For lack of a better term – I am a “foodie.” I mean, who isn’t nowadays.  Thanks to the success of Top Chef, Hell’s Kitchen, and the like, every Mac-N-Cheese eating, sugar cookie burning schmuck is ranting and raving about the stylistic approach to sous-vide cooking, idolizing celeb chefs like rock stars, and detailing the complexities of pork belly and bone marrow.  (With that said, if you are yet to taste either the belly or marrow, you have my sympathy.)

However, a great restaurant does more than just serve up good food, delivering a certain level of shock-and-awe, mesmerizing the guest and making them come back for more.  Hmmm, sounds a lot like what a great hotel is supposed to do, right?  For that reason, hotel restaurants are no longer a by-product of the hotel itself, but instead, a leading demand generator and a hotel marketers dream.

I didn’t realize the marketing power of a great hotel restaurant until I spent time working at a Relais and Chateaux resort and restaurant in the British Virgin Islands. Relais and Chateaux is a collection of the finest resorts (see The Point, The Inn at Little Washington) and restaurants (French Laundry, Daniel, Per Se) in the world. Point is, I couldn’t believe the pull our restaurant had on bringing in guests.  And while some guest surveys touched on the rooms or service, almost all applauded the restaurant.

Of course, on the other hand, if a guest has a poor dining experience at the restaurant, the front desk is bound to hear about it.  Even in the likely scenario where the restaurant is a leased space/separate entity, a hotel guest views them as one. That being the case, shouldn’t hoteliers equip their property with the best restaurant possible?

The partnership of fine dining and luxury hotels isn’t new.  But years after Jean-Georges moved into Trump in NYC and Wolfgang Puck hit Vegas with Spago at Caesar’s, the explosion is officially upon us.  Just look at the recently opened Aria in Las Vegas’ City Center, boasting a practical who’s who of culinary artists.  With restaurants by Julian Serrano, Jean-Georges Vongeritchen, Michael Mina, and Masayoshi Takayama, Aria drew in a constellation of Michelin stars.  Is this enough to put heads in beds? This “foodie” has been on the horn booking my Aria suite for Spring 2010.

-Mike Kitchen

By Greg Bolton

Everybody who’s familiar with The French Laundry Cookbook tends to summarize it with some variation of the following:  “It’s one of my favourite cookbooks of all time. And it’s completely unusable as a cookbook.”

While Thomas Keller’s seminal cookbook is endlessly inspiring, flat-out beautiful, brilliantly written and chock-a-block with technique, only a liar or a masochist would deny that it falls a bit flat in delivering what we tend to expect from a cookbook: a collection of recipes to help you make stuff in your own kitchen.

How so?

On the one hand, if you have the technical prowess and experience to execute the dishes contained in The French Laundry Cookbook, you probably never needed it in the first place.

If, on the other hand, if you don’t have that prowess and experience, you would be wise to avoid attempting almost any recipe in the book, much in the way you might avoid buying a Ferrari to teach yourself how to drive.

The recipes in this book aren’t guidelines for making dishes. For the novice, even if followed studiously – or especially if followed studiously — they’re blueprints for endless frustration, potential humiliation, and near-certain failure.

All this is not to say that Keller is, for lack of a better word, a sadist. There’s a populist side to him, it seems. He really wants us to knock out his dishes, even offering handy microwave shortcuts to the meticulous preparations he employs in his kitchen.

But for all his many skills, Thomas Keller can’t teach just any home cook to recreate the fantastical creations he turns out at The French Laundry. Really, it’s a wonder he even ever tried.

So without disputing that The French Laundry Cookbook is indeed a very good book – one of my all-time favourites, in fact – I’ve always been left with a question that lingers awkwardly, like flatulence in an elevator: “What’s it good for?”

Thomas Keller was in Toronto this week to promote his latest release, Ad Hoc at Home – a visit hosted at the Metro Reference Library by The Cookbook Store.

I didn’t get to speak with him directly. I didn’t manage to join the line of chefs and food lovers who were able to ask him questions at the end of the engaging on-stage one-on-one with The Cookbook Store’s Alison Fryer.

Fortunately, for the polite crowd of 450 or so Torontonians, I didn’t get to ask him my question.

Fortunately for me, I didn’t have to, because he answered it, with no prompting, quite early on in the interview.

So what’s The French Laundry Cookbook good for, then?

