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No flash . . . ever. =R= ← Ditto. The trick is to use a high ISO and have lens stabilization. If the lighting is really low, it can be adjusted on the computer. Sometimes that can result in a grainy photo, but the only thing that absolutely doesn't work is a blurry shot. ← As much as I love taking pictures in restaurants -- especially Alinea -- I'd hate to be the source of anyone's discomfort, via the use of flash. Given the choice between using flash or taking no pictures, the camera would just stay in the bag. =R= ← Agreed. While I have used a flash in restaurants including Alinea in the past it has been awhile since I have done so and I no longer do unless circumstances make it reasonable and necessary. I actually prefer the results without flash other than in extremely low light situations. Generally the lighting at Alinea is good enough that it is rarely a problem.

Speaking of co-ordinating large groups, the Monday we were there was my nephew's 25th birthday. My brother invited the entire family to come celebrate at a dinner at El Toreador in San Jose del Cabo. The restaurant is so named because the owner is indeed a bullfighter. The night we were there he had just returned from a bullfight somewhere. Though the space was tight for such a large group and the service understandably slow, the food was pretty good and clearly Mexican without being clichéd. The children in the group were fed early in another room. Their dishes were closer to what many of them were used to. This little guy looks to be a future eGullet society member! Very good guacamole with totopos. Yellowfin tuna carpaccio. Yellowfin is a relatively abundant local resource. This would not be the last we would enjoy. Tortilla soup - a fine rendition of a classic. Snapper Veracruz with tomatoes, olives, capers, jalapeños and herbs. This was a nice piece of fish very well prepared and tasty. Though this is considered a classic Mexican dish now, the Mediterranean influence is unmistakable. Frozen Mexican Lime cake - delicious and refreshing, although a touch too sweet for my taste. We drank Chilean and Argentine wines, all of which were decent and worked well with the food. Overall, this was a very pleasing meal, especially given the constraints.

I suspect that your impression is quite correct. That is not to say that there is not decent Mexican food to be had -there is and we found some. Before going on this trip I contacted Rick Bayless to see if he could give me any recommendations for Mexican food there. He could not. Ultimately, Cabo is not a destination that one goes to for the food. It is, however, a fun place and one can get very good food if one looks hard enough or is willing to pay the (often very steep) price.

The Westin Los Cabos and Club Regina, the time-share arm associated with it are lovely and a great place to stay. The grounds are beautiful and it is well situated. The food, however, was mediocre at best, with a couple of exceptions. The breakfast buffet was pretty good with stations for omelets and eggs and breakfast burritos as well as all the usual breakfast items. Of note were some of the Mexican breakfast offerings including chilaquiles and other items. The time-share villas did have kitchens, however, they were not useful other than for rudimentary cooking. We did make ourselves a number of breakfasts there. The other exception was something that occurred later in the week that I will get to soon. The evening buffets were ok, though nothing extraordinary. They were convenient, however, especially when co-ordinating a large group.

A pertinent post of mine from the pre-opening Tailor topic back in March. From another post a short time later: I believe this to be the case now more than ever.

