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SanFran88

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  1. Thanks, I was afraid you'd say that. Guess it's about time to convert my four year old from a unit of consumption to a unit of labor
  2. Couple more questions. And thanks in advance for your patience . The InducInox doesn't come with a stockpot sized pot. Believe the largest is 11 QTs and it is shaped more like a slightly taller rondeau. Is there a stockpot you would recommend for induction? Second question: the InducInox has brass handles. I've never seen this before. Is there anything special re: cleanup? Can it go in the dishwasher? Do I need to use Barkeeper's Friend on the handles?
  3. Thanks so much. And it looks like La Cuisine here in Alexandria stocks it. If I want to try a piece out to get the feel of it, will it work on my current electric cooktop (I understand it isn't optimized)?
  4. I'm going to be redoing my kitchen and gas is not an option so I'm thinking of putting in an induction cooktop. What brands and lines would you recommend?
  5. I took my mother to the Tasting Room for an early mother's day dinner and I echo Simdelish on some of the new menu choices. There were several amuses: A rhubarb mousse with serrano, a little cheese flan, and a deviled quail's egg with caviar. The rhubarb mousse was my favorite. Also a wonderful little cup of mushroom soup. Then I had the lobster creme brulee with a lobster and fennel salad. This is one of my all time favorite dishes. I could probably eat a pint of it like ice cream. My mom had beautiful prawns with a mint and tangerine salad. Next up was OOO, a pate brisee containter filled with oysters and onions in a cream sauce and topped with caviar. Very tasty with a glass of champagne (we were doing wine pairings because all I know about wine is I like to drink it). As Simdelish said, the skate with clams is wonderful, as is the lamb tasting. Nine course also had the wonderful fois with a tiny brioche tete and I think a kumquat reduction. Oh, and sweetbreads that were perfect, crunchy on the outside and unctuous on the inside. My mother, who thinks salt and pepper are exotic spices, loved both the lamb kidney from the tasting and the sweetbreads. I didn't tell her what they were.... Dinner was followed by a stilton flan (mom did a cheese plate) and an apple dessert. My mother did the apricot baked alaska. The Tasting Room remains, I think, absolutely the best value (at $95 for nine courses) for this level of food in the area. Todd did his usual fine job matching wines and he's put together a mint julep fizz that I could drink all night. Another wonderful meal with wonderful service (our waitress boxed up a strawberry shortcake and some extra chocolates for my wife and four-year old daughter at home). I spoke with Cathal on the way out, and the Bistro menu will change to reflect spring on Tuesday. Hopefully the weather will reflect spring as well.... What Cathal, Todd, Meshe, Nate, and everyone else at Eve have been able to accomplish in what seems like a very short year is truly wonderful.
  6. If you are looking for gelatine sheets again, they stock it at LaCuisine in Alexandria. I use four sheets equals one package of gelatine as a ratio.
  7. I've been using the book and I wouldn't say any of the recipes are particularly difficult. The chef recipes are separated for the most part either by technique or ingredient from Bitmann's, but aren't necessarily hard unless you tried to replicate them exactly. For example: the Danko recipe for duck two ways is absurdly easy if you buy the duck confit and demi from D'Artagnan. It is more time consuming, obviously, if you try to make them yourself. Similarly, Suzanne Goin's recipe for poulet au pot is very simple, provided you can find caul fat (I got some from a chef who is a friend and took pity on me) to wrap the boned out chicken legs. (Same issue with the pork shoulder confit. Not hard, you just have to score a couple quarts of duck fat!) Even the Boulud lamb extravaganza is not particularly hard unless you tried to do all four dishes at once, as he does, or you are hell-bent on using the same exotic fruits he stuffs the saddle with, or you're a masochist and tried to bone out the saddle yourself. My point being, they have played up the competition aspect of the book/show as a hook, but all the recipes -- not just Bitmann's -- are doable.
  8. Stupid question, but why use a water bath if you're baking at low heat in a convection oven?
  9. Had a wonderful dish today at lunch. I believe it will be part of the celebration of all things Irish tonight in the Tasting Room, but it definitely deserves to be reincarnated in some form. I don't what Cathal's calling it, but it consists of a wonderful, earthy circle of black pudding topped with seared fois gras surrounded by a jus made from veal stock, apple cider, rosemary, and a touch of vinegar. Garnished with a little apple brunois. Truly lick the plate fabulous. In other news, the spring menu should be trotted out in a couple of weeks. Hopefully it will feel like spring by then.
  10. They haven't updated the website. The menu posted is fairly old; on the other hand, it is kind of representative of the sort of things you will see and some of the dishes remain with different garnishes, etc.
  11. It's almost like the NYT has decided this is the restaraunt they are going to love to hate. Every reviewer will now earn their figurative spurs by knocking it down a star.
  12. I think you make a good point. Steve Klc has often written in this forum of the need to look at what a restaraunt is trying to do/be at its particular price point, etc. But who are the "critics" you are referring too?
  13. Which of course begs the question: is there any way "The Hype" can live up to the hype?
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