In Keller’s own estimation, it’s certainly not a practical tool. So for those of us who’ve been frustrated by our inabilities to execute even the more basic recipes, rest assured that it’s not us, it’s him.

For good or ill – and we may wish we’d been told this earlier – The French Laundry Cookbook is not a manual but a historical record, a document that freezes a culinary moment so that, sometime in the future, we’ll be able to see what in hell Thomas Keller and his team were playing at, circa 1997, in an otherwise undistinguished little town called Yountville, California.

For Keller, the fact that he and his team managed to get it all down – and get it down so right – is of far more importance than the fact that he enabled a bazillion food nerds to try – and invariably fail – to duplicate his 27-ingredient tomato salad. (Who in hell ever heard of a salad recipe that can be found on pages 56, 57, 166, 238 and 271?)

Arriving more than 20 years later, and to similar rave reviews, Ad Hoc at Home is also a historical document, and an equally lovely one.

While it’s definitely of a piece with all of Keller’s work – there are the familiar, somewhat anal, exhortations to use parchment lids instead of regular ones, and to skim your stock almost fanatically – it’s fundamentally different in its focus.

For the home cook, I think this is a very good thing.

The French Laundry Cookbook, you see, was Keller’s answer to the question, “How do you cook?”

Ad Hoc at Home is, at last, the answer to the question, “How do I cook?”

In fact, as it turns out, there’s actually not all that much distance between the baroque creations of the French Laundry and the nice roast chicken and root veg you make at home. It’s really only a question of degree of difficulty.

At the end of the day, Keller’s latest book opens the kimono on something that was staring us in the face all along, but got lost somewhere among the recipes for tomato powder and Crèpinette de Byaldi. Thomas Keller – the mysterious alchemist whose very signature seems to be complexity – owes everything he has to alarmingly simple principles.

The first and most fundamental of these is listed, appropriately enough, on the first page of his new book.

Lest we dismiss it as one of his many idiosyncrasies – his hatred of tongs , for instance – his founding principle is offered up not as a tip, but as a mathematical equation, an iron law.

Here it is: “great product + great execution = great cooking”.

That’s it. Full stop.

While the home cook might never master what’s going on in The French Laundry Cookbook – there are simply so many components to execute well in any given recipe – that same cook can definitely master what’s presented in Ad Hoc at Home.

All that’s required is practice, diligence, and above all, determination, the quality Keller claims to value more than any other in his protégés.

“Passion is good, because it shows you care,” noted Keller. “But passion ebbs and flows. Determination trumps passion.”

That kind of no-nonsense talk permeated Keller’s entire talk. Some anecdotes:

• On the subject of his first expansion – Bouchon, a casual bistro down the street from The French Laundry – Keller noted that it arose from a mundane consideration: “I decided to open Bouchon because I love bistro food, but also because my staff and I needed a place to eat after service at French Laundry.”

• What about Bouchon Bakery, opened a little later? “We wanted to improve the quality of our bread. I mean, what else do you do?”

• Worried about maintaining quality in Yountville while he went through the process of opening his New York outpost, Per Se, he decided, on the advice of a friend, to simply close The French Laundry for six months so that he could devote his full attention to the new venture.“It cost my partners at French Laundry about $4 million,” he noted. “But it’s only money.”

• When asked to elaborate on the “culture” of French Laundry – something he’d mentioned a few times in passing – Keller spoke only of an organizational structure that he considers essential to all successful restaurants: a “tripod” consisting of dining room management, a good accountant, and a chef. (And for the record, that’s the order in which he mentioned them)

Towards the end of the talk, Keller’s steady stream of matter-of-fact, confident (but never quite cocky) patter was abruptly brought down to earth by a somewhat poignant personal anecdote. In opening Per Se, Keller had suddenly become a bi-coastal gastro-emperor, and this brought about an unexpected change in his job description:

“Once Per Se was open, I suddenly realized that I was out of a job. I’m most comfortable behind a stove – it’s warm – and I don’t really have that anymore. At 50-something years old, I’ve been working towards being a better cook my whole life. And now I’ve put myself out of a job.”

That confession floated around the room for a moment. But then Keller’s practicality muscled its way back in: the stove is great and all, he noted, but he’s already had two arthroscopic surgeries on his knees. Hustling in the kitchen is a young man’s game. It was time for him to slow things down.

