docsconz

DAY TWO: Monday, March 3 2008 Although the bed and the bungalow were quite comfortable, sleep was scarce for me that first night. I was awakened at 3:30AM by a thunder clap and fell back to sleep until about 4:30 when I re-awoke and could not return to sleep. Happily, I discovered that this is a good time of day to work on my photos and my journal. As the first light appeared in the sky around 6:30 or so, I quickly dressed , scooped up my camera and went to explore. While a number of photo opportunities presented themselves, unfortunately I was unable to avail myself as the lens fogged from the transition from the cool bungalow to the humid dawn. Nevertheless, I wandered amongst the grounds to see and hear a cacophony of morning birds and equally silent fishermen moving along the shore and into the lake to find their catch. I also discovered a treasure of orchids to be found on most every tree in the lagoon. As the sky lightened further, I took my laptop to find the wi-fi node at the Reception area, only to discover it unavailable at that moment. As I returned to my bungalow, I stopped to chat with JF, a photographer from LA who is accompanying her mother on the trip. Suddenly, as we were chatting outside, it began to rain. We took cover underneath the shelter of the veranda of her bungalow, where we were soon joined by her mother. We waited for the morning rain to dissipate before we headed to the restaurant for breakfast, a large buffet of Indian and western items along with egg and dosa stations. I sampled a number of items including the kerala specialties of idlee and dosa masala. The idlee by itself was bland, but awoke with the embellishment of various chutneys. The dosa masala, delivered to my table was a delight to the taste buds, especially with the addition of a little coconut or red chili chutney. Dosa Masala There were some small, pasta like strand clusters that Julie referred to as stringers, Indian doughnuts called "vadas", fritters and many other things. Vadas Fruit included lovely red and orange papaya and more delicious pineapple like I had the previous evening. In addition to the sliced pineapple, fresh made pineapple juice was a revelation. To provide my protein base I had a little salty bacon and some very bland poached eggs. To drink I tried the pineapple juice, some flavorless fresh cucumber juice and some excellent Kerala coffee that was pre-mixed with milk. The waitress poured the coffee into the cup by raising the pot high and letting it stream down into the cup which lay on the table. This had the wonderful effect of frothing the coffee as if it came from a siphon. The coffee was delicious.

