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Steve Plotnicki

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Everything posted by Steve Plotnicki

  1. Well the reason is you are too busy aggressively posting the menus of what you ate. Marcus - In all seriousness, another reason is that there aren't really many restaurants to write about. I eat at Craft on a monthly basis but I can't possibly write up every meal. There would be too much redundancy. And it's the same for Blue Hill. I couldn't possibly write up every meal. Which restaurants of these would be interesting to here about? Daniel/Cafe Boulud/DB Bistro Moderne? All have been written up numerous times. Gotham/Union Sq Cafe/Eleven Madison Park? Even more redundant. Thank god for planes so I could go to Chicago and eat because there is nothing going on here.
  2. No I didn't complain about any of that. But I believe that your reprinting the menu of a restaurant on the site is a sign of aggression. Let's name it; AMPD (pronounced amped) = Aggresive Menu Posting Disorder
  3. Cabby - I believe that your incessant parsing, and the obsessive attention you pay to details, including your asking guest chefs more then two questions, makes you an overaggresive poster.
  4. The reason there are more posts about BH then other restaurants is because they offer a menu that is constantly changing. Aside from meals that are chosen and prepared by the chefs, they also had a tomato menu, a concord grape menu, and maybe a few that I'm missing. I probably ate there 4 times over the last six months and I don't think they ever repeated a dish.
  5. You should because I think you might like some of them. The cooking can be really good in a small way. Sort of like Blue Hill .
  6. You mean when they found out they couldn't understand how the rest of the world worked they fell back on what made them French to begin with? I'm shocked. That's the same reason the Italians can't shed the pasta course from their meal. How did they ever manage to make the recording St. Germain in that country? Cabby - Your theory is a good one. Korovo was a gimmicky restaurant that seemed like a fish out of water. Especially on that conservative street. It would have fared better as a restaurant in one of those trendy hotels the Costes Brothers own. But back to Nobu, I'm not sure the French have accepted the raw fish concept completely and that's possibly one of the reasons why Nobu failed. Also, the tradition of eating raw shellfish in that country is so strong, I don't see how fin fish can compete.
  7. Marcus - Yes you got it exactly. Have you been to Les Allobroges recently? I haven't been for years. But when I went they served me one of the greatest bistro dishes I ever had. A caramelized potato cake that was wrapped in bacon and then slabs of Foie Gras were laid across the top like icing on a cake. It was sinful Wilfird - If you can find another restaurant that is as accomodating as Blue Hull, and which makes special menus whether by offer or on a regular basis, people will talk about it. But part of the reason that there is so much chatter about BH is that there is dissent about the experience. And most of what is written has dissenters on one side, and assenters on the other side saying to the dissenters, try to look at it from this perspective. We used to have the same discussions about Craft but those were reconciled when they served me their chef's menu . But in reality, I can't think of another place where there is as much to talk about as those two places. As for Jarnac, they do some non-traditional stuff there. How about the NY Strip dusted in zatar and served on a bed of zatar dusted home fries? Or the Ribeye served on a fried potato cake and a bed of arugula and topped with a fried egg and then doused with truffle oil? Of course they have cassoulet etc. but there is an edge to certain dishes that strays far away from trad. bistro.
  8. Well no that shouldn't be the question. The issue isn't why is Nobu successful? I don't really care why and for that matter, it's unbelieveably successful. What I want to know is why the French rejected it when others love it? Is it becayse they are French or is it the owners mismanaging the place?
  9. Well although Korovo is a modern installation, it isn't 4 million euros worth. So the money must have gone into Nobu. So okay, that raises the big question, Nobu is a dining format that is successful everywhere. Why didn't it work in Paris?
