Mark Sommelier
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Posts posted by Mark Sommelier
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names may not build credibility but they do ensure that people are accountable for what they say.
Bingo!
I agree with you, too, Michael.
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Doc, I certainly agree with you and with Vinfidel that the wine industry could go farther toward making wine more approachable. But please. Calling food pairings stuffy and unnecessary? Well okay, maybe they are. But they can be fun, too.
Can you imagine what Virgin would do for beer? "Mircrobrews -- for Microbrains."
Thunderbird and Cheetos. What could be a better pairing than that?
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A friend of mine asked me about pricing mixed drinks, cocktails, etc., at his new restaurant. Any guidance or advice? I know about pricing wine (I sell it), but cocktails are a mystery to me.
Appreciate it...
Marty
Multiply the bottle cost by 5 and divide by 16 to get your drink price. Round it up to the nearest dollar. This ain't rocket science......
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. . . .. . . I've had some good and some bad dinners at the Beard House. Mostly mediocre to bad. Some chefs can pull it off.
. . . .
I've had but one meal at the Beard House and I didn't think it offered great value, but it's a charitable institution and value is not necessarily the reason to eat there. Interestingly enough, I had a dish there that I had previously eaten in the restaurant whose executive chef and sous chef were cooking that day. The biggest difference between the preparation of the dish at the Beard House and as served in the restaurant was the amount of foie gras in the stuffing. The restaurants donate all the food as well as the talent. Although the chefs complained about the facilities and the kitchen, they were able to replicate the quality of the restaurant's cooking. Sometimes Fat Guy nails the situation. An experienced and accomplished chef can produce great food under less than stellar conditions.
Some of this is true, Mr. Buxbaum. Did you know that sometimes the restaurants have all the food that they are going to present at the Beard house donated to them? The wine, too. The kitchen is notoriously small. Everyone attending the dinner has to pass through the kitchen. It isn't a lot of fun. There is some kind of exchange of money between chef and Beard house, but it isn't much and it isn't clear for what.
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Week 2 of the new and improved food section, this week introducing the beer column and featuring a "Worth the Trip" that might be news to somebody.
More interesting, retired-chef David Hagedorn shows up again, this time teaching us how to cook brunch. Not quite as bitchy as his Washington Post debut -- explaining why customers suck -- but a bit supercilious, shall we say, nonetheless.
My wife was gleeful about the rutabaga article, she'd been trying to foist those things on me for years. I've personally always thought that if the old Soviet Union had designed vegetables they'd have designed the rutabaga -- kind of the 4-door Lada of tubers. But if Patrick Connell says to buy a hundred-pound bag, I'm gonna...no I'm not.
It seems like the articles -- as opposed to the new features -- are showing a little more shimmer these last two weeks. Even Hagedorn makes a good read. The new features? I'm still liking them more in theory than in practice (I wasn't blown away by the beer guy, but he's off to a decent start), but I'm still liking them.
Looking better every week.
Charles,
Rutabagas, like every other thing, taste good as long as you use enough BUTTER
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Thanks, John.
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I think you would have to compare the walk-in at Ducasse to the walk-in at TFL to understand what he meant. Psaltis obviously has a walk-in fixation. He discusses it a few times in the book.
I think for people WHO READ THE BOOK that it's important to set the scene at the Laundry at the time. With Per Se going in NY he says a lot of the best chefs had gone and he was working with a kitchen in transition. It's all very clear IF YOU READ THE BOOK.
Attention Michael Ruhlman! This should be the subject of your next book. Famous Chef's Walk-ins. Yikes!
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When dining at a French restaurant the other night, my place setting included a fork, fish knife, and a very unusual-looking piece at my place. (I ordered fish and my husband, who did not order fish, also got that thing.) It looked like a small cake server with a little knick on one side near the tip. The knife and fork I know how to use, but what was that other thing? I’ve seen this utensil before, and have always been a little embarrassed to ask how it is used. This time, I asked our waiter how to use it, and he said you can use it a number of ways without giving me a direct answer. He was very nice about it, but I don’t think he knew either. The closest I could find on the web to was something called a fish server.
So etiquette lovers, what is that funny thing, and how exactly do you use it properly?
It's called a sauce spoon. In a formal French restaurant a clean one should be on the table throughout the meal.
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I think a more important question than the degree of "the slap" is whether or not Psaltis was fired because of it. We're still waiting for that answer.
I think the more fundamental question is, why is it such an affront to a chef to have someone lean on the pass? Should I take offense next time someone comes to talk to me and puts a hand on my desk? This is the stuff that gives chefs the rep of being more high strung than thoroughbreds. Get over yourself for godsake.
What I find bewildering is why DP chose to slap the kid's hand rather than, in the grand tradition of chefs since time immemorial, shout in a voice loud enough to be heard by the folks in the parking lot "Get your freakin' hand off the freakin' pass before I fire your freakin' freak-a-deak ass".
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Is it still heuriger season? Oh, man, those are... eat-'til-you-fall-off-the-bench happiness.
You might check out this thread, and this one...and this one.
Trezsniewski's sandwiches (on Dorotheergasse, off Graben, in Vienna 1) are cheap and delicious.