DAY ONE: Sunday March 2 2008 At least I was able to sleep a bit on the plane. I arrived in Mumbai late in the evening of March 1st, 2008. The flight lasted about twelve and one half hours with a path that took us over Turkey, the Black Sea, the Caucusus Mountains, the dessert of Iran and coastal Pakistan, It was fairly uneventful though it did not have the advertised lobster and it had the wrong movie list. While I did not get to see No Country for Old Men, Juno or American Gangster as it initially appeared I would, I did manage to see Michael Clayton. Oh well. I was the first off the plane and one of the first through immigration, however, I was held up in customs by some agents who wanted to shake me down to pay duty on my personal camera equipment. Somehow, I got them to relent and they let me pass. It appears that the Indian Government is very sensitive to journalistic criticism and it severely restricts journalistic entry into the country. As I exited the arrival section of the airport, I was met by Rajesh, the local tour operator in Mumbai, who set me up with a car to the hotel. As I had expected, the streets teemed with humanity with plenty of severe poverty mixed amongst the occasional signs of wealth. While Hindu is the predominant religion in Maharashtra, we drove through a number of pockets, that were largely Muslim. We finally made it to the hotel, The Taj Mahal Towers, where I was checked in to room 409 with a nice view overlooking the Gate to India, a monument built by the ruling British Raj while they were still in power. I mentioned that I arrived late in the evening. That was on Mumbai time which curiously is 10 and one half hours later than the time in NY. Needless to say, having slept a bit on the plane, I was not all that tired. I showered, called home on Skype and surfed the net a bit, before finally trying to get some sleep. I did not sleep well and woke up on my own at 5:30, which was just as well as my 6:45 wake-up call never came. At 7:30 I had my bags packed and downstairs with the group. After breakfast at the hotel, I met the remainder of the group and we set off for the airport for a flight to Cochin on Jet airways. The group appears to be quite amiable and interesting, totaling 16 including the leader, Julie Sahni and EW, the representative from Viking, who is here in place of MC. Strangely, there are, including myself, five physicians in the group - two Anesthesiologists, a surgeon, an Internist and a Pathologist. There are only a few true food professionals. On a group tour everything depends on the composition of the group. It only takes one or two bad apples to ruin it for everyone. My initial impression is that we should be fine. Mumbai Taxi On the plane, I happened to sit with Julie and LL, who works for a major food retailer and is on the trip on business. She and I and our families have a number of things in common. Julie is a fascinating woman. She has written one of the most highly regarded Indian cookbooks in the US, is trained as an urban planner, a chef and is an accomplished Indian traditional dancer, having been considered a prodigy as a teenager. From the priestly Brahmin caste in the southeastern region of Tamil, but raised in Delhi, she is extremely knowledgeable about her native country. Having been the chef at the NYC restaurant Nirvana in its heyday, she has lived in NYC for some years, currently in Brooklyn Heights, where she runs a cooking school. We seem to be in extremely good and capable hands with her. We had been warned that it would be quite hot as we descended from the plane. It was. The bus ride from the airport to our destination in Kumarakom and the backwaters of Kerala at an eco-resort called Coconut Lagoon took approximately 2 hours though it was time well spent relaxing, enjoying the scenery and listening to Julie provide some background on the area and its food. The final leg of our journey was by boat as the resort is located on an island within a large lake -Vembanad. On arrival, we were greeted with a ceremonial anointing of our foreheads and given flowers and fresh coconut milk for refreshment. The grounds of the resort are quite lovely. I have my own private bungalow, set along a canal with a pigeon roost in front and a butterfly garden in the rear. The bungalows are actually antiques that were moved here piece by piece from around Kerala. The wooden ceilings are particularly astounding in their ornate detail, reminiscent of a high-born Spanish colonial governor’s mansion. I was able to immediately sign up for a massage, though I did not quite know what to expect from an Ayurvedic total body massage. The