Charlie Trotter's

[The Little Blue House]

emily - that was a great piece of writing.

Emily - I agree. That was a fine piece of writing. This whole thread would be much better if it contained only Adam's original post and yours.

Aww--thanks guys.

-Emily

[Bux]

You are wrong as well, Bux.

Quite obviously. I allowed my misconception of a little bird I never liked to miscolor the quick look I took at a couple of web pages. I regret the display of both ignorance and laziness. I owe you better. (That's an editorial "you.")

And showing some un-needed hostility when you are wrong.

Less obvious to me at the time I posted, but in retrospect I'm inclined to agree that with other things on my mind, I allowed some name calling to goad me into posting in haste and with a more hostile tone than necessary. I'll repent in liesure. It was not my intent to escalate the hostility which I sensed entered the thread with the initial post. Hostility is un-needed here and I apologize for mine.

Baphie's reprimand is well deserved and an excellent example of how to keep it impersonal. He doesn't need to know if I've been wrong in the past or if I'll be wrong again in the future, nor does there seem to be glee in proving me wrong. For that his post is undeniably to the point.

By the way, I've been wrong before and it's likely I'll be proven wrong again. Better men than I have also been wrong.

[adrober]

Emily, I also enjoyed your post. Very well written.

Jbraynolds, my Seeger's experience was similar to yours. I was there with my parents, and we found the service both cold and unhelpful. Actually, the Travel section of the New York Times last week featured a piece about Atlanta where the writer, who went to Seeger's, felt the same way. The food, however, I think was far superior to Charlie Trotter's. I can remember (even though it was over a year ago) the salmon tartare appetizer and a really good dessert which, come to think of it, does slip my mind. I think Seeger's, in terms of design, has more character than Charlie Trotter's: I like how it's all in this little free-standing house. If only the service were warmer, the meal would have been great.

As far as poussin goes, I think I got confused: sexless chicken was my nickname in high school.

[baphie]

Bux, Pax.

A.

[ballast_regime]

Blows me away that people criticize others for being inexperienced or inexpert, but let differences that are easily researched (on, say, Google) escape them. E.g., poussin versus capon, etc.

[tryska]

As far as poussin goes, I think I got confused: sexless chicken was my nickname in high school.

hee!

[Varmint]

sexless chicken was my nickname in high school.

Perhaps you should make that your new signature. Funniest line in this thread by far!!

[jbraynolds]

Will be at Trotter's Thursday night and will try to post a long-winded, unbiased report when I get back.

[claire797]

emily - that was a great piece of writing.

Emily - I agree. That was a fine piece of writing. This whole thread would be much better if it contained only Adam's original post and yours.

Aww--thanks guys.

-Emily

Sorry to add to the string of adulation, but that was a very good story/review. Thanks Emily.

[ronnie_suburban]

Will be at Trotter's Thursday night and will try to post a long-winded, unbiased report when I get back.

Biased is inevitable and better anyway (as long as you back up your opinions and conclusions with specific examples)

I hope you enjoy it.

=R=

[The Little Blue House]

emily - that was a great piece of writing.

Emily - I agree. That was a fine piece of writing. This whole thread would be much better if it contained only Adam's original post and yours.

Aww--thanks guys.

-Emily

Sorry to add to the string of adulation, but that was a very good story/review. Thanks Emily.

Thanks Claire.

But really, things never get this exciting over in the Northwest/Pacific topic. I should read over here more often. Except that anything that I would have to say is over a year old--so in the future, I'll just lurk.

-Emily

[ExtraMSG]

It's all the pot-smoking in the PNW. Keeps it mellow.

[Jinmyo]

emily - that was a great piece of writing.

Emily - I agree. That was a fine piece of writing. This whole thread would be much better if it contained only Adam's original post and yours.

Aww--thanks guys.

-Emily

Sorry to add to the string of adulation, but that was a very good story/review. Thanks Emily.

My apologies as well but I was enraptured. Sorry.

[BigboyDan]

I would rather eat a bag of dirt than spend $175 sans wine (each, in this case) for ANY meal anywhere on earth except at Lucas Carton or Arpege.

Some of you need to get a grip on the basic: The Food and The Wine.

Screw the glassware. Too bad it is so easy to separate fools from their money...

[adrober]

sexless chicken was my nickname in high school.

Perhaps you should make that your new signature. Funniest line in this thread by far!!

Consider it done!

[maggiethecat]

sexless chicken was my nickname in high school.

Perhaps you should make that your new signature. Funniest line in this thread by far!!

Consider it done!

And Adam: Consider posting elsewhere too. We'd be interested in your take on other topics.

[jbraynolds]

Some people enjoy things above and beyond the basic. I wouldn't call them fools.

