Mark Sommelier

Fabio, why are you Alice? I am cornfused. There was a reason I missed the event, but can't remember now what it was. Sorry!

In the September 15 issue of the Wine Spectator, Rocco is prominently displayed in a full page Ruffino Chianti ad.

Tommy, If they haven't paid the staff in a month, given the size of the staff they have, I dare say the payroll is more than "a couple of grand". The payroll in my 90 seat restaurant is exorbitant.

Reminds me of the Chinese restaurant in Rehoboth Beach called "Wonton Desire".

To my nose Brett is more of a band-aid box smell and TCA is more of a 'someone strained this through a gym sock' smell. But overall I agree with you, and I also generally find them to be equally welcome in the wine I'm drinking melkor, A small bit of brett is normal in certain Bordeaux. Ducru is pretty bretty. It is hard convincing those customers who know what TCA smells like that brett is a different thing.

TCA and Brett have similar smells: DISCUSS

This is such a BLEEPING painful show to watch. Rocco hit new lows tongiht as an idiot chef. "We should have a captain system". Well , DUH , Rocco, since the BLEEPING kitchen is the BLEEPING basement. The only way the silverware is gonna get replaced is with front waiters and back waiters. Rocco's pathetic stint on the floor. The bogus scene with the mutinous cooks. This was a terrible show and Rocco came off again like a BLEEPING BLEEPING idiot. Duh, captain system!! Did Rocco invent that? This is painful TV to watch, especially for those of us in the business. Given what has happened on eGullet in the last few weeks with half the employees registering and commenting, maybe Rocco himself will register and tell it like it is for the last show. Word to Rocco: Your mommy is old. Let her rest. Letting mommy do all the hard work makes you look like a wimp. Oh wait! Maybe eGullet is in kahoots with Amex, Coors and Mitsubishi!!! Mon dieu!! Quel horreur!! Jason?

Andre said: The customer is always right could pose a problem in this case. Andre, A friend of mine in the business says: "The customer may not always be right, but the customer is always the customer".

I recall this wine distinctly. Full throttle stuff. A petit pot of foie gras d'oie from Auberge de L'Ill and some Cognac gelée with toasted brioche are really the only match for this wine. Simple and elegant.

I'd depart from that in two ways: 1) There's a point of super-expensive agedness where the risk of a bad bottle has to fall at least in part on the customer. Restaurants aren't in the business of providing insurance on $5000 bottles of wine. People who play in that league understand that they assume some or all of the risk of a bad bottle. 2) I wish more restaurants would adopt the attitude that, even after pouring a taste, a rejected bottle with no technical flaws will yield 4 glasses at the bar at 25% of the bottle price. If the bottle isn't too expensive, it should be no big deal for restaurants to accept the occasional rejection based purely on preference and to sell it off in this manner. We will request Mark Sommelier's consultation on this, but I think if a customer orders an expensive old bottle and it is corked that it can and should be returned. The scary thing for restaurants about old wines in not corked bottles, but consumers that don't know what old wine tastes like. It is very true that a rejected bottle that is good wine can be easily sold profitably by the glass. Unfortunately many restaurants also sell the rejected wine from bottles that are actually corked by the glass. Craig, Commercially available wines that are corked or cooked can be returned to the wholesaler for credit or replacement. When we get into the realm of older wines, rare wines and auction wines, the game changes. For me, provenance is everything. Where has that wine been for the last 30 years? (This is one reason that I no longer do any business with C&E.) You are correct in assuming that the average consumer will sit there and happily drink a horribly corked wine, thinking its corkiness is just an exotic flavor. When I encounter a corked bottle at work, I run away and fetch a new bottle. The customer is always curious why I ran away and brought a new one. With few exceptions, I detect the TCA from the first sniff of the cork. This is why the cork is presented: the make sure it smells like wine and not wet books. I also always make a point of letting customers taste the good bottle versus the bad bottle so that they can see and taste the obvious difference for future reference. As far as having the customer assume some of the risk when buying an older wine, unless that is specifically stated on the winelist or menu, it is un-enforcable and can only lead to bad feelings. As far as selling off a rejected bottle by the glass, I can only say that I never have had a bottle rejected purely because the customer didn't like the wine I had sold him. This is part of the art of assessing the taste people are looking for. Besides, if it is an expensive bottle, the chef and I would drink it first!

Bravo! Bravissimo!

Dear Varmint, Put some crab meat in it. If you can find good quality heirlooms, you should be able to find some fresh packed canned Dungeness crab legs. There's a company that ships them east once a week. Great combo. Invent your own remoulade.

FireIslandish, You will need to rent a car if you stay at Bacara. It is down the 101 a little bit from SB. Request an ocean front villa. The Biltmore is more centrally located. For eats: Brophy's on the pier for fried Santa Barbara shrimp, oyster shooters and cold Buds. Citronelle, of course (tell Isabelle, the chef, that Mark sent you), the Wine Cask - you can splurge on a great bottle of wine in their store and bring it to the restaurant.