massage started with me in the sitting position with the masseur rhythmically and vigorously rubbing my scalp with a scented oil. From there, he bade me lay face down on the table at which point started my back massage from my head to my feet in long, sweeping motions. Suddenly it was as if the Hindu god, Shiva, entered his body as he seemed to sprout an extra set of hands and arms. A second masseur had quietly entered the room and proceeded to join the first in a choreographed ballet on my back that felt as if it truly was one person with multiple arms. My total body massage was completed after some time, but was followed by nearly an hour of having warm Ayurvedic oil poured in rhythmic patterns over my forehead in a process called Sirodhara. That was so relaxing and blissful, that in my sleep-deprived state, I took advantage of a little slumber. I have another appointment late tomorrow afternoon for a “rejuvenating” massage. The cost is probably less than a quarter of what a similar massage would cost in the US. I relaxed for a bit before joining the group at Julie’s at 7:30 PM for some snacks and wine. She served a variety of Indian chips and snacks, including plantain, jackfruit and tapioca chips and snacks incorporating Indian spices, cashews and lime. The wine was from India, a cab-shiraz blend from Grover, in the International style. Michel Rolland was a consultant for the wine. Julie also gave a brief lecture priming us on the food that we would be eating as well as the variety of Keralan cuisines and the cultures behind them. She has promised to provide detailed descriptions of the dishes that would make sense to us. Kerala is along the southwest Malabar coast of India and is where much of the ancient spice trades originated. Because of this, it received much attention from external cultures, incorporating them into its own tradition over time. The northern third of Kerala, the heart of black pepper country including Tellicherry, has a particularly strong Arab Muslim culture, central Kerala, where we are, a strong Syrian Christian tradition, and southern Kerala, Hindu. More inland, the Hindu Brahmin caste predominates. Julie explained the importance of the coconut to Kerala in cooking and other facets of life. In addition, bananas and seafood hold major places in the local cuisine. Coconut milk is the milk of the region, while oil from the coconut is used exclusively as a cooking oil. Rice, considered sacred , is the staple starch. In fact, there are rice paddies on the hotel property that await the coming summer monsoons to provide their annual bounty. Jackfruit Chips For dinner we went to the outdoor restaurant at the hotel, where Julie had arranged a traditional Keralan wedding feast or Sadya. The building, known as an Ettuketto, consisted of two atrium like courtyards covered by a vast tile roof with many thin columns leaving the space wide open to collect refreshing breezes. Open areas were covered with nets or hanging beads to keep birds and other wildlife out. We all sat on one side of a long table. Our plate was a broad, fresh, green banana leaf. The servers came to each diner in a row to place a spoonful of a variety of vegetarian dishes on each leaf. A large spoonful of steaming, brown rice was placed in the center of the leaf. We were instructed to eat each of the dozen or so dishes that included a dal, a sambal, pickled lime, pickled green mango, banana in yogurt, avial (had a fibrous vegetable with the odd English name of drumstick since it resembled the one used with drums and not the chicken part), pachadi, pappadam and others by using our clean right hand (using the left hand for this is considered offensive) to mix the item with the rice, scoop it up with our fingers and eat it. This is the ultimate finger food, as western style cutlery would tear the banana leaf plate and make a mess. It is not even considered bad manners to lick one’s fingers! I washed my meal down with water and a Kingfisher beer, which was nicely refreshing. At the end of the meal, the waiter came by, folded up the banana leaves and discarded them. Dessert consisted of a plate with watermelon, wonderfully sweet and complex small Indian pineapple and two puddings, each of which came with some cashews on top. The first was a basic rice pudding while the other was made from mung beans and jaggery, Indian sugar, very much like Mexican piloncillo. By this point most everyone including myself was getting tired and went back to our bungalows. Tomorrow will be a busy day as we will be taking a boat tour through the tropical backwaters of Kerala and visiting a spice plantation.

