New Year's Eve Dinner 2001

[tommy]

Tommy -

What is that you're serving with your bulgogi?  Those little dishes of something, I mean.

kimchi, sliced raw garlic, spicy bean paste.

[ranitidine]

How the hell should I know what we're eating tomorrow? We're going to a non-gulleteer's open house. They'll probably serve aerosol Velveeta sprayed on Ritz crackers.

[Jaymes]

Tommy -

What is that you're serving with your bulgogi?  Those little dishes of something, I mean.

kimchi, sliced raw garlic, spicy bean paste.

Did you make the kimchi yourselves or buy it?

[ranitidine]

Right now I'm munching on organic dates that taste like the best custard and Kalmata figs from Greece while listening to S'Wonderful, a Verve compilation of many of my favorite singers doing Gershwin. Next it'll be Anita O'Day singing Cole Porter.

[tommy]

Did you make the kimchi yourselves or buy it?

oh i bought it silly. i can't be going around fermenting cabbage and stuff.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Let's see, six of us went through 8 oz of Beluga along with two bottles of 1990 Dom Perignon. Then we went though a terrine of Foie gras from Rouge served with a Vidalia Onion relish and a Rhubarb and Raspbery confiture and we drank a bottle of 2001 Muller-Cattoir Weingut Riesling Spatlase. Two types of racks of lamb next. One with a rosemary/dijon/cornmeal crust and one with a honey/dijon/crushed pistachio crust served with the potato, bacon and gruyere cake from Robuchon's Simply French along with some sauteed string beans. We drank 1968 Castillo Ygay Rioja Reserva Especial. Dessert was individual chocolate souffles adapted from a Gramercy Tavern recipe. A great night and the food and the wines were just great.

[Suvir Saran]

Best Ever Vegetable Soup

Baked Chicken

Peruvian Asparagus

Americas Best Potato Salad

Ripe Chilled Pineapple

Chocolate Brownie Cheesecake

Enjoyed at the home of Ed Schoenfeld. And cooked by him with great love and care. Another wonderful new year celebration with Ed. The fireworks at the corner of his street were also amazing.

[Jim Dixon]

Last night (12/31)....

bone-in pork shoulder braised with caramilized onions, apple cider, and French hard cider

soft polenta

braised leeks

caramilized caulifower

levain bread from Ken's

Point Reyes blue, Explorateur, and Tumalo Tomme with Ken's walnut baguette

Judith's cantucci, my mom's truffles, and caneles (also from Ken's)

Today (along with some leftovers)

lenticchie con cotechino

The lentils are supposed to represent coins and bring good fortune for the coming year.

Jim

[Jason Perlow]

Worst New Years Eve ever. Food sucked because our friends that DID COME didnt want to have anything with seafood in it, so we abandoned the Alaskan king crab for our friend's home made pizza that wasnt quite as good as a frozen one you could get at a 7-11. My friends arent big drinkers, so nobody wanted to drink any champagne, and to add insult to injury, my home theatre setup was completely disconnected (cause I need to get an electrician in to fix the power situation) and we couldnt watch any DVDs. And to top it all off in between bathroom breaks and snifters of Calvados I had to watch all these people on this one particular web site that I hang out on act like a bunch of 5 year olds.

Fuck this. Next year I am spending Christmas thru New Years on vacation.

[southern girl]

Well Jason, don't leave us hanging....'splain!

[Jason Perlow]

The planets werent in alignment. Shit happens.

[Max]

Just me and my sweetie.

4 oz of Iranian osetra with Creme Fraiches.

Frozen FRIS Vodka

Jumbo shrimp with cocktail sauce

1996 Kristal

Shaved Brussel sprouts with peccorino cheese

Aged prime porterhouse steaks with pepper crust.

Chocolate truffles

'67 Ch. Suduiraut

Bed

Fireworks (hope that's not too explicit)

Sleep.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Worst New Years Eve ever.

Serves you right for getting rid of OTC.

