jcsaucey

What exactly is deppanneur wine?

Oh my God veggrl, that show was hilarious. Chef Michael "What does organic mean?" Rubino. My wife and I watch the show for purly masochistic purposes, but that episode exposed him for the truly GIANT HACK that he is. Horrific.

James Chatto LOVES rain. He writes about their "inventive combonations" regularly and I believe gave them a four star review. The thing with Chatto is that he is well known, makes reservations under his own name or personaly pops by to talk to the chef before dinner. It is not anonymous reviews, but a personal favorites list. Perhaps Michael Rubino was confined to his coffin in the basement when Chatto ate there.

I love koshihikari rice. My employer brings it to me from Japan and it is the most gentle, beautiful rice I have ever cooked with. My question is: Is Koshihikari a brand, a rice variety or a style of growing? Thanks.

It is a personal list of Chatto's best dining experiences over the year. In the past five years the #1 spot have been The Fifth (twice), Eigensinn Farm, Susur, Avalon. All of these places are near or at the top of his list consistantly. Toronto Life pays the man for his personal opinion, not objective critique. See Ms. Kates for that.

For $85000US, the stove should be fucking waterproof!

Seaweed in a fruit smoothie is my cup of regularity.

C has a great little private room upstairs.

Sweet. I used to work with the chef-he's crazy, and one of the best cooks I've ever met.

Wow. Lesley C you rock! Where can a Vancouver Island boy read your column.

She managed to drop Stadtlanders name into yet another review. I swear she gets an extra nickle every time she writes his name. You could make a drinking game out of it. Paul Boehmer was his sous chef-about seventeen years ago.

I can't say for sure now. When I lived with the Stadtlanders in 2000, the answer was no. She fell in love with thoes guys in the 1980's and has never gotten over it.

I lived and worked in TO for a number of years. I for one am allways entertained by her reviews, and generaly she is bang on. However, for thoes who read her regularly, you will know that she has a list of favorates, and generaly her reviews are more hero worship or "love letters" to these chefs. I will say though, that her "boys" are indeed heavyweights.(Stadtlander, Lee, McEwan and her darling, Kennedy)

I live in Victoria, and lately I have been reading alot of great press about Perigee. Since I will not be able to go anytime soon, I must live vicariously through others.

This is true. Less Merlot-more Lemberger.

Try sauteing small flourettes in butter and a little olive oil. Once the butter starts to brown add some thinly sliced garlic and toss the mixture with breadcrumbs.Toss the pan in the oven and roast until it smells nice and finnish with some freshly grated parm-reg and parsley.

I second the Black Hills Note Bene. Cedar Creek has had two great vintages of Pinor Noir released under their Platinum label, their Meritage is also nice nice. Blasted Church has a great blend of chassellas,guwertz and optima called Hatfeilds Fuse. Great Price on the Blasted Church, the Cedar Creek is around 30 a pop-pretty steep for what it is. Sumac Ridge makes a great fortified called Pipe, which is probably my favorate overall BC wine.

I used to cook the tapioca out in a chocolate-anise milk. The tapoica units sucked the flavor right up.

For me the camp, costumes and commentaries - which some find unwatchable- come second to the fact that Kenichi, Sakai, Ishinabe, Kobe and Michiba are unbelievably tallented cooks, with technique that makes most North American cooks drop to their knees in awe. Has anyone ever seen the episode where the French IC's took on team China. A bombast of insperational high-wire cooking. Just watching the three French chefs peel potatoes in unison with their 17" slicers gives me chills.

Did anyone see the episode with Canadian Micheal Noble? I am curious how he made out? There was a Canadian Iron Chef one off this year in Toronto with William Shatner as the host, Susur Lee vs Micheal Bonoccini and the secret ingredient was Kellogs All-Bran cerial. Susur won.

Oh my god. I have not seen this episode. Who won and was Passard's food amazing?

Best dish of the year was a foie gras coarse with fennel and quince cooked by Sous chef Rob at C. The best thing I put in my mouth all year! Five mult-coarse dinners at Zambri's in Victoria.All of them soul sating creative Italian dreams. One three hour tasting menu at Taka before the chef split. A revelation in complexity and technique.Halibut jello comes in a close second to Rob's foie.

While living in Toronto a few years ago I briefly dated a Japanese actress who was a judge on two episodes. She entertained me with detailed and amazing stories of meals in two and three stared restaurants from around the world. I would say that she knew a lot about food and truly lived a fabled epicurian lifestyle. However, when I finally saw the episodes she was on, her voice over shrill and comments cut short, she did not come across as the gastro goddess I met. The whole show is chopped pretty poorly as a whole. I would love to see the chef's actually execute their dishes from start to finish. Just when something really cool is happening they do a quick cut to the judges booth where someone makes a joke and everyone else giggles. I would love it if someone releases an Iron Chef DVD someday. I would also add that Bobby Flay's big ugly fried food was far below the caliber of Morimoto's in both matches.

Bolognese on polenta-once a day every day.