Bux

Influence of a single chef is much different than influence of a general cultural climate. Bras is most likely the number one influence, if not directly to all contemporary Spanish chefs, then to those leaders who are having the most influence within the country. Bras is not typical of French cooking. He represents a peak. What I sense in Spain is a synthesis of the French attitude towards techical excellence and perfection, and the American creative freedom. To some extent I base this on an offhand comment made to me when I was being taken on a tour of the kitchen at elBulli on my first visit, although I don't remember who it was who told me that Adrià had great respect for the freedom of American chefs. I'm also conscious of the range and number of American chefs being invited to Spain to participate in conferences and panels. To my mind, the number seems disproportionate to the number of French names I see. In truth, I'd probably credit the spirit of new cooking in Spain to the Spanish zeitgeist, than to external influences anyway. There is a strong creative streak, perhaps stronger in some provinces than other, that's been repressed, but bound to surface sooner or later. I also sense, in Spain, a strong stubborn conservatism that enables great respect for discipline. For years, that discipline wasn't seen much in America except in chefs imported from France, or at least trained there. All too often, our chefs wanted to create before they had a good grasp of the basics. The probelm in France at the time, was that they were too wrapped up in traditional disciplines and unable to improvise outside the box. All of that is changing here and in France. The lead Spain has taken is rapidly becoming a global cuisine. I was tempted to say a western cuisine, but it's really going global. I don't mean to say that's good, or bad. I already miss some regional cooking that's becoming harder to find in many places. Back to the issue most relevant to the this forum and a discussion of Ureña, I've said of Batali and Nusser's Casa Mono, that it didn't remind me of any restaurant or bar in Spain, but if it was plopped down in Madrid, it wouldn't be particularly out of place. Blue Hill is the restaurant that most comes to my mind when I'm dining in Spain, not because I think it serves Spanish food, but the underlying parallels to many highly touted restaurants in Spain, and perhaps to Bras as well, make comparisons a natural, in at least some aspects even where the direction is very different. The odd thing is that somehow I sense an expectation both here, and in the press, that Ureña was going to be the Spanish anti Blue Hill, and that in my mind, has to be based not so much on a misunderstanding of what Alex was setting out to do, but perhaps on a misconception of what is Spanish about restaurants in Spain these days. For me these days, what's Spanish about the food in Spain may be the local seafood, meat and produce more than anything else. Alex is making extensive use of piquillo peppers, but Andrew Carmellini, who's just opened his restaurant practically around the corner, is using chorizos in his supposedly Italian dishes, I think it's going to be increasingly difficult to pigeonhole restaurants so easily in the future. At any rate, I'm not going to stay away from Andrew's restaurant either simply because anyone says it's not Italian. Still, I'd be curious for the sake of understanding how others see this, to know exactly why people don't feel Ureña is a Spanish restaurant and even more to understand why that's a disappointment.

There's probably general agreement that WD-50 is the most obvious choice for techinal cooking. I don't know that I'd say Wylie is in any way influenced by Adrià, but his processes are more noticeable than at any other restaurant in NY. He also tends to push the flavor combination envelope as well with dishes incorporating flavors most diners would suspect went well together. You should be aware that the city department of health and safety, or whatever they are called, has just issued a crack down on sous vide cooking, simply because it's not well documented. In fact some chefs who use the technique extensively are among the first to agree that in the wrong hands there may be hazards.