  10. I've never eaten in Bon Accuiel or L'Epi Dupin so I can't speak about those places. And Regalade is more like a traditional bistro with a cooking twist. But places like Les Allobroges and the original Eric Frechon restaurant were more in line with my thinking. I guess Christian Constant is at the extreme high end for that type of place. But most of the bistro moderne that popped up in the 90's was as a result of the poor economy in France. And what they did to make their food interesting in a smaller environment, i.e. bistro environment, is apply modern cooking technique. Hence the moderne. But the term "bistro" was applied correctly, as it is in this case as well, as a way of describing the scope of the cuisine relative to the top restaurants in town. And to me the NYC bistro equivelents are Blue Hill, Anissa, Fleur et Sel, Prune, possibly Jarnac and maybe a few others. Of course some are more restaurant like then bistro like. But you can say the same thing when comparing the old Eric Frechon with La Regalade or L'Epi Dupin. But what tips it for me is the cooking technique that BH applies to the cuisine. They are interested in using the same technique that they might use at Arpege. But the scale of the meal needs to be brought into line with the type of restaurant it is. And maybe this is a distinction without a difference but, firther to Marcus's point about BH being a restaurant and not a bistro, many of the "bistro moderne" in Paris aren't really bistros. They are really restaurants. Does this make any sense?
  11. I thought Domaine Cayron was a KL wine? In fact I'm pretty sure of it. But I haven't had the Pailleres. I will try and get a bottle. Or do you know a place in town that has it on their list?
  12. Aside from Domaine Brusset, which I believe is the Gigondas producer, I've never heard of any of the other ones. So I have no way of telling if they are accurate in this instance. But in general I don't trust the WS. If you want good Cote de Rhones, look for the following from the 1998-2000 vintages; Domaine Reamejean Val Joanis (Cote du Luberon but you won't know the difference) Domaine Mordoree Lirac Andre Brunel Sommelongue Clos des Mure Roger Perrin Reserve There are others that Marty and Charles can list. But none of the above should cost more then $15 with some of them going for betwen $10-$12 a bottle and they all will drink well at about 3 years of age. But if you want to splurge you can go up to; 1998-2000 Les Cailloux 1998-2000 Clos Mont Olivet 1998-2000 Domaine Graemenon La Meme 2000 Domaine Cayron Gigondas Those will run between $20 and $35 a bottle and will last for 7-15 years with proper storage. And there are tons more that are good in both categories.
  13. Well of course when you switch the criteria from assessing the level of quality to what is preferential in an individual circumstance the answer changes. But that has nothing to do with measuring overall quality on a continuum that includes all cars or all chcocolate candies or all wines. And while comparing a Mercedes to a Toyota might be more of a theoretical exercise then one that people actually do in real life, here we are comparing the Guigal to its actual peers. Wines from the same appelation and at the same quality level.
  14. I don't understand. Did Herme personally guarantee the debt? Is he going to lose control of his name? He should be able to buy his rue Bonaparte shop from the banks. What are they going to do if they close it, repossess the macarons? They will get zippo.
  15. Well the restaurant wasn't soliciting criticism. I basically didn't eat the dish and left it over but nobody asked me about it. And my general policy about these things is that I won't say anything unless asked, unless I am totally outraged. This reminds me of a story from the French Laundry. On our last visit there was so much food that my wife decided not to finish one of her courses because it was too rich. Can't remember exactly what it was. A few minutes after they cleared the table the Maitre 'd appeared and was inquiring whether there was anything wrong with the dish. "The chef asked me to ask you Madame......." So let's just say that as good as the service was at CT, they didn't offer the same level of attentiveness and caring that we experienced at FL. On this Charlie Trotter's "real deal" or "best restaurant" thing, maybe it was true once upon a time, but even if it was the case I'm not sure if it's true anymore. Not that they can't cook some great dishes but, the style is sort of old school at this point. You can get that style of cooking almost anywhere. And it's not just a matter of redundancy, I was sort of expecting that before I walked in the door. But what was the most surprising thing to me about the meals is how the food at Trio could have more flavor to it on an overall basis then the food at CT. I only expected the food at Trio to be weirder not to taste better. The other thing about Trotter that doesn't work in their favor is that considering they only serve tasting menus, which means they aren't preparing that many dishes any given evening, the inconsistancy and erratic performance that Marcus and Ballast-Regime reported on and I experienced makes them look bad. It doesn't make any sense really that given those circumstances the kitchen doesn't work at a higher level.
  16. There's crap and then there's crap. The dorade I am describing is at a level of crapdom that is well beneath anywhere I've eaten in France other then La Pyramide which I think is total crap.