If you would like to talk to the real Adam Siduri, you need to register at Robert Parker's website. The wine geek forum is free.

Jerry Seinfeld refers to the chain as "Fourbucks".

Tahoga closed yesterday.

Get a triple order of fried oysters and a bottle of Darioush viognier. The short ribs are savory and tasty, too.

Another movie I won't go see.

Darren, Yes! The frog legs were part of the tasting menu. I've had them there before, too. They were the high point of the meal. The raviolis that accompany them are stuffed with caramelized onions. Great dish. Tj, I understand your position. I occasionally bring wine to restaurants, too. Varmint, Pierre took care of us all night. The waiter was Mattheu - very gracious French guy.

Visited Café 15 in the new Sofitel Hotel with one of my Sunday night dining buddies. I have had several lunches there but this was my first dinner. We started with drinks in Le Bar off the lobby. Very comfortable space, nice furniture- chic and modern. The restaurant was not busy, which is puzzling as this was one of the best meals I have had in a long time. The consulting chef, as many of you know is Antoine Westermann, a 3 star chef from Alsace. We chose the 4 course tasting menu and added a foie gras course. Everything that was brought to our table was delicious and innovatively presented. I selected 2 Burgundies to accompany our meal: Chassagne-Montrachet "Morgeots" Domaine Ramonet 2000 and Corton-Renardes Grand Cru Domaine Pascal Maillard 1997. Both wines showed perfectly. The Ramonet with its power and the Maillard with its subtlety. The courses were as follows: Amuse: Mousse of tomatoes with bread crackers Foie Gras: served cool with port gelée and pear compote. This was a great dish. The chardonnay was not working with it so we asked for some Kientzler Pinot Blanc from Alsace. This was a nice match. Seared Ahi: perfectly rare in the center with tomatoe concassé, the dish was delicious and refreshing. Lobster tail: again, cooked perfectly to retain the slightly crunchy texture. Colorado Lamb loin: tender, good flavor, nice vegetable accompaniments. Dessert: chocolate ganache with crystallized pralines. I should have gobbled this delicious dessert down but I was stuffed at this point. After dessert came a stunning assortment of petits fours, all different. The service was friendly, professional and unobtrusive. Most of the staff seems to have been French. Pierre, the maitre d' doted on us. This cooking is at a very high level- some of the best in Washington. The 3 star connection is apparent from the beginning. It is surprising this place isn't busier than it is. Dinner with 2 tasting menus (@$85), 2 bottles of wine (@$105 & $125), 2 extra courses (@$24 each) came to $545. Expensive but worth it.

I know who Eric Ripert is, but have never heard of Gina Gershon. Who is she? she's really nothing special, although she doesn't look half bad. she was in a couple of movies, Bound, ferinstance. She was in Face Off as (Nicolas Cage)the main bad guy's (ex?) wife and mother of the kid. She was in the biggest, most tasteless blockbuster flop of all time: Showgirls

John Wabeck also won the Rising Star Chef award from the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington in June.

I, too, prefer to cook my own frittata on Sunday mornings. Twice, however, in the past month I have found myself at restaurants on Sunday around lunch time. Jeffrey's at the Watergate and Bistro Bis. Remembering from years past the splashy big buffet at the Watergate, we went 2 weeks ago. Surprise, no buffet in the summer. The place was completely empty. No problem getting table 8 this time (the one in the corner with the windows). Short, awful menu. The signature fried oysters I had been looking forward to reminded my friend of Popeye's, only he said Popeye's was better...The menu had no breakfast items. I figured correctly that in an empty restaurant they could figure out how to make me an omelet. Bistro Bis was a much better brunch. This place was also very quiet. The service was quick, quiet and professional. I was surprised to see Ted the manager there for the brunch shift. Nice assortment of breakfast and lunchy type bistro fare. I had a very good charcuterie plate first, then really good eggs benedict with lump crabmeat. We ordered dessert out of curiosity, not because we were still hungry. Don't miss it. We left very satisfied. Bis I would certainly recommend.

Yah.

Welcome to eGullet, Moira I watched the first 3 shows. I had absolutely no interest in watching tonight. I really, really don't care what happens next. I don't care about the people, the stupid restaurant, mama, Rocco, none of them. I snipped up and threw away my Amex card 7 years ago, I don't drink beer and I don't drive anymore, so screw the sponsors. Plus, the subject matter of this show is BORING. Watching waiters and cooks bitch about their jobs? Ha! What's new? Curiously enough, in today's (Sunday, August 10) New York Times, there was an article about "red-sauce" Italian restaurants in New York City. Rocco's wasn't even mentioned.