Bux

We lived near the Greenwhich Avenue store for a few years and have some good memories of the danishes and pound cake, but my real memory is of the shop in Brooklyn from my childhood. Of course those were the days when butter got the respect it deserved.

In the context of eating and dieting, perhaps almost on target. At any rate, it reminds me of the time about ten years ago, our daughter took a term off from college to live and work in Paris. She found an apartment, a gym and looked for a job, in that order. To bring us totally on topic, she never found a job and finally put her time in Paris to use by going to cooking school. Although "spoiled" and "privileged" may come to mind, in her defense, she had accelerated her education and graduated on time, saving one term's tuition, room and board which was more expensive than living and studying in Paris for an equal amount of time. I know some of us may think it was sad to waste our time and money on college when we could have been living in Paris. What I recall most about our daughter's reaction to a French gym was that most of the members seemed to pay dearly for the proper work out clothes and weren't about to ruin those clothes by breaking out in a sweat. I've never eaten at Les Editeurs on the carrefour de l’Odéon, but it's a cozy cafe and brasserie. You've already mentioned Fish, my closest recommendation.

Cancale, as I understand it, was home to the French East India Trading company and thus port of entry for all the spices of the orient as it was known at the time. Roellinger thus feels it's not only his right, but his duty, to incorporate the spices of the world into his food and uphold the local traditions. The rooms in his inn are each named for a spice. I know of very few chefs who evven approach Roellinger in the sensitivity of the use of so wide a range of spices. Fusion, when applied to food, has always been a scary word. Roellinger has so well mastered the use of his spices, that I never sensed he was trying fuse anything any more than I would think of lardons and mushrooms being fused into coq au vin. His food had so great a sense of being correct and traditional, even if it was to a terrior no greater than his property. Gray Kunz, who was still at Lespinasse in NY when I visited Roellenger is another who is adept at handling the spices of the east naturally in an unforced manner.

I don't believe I can capture a URL for the map, but if you go to the Campsa site - http://www.guiacampsa.com/ and click on "Restaurants" (towards the upper left there's a highway picture adjacent to the cover of the Campsa Guide) in the menu that lists: Street maps Restaurants Hotel You can enter "Roses" as the search town. Can Rafa should pop up as the first restaurant listed. Click on the "Map" link and you should get the map you need. I say should, as the correct street is shown, but the restaurant is shown a few blocks away. The street is C. S. Sebastià in Catala apparently. It may be better to park and walk around.

A few years back we bought some excellent local artisanal goat cheeses in Lorient. Even more surprisingly to me at the time, we bought them in a hypermarché. It was a Champion on the outskirts of Lorient and I was also surprised that's where a French chef working in NY, but on vacation visiting his parents, would take us for last minute shopping for dinner. I can say that the lowest tier of cheese resembled the cheese section of an ordinary supermarket in the states with it's packaged process cheese. The next tier up of industial, but honest cheese, much of it lait cru, was more like what one might expect in a "gourmet" specialty shop in the US. Yet another aisle over were the more delicate cheeses, the artisanal unwrapped cheeses that I would expect to find only in the better shops in France. Along that same wall were the examples of artisanal charcuterie that represent the glory of France. Butter had been purchased at the open market in Hennebont earlier. It was incredible butter. It was the most distinguished butter I've ever had. Next to it, Plugra and the imported major French brands available here, taste like margarine. Anyone who has access to real artisanal farm butter in Brittany should make it a point to try some.

I am the minority voice here. I ate at l'Atelier de JR last September under less than ideal conditions -- we had a baby and one of us at a time spent part of our meal walking him outside the restaurant -- thus it's hard for me to complain about any of the impositions imposed by the nature of the concept and design. A formal sit down meal for the four of us was out of the question. Even a lunch at Aux Lyonnais was difficult together. The counter made it easy for one of us to come and go and the staff handled that quite well. I thought the dishes I ate were rather exquisite. Of course we didn't dine in the sense I've come to think of fine dining, but the food I ate was not at all disappointing. Interestingly enough on that trip we met a French chef with a restaurant in Venezuela who had worked in NY. He was visiting relatives in Paris, but he had been in Paris earlier in the year to spend some time in the kitchen at l'Atelier. He too was most impressed with the operation. It is what it is, in terms of a restaurant. I'm not the first to be very pleased by the food, and I trust I'll not be the last. Yes the whole operation is an affront to French restaurants, and perhaps the very tiny segment of the Parisian polulation who might ever eat at a three star restaurant is ignoring l'Atelier for any number of reasons, but I suspect it has no place in their pace of life, rather than that they're acting as gastronomic critic. As a destination restaurant it is a curiosity offering none of the customary comforts of a destination restaurant. It's never likely to have a star, and certain never more than one. So it gets a strange crowd and that may doom it more than anything else.

