cabrales

My favorite producer of champagne at any price. There was a nice piece on Selosse in the chamagne issue of the Art of Eating a few years back. J Selosse Blanc de Blancs and Deutz Blance de Blancs (not the "L'Amour" cuvee). At least in France, both of the above Blanc de Blancs are under $50. However, I drink many different types of champagne, with an open bottle in my fridge at almost all times.

While I've yet to dine at Kinkead's (among other restaurants), I wonder whether it might be more of an "institution" than a place offering a potentially excellent cuisine experience. It's supposed to have decent fish, according to other reviews I have studied (?).

My own library is about that size, leaving aside the Michelin guides I also collect. I tend to discard many of the English langauge books I review.

pirate -- Your food library seems to have many books that I lack and that I am hoping to acquire in time through web-based sources and perusing of the Librarie Gourmand. If you don't mind my asking, how many books of this nature do you have?

Ducloux promised me one during my first meal at the restaurant, but forgot to hand it over during the second meal. I'll follow up to see whether he can do anything now, although I will ask him to take his time.

During what periods is El Bulli expected to operate within 2003, specifically?

Tru recently became another Chicago member of the European-based Relais & Chateaux chain. Since it does not have rooms, it entered as a "Relais Gourmand". http://www.relaischateaux.com/site/us/rech_rg.htm

This is a wonderful opportunity, for members who can visit France during the applicable period. Troisgros is not an establishment that offers such tastings without having something remarkable result. Also, the price is appealing, given the tasting and dinner (with wine included of course).

Do members have input on what time (local time) one should begin to call?

Chef Adoni Luis Aduriz is the subject of a Gourmet January 2003 article. An excerpt follows: "In the past year, Spain's most rsepected food guide, Lo Mejor de la Gastronmia, ranked Aduriz the country's fourth best chef (after Adria, Berasategui and Arzak). The French magazine GaultMillau recently published a long paean to his cooking, and luminaries like Pierre Gagnaire and Olivier Roellinger have made pilgrimages to his remote dining room in the hills outside of San Sebastian . . . ."

Troisgros is arranging a Condrieu/Cote Rotie tasting and dinner event for Monday, February 10, 2003. The seven winemakers to be represented are: Burgaud, Clusel-Roch, Gangloff, Gerin, Niero, Perret and Christine and Paul Amsellem of Domaine Vernay. (Note I do not have much knowledge of these winemakers.) Some recent and some older vintages will be presented in a 7:00 pm tasting led by the winemakers. The price of under 300 euros is reasonable, as it includes a diner with matched wines after the wine tasting.

Below is an excerpt from a Lupa update on a wine/food lunch regarding the Lazio region of Italy. "[O]ur first ever wine tasting luncheon. The luncheon will spotlight the foods and wines of Lazio, the region in which Rome is situated. The five-course food menu will be expertly paired with five different wines for $80 per person, inclusive of tax and gratuity. Reservations will be accepted by phone ... a credit card will be required to secure the reservation. ... Traditional Roman Tasting Menu Wine Tasting Luncheon January 22, 2003 12 - 3 PM Bruschetta ~ Carciofi "alla Romana" or Puntarelle con la Salsa ~~ Gnocchi all Romana or Bavette cacio e pepe ~~~ Saltimbocca or Oxtail "alla vaccinara" ~~~~ Fried Lupa Baccala or Braised eel "alla Latium" ~~~~~ Sorbetto or Tartufo"

On steaming, note that, in addition to steamers, there are opportunities are steaming inherent when one makes rice using a rice cooker. One can place various Chinese sausages, salted fish and other self-contained items on top of rice.

Figaro Magazine recently reported that Veyrat is *considering* opening a restaurant in Paris. M Haeberlin is expected to supervise a restaurant to be opened around 2Q 2003 in the Europa Hotel in St. Petersburg. Apparently, P Haeberlin apprenticed with the chef who was the last to prepare cuisine for the Romanovs.