I arrived at Tailor with my wife and two of my sons this past Saturday night at 7PM for our dinner reservation to find the restaurant half empty. I began to wonder if Bruni's tepid review really carried that much weight. I should have realized where we were and that it was simply still very, very early. By the time we ere midway through our meal the restaurant was full and humming! The menu has been expanded and is now divided into three sections: Small Plate, Large Plate and Sweet. This being Tailor, a restaurant known for its cocktails, we decided to go that route instead of wine. I started with a Crumble - brown butter rum, pink clove and scrumpy. It was served on a rock, a single, massive, perfectly square ice cube. Though I never did ascertain what "scrumpy" is, the drink was quite tasty without being overtly sweet. This was my weekend for brown butter, as I had enjoeyed it in a savory and a dessert the night prior at Fiamma. Over the course of the evenin I also got to try a Violet Fizz - Gin, lemon, lime, cream, egg white, and creme de violet; a Bohemio - Tequila, Becherovka and naranja agria; as well as a South Central - Rum, creme de Caco and mole. All were quite good, though I could not discern any mole component to the South Central. The bar also made a nonalcoholic Fevertree Ginger for my 8yo that was quite delicious and enjoyed very much by him. One again we were presented with the option of letting the chef cook for us. My wife was wary of too much food, our 8yo would only be able to eat so much and our other son and I had ramen at Mitsuwa market in Edgewater for lunch that had not yet fully cleared so we asked to limit the number of dishes to a reasonable level. The lighting was low and suboptimal for non-flash photography, so I apologize for the barely acceptable quality of the photos. Chorizo Cured Kampachi, Sweet Potato Cream, Potato Granola A great example of the Catalan concept of contemporary Mar y Montaña or "surf and turf" this marriage of terrestrial pork and maritime kampachi worked beautifully for all of us but the 8yo who found the fish a bit too challenging. He did enjoy the sweet potato cream and potato granola, however. These elements added both flavor and textural contrast to this dish. The balance of the chorizo was perfect as it was discernible without smothering the more delicate kampachi. Foie Gras, Peanut Butter, Cocoa, Pear Once again, my 8yo was challenged by this dish as he was a little put off by the funny-tasting "peanut butter" or what he thought was peanut butter, but which was in fact the foie gras. It wasn't that the foie tasted like peanut butter - it was most definitely tasting like foie gras and good foie gras at that - but it was texturally similar in his mind to peanut butter with foie gras previously being outside his realm of experience. The dish worked well without any one ingredient dominating or overshadowing the foie gras. Coriander fried Sweetbreads, Citrus Puree, Salsify, White Beer. Now my 8yo was starting to warm up with his first ever sweetbreads, a dish that he and the rest of the table loved despite the fact that he couldn't quite place the texture. The white beer was the dollop on top of the sweetbread. I believe that it was a Hefeweizen or wheat beer. The combination of the Hefeweizen with the coriander of the sweetbreads was reminiscent of a Gose beer, a German wheat beer with coriander added to it. Monkfish, barley Risotto, Fennel, fried Herbs. The 8yo liked, but didn't finish this fine dish. My wife , who was sitting next to him, didn't complain as she finished what he didn't in addition to her own. I might, be ordinarily she never does that! Pork Belly, Miso Butterscotch, Artichoke Root Beer Short Ribs, White Beans, Candied Red Carrots All the dishes were served in the small plate format and we each got every dish up to the meat course when two of us got the pork belly and the other two got the short ribs. I was served the short ribs, while my wife received the pork belly. The 8yo got the short ribs, which he wanted from first looking at the menu. he loved them as did I, but being that my wife is not a huge fan of pork belly, she and I traded after I had had a taste of the short ribs. Both of thee dishes really rocked. There was just enough root beer flavor in the ribs to to prove its presence without being cloying. I would be happy to eat either dish with regularity. Pretzel Ice Cream with Beer Foam When this dish was placed in front of me and described, I was unimpressed and not particularly looking forward to it as it appeared to be rather mundane. Then I tasted it. This was an absolutely extraordinary dessert and my favorite course of the night and one of the most memorable dishes of the year for me. The balance of salt, sweet and bitter was absolutely perfect. The ice cream contained pretzel dust, giving it body and added texture. The flavors were spot on accurate, but presented in such a format that could not be duplicated by simply eating and drinking the constituent products regardless of their quality. Beer and pretzels have never nor could ever taste this good to me. This was clearly an outstanding case of synergy and what creative cooking is all about. BTW, the 8yo loved it as well. So did the others. Caramelized Apple, Cumin Ice Cream, Preserved Plum This was another dessert enjoyed by everyone at the table. Soft Chocolate, Sesame Ice Cream, Mole Not knowing when the meal progression would end, my eldest son surmised that it wouldn't be until we were served chocolate. He was correct as this lovely dessert finished the meal. At the end of the meal we were invited back into the kitchen to see Chefs Mason and Derby. I was also very happy to finally have the opportunity to meet eGullet Society Member and recent elBulli alumnus, Gabe Quiros, who has very recently started occasionally working in the kitchen of Tailor. We had a great time at Tailor. Not all the food is for everyone as the example my 8yo son illustrates. Nevertheless, he enjoyed much more than he didn't. The music was a plus to this family as we all really enjoyed the eclectic mix that was played seemlessly segueing one into another. I love the space and the service, especially our principle server (unfortunately I did not catch her name), was extremely knowledgeable and well informed, however, there were a couple of things that annoyed me slightly. The first is one that would not be a factor for most people and in fact would probably be a plus for most - the lighting for non-flash photography was terrible! That might be intentional The second, also a minor point, but one I don't really understand, was the obsessive desire to remove the bread plates from the table, whether there was still bread on them or not. Of course, they did not remove them until we gave permission to do so, but being asked every five minutes or so it seemed, though initially amusing, was ultimately distracting and annoying. We finally gave them up well before dessert just to be done with the requests. The bread, BTW was very good. I am looking forward to my next visit.

