Bux

I stand corrected. It is "au" on les pages jaunes. I rechecked GM again and that one does have "le."

There's probably not much help I can give. Michelin omits mention of an article or preposition. The 2003 GaultMillau says "le." I believe it was also "le" at les pages jaunes. None of these list an e-mail address. Le Dauphin/Au Dauphin, a small restaurant in the 1st arr. seems to use both forms. Is this common? Marguery was a standard codified sauce, white wine, fish stock, cream or butter?, maybe thickened with egg yolk. Served mostly with white fishes and often with shrimp, mussels and white mushrooms if memory serves. Then again I may not have had classic versions of it. This may be the source of name confusion. - Au Petit Marguery

Actually I very rarely see tournedos Rossini anymore, nor do I see many of the classic garnishes or codified names in the most famous restaurants. I found the article rather easy. It was at its worst when it had the tone of an American tourist in Paris complaining that everyone was speaking French just to confuse him. It didn't matter that most everyone else understood. Restaurants and dining are part of a subculture with a language or jargon all its own. Foreigners may need a guide and some help. The author was roped into a dish by the mention of an ingredient she didn't know and seems to feel that was the fault of the menu. To someone else, crosnes may be conventional and something to be avoided. She hasn't eaten in Spain for a while, but even in France, this is no longer true.The following is the first appetizer at a moderately priced restaurant in the suburbs of Paris Cookies de Lapereau au Grué, Ile Flottante de Cornichons à la Sarriette et finger de condiment, giboulée de pain de campagne à votre goût By the way, tournedos Rossini is a codified dish like gratin Dauphinoise. Identifying the source of your meats and produce is hardly brand naming in the manner of a rock star talking about his car. It's not like the restaurant is even listing the kitchen equipment manufacturer on the menu, he's just identifying the source of what you eat. Of course she will find an audience, but the nature of the article is that one could take the opposite view on every point and find another cynical audience that will agree, not that some of her points seem to damn those who do as well as those who don't anyway. Make fun of anything and someone will laugh.

5th installment We left Madrid in a car that was larger than I wanted -- we had to accept a smaller car at a savings or an upgrade at no additional charge. All's well on the highway, but every time we drive into a small town, Mrs. B seems to pull in the rear view mirror on her side. Ideally, we'd have a land cruiser with a Smart Car hanging in the back for use in medieval cities. Between the narrow streets and the charming pedestrian zones, we can't get near a couple of our hotels located in heart of historic areas. The TV camera over the rear license plate and monitor on the dashboard was new to me and apparently to many. It was kind of funny to see attendants at the hotels, all of a sudden stop looking over their shoulders when parking the car. A visit to the Royal Palace in Aranjuez easily justifed the first day's itinerary, although heavy rain put a damper on our interest in the adjoining gardens. Mrs. B still had little appetite and we skipped lunch in the starred restaurant in town and went on to Chinchon. Progress been kind to the arcaded Plaza Mayor in Chinchon by ignoring it. Judging from the number of restaurants ringing the plaza, I'd assume it's quite tourist attraction on a nice day further into the season. We picked one place from the few recommended by Michelin and had a light lunch. It was nothing to write home about, with the possible exception of a plate of vegetables -- pencil thin asparagus, artichokes, red pepper, something akin to scallions, zuchinni, -- deep fried without batter and served with a little olive oil and sea salt, probably Malden salt. It was also nothing to complain about and we had a second floor view of the plaza from the window. We arrived too late in Cuenca to gain entrance to either the Cathedral or the Museum of Spanish Abstract Art, but were able to get a good view of the famous hanging houses (Casas Colgados) -- a couple of 14th century houses, with balconies, that are not by themselves so exceptional, but the houses back up on steep cliff and the sight of the balconies jutting out from the plane of the sheer wall of the cliff is quite striking when seen from the foot bridge that takes one from the Parador to the old city. The old city was quiet and we stopped to revive ourselves with coffee in a bar where I spied those burnt things and was told my burnt twine was lamb's tripe and called zarajo. Later, the proprietor of La Alacena - Productos Tipicos y Delicatessen, offering regional food and wine recommended a restaurant to us where we could get a house made version of the morteruelo we saw in a can in her shop. La Mirador del Huecar was not yet open for dinner, but we noticed not only morteruelo, but zarajo on the menu. Lady luck was smiling at me. Later we returned for dinner and I learned she was laughing behind my back, like those women who used to give friends of mine a phone number at bars -- only it turned out to be the phone number of the library, ASPCA or something like that. The restaurant only served zarajo on weekends and I was not to find them again on this trip. My best description of morteruelo might be rillettes of many meats served hot. In truth, it was not the most visually appealing food I've ever been served and maybe the least I've seen in a dish that wasn't at floor level. We're brave and the gloppy looking reduction of many animals was rich, distinctively floavored with cinnimmon and actually quite tasty. When we told the waiter we?d like to have the recipe, he said it was something not made at home. The chicken, porc and rabbit would be easy to get, but the many furred and winged game required are not easy to come by for the home cook. Ultimately we decided the dish wouldn't travel or be appreciated in the U.S. and we decided not to pick up a few cans. We awoke the next morning to find no hot water. We were told they were working on it and we sacrificed the morning's sightseeing in a vain wait. As a result, we were off to lunch at Las Rejas feeling less clean than I'd have liked, but definitely wide awake as a result of a noontime cold shower. I've posted separately on that lunch because it's not really a side trip from Madird, nor is it in Andalucia, but even more because it was so worthy of special mention and certainly a major highlight of our trip. --------------------------------------- y mas

Do you know if they have an e-mail address? There's none listed in last year's Michelin. I don't have the 2003 edition here.

