Bux

A good first impression makes a lasting impression. The first time I recall using one of the restaurants featured in the front of the guide was when we first visited le Vieux Pont in Belcastel. It was touted as the "best value" in all of France. Such universal superlatives are hard to justify or support, but we agreed that it was an excellent meal and an excellent value in a charming location no less. Since our first visit, they've converted a small building in town to guest rooms. The rooms are simple, but of impeccable design and overlook the restaurant on the other side of the stream and connected by the "old stone bridge" that gives the restaurant its name. Yet, it's the food that charmed us even more than the site. The establishment is run by two sisters. One is the chef and the other runs the front of the house. It's unlikely to rise above its single Michelin star because of its simple rustic nautre, but GM has given it a 16 for a few years now, and that's a conservative rating in my mind. It's not far from Laguiole and my uderstanding is that the chef, although self trained, cooks in admiration of Michel Bras. I trust I'll have more to say about le Vieux Pont and Bras later in April. Although we choose Pic in Lorient for other reasons, I'd say it lived up to it's choice by GM as one of the bistrots of the year. It's hardly a destination restaurant by any means, but it's the sort of place that you'd love to have around the corner from wherever you lived. It's the sort of place where your disappointment that they're out of your choice of wine on a very short and simple list is assuaged by a suggestion of a wine at the same price that ultimately pleases you more than you thought your first choice would have. Le Bistrot d'Eygalières in the town of the same name, one of their hopes or finds for last year also pleased us very much. Our success with these recommendations is high and probably contributes greatly to our acceptance of GM as a whole. My suspicion is that they may not visit a restaurant as often as Michelin and someone said they don't visit anonymously. I wonder if the latter is true. It would contribute greatly to some skewed numbers. Although all restaurants operate under the same advantage, it would certainly help the inconsistent ones to know when they were being judged and possibly work against some who are offended that the inspector may expect special treatment.

Welcome to eGullet.com Frieda. I hope you can offer us great suggestions regarding Provence. I realize that I didn't empasize the http://www.sncf.com site enough. We've had no trouble picking up our tickets in France and found it all went smoothly. It appears from Margaret's experience that you can access the 08 phone number for the SNCF, but it's not toll free from the US. The SNCF will not mail tickets reserved on their site to the US, but will mail those ordered on the phone. Nevertheless, many people are reluctant to book via a web site and I've heard reports that the site can be difficult to use at times. Apparently it's not getting easier to use as it's "imporved" either. Finally there are those travelers who just need to have the ticket in their hand to avoid needless anxiety and there's no reason to pay the exorbitant charges imposed by RailEurope which also doesn't offer access to the complete schedule. Personally, I'd much rather upgrade my wines at dinner for the price.

Margaret, thanks indeed from me too. The lists of 17s, 18s & 19s are fascinating. My guess is that everyone will have some bones to pick. Some will have a lot to argue with. Les Loges an 18 out of the blue and Nicolas Le Bec Cuisinier de l'Année also seemingly out of the blue, is an eye opener to say the least. As haute cuisine becomes a more of a personal expression of a chef's creativity, I suspect varying guide books and critics are going to disagree more and more as to who's best. I couldn't find a listing for Les Loges in Lyon for instance. I'd like to find more information about it than the GM lists on it's Cuisinier de l'Année page. Then again I couldn't bring up l'Astranace either, but cabrales did. The only places I could find were those already in the 2001 edition.

Perhaps Mao or Vivin can shed some light on this, but you can always check the Michelin web site for fairly reliable prices. Prix fixe set menus are noted when applicable and an approximate a al carte range is given. The 2001 guide is still the most current and prices are in francs.

From your description of the curbside welcome, I'd say Hiramatsu has the touches or trappings of a two or three star restaurant. I suspect it's aspirations are higher than one star.

Except that I'd avise any diner not to ask the chef if he's Jewish, female, left handed or raise any issue other than how did you get to be such a genius, while he's still feeding you. I'd hold all those questions for after you've paid the bill, unless you intend on coming back.

This is the familar old the food was terrible and such small portions routine. Steve, what do you order as an aperatif at La Regalade. Any support or denial that ordering a glass of house champange might just mark them as tourist swells from the UK?

I understand the concept of using marmalade to describe a concentrated product of some produce such as onion, totmato, eggplant, etc., but it was unclear what product that was from the menu and onion was the first guess on my part. I have never before seen the term to mean mashed potatoes. Certainly Ducasse is well within current usage of all culinary terms to use "maramlade" here. I'm sure his creative potato puree is worthy of artistic leeway in nomenclature. I'm not sure if you guys agree that it was potato marmelade, or not. I'm still not convinced that "first quality salt" as translation of "fleur de sel" is the mark of communicative skills on the restaurant's part. Cabrales, the message about the International Salon of Agriculture at Porte Versailles, Paris is terrific. I wonder if you, and others with similar message to post, wouldn't mind making new threads for them in the future. I fear they may be missed buried in another tread, as it might not occur to others to do a search precisely for the fair. Needless to say I miss not being in Paris at this time. It's been a long time since I've managed to attend that sort of fair in Paris. Although I was able to retime my last visit to include the Salon du Chocolate and Steve Klc's demonstration so I'm running on that memory and don't feel deprived.