for me both were unimpressive ← Different strokes for different folks. I enjoyed both very, very much!

All or any of these would be interesting, but from a personal point of view, I would love to return to my old stomping grounds of Park Slope (where I grew up and lived until the early to mid 80's and Carroll Gardens, especially what remains of the Italian shops and restaurants like Esposito's Pork Store, Court Pastry and Ferdinando's.

Steaming hot. I even had a bowl of Singapore style laksa in a local food court near the Tung Chung MTR Station. And it was quite good. ← was there any resemblance to the taste and texture of a raw papaya or was it completely different? I have never had cooked papaya before. I too am enjoying your shared experiences.

The three of us managed to arrive in Los Cabos on Sunday afternoon and joined the rest of our party at the hotel where they had all settled in to the resort experience. Needless to say, by that time I was quite happy to slip into the pool and sip on a cocktail for a bit. That evening I had reservations for 5 people at Esperanza, to which I had planned to bring my wife and three sons. At that point none of the boys really wanted to get dressed up to leave the resort so they stayed. In their place we were accompanied by my sister and a nephew with his wife. We drove the short distance to the lovely hotel and were led to a nice table outside overlooking other tables and the sea, which was crashing ashore. Given that it was rather dark, we were given mini-flashlights to read the menus. As there were budgetary issues, we opted as a table to order a la carte. The cuisine is described by the restaurant as " cocina del sol - "sun-filled" Mediterranean-influenced cooking that incorporates local resources and regional flavors." Unfortunately, I have since mis-placed my notes on the meal and the on-line menu is different than what we had. I apologize for this slight, but will do my best to recollect the details. Langoustine with squid ink risotto. I don't recall the details of the other ingredients, but recall the dish as being good, albeit not particularly memorable despite the presence of one of my favorite proteins - langoustine. As the ambiance was rather dark and I prefer to not use flash when photographing food at a restaurant, I improvised and shined the menu flashlight onto the plate for the photo. "Mexiterranean" Bouillabaisse. This dish which incorporated a local fish, scallops and squid was tasty , although I recall the scallop and squid as being tough and overcooked. The second photo shows the addition of the seafood broth. My wife and sister, who was unprepared for the surprising chilliness. My sister wound up using a napkin as a shawl! Warm Chocolate Cake, Coconut Ice Cream and Roasted Pineapple. This was a solid though routine rendition of what has become a classic and safe dessert. Overall, the evening was pleasant, the food was tasty though it could have been better especially for the inflated resort prices charged. The Dining Room at Esperanza provides a fine, romantic experiencce when in Cabo, but it is certainly not a reason to go to Cabo for. As a side note, i think it is reasonable to engage in a discussion here along the lines of discussions currently ongoing in the Fiamma and Tradition vs. Contemporary Italian Cuisine topics. While the focus in those topics is on what makes a particular cuisine "Italian," the same discussion can be had for "Mexican." This restaurant and others in Cabo provide a good basis for this discussion. f people are interested in pursuing this, perhaps a new topic can be started. Briefly, I would argue that even though this resort restaurant is in Mexico and the cooking is conceived and executed by Mexicans it is not really a "Mexican" restaurant. It doesn't call itself Mexican. Instead it aspires to a Mediterranean cuisine with Mexican influences. Of course, it can be argued that all Mediterranean cooking or at least much of it already has a strong Mexican or at least native American influence as cooking throughout that region was strongly affected by the Columbian Exchange. Nevertheless, the important distinction here is that the principle tradition this restaurant is consciously emulating are those of the Mediterranean that arose out of the cultures there.

