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From the Eater article linked to above by Sneakeater, a quote from Neroni spokesperson Steven Hall:

Moderator's Note What has so far been discussed regarding the legal situation of Jason Neroni has been pertinent to the situation, but so as not to get bogged down in legal semantics, I would ask that any further discussion be limited to the facts as known and not supposition about guilt, innocence or generalizations about the legal process unless it provides new insight into new developments in the situation - i.e. sheds real light on the legal processes pertinent to the situation for those of us less familiar with them.

I would if I could do it the way Jeffrey Steingarten recently did - with Paul Liebrandt or a select few others as the chef. I like to cook, but I love to eat.

The lunch options at the Wynn were fairly limited. Country Club was ok, but certainly not worth going out of one's way for. I had a seared tuna salad. I didn't want to eat too much as we were planning a big meal that evening at Wing Lei.

Great report so far; I also cook from Bouchon fairly often and am looking forward to (eventually) tasting my favourite recipes at the restaurant. Could the oysters you enjoyed be the St.-Simon? My family actually makes those (website)! ← You are precisely right! Thank you as both Molto and I were scratching our heads to remember the specific variety. They were awesome and the best part of the meal!

Boo-hoo...that's what the BOH is making without any tips. ← ← Back of the House

For a photo report on a recent meal at Bouchon see this thread.

In a topic on Linguine with white clam sauce a mention of Italian-American vs American-Italian food was made and I got to thinking a little more about the continuum of ethnic cooking and how it evolves over time. I will use Italian food in the United States as an example, but I think that this could apply to any ethnic cuisine in a new environment. Here are a few proposed definitions. Substitute whatever ethnic cuisine you care to for "Italian" Italian food would be food cooked by Italians using Italian provenanced ingredients as they would have done in Italy. Italian-American food is food made by or in the style of Italian Americans as they would have made in Italy but adapted to ingredients more readily available in the US whether due to cost considerations or simple availability. Most recent immigrant cuisine would fit into this category. American-Italian is cuisine influenced by Italian style, typical ingredients or technique, but with a decidedly American approach. This would cover most cooking by later generations or others cooking looking for something "a little bit Italian." American cuisine may or may not have any Italian influence, but if it does it generally has a completely new take and/or incorporates other ethnic influences as well. An example of this might be a pasta with Mexican flavorings/ingredients.

that is funny to hear since I grew up in Providence RI and was taught how to make clam sauce with wine by women from Sicily..who always said that a nice white wine brightened the flavor of clams...go figure ← Though certainly not a universal ingredient, it would not have horrified anyone I am familiar with either.

I have not yet had the pleasure of dining at The Fat Duck so if and when I do it will all be new (and I expect) wonderful to me, but I must concur that for someone who has built his reputation as being on the cutting edge it is rather surprising that his edge appears to have become quite dull. The example of Thomas Keller was cited above. Yes, he has some menu stalwarts such as the salmon tartar cornets and oysters and pearls that he maintains as signatures, but the rest of the menu continues to evolve and change. This is true of most of the top chefs that I am familiar with.

I understand the distinction you're making, John, and I've made it myself. But I'm not sure I'd say that the cooking with which you grew up represents the state of mainstream Italian-American cooking during those times. I'd say that mainstream Italian-American cooking (and, to a large extent, culture) in the US evolved largely from Italians who emigrated to the United States in the largest wave from the late 1800s to the beginning of World War I and their descendants. We're talking about spaghetti with meatballs and Sunday gravy. I have a hard time believeing that the kind of linquini with clam sauce your family might have made was the same as what was being served in Italian-American restaurants in the 60s. ← Sam, the family you described fits mine to a T. My grandparents all came over in the 1890's, had large families and maintained connections to the old country. Spaghetti with meatballs was an innovation during the depression in the 1930's. We never had spaghetti and meatballs, though. We would have meatballs with pasta in a red sauce, but there was always some other meat such as braciole, sausage and or pork - the Sunday gravy. This was not isolated to my family though, but prevalent throughout Italian-American restaurants in Brooklyn and lower Manhattan during that period as well as other families we knew well. Amongst that style was linguine with clam sauce as I described - the best restaurant example of which in my memory belongs to Monte's in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. I'd say that it wasn't until perhaps the early 80's that it started to change as gentrification/ethnic shifting started hitting the major Italian-American neighborhoods of Brooklyn such as Carroll Gardens, Canarsie, Flatbush and Bensonhurst. When I was a child I would often accompany my father to do the food shopping at small mom and pop stores in Park Slope ( avery different neighborhood than it is today) and Carroll Gardens. Even then, the fish stores were my favorite to visit (along with the bakeries ). Maybe this was not universal throughout the US, but then very few places in the US had an Italian-American culture like that of Brooklyn or lower Manhattan. As the diaspora of later generations began the preservation of the old ways became more and more difficult to maintain. Linguine with white clam sauce, I am sad to say, is one of the few dishes I still make the way I grew up with. That is not to say that it is necessarily "the best" or the only way to do it, but I have yet to find a better way that suits my taste.

