Mark Sommelier

Huh? Me am stupid. Not get. Rocco not real charismatic geniushead likeable sex symbol with integrity? Rocco actually fake jerky cheeseball sellout climber trapped in Matrix? These are my favorite posts so far. Me stupid too.

Wow. That is ominous. What was it? A review of Hardee's? Bruce LOL

The problem is, you have to eat a freakin' lot of them to make a proper snack.

That was the saddest part of the episodes I've watched - That kid 'Frankie' claimed he was 10. Shall we wager on when this reaction formation breaks down and he comes out? High School or college? As anyone who lives in New York can tell you, smart mouth 10 year olds are a dime a dozen.

The lead-in show, Law and Order, is kind of food related, too. Vincent Donofrio is the biggest HAM on TV.

"Did you see the BLEEPING BLEEP? BLEEP me!"

The Amex ad where Rocco says "staff turnover is high" bugged me. Yes, staff turnover is high in crappy restaurants. I work in a high end restaurant that is included in Relais Chateaux and Traditions et Qualité. We haven't hired a new waiter in 5 years. We haven't hired a new busboy in 4 years. Cooks are differerent, because they take the experience they gather in one or two years and move up. Many things were disturbing about this last episode. I have never in my 33 years of restaurant experience seen a waiter demoted to a dishwasher. I have seen many proposals at work, never with the circus atmosphere that was depicted here. The trip to the Hamptons was suspect. There seem to be tons of employees there. The group that made it out there was small. The most shocking detail was the last minute - Rocco will be back. The Restaurant, Part Deux.

Geeks 'n freaks.

Popped in to Bistro du Coin tonight for the "Round Table". Late night, after work, restaurant talk kind of thing. Most of my favorite people showed up. I met some great new people. I ordered the mussels poulette. The mussels were perfectly cooked. More perfect than I can ever remember eating mussels anywhere. Lightly poached, they had more of an oyster like texture. It was a revelation. The sauce, once you finish the shellfish becomes a cross between an incredible soup, and a great sop for the baguette. Cream, butter, white wine. garlic. What's not to like?The steak tartare that followed could not be faulted. The frites could have been better. You have to love the atmosphere here. Almost everyone at the table was a chef or a sous chef ,except me, of course. The topic tonight ended up on the stupid "Restaurant" show on NBC. Some of these boys had worked for Rocco. I will repeat what I said on the thread in Food and Media about this show: I, too. would act stupid on TV for $2 million. Too bad eGullet doesn't have spycams in the dining rooms around the city.

Bill Russell wrote: "Well, I can make a pretty servicable steak and potato at home, but I'm not sure that I could pull off a tasty slime envelope. " Bill, If someone handed you a testube and said "Essence of the Ocean", and it was calamari, sea urchin and one oyster put in a blender, would you eat it? Right, neither would I. Wabeck would. Once.

So now not only has Rocco jumped the shark, he's just the ramp someone else will drive up over to jump the shark. It will probably be fun to try and predict who these people are, but also probably a bit of a bummer. I just hope Bourdain is working on his pal Ripert, who seemed a bit enamoured of the concept when Rocco was doing it, to STAY THE HELL AWAY. Eric Ripert is a friend of mine. We worked together for several years in the basement of the Watergate Hotel. He's too smart to do a "Rocco".

Bilrus, Consider that one of the following is true: 1) Débec Fin - Kats serves us one of those large, white plastic soup spoons, and instructs us to 'walk with it to the bathroom, stick it all the way in the back of your throats, and ... gag yourselves!' "But why," I ask. At that point, I get backhanded by JohnW, who turns toward me with his head hung low, beet-red, ashamed to even look at the chef, and admonishes me in a raspy whisper, "Umami, you Philistine." 2) Cinq Sens Saint-Saens Sans Sens - Kats offers us a plate, then prompts his assistants to walk around behind us and place the headphones on. Sure enough, Saint-Saens' second piano concerto is now playing in our ears. We look at Kats who smiles and nods, and we begin nibbling our course. I look over at JohnW, and he's counting to himself on the fingers of his left hand, and I can see him mouthing to himself, "Taste ... smell ... sight ...." 3) Serviette Truffée - Kats advises us to 'take a bite of this course and then ... smell your napkin! ' I reply, "But why?" "Because it's truffled!" So we're sitting there, whiffing our napkins after each bite of food, and JohnW turns to the chef and asks, "Are these white or black truffles?" Now, you tell me whether or not it was fun! Gimme a damned steak and baked potato and cut the crap. What is fun about sucking slime out of a glassene envelope or watching someone shootup your lobster claw with a syringe? Sick fun, maybe.

I don't think doing a second series as damage control for the first is a very good idea I don't think he comes across as manaical. For 2 million dollars I would act stupid on TV also. The scene when the little light bulb in his head went off and he said "captain service" sent me and my friends into gales of uncontrolled laughter.

Avoid the Maryland House rest stop on 395 just over the border. Its rough and sub-par. Make a detour into Baltimore and have grilled branzino at Black Olive.

No, dear, $10 an hour and no health insurance is despresso.

Mrs. Kluge did the unveiling party for the New World Red at Citronelle. Michel Rolland is the consulting oenologist. The wine is pleasant tasting. The vines are incredibly young - 3 years old - for producing world class wine. I was not aware that it was so expensive. $58 retail is around $40 wholesale. They also produce New World White which is a sort of sweet, fortified chardonnay aperitif type wine. An acquired taste.

I haven't seen the new national edition yet, but I suspect you're referring to Bern's in Tampa, one of the best steak houses in the country. It has an immense wine list and perfect steaks. (See David Rosengarten's new book.) Maybe it isn't quite 3rd in DC, but does anyone have any thoughts about Yanyu? I don't think it was Bern's. I'll have to go back and look it up. I love Yanyu. The duck is pricey but superb. Lots of really great appetizers. Plus, Jesse Yan is a real sweetheart.

There was a faux-Swiss restaurant here in Washington, DC once upon a time. I ordered a veal chop. The gimmick was that it was cooked on a white hot stone in front of you. Literally. The waiter set this thing down in front of me, burning fat spitting on my tie, and said "turn it over after 2 minutes". My reply: I think not.

Too bad we can't shout "You are the weakest link!" or vote anyone off the island.

As far as Zagat's credibility goes, looking through this new national edition, as I recall, some joint in Tampa or Orlando that seats 1,000 people scored a 28 or 29 for food, too. Must be different criteria for different parts of the country.

That joint has been closed for 2 years.

According to the new Zagat national restaurant survey, the food at the Inn at Little Washington is better than any place around here (29 for them, 27 points for Citronelle and Maestro).

do you think that the cook who wasn't getting paid and said as much was in on it? when you say that we would have heard more about it, do you mean here on egullet, or on the show. Oh...believe me we were not getting paid. zenial, When you say not getting paid, were the waiters getting paid their tips every night, or were they on the paychecks also? I can understand the cooks getting edgy with no paychecks, but waiter paychecks are minimal if the tips are paid out in cash every night. Most places here don't do that anymore.

Dining late night in DC's Chinatown, one of my crasser friends gave his order to the waitress and actually said "I'm hungry, chop chop". I slid under the table.....

I went 2 weeks ago. It was very good and very reasonable priced. The service was good, as well.