Bux

I don't get to Philadelphia very often-once every thirty years or so. The last time I was there, I had great coffee at la Colombe. I understand how my tastebuds are affected by second hand smoke. I'm wondering how they guage the efffect of smoke on the product and why it took them so long.

I think I've been told this is the model for the baguettes baked and sold at the Pain Quotidien bakeries in NYC, which I've come to love. As I recall the standard baguette, or whatever it is called, has been regulated by price/weight for some time. I supppose it's not a surprise that bread bakers would allow a product with a minimal profit margin to decline while devoting their attention to products that would earn a better reward for their time and investment.

While I don't particularly support that sort of statement even in the sarcasitc context in which it was posted, more noteworty in my mind is your effort to smear a nationality or group in reaction to a single statement by an individual. You "win" your debates by leaving your opposition wondering whether to defend his point or his honor. It's a cheap shot and it makes me wonder if you get the very idea of discussing ideas or if all your "debates" are about "dissing" the other side and diluting content.

Is the baguette still in decline? I thought it reached its nadir some time ago. I often wonder why I ever loved it. Did I not know better or was it much better in the sixties? Was that sort of bread done much worse here in the states back then? I don't know, but I can say that the baguette is not as prized as it used to be in France. The better cafes all seem to charge extra for sandwiches on Pain Poilane and feature its availability prominantly. The bread in restaurants varies in France. Sometimes it's terrible at the cafe and lower middle restaurant level. Sometimes it's quite good. Indeed, "Italian bread" and French bread" are names given to breads that are not made in a loaf pan, but are otherwise without significance in the US and I suspect the UK.

It should clearly be a series.

Now there's a sig just begging to be taken. Of course if you had two restaurants very near each other and one was far more popular. Closing the popular one on a day the less popular one was open would be a good tactic. If both were equally popular, it still might be worth while alternating days off to keep loyal fans happy.

Bond Girl, I've never met Ms. Rossant and have only the briefest introduction to Hong Kong, so all that I say on the subject is second hand at best. From talking to Ed, on and offline, I'm getting a better appreciation, if that's the applicable word, for why food can vary so much at any one restaurant, even on the same day. Perhaps we should set up some irregular series of eGullet Chinatown dinners. Are you going to the New Year's dinner later this week?

I passed by Thoumieux once and thought it was charming looking. Before I ever had the chance to try it, I read a very negative report here on eGullet and dismissed it. As it's in your neighborhood, I suspect you had reason to expect a better meal than you got. Is that the case, or was this a first visit? Because it seemed representative of a type of establishment that has all but disappeared, I'd like to know more about Thoumieux. [We've come a long way from Taillevent. Is Thoumieux worthy of a thread?]

I used to go to France to avoid burgers. The only time I could appreciate one was during the first two weeks of returning from France. And then I suspect it was because real restaurants paled. That was many years ago and restaurants in New York are now so much better and more interesting however.

My guess is that new restaurants often open on Saturday or Sunday as a way of establishing a clientele. Once the word is out, they no longer need to do that. Recent changes in French law regarding hours of employment have also changed restaurant times and days of business. It may not pay to hire part time help to open more than five days a week.

I'm sorry, I also meant to include the description of a dish I had at Ambroisie. Towards one side of the plate was a pyramidal stack of carrots, all trimmed to the right size like Lincoln logs. To the right of this was a lobe of sweetbreads studded with truffles resembling cut nails (about 1/8" by 3/16"). the whole resembled nothing so much as what a kindergartener might make out of play dough and call a porcupine. I could not see how to improve the dish, although I could offer dozens of suggestions as to how to make it more complicated or fanicer in presentation.

Undoubtedly, and this is either a strong point to many or or boring to others who cannot appreciate this. I think the amount of time it takes to research a dish, is rather irelevant as may be the time it takes to perfect a dish--which may be a more applicable description of Pacaud's process--in comparison with the end result. I think that even among conniosseurs of the first rank, there's going to be a subjective degree of appreciation for one style over the other, but that one needs an appreciation of Pacaud and Ducasse as well as Adria, Gagnaire and Veyrat to fully appreciate those who conform to one's own subjective style. The reality is that Pacaud's food would not work if it were just perfect and boring and the more "creative" approaches would not work if they were less than technically perfect. There's a fine tuning all around. I have not eaten white truffles in, or around Alba, but it's not unknown for any local product to be sold to the highest bidder who may not be local.

As one of those who really like this place, I'm going to say I suspect not. It may just not be to everyone's taste. I knew Colette Rossant was a partner, I just wasn't sure she was a French citizen, although I thought she was. My understanding is that the original chef was from Hong Kong and that his food represented contemporary Hong Kong tastes. If it's fusion, it's fusion from a Hong Kong perspective not a New York perspective. I find it's a lighter food with greater emphasis on vegetables. I'm always told that the Chinese use meat sparingly, but the restaurants in Chinatown, catering either to westerners or a more afluent NY Chinese population (more affluent than one in China) generally seem to serve dishes with a lot of meat in them. I seem to enjoy DSGG and for my respite from the traditional food I've eaten in Chinatown for some forty odd years by way of DSGG's food, I'm discovering a reappreciation for the more traditional restaurants. Perhaps it's similar to how a meal at El Bulli seems to tune my appreciation for simple seafood in Barcelona. I like turnip cakes and frequently order them when having dim sum. There are none I've enjoyed in NYC as much as the ones in DSGG. That doesn't mean they're the best. It could mean I don't really appreciate authentic turnip cakes or something else. There's no accounting for taste. For those who don't like DSGG's style, I suggest Oriental Garden, Sweet 'n' Tart and A&B Lobster King House. The latter is an interesting, although perhaps not great, new restaurant with some fusion style of it's own. A fusion I suspect may also be borrowed from Hong Kong, but maybe not. For those who like DSGG, I recommend the same three restaurants as well.

