cabrales

Zagat reports the following: "Now offers weekday $20 and $28 prix fixe lunches, with the latter comprised of signature dishes."

Zagat reports the following to-be-opened venue: "Wichcraft: Tom Colicchio's new sandwich bar, to be located next door to his Craftbar." Note I am uncertain whether this has already been reported on the board.

Zagat's February newsletter provides the following discussion: "Chispa: Douglas Rodriguez recently ended his affiliation with Chicama and Pipa, but will be back in the kitchen next month at this Nuevo Latino newcomer opening at 304 E. 48th Street."

"With the paper-bag method, the pasta is cooked in the ordinary way until it is almost done, then mixed with the sauce and put in the oven to bake. Since the bag is collapsed around its contents and sealed, the flavor of the sauce completely penetrates the pasta." John -- Could you elaborate on whether the bag become soggy and soak up part of the sauce? Would more sauce be added than is intended for the pasta also inside the bag? I am sad to report that "bag" techniques are sometimes used by Jamie Oliver, at least based on my sporadic watching of his TV episodes (yes, I have on occasion even watched NC).

Blue Ribbon Sushi (Manhattan) has a lobster sashimi that is fairly nice (although somewhat expensive; I can't remember whether whole or large portions of a lobster have to be ordered). I haven't tried the lobster/caviar roll.

I agree that Buddha Bar is not a good venue. I have visited twice, and consider the clientele to be people thinking they are cool. It is full of younger people too, and extremely noisy. Certain parts of the restaurant can be somewhat dark too (in lighting). The sushi platter I had there was passable, though, for a non-sushi venue.

I've used public transportation in Paris, depending on the location of the restaurant and on the type of shoes I am wearing. For example, Lucas-Carton is right at the Madelaine stop. Les Ambassadeurs is very close to a subway station, as is the Pierre Herme Bonaparte store.

While Montpellier seems significantly further geographically from Paris than Clermont-F., the track speed is excellent along all stretches of the Montpellier-Paris route. A. Option Using Montpellier Train Drive from Lagiole to Montpellier 2 hours 36 min (Michelin; quickest route selection) Montpellier-Paris TGV 3.5 hours (per SNCF website) Total: Around 6 hours If you choose the Montpellier route, you can dine very inexpensively at a hotel that has more than ten Roqueforts in its cheese selection. See my old posting under another M Bras thread. You can also visit Roquefort-sur-Sulzon and the caves where Roquefort (at least Societe and Papillon) are placed. Also, note that, if Jardin des Sens prices are unappealing to you, you could consider the bistro Companie des Comptoirs, where menus are indicated to begin at 38 euros. I dislike the Pourcels' cuisien at JdS, and have never eaten at the Companie in Montpellier (nor another Companie), so I would not recommend Companie. http://www.jardindessens.com/fr/restaurant.htm B. Option Using Clermont-Ferrand Drive from Lagiole to C-F (Michelin; quickest route selection) 2 hours 01 min Sample train today from C-F to Paris (are there TGVs?) 3.7 hours (per SNCF website) Total: Around 6 hours (slightly shorter, but not by more than 30 minutes) On drop-off charges, I have paid them with some companies. I am more limited in my rental of cars in France, because I can't drive manual.

IrishCream -- I had to type the information in, because the menu is on a brownish, quasi-translucent-type paper. It's not a problem, as I type very quickly. I had dinner at Bouchon after an unsuccessful, self-initiated wait for 2 hours at the French Laundry bar area. During that wait, I didn't want to read Keller's book for some reason (highly unusual for me), and just kind of rested. I also chatted with members of the dining room team from time to time. I drank some Billecart Salmon and the Laurent Perrier champagne (cuvee described in FL thread, this is $30/glass) available by the glass. I received a gougere and a small cup of cauliflower soup. The reception team indicated that chances were slim that somebody would have confirmed and yet not show up. However, I persisted for about 2 hours. I indicated to the team I was going to get some food at Bouchon, but that I remained reachable by mobile or through Bouchon. I had 1/2 dozen Malpeques and the blood sausage dish. The oysters were appropriate. The blood sausage was presented in its entirety and not in cross-section servings. It was appropriate too. The potato puree accompanying it was average. A decent by-the-glass selection was offered. Bouchon's cuisine shows no signs of its affiliation with FL, but the cuisine is passable, based on one visit.

John -- Could you discuss your implementation of the paper bag method? (Apologies that I do not know what that method entails)

I forgot to mention that the HK airport has a dim sum venue (not delicious, but there are limited alternatives).

John -- Thanks for the response. Poaching in plastic bags is an interesting technique. It has even been applied to eggs by Elena Arzak in Spain, in her egg flower with dates dish. She places a bit of white truffle oil in the poaching sac.