Back then, I would say extremely unlucky the second time. Now, I would have no idea.

I don't find it to be a problem. I think they do just fine.

I've had cheese in clam sauce in restaurants and it has even been good (Wheatfields in Saratoga Springs comes to mind), but I haven't had it in what I would call an Italian or Italian American restaurant. Sam, your version of Italian-American is very different from mine and what I experienced growing up in an Italian-American household with grandparents off the boats. My version is based on 1950's-1970's Italian-American, perhaps the epitome of Italian-American cooking. What you are describing may be considered Italian-American in some circles today, but it is not what I consider Italian-American. Perhaps it is more American-Italian.

Cheese? Absolutely not! Actually the way I described and the way I grew up with is similar to what you described. The only difference is the kind of clam used. There you go with the pasta water again

Perhaps you are overcooking the clams and juice? What kind of clams are you using and how much pasta are you using it with?

I agree that this is a key step. I put the pasta in al dente and let it finish cooking in the pan with the sauce.

Fresh clams are certainly essential. Are you adding enough garlic and parsley? I don't leave them in the shells because i find too much juice staying in the shells and not mixing with the pasta. The mixing is essential IMO for the juice to absorb into the pasta as well as mixing with the garlic, parsley and whatever other ingredients. It also makes it harder to twirl the pasta!

Linguine or Spaghetti with white clam sauce is one of my all-time favorite dishes and one of the few recipes of my mother's that I have been able to reconstruct. I prefer using at least three dozen little necks or two dozen cherrystone clams per pound of pasta. The key is to capture the juice from the clams for use in the sauce. Without the juice it isn't clam sauce! The rest of the recipe is pretty simple. I fry chopped garlic (plenty) in good quality olive oil, add parsley (plenty), the clams (whole if littleneck, chopped if cherrystone) and the juice and heat while the pasta is boiling. The pasta is finished in the sauce so as to absorb some of that great flavor. Cracked or crushed red pepper is optional depending on one's preference. I will sometimes add a little white wine too depending on the amount of clam juice that I have and my mood. The devil is in some of the details. I have tried a variety of ways of opening the clams to get the most juice. Opening them directly works well with a good clam knife, but depending on one's technique precious juice can be lost. Other options include tossing the clams in the freezer first before opening them with a knife (If the clams freeze slightly, this affords the cleanest way of collecting the juice most efficiently) and heating them in a pan until they open (good for recalcitrant clams or for someone who has difficulty opening them otherwise. Nothing can ruin a great clam sauce more than unexpected crunch or grit when eating it.I always strain the juice and clams to remove any shell pieces or grit. Nowadays, most clams are pre-purged and come with very little if any sand. Uncleaned parsley is another source for unexpected grit so that should be cleaned as well. This is one pasta dish that I enjoy at least as much re-heated the next day. Your tricks?

Funny, but I much prefer the dish here than in Italy because I think the littlenecks or even cherrystones provide superior flavor to the vongole, mostly because of the greater amount of clam juice. I find that examples with vongole tend to be too dry and with too little clam flavor.

Since September 2005. You now how picky Michelin is in Spain. ← This would seem to be a prime example of that.

From the article: The gyst of the claim is that managers are claiming a big cut of tips, leaving less to the waitstaff. In addition, other pay irregularities are alleged.

Great report, Rogelio. Dani Garcia's work obviously goes well beyond the liquid nitrogen that he is most well known for. I had the opportunity to try the liquid nitrogen produced olive oil popcorn last November in California. Interesting in its own right, I think it works best as an accompaniment, such as what you had in the tin. How long has Garcia been at Calima now? It is quite surprising given his reputation that he did not receive even a single Michelin star.

Thank you.

By late Saturday afternoon my good friend molto e popped up from Phoenix to join me for a little dining. Our first stop would be dinner at Bouchon at the Venetian Hotel. To get to the restaurant one must follow directions to get to a separate elevator as if one was following a treasure map. The lighting was less than ideal for intrepid food photgraphers, but we did our best! The bistro meal started out well as excellent bread and butter were quickly brought to the table for the benefit of our hungry stomachs. The oysters from the east and west coasts of Canada were so good that we ordered a second helping. The finest were from San Mateo Bay in B.C. We split a terrine of duck foie gras - very tasty. The terrine was brought out quickly to warm up and soften a bit to make it easier to spread on the bread. Another dish we had to try was the boudin noir with potato puree and sauteed apples. This was everything that we had hoped for. I had the roasted chicken with French green lentils, pearl onions, bacon lardons and sauce Chasseur. By this time I was getting pretty full and this dish did not excite my taste buds sufficiently to re-arouse them. I would have liked the skin to be a bit crisper than it was. I will let molto e describe his main course and the desserts....