docsconz

This is not just another article extolling the wonders of Grant Achatz and his team at Alinea. This is by Corby Kummer, the American scribe of the Slow Food Movement. As the quote above attests, this is not his usual cup-of-tea. As one who has been comfortable in both camps for a number of years, I am pleased to see this response from someone so closely associated with that movement. Thanks for sharing the link. P.S. thanks for the report, Lenski. Was that a New Year's Eve dinner?i

It seems as if a lot of people on this topic are looking at French food and cuisine and thinking that it is all about Escoffier and haute cuisine. That is certainly an important element, but it is still only an element.

Yes, I think so. It put French food on wheels, so to speak. ← While this was certainly significant, one of the important elements that runs through French, Italian and Spanish cuisines (and others less intimately familiar to me as well probably) is the excellence from bottom to top that is ingrained within the cultures. That appears to be less the case in certain Anglo-Saxon based cultures including American. However, both ends may be coming towards a middle as some of the mainland European cultures may be becoming more lax in the primary importance of food at all socio-economic levels and some of the Anglo-Saxon based cultures are becoming more serious about it. That may be influenced at least in part by cross-cultural assimilation between those cultures and others.

Those who make a profit don't always deserve it and those who do don't always get it. In some ways I think this is the very idea behind Tim's article. I think he is saying that while French food may very well have its fine attributes other culinary areas do too, but they do not necessarily receive the respect that they deserve. At least that is my take on what he wrote, even if I do not fully agree with it.

Yasuda was in consideration for my top ten, but didn't crack it this year despite an excellent meal this past July.

Thanks Corinna, i'm planning a trip to Catalunya and valencia for this spring and I absolutely don't want to miss this restaurant this time. Narrowing my choices is going to be particularly difficult.

Since appreciation of food is such a personal thing though. . .I wonder, if you had a choice (not among the "many" foods but among just a few that hit close to home) between Ferran Adria's food (I won't merely say Spanish or any other less specific term here); French food; or the food of your parent's generation Italian-American table, I wonder what the choice would be, if push came to shove (in an imaginary world, obviously), and the decision had to be made. If for some reason, you would have to spend the rest of your life dining upon *only one* , I wonder where your heart would lead you. And then, would you call that food that your heart led you to, "the best"? ← You have found some that I would have trouble choosing between.

You can probably ask them here. Let us know what you find out. ← I'm surprised that their hours are not explicitly stated on the website. I did check on Campsa and they corroborate that the restaurant is closed on Sundays and Mondays.

Can anyone tell me if El Celler de Can Roca is open on Sundays?

I agree that just about any culture (there may be exceptions) has its own culinary gems, marvels and strengths. I also agree that appreciation of these various cultures is subjective and individualistic. I also know that if facing a choice between various cuisines, there are some that I would have trouble choosing between and others with which I would have no difficulty at all. While one may not necessarily be better than any other in an absolute sense, some are clearly better than others to me.

I wonder if this paradigm might hold more water in regions that have long-standing histories of excellence in wine-making? I would think that in those places traditional dishes may have been more likely to develop around the wine and in relation to the wine. To postulate that wines from a region might have developed around a cuisine does not make sense to me.

Go to Topolobampo in Chicago and have them pair wines with Mexican food and you may sing a different tune. In fact many of those wines will be Mexican. I am not saying that they necessarily pair better than other wines, but many do in fact pair well.

From the article:

I am not saying that these problems aren't serious, but I find this very difficult to believe. Alcohol was readily available in my youth when the legal drinking age was 18 and most of my peers availed themselves of it - frequently and copiously. Of course, since the legal age was 18 we were not engaging in "underage drinking," unless we happened to be under 18. It was much easier to do that then as well. Consequences were much greater as well as seat belt laws were relatively few and far between compared to today. It is also my impression that fatal accidents were more frequent then.

Sam, where does NY fit in with those states?

If I am not mistaken most of these issues concerned the fact that kids other than the parents' own were involved with drinking and without their parents knowledge or permission. I believe that this is a very different issue than what has been presented here in this topic.

That is a very informative little article that illustrates all the little details necessary to plan for when opening a restaurant.

Upon a quick inspection of the link provided, I thought the map was of lower Manhatten , but it is Miami Beach. I never realized the similarities before. I will follow this with interest though, as Chef Blais' cooking is somme that I very much wish to experience for myself.

