docsconz

Does anyone have an idea of how much Susur has actually been at and running Shang? Besides Keller and Per Se, the only other non-resident marquee chef that has been successful in NYC is Robuchon. NYC generally doesn't take kindly to "outposts" unlike Las Vegas. In addition to Ducasse, witness Ramsey as another example.

At least it would have some credibility.

While I totally disagree with his assessment, he is certainly free to poke fun at other restaurants, but if in the process, he is going to be the one with "good taste" and chooses to drink Diet Coke, he is ultimately the one worth mocking. I get fed up with people who feel that there is only one worthwhile style of preparing food. It is typically the "purists" who feel that anything else can not be good, is just a "fad" or some other intolerant approach as Colicchio shows here and as Marco Pierre White and Tony Bourdain showed at the Starchefs ICC. Interesting that in both cases, the apparent target was Grant Achatz and Alinea. Say what you will about chefs like Achatz and Adria, at least they are not closed minded and will eat good food in whatever form it comes in. It just so happens that they are amongst the absolute best, when it comes to preparing novel, interesting and fun food that is also delicious.

I was in Philly over the weekend with my family for a celebratory event for the daughter of special friends. Other than an excellent group dinner Friday night at Yang Ming in Bryn Mawr, I didn't have a chance to eat out at all. I did meet up with Vadouvan after my dinner for a quick drink at Chifa, which clearly aims to be more of a Peruvian than Peruvian Chinese influenced restaurant. I didn't get a chance to try any of the food (I was too full anyway), but I did have a Pisco Sour. While I wouldn't call it terrible, it was severely lacking compared to others I've had in Peru,Chicago, N.Y. or Madrid. It needed some sourness. Actually, Vadouvan, I had a pisco sour at The Violet Hour in Chicago that was pretty damned good as well. The place was nice looking. I would like to come back, but may prefer to try some of Garces other restaurants first. BTW, did they have any "real" anticuchos made from beef heart?

That is a very long time in the future, has Ferran discovered how to live forever? I'm guessing that you meant to say "2011" or "2012"? ← Yes, 2012, though if Ferran could find a way to live forever, I could see it lasting that long!

I liked Shang, but not nearly as much as I liked Susur, which I truly loved. I have a hard time believing that Shang as constructed is Susur's dream restaurant. His concept is good, but as evidenced on this topic not clear to a lot of people. I would have thought that by now some of the kinks in the restaurant would have been ironed out.

I can only imagine that this will put even more pressure on the reservation process over the next few years that may be mitigated only by the economic climate.

According to the interview, it appears that elBulli will run until 20112 at least, barring some other significant changes. Albert's departure is certainly significant. There is no doubt that it will have an effect on the restaurant, though I doubt that anyone can really predict what that will be at this point. Albert is incredibly talented, but then elBulli is chock full of incredibly talented people. If any place can survive the loss of someone like Albert, it will be elBulli, at least so long as Ferran is around.

If it is good, then bring it on. There is plenty of room for creativity in the sushi world as there is everywhere. Traditional is great. There will always be a place for classics, but why not innovate so long as it works? I had outstanding Spanish inflected sushi in Madrid at Kabuki Wellington.

I received permission from Pau Arenos to post the facsimile of the original Spanish article (only available in print) on my blog along with an English translation done primarily by Pedro Espinosa with a little assistance from myself.

If one appreciates, the art and skill that goes into preparing fine dining food, then one should do what one can to preserve those skills and make sure they don't disappear. If people who can support it don't, those skills will disappear and everyone will be a loser.

One flaw in your analysis is that you are assuming that only oxne person is being tipped. Rarely would that be the case. It is usually several at least per your scenario, each doing specific jobs. That changes your payscale levels significantly. here is no question however, that especially in a high end restaurant FOH often make considerably more than BOH.

Depending on one's near term and long term financial prospects I believe that one should continue to spend "responsibly." If prospects are such that one can continue to afford fine dining, then one should. Not to do so, will only continue to worsen the overall economic prospects. On the other hand, if one is concerned about the possibility of current or near future economic calamity, then one should act accordingly. The problem is that not too many people can really be sure of their prospects in this economy.

Great report, Tupac. It certainly did not quash my desire to get there. I was hoping to go in January, but it didn't happen.

I agree, posting the photos on the website is a great idea. And I really like the menu postings-especially the archives where I can go back and see what was served during a specific time of year. Two minor quibbles, which are very minute in detail-I wish the photos on the website were in a logical order. In other words, instead of showing a dessert at the top of the series of photos, show me each dish in the order it was served, ending with the desserts. Secondly, I'd like to be able to enlarge each photo so I can see the dish more closely. Again, very minor details but ones that I think a detailed Chef like Colicchio would appreciate hearing. ← The question I would have is how well do the photos represent the actual dishes served s opposed to idealized renditions of them.

Wow, that is huge news. It sounds like the pressures of constantly having to be creative have caught up with him. His contributions to the Vanguard will certainly be missed. It will be interesting to see how elBulli evolve without him.

I have no idea if this is the case or not, but it strikes me that TTD is simply a vehicle for Colicchio to keep up his kitchen chops and have fun.

I'll be curious to hear how it is.

Yes, he is. He was also the coach for the Spanish team at the Bocuse D'Or 2009.

For anyone who may be interested I have posted my first hand account of the Bocuse D'Or 2009 with photos on my blog.

"Dissed"? Really?! What did they say? I find that a bit surprising . . . mystifying, too. ← Here's a bit more from docsconz at the time: ICC post. And here's the Ruhlman blog post: HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH? (CAPS are Bourdain's) It seems the more dismissive tone may have come from MPW rather than Bourdain. Or that's how I read Bourdain's comments there... ← While MPW was indeed more dismissive and downright rude, Tony clearly sided with him. The whole event resulted in a rebuttal from Grant Achatz several days later. Whatever, it was clear that AB was not a huge admirer of Alinea - either that or he played up to MPW. It is what it is and that appeared to be his opinion. As such, for whatever reason, I was not surprised that Alinea was not part of the show. I can't recall him ever having a show with Alinea before. Fortunately, Alinea does not appear to need the publicity at this time. None of this should take anything away from the restaurants that were on the show or the show itself.

Tony and Marco Pierre White dissed Alinea at the Starchefs ICC this past fall. I'm not surprised he didn't go there.

It sure was.

Compounding the effects of the poor global economy keeping international visitors away from NYC is the fact that the Euro and the Pound have weakened considerably compared to the dollar. The dollar is the strongest that it has been for some time compared to those currencies.

Well Victor, I later discovered from Ferran that he did not use "technoemotional" in that discussion, because the discussion was directed more at removing the term "molecular gastronomy" from the lexicon. According to Ferran, "tecnoemocional" remains alive and well. Now, don't you feel better?