Bux

Our trip from Barcelona to the Atlantic took five nights. Actually, we had lunch in Lasarte on the fifth afternoon and drove on to Hondarribia. the night before was spent in Pamplona. It could easily be done in three days without too much sightseeing and we certainly could have filled up several days with more monument seeing or more time in the mountains.

But Mix was closed for underperforming as well. Maybe he is good at bars but not at managing more serious restaurants. ← It does seem as if he started getting in trouble after he started owning chef driven restaurants as opposed to popular or trendy restaurants.

There are two different factors here. One of them is knowing that the owner/chef is in the house. The other is knowing the chef or the owner, which is often achieved simply by becoming a regular at any restaurant. If you're served better food when you're with someone who knows the chef owner, it might be considered some evidence that favoritism comes into play. On the other hand, if the third in command can turn out food that is flawless and inspired without a supervisor, it means there is great depth and strong executive management in the kitchen. It's the kind of kitchen that I would expect to show up in the resumes of future chefs, because the smart ones will look for these kinds of kitchens when they leave school and the talented ones will usually land the jobs in these kitchens. As for inconsitency at Daniel, I don't have any experience n that. We started eating there long before we met our son-in-law and one of our best meals, was after he left. Somewhere in a dark recess in my heart, I had wanted the meal to fall short so I could believe said son-in-law was responsible for Daniel's success. In fact I think he was, but not uniquely so. He's one of a breed and NY is blessed with a number of very talented sous chefs whose names you may never know. Be that as it may, there are several differences between my dining unknown in the original Daniel and dining in the one that exists today. Even without a relative on the inside, I am now known to some of the staff and the restaurant itself is a much larger one serving a greater number of covers. Size alone doesn't make for inconsistency, but it's an enabler. One of the most interesting comments I've heard about dining at Daniel from a first time guest was about how a waiter's interest seemed to pick up as the table made it's depth of interest in the food known. There's no excuse for that to have to happen, but some restaurants attract a tourist crowd simply because of their international exposure and staff too can become jaded. I think this is the same thing many Americans experience at restaurants in Paris which attract too many rich people who go there simply because they can afford to do so. Daniel also offers a fairly large menu. I've dined at multistarred restaurants in France where a specialty of the house is transcendent, but another dish just seems above average. Knowing that you found a wine so bad it had to be returned doesn't tell me much. Taste is so subjective. There are wines I love and my wife won't drink. Was the wine corked? Was it off? Did you see it selling for $6.95 a bottle retail or did you just not like it? Knowing that I can return a wine by the glass simply because it's not to my taste speaks very highly of the service. By the way, I know Jean Luc who used to be sommelier and once or twice I've returned a wine by the glass. At least once, my wife returned a glass of the same wine I enjoyed. I don't recall if Daniel Boulud was in the house or not. As oakapple commented, it wouldn't have mattered. Sometimes sommerliers recommend a classic match, at other times they go out on a limb with a very personal suggestion that doesn't work for everyone.

Sawhorses are not apt to provide the best situation in terms of leg room for a dining table, but if your space is large enough to accommdate ample table sizes, they might. If you decide to go with place mats, you will need to pay more attention to the table top. That's even the case when you have custom mats to fit the entire table, as they do at Cafe Grey. The one time expense of a decent table surface has to be weighed against the cost and bother of linens, which have to be washed and ironed--probably by a service.

I've had so many meals there over the years that I think it would be unfair for me to expect each meal to be an improvement over the last, but there has been a wonderful sense of development over the years. There's a basic style that's continually being refined, but within that style thre are wonderful and subtle variations not only from season to season, but from year to year. It's been a long time since we've ordered from the menu, but I always take a look at the menu and recognize some of the dishes we had early on when the restaurant just opened. One of these days, I'll have to order some of them to see if they too have changed. In the meantime we usually take the tasting menu, and occasionally Dan or Juan whip up something special for an old diner. Sometimes, when we're in the mood and we've reserved far enough in advance, it's a longer menu. I really enjoy the pacing of several small courses. This past Sunday we arrived to learn that the restaurant was in the hands of a sous chef we didn't know. There's no discredit to either Dan or Juan, that the meal ran smoothly and had we not been told, we would have assumed the top brass was cooking. Actually, it's very much to Dan's credit that he's not missed. It's what a great restaurant is all about. The first time I understood I could eat as well when the chef owner and executive chef weren't in the kitchen was at Daniel. My son-in-law was sous chef in those days, so I wasn't all that surprised, but a great chef running a great restaurant these days needs to be more than just a great cook. If Blue Hill isn't fully a great restaurant, it may simply be the lack of such niceties as silver fish forks and sauce spoons and more space between the tables. The food has long since entered the realm of greatness in our minds. I just don't find it matched in its price range and not always equaled at higher prices. A previous meal at Blue Hill this winter was cited earlier as my best meal of the year and it came after blow out meals at Per Se and Daniel. Our first course of salad on Sunday reminded me that if Per Se's salad course measured up to it, I'd have greater understanding of Michelin's stars.

