bourdain

In Europe, to gain even one star is quite an accomplishment. Zagat, on the other hand, rates hundreds of restaurants, from ADNY to Gray's Papaya. To compare Michelin and Zagat is really apples to oranges---they are doing different things, for very different audiences. I think you miss my point. Look for some very aggressive "competition" .

Sunset's good LATE--when it's not all passengers waiting for their flights--and there's little air traffic. Much more local crowd--and reggae bands that sound better the more you drink. For sheer novelty value,and cheap drinks it IS a good place to wait after you check your luggage in. You can get drunk, watch the idiots stand right behind the turbines, and you'll know exactly when your flight arrives as it comes in right over your head. On departure day, I always check in my luggage VERY early--to avoid the lines, then hang at Sunset drinking. Citrus has a new chef, so I don't know the situation there now. But I highly recommend buying a bunch of freshly made French and local sausages at either Match, Supermarche Dupont or one of the fine local butchers in Marigot and bbqing em on the beach. The pre-made satays aren't too bad either. Strangely--for an island--the fish is pretty crappy. The local snapper is tough (and usually frozen). The lobsters are good--as are the crab backs. Almost everything else comes in frozen from Florida. The best seafood (for bbqing) is at Supermarche Dupont--but in typical French style--you gotta wait for the delivery to come in (usually Thursday or Friday). It varies wildly--and can be either a bounty of great stuff fresh from Brittany--or some really reeking crap. The VERY popular Lee's Deep Sea Fishing restaurant in Simpson Bay is to be avoided at all costs. Same jokers you saw on the plane--only sunburned--and increasingly bad food. Best lobster is at Uncle Harry's on the airport road--in the back of a scary-ass looking boatyard. I'd stay away from Thai or Vietnamese.

Very little good snorkelling left on St Martin--as most of the reefs are dead. Better to take a day trip over to Anguilla's Shoal Bay for that. There is (or was) still good snorkelling off Grand Case--around the prominent rock called "Creole Rock" You can get someone to take you out there for a few bucks by the Grand Case Beach Club. Around the rock at the end of the beach at Baie Rouge ( swim right) is some nice--but not exactly teeming snorkelling--and there's a nice little beach unreachable by land. For food? See earlier posts--but Marigot--if you look hard enough--has some good spots. You might try Bistro Nu or Le Plongoir there. Best market for shopping is Supermarche--right before the bridge to Sandy Ground: Lots of straight-from France meat, charcuterie, cold cuts, cheese--and the best baguettes nextdoor at the bakery. Grand Case? Le Cottage is not bad. Near Mullet Bay--by the casino is Temptation--high end "caribbean fusion". Ribs at Pedro's on Orient Beach...or at Johnny B Under the Tree. Best beaches, in order: Baie Rouge, Cupacoy, Prune, Baie Longue. Best hotel: La Samanna (pricey) Less pricey, Le Petit Hotel in Grand Case. MUST AVOID: Pelican--and anywhere near it. You'd just as well go to Florida. Ditto Maho area. Good bars: Sunset Beach Bar, by the airport...Dinghy Dock near Oyster Pond. Dancing? In Marigot --VERY late. Just follow the THUMP THUMP THUMP to the hot places. And don't forget Hilma's Windsor Castle for lunch. (see earlier posts here for directions) Local, cheap, supercasual--and Hilma knows EVERYTHING about the island. Unless you like seeing tiny German penises on display, crowds, chair service and water sports--avoid Orient for anything but a look. It's crowded, commercial--and gets uglier every day.

This should be interesting--if only to see the Zagat Family reaction.

accelerated spiral

Admin: the below merged in from a thread entitled "HESSER SWINGS THE AXE AGAIN" Full disclosure: I'm good friends with Eric Ripert, the consulting chef at Geisha. I like and admire Geisha chef Michael Vernon. I consider sushi chef Kazuo Yoshida to be one of the city's best. So that's where I'm coming from... I'm confused and dismayed by a couple of things about the dyspeptic Ms. Hesser's latest swipe. First, this: "The changes have injected great energy and humor into a restaurant space that was once fairly staid." Okay...great. The place was boring before. Now it's hopping. But apparently, it's hopping with the "wrong" people: "..there is one thing the owners have not managed to change: the crowd. Geisha draws the same ambitiously dressed, heavily jeweled young men and women who packed the place when it was Gertrudes..." Uh oh. Can't have that. All the good words about the food to follow seem insignificant after that damning judgement. Am I wrong? Or is this just snobbery? Sure. The place is packed--with people I probably wouldn't want to hang out with either. And yes. The service sucks. She's right. But the food! The food! Remember that stuff? The sushi at Geisha--eaten alone in the quiet time during lunch--or in the middle of an overdressed horde of air-kissers deserves much much better than "prepared competently". That's simply wrong.Yoshida is a hotshot of high reputation serving excellent sushi from top flight products. This was a sloppy,gratuitous slap. I generally agree with Hesser's assessment of the hot side. That the cooks are "very good" (particularly considering the crowds), that one can and usually will eat very well at Geisha. She seemed to like it. So how come one insulting star? In a city filled with gratuitous two stars? This is a solidly two star restaurant. As far as the "heavily jeweled" Sex In The City crowd? Aren't they exactly the target audience for the gruesome Mr. Latte chronicles? It's okay to write books for them I guess--as long as they don't linger nearby when you're eating. I invite other eGulletteers to try Geisha. Once--as suggested by Hesser--during the early hours--and once during full mosh-pit mode. And be sure to try the sushi. Then let me know if you agree or disagree. I think they deserved better than this.

