docsconz

Epazote is green. Any idea why it turns the cheese pink? Obviously it must be a chemical reaction, but I don't recall it in The Mozzarella Co.'s cheese with epazote. Interesting.

Robuchon and Goussault's presentation was the last of the day which allowed for the audience to mix with them and amongst themselves after the session. Aaron Sanchez, Antoinette Bruno and Will Blunt compare notes at the end of the day Joel Robuchon and Bruno Goussault are greeted by Gualtiero Marchesi. Jose Andres is next. Yosuke Suga 2007 NY Rising Star Chef and Chef at L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon NY converses with Seiji Yamamoto. Chef Robuchon autographing books and programs Next was the Starchefs ICC Cocktail Party....

Andoni Luis Aduriz preparing for his presentation the following morning

Very cool. It will be fun to follow the D.F. and elsewhere with someone who lives there. It is an extraordinary culture and cuisine.

Thanks to Ideas in Food, the blog of Alex Talbot and Aki Kamozawa, Here's an article in PopSci.com on Starchefs ICC participant David Arnold.

Fabulous work, as always, Harlan! Thanks for sharing.

Robuchon and his team prepared squab and foie gras wrapped inside a cabbage leaf and bacon and cooked sous vide. The following photos (hopefully) give a sense of that process: Eric Bouchenoire seasaoning the skin-on squab breasts. The not yet cooked squab roll Dr. Goussault fiddling with temp probes for the sous vide process. Bagging the squab I believe that they were wilting the cabbage leaf. Into the bath Out of the bath. The final product Robuchon commented on cooking techniques wondering whether the "powders" in vogue today will still be around twenty or thirty years from now. He said that he can see the use of texture changing components, but wondered if they were really necessary. He also commented on the superior quality of cooks in America, saying that he used to think the Japanese made the best cooks in the world. He now thinks that it may be Americans.

I will leave this discussion to the professionals. Please continue, while I proceed with the rest of my report.

Thanks Alex for replying.

The problem is that they all probably want to go on the same nights of the year!

Perhaps the real question is why did we stop eating a wider variety of meats. Figure out that answer, and you might know better why people resist new meats. (And no, I don't really have an answer.) Doing a little cursory research on turtle meat recently, it seems like meat markets, at least in larger cities, used to have a larger variety of meats. And, if the old Joy of Cooking is to be trusted, rural residents use to be more willing to lots of wild critters. ← My understanding of terrapin is that it was extremely popular around the turn of the twentieth century to the point of near extinction. I think the popular meats are the ones that are easy and relatively inexpensive to raise under domestication.

Unfortunately, I do not think this atitude is limited to Atlanta.

It certainly isn't the big, rich, delicious flavor that keeps it off the table. Bison is expensive and difficult to raise therefore the cost is fairly high. It sure is good though. I think what is considered mainstream probably depends a lot on where one lives. Where I live, venison is fairly common on restaurant menus, especially in the colder months.

Classic Sous Vide was the topic for Joel Robuchon, certainly one of and arguably the greatest chef(s) of the twentieth century who continues to produce fabulous food in his restaurants in the twentyfirst century. He did this demonstration in conjunction with Dr. Bruno Goussault, chief scientist of Cuisine Solutions in Alexandria, VA. Dr. Goussault is widely credited as the father of sous vide cooking. In 1974 he began developing equipment to apply to industrial cooking using low temperature. His work continued over the years pioneering technique to achieve outstanding culinary results in a safe environment. In 1991 he founded the Centre de Recherche et d'Etudes pour l'Alimentation in Paris. Subsequently, this place became a training ground for many Michelin starred chefs for learning sous vide cooking techniques. Interestingly, Goussault's doctorate is in Economics, though he has a Master of Science in Food Technology degree as well. Robuchon discussed the knowledge accumulate over twenty years of using sous vide technique in fine dining, particularly in relation to fine temperature control and its effects on various products. His approach was animated as the attentive crowd hung on every word and image. Chef Robuchon's longtime assistant, Eric Bouchenoire of L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon - Paris working with eggs cooking at slightly different low temperatures. Chef Robuchon showing the deep green color achieved for spinach after cooking sous vide Starchefs editorial staff member Tejal Rao translating for Robuchon. Working with low temperature cooked eggs, Robuchon demonstrates their textural pliability when cooked at a specific temperature. Robuchon's slowly cooked egg with spinach cooked sous vide. more to come...

Once again I didn't get to a restaurant I very much wanted to try quickly enough. Here's hoping that Chef Blais returns soon from the embers rising like a phoenix. I would love to see him return in a restaurant called "Glory".

I'm not so sure the praise for Bruni's Asian-friendliness is warranted. As best I can recall, no Asian restaurant has won three stars from him. Right, but are any even arguably close to deserving? Friendliness is one thing, but outrageous (gratuitous?) star-doling is another... ← If a critic is overly friendly to Asian restaurants, then a generous allocation of stars is what you'd expect. Bruni has not done that. (Some people thought that Dévi was a three-star NYT candidate, by the way; Bruni awarded two.)Meanwhile, Michelin awarded stars to six Asian restaurants (counting Dévi) out of 40 starred restaurants in total. That's 15%, which is not a bad figure. I doubt that Bruni's percentage is significantly higher than that. Whether they starred the right ones is a whole other question. ← The situation and question with Michelin is not so much that they gave 15% of their stars to Asian restaurants, but which ones they gave them to - especially in the Japanese category. Besides if they didn't give stars to Asian restaurants in NY they would have missed completely much of the best food in the city. Twenty to thirty years ago Asian cuisine outside of its own ethnic circles was known to the cognoscenti but still fairly cutting edge. Today, it is ubiquitous and conservative to the point that sushi is a mainstay at sports arenas like Madison Square Garden and the upcoming Citi Field. It has become part of the very culinary fabric of NYC.

