viejo majadero

Lou The other couple will bring an 81 Clos du Val and a 76 Chappelet. See ya soon Mr. Majadero

Did anyone attend? Was at the Chelsea Piers. What were your impressions likes and dislikes? Viejo

Lou You need not do anything special. Your menu and specials should reflect your style. We like lamb, veal, duck, beef, fish. etc and (foie gras) All people going are food knowledgeable and wine knowledgeable with diverse tastes. One food allergy to peanuts and peanut oil. Viejo

Just a few random Rendezvous ( R ) comments Can't attest to any other methods in Memphis, but ( R ) cooks their ribs without any seasoning. Prior to serving they mop the ribs with hot mixture of 50% water and 50% vinegar. Then they shake on the dry rub and serve. Been there three times, guest of Memphis residents. Being famous and sought out by tourists does not make food good or bad. Third visit was with my wife. Went to the cooking area and asked if there was MSG in the rub. They said no. Wife is allergic to MSG. Kicks off migraine. Before the meal was over I had to rush her to the hotel room. Gave her an Imitrex shot in the keester and put her to bed. Boy was I pissed. Bought a jar of their rub and took home. MSG is an ingredient. Poured it out on counter and separated the parts. Used what I could discern and added my own thoughts and made my own blend, sans MSG and a little hotter than ( R )s. Viejo

Ok, then. Chateau Yquem just released this year its 1997. White and 42 months on 100% new oak. As Ricki Riccardo would ask, "Splain me that thin? Viejo

Chef Lou Pick two. I will bring those two. If for some reason one is bad the other will be a backup. Remember my friend will be bringing wine also. I hope to see him at a wine tasting in NYC today so I can resolve what he is going to do. As for whites there will probably be none. As for glasses. I will bring Spiegelau. Using your Riedels makes me nervous. Viejo

You are so right. That is why my friend will be bringing some also. Need to be prepared for a possible deficit

Actually -----four

Ok Chef Lou 1984 Ridge Monte Bello 1994 Joseph Phelps Insignia Silver Oak - Alexander Valley 1985 1986 1987 1989 1994 1995 Silver Oak - Napa 1992 1993 1994 Viejo If my friend will provide me a list I will inform you also.

An important issue is time. Without going into too much science, the wine is a mass. The mass retains it's temperature longer than the air around it. So, your room may be 78 degrees but your wine may have only increased 5 or ten degrees. But, there is a more positive note that needs to added. While the circumstances you described may not put the wine in the "perfect" environment, wine is not as fragile as most believe. As to your cause theory. Why would you need to have a light on in an empty room? Generally speaking light is not a friend to wine. Good luck, I would relax and enjoy

My experience has been that it is reasonable. Zagats says it is reasonable. I have not looked at it for a while At lunch I usually have wine by the glass.

Had lunch today with friend at Sonoma Grill Todays Specials read as follows; First Course Asian Barley Soup, barley, blend of Chicken and Duck stock, Bok choy, shitacki mushrooms, and etumame (not sure of spelling). $6.00 Main Course Scallop Risotto, with corn, napa cabbage, and roasted beets. $15.00 Pan-Roasted Black Grouper Filet, jasmine rice, snow peas & roasted poblano sauce. $18.00 Chilled (Grilled) Duck & Soba Noodle Salad, with sesame-soy-garlic sauce & baby spinach. $12.00 Dessert Chocolate Espresso Mousse Profiteroles, jamaican rum ice cream & raspberry coulis $7.00 I had the grouper. A first, while I like jasmine rice I felt the rice needed some enhancement. It alone was wonderfully fragrant but was lacking enough flavor. But when I took a piece of the fish, crispy skin, and dipped some poblano sauce along with the rice I knew I was wrong. The snow peas were perfectly cooked crsip. This light dish was very enjoyable. As noted previously lunch comes with a free salad . Todays vinaigrette was blended perfectly by the way. A basket of crusty bread, focacchia, corn muffins, spicy jelly, herbed/spiced butter, and olive oil. I ate too much focacchia so could not finish my desert. For desert I picked from the menu Warm Pecan Tart w/ vanilla Bean ice cream. It came atop a beautiful solid green plate dressed with mint, strawberrys, and a pansy flower. Going to eat the balance after dinner. Another winning meal at Sonoma Grill. Thanks Peter and Stavros Angelakos!!

Hey folks, I am Majadero and tough to like.

Lou If you are talking about Kim -- I think we can agree to disagree If you are talking about Pete Ganz you must know I generally trash Cafe Matisse because I think it is more of a tourist attraction/every day diners great place. I just cannot take it seriously. Cute, pretty outside, romantic, OK !!!! but food level is not very good. Viejo PS- Got your email and will post wine choices to your restaurant thread for you to pick from. Will be meeting my friend at wine tasting tomorrow. Will discuss his picks.

Have large collection to drink (900) and many friends with more than I have and greater depth of age. Usually decant and pour myself so wine service is excellent. Usually bring my own glassware. Not a bother to me. Can use in a business setting. Have done so many times. Matching wine with food is great in theory, but then all at your table pick such diverse foods it is practically impossible to match them all, so you order safe wines that you could have brought in the first place. Kim you really don't see it from a diners perspective. You see it from Kim's perspective and therefore you cannot be wrong. But I am a diner also. I see it very differently. So for me I am right also.