And then, not quite content with what he was putting out there, he added another element: there’s a point, he said, at which you owe it to the development of the industry as a whole to take a step back, to become a manager and a mentor, to pass the torch – in Keller’s case, a powerful one of the butane variety – to the next generation of cooks.

I left the room thinking that unless I had just been completely hoodwinked, Keller’s reputation as a solitary culinary auteur – a pedantic if not entirely humourless Iron John of the stove – is largely undeserved.

By all appearances, the man is deeply collaborative and keenly aware that he’s learning as much from his team as they are from him.

His technique and skill are the envy of so many chefs. And my goodness, there were a lot of them among the faithful at the Reference Library on Monday. But humility and a genuine sense of obligation to the wider service industry – and to a broader culinary tradition – seemed even more striking than his vaunted ability to turn out plate after plate of awesome.

Trumping everything, of course, is that quiet determination.

Greg Bolton is a propietor of Pantry, Toronto’s Kitchen Cupboard: www.pantry.to.

Houston-native Paul Roberts (left, photo by Melissa Barnes, Wine Spectator) joined the Court of Master Sommeliers in 2002 and has worked as the wine director of some of the most prestigious restaurants in North America, including the legendary Café Annie in Houston and Thomas Keller’s Per Se (New York) and French Laundry (Napa). Today, he serves as the managing director of one of Napa Valley’s most closely watched wineries, Bond Estates.

How has the world of Italian wine changed over the last 10 years?

Over the last decade, we’ve seen a diversification of styles. Ten years ago, a lot of wineries joined the “modern” movement, using more new oak and making “bigger” wines. Now people have begun to adapt modern winemaking techniques: instead of making New World wines, they are using modern winemaking to stay cleaner in the cellar and they are more diligent in the vineyard. Modern winemaking doesn’t have to blur terroir. What we are seeing is wines that are fresher, crisper, and cleaner but wines that still have a pure element of fruit and that still “translate site.” Twenty or thirty years ago, wines had to be rustic and dry to express terroir [in Italy] but today we are seeing wines with mature tannin but still have the ability to translate site.

When it comes to Italian wines today, what’s your advice to young and up and coming sommeliers?

Well, it’s just like when you talk about French wine. There’s not just one type of Italian wine. Italian wines offer a wide-ranging diversity of styles and flavor profiles and it allows you to use the wines for a wide array of food. There are plenty of Italian wines that can go with French, American, Peruvian cuisine. That’s what makes them so incredibly exciting. Look to wines from the south of Italy for great value and when it comes to Tuscany and Piedmont, you really can’t lose right now. Tuscany and Piedmont are making wines that can compete with any of the great appellations of the world and we are also experiencing a string of great vintages from Italy, from 2004 through 2007. In Italy, you can taste some of the great wines of the world and they’re not going to necessarily break the bank.

What are some of your top picks in the D’Amore Wine Selections portfolio?

I’ve always been impressed with the Marc de Grazia portfolio and when I was the wine director at Per Se and French Laundry, I used to pour their Etna Rosso project wines [Terre Nere] by the glass. In my opinion, these wines are the Musigny of Italy.

When it comes to Marc de Grazia, you really can’t go wrong: they built their name on their very focused selection of Barolo producers but you can look at any [Italian] appellation, and you will find a top producer in their portfolio. whether it’s Soave Classico, Chianti Classico, or Barolo. For every appellation, you’ll find “reference standard wines.”

Dog Bites and Dog Attack Statutes

In California, for a dog owner to be liable for the damages suffered by a person bitten by the owner’s dog, there is no requirement that the owner had knowledge of the dangerous propensities of his or her dog, or any requirement of knowledge of any previous bite by the dog.

If you’ve been injured by a dog bite, visit our law firm website at http://www.SebastianGibsonLaw.com for more information and call us at any of the numbers easily found on our website.

Under California Civil Code Section 3342, the owner of the dog who bites another person, is liable regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner’s knowledge of such viciousness. Under this statute, the owner is said to be strictly liable or subject to strict liability, whether the dog bites a lawyer or a postal worker.

As strange as it may seem, while California Civil Code Section 3342 in effect repudiates the common law requirement of scienter, or knowledge of viciousness, California maintains the common law cause of action based on scienter or knowledge of a domestic animal’s dangerousness. Under this common law cause of action used by attorneys for a dog bite in California, liability is based on the owner’s knowledge of the dog’s prior behavior rather than on the owner’s negligence. The usefulness of this cause of action is to establish liability on someone other than the dog’s owner for a dog bite in California.

