Steve Plotnicki

I'll take it.

How exactly does one get on your x-mas list?

Somebody should email that link to Baruch.

I haven't stayed at Beaugraviere but I have friends who have stayed there a number of times. They described the accomodations as "motel quality." If you are looking for a nice place to stay. Chateau Rochgude is 10 km due east of Mondragon in the town of Rochgude and it is a glorious Relais & Chateau with classical Provencal decor in an old castle. I stayed there last February and in January of 2000 specifically because I was eating dinner at Beugraviere and I highly recommend it. May I suggest that if you are going to be in that region in January you make sure that you are there for a Saturday morning. The truffle market in Richeranches is fun and you can make a good buy on a truffle to bring back home. And you can reserve a table for lunch in the town community center where they serve a salad, truffe omelet, cheese and a nicve enough Cote de Rhone for something like $12. Loads of fun.

Yes all my wino friends love the "classic" food at Greuze and say the wine list is divine. I guess I need to go soon.

But publications do this all of the time. How many times do you see a publication set out a clear set of parameters that make any sense when they publish a best of list? The subjectivity factor about how best should be defined looms large.

They are made from semolina. The waiter told us last week. And yes they look fabulous.

It's the lowering of standards that is killing us.

Robert S - Well an argument that says it doesn't deserve the accoldades because it doesn't perform well enough is valid. I just don't see Fat Guy's argument that says that the style is inherently deficiant once you add enjoyment ot the mix.

Well this is really the Italian food can't be as good as French food argument. And while I agree with that, I think where the magazine has an out here is that when they say "Top Ten Restaurants," some people can draw the ineference that it means Top Ten Restaurant "Experiences." Then places like Peter Lugar or a hot dog stand can qualify. You and I want to draw the inference that it means food, and if that is the case, a hot dog stand can't trump Jean-Georges no matter what happens. But I think that many people, no most people, include an enjoyment factor into their calculation of what the best restaurant is. And as I said earlier, some places are so good at what they do on an alternate level that I can see them on the list if one infers enjoyable.

Are you saying it's not the best because there is something inherent in that style that prevents it from being considered the best, or they do not perform at a high enough level to be considered the best?

Well it's more then political. It's the seminal restaurant in that style. And there are dozens of restaurants it influenced based on its philosophy. So if it is performing well, I can see the choice. Like I said it wouldn't be my choice, but I am of the opinion that at least one restaurant of that school should be in the top 10 restaurants. And once you make that leap, why not number one? As an aside, I think the Cafe at CP is the best casual restaurant in the country.

Southern Girl - It's not true. The auction houses do not send people to check the wine on site. They do not check the wines until they arrive in their warehouse and they usually do not verify how the seller stored them. There are a number of ways that auction houses try to verify how wine was stored. The most typical way is to check the label. If the label is stained in any way, odds are that the wine was kept in a warm place and heat forced some wine to seep through the cork and onto the label. Whether the cork is slightly protruding or has sunk into the neck of the bottle is another sign that the wine was improperly stored. But the most helpful piece of information is how full the bottle is. The small bit of air in each bottle of wine between the cork and the actual wine is called the ullage. Over time because corks are pourous, the wine in the bottle evaporates. The purpose of storing wine at a certain temprature (55-57F and 70% humidity) is to slow down the evaporation process while still allowing the wine to age properly. So each bottle of wine that comes into an auction houses warehouse gets measured and they mark the catalog accordingly. So for example, if someone happened to be born in 1961 and they were interested in buying a wine from that vintage, they might see an entry that says the wine is into the neck of the bottle. Or another entry might say top shoulder meaning there was enough evaporation so that the wine doesn't protrude into the neck of the bottle anymore. At the front of each auction catalog there is a diagram showing the different types of wine bottles and what the markings are. Problem is, it isn't an exact science. You can buy wine at auction that the catalog marks as perfect and it can be vinegar when you get it home. Then there is wine that comes from British country homes which are notorious for having lots of evaporation because of low humidity. But the cellars are ice cold and the wines age slowly. I've bought bottles of wine out of cellars like that which look absolutely horrible but the wines are amazing. So at best it's a hit or miss proposition. You just have to imagine that there is a bad bottle factor built into buying older wines that invreases your per bottle price by about 20%. As for auctions, here are a few websites. Unfortunately aside from Acker Merrall whose auction is this weekend, and Winebid.cm who run auction every other Thursday until the Sunday 10 days later, you missed the 2002 auctions and have to wait until 2003. Christie's Sotheby's Acker Merrall Winebid.com

I don't have a problem with non-food factors playing a role in choosing which restaurants make the list. I can see how a place like The Ivy can be on a list of top restaurants in London even though the food isn't top notch. But it's fun to eat there and it has the best ambiance of any restaurant. CP is similar in that it a one of a kind. It also stands for something that is special. I'm not sure that political is the best way to describe it as a choice. Symbolic is more like it. On a personal basis, I wouldn't choose it as the best because they don't apply enough technique in their cooking for me to come to that conclusion. But for those who don't demand that as a requirement, and indeed, there are those who prefer the simple cooking over fancy technique, I can understand it as a choice. These are not my priorities but I do not see them as invalid considering the stature of the restaurant.

