Bux

Freeze dried wine would eliminate corked wines. Of course the idiot who invents this will probably do some market research, learn that wine drinkers are resistant to attempts to eliminate corks and will decide to package his product in a cork sealed bottle to appeal to traditionalists.

In NYC, I do a lot of tasting at Di Palo's on Broome Street. The best time to taste is in the winter when the novellos first start coming in. My favorites tend to be the ones with the most fruity olive taste. My wife usually likes a bit of bite in the taste. Nevertheless we go through variety just to keep our diet interesting. There was one EV novello that I found a bit bland but in a lovely way, that Louis (the proprietor) described as buttery. We also regularly use an olive oil made by Carli for cooking purposes. Currently we're using their EVOO which runs about ten bucks a liter, but don't quote me. We've also used their standard olive oil with is about a buck a liter cheaper. I'm not very extravagant, but that doesn't seem very expensive. Neither have a very pronounced flavor, nor have I ever seen these open for tasting.

If nothing else, I am greatful for the information on wine matching. I would have selected a St. Julien rather than a Pauillac in my ignorance.

The rooms can be very small. I believe those at the Montalembert next door are also quite small. I am however surprised about your experience with theft. We found the staff very friendly and had no problems with anything left in the room.

I've used this and other brands. This brand has been the most useful to me. I do not cook Indian food. I basically use curry powder as the base for one sauce, although it's a sauce that has variants depending on what it's going to accompany or what is going to be braised in it. Curry powder is never the single seasoning in the sauce or the dish. Other spices, herbs and garlic often appear in the dish. Overall, when I use curry powder the dish is going to have a French/American nature with perhaps a flavor reminiscent of the Indian subcontinent and will often be a dish with which I choose to serve a chutney or two. One of those might be a West Indian chutney. If my dish has any resemblance to Caribbean food, it's to the food of the French West Indies and similar to what's generally called a "columbo." I will also use a pinch of curry powder in other foods that I don't want to have any Indian connection. I use the powder as if it were any other powder. I know the taste and use it for the flavor of that taste as I used cumin for that flavor. It's no more a shorcut than not grinding my own paprika.

Shaw's photograph appears to be one of the private rooms on another level, at least according to the test on that web page. Could you clarify? I'm assuming sevral of those options were not ones you thought were legitimate just from previous restaurant experience. Was it more than just wondering which breads were supposed to go with which dishes?

The hotel reopened maybe three years ago after being closed for many years. (Like maybe 10 years.) We spoke to the manager not long after 9/11 and they were seriously affected, along with other hotels, by the loss of traveling Americans. They had stiff competition from the Montalembert hotel next door and I recall a restaurant in the hotel that seemed like a half hearted attempt. Either they only served lunch at the time or it was Sunday and the restaurant was closed, but I recall an American a the front desk wondering what he was going to do for dinner. I think he was asking the concierge for the name of the closest restaurant. As Paris becomes more New Yorkicized, I suppose this Robuchon venture is a no brainer, but I don't see it aiming for anything more than a star, if that. It sounds like a great place for the day you arrive from North America jet lagged and in need a small meal at an odd hour.

Marc was kind enough to have shared his article on MICRI in a thread on Miguel Sanchez Romera's restaurant, L' Esguard, in Saint Andreu de Llavaneres, near Barcelona. in the Spain dining forum back in May, prior to publication in the magazine.

Wimpy, If your're still looking for restaurants open in August, check out Flora, 36 avenue George V. Cabrales offered the link to Patricia Wells' online review in her post Los Olivades.

This is an interesting subject that might be well discussed in the NY board. I understand Bruno went to work at Alain Ducasse's restaurant in NY. My guess is that Bruno had clients who were loyal to him. Politics may make strange bed fellows, but running a finacially successful restaurant in NYC is a complex business.