[ExtraMSG]

I would rather eat a bag of dirt than spend $175 sans wine (each, in this case) for ANY meal anywhere on earth except at Lucas Carton or Arpege.

Some of you need to get a grip on the basic: The Food and The Wine.

Screw the glassware. Too bad it is so easy to separate fools from their money...

I'd be willing to put that to the test. Would you, then, be willing to eat a bag of dirt for $175? I think we could get a collection going.

Is it foolish to buy a diamond ring for one's fiance? Is it foolish to buy art? The stemware, the silver, the tablecloths, the chairs, the decorations on the wall, the china -- all are part of the aesthetic experience that is dining. For many people this broad aesthetic experience is important, possibly more important than the food or the wine. To call them fools is just a foolish belief that what you like should be what everyone likes and what you find important is what everyone should find important. Honestly, if you want to get into it, dining, eating, drinking are all wastes of money. They do nothing to make the world a better place. They go far beyond need. They do nothing quantitatively to add to our lives anymore than buying jewelry or art -- and at least those are more permanent purchases.

Of course, if you want to consider the quality of life important, that's another matter. But then, that's largely subjective, and as such, people shouldn't be telling other people that they're fools for what they like.

[BigboyDan]

I'm sorry.

I didn't realize that He is a living god:

http://topchefs.chef2chef.net/recipes/trotter/

[jbraynolds]

Right. Why simply state something when you can overstate it? Who said Trotter was a "living God"? And, I'm quite curious about mentioning Lucas Carton and Arpege in the same sentence: LC is a factory/brasserie and Arpege is, if anything, remarkably like Trotter's. They could not be more different at every level - room, food, wines, service, mood. If you really hold Arpege in high esteem I'll bet you'd be very impressed by the whole Trotter's experience. Lucas Carton is, from my experience, one of the three biggest (literally) French Michelin 3-star clip joints (the others being Bocuse and Georges Blanc). The only relationship that I can see betweem LC and Arpege is that the Arpege space used to belong to Senderens...beyond that?

[Scott]

Learn to accept an experience on it's own terms, not mold it to your own expectations.

Sorry to pick out this one line, but geez:

how could one person be so wrong? normally i would think a focus group of at least 7 people would be needed.

Accept an experience for what it is, not mould it to your expectations?

This is fabulous the customer is always wrong stuff.

At this rate I may never be dissatisfied with anything in my life, ever again. Think of the therapy costs saved, all that is at issue is my expectations were pitched at the wrong frequency.

The kid is funny, I'm only half way through, but he is funny. So he sacrifices a little detail in his account for a few laughs - big deal. I'll bet if the food was better (in his opinion) he'd forgive a lot more, but this has exacerbated everything 10 fold. I have experienced this in past - and so have you, all of you. Elements are magnified or blurred based on the reaction to another.

Why should we fault him for wanting wow food, not getting it, and poking fun at whole ritual. Primarily because now he suspects the emperor is in a state of undress. Now that may or may not be the case, but he is deeply unsatisfied with his experience and chooses to express this with a little humour - where's the harm?

[guajolote]

here's more about the little chickens or whatever they are.

[Scott]

One thing has got me beat.

The suggestion that you need age and experience to appreciate the finer things in life.

in MY experience, you need both to be able to afford the finer things...

[BigboyDan]

"All is vanity..."

I chose LC and Arpege as the two places that have offered, and delivered, the quality of food and experience that have resulted in my feeling justified in forking over 175 smackeroonees to eat dinner. Anybody want to tell me that Trotter or any other American chef can get the same quality of ingredients that can be obtained by a chef in France? Let's see... 175 at Trotters... 175 at Arpege... hmmmmm.... now 75 at Trotters... ok.

Value is tough to quantify, right? Philosophers posit. But we all know it when we don't get it, don't we? That, more than anything is the theme of origional post, and that can not be challenged. Like paying $100,000 for a BMW roadster and then inviting a passenger to drive it only to hear him say, "Hundred-grand?? Geezawhiz, no way I pay a hundred-grand for any car! It's just four wheels, man. I'm keepin' my Mustang. It's fun and get's me there too.... "

Gucci, Cardin, de Beers don't just target rich people, they target rich people wannabes.

[dls]

I've eaten at Trotters a number of times and have enjoyed each meal very much (except for the bill). When in attendance, Trotter will circulate through the dining room and visit the diners (often wondered if we were supposed to stand and applaud). On one occasion, we were chatting with him and he spoke very enthusiastically about a special menu he was thinking of offering during the following month. This menu consisted of 9 courses of nothing but potatoes, each course cooked in a different manner. Needless to say, we did not partake.