I found some of the early comments odd. I wanted to reply early in the thread, but decided to wait until I had eaten at Ureña. I was there last week for the first time. Let me first say that I enjoyed my meal very much. I should also note that I've met and been introduced to Alex when he was at Blue Hill and Marseilles. My daughter, who some may recall from another thread, featured Alex in an article she wrote on Blue Hill and ramps for Time Out just after Blue Hill opened. She also got to eat at Ureña before I did and and gave the food a thumbs up. Thus, I was eager to like the food and expected to like the food and thus it may not be a surprise that we liked the food. Perhaps it's more telling that our friends liked it and thought it was the best restaurant in walking distance from Tudor City where they live. Also of significant importance to me is that it's still easy to get a last minute reservation. One of the ways in which I think NY is not a great restaurant town is that unlike Paris, I don't know a lot of restaurants in which I can get a great reasonably priced meal without making a reservation far in advance. The exception of course is in ethnic restaurants with heavy turnover and fairly fast dining, but restaurants where you can, and want, to spend two or more hours dining well on three courses are far less common in NY than Paris, or say Barcelona. Taste is very subjective however and it's not all that interesting that one person likes a restaurant and another doesn't. What I find interesting is the focus on whether or not Ureña is a Spanish restaurant. The restaurant itself seems to have proclaimed itself as "Spanish," which might be unfortunate. Nevertheless, I suspect it was in response to the insistence of the press that it pigeonhole itself. I don't think there are any Spanish restaurants in NY. Meigas, west of SoHo was the closest perhaps, but it's gone. I say there are no Spanish restaurants for a number of reasons. One reason is that the food is very dependent on local provisions. The pork and seafood just tastes different there. I've also listened to successful arguments from Spaniards saying there's no national cuisine, simply because it's so regional. That's perhaps a less convincing argument, but I think it's tied very closely to the fact that few Americans know what Spanish food is or even what it is in Madrid. I was having that thought when I read the following paragraphs in a post in the Spain forum. I thought this might fit here, especially as it also touches on Adrià and elBulli, whose influence people somehow also expected to see at Ureña, in spite of the fact that that those Spanish chefs who have best made use of their time at elBulli, don't cook in imitation of Adrià. It speaks of Catalan cooking, rather than Spanish cooking, which in itself supports my contention that it's difficult to define Spanish food. Contemporary Spanish chefs, Ferran Adrià himself included, tend to say they're more influenced by American cooking than by French cuisine. (I'm talking about the generation after Arzak.) Thus it may be no surprise that it's sometimes hard to tell the difference between a modern Spanish restaurant and an American one. Not long ago I might have credited the absence of Asian elements as a difference, but even in Madrid, a relatively conservative city gastronomically, one of the best restaurants in town is a sushi bar with a Spanish chef and a fusion menu. So the questions I'd pose to all who are disappointed that Ureña is not a Spanish restaurant in their opinion, is how extensively have you eaten in Spain, what did you expect the food to be like, and how is it not Spanish. What is very Spanish, or at least European or Franco-Iberian, to me, is the bright lighting level of the restaurant.

Nope. The three-star review appeared on June 2, 1999. The four-star re-review appeared 21 months later, on March 14, 2001.. . . . ← Fascinating that I recalled it as a shorter period. Given my association with staff at the time, I would have expected the time frame to have seemed excruciatingly longer. I guess time flies when you're having fun. Regarding seeming to have a "dog in the hunt," it's one thing to be a cheerleader or champion of a certain restaurant, chef or even style of food, it's another to let it interfere with objectivity. I'm not necessarily saying Bruni did in this case. I have no problem with a critic who announces that a restaurant sucks, but still has great potential. If you believe a restaurant has the potential to be world class, it must hurt to have to honestly give it a poor review with the knowledge that such a review might well kill its chances to survive and achieve its potential greatness. I don't know that any of that applies to Bruni or his review of Del Posto. The issue here for most of us is whether we believe Bruni is capable of leading us to a restaurant we believe is world class. I don't believe any critic will do that universally.

