jaybee

Durian would go OK with any wine which goes with sweet and sweetish fruits. The best combination I've had recently was Torcolato with peaches. Tokaij would go well, as might a chilled 10 y.o Tawny Port. Whether one wants to be drinking wine with fresh fruits is another question. Tony, if they were perfect peaches, you wouldn't need wine.

I like wine. Mostly, I prefer good wine.

I thought that 2001 Christofle reisling kabinette I brought to Thomas Beisel was very good. I wish I could remember the name.

Great pictures, Helena. I didn't get to see the Gully logo on Robert's bread, since he was all sliced up when I go to it.

Actually I don't care for those either. But I do like flat bread with cheese and toppings, even though I've been exposed to DiFara's pizza traditionale, which is the best I've tasted. So I guess having high standards doesn't necessarily deprive one of being receptive to new experiences.

The bread table was a sight to behold. I hope the photos I took on Yvonne and Glynn's camera come out and get posted. Stefany, this was an inspired idea that resulted in a splendid party. The best bunch of people I've been in a room with since my honeymoon. (Even if someone did spill red wine all over the back of my new white sweater). Cathy, your house is elegant. Thanks so much for being hostess and making a memorable day possible.

edited: removed by poster. trivial thought.

(This has shades of the dietary restrictions argument). Your friend wasn't "wrong" if he just kept his eating overcooked dried out beef to himself. But if he influenced others (his kids for example) by telling them this is how beef should be eaten, then he is wrong. I've a good friend who is a major foodie. He was brought up in a household where the meat was cooked to a frazzle. To this day he eats his streaks at least medium and his burgers medium well. No juice, no redness or even pink. His parents did him a great injustice. His wife eats beef blood red, so one of their kids escaped the curse of the overcooker. Dinner the other night with three eGers. One, who is of Vienese birth ordered her schnitzle very very dry. In other words, cooked to the consistency of a cracker. My veal was tender, moist and delicious. Cooking it to that degree would have ruined it for me. But that is a matter of what one is conditioned to enjoy. However, there is no doubt that such overcooking destroys many of the flavors and tastes that are in the meat. The end result is a less than optimum taste. That is "wrong" if your goal is to get the best taste from what you are eating. Just to make sure, we're not talking morally wrong here. We're talking "mistaken, erronious, incorrect." Isn't it wrong from a gustatory point of view if someone dumps 100g of salt on top of a dish, obliterating any taste that the food might have?

If someone came up with the money, we'd create such a magazine. Aha. Ambitions revealed. What in your opinion, would the ultimate food magazine have that is not present in a food magazine now? Or in what aspects would it be so far superior? What magzines of any subject do you consider to be good role models.

I just call Chilly Tritters and he sends some good stuff up to the apartment. Blanquette de veaux tonight. Delivery charge is kind of high, but what the hell.

Verona! Our lovely hotel was across the small piazza from the Cathedral. We went to see Rigoletto in the Verona amphitheater. Boy was it crowded, uncomfortable and unforgettable at the same time. When everyone lit the small candolino and went "ahhh" it was magical. But unlike Venice,Verona was real life. Today. Not some mummified corpse of a city, rotted and dirty around the edges, spectacle but not vibrant.

that's cause you're just so great. That's true but off topic.

But why do they prefer it? Is it random? People must go through some routine where they evaluate it before they reach a conclusion don't they? And why do so many people come to the same conclusion? What does the fact that 50 out of 50 newspaper critics could choose the same burger mean? Some of this must prove something. It can't be completely up to the individual palate. Too many palates are alike for that to be the case. Because people with similar backgrounds have similar tastes. I have no objection to the statement "Luger's burger is better than MacDonald's", which means simply that more people like it. Completely uncontentious. What I do think is untenable is the idea that these standards are absolute so that anyone who disagrees is 'wrong'. If someone told me that they thought canned Budweiser was better beer than, say draft Stella Artois I'd say they has lousy taste in beer. If pressed I'd say that their criteria for assessing beer was very different from mine. If pressed further, I'd say that they didn't know shit about beer. Now I recall the taste of draft beers in an old town Dusseldorf tavern and a Munich brauhous. I've never had anything near as good in the US of A. So I've been to the mountain top of beer. Anyone who hasn't can't say they know what good is. And that's a fact.