Matthew -- Going to Bras is moot unless you are visiting Barcelona after March. I believe we are in the middle of Bras' annual multi-month closing. He usually reopens sometime in April (?). Please verify the above prior to reliance. I was suggesting a direct train from Barcelona (if another member confirms the train station name) to Montpellier, as an alternative to Rodez as the train destination station. Barcelona Montpellier is only 4.5 hours, and you can drive for 3 hours. Rodez car rentals might be expensive (no information there). Note I am not indicating Montpellier coupled with drive is superior, just an alternative you should investigate. Montpellier has all the major car rental companies. If Barcelona-Rodez takes 10 hours (before counting the short journey from Rodez to Laguiole), but Barcelona-Montpellier-Lagiole takes 7-8 hours, the latter route would seem preferable. On accessing Paris from Lagiole, note that if you are renting a car from Montpellier, you would generally minimize costs by returning the car to the same location as that from which it was rented. Montpellier has a 3-4 hour TGV to Paris (please verify prior to reliance). A TGV might be more expensive than a regular train. The Bras website has room prices. I stayed two nights there. Rooms are quite beautiful, although I did not purchase the least expensive rooms. If cost is a concern, there are less expensive accommodations at Laguiole itself -- consult the Red Guide (Michelin). The rooms I occupied (different for each night, as I had reserved late) had white as their color theme. Comfy beds; light wood; very modern and clean looking. Nice expanse of window area (a sliding door and moor) looking out onto the landscape beneath. Each room I was in had a table with decorations of pressed flowers and other local objects beneath a glass protective sheet. I received a grey knapsack (with a Michel Bras white fern-like-item logo on the outside pocket of the knapsack) as a result of buying the room. I actually use that knapsack from time to time; it is not ugly. http://www.relaischateaux.com/site/us/Fich...age&RcCode=bras (picture from Relais & Chateaux does not do room justice) The difference between Space and Garden rooms is size and relative location within the Bras complex (i.e., views). The cheaper would be more than sufficient, but I have not yet occupied one. R&C suggests rate is 183-320 euros. The Bras website has more info.

Hi, John: I'd appreciate knowing whether you have had any poulet/poularde en vessie samplings or other observations since your discussion of the topic in your book.

Matthew -- While I have never gone from Barcelona to Laguiole, consider not just Rodez (check car rental pricing relative to larger towns), but also Montpellier (home of three-starred Jardin des Sens -- not offering good cuisine in my view). Montpellier is less than 3 hours' drive from Laguiole. There is a direct train, according to SNCF, at least once a day from "Barcelona Sants" (can a member confirm that is a main train station) to Montpellier, requiring 4.5 hours. Another member could perhaps advise on whether Barcelona-Rodez would require a markedly longer train journey.

Below is Bouchon's menu (T Keller's bistro in Yountville) as of last weekend. I do not believe the menu is yet available on-line: A. Fruits de Mer -- Seafood Grand Plateau (1 lobster, 16 oysters, 6 shrimp, 8 clams, 9 mussels, seasonal crab, special selection) $70 Petit Plateau (1/2 lobster, 9 oysters, 3 shrimps, 3 clams, 6 mussels) $36 Huitres, oysters $14/1/2 dozen Crevettes, shrimp $16/1/2 dozen Palourdes, clams $1.45/piece Moules, mussels $2.50/1/2 dozen Demi-homard, 1/2 lobster, market price Crabe, crab, market price B. Salades (French menu headings omitted going forward; English menu headings included) Mixed greens with Dijon mustard vinaigrette, warm goat cheese and toasted hazelnuts, $9.50 Watercress and pear salad with Roquefort, toasted walnuts and walnut vinaigrette, $8.75 Bibb lettuce with garden herbs, $7.50 Chilled leeks vinaigrette with egg mimosa, $8.95 Frisee salad with bacon lardons, poached egg and warm bacon vinaigrette, $9.75 C. Plats Principaux (Main Dishes) Leg of lamb with flageolets beans in a thyme jus, 19.95 A Pan-seared flatiron [steak] served with maitre d'hotel butter and french fries, 21.50 Roasted chicken with a ragout of wild mushrooms, 17.50 Blood sausage with potato puree and caramelized apples, 17.95 Pan roasted trout with lemon-brown butter, capers and haricots verts, 19.50 Sauteed Artic Char with braised artichokes, onions and sweet carrots, 22.50 Bouchot mussels steamed in white wine with garlic, shallots, saffron & mustard, served with french fries, 17.95 Sauteed herbed gnocchi with a ragout of mushrooms, winter sqaush & mushroom cream, 17.95 Open faced sandwich [tartine] served with french fries, 13.95 Toasted ham & cheese sandwich with a fried egg and mornay sauce served with french fries [Croque Madame], 14.95 D. Caviar (each 2 oz servings) with toasted brioche and creme fraiche Beluga $125, osetra $85, sevruga $60 E. Hors d'oeuvres Terrine of duck foie gras with toasted baguette, $45 (5 oz) Onion soup $7.50 Soup of the day $7.00 Quiche of the day $10.50 Garlic sausage with French green lentils $10.75 Cod brandade with tomato confit and fried sage $9.75 Rabbit rillette with prune compote and toasted croutons $11.50 Charcuterie Plate -- Rosette de Lyons, Jambon de Bayonne, Pate Maison $11.50 F. A La Carte French fries 3.75 Cauliflower gratin 4.50 Potato puree 4 Green beans 4.50 Sauteed spinach 4 Marinated olives 4.50 G. Cheese (served with honeycomb) $7.75 each; $9.75 for tasting portion of 3 cheeses Fourme d'Ambert Pave d'Affinois St. Maure de Touraine Tomme de Chevre Fleur du Maquis Reblochon H. Desserts Profiteroles -- Vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce $6.50 Lemon tart 6.00 Pot de Creme -- Infused custard 6.50 Creme Caramel 5.50 Ice cream/sorbet 1.50/scoop Dark chocolate mousse 6.50 Hope this is helpful.