I am usually put off by those who invoke the "emperor's new clothes" defense. It's particualrly offensive to find a qualified expert in one field claim that she has seen the light the experts have missed in another field, even if a related one. Than again, I seem to see signs that the wine and food worlds are parting company. "Unfortunately, for me and my bank balance- the bill for two was $580 with only two half bottles of wine and one glass of champagne . . . " Knowing Ms. Robinson's stature in the wine world, I'd not be surprised to learn $580 wasn't what she paid for a half bottle of wine. $580 is a meaingless number used for effect, not for information. "Keller believes he can go one better and create composed cheese dishes that are more than the sum of their parts. He fails miserably." Having had any number of composed cheese courses at the nads of highly talented chefs in several countries, I've come to defend the anadorned classic cheese course. My sense here is that Ms. Robinson merely shares my prejudice. "Two small semi circles of a Loire goat's cheese with a beetroot vinaigrette prove conclusively why no-one has thought of this combination before." Here I am thinking I've had so many salads incorporating vinaigrette, beets and goat cheese that by now every chef has not only thought about the combination, but acted on upon those thoughts. A comment such as "nothing sensible or sensitive, such as using different colour inks, has been incorporated into the menu to make it easy for the customer to read," makes very little sense as restaurant criticism. I wonder how many fine restaurants have had the good sense or sensitivity to incorporate different color inks into their menus. Nevertheless, I suspect that's the route one has to take when you're set on believing all of Keller's fans are totally mistaken and blind. I was not as thrilled by my meal at Per Se as I was with my one meal at the French Lanundry. We thought the meal in NY started out with the same spirit, but later courses, although without fault, were perhaps without spark either. I'm also a few years more jaded. We've had a lot of fine meals since then. It was lunch and I can't comment on the lighting, but the service was up to par for a top flight restaurant in NY or Paris.

Well put. I think the whole thing is rather cockeyed. We're talking about a rather small group (500 people) that's decidedly UK centric (or so it appears from their own press) and their personal subjective choices of favorite restaurant. My personal list of favorite restaurants might not coincide with my list of best restaurants. They really should elect the jurors. Tens of thousands of people could vote for their favorite diners. There's one magazine story right there. Then of course these favorite diners can name their favorite restaurants. Now we have two issues covered. No more content, but even more "fun." What's really disappointing is that the stew or pudding is far less interesting than the sum of the ingredients. It might be interesting to learn of each individual's top choices. Indeed, any single list might be far more interesting, revealing enlightening, etc. than the final muddle. At a quick count, it appears I've eaten in about fourteen of those restaurants, but not necessarily recently. Even so, I can categorically state, objectively and without prejudice, that they appear in the wrong order on this list. Indeed, I'm surprised that they are all on the list, though not as surprised as I am of those I know which are not on the list. In addition to the heavy weight shown towards the UK, there's more than a little self propagation involved. Most people get to eat in the restaurants that get the most press. Popular restaurants are rarely the best, even at select levels. Yet, these are the results for the 2005 Best Restaurant in the World awards organized by British Restaurant Magazine.

Now that you mention it, I suppose the larger one is, the greater one's chances are of getting hit by lightning. From the dire warnings I read about in the newspapers and the stuff I hear on TV, I'm quite convinced the only way to extend my life is to die of starvation. They go so far as to say not to eat dim sum daily as if a few pork dumplings a day will kill me. A more reasonable suggestion might be not to take three meals of dim sum a day, just as I'd suggest not eating a typical American breakfast three times a day.

My understanding is that traditionally, even the artisanal geese tenders used a rod to push the food through the hand held funnel in Gascony and the Perigord.

