docsconz

Perhaps a naive question, but what does "ITP" stand for?

I just did - here. Well - it is not exactly what I first stated. I started it on the best WCS in NY. A more general one in cooking would probably be good too.

One of my alltime favorite dishes is linguine with white clam sauce. It was one of my mother's best dishes and it is one of mine (certainly the one that I do best that I learned from her). Growing up in Brooklyn, we would eat out at many an Italian restaurant and the linguine was generally very good. The best from my memory was from Monte's in Carroll Gardens. It has been awhile since I have enjoyed this dish in a restaurant, but it is a major litmus test for me for a certain kind of Italian American restaurant. Who is making your favorite version of this dish?

That's too bad. If it failed that test, I would not have liked it. The key to a great clam sauce is the clam juice, but that is probably fodder for another topic in another forum.

That's a great idea, but how would one assure that the parties haven't already read the review?

Nice pics, Dean. The one of your son with the chocolate pancakes is particularly priceless. His smile speaks volumes. The linguine with clam sauce in the background being served looks pretty good. That is one of my benchmark dishes at a certain type of Italian restaurant. When done right it is one of my alltime favorite dishes. When not....

I wasn't looking for actual answers. Nathan, you are right that we will likely not get the whole story unless charges really are being pressed and it winds up in court. Even then we will not likely get the whole story. My questions were really to emphasize the inconsistencies. I think it very unlikely that either Eater or Gawker made anything up even though the stories are in direct contradiction to each other. Divorce is generally messy. This appears to not be an exception.

Thank you for the information and the insight.

← So which is it? Did Eater make it up? Did they fabricate Rivero's quotes? Gawker? It's all really a shame.

This has become interesting. From the same link: It seems someone is in serious trouble here. Either Neroni if the allegations are true or Porchetta owner, Marco Rivero for libel, I would suspect, if not true. I'm sure that this is not the last of this story.

True, but I can not personally attest to Venue's greatness or lack thereof as I never had/took the opportunity to try it, though I would have liked to. I didn't say that it was easy. How far from Atlanta or other major urban center is the location? How long from central city to the restaurant by car? Is there anything else in the vicinity worth traveling for? It is the rare restaurant that can be an attraction entirely on its own.

If its great enough they will come from the city and beyond. Blue Hill at Stone barns is an example of that in New York, The French Laundry and Manresa are examples in California and El Bulli is an example in Spain.

More details in the full story. ← From that article: This quote reflects Neroni's real reasons a little better. That is simply not what he wanted to do so he left. It makes sense to me and Neroni should get credit for sticking to his vision. Hopefully, for his sake, his vision is the right one for him.

Alas, it seems as if the wine is gone given the phraseology used.

The only thing I found wrong was the perceived value of going from the 4 course to the farmers feast. When I was there in Dec'06 the 4 course was $75 and the farmers feast was $95. Since I'm not in that area often, my dining partner and I decided to opt for the farmers feast since it is thier signature menu. The waitstaff explained to me that the farmers feast would contain items/dishes that was not on the main menu. They also asked if we had any food dislikes (None, we like EVERYTHING! ) such as offal, foie gras, or if we had any food allergies (NONE!).. It sounded like the farmers feast would be a more ambitious, adventurous menu than the 4 course and that made our decision on the farmers feast that much easier. From what I could remember, we had similar amuses. You had the fresh carrots and bok choy, we had fresh carrots and turnips. We both had the beet burgers and the beet chips. The vegetables presented in different styles was great and we thought this was a perfect way to present their greenhouse grown vegetables. But this is where our similarities end. From your report you also had the pork liver sandwich, salsify, coppa, oyster/caviar and another beet dish. We had no other amuses besides the vegetables I mentioned above. I saw another table served the salsify but I didn't know what it was until your report. For the 1st course we had the green house salad similar to your salad but with 3X the greens,winter root vegetables (beets again), apples but NO egg. It was presented on the same type of slate board but my board was smaller and rectangular. I forgot the order of the next 3 courses but there was a cured salmon dish, trout dish, and arborio rice dish. The arborio rice dish was cooked in the style of a borscht so more beets AGAIN!!! :wacko: After the salad course, we've already had beets 3 different ways. I didn't want another beet dish. With the rice dish, we had beets 4 different ways. I swore I ordered a farmers feast and not a beet tasting menu. The 5th and last course was the pork. Mine was presented differently than yours as mine was served in slices without the crispy skin you had on yours. But I have to say, it was the best tasting pork I've ever had in my life. I've might have had a pre-dessert but I don't recall. If we did it was not as lovely as the one you had. For dessert we had apple beignets (sp?) with apple sorbet. We finished the meal with mignardises. When I got home I compared what I had to what was on their menu. Basically, we paid an extra $20 pp for the cured salmon. If I had known we would be served what was on the menu, I would have opted for the 4 course menu. That way we could have ordered 8 different dishes. Overall the food was great, but I was disappointed with the farmers feast. There was nothing different than the regular menu. I would probably go the BH@SB again but probably not order the farmers feast unless I'm wearing a mask with docsconz face on it. ← Actually I think my face held us back from an even better meal! To be honest, I didn't really look too hard at the menu so I can't say if our meal included menu items or not, but based on your description I can understand your irritation and disappointment. It sounds like there may have been a screw-up that was never picked up by the team and perhaps you were served less than intended. Either intended or not, something was not right. Did you ever mention anything to the restaurant?

