Pan

My thoughts on this aren't fully formed, but this question of how much cooking may be an art causes me to think a lot about the recitals I present as a classical musician. I'm playing for a paying audience most of the time, but who chooses the program? Me (though I sometimes need to discuss it with the concert presenter, when that isn't yours truly). Who writes the program notes? Me (unless the concert presenter prefers that I speak, in which case I choose what to say). Who chooses how to play the music? Me and my assisting artists. I am a musician and not an accountant or something else because I get pleasure and fulfillment from playing, not because my audience does. I choose to present to them things I want to play, I believe in, and I believe I can transmit well to the audience as an advocate, as well as a storyteller spinning the sounds through time. Once I've done that, if the audience is happy and some of them tell me they've learned something from my performance and program notes, I'm very happy. When those who have a close enough relationship with me to feel confident in criticizing me do so, I listen to their comments and think them over with an eye toward future performances. I learn from scheduling problems; consider the effects of ticket prices; rethink the totality of the program, based on how strenuous or musically successful combinations of pieces on each half were; and take mental notes about the acoustics and all sorts of aspects of the indoor environment of a venue, the quality of the piano my accompanist used, and whether anything (e.g. a climate control system) made a disturbing noise. Now, when I'm playing a wedding reception, I'm more apt to include show tunes and jazz and may take requests, but not in a classical recital, where even my encores are chosen by me. So what about a chef? Surely, most serious chefs choose the profession because it fulfills them, not their customers. They make dishes they want to make and believe they can be good advocates for. Now, rather like I ask audience members how they reacted to a piece and consider their reaction in future programming, chefs are interested in how their dishes are selling and how many people are sending them back because they're too "odd" or something. What about the menus? Who is most responsible for them? I'm going to quit here, except to observe that there are often musicians but always food at a wedding reception, and Mozart wrote differently when he was writing Eine Kleine Nachtmusik for dinner entertainment than when he was writing a symphony. It's an inexact analogy, but without question to me, cooking at a high level is an art, and the question of the degree and type of interaction between the audience and the artist is somewhat separate from whether it's an art or not. Musicians depend on a much larger audience than painters and sculptors do, generally. Does that make painting and sculpting more of an art than music? I don't think so.

I've had luck with Greek restaurants and diners in places like Buffalo and Columbus, Ohio. Any place run by Greeks that serves Moussaka has a shot of being at least acceptable.

You could and did respond. I respect your points, but have you ever seen a newspaper publish a letter by a musician debunking ignorant distortions of what they did and why in a concert that was reviewed? I admit to a personal stake in this: I'm a musician and my father's a painter. I don't recall the Times ever publishing an artist's expose of Hilton Kramer's ignorance, for example. So my point is broader than restaurant reviews, but what's the Washington Post's policy on publishing letters to the editor about restaurant reviews? My impression is that you and your editors take a very enlightened view, what with your participation in online chat and, indeed, your Q&A session here.

I remembered the name of the restaurant: Brawta.

First of all, Louisa, wherever you end up working as Chef, I want to go there! That stuff you've been making sounds fabulous! Secondly, a few marginal questions: What is "to chinois"? I never knew "chinois" could be something other than a noun or adjective. I gather a "mandoline," in this case, is not a musical instrument but a peeler or some other kind of cutting implement. Would you or someone else like to describe it more exactly, please? The points are the tops of the asparagi, right? I love them, don't you? Are they removed just for looks? Oh, by the way, I love Daube. [edit: "or" instead of "are." Sheesh!]