Pan -- I trust Blue Hill with the bill, which I do not recall the total for. The on-menu tasting menu is $65, I believe, and includes 3 savory courses (not including the initial amuse), a pre-dessert and a dessert (?). You can ask Dan and Mike to cook for you dishes of their choice in lieu of the dishes on the on-menu tasting menu. If you are interested in lengthier chefs' choice menus, you could inquire about the possibility of that too.

I had a very good meal at Blue Hill recently. :laugh: Mike and Dan were both on hand, and the restaurant dining room and kitchen teams handled impeccably an unanticipated change in my dining plans. The meal led me to think I have not been to BH nearly enough of late. (1) Amuses: -- Hog Island oysters with grapefruit and citrus granite: Two wonderful oysters, their tastes of the sea sharpened by the muted citrus tones. -- Spanish mackerel, with celery and onion compote: This was an attractive tidbit, with a sliver of raw celery and the darkness of an onion compote that had tiny black raisins folded into them. The onion compote had a hint of a spice like cumin or cardamom (?). As usual, I began the meal drinking champagne. (2) Spanish mackerel tartare with pomegranate sauce: A nice choice of back-to-back Spanish mackerel, with the amuse bite having been nicely cooked and the first appetizer presented as dices in tartare. The tartare was lyrically presented in a square shape, with little bits of deep pink pomegranate flesh sparsely included on top. Chives and a bit of fleur de sel had also been sprinkled. Burgundy is my favorite color, and here the pomegranate saucing was a deep, mature pink. This dish was not only visually appealing, but also delicious This dish pleased me so. :laugh: The flesh of the mackerel was clear and impeccable in taste. A nice control of the acidity in the pomegranate, which also carried sweetness. (3) Maine scallops with chanterelles and leek sauce: This was a nicely executed dish, with an abundance of sauteed chanterelles (among my favorite mushrooms) and an appropriate leek sauce. Paired with a glass of Rieseling. A nice dish, but perhaps (only in a relative sense, to be clear) my leaste favorite dish of the evening. (4) Braised cod with cabbage and herring roe sauce. This is a relative of the bass with herring roe sauce dish I had sampled at BH with mlpc a few months ago (the bass dish was among the best dishes I have ever sampled there). A nicely constrained butteriness to the cabbage, and commendable utilization of smokiness in the saucing of the dish. The slow-cooked cod was perfect in texture -- with a bit of "crispness" and a great deal of flavor. Cod is not ordinarily a fish I go out of my way to order. At BH, however, I would definitely be most happy taking in this or any other cod dish. I liked this dish very much. It was paired with a white Burgundy, Montaigny. For reasons on which I would rather not expound, I had contemplated ordering a la carte at the beginning of the meal. I had had my eye on the braised cod (along with a baby beef dish that had been included on that night's tasting menu) as my entree choice. Although I ended up asking Mike and Dan to cook for me, they served up, without any hints from me, what I would have ordered explicitly :laugh: Could a restaurant be more endearing than that? (5) Violet Farms chicken with escaroles, carrots and black truffle sauce. Yes, the restaurant could serve me luscious chicken with fattiness of the skin exhibited. Three "round" compositions of chicken meat sections (it was white meat, but it was very smooth and had the flavor and intensity of dark meat) "wrapped" around escarole. The fattiness of the skin was outstanding, as was the quality of the chicken flesh. I would not have imagined carrots to be a tasty combination with black trufles, but at BH this combination was very appealing. A rusticity and slight sweetness from the carrots went well, for some reason I am further considering, with the black truffle sensations. I enjoyed this dish very much. (6) Apple terrine and gingerbread ice cream: This dish was fairly good, but I usually find gingerbread compositions at any restaurant a bit stark and this was no exception. (7) "Dollops" of Chestnut Puree with kumquat, and vanilla ice cream: A very promising dessert that included luscious, lukewarm dollops of chestnut puree. Granularity of the puree conveyed delightfully one of the key qualities of chestnut. Beautiful! Where this dish might benefit from a very minor amount of tweaking would be the kumquat, which were appropriate to add, but perhaps could have been cut up a bit more to be less strong relative to the chestnut puree. Nice utilization of vanilla ice cream for balance in the dish. (8) Avocado with Lime Sorbet and Caramel Tuile: A wonderful dessert. Diced, "just right" (with respect to ripeness) avocado bits were included in a circular-shape. Then, a caramel tuile and little curled ribbons of caramel that were nicely more elastic. The acidity of the lime sorbet was just right as well. A dessert I found to be very tasty. I really enjoy dining at BH.