I would agree that foie gras is as wicked as fornication, at least to some, some of the time. Perhaps to all of us, all of the time, allowing license on one's definition of "wicked." I strongly object to any inference however, that puritanism is latent in the US. It's hardly latent. I question the statement by Pascal Aussignac, the chef/proprietor of the Club Gascon in London, that gavage is unecessary to produce foie gras, but perhaps he is just trying to distinguish between the degrees of mechanization and accepting much smaller livers as foie gras. Artisanal goose farmers in Gascony have always relied on a tube to feed the geese to make foie gras, although it's traditionally been done by hand and first hand accounts report that the geese come running to the person with the tube. The same has not been said for ducks, although they don't necessarily run the other way. Those who are interested in the elimination of a degree of cruelty (assuming we will still slaughter living things for food) should in my opinion, present a more logical argument about production methods across the board if they want to appeal to the rational element of the public. That appears to be the gist of this article as well. Not only are the livers of artisanally raised water fowl better than those raise in factory conditions, but so is the flesh of all poultry. Unfortunately price is an issue. Not surprisingly, many of those who rail against foie gras at any price, demand cheap chickens for their table.

I assume it's Limoges whose porcelain you find gaudy, and the Moulin de la Gorce. Quite frankly I don't remember their porcelain at all. I do remember a lovely dinner however. It was quite some time ago, but I've always wanted to go back for the food and the setting. It is one of the most bucolic settings I could imagine, let alone have seen.

Zadi, you'd be surprised at the sophistication one can now find in Breton restaurants. My first visit there was in the sixties when thatched roofs were common and quaint headresses were worn by old ladies dressed in black. Nowadays, one rarely sees a thatched roof except in ecomuseums or on top of some super expensive summer home. Brittany is less quaint and less rustic than it used to be. Alas the world is becoming more homogenized, but Brittany still has its charms. It also has it's first class haute cuisine restaurants, but I've found Roellinger to be the one the one under rated chef. Pim, I'll love to hear of your meal at Roellinger because it's been a while since we've been able to get back. On our most recent trips to Brittany, we've been occupied with family affairs on the south coast. I have to say that every time we've tried another place in Brittany, I've been at least a bit disappointed it wasn't Roellinger's. I hope you can confirm that it's still the destination in Brittany.

If all I ate were excellent galettes (which how one refers to savory crepes made with buckwheat flour in Brittany) and all I had to drink was good cider, I'd consider myself a lucky man. In addition to fresh seafood, Brittany has some of the finest salt coming from Guerande and some of the finest butter. They're combined in the excellent salt butter caramels. Gwenn Ha Du being my favorite brand. What you really want to find is a good kouign amann. Douarnenez to the west of Brittany, is the town most famous for this very buttery pastry, but I recall having an excellent version in a pastry shop in Vannes. Everyone knows Brittany is famous for simple fresh seafood, although I still believe June is not the best time for oysters. More sophisiticate cooking has come to Brittany and a number of Paris' best chefs are Breton. For my money, there's no better place to eat in Brittany that at Roellinger in Cancale. I've eaten in a number of one and two star restaurants and none of them has fed me as well as Roellinger. It's been a while since I've been there, but that's where I'd head if I wanted a blowout haute cuisine dinner, or lunch.

I remember having sangre in Sevilla. In the market there was a bar with what looked like blood sausage in a big block or a cross between morcilla and ducks' blood in Chinatown dim sum parlors. We asked for some morcilla and the bar tender said he didn't have any. We pointed to the stuff and he said "sangre." Later we saw some for sale in the market stalls. I am reminded of differently words are used, especially for food, thoughout the Spanish speaking world. I have no idea why Mexicans call goat tripe sangre.

I don't know Patricia well, but I've met Patricia Wells. The Food Lover's Guide to Paris was never the consumate guide to restaurants in Paris. It's strengths were always in the other food information sections, much of which changes slowlier than restaurant information, but six years is a long time when you're dealing with a guide to a living culture and not to dead stone buildings. New shops arise and others go out of business. Is it a useful book? Probably, but some will contend that a patisserie list that doesn't mention Pierre Hermé might be enough to suggest it's useless. I don't think it will lead you astray as much as it will not necessarily lead you to the best there is today.

Let's discuss the current season and read members' reports of their meals in a new thread -- El Bulli 2005 Dining.

Wines and restaurant prices are rising in Spain, but I don't think they've quite become what they are in France or the UK. The decline of the dollar isn't helping Americans at all however. Wines, especially in restaurants below the very top, are a real bargain in Spain.

