docsconz

November is indeed a great time to be in Venice.The markets and the produce is indeed enviable. This makes it that much harder to understand why the restaurant fare is not uniformly better. The moleche were also a highlight for me.

I've had soapstone countertops in our kitchen for eleven years. They have been extremely low maintaince, very durable and beautiful. They can scratch and chip, but that really hasn't been a problem. It is a great surface for placing hot pots and pans on. Over those eleven years we have oiled it maybe a handful of times. It is pretty easy to clean. I don't know why the materiel isn't more popular. We originally got ours because the stone came from a quarry near where we used to live in Charlottesville, Va. We also have a soapstone fireplace. Neither our architect nor our builders tried to talk us out of the materiel. In fact, they encouraged it and the architect put them in his own home.

Nice essay, thank you. But if I may, I'll use it as a launching point for something I've been thinking about a great deal - because I have come to believe we are fondling the elephant's trunk and calling it a snake: the problem isn't one of winemaking philosophy - like the gentlemen in your tale, vintners will make what the market demands, little philosophy there; it isn't even a problem with the critics: who among us believes that if Parker started championing old-school Cahors those wines would become popular? I don't. The problem is simply the workings of an economy of mass consumption, and it has parallels in virtually every facet of our lives. Think of moviemaking, think of literature, automobiles, clothing. In each of these an homogenizing effect follows from the pressures placed on the producers to sell to the widest possible market. Gap, Hollywood, SUVs, Harry Potter, each steamrolling the competition. But in those as in wine, the solution needn't to be "found", it already exists: quirky, idiosyncratic instances of all of these are widely available. Hundreds of them, in fact. To focus back on wine, look at the hundreds of grapes Italy grows, sangiovese and nebbiolo aside. The NYT ran a piece not long ago on the little culture of weirdd winemaking flourishing in (I think) the Adriatic coast just East of Italy (which former Yugoslav nation is that?). The problem isn't bringing the wines into being. They're out there, oceans of them, delicious, unique... and unavailable. We know they exist, but we don't know *how* to get them. Because the mass-produced, massively-bought "product" can afford to be massively marketed and universally distributed, but our little guys cannot. So the problem is, first, one of disseminating the information; and second one of physically connecting the curious bibulator with the adventurous winemaker. And the structures needed for that aren't in place. Not yet, and they may never be. But the *tools* needed are slowly coming into place: the Internet lets us talk to most anybody anywhere; and shipping is becoming *much* faster and less expensive as a retail proposition. But I'm not sure *we* are ready to put our wallets where our (as the British put it) whingeing is. I know a lot of wine drinkers. 99% of their wine purchases go to what, six grapes? Let's put it this way: riesling is an exotic choice for many. I see a great many odd little bottles of unfamiliar wines gathering dust in local wineshops. The world is awash in the tears of importers who tried to blaze a path and had their wallets brutalized and lightened by an inflexible consumership: them's us, folks. When was the last time you went out and *sought* a new grape, a new region, just because it was new? I haven't nearly often enough, though I will say that I think I try. And I'm sure my excuses for not doing it more are much like yours : "I don't know; and I can't afford it" are foremost. I have met the enemy, and he isn't Parker. He is us. ← Well said, although one must beware the fashionableness of always seeking out "the latest thing" or newness for its own sake. That would be somewhat ironic in this situation as you are talking about discovering older unique and unusual wines and not necessarily the latest "creation".

The problem with being on the mailing list is the feeling of having to use one's allocation. I was doing that with Kistler until I filled up a good portion of my cellar with it. Now that is not such a terrible thing, but over the last couple of years I have developed the nerve to resist. My wallet is happier for it.

it would be interesting to note the differences in the dishes and fun to compare them side by side. I can dream.

This will be an interesting one to watch. If anyone can do it, Batali can.

