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I am hoping that fatcatbrew will post impressions from Erlowest. The highlight of my dinner last night were the percebes or Goose barnacles from Spain. They were perfectly cooked, tender and redolant of the sea. This was the first time I have ever seen them offered at an American restaurant. Chef Secich was disappointed to discover that I did have them once before. They were served on top of a very tasty sauteed swiss chard with pine nuts and lardons with sel gris on top. . The dinner featured separate "Aphrodisiac" Tasting menus for men and women. Each dish featured legendary aphrodisiac ingredients aimed at each particular sex. Notable by their absence, however, were oysters. The menu, while imaginative and fun was somewhat less than the perfection that I have come to expect from this restaurant. In addition to the percebes, highlights included Chef Secich's always magnificent butter poached lobster with ginger, veal sweetbreads, turbot with vodka and celery, lamb rack with mustard and venison with cloves. There was one dish, however, that didn't work for us. This ws a pre-dessert for the ladies of dry champagne with vanilla ice cream and aspic. While it had an interesting texture, the dry champagne was in our opinion too much for the vanilla. Out of about ten visits since August, this was the first dish at this restaurant that I didn't like. Some of the other dishes, while still quite good, were not as sensational as others I've had at this restaurant. Despite these relative flaws, the meal was still a resounding success.

Between the Korean, Vietnamese and Thai places you have started out with a lot of Asian food. Is that a preference or a coincidence? Are Asian cuisines particularly prominent in and around Atlanta? I wish good examples werre more readily available where I live.

The prices still hurt

Indeed, knishes are not the same throughout N.Y. let alone the world. I would also suggest that in addition you try a Gabila's knish off of a street cart. I am not suggesting that it will be in any way superior to Yonah Schimmel's - simply a contrast and what most people consider the typical ifnot the ultimate N.Y. knish. Try it with a little mustard inside. The problem with microwaving them is that the crispy, crusty exterior gets lost.

Ore, Good luck with your blog, but we need to see some of that salumi here - after all that is the next best thing to tasting it! What is the significance of the name of your blog? Does it relate to food?

But Moscow? This is not an intuitive choice at least to me.

Rogelio, thanks for the links. I do believe that these are the three restaurants that will be represented at WD-50 Wednesday night. I am looking forward to a brief, but relatively inexpensive return visit to Spain!

Next week a Celebration of the Food and Wine of Navarra will take place in NYC. On Wednesday evening, Wylie Dufresne will be joined by three chefs from Navarra who will prepare a degustation meal at his restaurant, WD-50. Although I do not know the names of the chefs, they each apparently have one Michelin Star. Can anyone here tell me about the Michelin starred cuisine of Navarra? Does it differ from elsewhere in NE Spain? What should I look for if I attend this event? I am intrigued by the event, but relatively ignorant of this cuisine.

I hope you mean that you won't be able to survive that long, not that you intend not to go!

The experience recounted in the UK article is more critical and exaggerated than my own experience written earlier in this thread, but one of his principle criticisms echoes my own. The pace of the dinner was way too fast. While the general quality of our food was quite good, there were lapses in quality. In particular my fish, turbot in my case, was overcooked and tasteless. While I don't believe I commented on it earlier, the quantity of food was in fact daunting. My wife and I literally (ok a little exaggeration here) rolled out of the restaurant and we couldn't even eat any of the mignardises . I would have preferred to shave the food quantity by half and the price by a quarter. The sense I get from my own and other less than stellar experiences and then the glowing reports from people whose opinions I absolutely respect is that this restaurant has a serious case of multiple personalities. When it is on, it is awesome and probably worth the price, but when it is a little bit off....

Wow Sam, stellar post! Avoidance behavior does not necessarily equate to sensation of pain. Avoidance behavior is important for survival though. Unless we were to fit our own human psyches somehow into a lobster, it is impossible for anyone to "know" what a lobster or any other creature feels. For me, personally, I prefer to avoid gratuitous "cruelty", that is something that might be perceived as cruel for no "good" purpose. I do not consider using a creature for food as gratuitous, although some methods of dispatch may be considered as such by some.