This past March I went on a small group culinary tour of India led by Julie Sahni under the banners of Viking Range and The Culinary Institute of America's World of Flavors Travel Program. The experience was intense as India is a land of extremes - extreme poverty and extreme wealth, extreme beauty and extreme filth and extreme hunger and extreme bounty. I will be recounting my experience through my journal. While the trip and therefore my journal were centered on food, they were not exclusive to food. I believe that the food and the culture are integrally related and so will present the journal in its entirety. I believe that is necessary to convey the true flavor of the experience. Of course I will include photos, though I will limit non-food related photos to a minimum and only those necessary to clearly illustrate the experience. In place of names of my travel companions I will use initials to respect their privacy. I hope that you enjoy!

Great job, David! Though we may not fully agree on the soul aspect of Las Vegas, I have very much enjoyed the ride and your insights. This past weekend I enjoyed this article on Southwest Airline's Spirit magazine on the soft pink underbelly of the Las Vegas restaurant scene.

Nice. It seems that the next generation of spherification techniques is starting to show up. between this and what the Adrias are doing this year at elBulli, the level of complexity and sophistication apears to have increased dramatically. I would love to see the strawberries and cream done with a yin-yang design!

I love the name. It gives reference and honor to its predecessor, but announces that it will be its own restaurant.

According to the article it sounds like Paul will tone down his approach to pushing the boundaries. This has now vaulted to the top of my must visit restaurants when it opens. I hope that it will be open by mid-September for the Starchefs International Chefs Congress.

Those iced beverages will likely come in handy as the weather is supposed to be hot and humid.

When did it officially open?

John, by the time you are there I hope that your craving will have passed or been satisfied elsewhere. You are perhaps just as likely to get a good paella in Paris as you will be in Bilbao. Wait for a trip to Valencia for that and stick with the many wonderful things the Basques do very, very well.

