tanabutler

Richard's dinner reminds me of my own... [no picture (good camera is in the hospital)] Shrimp, garden heirloom tomatoes/shallots, big heirloom beans and sage. It was so good I forgot to put in the new Bravo Farms sage cheddar I bought yesterday at Ferry Plaza farmers market. And that was supposed to be the whole point. The cheese.

--Sigh.-- Keep 'em coming, please. There should be a separate forum for We The People Who Love Babies and Children and Food, and who find such things completely charming, and it would be off limits to people who Just Don't Get It. Just as the ultimate thread to praise "foie gras" would be off limits to me.

I was waiting to see what the outcome was, and now I'm cracking up! She didn't want anything? "Honey, we're going to the WORST booth." (The worst booth? They'll have the worst food! That would be the worst thing! No way!!!) Children are so literal, and I am laughing at my imagination. I ditto Carrot Top's request: pile on the kid notes. If people don't like it, tough for them. I skip blogs that aren't to my taste (things piled high with raw onions, bok choy, and/or sauerkraut are usually where I start scrolling); any kid that eats mussels at age two is a child I am interested in. Thanks for doing this, Danielle.

Picky Eater (the oddest karma to befall a mother who's paid to cook good food for other people) had a favorite phrase when she was little: "I don't like it. It has THINGS in it." Meaning that it had texture. Nuts, skin, crust, seeds, a single bit of crisp where soft was sought...REJECT. Her little brother is my darling dear (EDIT: he's not mine, he's my ex's little boy). He's my foodie baby boy, and has been cooking with me since he could stand on a chair next to the stove. Aged four: he says he likes to go to Costco with me..."I like those little restaurants, Tana!"

Thread to Metropolitan Home magazine with Suvir Saran: big congratulations again for this beautiful piece, with so many recipes.

Very strange that he should mention "the French bastions," given the tender feelings between that nation of people who gave Julia Child her freedom (so to speak) and, um, the other people who are arriving in the article that TZ wrote. Second note: why is "with" capitalized in "Dining With the Enemy?" This TZ phrase is particularly insulting to just about everyone, including the people who are attending the event: I thought this was funny: Shouldn't those guys get their wine? Talk about bad service.

Note: Serge is the one who provided me with that spectacular list of sites...I went through them all and made notes, but preferred to spotlight the three that I thought had a noteworthy presentation. (Thank you, Serge, so much!) After having spent ten hours on this work yesterday (because I am doing research), I swam in images of beautiful food...luckily with no music. This is a great exercise for me, and hopefully some of these suggestions can go out into the world and influence sites. If I could wave my magic wand, it would be to diminish bad photography. Hey, there's another reason to kill flash: flash photography in the hands of amateurs, of which I am one, should be disallowed on professional web sites. The second wave (or twitch of the nose, tinka tinka tink) would be to make sure that prices are posted. People who don't post prices, no matter what the item, are losing business one way or another. I find this same thing with vacation rentals and certain kinds of lodging. Apparently some people with think, "If I post the price, I will scare someone away." Do you want to know who's scared,or uncomfortable with a variety of feelings? The person who arrives at a restaurant and finds it's twice as much as he'd expected. Try p*ssed off. I can hear the Thurston Howell IIIs now: "If you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it." Um, no. But if you're not going to post your prices, then kindly have the nerve to post that quote on your website so we'll know you're pandering to the obscenely rich, the mildly rich with a competitive disorder, and others like that. Clearly this must violate some principle of good manners, for the patron of a restaurant to dare to be curious about the prices of things. But this thread ("Feeling ripped off in OC, $65 "special" in Laguna") got my goat. At the end of each show, "Real Time" on HBO, Bill Maher calls for "New Rules." My new rule is that every single server, when describing a special, would tell you its cost. If you have to ask them the price, you get it for free.

I agree about the PDF thing, Tess. If you're not using a browser that reveals (in its footbar) what you're clicking on. It's good, if you link to certain kinds of files (PDF, large images, etc.) to include the file type and file size. As to your second post, I can understand not posting menus. Many of these sites that I've seen actually don't have a set menu...because they rely completely on what is ready that day, that week. I have a client like that myself, and I encourage him to post a menu of recent items that illustrate the chef's imagination. Call it "swatches," if you will.