I have. It was still good, but not quite as it was at its peak. It may very well have improved more since I was there last. I look forward to reading your impressions.

I have my reservation! Now the serious waiting begins. Any suggestions for comfortable, but not overly expensive nearby hotels?

I will be curious to read your impressions of this and othe meals from your weekend. Enjoy!

Bux, your post is as usual well thought out and well written. My comments regarding Bruni's review was that they seemed to resonate with my own impressions in this case. I don't expect absolute perfection anywhere, after all these people are human too. I might actually have been more impressed had I not ordered the truffle menu. I had the sense that there was a lot of luxury for its own sake rather than because it provided true enhancement. The presence of the truffles almost seemed like an excuse to let up on the other components of the dishes with the glorious exception of the shrimp sauce. As for the price being an issue - some of my best meals have been obscenely expensive, albeit not this obscenely expensive. I will return to a very expensive restaurant if I feel it has been worth it. Per Se, Can Fabes and Arzak are examples of restaurants of this caliber I would love to return to. Interestingly, I find myself more forgiving on subsequent visits if my first one satisfied me.

I have not had their pizza so cannot comment on how good it is or isn't, but if they are trying to replicate a real neapolitan Pizza, that I can comment on. I have never had better pizza than I have had in and around Naples. Perhaps it is a matter of expectation. These pizzas are not fancy. They don't come with loads of luxe ingredients, but they are the models of simplicity and the importance of top quality ingredients. So while their version may or may not be great, what they are trying to replicate, IMO, most certainly is.

If you haven't been a trip to Montserrat is certainly beautiful and worthwhile. While in the area you could head to Manresa to dine at Aligue , a very nice little restaurant indeed. Also nearby is a lovely Parador called the Duques de Cardona in Cardona. It is an old castle with plenty of charm.

I believe it was Steingarten who said about Arpège, that it took him eight visits to understand it. ← It would be nice to have that luxury. I am imagine that Mr. Steingarten was able to expense those meals. Nevertheless, I do not believe the flaws I experienced were due to a lack of understanding on my part. If a restaurant charges what they do, they should be subject to tighter criticism.

For all of those who say that a critique needs to be based on more than one visit or that anyplace can make mistakes, I say sure, but at the price point for this restaurant, I for one, do not have the luxury of multiple visits, especially if I'm not blown away. A restaurant gets one shot at me at these prices and it better damn well be near perfect. I have no doubt that ADNY can and does perform better than it did for me that night I was there. The fact that a number of people who have posted on this topic, whose opinions I greatly respect, are in awe of it makes me certain of that. Nevertheless, I simply cannot afford to give tht restaurant another chance on my dime. Now if someone wants to take me to persuade me otherwise, I would be happy to give them a second chance Don't get me wrong, most of the food I had was excellent when, but IMO despite all the luxury aspects, my overall experience was certainly less than four star.

I wonder if it will go well with a nice sauvignon blanc?

Fantastic article! I am anxiously awaiting my call. I think I may want to bring my two oldest sons (15 & 13) along with my wife and I. I also want to go to Moto the same weekend. The combination sounds like great fun to me.

Nice casual and better is fine.

On Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights next weekend, they are doing his and hers aphrodisiac tasting menus for Valentine's day. We'll be there Saturday night. It should be interesting. I know it will be delicious.

I do regret missing my planned meal there last fall and especially a sous vide cooking demonstration by Joan Roca because I was sick. Interestingly enough, though the restaurant was relatively poo-poo'ed by those of my group who did manage to go. Maybe they just wanted me to not feel so bad.

These are indeed phenomenal. In fact, I daresay they are the best canned tomatoes I have ever had. I first had them in Paestum. Served sauteed only with EVOO and served over homemade fusilli, they were a revelation. Thank you Beatrice for carrying them!