As far as I know, Alain Ducasse is the last relevant precedent. William Grimes awarded three stars on November 1, 2000, and four stars just barely over a year later, on December 19, 2001. A similar precedent is Daniel, which received two stars from Marian Burros on July 30, 1993, and four stars from Ruth Reichl on November 11, 1994.Critics choose their review subjects based on newsworthiness. A new four-star restaurant is simply more newsworthy than a neighborhood trattoria. Jean Georges hasn't had a rated review since June 6, 1997, but we can find any number of restaurants that have had two, and even three reviews since then—Ducasse being one of them. That doesn't necessarily reflect a bias against Jean-Georges Vongerichten. It could simply mean that Reichl hit the nail on the head in 1997, and none of her successors have seen the need to revisit the topic. ← There's a stronger Daniel precedent. I think Grimes' four star re-review appeared far less than a year after his three star initial review. Boulud's official and behind the scenes response to the first review was interesting and, I think, revealing. I ate there rather frequently at the time and both my daughter and son-in-law were working at the restaurant. In public, Daniel was quite humble and I don't think I read or heard a word of either disappointment or anger. The disappointment from those further down on the totem pole was something else, particularly from those intending on having a four star restaurant on their resume. All that Daniel said was that they'd have to work harder. From inside however, I noticed very little in terms of food changes that weren't part of the normal progression of things in a restaurant where the chef/owner is a restless sort and always prone to revise, refine and improve a dish. Even the dish most reviled in Grimes' first review stayed on the menu, and I might add, continued to be ordered by regulars who couldn't have cared less about opinions of the NY Times critic. What Daniel Boulud did do, was to fuss with the interior. In my opinion, about two thirds of those changes were for the worse, at least temporarily, but most were still in place when the four star review came out if I recall correctly. Most of the negative changes were still rather short lived fortunately. Nevertheless, Grimes quickly returned and praised the improvement in the food, citing any number of new dishes or those that evolved as proof. He omitted any reference to the one dish he noted as being inferior to what one could expect at any local trattoria in Italy and the one dish that hardly changed at all. I've always been of the opinion that Grimes, who the week before the first review was published, was quoted in a magazine (TONY, New York?) as saying that if the Times wanted a critic knowledgeable about food, they would have hired Daniel Boulud, arrived at Daniel with an agenda and then sensed his opinion was not being respected after his three star review. I'm not sure Bruni cares if he's respected. That would of course, make his voice extremely independent, and perhaps irrelevant as well. Although I was not fond of my main course at Alto, I left with the sense it was operating at a three star level overall, but needed some time to iron out a few dishes. Personally, I think the media reviews restaurants much too quickly. Most professionals tell me not to expect a great restaurant to come near hitting its stride anywhere within the first three or four months of operation. Unless a restaurant is opening with prices far below what they might charge, the first six months are not going to offer value meals. Del Posto has little appeal to me, less than Alto, at any rate.

Do you disagree that this thread leaves a bad taste in TAPrice's mouth or that it's not bad netiquette? I think it's important simply to understand what it is that bothers this member than to dismiss his opinion. I don't believe he's challenging eG's right to start threads such as this one, he's merely saying it's a bit bruta figura. Can you be so sure that some points of view will not be allowed here? I'm sure of just the opposite.

I'm inclined to support the general drift of sneakeater above. Although I don't frequently eat in Italian restaurants in NY, I recall great roasted kid at L'Impero for a main course. I also had some excellent fish and meat courses in Italy that would have been excellent had they been served in France, Spain or the US. What is unusual, and definitely untraditional, is to offer a tasting menu of pasta. I can recall having both a pasta and rice dish in the same meal, but not two or more pasta dishes. The closest I can recall is a meal that included shrimp fried in noodles, cannellone made with phyllo dough not noodle dough, and risotto in a meal that also featured a main course of superb suckling pig at Calandre. Il Rigoletto was another Italian restaurant with a less decidedly avant garde approach, but one which featured exceptionally refined cooking without sacrificing earthy or robust flavors. Both of these restaurants have their fans and Calandre, is a three star Michelin restaurant, but I don't think we hit the absolute peak of Italian cooking. On the other hand, we also ate at Dal Pescatore, another more traditional three star restaurant and the pasta dish was the star of the meal.

NY is a great dining town, but one thing sets it apart from what I've enjoyed about Europe, with the exception of ethnic restaurants, it seems harder to get a really good meal without reserving well in advance. Lupa is certainly not unique in this regard.

"Foie" is the French word for liver. I supsect we're talking about "goose liver" and "goose foie gras." I understand some people use "foie" to mean "foie gras," but I find that confusing although in Spain, it's the norm to refer to "foie gras" as "foie." I've never heard anything about goose foie gras being illegal in the US while duck foie gras was allowed, although from time to time there have been all sorts of restrictions on meat imports and I'm not aware of anyone raising goose foie gras in the US. I don't know for sure what the current situation is regarding restrictions, but I see that D'Artagnan lists only duck foie gras under fresh offerings. They do have goose foie gras in "bloc" form in tins. The Fresh duck foie gras is from both domestic and French sources. I could not find an origin specified for the goose foie gras. It may be hard to get fresh foie gras d'oie in the US, but apparently it isn't banned. Edit: to say that I see Robyn responded while I was checking D'Artagnan's web site and attending to a minor emergency at home.

