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Hi Judith. I agree that there is a major upsurge in Manhatten alone. I stopped in at Tia Pol over the weekend and it was packed. In addition to the restaurants that are clearly "Spanish" themed, many more are filling their menus with Spanish influenced dishes with the influence in the form of ingredients, style or both. As for the olives, here is a photo taken from a video presentation at the Conference on the major olive varieties in Spain. The arbequina is the most prominent olive in catalunya and the one that I am most personally well acquainted. I particularly like the olive oil made by Dauro that is predominantly made with arbequina olives. The picual is the most widely grown olive in Spain, representing, I believe, about 50% of production.

Over the weekend I received my first shipment of Iberico from tienda.com. Last night we ate the iberico salchichon "longaniza" from Emburtidos Fermin. It was delicious!

The painting can be viewed here.This style of cuisine is challenging on a number of levels and will not appeal to everyone just on aesthetic grounds as well as psychological for those unwilling to accept savory components in dessert. That would be their loss as these desserts are quite delicious. I happen to like the presentations as well. Perhaps someone can post photos at some point with better lighting. I have had tobacco used culinarily before. Like any other ingredient it has its pros and cons. The aromatics are quite different than with cigarette smoke. I am a rabid anti-smoker, but don't mind the occassional culinary use of tobacco leaf. The website remains under construction.

Indeed these are very Adria-esque platings, perhaps more so than any other I've seen in NY. While I'm perhaps a fervent modernist, I'm still not entirely convinced by this style of plating. Striking and beautiful, yes, but even I feel as if there might be too much going on and not enough aesthetic focus. This is by no means a criticism of Chefs Kahn, Adria(s), Stupak et al, but rather a gut reaction. Regardless, I'm very, very excited to eat here now and will do so in the next couple weeks. One thing my photos of the desserts do not effectively transmit because of the low level lighting is the color present on the plates. The platings are intricate, but the overall effect is much greater in person. Whether one "likes" the style has a certain element of subjectivity to it. They are complex creations and have complex presentations. To me though the presentations emphasize fluidity and a visual manifestation of music. To a certain extent I think one's reaction may mirror one's preference for realism vs. abstract expressionism in art. A six course tasting menu is $85 with an additional $45 for wine pairings. The appetizers run from $12-18 and the mains from $26-39. Desserts are from $10-16(cheese) with a four-course dessert tasting menu available for $35.

That is what the menu said. This dessert wasmy friend's and not mine. While I did get to taste elements of that dessert, I do not specifically recall registering the "wood"ice cream as such. While the desserts do employ unique ingredients, they all work and taste great. The ingredients all appear to be there for a reason and are not applied willy-nilly.

It wasn't that. That is a menu appetizer, the full menu description of which is "Fuyu Persimmon: Roasted, Black Trumpets, Fresh Sheep Cheese and Sage". That looked intriguing, but the Monfish liver intrigued me more. Thanks for posting the location and phone number!

You're welcome. I am embarrassed to admit that I do not remember the specifics of what the amuse was. At my age I tend to rely on menus for precise descriptions as my ability to remember the spoken word is not as strong as it once was. I do remember that I liked it, though.

Thanks, Bryan. I will have to defer to our resident NY Gordon ramsey expert, Johnder, to address that point.

