docsconz

Late in the meal, I did identify myself as a member of eGullet as I was quite pleased with what we had and I was interested in meeting Chef barber, which we did. Perhaps, as molto e said, my taking photos made a difference. The reservation wasn't in my name. Maybe I look like Bruni? Maybe they recognized JosephB as a VIP? What were you served?

Thank you, Elliot. I'm not sure about the sourcing of the urban Blue Hill though I suspect that at least some of their product is from the farm. Thank you, Elliot. I'm not sure about the sourcing of the urban Blue Hill though I suspect that at least some of their product is from the farm. We did eat the carrots and bok choy right off the spikes. While not mind-blowing in an absolute sense, the vegetables were certainly good enough to be served that way in that setting. Here is an article from Vogue that gives a little background on the relationship of the restaurant to the farm and vice versa.

What's not to love other than perhaps the price? I'm saving a bottle from my birth year to celebrate my 50th birthday with. Unfortunately, that keeps getting closer! It certainly is a wine worthy of celebrations. There are a few other dessert wines I don't mind finishing a meal with though too.

I've had good luck at Artisanal too, always top notch. It is so strange how even some small boutique type suppliers at places like union square farmers market get it so wrong so often. It makes me wonder whether people realise what cheese should taste like. Also, the practise of wrapping cheese in cellophane seems rediculous to me and it's so often done. ← The better shops don't wrap in plastic. In my experience they tend to use wax paper or something similar. Of course as with many products it is important to use suppliers/shops that move product with a sufficient and consistent turnover. There are few culinary things worse than buying a cheese well past its prime.

He may or may not have meant it that way and it can certainly be taken that way, but sometimes meanings are co-opted. I think this is one of them and see it more as a badge of a certain kind of honor.

← Why is there a question of Eataly "biting the hands of people feeding it?"

You are right that the term "haute barnyard" is not the most appetizing, but it fits - especially with a restaurant like BH@SB as well as others that rely on and base their output on top notch very local and very fresh produce. BH@SB, located directly on a working farm is the epitome of this designation. I actually kind of like the term as it elevates the humble to the sublime. I'm not sure of the origen of the term, but here is a recent article from Bloomberg News that captures the spirit of the term even if it doesn't explicitly use the term.

I do agree that buying cheese in this country outside of the best cheese specialty purveyors is an adventurous proposition. The frequency of cheeses being off is way too high in my opinion. I have had good luck with Artisanal and Murray's in New York and decent luck with the 125th St. fairway. Other than that it is really hit or miss. The situation is even worse upstate.

DINNER MARCH 30, 2007 I was hoping to get this out sooner, but I have been waiting for the restaurant to email me a list of the dishes that we were served. Unfortunately, after a week and several calls that appears to be not forthcoming. That being the only glitch in an otherwise superb dinner, I will proceed... Although we were hoping to get there early enough to tour the grounds before our 6PM reservation, my wife and I got a late start and only managed to arrive on time for the reservation. It's too bad, because from the little we did get to see, the grounds look lovely. The restaurant is located in the lower roofed building on the right. We were a party of six that included my wife and I, JosephB and his wife and two young Italian graduate students acquainted with Joseph through mutual friends. The company turned out to be very pleasant and quite enjoyable. While good or bad company can affect how one perceives a meal, I find it more often true that good or bad food can effect the quality of the company as people tend to relax more when the food and service live up to or surpass expectations. I started with a delightful cocktail that consisted of fresh pear juice, sake and vodka. It was quite refreshing. I don't particularly enjoy overly sweet cocktails. This one was perfectly balanced. We opted for The Farmer's Feast tasting menu at $110pp. We were presented with a board of house-grown greens that would go in a salad. Fresh carrots and bok choy presented as they were could have been a joke if they hadn't been so fresh, beautiful and delicious. This was the epitome of haute barnyard. Dehydrated beet chips packed a lot of flavor and had a nice texture. Foie gras like pork liver sandwiched between chocolate wafers with what I believe is Maldon salt. This dish was a revelation as I never knew pork liver could be so unctuous and delicious. The combination worked well. The liver was from estate raised pigs (Berkshire if I'm not mistaken). These mini beet burgers were clever with well balanced flavors. Crisp sesame coated salsify sticks shone. This is what pristine ingredients is all about. Silky, delicious house cured coppa. Warm oyster with caviar in a chowder like liquid. This was my favorite dish of the night as it combined great texture, the essence of the sea and plenty of umami. It was swallowed in one take. This was another beet dish, though I honestly don't remember what it was like! "Fried" egg with blue potatoes and mixed green salad. An excellent dish, the potato was initially cooked sous vide then dipped in panko and quickly fried. The dish inspied me the following day when I was at the Union Square Greenmarket. I bought pheasant eggs and great greens. On Sunday for dinner I made a salad with the mixed greens, bacon, potatoes fried in duck fat and fried pheasant eggs along with a mustard vinaigrette with apple cider vinegar. . Leek and Jerusalem artichoke. This was a dish of pure flavors and technique. Sous vide hake in a carrot broth. The flavor and texture of the fish was perfect. The fish was flaky and moist. The carrot broth was a touch on the sweet side, but it worked with the fish. Berkshire pork belly with shiitake mushrooms and house made pasta - delicious and hearty. Rack of lamb cooked sous vide and finished over hay. I had excellent 3 Corner Field farm lamb at home the night before, so I probably didn't appreciate this quite as much as I otherwise might have. Nevertheless it was delicious. Any contribution from the hay was subtle. Pre-dessert of a citrus pot de creme-like delight. Queso fresco souffle with black pepper ice cream. This was a stunningly good combination. The black pepper ice cream added just enough complexity and bite to the delicate souffle. Mignardises. By this time I was getting pretty full, but still managed to taste one of each. The meal was excellent from top to bottom without any mis-steps. A number of dishes were exciting by virtue of their simple purity, while others were due to their complexity and ingenuity. All tasted great. The room itself, although too dark to be ideal for photography was comfortably elegant. The service led by Jennifer, he wait captain was outstanding. Their motions were ballet like in their choreography without being overly formal or pretentious. Jennifer, in particular, found the right line between precise service and warmth. So many servers are chatty and overly friendly. She struck the perfect balance by engaging at the right times and to the right degree without losing sight of her job and professionalism. So far this is my number one restaurant meal of the year.

