docsconz

The bottom line is is the food good or not. Is it fun or not. Is the experience enjoyable or not.

I would suggest something different from what you can get in S.F. While Alex Stratta doesn't cook in S.F., the style is not altogether different from a number of top-end S.F. restaurants. I found it to be good, but not mind-blowing. For something relatively unique, I would suggest either Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare or Wing Lei, both at the Wynn. At Bartolotta, they have outstanding Mediterranean seafood of a quality not typically found in this country, while at Wing lei, the style of Chinese is atypical for this country as well.

At he Starchefs ICC this past September, Polyscience had a new version of this that was not yet out on the market at the time. I will have to check if they have released it yet. It looked to be a great toy, even better than the original.

A good paella is anything but simple. had you ever had one in Spain before? The best really are in Valencia. You mentioned magnitudes of difference regarding meat in Spain vs. Philly. The same would be true of paella in Valencia vs. elsewhere, even in Spain. If your wife isn't feeling well, I would keep it simple. I hope that at some point you have or will make it to Los Asturianos.

The timing of the person getting sick in your anecdote pretty much rules out food poisoning, though not necessarily alcohol poisoning.

The Patterson House sounds like a great project. Good luck with it! Just out of curiosity, why Nashville? (I'm just jealous)

I think that humor or wit is an important element of technoemotional cuisine. It is prominent in the work of the Adrias, the Rocas, Wylie Dufresne, Homaro Cantu, Jose Andres and Heston Blumenthal amongst others. Thanks for sharing that communication, Rob. That was an extremely well written and thought out piece.

This whole discussion is predicated (I hope) on having the underage person simply accompanying the others and not partaking or trying to partake of alcohol. With this in mind, having dinner at a restaurant with a good bar program is really IMO the only way to go, thus my suggestion of Tailor upthread. This way those who are of legal age who wish to have some drinks can and the minor is still able to accompany them. It would be a legitimate problem otherwise that can only serve to potentially get the bar or restaurant into unnecessary trouble - not to mention all those involved. To simply try to go to a bar for drinks with a minor is not recommended.

I agree. He is handling it in a truly exemplary way. My desire to eat at the Fat Duck is in no way diminished.

Bravura report, David! Who were some of the chefs working in the other quadrants?

i agree. That makes a big difference.

This is exactly why I feel conflicted as well. The problem, in my mind, also relates to the museification of cities in that in order to preserve what makes a city special we often forget that people live in it and prevent it from developing... ultimately what we once wanted to preserves ends up dying because of our own actions. There is great difficulty in delimitating what needs to be preserved and what needs to continue its course. ← Well said.

I would think that if service is included in the meal charge as it is at Per Se, they could make it whatever they want so long as the cost of the meal is apparent at the outset. The reason why service charges are allowed for large groups is because they are otherwise more likely to skip out without leaving an adequate gratuity on their own. I do not agree that any mandatory service charge should be more than 15%, however, good service should be rewarded beyond 15%.

Tailor is an excellent restaurant with an excellent bar program.

Our server told me that, given the economy, Chef Moonen decided to close the upstairs. I don't know what is correct. I spoke to Chef Moonen directly and specifically asked him about this. He was quite upbeat explaining that they were re-working the upstairs restaurant and expected to reopen this summer. He says that he is aiming for Michelin stars.

Is she no longer with the LA Times? Is this in addition to her work with the Times?

Fiddleheads a restaurant in Glens falls known for their crabcakes has closed after twelve years. The chef/owner blamed the closure on a bad back.

The difference between using antibiotics vs antimicrobials is that antibiotics are used to treat infections and are given systemically. Antimicrobials are used superficially to keep germs down and to try to prevent infections. Theoretically washing something down with a chlorox solution would be using an antimicrobial - at least that is my interpretation. Ironic that NR may be unsustainable. It hurts to think that.

If people are twisting your arm, you can see how far they are willing to go to help you make this happen. Be up front and don't make any commitments that you can't keep. It sounds to me like there is little real risk here with a pretty good upside, especially in experience.

I am, Alex, though I have yet to get through the first day. I have been posting reports on my blog. I have been too busy to cross post here as I am having a hard enough time finding the time to put the posts together in the first place.

Unfortunately, it probably won't be the last either. Interestingly, David Britton did not blame the economy for the closure. He anticipates taking a "sabbatical" then returning to the area with a new project.

I agree with you Alex, although that is the one thing that I can see easing that pressure somewhat. I don't think that there is any concern that elBulli will be underbooked.

I agree with all of that, and I also think the way the PR was done had something to do with it. In Tim Love's case, as with most who come to NY from great fame elsewhere, their outsider provenance and previous success is heavily promoted by the PR folks. In Nobu's case, it was more about the place and its ambitions rather than about importing an outside chef who was identified as an LA transplant. If anything, they played off his studies in Japan and South America. Also, the group that put the project together was already well entrenched in NY (Nieporent et al. and the Myriad Group). That said, I think food industry PR people might be able to learn a lesson about how to promote (and how NOT to promote) chefs who come to our fair city from others. My own theory is that many New Yorkers (rightly?) believe that standards elsewhere in the country are lower than in NY, so when they hear someone is the best chef in (insert random other city here), the immediate response is skepticism and doubt for the taste of his audience. This extends far beyond food to many areas where taste is involved. In some cases (such as Soto) the chef is good enough to overcome these issues, in others (such as that of Mr. Love) no so much. ← Chefs have come to NY and been successful, but by and large when they have done so, they have come here to exclusively focus on this market. Soto is a case in point.

There is a lot of food in the tour served over a number of hours. You may be better off not ordering the tour.

This is an interesting phenomenon. It's my impression that most of the early reviews, while not necessarily raves were more positive. The more recent reviews, however, are more pans, bringing with them a more strident negativity from forums like this. While clearly not perfect, I liked Shang and still see potential there despite its flaws. I asked the question that I did about Susur's presence since he was not there the Saturday night that I was. Given his apparent presence (do we really know that he actually has spent all that time there - rhetorical question), I'm surprised that the restaurant has not improved more than it apparently has. Masa is another import that has been successful, but then he moved here full-time and that restaurant was and still is his main and only focus. The issue is not with chefs coming from elsewhere, but chefs sending others to create outposts of an empire that remain centered elsewhere. When Nobu Matsuhisa opened Nobu in NY, that concept was still relatively novel. Even at that DeNiro's and Nieporent's involvement provided NYC bloodlines. When Keller opened Per Se, TFL was generally considered the best restaurant in the US and Keller was still seen as a native, even prodigal son, so Per Se has never really been viewed as an outpost. Rather it should have been here all along. . Robuchon is still really the only one who has gotten away with good reviews and a successful outpost in the last ten years.