Bux

Actually, I wasn't as accurate as I could have been. In a cafe I will get whatever I get, usually an express if they have the proper machine which is common today. At breakfast in a hotel, assuming it's one of some note with a bar or restaurant, "café noir" will get me a pot of strong coffee, but not an espresso. If I want an espresso, I have to order one specifically. Then again most people are having a pot of coffee with a pot of warm milk.

That this discussion ties in so well with other cooking threads might be the best reason to keep all cooking threads in the same forum. Threads dealing with the culture of a specific regional cooking are one thing, but those dealing with techniques are probably best grouped together with other technical cooking threads. It's not always easy to classify a thread, but we do merge and move threads when they take a direction that seems more appropriate to another forum.

or quicktime.

And I've not found a reliable difference between ordering café, café noir, and express.

Should I report this to the UK forum as you reported the French thread here in the Italian corner of egullet? The true tragedy is that they'd probably agree with you. They'd be wrong, but they'd still agree with you. ← Actually, I don't agree with this. I think that British cuisine and especially the produce can be brilliant. It's just a pity that so few people cook it. ← But Adam, you don't even qualify as a local, nor does FaustianBargain unless I'm mistaken. What does it say about perception if the local food is best appreciated by expats and visiting students? This thread will quickly take on an international general flavor in spite of Busboy's best attempts to start a local food fight between EU neighbors. (Okay, against my resolutions not to rely on smilies, consider one inserted here.) The perception of both Italian and French food in English speaking countries, particularly in the US, is a fascinating subject. There are more people with a perception than there are people who actually have any experience with the real thing. Indeed, there are perceptions held by those who haven't even had imitations of the real thing any closer than canned pasta and sauce. Worse yet, some of those who eat that think it's French food. I'm not too sure how a diner in London would react to a question about his impression of either French or Italian food, although I might venture a guess, which is something I wouldn't even dare to do about the same question to a guy in Nebraska. Here in NYC, where we are well known for our cosmopolitan provincialism, I'd lay odds (assuming betting were permitted on the site) that most reactions would be based on food available in NY. Everyone in NY grew up with at least a few friends who were of Italian-American extraction and we all had local Italian restaurants in the neighborhood. We had some idea of Italian food very early in our childhood and no truths learned from visits as an adult to the real Italy, or perhaps to one of the real Italian regions, are ever going to totally change those perceptions. French food was a cypher. In high school, your French teacher might take a group of the better students to eat snails and frog's legs in some really tacky place. My first question would be to ask why Italian tacky restaurants were really okay places in which to eat and why the same level of French cooking was not nealy as acceptable. I have my opinions on the subject and think some of them are obvious. We may have even covered them from the French perspective in the France forum. Of course the Italians discovered perspective. My perception

Many women restrict their diet during pregnancy as a precaution. Listeria can be scary stuff and I don't recommend ignoring its consequences, but there's a great difference between the immune system of a fetus and someone in the prime of life enjoying great health. There are a number of other potential sources of listeria than anyone planning on being pregnant might want to be aware of. A doctor is probably a better source of information than a web site.

Not dice at all. The corners overcook far too quickly, and then the edges. Spheres are the best, if not perfect shape. In addition they offer the satisfaction or mystique -- your preference -- of having no beginning or end. Two dimensional or planar shapes are also good, even if they enter the third dimension at warp speed. Potato chips are a good example. Actually the fact that it's difficult to do was at one point as much a reason as any other, but today McDonald's may not turn their vegetables -- does McDonald's serve vegetables? -- but as was noted, frozen vegetables come already turned with no further talent needed by the most imcompetent caterer. That's as good a reason for haute cusine to find another form to set it apart.

The fork has found it's way to Canada and Mexico. I think it would have found it's way to France. Perhaps I'm misinterpreting you. Perhaps if Catherine had brought the fork to Holland, it would have gotten no further and died in Holland, while haute cuisine would be cuisine eaten with the fingers. The thought of the Dutch determining the main tradition of western cuisine is less than appealing. Some interesting points have arisen in the past few posts. French cuisine is highly regarded as the finest in Europe for points west, northwest, north, northeast and perhaps east of France, but much less so in Spain and Italy. Is there a lot of truth in that?