And he accepted. He is an artist. He took part in Documenta for that reason, flying individuals to his restaurant every day of the 100 day festival. If that's not art, I don't know what is. He loves to be coy about it, which I find charming, if a little silly. Like technoemotional. No one should be defensive about being called an artist.There are also points that Santi raises about snobbery that may ring true with a lot of people. Although he did not do himself any favors by trashing a fellow Spanish chef (see the Charlie Trotter/Rick Tramonto fiasco-which I'm pretty sure has blown over by now). I think this controversy will be good for MG, and for traditional chefs as well, as more light is shed on different cooking methods. ← As they say, "there is no such thing as bad publicity." To me, Ferran is an artist. While he very much believes in what he is doing, he remains very approachable and down to earth. He may believe that he is an artist, but when it comes to proclaiming the fact, he prefers others to do it rather than himself.

Hi Zeeman. Sorry that we missed each other! I agree that I have never experienced finer use for corn nuts and Fritos! Looking forward to your report.

The scallops were sitting in a risotto-like coconut rice. The Havens paired just fine with my duck confit. My wife seemed to enjoy it with her scallops too.

First, the entire NY Times piece, which is a lot more comprehensive, can be read here...Sunday NY Times Piece I submit that it is a more well-rounded discussion of the chef's complaints, which did not solely focus on additives, etc. Second, sorry, but you are certainly asserting cause and effect. It's okay that it may have happened, just odd that it comes up now when you happen to disagree with the chef's statements. If you have posted elsewhere about attributing illness to a meal at Can Fabes, then I apologize. Otherwise, it's the same kind of slander. Additionally, what got lost here, is the following... He is "accusing them of producing pretentious food they would not eat themselves." And also that " he accused them of cooking for snobs." This is not a new kind attack on cuisine of any kind, but there certainly may be a ring of truth to it. Just because Ferran Adria calls himself on artist, doesn't mean his food creations are above criticsim. Quite the opposite, and even moreso. Just ask Jackson Pollack, whose later work was vilified. Perhaps he raises a good point when he asks, "How can we, the defenders of natural, local products, include unnatural products in our cooking?” Although he doesn't state what he means by "unnatural", methylcellulose is certainly not 'natural' in any sense of the word, although of course it is not toxic. It is just the main ingredient in a popular laxative. That actually might save one some time before bed, so how can anyone complain? ← It so happens that I did mention the issue when I posted on my meal at Can Fabes back in 2004 and no, I am not asserting cause and effect, however, suggestive the coincidence may be. My point is that people can get sick at any restaurant regardless of choice of cooking techniques. Apology accepted. The Spanish press is even more detailed about the situation than the NYT. I have read much of that press about the situation. Santamaria is a great cook. It is a pity that he is sullying his reputation by resorting to trying to tear down his colleagues. Ferran Adria is not above criticism, but please, be real about it and not base it on unsubstantiated innuendo. As for not eating the food themselves, that is patently false. I have eaten at dinners with Ferran and other chefs, who have eaten this very cooking. It should come as no surprise that Ferran and other technoemotional chefs also enjoy traditional cooking. Why shouldn't they? The only people who seem to feel that the two approaches are mutually exclusive are ardent tradionalists. Ferran hasn't called himself an artist. Others have including many from the world of art. He didn't ask to be included in the German art show last year. He was asked.

Well said, Elie. Santamaria's book and remarks have been widely criticized throughout Spain. While he received some positive recognition for his remarks at Madrid Fusion in 2007, that appears not to be the case this time as he has distanced himself not only from the tecnoemotionalistas, but also from the mainstream of the Spanish culinary world. It smacks of envy and pettiness that he tries to drag down his competition and peers through unsubstantiated innuendo. I greatly respect Santamaria's cooking, though I have lost respect for the man.

Since it is farmer's market season, I simply don't go to the supermarket much, but I will have to remember to try some next time I do go.