I know people who are ardent traditionalists and I know others who are fervent modernists. Happily for me, I am equally comfortable in both camps. Slow Food and El Bulli are by no means mutually exclusive. Varietal is a restaurant that has taken that idea to heart. While the savory cooking of Ed Witt is not classically traditional, it does fall squarely into the new American, sustainable, local when possible, haute bistro style of cooking. The pastry creations of Jordan Kahn, on the other hand are clearly of the creative, vanguard, savory in dessert school. As discordant as this may seem, it helps that both chefs are extremely good at what they do and that they do it in a comfortable, minimalist space that embraces both approaches. The restaurant was only open four nights when my friend JosephB and I walked in Saturday evening. While still in its infancy it did not make that fact obvious. While we did not suffer anything more problematic than some minor pacing issues, a table next to us who had ordered the tasting menu with wine pairings, did contend with imprecise timing with those pairings as well as some minor confusion with the specific pairs. The view from the lounge looking past the bar and back toward the dining room. Amuse Monkfish Liver: Steamed, Black Bean & Miso Pork Shoulder, Daikon Nice textural contrast between the monkfish liver and the pork shoulder while blending harmonious flavors. Baby Octopus: Olive Oil Poached, Sunchokes, Salsa Verde Nice presentation and combination. Pork: Roasted & Cider-Tobacco Braised Belly, Celery Root Puree, Baby Collards The Flying Pigs Farm pork was quite tasty in this very comfortable dish. The only flaw was that the skin could have crackled more as it was a bit too soggy. I was torn between ordering this or the Three Corner Field Farm lamb that was on the menu, ultimately being swayed by the fact that I had prepared 3CFF rack of lamb earlier in the week for my son's birthday dinner. I did not get a photo of Duck: Pan-Roasted Breast & Muscat Braised Leg, Roasted Beets, Golden raisins, Pistachios Though perhaps slighly less rare than Joe or I might have preferred, the duck was nevertheless extremely flavorful. The wine steward very ably steered us to a very reasonably priced Chinon and chilled it properly for us. The wine stood up well to the variety on our plates. The funny thing was that we did not get the tasting menu because we weren't really all that hungry to start. Somehow as we got to Jordan Kahn's desserts, I managed to overcome this. JosephB and the dining rom. The central lighting fixture is a marvellously designed, beautiful nightmare for the cleaning staff. It is composed of an asymmetrical array of upside down wine glasses with lights in many though not all of the glasses. The lighting proved to be more difficult for the desserts as the table's candle began to waver. Though the photographic effects are somewhat interesting (to me), they unfortunately do not really do justice to Jordan's spectacular creations. I will discuss the desserts as a body rather than individually. sweet potato ice cream. yogurt. yuzu. picholine olive folded mango. taro root puree. encapsulated coffee genoise. tamarind. peanut. cambodian aromatics wolfberry puree. rigid lime sabayon. broken macaroons. tonka bean cream. soybean. ketjap manis *inspired by the painting "symphony in red and khaki" "white chocolate cubism" pistachio jaconde. white beer. chrysanthemum creameux. licorice caramel whipped absinthe. liquid sable spiral. black sesame. ricotta. sour apple sorbet celery root abstract. celery root genoise. wood ice cream. cocoa nib puree. yogurt. fenugreek toffee chocolate puree. mushroom caramel. poire william candy. mastic. pear sorbet. crunchy chocolate mousse We finished with liquid avocado bonbons. black currant that were marvellous. Prior to Varietal, Jordan had worked at Alinea, Per Se and The French Laundry. Though he has clearly been influenced by Thomas Keller, his style now is much more akin to that of Alinea. The presentations are fluid and languid stretched out over the canvas of a plate in a curvilinear fashion like what music might look like if the sound could be dropped into liquid nitrogen. These plates clearly represent dessert despite their very significant use of classicly savory items like eggplant, celery root,, unsweetened Belgian beer and other items. These "savory" items did not stand out. Rather they provided balance, depth and sophistication to the desserts. Like chocolate in a good mole, the essence of the flavors of the savory items became subsumed into the overall flavor profile of the dish. I very much liked the fact that the desserts were not overly sweet, thereby avoiding palate fatigue. I enjoyed this marriage of disparate styles, but I have to wonder how well it will go over with most people. Will people who want a more approachable, haute bistro style of meal embrace the vanguard desserts of Jordan Kahn and conversely, will those on the prowl for the most cutting edge, be satisfied with Ed Witt's creative, but ultimately comfortable cuisine? Time will ultimately answer this question, but in the meantime I enjoyed satisfying both my Slow Food side and my vanguard side in the same meal.