Oh, I beg to differ on this point! How many people would rather have their momma's cooking, a greasy cheeseburger, or a slice of NY pizza as their last meal, their favorite meal? No one picks quail eggs and foie gras. ← No one? I sincerely doubt that, but it's irrelevant because I'd never confuse the best restaurant with the most popular one and you don't address my comment that a three star restaurant is a type of restaurant in the minds of at least a certain group of diners. I'd not argue that most people have never eaten in a great restaurant or want to. What I will argue against is the attempt of those who have no interest in eating in a three star restaurant to alter the definition. While it might be reasonable to designate a certain hot dog as a three star hot dog and a superior pizzaria as a three star pizzaria, it seems foolish to designate the best of a grade of mediocre restaurants as a three star mediocre restaurant.

My understanding is that this sort of behavior is not unknown in France. My first insight into this was when we visited a small distillery of eaux-de-vie in the southwest of France that Patricia Wells had listed in her Food Lover's Guide to France. In spite of the listing, this rather remote artisanal operation got few Americans knocking on the door. When the proprietor learned we were Americans, he told us he admired our critics' ethics. He told us Ms. Wells arrived, tasted his wares and a purchase of a few bottles. It was only later that he was notified she had included him in her guide. In France, he said, it would have been standard procedure for the prospective author to announce his intention to write a guide and expect free samples. I may play at being a restaurant critic here on the site, but it's not a paying job and restaurant reviews are really not my favorite sort of food thread. Nevertheless, when I mentioned to a Spanish food and restaurant critic that I had reservations at a restaurant he had recommended, he asked if I wanted to go anonymously or be introduced. I much prefer to go as a VIP and get the best insight into the best that the restaurant has to offer. It's a better experience, but I don't know that the cooking is any different. What's different is that I may get extra courses, or a taste of a dish that's not on the menu for one reason or another. I think a smart professional can separate that, but I also understand how one's opinion can be colored subconsciously. If I were a restaurant reviewer, I'd feel obligated to dine as anonymously as possible for my own protection, but I wouldn't disqualify myself if I was recognized. I don't particularly condone a regular practice of getting free meals. Books, films and even theater performances are different than meals in my opinion. At the same time, it's just plain foolish to believe that a top restaurant will not recognize most important critics by the second meal, if not the first. (A top critic will not review a restaurant on the basis of one meal, in my opinion.) Today, Frank Bruni in the NY Times noted in his review of le Bernardin that he had been recognized at the restaurant. I'm not surprised he was recognized and it was almost unnecessary to say it, but I'm glad he did if only to recognize that it's likely to be common. When a previous reviewer wrote about donning a wig and not being recognized at a particular restaurant, all I could think of was, "who is she kidding."

The NY Times uses a four star rating, although there is a no star level at the bottom. I think there may have been a time when it was a system that carried general respect. Michelin has a three star rating in addition to a no star listing and an almost complete absence of text. It too is under attack more and more, but in it's day it worked fairly well. Why it's worked has been the subject of discussion on the site, but it should be noted that in the twentieth century, France really had a single model of what a restaurant should be. For all that a great bistro is never a three star restaurant and a good luxury restaurant is going to offer a kind of experience that many will consider superior to a good bistro meal. I think your proposed system has at least one great fault. A five star forty dollar meal is not likely to be as good as a three star two hundred dollar meal, yet the inferior restaurant will boast of its better rating. Perhaps two hundred dollar meals will be rated with gold stars and forty dollar meals with bronze, or pewter stars. Maybe be could use grains of caviar and peanuts and let people argue if five peanuts is better than three grains of caviar. Mostly however, I find this sort of proposal to ignore an important aspect. Using Michelin's system for the moment, a three star restaurant is not simply a better restaurant but a genre of its own. A three star bistro is like a major league sandlot baseball player.

