bilrus

Bilrus, Consider that one of the following is true: 1) Débec Fin - Kats serves us one of those large, white plastic soup spoons, and instructs us to 'walk with it to the bathroom, stick it all the way in the back of your throats, and ... gag yourselves!' "But why," I ask. At that point, I get backhanded by JohnW, who turns toward me with his head hung low, beet-red, ashamed to even look at the chef, and admonishes me in a raspy whisper, "Umami, you Philistine." 2) Cinq Sens Saint-Saens Sans Sens - Kats offers us a plate, then prompts his assistants to walk around behind us and place the headphones on. Sure enough, Saint-Saens' second piano concerto is now playing in our ears. We look at Kats who smiles and nods, and we begin nibbling our course. I look over at JohnW, and he's counting to himself on the fingers of his left hand, and I can see him mouthing to himself, "Taste ... smell ... sight ...." 3) Serviette Truffée - Kats advises us to 'take a bite of this course and then ... smell your napkin! ' I reply, "But why?" "Because it's truffled!" So we're sitting there, whiffing our napkins after each bite of food, and JohnW turns to the chef and asks, "Are these white or black truffles?" Now, you tell me whether or not it was fun! Gimme a damned steak and baked potato and cut the crap. What is fun about sucking slime out of a glassene envelope or watching someone shootup your lobster claw with a syringe? Sick fun, maybe. Well, I can make a pretty servicable steak and potato at home, but I'm not sure that I could pull off a tasty slime envelope.

Ah...... Finally, someone who won't sell out ... and remains true to his vision of whom he chooses to present to the public .... Tony Bourdain, you are indeed not only an inspiration, but a "classic" every sense of the word ... thank you! I wonder if our friend Tony ever thought when he got into the "public realm" that he would be held up as a paragon of virtue, class and restraint?

That sounds fun. And that post is FUNny. Actually, I would say that #'s 1 and 2 could be intersting.

I think it's highly unlikely that they would go online given their apparent distaste for anything flavorful or good. Although I am typing this as my in-laws are sitting on the sofa ten feet away from me. I have to give credit where credit is due though. My father in law's bean soup last night was actually pretty darned good.

Don that's a great post. But it makes the experience seem like another important DC experience - the Holocaust Museum. It's interesting and something everyone should do, but it is ultimately draining and certainly not uplifiting. I'm guessing that that is probably not the impression you were trying to give. Is it at least a 'fun' experience? Or is it simply a matter of taking your lumps in the name of culinary education? (And please no one get angry with me for the Holocaust meseum reference. I'm not trying to trivialize the subject matter)

I'll give an update too. I called home and my wife said the inlaws are at the grocery store buying the fixin's for Bean Soup. This could be ugly.

All the time. But I have just gotten to the point where I don't suggest anything that would not meet their demands. In fact my in-laws are staying at my house right now. Last night I made grilled pork chops, corn on the cob and sliced tomatoes. Not exactly what my wife and I would have on a Thursday night, but I was trying to make them happy. I managed to grill the chops to perfection. Done but still very juicy. Mother-in-law cut into it and turned up her nose when juices actually ran out thinking that if it isn't dry, it isn't done. I wanted to bitch about this, but didn't want to bother with starting a new thread over this. Thanks for the outlet.

I hate to agree, but I feel the same way. Although I'm not sure I would want to go on one of her $40 trips.

I went to college in a small town in the Middle of Missouri (Westminster College, Fulton, MO) and hte nearest "big-town" was Columbia where the University of Missouri is located. One of the more popular pre-formal dance date restaurants to go was a "grill-your-own" place that I have long since forgottne the name of. After having the salad bar, You went up to a cooler, picked out your steak and they gave it to you on a platter along with a partially pre-baked potato. You would then go to a huge communal grill and cook your steak and potato. It probably was somewhere slightly above a Longhorn or Outback type quality. I remember it being good, but that was a long time ago before i really knew what was good or bad. But it was kinda fun (although in retrospect I probably wouldn't think so any more). I guess a lot of college experiences are that way. Edited to rearrange things to make more sense.