That's the problem. When a local chef is cooking there, I'm convinced the food will not be up to what I can get at his own restaurant for a number of reasons including the fact that he has to donate the raw material and that the working conditions are less than what he'd have in his restaurant. For the same reasons, I worry that out of town chefs won't come off as well either. On the othr hand, this may be as close as most of us can get most of the time.

We did that trip some time ago. It was quite enjoyable. The sightseeing was more memorable than the food, although there were highlights. La Cocina Arogonesa in Jaca (Huesca) was a highlight. I was pleased to learn it got a sol from Campsa that year, but I see that it's lost it since. We ate in Rodero in Pamplona. It has two soles today. I'm not sure if it had one or two then. There are currently six restaurants in Pamplona with one or more soles. I'm sure others here could offer more up to date information on which ones to chose. How long it would take is entirely up to you. How much driving do you like to do in a day? How much sightseeing do you want to do? How far out of your way will you go for sightseeing? There are some wonderful Cistercian monastaries along the way and some excellent Pyrenean scenery. The higher you go into the mountains, the more intersting the scenery, but the less likely you will be to find direct routes going west as the mountains and valleys run north and south. Your route, the restaurants and the sights may depend on exactly where you start in Catalunya. There are excellent restaurants in Catalunya west of the Costa Brava. Look for threads on Catalunya dining.

Great chefs are always tweaking their recipes, or at least they always seem to be doing that. On the other hand, I've heard one chef advise a younger pastry chef to change at least one detail before giving out a recipe asked for by another pastry chef. His expanation was that this is simply how it's done. No one really expects to get the real recipe and they know they will have to tweak it to get the results they want. It's not the only story I've heard in that regard. Perhaps pastry chefs are worse because pastry is so much of a science.

In terms of subjective taste, I place the food of Italy behind both Spain and France in terms of my interest, but I was absolutely delighted to find that it is against the law to smoke in restaurants in Italy and the law was observed to the letter in all the places in which we ate from the simplest pizzaria to the most formal three star establishement. There are pros and cons to traveling on your stomach in any country, but Italy gets a big plus in this regard.

Thanks. There was no joke. It was a real question. So you meant "pots à crème". I wonder why they are called "pots de crème" in English. For everyone's information, "de" means that the container already contains the stuff it is supposed to contain, for instance when you buy un pot de crème fraîche (a jar of crème fraîche). The stress is put on the containee. "À" means that the stress it put on the container, i.e. the empty pot, supposed to contain custard when it is in use. So you never buy "pots de crème" when they're empty, but "pots à crème". Perhaps it would be appropriate to call them "custard cups" or "custard pots", since that's what they are. ← I think the cause is simple association. We tend not to translate names but simply reuse them as we see them, which is not always as they are used in the original language. On a restaurant menu, a custard in a porcelain cup might be listed as pots de crème. It's a name for us, not a phrase with a literal meaning. Consequently, it becomes the name for the dish as well as the dish, or for the container as well as the food. It's one word in our vocabulary, like "terrine." For us (the editorial "us") they are the cups for making pots de crème and take on the name of the dish. All I can say in defense is that many Americans eat French far better than they speak it.