I forgot to mention the menu overutilizes quotation marks. They are used not only for dish names that have a humor element or that describe a product presentation that is not in its commonly understood form (e.g., "Caesar Salad"). They are also used for non-English-language words, like "jus", "panna cotta", "foie gras", "brioche", "confit", "chiboust" and "farce a gratin". Foie gras shouldn't be in quotations.

Further thoughts -- -- What makes Keller's cuisine not as distinguished as certain three star cuisines in France is the relative sense of balance. Keller gets that better than any other chef in the US (except for Michael Anthony and Dan Barber, in my subjective assessment). -- Another aspect that distinguishes Keller's cuisine from that of, say, Boulud (although not necessarily that of Ripert) is that it is evidently aspirational, with all respect to Boulud. It embodies efforts at improvement and stretching. Some risk-taking too. -- I had watched the FN Bourdain episode on FL right before the weekend. Bourdain visited the restaurant with Ripert and two other chefs. This has happened to me before. I saw the Bourdain episode on Arzak a few weeks before going there. Each of the four diners received a different dish for every course in a very lengthy meal. In the episode, Keller reiterates that a cuisine cannot be perfect and that it represents a process of trying to achieve perfection. Stone: The $135 tasting menu did change noticeably from meal to meal. However, there are probably enough well-developed dishes in the restaurant's repertoire for even the changing dishes to be based on tested recipes.

Stone -- I agree. The sections suggested small navel oranges.

lizziee -- I meant: I do not own Keller's book. I don't know what recipes are included. I might buy it shortly.

It was quite sweet too. It was somewhere between the color of clementines and ruby grapefruit segments, but closer to the former color. It might have been a take on the classical pairing of apples and pork, but with an updated twist of citrus mingled in with the sweetness of the fruit.

chefg -- 7a. Have you reviewed the writings of Herve This, H McGee (spelling)? I recently noticed that This has a surprising number of published small books in French. 7b. Could you describe how the centrifuge might be utilized at Trio, and how prevalent the use of this device might be at other restaurants? How are ingredients loaded onto a centrifuge, and has Chef Achatz considered the effects of loading products at different temperatures into the centrifuge (understanding that only certain states can be loaded in)? 7c. What savory, non-ice-cream dishes might the Pacojet be utilized for at Trio? 7d. Have you eaten at restaurants of chefs that subscribe to molecular gastronomy (e.g., Gagnaire, Blumenthal)?

The carpets were not appealing, I remember. Also, the little "cloth" pattern above the fireplace on the ground floor's main dining room looked dated. This restaurant is not visually beautiful for such dining room. Other miscellaneous observations: -- An 18% service charge is added to all invoices. The invoices are nice, resembling an old-style laundry receipt with a little tear-off section and a piece of thin string attached. For other meals, I noticed adjacent diners complaining about the charge. I considered the service excellent, and more than deserving of the 18% and provided more. -- The restaurant's by-the-glass sparkling wine selection is currently (?): (1) Shramsberg (sic) -- is this from Champagne, (2) Billecart-Salmon, and (3) Laurent Perrier "Grand Siecle". I had the opportunity to sample all three, including during the two hours I sat at the bar area on Saturday night, waiting to see if a cancellation would materialize. The reception person provided an "unrequieted love" analogy. At least I received a gougere and a small, but very flavorful, cup of cauliflower soup for my efforts. Afterwards, I had a quick snack at Bouchon (oysters; boudin noir).