Steve Plotnicki

Cabrales - The answer to that question is that the wine is usually more important to me (and most BYO people, in fact, that's the point of it all) than the food is. In my experience, very few restaurantas have shockingly good items on the menu that you hadn't heard about in advance from a review or someone else who ate there. But there has been the rare occassion when I bring wine to a restaurant and the food looks so good that I change course, put the wine away because it clashes with the food, and buy something off the list.

I think anyone who doesn't like raw tomatoes has to have a palate deficiency. It is surely one of the world's greatest miracles. Especially big, beautiful beefsteaks. How can you like pie and not tomatoes?

You should check the NY Times archives for the tuna article. It has the location. But my friend out there is good friends with Su-Mei-Yu who runs a Thai restaurant out there called Saffron that he loves. Also, Jean-Claude Diot (I think it's Claude) the original chef at Park Bistro in NYC has a restaurant in La Jolla that is supposed to be good.

Cabrales - Are you going out there? I have a good friend who is a UC San Diego professor who can help you out with all the info you want. He even is close friends with the guy who has the tuna cages that RW Apple wqrote up in the Times a few months ago. In fact he is the guy who took Apple out to see them.

I always wanted to try the porchetta from the guy who sells it on Saturday mornings from the truck in the piazza in Greve di Chianti . There's a famous butcher shop in that town as well with home made salsicia. Otherwise I haven't been in Tuscany in 13 years.

No. Is it your understanding that sommeliers sort of take it personally? Let me assure you they don't. Wine is a very personal thing. Unless they have a directive from management to turn inventory, and they resent the fact that you brought your own bottles (and BYO is such a small percentage of their business that that can't be the case) they couldn't care less. The better restaurants that have BYO policies love people who do it. They usually spend the most money on food because brining your own wine usually means you are a serious eater.

Liz - I try and never buy anything from the list. Usually if we end up with a tasting menu and multiple courses, we buy champagne, sweet wine, etc. But I hate paying thos restaurant markups.

Sandra - Yes I was in there yesterday afternoon. They told me that they have sent someone to Turkey to look for it. Let's see what happens. But if not, I will write the name of the old age home down including their address and we can write to them. I have a real live Turkish person who can help us with it too.

The list at Cello sucks. The wines are mostly from bad vintages and the pricing is outrageous. The only category of wines that are within any reason are Red Wines from Tuscany and certain Alsatians. But for example, they have Trimbach Cuvee Frederich Emile on the list for $110 and I just bought the same vintage for $30 a bottle. Rip-off. The Gary Danko list is excellent, and they actually have some bottles that are priced high, but within reason. It is stocked with all the hard to get growers like Raveneau, Coche-Dury, etc. Same with the reds, though the pricing seems a bit more aggressive. L'Orangerie has a great list of Bordeaux, but the pricing is very high, which isn't unusual for restaurant wine lists these days. Not that long ago restaurants were sitting with old stock still to be had cheaply. But the lists got picked over and they have had to go out in the market and restock their cellars. Still, a wine like 1964 Latour can be easily had for $200-$250 at auction and they are selling it at $880. This is why I almost exclusively eat at places that allow BYO.

I unfortunately have to report that I had an exceptionally mediocre meal at GT last month. It was a Saturday night and they were busy so I will cut them some slack. But the quality was less than is acceptable for a place of that magnitude in NYC.

Nina - I actually dislike fennel as well, although have come to ignore it if it isn't a dominant flavor. My wife despises it. One of the problems I had with the restaurant Bid is that so many dishes were fennelized. Wilfrid - Tomatoes are an odd one. They are so damn good! How could you not like them? Texture? Acidity? Sweetness? Seeds? What is it? Because during the summer a Saturday's lunch doesn't go by where I don't eat fresh beefsteak tomatoes with fresh goat cheese doused with olive oil. Aliziari brand of course, The world's best olive oil.

Two things, both about Cabrales. That ostrich egg was disgusting. It smelled more spermlike than sperm itself. Just the aroma itself could probably have impregnated an entire flock of ostrich. Blech. And the best thing that Cabrales doesn't eat is Pierre Gagnaire's food.

Wilfrid - Washington Park has had suckling pig on their regular menu for awhile. Personally, I never found suckling pig so suckling. But on occassion I get a good one.

I am quite interested in that period as well. That Jews, Christians and Muslims lived in peace and harmony, and shared a cuisine is a fascinating topic. I don't know much about that era, but one would think that with that social dynamic, and a somewhat benevolent monarchy (?), which was willing to fund exploration, it was ripe for democracy to take hold. But the forced expulsion of non-Catholics ended up costing that country anywhere from 300-500 years until democracy established a foothold. For Jews, the moment is of great importance because one of the two routes taken by those expelled was into Provence and up the Rhone River and eventually into Alsace before ending up in Northern and Eastern Germany and Eastern Europe, and the other into Turkey. But nobody ever writes about what happened to the Muslims who were expelled from Spain, where they ended up and how it affected their cuisine? Maybe you can post about it sometime if you are developing a specialty on the topic.

