Risotteria

[Orik]

In wav:

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In mp3:

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[Steve Plotnicki]

1982 Krug - Raw fish

1985 Giacosa Barbaresco Santa Stefano - Charcuterie

1989 Raveneau Chablis Clos - Warm fish

1985 Ponsot Griottes Chambertin - Meat

Lisa had a bottle of Closel Savenierres Molleaux she wanted to open but I yelled uncle and they were all pissed off at me. We actually had room for one more person but Sasha didn't cancel until the last minute or else I would have invited you to come. Next time. But the wines were stunning.

[stefanyb]

I'm falling in love with macrosan.

what would your kids be like, the Macro Wugmonster?

Gee, that was clever.

I aim to please.

Thank goodness we're not dependent on your aiming abilities for our national defense or any such thing.

Yes, running this site is kind of like trying to pee standing up in the dark.

Nina and I wouldn't know anything about that. Standing up? Whoever heard of such a thing? Guess I just gotta hand it to ya.

[Wilfrid]

I adore you both, you Wilfrid and Tommy.  I shall be pinching the living hell outta all of your cheeks tomorrow.

Not all, I trust.

[LaNiña]

I adore you both, you Wilfrid and Tommy.  I shall be pinching the living hell outta all of your cheeks tomorrow.

Not all, I trust.

It all depends on the amount of congee I consume.

[Jinmyo]

In wav:

risotto-con-gli-asparagi.wav

In mp3:

risotto-con-gli-asparagi

Ha ha ha.

[g.johnson]

to suggest that it is an affectation is frankly as foolish as suggesting that pronouncing valet with an audible T is an affectation.

However, pronouncing valet without an audible T will get you blackballed from White's.

[macrosan]

I hear some 57 Haut Brion was poured blind on Monday and identified correctly by Dr. K.

These guys always impress the heck out of me. Would I be right in assuming that the guy had probably never actually tasted this particular wine before, but was still capable of identifying it ?

I've never seen a wine-taster at work live, but I have seen a tea taster perform the same kind of magic.

[peterpumkino]

Well, Macrosan, speaking as one who actually lived in Lago di Como (in Sala Comacina directly opposite Como's only island, Isola Comacina, which has a great restaurant in addition to Sala which has La Tirlindana, very popular with famous Italian soccer players) for two years (1998/99) everybody around me talked about Lago di Como (rhythmimg with 'homo' would you believe). Also there is a sight emphasis in the word Risotto on the 1st 'o', but really not much but before a million New York Italians start complaining this is Lombardy so is very much the North whereas most immigrants come from the South which is what everybody thinks of as Italian (you know the mustachiod dark guy going on about Gelato and Spaghetti with the exagerrated 2nd vowel).

Actually real Italian is 'lingua Toscana in Bocca Romana' meaning the Tuscan words (i.e. Vulgar Italian of Dante - a dialect of Latin, the Tuscan tongue) with the Roman cadences (in a Roman Mouth).

This reminds me that in the movie Lorenzo's Gold, Nick Nolte got a real panning from the silly critics for his Italian accent. Actually Lorenzo was from Venice and Nick Nolte's Veniziano was quite good, it was they who needed panning!

But what do I know?

[Steve Plotnicki]

Yes but in London they pronounce filet (as in fill-ay) with a hard T (as in fill-ette) all of the time. In fact I pronounce that way myself when I'm waiting for my food to come.

"Is the fill-ette on shed-due-ul" (filet on schedule for those who need a translation from English to English.) Thank god I don't have to say is the valet delivering my filet .

Macrosan - Haut Brion the wine in question is one of the more easily distinguishable wines because it tastes like gravel. But I don't think he guessed the vintage. The person who did it is studying for his Masters of Wine. So he's a good candidate to get it right blind.

Peter - I've been to the Isola Comacina in 1983. Did they still do that crazy fire ceremony there?

[Wilfrid]

Pedantic but true: the English word is actually "fillet" rather than "filet", so it's not the French word that's being pronounced with the hard 't'.

g. johnson - being blackballed from White's? Good or bad thing?