I went through a list of dozens of web sites yesterday and culled these three as being magical. Beyond the flash and the music, these three sites made me want to go pack my suitcases and go there, instantly. • Akalare Special dispensation: no electrodes because the music is so delicate and perfect for the mood. And special dispensation for the Flash. Oh my goodness. I want to move into that restaurant and maybe even marry Pedro Subijana. Every detail is simply perfect. Look how they did the map. (I do maps like that myself, but not so elaborately. It's brilliant.) Simply put: one of the most perfect web sites I've ever seen, but that's purely emotional because it's how it made me feel. Like I want to pack my bags and go NOW. • Michel-Bras I love this site in spite of my Flash-weary self. I most especially love the section "discover the artisans." I'm a little disappointed that they don't have photos of the herbs or flowers, but only b/w drawings. Still, I love the site beyond reason. Another "let me pack my bags now" site for me. • Olivier-Roellinger I don't mind the music, I don't mind the sound of the ocean waves. It's so beautiful. I love that site completely and utterly: it has a mood that comes from place. It is not a building. I'm gone to San Francisco for the day but have lots of notes from yesterday. More to come.

Way to narc, Marie-Louise! What kind of beans should I get tomorrow?

Agreed on all counts. Especially that "Web Pages That Suck" is atrociously ugly. French Laundry's site is so elegant. Just perfect.

Sure, post away, Stovetop. Someone just sent me a long list of European sites that I'll go through.

Try bacon, honey.

I think it's "Nipples of Venus." I make a confection: cocoa and coconut merinques, and I call them "Nipples of Nefertiti," since they're dark brown.

What kind are you gonna get, huh, huh, huh?

Charles Phan is now the Executive Chef at the Slanted Door at Ferry Plaza Marketplace. Apparently it's difficult to get reservations there, as they're booked weeks in advance. I hadn't heard the "downhill status" thing at all. Interesting.

Ooooh, Stovetop, what wealth! Thank you for posting all these! Toronto Web Sites • Oliver Bonacini: I love the black background though it's usually not a favorite choice • By Mark: break out the electrodes, the music made me leave immediately. • Bodega: Except for the MUSIC and FRENCH BABBLING in the intro (apportez les électrodes!), I like this very much. Especially nice is the little photo section. Not pretentious, very nice. • Centro: This is the first site I've seen with "Famous Patrons" in its navigation. Hilariously, they show Jerry Lee Lewis (or is it Phyllis Diller?!) before Bill Clinton. • Allens: Interesting concept (you go through a book), but I'm not sure they executed it very well. • Dufflet: I actually watched the entire Flash, and I thought the single musical note was very charming. • Jamie Kennedy: simple, elegant. Nice. • Acqua: Apportez les électrodes! That site got annoying very quickly. Too much effort and not enough delivery. Not horrible, but a B-minus at best. • A la carte Catering: too bland for me. Vancouver websites • "C": Oh, double plus very ungood. Not unattractive, but A) electrodes are warranted; B) "How would you like to enter C: the room, the cuisine, the experience?" (I think I'll leave, thank); C) the site doesn't work. The navigation is broken. So my grade? "C"-minus. • Havana: I don't get it. • West: Now we're talking. Beautiful. The way they imprinted "west" on the photographs on the top, so that it appears that you're looking through frosted glass, is very nice. No electrodes, no Flash: wonderfully done. (And I know that chef rocks! Note: the last link "Our restaurants" goes to a Flash site...with music. No, no, no, say it isn't so!) Grade = A! • Auberge: I like the initial photo, evocative of other times, but it took nearly ten seconds for anything to happen, and then the finger-snapping and ooo'ing and whistling made me think I was on the Loveboat. Entering the web site is a mystery, because you land in the Canadian phone book. What the? • Quattro: I had a little problem with the navigation in one of my browsers but I do like the colors (red and pumpkin). Appetizing, but the layout leaves something to be desired. • Toptable: Electrodes, please! NO MUSIC ON WEB SITES! Aside from that, I really like how the second page loads, with the changing photograph in the upper left corner. raincity: very nice. The colors are soothing, cool, and yet welcoming. I don't much care for the "dancing photographs" because they're scaled back in color...why? But overall, a very nice design. Classic. Whistler Web pages • Rimrock: Sorry, this one doesn't flip my skirt. I'm sure they're doing good work, but the web site is not attractive. Blurry photos don't look artistic, just blurry, and that bright blue-purple is just way too much color for the page. Ouch. • Valdisere: I sat through the Flash. This is an unusual design: there is yet another page after the Flash where you choose your next page to visit. I went to "Restaurant," and clicked "Close up" at the top of the page. It's another piece of Flash, used effectively. Nice photos. Interesting choices that work on that site, though I'd never have implemented them. • Apres: Fabulously done. No Flash. Just clear, beautiful work. A+! • Araxi: Beautiful colors. The moving text on the top graphic distracted me from the content...like trying to read a billboard when you're traveling. • Umberto: Well, I'd eat there because he's Italian (and what a great face!), but the web site doesn't do it for me. They use frames, and I loathe frames. But believe me, if I ever get to Whistler, I'm looking that guy up. • Bearfoot: well, the navigation is kind of doowackadoo, but the place is definitely compelling. The Photo Gallery needs some help: show the restaurant Edmonton web sites • La Boheme: Again, another place I would visit despite the web site. All those jaggedy letters need ant-aliasing (smoothing), and it's just unattractive in every regard. But I would go there in a heartbeat, because it looks like the Host (Ernst Eder) looks charming. • Hardware grill: nice and simple. • Un heardof: Needs more photos. Too barren. • Jacks grill: Very nice scheme, though some work on the navigation would be good. All links should be available on all pages. • centurygrill: Are they kidding? Initial Flash at 1265K? I've got DSL and I'm twiddling my thumbs. Will it be worth it? IT WILL NOT. (BYOE: Bring Your Own Electrodes). No one should call themselves "HIP." The whole presentation smacks of stock photography and marketing. They also have "CONCEPT" in the navigation, and that probably needs special electrodes. I do like how they present their menus, though. Oooh, points off for not using a spellchecker. ("Please click to view our Private Dinning [sic] Lunch Menu.") • Normands: Ouch over and over. Again, that I would eat there is a triumph of spirit over matter, because that is one seriously unattractive web site. • the Creperie: Tasty menus, but the photos are sad. So dismal. Stovetop, what a great service you provided for your local community. Thank you for taking the time to post these. I am really inspired! So now, dish. Where do you like to eat?