Jaybee - Do we have a source for Romarantin for you! I know Astor Place has two Romarantins in stock including a $40 whopper. I opted for the cheaper one which was like $15. I assume that Chambers Street has them as well. Marcus - I haven't had '66 Latour for about 4 years and based on your recommendation I will try one soon. But the last time I tried it was so closed it was undrinkable. I have to say that I buy a lot of wine at auction. I think the good to bad wine ratio is about 80/20 in favor of good. Obviously the older the wines are the higher the likelihood of the wine being bad. But I don't think bad storage is the most likely culprit. Sure you get bottles that have been mistreated but usually not to the extent that the wine is ruined. I find the most likely scenario is that it is further along in maturing then wine that was properly stored. But the real enemy is bad corks. Sometimes the corks aren't milled properly and they are a hair off and it screws up the wine. I bought a case of 1985 Roumier Clos Vougeot at auction about 2 years ago. I drank through 7 bottles and each one was perfectly mature and glorious. But I brought bottle number 8 to lunch at Chanterelle last month to celebrate a friends birthday and it was shot. Completely gone. No fruit and the taste of wet tea leaves. Blech. Then the very next bottle was back to its old self. There was no reason for bottle 8 which came from a case that was stored perfectly to be a bad bottle other then the cork was imperefect. As for the present day value of your money versus buying wine later, I think there is an intangable to owning your own wine from day 1 that you don't get from buying older wine at auction. Aside from the benefits of drinking wine, there are a few benefits from being a wine collector. First of all, there is the obvious collectoritis that sets in. That encompasses making lists of what to buy, to spinning those ancient bottles in your cellar. But if you use the British method of purchasing wine which is, buy twice as much as you need and then sell off the excess for huge profits, you drink for free. Some math wiz should work that out for us

Found both the Jacque Sellose Blanc de Blanc and Substance at Astor Place before Thanksgiving for $49.99 and $99.99 respectively. I hadn't been paying much attention to wines lately but read Gault Millau on the plane back from Europe and they gave it something like 93 & 97. Tried the Blanc de Blanc at Thanksgiving dinner and didn't find it special. But I tried the Substance the next day and it was pretty amazing. I went out to buy more and found it for $80 a bottle. I never seem to like the Winston Churchill or Bollinger RD. I'm happy with Krug and Salon and Cristal for opulent occassions. And I love DP in good vintages. I had a 1990 DP out of magnum last week and it was sensational.

Oh you're talking about half sour, or even more lightly soured then half sour. Blech, real Jews eat whole sour.

I don't think the issue is can you drink fine wine when it's young, the issue is does mature wine have something special about it. And I think despite the longwindedness of some of the answers (especially my own,) the answer is yes. In fact the more mature wine I drink, the less I like wine that hasn't reached a certain level of drinkability. In Bordeaux, unless we are talking about a very fruity vintage that drinkes well young like 1985 or 1995, I don't like to drink them less then 30 years old and 35-40 is preferrable. I think that mature wine is sort of like stinky cheese. You have to acquire a taste for it. But like cheese, once you do, it's difficult going back to those mild cheeses rthat don't have much flavor.

Did I miss something? How were the crabs prerpared. And Joe's idea of Gruner is a good one. But then again, Joe thinks Gruner is good with everything.

Long term you can store them in olive oil. And you will have great oil too. Short term (3-5 days) just keep them in a jar with eggs or with rice. I hear you can freeze them but I've never done it. I thought Yaacov was a member of the Israeli government?

Oh those pictures are to die for. If there is one thing this wheat sensitive guy misses it's pizza made from a wood or coal oven. I dream of those anchovy pizzas at Chez Black on the beach in Positano. Or I wouldn't mind a white clam pie in New Haven either.

You guys are drinking the wrong old wines. Off years like 1904 and 1927 might taste like dried out vegetable water but I assure you that good 1928's and 1929's that have been stored well will not. Same with Mogsob's 1973 Rioja. I have bought multiple cases of 1954 Rioja (birth year) and the wines are etheral providing you get a good bottle. Not only that, but the '54 Cune Vina Real is still not ready to drink! And 1958 Marquis de Riscal Gran Reserva is probably the best Rioja ever made and still drinks perfectly. Then there are wines like '59, '66 and '70 Latour which aren't even ready to drink yet. The best way to acquire a taste for old wines is to attend a vertical tasting of a great producers wines. For me when I first started collecting, I went to two different 14 vintage tastings featuring the wines of Latour and Cheval Blanc. '61 Latour (probably the greatest wine I ever tasted) and '64 Cheval set a standard for me as to what great wines tasted like. But in that setting, one can see the relationship between the new wines and what they are going to be like when they age. Even a recent vertical tasting of various Barolo and Barbaresco from 1961-1982 made me a fan of the wines from those regions when I used to have trouble appreciating them to their fullest. If anyone is daring and wants to take a punt on an older wine that still drinks really well but isn't $1000 a bottle like most of the good ones are, 1964 Latour and La Mission Haut Brion are lovely wines and you can buy them anywhere from $175-$250 a bottle. The older Riojas from 1954 and 1958 can be bought for $75-$150 a bottle, In fact I just bought some 1954 and 1958 Lopez di Heredia Vina Bosconia for $75. There are others too. If anyone is interested just ask.

Has it occured to anybody to call Braddock's Inn to see what flour they use (and if they will sell it) and the recipe?

What's this pickle thing about? I never heard of a pickle with chopped liver. Is that a British/Jewish thing? And are we taking about what we would call sour pickles in the U.S.? Half sour or whole sour? What's the deal with this?

And what is supposed to happen to them if they made a mistake? Or there was an accident in the kitchen? Or the people at your table stayed longer then they were supposed to? Or, or............