Bux

I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but I remember a Paris where it was almost impossible to get a bad meal. I still believe one can do better in Paris at a moderate price range than one can in NY, but one has to really know where to go these days. Even appearances are deceiving. Worse yet, it appears that a good track record is no assurance of a good meal. Sometimes I think we should require chefs to post a notice much like the ones used by money market funds, under any rave review used in advertising--past performance is no guarantee of future results. Tant pis indeed.

Was this recently?

Margaret, you've set me thinking about why I'm looking forward to my next trip to France. Obviously there are many reasons, but andouillette is at the top of the list in the food category and food, or course, is the top category. It is also all that my French born, American resident chef son-in-law seems to care about eating in France, although he's mentioned oysters as well. I'm not sure if the oysters in France are any better than we get in NY these days. As for andouillette, there's no comparison as there's noting to compare. Andouillette is the last French food. Neither snails nor frog's legs seem so distinctly French as we've acquired a greater knowledge of Asian foods, and they're both ingredients that have to be imported into France. Andouille, the other last French food is is yet another thing or perhaps a range of things more diverse than andouillettes. They're an unusual form of charcuterie, usually, but not always, eaten cold. My sense is that they're found in a narrower area than andouillette. I'm going to say they are more common to Brittany, Normandy and Burgundy, but I've had the thinnest possible slices served as an amuse at Michel Guérard's restaurant in the southwest. In Brittany, I've had coarsely mashed potatoes (pommes de terre écrassées) with veal stock and warm andouille slices as an accompaniment to fish. It was one of those, "why doesn't every one serve potatoes like this" moments. Several towns or regions in France are associated with different kinds of andouille. A cross section through three different types will reveal either a sausage like bunch of chopped bits, a swirly pattern of intestines or concentric rings much like the cross section of a tree. That last of those is the product of carefully enveloping layer upon layer of intestines and quite elegant. For an English lnaguage board based in the US, I may need to emphasize that there's little to connect a French andouille with a Cajun sausage by the same name, except that they are both likely to be smoked.

Steve, Whatever you do, please report back to us for the benefit of others who follow in your steps.

The two restaurants share the same web site and seem to be under the same original ownership. Even the menus seem identical. The difference in quality may be the result of the difference in kitchen staff or a matter of a bad day. I gather both names, Elche and L'Elx, refer to the same town known for its surrounding palm groves, if I'm not mistaken, but that one is Castellano and the other Català or Valenciana.

I guess that will teach me not to complain about NY's alcoholic beverages laws. In fact, as soon as they allow interstate shipments of wine into the state for delivery to retail customers, I'm definitely going to stop complaining. In the meantime, wine shops seem able to offer free wine tastings and bartenders have been known to comp a drink. I assume there's at least no portion control law and a bartender can reward a good customer in Ohio.

I trust you tipped the staff well, at least a good percentage on the amount you would have spent if you were ordering and paying. That reminds me of the time a party of three was comped a very expensive meal quite unexpectedly. It's an interesting story and the circumstances would be appreciated here, but the full story would probably be a breach of privacy for some involved. I can say that I had some regrets earlier in the evening about allowing our waiter to upsell us on the wine, but I had faith in his taste, if not my budget. The kicker however, was that I had planned to pay for the celebratory evening with a credit card and had very little cash in my pockets. The restaurant was pretty empty by the time we finished dinner and it seemed too conspicuous a move to make a dash out the front door to an ATM a block away. Fortunately the three of us were able to pool enough folding currency to amass what I hoped approached 20% of what the bill might have been. I think the proper proceedure when one is comped, is to reward the staff, by at least tipping on what was ordered, or would have been ordered had it not been comped. Were you not planning on ordering dessert, there's no need to tip on it, but it's still nice to share your boon with the staff. If you enjoyed the ten dollar dessert, you don't need to tip an extra ten dollars, but a couple of dollars would be the reciprocal gesture. This is not to say that I always manage to notice that something was left off the bill or that I can do all the necessary arithmetic after that extra bottle of wine has been offered.

what's wrong with cheese in a dessert? I take it you have no problem with overpriced joints.

I want a good meal for the money. It's rare that a comp will affect that so much that I'd choose one restaurant over another, although I will be driven away from a restaurant where I'm not well treated and attracted to one that treats me well. I recall being comped rather heavily in the early days of one restaurant and seeing it fade as the owners realization that they had a business to run probably came to the fore. I enjoyed feeling appreciated, but it was the food that drew me back and still does. There are maybe two restaurants in NY where I stand the greatest chance of being comped, but since I most often place myself in the kitchen's hands in both cases, it's not always possible to know if I'm being charged less or getting something not available to others. In one case, I have an account and may never see an itemized bill. When I get the montly bill, I'm alternately shocked I allowed my self to spend so much money or that I got such a fabulous meal for so little. My wine bill may account for the difference as I sometimes ask the sommelier to pair wines. In the end, it's all about feeling good about a restaurant and perceived value. A cheesy dessert at an overpriced joint will do nothing to get me back.