Nine o'clock is a fine time to dine in Paris. At a bistro, you can even feel comfortable a bit earlier. At a starred, or luxury, restaurant, we usually reserve for 21:00. Note that time will more often be expressed in 24 hour terms. I don't particularly like being the first to arrive at a fancy restaurant, but I enjoy having enough time to eat liesurely and perhaps, only perhaps, have time to digest a grand meal before I go to bed. Confirm all your reservations a day or two prior to the actual reservation.

Rather than make too many assumptions, let me suggest you get a hold of a Michelin Guide to get a pretty reliable idea of the entry price at each establishment. Better yet, as you're only going to Paris and already have your list of restaurants, why not make use of Michelin's web site. http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin You may have to register. I'm not sure if access to the restaurant guide information requires registration or not, but if so, know that registration is free and this is an invaluable resource if not a totally reliable guide to quality and interest of the food. (I know of no totally reliable guide. Even my own opinion comes into question when I return to a restaurant and don't enjoy the second meal as much as I had the first.) You will need to define your online Michelin searches carefully in Paris as there are too many starred restaurants in the city. I suggest you search for starred restaurants separately for zip codes 75001 all the way through 75020, if necessary until you've found all your choices, although I don't think you'll find too many of your starred choices in the outer arrondissements. As for bistros, that's going to be harder. Without an address, your choice may not show up on line. Then again, those are not going to be break the bank meals. I assume you understand that Taillevent is as (more?) expensive than l'Astrance. My personal opinion is that Gagnaire can be magnificent, but based on what others tell me, the restaurant can have off days, or perhaps it may be more accurate to say that Gagnaire has not necessarily been consistent in his brilliance. It's a high price at which to take risks, but as they say, "nothing ventured, nothing gained"--"no pain, no gain." Arpège is terribly expensive. It can also be sublime. I've found it sublime, but I've also found the price a bit much. It's not a question of value, because it stands alone in my opinion and therefore can't be compared to other restaurants. I will note that on my first visit when it was a two star restaurant, the sommelier recommended wines in the 20-30 € region. By my next visit, the restaurant had earned it's third star and the cellar had been revamped. A glass of fairly ordinary red wine from the Languedoc was 22 €. It was hard to find many bottles under a hundred euros and the least expensive red in half bottles was around 150 €. Don't forget wine when budgeting. I really don't have enough experience to tell you which of the multistarred restaurants will have a good selection under 100 €. Of all the three star restaurants in which I've never dined and therefore haven't too much to say about them, Guy Savoy is the one that's been most highly recommended by trusted sources, but there are others that interst me as much.

I, for one, have seen more than my share of lists of what people have eaten, and find impressions, particularly if the dish has already been listed upthread, much more intersting. I also found it quite tasty, although I thought it could easily have been pushed over the edge into a dessert as much as it was a successful savory course. What emerges from your account, and what's impressed me most about Wylie's cooking in the end, is that it's delicious. As much as I enjoy the visuals and contemplate the intellectual aspects of the food, putting it in my mouth is the ultimate reward. My preference is not particularly for heartier food, although I enjoy that as well, but I share with you a taste for Wylie's food that grows as I have more of it. That may raise the question of how long this will continue, but what I think it says is that the shock value some may ascribe to this kind of food, or even the newness of it, is not particularly at the heart of its appeal.