I managed to come up with reasonably presentable photos for most of the courses. Pressed foie gras and smoked duck with sweet 'n' sour onions Three of the four of us had this dish. White onion veloute with duck ragout and shaved Perigord truffle Marinated beetroot, Ricotta, pine nut and Cabernet sauvignon dressing This was a lovely dish with only a hint of sweetness and a nice balance overall. Hand dived sea scallops roasted with spices, golden raisin puree and cauliflower beignets Ramsey's take on Jean-Georges signature. I'll leave it to Sam to discuss this as he didn't leave any for the rest of us to try Gilthead bream with native lobster risotto, lemongrass and Thai basil The skin was perfectly crisped. The dish was delicious. It had nice lobster flavor. The Thai flavors were subtle at most. Cured salmon 'mi cuit' with scrambled egg and watercress Johnder's dish of which he already wrote. Arctic char and pork belly with choucroute and smoked raisin reduction Sam, you'll need to discuss this one as well. Twice cooked poussin, roast - Cog au Vin with prune puree and foie gras veloute This nice dish tasted better than it photographed. Pacific halibut with Squid, creamed cauliflower, spiced beef and braised leeks Sam? Oven baked pork belly with Granny Smith apple, honey, lemon and thyme The skin was very crisp. Mango parfait with orange and anise jelly, cilantro shoots Nice texture and flavors - it was refreshing. Madagascan vanilla rice pudding, raspberry and lemon thyme jam, mascarpone and pecan ice cream Everything one would expect and hope for in a rice pudding.

I'm not surprised that Mugaritz made the jump given all the attention that it has received. I am a little surprised by Drolma though. Is it really that good?

You are most likely correct that the situation was in fact benign and I repeat that I am not accusing anyone of having done anything like that. Nevertheless it was an inordinate and uncomfortable amount of time. While personal liability may not be great, the hassle factor can be huge should thee be fraudulent card activity. If it were the only thing I may not have even noticed it, let alone have been bothered by it. Then again, it was long enough that I probably still would have noticed it and been bothered by it.

Excellent report and nice photos, Gabe! The knife in the photo used for the musk ox course reminded me of some knives I saw at a special exhibit on culinary utensils I saw in September at the Cooper-Hewitt design Museum in NYC. The food looks and sounds delicious. It appears to be modern cuisine with a strong element of place. I now have another place to hope to get to dine at some day!

I was in town over the weekend for a medical meeting and managed to get together with a few eGullet Society members Friday night for dinner at The London Bar, the more informal arm of Gordon Ramsey's venture into New York. As has been discussed about the food in the Dining Room, the food was all well prepared and tasty if not particularly stunning. The quality was good, the execution the same and the conception quite sound. Where the restaurant left me and the others scratching our heads though was over certain FOH issues. The bathroom lock issue has already been described, while the towels have been (apparently) upgraded to high quality paper. I noticed three issues of relative significance and a few more relatively less so. The most surprising element was that it is apparently their policy not to change silverware with every course. I was a bit taken aback when they took the visibly used silverware off my finished plate and replaced it on the table not just once but several times. When I asked the captain about it, he mentioned that this was the informal part of the restaurant. Nevertheless I thought it to be more than a diner . From a strictly service point of view they brought espresso for one member of our party while he was in the bathroom and set it down. No effort was made to exchange it or correct it after he returned a while later. The most annoying and troubling element though occurred at the end of the evening when we had to wait for about ten minutes for our credit cards to return. This is not the least bit reassuring in today's world of credit card and identity theft. I am by no means accusing anyone of that deed, just pointing out that possibility left more than one of us feeling uncomfortable with the process. In summary, I had no real issues with the food. In fact if the overall restaurant did not have such obvious aspirations, the utensils would have been less of an issue. The coffee and other small service gaffes could be attributed to the restaurant's newness. I do, however, still find the credit card delay to be quite troubling. I may add photos and a greater desciption of the food if and when I get my main computer up and running and if the photos come out to be presentable. BTW, there was no issue with my obvious, flashless Canon SLR. While I tried to be unobtrusive to fellow patrons, I did not attempt to be surreptitious or sneaky.

I have returned home to discover my main computer crashed - perhaps fatally. I will post on my experience with photos depending on how they came out in the near future (I hope!). The bottom line is that the sweets and the savories were all very good and the restaurant did a remarkable job considering that they had been open for all of four days!

Nice job, Steven! I didn't find your comments to be contradictory in the least.

