docsconz

I knew there was a conspiracy in here somewhere

I haven't been or even heard of Tia Pol before, but I'm surprised by your statement when you have excellent tapas at Jaleo in D.C. What made it so special?

Soon though not as soon as I would like.

I agree. Another movie to consider is My Dinner with Andre.

The menu generally looks ok, although $21 for 6 kumamoto oysters strikes me as being a bit steep. How does this compare to the Philly Morimoto?

...and they should exist. Just because the prion hypothesis appears to be the strongest one at this time doesn't mean that scientists shouldn't continue to try to disprove it. If they try and fail it only makes the hypothesis stronger but still leaves room for others to approach it. A good scientist should never get too emotionally involved with any theory.

It's a thick, red, coffee table sized book. And it contributed to my getting hit with an overweight luggage fee leaving Oaxaca There is a bookstore underneath Ricardo's cafe on the UNAM campus and they sometimes have copies of the Enciclopedia. They almost always have copies of his other 2 cookbooks. ← Thanks for the information and the warning!

That's because competing theories haven't been able to cut the mustard so to speak compared to the prion theory so far. Of course the money is going to go to the areas with greater promise as it should. The prion theory did not start out as the likely candidate. It grew into it as the evidence grew to support it. While CWD so far hasn't been shown to infect humans and as far as I know neither has scrapie, the relatively recent emergence of BSE and Mad Cow Disease is certainly cause for concern that other strains that cross-over may have already or may yet develop. As I said earlier, i wouldn't volunteer to eat meat that is known to be infected. Would anyone here?

Why is this so disturbing? These diseases are different from conventional ones, nevertheless the only postulate they don't really fit is the second one as outlined in this Wikipedia article on Koch's postulates. Even then, the postulates have been shown not to stand up universally as amongst other things they don't allow for carrier states. As for "more conventional" culprits, they have been searched for for years and so far haven't been found. I thought the second argument from the Nova link that Steven presented was the more persuasive of the two.

No doubt you are right about this and you are also right this is one of the things I find very unappealing when it comes to restaurants. I think the "Starr" brand ought to be sufficient and that ideally quality restaurants should have their own personalities and these personalities should be reflected in a name. The concept that really bothers me is that I can go from city to city (it doesn't really matter which cities) and have very comfortable, familiar, similar experiences that offer essentially nothing of place. It contributes to the malling of our culture. People go to Starbucks, Olive Garden and McDonalds because they "know" the brands and are comfortable with them even if they are not better than mediocre and often worse. It may very well be that certain brands are very good and have better quality than independents and yes, I do not completely avoid chains or "brands". How can I in our society? I do, however, think that we are slowly losing something important and when I have the option and a legitimate choice, I will choose against the chain or the "branded" restaurant every time.

I'll be in Mexico City and Puebla in March as well and will keep an eye out for this book.

I suppose I can understand the Morimoto name as well, although it still bothers me for the reasons I already discussed. Then again, Nobu and masa both had differrent names in their original locations, I believe. If Buddakan NY had a different name it would certainly have an easier time making its own identity, no doubt. I probably would not have become quite as involved in this discussion either!

There are no reports of chronic wasting disease spreading to humans. ← I'm still not sure that I would volunteer to eat meat from a known infected animal.

Man, this is killing me! These meals look phenomenal. You regulars are soooo lucky to have this. The thing that keeps me going is that if these meals keep on getting better and that continues I will really be in for a treat when i finally get there! Nueske bacon, huh? Was that a result of this thread? What was the scallop-less dish? Foie gras? I am very much looking forward to reading about the wine pairings.

That's a good point Doc, and as one of Starr's "defenders" (he doesn't need my help, really...) I have hedged a bit mostly because I could see how people could end up with so-so meals at many of the places. I however will unequivocally say that I have had fantastic meals at Morimoto, Tangerine, Blue Angel, Alma de Cuba, El Vez, Pod and Striped Bass (under Christopher Lee). No caveats, not just a couple of good things here or there, or not good considering the group, or pretty decent for Philly. No reservations about the endorsement: all-out really terrific meals. I've had plenty of good dishes at some other spots. So at least in my experience, it's entirely possible to have a really satisfying meal purely from the cuisine side, even if you were blindfolded and earplugged... Now, how this will translate to NY - we'll just have to wait and see. He has very good chefs working at both places in NY. He had very talented chefs consulting on Buddakan NY. Whether that talent makes it to the plate, or gets lost in the crush of such big, scenster places, again, we'll see. But it absolutely has been my experience that in Philly, sometimes that kitchen talent does shine through the moody lighting. ← Notice I didn't say any ringing endordements! Throughout this discussion, I haven't been out to trash Starr or his restaurants. My experience with them is simply too limited. There is also nothing wrong with a restaurant being set up for people to relax, enjoy themselves and feel like they are having a special time. All the best restaurants do that. There is also nothing wrong with restaurants making a profit I wish more of my favorites would I guess one reason that I am not all that excited about these restaurants is because I see them as personifications of the Disneyization of culture. (How's that for a new word - Disneyization? ) I'd rather have restaurants with individual character than cookie-cutter formulae, especially formulae that tend to homogenize and sugar-coat culture. Now maybe I am all wrong about these restaurants whether they are in philly or NYC. I hope so and if I am I will happily change my tune about them. The fact that the names Morimoto and Buddakan will not have changed even though the interiors of the restaurants and the food itself may be different is significant to me. It is a bit too calculated and cold for my taste. If they are indeed sufficiently different restaurants and concepts they should be labeled accordingly. Perhaps I am being a bit too naive or even a bit too idealistic here (ironic for a NYer ), but my time and my dollars only go so far and I prefer to spend them in and on places with more direct appeal to me. Ironically as well, I think a lot of my cynicism (ok, which is it idealism or cynicism? What can I say, I grew up in Brooklyn ) also stems from the fact that I have also been pretty disappointed with Nobu in NY.