In yesterday's NYT dining section, there was an article on co-executive chefs entitled "Two Chefs, One Broth". Discussed are, among others, (1) Patricia Yeo and Pino Maffeo at Pazo -- it's a bit clear in my mind Yeo is more the "lead", although she's very generous with according credit to Maffeo; (2) D Forley and M Otsuka; (3) Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger at Border Grill in Santa Monica; and (4) Chefs Dan Barber and Mike Anthony from Blue Hill. Excerpts from the article: "One key lesson was about communication . . . . 'I'm a bit sensitive,' Mr Barber acknowledged. 'If Mike's forgotten to tell me that he put yellow watermelon in the tomato coupe on my night off, and I come in the next day and find out from one of the cooks, it stings me. I think, 'What did he go and change it for?' But ultimately if it improves the dish, we both win.' . . . Mr Barber of blue Hill noted: 'Most people would think it's easier to work with a co-chef because you would noly have to do half the work. But it doesn't actually happen taht way. When you're working by yourself, you can quickly make all the hundreds of decisons that need to be made every day without having to stop and discuss every little thing. It takes more thought and energy than working by yourself.'" Below are excerpts from an old thread on the co-chef point:

Chef Ducloux is probably the most important of all Dumaine pupils (counting ones who have departed, not that I am aware of the Dumaine line at this point). Dumaine did not have many "recognized" pupils of which I am aware. The restaurant recognized I was unhappy, and comp'd my apertif (the aperif of the house is a rasberry and champagne-based concoction). That did not mitigate my disappointment to any extent, although Ducloux's later recognition of the validity of the points I made was helpful. On Ducloux, the portions are very large. A 1/2 order of the Pate en Croute "Alexandre Dumaine" is more than sufficient as an appetizer. The item contains not only foie gras, truffled gelee, but also very fatty meat from the neck of pigs together with very lean veal (last item tasted like chicken meat, but was in fact veal). Not bad, but perhaps slightly disappointing relative to my heightened expectations. The restaurant's wine list is passable. According to fellow diners, it has deteriorated significantly in the past year after the departure of Claude (?). There are some bottles not on the list, but available, that were still not overwhleming. Peter Rodgers -- I have only visited Auberge Bressane in Bourg-en-Bresse once, sampling a very morel-ridden, and fairly good Bresse chicken dish. For members who happen to visit, the Auberge is located right opposite Bourg-en-Bresse's church structure, which is worth a quick visit (after visits to the Bresse chicken farms, of course).

On Alaska King Crab, SSW (at least Main St.) sometimes has the very rarely captured (due to governmental constraints, I indirectly heard) female crab. It tends to be smaller, and its roe and other qualities are supposedly interesting. It is a few dollars more expensive per pound than male crabs, but the ratio of availability is less promising than even, say, 1:100. Ed -- I don't think anybody is saying that SSW's *general* (i.e., non-dim sum) quality has declined. In fact, my previous post points to the very high quality of seafood at SSW. However, the SSW dim sum, while not bad, is not of the most *refined* quality in Vancouver. And it is not just Kirin Seafood on Cambie that casts SSW in a negative *relative* light.

Sarah -- Thanks. As you mentioned, Bruges is very small, so a less than USD$10 ride would bring one very close to De Karmeliet. The restaurant has gorgeous, modern decor (including the lounge area), although G Van Hecke's cuisine is not necessarily of consistently appropriate balance for dishes within a meal, in my assessment. More modern cuisine than Bruneau in Ganshoren (near Brussels), though. Bruneau's coucou de malines (a type of very tender chicken, the excellent portion of which is its breastmeat) dish that is excellent. This dish comes with two black-truffle based sauces. One was described as a butter-based white sauce, the other a red-wine-based, brown-colored sauce. If members see the coucou de Malines on menus in Europe, it might be worth sampling.