I can understand Tim's desire to see his country's "cookery" taken more seriously both there and elsewhere, but I would like to see more actual evidence that it really deserves to be taken more seriously. Of course that is not to say that good cooking and good food products have not come from the British tradition, but I would like to see them specifically named and compared to others before blindly stating that it should be considered on a par with French or other cuisines. Take the world of cheese. England produces some excellent cheeses, amongst them stellar Stiltons and choice cheddars. I have had examples from some of the finest purveyors of some of their finest cheeses and though they were indeed excellent, the best haven't ever approached the sublimity of the finest French or Italian cheeses (I would also include Spanish). In other words, before sanctifying the "cookery", I would like to know, "Where's the beef?"

Well, I had the tasting menu on New Year's Eve (report here), and none of the dishes were the same as the report upthread.I also had the tasting menu about two years ago, and while memories have faded a bit, most of the dishes have seem to have changed. ← Mark, that is an excellent review which I believe captures the essence of WD-50. One of the things I love about the restaurant is that it is not like any other. It has its own personality - one that works very well for me. Too many restaurants want to be like somewhere else.

So what is the explanation for the better quality* of (the food of) one place over the other? Temperament? Soil and sun? Geography? History? Natural ability or talent? Education? Personal or cultural myth maintained and made real? Economic factors? Class factors? Pure luck? One wonders. *quality being a word that is a bit subjective, of course, when speaking of these things. Though probably we might be able to determine a closer definition upon trying. ← One factor may be on cultural emphasis on particular factors. Within some cultures food and eating for pleasure may be more important than others. Many Mediterranean cultures have within them the tradition of siesta or mid-day break to enjoy a good meal. That tradition may have eroded somewhat in those cultures in recent years, but they are still a factor in their culinary history. I am not as certain about this within British culture, but clearly that tradition has never been a significant one within most of the US and the US has largely been influenced by Great Britain more than any other single culture when it comes to the development of our own culture sets. In the US food is viewed by many people as a fuel and a necessity rather than as a pleasure. There remains a very significant puritanical streak in the US when it comes to food much like was described upthread for the Dutch.

Given the popularity of this topic, I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing more reports of underage carding at fine dining restaurants or a report of a bust. It is getting harder to keep this issue discreet.

What time line? My mother and grandparents were eating Chinese food in the 1950s and probably earlier. Katz's Delicatessen was founded in 1888. And how long have foods of German origin been part of the American diet? ← Michael, this is your time-line. Though there were ethnic restaurants in NYC in the 1950's the number and variety of them were clearly significantly fewer than today. Germans used to be a dominant ethnic group in NYC. NYC has always been a melting pot of European cultures and more recently of Asian cultures. In addition it has incorporated regional influences from various parts of the United States and the Americas. Even so I would venture that until recently very few ethnic groups in NYC ventured much outside of their own heritage. When I was growing up we ate mostly Italian-American or what we considered "American" food from outside our heritage that had become familiar to us.. Chinese cuisine, for example, was poorly understood and eaten from within a limited exposure. Obviously that has changed for me.

What time line? My mother and grandparents were eating Chinese food in the 1950s and probably earlier. Katz's Delicatessen was founded in 1888. And how long have foods of German origin been part of the American diet? ← Michael, I'm not sure what you are arguing. NYC has always had more ethnic cuisines than other parts of the country because there have always been greater ethnic populations than elsewhere. That does not necessarily translate to the rest of the country. Also just because some people were more adventurous and less xenophobic than others doesn't disprove the rule, it simply provides an exception. American cuisine has evolved as it would by definition considering the ever-changing demographics of the country. That evolution has not necessarily been rapid or uniform though. It is also apparent that the evolution has been speeding up of late though as more cuisines get more and more exposure nationally and the nation's demographics continue to change. Still, that does not make the US a nation of adventurous eaters. Most individuals still prefer the familiar, though as evidenced by this Society an increasing number are interested in expanding their culinary horizons. To bring this back on topic, if those horizons include high quality British cuisine, bring it on. I'm just not sure I know what that is just yet. I am willing to be educated though.

Thanks for the report. The Tasting was a nice mix of classic and new WD-50. I must concur with Michael - pickled gin? I do enjoy the plating aesthetic.