Is there any way to pull up or link to a piece Hesser did a few years back chronicling her bar crawl across London sampling absinthe? It was a truly superb piece of writing--and an indicator, I think, of what she's capable of. It's a tough situation for Hesser--the very writing for which she is most reviled (the Latte stuff) has probably been at the same time the most rewarding and lucrative. The restaurant critic gig is a death sentence for most any writer--it's like spending too long writing Penthouse Letters; bad for your sentences. (And in Hesser's case--spectacularly bad for her Q rating among chefs and restaurateurs--an astonishing number of whom are now ready to drive her out to Fresh Kills and dig a hole). Not that Amanda cares or should care what the hell I think (or what anyone thinks for that matter), but if I were her? I'd get the Hell away from the whole Times style book. I'd take a year off, travel far far from New York. And I'd write. I'd write like a demon--whatever I felt like writing. And I'd drink more. If you sift back through all the "Fun With Mayonnaise" and "Perfect French Fry" articles--and the insipid Latte shit--there's a really good writer in there somewhere. The New York restaurant world--in fact the WHOLE restaurant world--is like an extended, inbred, hillbilly family. Hesser needs to get some fresh--or at least different--air. Drop her in Myanmar--alone--with a gallon jug of Fleischmans and about a hundred twenty bucks? And I'd bet she'd come back with some good stuff. Of course, that's my answer to everything.

Residuals? Dream on. That was a freebie. I doubt even Rocco gets residuals.

Years ago, I was part of a couple of harmless soft news or publicity type segments that filmed me "marketing" at the Union Sq Greenmarket. Once--when we went in without permission--we were immediately swarmed by security types. The other time, we had to go through a rigorous application approval process. They seemed very concered about content-and supposedly "some of the farmers don't want to be on camera". Looking back, I wonder what they were really afraid of. Some hard reporting needed here.

The former director of the Union Square Greenmarket makes some long overdue observations about the dismal state of the Union Square Greenmarket on today's editorial page. It IS shameful that New York City should lag so far behind other cities. And chefs have been relatively silent on the growing "muffin/cider and flower" predominance in what should be among the most diverse and interesting markets in the country. After an initial burst of enthusiasm a while back, I stopped buying much of anything for the restaurant there for the restaurant a long time ago. And even as a source of inspiration, the place now lags. Sour grapes or not, the writer makes a lot of very good points--and offers some potentially useful suggestions. The Greenmarket has been getting a free pass from chefs and consumers for too long--so happy were we with the concept. Time to start griping. Loudly.

Finally! Someone is asking the BIG questions.

Just finished The Epicure's Lament by Kate Christensen. Only marginally food-related but wonderfully entertaining and well written.

It's real. Chuck Palahniuk did a funny--and frightening piece on it.

The Testicle Festival

Yeah. A summer job at IHOP. It was pretty cool.

Hate hearing this about the DC store. And not for the first time--by a long shot. Both DC and Coral Gables have for some time been treated within the company as bastard children--perhaps too far removed from central for the kind of constant vigilance required. During my full time reign at the Park Ave shop--I always resisted any entreaties to expand my portfolio with any responsibility beyond m four walls--and fought like dog to keep any of my prime staff from transfer. Very recently, however, the chef of the NYC mothership, Gwenael Le Pape has begun moving regularly between stores--there is relatively new and better management (as opposed to a truly wretched one a while back) and I hope you'll see some marked improvement. I feel your pain--believe me--and all I can suggest is that if you get an overdone steak-- send it back and demand a new one. Letters to Les Halles mgmt in New York via website ARE read and DO make an impression.

Yes, I say. Yes! And ditto on Dara M. She's great.

Said chef takes any successful or "signature" dishes with him/her--as well as any other good ideas/recipes picked up along the way. Also the more talented of the kitchen staff.

I'm quickly becoming a big Busboy fan

Like Busboy said.