Like it or not, the food at Fiamma is not Italian only to those who would keep the cuisine in a never-changing, never evolving little niche. Italian cuisine has always been an evolutionary one and this is but another example of that evolution. As experienced as Richman, Bruni and Platt may be, they clearly have their preconceptions which are exposed with this restaurant. I haven't read a compelling case for why this food conceived and prepared by an Italian based on his Italian experience isn't "Italian." Ultimately, considering this is NYC, the only truly important element is that the food is very, very good regardless of the label one is comfortable placing on it.

Thanks, Robert. One thing Bruni definitely got right is that regardless of how the restaurant is typed, the food is damn good. I agree with the three stars. Though the service is very good as is the wine list, I think that 4 stars would be a stretch at this time due to minor flaws like the table that I described. Trabocchi has 4 star talent though.

He did give it three stars, but jumped on the bandwagon to question its "Italianness," essentially calling it "French." I wonder if there isn't a little self interest there in that one of the major criticisms of Bruni is his apparent bias for Italian food. By claiming that Fiamma is not really Italian helps deflect that criticism a little.

Do you really think that is likely? I don't. The market simply won't allow that so long as the underlying ingredients are still available. What we are looking at is chefs trying to distinguish themselves in high-end dining. There will always be a need and a demand for its underpinnings. The bigger concern is that ingredients themselves may become too homogenized thereby losing culinary diversity. I'm not worried about that happening as top chefs have a desire and a need to be creative even while needing to present something approachable to their clientele.

No flash . . . ever. =R= ← Ditto. The trick is to use a high ISO and have lens stabilization. If the lighting is really low, it can be adjusted on the computer. Sometimes that can result in a grainy photo, but the only thing that absolutely doesn't work is a blurry shot.

