Bux

Everything is relative. In this case it's relative to how much time you have in SF, your interest in the winery and it's wine, how you want to spend your time and perhaps even who invited you. I don't mean to be facetious about the latter, but there are at least three ways to visit many of the wineries. One is as a drop in while touring the area. Some wineries welcome that. Some are closed to walk ins. Those who make an appointment at most wineries will generally get a better grade of welcome, perhaps a more detailed tour and maybe even better wines to taste. Those who have access to an introduction at a high level may be treated royally at the winery. They'll get to taste some of the premium wines made by Phelps and it's a rewarding experience that would go far towards making it better than a day in SF, as nice a city as that is to visit. I'd echo Melkor's suggestion about getting to see at least one other winery in the area and I'd look to get a reservation at the French Laundry if at all possible and stay the night in the area. The draw backs to my proposal are the expense of dinner at the French Laundry, not to mention the difficulty of getting a reservation, and the absolute need to rent a car for a day or two.

The newspaper wins. That kind of story sells newspapers. Lost in all those rounds was the sense of which was the better experience. In an attempt to set quantitative standards where none exists, the article steals the soul of each meal for me. I'm distracted by seeing the valet parking count for as much as the the whole meal up to dessert, not to mention by the subjectivity pasted on the unsound structure of the rounds. The idea of restaurants meals as a competition demonstrates that today's restaurant connoisseurs are less discriminating in the way they appreciate dining. Then again, I always miss other people's tongue in cheek. I give the article a 6.5.

I continue to wonder if John and I have such different tastes or it's just chance that's left us with differing opinions on a number of restaurants. I've had two meals at l'Astrance. One shortly after it opened that was very avant garde and excellent as well as strikingly interesting. The other was last fall and it seems no more than contemporary on the evolutionary scale. It was a lovely meal in an almost old fashioned way, at least by comparison to the first meal. We, Mrs. B and myself, both thought one course -- the monkfish -- needed more sauce. I was however, enthralled by the quality of the cooking seen in that dish simply because I had been served a woefully overcooked monkfish in Lyon a few days earlier. My impression is that there's a lot of talent in a very small kitchen there. We've had two meals at Aux Lyonnais. The first was among the most impressive meals I've had at a restaurant in its price range. It was among my most satisfying meals at any price, not just in Paris. Caught between fearing it couldn't be repeated, especially after the stories I'd heard about its decline after a change in chefs, and wanting to share my pleasure with some people who share my love of food, we took a party of five to eat there last fall. I ordered virtually the same main course and have to say that the potatoes accompanying my calves liver were not of the same impeccable quality and crispness. That was as close to a complaint as the five of us could muster. There were two culinary professionals among us, both have cooked at a four star French restaurant in NY. The boudin noir, out of a tin and bearing the name of one of the most respected names in Basque cuisine, brought raves. No one could remember having had better. I suspect the chances of finding a better meal in Paris at this price are very low. The two culinary professionals, one of them French born, both ate in L'Ami Jean and spoke highly of their meal afterwards. I've not been there myself. We were busy that night and didn't join them. There's no accounting for taste, restaurants have good and bad days and no restaurant stays consistent over time -- they tend to get better or worse -- but I have great respect for the culinary opinions of these two as I do for John's opinions. My visit to Pinxo was disappointing. We found indifferent food. Most dishes just seemed to lack a real spark of interest or care in conception, preparation or presentation.

