bilrus

It depends on how you work up the sweat. I didn't fully "get" truffles until I had the White Truffle Risotto at French Laundry two weeks ago. They brought the risotto to the table accompanied by a box which they opened under your nose. One whiff of the monster White Truffle in the box made me realize this might come close to being worth the $40 supplement (of course at TFL that's like leaving your change in the "Jerry's Kids" jar at 7-Eleven.) Our risotto was then covered with a thick layer of shavings. I can't say how much it added to the taste of the dish, but the aroma it contributed couldn't be matched.

Thanks for the pics Malawry, although several didn't load on my screen. Looking at the pictures, I realized that the Sea Bass and the Pork Belly might have been my favorite flavors of the night and the cauliflower puree with the lobster was a revelation, giving me a new appreciation of the delicate flavors of the vegetable, which I have never liked before. Oh and the scallops - a perfect type of surf and turf in my view. Pork and shellfish fused together. I think some of us were taken a little aback with the wine bill because we had a few more bottles than we had realized and because a few of the wines we had were a little more expensive than we had anticipated. The wines we had were: Kritt Les Charmes Gewurztraminer 1999 A Chardonnay that I lost the label for Cambria Bench Break Vineyard Pinot Noir 1999 Cotes du Rhone Louis Bernard 2000 I am far from a wine person, so I am not the best to go over the details or to comment on the value of the bottles. (I also didn't take note of the exact proces of the wines). They all seemed good to me. I particularly enjoyed the forgotten Chardonnay, with its strong citrusy flavors. Thanks to Chef Krinn for the food, the service and the attention he showed us on a busy Saturday night.

My wife and I woke up with a craving for hamburgers so we drove into the city to go to Matchbox - unfortunately they are closed on Sunday (what's up with that)? As a consolation prize we went around the block to Zaytinya. After a recent time there that was not quite as good as it had been in the past, this was a welcome return to the standard we have always expected. Everything was right on. This is the type of place that makes me glad to live in this city.

I am still recovering from a little too much good food and good wine (and the slight surprise when the wine bill arrived). I'm looking forward to seeing the pics and raving about the food.

That's what I was just checking on too. My PM from Malawry said "see you at 6".

One dish you didn't go into much detail on was the "salad". What makes it different from a salad?

At home in DC (places I haven't been yet): Maestro Laboratorio Jose Andres' MiniBar Obelisk Out of town: Chicago Trotter's and/or Trio - I want to do the culinary tour of Chicago trip this year, so add three or four more good places to this. New York Babbo (I went this year and want to go back) One of the four star places - Daniel or ADNY Per Se Peter Luger's (thanks for the reminder Tommy)

But how do you get the skin off without the skinner?

If I see it I may just try it to give a report. I wonder if it has special sauce on it.

I don't think it has anything to do with taste. In the amount of time it takes to slice the garlic to place it in the press and squeeze, you can mince a clove. Plus, there's less to clean up. Nope, nope, nope. At least, not for me. My local grocer peels my garlic for me. If I want 2 or 3 cloves, it takes me a total of 6 or 7 seconds to mince it with a press, and 3 seconds to clean before popping it in the dishwasher. Getting out a cutting board, making sure that it's the one for "aromatics", smashing the garlic, mincing it, scraping it into the pan, and then washing knife and board (by hand) takes far, far longer for me. Now if I want sliced garlic, or coarsely chopped garlic, that's an entirely different matter. I'm completely with Varmint on this one. I also buy the pre-peeled whole cloves of garlic and I also use the garlic press quite a bit, especially if it is going in something I that I don't want to have small chunks of garlic. It takes a REALLY long time (if not impossible) to mince garlic to the consistency that a press will provide. That said there are times that I want slices of garlic or pieces of garlic with a little bite - then its the 10 inch chefs knife. My first reaction to my most useless piece of equipment was also the shrimp deveiner. I use a very small scissors like from a manicure set (never used for the intended purpose) to do the job. I think I got the idea from Alton Brown.

THat's what I do. My board sits right next to my sink, first I use a dough cutter/board scraper to scrpae scarps into the sink. Then I use soapy water to clean it down. Then I use the board scaper again to squeegee any remaining water, etc off of the board. Whenever I am cutting meat I use those disposable Saran Wrap cutting board covers, so it stays pretty clean this way. Then every so often I use vinegar to clean and oil it up.