1996 Kristal

First of all it's Cristal. Second, can you buy some old wine please? 1973 Cristal, now that's great wine. Or even the 1990. Sheesh.

[Jason Perlow]

Whats wrong with Non-vintage champagne? Or a relatively new vintage like the '96?

I vastly prefer the NV Bollinger to the 1990 -- the older Bollys and most other vintage champages 10 years old or more just seem old and tired to me.

[tommy]

Welcome.

[Steve Plotnicki]

I'm not a fan of Bollinger so I can't tell you. And most non-vintage champagne tastes like, well, non-vintage champagne. I haven't been able to find one that tastes as good as vintage champagne. You know they keep the vintages seperate for a reason. Actually that Jacque Selosse Substance is good non-vintage champagne. But the other ones that people rave about like Egly-Ouriet and Billecart-Salmon, good but not great in my book.

Edited January 2, 2003 by Steve Plotnicki (log)

[Max]

First of all it's Cristal. Second, can you buy some old wine please? 1973 Cristal, now that's great wine. Or even the 1990. Sheesh.

Yes, you're right. Cristal. I just am conditioned by the German spelling. Don't know why.

I do prefer the older vintages. Toasty, rich taste. Not the thinner, acidic taste of the NV stuff. But I drank up all my '73 Cristal between Thanskgiving and Christmas. Went through three magnums of the stuff. I have a case of '88 Clos de Mensil, 750s but I couldn't get to it in time. All I could get on short notice at the local store was the '96 Cristal, so I thought I'd make do. Sometimes one has to compromise. say la vee.

I have a case of the '95 Egly-Oriat in the cellar which I've yet to crack. It gets very good reviews. I'll probaly crack a bottle this weekend. Let you know what I think of it.

I also like the Veuve Cliquot Grand Dame '95 and

Philipponnat Clos des Goisses 1982.

Despite its prestige image, I have often found Dom Perignon lacking in finesse and depth, even in the older vintages. There's a classic case of

branding supporting an undeservedly high price.

Edited January 2, 2003 by Max (log)

[southern girl]

Ooooh...Clos de Mesnil ...(any year...but, older is better!)

Edited January 2, 2003 by southern girl (log)

[Steve Plotnicki]

Actually Dom is very reasonably priced. You can still buy the 1990 in this country for $100 and in the U.K for $70. Most champagnes are more expensive then that. Krug is $100 in Europe and over $125 here.

[Max]

Actually Dom is very reasonably priced. You can still buy the 1990 in this country for $100 and in the U.K for $70. Most champagnes are more expensive then that. Krug is $100 in Europe and over $125 here.

I am alway disappointed by Dom. It lacks the depth and roundness that I like in an older vintage chamagne. So even at $100, it is no bargain for me. I would rather drink Ayala '95 at about $30 a bottle.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Too bad, I had '90 Dom three times in the last two weeks and it was great. I guess you won't drink the '90 Dom I am bringing to dinner on Monday.

[Max]

Last I looked, 1990 Dom was $180 for 750 ML. Where do you get it at $100? That's a good price.

[La Niña]

I have a bottle of '82 Dom. Thoughts? I don't know my ass from my champagne flute.

[Max]

I don't know my ass from my champagne flute.

I presume a generous champagne flute will hold about 250 cl of the stuff.

You'll have to make the comparison.

'82 Dom, if kept well, should be fantastic. '82 was a great year. It is drinkable and should be at its peak now. It would be easier to drink it from a flute, unless you are double jointed, like the guy in my avatar.

Edited January 2, 2003 by Max (log)

[Steve Plotnicki]

Let's see, I can get you at least 8 cases in the morning at $86.85 a bottle. But they are in London and it will cost $7 a bottle to get them here and to clear the three tier system. How is $93.85 a bottle? Or I can get you 1996 Cristal for $98 a bottle befoew shipping so that would be $105. Except so far I can only get 6 bottles but probably can get more if I ask. There are other gems too just for the asking.