. . . .My number one conclusion is that ccn.com is not where I'm going to get news of the future. Has anyone noticed how long this list has been out in the public before it even hit the ccn.com site as news? ← In all fairness to ccn.com, and maybe I should always read the article before commenting on the post about the article, Gordon Anderson, in the May 3, 2005 edition of his weekly column The Good Life, is clear that this is just one maagzine's international survey. Moreover, I'm not sure the quote listed above is a fair one to represent his views in a column that's meant to chronicle "products, people and trends in luxury consumer goods, travel, and fine food and drink." To his credit, he concludes with the following far more respectful sentences:

Just as there are those who will be drawn to the outrageous and the "whacky," there are even a greater number of people in our society who have the deep seated need to deride and mock the new, the creative and the avant garde in any field, be it art, music, architecture, fashion, science or gastronomy. Derision of the new and the different will always sell newspapers. Reverse snobbism is a sure fire means to popularity among the masses. It doesn't hurt at all that the kid of food Blumenthal and Adrià produce takes a high degree of discipline and talent purely at the production end and it therefore expensive. It's all well to dismiss this food as being a fad for a minority. Great avant garde movements in art were put down in the same manner. No one really knows the future or what will catch on and what will fall by the wayside, but it's worth noting that these chefs are paid serious attention by young cooks and I'd suggest that's a greater indication of the effect they will have on restaurant cooking than what's said in media panering to low brow tastes and prejudices. My number one conclusion is that ccn.com is not where I'm going to get news of the future. Has anyone noticed how long this list has been out in the public before it even hit the ccn.com site as news?

This was largely my reaction to the comment that Ducasse has close ties to Michelin, although the last sentence is more than a bit subjective. Ducasse knows food and he knows restaurants. No one is infalible, of course. Still he knew exactly what he was doing when he had Delouvrier take over the kitchen. He may have thought it was a great idea, he may have thought it was a gamble or he may have thought it was the best option at the moment which may have been akin to making an educated bet. Somewhere along the way he had to decide it wasn't working out as he thought it would or as he hoped it would. I don't know if you can blame it all on Bruni, Michelin or any one person or organization, but as Ducasse himself was not there, he had to be getting this sense from the reactions of others. He may even have been getting this sense from those in the restaurant including Dulouvrier himself. Speculation has its fascination, but it's not getting us closer to the truth. Surely Fat Guy is not the only one who's noticed that the press release and the Florence Fabricant article, based on interviews with Ducasse who must have had some say in what went into the press relase, don't jibe. Indications are that the truth is often lost even to those who know all the facts.

I've come to terms with Bruni. As far as I'm concerned he can stay. Both the text and numbers of the Times restaurant reviews have tumbled so far in relevance since it was the review of record in NY, that it almost doesn't matter who writes them anymore. However, I thought the quote from the coat check girl was some sort of indictment of a lack of professionalism he felt about the restaurant overall. That I've come not to care about what he feels is another story, but I lost a great deal of interest in what was printed in the Times back when Grimes wrote the reviews. The reviews haven't gotten better for me. Sadly, it's almost been made to appear as if he writes obituaries for restaurants, if Florence Fabricant's interviews with Ducasse and Delouvrier can be trusted. Maybe you have to be French to take his reviews seriously. I say that as a francophile and with all due respect. I like the French, but the French like Jerry Lewis. Historians on the site may remind me that I was also more supportive and less bewildered by his reviews in the beginning.