Rock you said, "QUOTE Rock So are you agreeing that high end excludes restaurants with no wine list? I tend to say yes although I would hesitate to limit what I would consider to be high end in terms of quality just because a place is BYO. One of my very favorite restaurants in NJ - Cafe Abbraci in Metuchen is a BYO and I visit there normally at least once a month and would consider them top notch quality but probably wouldn't ever describe the place as high end. I think quality of food, presentation, service and atmosphere are still the most important features in judging an establishment. However I agree with Kim that the overall aura of "high end" for what I tend to think of as "special occassion restaurants" (some I which I have listed in my previous post) is somewhat absent when one needs to bring in a bottle or bottles. I will also always wait until after I have made my choice of food before ordering wine in order to pair the wine of choice with my/our meals(I am far from an expert in this area but I do enjoy it) - an aspect of dining which becomes limited when you need to bring your own." ________________________ So based on what you noted above, Scalini Fedeli which was on your quick top ten, became "high end" when it got a liquor license?

Rock So are you agreeing that high end excludes restaurants with no wine list?

Kim By your definition of high end "( to me this means serious about food, service, wines, atmosphere, not price) " , could you list for me 10 places in New Jersey that you feel fits that description?

C/W Spenser Actually was writing about both. Viejo

Well, if I had to define high end I would have have to say it had nothing to do with quality of food, service, or whether it had a liquor license. It would only be the per capita cost on my bill. Having to define the cut off is more difficult. Perhaps about $45.00 per person approaches high end.

Le Rendez-vous was on my list of favorite restaurants, but I am inclined to take it off. Just had dinner there last Saturday. There is something amiss. Over the last few visits my wife and I have noticed a decline. As Rosie noted, bread was lacking. The herbed bread was doughy, like it has not been put through a double rising. They serve olive oil which is not a problem but they serve about a third a third of a shot glass full in one tiny (dish). The first person who poured out the oil left none for the rest of the table. Never got a refill without asking all evening long. I started with foie gras. There was plenty of liver on the plate but overall the entire dish was so cloyingly sweet the seared liver got lost. My rack of lamb was just ok but boring. My wife's dish was a pork tenderloin special that was in a mango sauce. That too had no depth of flavor. There were four people attending to this little room and service was wanting. The something I cannot put my finger on is management. This is my second visit in which the proprietors Sami & Beatrice were not there. The gentleman running the place is the chef, but he is not cooking he is seating people. For $100.00 plus for dinner for two with no wine I expect a heck of a lot more than I got in food quality and four people serving about 10 tables should provide the best of service.

There is something we are touching upon here that still is an enigma. My wife asked me to book a restaurant in the greater Union NJ area. That was Wednesday morning for a Saturday seating. Called Jocelyne's of Maplewood first. Their entire second seating was already booked. Best I could get was well before 6:00 for a first seating. Then called Le Rendez-vous in Kenilworth. Same thing. Second seating already booked. I took a 6:15 out by 8:30 seating. These types of restaurants (both BYO's if there is meaning to that) seem to be doing very well. When I left at 8:30PM there was only my table available and there were plenty of people que'd up to get in. Kenilworth is not high end affluent.. And both of these restaurants are 45 minute drives from my home. As an aside, I think I may take Le rendez-vous off my top list. Dining experience there keeps getting progressively worse. _______________________________ C/W Spencer Speaking if Rendezvous Miss Charlie Vergos place. Need my slab once in a while. Bought a jar of his dry rub. Poured it out on a sheet of wax paper. Went through it picking out the herbs and spices I could recognize. Made my own version. Still tweaking it. Mine is a little hotter than theirs. Viejo

I have really enjoyed reading this thread. Well written and thought out commentary. Rail - you made me laugh. I live in Kinnelon. As I have stated on this and other forums many times. I live in "Culinary Hell!!!!" and there are few more affluent communities in New Jersey. I still do not understand it. At the gate to Smoke Rise there is a restaurant called Lotsa Pasta, it clearly represents my food dilemma. They are putting up million dollar homes all around me and this is what I get to choose among. Hell Hell Hell

Nockerl Thanks for responding. Viejo

My original commentary to Nockerl was pulled by Rosie. What I wrote was satire but Rosie can make that call. First, I did not know Knockerl was really Bonom. I do not wish to belabor the time issue as I have eaten at the Manor many times more than Nockerl and can only conclude it was an aberation, and he rightly so made issue of it. But the issue raised by Nockerl "" For that kind of money every diner should have "a more personal experience." No excuses."" warrents comment. First I clearly wrote "a stranger to the place would be treated extremely well," not sure how much more than extremely well Nockerl expects. My having a more personal experience means I know the players personally and obviously Nockerl does not. Second, I do not understand the " for that kind of money comment". Is Nockerl suggesting that the quality of service is based on pricing? At $50.00 a head I get --A-- service but at $35.00 only --B Minus? If Nockerl is in the mood could you please add your opinion of the Manor's wine list. There was no mention in your review. Thanks Viejo _______________________________________ Quote Nockerl ____________________ (viejo majadero @ Apr 26 2003, 08:29 AM) But, a stranger to the place would be treated extremely well, and I would have a more personal experience. Nockerl For that kind of money every diner should have "a more personal experience." No excuses QUOTE Viejo "I was surprised at the Bonom comment about waiting 10 minutes to be acknowledged. Maybe it felt like 10 minutes?" Nockerl No, it was 10 minutes. I checked my watch when we walked up to the podium. It would be poor reporting to write that I waited 10 minutes had I not. David Bonom Edited by Rosie