Following this topic the question of whether or not Fiamma is Italian is a pertinent one. My wife and I had the pleasure of dining there this past Friday evening with eGullet Society members Hathor and JosephB and their lovely spouses. This combination of people was actually a very interesting one given the people involved. Hathor and her husband as many of you know, recently opened an Italian restaurant in Montone, Umbria, Italy called Erba Luna. Though invested in the world of traditional Umbrian cuisine, they are interested in evolution and effective creativity as well. JosephB is the son of a traditional Italian chef and cooks the idiom of "classic" Italian as well as anyone I know who is not a professional chef and probably better than most in that category. He is primarily a traditionalist though he is not afraid to venture into new territory. I believe that I have left an eclectic trail of my interests and proclivities on this board and am a fan of effective cooking whether it be traditional or creative. Our spouses were all located within this range. I will present the dishes below along with some further discussion. We were greeted warmly at the door by the hostess and taken to our table, a six-seater located a bit towards the rear of the room, though not far from the center of the room. The space was fine, though the table had an odd quirk to it. It was a square table with ends designed to be raised to complete a circular table. While this succeeded in providing us with ample dining space, each of those ends sagged slightly downward from the center of the table. This resulted in an inordinate number of utensils being jettisoned onto the floor when not carefully placed back onto the table or plate. Though amusing, especially since we didn't have anything more problematic fall into our laps, this is one of the little things that probably shouldn't happen at a restaurant with the aspirations that this one clearly has. The good news is that this minor foible was by far the worst part of the evening. We started with cocktails. Mine was Balance - Pear and White Pepper Vodka, Tanqueray Rangpur, Lillet and Moscato d'Asti. This was indeed a well balanced cocktail with just a hint of sweetness and an enjoyable, distinct flavor. Being acquainted with Chef Trabocchi from the Starchefs International Chefs Congress this past September, he offered to cook for us. This was an offer we could not and did not refuse. All the dishes were from the menu. This was distinct from the degustation menu with more dishes and greater expense as we paid about $150pp not including drinks, wine, tax and gratuities. Amuses - Fritti- Served together, the one on the left were a take on stuffed squash blossoms. In this case, the blossoms were perfectly fried with the ricotta filling on the outside; on the right was fried opal basil with hamachi. Both were nicely cooked, flavorful, contemporary, but clearly "Italian" even if not all the ingredients were. Il Crudo Crudo of Ahi Tuna, Glidden Point Oysters, Sorrel. This dish really set the tone. It rocked. It was simple and complex at the same time. Not mentioned in the dish's title was a bit of lemon zing that was in there. The flavors continued to evolve and change over time in the mouth finishing with that wonderful lemony zing. Textural contrasts were also at play adding to the overall enjoyment of this extremely memorable dish. Notably, in Adam Platt's experience this was served with sardines or red mullet on top of the oyster. That was clearly not the case here. Italian? Why not? Crudos are certainly accepted in other restaurants considered Italian like Esca. Was this overly ornate to be "Italian?" The preparation actually appeared to be fairly simple with a few technical twists and minor embellishments, but then Italy was the country that brought us the Baroque and this is certainly not nearly so ornate to be considered Baroque. That the flavors were complex is true, though the individual ingredients shone through. Classic Italian, no. Modern Italian, absolutely. IL Carpaccio Duo of Kobe Beef: Carpaccio and Tartare. Carpaccio and tartare are classic Italian dishes. These have been tweaked with the use of tofu and a japanese breed of beef rather than the Italian Chianina for example. Do those things make this any less Italian? The tartare preparation was basically classic served with shaved parmiggiano and a quail egg. The carpaccio was more inventive, but still "Italian" in terms of derivation, conception and flavor despite the Asian influence of beef breed and tofu. The duxelle of mushrooms on top added earthy notes, but did not make the dish any less "Italian" either. Le Lumache e Le Caposante Casserole of Snails, Taylor Bay Scallops, Country Bread, Parsley. This dish would be equally at home in a French restaurant as well as Italian, though it is no less Italian as a result It was indeed a brilliant dish with great depth of flavor even as the individual ingredients were exquisitely discernible. The scallops, in particular, were wonderful. For the first few dishes we had a flavorful, yet balancing Muller Thurgau, Tiefenbrunner ‘Feldmarschall’, Trentino 2005. The wine service was superb throughout with recommendations that highlighted the dishes even though they were not necessarily intuitive. Though the wines chosen were not cheap, they were very, very good and not designed to break the bank. At this point we moved on to a red wine, Rivetti (Dante) ‘Bricco de Neueis’, Riserva 1996. It still retained adequate fruit though it had a little bottle age Gli Spaghetti Latini Spaghetti, "Aglio-Olio," Peperoncino, West Coast Sea Urchin. I don't think I need to belabor the Italianness of this dish as it would fit into most people's preconceptions of what "Italian" is with food. BTW, it was marvelous. The creamy sea urchin was balanced by a bit of bite from the peperoncino. This was decidedly and deliciously classic in approach. Il Rombo Turbot, Roasted on the Bone, Littleneck clams, Cauliflower "Stufati," Burro Nocciola. This was another marvelous dish. The turbot was moist and flavorful emboldened by the brown butter sauce and brightened by the clams. The "stufati" added texture. The barbaresco worked beautifully with this dish in particular. Our final wine was a barolo, Gaja ‘Gromis’ 1999. This is not one of Gaja's flagship wines, though it was still excellent and worked beautifully in the context of this meal, especially with the next course... IL Foie Gras Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras, Piemontese Grape Chutney, Chestnut Cream This preparation was decidedly on the savory side and not one that was laden with overt sweetness. The wine provided a sensational match. Unfortunately, by this time my wife was getting so full, she couldn't eat hers and I was getting so full that I couldn't eat hers either! Il Capretto Baby Goat Three Ways, Romanesco, Spaetzle and Herbs. The kid was perfectly cooked and balanced by elements that each fit into the "Italian" kitchen. Each of the ingredients, especially the main, shone. Dessert Amuse - Quince - Jelly and Gelato Simply presented and refreshing as a pre-dessert should be. Il Cioccolato Ganache of 70% Tuscan Amadei Chocolate, Sicilian Pistachio, Coco Gel, Basil Ice Cream This is a decidedly modern dessert, but with Italian ingredients. It worked. La Mela Brown Butter Cake, Apple Butter, Ricotta Gelato Simple and marvelous. The glass held an apple consommé that was included with this course. It was a perfect accompaniment to the cake, which toned down the sweetness of the consommé. Pastry Chef Tom Wellings came with Chef Trabocchi from Maestro in D.C. They clearly work well together. Pear Spherifications. This was a relative weakness as the skins of the spheres were a little too thick leaving little "pop" inside. They were tasty, however. After dinner chocolates - nicely executed. If this restaurant were in Italy, there would be people decrying its modernity, but few questioning its being "Italian." That it is in NYC, brings on the question. If it is not accepted ultimately as "Italian", I suspect that it will be due to the non-Italian nature of those drawing the conclusion and not the nature of the chef or the food.