Let's not forget to throw in the fact that we're hearing (or reading) Ducasse's words not only as reported by one reporter but also as replies to selected questions. There are a lot of possible truths behind any well reported statements. I generally believe about 70-80% of what I read in the times. That is to say about 80% of the story is correct, 70% of the time. "I could not regain 4 stars with Delouvrier at the helm" could mean he can't handle the job, his style of food is just not what's seen as four star style or he's very talented, but the reviewer doesn't respect him. The first would indicate a no confidence vote. The second could very much be supported by a decision to open a bistro with Delouvrier that's designed to garner two or three stars and be packed and make a lot of money. The last would be to capitulate to the powers that seem to be. Ducasse, for the first time I've seen in print, seems to be saying he's more interested in his rating than in the quality of his restaurant. Then again, I don't believe everything I read. There are a few differences between Elena and Delouvrier. It's one thing for a restaurant to get three stars on its first review. It's quite another to get three stars after having had a four star review. Not (yet) getting a star is perceived differently than losing one. Many people thought the match up of the two chefs was odd. Many who thought it was brilliant still noted it was unusual. As for comments about the FOH being the problem, according to Ms. Fabricant, Ducasse is bringing another dining room manager over from Paris. It's hard to say what Ducasse might have done if he was at the helm when ADNY got three stars. When Daniel fell from four stars to three, there were no major changes in the kichen. The dining room was still being fine tuned in terms of decor at the time and changes continued, but I don't recall changes in staff there either. All Daniel did was publicly pay lip service to the idea that he was listening to what Grimes had to say. Here Ducasse is the owner, not the manager. It's not surprising he'd let the manager go. The information we don't have is what the relationship was over the past year or so. That would be interesting, but no one's ever likely to get an impartial view of that. I don't know if ADNY was playing to capacity audiences, but my guess would be that the rating might not matter if it was. If nothing else. The change of the guard is one that's designed to play up to the reviewer's ego and garner some positive publicity. Whenever changes are made, we should all be encouraged to assume they will result in an improvement. This will continue the discussion of the power of reviewers and of ratings, paticularly of ratings by the major players -- specifically the NY Times and the Michelin Guide. They have some things in common. Their ratings are not nearly as influential to me as they used to be, though it's the Times' ratings that has really plummeted since Craig retired.

Deloouvrier had staff issues at Lespinasse. I don't know that they were specifically kitchen issues. I don't know that it's a second strike against Delouvrier how, or that it was the second strike against Lespinass then. As I recall, Gray Kunz also had problems with union staff. I had problems with the service myself the last time I was at Lesspinasse. I don't know what that proves. Message boards breed speculation, I suppose. I suspect we'll hear many theories of why Delouvrier was fired, or why he quit from any number of interested parties who have no idea of why they parted company. The surprise for me was that it all came about with no public warning or speculation.

This is something that's always puzzling to locals allover. There's always some place of little or no merit that somehow seems to get an overseas reputation. Then again, there are places in my hometown (NYC) that have a reputation for fine food, that I don't understand myself. There is often truly no accounting for taste.

It was many years ago, but I'd say he had a very light hand with the spices. There was one amuse that reminded me of a satay, but it was the only thing we ate that night that seemed unFrench and it was only one bite on a plate with several other tidbits. For the rest of the tasting menu, there was nothing that seemed fusion of influenced by the cuisine of another country. They were his flavors and he made them French.

There is inept service and there is rude service. It seems you've had both, sometimes at the same time. The food must be very good for you to have returned so often. Have you always had the same server at the bar? It might be enough for me to take a table. It sounds as if you are living n Barcelona and not the occasional visitor unless you make frequent visits to Barcelona. How long has this been going on? It would seem as if the owner might get some complaints if the food was good. Nevertheless, a long wait between courses and clams that hadn't opened, indicate kitchen problems as much as, or more than, service problems. For two out of five clams to be closed seems a sure sign that no one cares.

I've never heard anyone say Sushi Yasuda was an inexpensive restaurant or an inexpensive place to have sushi. It's not outrageously priced, but it's always seemed on the expensive side, especially if one is eating a la carte. This isn't news. I don't understand the point about getting a bowl of plain white rice anywhere. I've always assumed the vinegared rice was central to sushi. In fact, there is no sushi without it. People who seem to know and understand sushi better than I have made extremely positive references to the rice at Sushi Yasuda.

It appears you didn't get to hear the comments made by the panelists. I believe that was the dish that drew the comment asking if she (the chef) had tasted it. The clear inuendo was that someone who might have tasted it, might also have likely decided not to serve it. The reply was "Yes," which then drew the question asking if she liked it from another panelist. Here there was no mistaking the tone of incredulity. It appears to me that the producers of the show know little about food and less about fine food. I would assume they assumed Alex wasn't important as he didn't have his own restaurant. I would assume they made no inquires about his talent or reputation among professionals and faced with an embarrassing situation just decided to bluff their way through assuming their target audience knew no more than they did. I'd love to hear Jeffrey Steingarten's story, but only in court as sworn testimony. I'll also assume they've all signed a non-disclosure statement that will have everyone associated with the show making rather insincere private statements that vary according to the target of the statement. Alas my sources are discrete and as the old parlor game of "Telephone" proved, second and third hand reports are unreliable. They're bound to vary anyway. Even without the comments whose one sidedness surprised me -- could they not have edited them to be more supportive of the winner or were they trying to compensate the victim -- I don't think you had to be a professional to see who looked good and who looked as if they were seasoned professional chefs who've carried a restaurant Patricia Wells once named as one of the ten best in the the world.