Joe, that is a beautiful story. Thank you for telling it in such detail. I cringe with the thought of you walking through the rain in your new leather coat, trying to look all macho. Great stuff. I imagine the "magic" of Venice could easily have been the "magic" of Paris" or Barcelona, or many other cities under such circumstances. I was in Venice for a week many years ago (whe Princess Di got married). It was a profoundly depressing and disquieting experience, despite staying at the elegant Cipriani and eating the best that Venice had to offer. Perhaps my mood and state of mind were not the best then. I think Thomas Mann recommends Venice either as a place to die or for lovers. At that time, I was in neither state. As soon as I got to Sienna, however, my mood improved. Verona did wonders for it. I have no desire to go to Venice again. Venice is on the same page in my book as Mexico City. as places to avoid.

Now Nina, LXT and I ate that pizza and we enjoyed them (edit: though we did moderate our praise and say that they were not the highlight of the meal). Let me ask you, if Mario had called the thing, say, Sclaffiorza ala Batalia con funghi, or con quatre stagiones, or... and described it as a Sardinian flat griddle bread with various toppings, instead of pizza, would you have been so caustic? Or have your high standards set by New Haven pizza upbringing and Dom so narrowed your ability to enjoy anything other than their versions of pizza?

I had six oysters as a starter They were only fair, but that may be the luck of the draw? Schnitzle as a main was good, but on tasting, Steve's dish was the big winner of the evening. Fragrant, tasty and hearty. The schnitzle was served with cucumber salad and "home fries". The quality of the veal was very good. A linzer torte with very good schlagg for dessert. Good torte but short of the Lichtman standard. The place is a tavern. Comfortable. Service a little disorganized as to who does what. Our waitress, a Parisien lass, informed Steve that she came from the 9th and didn't like restaurants. Typical. The quality of the food is good, prearations are basic and tasty, and prices are reasonable. Having brought our own, I didn't look at the wine list, but the manager said their wines range from $20-40. The NSG Blanc was Domain L'Arlot. There is protected parking across the street at BAM. We started at 7:30 and left close to 11, and were offered a complimentary eau de vie.

Four dimensions: context, price, value, pleasure. perfect peach: $4.50 in restaurant: bad price/value = - pleasure. perfect peach: $.50 from fruit stand: good pice/value= + pleasure. peche melba: $8.50 in restaurant: good price/value = + pleasure. peche melba made badly at home: bad price value = - pleasure. perfect peach vs perfect peche melba: pleasure = if all other things = Having eaten the perfect peche melba, does Yvette no longer appreciate the perfect peach? If so, shame on Yvette.

I missed this thread entirely until 6:30 this morning, and I am sitting here with tears running down my face. Steve, you must Curb Your Enthsiasm. Hey, how about a TV series called Steve In Italy. It could rival Larry David and AbFab!

Marinades are a wonderful method of adding flavor and tenderness to meats and fish. What wet or dry marinade recipes and techniques do you find most appealing for chicken, beef, lamb, pork, game, seafood, veggies?

+ complexity = + price = + profit perfect peach $2.50 peach cobbler $4.75 peche melba $8.00

We had a "bouillabase" with baby squid that was delicious.

Very well put Cabby. Let me ask you this. Did you experience ecstasy (at meals) more often before you began your quest for "pleasure of the chase" ...or after?

Careful there Johnson, they are arresting pedants right and left in the UK you know.

True. Also, there are lots of aging baby boomers and thirty-somethings who want to experience what they think they missed and so marketers and restauranteurs are obliging them. So you have the retro/modern trend. The new T-Bird is a good example. So is that Plymouth thingy.

Though there seems to be a counter trend going on here in NY with restaurants revisiting the "old" ways. City Hall is an example of a place where the owner/chef is recreating the cuisine of New York from the gilded age. He does it with flair, taste and style. But you are right Tony, in that my question referred to disappointment that was produced, not by the quality of the food, but bywhat was in the head of the eater.