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I was fortunate enough to stop in at Otto last week (after dinner at Babbo) to have some gelato. I agree, the olive oil gelato is sublime. It was in fact a revelation.

Nice report! I'm looking forward to Alinea's opening so I can plan a trip to Chicago to visit both Alinea and Moto. Ferran Adria himself offered some positive comments on Moto in his Q&A.

I too will be watching this with interest.

Chef, Thank you so much for your time and the insights into your creativity and your food that you provided us. I am looking forward now more than ever to visiting El Bulli this summer. Thanks also to Pedro for doing an extraordinary job in working with Chef Adria' to set this up, translate and convey his nuances.

Any thoughts on rubber cutting boards? I have seen some at some of the better kitchen supply stores in NYC like JB Prince and Korin knives. Prices appear comparable to the Boos boards.

I didn't say that it doesn't deserve recognition. It most certainly deserves a lot of it. Before I visited I thought I would reserve judgement. If one figures no stars for decor or service then if those were upgraded to star quality level, the restaurant would be considered 4 stars. It is very good, but is the restaurant potentially 4 stars good? Not in my opinion. I don't think that takes anything away from the restaurant. It is outstanding for what it is and a fabulous value to boot.

That was us. Too bad we missed you! I must add that I thoroughly enjoyed Sripraphai. We had a wide assortment of dishes all of which were excellent. While I enjoy Thai food very much, I must admit I have very limited expertise to discuss the nuances of it. Nevertheless, as good as it is, two stars is stretching it.

Thank you Chef for starting this fascinating discussion. I suppose the answer to the question rests on how one defines "gastronomy". Merriam-Webster Online defines it so: The second part of the definition is basically the study of Cuisine or culinary diversity. It is difficult to be other than relativistic regarding this. My personal attitude is that diversity is an important component, even critical and as per my following discussion ultimately effects my answer to this question. The principle definition, "the art and science of good eating", implies that ideals can exist within gastronomy. There may very well be "ideal" ways of food preparation to achieve a desired effect and there may very well be "ideal" foods from a nutritional perspective. After all, we eat for two principle reasons. The first is for subsistence, that is to provide our bodies with energy and nutrients. I do not believe that there is any universal ideal for all people in this regard as some people need more or less of certain elements than others and people handle various nutritional elements differently. I do believe, however, that for any given point in time an individual may, in fact, have a personal nutritional ideal that would absolutely optimize that person's physiology at that time as well as for advancement into the future. Whether that ideal can ever knowingly be met for any given individual is another story entirely. The second reason for eating is for pleasure. Most of the posters here have opted for a relativistic approach that depend on given individual preferences and circumstances with the result that a universal "ideal" is neither possible nor relevent. Indeed there are any number of factors to effect perception in the enjoyment of a meal. What I find exquisite one day, I may not another day even though the quality of the ingredients and technical preparation may be exactly the same. Extraneous circumstances may effect my perception of enjoyment. While this may make actually reaching an ideal extremely difficult if not impossible, I am not so sure that it means that a universal ideal can not or does not exist. I have found that my perceptions have changed with time. I enjoy eating many things today that I never did (or didn't think I did) in the past. In fact just last night, I had tripe for the very first time at Babbo. It was fantastic. With changing perceptions and increasing experience it is possible to develop a finer understanding of food that includes knowledge and appreciation of ingredients, technique and the culmination of preparation. The rhetorical question becomes then, that if everyone were allowed the same possibilities for exposure to food and the ability to grow in experience over time could a gastronomic "ideal" be achieved? Obviously this is purely theoretical as this could never happen in reality. My conclusion, though is that if removing the confines of the individual nutritional ideal, the aesthetic ideal is otherwise theoretically possible, although practically impossible. The fun part is the quest for this "impossible dream", this "Holy Grail". It is fun to expand one's mind enjoying variety and skill in the pursuit of perfection, whether or not it is ever actually achieved. The intellectual component is enjoyable as well as it is a necessary ingredient of the quest, even though sometimes it can get in the way of pure hedonism. In conclusion, I believe that the "ideal' gastronomy can theoretically exist, and that it is the culmination of the gastronomy "of every one of us".