Robert, Thank you. I enjoy yours as well. In this regard, although I see, I think, where you are coming from, I see it a bit differently. Sitting at the table with my family, including our three sons of 15, 14 and 6 years, it was fun to have that element of surprise. No-one had the time or the ability to reflect on whether or not they might dislike something. Not given the choice, our 6yo ate extremely well. The course sizes may have been greater on the ala carte selection, but we were satisfied by our meal at a fraction of what it would have cost ala carte. I believe that this is simply a case of different dining styles. I honestly applaud you for your determination and resolve in seeking your optimal dining experience. I am too fickle a diner and often find it too difficult to choose. At a restaurant of the caliber of L'Astrance, El Bulli or Rafa's I trust and appreciate their ability to satisfy me in ways that I might not previously have considered. This for me has been an excellent way of expanding my taste repertoire and culinary experience. Am I necessarly getting the best possible meal this way? Perhaps. Perhaps not. At this caliber restaurant, though, I have never yet been disappointed.

Certainly the texture is more similar to burrata, but the flavor was that of mozzarella di bufala. The name of the dish was Mozzarella Sferica. They were brought to the table in a "Mozzarella container".

Congratulations and enjoy! Of course, we do expect to read your impressions.

The spherical shape is a product of the process. His melon caviar is not imitative of melons, although they too are round, but much larger and with a rind. That he's chosen the olive may have something to do with the fact that it is round. I don't know if he could have used a pepper or an anchovy. ← He did do the same thing with mozzarella di bufala. This was simply stunning. Of course, this does not disagree with your shape hypothesis. The mozzarella spheres looked just like little bocconcini and tasted like the best examples of the genre that I have had.

The most unfortunate aspect of the meal was that it was the El Bulli substitute for the son who we couldn't bring to El Bulli this time. I guess we'll just have to try to bring him to El Bulli next year! My two eldest sons have taken to creative cuisine in a way that I could not have expected. That is one of the reasons I chose Gagnaire in the first place for this meal. Everything here is relative. In no way was this meal at Gagnaire "bad". It was good, but it was disappointing and not worth the expense.

Alas, although generally good, our meal at Pierre Gagnaire was somewhat of a disappointment. The room and service were up to expectations, but the food was somewhat uneven. Most of the dishes were good with a couple outstanding and a couple of clunkers to me. The clunkers were so because of an unusual emphasis on bitter flavors or textural dissonance.Every dish looked marvellous. Due to lack of photos and language issues there may have been some of the smaller platings at the beginning or as part of dessert that I cannot fully account for. There was a lot of food. The menu: Fraicheurs: Jus de tomate au basilic violet, infusion cremeuse d'herbes fraiches. Gras de seiche, olives vertes de Lucques et girolles. Cristes marines et glacon de concombre. Sable' de poulpe en daube. - The most positively memorable component of this dish was the sable'. I did not enjoy the glacon de concombre.It was a piece of weekly flavored ice in the middle of the plate. Overall the course was a disappointment. Presse' de rouget de roche, pain dentelle aux mendiants et copeaux de fois gras cru au sel de Maldon; bouillabaisse temperee aux celeris dores. - Desite how it reads, this dish was not particularly memorable one way or another. Etuvee de homard bleu a la verveine. Un consomme "poivron doux, peche et piment niora" - This was one of my favorites. The lobster lavor rang true. This was one of the few dishes in which the principal ingredient was allowed to shine. Veloute' de riz noir veneree et cougourle au cerfeuil: coco de Pampol et palette iberique, fleur de courgette. - Another favorite. This dish was delicious and the most rustic course of the evening. It was remiiniscent of a very, very good black bean soup. Un jus "rouge": radis, betteraves bigarreaux, mures et groseilles.Salpicon de langoustines et thon rouge. - This dish was very good, although short of great. The dominant notes were that of curry and sugar. The langoustine in particular was masked by this. While this dish was tasty and enjoyable, I would have preferred the langoustines to be used more in a way that their best qualities could have shone through better. Many other lesser ingredients could have been used in their place without loss of effect IMO. Piece de Saint-Pierre en amertume. Petits oignons fanes roussis, navet au campari et sommites de choux fleurs. Clams et bouchot. -This was the most disappointing dish of the night. I love John Dory, but this was effectively ruined by the overlain campari soaked turnip strips. I didn't get it. I enjoy campari, but here it served only to unbalance the dish. My clam wasok, but my son's hadn't been adequately purged. Fines aiguillettes de pigeon gagauthier a l'aubergine grillee, biscuit de roquette et marmalade "figue-tamarillo" -Another clunker to me, although not quite as dissonant as the St.-Pierre. By this time we were all getting quite full. Pigeon is one of my favorite birds. In this dishit wa only one of many contributors. This was an example of Gagnaire's creating something entirely new from a sum of disparate parts. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me. Glace brebis a l'huile d'olive ardente, granite champagne a la pomme verte; bleu de Causses et Ardi Gasna. Petit croque Monsieur "vieux beaufort et cocconcini" -This dish IMO overemphasized sour and bitter flavors. I believe it would have been improved with additional salt and sweet components. Le grand dessert Pierre Gagnaire: -Overall the dessets were quite good and a highlight of the meal. Highlights included a poached pear and a dark berry ice cream with a sauce. The icecream and sauce was the best example of balance between sweet, salt, bitter and sour of the whole meal. I was stuffed by the end of the meal, but overall the experience left something to be desired. I chose Gagnaire because I thought it would be the most interesting to compare to El Bulli. There was no comparison for me.