It is a very good line-up and one which Montrealers should avail themselves of. The NYC centricity of it makes it somewhat less interesting to me personally as it is just as easy for me to experience the food of most of those chefs at their home restaurants in NYC. A couple of exceptions to that are Paul Liebrandt and Cornelius Gallagher, who are currently not in their own restaurants at the moment. One person, who would be worth a special trip is Frederic Bau of Valrhona. I got excited when I saw a special focus on S. Africa until I didn't recognize any of the chefs. Nevertheless, they will likely provide a good window into an exciting and emerging cuisine.

I think you will be happy. I have had mine for twelve years. They have so far survived mu wife and I and our three sons (17,15 and 7). They are actually pretty resilient. "Soft" is a relative term.

According to the NYT, Varietal opens today. 138 West 25th Street, (212) 633-1800. Good luck, Jordan!

Great report, Eliot. Homaro Cantu is as creative as they come. The nachos sound like particular fun. I do love a good "disguise" dish. The first of its kind I ever had was also a dessert dish, in Montreal at Chez L'Epicier.The plate came out looking exactly like a club sandwich with french fries and cole slaw. If I remember correctly, the sandwich was cake, the fries pineapple and the slaw melon. The desssert was delicious and loads of fun. Moto goes a step further with the textural verasimilitude. I love just reading about it!

Some eGullet members may be aware of my particular interest in creative and ethnic traditional cuisines. By and large if the food is well prepared and tasty I like it whatever the label. Nevertheless, creative and traditional cuisines are what excite me the most. Given that and the fact that it was opening night of the season for The Mariposa at Deer Valley, it should come as no surprise that I was not blown away by my meal. That is not to say that the meal was not well prepared or tasty or that the room was unattractive, the service poor or the restaurant grossly overpriced. Actually, even if it wasn't their first night of the season, none of those criticisms would have been valid. The food was well prepared and tasty. The room was attractive. The service was efficient, knowledgeable and friendly and the meal - especially the wine - quite reasonably priced as they offered a two-for-one opening week main course special. While all those things were true, there really wasn't much about the food that really excited me. It did excite me sister though, who much prefers this style of food over what I generally prefer. What we had: The Tasting Menu The Ala Carte Menu A nice, but ultimately forgettable amuse. I ordered the tasting menu. My wife and sister ordered apps and mains. It was a nice touch that they allowed an individual without the entire party to order the tasting menu. Fresh Dungeness Crabmeat, pea shoots, cucumber, avocado, sesame crackers, wasabi, soy and ginger sauces - nicely done and tasty. Mine. Kobe Beef Carpaccio, grilled red onion concasse, white truffle oil, lemon juice and shaved truffle. The beef was indeed from Kobe according to our waiter. The truffles lacked potency. My sister's app. Duck Confit and "Fromaggio" Tartufo Bianco Ravioli. This was a very meaty, heavy dish. From the "little things" department of nitpickiness, I am not sure what "Fromaggio" is. Is it "Formaggio?" Since there was only one of them in the order (it was quite large), it should have been a "Raviolo." My wife's app. Wild Mushroom Beggar's Purse, beaujolais reduction sauce, explorateur cheese, baby greens. tasty with a nice textural balance between the crisp phyllo and the soft mushrooms. Mine. Australian Lobster Tail, truffle-chive risotto, sauces of roma tomato and sugar snap pea. The broiled lobster tails were quite flavorful though a little tough. The risotto was heavy. Of the two sauces, though the combination was pretty, I thought the tomato worked better with the lobster by far. My wife's main. Sablefish Mariposa, honey-tamari glaze, fresh ginger sauce, shiitake mushroom-scallion rice cake. A signature dish, it wasn't as sweet as I feared it would be given the honey in the sauce. Mine. Prime Beef Tenderloin Filet, maple peppered bacon, crisp potatoes anna, sauce bourguignonne. The beef was basic with a very rich sauce. The potatoes anna were very well accomplished and delicious. My sister's main. Rocky Mountain lamb Chop, fresh pesto, crisp potatoes anna, roasted shallot sauce. This dish varied only in very subtle ways from the filet. Throughout we shared a delicious and reasonably priced 2004 Laurene from Domaine Drouhin. The wines were very fairly priced from an impressive list. This was the highlight of the meal for me. Chocolate Snowball. Dense chocolate cake with whipped cream. A signature dessert. Tasty. My comments are critical, but mostly dependant on my stylistic preferences and not a critique of the competence of the kitchen for the style of food that they prepare. What they did they did well. I just found it to be unexciting. My only real complaint about the restaurant was that the restrooms are located across the ski lodge cafeteria and down a flight of stairs.