  17. Well it should be undisputed that Trotter can put out crap dishes because two of us have reported on them. And Marcus added a comment about Trotter's inconsistancy. So I think you are going to have a hard time convincing us that it's the best restaurant in the country. But your list of restaurants is a good one. I always wanted to eat at the Mansion and I have the cookbook. But I wasn't suggesting that Trotter's shouldn't be under consideration for the best restaurant in the country, I was just trying to find out what you were comparing it to when you said that. But you shoiud go eat at the French Laundry. I think you will find it superior to Trotter's, even though it sounds as if it isn't performing at the same level it used to perform at.
  18. Ajay - I didn't find the cooking to be at the highest level of intensity. The food conception was pretty good, but the follow through was on the conservative side I thought. And it's not that I don't like Batali's cooking because I enjoyed Po on a number of occassions. But what I'm complaining about is the same mediocrity I find at many of the upper middle level restaurants in NYC regardless of type of cuisine. I also hate the space which doesn't really help matters. But we'll see. Maybe they will wow me.
  19. Of course I'm open to liking it. But the two times I ate there I found the food to be slightly homogenized. Like a lite version of genuine Italian. That's sort of how I feel about the Union Square Cafe etc. And I had the same feeling about Esca. The edge was off. But of course I am always open-minded about being wowed by food. Actually I had the best success with Lupa. Hard to screw up home made ham and salamis.
  20. Tommy - No chef is going to come on the site and say that unless they are retired. But if you want to see the evidence for yourself, read the menu at any of the top restaurants and you will find a tremendous amount of sameness to what chefs are serving. Wilfrid is always saying this. Places do not serve strong tasting, hard to chew food. It's the same staple quasi-luxury items like salmon, tuna tartar, filet mignon, rack of lamb etc and not prepared with challenging spice regimens either. And it's not that the chefs don't want to serve interesting food, it's that the diners want the same repetitive blandness. I think you are also underestimating that chefs might be willing to make more labor intensive food or offer top quality ingredients to the customers that are long term patrons or even those who aren't but express an interest in recieving that type of quality. For example, do you think that every fish delivered to a restaurant is of the same quality? And do you think that they choose fish for customers based on the chronology of the orders, or do you think that after they get their deliveries, restaurants might segregate the better specimens for regular and special customers? You know this just happened to me when I was in the South of France at Loulou. I ordered a Cote de Boeuf and the owner at first told me they didn't have any so I ordered the contra-filet. A few minutes later I see him walking to the grill with a cote de boeuf the size of Pittsburgh which was marbled like Kobe Beef. And I know exactly what happened. Eric the owner was aging the meat for himself which I know he does. But I've been a customer for 15 years going on a once or twice a year basis. That's even before he worked there let along owned the place. And he wanted to make a long term customer happy so he gave up the family jewels. Do you not think the same type of thing happens at every restaurant? Now if you want to see me write a contradictory review of a place that everyone loves, wait until I eat at Babbo on Thursday night. That should give everyone a little agita.
  21. Sorry Awbrig but that dorade was a crap dish. In concept, ingredients and follow through. I mean fishy fish? And Ballast-Regime has had the same experience. And a fish dish with pineapple clashed with the rest of the cuisine. But let me ask you about CT being a contender for the best restaurant in the country. How many of them have you been to? Actually I can say that Trio in time will be a better restaurant then Trotter's. It's already a much more interesting restaurant. If they massage the rough edges it will eventually blow Trotter's away.
  22. Here we go again. It also means, "exhibits the qualities of a product normally associated with artisans." But then who is being picky.
  23. Well I don't see how you can say this because this is the exact reason I like the place. And I think the same is true for Cabby and possibly Bux. More then any other restaurant I know of in NYC, BH performs in the spirit and philosophy of a Parisian bistro moderne. And if you like that experience, I think BH can evoke it for you. But again, it's much stronger an evocation when they choose the meal then when you order it yourself. This issue is always a problem on bulletin boards where people with different levels of expertise participate. And here's an example of how disparate the opinions are based on the level of knowledge people have. That was a quote from Awbrig's response on the Trotter thread. And while I believe that Awbrig legitimately feels that way, and I'm happy the guy loves the place, and I kind of liked the place myself, both you and I know that he wouldn't be saying any of that if he had eaten a bunch of good 3 star meals in France. The problem is, there is no way to explain that to him without pointing out that there is a better vantage point then the one he is looking at it from. And invariably that is where the discussion will lead on that thread. Ajay - I think I'm going to have to adopt you.
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