My parents raved about Drei Husarein (mentioned in one of those threads), last year. Not cheap, but evidently very delicious.
Mahlzeit! (bon appetit)
As a student in Vienna many years ago, Zu dem Drei Husaren was always a special treat. It was the first really luxurious meal I can remember. They had a spectacular rolling buffet that came to the table before you ordered main courses. I cracked up when the waiter carved my knodl (dumpling) tableside.
Great fun was the Augustinerkeller, under the Augustiner museum near the Staatsoper.
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These guys are more than just bartenders: Flair Bartenders
The bartenders at Kahunaville in the TI hotel in Las Vegas could do this stuff. It was amazing.
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I ate at the Bristol last year and was completely blown away. The setting, service and above all the food were magnificent. It definitely ranks as one of the great meals of my life. Raphael was exceedingly gracious, and we were given a tour of the kitchen and summer garden, plus a souvenir book about the history of the hotel. Every aspect of the dinner from start to finish was perfect.
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In Europe, McDonald's used to charge for ketchup.
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Bonjour, bonjour. I'm spending 3 days attending the Bordeaux Wine School. Could any of you please tell me where I should eat my dinners in Bordeaux? Nothing trop cher -- just a woman on her own looking for a relaxed atmosphere and good cooking (say, main courses about 20 Euros or less) and somewhere I won't feel like a freak eating on my own.
Anything else I should be sure to check out whilst there?
Thank you. - Freckles
I was there last month. Across the street from the school is L'Entrecote. They serve one thing there: steak and frites. 16 Euros. Excellent sliced entrecote with great fries, quick service, extremely busy. A must try is La Tupina. Great, simple Southwest cooking. I liked it so much, we ate there twice in 3 days. It's on the Quai de la Monnaie near the river. There are plenty of simple bistros along the pieton just past the Grande Theatre de Bordeaux.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...5083000343.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...5083000317.html
Steven? Others?
I thought it was a very interesting piece.
Thought the piece was "fair and balanced". DG's has been having some problems of late and D seems bitter.
David has been gone from DG for quite a while.
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In Wednesday's NYT food section, Robert Stehling of Hominy Grill notes that he doesn't own a food processor. He comments that some rather famous people have survived without one. I've eaten at Hominy Grill, and liked it a great deal, more than Per Se in fact, the price difference is about 6:1 BTW. Boiling in a plastic bag is nothing new. I bet Stehling doesn''t do it. I remember 20 years when an upscale restaurant in Hartford made a big thud with the concept, technique imported from France. I think the currently popularity has more to do with portion control and ability to hold at temp than the end product. Not to mention that I don't like boiled plastic in my food. Heck, it's the 37th year of pouched food, at least according to this
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/entertainmen...0et005000c.html
Japanese curry....
Again, if this is the technique Per Se uses to make those lobster bits (the ones I couldn't chew), they should hike over to Pearl Oyster bar and try a lobster roll. I don't think they boil in a bag.....
I feel the need to comment on this and the other recent comments about sous vide cooking. As someone who works in a restaurant that Monsieur Goussault has consulted in, I must re-iterate what Ms. Hesser's article itself stated: there is no boiling going on. This is very low temp cooking. It is much more complicated than just sealing food in a bag and heating it. There are many steps involved in the preparation of the foods involved, including searing in a pan at the start and before the food is served, cooling and heating in steps to achieve different effects. This insures the right texture and color. The temperatures involved are between 130 and 155 degrees Fahrenheit. I can personally attest that the results can be amazing and delicious if they are done correctly.
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The question was followed by "I'm on Atkins..."
An Atkins story related to me by a server from another restaurant:
Customer orders the steak and potatoes and says: "I'm on Atkins, so can you hold the potatoes and add extra steak?".
Yeah, right.
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I'm doing my research of all the well know patisseries I plan to visit while I'm in Paris this weekend and I've noticed that some are closed during certain weeks (if not the entire month) of August. Does anyone know why this happens?
The following are on the top of my list (and it's a big list). Could anyone tell me if any of them are currently closed and when do they plan on opening again? Thanks!
Laduree
Lenotre
Cador
Dalloyau
Stohrer
Fauchon
Pierre Herme
Angelina's
France goes on vacation in August.
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Had my first visit been in winter, I probably would tell Mark S. that he is nuts. I suspect that if I get a chance to visit in winter, I will fall in love with the place.
Michael
Michael,
I used to go every summer with friends. I found that either the water was too cold or that it was infested with jellyfish. One summer our one week stay coincided with horseshoe crab moulting season - smelly crab shells all over the beach and also in the waves like flying samurai swords. The traffic, as you mention is atrocious on the weekend. Mid-week is much preferable. Once at Grotto is enough. Rehoboth did have my favorite all-time restaurant name, though. A Chinese restaurant called "Wonton Desire".
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Old Ebbitt
Oceanaire
Tosca (at the bar, maybe)
New Big Wong in Chinatown (look at all the fish tanks, ask if Kim is working, she understands live food)
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Here is the repsonse of the "other" board:
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D.C. dining on a dime: 10 capital restaurants
in D.C. & DelMarVa: Dining
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No.