Bryan i guess I'm not really sure what boundaries you are talking about. i am quite familiar with and a big fan of the American chefs that you mentioned and adore most of their work. True they continue to push "boundaries" and with generally excellent results, but it is not my experience that they are pushing boundaries any harder than their European peers, which in my opinion vastly outnumber the Americans. i am certainly not looking to debate the individual merits of specific chefs in this regard as I think the best of the Americans are certainly up there with the Europeans. i am just quite surprised by your assessment and fail to share it. I can certainly concur with your desire for more research into your thesis though. I will give you an example though. Much has been made by Steve Cuozzo of the new York Post (albeit in a denigrating fashion) about Jordan Kahn's use of tonka beans as an ingredient in one of his desserts. The first time I ever heard of a tonka bean was in 2004 when the group I was with had dinner at Can Roca and each person was given a tonka bean as a souvenir. Tonka beans had been used in a dessert there that evening and probably for some time before that. Unfortunately I was ill and had to miss that dinner - a situation I hope to rectify in the very near future. In addition, if Joan Roca's distillation of earth is not pushing a boundary, I don't know what is.

Lima- Huaca Pucllana When I first heard the news that Huaca Pucllana was closed for a wedding party the night we were supposed to have a reservation, I was stunned and then I was angry. How could that happen? It wasn't the first time that something like that had happened to me. I was in Venice with my son and believed that I had a reservation for a restaurant there only to discover when we arrived at the restaurant that it was closed and the staff were all attending an event in NYC! I was tempted to write Huaca Pucllana off and if we were able to do Astrid y Gaston, I probably would have. I really wanted to go to a Lima cevicheria and Canta Rana came highly recommended, but I was the only one who was really dying for ceviche and I still really wanted to go to Huaca Pucllana. As we would be leaving for home later that evening we did not have time for both. I'm glad that we did as it was by far the best meal of our trip and a superb meal by any account. After a morning tour of the central historical area including the Cathedral, nearby catacombs and the changing of the guards at the Presidential palace our guide and driver left us off at Huaca Pucllana in Miraflores, located on the grounds of a major archaeological site of the same name. We arrived shortly before their scheduled opening, but we were seated on the terrace outside at a table in the bar area where we were served drinks and given menus to peruse. Coca Sour A Pisco sour made with coca, this was by far the tastiest version of the drink I had all trip. After a short wait we were seated at a comfortable table in the terrace dining area and placed our order. Tokapu A menu option of any four appetizers. We chose... - Causita Pucllana, mashed yellow potatoes stuffed with tomato and avocado topped with hot shrimp ceviche. We could not pass up another opportunity for causas, a great example of haute comfort food if there ever was one. This was no exception - a great dish. - Crab Claws stuffed with shrimp in a lemon and Chinese pepper sauce I have had and loved the classic shrimp stuffed crab claws at many a dim sum place, but this was the best version of this dish that I have ever had. It was possibly my very favorite dish of the entire trip. The claws were hot, crisp and not in the least bit greasy. The dipping sauce provided a great citrus-spice component without being overtly sweet. The shrimp and crab flavors shone brilliantly. - Skewered beef hearts, marinated with dry peppers, served with fried corn and potatoes I finally had the chance to try anticuchos and they were worth the wait with nice beefy flavor. The corn was outstanding as well and more along the lines of what my wife had remembered from her earlier visit to Peru. - Deep Fried Chicken, sauteed in a butter and Pisco Sauce given all the interesting and unusual appetizers on the menu this was not my choice, though it was, in fact, quite delicious. The chicken was moist and flavorful. There was so much to choose from on this menu and I wanted it all, but I needed to be realistic. Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Pepper Sauce and mushrooms No. 3 son had become quite enamored with beef tenderloin on this trip. We couldn't deny him one more indulgence. Funny thing, looking at the menu, this dish was different than what was on the menu. It was supposed to have come with parmesan risotto instead of the mushrooms. My son has also learned to enjoy mushrooms so it worked out well even if I just caught the discrepancy now. Argentinean beef steeak with potato and olluco gratin. No. 2 son is also a big fan of beef. That this beef was from Argentina made the choice difficult to pass up. It was delicious. Corn breaded guinea pig with olluco stew and watercress salad No. 1 son was curious to try cuy in a top restaurant and this was his opportunity. He liked it better than the first time, but it was not something that he has developed a craving for. Sauteed Shrimp and avocado salad with cocktail sauce, organic lettuce and balsamic reduction My wife wanted a lighter dish and this fit the bill for her. Classic ceviche of sole, marinated in lemon and chili, served with corn and sweet potatoes I would not be denied my ceviche. This was superb and quite filling. Desserts. Unfortunately, I don't remember the specific names of the desserts. While all very good, the best of the set was the bottom one, a chocolate napoleon with bitter orange. The volcano cake wasa excellent and ordered by my two youngest. It contained Peruvian chocolate. The top dessert was mango based and well balanced. The view of the adobe temple ruins of Huaca Pucllana directly from the terrace of the restaurant. From the terrace looking into the main room of the restaurant. - The main room. The restaurant entrance. The patio before the entrance to the restaurant. Restaurant greeters Adobe walls of Huaca Pucllana.

Great attribute for a destination restaurant!

I can't really agree with your conclusion Brian as I feel that your sample size of European restaurants that you visited as per your own qualified statement. Not to take anything away from the creativity of American chefs like Achatz, Dufresne, Stupak, Cantu, Goldfarb, Kahn, Mason, Talbott/Kamizawa, Andres (and crew) et al., but you barely scratched the surface of European and in particular Spanish creativity. While I am surprised that you did not consider the Rocas more highly in this regard, not having experienced the cuisine of the Adrias is to not have experienced the height of what you are describing (as you admitted). In addition though you did not experience the Basques (e.g. Aduriz), Valencians (e.g. Dacosta or Aleixandre) or the Spanish pastry wizards such as Balaguer or Torreblanca. Then there are also some pretty creative Italians like Davide Scabin as well as others from various parts of Europe. Another aspect to consider is that many of the creative techniques currently in use around the globe such as ones you yourself employ were developed by the Europeans. Seeing them in use in their restaurants now may appear to not be creative, but these people were the forerunners of these techniques. People like Gagnaire, Bras or Passard remain creative, but their creativity is built upon the foundation of their earlier much emulated work and so current creativity may not seem so evident. The European names I mentioned above are only a fraction of those cooking creatively, whereas there are only a handful of Americans who can reasonably be added to those I mentioned above as creative cooking is much more in the mainstream in Europe than it is in the US. Just to be clear, when I talk about "creative" cooking, I am talking about new concepts in cooking as well as development of new techniques and styles as opposed to new dishes well within a particular tradition.

You are not wrong. This was, I think the thinking behind Rick Bayless' Burger King promotion or at least part of it.

Thank you, Bu Pun Su. I haven't eaten at L'Atelier in NYC yet, so I can't specifically compare. I know that there are at least a few dishes including the langoustine that are on both menus. I suspect that there are more. It cost me around $200 for the Discovery Menu with a share of the wine, tax and tip. I'm not under the impression that dining in Las Vegas is less expensive than NYC though.

According to Eater.com Jason Neroni and most of his staff have left the NYT one-star restaurant due to "irreconcilable differences."

Bad news/ Good news Mark Lawrence, the long time sous chef has left Chez Sophie to go back to the diner that formerly housed the restaurant. He will be sous chef for Dominic Colose, late of Gotchya's and now chef for a new venture called "Bloomers - An American Bistro." The good news for fans of Chez Sophie is that Mark Lawrence is being replaced at Chez Sophie by another Mark - Mark Graham, formerly chef at the Saratoga Wine Bar and The Lodge. This should prove to be an interesting collaboration between he and Paul Parker. It is also warming to envision the return of the diner space to a restaurant. That space has its own particular charm.