Yes, but one review in 3½ years on the job doesn't establish him as being overly friendly to that genre.(My original comment was that Bruni has not awarded three stars to any Asian restaurant; he did indeed award four to Masa.) ← I didn't say that he was overly friendly to Asian restaurants. I don't believe that he is. Technically you did say three stars, however, I pointed out an Asian restaurant in the even more difficult 4 star realm which means that he doesn't dismiss them out of hand either.

C'mon, do you see any truffles or wagyu?

No doubt, being an independent restaurant is no guarantee of being a good restaurant. Because there are plenty of poor to mediocre independents, many people simply go with familiar mediocrity because they know what to expect, and it is comfortable. That is why I like to do my research before traveling some place. This way I can seek out food that is likely to be good and interesting. This is but one of the reasons the eGullet Society is so valuable as it affords me a trusted source of information.

Superb report and photos. You have reminded me that it has been too long since I was last there.

I'm not so sure the praise for Bruni's Asian-friendliness is warranted. As best I can recall, no Asian restaurant has won three stars from him. Right, but are any even arguably close to deserving? Friendliness is one thing, but outrageous (gratuitous?) star-doling is another... ← What would Masa be considered? Bruni gave it 4 stars. That is actually higher than their Average Reader Rating, currently at 3.79 stars after 19 votes.

Joel Robuchon watching Wylie Dufresne's demo backstage behind the main screen

Wylie Dufresne was next at the podium Developments in the wd-50 Kitchen was the understated label applied to Wylie's demonstration, which followed the special award given to Daniel Boulud. He described using various techniques many developed by himself to create new approaches to cooking and food. "Pizza Pebbles", a dish at wd-50 with flavors reminiscent of pepperoni pizza with an entirely different texture has been discussed with differing opinions on the wd-50 topic in the NY Forum. I had the opportunity to taste them that very night at wd-50 and enjoyed them very much as the dissociation between the familiar flavor and its form was quite intriguing. (disclosure: The food portion of the meal was comped.). Chef Dufresne elaborated on the technique used to achieve the pebbles. A description of the dish along with a photo can be found here at Chadzilla's blog.. Wylie himself equated the pizza pebbles to "Pizza Combos." The dish is meant to be fun. At the Congress itself, Chef Dufresne did not make or have pizza pebbles, but he did offer samples of two other kinds of "pebbles" - "brown butter banana" and "peanut butter" - made with the same process. They were passed out by Erin Hollingsworth, Editorial Assistant for Starchefs Chef Dufresne flanked by eGullet Society Member and Starchefs photographer Michael Harlan Turkell and The Next Iron Chef contestant and Starchefs master of ceremonies, Aarón Sanchez Chef Dufresne also outlined techniques to emulate puffed snack products like "Funyuns", albeit more true to the actual onion, as well as his "knotted foie." One key point made by Chef Dufresne in discussing these and other novel techniques was that though these techniques may be cool and fun, they don't matter unless the final product tastes good. Specifically referring to the "knotted foie", he said, "it's cool that I can tie it in a knot, but if it doesn't taste good, it doesn't matter."

Backstage video production

We really don't know how GR changed after Josh Emett replaced Neil Ferguson. I haven't found a single review from a respected source that post-dates Ferguson's departure. Emett says the changes were considerable.Even supposing that GR under Emett is still "safe, conservative, competent" (i.e., boring), I don't see a lot of evidence for that kind of bias in the Michelin ratings. Note, for instance, the complete absence of places like Chanterelle and La Grenouille in the ratings. And aside from GR, all of the Michelin 2 and 3-star restaurants correlate in a fairly predictable way with the NYT rankings. ← I was actually speaking to Michelin's international reputation (with possibly the exception of the Spain guide) for certain dining preferences....a much broader scale than merely NY. It's true that I know nothing about GR under Emett. ← I've never gotten that impression at all. I think Bruni prefers FAR more conservative restaurants (steakhouses, Italian) than Michelin. There are a lot of avant garde restaurants in France and elsewhere that have Michelin stars. Have you forgotten that Bruni killed Gilt? ← we're using "conservative" in different senses. see how Bruni treated Ssam Bar compared to how Michelin did. also see Bruni's three stars for Bar Room or his two stars for both Sripaphai and S&T. I also don't think that Michelin is really THAT friendly to avant garde....there are some Michelin starred avant garde restaurants in Europe because there are a lot of avant garde restaurants in Europe with two and three star service models. ← Both Bruni and Michelin have their paradigms . I do think, however, that Michelin values culinary creativity much more than Bruni - at least that is the impression I get from reading Bruni. Bruno is conservative when it comes to food even if he is somewhat populist when it comes to non-directly food related aspects of dining. Perhaps someone more familiar with him and his ouvre might have a different impression, but that is what I get.