Otto, a new restaurant in NYC (big thread on the NY board because it's Mario Batalli's new joint) came in for some criticism of its clam pizza. Most diners seemed to think the unshelled clams were out of place. They wanted to just dig in eat the pizza without opening up small clams. I see some advantage in having the pizza there to catch the juices so nothing is lost. How tiny were your clams?

There you go again Stevie-boy. It is ... Again. I find I rarely care what a poster is going to say once he's prefaced his remarks with an unnecessary and inappropriately consdecending taunt. Without getting into the merits of bread around the world, pizza, Zinfandel and how sad it is for someone to have missed the magic that is Venice, can I deplore the attempt to belittle another member in an effort to belittle his opinions or posts.

I wonder how much bread you've had in each of these countries. On the whole I've found French bread superior (to my taste) to Italian and Spanish bread, but this is so relative and breads vary all over within a country. I think French bread has been going through an evolution if not revolution in the past generation. Sourdough starters and whole grains are far more popular than they used to be. The baguette is no longer the standard it used to be. I remember loving the bread in Vienna. It may just be that it resembled the bread I knew best as a child in New York--real baker's rolls and rye breads with crust.

We haven't even ascertained that it's alright for you to drink wine everyday and you're concluding that you may enjoy Zinfandel as well as drink it.

"Cool" as in hot, hip, interesting, etc. or as in aloof and impersonal? I've been buying my moring croissants at a little patisserie here in NY that's several blocks away from my place for several years since it's opened. Nevermind for the moment that quality seemed to have slipped. When it opened, the proprietor was always behind the counter greeting each customer with a grand "bonjour." Even after the shop got going and he found the need and ability to hire salesclerks, they were usually young French women who also greeted each customer. Gradually I found the greeting going away and I had to speak up quickly to get my "bonjour" in before I heard "next." More often or not, the staff is young and French, but business is in the New York style these days. The service is not any less friendly and no one is rude, but they've adapted to the New York style and pace. I suspect it's unfair to speak of your Americans as rude, it's a matter of ignorance of local politeness. I frequently have to remind myself that I'm not at home when I'm in France. As much as I generally prefer their manners and polite formality, I tend to quickly revert to my local manners as soon as I return to the states and need to consciously take an effort to draw up my French manners.

There are times when it seems eGullet members can be divided into two type of people -- those who know food and those who know shit.

With all the stir fry dishes and so much of what Chinese restaurants feature being perpared a al minute, I've never found Chinese food particulalry suitable to take out and when it's delivered in the cardboard boxes, it tastes a bit like the cardboard. My guess is that it's cheap and thus suitable for take out. Not long ago, while walking in a hurry in Manhattan, I passed by an Indian restaurant and was struck by the sign that said "EAT IN STYLE." As I walked beyond the restaurant the nagging question arose in my mind, was the restaurant offering an opportunity for the diner to enjoy his meal in a stylish setting or did they prepare a style of food not intended for take out.

I've had all your main courses and can vouch for them. The appetizers soulund worth trying. My biggest problem with DSGG these days is that there are things I love there and can't stop ordering. There are so many that I don't get to try new things. I've discovered a couple of other good restaurants lately as well. Which I have mentioned in other threads or will get to soon.

Thank you for setting the record straight and eliminating my thoughts that I was having senior moments. I was thinking I remember a place called Rouge on Rittenhouse square and that I must have gotten it wrong. I will bear in mind that you either like the food or the management pays you well.

As I understood it, kitwilliams was never planning on attending. Kitwilliams was going to mail bread. Given that kitwilliams is not mailing bread, it might be appropriate for you to mail a friend.

I'm sure Klc is correct. I've seen it called for often in French cooking magazines and never, or rarely, in American recipes. I've always assumed it was identical to phyllo. I suspect it's easily obtained in France and that one could use phyllo here, although it may be too thin. I'm not exactly sure what an egg roll wrapper looks like raw.

I thought the fennel sausage was better than the testa. For the record, I thought it was a very usable addition to the dining/food scene in NYC and I thought the pizza was the least successful part of the menu and the gelati the most successful, but I enjoyed all of it. I suspect the hype and criticism are both being overdone because Mario Batali is associated with it. If it were seen as the neighborhood restaurant/snack bar it works as, it would get high marks. Unfortunately it's expected to be a destination place. It might even be that as a gelateria. When I was there I didn't think it was cheap, although I remarked that one could buy a three course dinner (with pizza as the main course) for less than the price of a burger at db bistro. Now with inflation and truffle burgers, you can eat at Otto for half the price of a burger at db. It's still not cheap, but there's good value. What's puzzling to me is that that so many feel the need to carry this on for nine pages. I'd not have judged it to be that important an addition to the scene.