docsconz

Actually, John, I think cooks at all major seafood joints absoultely disdain Ibérico pork... ← Don't they do Mar y Montaña dishes? The best dish I had at El Poblet was the Joselito pork (the Denia prawns weren't bad either )

Having gone to the FFS earlier this month is still paying dividends. I received a package in the mail today with samples of three different varieties of pasta from a company that looked interesting, but did not have anything to taste at the show (at least not that I was made aware of) - Rossi Pasta from Marietta, Ohio. Although I am not generally a big fan of flavored pastas, I decided to try the "Italian Spice" Linguini with a simple sauce of fresh cherry tomatoes that I bought today at the Farmers' Market with olive oil and garlic. It was delicious! The flavors of the herb-imbued pasta came through nicely without being overly assertive. These included oregano, basil, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, black and cayenne peppers. I look forward to trying the other two including saffron linguini and fettucine with spinach, basil and garlic.

The closest thing to elBulli in the US, though it is so much more than a clone, is Jose Andres' minibar in DC, which is what I believe Nathan was referring to when he mentioned "Foodbar" The spirit is very similar to that at elBulli, while the dishes, ambiance and style are different. It is a fun and intimate experience with only six seats (at present) at a bar in front of an open kitchen.

Wouldn't it have been easier just to say that all cooks in Madrid are enamored with Ibérico pork! I would think that the only ones not enamored of it are those who can't use it for religious reasons.

Come on, Raji, spill it, We're not nOObs! ← Truth be told, I don't go out for sushi anywhere as often as I should... but it's more like going out for a steak for me, as with most Japanese. I'm in Japan twice a year and I eat it voraciously over there for obvious reasons. WHEN I do go out, my haunts are Shimizu in Midtown West, Esashi in the East Village, Seki on the UES, Yasuda, Sushiden, or Hatsuhana in Midtown East, and a big ups to Ushiwakamaru west of EV. Any of those are good for a stellar $20ish sushi lunch, a laidback sushi, sashimi and kitchen order table dinner, and when the budget allows, the full-on omakase blowout. On the odd occasion of a lukewarm date, a decent tempura order will preceded said omakase so I don't feel completely prostituted. There you go. That's the list. Follow it!!! ← Looks good. Thanks for sharing it!

I've had waitstaff come to me when I've been at a sushi bar to take an order, but that is to see if I want something from the kitchen in addition to the bar.

Come on, Raji, spill it, We're not nOObs!

Very valid points as usual, Steven. I would only go to a Japanese restaurant and sit at a table only if I were going to have something other than sushi. At the bar the focus is one the food, while at the table the focus may be elsewhere for the diner (and the chef).

I agree.

I don't see anything circular about his argument at all. There are simply two definitions at play. One is what constitutes an "artist" and the other is what constitutes a "great artist." For the former, all anyone needs to be called an artist is to call oneself one or to be called one. It is not a particularly special designation in and of itself and its only significance is one of intent. The latter definition is much more significant because it is what confers meaning on being an artist. I obviously feel that Adria fits the latter definition as well as the former.

Let me put it another way... if it kills you, it's not art (or food). It's poison. It's not stimuli to your senses. Music needn't be harmonic to exist, or painting figurative (or any of the two aesthetically pleasing, or at least in a conventional way, at that). But applied arts (aka crafts) need some sort of practical goal, whether it's creating a chair you can sit on or food that's digestable. And to me, trying to redefine Adria majestic craft as art somehow lessens it. He creates a magical effect out of existing elements (the food, the sorroundings at El Bulli, etc...) which still is edible! Its main purpose is not conveying a political agenda or a mood, although it can do all that, but ultimately it is to nourish and feed. Don't know, I've just got on let's-go-back-to-college, theoretical rambling mode! ← ← Superb post. I think you nailed on the head why Adria and other chefs are indeed artists and not just craftsmen. A craftsman is someone who can follow a recipe or make a known dish very well. An artist is someone who is original and creative within a particular context, whatever the medium. Of course not everyone must like or appreciate the art of any given artist or agree whether one should be considered a great artist. IMO, not only is Adria an artist, he is also a great artist. I think the same can certainly be said of Grant Achatz and a number of others. I am not sufficiently personally familiar with the work of Blumenthal to apply the statement to him.

I wonder if Chef Bowles would have made cuy like the rabbit if you would have enjoyed that as well?

In my book, yes...lower east side starting below Houston St. ← I stand corrected.

Victor, thank you or providing this extensive list. There are quite a few restaurants on there that I would be tempted to try given the time. Of course, you are correct about being attracted to the local cuisine. Amongst the list, since I was unable to make it there when in Lima, Astrid y Gaston would be particularly tempting.