[g.johnson]

Yes but in London they pronounce filet (as in fill-ay) with a hard T (as in fill-ette) all of the time. In fact I pronounce that way myself when I'm waiting for my food to come.

Macrosan corrected me on that before. The brits do indeed pronounce the T but they also spell it "fillet". Unless things have changed in the last 15 years, it's rare to see anything described as "filet mignon".

And if you went into Steve Hatt and asked for a fillay of sole, someone would bottle you.

[Wilfrid]

I once asked for a Pimms No. 1 Cup in the Philharmonic pub in Liverpool, and am astonished I live to tell the tale.*

Professor g., I think you'll confirm that when filet mignon is on the menu in Old Blighty, the Brits then do pronounce it "fil-ay" (setting aside the sizeable minority who are unable to make any sort of sense of the phrase).

*Just to save you the bother: "Ponce!"

[g.johnson]

Pedantic but true: the English word is actually "fillet" rather than "filet", so it's not the French word that's being pronounced with the hard 't'.

g. johnson - being blackballed from White's?  Good or bad thing?

Probably good. My only experience of the old London clubs is the Garrick. My old boss was a member and took us to dinner there a few years ago. A very pleasant experience with surprisingly good food. But the Garrick is full of arty types so is likely to be more interesting than White’s.

[g.johnson]

Professor g., I think you'll confirm that when filet mignon is on the menu in Old Blighty, the Brits then do pronounce it "fil-ay" (setting aside the sizeable minority who are unable to make any sort of sense of the phrase).

Yes, but I think it’s rare to see "filet mignon" on a menu. The Gordon Ramsay and Petrus menus, for example, both have “fillet” of beef. I think you’d only see it on the menu in a traditional French restaurant like Le Gavroche where a large part of the menu is in French.

[Wilfrid]

Of course.

[g.johnson]

Of course.

[Gavin Jones]

What's the problem with Pimm's in the Philharmonic. The porphyriac porcelain pisses over anything else I've ever pointed Percy at.

You should have been drinking at 'Ye Cracke' in Rice St.

And as for clubland - I'm raising a sad glass to Michael Elphick of the Garrick who has moved to the members' only bar in perpetuity.

Filet Mignon - Has anybody ever seen this on a French menu - no, not a French for Americans menu. In English it's fillet. In McDonalds it's filet.

[Charles Smith]

I had a professor who claimed that anyone creative and intelligent should be able to spell words in multiple ways and that it didn't matter, as long as the word was understood.

Seems the same rules should apply to prononciation of foreign words in any language.

FWIW, I say Reesawwtoe.

[Wilfrid]

Sad news about Michael Elphick. I seem to recall that he took the pledge a few years back. A warning to us all.

[LaNiña]

Sad news about Michael Elphick.  I seem to recall that he took the pledge a few years back.  A warning to us all.

what's "took the pledge?"

[g.johnson]

Sad news about Michael Elphick.  I seem to recall that he took the pledge a few years back.  A warning to us all.

what's "took the pledge?"

Climbed on the wagon.

[Gavin Jones]

It's on the wagon.

After the one for the road. Which Simon was kind enough to explain meant the final drink (probably drugged) the condemned man was offered at the Tyburn Inn before being put back on the wagon for the appointment with a bloke in a hood.

Probably the Temperance Society pledge.

Anyhow the meaning's clear - keep drinking.

[yvonne johnson]

I believe, FG, that I didn't correct anyone's pronounciation of risotto.  I didn't even bring the subject up.  Somebody asked what Wilfrid meant by Americans' mispronounciation, and I added my opinion.

Mispronunciation.

I'll be eating my words later tonight.

[Ron Johnson]

I believe, FG, that I didn't correct anyone's pronounciation of risotto.  I didn't even bring the subject up.  Somebody asked what Wilfrid meant by Americans' mispronounciation, and I added my opinion.

Mispronunciation.

I'll be eating my words later tonight.

That was ballsy.