docsconz

My two biggest regrets from my trip to Spain last year was that I got sick and had to miss dinner at Can Roca and I was too full to fully appreciate Cinc Sentits. The photos and descriptions reinforce the latter

Who says I'm fit? Actually, on food vacations I try to be very active.

I suspect Erlowest will change format. rumor has it that it will become a steak place. Rich, while the Queensbury Hotel would certainly be glad for your business, it is only a twenty minute car ride to Saratoga (ok another twenty minutes in Saratoga).

Daniel, this is priceless.

Any recent updates to report? I'm heading over there shortly and will have four nights in Cape Town. I'm thinking about One.Waterfront (I'll be staying at The Cape Grace), Constancia Uitsig, La Coulombe, Savoy Cabbage, Manolo, Madame Zingara, The Mount Nelson Hotel, Blue Danube, Leinster Hall, Bukhara and Codfather. Please help me distinguish between these and any other suggestions. I am particularly interested in fine culinary uses of South African ingredients. The style of cooking is relatively unimportant.

Mais si! Il faut frapper 'Alt' + un nombre comme ça: é = Alt + 130 è = Alt + 138 ç = Alt + 135 à = Alt + 133 ô = Alt + 147 ← Well now that just makes me all kinds of happy. Merci infiniment, John! Now if I could just click "Alt" to check my grammar. ← Now this is just Who knew? é, è, ç, à, ô, û, ù,Ä, â, ä, à, á, Is there a guide for these? Anyone know how to do an enye?

I just received issue No.39 of David Rosengarten's The Rosengarten Report in which he spends a considerable amount of print on reviewing his visit to El Bulli on April 8th. In addition he proposes a sample itinerary for the area. Familiar to most eGullet members would be the inclusion of Rafa's. Places unfamiliar to me include Hotel bellaterra, Cal Sagrista', Els Cacadors, Bodega El Toro, Boira and L'Hostalet de Vives. Overall this is a very well-done review. My opinion of it is not reduced by the fact that his conclusions are very much like my own This is avaiable only in printed form. Contact here for more info.

Just a general question as I have no idea what kind of concept he has in mind. But do you think Glens Falls can/will support Chef Secich's work? I wish him all the luck in the world but I can't help but think thats a tough call. ← Robert, Your concerns are legitimate. Glens Falls has not here-to-fore been much of a restaurant town. Then again, it wasn't too long ago that Saratoga wasn't much of one either. Actually Glens Falls is booming right now with a lot of upbeat development going on downtown. I believe Chef Secich's business plan is to provide very well prepared food at reasonable prices. Whether he uses expensive and exotic ingredients as he did at Erlowest remains to be seen. He has built up an impressive local following and has had a lot of the local expense-account business. I don't expect him to amass a fortune doing this, but I do expect an excellent and successful restaurant.

Nice summary! I have nothing else to add at this point of the discussion.

JohnL, we certainly do not disagree. I enjoy fruit driven wines and agree the best also have a sense of their varietal as well as terroir. The wines I mentioned had neither. It was as if they were the same wine in different bottles with different labels. It is the risk of proliferation of this kind of wine that concerns me. Perhaps if they were labeld as"Internationally styled wines that provide a certain flavor profile" I wouldn't mind so much as they would be predictable and people could choose accordingly. I might even choose them once in awhile! I am not against these modern styles. They absolutely have their place. I would just hate to see a homogenized style of wine push more unique styles off the shelves.

I just received word that Chef Secich will be staying in the area! He has received a loan to open his own restaurant in downtown Glens Falls. ETA should be next spring. This is major good news for northeastern NY.

Ton Kiang is one of my favorite dim sum places anywhere. Not to be picky, Daniel, but according to the menu sign photo, you didn't get "brain" at Tacos El Grullense, you got "head".

food politics are allowed. It is the basic Democrat-Republican, Communist-Capitalist type of politics that are frowned upon.

I will not knowingly visit a place where that is common practice.