Andy, if it's any consolation, whenever I was there in connection with my proposal for the web site, all I only remember getting a few garlic focaccia rolls. But they were so good right out of the oven that I suspect that's not much consolation. It sounds as if Leslie had to get her hands dirty from time to time and her free food was just compensation. I wonder if it's fair to ask Leslie if the fact that the kitchen at Daniel is one of the few that are reasonably air conditioned had anything to do with her choice of subject. Leslie, just kidding. I tend to agree with your choice of subject and for the reasons you generally offer elsewhere

Taste in food is very subjective, but I believe reaction to dining experiences overall is just as subjective. The trick is not to hide one's subjective reactions, but to present them as objectively as possible, which is what I thought Robert did very well and very fairly. I don't think Cabrales was denying Robert's right to complain. I welcome her "defense" of Loubet and his Moulin to the extent that it explains her feelings and even to the extent that she plays devil's advocate. I think eGullet serves its members best when it encourages discussion and presents the widest possible assessment of any restaurant or situation. I don't think we function well as a jury deciding thumbs up or thumbs down and I doubt anyone has posted anything that Paula shouldn't find useful in making her decision about dining at le Moulin de Lourmarin. My guess is that she really wanted all thoughts, opinions and even speculation as long as it's presented as what it is. What's been said will dissuade some potential diners from making a reservation and not others, but I think it will also serve those who choose to dine there and make them more aware of where the rewards are and where they may not be. PaulaJ, you don't say if you have reservations at the inn, or just the dining room, but the information on cancellations may be most useful.

I think the relative questions one might want to ask about any restaurant is the one Michelin bases its star system on--how far out of your way would you go to eat there? The other gauge is one Plotnicki proposed some time ago and that's how far in advance would you consider making reservations. At one end there's be those restaurants you've happy to book over a month in advance and make an arduous trip to dine in, while anticipating the meal. At the other end are those restaurants you pass by on foot without an umbrella on a rainy day with little more than the hope someplace else has an open table.

Particularly in reference to Daniel and Cafe Boulud, there are some questions here that members might want to ask of Leslie Brenner (author of The Fourth Star: Dispatches From Inside Daniel Boulud's Celebrated New York Restaurant) while she's still answering questions about the book and the restaurant. The eGullet Q&A session was supposed to end today, but as last minute questions are getting interesting, Leslie's agreed to stay on for a few days and maybe this thread should continue there for a behind the scenes opinion. I think I posted elsewhere (maybe the Cello thread) that Daniel doesn't have 380 seats. I don't think there are 380 chairs including the bar and the room for private parties. 380 covers would represent turning tables at least once and maybe more often in a night. Offhand I don't remember the numbers. Maybe Leslie might. I've personally experienced an event in the main dining room where some 130 people were served perfect scallop, risotto and rare lamb dishes and the meal was cooked while Daniel and the sous chefs were in the dining room eating as were many of the captains. The managment and discipline are superb. Still, a multitude of different orders over the course of a long night with tables turned once and maybe twice is going to put a strain on any facility. I think it would be naive to think otherwise. The question might not be whether Daniel Boulud could turn out better food in a restaurant half the size, but whehter another chef with a restaurant half that size is doing that. Then you'd have to ask if he's making a profit. No restaurant is going to serve great food for long without being able to serve it profitably. It's interesting that Daniel took the restaurant that was too small to turn a profit and turned it one he thought could. He added a few more tables in the new layout for Cafe Boulud but also had the expense of a gut renovation. The food and service are a bit less formal however. I would never say I've found the food better ar Cafe Bouud, but I might say I've found it more satisfying at least from time to time.

My guess is that they just don't understand food anyway--who the hell serves beef stoganoff with rice. Don't knock yourself out thinking about it and don't knock yourself cooking. Cook a decent version of whatever you'd normally cook without company. I assume ground beef dishes are not above what you'd have on a weekday night anyway. No need to try and impress them as they're just as likely not to understand as be offended or embarrassed, and there's no need for you to have another really bad meal. Feed yourself and share it with them. I wonder if they eat out and I wonder if they notice the difference when they do. Do you know?

