Pan

We also have to keep in mind that the powers that be at the Times probably know some things about their personnel that we don't know. If Bruni is a well-qualified restaurant critic, we'll find out soon because his reviews will prove that.

Thanks. At those prices, it had better be good.

What kind of prices does this stuff go for?

That about sums it up for me.

John, thanks for articulating something I was feeling while reading this thread and other articles where food was dissed just for being in a 1980s style or something. I'll include a quote that might be relevant to this discussion: this is from Sifton's April 9, 2004 "Diner's Journal" article on Landmarc, a restaurant in TriBeCa (=Triangle Below Canal St., Manhattan, New York): Sam, I see your point about Verdi, but part of my question is to what extent great chefs are more analogous to great performers (interpreters or reinterpreters, if you like) than great composers. Do we stop performing Verdi because it's "so 19th-century"? But let's say a great chef is more analogous to a great composer or, say, a sculptor. It just so happens I went to a show of scupltures today. I really liked the show. (You can see some reproductions here, if you like.) It had a writeup in the New York Times and several pieces have already sold. Close to half of the sculptures were interpretations of paintings by masters like Poussin, Piero della Francesca, and Matisse, and titled as such, while others were not. Of course, the homages were in no way exact copies of the paintings they were inspired by, nor were they intended to be. Instead, they were the artist's take on those earlier works. But the point is that something doesn't have to be (or seem) totally new to be worthwhile, and I can't see any reason why "irrelevant" periods in cuisine can't be made relevant again if there is an inspired interpreter of those classic dishes who finds a clientele.

Are you talking about places where durian grows when you make this claim?

Did Gawker have the right to webpost an internal New York Times memo in the first place? Frankly, I didn't consider it official until it was in print in the Times itself.

This foodblog now takes its place in the annals of eGullet foodblogs as one of the best ever! Thanks for letting us share a week in your life, Brooks.

How is the taste different from regular hard cider?

Well, I think your standards for spiciness are different from mine! Kimchi is not what I think of when I think of really hot Korean food, but while I like a robust amount of hot pepper in a lot of my food, there have been times when some of the really red dishes at Korean restaurants have made me hiccup. Yes, I usually finish them, anyway. Oh, I guess I should add that I'm not too good at remembering the names of many of the Korean dishes I've had, though I recognize them readily enough on menus.

Is the main difference between mirin and sake that sake is not as sweet and isn't made from glutinous rice?

I think Mascarpone covered this well. Basically, my judgment based on one meal is that if I lived within a few blocks of the place, I'd go there, but since I don't, I probably won't go there again. Yeah Shanghai is far superior, and also less expensive. As many of you know, yellow tablecloths and such-like really don't impress me, though something other than formica and glary fluorescent lights (a la Moon House) can be nice.

Tommy, I really would like to know the name of the restaurant.

Don't be too sure that musicians like music critics and artists like art critics. Also, don't be sure that a liking for the music and art critics for the New York Times is so universal among connoiseurs of music and art. Critics will always be controversial because of the nature of their jobs, but some critics simply don't know what they're talking about - in part, because many of them (probably especially in art) never had any substantial formal or informal education in anything much except for writing and journalism. Please, don't take this as a general slam on critics, but do let's be careful in assuming that critics in any field are universally liked. Dislike and even hatred of critics sort of goes with the territory, n'est-ce pas?

Interesting response, Irwin. I just wonder what the other two inspections were failed for. Also, when was the last time Katz's or Second Av. Deli were closed for health violations? Have they ever been?

Carnegie Deli was briefly closed for health code violations. See the rest of the story here: Story in Newsday

Tonight, a Japanese friend of mine told me that Japanese people normally eat sushi once or twice a year, for example on birthdays. She says that Americans eat sushi much more than Japanese do! Is that your experience, too?

Sake and mirin are both varieties of rice wine. Is there a thread in which the differences between them are discussed?

What do you think Adria means by that? I suspect he was referring to the grind of turning out 30-course meals, night after night, in an environment when no course is particularly familiar to anyone in the kitchen, since every course has been invented anew. Thanks. And what does that mean in practice? That he goes only so far and no further in terms of how often he changes the menu, for example?

I found that very moving. Many artists (painters, sculptors, musicians, actors, writers, etc.) are artists because we are unhappy when the work most of us do to support ourselves takes so much time and energy out of us that we are no longer able to express ourselves through our art. And the other part of it is that for most people, in order to become professionals in an artistic field, it is necessary to have to do it; otherwise, we'd never put up with the lack of material things and insecurity that plagues the lives of most of us. A lot of people won't understand, because for them, work is just what they do for money, but I know that the many chefs who frequent this site will understand perfectly.

Yep. Or a place with 3-star food and 0-star service. I like this idea (though I think there's essentially zero chance the Times will adopt it any time soon), but I agree with Fat Guy that the most important thing is for the Times to indicate more clearly what the star ratings actually stand for. Is there an effective minimum cost for a 4-star meal? Are there places where the tasting menu is 4-star and the prix fixe menu is 1-star? Is it ever possible for a $35/person dinner to be 3-star? Etc. It's impossible to cover all bases in a review, though, and in any case, after a number of reviews from the new critic, we'll have some idea of what the stars mean to him/her.

Well stated, FG.

But are there in fact hordes of uninsured people in Japan?

I think the column still works, though I'd rather see more true cheap-eats coverage and less middle-market reviewing. Use the Diner's Journal for that. I strongly agree with you here. It's bothered me to see reviews of restaurants whose main dishes were priced in the high teens and low 20s in the "$25-and-under" column. I may be mistaken, but I sort of think I remember a review of 71 Clinton Fresh Food in that column, which would have been ludicrous.

I'll miss Asimov's "$25-and-under" columns, which are news I can use a lot more than his wine columns will be, irrespective of their quality.