I suspect a well run and well organized company of certain kinds can continue running on inertia for a while if the staff are dedicated to their jobs and the product. Apollonia Poilne intends to spend most of her next few years studying economics and business in the US. There's no reason why that should reduce her interest in producing the best of all possible loaves, but it often leaves graduates focused only on the bottom line. The result is often the best possible loaf at the best price for maximum sales. I don't begrudge anyone the right to maximize their profit, I just hope she's dedicated to the maximum quality of the loaves. In the meantime, she's not going to be around full time to run things, so most of us are going to hope she's got a loyal and dedicated staff. I wish her and the company well, for your sake and mine.

The link worked for me and it was a pleasure to read about his daughter's intent to take over the family business. I certainly wish her the best. Her success will be measured by how great the bread tastes and not by the profit the company makes.

Now that we're back to food in the destination and not focused on how to leave NY, I'll move this thread to the France board a little later where those who don't frequent the NY board may add their suggestions. Look for it there.

I'm sorry, I forget to look at the title of the thread. I mean to say that I thought it was kind of weird to have the shells on the pizza, but then again there's a great tradition of keeping the shells in a linguine with white clam sauce and by cooking the clams on the pizza, the juices get absorbed by the bread. You could steam the clams separately, put them on the pizza and serve the juices on the side in a dipping bowl, but that seems even clumsier.

Having had exquisite hare with dark chocolate in several forms in France as well as chicken and pork with dark chocolate in Mexican restaurants, I'm surprised anyone finds foie gras and dark chocolate weird. Come to think of it, I had a great foire gras, onion marmalade and dark chocolate sandwich on a baguette in Paris once.

Define "responsible." Or to put it another way, how do you know how responsible a magazine is, and to whom it's responsible, until you're read their top 50 list? I prefer to think of myself as a pragmatic realist. And I'm not paranoid just because I want to know what I am drinking after I decide if my glass is half full or half empty.

My understanding is that he earned an M.A. degree in 18th-century French literature from Columbia University in 1972. He's also got some 21 cookbooks under his belt -- some of what's in those books is under my belt as well -- and his the ease with which he communicates on TV should make us expect a well written book from him. Washington Post review -- no less flattering than Tony's post. From Judith Weinraub, writing in the Washington Post Lest any reader think this is another saga of sex and drugs in the kitchen, it definitely is not. Instead, it's the story of just what it takes to turn a talented young Frenchman into one of the most admired figures in the culinary world. And anyone who thinks that all you need to do to be called "chef" is to survive a few months -- or even a few years -- in culinary school would do well to read it. I have to admit that reading Tony's evangelical post may be more effective than any newspaper review in getting me to read the book. I suspect you have fans here that might have skipped the life story of a now famous French chef thinking it would not only not be another saga of sex and drugs, but uninteresting and irrelevant. Thanks for sharing your view on this.

But it's only a disservice to that part of the public that wouldn't know great food if it hit them in the face. The greater part of the public would much prefer to pick their restaurants on service and ambience and given the opportunity to sit in a room with celebrities would choose to eat where the rich and famous eat. To a great extent, this greatest restaurants list was just that -- where the rich, famous and gastronomically half clued choose to eat. Let's face it, a great restaurant doesn't even have to serve particularly good food to be thought of as a great restaurant by the public.

Other issues are involved. Is he chef, sous chef, or line cook, etc. and can he call in the name of the restaurant or in Alain Ducasse's name? In which Ducasse restaurant is he a chef? Might he know the chef at l'Astrance? There's an old boy network and these guys cross paths in other kitchens on the way up. It's certainly possible that the chef can succeed where you might not, but there's no guarantee. Where he might have been able to help best is before the restaurant is fully reserved. I suspect two weeks notice is not good enough. Worth is a relative thing. It's hard for me to assess your interest in this restaurant and I have no idea how much of a hassle it would be to have the chef call for you. I suspect he can give you an idea of his chances or lack thereof, better than any of us can. For all that, my best guess on limited information is that you might be wasting a contact at this late date. Parisian restaurants rarely get no shows, but they do get late cancellations. You might consider asking to be placed on a wait list and call the daybefore or the day you are free to dine there.