My suggestion would be to spend two or three days in each place or better yet select two places and split them up. Campania and either Tuscany or E-R would work or Tuscany and E-R. I would suggest staying at an agriturismo or two. In Campania I strongly suggest Agriturismo Seliano. This is a great place to experience the essence of Mozzarella di bufala and Campanian cuisine. The down side since you are coming from Greece is that the major nearby tourist attraction are the Greek ruins at Paestum. Near Modena is another great Agriturismo, Villa Gaidello. This is right in the heart of balsamico and parmiggiano country. In Tuscany near Montepulciano is Poggio Etrusco, the agriturismo of the noted food writer and eGullet member Pamela Sheldon Johns.

JohnL, I agree with just about all of what you say, although I get concerned when all these different varietals start to taste the same, like "fruit bombs".There is a greater variety of wine globally available today than yesterday, but there is also a greater amount of wine from various varietals and places that simply taste the same. It is harder to choose a wine that is distinctive. As an example Saturday night at dinner we had two wines, a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and a Barbera D'Alba. They were different varietals from different regions, but essentially the same wine.

We ask him to taste everything. If he doesn't like it he doesn't have to eat it. If he's hungry enough he'll tatse it. He generally has an open enough mind that if he likes it, he'll eat it. The hard part is sometimes getting him to taste something he doesn't think he will like. We've had very good luck with him at good restaurants starting with The Inn at Erlowest with Chef Matt Secich this past spring for Mother's Day. We had ala carte dinner and ordered him pheasant since he likes chicken. His statement to the chef was "This is the best bird ever". At that point I knew we had a child whose palate we could nurture. L'Astrance was a great success for the style of food presented to him. His favorite parisian meal was at Aux Lyonais, however. There he ate "Tranche de boeuf epaisse, gratin de macaroni". This was a nice piece of medium rare beef, girolle mushrooms and macaroni gratin. This was a fairly large portion and he ate every bite. He was never really a big fan of mushrooms before then, but he ate them all depriving me of what I was expecting

There are a lot more than 20 tables - probably closer to 100 downstairs and 120 upstairs on three levels. ← At these numbers he wouldn't need to work more than 36 days per year

That's true Doc, but remember this is Saratoga and the meet lasts just 36 days. It's really tht only time those people can make money. They don't get much in the way of tips during the Belmont and Aqueduct meets. Supply and demand. And no one forces them to tip. I've seen many people get a table without tipping - of course it's always near the rest rooms. ← No doubt it is a supply and demand issue. I still don't like the practice. If he was demanding the money for a table or even a "good" table, he got his just desserts IMO. If he wasn't, then he got set-up and screwed and I feel bad for him. Unfortunately for him though, the former is more believable.

Congrats to all! How come the other winners aren't yet eGullet members? How can they not be and still be winners?

You could try inverting a very fine mesh colander or cheese keeper over them.

Interesting article. Although I go to the track once or twice a year, I'm not really a track person. As such, I've never really had the desire to dine there myself so can't personally attest to the practice there. Either way it is sad. Tipping a maitre d' for a table before or after is one of those practices that has turned a lot of people off to fine dining for a long time. Fortunately, I don't see it being prevalent any more.

John, Glad to hear a dissenting voice. I thought I was the only one to be underwhelmed at this universally acclaimed spot. By "happening": I guess I meant in the sense of French chic/beau monde. Best, Henry ← Aside from ourselves everyone else seemed pretty chic Actually we were one of the few anglophone tables there at the time. I too agree that good wine helps make the meal and this was good and reasonable, I just don't remember what it was. I am embarrassed by this

Yes, thank you for the correction. I should have known better. ← Rouget is Red Mullet but that fish in the photo was not Rouget. Nice review though. ← What do you think it was? I based the name on what they told me and what the menu says.

Daniel, I noticed the oysters you ate in Oregon were fried and you said they were the best you've ever had. Were they the best fried oysters or the best oysters period? My personal preference is raw. Like crab, a great raw oyster with just a little lemon is one of the world's great simple foods. I'm generally not crazy about em fried though.