I don't see the "negativity." The Times piece was negative and used Gilt as an example of dubious pricing practices. I think it is pretty clear that this piece was not very well written. The NY Post gave quite a good formal review of Gilt. In his review Cuozzo noted that Liebrandt faced some difficulties given his foods "experimental" nature but he lauded the cooking and indicated that he hoped Liebrandt would be successful with Gilt. (he also dealt fairly with the high prices by providing the context that Bruni did not). I think most posters here seem to be hopeful that Liebrandt can overcome some high hurdles which have been noted. Location, need to charge top prices, finding the right crowd etc. I would also note that the posters who have actually eaten at Gilt paint a much more positive picture than Bruni. I also believe that any ambitious endeavor (especially one in a place like Manhattan) is met with some media skepticism. Also, in this specific case, Liebrandt has encountered some success problems in his earlier efforts. especially at Atlas which was in the same neighborhood as Gilt. Seems to me that "negative" is the wrong word--I would say "hopeful" is a better fit. ← I wasn't saying that people were being negative about the restaurant itself or its output. Discussion seemed to have shifted from how wonderful the food is to how difficult it will be for the restaurant to stay in business. Iwas simply wondering if there was some basis for that beyond the Bruni hatchet job. I agree the overwhelming sense from the reports here are that the restaurant is pretty spectacular. I am very much looking forward to it myself, hopefully next time I'm in NYC for any period of time.

Probably for the same reasons people rant about "smooth jazz." But these people probably have encountered Kenny G at some point. ← It's funny, but for all the defense of Starr on this and other recent topics, I haven't read too many ringing endorsements of the restaurants other than some people having some good meals at some of them and explanations as to why they are successful. That they are successful is not the issue, so is McDonalds. He is obviously savvy and a very good businessman, however, between reading the comments about the restaurants by his "supporters" and my own one negative experience at Buddakan, is it any wonder that I won't be beating down the doors to go back to them or open the ones in NYC? Mind you, I am not saying that they won't be financially successful or even put out decent food. They probably will, but unless I begin reading about the greatness of the food as opposed to how "cool" the restaurants are, I could simply care less. While I don't mind a good scene, I don't go to restaurants for that. My time in places like NYC or Philadelphia is limited enough that I try to choose the restaurants I go to very carefully and generally only go to those that excite me for one reason or another.

Interesting story, Jim. Have you ever seen the 1959 available anywhere?

Thanks dRock for giving me a heads up on this restaurant and this thread. You are right, this looks like it is right up my alley! The photos are sensational. The food looks great. Now... to get to Hoboken! It is on my list.

John, speaking as a one who strongly supports both Slow Food and hypermodern cooking, I do not see where your statement comes from. While both arenas may not be of precisely the same bent I see no inconsistency in supportinng both as I see neither diametrically opposed to the other. I see them as being complementary. While it may not be necessary for those espousing hypermodern cuisine or Ferranism, it certainly is not mutually exclusive for them to espouse sustainability and responsibility as well.

There is a lot of negative talk on this thread lately - not about the food or the restaurant "per se', but about the difficulties Liebrandt and the restaurant face. Has there been anything to warrant that other than Bruni's piece? Is the restaurant not doing good business? My impression was otherwise.

Any more info available on the book? Is this Herve This?

Of the omissions, "sustainable" is the only one that really bothers me as much as I personally like "local" and "seasonal".

Six posts on this thread already and nobody even bothered to "welcome" chankonabe to eGullet? Well, welcome to eGullet Chankonabe, no quotations needed for this welcome!

I'm not sure how true this is, but a smoking chef supposedly has a tendency to go heavier on seasoning.