I don't know Seattle although I've spent several days there quite a few years ago and ate quite well. Although I did my homework and ate well, nothing approached the level of excellence I could find in NY at the time. At the top, NY has gotten even better since. Perhaps Seattle has as well, but I suspect there's still a gap. Lombardi's often underbakes the crust. I don't think it's even consistently good, let alone the best in NY. Hot dogs are not my thing and and how they compare from city to city would matter very little in my estimation of any city's culinary fame in terms of world class ratings. Lupa and Les Halles are not important restaurants and that's as charitable as I need to be on that score. Lupa is not Babbo and not meant to be Babbo by any stretch of the imagination. Tell me where I can eat at the level of Per Se, Daniel, Jean Georges, Ducasse, le Bernardin, etc. in Seattle and we'll talk about world reknowned restaurants. We may be looking for different things in food and NY may not be a place that satisfies your interests or tastes. That would be fair enough, but if you're going to say you're disappointed by the world-renowned cuisine offered there, you really should sample some of it first.

That's very odd as I've always thought Americans take their coffee with dessert--that is those who don't drink coffee straight through the meal. The worst of it is that I've been asked in some of the best restaurants in NY, for my coffee order when my dessert order is taken, or even before. Even four star (NY Times rated) French restaurants in NY have taken to expecting a coffee order with dessert.

In all honesty, I would have expected Can Majo to produce a very good paella, but I'd still suggest a visitor try the arroz caldosa because it's the more traditional dish in Barcelona. The native who gets the chance to eat local food as often as he wants, may develop personal tastes. It's also a fact that for a tourist who's only visiting Barcelona and not going further south in Spain, this is the only chance to eat Spanish paella and because it's a more famous dish, it's going to have great appeal. At the right time of year, eating on the terrace may improve the whole meal. The first time, we got an outdoor table by luck. The second time, we made sure to reserve it and there was only one outdoor table open when we arrived. In fact, another couple who arrived after we did, took the table without asking, but were told it was reserved and when we announced ourselves, we were given the table. I never really hold it against a restaurant when they favor locals over tourists, but I do respect a place that honors their reservations.

Campsa doesn't list the Condal, but Michelin does. Telephone: 972 20 44 62 Fax: 972 20 44 62 Rooms: 38 rm Prices: 28/48€ Comments: Simple, family-run hotel with charming rooms, although a little dull in decoration, most have shower trays in the bathrooms. It's one block closer to the center of town that the Carlemany. It's possible you may have to pay the higher price for a double room. As I recall, a single/double at the Carlemany runs 100/110€.

We spent a couple of nights in the Hotel Carlemany in Girona, a few years ago. It was nice, very modern, a bit bland, but comfortable. We took a taxi to dinner at Can Roca, which is out of town. I don't know any other places to stay in town. Campsa lists three others in town and four more within 25 kilometers. I'm not surprised to hear someone love Can Roca. We were impressed. I'm both sorry and disappointed to hear Sant Pau was so disappointing. We ate well there a few years ago. I seem to recall that it was a bit more expensive than other places, but the food was excellent.

Perhaps Pedro or Victor can tell us the connection, if any, between caldero and caldoso. I believe we shared an arroz caldoso for a main course the two times we ate at Can Majo, and it came to the table in a large (cast iron?) pot in which it was cooked. Was that a caldero?

I'm not sure about the equivalent creams in the US, the UK and France, but in the US, heavy cream can be boiled without curdling or separating. Milk cannot. I don't know at what point the percentage of butterfat will be enough to prevent it from curdling. Come to think of it, when you say splitting, you may mean separating not curdling. I've not seen cream separate from heating.

You're right, Jerez (fino) and manzanilla are both quite enjoyable with food, mainly with boiled seafood, fried fish and with jabugo where they really enhance each others flavour. And I find them very suitable pairing modern tasting menus. The main problem, even in Spain, is to find fresh bottles because they loose easyly their enchant and most of the times they become remontadas ie they get oxidized. Some of them like Osborne's Fino Quinta have an expiry date at their back. The other problem is that having 15º of alcohol and as they are very easy to drink, you can have a problem by the end of the meal The alcohol is not such a problem for me. Nowadays I see so many wines that run 13 or 14 percent anyway and finos and manzanillas seem to induce smaller sips than most other wines. I don't know that I'd want to drink them all though dinner though. The main problem is as you say, finding them fresh. I've seen a few bottles with dates or some code, but the code is not always easy to read. I think the reason I don't drink them here is that they're most often not fresh. Most people think they taste better in Sanlucar, Jerez or Sevilla because of the ambience. I suspect it's just that they are fresher and better.

