to DC and looking for a good combination of "power dining" and good food. The Oval Room has been mentioned, but I have heard little about it of late. Any insight would be appreciated.

I'll be heading over to Sette about 10PM tonight, after my French class, for a pizza and glass of wine at the bar -- if anyone is dining late or starting the drinking portion of the weekend early.

I don't wish to be rude, but if you're in Paris, you're travelling with your wife and you've already had a grand lunch, why not settle for cheese and baguettes, accompanied by a fruity vin du pays drunk out of one another's navels? No need to leave the room. Quite the opposite.

You need it? Explain, please.

Lower down the Post story they cough up that today's Hearty "Burgundy" is a blend of Zinfandel and Carignan. Will anyone admit to nipping on it while you cook? I'd be interested to know what it actually tastes like. ← It sure as hell doesn't taste like Burgundy. ← I once worked with a waiter of great experience, learning and heft who was asked for something in a "California Burgundy." "Burgundy, sir, is in France," he replied, and strod on to the next task.

Bus...would you mind posting that recipe? Sounds divine. ← If you've made buerre blancs before, basically, it's taking whatever buerre blanc recipe you like and substituting grapfruit juice for the vinegar. I mostly eyeball my measurements, so don't hold me to this: dice a shallot into a shallow pan or small pot add: 2 tbsp white wine 2 tbsp fresh grapefruit juice with the pulp strained out cook at low heat until virtually all the liquid is gone Add a stick of butter, cut up and chilled, on piece at a time, stirring and keeping it hot enough to melt but not hot enough to separate. A lot of people do this part over a double boiler. Strain out the shallots and keep sauce warm. Add gently procurred (so the little juice pouches aren't smooshed) bits of grapefruit pulp at will or, as I did, scoop it on top of whatever you're serving in modest but significant quantity.

Thai food. Vietnamese. And Pizza.

"Stripper experience?" That's harsh.

Marcel's -- a step down from Citronelle but well into the realm of "fancy-ish". Before you go to Citronelle, you have to promise that you've learned from Charlie Trotter's and will properly appreciate formal service and haute cuisine.

Second this. (note that the sanwich in the first website is improperly cut -- Cubanos should always be cut on the diagonal). Enthusiastically. We always get a bigger loin than we need so that we can make the sandwiches for a lazy Sunday dinner. Being gringos, we tart up the thing with a little lime/roast cumin/roast coriander mayonaise that would probably get us barred from Caille Ocho for life if the authorities found out, but it's pretty darn good. Serve with black beans, fried plantains and rum. It's actually better than the original pork roast.

In fact, if I had a friend spending a week in Paris who didn't intend to spend a little time revelling in the food culture because they were too busy with museums and the opera and such, I'd consider him to be quite off his chum. And I'd consider someone who would talk only about food, especially over the course a lenghty, multi-course meal to be missing out on one of the great pleasures of a good meal and good friends: that is the tendency of fine dining to carry the conversation in random directions while seeming to increase the wit and insight of all those taking part. Besides, you can't talk about the concert at the concert or the movie at the movie (I hear the Paris movie theatres are hotbeds of 60's and 70's film afficianados), that's what the cheese course is for. Hey -- the occasional "let's try every BBQ joint in Johnson County" binge is fine. And I'm sure I keep food uppermost in my mind when planning a trip. But you don't see as much of the world as I'd like if your schedule only carries you from tasting room to cheese shop to dinner. I think the thing that I found most bewildering in the "gastronaut" approach was the hyper-yuppie, overprepared approach they seemed to take-- the exhaustive research, the endless printouts, the tight schedules. Where's the joy, where's the spontenaity? It's too much like work, too much like, as Fat Guy (that color plate number 23-appreciating Philistine ) put it, trainspotting -- checking off little boxes just to say you did. Yuck. Whether it's museums or Michelin stars or movie star's homes you're checking off, it seems an un fortunate way to travel. Besides, walking around museums is a great way to work up an appetite.

This website, posted by jpdchef on another thread, has as many sausage recipes as I've ever seen in one place. I'd respectfully disagree with Mr. Fenton regarding the utility of making standard sausage varieties at home. While I've yet to construct the perfect spicy Italian sausage, since I've been making my own, I've noticed that even specimens from the most respected sources lack the snap and spice of home-made. 'Course, DC's Italian butcher supply is relatively thin, but I did recently have a friend of Italian descent -- not knowing that we'd made the sausage -- interrupt a minor feeding frenzy to rave about them and ask where we'd found them. On the other hand, it's nice to have a few buffalo-apricot links lying around, too, I'll wager.

At some point it seems that people cross the line from dining for pleasure to food as status, or some bizarre culinary OCD. And I'd suggest that people able to take a few minutes away from the table to check out the Louvre or to marvel at the Tour Eiffel might even make better dining companions than those who've spent the day lurching from cafe to cave to boulangerie. I have vision of being trapped at a table with one of these types and every time you say something nice about the duck they have to top you with some duck they had six years ago at Taillevent, and every time you mention Baron Haussman, they start talking about the duck again. Doc, agree with your comments, though I am willing to go several days without decent food if I know I'll get something good to eat eventually, or we've found a great place to camp.

I like food quite a bit. But I find these people , I don't know, off-putting. You? "By steering clear of time-consuming distractions like museums, historical sites and theaters, they managed to visit more than 28 of the city's better dining spots, including La Tour d'Argent and Le Jules Verne in the Eiffel Tower, not to mention several dozen specialty food stores and wine shops."

Interesting that you should mention Lent in this context. I had never thought of it as a food cleansing period, but I stumbled across this in the Larousse Gastronomique: "This period of fasting in the Early Church had excellent physical effects by imposing on the digestive system, worn out by gastronomic excesses during the winter season, a much needed rest." As always, the LG mixes common sense, great information with great anecdotes and a certain inescapable uber- Frenchness: "the real test of the culinary art was to create a rigorously apostolic meal which had all the appearances of an excellent supper." Might not be a bad idea to observe it myself this year.