The worst one I have ever had is at a Tex-Mex place in Sterling called Los Toltecos. Like many bad meals I have put the details out of my mind but I still remember the "Fried Ice Cream" (which I just posted about on the freid ice cream thread). It amounted to that aprticularly bad type of ice cream with big chucks of ice in it (not frozen ice cream but ice) rolled in rice krispies. That's it - not cooked, no sauce or other flavors. Oh and I remember the sticky vinyl tablecloths too.

Hannah - I saw it at the Giant in Ashburn Village yesterday where they keep the juices next to the produce section. It hasn't had a really big splash here in DC yet, but hte billboards are all over in San Francisco.

I like it myself. I have a round one that is about that high not quite that big - maybe 24 inches across but I have a small kitchen - but I am 6'5. I love it. If I had more counter space I would get one twice as big (and square, just like this one). I don't really bother with having to lift it up - I slide it next to the sink, wash it while it is flat on the counter and use a board scraper to get teh scraps into the sink. And you may shed a tear when you find out how much it will cost to ship it back. We once bought a pot rack via a catalog. It didn't fit where we wanted it but it was almost as much to ship it back as we would ahve gotten back for the return. It's still sitting in my garage.

My mother-in-law barely uses any salt (much less herbs and spices) in her cooking, but when I first started eating meals with them the slat and pepper were never on the table. I would always have to ask for it to eat the meat and potatoes and would fell guilt for doing so. Eventually it started showing up on the table, but not in the food - yet.

I am probably not a good guest because of this but I hardly every get really excited about someone else's home cooking - maybe I don't know enough very good cooks. There are certian things I think I make better than I can get in a restaurant, but that is probably because i make them exactly to my taste. The problem with my cooking is that it is so inconsistent - somedays I amke things that are fantastic and the next day I could make something absolutely inedible.

I just love this place. I was there yesterday for lunch for the second time this year and once again it was done just right. Such simple food - I doubt that any of our dishes had more than five ingredients, but they were all fresh and flavorful. My salad was a perfect example. Avacados, beets and a citrus vinagrette. Not much too it, but the best avacoado I have had in a long time made the dish. I guess that is the point of the palce and the reason I will keep going back whenever I am in town.

Thought I would pick this thread to add my two cents worth about Farallon. My wife and had our final dinner of our San Francisco / Napa trip there last night and it was fantastic. After a not very good experience at Slanted Door the night before we were a little nervous about ending the trip on a sour note. Food wise the trip was on the verge of being just so so despite a great experience at French Laundry and another typically fantastic / simple lunch at Chez Panisse yesterday afternoon. I had even been talked into going to Scoma's two nights earlier by on on fmy wife's colleauges who insisted we go there. It was not jusite as bad as I had anticipated but certainly not the type of place I would choose. So on to Farallon. It was just what the doctor ordered to cure our ailing trip. I loved the decor, which was not nearly as modern or "out-there" as the pics on their website or some descriptions I had read. I know decor and atmosphere are not important to some, ao maybe I am superficial, but it does add somethign for me. But only if the food can back it up. And the food was excellent. Maybe we were looking for the good, but we didn't have anything we didn't like. The amuse of a demitasse of lobster bisque was not expected (I don't know why we didn't expect it) and was a good start. A little on the thin side, but it had a nice kick from the sherry. We each started with a lobster gnocchi dish. Although the gnocchi weren't the most light and delicate ones I have had, they were fine but hte overall dish was very flavorful and rich. We each had a salad as a second course my wife a beet salad and I a butter lettuce salad with a nice creamy strong blue cheese and a walnut dressing. BOth very good between the richness of the lobster and our entrees. For entrees, my wife went with a second appetizer (her reaction was similar to an earlier poster who liked the appetizer list better than the entrees) of a risotto (with crab if I remember correctly). It was good, if maybe a littel too rich following the gnocchi. It was not quite the equal of the white truffle risotto from French Laundray three nights earlier (not that I would have expected it). The rice wasn't quite a creamy as you might want it but ti was a very well done dish. Meanwhile I had a grilled hawaian ono with lentils, crab and the sweetest cippolini onions I have ever had. They were an excellent counterpoint to the earthier lentils and fish. For dessert I had an apple spice cake that was dense and chewy and very good and my wife had the "Small Endings" a cookie/truffle/candy plate with probably 20 different bites ranging from fruit chews to peanut brittle to an ice cream sandwich. And she was sweet enough to let me try every one (except the ice cream sandwich). The waiter was helpful in helping the two of us (wine neophytes who are slowly learning what we like) come to a comprimise on our wine selection. He chose a riesling that was fruity enough for my wife's slightly sweeter tastes, but dry enough that my lips didn't pucker up every time I took a sip. Can't for the life of me remeber what it was but it was just right. Overall this was a great ending to what turned out to be a pretty good trip, culinarily speaking.

