docsconz

How do you do that?

While I have yet to eat there, I must say it is one of the most beautiful restaurant spaces I've seen. I will hopefully get a chance to eat there in the not too distant future. It is one of my highest priorities amongst NY restaurants.

Thanks for the recs. Your description of the area is very reassuring. What makes the canal so special?

Great shots! Any idea what these are?

An amazing blog, Adam! The photos bring back some wonderful memories of Tuscany and also many items I have not had the chance to experience. I am amazed at the availability of such apparently high quality produce at this time of year - especially the zucchini and tomatoes. Were they imported or grown locally? When we rented a villa outside of Siena we cooked in one meal and ate out another each day. I too am a food market junkie.

PotjieCheffie, Welcome to eGullet and thanks for the extensive list. Are all those restaurants in Capetown? Are there any in particular that you would consider "don't miss?"

Barcelona is fabulous and you will eat very well there, but you really should head out of town for a day to visit any or all of Can Fabes, Can Roca and Sant Pau. In Barcelona I can personally recommend Abac, Alkimia and Cinc Sentits. There are obviously many other possibilities as well. Balaguer and Cacao Sampaka are both wonderful. I haven't been able to get to Espai Sucre myself yet.

Pintade is one of my favorite birds as well. A lot of what we will do will depend on the state of the kitchen in the apartment. It looks like it should be pretty good, but we shall see. What I may wind up doing is getting up early each morning to go out for fresh bread and croissants for breakfast as well as the day's shopping for dinner and veggies. We will most likely eat out for lunch most days with dinner and a movie at the apartment. The boys will be 15,14 and 6 at that time. The 15 and 14 y/o's are very culinarily adventurous, but the 6y/o so far is not. We will be bringing one of the older boys with us to El Bulli and the other to Gagnaire while the one who doesn't go gets to babysit.

Thanks for these responses. We will be on Rue Arthur Groussier near the Canal St Martin and the Goncourt Metro. It appears as if we will be near the Marché Alibert. It might be fun to do some ethnic food shopping as well as local French produce. I am particularly interested in buying cheeses, breads, pastries, produce, eggs, butter, meat, foie gras and particularly Bresse chicken. If I can find good renditions of these in my area so much the better. I love markets so I would be interested in traveling to some of the better ones as well. The more "artisanal" the produce the better. As for driving, we will not have a vehicle on this trip - there is no need. I learned to drive in NYC and have driven in Rome and Naples, Italy and survived There, I learned that one must not be hesitant for he who hesitates is lost. One wears blinders and goes What is special about the Porte de Clignancourt? My last time in Paris, we spent the bulk of our time on the left bank, so this timewe aim to explore more of the right bank including Montmartre. We will have to venture over to the left bank for some shopping, dining and sightseeing though, as it will be the first time in Paris for our sons.

I will be following my meal at El Bulli with a five night stay in Paris with my family towards the end of the summer. We will be renting an apartment in the the 10th arrondisement with what appears to be a very nice kitchen. While I plan on eating out one meal per day, I would also like to eat-in for breakfast and either lunch or dinner. I look forward to shopping for good fresh French ingredients and baked goods. Any tips on shopping around a tourist's schedule?

Iwouldn't go so far as to say that any ingredient fits the bill unless the context is provided as with Ellen's cream example. If any ingredient is intended as an accent and it dominates a dish, then it is too much. But, if the ingredient is intended to be central then it isn't too much unless one doesn't like the flavor or texture of the ingredient. I can never have too much of a 100 year old balsamico. But then I'm never likely to actually get too much of that!

I've never seen or heard of lemon in a traditional Italian tomato sauce, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be good. It certainly is very good in a tomato based shrimp cocktail sauce not to mention tomato juice.

Super job, Johnny! These shrimp are delicious. I managed to enjoy a few earlier this season. They look a lot like some shrimp I saw last fall in the markets in Basque and Catalan Spain. Any idea if these same shrimp are also caught on the other side of the Atlantic?

It was a great meal and a lot of fun. I wasn't really sure the wine was included until I got there. The overall event could have been promoted better than it was. Nevertheless, the restaurant was pretty busy. I hope they make this an annual event.

That was a special promotional dinner sponsored by the Spanish region of Navarra. The only thing that it had to do with WD-50 was that it took place there and was cooked primarily by the WD-50 kitchen.

Yes. Not a lot, but yes, IMO it does constitute "drinking". One does not have to be an alcoholic or drink at alcoholic levels to be considered a "drinker". What significance this level of drinking has medically vs. someone who drinks more frequently is a whole other question.

I was wrong on two counts. The only one of those restaurants represented was Maher with Enrique Martinez. Javier Diaz of Alhambra also provided savory courses, while Alex Mujica of Basa Kabi did the desserts. My writeup of the dinner with photos can be found here. I will say that Navarra did itself proud.