Adam - I checked for the Turkish cookbook yesterday but the shop was out of them. They are trying to get more. But I will look through the recipes for you when I get out to the Hamptons. But a book you will probably be interested in is called "A Drizzle of Honey" which is a collection of Jewish, pre Spanish Inquisition recipes. It was just released in the U.S. in paperback. I'm not sure if it was released in the U.K. But you can call Matt at Kitchen Arts & Letters in NYC at 212-876-5550. They have the book and will put it in the post to you. And he also can be a great resource in helping you with other books on the topic.

Cakewalk - It isn't that one isn't allowed to dislike foods, it's just that I can be objective about it. I trust the palates of people I know and respect that they are good. And I realize it is my loss that I haven't acquired a taste for them. Why I don't like then probably has more to do with how I was raised (kosher) than anything else. I didn't have a taste for clams on the half shell either but my wife did so I grew to like them. But she doesn't like oysters either.

Oysters on the half shell. I just can't acquire a taste for them. But for some reason I did acquire a taste for Kumamoto oysters. Don't ask me why. Maybe it's because they are small and plump like clams? I really need to get over this flaw in my culinary exploits. Sometimes I feel like going to New Orleans and forcing myself to only eat oysters meal after meal until I acquire a taste for them. Didn't Jeffrey Steingarten say that in his book? That no matter what food you dislike, after eating it 10 times in a row you will acquire a taste for it.

A.H.R. is an expert.

Jaybee - 1969 was a bad year for DRC. I'm not sure why because it is one of the classic years in Burgundy? Wines like '69 Clair-Dau Bonnes Mares are still fantastic to drink. How about 1964 DRC Grands-Echezeaux instead, or 1966 Richebourg? I'm sure we'll find something.

Cabrales - The only wines one would decant overnight are wines that are too young for current consumption. For example, if you were to open a 1989 Hermitage La Chapelle, that would need a good 6-8 hours in decanter, and could benefit from even more time in the decanter. Prior to taking trips to Euirope to taste, I used to not get to taste wines until they were released in shops. Since in many instances they were too tannic to taste young, I used to open them and leave them on my kitchen counter over night. Some of them took 3-4 days to fully open. My favorite decanting story had to do with bringing a certain California wine to dinner that was a favorite of a friend of mine. I knew if we opened the wine at the restaurant it could be undrinkable, so I opened it right before lunch, decanted it, and let it sit there in my office while I went out to lunch. I came back about 90 minutes later and when I got to my office, the aroma from the wine filled the entire room. You were able to smell it almost 30 feet away. Prior to going to dinner I poured it back in the bottle, chilled it down to cellar temperature. When the waiter poured it, is was so aromatic and fragrant that my friend took one whiff of the wine and had a minor convulsion. None of this would have happened if we opened the wine at the restaurant. As for decanter size, I don't think it matters much. If you have a wide decanter, more of the wine gets air. But I think that it gets plenty of air while it's being poured into the decanter. Length of time is a bigger issue than size of decanter in my book.

Oraklet - Well mature wine won't last 24 hours in a decanter. It doesn't need that much air to allow the aromatics out. But a 1990 Cheval Blanc could easily be decanted for 48 hours and still not be ready to drink! It is particluar to the bottle. That is why whenever I go somewhere and they present me with the wine, 95% of the time I ask them to let me taste the wine before I decide whether to decant or not.

Jaybee - Most of my cooking is grilling in the Hamptons. I make the world's best hamburger (no joking) and I can make barbeque that rivals what comes out of BBQ pits in the south. I have developed a sort of half grilling/half smoking style of cooking meat and fish that gets rave reviews, and fits the Hamptons well. Since most of the condiments and sauces that go with that style of cooking are mostly based on salsas and other "raw" sauces, it fits both the lifestyle and the type of ingredients that you find out there. My wife does the more serious cooking, which also stays pretty simple. Mostly bistro food, or big platters of steamed shellfish in a variety of broths. Come over my house someday and I will make you a big pot of steamed shellfish with a hint of curry using curry powder from Israel in Paris along with a chilled Sancerre or Riesling of repute and then half-smoked and grilled double cut lamb chops served with a fresh peach and red pepper relish, corn on the cob that has been cooked by wrapping it in tinfoil along with a few pats of butter, sea salt and a pinch of cumin and tossing it directly on the coals, and shredded Brussel Sprouts that have been cooked in hot oil for 30 second just until they crisp, and then dressed with a large pat of butter and salt, along with a perfectly mature bottle of Cote Rotie. I promise you will want to spend the night. Did I make you hungry?

"since a US friend photocopies them and mails them to me, thus saving us the expense and the disgrace of Vogue accidentally appearing on our coffee table." John Whiting - And I always pictured you as a guy who only wore Prada. Beachfan - Chino's Market outside of San Diego.

You might also find interesting the various Jewish/Moroccan cookbooks. There's a classic one, available as a reprint, but I can't remember the title. I will head to the bookstore today and do a little research for you.

Oraklet - Here is a general primer about white Burgundy. For top vintages like 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996 and 1999 Grand Crus need 10-15 years to reach maturity. Premier Crus need 7-12 years to reach maturity. The better producers will make wines that mature later in time. But even when wines are fully mature, decanting is preferrable as quite often the wines need air to release the aromatics. For lesser vintages, take 5 years off of each type of bottling. I don't think you should be adverse to decanting. I have decanted wines overnight in order for them to open up, i.e. bring out the aromatics. You would be amazed at the results and you should try it sometime.