jaybee

It might be useful to point out that DiFara's is physically an unpreposessing place. It looks like your ordinary by-the-slice pizza joint. If you walked by not knowing how good the food is, you'd probably keep walking. That'd be your loss.

You want I should talk about bloody sunrises over Hawaiian beaches?

Exactly the point I made in the thread about accepting other people's opinions about food when you don;t know their standards.

The first time I tasted a hot fudge sundae (at Addy Vallens) I was a goner.

If, at the end of a meal, as a result of this evaluative standard, you are unable to thoroughly enjoy a perfect peach to the maximum it deserves then you have proven my point. Edit: note, I am not implying or arguing that you wouldn't enjoy a cooked dessert more than a perfect plain peach.

Precisely the opposite of the question I am raising Steve. It is people's reactions to food items that I am interested in, not the item in abstract, for without people's reactions, the food item is meaningless matter. And once you factor in people's reactions, there can be no linearity. The brain ain't linear by a long shot. (off topic posts that used to appear in EG threads prove that. )

For me, enjoyment of food increased in leaps and bounds as I have been exposed to more varied and better cuisine. I like to believe I know what "good" is (and even what "unusually good" is) in many categories of food. I can distinguish great sushi from good sushi immediately. The same with pasta, the same with a range of French dishes. The key for me is not to get so worked up about a meal that, as Liziee said, one off note destroys my ability to enjoy the whole experience. I've been with people who really lose it when somethng they are served doesn't measure up. My reaction is to feel sorry for them that they can't loosen up enough to let it go and enjoy what they can.

You know me well. I had a whole paragraph about beurre blanc sauce before and after Yves Culliere' and took it off. It is hard to enjoy another having tasted his. I approach with hope, almost always end disappointed. So am I the better for knowing that this tiny bistro in the Rue de Fauberg Poissonaire has the world's best beurre blanc sauce, which I will eat maybe once a year? Perhaps. Not having tasted it, I might be enjoying many local dishes with bb sauce.

They are good quality beans and there are several varieties you can try to find a blend that suits you. Their service is very convenient, but you will be payng a premium for coffee that you can buy just as well from a local specialty store if one is nearby. Gevalia is owned by Kraft and they are subject to the same kind of mass market pressures that large corporate brands are. That said, I used their beans for a year and liked them. I buy only whole beans and grind them as I use them. Ground coffee loses its essential oils in the form of gas very quickly.

Then I might be jointed instead.

I am not concerned here with the relative merits of one preparation over another in providing the eater with enjoyment. I am concerned with an inverse relationship between knowledge and critical acuity about food and pleasure in eating it. Some argue the more you know the more you are capable of enjoying yourself. Yet the more you know the harder you may be to please. My question is whether it is possible to develop a highly critical sense of food and still maintain one's level of enjoyment for meals that fall far short of the bar. One proposed answer is that one's expectations need to be adjusted prior ot every meal. In other words, raise and lower the bar based on where you are eating and what you can expect from the cook or chef.

I was bar mitzvah'd not confirmed. But I like to be affirmed. I will attempt to bake two French-style baguettes. Nothing fancy. I will also bring herring filets in cream sauce from Murray's and some white wine. Mrs. Jaybee may or may not join me. I may or may not join me.

It seems to me, the more some people know, the less they enjoy their meals. The Mill/ Bentham debate is relevant in part. But I was concerned more with enjoyment. Is it better to be happily ingnorant if you are indeed happy with a meal, or is it better to know enough to know why you shouldn't have been so happy with this meal? One could argue that knowledge will lead you to greater heights of happiness. But I've seen people who are culinarily ignorant who derive great pleasure from their meals lose their capacity for unfettered enjoyment as they focus their attention on the culinary failings of the chef. If one can keep that capacity for enjoyment (LIzziee, for one example seems to have it) in the face of highly developed frame of reference and sophisticated eating experience, then you are ahead of the game. But to lose it seems not worth the price of the learning. And I experience many who have lost it. To pick up on the peach bit, if one loses the ability to revel in the deliciousness of a perfect peach because it was served in a restaurant that is known for making very delicious fruit tart is a shame. I'm not saying that the peach is superior to the tart or that it is less appropriate a dessert for this time and place; just that if the eater can't enjoy it because of these other factors, his/her high standards have cost them something precious.

What. No Luger fans countering this pan? Sheesh.