What does it mean to be Italian? Is Fiamma an Italian restaurant? Adam Platt, in his recent review of Fiamma in New York magazine said that his friend considered it "French." Certainly the restaurant will not conform to many preconceptions of what being "Italian" means. many people would not consider something Italian unless it consisted of pasta with a sauce much like many people consider Mexican to be nothing more than tacos or burritos. Of course both of those thoughts are laughably simplistic and are unlikely to be shared by anyone reading this set of discussion forums or affiliated with the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts and Letters. We all know that Italian is much more than just pasta and Mexican much more than tacos and burritos even if we didn't prior to becoming a member of this organization. Some would say that the ingredients define the national or ethnic classification of a dish, a restaurant or a cuisine. If the ingredients don't hale from the region in question or are not native to that region then that automatically excludes consideration of being of a particular cultural origin. If that is true then the classic example of the tomato would mean that much of what is generally considered "Italian" would not be as the tomato hales from the Americas. Ditto the potato for Ireland and much of the rest of the world as well as many other potential examples. Clearly, that is a ridiculous criterion. Ingredients change and evolve and cuisines change and evolve with them. Italian food is simple and pure of flavor. Certainly much of it is. Don't ell that to my grandmothers or my mother though as they made ethereally complex sauces for their pastas as well as other non-pasta dishes. It is very difficult to pigeonhole a definition of a cuisine. Some may base it on tradition. That is probably a good starting point and the basis for many preconceptions depending upon one's understanding of the traditions of a country or a region. It turns out that Italy is a very diverse country culturally despite its relatively small size. There are many distinct regions, histories, traditions languages and cultures within that one nation. These have evolved over an extremely long time with each region having a variety of distinct external influences over that time. That is one reason, for example, why the south of Italy, the Mezzogiorno has a very different culinary traditon to that of the north. For years southern Italy was dominated and controlled by the Spanish and before that other European cultures and the Arabs. In many ways, the foods of southern Italy are closer traditionally to those of Spain than they are to Northern Italy. Ferran Adria and other Spanish chefs have taken apart their Catalan and Spanish traditions and reassembled them with respect, but also with creativity and with novelty. Why can't the same thing be done with Italian traditions? That the traditions being dissected may not be familiar to Americans doesn't mean that they are not Italian or not traditions. Of course, how one feels about one's own view of Italian food and how one feels about the results of this dissection and reconstitution of tradition will go a long way into one's view of whether or not the cuisine conforms to the particular notion of what it means to be "Italian." This discussion is reflected quite well in the cooking of Fabio Trabocchi now of Fiamma in NYC. I along with some eGullet Society friends and our spouses had the opportunity to dine there this past weekend. Mark, to a certain extent cuisines at the haute level are becoming less nationally recognizable, but no less distinctive and interesting so long as the food is the product of an original mind melded with expert technique. I, personally neve find that boring. It would be, though, if everything became cookie-cutter and always driven by trends.

Ah, Judith, I am finally getting around to this and will post both to this topic as well as the Fiamma discussion.

Probably by a week. It does look really close though right now.

The next Starchefs International Chefs Congress is scheduled for September 14-16, 2008 in NYC.