I just got back from dinner here and it was one of the more disapointing meals I have had in a while. Despite some of the negative comments on here, I went into it really wanting to like it, but I just couldn't. It wasn't terrible but it was nothing special. Starting with the atmosphere, which my wife likened to a Cailfornia Pizza Kitchen. I realize that these are temporary digs, but temporary doesn't have to mean generic. We weren't seated until about 25 minutes after our reservation and we waited another ten for any sign of service. The food was fine, but that was about it. The spring rolls were plain, but what can you really do special with those? The imperial rolls were pretty good but not much flavor was happening. My wife's scallops with spinach and black bean sauce were pretty tasteless. I did really like the shaking beef, especially the red onions. But there just wasn't much to the meal. I expected more in the way of presentation. I expected more in the way of amibiance. I expcted better service. For the price I expected to not have to pay extra for plain white rice. And I expected more flavor. And that is where I guess I was let down the most. Was I asking too much? Edit - I'm not positive but I think Charlie Trotter was seated right before us. I know it is far from Chicago, but - Trotter party, striking resemblence.

There are people from all culures wth good and bad taste. If you went by the makeup of the clienteleand the popularity of the restaurant, you would think Cheesecake Factory and TGI Fridays were the best examples of American Cuisine.

We did mention that we were new to this and that this was our first tasting. We told him we wanted to learn what we could. He just wasn't a really talkative fellow. We didn't disklike it there, in fact the wines there were among my favorites that we tried. My guess is that who you have helping you makes a big diference. It was fun to have the different experiences. I was pleasantly surprised at how uncrowded every place was. This must be off-season. I don't really like people in general so that was for the best.

I just finished my stay day and a half stay in Napa and had a great time, thanks to the advice here and from others on the Gullet. Forgive my typos, but the laptop I am usng doesn't seem to want to recognize t wen my somewhat sizeable fingers hit the keys. I had decided my strategy would be to taste as many wines as I could in order to get a sense of wat I like and don't like. Being more of a food geek than a ine geek, my verall goal is to get comforable wth ordering wne with meals and occasinally buying some wine for home. We drove straight from the Arport to Modavi fr the winery tour and tasting. This was a good place to start. My expectation was of a much bigger, factory style place teeming with tourists, but it was in fact fairly small and it seemed like there were maybe three tours going on staggered every half hour with only ten or so people on each tour. This was a good grounding in the process and why so many wineries are cenered n Napa. And the wines weren't bad (at least to my neophyte taste buds). This was $10 with four wines and an hors d'oeuvre paired with oe of the wines. The next day we went to Copia in he morning. I posted elsewhere about this, but it was interesting ad very well put together, although I couldn't see spendng a whole day there - an hour and a half was plenty unless there were a partcular program you were interested in. The Wednesday half off admission made it much more palatable. We then went to two wneries stritcly for tastings. First was Sinskey which might have had my favorte wines, but we felt a little like it was "OK, here's a wine, here's another, now how many cases do you want?" We told the guy at the counter that we were new to ts ad help us learn but he didn't have much to add. This was $10 for four wines. Second we went to S. Anderson. This was similar to Sinskey but the girl who helped us was very friendly and patient with our stupid questions. Both Sinskey and Anderson had tastng roomswere ou just stand at teh counter. I don't kw if this is common, but I was expectng more of a bar set-up with tables and stools. It gives you a little bit of a rushed atmosphere, which is probably good for the wineries during peak season, but at Sinskey wewere the only ones there and at Anderson there was only one other couple. This was five dollars for three wines. We each had one flight ad she gave us an extra taste of an older version of oe of the newer wines we tried so we could see the difference aging made, so we tasted probably nine wines for $10. In the afternoon we were signed up for a wine appreciation tasting at Joseph Phelps. This was 15 per person. We were the only ones signed up so we bascially had a guided tasting tour with our own guide. The purpose was to learn how to taste, what to look for in wines, etc. We sarted in a board room with whites and a video about the winery and then went out on their patio for some stunning views, reds and pleasant conversation about Napa and wines in general. This was by far the highlight of the tastings, although I would recommend it early in your trip because it will help you appreciate subsequent stops. We stayed at the Villagio Inn in Yountville (The sister hotel of the Vintage Inn wich was recommended here) and were upgraded to a suite (I think our package was $199 for the night with a bottle of "champagne" from Domaine Chandon and a bottle of wine from Beringer). It also included a champagne brekfast. I normally am leery of free breakfast buffets, but this was actually pretty good. The room was wonderful adn the prices wasn't out of line comparatively. Meals started with dinner at a place called Market in St. Helena. I had gotten so many recommendations from eGUllet, but we were exhausted and didn't feel fired up about an elaborate meal the night before the French Laundry. We went to Martini House but it was a little more elaborate and formal than we wanted and had a strangely dead vibe that evening. Market was fine - in fact the fish and chips wih champagne were outstanding. Lunch the next day was at Taylor's Refresher. I loved my burger and onion rings and he shakes were great. My wife didn't love her chili dog which caused some heartburn that lasted through the first few course of TFL that night. French Laundry was almost everything it is made out to be (which is saying a lot). I posted on another thread about that. So thanks to everyone for a memorable few days. Now I still ahve meals at Slaned Door, Farallon and Chez Panisse to look forward to before I go back home.

