docsconz

I've been following this thread with interest as I expect to finally visit WD-50 with some friends in December. I very much enjoyed WD's food at 71 Clinton. I particularly enjoy creative food so long as it is successful. What I had at 71 Clinton most certainly was on every level. In what way or ways is his food different now than then (for all or anyone who can compare)?

Thanks for the rec. I'll keep an eye out for them. The nice thing about wines at these prices is that even if there is bottle or palate variation, it's not a huge gamble or loss. The upside is great.

Nice report and website, Marc. You should add a link to your website to your signature.

I have seen and purchased bulk piquillo peppers of good quality at Whole Foods in Ridgewood, N.J.. I would imagine that they are also available at Whole Foods in NYC, esp. at Time Warner. Upstate, I have seen them for sale at Mrs. London's in Saratoga Springs. My favorite way of using them is to stuff them with crabmeat or shrimp and a bechamel sauce. I believe the most common stuffing in Spain is salt cod.

This has been an interesting discussion. I would like to add a few thoughts. Novelty for its own sake is shallow and soon becomes worthless. What makes food like Chef Achatz' and Adria's and others interesting and great is not nor should it be that the food is only novel or original. That may be necessary for "greatness", but it most certainly is not sufficient. It must also be delicious and beautiful IMO to be considered creatively "great". This does nothing to diminish the work of someone less conceptually creative who is able to produce stellar food from within a tradition, but that is another discussion. What separates this kind of cooking for me is the sense of imagination, whimsy and playfullness that takes cuisine beyond a mere sensual experience and into an intellectual one as well. It is the succesful marriage of the sensual and the intellectual that defines the greatest and most unique dining experiences for me.

That's how I know enough to be so jealous! Have a great trip!

Arzak in San Sebastian

Amen. Quantity certainly is important, but so is the type of carbohydrate. Simple sugars are clearly worse than complex carbs as far as basic rapidity of uptake and resultant blood glucose. Obviously one can have too much of a good thing, though what constitutes "too much" is relative. The simple sugar effects, however, can be mitigated by their dietary context, which is why I state that "no sugar" for a diabetic is a myth. Pure simple sugars without mitigating context, however, remain a major no-no.

When I was first diagnosed I had been regularly having a "low-fat" breakfast of banana in a baguette. This sent my blood glucose sky high. Needless to say, I don't eat that anymore and as much as I love them I tend to stay away from bananas unless I have them as part of a dessert after a rich meal that somewhat mitigates the effect.

Did you do a boot camp? Ifso, how was it? I ate at American Bounty once and had a good experience. I'm sorry to read about your dining experiences.

Great job! Nice pics and commentary. True Americana.

Dark chocolate makes almost anything better. One of the more exotic things I've had of late are chocolate covereed red peppercorns from Barcelona's Cacao Sampaka - Magnificent!

I am intensely jealous.

Cecilia really is a marvellous person. She personally drove my son and I to a nearby hilltown that my maternal grandmother was born in. This reminds me that I really need to get in touch with her just to say hello.

Pamela may be be too nice to toot her own horn, but on her web site she has a small apartment fit for two at 115 Euros/night. While I haven't been there myself, I have no doubt that it is a lovely place.

Ore, another outstanding post. The agriturismo you stayed out near Paestum is Seliano and the woman is Baronessa Cecilia Baratta, a marvellous woman. Your post brought back many memories for me as it was one year ago at this time that I was there with my son. We stayed in the main house and werre the only guests. This was just prior to the Slow Food Congress in Naples. We toured the farm as well as got the tour of the mozzarella production. The stuff is heavenly. The outstanding ingredient that I had there for the first time were pomodorini del Vesuvio. Wow! They are the best tomatoes I have ever eaten - and they were canned. For awhile I used a photo of one of the bufala as my avatar. After Naples, my son and I went up to Modena where we visited a parmaggiano producer very similar to the one you posted on and also an acetaia. The acetaia we visited was Acetaia del Cristo. We sampled a couple of different 100 year old balsamicos there. That was one of the highlights of my life. It was a great trip. Thanks for helping to bring it back with vivid detail!