I had originally hoped to snag a reservation at Minibar for my family to celebrate the anniversary of my wife and I, however, the restaurant was already booked for the evening. Although I wanted our sons to have the Minibar experience, my disappointment wasn't too great, however, as I wanted to try the food from the Cafe Atlantico side as well. The combination of the restaurants is really intriguing. Minibar, the restaurant within a restaurant, is one of the most creative, fun and exclusive restaurants in the country and beyond. I had a truly amazing meal there last time I was in DC. Cafe Atlantico, the host restaurant, serves creatively inspired Nuevo Latino cuisine. Both restaurants fall under the aegis of Jose Andres' Thinkfoodgroup with Katsuya Fukushima as the chef. We were seated for our 8PM reservation adjacent to Minibar. Chef Katsuya had a special menu in mind for us, but we were asked if we or our sons, 16 and 8 years old, would prefer to order off the menu. My preference clearly was to eat what Chef Katsuya had in mind, but we wavered for a moment when considering our sons. Fortunately, I recalled our original objective and told them that we were all excited to see what Chef Katsuya had planned for us! The meal ultimately consisted of a mix of the cooking from both restaurants, which pleased me greatly as we enjoyed some of the best of both worlds. We started with cocktails. The boys had non-alcoholic Dominicana Lemonades, concoctions composed of a mixture of various tropical juices, satisfying them. My wife and I started with some latino classics. She had a ... Mojito, while I had a classic Peruvian... Pisco Sour. Both were outstanding renditions of classics. The meal started with a few elements from Minibar including the now classic and signature... Olive Oil Bon Bon. It was fun to watch the smiles on my sons' faces as they ate these delightful morsels. This was why I wanted to bring them to Minibar! With an obvious nod to Thomas Keller and his signature cornet, the next dish... Bagel and Lox Cone also had salmon roe as an essential element. After the visual reference and the roe, the similarities ended as this was also a play on the classic NYC bagel with lox and cream cheese. Though neither of the boys eat their bagels with lox or smoked salmon, they liked this, the older more than the younger. He wasn't enamored of the roe, though I was happy that he tried it. The flavors matched those of a good rendition of the dish's inspiration, with an obvious and expected textural difference. In his excellent report prior to this, Zeemanb enjoyed his ... Tableside Guacamole, but wondered about its place at this restaurant. In the context of a Minibar meal it does seem odd, but in the Nuevo Latino context of cafe Atlantico it fits right in. It also happens to be some of the finest guacamole that I or my family have ever eaten. If there was a downside to it, it was that we ate too much of it, affecting some of us later on. Not knowing what was coming, we asked Brian to select the wines for us. His first selection was a half bottle of... Qupe 2007 Marsanne, which proved to be a fine choice. Beauty was the hallmark of the next dish... Beetroot Tumbleweed. The presentation was beautiful, but so was the flavor and the texture as these delectable morsels were popped into our eager mouths. This was one of my wife's particular favorites. Though the texture, technique and presentation was completely different, this reminded me of of the beetroot/yogurt/meringue profiteroles I particularly enjoyed last year at elBulli. Another nod to elBulli followed, a dish that has become a part of the Minibar lexicon as it has that of elBulli, the famous... Liquid Olives. It turned out that our 8yo really loved this, his first experience with spherification. It was ultimately his favorite dish of the night. Though not the most impressive dish of the evening visually... Warm Potato Mousse with American caviar and vanilla Oil, was a real knock-out. I can't recall having vanilla with potatoes before, but after having it here, it was a totally natural combination. This dish was perfectly balanced and absolutely outstanding! The restaurant describes itself as Nuevo Latino, but in reality it incorporates elements from throughout the Caribbean and the Americas. One example was its ... Liquid Conch Fritters. Outwardly, they appeared to be classic conch fritters, however, appearances can be deceiving. Tough they had the flavor of conch fritters and the external fried crunch, the interior was actually a warm liquid conch chowder. Though not my favorite flavor of the night, this dish was fun. Perhaps the biggest conceptual stretch of the evening was the Oyster "Pizza". This dish retained the texture of a fresh, just-cooked oyster while incorporating the flavors of pizza! While I found this dish to be brilliant and my family all liked it, I doubt that those who find fault with Wylie Dufresne's Pizza Pebbles would enjoy this dish either. It is not a dish for anyone who is an absolute purist when it comes to either oysters or pizza. My older son really, really liked the ... Boneless Chicken Wing Indian Flavor though the youngest found his too intensely seasoned for his palate. Unfortunately, by this time, the majority of the table were really starting to get full, to which I informed the kitchen. Rather than turn what was an extremely positive experience into an ordeal, we thought it best to start limiting the output from the kitchen. I'm sure as a result that we missed some amazing things, but as it was we were not quite done yet. The next course was for adults only. Another spherification, the... Mojito Fizz was a great palate cleanser. I'm glad that despite our collective appetite limitations, the kitchen did not hold back on Foie Gras Cappucino with Corn Foam and Corn Nuts. This was liquid decadence with the corn nuts providing a nice textural counterpoint. By this time our youngest was really quite full and no longer particularly interested in savories. I ate his. By the time the ... Coconut Tuna Ceviche Wrapped in Avocado, Corn Nuts, Soy caramel, Lime Bubbles was served I was the only one who still had an appetite. This was unfortunate for the rest of the table, as this was simply outstanding. Along with the Potato Mousse, this was my favorite dish of the evening. We still had another course to, the main course. They brought the same course for each of our sons and a different one for my wife and for myself. We had our second half-bottle of wine, this one a red, ... Havens 2003 Borriquot a Cabernet Franc predominant blend from the Napa Valley. My wife was served the... Scallops with coconut rice, crispy rice, ginger, squid, squid ink oil , while the boys had... Carne Asada with Malanga Puree and Chips. My wife and sons were able to eat their proteins but not much else through no fault of the dishes. I had... Caramelized Duck Confit with Brussel Sprouts, Greek Yogurt and PX Reduction. By this time, even I was getting quite full. The confit was nicely done, though bits of the exterior that were caramelized were a bit to sweet for my taste. This was better when paired with the relatively bitter Brussel Sprouts and the dish improved for me once I realized this and ate accordingly. Dessert was, for me, much better than what I had the previous night at Central. It was sweet, but not as aggressively so as the kit kat bar at Central. The... Warm White Chocolate Mousse with Coffee Gelee and Muscavado Sugar Streusel held my interest with unique flavor and textural elements. This was a winner for all. The meal culminated with a bit of fun. Nitro Kettle Corn-Dragon's Breath were served to each of us directly out of a container of liquid nitrogen. While tasty and enjoyable to eat, the real fun came from watching one's dining partners snort out dragon's breath! While we were served a few items from the Minibar cornucopia, the majority of our dishes came from the Cafe Atlantico kitchen. The creativity was the same for both. Anyone missing out on reservations for Minibar should be quite happy to have the opportunity to dine at Cafe Atlantico. It is simply too good and too much fun to be considered a consolation prize. The evening was everything I hoped it would be and more.