I'd be interested in knowing if a chef was left handed. I can identify with left handed people and the hardships they've had to overcome dealing with so many tools that are designed for right handed folks. If someone were to ask a chef if he was left handed while he was feeding them, I suspect he'd think that person was an idiot or someone who was trying hard to avoid talking about his talents and an appreciation of the meal. On second thought, the only question would be a determination of the sort of idiot the questioner was. Somewhere else on this board, I mentioned a one armed sommelier. This is something that definitely affected how he approached his job. I did not need to ask him if he was one armed, as I might not have to ask Samuelsson if he is of African heritage. At the time, I can't recall any curiosity about whether one armed people might have been proud by his success or whether they flocked to the restaurant in support. If Cabrales starts a thread on women chefs, I will make a recommendation to her of someone I like not far from Michel Bras.

The recent NY Times article noted that the wine list also offers some very inexpensive wines. From my visit to l'Astrance I recall a very limited selection of wines and all at budget prices. I believe they were all (or mostly) from the southwest and finds. Clearly from your description of the reception, decor and wine list, Hiramatsu is the product of a far greater, and perhaps calculated, investment. In another thread, Dorie Greenspan quoted Francois Simon's article in the Figaro about Hiramatsu having "trapped" the Michelin into giving him the star. He spoke of the restaurant's trappings (no pun intended, at least not at first thought) which seem to be noticeably appealing. From what I've read, it might not be unfair to note that the food is far less adventurously creative than it is at L'Astrance. I suspect the French and the French press, not to mention perhaps the Michelin guide, are far more willing to allow a French born chef trained at one of Paris' three star restaurants more leeway in the introduction of new ideas than they would for a foreigner. One could speculate that the design of the food prepared at Hiramatsu is calculated in this regard. The Japanese are often accused of being great copiers. I find that's not exactly true. They can be as creative as anyone else, but they seem to follow a path of proving they can faithfully duplicate, before asking their creatvity be recognized. Perhaps it's in an understanding of a popular opinion.

Leaving this thread, I decided to check Ducasse's web site for the answer to my previous question. First, it's interesting to note that I went to google and entered "ducasse" and "paris" and the first link on the list was to eGullet.com. The second or third link on the list led to the site with his Paris menu. I see that Black truffle, potato in marmalade, top quality salt is how the dish is listed in English and Truffe noire, pomme de terre en marmelade, fleur de sel is how they list it in French. I think "top quality salt" is a poor translation for fleur de sel (which goes by its French name here) just as "top quality goose liver" would be for foie gras . I am still curious about marmalade in French or English. This is Ducasse, not Gagnaire, I'm guessing it's not orange marmalade.

I enjoy your inquisitive approach to dining. I have a quick question. What exactly do you mean by "marmalade?" When the word appears alone, I assume a bitter orange preserve. Here, I'm inclined to think onion marmalade, but I really don't know what to think.

I seem to recall that at one time Astor Wines had a large selection of grappas. They are on Lafayette and Astor Place http://www.astoruncorked.com/how_to_contact_us.cfm Chambers Street Wines (212 227 1434) shows Nardini Aquavite Grappa at $39.99 on their web site. Downtown near ground zero. They're nice guys, wine pros and could use all the business they can get. http://www.chambersstwines.com/contact.asp An obvious place to look might be Italian Wine Merchants although I'm not sure they stock grappa as well as wine. sergio@italianwinemerchant.com Garnet has a toll free number 800 872 8466 http://www.garnetwine.com/ic/index?id=ogMf8T3V&mv_pc=1 Sherry Lehman on Madison Avenue is old time carriage trade. You can ask about their stock via e-mail http://www.sherry-lehmann.com/ The next time you're in the southwest of France, I know of a guy who makes some of the most incredible fruit and grape eaux-de-vie. I've never seen it here (not since I drank my last bottle) and it's not well distributed in France either. It's a small artisanal distillery.

Whether you consider Passard an artist on the same level as Michelangelo or Picasso and whether or not you agree that Arpège is a three star restaurant as designated by Michelin, you can't help but notice the way people react to his food. Steve Plotnicki's post that started this thread is but one example. Two more just cropped up on this site. Mao just got back from a week of dining in Paris with Vivin and his wife. Vivin summarized his meal by posting: Mao did not summarize, but you can read Vivin and Mao Paris Installment One: Arpege by clicking on the link. It's worth noting that they both ranked Arpège as third favorite of the week. It will be interesting to see how poetically they wax about their favorite dinner.