Dog Bite Negligence and Negligence Per Se

Yet a further way for a dog bite lawyer to establish liability for a California dog bite, is based on the negligence of the person who causes or allows the dog bite or attack to occur. Negligence can be the result of mishandling, allowing a dog to roam the streets unleashed, or improper tying or chaining (note that it is also a misdemeanor under California Penal Code Section 597t to tie an animal in such a manner that will cause the animal to become entangled or injured or which prevents the animal from access to adequate shelter, food and water).

Dog Vaccinations

A dog owner whose dog has not been vaccinated by the age of four months and whose dog bites someone who then must submit to rabies treatment can also be sued by a dog bite attorney in California for violation of the applicable Health and Safety Code Section 1920 and for the cost of and pain and suffering resulting from this treatment.

Dog Propensities For Dog Bites and Causing Injury

Our law firm has even successfully pursued a claim for significant damages when a non-owner allowed a dog with a propensity to jump on others, knocked down a person and caused serious injury to that person.

But the question remains, is there an exception for when a dog bites a lawyer?

Dog Bite and Dog Attack Defenses

There are defenses to dog bite and dog attack liability in California, the most common of which involve the provocation of a dog, the comparative negligence of the dog bite victim and assumption of risk by the victim. Persons who handle dogs as part of their occupation, such as veterinarians, dog groomers and dog handlers are deemed to assume the risk of being bitten while the dog that bites them is in their custody. On the other hand, a dog owner who fails to warn such a person or who misleads such a person about the vicious propensities of the animal may not be similarly protected by this defense.

So is there a defense a dog can raise if it bites a member of the legal profession?

Dog Bites to Children

A special rule involving minors can negate the defenses allowed to a dog owner such as provocation, comparative negligence or assumption of risk. Minors under the age of five are deemed, as a matter of law, to be incapable of negligent acts. They are therefore incapable either of performing a negligent act toward a dog, or of acting with reasonable care toward a dog.

Dog Bite Defenses

The answer to the question of whether a dog can bite a lawyer and get away with it, is no.

Neither “my dog ate my homework” nor “my dog bit my lawyer” are valid defenses to getting out of school work or avoiding responsibility in California, although children will continue to try to use these excuses without success and dogs will be confused as to why their owners are saying “bad dog, bad dog” to them after they bite someone.

If you’ve been bit by a dog and seriously injured, visit our law firm website at http://www.SebastianGibsonLaw.com and call the law offices of Sebastian Gibson today. If you’re an insurance defense lawyer and a dog bit you, you’re on your own. In that case, we take sides with the dog. Just kidding.

from the cool site Epicurious

Epicurious made another polemic list of New York’s top restaurants, featuring some of the coolest places around. Although I don’t know many places (and I’m happy I’d have to come back to NY to check them out), I think the research was very interesting, so I’m sharing here with you guys:

Everyone’s a food critic in New York, but no one knows where to eat. Too many places open and close. Some are hot for a month and then vanish, inexplicably, like a one-hit-wonder pop singer. But a few dozen restaurants do find a groove, and a regular audience, and never need course correction. These are the perennials, the safe bets, the treasured top picks. And, thankfully, there are eateries to match all needs: high-end celebrity chef dining destinations (good luck spotting Thomas Keller or Jean-Georges Vongerichten), budget-sensitive noodle shops, sexy hot spots that never lose their luster (reservations are a must), cozy local favorites, and the classics–where you can find authentic, no-kidding-around lox and bagels, pastrami on rye, or steak. We’ve selected only places that have proven their culinary chops and long-term reliability.

Some of the selected restaurants are: Per Se, Jean Georges, Le Bernardin, Fatty Crab and Balthazar.

Continue…

Joe Nocera wrote a headline in the New York Times that read:

“Lehman Had to Die So Global Finance Could Live”

Nobel Economist Ed Prescott:

“Don’t subsidize inefficiency…. let these businesses go bankrupt. They gambled, they lost. That’s part of life”

Democratic Strategist and feisty ‘crazy Cajun’ James Carville:

“It’s the economy stupid.”

Gordon Gecko in Oliver Stone’s Wall Street:

“Greed is good. Greed is right. Greed works.”

If any of you think that the Global Financial Crisis has not given rebirth to Oliver Stone’s underlying position in Wall Street I encourage you to look at the fact that the follow up is coming to a theatre to you soon. And it could not be better timed.