Leslie, this is sort of a follow up to a response you gave where you noted that you felt the establishments you visited in France paled in comparison to Daniel--both in terms of service and the food itself. Although we had eaten in the first Restaurant Daniel not long after it opened, I first recall meeting Daniel Boulud in 1995 or so and it was late in that year that I had a chance to talk to a few of his cooks. I found that opportunity very interesting. One of my questions asked of a cusinier who had come from France was about how his experience in the kitchen of what was one the most highly respected French kitchens in New York, would look on his resume. His response in 1995 was that in terms of his career back in France, his opportunity to improve his English would be an asset especially if he moved to management or the front of the house, but that the time he spent in the kitchen would be seen as if he had stopped working in a restaurant. No one in France had any interest or respect for restaurants in America. Some five or so years later after a recent visit to France, we were talking and he spoke of the respect and vip treatment he had received at some of the great restaurants in Paris and the provinces--by this time he had been executive chef of Daniel's catering division and executive sous chef at Daniel. I asked him if he remembered our first conversation and he said he did and that the attitude of French cooks towards American restaurants and chefs had changed drastically. By the time you were writing your book a tremendous change had occurred in the way French chefs viewed their counterparts in America. Was this evident and was it evident that this was a new thing, or had the new status become taken for granted so quickly?

Provence attracts English speakers who like to talk about their travels. Two winters ago, we had lunch in a one star place of some charm in Eygalières--le Bistrot d'Eygalières I don't know that I'd describe it as compelling, but it certainly showed signs that it could become that. As I recall, Margaret Pilgrim ate there on our recommendation and enjoyed it at least as much as we did. GaultMillau listed it as one of their finds that year. It's only a 15, but acoup de coeur in the latest GM. The chef is a young Belgian and his wife is a charming hostess. They had added some inviting looking rooms upstairs, but we had an appointment in Nimes that night.

How did I miss this before. Obvoiusly you get get clubs do you? People join clubs because others can't.

Getting back to an old discussion about the absent chef, my guess is that you'll eat better at the chef's restaurant when he's not there, than you will eat at another restaurant when he's doing a guest shot. When it comes time to put his food on your plate, his trained team is more important than he is. I think the Beard House will only give you a tease and not the full power of a great visiting chef.

I don't know if MICRI found its way into our meal at l'Esguard in June, but this is from our notes on that meal. I would have preferred a stock based sauce and I thought this was not the strongest dish, but still very good and the overall meal was easily worth a star.

We're all glad to hear you have Internet access and a good conscience. We expect to hear from you on a regular basis.

Robert Brown mentioned he was "trying to finish my long post on Lourmarin" in an e-mail message. My understanding is that his reaction is mixed, at best. I've alerted him to this post.

No, not anymore. Yes. I see your point. I had been thinking of a club with a physical club house, the materialist that I am. A roving dining society is another model and one with historical precedent.

The fact that you already have one variation available makes it less necessary to have another. What could a gourmet club offer a New Yorker except for the chance to serve his own wine? One of the joys of using restaurants is the ability to vary your experiences. I suppose in a way, the James Beard house is already that kind of a club. I've not really got sufficient experience to say much about their ability to provide the best of what's around and to vary the experience. One meal there offered me the chance to have a dish I'd already had in the restaurant whose chefs were cooking. It was far better in the restaurant for several reasons--fuller staff, less restricitions, familiar facilities, staples, etc. I suppose most of these things could be overcome, but you'd pay more for the same meal than at the restaurant, so you're back doing what the Beard House does, bringing in chefs from out of town. Not better food, but novelty.

Keep the U curve in mind. I've seen a real turn around in my lifetime. Food awareness has increased tremendously, but the raw materials have not yet come back to top quality on the scale with which they were once available. As a kid I and local plum tomatoes that were incredible. I remember the farm on the Brooklyn Queens border when I used to go with my father who was in the wholesale produce buisness. We'd bring home a basket, but those same tomatoes were available all over Brooklyn in average greengroceries. Today it's a big deal to go to GT or Blue Hill for their tomato salads or maybe to the Greenmarket ofr heirloom varieties, but that used to be everyday stuff in August in Brooklyn. Unfortunately there are still people who think things are better just because they can get fresh tomatoes in January--fresh, but tasteless.