jaybee

That is true. In a ten block radius of my apartment house, there were no fewer than ten legit Jewish delisin 1965. Today there are none. Atie's and Fine & Shapiro's are retro creations. Only Barney Greengrass remains from that era. But there are probably twenty glatt kosher restaurants today when five years ago there was maybe one.

FdM is like a big party. It is a very informal atmosphere, almost gemutichkeit (sp?). The food, I agree is very good, though very traditional. What about a place like Les Fontaines, when the old man ran it? That looked like a cafeteria, with neon lights and formica topped tables, but the food was absolutley top rank. It could compete with any one star and many two star places. You don't find many restaurants like that even in NY.

It was warm and tasty. It came in a small glass, as in intermezzo. One oyster, poached I think. Perhaps I should have paid less attention to StellBella and more to the custard. But I'm a guy, you know.

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RNM and Ron, I brought the Romarantin. I first tasted it in the Sologne, in the town of Romarantin, made by Tessier. We loved it. I recently found it here (not Cour Cheverny, which is made from the same grapes, but Romarantin) thanks to SF Joe's advice. Romarantin is an obscure varietal grape, grown on 100 year-old (pre-phyloxeria) vines in an area near the Loire. It is a hgh acid wine with both fruit and mineral tastes. It cuts through and stands up to strong tasting foods, spicy hor d'ouvres and the like. It is a good aperetif wine. After it has been opened, in the glass for awhile, it softens but does not lose its "edge." It is quite different from any other whites you may know, and some may like it others may not, but it's worth a try, in case you do. The '69 Echezeau Leroy promised more on the nose than it delivered in the mouth. It had a wonderful fruity bouquet, deep and rich. In the mouth it tasted rather thin, with a sort of "thin" almost slightly acidic finish. Not unpleasant, but not what I would have hoped for from a great '69 Burgundy. I've had the '69 Bonne Mare and found it to be fruitier and more perfumey, fuller tasting with a good finish. The 1990 PM was spectacular. Waves of tastes, perfumes and delicacy backed by a powerful structured wine. It made a great follow up to the smaller, more acidic Romarantin.

I loved that custard with the oyster too. And the little shot glass of mushroom consomme was delicious. The White Burgundy was the best wine of the night, IMO.

Oh, But I ...aaaarggghhh...(Notice: post removed for violation of the fast paced, heated, and off topic rules

Five of us dined at Blue Hill last night, including the charming StellaBella, who has graced us with her presence here in loud, fast-paced New York, up from the rural and bucolic surroundings of her home town. We started at 7 PM, The room was never more than 3/4 full. Plotnicki was celebrity spotting all night. The pace was leisurely and relaxed, and the round table allowed for much easy conversation all around. Michael came to our table twice and was his usual delightful self. The tasting menu included five fish courses, one beef course and two dessert courses. With the exception of the sea bass, which was largely bland, the dishes were delicate, interesting and very tasty. Owing to the scintilating conversation, spurred on by four bottles of excellent wine brought by JB(1) and SP(3), my recollections of the dishes are not very good. I recall an eserbeche )sp?) of mackeral with a turnip sauce, poached cod in a reduction of mushroom sauce with small onions and squid, salmon belly with an apple compote, sea bass, turbot (preparation unclear) and salt beef with an onion compote? Did I miss anything. Dessert included a yummy chocolate bread pudding, a pineapple compote and other things I ate but can't recall. Any of our tablemates are more than welcome to correct, modify or otherwise properly report what we ate. I enjoyed the food. It was not "knock me off the chair" wonderful, but it was a very good meal of a kind I have not had in many restaurants. The wines were: Romarantin 2000, Paradis, Chassagne Montrachet 1990 (grower?), Echezeaux 1969 LeRoy, Cote Rotie 1989 Grower?)

Now I know why your right arm is six inches longer than your left one.

How do you know where Avedon's parents did it?

Steve, the pastrami tasted a lot like it always did, except I didn't like it as much. The pieces I got were too fatty, so I should have asked for "lean." But I'm not so sure it was them. It could have been me. Next time I will ask for lean and get 1/2 a sandwich.

Best just to stumble in carring a grease stained paper bag tightly wrapped around a bottle and point at it the Laphroiag mumbling, slheujmnidghtm. You get what you want. Mark's got it right, though.

