docsconz

Better advice than mine.

From the story you presented I wouldn't say that you are in the wrong. Personally, I think the greater responsibility belongs to the bar, however, the customer should keep track as well so as to not be taken advantage of as you seemed to have been. For whatever reason, they do not appear to appreciate your business anymore. I would suggest that you move on.

I get and agree with your gist, but I believe your analogy is reversed. All porpoises are dolphins, but not all dolphins are porpoises. Mahi-mahi, a fine food fish, is a dolphin, but not a porpoise. I actually have no problem with Bruni reviewing this, because it is such an institution. I also agree that his reviews are not labeled $25 and over so he is not limited either way.

I guess he is just coming up to speed on the NYC standards. I hear Patsy's in East Harlem is next!

That makes sense. It is not innovation that is the issue. It is misrepresentation, ignorance, the perpetuation of ignorance and lack of respect that is the problem.

Robert, thank you for these insights. It sounds like a place and a person (not to mention the cheeses!) that I would very much enjoy.

Robert, this sounds like a true life-enriching experience. What do you think most sets him apart from other fine affineurs?

...and finally.... ' The tomatoes were similar to the wonderful ones we had at Casa Montaña the night before. It was off to the Lonja across the street for sightseeing and then shopping in the area beforelunch at Ca Sento.

Indeed.

They were more than adequate for sampling each dish. I did not leave hungry.

Too bad squab wasn't on the menu... ← Ah, but it was - in one of the tapas

Parm is probably the great Italian cheese that I take most for granted. That is probably because it is generally readily available and maintains good quality on the journey to the US. At its best, it is sublime!

I'll second that. Norman's was one of the restaurants that put fusion cuisine (especially pan-Latin) on the map. He is also a cool and gracious guy.

There is no doubt in my mind that the same meal on a different day with different circumstances would have elicited a different reaction in me. On that night it would have taken a nearly perfect experience to have been less than disappointed, which it wasn't. Despite that, I'm still glad I went and would love to go back as the meal was still very good. I think that is one of the more interesting elements in trying to decipher restaurant reviews. So much goes into the experience besides the meal itself.

This may be relatively new to NY, but it is still not new as that is exactly why Camdeborde and other chefs of that ilk in the new bistro movement were doing. The NYC restaurants may be incorporating more of an Asian influence, but that is debatable as well. The Parisian restaurant L'Astrance started out much the same way, but took a reverse course and wound up as a Michelin 3* today. That it is a trend is not my debate. That it is new and started in NYC is what I am questioning. Outside of NYC in the US, the best fit of the paradigm that I am aware of is Schwa in Chicago. One difference is that one needs a reservation there and they are quite hard to come by.

Moving on … We stopped for a little snack at a kiosk towards the back. I ordered a tortilla that was absolutely delicious. That along with our lunch later at Ca Sento and dinner at Monastrell in Alicante made for a sensational day of eating from top to bottom. This stall reminded me of my trip to Peru.

Thanks, Richard. Buying and cooking would indeed have been much fun if I had access to a kitchen there. OTOH, the restaurants are so good there that I would hate to forego any opportunities to utilize them!

Thanks. I am happy that all elements of an animal are used. Though we are using more of the animal in the US than we have in the past, we remain very far behind other cultures in this area. Perhaps this is one reason I am so fascinated by the presentations of offal in the markets when I travel.

El Celler de Can Roca Dinner May 3, 2007 Snacks Crunchy Cod Fish Sesame Crunchy, Parmesan Chips with truffle Oil and Black Olives Crunchy The snacks were all served together, much as they were to start the meal at elBulli. These were squarely in the savory camp, while elBulli explored the realm of sweet much more with their opening bites. These were tasty and satisfying. Tapas Foie Gras Bonbon with Oporto; Parfait of Pigeon, Hazelnuts Bristol Cream, Juniper and Spices Cake; and Little Fava Beans with Bergamot Emulsification and Orange The foie gras bonbon with oporto was a delicious rendition of the nearly obligatory foie dish (not that that is a bad thing!) The parfait of pigeon was full of umami and delicious. The favas with bergamot also proved quite tasty Our opening wine was a crisp albariño. Menú Oyster with Champagne, Apple, Curry, Spice Cake (Pan de Especias) and Turmeric This was delicious, retaining the brininess of the oyster, but adding a novel combination. After we were served this oyster, I enquired about the "Oyster with Distilled Earth." Although it was not on the menu that night (the earth distillate would be part of another dish coming up soon), I was obliged with a plate. Oyster with Distilled Earth I thought that this dish worked beautifully and as intended. The subtle mineral component of the earth combined well with the brininess of the oyster making a true mar y montaña dish. Though I still prefer an oyster with a squeeze of lemon, I found the construct to be brilliant. The two oysters were amongst the highlights of my meal. Consomé of "Perretxikos" (a local spring mushroom) with Avocado and Pine Ice Cream Another highlight of the meal, this cold soup was deliciously redolent of the forest unlike the dish at El Poblet that attempted the same goal. Brilliant. "Perretxikos" brought to us to examine when we asked about the mushroom variety. Our friends were familiar with it though it was new to my wife and I. Mussels with Riesling (mouseline of bergamot, apple and jasmine, lemon and cilantro, peach and rose, distillate of earth, truffle oil and cardamom)This dish reminded me a bit of Jose Andres' "Deconstructed White Wine." The dish was a composite of the flavor elements of riesling, a wine that often goes well with mussels. Fun. Artichokes with Sunflower Soup and Orange Concentrate Very good. White Asparagus Soufflé on Embers This dish enveloped in smoke was surprisingly subtle. Hot Velouté of Crustaceans with Cacao, Onions and Mint This dish was both my favorite of the night and the most disappointing. The flavors were intense and amazing, but the perfection of the dish was undermined by overly aggressive salting. The salt was so heavy that my being able to eat it at all was a testament to the underlying deliciousness. Codfish "al pil pil" with pumpkin and Guindilla Pepper Oil. Perhaps because of the saltiness of the previous dish, this dish came of as being very bland and lacking in flavor. Kid belly with Parmentier of Majorero and Mint. This dish with cheesy potatoes (Majorero is a goat cheese from the Canary islands) was unique for me and excellent. I had never had kid belly before and I enjoyed it very much. We moved to a red wine (Doix Qa 2003 Priorato) with this course - excellent. Ox with Anchovies, Black Olives and Olivares. I believe the Olivares refers to the wine from Bodegas Olivares in Jumilla, but I am not sure. I thought the dish worked when the meat was smeared with all the component sauces together than with any of them individually. In this case the total was greater than the sum of the parts, but other than for its instructive value, I would have preferred the mixture from the get go. Desserts Can Roca is renowned for its desserts and these did not disappoint. Lactic Dessert ("dulce de leche", sheep's milk ice cream, sheep ricotta foam, sheep's yogurt and lactic cloud). I love sheep's milk and I loved this dessert. The combination of the tang of the sheep's milk products and the subtle sweetness was heavenly. Rose Soufflé with Chocolate and Pistachio Ice Cream Once again, delicious. Rose has become a very popular flavor in desserts and even with savories as few meals this week did not contain it in at least some element. Fortunately, I like the flavor. It will be interesting to see how far that trend goes. I imagine that Can Roca was one of the first to use this element in its cooking as the desserts here have been particularly notable for their perfume-like attributes and stylings. Indeed, roses were not the only flowers that we saw throughout our week as many different kinds of edible flowers seemed to be incorporated in various dishes both as flavor and design elements. Mignardises. These included white chocolate brittle with red fruit, fruit jellies, chocolate pralines and bonbons. They were uniformly excellent. At the end of the meal we were greeted by Joan Roca who was quite gracious and generous in offering me birthday wishes as it was now well into my birthday. We parted ways and with the rain stopped and no one on the roads we made it back to our friends' home in record time. I mentioned in my post prior to this that I was disappointed. Other than the seasoning aspects of the dishes I mentioned, I wasn't disappointed with the food and I certainly wasn't disappointed with the greeting I received from Joan Roca. My disappointment stemmed mostly from external factors that predisposed me and the rest of our party to a sensitivity to imperfection. This was a classic example of how factors external to a meal can have an effect on one's response to a meal. Realizing that, I would jump at the chance to return here again in the future, although by the time I am next able to, the restaurant will most likely be in its new location.

I was disappointed by my meal at Can Roca. There. I said it. Having said that I can not place the blame entirely at the feet of the restaurant as my expectations were so high and circumstances conspired against a transcendent meal the night we were there. Actually the food, though imperfect in several ways, was quite excellent in concept. In several instances the execution was less than ideal, but the disappointment stemmed mostly from the overall experience. I had great ambitions on this trip and wanted to squeeze in s much as we reasonably could. As such, our dinner at can Roca followed a long drive up from Alicante. In itself, that was not such a big deal, however, we chose the one day of foul weather on our entire trip on which to do that. When we left Alicante late that morning (later than we intended to) the sun was shining brilliantly. Because of that, we spent a little longer on the beach than perhaps we should have. Worse yet, we drove into some driving rains on our journey north. Though they didn't slow us much they did induce additional stress. We also needed to meet our friends in Manresa. After we did, we stopped to pick up another member of our party. While holding the door of the car open for her, I felt a warm drop on my hand. Initially I thought that it was a warm rain drop. The day was warm, but not that warm. It was a gift from a pigeon. I ran up to our friend's apartment to wash off and was fortunate not to have been bombarded on my clothes. In retrospect, i cannot help but wonder if that might have been the source of my difficulties the next day when I dined at elBulli. In addition to directly adding to the stress level, the clean-up slowed us down. We still had a 90-120 minute drive ahead of us to Girona, which we accomplished through pouring rain. Even though we had some trouble finding the restaurant, we managed to arrive only a few minutes late. After parking the car, we dodged raindrops to make it into the restaurant. Needless to say, we were all a bit keyed up. Other distracting factors included being largely unable to understand our waiter in either Spanish or English. Our friends had no difficulty understanding him in Catalan, but that helped me only so much through translations. Although the restaurant was designated as smoke-free, our table was situated such that on several occasions, smoke drifted in from the bar directly to my seat. To the credit of the restaurant, that was swiftly resolved after I mentioned it to our waiter. On another night, it might have been less of an issue to me, but I was already keyed up. The final distracting factor was the fact that our friends had to work the next day, it was late and we still had a long drive in front of us to get back home. With all of that, it is no surprise to me that I was disappointed. Only a perfect meal could have overcome all of that. Our meal, as good as it was and it was objectively very good, unfortunately was not perfect. More on that with photos to come shortly.

Moving on to meats and offal... I wish that knew how the faces are used.

Perhaps you should have asked if they wanted to be photographed? ← I did. Can't you tell by their smiles?

Two presenters that I would expect to be very, very interesting would be Susur Lee and Roberto Donna. Looks like it should be a great time.

Breakfast today will be leftover Rancho Gordo Ojo de Cabra beans in scrambled eggs, similar to what I enjoyed for breakfast in Mexico.

Tupper Lake is quite a way from Lake George. Unfortunately, I am not aware of anything special in that vicinity. Lake Placid isn't too far. There are some decent to good options there, though names escape me at the moment. Perhaps the best restaurant in the Adirondacks at the moment is The Owl at Twilight in Olmsteadville. Unfortunately, that isn't really near Tupper Lake either. If looking for a good meal while passing through Lake George, I would recommend Brunetto's off exit 23 in Warrensburg. While nothing fancy, it is simple, good cooking.