As discussed in the thread, there is a newer use of the word "tartine" and that's an openfaced sandwich, often on a slice of Poilane's bread. I suppose they resemble the open faced sandwiches that were (are?) common in Copenhagen. As I and others have noted, they exist. They are not common, nor run as mom and pop shops, all over France.

JVB, read back. There were a couple of posts on the Crillon. Les Ambassadeurs is the name of one of the restaurants at the Crillon. Was that where you had brunch?

France is full of French takeaways. The French housewife has traditionally had to do very little cooking -- so many of the French specialties are available at the local épicerie, charcuterie or traitteur. The cold foods -- salades, pates, mousses, foods in aspic, etc. -- are eaten cold. The hot foods are rarely sold hot, but ready for the oven or broiler to be reheated. The latter include everything from stews to scallops in a shell with sauce. Spit roasted chickens are a common sight all over France. Part of the problem is that French food is not so different from American food at the basic level. Would a rotisserie chicken look differently in France than it does in the US? No. It might taste better, but I assure you that the majority of Chinese, Indian, etc. takeaways, produce less than perfect food. The stew you buy in a can, (I don't mean you personally) is not so different in principle than the one the French housewife buys in a shop. Of course the quality may be far different. Part of the problem is that French food is not as different from American food on that basic level. I've never understood why there are so many takeout Chinese places. Stir fried food suffers miserably in any container. The vegetables steam to death in the container and the dishes don't reheat well. It may be that that we don't have a French immigrant population to provide cheap take out food. There's no incentive for a Frenchman to come over here and open such a shop, but much of the repetoire of French food, with it's stews and ficassees, takes very well to reheating. There used to be "real" French food in NY. There were a slew of restaurants on the west side of Manahatten. They catered to workers on the French Line steamships and later attracted a local following. Those that remain moved closer to the theater district and now serve a clientele on the way to the theater. There are no passenger steamships to speak of.

Are you implying you're a French cook and your mom wasn't, or is it just that you're a better, more thorough and dedicated cook than your mom. No disrespect intended to your mom and I suspect there are tens of thousands lousy home cooks in France. I've met plenty of Frenchmen who think I'm obsessive in regard to food and cooking.

I don't know. If all of those chefs were in NYC, it might say celebrity chefs come here or are born here, but in fact only half of the chefs on your list has a restaurant in NYC. It might be a redundant thread. I suspect we'd see some of the same names.

I'm assuming you're acquainted with him as a person. I mean I know his TV image, but people who have worked with him, tell me he's really a nice guy and a pleasure to know and work with, so I'm wondering if your criticism of him as a person is based on knowing him as a person.

Two or three bottles of wine split between four people seems reasonable. First of all, unless you're really a connoisseur who demands rare wines, I see no reason why you couldn't find excellent choices below $100 a bottle. I saw plenty that wouldn't offend my taste buds. The sommelier should be able to recommend wines in your budget that compliment the menu. We had glasses of Champagne with the amuse and the first course. I selected an inexpensive Loire wine that was offered in half bottles next. It was something that came well recommended at a bistro in Brittany and which I hadn't run across here in NY before. It was less impressive in connection with Per Se's food and ambience, but we enjoyed it nonetheless and it left me feeling I could splurge a bit on a bottle of red. I mentioned a price to our captain and asked if the sommelier could recommed a Burgundy at that price. He brought over a bottle that was one of the wines I had noticed. That was both reassuring and disappointing. Reassuring in that he agreed with my choice without knowing what it was, and disappointing in that he didn't connect me with a wine I might not have otherwise chosen.

I don't know that he casually tossed off being recognized. He noted it in all honesty for those who care. I'd have hated to see him get sidetracked by explaining why he thought it was, or wasn't, important, and glad to see him stick to the subject at hand. Being recognized got exactly the notice it deserved. Out of context, in Seth's post, that description of the lobster, mango and avocado dish does seem empty, but in context with the rest of the review, I didn't find it offensive. I'm not at all convinced Bruni is a great food critic and I don't think he's bringing back credibility to the star system. In fact Michelin seems to be arriving just at the time there is not universally respected ranking system in NY. Nevertheless, I found his defense of four star cuisine that doesn't offer "a riot of flourishes, an explosion of fireworks" as some diners expect, rewarding. I'm not sure he's the critic to sell the concept of restrained cuisine lacking in ostentation to today's foodies who look for pizazz more than finesse. Le Bernardin's dining room has never reminded me of an airport lounge as it does him, not has it truly reminded me of a corporate board room as it seems to have reminded so many others. Truthfully, it's Per Se's decor I find cold and lacking in sex appeal. I haven't been to le Bernardin in a long time. The review made me miss it and it's been high on my list since Laiskonas arrived.