Nice job! I would think that lunch would be much fun there, but then anytime is much fun. Your meal really displays the continuing evolution of the techniques of elBulli. The Soup is a particularly good example as it shows their ability to encapsulate liquids in specifically shaped gels. The spherical "peas" with ham stock shows that they can make their spheres to a distinct and specific color. It would be interesting to know if the color of the peas was due to the inner liquid being green or if the gelled shell was green. In addition, I would be curious if they could (at this time) incorporate just about any color. I would bet that they could. As marvelous as the techniques are in their own right, it wouldn't matter if the food was not delicious. That is, however, what makes this restaurant so special. The combination of amazing imagination, delicious food, outstanding setting and service as wonderful as anywhere makes this an unbeatable experience.

I was in DC over the weekend with my family to attend a National Quiz Bowl Tournament at Marymount University in Arlington that one of my sons was participating in, so I availed ourselves of the opportunity to dine at Central this past Friday evening. based on my experience at Citronelle as well as the accolades on this topic, I had very high expectations - perhaps too high. Everything was, in fact, quite good, however, nothing really shone the way I expected it to. The first thing I ordered as we sat down were... Gougeres These were quite tasty and worth the price - a nice starter. One son had... Cherry Tomato and Burrata Mozzarella I didn't get to taste this as he seemed to enjoy it. Another son had a side of mac and cheese, which was an excellent version of this classic. My wife had the iceberg and bleu cheese salad, which she enjoyed. Our eldest son satisfied himself with gougeres and delicious crusty bread, while I had... Duck Rillettes & Faux Gras Terrine There was nothing wrong with this dish - the rillettes were good, the gherkins and pickled onions crispy and good and the terrine delicious- it didn't send me over the top. The terrine, while reminiscent of foie gras, still had the underlying chicken liver flavor. The concoction was a masterful play on foie, using less luxurious ingredients and the portion was quite generous. I enjoyed it, but it was a not a dish I will dream of. For main courses, our youngest son had the mussels with white wine and garlic, which he greedily devoured. This is perhaps his favorite dish in the world and he was not disappointed here. Indeed, I tried one. The mussel was plump, moist and flavorful. Son in the middle had a Steak au Poivre served with lacy fried potato strings and onions that looked like pasta. His steak was perfectly cooked and flavorful. Our eldest son had... Grilled Salmon with lentils The lentils had a strong acid component to them. The fish was cooked to his liking. There was a softshell crab dish on the menu, which my wife ordered: Softshell Crab with Corn Relish The crab was crisply fried in what appeared to me to be a beer batter. It was tasty, though not transcendent. I had the... Lobster Burger This was perhaps the most disappointing plate for me. It was good, but not great. While it was quite buttery, it was lacking in deep lobster flavor and not nearly as good as many a lobster roll that I have had. Of course, those lobster rolls were in New England and not DC, but a great dish should be a great dish anywhere. The salad was actually the best part of the dish for. It was well prepared with fine ingredients. My wife and I shared an albariño (2006 - don't recall the producer) while the boys had delicious and refreshing house-made strawberry sodas. Desserts: Our youngest son had... Chocolate Lava Cake a la Mode Classic (now) and still good. Son #2 had... Michel's Chocolate Mousse The mousse had a raspberry filling inside. Funny thing, when my son asked about it before ordering it, he was told it was "just chocolate mousse." When it was brought out, he was told that there would be "a surprise inside." Fortunately, it was good and he liked it. I ordered the... Kit Kat Bar This was a rich gianduja that was simply too sweet for my taste. The texture, underlying flavors and aesthetic were fine. It simply didn't suit me. The service was friendly and efficient , though our waiter did not present the neatest appearance as he had wine stains all over the front of his shirt. Overall, I thought the restaurant was very good and a good value. My family enjoyed it (more than I did). While I would very much care to return to Citronelle, which was probably one of my top ten meals of my life, I wouldn't rush back here. If I lived in Dc and dined out a lot, it would be different and would probably be in a rotation of restaurants that I would return to, but as an occasional visitor to DC, I would prefer to either try new places or return to a few others I prefer. In other words, I consider this to be a good neighborhood or location restaurant and not so much a destination. My guess is that is probably what it was designed to be. Citronelle remains the destination restaurant for those who wish to sample Michel Richard's finest cooking.

Not having eaten here, but listening to the descriptions, I'm not really sure what makes this restaurant anything other than another version of Moto (which isn't a bad thing) with different dishes?

IN NYC, some people ask for the Bloomberg water. It sounded better when one asked for the Giuliani water!

I'll be in town with my son for this event. Anyone want to meet there please PM me.

Although somewhat concerned by the mixed reports I've read on Bras here and elsewhere, I wouldn't consider myself a Bras doubter as I haven't been myself. The restaurant in Europe that currently most piques my interest, however, is Noma in Copenhagen.

For no particular reason other than "everybody panic," the feds several years ago declared lung tissue unfit for human consumption. If your kokoretsi has lungs, it's illegal, and I doubt that any restaurant would include them. I still love it, but it's less than authentic in the U.S. Vinnie Bondi of the late lamented Focacceria told me that has father and grandfather taught him to make his famous vasteddi sandwiches with lung as well as thymus, which was better than with just thymus, but he couldn't even get lungs any more. ← Vasteddi a Sicilian specialty, were a favorite treat for my father when I was a boy. I had no idea they had sweetbreads in them. I always thought they were tripe.

Aah, moleche. Marvelous. I had them in Venice. They were the single best thing I ate there. I had a suspicion that is what they were, or at least I hoped so. I am happy to see that they weren't small, blue crabs, as crabs of that size from that genus should be left to spawn. I believe the moleche are adult crabs, though I may be mistaken about that.