gaf, Casa Mono remains a favorite, but I was underwhelmed both times I ate at Babbo. Admittedly Casa Mono's prices have escalated since it first charmed me. I think the sweetbrads served at each of those two restaurants illustrate why I like Casa Mono more than Babbo and you get to the point early in your post when you say ". . . not a single dish proved astonishing, although the combination of ingredients - as well as Mario's buzz - indicated that this was the goal." Lots of good food isn't astonishing, but it comes off better when it's not obviously designed to astonish the diner. The cooking of the sweetbreads is similar at both restaurants, but the saucing, garnishing and presentation at Cas Mono is far simpler and offers less of a cacaphony of flavors. It's not that Casa Mono's version was more polished (I had both last month, one soon after the other) but that it's a less brassy version. The terms with which you describe the lamb's tongue dish--"busy," "excessive" and "out of balance" may be more subjective than objective, but they illustrate what I don't like about the food, which is not to say that I don't understand your reasons for enjoying the food with gusto. There are dishes, particularly the pasta, that I've eaten with gusto, but there are others where I'm reminded of dishes I've had in France or Spain that were simply more enjoyable. I had the bigue with chestnut gelato and was surprised I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have expected given my love of good gelato and chestnut gelato in particular. I enquired as to what the bigue was and was told "pastry shell." I didn't think it was a good idea, but I was seduced by the promise of chestnut ice cream. My companion and I exchanged opinions as to what the "shells" might actually be. When they arrived, they seemed to be cream puff shells. did you find them to be anything else? I was rather surprised that our waitress didn't describe them as that, or use the French term profiterolles which I would supsect is better understood by most sophisticated diners in Manhattan. Babbo, in that regard, seems to ask only to be compared to other Italian restaurants. Unfortunately, I don't frequently dine in Italian restaurants, but I'd be at least as eager to return to L'Impero, Alto or Fiamma as Babbo. Babbo certainly has its pleasures and I have no doubt that it has greater and more widespread appeal than the restaurants I would choose before returning to Babbo, especially the French ones. For me the restaurant that may best be an example of a kitchen that wispers rather than shouts and which produces food that is sublime rather than robust, and is perhaps in that regard a polar opposite, is the one that's almost directly behind Babbo--Blue Hill. By the way, I've had an excellent lunch and a good dinner or two at Lupa, but also feel it's over rated. It's simply not the kind of food that should require booking as far in advance as does. Of course that may say more about the lack of other good places like that, or the clientele than it is an indictment of Lupa.

Thoumieux gets very mixed reviews at best. It could be the sage setting for the restaurant I'd love to love in Paris, but I'm usually steered away by what I've read about it. It seems to serve the neighborhood well enough and I'd suggest doing a search to find out what people like about it, what they don't like about it and what it does best. I'm glad to hear Ptipois likes l'Ami Jean. Although it was on our list, we didn't get there the last time we were in Paris, but two highly credible professionals we know thought it was just the low key respite from haute cuisine they were looking to find. I haven't eaten at any of Constant's restaurants, but we met him a while back when he was closing shop at the cafe. He opened the taps and hospitably drew us all a glass of beer. On that basis only, I'd like to try his food. It's hard to suggest that l'Astrance and l'Ambroisie are not on the same level, if only because I have a high degree of respect for both chefs. Nevertheless, l'Abroisie is the older more established restaurant and probably still the much more expensive one. Perhaps the more accomplished one as well and I say that with no disrespect to Barbot. Which you prefer may be a matter of style. but there is probably no more of a perfectionist than Pacaud. It's not just that he seeks perfection, but that it seems to roll off his stoves. L'Amboisie can be the sort of place that causes one to recalibrate just how good cooking can be. On the other hand, some may find the food lacks creativity or pizazz. In short, haute cuisine is not everyone's cup of tea in the first place.