In my personal 9th circle of Hell, an indifferent, long time kitchen employee from a Hilton banquet department (breakfast shift) is cooking recipes from Roxanne Gold and Charlie Trotter's RAW. There's a cigarette machine--and even a smoking section in the Philippe Starck designed dining room. But only Menthol Light 100's are available. Geraldo Rivera is the floor manager--and I am prohibited from beating him with the nearest blunt object--or plunging my butter knife into his neck-by the security team of righteous young Christians who hover nearby, spouting verse.. Eternal mood music is provided by Neil Diamond, made more unbearable by the fact that my tablemates, Donald Trump, Fred Durst, Anna Nicole Smith and Sam Donaldson seem to like it--and keep tapping their feet and singing along. Karaoke is a constant threat. And I flew in on American Airlines. Coach .

Sorry. It's over for the knife. Grind away all you like--it'll never be the same. Get a new one. Then find the perpetrator and use the old one to rudely hack out a kidney.

"Bruni may very well do a great job as critic, but I wouldn't invoke RW Apple. Am I alone in not particularly liking his work? " "If this is the same guy - well what do all of you think this means in terms of the position of the head Food Critic for THE NEW YORK TIMES (again - said in deep serious voice)? What credentials does this guy have for this job? Asked in all seriousness. I have nothing against homosexuals - I am a design/art freak - so - of course - some of my best friends - etc. But having a deep interest in homosexual issues - or being homosexual - isn't in any way a qualification for being the lead food critic for THE NEW YORK TIMES - in my humble opinion. " " I have a very soft spot for RW Apple for two reasons: 1) He's used his enormous--nearly inestimable power at the Times to do what he wants--which is eat well all over the world and write about it. I mean--this is a guy who at the height of his power, could pretty much walk into the oval office without knocking. You have to admire that THIS is what he's chosen to do in "retirement". 2) People I know who showed him around or helped him "research" his articles are in absolute awe of of his amazing appetite, his relentless curiosity and his sheer stamina. He had a pal of mine in Singapore folding at the knees. Still shaking his head admiringly at the swathe Apple cut through town. Apparently, as a robust and adventurous eater? He makes me look like a pussy. 3) He may not qualify for Food Nerd--or poet laureate--of the year, but the man has enjoyed, during his long career, more and better legendary meals and wines than the cumulative experience of everyone on this board. So what's not to like? As far as Bruni? Sounds like an eminently good choice. Outsider. Comes over from the news side. Likes to eat well. Knows what it's like to eat well. I see nothing to inspire fear, dread or wild speculation. As far as the "homosexual issues" shit robyn mentions? What the FUCK are you babbling about?!! I'm about the hardest guy in the world to offend. You've just done it. That is some ignorant shit oozing out of your keyboard..

Filing false or frivolous lawsuits and further clogging the already crowded dockets solely for purposes of publicity would be--to say the least--illegal. Judges tend to NOT like that--even in housing court, where lawyers will use court dates to "collect" rent. The lawyers involved would risk contempt and censure--and NBC would be vulnerable--to say the least--to criticism. Also: EVERYBODY says the suits are real. They've hardly been a good thing for Rocco--regardless of who wins or loses ultimately. He is reported--reliably--to be very unhappy about the way things are playing out. And the whiny interviews with him describing his Mom, "crying in the corner" make him sound like Michael Jackson, complaining about the"devillish" Tommy Mottola "conspiring" to make sure his records don't sell. The show stopped filming quite a while back. And if you know anything about the principal "actors" in these suits--its all too believable. Most would say inevitable. ( Chodorow IS a near Satanic figure by many estimations. These were lawsuits waiting to happen) So this idea that it's all publicity is nice conspiracy theory-and makes a certain kind of shameless sense (in a grassy knoll kinda way)--given what we've seen of this whole hideous, shameless enterprise from Day One. But are DiSpirito and Chodorow privately high-fiving and laughing all the way to the bank about this as NBC amps up the publicity machinery? No. The only winners here--as usual--will be the producers of yet another relatively low-cost "Humiliate Yourself So You Can Get On TV" reality series (and likely NBC), who will be happily, heedlessly driving on to the next concept, ( "Who Wants To Hit Their Own Dick With A Hammer?"pehaps?), while their credulous all-too willing stars/subjects sort themselves out of the wreckage. Chodorow will certainly survive--and likely find a way to use it all to his advantage. Surely he can afford the losses and make profitable use of the Rocco's space by putting in another typically soulless outpost of his evil empire. Rocco, on the other hand has a long climb back. He's diminished his "brand" for the long term. Turned a lot of stomachs. Ensured his whipping boy status for any and all lazy journos looking for a story that writes itself. Hurt his flagship Union Pacific. Not made enough money to justify the costs as being a "final big score". There's a wonderful little morality play here--but I get no satisfaction from it. Rocco's a talented guy who's relegated himself--in the space of little over a year--to that particular corner of restaurant pariah-dom once occupied by David Ruggerio (and Jeremiah Tower). The Big Show, in my opinion, is when Ducasse and Chodorow finally realize who they're bunking with. Now THAT will be something to watch.

Fascinating fascinating article on front page today's Times.