I've seen fresh (dead) black chickens for sale at butcher shops in NY's Chinatown. They're usually identified as silkies. We've never cooked one, but I've always assumed they were at least not battery raised.

We have Diamond Crystal Kosher salt for boiling pasta, Baleine fine sea salt because my wife likes ot season food with it as she cooks and at the table, Baleine coarse because I like to put it in a salt grinder to have at the table. We also have both fleur de sel and sel gris from Guérande. I have an emotional attachment to the grey salt. It really seems so full of impurities that it seems organic. It's just wonderfully coarse and irregular to hold. I believe those impurities make it taste different, but I doubt I could taste the difference when it's dissolved. It's a purely emotional attachment to a place and I will buy more when I'm in Brittany next, but probably never pay a premium for it in a "gourmet shop." I use it in cooking where it dissolves. Fleur de sel is pure sel and I can't believe anyone would know they're using fleur de sel after it's been dissolved. It always seems like an affectation to use it in cooking. What makes it unique, useful and desireable is it's uniform size and it's particular crystaline structure. It actually has hooks that enable it to cling to food better and as somene else mentioned, it has a wonderful crunch. It also seems too expensive here. Although I understand why someone might pay the price, I'd probably hold out until I'm in Brittany next if I run out first. I don't really use it very often, but when I remember to pull it out, it adds a nice crunch. The commercial stuff is all in the original containers. The Breton salts are in large glass canning or jelly jars.

I was just looking at the map out of curiosity about were Elizondo was located. I haven't driven many of the roads around there and never been to Elizonda, but I see a lot of switchbacks on the map to get to Elizondo not matter how you do it. I've been on the highways from San Sebastian to Bilbao, from Pamplona to San Sebastian and from haro to San Sebastian, but from the looks of the map that's all highway and relatively flat.

Mouth watering. I enjoyed that. I should probably link to a post about my visit to the Hotel de Paris in Arbois some 35 years ago. The post is in another thread where you mention Poularde au Vin Jaune et aux Morilles.

Campsa lists two places in Elizondo, Casa Galarza and Santxotena. They list two more thirteen to sixteen kilometers away in Urdax-Dancharinea, Menta and La Koska. The also list two places in France (I searched within 25 kilometers of Elizondo), Ithurria in Ainhoa and Les Pyrénées in St. Jean Pied de Port. They give Ithurria a sol and two to Les Pyrénees. I've eaten in the Ithurria and it was quite good, but that was many years ago. Les Pyrénees is well known, but Michelin has down graded them to one star recently and Ithurria, which had a star when I was there, now has none. Anyway, they're in France and off topic. San Sebastian is a Mt. Olympus of restaurants and chefs. My personal favorites are probably Martin Berasategui and Mugaritz. I've posted my thoughts on them and the other restaurants in which we've eaten. Some of my favorite eating has been in the tapas bars. A four year old may not enjoy the bars in the old city in San Sebastian because they are crowded, but it you can get a bar stool, he or she, just might. On the other hand, I recall seeing lots of kids running around the old square, called the new plaza, in Bilbao which is another nice place for tapas. There's an attractive bar in the corner with outdoor tables and chairs. Depending on how you want to drive and what you want to see, it may be faster to drive through San Sebastian to get from Bilbao to Elizondo which is not so much further from San Sebastian than it is from Pamplona. Either way it looks as if there are some interesting roads through the mountains. The roads over the Pyrénées to France look straighter from that point.