That was an interesting and exceptional post. Rarely am I willing to come so close to agreeing with anyone else's opinion, especially when they cover so wide a swath of dining. I'd recommend inexperienced diners read it twice. I'll only comment on the portion cited above, which I particularly enjoyed, and largely so because of the inherent contradiction. It's refreshing to read a statement that both acknowledges the importance of a first impression, while conceding the possibility that it may be entirely misleading. Many of us need to suspend reality, or at least the reality of our economic circumstances, just to reserve at a three star restaurant. One bad memory, especially if it's an intitial experience with a restaurant, will be enough to bring us back to reality, or at least to our own reality. There's no accounting for personal taste. My sense of l'Amboisie was that those who looked for excitement on the plate might be disappointed unless they were the sort who found sheer perfection exciting. Some will, some won't. My memory of my appetizer (the curried langoustine, spinach and wafer dish) is that it hovered above my plate, a sense that was reinforced with each bite. Consuming the dish elevated me as well. You may call it magic or religion. What I most remember about the service, beyond feeling that much of it was perfect, but a little too detached, is my conversation with the sommelier or wine waiter. It was about the wine after we were well into the bottle and I was greatful for his patience with my very limited French and his willingness not to resort to English in reply. I suspect some would see it as a refusal to speak English. I am sure he was fluent in English and would have replied in English had I questioned him in English. I relished the fact that he took the time from his busy job on the floor to make himself understood in French.

I'm not sure anything can beat the boudin noir sandwich that opened this thread, but, if only because I've not seen the likes again, I'd have to nominate foie gras pate, onion marmalade and chocolate spread on a crusty baguette. I ordered it only out of curiosity at the Salon du Chocolate several years ago, but it proved to be a rational and dynamite combination.

Just to be clear, I was thinking of a white linen or cotton tablecloth over a felt or other such mat covering the entire table. That way, the table itself could have a rather raw fir plywood top. I'm a fan of places that serve a set menu. However it offends some others. It's certainly the way to achieve an economy and to offer dinner at a bargain price to those who are willing to pay to basically eat in someone else's home if the food is good enough. There are many of those around and some of them may even prefer the chachet of an underground restaurant.

I trust we agree I was complimenting Louis. In fact, I may well have been repeating how he described himself to me.

It's not the gelatin that offends. Jellied eels, tripe terrine, soft boiled eggs set in an aspic made from clarified consomme are all wonderful. I love savory aspics--aslong as they're not made with sugared and artificially flavored gelatin. I supsect the reverse may be true for many others. I wonder if there's a case to be made that those who love Jello molds, have the strongest dislikes for aspics. I suppose it's a culture thing. I had a wonderful salad at Blue Hill the other night. Among the variety of textures offered by cooked, raw and pickled vegetables, there were nuts and seeds and bits of intense mushroom jelly (aspic).

You're likely to fly well below the ATF radar, but much less likely to avoid city and state agencies. Certainly you'll run afoul of the SLA if word gets out that you're serving alcohol, but there are lesser city agencies that will close you down in a minute with a padlock if neighbors report you, or even if your address appears in public too conspicuously. This kind of thing has been hard to do in NY. You need to be aware of far more things than I can even start to name from the Health Department to the Building Department to zoning code violations to Fire Department regulations to a myriad of other red tape, codes, rules, regulations, laws, etc. Theoretically, if you were to do this, I'd suggest the Bowery for inexpensive chairs. Diners will sit in the chairs more than they'll look at them. My daughter bought her dining chairs at a restaurant chair place on the Bowery and we've sat through long meals on them. Hers aren't padded. The same model is even more comfortable with a cushioned seat. You'll have to decide if you want tablecloths. The upkeep isn't going to be cheap, but the use of tablecloths with a mat under the cloth will allow you to use cheaper tables effectively. I'd start my search on the Bowery for everything you think you might need and move to other sources only when the Bowery fails. A slight difference in price becomes much greater when you start to buy in quantity and that applies to tables as well as dishes and utensils.

It never struck me as all that much a part of trendy Nolita, although it is even less related to the Little Italy scene on Mulberry Street. Possibly, it didn't seem trendy because it was always too dark to see who was there, but largely because it was recommended to us by Louis from DiPalo. I've found the food to be a little rough around the edges, but honest. A lot like Louis, come to think of it.