Sorry I have been out for a few days as my wife had surgery for a bad gallbladder. Count me in for two. Jen has been wanting to go back there but hasn't been able to eat spicy or fatty (read: good) food for a while. I know she will be ready to do it up by that point.

There is certainly no sense of passion about food (or anything for that matter) that comes across on the small screen.

i lived on captain crunch with crunchberries and cheesesteaks at college. partly because the other food was just so bad, but mostly because i was usually stoned. Was that my problem? Huh.

From the Post website: "washingtonpost.com's Best Bets 2003 invites readers to nominate and vote for their favorite area establishments. Readers nominate their favorite local spots - from the area's best place for a first date to the best kid-friendly restaurant. washingtonpost.com readers determine the nominees in each of 50 categories encompassing bars and clubs, city life, shopping and restaurants. Once the nominations are tabulated, readers are asked to vote on the top 10 nominees in each category. "

It did seem like the Vegetarian selections were better. But that is probably because the vegetarians are more focused on their food than the general public. And don't anyone get mad at me for saying that they are probably a little pickier.

I lived on Lipton packages as a senior when I had my off campus place - If I couldn't make it in one dish and then eat out of it, I wouldn't do it. Soba, it's funny you mention the chili at your school as being something to avoid. It was on the salad bar every day at my school (Westminter College, MO 1991). The running joke among my friends was that after every dinner I would decide if I should have a bowl of chili or a bowl of Captain Crunch Crunchberries. The chili was always pretty nasty on the first day a new pot was made, but by the third our fourth day it was downright good. Unlimited cold cereal and chocolate milk were the highlights of my college eating career. Is it any wonder that I now weigh in excess of 400 pounds? Oh that and the beer.

I actually think that places like Lauriol Plaza stay busy because they are busy. If you look at it as a place to go to "see and be seen" then you want a place that is bursting with people. If you want really good food, that's probably not what you are looking for.

According to the latest post on Uzay Tumer's site, Ripert has been back to Rocco's, this time with Alain Ducasse! Could it be that the food is more acceptable than we are led to believe. I can't imagine these two guys need the publicity or waste their time eating garbage food.

I was just looking through the list myself and can't begin to figure out where to start complaining. Maggiano's as best Italian is certainly a good place to start. They weren't awarding points for gross tonnage of food served on each plate - were they? I guess it shows how much eGullet thinking has gotten in my brain that I didn't even think of Lauriol Plaza as being "Latin American" - much less the best of the best. I must admit that I am surprised and a little pleased that Red Lobster didn't place on the seafood list.

Here is the link to that. Its at the bottom of the page. I am looking forward to trying a dinner there. So far I have just done lunch twice. And now I will need to go to Cafe Atlantico for lunch next time I am downtown to get a Cuban Sandwich. I love those things. Thanks for the tip. SBC Cafe - USA Today

I thought that he was there during the soft opening.

I went to Georgia Brown's a few years ago for brunch. It was just OK - nothing really offensively bad but nothing overwhelmed me either - aside from the quantity of food you get. Bascially three meals worth of food. Plated breakfast, buffet and a lunch that they almost assume you will pack to go. If the food blew me away, the quantity wouldn't be so bad. But in this case it was just overkill.

I made the above linked recipie for Panzanella last night with some old sourdough I had in the kitchen and some pretty good tomatoes. I added some Romano cheese. Turned out pretty good. Thanks for the tip.

Don't know if anybody saw it, but there were excerpts from Siestema's review in Friday's USA Today. Although I have had a second good lunch there earlier this week, that's pretty broad exposure for a place like this. I wonder if the people who put it in the USA Today have been there, with the HQ being just up the road. I like SBC, but I would be a little disappointed if I was coming in from out of town expecting a little more than what's there.

There are other significant food websites?

Oh my god does that sounds good. I've never heard of it before but am ready to break out the ice cream maker this weekend after a trip to the farm.