I haven't had time to read all of this thread, but I'm not surprised at the interest anglophones display in all things French and particularly in all things related to French cullinary matters. There's a love/hate relationship and inferiority/superiority complex with the French. Never having been ot France or being clueless doesn't usually stop anglos from having an opinion either. "Myth" is an appropriate word for the title of this thread. I won't proclaim to be any sort of expert on French markets, but I've shopped in them for the purpose of securing provisions for dinner and I've shopped in open markets and supermarkets with a professional chef born in Brittany and working in a NY Times four star restaurant in NY. I probably won't veer far from what Ptipois says, and if I do, she's probably correct and I'm suffering from some misapprehension, though as in most things there will be some subjectivity. I think it's been established that an open air or closed city/town/village market is not a farmer's market. The stalls are occupied by vendors of all sorts. Many of the vendors have a shop in one town and do the rounds of open markets in the area coming to different towns on different days. Many are just itinerant vendors who make the rounds of various weekly markets. They buy from their sources who may be artisans or commerical producers. There are also those very small farmers and producers of cheese, honey, wine, etc. who bring their homemade wares to market themselves. The French are sticklers for typing and labeling. Fait main and produit fermier are label terms that are enforceable by law and quite reliable. The French also know the value of a good marque. On a thread about canned sardines in the Spain forum, I noted that a fine restaurant serving sardines will display the tin along with the sardines. A noted food critic in that thread stressed the best French sardines are vintage dated. No one will open these tins and sell them as fait maison. Anyone selling a poulet de Bresse or a label rouge chicken will not have the temerity to say they raised it if they didn't. On the other hand, I know my friends sometime buy unpedigreed chickens from a local farmer that go for more than chickens with pedigree. The local farmer has has built a market based on the flavor of her chickens and not on false advertising or simply that she's a small local producer. To the best of my knowledge she doesn't go to the market, people come to her, but I believe that's immaterial and her business relates well to the points being made in this thread. Just as some people like to anthropomorphize ducks and g eese to criticize the gavage, they like to think of French markets in terms of what they have, or would like to have, at home, be it England, Canada or the US. It's just a damn market. One stall has processed cheese and the next has fresh lait cru. As for local produce, wherever I've been, the produce is all labeled as to origin. Oranges from Morocco, tomatoes from Spain, as well as produce from areas in France. The larger the city, the greater the variety and, generally, the greater the difference between the best and worst quality available. The real finds of course, are often in the tiny village markets which only draw locals. The finds are not necessarily top quality, but they are finds simply because they are unique in some way and from producers too small to make, or grow, enough to satisfy a commercial distributor or even make the trip to a larger city worthwhile. This whole thread seems predicated on the assumption that not only are the "markets" different from the commerical supermarkets, but that one is "good" and the other inherently "bad." That may be, but it's largely from a foreign viewpoint. Our friends in the Languedoc think that way, but it's because they've come to retire in the France of their dreams and early travel. The fact is that the hypermarche may well be a source of excellent artisanal provisions. I've told the story of being picked up by my Breton chef and taken to his family house for dinner. On the way we had to stop off and shop. I was thrilled, up until we pulled into the suburban hypermarche parking lot and grabbed a cart. What a let down as we passed the aisles of Oscar Meyer imitations and sliced processed cheese in plastic packages, but what a surprise to hit the fresh produce aisle with numerous varieties of garlic and lemons. Can most of you who use citrus zest in cooking, get fruit that's not been sprayed with pesticide and fungicide? In that French supermarket, the lemons and oranges were all marked as untreated or else the poison on the skin was noted. We were headed for the cheese aisle well beyond the plastic boxes and found a selection--in Brittany no less where they are not known for their cheese--of cheeses I've not seen equaled in NYC and a good number were very local from small producers. More impressive was the selection of rillettes. In order rising price there was pork, duck and rabbit. To my surprise, there was pure pork again at the top of the price scale, but this was from a special breed of pig raised with organic feed. When we shop in the town of Pezenas, in the Herault, on days when there is no market, things are not so different except that the selection is smaller as there are fewer stores. The ten dollar rotisserie chicken at one place is not worth the price, but the twenty dollar chicken next door is worth twenty dollars although most everything else at the first shop is first rate. One learns. It's called shopping. Has a shop keeper ever lied to me? I suppose so, but less often in France than most places and my accent pretty much identifies me as a tourist. I am of course, a cynic, but I am as cynical of the market place of cyncial opinions as I am of the market place of food.

People, places and Palates =R= ← Aw go on, Tony's always had real balls.

I'm pretty sure I've seen them wet packed in Gourmet Garage just recently, but I'm not 100% sure it wasn't at a Whole Foods market.

Johnny is another of those hard working and talented guys who seems to have a lot of respect for the professionals he works with and who's earned respect from those with whom he works. I got a rather last minute e-mail. I assume it was simply to alert me for my own enjoyment, but I was happy to share the news and I put the notice up as soon as I heard about it, hoping the taping might be a subject for discussion as well as provide enjoyment for others. I don't think they devoted enough time to Johnny, for any of us to have learned much about his talent on that show. Once again, a chef is squeezed into too short a time with a host who's really clueless about cooking at that level and unable to offer any sort of presentation of the chef. It's not news and I've seen older chefs with more media experience run over roughshod by a well meaning but clueless host. You'll learn more about his cooking abilities by having dinner at Jean Georges, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the media again. Johnny actually came off well and showed good presence. I can't say I really paid much attention to the rest of the show. In truth I only had half an eye on the TV while waiting for Johnny to come on, but it seems as if they devoted most of the show to small talk by people who had nothing interesting to say. On the other hand, I may not be the demographic daytime TV is interested in attracting.