Superb as usual, Ore, and worth the wait! For awhile I thought the pears around the custard were mushrooms! Awesome photos. If you ever get tired of preparing food for a living, I have no doubt that you can make it as a food photographer.

This may be true, although last night was the first Halloween in my experience in which my kids could go out trick-or-treating without coats.

Well, now that the ultra-luxury concept has been proven in New York, what about one of that handful of world-class New York chefs stepping up to show the culinary interlopers a thing or two? ← A couple of years ago I might have thought that Jean-George might have been the one to do that, but now I'm not so sure. Daniel Boulud? Perhaps, but would the incremental advance be worth it to him? As FG said, there is no room for error. Why take that risk, when he is already successful enough as it is?

I think you hit the nail on the head. There is no clear single right answer for all people, although this is not for lack of trying to find one. To complicate matters further, for every ingredient that might be good for one aspect of health, it may have potentially adverse effects in other areas. For example nuts and green, leafy vegetables are generally thought (today) to be healthy, but for some people they can be major factors in the production of oh so painful kidney stones. We read a lot about the beneficial effects of wine, but then too much is no good either. Even vitamins like vitamin E are not without potential adverse effects. It is an extremely complex problem. Unfortunately, I don't see any definitive answers anytime in the near future with the possible exceptions of gene therapies or improved pharmacology. I have no confidence that the science of human nutrition will find universally applicable answers. That doesn't mean that people won't try to market things to assuage people's fears and in some cases they may even work!

Holly, I am certainly not about to dispute what you are saying here about how desserts effect your sugar, as I said earlier, everyone is a bit different. But I am curious. When you have these sugary desserts what are you having them on top of? You certainly know food, but in my five year experience I found that I can eat almost anything without too much of an effect, if I eat it in the "proper" context, i.e. on top of protein, fat and fiber and so long as I take my medicine. Of course, that doesn't mean no effect but I follow my HgA1C's and so far they are pretty good. Unfortunately for me, too, when it comes to food, I don't have great willpower. Rather than avoid things, I just try to eat (or drink) them in that proper context. as far as the medicine is concrned, that has been a plus, not only for helping to control my blood glucose, but with triglycerides as well. My lipid profiles are now bette than they ever were before I was diagnosed. I can't really argue with this, especially if it doesn't work for you otherwise. My point about today's Diabetes meds is that they really are good drugs. I suppose you are better off if you can maintain your blood sugar in such a way that you can avoid them, but each person must decide what he or she is willing (and able) to do to reach that end and if it is really worth it. This is a worthy goal. Personally, I think most desserts and dessert recipes in this country are way too sweet for my taste anyway so replacing sugar with Splenda is not the answer for me. I would be happy just with a reduction in the amount of sweeteners used. Fortunately, I believe we are starting to see more of this, especially in more sophisticated restaurants in which flavor, texture and presentation are more important than gloppy sweetness.

I don't think crab would be the truest representative of Massachusetts fare. Homerus americanus would be a better choice, perhaps as a salad in a nice roll.

Thanks I do in fact like both approaches. I tend to favor tasting menus at "destination" restaurants that I am not likely to get to with any frequency so I can get a broader sense of what the kitchen has to offer and how the chef thinks. I find many wonderful items this way that I may not have ordered if left to my own devices. With a restaurant that I am more likely to frequent, that is less of an issue and I can explore the menu at my leisure. Enoteca Pinchiorri would fit into the former category for me.

Chez Sophie is no more than ten minutes from Caffe Lena. It is on Rte 9 just south of exit 13 of the Northway while Caffe Lena is in Saratoga proper between exits 14 and 15. You have the correct website and place. Enjoy and tell them you found them on eGullet! They are familiar with the site.

Imminent? You don't find 100 years imminent, docsconz? I find the very idea of no more maple sugar to be quite disastrous! Therefore, I shall stockpile the precious stuff .... ← To me "imminent" is this year or next. I'm not saying that it is not a concern. I live in the heart of today's maple syrup country and would like it to stay that way! It is true though, that this may become one of our lesser concerns if the predictions are correct and nothing is done about it. As someone once said, "the only constant in life is change."