I finally made it back last Saturday and it was all as good as I remebered. Lamb, Oysters, black bean soup, risotto and the pear dessert were all great and those fries are out of this world - great fries by themselves but with truffles and parmesan to take them over the top. But the hospiality of John and Tricia were the best part of the evening.

I was there last night for the first time, so i don't have much to compare it to, but I thought it was excellent - not life transforming, but very good food in a calm atmosphere. The effect was a cumulative one. Not every dish was perfect or completely to my liking. I didn't "get" the Oysters and Pearls and thought the cheese course was just OK The bread course seemed a little arbitrary and I thought it was strange that it came as the third or fourth course. My wife had not been feelng great when we arrved and with a few "misses" at the beginning we were questioning the evening. This was even after the fantastic Risotto with Shaved White Truffles ($40 supplement !?! but worth it.) But then in succession came the oblgitory lobster poached in butter wth lobster mushrooms and lobster broth. Then an immenely flavorful Rabbit, Lentil and Fois Gras dish. Then a "Pot au Feu a la Francaise" which was essentialy the best pot roast ever created and the hghlight of the meal for me. Then afer the cheese course came a dessert of Pineapple three ways and a chocolate dessert wth ginger custard. Then a mini creme brulee and lemongrass custard. Wave after wave of great dishes to the point that on the late drive to San Francisco we couldn't stop talking about the meal and dissecting each dish. The service was a little more formal that i expected, but not arrogant or stuffy. The sommelier did work with me to pair our wines to the menu from teh by the glass menu and the staff was patient when I would ask them to describe more fully certain dishes. In retrospect I think it is what I had anticipated - likely the best meal I have had, coming close to living up to the expectations I had of it. My wife probably would rank it just below our anniversary dinner at the Inn at Little Washington and a perfect night we had this summer at Babbo, but considering she went into the restaurant not feel well and came out cured it was a pretty good evening. The thing that I took way from TFL was how they were able to make the main part of each dish the star. At so many places the sauces are what makes the dish what it is. But what I remember 24 hours later are the taste of the beef and the rabbit and the lobster. And I'm already trying to figure out how to get back this way from DC again soon. Forgive what are probaby my dozens of typos - I am using the worst piece of crap laptop I have ever seen in my life.

What about mincing them either raw or cooked like Vengroff suggested to make a more traditional filling? This would give the desired flavor, but get rid of some of the chewey texture issues. It sounds good to me - especially the sauce.