If I may suggest bringing coals to Newcastle, or fortified sweet wines to the country that gives us port, There are some wonderful Pedro Ximenez wines made in Andalucia. Unfortunately, I have just discovered them and have little to offer in the way of recommendation. Most are dark and heavy and would served in a meal as a replacement for Port or a French wine such as Banyuls or Maury, or so I think, based on our enjoyment of a PX Reserva Especiale from Romate. I have no idea of the price as glasses were comped by a small restaurant after we ordered an unusual bottle of wine and got into long conversations with the waiter about local specialties on a slow night. My recommendation would be to trust the shop Roger recommends based on his recommendation of it. We were also impressed by what I think is an unusual PX that comes not from Jerez, but from the province of Cordoba to the east of Sevilla. Here's what I said in another thread. I think it ran about 10 euros a bottle in a wine shop. That seemed a bargain.

There's been some discussion elsewhere on why these wines taste better in Spain than here. We've been puzzling over the relative disappointment of manzanilla here in NY. The crispness of the manzanillas and finos in Spain reinforced that opinion. I've heard others say that all of the wines of Jerez, including manzanilla from next door Sanlucar de Barrameda are stale when sold in the US. As they're all fortified wines with high alcohol and the product of a solera, as well as non-vintage, I just don't see how they could go stale so quickly.I've had some second thoughts on this issue. It seems that freshness is essential. Looking at a Spanish guide to Spanish wines, the comments I find under Consumo prefererente: for finos and manzanillas range from "at this moment," through "at this moment" and all the way to "right away." Is it because the bottle itself is fresher, or because we're likely to find the bottle's been opened longer in the states? Finos and manzanillas are wonderful with tapas, but we rarely think of them at the table. In Sanlucar de Barrameda, we ordered manzanilla by the bottle or half bottle, in a restaurant, to go with the various simplly prepared cold seafoods that made up the bulk of our meal, although we switched to white wine when the bottle ran out.

Along with your ice cream. It's been a while since I've been in Barcelona in the middle of summer. A visit in August was memorable for the number of bottles of cold water consumed and perspired back into the environment. As I recall, airconditioning is common enough indoors and, unless I'm mistaken, there's a breeze that comes off the sea in the evening that's welcome.

Q. Would you like to be on the list of 10 most respected magazines or the 10 most reviled magazines? [substitute critic, web site, chef, etc. for "magazine," if you will.] A. Yes.

"Supposed to be" is an interesting concept. May I submit that what expresso is supposed to be is subjective. I am told that as one moves south in Italy, there's a growing preference for inclusion of robusta beans in the mix. I've been told that robusta is supposed to give a better crema. Those who tell me that, are careful to tell me they're just repeating what they've heard. We get our beans at DiPalo where Louis is careful not to guide my taste by expressing a preference. He seems to think his customers should drink what they enjoy. There are days when I think the man is a truly subversive force in the foodie community.

If I may offer some mature wisdom, I might suggest you drink only as much as you can tolerate, or only to the point where others can tolerate you. Drinking only as much as I want might have me taking a glass every time the tray comes around, but following the tray for immediate refills as it makes the rounds. I can only add that this sort of article sells magazines. There's no such thing as bad publicity and a post denouncing the magazine is worth almost as much as one paying respect to it. As had been mentioned, any award is no better than it's jury panel. Most people go to restaurants, even the right restaurants, for the wrong reasons -- food, as has been noted is not the prime reason. I thank whoever posted the link to the top 50, but having seen the top 10, it's not important that I follow this link.

Barcelona is hot and humid in the summer.

One of the reasons I don't use Illy at home is that they don't sell the really dark roast in the bean in consumer packages. The 3 kg. can is the smallest quantity you can buy and I've found the Danesi beans in the 1 kg gold package beats the preground Illy in the small can.

Thank you Jinmyo. I like parsley. I like the taste of parsley. In 1959, I knew immediately that France was different and better when I sat down to my first salade de tomates and I could taste the minced parsley on the tomatoes. The parsley may add a decorative element, but it's got to be there for the flavor and not as an ornamental spring. If I see mint on my dessert, I assume I am supposed to eat it.

I'm assuming that meal fed at least six people based on 6 dishes plus appetizers and noodles and rice.

I've already forgetten what we paid for Miss Silvia to come sit on our countertop. She's a pale imitation of what a NY barista, if I may misuse the word this way, has to work with, but we've been disappointed with restaurant espresso since. There have been some long threads about making coffee at home in the states. By coffee, I mean espresso. By the way, I've noticed a trend in Spain for some of the more expensive restaurants to feature Italian brands of coffee -- Illy, for instance. The pity is that I get a better, nuttier, more chocolatier and less bitter cup of coffee from every bar in Spain that uses a Spanish brand. I've found many people who prefer the coffee (espresso, of course) in Spain to that of Italy. Sacriligious I know, but I've not heard from anyone with recent extensive experience in both countries. By the way, and this has also been extensively discussed on cofffee and espresso machine threads, we're happy with Danesi Gold beans. Danesi has just started to import a black label called Doppio which we've just bought and will try next. We had a shot of this at the restaurant show some time ago and loved it, but they had a real machine.