Julia Child always insisted nothing went to waste in a French kitchen. I knew a stagiaire at a top NY French restaurant who told me in all seriousness that her challenge was to take an irregularly round object such as a potato and dice it in perfect cubes with no waste.

Then we didn't hear it here first.

Recent post on Ca'Sento Some more, but less recent, suggestions here. A search generally means wading through lots of false leads, but it's also likely to result in better information than just asking a question as most members are far less likely to post as much the second time they're touching on a subject. Ca'Sento is a serious restaurant and definitely a destination place. It has very few tables and a reservation is a very good idea.

I've noticed that even during the winter months, a simple vegetable potage is no longer on menus. I remember when my wife would take a melon baller to a large potato and we would sautee the little balls to the delight of company who would always ask where we found such perfect little potatoes and if they were a bitch to peel. The other three fifths of the potato would go into the next day's soup.

Not that anyone eating at Per Se is going to base any decision purely on cost, but it's worth noting that two half bottles is usually a more expensive purchase than the same wine in a full bottle and that wine by the glass is usually more exensive per glass than when purchased by the bottle. On the other hand, pairing glasses to each course allows you to taste a greater variety of wines and perhaps have a more ideal match with each course and can thus be worth the added cost. The larger the party, the less it makes sense to order by the glass. It's strange to see a table of six, order the wine pairing and get perhaps less than a full bottle with each course at a higher price than just getting a bottle. It's also worth noting that the entire wine list is not going to be available by the glass. In fact, very little of it is and while there will be at least one choice for each course, the sommelier's taste may not be your taste, and personal taste in wine pairings is as natural as in everything else having to do with food. I'd find it a bit odd to pair wines with every other course. Either you don't have wine with half of the courses, or half the time you're drinking an unmatched wine. It seems an odd compromise. I'd match all eight courses or just split two bottles -- or maybe four or five half bottles. Or maybe some combination thereof. I do recall a nice list of half bottles. I sometimes enjoy the pairing, but as often as not, it seems to focus too much on the wine and takes my attention off the food. Drinking the same wine for a couple of courses seems to help me focus on the food. I'm also not above drinking a red with my fish. I used to be surprised to see French and other Europeans order a full bottle of wine and drink it through a meal of fish and meat. Sometimes we anglophones seem to make too much of pairing. As the product of anglophone wine books and culture, I'm more likely to want both red and white during a long meal. Fortunately for my tastes (and unfortunately for my wallet) Mrs. B and I have no trouble consuming more than a bottle with a long tasting menu. We don't thirst for two bottles as much as we used to and that's where the half bottle selection really helps us. A half bottle of white wine tides us over between aperitifs and a bottle of red.

Au contaire. Omlettes take but a few seconds while properly scrambled eggs take constant stirring over a low flame for several minutes and a precise moment to remove them from heat and stir in a lump of cold butter. Wait, I'm not talking about scrambled eggs, that's oeufs brouillés I'm not at all sure that French cooking is any more complicated than American cooking, but it is cooking that's traditionally paid attention to detail. I knew friends who maintained that Julia Child's recipes had too many steps or were too complicated. They weren't, but they had instructions all along the process that ensured success. I remember how using Julia's early books changed the way my wife and I cooked American and Puerto Rican food. You can make stew by tossing meat and vegetables into hot water and cooking them long enough, but there's a lot you can do to make a better stew and perhaps that's the essence of French cuisine to most of us, though I'm not at all convinced good cooks in non English speaking countries didn't also use many of these same techniques with different seasonings.