Absolutely! It's like having a perfume insert in a magazine.

Now we're talking. That is a very attractive site. Simple and bright and I don't care if it's Rocco, either, it is very well thought-out. I like that they offer you an HTML version and a Flash version. I visited HTML first and was quite impressed. (Note: no music on the HTML site, thankfully.) They lose points from me in the Flash version because you can't turn the damned music off. People who stick music in web sites, gratuitously, should have electrodes fastened to their... Never mind. I made my point. Cafe Coppola: this solves a problem I've often seen online: how to represent twin entities in one web presence. They integrate the San Francisco and Palo Alto locations into a marquee-style banner evocative of the Twenties and Thirties. Very nice, even though I'm not wild about the colors. Jean-Georges.com: the colors are not appetizing to me. Too stark, too sterile, too stylized. What's unique on that site is how his recipes have diagrams and not photos. I think that's interesting. You can get beyond your preconceptions that way. But even the diagrams themselves are so geometric that they're on the sterile side. Electrodes fastened for the automatic music that sounds like the soundtracks on the Barbie porn channel (SpiceTV).

Walt, I'm not going to the pot luck, alas, or I'd help you out.

Gary Danko: pretty, Flashy, and pretty flashy. I really like the tutorial section, though I wouldn't want to see that on every restaurant site, clearly. And I like the "Tasting Menu" photograph inside the kitchen. Very well done.

I am constantly checking out restaurant web sites, as I'm sure most of you are, too. Not only is there a dearth of good sites, but I've been Flashed so much I feel like I should file a report for indecent exposure. (Flash in its place is fine, but I think there's way too much of it out there. It's like some kind of a p*ssing contest.) However, I do love seeing good art. And I love griping about bad art. What are some restaurant web sites you admire? What is essential? What is overkill? Someone sent me a link to Daniel Boulud, and I can't say I've ever seen a more elaborate site architecture or design, ever, for a restaurant. I think it's warranted, given the scope of his work. For a lesser place, it would be overkill, certainly. Le Bernadin: no Flash (hooray), understated and not pushy. I love that they've got a page devoted to the kitchen itself. Guy Savoy: very beautiful color palette. Troisgros: once you're past the intro, it's just beautifully done. I love the iconic navigation at the top. If a web site were a book cover, what intrigue you enough to want to read it? Post 'em here. This is ongoing research for me...and surely this will be a useful archive to have in eGullet. (Edited to use the subjunctive.)

I am coming to visit you tomorrow, Señor, and I will have a friend in tow. We're going to be in SF celebrating her birthday a bit late...you're welcome to join us when you get off if you're not just dead to the world.

Marlena, if you like goats, you owe it to yourself to get to Harley Farms Goat Dairy in Pescadero. We toured last weekend with the Outstanding in the Field farm dinners...one of the best tours I've ever been on. You will love it. (And Pescadero is so beautiful.) And if you love figs, come to the farm dinner in the fig orchard in Brentwood on September 12 (if you'll be around). They carpet the place with lavender, and it smells so heavenly.

Some of us have bigger, um, casserole dishes than others. Nice post, and ditto to McDuff. I love the beet and squash Napoleon, especially.