docsconz

This is indeed very cool, Emma and I wish you the best of luck. "Notorious P.I.G." is a great name, although I loved "Fine Swine" as well. How is it that you got selected for this show in the first place? I would love to hear what was involved.

Not really percy, suffice to say, the concept of dessert has evolved over the last 5 years. Prior to that, the terms "Dessert" and "Pastry" intersected far more than they do now. Now that people are finally realising that mastery of sweet and savory is to the benefit of both, you now have a lot of talented "pastry chefs" ...Will Goldfarb, Alex Stupak. et al who show much more brilliance than the typical pattisier. most desserts in restaurants in philly are sugar cluster bombs, deliciousness and appreciation can certainly not be dictated but nuance of flavor can. A less sweet chocolate dessert for example (to me) tastes much better than an overly sweet one. So that's my approach, sweetness that doesnt eclipse the brix level of the average muscat, sauternes, banyuls, trockenbeerenauslese, recioto soave, loupiac, Jurancon, Port and no silly inedible garnishes.......and above all, no garnishes constructed to look like an actual object such as spoons, cigars, pianos...ect ect. ← Vadouvan, I fully share your palate for dessert. i find that if they are too sweet, I am much less enamored of them. Sweet is fine, but it must be balanced with other components, the most important of which IMO is acid. It is that balance that makes a great dessert wine great (in addition to flavor complexity) and makes a dessert great as well. As for the "trompe l'oiel" - like effects of desserts constructed to look like other objects, I think it depends entirely on the object, the context, the artistry and the spirit in which it is offered. I still have very fond memories of the clever and delicious "club sandwich" dessert I had at Chez L'Epicier in Montreal in which the the dessert appeared to be a typical deli sandwich platter with the sandwich, fries and cole slaw, but each was a component of the dessert.

I had the pleasure of meeting Matt and sitting next to him at a dinner at Studio Kitchen in Philadelphia on March 17th of this year. Like Sneakeater I was surprised to discover that he was so young. His posts and experience belied someone much older than he actually was. He packed a lot into his brief 22 years. One of the things that I will always remember about Matt is his voice - his very, very deep voice. He also had a very deep voice here on eGullet. His posts were always courteous and knowledgeable. One product that I will always think of him when I encounter it in print or in person is Manni olive oil. I remember it as being one of his favorite food products. Rest well, Matt.

I beg to differ. If handled properly they ship quite well. Frog Hollow does it properly, albeit at a significant premium. I did not order them this year so I cannot attest to their quality this season. I love good eastern peaches and get them from the source when i can. I still have not had better ones than the ones I have received from Frog Hollow, though some have come awfully close and are a much better value when they do.

Bring plenty of bubble wrap and large freezer bags. Wrap bottles with the BW then put them in the freezer bag and remove air. I agree with the Bronte pistachios. The sun-dried tomatoes are awesome too. Sicilian olive oil is special.

It's good to see Max back in the kitchen again. It seems that we have been waiting forever for his restaurant to open.

Harry and David are certainly not representative of the best of California peaches. If I am buying them in the supermarket I prefer southern peaches or better yet, Pennsylvania, NJ or NY peaches (at least in northeastern supermarkets), but I have never had better peaches than from Frog Hollow.

Unfortunately for Limoncello it appears that they will miss a good portion of this year's Saratoga summer traffic. As of this past Sunday they still appeared to be very much under construction. I believe that Mark Graham is no longer the chef at the wine bar. I haven't been there recently. It is a classy place. The wine bar aspect should not be adversely affected by any changes with the food.

haven't tried the peaches, but can vouch for the nectarines. i received a box over the weekend and have been enjoying perfectly ripe, round, fleshy fruit all week. at night, i eat one alone, over the sink, and in the morning, i cut up and stir into plain 0% fage greek yogurt. no need to add sugar or honey. i also enjoyed frog hollow's bing cherries in may. again, perfectly ripe, sweet-tart fruit. i know this place is expensive, but sometimes i'd rather pay more for fruit that i know is going to be perfect than to pay less repeatedly for fruit that's just so so. if anyone has tried frog hollow's pastries, i'd love to hear feedback. frog hollow farm 888-779-4511 ← Though expensive, all their fruit is superb as are their pastries. Check out this thread.

This is disturbing as I have always considered oysters from these waters heretofore "safe".

Cinc sentits would be a good choice although I wouldn't consider it as traditional Catalan/Spanish cooking, although it incorporates elements of Catalan cooking.

September is a great time to be in Barcelona and Catalunya. It is great mushroom season. It is also a great season for festivals, especially in Barcelona. Do try some traditional catalan cuisine if for no other reason than for a better understanding of the source of the molecular cuisine, which is still largely based on traditional Catalan cuisine as a reference point. I hate to admit that I have yet to dine at Gilt, but minibar is a direct descendant of El Bulli and the closest thing to that experience in the US. Nevertheless they are both unique in their own ways and both wonderful. Enjoy!