No suprise, but my understanding is that vegetarian sushi has its origins inland, away from the coast. Freshwater fish is more susceptable to parasites than ocean fish. It's also my understanding that you're not likely to find raw river or lake fish used for sushi. Bux

It's certainly worthwhile checking old threads and doing a search. I can't emphasize the need to see what's already been said each time someone asks about an area here. Some of the best and strongest recommendations will come from people who have just returned from an area or from locals who have just had a terrific meal. Months later, they're not going to write as thoroughly in response to a question.

There's an industrial port within sight of the Museum. I have no idea where passenger ships dock. Taxis in Spain are quite reasonable, or so it's seemed to me, at least in comparison to Paris or New York. The restaurant in the Museum seems to have changed hands at least once, but it's always seemed ot be in the hands of a major chef or one of his desciples. The Guía Campsa which I prefer to Michelin's guide to Spain, gives it a sol, their equivalent to a star. Campsa thinks highly of the food in Bilbao. There are numerous restaurants with a sol and five with two soles.

A few thoughts come to mind this far into the topic. One is an amusing story about Klc. He was doing a demo at the Chocolate Show in NY. He's up on stage standing under a big Kitchen Aid banner, using this really funky little blender he bought in some Asian grocery store in LA or something like that. It's the color of a Bianchi racing bike, someplace in the triangle of chartreuse, aqua, and apple green and I'm thinking to myself as I look up to him, that he has no gratitude or respect for the people who put him in high places. Analogies are the devil's work to be sure, but I'm always trying to make them. I'm wondering how I'd feel if I owned a professional sports team. (I do this when I get bored wondering what it would be like if Michel Bras was my personal cook.) Here I am paying multimillions of dollars a year to my stars, expected them to be in the best shape and prepared to do the best job and then I find out they chose the shoes they're wearing just because someone paid them a lot of money to wear those shoes.

The last thing I want to see is for this to turn into a debate. I agree that there is a machine age efficiency at work in l'Atelier. We differ on how much of the savings are pocketed by Robuchon and how much is passed on to the consumer. I don't think that point can, or should be won of lost on debating points. I'm familiar with prices as of last fall. If the prices have risen considerably at l'Atelier since then and out of line with the general inflation, that would change things. As would any decrease in the quality of food since I've been there. I'd only note that I am disagreeing with some members who were last there sometime before my visit. Therefore some of my comments may seem less responsive to your more recent visit. My loyalty to Robuchon is not personal. I am simply expressing my pleasure of one meal at l'Atelier. The meal at his three star restaurant doesn't come into play for a number of reasons. I'm sorry to hear that about Dutournier. I have not eaten at Carré des Feuillants in some time. A dinner there was superb, a prix fixe lunch was less suberb, but still faultless. If anything I was upset because I felt loyalty to him. I've thought Carré was undervalued.

There are many restaurants in the world, or at least in the US, France and Spain, where I can order a three course meal for one price and a tasting menu of perhaps eight courses for twice the price. The amount of food I consume is not much more when I have the tasting menu. Clearly, the cost per item or per ounce rises disproportionately with the number of courses. I rarely assume there is a great corelation between the price of a meal and the value of the ingredients. I expect to pay for the labor, and if an eight course menu keeps me in my seat that much longer, I may have to pay for the length of time staff is employed. There is in the US, a "meat and potatoes" sort of diner who equates value directly to the amount on his plate. You are clearly not that kind of diner, so I'm surprised to fine the "more expensive right now on a per ingredient/piece on the plate basis" argument here. In other terms, value is a perception that will vary from diner to diner and I can't argue with your perception. It certainly comes from great experience. Of course all of our "value judgments" are filtered through our own preferences. The question of whether Robuchon at 100€ provides as great a "value" as Pacaud at 200€+ is not entirely a reasonable one for me. It's too much of an apple and oranges thing in my view. I have trouble ordering dissimilar things. My only response is to say I enjoyed my meal and that it was worth my time and money.