My birthday and our anniversary are three days apart. I always take her out for dinner and she tells me it's my birthday dinner.

For fans of the JG pastry chef, check out Johnny on The Tony Danza Show Tomorrow Friday, Feb 17- 10 am channel 7

I was nervous about not having a concierge as well.. But a lot of the apartment providing companies, thanks to your websites, are based out of America.. They offer all the ammenities that a concierge would.. From reservations to picking us up at the airport.. ← With eG recommendations, who needs a concierge? I'm in the apartment camp too, and not necessarily for cooking big meals. To me it's just torture to be in a hotel room with only a mini-bar to stash cheese, charcuterie and other local finds. I love the extra space and also the facility to make my own breakfast... and in particular, a good cup of tea! Doc, the place where you stayed looks amazing! Daniel, I am really looking forward to your report. ← I'm certainly in personal agreement about having a place to enjoy cheese, charcuterie and pastries. As for the concierge, it really depends on your budget and what you want the concierge to do for you. They can be of great service in gettting a three star reservation, but they're not a foolproof way to get your first choice at the last minute. Generally I can get myself to and from any airport with minimal trouble. Usually I can do if for less money that by following a concierge's suggestion. It's been my experience that when I ask a concierge how to get from point A to point B, I get the suggestion of a taxi. The Paris metro is a breeze to navigate and with the one fare to all points in the city, the bus isn't hard to deal with either. I just took a look at Doc's apartment. I notice that even the rental agent acknowledges it has a "fully equipped American kitchen with Japanese plates and silver ware."

Ah Bux, be careful of sweeping generalizations. We had our kitchen completely renovated and while we don't have a Viking oven, we have sufficient space and modern appliances to do almost anything. And, there are apartments for rent that do too. Not to get DocSconz's PM mailbox flooded, but the place he rented last year had a splendid open kitchen with great eqpt; it resembled a loft in SoHo (US) more than a flat in La Boheme (Left Bank). I think the trick is to view photos and know the size of the rooms before one decides. Also, not to be too chauvinistic but Americans, Scandanavians and others in Paris for a few years often get their kitchens renovated because they're used to cooking in bigger spaces and couples need elbow room to pass when cooking ensemble. ← "Often" is not a sweeping generalization, even for me, but I note that you note that it's Americans and Scandinavians who need to renovate the kitchens the French leave behind. Then there are some kitchens that stick in my mind. A friend traded lofts, such as may be had in Paris, with a French woman whose space in Paris was designed by Jean Nouvel. The small oven was in a corner and designed such that the side hinged door prohibited anything like a direct approach to the open oven. Our friend returned with the burn marks on her arms from reaching over and under the door to retrieve the roast. At any rate, someone who wants a kitchen needs to know not to expect what he might expect in NY and take pains to ensure he gets what he wants.

You mean there is a way to feed yourself without killing living things? ← Not necessarily, but there's honor in sacrificing oneself, or taking the bullet so a comrade can live. hara-kiri, or seppuku, is an honored tradition. No, I'm not offering to commit hara-kiri, although perhaps if I had more respect for life, I might. All I'm saying is that I can respect a man who thinks an ant's life is as valuable as his own. At the moment, the only reason I wouldn't order foie gras might be that I trusted the restaurant to prepare something more interesting, or that I didn't trust the restaurant enough for them to prepare foie gras.

That's the most interesting argument I've heard yet and certainly the most likely to get someone to shut up about this topic...... Thanks for posting!!!! ← At least once, and probably more often than that, I've quoted my web site in regard to the physiology of water fowl. In particular, I've noted that "Ducks naturally swallow grit and stones. The esophagus of a duck is lined with fibrous protein cells that resemble bristles and does not bear comparison to that of a human. The activists attempts at anthropomorphism are understandable when the intent is propaganda, not enlightenment." Somewhere I read that the bristles are composed of a material much like finger nails. Now stick that in that in your throat for comfort. It really seems that simply have the condition of being a goose is inhumane.

would you want to eat meat from an animal that had been largely fed quarter pounders??? ← That's not a comforting thought. For one thing it means that when the URO's finally land, I may be considered one one of the more organically raised livestock earth has to offer. Grizzly bears, lions, tigers and certain mosquitoes remind me to be wary of claiming to be at the top of the food chain.