Truly original signature dishes?

[yvonne johnson]

I do have a logo.

Do you think it's worth trademarking that logo? I'm just not sure there's a risk of anybody stealing it, especially given the narrow protection a trademark would afford. It's also quite impossible to get magazines and newspapers to put a logo like that in a byline.

Before you do, you might get your graphics guy to put the shadow of your torso behind your legs.

Or is it only SSBs that know light travels in straight lines?

Edit: Once again, g. posting under an alias,

[Fat Guy]

Fat Guy - The reason your logo isn't worth trademarking is because it isn't really distinct. And it doesn't really have an association with your trade name. Now if you had the right illustration of someone who looked hungry, i.e., that it made people think you were expert in food, it probably would be worth it.

The idea is that he's a stick figure, but he's a fat stick figure. Somebody somewhere thought that was distinct and funny. But I guess it isn't, though I do get quite a bit of positive feedback on the logo. Also remember that I write about food as well as "body image" issues -- in fact I am probably more widely read about issues of weight than I am about issues of dining; just not by the eGullet crowd.

As for the shadow, G., I never noticed it before. I shall mention it to my graphics girl, though I'm not sure if I'll be keeping the logo or not when I do my next site upgrade.

[tommy]

Before you do, you might get your graphics guy to put the shadow of your torso behind your legs.

Or is it only SSBs that know light travels in straight lines?

Edit: Once again, g. posting under an alias,

why? the shadow could very well be cast on his legs if his belly is hanging over like i assume it hangs over.

regards,

ex-SBB

[SobaAddict70]

Well, you've reserved the domain name and URL. I guess that's a trademark of sorts.

SA

[cabrales]

Bocuse's bass in a pastry crust

J Villas' "Between Bites" contains a chapter entitled "Bocuse and Me". In it, the bass in pastry crust dish is mentioned:

"What he meant by sea bass was a large fish stuffed wtih a mousse of lobster, truffles and pistachios and baked in pastry. The chicken for two was a fat Bresse bird bursting with foie gras, sweetbreads, and root vegetables. And ... a meaty, gamy, roasted Bresse squab served wwrapped in robes of cabbage and golden puff pastry. ..."

The chapter focuses on Bocuse's "overt obsession with the ladies" and also on a dinner at Felida to which Villas invited Bocuse. "Since I had foolishly told Lidia to prepare whatever specialties suited her, the array of dishes taht appeared on the table was staggering: an earthy ragout of wild mushrooms with gresh asparagus and white truffles; homemade fusilli with a sublime duck sauce; aromatic Istrian fish stew chock full of a half dozen varieties of seafood; massive veal chops stuffed with broccoli and pine nuts ... Obviously, Bocuse was impressed by this woman's talent and respect for traditional food."

[Wilfrid]

Another angle. This week's Time Out New York describes how signature dishes are the bane of a chef's life, condemned to keep the same damn thing on the menu months or years after they're tired of it. Capretto at L'Impero, suckling pig at Pico, warm vanilla cake at Citarella. Interview with the chefs.

Like most TONY food pieces, one has the impression it was written before it was researched, but it's another view (no it's not online).

[Jon Tseng]

Just wondering how many truly original (ie not reinterpreting previous dishes/combinations) dishes (often signature dishes) have come up over the last few years... it is always the old adage that a truly great chef is lucky to invent one really original dish in their lifetime

Off the top of my head:

Lobster and vanilla (Senderens)

Chocolate coulant (Bras)

Scallops with caper-raisin vinaigrette (Vongerichten)

Any more thoughts???

J

[rstarobi]

Thomas Keller's "Ice Cream Cones"

[GordonCooks]

Butter Poached Lobster (Keller)

Gourmet Pizza (Puck)

Cajun Blackened (Prudomme)

Spicy Chicken (General Tso)

[pixelchef]

Gourmet burger (Daniel?)

Shrimp / Foie Dumpings (Vongerichten)

Lobser w/ Rosemary Vapor (Achatz)

White Chocolate / Caviar (Blumenthal)

I dunno if these are correct or not, but they were the first to pop into my head..

[awbrig]

Plotnicki did a good job with this topic way back when, heres the thread..perhaps they can be joined...

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...22&hl=signature

[EJRothman]

How about "new" sashimi (Nobu)

-Eric