For me, hoisin sauce is not a useful ingredient for many Chinese dishes. It has a pronounced taste that can overwhelm many other ingredients within the composition of a given dish. It is pasty and, except for counterbalancing the fattiness of Peking Duck skin (when used in moderation and with a lot of scallion to mitigate the HSS's effects), is something I generally do not take in. In many recipes, even oyster sauce (which is itself rather strong in character) might be better than HSS. What dishes do members think HSS augments?

Steve P -- What corkage was charged for each bottle? The quality of the sushi/sashimi course is not necessarily better than that at Yasuda (particularly a la carte Yasuda, when one asks the chefs or looks at the item on the little a la cartewhite sheet that have stars next to them marked by hand). However, the plated appetizers are fairly interesting at JB and that is the distinguishing feature of JB in my mind. It's unclear whether I currently prefer JB to Yasuda, though, or vice versa.

Jon's point is a crucial one (not that I have yet eaten dog). There are various contaminants that could be carried in dog meat, and limited (if any) research on what potential negative effects the ingestion of certain contaminants might have on human health.

Well, as with certain other of my gastronomic pursuits, the Greuze coq au vin episode does not have a happy ending. Having requested my coq au vin a la facon Alexandre Dumaine very specifically on initially reserving at the restaurant, I had awaited the taking in of this dish with some anticipation. However, imagine my dismay when, upon calling to confirm the night before I was sampled to take in the dish for lunch, I was told my request had not been noted. (I usually confirm restaurant reservations earlier than the evening before, but there were various reasons for my delay.) The person on the phone, who was likely one of the maitre d's, furnished various excuses to divert my attention from the coa au vin: -- It required many people to sample, towhich I responded I had described paying for the whole bird. -- He could arrange to have prepared a poulet Bressewith a red wine sauce, pearl onions, bacon bits and mushrooms, which I noted would not, depending on the cooking in particular, approximate a real coq au vin (incl. due to type of chicken used, absence of blood and pureed liver a la Dumaine, unduly short cooking times -- all points I made, of course) Well, the maitre d' assured me that the restaurant would indeed have a real coq au vin for me the next day during lunch. I strongly doubted that, but was temporarily appeased after assurances that Chef Ducloux had been consulted and had concurred in the conclusion of the maitre d'. Well, of course, when I arrived, the dish presented was the red wine-based dish the maitre d' had described and not the coq au vin. The restaurant had the gall to present it as a coq au vin. I later discussed this with Ducloux, and he agreed that what I received was not a traditional coq au vin. The chicken was average-plus (French standards).

I really enjoyed meeting loufood. I'd agree that the feuille sampled was appropriate, but a box of assorted chocolates described by the store as providing the broadest selection of JP Hevin's creations (at least those available in the store in the 7th) was disappointing. For me, the balance was lacking in many pieces, some of which were overwhelmed by nuts or other ingredients, say. I don't purport to know what is better chocolate, but the J-P creations sampled seemed to fall short to me.

I had a good meal at Barrier recently. The restaurant is within easy walking distance from Bardet, whose cuisine (including the vegetable menu) was very good (among stronger two-stars relative to my preferences). Barrier sold the restaurant about 7 years ago. Only one dish from the original restaurant remains -- pigs' trotters stuffed with lambs' sweetbreads and truffles. This dish was quite good, with bones removed and with the pigs' trotters exhibiting more fat connotations than gelatinous aspects. The preparation requires a great deal of technique. Accompanied by pommes purees and a half apple stewed in honey. Also nice was a section of boudin noir included in the dish. Bardet is stronger in Tours, but Barrier's meal was good too. I cannot speak to other dishes at Barrier.

I purchased for myself recently, not necessarily for X'Mas: "La Cuisine Acidulee de Michel Troisgros" (Michel Troisgros' Cooking With Acidity) A used copy of Jean Ducloux's "Cuisinier a Tournus: Une Vie Passionnee" (Chef at Tournus: A Passionate Life) A used copy of Francois Simon's book on the cooking of chicken A used copy of Alain Chapel's "La Cuisine. C'est Beaucoup Plus Que Des Recettes" (Cooking. It's Much More Than Recipes")