Mark Sommelier

At least for this prepartion of foie gras, I think a wine without the power and up front sweetness of this particular Sauternes might have been better. One wine, in particular, that I have preferred to Sauternes for foie gras pairing is Chateau de Variere Bonnezeaux from the Loire. Of course, some Bonnezeaux can also bring on the sugar depending on the producer. I've also enjoyed a 1990 baumard Quarts de Chaume with foie gras, but the prep of the food was much richer. On this particular evening, it was simply seared with a light fruit reduction. I seldom pair foie gras with Sauternes. The classic pairing is chilled foie gras d'oie en gelée with Sauternes (from Escoffier). For seared foie gras, I prefer riesling or gewurztraminer. The sweeter the sauce, the drier the wine. For savory preparations of foie gras, spatlese-auslese riesling is my choice. Since foie gras is normally served during a progression of dishes in a meal, I find that super sweet wine in the middle of dinner wrecks the palate for the wines that follow. That said, I'm sure the '75 de Fargues is a knockout. Better to try with a good Stilton or a banana split.

Krispy Kreme in Dallas going out, 3 day old stuffed croissants at Au Bon Pain in Dallas coming back. Lesson learned.

I flew last week from Washington DC to Jackson Hole, Wyoming via Dallas/Ft. Worth. The flight left at 7AM. Nothing but beverages were served on both flights, arriving well after lunch time in WY. Ditto the return trip, leaving at noon and arriving home at 10PM. The carrier was American Airlines.

This is true. The other part that most diners don't realize is that waiters get taxed according to a percentage of their gross yearly sales. There are still many places out there that pay out their waiter's tips every night in cash. More enlightened restaurants and hotels collect all charge tips and tax them and put them in paychecks, covering the tax obligation. Stiffing a waiter costs them double: that evening and on April 15th. I believe that automatic gratuities for large parties should be stated clearly on the menu.

Of course, Average Joe/Jane Consumer is terrified of "sulfates" in wine.

2 from my youth from restaurants in New York's Chinatown: "Remember your mother's advice" "Ignore previous fortune". not making this up.

ALL WINES ARE LOW/NO CARB. This is all marketing. Brown-Forman is not a small company. Google them to see what it is they sell. Or, click here: http://www.brown-forman.com/

The guys who run the outside club called Air are running it. Aria, Air, get it? I heard they are doing the catering for the entire gigantic Ronald Reagan Building.

I just returned from breathtaking Jackson Hole, Wyoming and the Jackson Hole Wine Auction. I'm curious if any others attended. It was a spectacular event with stellar wines, the greatest chefs in America and the largest group of professional sommeliers I've ever seen assembled.

Too bad its in Monkey County.

The problem with accepting reservations is that everyone wants to come at the same time. In DC, 7:30 is the magic time. Restaurants use reservations as a form of traffic control. It make no sense to have a place sit empty until "prime time", and then only do one chaotic seating. Today's economics demand that seating throughout the evening be maximized.

Wow, rough review. It almost seemed personal.

Rocks: 1) Triple retail is a stupid markup. Triple wholesale is more common. Liquor store wholesale prices are usually lower than most restaurant prices in DC. Interestingly enough, the Maryland State Supreme Court just struck down the law saying that everyone who purchases wine and liquor have to pay the same price. Distributors are free to make deals in Maryland (EXCLUDING MONTGOMERY COUNTY) like they can in DC. 2) You can say "blah blah blah" about the cost of carrying a large inventory and the cost of glasses and other items, but it is a real cost to the restaurateur. 3) Why does the restaurant get ragged about the markups? Why don't you bitch about the margins made by the distributor, supplier and importer as well? They all double the price along the way. This is why I prefer to deal directly with importers. Cut out as many middle-men as possible.

Interesting how this thread has developed. I'm interested to know how many other wine buyers have shaken off the influence of the large national suppliers, ie: Diagio, Brown Forman, Kobrand, Jackson Estates/Corterra, Mondavi. I have a 650 listing wine list. I specialize in small producer and hard to procure wines. If someone asks me for a white zinfandel, I have that, but I would really rather sell them one of my 30 rieslings. The restaurant side of it has gotten a lot more interesting in the last few years. They are under pressure to "move boxes". The discounts available these days are not to be believed. I shut up now, I get in trouble.

FWIW, the word "foodie" makes me shudder. I much prefer "gastronaut".

New Big Wong. Corkage is free.

Ummm...... I sure did. Nice to know that I have a fan or two after 25 years, though.

My thoughts on this subject are well known and well documented. I get paid a salary to create and MAINTAIN the list and wine cellar - this means taking in 2-300 cases of wine a month, stocking the cellar and keeping the winelist current daily, plus training the staff. I get paid a commission for selling the wine. BYO negates half my income and the restaurant's profit. 'Nuff said.

Please let me add my 2¢. I work in a very high end restaurant. Yes, the waiters pool the tips. In my place, I am not included in the tip pool. Let me address this first. The waiter you left the $100 tip for has to split it this way: 30% off the top for the busboys, food runners and expeditor. This leaves $66. Split 6 ways = $11. Minus taxes = $8.50. I am a professional sommelier. I have a salary plus commission on the wine sold. If I made your night more enjoyable than it would have been, you are free to show whatever appreciation you are willing to. Can't say more without getting into trouble. Let DonRocks finish this.

I can guarentee it wouldn't be Clos de la Coulée de Serrante. Prolly some kind of pinot grigio.......

One of the charming touches you encounter when opening a six pack of Leflaive white Burgundies is the card with vintage info, tasting notes and estimated time of maturity. Having recently purchased a case of 2001 Chevalier-Montrachet, the domaine recommends not opening the wine before 2007, or decanting it several hours ahead of service.

Absolutely true. And that's what primeurs are implicetely about (for the first growths for sure) : speculation. Ausone 2003 at Eur 325 is just plain laughable... Its interesting that in the mid 80's that's about what a CASE of Ausone cost.

Some interesting statistics about wine consumption in the US market. Beringer is #1 wine in US restaurants

Megu is a restaurant operated by Japanese people, and they call it Kobe beef on the menu, as is customary nowadays even when the beef isn't really from there. Bruni could have pointed this out, but then he'd need to do so in every review he writes where "Kobe" beef is served — and these days that's pretty common, and not just in Japanese restaurants. It would be rather tiresome to see this in review after review. The more appropriate place to say so is in a feature article about where so-called "Kobe" beef on restaurant menus these days really comes from, and if I recall correctly the Times did run such a feature quite recently. In that case, the menu should say Kobe style beef.

Thanks, sashimi. The same applies to "150 Year Old Grand Marnier". ça n'existe pas!!