I'm even more inclined to suspect the Majumdar brothers share a genetic flaw similar to my inability to smell fresias. First I should extend a welcome to Simon's brother before making my less than supportive reply. I can't overlook the possibility that success has ruined La Regalade. A little fame, a few reviews send the wrong person and before you know it, everyone is treated like the wrong person since the proprietor has little reason to feel he's attracting the diner who cares. I might suggest that asking for a glass of the house champagne may have sent a signal that they were dealing with the wrong tourists. Can any "old Paris" hands tell me if that's what a local might order. I suspect they offered Krug in an attempt to make a rosbif feel at home. Not having dined with you, I can't say much about the actual food you ate. I suspect they were not too interested in what you thought about the food. It remains to be established why. Why would you have expected anyone to smile. The French, as a rule, do not smile. Americans smile and it's taken the French a long time to accept that they're not up to no good because of that difference. The ladies on the rue St. Denis may smile at you and the staff at a three star restaurant or luxury hotel may smile at you, but they all share a professional trick of their trades. This is not to imply they are common trades. I'm heartened that you enjoy Paris. I certainly do even with its imperfections. It lends some credence to your claim that La Regalade has declined, although I would need some corroborating opinion before I was inclined to worry.

I'd probably be amused, but honestly if I was a chef, I'd also wonder why of all things this is what a diner asked of me. To not focus on my food and their meal, but on my ethnicity would make me wonder why they came to the restauant--was it not the food. As I diner I want to make sure the chef believes I'm a devotee at least while he's still feeding me. My response of course would be, "why are you interested," but any question would give him the answer he wanted.

I sometimes hope that those who post the most intellectually provocative messages, don't actually believe what they post. I haven't eaten at Arpège since it was a two star restaurant and at the time I would not have considered it a "value" restaurant. At the same time, we found a noticeable mystique about the food and its subtleties. We sat up and took notice that it was different from an ordinary restaurant, even an ordinary two star restaurant. It was not hard to understand why Passard was already getting a reputation as a chef's chef. I think you will agree that value becomes very subjective at the three star level and it is hard to measure in terms used by most diners who never eat three star meals. One of my companions at Argège ordered a soup that was a puree of two vegetables. I looked at the two purees artfully arranged in a yin yang pattern and thought "baby food," myself. My companion took a few tastes and lit up as if she had just been visited by God, or at least the every essence of the two ingredients. As for Ms. Wells, she's been a respected and influential voice for a long time, but I've found much of her writing off the mark in the last year or so since she's come under the influence of her California health and fitness guru. I think the words that directly follow your quote are telling: "... I also feel that as Passard and other chefs delve into pure vegetarian menus that they need to learn a little bit more about balancing protein, fat and carbohydrates in a menu. While they should not be expected to be nutritionists, they need to think about satisfying a client’s need for a meal that contains at least some protein balance. They need to delve into pastas and rice, beans and legumes to balance out the pure dose of vegetables." While it appears to be an obvious and indisputable statement, I don't think it was ever raised when she was touting Robuchon's mashed potatoes or the complete focus on protein in the rest of the world of haute cuisine. It's also irrelevant as it's clear to me that Passard does offer "pure vegetarian menus." I have no interest in defending Steve Plotnicki, although my francophillic tendencies may alway leave room for suspicion, the mere fact that this meal moved Steve the way it did, is sufficient reason to credit Passard for a major accomplishment. Art or not, haute cuisine has moved to another place in the 21st century. It's no longer possible to measure two restaurants by how well each of them duplicates a recipe codified by Escoffier. One person's best restaurant may well be intolerable to another person of equal perception and taste. This may be Michelin's toughest hour and a rating of stars may only be useful to inquisitive diners, but not to those looking for satisfaction. It's becoming too subjective.

When people ask me about the best time to visit Paris, I usually start off by pointing out har far north it is and how long it stays light in the late spring and early summer, but then I remember how beautiful Paris is at night. They don't call it the city of lights for nothing. Even on the dark streets where my wife and I often find ourselves wandering after a simple bistro dinner in an outer arrondissement seem a counterpoint to higlight the brighter districts.

SoHo, although its name derives from SOuth or HOuston has never reallyu referred to the whole of Manhattan south of Houston, nor to all of Manhattan between Houston and Canal. For the most part SoHo only refers to the heart of that area. The narrow definition would be from Broadway to West Broadway and a broader definition would extend from a half block west of West Broadway to someplace around Crosby or Layfayette. There are probably two legal SoHo districts. One set by the zoning and the other by landmark designation. For instance the SoHo zoning covers both sides of West Broadway, but only the east side is landmarked. For most of the residents in the early seventies the zoning was the crtical issue. To the east it was Little Italy and to the west it was usually the south village. But of course real estate brokers will attach the best adjacent designation to any piece of property they are advertising. It's much like Puligny becoming Puligny-Montrachet.