Elliot, you continue to astound me. After recently having had the opportunity to dine on Chef Binkley's cuisine, I concur that he is one of the outstanding chefs in the country. His talents for combining, cooking and plating great food are truly laudable. Posting on our dinner at Binkley's is on my list of things to do along with the rest of my southwestern adventure!

Rich, I believe that the eggs are cooked sous vide to a point that the whites are set. Then the shells are peeled, they are coated in panko and flash-fried, presumably in a deep fryer. At least that is how I reconstruct it. ← Are the yolks still runny? It sounds similar to the 90-minute paoched eggs they served when I was there last summer. Come to think of it, I think Pepin makes eggs in a similar fashion for his Brandade. ← Yes, they are runny.

Rich, I believe that the eggs are cooked sous vide to a point that the whites are set. Then the shells are peeled, they are coated in panko and flash-fried, presumably in a deep fryer. At least that is how I reconstruct it.

Hasta la Vista a Peru After lunch at Huaca Pucllana we checked out of our hotel and walked to the Larcomar Shopping Center (As malls go this one was pretty cool) to pass the time until we had to head to the aiirport. We shopped, watched futbol on the beach, paragliders in the sky, the Pacific sunset and ate rotisserie chicken and fried potatoes at Pardo's Polleria. Rotisserie chicken restaurants, like chifas, appear to be a national obsession in Peru and something our guide suggested we should try. We were mostly still full from lunch, but I at least, ate just to try the chicken and compare it to my memory model from a little place at the beach in Sitges, Catalunya in Spain where it was called Pollo a L'ast. This particular chain came highly recommended. The chicken was in fact quite good and juicy, but it did not supplant the pollo a l'ast from my memory. The fries were quite good as well. This was the sunset on a fine family trip. I will continue to check this topic periodically for awhile should anyone have any comments or questions. Thanks for reading!

Assuming that the food quality is the same, I would say that L'Atelier in Las Vegas is a relative bargain!

Oh, sure. Actually, I think they were charmed by my friends the "Italian Farmers," as Chef Barber referred to them. One of the guy's family runs an Agriturismo in Campania, and the other's guy's family grows wine grapes in Emilia-Romagna. ← Quite possible, although that did not come out until well into the meal already. I would like to think that I or we would be considered VIPs, but I think the most likely possibility is that they typically do a great job and we happened to fit into that. It appears that the unlucky exception is when people are less than fully satisfied. ← Yes, I think we experienced the general excellence of BH, but I agree with Fat Guy's view that an enthusiastic group invites a desire on the part of the staff to impress. ← I agree too. That never hurts. I think in this case it was a mutual thing as their desire to please also fed our enthusiasm.

Oh, sure. Actually, I think they were charmed by my friends the "Italian Farmers," as Chef Barber referred to them. One of the guy's family runs an Agriturismo in Campania, and the other's guy's family grows wine grapes in Emilia-Romagna. ← Quite possible, although that did not come out until well into the meal already. I would like to think that I or we would be considered VIPs, but I think the most likely possibility is that they typically do a great job and we happened to fit into that. It appears that the unlucky exception is when people are less than fully satisfied.

A party of two at the next table were served the same lamb roast as us. I didn't notice what else they had. Another possible difference may have been that Sethro went on a Sunday, I believe. It shouldn't be different, but it may have been.

Here is a fine video from the New York Times on the making of paella at L'Alter in Picassent, Spain outside of the city of Valencia and here is the accompanying article. I have no doubt that this is an outstanding paella, but the best, especially from a non-native is quite a strong claim. Whether or not one agrees, the video is a worthwhile saliva-producing, stomach rumbling treat. In the article Bittman claims that the best paellas are served in the middle of the table with everyone sharing it from the pan. Any thoughts on that?

I agree. I went in late Dec, 06 and was underwelmed by the farmers feast. After the meal, I thought it was the most overrated, overvalued tasting menu I've ever had. ← What did you find wrong with it? What kinds of places do you generally like that you have been satisfied with from a value point of view? I'm not asking to be snarky, simply curious to compare likes/dislikes. My impressions are not out of line with the majority of other posters on this board, but then as with Momofuku Ssam Bar, I have been on the other side and underwhelmed by a generally raved about restaurant.