I've been at several meals with highly developed foodies. I've walked away feeling happy with the meal, but not overwhelmed. On follow ups, their comments suggest that much fault could be found with the food. They were unhappy and dissatisfied. My reaction? Yeah, a couple of the dishes were kind of bland or didn't do much for me, but two or three others were great. On balance I enoyed the meal. Maybe give it a 6 out of 10. They agreed, but for them a 6 was damning with faint praise. I wonder, is it better to not be such a perceptive critic whose bar for praise is set so high that few meals can reach it? Doesn't it take a lot of the joy out of just eating an ordinalry but tasty meal, as long as it were priced right? Where are you on this continuum? Do you suspend your hyper critical views and just enjoy what's there for what it is?

Charles and I kept saying how the individual tastes of the herbs and the ingredients (pine nuts, raisins, basil, garlic, thyme, tomato,) were clearly singing though yet blending to make the whole taste. The freshness of the herbs and the clarity of the flavors gave each dish an exciting taste with lots ging on in one's mouth. Every bite brought a fresh burst ot tastes. It is so rare to find that level of discernable tastes in what are usually homogenized, unipolar dishes where no ingredient stands out..

Rich's post clang clang clang...the alarm bells sound. Is it an earthquake or simply a shock? Is it the good turtle soup, or merely a mock, Has Peter Lugers really taken a flop? Is Rich's take the real McCoy? (with apolologies to CP)

Nine of us gathered tonight at DiFara's for a feast, orchestrated by LaNiña and cooked by Dom and his daughter. Four differrent pizzas, two different calzones, veal and peppers, buffalo mozzarella, braciole, pasta vagiole, insalata, chestnuts in rum and sugar, much much vino. much much fun. The food is all that and more. It was Italian food at its most relevant. I liked the square pizza since it was the first one and I was hungriest. The brocoli rape and sausage pizza was uncanny. Both calzones were superb. Oh how I wish he were in my neighborhood. I might have to ride the Circle Q more often.

My first time in Paris, I could never say our hotel address, "karante katr roo hamelan" in a way taxi drivers would acknowledge. And when they got it, they would say back to me "Ah wee, karante katr roo hamelan" --exactly what I thought I had said to them! Steve, I love it when you take the time to compose your posts like this one. They make wonderful and evocatoive reading. (Worthy of notice on the front page). Thanks.

I built a spice and ingredient closet under a flight of stairs. It is six feet high by about four deep. There are six shelves and on the door, I built a spice rack with seven shelves. Each shelf has a thin wooden strip hinged on one end and held by a magnet on the other to prevent the containers rom falling out. I thought this would be enough space, but the whole shebang is filled. I have to go through it this winter and weed out the old stuff and the things I bought with grand plans that never materialized. There are at least two other cabinets with baking materials, dry goods, and several large crocks with dried fruits and nuts. I found a tin vented baking cabinet from the 1920s, upright with three shelves and a hammered design in the metal which I use as for crackers and other ingredients. It looks very nice on the counter, holds a lot, and keeps things fresh. I buy my dried spices from Penzies and some from Dean & Deluca. I love those little aluminum round boxes they come it and use them over and over. I can't seem to keep enough pepper corns on hand (white, black, green, pink, sechuan). In the summer I grow parsley, tarragon, lemon thyme, thyme, chervil, basil, chives, mint, oregano, sage in large pots on our deck and I have a rosemary "tree" going all year round. I am thinking of putting in a greenhouse window in the kitchen so I can grow fresh herbs all year round.

I'm with PLAX on this one. Gourmet and F&W are really rags and excuses for advertising. When I recall what Gourmet used to be in its heyday, it is sad to see.

I will attempt to bake two French-style baguettes. Nothing fancy. I will also bring herring filets in cream sauce from Murray's and some white wine. Mrs. Jaybee may or may not join me. I may or may not join me.

Jakubc, thank you for that post. It makes one feel good to read the pleasure in your "voice" as you describe the experience with Troisgros. I was there last long ago when Jean was still with us and in the kitchen too. We had a memorable meal and stay. There was a thread a while back about Troisgros, with some very detailed posts. I thoroughly enjoyed yours. Where else did you eat on your trip?

Technically, upselling has to be at the initiative of the seller. It also has to be a suggestion to buy something the buyer didn't ask for or intend to buy when he came in. Good upselling is when the customer walks away happy. Bad upselling is when they don't and feel they were suckered. The intent of the upseller may be to sell more for his/her own gain, to look helpful and knowledgable to the customer or to make the customer more satisfied/happy with the meal. Or all three. I view upselling from waiters I know in places I frequent as an attempt to please me. Sometmes they will tell me about a new selection of cheeses when I have not ordered any cheese. Or they suggest a new dessert, knowing I haven't tried it. In some places they have dishes that are not on the menu, or even annoounced as specials, but are available for "certain" customers. When upselling happens in places I don't know, I question the waiter to see what is driving him to make the suggestion. It is pretty easy to determine in a few questions if he is just pushing something to make more money for the house or if there is a customer-based motive.

Translation please.