The Parisian two stars seem to be a rather sedentary lot, but yes, the interst of French chefs starts with an interest in how well French chefs have made out in the states, but that's an interest they didn't have ten, or maybe five years ago. They're waking up and they're learning. The Spanish chefs have seemed more interested in what's cooking in American for longer and young American cooks are now more often looking to stage in Spain. It's still news when a chef in France admits he's influenced or inspired by America, but that is the news many are hearing. There's plenty of pigheaded chauvinism in France, but the more interesting talent will rise above that. As I noted earlier, a stint in the US is no longer considered dead time on a cooks C.V. There appears to be only one Mobil 4 star restaurant in Santa Fe. Cooking seems one of the least important aspects of what a Mobil rater is looking for from what I can tell. We don't take food very seriously in many ways.

If I'm not mistaken, you were also in Paris and New York last month. No wonder.

Jacquline Friedrich wrote a book on Loire wines in 1996. A Wine and Food Guide to the Loire. Henry Holt was the publisher. I suspect many of the names are still valid. It would be good terroir reading. I mean it would be more meaningful to read it there. In Savennieres they make great dry wines and across the river they make great dessert wines from the same chenin blanc grape. That's just west of Angers.

Crêpes, or more specifically Galettes au Sarrasin, the wonderful savory Breton buckwheat pancake.

"Reasonable" Poire Williams ran less than $30 a bottle the last time I looked in NYC. Morrell, in NYC, gets $35 for Massenez Poire Williams. The last time I looked at Alsatian brands, Trimbach was less expensive and certainly a reasonable brand. That's not to say one won't pay more for really good or great stuff. I've paid more in France where there's some savings to be had, at least on French brands. I had a good short explanation of what determines quality in a white spirit and there's no amount of aging that will really improve that quality other than to mask it behind a wood taste. The explanation came from an artisanal distiller in the southwest of France. The secret is in capturing the heart of the distillates. The first and last vapors contain the harsher elements. In essence, the less of the vapor you put into your bottle the better the final product will be assuming great skills to begin with. With that realization, it's easy to see how some brands cost more than others. Whether they are worth it or not is a matter of one's taste and discrimination. Cordials are a compound formula and according to Alexis Lichine's Encyclopedia of Wines & Spirits "They are always sweetened." Poires, Mirabelles, Kirches, etc. are never sweetened except when they are made into a liqueur (cordial) and sold as "creme de whatever." Framboise eaux-de-vie and framboise liqueur are distinctly different things and likely to appeal to very different tastes. Both, however, fall under the general classification of "digestifs." "Whisky" is derived from the Scottish word for water-or-life or eau-de-vie. Brandy and eau-de-vie are often confused, and I for one, can't make the complete distinction. Brandy is the name for distilled wine. Wine is the name for fermented grape juice except when it's apple wine or elderberry wine. Some people do not feel eaux-de-vie should qualify as brandy although it's distilled fruit wine. Brandy needn't be aged in wood, but marc and grappa are often thought of as distinct from brandy because they are unaged. They are grape eaux-de-vie. It's hard to avoid the circular reasoning at least for me. This takes me back to my artisanal distiller who produced both a very nice eau-de-vie of muscat grape. He sold both a white eau-de-vie and one that was aged. There was a difference in taste, but he felt the "quality" was the same. I think the aged one cost a few bucks more because there was more involved in making it. It was, by the way very lightly colored from the barrel aging. Most of the color one finds in whiskies, cognacs and armagnacs comes from added coloring, or so I've been told by many, and not from the wooden barrels.

Economy Candy has an incredible web site. It doesn't list the address, or at least I couldn't find it. The home page lists this phone number 1-800-352-4544. It's on Rivington Street about a black and a half west of Essex. I think Ludlow is the closest cross street. I don't know the Tea and Sympathy shop.

I've described Adrià's food as seeming not so much creative, but as the evolved food of another culture. A culture other than western civilization, or perhaps another planet. It's sophisticated but seeminly based on a different standard. Above all else, it just doesn't always (usually?) remind me of Spain because it doen't always support wine and it's not supportive of wine. I've sometimes felt we ordered wine out of habit and might have drunk juice, tea or some as yet undiscovered liquids. The wine was something I drank between courses rather than with the food. A switch from white to red during the meal seemed more a matter of form than of an attempt to match the next courses. I was reminded by this the other evening when some hearty flavorful meat dishes made an inexpensive and not particularly interesting red wine so enjoyable. Here in the US, diners don't drink that much wine from Jerez and Sanlucar and when they do, it is rarely with a meal, but as an aperitif. In Spain we mostly drank finos and manzanillas the same way, as a cocktail or aperitif, but we have also had manzanilla with simple seafood, raw, steamed or boiled and it's terrific. From the description of the manzanilla pasada, I can see it going well with some of your menu.

For ten minutes, my awarenenss of being in a rather hot and sweltering NYC was heightened. This coming weekend I expect to be by the fjordless shores of Lake Michigan. I do not expect to be attracted to the local restaurants, which I suppose will be just as well as we will convene with three children ranging from eight months to four years of age. But I enjoyed the post nonetheless.