No space was cursed like the Lupa space. It saw a rapid progression of failures before Mario took it over. He did alright with the Otto space as well, though I don't think that was as badly cursed. I loved CT, Claude's earlier NYC restaurant (on the site of Union Pacific, by the way) where he was in the kitchen. I had no desire to try Cavair and Banana.

The UK food press is an interesting lot. No further comment necessary. The French food press is probably even less likely to show appreciation for UK food than the UK press is likely to show for American food. On the other hand, the Spanish are far more likely to show some appreciation for American food and the Spanish are probably on top of the heap themselves.

Peasant is not a great restaurant, but I've found the food more than respectable and downright comfortable and rewarding. I've also found it too dark to find my food. Seriously, I couldn't order anything with a bone that needed cutting. I've heard they've finally installed lighting. Is that true? I'd love to go back.

He's the cook, not a chef. Busy people with considerable disposable income hire others to do work they can't do, find distasteful to do, or simply don't have the time to do possibly because they are out making more per hour than the person they hire.

It is interesting that those who treat "ethnic" foods with respect, seem unable to consider this sort of "distasteful" food with the same detached respect. I, and Jackal, it seems, are both guilty here. Well worth a thread. Are tinned, preserved or even manufactured food inferior to fresh, or should they just be considered alternative foods? Spaniards are enamored of tinned foods. Even fin bec anglophones, who seem to have the greatest disdain for canned goods, seem to agree that a good tinned San Marzano tomato makes a better sauce than a winter hot house tomato from Holland or one shipped from Mexico in a refrigerator car. The notion that manufactured food is better is no more false than the one that says they are inferior. There are more cultural and class prejudices here than we might suspect. Again this is not personal criticism, I share those prejudices. Nutritional value may be a red herring. There are all sorts of proponents of raw foods that cite nutrition in the face of all evidence that cooked vegetables often offer more nutrients to the body. Nutrition is just one of the things we hope to get from a good meal and some of the ingredients may not offer much, if anything, in the way of nutrition. Travesty is a more interesting subject. Dishes can degrade over time in a number of ways. There's an interesting article about Basque settler in Boise, Idaho in the current American Saveur. My first thought was that it would make a trip to Idaho worth the effort and then I read about how a famous boarding house cook adapted recipes using Mazola margarine and Del Monte tomato sauce in the days before olive oil and fresh tomatoes were available in Boise. I wonder about the state of the local palate, even now that Boise has an import shop. The difference between aspic and Jell-o is clear to me. It's in the flavor. There's nothing wrong with coating cold food with gelatin or suspending quality ingredients in aspic. There is something repugnant about the artificial flavor of the Jell-o I've had. Other tastes may vary and some may rhapsodize over the combination or red and yellow flavors that make orange Jell-o. As for the "review," I was as put off at the first concern over cream and butter as I am when Bruni, the NY Times critic, gets hung up on cholesterol. Egg yolk, as has been mentioned is both a classic and great thickener, it's just not an appropriate thickener for chowder which should have salt pork or bacon and potatoes. Lokshen, or noodle kugel, with the raisins, but without the cornflakes, was often served as a side dish in American Jewish households, though without cream or cheese if accompanying meat dishes. I doubt Mrs. Wynn claimed credit of invention. Still it's the Bush family recipes that are in the book and it tells us nothing about the American diet. I doubt you could find a single cookbook that tells us an awful lot about cooking in the UK and you have a lot more territory and population to cover in the U.S. Come to think of it, I supsect Terry and her tablemates are probably not all that representative of U.K. tastes either.

For starters L'Impero Fiamma Alto

It's a funny site that way. As I said, there's a thread on eGullet with a post rather raving about Carmines, and there's not a disagreeing comment. Two members expressed thanks for the post that included the rave review of Carmines. Surely a visitor to the site could easily come away assuming Carmines meets the demands of the membership.

Neighborhood is the cusp of what used to be Little Italy and SoHo. Now it's NoLiTa and SoHo. Though I'm not sure what you mean by "how's the neighborhood?" The Spring Street station of the Lexington Avenue line is at the corner. There are plenty of cabs. There's new luxury housing being finished across the street and at the corner. Balthazar is around the corner (better food, but at a higher price), La Esquina is at the corner and Lombardi's pizzaria is a block away around another corner. Anyway, I haven't been there in quite a while, so I can't give you an update.