Oh, of course the olive is not lacking. Neither is the fava bean or the mussle. The way I experienced it, and maybe that is what doc means, is that you eat the dish and the flavor is intense, pure and you have no doubt that what you are eating is olive essence or sharp green favas without the waiter having to explain it to you (actually mine could not remember what favas are called in English, so I tasted it and found out for myself ). Even though the cuisine is highly manipulated the main ingredients still shine through. I think it is Thomas Keller who said "I want to make an Asparagus soup that tastes more like Asparagus than Asparagus"! That is how many of Adria's dishes taste, inlcuding the olive sphere. The fact that it also looks like an olive is an extra nice touch. Elie ← Nicely said. What comes out of the kitchen is an archetypical product. The aceituna sferica is more like an archetype of an olive in that it holds the essence of deep olive flavor in a vessel that is both surprising and fun. The visual and tactile are every bit as important as taste in the cuisine of El Bulli - at least to my perception.

Me too I have enjoyed your descriptions very much, but in the course of my own trip I haven't had much to add yet.

Not a bad looking meal at all.

This has been a rather interesting discussion that I will delve into, albeit a bit late. Ironically, I am late for having been delving into the Parisian dining scene and not focusing so much on events here. As with most discussions there are elements of truth and enlightenment on both or all sides of the argument. There is certainly nothing wrong with Robert's approach and if that is his preference than by all means he or anyone else who prefers that style of dining should venture forth that way. If I am at a restaurant that I frequent or already have a direct sense of and it is one that lends itself to a la carte and I have specific preferences, I do that too. However, my preference when at a restaurant directly new to me although I may be familiar with it from discussions here or elsewhere, is to explore as wide a range of preparations as I can. If it is a reputable restaurant, I expect the chef to prepare for me what he (or she) deems best at that time. I have rarely been disappointed with this approach. As for whether this leads to a "surprise" menu or simply a degustation, it really doesn't matter to me. Over the course of the past week plus I have had three "surprise" meals. The first, just over one week ago was at El Bulli. It was stunning. The second, one week ago, at Rafa's in Roses was because I asked Rafa to prepare a meal for us from whatever he wished. The resulting meal was extensive, delicious and inexpensive (relatively). On Wednesday past, in Paris, we had the opportunity to sample the Menu "Surprise" for lunch at L'Astrance. It was sensational and each course came directly from the a la carte selections of the day. The best part, though was that it was also much more affordable than had we ordered a la carte. I think if one has the time and the ability to research in minute detail a new restaurant, cuisine or local seasonal ingredients and the need or desire to control the specific course of dinner, that approach cannot be faulted. I am still very much in the learning and experience gathering mode and the degustation approach, surprise or otherwise affords me the most intense experience for the time I am able to give to it.