Liza, that's not unusual. When I cook, it's usually out of interest in what I'm doing and less out of any interest in pleasing my guests. I mean I'm glad to share the results of my day's (or week's) work with friends, but the menu and the dishes were picked more because I wanted the challenge. Pick a hobby at random and my guess is that people pursue it out of the interest of the pursuit and not to show it off. When we had the time and energy, my wife and I might spend two or three days shopping, preparing and cooking a dinner for eight, but if she threw together a Puerto Rican stew or asopao in a few hours, our guests would not only have as good a time, but many would prefer it. In fact, it we want to feed 20-50 people, she can throw a 20 pound leg of pork in the oven where it will cook virtually unattended all day, or even overnight with less effort than a small dinner party. It may require someone to help serve and clean up, but that's another story. There's also a big pot of rice and pigeon peas of course. I will either buy an assortment of olives, ham and dried sausages for an appetizer or spend as long as I want making hors d'oeuvres, but no one really cares which I do besides me. The coconut bread pudding is made the day before. For the most part guests are so happy to just enjoy themselves and not feel they have to make clever compliments about the food. The multicourse plated Martha thing is what we do for our entertainment, the Nigella thing is what the guests really enjoy.

Now I recall and my guess is still the same, that his job calls more for him to explain, or to diplomatically not explain the Michelin red guide to the public and press, than to be directly involved with the ratings. However, as you note, his entry to Michelin was an inspector and that's a strength for him in his current position.

Second guessing is either hard or easy depending on one's need to be convincing. I wonder how much influence Brown exerts. How much spin can he give to the inspector's reports. While I recall reading about him when he was given his current position, I didn't recall that he had spent time in Asia. I imagine Hiramatsu got his star the same way Barbot did, with the food. There is a question of confidence about a chef with a chain of restaurants in Japan. Can he adequately maintain standards in Paris while he's in Japan? Being in residence the first year may work as much against him as not being there. In the former, one has to believe there will be no drop off in quality when he's gone and in the latter one may feel the need to look more closely and be more critical. When a chef is passed over, some different elements come into play. Sometimes one gets the impression that a chef (or any artist) has had their shot. If a chef is bypassed as his contemporaries are chosen, the public often stops thinking the third star is due and begins to believe the restaurant has reached its plateau. This becomes even more self fulfilling as new chefs and new trends come along and make the older two star restaurant look dated or force the chef to believe he had to innovate in a way that's not right for him in the attempt to be seen in a new light. However chefs react to a new edition that brings bad news, even if only relatively bad, there is always a the sense that this is the official ranking. I may have my favorite restaurants as well as my list of ones I think are not worth the price and you may have your own lists that drive your reservations, but while you may toy with the idea of eating in all the Michelin three star restaurants in France while you're on that side of the Atlantic, how much thought have you given to eating at all the GaultMillau 19s, let alone anyone else's favorites. I would think the weight of the Michelin rating can begin to weigh heavy on a kitchen after years of being bypassed.

Dorie, welcome to eGullet.com. It's great to see you here and wonderful to get that early report on Hiramatsu. My predisposition to love Paris and being there makes me happy to see that city keep it's preeminence as the food capital of the western world, even if it has to import chefs from Japan. That the Japanese chef/owner of a chain of French restaurants in Japan is able to come to Paris and grab a star in almost record breaking time is a matter of some historical significance.

I'm not sure if any in Paris measure up to those in Brittany. I suppose the same is said about any and every local product, but Le Monde singled out Fauchon as having the best kouign-amann in the capital. 10 francs for the individual size, which is probably less than the local shops get in Brittany, or was less when the franc was current. The article was from the 25 July issue last year and written before Hermé opened the first of his two shops. For added measure, Le Monde recommends a dry Breton cider as accompaniment, or an extra dry fruity champagne to contrast the sweet peasant dessert. They go so far as to suggest Pommery "Pop," those little blue bottles, with a straw.

Judging by the quaint shops I see around the world, I shouldn't be surprised if those hats weren't a big seller in some shop in London or Tokyo, but my question was not how to spot a South Dakotan in a London crowd, but how to tell him apart form the guy from Missouri. In South Dakaota the cap would be a freebie fromt he local feed store, while in London some young urban gent would probably shell out a few pounds for it. I am however surprised that you don't have more of an upbeat appreciation of folks who come visiting in their colorful native garb. Would an Austrian in lederhosen suffer the same rebuff.