My wife and I ventured back into Salt lake City for a sushi dinner at Takashi, where we sat in front of the master. Although parking was a little bit of a hassle (trying to slip dollar bills through a pinhole), the restaurant itself was attractive and mostly comfortable. As I mentioned we sat at the sushi bar in front of Takashi. The space was a little tight and it was a little difficult to watch him work as the refrigerator case was in the way. Though the menu was intriguing, we asked him to prepare whatever he felt was best, an 0ff-the-cuff-omakase. We told him that we had no dietary aversions.He obliged with a couple of different sashimi based compositions. Tuna and salmon sashimi with a slightly sweet garlic-laced sauce was one of my favorites of the evening. This was very good. Another sashimi platter that included octopus, yellowtail, tuna, salmon, escolar and a very crisp fried Spanish mackeral. This was all good with the mackeral being particularly interesting as we were instructed to eat everything but the eyes. I don't remember the name of this roll that included a tempura fried shrimp, eel, avocado and a sweet sauce. This was tasty but too sweet for my palate. Caribbean roll - this had yellowtail, sliced mango and chile peppers combining umami, spicy and sweet. I liked this better than the shrimp, but still a little sweet for my preference. My wife was finished, but I asked if he had any uni. This uni was from Santa Barbara, California. It was fresh and delicious - my favorite course of the evening. I had heard so many good things about this restaurant. I enjoyed it, just not as much as I had hoped to. While Takashi gets a lot of points for being one of the most creative Sushi restaurants that I have been too, it did not stack up ultimately in terms of variety and satisfaction compared to the best sushi restaurants that I have been too - but then given that it is located in Salt Lake City, Utah and not a major port, it would have been amazing if it would have been half as good as it was. One cannot go into this restaurant thinking that it will be outstanding compared to traditional, world-class sushi bars. Their basic fish quality is quite good, but I saw no evidence of any significant variety. If, however, one goes in looking for good, basic sushi-grade fish presented in unique, entertaining and tasty ways, Takashi won't disappoint.

Thanks, Jed. I would certainly return when back in the area. Although we ate pretty well throughout our trip and I was tired from traveling my meal at Metropolitan as well as a subsequent one at The red Iguana with a small group were my two favprites of the week. Obviously they were very different meals and situations. We had opportunity to return to The Red Iguana late last week accompanied by two young couples (relative to us! ) of relations. We had a feast that included various quesadilla appetizers (Cheese and San Francisco), encurtidos (fried jalapenos stuffed with shrimp and jack cheese) as well as orders of chicken and beef flautas that were superb. Everyone ordered his or her own main dish. I ordered the mole coloradito that came with pork loin, refried beans and rice. This had a good bite to it and a generous portion of pork. The beans were deliciously creamy and better than I remember them from the previous Saturday afternoon. Everyone seemed to enjoy their dinners. I was so stuffed that I didn't even finish my mole. I brought it back to our condo and had it for lunch the next day as my wife did with her meal. All in all, I found the food to be even better than it was on Saturday for lunch. Maybe the moles had more time to blend flavors and become more complex. In any case it was a perfect spot for this convivial group. It also helped that we had a reservation as we were seven people, although the lines, once again, didn't really form until after we arrived. Though I didn't take any photos that night here are some from our lunch: This iguana was green. Cochinita Pibil with rice and black beans. Traditional enchiladas with chicken Tamales with chicken and mole poblano. Mole sampler with from the top clockwise, mole poblano, de almendras, negro, amarillo and coloradito.

I'd be curious to have someone who's been to the FL eat at CityZen and do a compare and contrast. You could be just the guy! ← Well, it would be a tough job...but, I suppose if someone must do it.... (Now I have to figure out a time to get back to DC and leave enough time for this and my "must" re-visits of minibar and Citronelle !)

Great report, Charles! Just when it seems like I am starting to get a handle on restaurants I must experience along comes another. Thanks!