I can't believe that it was already one week ago, but my wife and I had a great dinner at WD-50. While it was Wylie's crew who did all the preparation, the dishes they served were those of three Michelin one-star chefs from Navarra Spain. This was part of a special promotion. The chefs were Javier Diaz of Alhambra, Enrique Martinez of Maher and Alex Mujica of Basa Kabi. The evening got off on the right foot when my wife and I managed to make it to the restaurant in record time from upstate N.Y. Not only did we actually get there in time for the reservation, we actually found a parking spot directly across the street from the restaurant. I knew it was going to be a great night The dinner consisted of an eight course tasting menu paired with wines from the region. The wines were donated by the producers. This made the overall dinner price an incredible bargain at $95/head. The first course Squash soup with portobello mushroom, black truffle and white grapes was deep, earthy and soulful. The grapes provided layers of sweetness within the velvety blanket of the soup. The wine pairing, the only non-Navarra wine, was a delightful cava, Avinyo Brut NV from Penedes. The wine was crisp, clean and nice. Next up was Yukon Gold potato with egg yolk and chorizo. This was simply delicious. The dish had a real comfort food feel to it, the way bacon, eggs and homefries for breakfast does, only with deeper and more profound flavors. The wine was an oakless chardonnay, "La Rellanada" from Castillo de Monjardin, Bodegas 2003. This was minerally and crisp. It made a beautiful match for the dish. I believe the winemaker and/or owner were dining at the restaurant that night as well. My wife's favorite dish, the salt cod with piquillo peppers, asparagus, carrots and pumpkin seeds , followed . The cod was silky, delicious and harmonious with its many vegetal accompaniments. The wine, a tempranillo from Ochoa Bodegas y Vinedos Crianza 2001 was New World style dominated by oak. My favorite dish was next. This was Roncal cheese and parmesan infusion with tomato marmelade, green apple, hazelnuts and almonds. The wine was a nice garnacha from Biurko Gorri Bodegas, Crianza 2001. This was an absolutely fascinating dish. It looked like ice cream, but wasn't cold. It was very creamy, however. The crunch of the nuts, the tartness of the apple and the sweetness of the marmelade contrasted beautifully with the soft, salty cheese. This dish apparently is a takeoff of a traditional cheese soup made with Roncal cheese. Outstanding! Striped bass with white bean puree, crispy leeks, olive crumbs and yucca crisp followed. The bean puree served to unite the entire dish. The wine was the only one from a producer that I had previously heard of. It was a merlot "Vega Sindoa" from Nekeas, Tinto 2002. It was quite nice with a predominance of licorice on the palate. The final savory course was simply prepared but very effective. It was squab with a berry compte and yogurt. The wine once again suffered IMO from too much oak, however. It was Crianza 2000 merlot, cab, tempranillo blend from Palacio de Otazu. The desserts were prepare by Alex Mujica. The first one was a thick citrus "soup" with cream cheese and walnut streusel. It had good balance and mouthfeel. The final dessert was reminiscent of one I had this past autumn at Arzak. It was a pear "volcano" with almond-rice milk and crispy chocolate rice. The bubbling cauldron was fun, but even more importantly, the dish was indeed delicious. Cacao Krispies never tasted so good! The dessert wine was a 2002 moscatel from Senorio de Sarria. The sweetness was well balanced by its acidity. The dinner was tremendous fun. Wylie, Dewey and their staff were tremendous. The service we had was perfect American service. Our waitress was friendly, informative and very much on top of things. As if the dinner wasn't enough we each received a "doggie" bag on the way out. One bag had a bottle of wine from Navarra and the other had a jar of cooked swiss chard from Navarra. Each bag also came with a booklet illustrating Navarran food products. The icing on the cake came, however, when we found a parking spot on the right side of the street by the apartment where we were staying. The night certainly was charmed.

My personal preference would still be to support those producers who do bother with the "hassle", because it represents a standard that means quality. To me it is worth a little bit more to support that process and standard. The alternatives are too difficult to figure out and not nearly consistent enough.

No attack. I'm sure they are fine. It probably does not make much of a difference unless one will be using them in a dish in which the tomatoes are relatively unadulterated. A marinara sauce is probably a good example. A meat "gravy" is probably less of an issue.

This brings back memories. I worked there as a valet in between H.S. and College. I remember it being pretty good, but haven't been back in ages.

Doc: Thanks for the input. We have gone with the Cambridge Inn weekend of 10-7 to 10-9. We are taking it over basically and will use the Rice Mansion as "overflow". Maybe we'll see you around then! BTW, I agree with your thoughts on Inn at Erlowest. The carrot soup that FatCatBrew so much enjoyed was mine! I'm her husband. ← Glad you enjoyed it! The food at the Cambridge Hotel is good, but no match for Erlowest. In fairness, it is quite a bit less expensive though.

Hey now, guys. Back to canned tomatoes... Doc, what are these pomodorini del Vesuvio and where can I buy them? ← These are the tomatoes I was talking about. I can never remember the precise name!

I don't think you would go wrong in Cambridge. That area has to be one of the most beautiful on the east coast. There are also plenty of high quality, artisanal farms in the area. The Inn is a very good value. Another great value at the moment is The Inn at Erlowest on Lake George. It is an area with great hiking. The food is wonderful and the rooms spectacular and dirt cheap right now.

Rich, I am from a southrn Italian backgrounf also, only by way of Brooklyn. To us "gravy" meant a tomato sauce with meat. Any other tomato sauce was a "sauce". As for the butter aspect, it is most certainly not of southern Italian origen, but is quite delicious. Speaking of Joe, I just made him a dish of simple pasta with nothing but EVOO, pomodorini del Vesuvio and S&P. Those tomatoes are so good, they are better than anything that can be added to them, IMO.