Incredible meal, Molto! I had poulet de Bresse while in Paris, but I doubt it was as good as the one you had. I actually bought some at the Bastille Market and cooked them for dinner in our apartment for my family and a couple of friends. Despite being in an unknown kitchen, I fortunately did not ruin them.

I am still working on downloading my photos and getting my post together, but I will address your initial question. I am certain that Adria uses pristine products in his preparations that would most certainly be wonderful and taste of itself with but simple preparation. What I think Adria achieves is somehow stripping these great products of all but their essential elements of flavor and reproducing them in such a way as to focus the senses on the underflying characteristics that make the original product great. As such, many of his dishes wind up tasting even more like what they started out as. This is certainly not the case with all of his plates, but it is in my opinion true for a large number of them. This is in stark contrast to what I believe Pierre Gagnaire does in his kitchen. I did not mean to get into a debate about the merits of Mr. Gagnaire's cooking on this thread. I brought it up here simply to illustrate markedly different approaches of two chefs widely considered to be amongst the vanguard of avant-garde cooking. Indeed, I went to Gagnaire largely to be able to compare the two. My ultimate sense was that although I enjoyed much of what Mr. Gagnaire prepared and the dining room experience was quite excellent, my overall satisfaction was far from that of El Bulli, where everything was simply more delicious, more fun and more relaxed. There were flashes in Mr. Gagnaire's cooking that I could see where his reputation came from.

La Verre Vole is indeed a lovely little shop with very friendly and helpful staff. It is also a small restaurant. The inventory is not large, but what they have seems to be well-priced and judging by what they sold me of excellent quality. Unfortunately, I could not manufacture the time to get back there to pick up some more wine.

I had what may be so far the dinner of my life last weekend at El Bulli. Some of the dishes were the same as already listed and others new. I willpost descriptions and photos after I get home and have a chance to go through them all. The food is certainly complicated, but the result comes out even more essential than the starting product. This contrasts with Pierre Gangnaire, where I ate last night. The food was good, but completely different. It too was complicated, but designed to be something totally different than the sum of its parts nor even a reflection of its ingredients. I also had the pleasure to dine at Rafa's. This was superb in its flawless simplicity. Again more descriptions, details and photos later. edited for spelling and typos.

Jennifer, It is not too late. I arrived in Paris today after an extraordinary visit to the Costa Brava. El Bulli was the best meal I have ever had. It was simply fabulous. Rafa's was great too, but the opposite spectrum. Tonight in Paris we had a fine dinner at Aux Lyonnais. Details will come after I return. Lunch tomorrow at L'Astrance.

Johnny, this is going to be an awesome blog. I won't have much time to follow it as it goes along, but I will try to check in periodically. You do have a fascinating bio!

Tant pis! Are you in Paris? The internet can be tricky there sometimes. The link is working just fine here in the Berkshires. I guess you and your family will just have to step outside, take a stroll down the Champs-Elysees, and sample the Berthillon glaces et sorbets for yourselves. Bon appetit! ← Not in Paris yet, but soon. It's funny, but the link still doesn't work for me. I don't think it is what you posted since I did a separate search on Google and got the same URL which still didn't work. Odd As you say, I'll just have to find out the easy way!

Nice report. I was expecting a negative report given the title, but I figured it out. I am looking forward to additional reports from your travels.

Unfortunately the link for Berthillon is not currently working. I did a search thru Google and got the same thing. I suspect that it is a glitch on their end.