The Starchefs Rising Stars Review held at The Mansion was the culmination of this year's event. Like last year in the same venue under a different name, this year's event was focused on haute street food concepts prepared by the chefs Starchefs deemed as "Rising Stars" for NYC. These included: StarChefs.com 2007 New York Rising Stars: Michael Anthony | Gramercy Tavern Eric Hara | davidburke & donatella Craig Hopson | Picholine Chris Lee | Gilt Akhtar Nawab | The EU Masato Shimizu | 15 East Yosuke Suga | L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon Damon Wise | Craft Sustainability Award: Daniel Eardley | Chestnut Restaurant Concept Award: Chris Santos | The Stanton Social Hotel Chef Award: Doug Psaltis | Country at The Carlton Hotel Pastry Chef Tim Butler | Alto Pastry Chef Bill Corbett | Formerly of Anthos Mixologist Jim Meehan | PDT Sommelier Stephane Colling | The Modern . Prior to the opening of the Star Chefs Review proper, there was a VIP reception hosted by Galen Zamarra of Mas (Farmhouse). Unfortunately, because it took me awhile to make my way from 7 WTC to the Mansion, I missed this. The large crowd sometimes made it difficult to get to specific stalls, but there was plenty of great food and drink to go round. Eardley of Chestnut was the lone Brooklyn establishment represented. Farmer Lee Jones chatting with former Rising star Chef Tony Esnault perhaps discussing provisions for the upcomin Adour at the St. Regis Hotel. These were tasty nibbles. Chef Anthony sampling an exotic spice. This incredibly tender octopus was one of the most outstanding dishes of the event. The eGullet Society's own John Deragon (Johnder) representing PDT serving cocktails. Former Rising Star Chef Galen Zamarra enjoying the event after the opening VIP reception. Stanton Social chef Chris Santos serving Maine Crabcake Corndogs. Brasserie Chef Franklin Becker serves while Clio chef Ken Oringer admires. Jose Andres joining the fun at the Brasserie stall. The eGullet Society's own Donbert at the PDT bar. Donbert bringing drinks to the crew at the L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon station. At least one of the crew is an eGullet Society member, but I'm not sure that he would want to be identified here. Yosuke Suga's Eel and Rougie Foie Gras Terrine from L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon. Believe it or not, I almost missed this. I'm glad I didn't as it was outstanding. Doug Psaltis when he was still at Country. Bill Corbett's Sesame in Sesame dessert. He is now the pastry chef at Michael Mina in San Francisco. A sense of the ambiance and scene. eGullet Society member and Staff Emeritus Joe Bavuso (JosephB) going double barrel with the wine glasses. Actually, he was just holding mine while I took the photo. Unfortunately I didn't get decent pics of all of the stalls. so I had to leave some out here. The 2007 New York Starchefs Rising Star Chefs flanked by Will Blunt and Antoinette Bruno of Starchefs.com. Once again, the party proved to be a great culmination to a great event as attendees, presenters, Rising Star Chefs and the general public mingled throughout this large space eating great food and drinking great wines and cocktails. As the organization grows in experience each subsequent event will likely be even better as difficult as that is to imagine.

I was by there today and spoke with the London's. The place is looking very nice and it is clearly very close to opening. Their target is now mid-December.

Thanks for the comments, Kate. Here is a link to Starchefs.com with Jose Andres providing basic instructions for the spherification process and additional photos from the Conference..