I'm not sure that it is Alinea that you are thinking of. I believe all the waitstaff at Moto are trained chefs. Personally, I love the service at Alinea. It strikes the right balance of professionalism, knowledge, enthusiasm and fun for me. Still cool, though

I had lunch at BSB this past Sunday as part of a group with Slow Food NYC that was up for the weekend. The food was superb, especially 3 Corner Field Farm lamb meatballs. I never would have ordered them from the menu, but I couldn't get enough. I will post more on this and the rest of the weekend in a separate thread. As for the wines, they have a small but eclectic list that goes well with their cuisine. Theere is one wine on the list that they are out of - the aglianico. It was supposed to have been delivered last week, but as of Sunday hasn't been. I had a lovely rose with my meal. What I love about BSB is that they don't try to be more than they are. They do a great job of taking quality local ingredients (moreso than any other restaurant in the area) and preparing them simply and very, very well. The atmosphere is nice and comfortable without being stuffy. Springwater Bistro is a fine restaurant, but discussion of that restaurant belongs elsewhere unless specifically compared to Beekman St. Bistro.

Not really appropriate for your request, but I had some of the best roast chicken I have ever had while in Sitges. I don't remember the name of the specific stand near the beach, but the style, "pollo a'last" is a common rotisserie technique in that area. It makes for a great lunch. Unfortunately I can't address your main query unless you head into Barcelona.

I assume that means that your reservation and travel will be in August. Check to see what restaurants in Barcelona will be open while you are there. My experience with Espai Sucre was that it was closed in August - at least when I was there. The ones you mentioned are good. For Barcelona others to consider would include Abac (my favorite), Comerc 24, Hisop, Ot and a favorite of many here - Cinc Sentits. I would not hesitate to venture out to Carme Ruscalleda's Sant Pau, Can Roca or El Raco de Can Fabes. For something completely different and elemental Rafa's in Roses is a must for pristine, simply prepared seafood. A car is a good idea outside of Barcelona and depending on how much ETOH you consume, not a bad option for El Bulli. Taxis are a good alternative from Roses, especially if ETOH is an issue. The Almadraba in Roses is an excellent hotel, but may be more than you appear to be looking for. Roses is full of hotels, though it might be tough to make last minute reservations. Good luck, enjoy and report (please)!

I very much enjoyed reading both of these last descriptive posts about one of my very favorite restaurants in the world. I think Nathan and FFB captures the genius of Achatz and his crew in that it combines great-tasting cutting edge cerebral food in an elegant but relaxed and comfortable setting. I believe that it is significant that like myself, both of these posts have come from largely NYC-centric points of view.

Hasn't been my experience. But then, I tend to order less-cheesy items to begin with. Could come down to any variety of differing factors, here. Which of the three restaurant locations you choose. What you order. How you order it (granted, you should not have to specify "hold the cheese, almost entirely"). I often order a chicken chimichanga, but not fried. Never had a problem with them cheesing the heck out of that. May well be that eatvancouver and I are both right. Order the wrong thing (or, from the gist of the post, any of a number of wrong items) and you get the cheesy mess. Just hasn't been my personal experience. ← sounds about right. i used to get the combinations, so like two enchiladas and a taco or something. i wasn't really crazy about the tacos either - mass produced shells, watery meat. ← I would get soft tacos that were excellent. If I remember correctly their carne asada was particularly good. Of course this was all a long time ago. It is certainly liekly that the place has changed in some ways

Guess I was merely trying to draw a distinction between say, a Santa Fe-style or other Mexican-ish type of menu. If you have to pick a category, that's what it comes close to. Sounds as if I've had better experiences at Guad's, than you have. I'm not saying that I'd go out of my way to find it, were I in from out of town. It certainly isn't in my top 10, by comparison to other restaurants here. But, given that I live close enough to walk to it, it is a solid performer for what it is. Just my experience. YMMV. ← If that is truly the case that they are putting that kind of cheese on "everything" then the place has changed considerably since I was last there. One of the things i loved about that place was that they didn't do that - at least not in most of their dishes.

This does indeed look like a good sandwich. If I didn't just eat it would make me very hungry. As it is it inspires a little rumbling in the tummy.

Wow, get tied up for a few days and look at all I have to catch up with!

The lobster roll is fairly pricey, but it was very good with plenty of good lobster flavor and texture. Better values may certainly be had, but I am not complaining about the quality. It was pretty basic as well, letting the lobster shine through.

I think you would like Clio. A number of the dishes were real winners and I didn't have anything that was bad. A few of the dishes, though overall very good, had some minor flaws. My understanding is that therre hasn't been much change to the menu in a little while, but that is ok. Not every restaurant can be an Alinea or El Bulli As for the pizza places. They are world class and competetive with anything I have had anywhere. My benchmark remains "la vera pizza Napolitana" as I had it in Naples. That shrimp pie was as delicious a pizza as I have ever had though with a near perfect crust too. I don't know that I would say that these places are necessarily better than the best of NYC, but they are at least at that level.

And yet, weirdly enough, I didn't have even a twinge of a hangover (despite my comment about the curative properties salt cod hash upthread) the entire time I was there. My theory is that we were drinking so much water that we just flushed every last ketone away. ← This is one of the reasons I take photos and post them in reports. They help me remember things that would otherwise have been long gone even when it isn't hot out.

Extreme heat and wine - a deadly combination