bilrus

Mine accounted for about 2 ozs of that. The rest was my wife and mother who over-ordered on the accountrements.

Ray's the Steaks Day 2 - the gift that keeps on giving. Leftover of three New York Strips sliced and heated in the oven with a dirzzle of Olive Oil and some sea salt On a baguette with leftover mushroom brandy cream sauce and gorgonzola along with the fresh potatoes and spinach they always provide Almost as good the second day.

First time back in a while - good stuff as always - and I had the chance to try a few new things. Grilled Calamari with Clams Casino stuffing - they were able to coax the squid into being tender and the filling was luxurious and not overly "clammy". And the Milk Chocolate Mousse was just the type of chocolate dessert I like - cremay, light, not too bitter, not too sweet and pure chocolate taste with nothing to distract from the flavor but a little dollop of whipped cream. Ray's is all about the steaks, of course. But it wouldn't be nearly the restaurant it is if they didn't back the steaks up with the consistently good supporting cast - soups, sides, salads, desserts.

For a cheap meal in MD I like Urban Barbecue in Rockville when I'm up that way.

I wouldn't avoid Per Se. We are talking about the difference between Per Se being "the best meal you've ever" had or merely "one of the best meals you've ever had". I don't think anyone, even the restaurant's biggest critics, are saying that it is a terrible or even average restaurant.

Last week I was able to ge tthrough on my first call and get a reservation for my first choice for a specific weekday in June. I think you'll find that getting a reservation early in a restaurant's life is easier because they are filling up spots in advance for several months. Once they get into the mode of booking one month out to the day, it becomes much more difficult.

Can't this be said about any of the contenders for "top restaurant in New York"? I'm not aware of any restaurant that aspires to the top level that doens't have it sshare of detractors. Per Se might not be the best in New York, but just because people have said a few bad things about it doesn't rule it out completely.

I'm pretty sure they don't serve them in the back room - I was kidding. The back room is more tasting menu oriented and is hands down one of the best meals in DC. It's a shame more people don't get a chance to do the back room. It is a treat.

I'm thinking of a meal I had at Daniel, and another I had at a two-star place, name long forgotten, in the Loire. The excellence of those meals can probably best be described by combining these two sentiments: highly constructed, aesthetically pleasing, and beautiful dishes that exude love, soul, and the reality of solid good food. Having read a bit about what Adria (among others) has to say on these subjects, I believe that this is precisely what he is going for with his cuisine. ← Right - it is the difference between good cooking and bad cooking that we are talking about here. Not the difference between upscale and downscale.

Do they serve the paninis there too?

I'm becoming more and more discouraged with every report like this that I read. It is disappointing that a restaurant where I had such a stellar meal early in its life seems to be coming up wanting so often lately. Has anyone had the lobster prepared this way at Per Se or French Laundry when it wasn't just a little chewy?

Impossible. I refuse to believe it.

I'm not sure I do either. With 28 courses - that's only 15 minutes a course. If you try to get it down to 4-5 hours - that's only 10 minutes a course (which includes serving the food - pouring the wine - eating and drinking - clearing the table - etc.). Reminds me of a speed eating contest as opposed to fine dining (although I am probably just being old-fashioned <sigh>). Also - I tend to think of chatting with one's dining companions as being an essential part of a meal. I like to think of fine dining as a sensual experience - and getting your business done in 10 minutes isn't very sensual in my opinion. Robyn ← At Minibar in DC there are a comparable number of courses, but they come every five minutes or so, if that. If I remember correctly that meal took about two and a half hours. But then again, in that setting the cooking and plating is going on right in front of you and there are only six patrons.

I did get a reply from Nick at the restaurant elsewhere that the norm is more like five hours. That is certainly within the realm of my patience. I'm looking forward to hearing more about how the food tastes.

I've been on a bit of a cooking hiatus, so I'm trying to get back in the swing of cooking and posting. I find that when I plan on posting I give more thought to my menu and the cooking, let alone the appearance. So tonight it was Potato-Chorizo Tacos with Avocado Salsa from Rick Bayless' Mexico One plate at a Time. This was so simple but very good and hearty.

I've said it on other threads, but as a wine beginner two years ago my wife and I went to Joseph Phelps and signed up for their Wine Tasting 101 (or something like that). Good wine, helpful staff and a nice setting.

If this is really a 7 and a half hour meal every time, I'm not sure I see the appeal in that.

I was just going to post that. Based on everything I've read on here this is the place I want to be sure to hit next time I'm in town.

When I made a reservation last week, the person I spoke with said they estimated that the Tour would take about 4 hours.

unless im very much mistaken i dont think gelatin would meet the criteria for not being vegetarian friendly simply because its is after all gelatin and not a meat or animal byproduct of any kind...but then again ive never looked at the label ingredients..but i am reasonbly certain it would be ok for use by a vegetarian..if im wrong im sure somebody will come along and correct any mistake ive just made ← I thought that the source of gelatin was horse hooves. This is what the International Vegetarian Union has to say about gelatin (interestingly enough this is the first hit on Google for Gelatin):

These are two responses I got recently when I asked a similar question.

Phelps was the highlight of my two days in Napa in November 2003. My wife and I signed up for a tasting class (it was our first time going to wineries). We ended up being the entire "class" and ended up with an extended tasting with several guides and several extra tastes on their hillside patio. And the wine was very nice too.

I loved the way the filling oozed out of the crust when I first cut into it. It felt very decadent.

She was probably tring to figure out how you were going to turn those into the yellow powder they sell in the spice aisle.