If someone has followed my postings on the eGullet Society Forums, that person is likely to know that I do not typically take vacations to resorts. I generally, no, strongly prefer, vacations oriented around food and culture. So what was I doing in Los Cabos at the beginning of this month? I come from a very close-knit family that is blessed to enjoy each other's company and actually want to spend time together. That is exactly what we did, as my siblings and my families convened at The Westin Club Regina between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo - all 32 of us. That we were able to all do so was thanks to the generosity of some of my relatives with time shares at the Club Regina, who donated their accumulated points so that we could all stay together in comfort. Though the Westin was lovely and my family and I had a great time together as we shared good times and a few nearly tragic ones, I won't belabor that aspect of the trip. Instead I will get to the food! Ironically, the first food experience discussed in this topic will not be in Los Cabos or even Mexico and requires a bit of stage-setting. Since the majority of my family still lives in the greater NYC area (within a 4 hour radius), about twenty of us flew together on Delta Airlines from JFK on what was supposed to have been a non-stop flight to San Jose del Cabo. About one-third of the way through the flight, as we were munching on our various snacks, my brother, sitting directly behind me, tapped me on the shoulder to bring my attention to his previously well wife, who was in her seat writhing in pain. I took one look at her and realized that there was a serious problem. Her very thin abdomen was distended and tense. When I went to examine it, she guarded against it and recoiled to my very light touch, especially on her lower left. These are all classic signs of a surgical emergency. Seeing my sister-in-law's distress and our long-anticipated family reunion flying away, I showed my credentials to the flight attendant and spoke to the captain of the plane. We would have to divert to get her to a hospital ASAP. The captain informed me that Memphis was ten minutes ahead and arrangements were being made to have an ambulance waiting there. After a smooth touchdown, the paramedics came on board for my sister-in-law. Leaving everyone else on board to continue onward including my immediate family, my brother and I deboarded the plane to accompany my SIL to the hospital. To make a long story short, we spent the better part of the morning and afternoon at Methodist Hospital South Emergency Room, where my SIL gradually started feeling better. A CT scan showed a total lower intestinal blockage (aka constipation)! What had happened was that as the plane ascended the cabin pressure dropped leaving her intestinal gas no place to go as it expanded due to the decreased atmospheric pressure. It was sufficient to expand her intestines and abdomen to an impressive degree and to cause great pain along with it. It is possible, that had the condition persisted for much longer, her colon may have actually perforated which could have required surgery and resulted long term complications. Ok, unusual story, but what does this have to do with food?! We landed in Memphis! With my SIL out of danger, but otherwise occupied, my brother and I decided to make lemonade out of lemons. Doing some last minute research and surveying the possibilities, we decided our best bet would be to head into town from the airport Ramada and get som BBQ and Blues. Neither of us had ever been to Memphis before, so it was a total discovery for both of us. We wound up at Rendesvous where we enjoyed some ice cold Michelob while we waited for our table and watched the Alabama-LSU game in the jam-packed restaurant (it was a Saturday night). As we were brought to the table we had a peek at the BBQ pit, which was something out of another century s the crew were all working in a hot, smoke-filled space. I wished that I had my camera, but unfortunately, that was on the way to Cabo with my family. In any case, I finally got a chance to taste real Memphis BBQ, when I had their justifiably famous dry-rubbed rack of ribs. Yum. That restaurant is not designed for lingering - they don't even serve dessert, so it wasn't long before we were out of there and off to Beale Street, where we bought t-shirts (I had no fresh clothes with me) and listened to some great blues culminating in some drinks and music at B.B. King's. We had indeed made lemonade out of lemons. Delta Airlines, were simply wonderful throughout this as they also went out of their way to get us connections the next day that actually got us to Cabo by 2PM! We had to fly to Denver, then Salt Lake City on two other airlines before we got back on Delta in SLC to fly to Cabo. Though I have plenty of other stories from throughout the week, I will spare the ones that don't have a direct connection to food. Next, life in a fantasy world.

Jose Andres segued from translating for Dani Garcia to demonstrating along with Ruben Garcia and Katsuya Fukushima from Cafe Atlantico/minibar in Washington D.C. Chef Andres' relationship with Ferran Adria is well known as is the influence of elBulli on his work, especially at minibar, which is the closest thing to elBulli on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. Throughout the presentation Chef Andres discussed the techniques he and his team are using now as well as the influence of the Adriaas on their work. The influence of elBulli was clearly demonstrated by Andres' use of the Texturas line of culinary "powders." The Calcic and Algin are used with the technique of "spherification." In English they are Calcium Chloride and Sodium Alginate. This technique, developed and popularized by Ferran Adria, has been put to good and original use at minibar, a demonstration of which was to follow. Using Campbell's Tomato Juice, which had the balance they were looking for, the team prepared tomato spherifications, which they placed in a dehydrator to make "dried tomatoes." They spread a soft, creamy cheese, Torta Cañarejal along the base of a plate... Ruben Garcia then added some of the "dried tomatoes"... ...some Romesco sauce... ...and one of Chef Andres' favorite ingredients - tomato seeds in nature's own spherificized tomato gelee... ...while Ruben Garcia meticulously plated all of the ingredients to produce... ...Jose Andres' version of a Caprese Salad. As this demonstration concluded so did the second annual Starchefs International Chefs Congress. It was now time to celebrate the end of an incredible event...