docsconz

The Belondrade y Lurton is a very nice food wine that I happen to like a lot. You had nothing to compare in price or quality to the Leroy. The Deiss is a nice wine with good acid and somewhat sweet. It is a good food wine, though I prefer the Rueda. I was curious as to how the wines were chosen because that can make a big difference. I agree in a situation like that to have guidance from the sommalier. While your ultimate conclusion regarding France and Spain is debatable depending on the criteria used and even if it is the same as what you ultimately came up with, I would say that is a rather small sample size of Spanish wines to base it on and maybe even French. In both cases one can find stellar wines and one can find plonk. On the whole, for relative value I think I prefer Spanish wines. That is not to say that means that I think the greatest Spanish wines are necessarily better than the greatest French wines, though.

Which local wines did you have and what French wines are you comparing them to? How did you select the wines? While they do not partake very much of the hypermodern arsenal, they do use sous vide quite liberally and to great effect.

It has been a few years since I was last in Vegas. Although some of the current big name restaurants were not there yet, the trend had clearly begun. What I found was a hit or miss situation. Some of the restaurants were good and lived up to the hype and others did not. I don't think that is significantly different than restaurant "outposts" elsewhere. I personally am not crazy about this trend, though I don't begrudge the chefs for their success.

I made the corn soup tonight a a starter to go along with a couple of dishes from the Jose Andres Tapas book. Since I had only heavy cream and skim milk I used a cup of cream and three of skim. I added salt, pepper and a little nutmeg. I did not add anything else or pour it over solid ingredients. In fact I served it in a cup. While not quite the same as enjoying it in Shola's dining room, it was quite nice nevertheless. Thanks, Percy, for sharing that tip about using the bundt pan to trim the kernels from the cob! It worked well.

I made the tortilla with potato chips tonight and served it along with pan con tomate and fresh okra cooked with corn and tomatoes in a little curry. For dessert we had the toast with chocolate, salt and olive oil. I used Uniq arbequina oil. We started out with summer corn soup from the Inspired by Studio Kitchen thread. I will discuss the dishes I made from Tapas here. The tortilla was very good with strong potato flavor. I used Kettle "lightly salted" chips and soaked them in the beaten eggs for fifteen minutes before making the tortilla. It is very different than a regular tortilla, both in terms of consistency and flavor. While it was delicious and easy to make, my family voiced a preference for the more traditional style. I think a lot has to do with familiarity. The pan con tomate is easy and delicious as ever. The bread with chocolate and salt was easy and delicious. I used Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips, Uniq olive oil and Halen Mon sea salt. The oil and salt really balanced the flavors nicely. All I will say here about the othe two dishes is they fit in nicely with the rest of the meal. One of the great things about this book is that there are some fun, easy recipes as well as more challenging ones.

I'll second Jaleo as being a great restaurant for kids, for the reasons you mentioned as well as the fact that the parents can really enjoy their meal as well. There is no need for the parents to dumb down their meal to get one that the kids will enjoy too.

The great thing about eGullet is that there is plenty of room for all sorts of culinary interests, whether they be ultra-traditional for the tradition of your choice, cutting edge creative or a combination of the two. If one is interested in a topic- participate. if not, don't. I look at food from the point of view of a person who loves the Slow Food Movement and hypermodern cuisine and don't see them as mutually exclusive. Where would any cuisine be today were it not for the culinary fusions that came out of the 16th century?

Hi Dan, Thanks for the background. Though I may not have much to add for a while, I will follow this thread with interest.

Moby, I have no doubt that Gagnaire's cooking can be sublime. I could see the technical vrtuosity on my plate. Unfortunately, to me the balance of flavors in my mouth was quite unappealing as it was skewed heavily towards the bitter end of the spectrum. It was our bad fortune that he favored that approach on that particular evening. Needless to say, I was incredibly disappointed, much as you were with J-G. Even the best places cannot thrill one hundred per cent of their customers one hundred per cent of the time. Nevertheless, the basis of your criticism of J-G is different than mine of P.G. and I am surprised by it.

Do you let them choose what you will feed them? Why is this any different?

As Nike said, "Just do it." Don't ask, don't tell. Make the cocktail of your choiuce and hand it out. Everyone will be amazed and thankful that you saved them from having to make a choice.

Simply offer them a cocktail of your choice.

The photos of the book itself are quite lovely. The photos within the photos are a very nice tease. looks good. Can you tell us more about Locatelli's work for a little background to the thread? I am looking forward to your photos of the items you will prepare or have prepared.