Oh, by the way, I made the mistake of going to Dan yesterday - the Japanese place on the corner of Broadway and 69th or so. I had barely edible sukiyaki - very overcooked shrimp, somewhat fishy fish, and a salty-and-syrupy liquid that had no resemblance to the sukiyaki I knew and loved in Japan. I was hungry, but I didn't come close to finishing it because it didn't merit finishing. But the waiter was so rude that I didn't give him a cent as a tip - which is really unusual for me. He walked away while we were still talking to him (no, we didn't go on for a long time); it was very difficult to get his attention; he virtually threw our plates and such-like on the table; and he was in such a rush to clear our table that he flung my chopsticks on my lap (he did say "sorry," but it wasn't exactly heartfelt). My friend, a native of Schenectady (though she lived in Manhattan for a few years), said right after we ordered "I forgot; we're in New York now." I didn't bother to tell her that I couldn't remember the last time I had such rude service. The better for her to feel confirmed in her decision to move back to her home area a few years ago. Now, check this out: My friend was wondering how much the total cost of the meal would be with tip. "With tip?!" I said. Geez. It's only because some people are total pussies (excuse the expression, and it's meant in a unisex way) that assholes like that get away with it. P.S. The restaurant was pretty empty when we showed up, though it was much busier later, and that guy was the only waiter, so he was overworked, but that doesn't change the fact that he's an asshole. And he definitely is not a native English speaker, so it's probably safe to say that he isn't a native New Yorker, for those keeping score at home.

Agreed. It's absurd to say "I don't have an accent." Everybody has an accent. But interestingly enough, it's mostly in the suburbs (when I went to school in Purchase and Stony Brook) that people have asked me weird questions about where I was from, based on my Upper West Side accent: "Are you from England?" Um, NO, considering that my folks are from Brooklyn, I'm from Manhattan, my ancestors came from Eastern Europe, and I have yet to set foot in England, and I don't say "I cahn't." But when I'm further from New York, everyone can tell at least that I'm from the northern part of the Eastern Seaboard generally, if they don't have me pegged as a New Yorker. But I drink something more like "wooder" than "watah."

Monica: I hardly ever cook nowadays; it's my father who makes dishes with curry leaves. Some of them are sort of lamb stews, but I also recall that when he's made Aviyal it's included plenty of curry leaves. He gets recipes from the several Madhur Jaffrey books he has, Coleman Marks' book on Regional Indian Cooking and some other sources, and he sometimes modifies recipes to produce his own versions. Recently, he made kebabs with ground chicken dipped in panko, which was a success. But it didn't have any curry leaves in it.

So far as I can tell, only writers are given that opportunity. I can't remember seeing a newspaper giving a musician the right to respond to an absolutely idiotic review, nor a painter, nor a dancer. Yes, I think that equal time should be offered to the reviewed, but I don't think it'll ever happen.

That's because you're motivated by pride. I suspect most writers are. But I also agree that paying people poorly for work on short deadlines tends to prompt unscrupulous people to take inexcusable shortcuts - and that's what intentional plagiarism is, totally inexcusable. (I say that without having read the article in the Courant.)

Yes, yes. I get these 3 bags at a time in Flushing, Queens or Manhattan's Chinatown. I especially like them as cough-drop substitutes when I'm having respiratory symptoms. They are very good.

it's more upscale than your average chinatown place. has a decent wine list. service is probably a bit more polished. dishes are probably a bit different, as they are not strictly "authentic" vietnamese You know how they say good reviewing helps people to make decisions based on descriptions? This may have helped me make a decision. The place you're describing sounds like Cyclo, on 1st Av. between 13th and 14th. I'm not interested in paying $6.50 for ordinary brisket pho without omosa and tendon, rather than $3.50 for tastier pho with omosa and tendon in Chinatown, just because the restaurant has fancy decor, serves creme brulee for dessert, and tones down the spices (which toning down is not desirable to me). And a wine list is the furthest thing from my mind when I'm eating Vietnamese food, even though I could hardly say it's completely "inauthentic," given the French influence on Vietnamese food (and is this place really serving French food with Vietnamese accents?). But give me some good tea anytime with Vietnamese food. So I think that I'll be walking to Chinatown or going somewhere else in the neighborhood, unless the food is just unusually good at this place, in which case, I might be willing to suspend my disbelief in fusion and try it once. I was underwhelmed by Vong the only two times I went there, but that's more Thai-influenced, and I'm not sure that a French-Vietnamese fusion couldn't be made to work better than a Thai-French fusion. Count me as doubtful, though.