I finally had dinner at Ducasse last Friday night with my wife. Since I figure that I would not have the opportunity to dine there more than once in a blue moon I decided to go all out. I had the truffle tasting menu with the wine pairings while my wife had the regular tasting menu with wine pairings. As much as I really wanted to be blown away by the meal, I wasn't. I do have to agree with the sentiment that the high points were quite high and most of the food was outstanding if not transcendant or sublime. The low points, however, were sufficient to undermine the overall quality of the experience, especially for what it cost. Despite reports from others, I liked the room. While I can't say that it is my favorite room of anywhere I have ever dined, it was perfectly comfortable. The decor was fine. The service was extremely attentive and professional, but was also the source of my greatest consternation for the evening. I actually felt rushed. I felt as if the first five courses came one on top of another. We had our main course within an hour and a half of being seated. I felt as if we really didn't have time to reflect on our food and enjoy our wines before the next course was at the table. When asked how things were after we were served our final savory course I answered as above. The captain asked why didn't I say something sooner. I replied that I hadn't expected it to be so and didn't expect it to be a pattern. Subsequent to that the pacing slowed considerably into a much more relaxed state. Part of what got me a little bit agitated was that I had already seen several tables turn over. I had been under the impression beforehand that the table was ours for the evening, but as the meal was progressing I was beginning to wonder if that were in fact the case. I felt my eggs in cocotte, scallop and foie gras ravioli courses were superb. The depth, skill and quality of the kitchen were evident throughout but for a couple of exceptions. Th red shrimp and turbot was an example of a dish with split personality IMO. The shrimp with the most incredible reduction was my favorite element of the evening, however, I still don't understand what the turbot was doing there. Normally turbot is one of my favorite fish and this was a beautiful piece that still had bone on. Unfortunately, though it was IMO a bit overcooked so that it was relatively dry and worse yet it was essentially flavorless, especially beside the shrimp. It still might have worked had there been enough of the reduction with which to bathe the fish. Alas, there wasn't. The other dish that proved disappointing was the pheasant with albuferra sauce. The sauce was deep, complex and sublime, but the generous piece of pheasant breast was uneven as some bites had more flavor than others. In actuality, I thought the pheasant fairly bland as well. A bit more of the sauce might have helped. I must say that if this were a less highly regarded restaurant or had it been less expensive than it was, my criticism of these dishes might not have been as sharp as above. In reality though, despite those misses, I believe the prices for the food can be justified by the obvious care and complexity of the dishes and the obvious quality of the underlying ingredients. Where I have more of a problem with prices, though, is with the wine. The pairings were well chosen, but the only wine of obvious expense was a 1993 Gaja Barolo Sperss and of this I received but a meager pour. Overall, the meal was of great quality and indeed worth considerable expense (though IMO not what I actually spent).

Chef, I have had the good fortune to have seen your first episode of your culinary films. I understand that they are or will be available on DVD. Are there plans for them to be available outside of Spain and/or in English? I also have had the good fortune to try some of your commercially available gazpacho while in Spain. Do you have any plans to market that or any other products outside of Spain?

Chef, Thank you so much for joining us here on eGullet. You are without a doubt the most influential chef in the world right now. Although you are still young your contributions to gastronomy are legion. What would you wish to see as your legacy from your career so far and then again for what you still dream and have yet to accomplish?

A question for the Q&A next week, perhaps.

Lunch would probably be my preference. I have almost as much of a desire to eat there as I do El Bulli. they appear to be opposite but complementary ends of the food spectrum.

Muchas gracias, otra vez.

This has to be the coolest thing! I can't wait.

The New York Times (reg. required) has an article today entitled Justices Pick Apart Ban on Wine Sales From State to State This is encouraging.

My goodness, what fantastic menus! To think that so many if not all of those dishes were big hits is amazing. After having eaten at Per Se, I am actually more interested in eventually visiting Manresa than I am French Laundry.

The two closest to being household names are Gualtiero Marchesi, considered by many one of the world's great chefs and Carlo Petrini, who is not a chef, but the founder and leader of Slow Food. I'm not sure I'd go someplace that he was doing the cooking, but if her were in attendance I would expect the cooking to be excellent.

I finally got some Smith's butter through igourmet.com. It is fantastic. I cannot say that I have ever had better. I like the big roll too. I plan on getting more, but I have a few of Rosengarten's other butters to get through first!

I am curious as to the method of cooking.of the pork. It sounds like it may have been cooked sous vide. Does anyone know if they are using that method in the kitchen there? ← When Dayne and I were there in July he had the pork chop, I'm pretty sure it was grilled. Jeff, did they drizzle the balsamic on/around it?? mmmmmm! LOVE Babbo! ← The reason I ask is that when in Spain recently all the most wonderful meats had been cooked that way and I would never have guessed it. I don't see any reason why a kitchen like Batali's flagship might not be doing the same. Wendy, do you recall if it was labeled as grilled or was it an assumption? I may have to find out for myself as I'll be dining there next week.

I am curious as to the method of cooking.of the pork. It sounds like it may have been cooked sous vide. Does anyone know if they are using that method in the kitchen there?

Thanks again to you both, Louisa and Silly. Louisa, I have just begun to explore your blog. It is outstanding.

It sounds as if SnackMar/ Las Golondrinas is fairly small. Anyone have any ideea about reservations either for there or Rafa's? I did a Google on SnackMar/Las Golondrinas and didn't come up with much. I also googled the names separately without much response. As always, I appreciate the help and information.

The impression that I got from the article is that these were mostly if not all Russian produced wines from the Massandra winery. I did not recognize many of the grape varieties mentioned.

Len, Is that the most expensive NY wine you know of? What makes it so expensive? I am not aware of any particular demand to justify the price. Do they actually sell it at that price? I'll be interested to read your impressions of it.