I had to respond to this one, as well as a few points that were made in other's posts. I wonder if any of you have waited tables, AND whether or not these are chain restaurants. I waited tables in a LOT of chains for a LOT of years, and I think there is a lot of irritation being caused by the waitstaff, and that the public is COMPLETELY UNAWARE that the management and corporporate "policies" of these chains DEMAND of their servers. There is ONE way to do everything right, and if you do it any other way than that, you actually get in trouble. Let me share with you a few of these things. 1. You are required to take people's orders in a particular pattern based on the seating at the table or booth. If the lady is not sitting in "seat #1," you have to take the orders in the wrong order and then go away and re-write the ticket before you present it or enter it. The kitchen plates up the orders based on Seat #1 being the first seat to your right as you stand and face the table, for example. So if you were sitting on the left at a 4-top, you would be seat 4. I would have to take your order and make sure I knew that was Seat #4 when I wrote it down, then take all the other orders in the right order. Then, when I enter it into the computer or re-write the ticket, I'd have to take the time to enter everything in the correct order. You get in trouble if someone runs your food and the food for seat #1 is not actually for the person sitting in seat #1. 2. Pepper mills and cheese graters are always in extremely short supply. It's not the waitstaff's fault that there may be only one, or perhaps 2 and one is broken or missing, and that the management will not buy another one. Everyone has to share what's available. If you take the mill and leave it on the table, the other servers get pissed at you when they go to find it where it normally lives and it's not there. they would march up to the hostess and ask who has table #X and then go find you, probably in the middle of another duty, and tell you to PLEASE GO GET THE PEPPER MILL OFF TABLE X AS MY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR IT FOR 5 MINUTES NOW. You have to share everything, while still trying to provide the customer what they want. The only way to do this is to grind it for them so you can put it back immediately, lest you face the wrath of other servers. And let me tell you, you don't want that. 3. In chain restaurants, you get into big trouble if you do not approach a table within 30 seconds of sitting down to welcome them and ask for their bev. order. Professional people come in and surreptitiously pose as customers and do "shops" of restaurants, and they grade the server on all the steps of service, and this is the first one. You get docked points if you don't, for example, greet them within 30 seconds, remove empty plates as soon as they are empty (they call it "cleaning as you go"), BRING the dessert tray out to them INSTEAD of asking if they've saved room for dessert (you actually aren't allowed to ask - you have to bring the tray as they say once the customer SEES the dessert, they're more likely to order it), etc. You get in trouble if there are dirty/empty plates or glasses on the table. You're told to clear them immediately, as people finish. 4. The glance of disapproval if you don't get an app, or if you don't get alcohol, or another round of drinks, or if you ask to split an entree, is because a server is "graded" on their check average per table. At the end of the night, the computer report will tell you how much you averaged per person at each table. When the number is low, the management yells at you and tells you you have to get your check average up; this is done by pushing the extras, and hard - apps, alcohol/refills, add-ons like mushrooms or onions or loaded potatoes and desserts. Obviously you have the right to get what you want, but sometimes in the middle of a busy, stressful service when you've been taken to task for a week straight because of your low check average, it's hard not to flinch or show disappointment when another table just wants to get the most inexpensive item on the menu, only water to drink and they want to split the entree. You can actually get let go for low check average. These are just a few off the top of my head. ← Thank you for this excellent explanatory post. It serves to coroborate one of the reasons I generally don't like dining at chain restaurants.

If the timing works I would love to be there in one of my very favorite food cities!

I was at Yasuda for lunch on Friday (just a couple days after the steam pipe broke) and the place was jammed. I don't think Yasuda has anything to worry about at all. New Yorkers are pretty tough- we can walk around a giant steam pipe explosion to get to good sushi and big snowstorms/minor disasters are notoriously the best time to snag reservations at places we can't usually get into. ← Good news. Thanks.

This is certainly a shock, but I have no doubt that you will do just fine and beat the problem and I have no doubt that the restaurant will continue to function as it always has when you need to be absent. My heart and thoughts are with you.

Thanks. Sounds like a decent value.

Thanks for the report, Richard. What does the wine sell for?

I certainly buy local a lot as I am a frequent denizen of my local Farmers markets and restaurants that serve locally grown and raised product, however, I think it is more important that people buy smart and buy products that deserve to be supported wherever they are from because they are of high quality and are unique in some way or another. Slow Food , more than simply buying locally, is all about biodiversity. It does no-one any good to buy local produce if it is all the same as what can be bought half-way around the world. Farmers should be encouraged and rewarded for growing quality produce and a variety of it with an emphasis on what does particularly well in a particular locale. The day that Agro-Industry starts growing and selling Slow food products is the day that we should all rejoice so long as they are the actual products raised the way that Slow Food currently espouses. BTW, my dinner tonight consisted of naturally raised grass-fed local beef Delmonico steaks with locally grown corn and romano green beans, bread and grilled haloumi cheese from Cypress.

Cheese has already been grilled - Haloumi cheese from Cypress is a unique cheese that softens but doesn't melt on the grill - delicious!

Very interesting. This is a major dilemma of Slow Food. Presumably, those are good, unique products and somewhat scarce which can justify the price. Hopefully the funds (at least some of them) make their way back to the farmers and encourage them and others to continue to grow and raise these products because they have economic viability in addition to ideological viability. The foods will be truly sustainable once a farmer can make a living off them. Theoretically, as the particular and other products become more widespread the price should drop. This has been the history of the farmers market movement in the US. As they have become more popular, more farmers are doing it and making more money even as competition is keeping prices in check (at least at most routine Farmers markets). The big risk is that such aggressive initial pricing will keep these products from getting off the ground. I'll look forward to reading about your results with the products you bought. I suspect that they will be good, perhaps qualitatively different from your usual products, but only subjectively "better."

Did anything specific make it worth noticing?

Yasuda is not far from the epicenter of the recent, extremely damaging NYC Steam-pipe blast. The economic impact on the area can be huge. I hope that Yasuda is able to weather any potential downturn to their business as a result of this.