Abelour malt whiskey. I used to love the stuff. Now I'm into the real peaty malts (Ardbeg, Laphroiag) it tastes too syrupy-sweet to me.

Macrosan isn't so young either.

Possibly I got a less than good batch of pastrami, but there is the possibility that I have lost my taste for the stuff. It happens. In the interests of pure research, I'll just have to make my way back to Katz and conduct a follow up experiment. At lunch on a weekday. Maybe we can walk over to Bernstein's on Essex and do a comparison. I've got a can of 1961 Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray in my cellar for the occasion. Who would like to be my lab assistant?

To address this question you have to agree on the purpose of restaurant reviews. I suspect they have different purposes or uses, depending on the reader. The main purpose, clearly, is to give people who have not eaten at a place some useful information to help them decide whether or not to go there. There are two kinds of information: descriptive and evaluative. I want lots of description--of the food, of the room, noise level, comfort, lighting, of the service, etc. I want evaluation too, but unless I know how close the reviewer's tastes and palate are to mine, opinions are taken with a grain of salt. I also find it helpful to have a frame of reference, if possible. Are there other restaurants that this one is similar to? Overall I find that most reviews in the media fall far short on all these levels. Using Egullet posters reviews as a standard, I find Cabby's reviews extremely helpful, because they are so detailed. Lizziees's aare also very helpful, as they are so complete, and objective, as well as evaluative. I also know both reviewer's biases and have a high regard for their knowledge and experience. I can't say anything like that for media reviewers. I think the first duty of a restaurant reviewer is to convey a complete and accurate description, lucid and easy to read. The second duty is to offer an evaluation of the food against criteria that the reader understands. The third duty is to help the reader know what the place is all about and what it's strengths and weaknesses are. I don't look to a reviewer to be entertaining, witty, clever, or even provocative.

I always blend dark roast into Kona or lighter varieties. Without the bite it provides the coffee tastes too bland for me.

Ayala is a small, reasonably priced champagne that has a flinty and fruity taste. The current vintage sells for about $30 a bottle.

I make it (so far) in the electric version of the Bodum Santos vaccum coffee maker. Your description is very much what it tastes like. Smooth, low acid. But there are few real taste highlights or distincitve top notes in the taste. I've tried increasing the coffee to water ratio a little, but it may just be to smooth for my tastes. I'll try the french press next to see if that makes a difference. It's not that it's bad, but at $30-50 a pound, I expected a more distincitive taste.

I've enjoyed reading The Splendid Table for several years but never made anything from it. There are several menus that appeal. One of my goals is to make at least one meal for a party of six to eight based on one of these menus. A second goal is to make a very good rendition of Robuchon's mashed potatoes. Any tips there?

I received a pound of the beans as a present and have made several pots of coffee with it. It disappoints me. I expected a much more aromatic, winey flavor than I am getting. Could it be the beans are stale? What are the flavor characteristics of well made coffe with these beans?

The above josh made me think that I did not enjoy my last Katz' pastrami sandwich very much. I ordered a half and half--brisket one side, pastrami the other. The pastrami was too greasy, fatty and salty to my taste. I used to inhale the stuff. The brisket was better, but lately I prefer Arties brisket sandwich. (One of the few thngs they do really well). So I wonder, have my tastes changed or has Katz?

I said here once that I never developed a taste for Indian food. I think ignorance is the culprit. The meal at Diwan Grill showed me many things about this cuisine. For one, I think it is not done justice by calling it "Indian food." As our experience with Italian cooking grew, we made distinctions among its many regional cuisines. The food of Tuscany is as different from Sicilian, from Milan etc as day and night. Diwan showed me many different tastes and combinations. The lamb chops, for example were delicious. Many of the vegetable dishes stole the show for me. Unfortunately, I do not recall their names. I'm sure with enough exposure I would find a repertoire of dishes that I like within this cuisine. But as long as it is all lumped together under one rubrick, it will suffer.

I could not get my favorite French brand of the stuff over New Years so I tried this one with very good results. It has the right amount of tang and richness and very good consistency for cooking or eating with caviar or dessert. Previously I tried their butter, which comes in chubs. I think it is the best tasting US butter. I don't know how wide their distribution is. Fairway in NYC carries their line. Vermont Butter & Cheese Co.

but egg custard sounds good...