When we arrived in Lima we were already late, but received some interesting news from our guide about our reservation at Huaca Pucllana. When we realized that we would be later than anticipated getting in to Lima, we asked our guides to see if they could push back the time for our reservation at the restaurant. Upon our arrival, our guide informed us that we couldn't dine at HP that night as planned as the restaurant was closed for a wedding party! I was dumbfounded. In addition we were planning to dine the following night - the night of our departure for home - at Astrid y Gaston, but based upon their opening time and the time we would need to be picked up for transport to the airport we would only have an hour at that restaurant! I decided that that would not be sufficient time to do the restaurant justice so we set about thinking of alternate plans. We tried to do A&G that night, but the only reservation we could get at that point was very late and we were already exhausted. Ultimately, we made arrangements for dinner at Wa Lok in Miraflores. Though not the original Wa Lok, it was a reasonable alternative and a chance to try a highly regarded Lima chifa. We ordered a number of dishes including scallops, won-ton soup, alpaca, pork and a few others. The waiter warned us that it would be too much food and it was. While not life-changing it was good and satisfying. The service was particularly good and friendly too. I do not have any good pictures to post though. As for the next day, we had planned on eating at a cevicheria, but as I was the only one that really wanted to have ceviche, we decided to forgive Huaca Pucllana and have lunch there instead. I'm glad we did. A detailed report is upcoming.

I'm not saying that as movements they would or should. I am saying that many activists, both within and without these very worthwhile organizations will tend to have knee-jerk reactions when WalMart or Burger King or McDonalds or Monsanto actually do something "right" - something we have been pushing them to do. For many, their reaction is to instantaneously mistrust and deny any maneuver such entities make, so that even if they were to reform, were to have a true change of heart, those who react in this manner would refuse to see it, in a perverse retelling of the boy who cried wolf. TAPrice is asking roughly the same questions above as I am. We cannot ask these institutions to change their ways and then scoff when they do, even if it is only a partial effort. No revolution has ever happened easily, nor overnight. ← Of course you are correct, though it is difficult to not look at something like this without a cynical eye. There is no doubt in my mind that they are doing what they are doing because they see profit in it. Of course, that is a wonderful thing if this approach is now considered potentially profitable by big companies so long as they don't co-opt and ultimately distort the result.

Thanks for your fine report, Kim. I must confess that I too have always had a "thing" for Drake's Cakes - especially Yankee Doodles and Devil Dogs! They are one of the few childhood dessert snack foods that I still (occasionally) enjoy.

My purpose in going out to Las Vegas was to attend a Professional meeting, which happened to be quite good. The first day of the meeting was Saturday. After the full morning session we had a break for lunch. Given BryanZ's high praise, I took a cab over to Mandalay Bay to check out Border Grill to try one of my favorite cuisines - Mexican. I was seated outside overlooking the pool area on a beautiful day. The menu was extensive, but I was only one person so I had to take a stab at a very limited sample of what they had to offer. The totopas were ok, but just standard. The salsas were somewhat thin and disappointing. One of them was basically tomatoe paste. The sad thing is that it was probably my favorite of the bunch, the others being chipotle and salsa verde. I ordered soft tacos of carnitas for my lunch, but this proved to be fairly disappointing as well other than the creamy refried beans. The carnitas were surprisingly dry and lacking in flavor while the rices were very dry without having the bottom of the pan crispy goodness. Clearly, this is way too small of a sampling for any real judgment on the quality of the restaurant, but the experience did not make me forget Topolobampo/Frontera Grill or The Red Iguana.

Unless one was able to offer solid constructive criticism, my experience is that they don't really want to hear and even then I'm not so sure that most places really want to hear, though they should. One problem is that so much more goes into the perception and reception of a meal than the food itself. A lot depends on the frame of mind and physical state of a diner at any given meal, that it is hard pinpoint anything based upon what you presented. If dishes were demonstrably over or undercooked or presented sloppily that might be something they would want to know, but probably not an individual gestalt.

I would be curious to try J-G in Shanghai as it has such a great reputation and to see how it differs from NY if at all. I would not, however, make a habit of eating western food there as I would want to get all the Shanghai cuisine that I could.

I agree with you. Cuozzo is mean-spirited about it or so it seems to me.

The food sounds marvelous, John. I particularly noted your assessment of the spaghetti with clams. Funny, but that is one of the few Italian dishes that I generally prefer in North America as I think the clams (littlenecks or cherrystones) here are more flavorful and contribute more to the dish than the tiny vongole generally used in Italy.