Why is it so cited, if your interpretations are accurate? Surely, there must be more to it than that. Perhaps someone could provide a link to the WHO's full report on their study.

I was trying to figure out why I hadn't heard of this place. This is why: Bao 111 111 Avenue C, New York, NY 10009 (212) 254-7773 Yep, Av. C and 8th. I don't walk on Av. C that often. The question for me is, since it's a 20-25 minute walk to Chinatown (alright, maybe 30 minutes for Baxter St.) and would probably take about 10 minutes for me to walk to Av. C, what's the cost-benefit analysis?

"Rasta pasta" is on the menu at a Jamaican place on Atlantic Av. in Brooklyn, the name of which slips my mind (I haven't tried it and forget what's in it), but I don't think you'll find "Torta Ganja" on any printed menus in U.S. restaurants.

fresh_a: If you come to Manhattan on your next vacation, try the extra sharp cheddar the Amish-looking guy from Pennsylvania sells on the Union Sq. North side of the farmer's market in Union Square. I think he's there Wed. and Sat., but I don't remember. By the way, I was really impressed with the selection of excellent, inexpensive wines, pates, and so forth in a little market near Les Halles in Paris. I definitely think that artisanal products are more prevalent in France than in the U.S. including New York - however, I think they're more prevalent in Italy, where it seemed to me like poor-quality products were virtually nowhere to be found in shops selling things like fruits, vegetables, wine, cheese, and such-like, very much including supermercati. I'm probably exaggerating, and it's probably possible to find something less than amazing at a shop off the Autostrada, but even in those shops, it was easy to assemble a really solidly acceptable lunch, which is way more than I can say for any similar kind of shop in the U.S., to the extent such places exist at all right off interstates. Italy has the most consistently fresh and high-quality products I've seen and tasted anywhere except for 1970s Malaysia (which equalled and didn't better Italy). Parts of France like Provence are very comparable.

Nice article, nothing surprising to me in it. Oh, and count me as someone who likes to eat the curry leaves. In other news: Hey, Monica is cute!

The place used to be consistently good a few years ago, with superior service, but I found it inconsistent after that and have stopped going. However, it doesn't surprise me that you had a good meal there. And yes, the decor is attractive. Pongsri Thai is a small chain, so it's hard to know what the decor rating refers to, though I recall that the Pongsri Thais at 2nd Av. and 19th and in Chinatown both have very decent decor.

But what is life but a complex nonfiction story with a series of episodes?

I'm sure you didn't. But the rationale for the prohibition on smoking in bars in California was that it is a workplace safety issue for the bartenders and wait staff. They don't have to drink to excess (data show that moderate drinking can be healthful, by the way, as you'd probably agree) and don't have to shoot up, but if people smoke in their face, they smoke too, willy-nilly. I sympathize with your difficulty in overcoming an addiction, but I still think that the basic concept here is that your freedom (and I don't think there's any kind of basic freedom to smoke) stops when your fist hits my face. For many of us, smoke going into our respiratory system is really comparable to getting hit hard in the throat and chest. To many of you, too, I daresay, but - to put it bluntly - that's your problem, as long as you don't inflict it on others. The other stuff you talked about isn't inflicted on strangers in the same way as smoking.

How can one be fair when writing about a flavor one hates? I frankly wouldn't know how to do that. Then again, that's one reason why I'm not a professional critic. By the way, since I don't live in the DC area, I haven't been familiar with your work, but I've been impressed with the answers you've given in this forum.

Sounds like gratuitous cruelty to me!

Brick Lane and several other Indian restaurants are also mentioned in this thread: "Need help with finding places to eat" Be prepared to scroll down a bit.

Lreda and others: What about contacting a newspaper? If not the New York Times, perhaps the Daily News would take this on. They seem pretty good about exposes. Try it.

It depends on who's playing: sushi in California, crab cakes in Baltimore, bullets at Yankee Stadium, and so on. Now, now! We wouldn't want people to get the wrong idea that Yankee Stadium is dangerous, would we?