Look through this thread to see what lunch can be like at J-G. There is no question in my mind that that is your best option for lunch. It also happens to be a great deal. I have not eaten at The Fat Duck, but was disappointed one year ago at Pierre Gagnaire. I love WD-50, however, it is nothing like Gagnaire. At Gagnaire the setting is much more formal and elegant and the food much more complicated in presentation. The food at WD-50 is complicated in conception, but relatively minimalist in presentation with very clean lines and flavors. If you are interested in hypermodern cuisine, WD-50 is the best example and possibly the only pure example in New York City for dinner. The cuisine is unique. Most who eat there love it. Some do not.

Wow, certainly disappointing and very surprising. I have had a few of those dishes before and based on my experience with the dishes we have had in common, the dishes are not inherently flawed, in fact I thought they were quite excellent. It sounds as if they had an off night, which is not much consolation when the cost of the meal is what it is.

Don't trust the D.O. ratings, surprisingly you'll never find a bad vintage acording to them. I'm afraid that for whta I have tasted the 2005 vintage has been rather normal due to the extremely hot year that it was. ← Even if the albarinos from 2005 are only "normal", they will still be good wines and at a price that make them a good accompaniment to many foods, especially fish and shellfish. Which are your favorite producers? So far I have only seen a smattering of bottlings in the US, the most common of which is probably Burgans. Morgadio has consistently been amongst my favorites.

Good news, indeed! Thanks for the update and outlook, Brian. Albarinos are amongst my favorite white wines to accompany food. I find them to be very well balanced with nice flavors of their own. Fortunately the price has remained somewhat reasonable compared to other wines of similar quality. How is the outlook for my other favorite Spanish whites - the verdejos of Rueda? Albeit, that is probably gist for another thread.

Hi, tienda.com has squid ink available: http://www.tienda.com/food/pop/se-18-2.html unfortunately, I think it will not be loligo vulgaris (chipirón, calamar) but sepia officinalis (sepia) ink, but it might help. You mention that you have a recipe by José Andrés but, in case you want another, just ask. P. ← Thanks! I may have to try that. I have ordered from tienda before. They aren't bad.

Had dinner twice over this past week at BSB and both times the food was superb. The oyster mushroom bruschetta is what the concept of bruschetta was invented for. It is outstanding. The Flying Pigs Farm pork chop was the best I have had in some time. It came with succulent Sheldon Farms corn. Rositto with summer squash, mint and parmiggiano had great balance and flavors, while the flank steak was also quite tasty. The wine list, though not filling multiple pages is excellent with unusual, food friendly, reasonably priced wines. The style of this restaurant reminds me of Chez Panisse Cafe. It takes largely local produce (more than any other restaurant in the area at present) and cooks them simply, but very, very well, all the while letting the top-notch ingredients shine. The space is quite comfortable as well. It is filled with rotating art shows. Most of the art is, I believe, available for sale. I really like a lot of the current work. If the restaurant has a flaw, it is that the staff is small. When we were there last, it seemed that most of the tables filled around the same time, so service was a little slow. Nevertheless, everything came out in good order.

Wow, Am I the only fry purist who prefers not to smother my fries with any sauce so I could enjoy the steamy hot, crisp potato goodness in all its primordial glory? If I have to have something on my fries, I also enjoy them with mustard, gravy (poutine-style) or a cheddar cheese sauce. A lttle malt vinegar isn't bad either. Actually most if not all of the suggestions above sound good. So long as the fries are good, fresh and hot, my preference remains no topping other than some salt. The one topping I never choose though is ketchup. Like Mizducky, I tend to find it too sweet and it really obliterates the fry for me.

I have only had a Spanish canned version which was ok. I would very much like to try a version made with fresh squid. Funny thing is that not five minutes before I picked up my computer just now I was perusing Jose Andres' Tapas book and came across his recipe for the very same dish. I was thinking that would be fun to make if I could find good uncleaned fresh squid. Unfortunately, there is the rub for me. I can get reasonable cleaned squid in the supermarket, but not the complete package.

I like goat's milk on my breakfast cereal, but a great use for it and not too difficult to make is Mexican Cajeta, which is basically the same thing as Dulce de Leche except that it is made with goat's milk instead of cow's. It has a bit more complex flavor than Dulce de Leche. Cajeta is a great accompaniment to ice cream or fruit. It also goes well with yoghurt.

I prefer 'em naked with a sprinkle of salt.

Sushi Yasuda, although whether the surroundings are considered top-tier might be debatable. I would argue yes.

As well as photogenic.