docsconz

It's tragically unfortunate that Steven is unable to read all of the warm sentiments written here and elsewhere. It is too late for that, but it is not too late for Jason Perlow, who co-founded and built eGullet with Steven and for all of the other people who helped build this community to read the descriptions of what eGullet has meant to all of us. To Jason, Dave, Chris and the many others who built, maintained and grew this site that allowed so many relationships and people to flourish, a great heartfelt THANK YOU! Like for many others, this thread has brought back many wonderful memories. Thank you all for those!

Like Jason, I did as well. He meant so much to so many of us.

As so many of these posts attest, Steven made a difference. He made a difference in my life and clearly in many others. RIP, Steven.

Nor I.

I agree with everything said about Twitter, but the one relative flaw, is that to get the most info from it requires near constant contact. Once something has been tweeted and missed, it is essentially gone. Of course there are ways to stay on top of the most relevant tweeters and tweets, but that requires a fair amount of effort. eGullet and other forums remain useful even if they are no longer quite as shiny as they used to be.

If there has been a demise in participation in specific forums, I think it has been mostly a function of time and the explosion of on-line culinary content. Between blogs (yes, I post here with markedly decreased frequency because managing my website has become so time-consuming) and the growth of facebook and other social media, there is less time and less of a reason for many to gravitate to a single site. That was much less the case 5-10 years ago. As an observation regarding the eGullet Forums, I am pleased to see what I feel has been a bit of a resurgence of late. It appears to be more vibrant and balanced than it has been for some time.

Extraordinary! The food being great was a given, but those pairings are incredible. Wish I was there (that was the case even before the wines).

Great thread, Steven. I was fortunate enough to have a very similar menu with my family at lunch on the 20th of April. We were there to celebrate the 25th wedding anniversary of my wife and I. Extraordinary! My family and I will be posting our observations and my photos next week on our actual anniversary. It will be on my blog.

I'm going to wait a little while before I go through your comments and photos on the meal, although I'm excited that you appear to be as excited after the fact as before. Welcome home!

Amazing!

They were thinking of you - just trying to help you establish that calorific deficit a bit quicker ! I hope it was on wheels, otherwise, we should probably schedule your hernia surgery for shortly after your return.

Fast pace! It was only a little past 10PM at that time. I wonder what number they'll finish at?

Sweet! I haven't been to the new Can Roca, but it looks awesome. Enjoy tonight!

This would be a great experience under any circumstance, but when you can share it with the company you are, it is that much more special. I am thrilled for you! Enjoy! Enjoying your reports and everyone's posts and taking notes. All three of the Boqueria superstars, Pinotxo, Universal & Quim are wonderful.

Did you run into my son?

I agree that there is nothing wrong with foams. The problem was one of over-exposure. For a while they were everywhere and people got tired of them. In addition, they were used by people who have no clue as to what Ferran Adria and elBulli are about to paint a very broad brush of ridicule in much the same way that nouvelle cuisine was ridiculed for not having overly substantial plates.

If I miss anything from the 70's, it was a greater availability of fresh, wild caught fish. The real truth is that the downward food quality spiral had already begun. Small family farms are probably in better shape now then they were then. The 60's and 70's brought Frank Perdue and his tender factory chickens, amongst other things.

Do you know, Steven, if Nathan will be doing a book tour?

I wonder how this will affect all the other Italian food importers & retailers in the city? They can't be happy.

No doubt one of the very best out there - great writing & super photography.

The outdoor market in Saratoga Springs opened today. There are plenty of great products, but I was excited to see a new vendor - Dancing Ewe Farm. I love their fresh sheep's milk ricotta. Kilpatrick Family Farm had beautiful fiddleheads still, while Sheldon Farm had great ramps.

I know. It seems that the trend is moving towards casual dining. Most of those big French haute cuisines either dropped significantly or disappeared. Also, the top is more and more dominated by post-modern/molecular cooking. Ramsay is long gone since last year. French Laundry once was at 1st now at 32nd. Michel Bras has dropped from 7th to 56th! Ducasse’s Louis XV is at a shocking 98th!!! In addition, people get bored from eating at the same place again and again. It’s superb to eat at French Laundry once or twice, but probably you won’t go back after the third time or fourth time max. It’s based on a voting system, so it gets less and less vote after a few years and it will eventually come down. You make a good point, especially voters are only supposed to vote for restaurants that they have visited over the previous 18 months.

I go to a technoemtional restaurant for the same reason I go to any restaurant - I expect delicious food! In addition, I expect to have fun and/or be stimulated intellectually. The best of this genre tend to incorporate emotion into their cooking by virtue of association or presentation, but the best almost always have delicious food too. Unlessthe food is enjoyable to me, I don't consider it a successful meal.

If it is a little something extra, I will probably not adjust my tip as I believe I tip fairly generously. If my meal is comped and I have had extensive service, I tip very generously to make sure that the servers are not penalized by the good will extended to me.

Two Food apps I like are Michael Ruhlman's Ratio and Cocktails.I also use the Open Table app a lot and Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch.