cabrales

It's interesting that Oishii was mentioned so frequently. According to a relatively reliable source, it's not on the expensive side of sushi restaurants either.

I like having dim sum at FLM, preceded by a bowl of sharks' fin soup (the version without crabmeat is better for an initial tasting, and overall in my assessment) and followed by the fried rice wrapped in lotus leaves. That would be a relatively expensive meal, but well worth it. Check whether FLM is BYO, no corkage for first-time visitors, if you are interested in wine. A nice Chablis or Puligny-Montrachet, perhaps, unless you are pursuing the sharks' fin soup, in which case the intensity of the underling thick broth would suggest a 1/2 bottle of red as well. I wanted to emphasize the traditional Chinese antique furniture decor at Luk Yu teahouse. The place has been around for ages, and its decor reflects that. It has the benefit of being close to Central, including the Central MTR subway stop (within 5 minutes' walk). Luk Yu is also close to an area called Lan-kwei-fong (not formal English name), where many non-Asian persons congregate in the evening for certain small restaurants (be careful -- most are mediocre, although there are some whose names I do not have that are acceptable) and bars.

The January 2003 edition of Boston Magazine includes the following descriptions of Boston chefs' favorite Boston restaurants: -- Ken Oringer of Clio: "If you could eat at only one restaurnat in town, where would it be and what would you order? Blue Ginger, anything on the menu. What are your favorite restaurants in Boston? For Mediterrean, Oleana. For Asian, Oishii. For Latin, Taqueria Cancun. For seafood, Imperial Seafood. For breakfast, I'll go to Chau Chow City for dim sum. For takeout, Santarpio's Pizza." -- Michael Schlow of Radius: No. 9 Park for Mediterranean; New Shanghai, Jumbo Seafood, Sichuan Garden in Bookline, Penang, and Pho Pasteur for Asian. Jasper White's Summer Shack for seafood. Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe for breakfast. -- Frank McClelland of L'Espalier: For only one restaurant, dining in the North End, particularly Antico Forno. Favorites include Sel de la Terre (affiliate) for Mediterranean, Oishi for Asian, Cafe Brazil in Allston for Latin; Woodman's for seafood; Agawam Diner for breakfast; Red-Bones for takeout. -- Ana Sortun of Oleana: Casablanca for Mediterranean; Farm Grill in Newton for Greek. Tacos Lupita for Latin. Mike's City Diner for breakfast. Formaggio Kitchen for takeout. -- Ming Tsai of Blue Ginger: Likes Sweet Basil in Needham and Blue Room and blu. Likes Brioche at the Berkeley in Wellesley for breakfast. Likes also Oga's Japanese Cuisine in Natick, Oishii in Chestnut Hill, Sashimi Bar at Clio (that Sashimi Bar is very good, although relatively expensive). -- Gordon Hamersley of Hamersley's Bistro: For one restaurant/one dish: Rialto for duck; Franklin Cafe for chicken livers; New Shanghai for steamed chicken. For favorite restaurants, Oleana for Mediterranean. Oishii Too in Sudbury for Asian. Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe for poached eggs, home fries, sausage and English muffin. Flour Bakery + Cafe for takeout. -- Lydia Shire of Locke-Ober: No. 9 Park for Mediterreanena; Peach Farm, New Shanghai, China Pearl for Asian. Jasper White's Summer Shack for seafood. Ye Old Cottage in Weston for eggs over easy with doubt sausage patties. -- Todd English of Olives: For Mediterranean, Oleana. For Asian, Jumbo Seafood, and China Pearl for dim sum. For Latin, Tacos El Charro in Jamaica Plain. For Dover sole and a great white Burgundy, Anthony's Pier 4. For breakfast, Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe. -- Thomas John of Mantra: Oleana for Mediterranean. For Asian, Oishii. For Latin, Chez Henri. -- Jody Adams of Railto: Hamersley's Bistro; Jasper White's Summer Shack

Steve -- No, bittersweet chocolate still tastes unappealing overall. However, I thought each of Pierre Herme, Maison du Chocolat and Christian Constant offered more balanced chocolates, in the sense of having an appropriately limited amount of ingredient inside the couverture relative to the outside chocolate component. There were a lot of nuts in the J-P Hevin chocolates that had nuts. For some where the added components were not nuts, there was still overutilization in my view. Of course, this was my first sampling of J-P Hevin.

In reviewing the Lucas-Carton website, I noticed the following amuse-bouche pairings (apart from the Vranken champagne pairing, which I have received twice recently). Have members sampled any of the below amuses? Are the amuses available if one orders the described paired aperatifs? -- Beverage: Manzanilla Finos dry sherry from Sanlucar de Barrameda Warm belon oysters with roasted hazel nuts, served with chippings of ham "Jamon Iberio Bellota" Baby squid stuffed with red peppers and spanish ham, fried ink-stained cuttlefish tentacles. -- Scotch Whisky Bowmore, 10 years old, Single Malt from the Isle of Islay Risotto of barley pearled, bacon creamed with hazelnuts Roasted gambas with crispy bacon -- Savigny les Beaune 1998 - Domaine J. Boillot Fritter of tiny scallops served with a cepe mushroom sauce and roasted almonds Seafood risotto perfumed with lemon zests and pink ginger

Bux -- Did you have to wake up early to access Rousseau? (You mention "late one morning") Do you believe the restaurant is open for lunch, say?

I recently located Claude Troisgros' website. This is one of the restaurants that I'm very curious about, but will likely not visit in the foreseeable future. http://www.claudetroisgros.com.br/default.htm (Click on "Claude Troisgros" on left hand side column to see indicative menus)

For Union Pacific, the following menu is more recent: http://www.unionpacificrestaurant.com/page...ges/dinner.html (reference to heirloom tomatoes app still suggests possibility of some amount of "datedness") The dinner prix fixe was still $68 as of the last time I visited (late October), although there was available a wonderfully priced pre-theater menu (with the same range of dish selection as the prix fixe) at $45. It is perfect prior to Lincoln Center performances, though a bit far, because the inside of the restaurant is somewhat dark anyhow and one does not have a sense of being at a pre-theater dinner. I might even consider it for evenings when I do not have an actual performing arts event to attend.

With MPW's then plans for reduced involvement in The Oak Room, there's an argument he could have been demoted sooner or later anyhow. -- Financial Times (London), April 13, 2002 ("Nor does he [Derek Brown, head of the Michelin guides] see any sign that Michelin's influence is waning in France and abroad. The decision two years ago by a pair of top British restaurateurs, Nico Ladenis and Marco Pierre White, to relinquish their three stars was widely portrayed as a slap at Michelin.Brown insists that, in fact, Ladenis and White were taking their restaurants in new directions and thought it best **pre-emptively** and publicly to disown their stars.") -- The Evening Standard, January 22, 2001 ("Gordon Ramsay ... wasted no time in denouncing Marco Pierre White and Nico Ladenis as 'totally immature' for having handed back their three stars last year and retired from the kitchen. ... [Ladenis responded: 'I gave up my stars because I was retiring from the business - that is not immature.'").

Steven -- I might have typed up a Craft menu from several months back onto the board. However, I don't have the time currently to parse through the Craft threads in search of it.

I'm actually a bit ill right now in a way that affects restaurant going, for reasons unrelated to anything described on the board. Also, I am on a diet following recent excesses.

Miss J -- You could purchase some special Chinese cakes (not really cakes) in London's Chinatown. The two most common types are (1) white turnip (rough translation into English sounds, "law bak go", which is available at a number of London dim sum places year-round), and (2) a sweet, brown-looking version ("leen go"). These are available as largish circular "cakes", and have to be sliced. For the latter version, dip it into a beaten egg mixture before it is fried. It tastes largely of sugar, and is not particularly interesting (except arguably for its elasticky texture).

fresh_a: Do you have special arrangements with one or more of the three stars that facilitate your placement of clients, if you are comfortable responding? Do you generally succeed in securing reservations sought by your clients? How do you go about establishing relationships with the people who control the reservations process at key restaurants? Are you surprised that the newer three-stars, like Ledoyen and Guy Savoy, are not more requested than they are? Do you believe many of your clients understand haute cuisine?

fresh_a: Legendre is also being tipped by Bonjour Paris: "Gastro gossip says Alain Ducasse recuperates his *** at Louis XV and Philippe Legendre is a strong contender for *** schhhhh." http://www.bparis.com/newsletter1464/newsl...m?doc_id=140923 (see bottom of article) If there is the Parisian receipt of a three star, Legendre might be a worthy recipient. I believe L'Espadon at the Ritz, Paris, deserves two stars (apologies for placing this on the UK board), not that the restaurant is likely to receive it.

fresh_a: In Paris? How wonderful. What five or six restaurants do guests at your hotel prefer, and why? What restaurants do you have the greatest difficulty securing reservations at?

The tendon appetizer involved tendon that was cut in relatively thin, "large area" slices, accompanied by a hot chilli oil. We also had seaweed in garlic sauce as an appetizer, along with some non-wonton dumplings in chilli oil. (The latter were rather pleasing, with some sweetness in the sauce.) The crab in beer casserole had vermicelli incorporated, which conveyed some of the beer flavors. There were two small crabs in the casserole, with some opportunities to sample the roe and other parts of the "main body" of the crab. I had not been optimistic about this dish, having wondered whether the restaurant had fresh seafood tanks. However, the crab in the casserole was appropriate. This dish was reasonably priced at under $11, to my recollection. There are two lamb casseroles on the menu; we ordered the Szechuan version because the other version was not available. The intrinsic flavor of the lamb was quite strong, and some pieces of the lamb were "bone in". The vegetables inside the lamb casserole were favorably mentioned by certain dining companions. Like Nina, I liked the smoked pork with leeks fish. The pork was presented in slices roughly the size of bacon (but shorter slices), and had about that amount of fat. The smoking effects were relatively easy to detect. The tea utilized did not convey stronger bitter notes that I look for, but that is a subjective preference. I wondered about the tea smoked duck dish which the restaurant also offers. Our dining party also ordered a dish described as involving cabbage, but that did not seem to us to be any type of cabbage. The dish was cabbage with Chinese black mushrooms. That dish was average. Nicer was a dish containing a special type of squash, which may be seasonal (?). It was available either pan-fried on its own, or with small dried shrimp. We chose the latter. I found the squash to be refreshing (yes, this type of squash is) and nice, although the cornstarch-based "sauce" accompanying it was slightly too thick for my tastes. Also ordered was a tongue dish, with spiciness, that was appropriate. The restaurant offered hot pots, but we did not sample the items. We asked to be seated in the single-table, separate dining room at the back of the restaurant. The dining room team members, while capable of some level of English conversation, did not have particularly strong English skills. Beer is available; wine is BYO. We drank Pouilly Fume, Pascal Jolivet. The restaurant is close to the large, open area parking lot that is surrounded by restaurants -- in Flushing.

I'd like to note that income and economic/social class (whatever those terms mean) for a community should not be conflated with the "upper middle"-level types of restaurants.

fresh_a -- If you are comfortable responding, what kind of work do you perform relating to Paris restaurants?

If The Square is removed, and we address the "upper middle" level in London as I see it (e.g., Club Gascon, Putney Bridge, Pied a Terre, Zafferano to take a non-French example, Corrigan at Lindsay House), the Parisian examples I have provided do not fall short. The Square is closer to something like The Capital, RHR and the former La Tante Claire than it is to the "upper middle" restaurants I have set forth for London. Thus, it is an unfair comparison to utilize The Square, particularly when the NY comparable is Craft. Another aspect that one has to consider is that in Paris, service tends to be slightly more formal for the restaurants at any given level, and some restaurants have a more history-imbued decor. Thus, focusing on a certain level of informality and modernity of decor is going to leave out certain potential contenders for "upper middle".

fresh a -- Do you have a sense that one is well-received at the Maison Blanche bar for drinks even without a dinner reservation?

There are probably better dim sum specialists than generalist Fook Lam Moon, but I have had excellent dim sum there: Fook Lam Moon, Hong Kong side (even the sharks' fin soup can be sampled on a per-diner/per-bowl basis during lunch; the fried rice wrapped in lotus leaves is excellent) Luk Yu Teahouse, Central, Hong Kong side (quality is generally very good and there is authenticity; however, quality can vary with items sampled). Somewhat of a dim sum specialist, although dinner can also be good there. Certain noodle dishes and rice-based dishes are interesting with respect to lunch. One can order a plate of special sliced Chinese ham (unclear of name) that is delicious and difficult to secure to such quality outside of Asia.

Steve P -- Could the following potentially qualify as "upper middle" in Paris? Helene Darroze, L'Astrance (even though the cuisine at L'Astrance is considerably more sophisticated then the "upper middle" examples you provided in the US), Passiflore (which I have never visited), Maison Blanche (which I have never visited), Hiramatsu, Flora, Le Cantine des Gourmets, La Regelade, Chamaree. Note I wouldn't classify The Square as an "upper middle" restaurant in London; it's aspirationally and outcome-wise better than that.

Well, CSS has few competitors at its level, given that the only other three stars in Belgium are De Karmeliet (which is in Bruges, a different city/town) and Bruneau (which is in Ganshoren, a very short distance from CSS). If a client cares about three stars, he would probably already know the identity of the very few three-stars in Belgium. CSS is more centrally located within Brussels than Bruneau. Also, while I have never been to CSS, I believe CSS is somewhat less expensive (with respect to food) than Bruneau. CSS is very established and known in Belgium, probably more so than Bruneau. Also, based on second and third hand reports of CSS only (as I have never visited), Bruneau has a *relatively* more formal atmosphere than CSS.

Traditionally, cherry blossom stalks tend to be utilized for decorative purposes (with connotations of good fortune and luck, etc.) The Japanese do have cherry blossom sake, although that item is very seasonal and I have never sampled it. Cherry blossoms are somewhat fragrant. However, I am unsure they have wide acceptance as a cooking ingredient.

macrosan -- No, restaurants are allowed to self-advertise their Michelin ratings. http://www.lucascarton.com/page-alain-send...te-lucas-us.htm (Lucas Carton noting year of receipt of third star) http://www.lucascarton.com/page-une-annee1-us.htm (same describing Michelin three-star event at the restaurant) http://www.troisgros.fr/anglais/accen.htm (select "3" box on the upper left hand corner; "Founded in 1930, Troisgros celebrated in 1998 its 30 consecutive years with three Michelin stars, the most prestigious rating in France.")