As dipardoo has just mentioned, the cost is not nearly as much as one might expect. It's been rising from the super bargain price it used to be, but it's not nearly reaching what the market will bear. Part of the price of keeping the food within democratic reach is paid by the many willing unpaid stagiaires. It's not so much a question of reserving in advance as it is reserving immediately after the lines open. The day they would begin taking reservations for the 2005 season (remember, they are only open for about six months each year -- April thru September or October) was announced in this forum, as well as other places, and within a day or two they had many more requests than they could accommodate for the whole season. It was a very rough job for Luis García who handles the task of assigning reservations. See this thread. As far as pairing wines, I'm not sure they do a pairing if you meant pairing wines with each course. The difficulty of paring wines with this sort of meal has also been discussed before. There are just too many little courses to have a specific wine with each and, to be honest, some of the dishes are not the most wine friendly. It often seems best to enjoy a cava or sherry and perhaps move to a white and then a red you like. Courses are often so small that much of your wine will be consumed between courses.

My experience, limited to two meals, is that the entire table got the same menu, with the exception of those with alergies. Has that changed, or do you mean that each table gets a different menu?

I had a wonderful meal at CT, although I had mixed feelings about the first anniversary dinner there. As it turned out however, it was Claude's dishes I loved and papa's that I thought were weak. Maybe my memorie is playing tricks on me. I don't find this one appealing however. For a bit of history, the space was Claude Troisgros' CT, later became Union Pacific, Rocco's crtically successful restaurant. It just leads me to believe that some spaces are charmed and some are jinxed.

Gala seems to be known as Arrocería Gala, Champagnería Gala or just plain Gala. The menu lists Paellas y Fideuas, Risottos, Arroces caldosos y melosos, Arroces de cuchara, Paella loca, Arroz a banda and a few other dishes. They seem to take more than a few liberties with "paella," although I don't see oxtail. It's likely the dish was Con rabo de toro, listed as a risotto. It's listed in Michelin, though not in Campsa. From what I gather it caters to a young crowd and is seen as a "fun" place. It doesn't seem to specialize in typical Spanish dishes. It's probably misleading to assume that a dish had in one specific restaurant is necessarily typical or representative. In any event, "creativity" abounds these days in Spain. For better or worse, or perhaps for better and worse, Madrid is not the conservative city gastronomically it used to be.

Thanks. We've merged all four threads here.

I saw the film last week. My reactions are similar to Doc's. It's more than a bit propagandist. Even if you're anti globalization, some of it is difficult to swallow. It presents some very appealing romantic concepts, but it neglects a lot of the reality. It was not just Parker's dog I found annoying, but for a film about wine, it seemed to follow every stray dog as if that was more important than making wine or a point. It was self indulgent and abusive with my time to the extent that I had to watch dogs sniff each other and bark at the camera when I wanted to hear either side's arguments. This was more annoying that they jerky camera work that seems to have bothered others. There were some noble efforts to be fair, but largely the "bad" side was made to look evil and arrogant while the "good" side was make to appear as nobel peasants. The large Bordeaux clients of Rolland were asked about what they did during the war, but that question wasn't put to the other side. What was unfortunately clear was that the taste of the wine was never an object of the filmmaker's interest. The film moved me to have greater sympathy for globalism. Propaganda doesn't always work even for those who want to believe. Few of us really want to be so obviously manipulated.

To understand how the EU works to bring food to it's median level, we can move away from health and sanitation. Over French and Belgian objections, the EU in it's wisdom bowed to UK interests and have defined chocolate as a substance that may contain partially hydrogenated plant fats in lieu of cocoa butter. Flavor and quality as may be judged by a connoisseur are often the last to be considered and the first to go when bureaucrats set the standards. Cheese that has traditionally been made in caves whose walls are permeated with mold, now has to be made in dairies whose walls are tiled and must be hosed down daily. It certainly sounds cleaner, but it's obvious that the molds which came naturally to the cheese now have to be introduced artificially as best they can be isolated. Cheeses whose development has traditionally depended on a certain temperature, now have to kept at a lower temperature to meet regulations. They no longer ripen the same way. Yes the market will sort it all out. I'm reminded of the story of one of those who fought the bloody religious war to rid the south of France of the Cathars. When asked how the soldiers could tell who was really a Cathar and who was not a heretic, he replied that they should all be killed and let god sort it out. Perhaps the worthy among us will find real cheese in heaven.