You’ll remember that I am demonstrating a little perspective in advance of how Great Minds Global is working to advance the Millennium Development Goals. Moreover, how through our engagements we analyze the internal and external communications of specific not for profits and non governmental organizations so that we can rebrand and retool them to materially increase the funding available to them through a comprehensive corporate and donor engagement strategy.

Again, here I am going to present some facts to give you some perspective and perhaps open your eyes to some very basic realities:

According to Forbes Magazine these are the top sales corporations this past year:

The first number is the actual sales in USD while the second is profit:

• Royal Dutch Shell                      $458.36B         $26.28B
• Exxon Mobil                               $425.7B            $45.22B
• Wal-Mart                                    $405.61B          $13.4B
• BP (British Petroleum)            $361.14B           $21.16B
• Toyota                                          $263.42B          $17.21B
• Chevron                                       $255.11B           $23.93B
• ConocoPhillips                         $225.42B           $-17B
• Total                                            $223.15B            $14.74B
• ING                                              $213.99B            $ -1.01B
• GE                                                $182.52B            $17.41B

Just using these ten corporations as an example. Based on their total sales these ten companies are larger than the gross domestic product of 152 countries. Malaysia the point at which the bottom of these corporations is larger than.  In fact 51 of the worlds largest economies are corporations. The top 200 corporations in the world are larger than every other economy other than the largest ten countries. Moreover their sales represent 18 times the combined annual income of 1,4000,000,000 people.

Despite the massive fiscal stimulus and bailout monies as illustrated below. Many of the organizations that took in money from the government or guarantees are paying out massive bonuses to their teams.

Goldman Sachs is poised to pay out $20,000,000,000 in bonuses this year. It received more than $12,900,000,000 of the American Insurance Group bailout of $170,000,000,000. On average Goldman bonuses are set to be approximately $600,000 per employee. It has posted record profits, as much as 3 times as much in the last quarter over last year.

Citigroup according to Congressman Alan Grayson received a ‘secret’ bailout of $230,000,000,000 rather than the reported $45 B in TARP funds is poised to payout to 14 of its top 25 executives between $5,000,000 and $9,000,000 in bonuses. AIG is poised to pay out more than $198,000,000 to its top 50 executives, including I might add, some of the very people responsible for the needed bailout.

All of this seems to be proof positive that, as Gecko asserted, greed works. I am looking forward to seeing what Gecko is going to say these days. I’m quite certain it will have some sting related to it. Perhaps, a shot of Gecko sitting at Per Se, looking at a beautiful Thomas Keller creation; “Don’t worry,” he says, reaching for the bill; “Americas got it. Didn’t I tell you greed works.”? Shot of him laying down his Citibank or Bank of America card on the bill holder.

And he’d be right; the US government now owns stakes in banks and car companies in an effort to save the economy.

Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz: “Quite frankly, this amounts to robbery of the American people. I don’t think it’s going to work because I think there’ll be a lot of anger about putting the losses so much on the shoulder of the American taxpayer.”

It’s not just the United States; governments all over the world have relied on the taxpayer to ‘fix’ the current financial crisis. It is the worst economic position the world has seen since Roosevelt and the Great Depression. At least Roosevelt put people to work.

Milton Friedman once wrote:

“Only a crisis – actual or perceived – produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That, I believe, is our basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable.”

We currently are in the throes of an actual crisis and with all my hope I am still waiting for the production of real change. Governments around the world should adopt the “carpe diem” moment that is within reach at this crossroads of history and effect real and lasting change for the betterment of all. This requires business practices to be accounted for, that greed should not be considered good and should further be treated as criminal where appropriate. Moreover that government actually have the much toted audacity of hope.

“YES WE CAN” change the world for the better. But we need to address issues now and stop relying, as has been the historical prerogative on the next generation. Intergenerational tyranny needs to stop now if we hope to address the issues that face not American, Chinese, Canadian or Nigerian but all of us.

The next post is going to give some perspective on consumer spending.

Be Inspired Today!

The New Currency
SDM

Today Roberto Solis came to our school.  He is a chef from Merida Yucatan and he is here on the behalf of the Mexican embassy to promote his country.  Roberto is a chef who owns the restaurant Nectar in Merida.

Roberto Solis explaining the dishes he was planning to prepare

Two weeks earlier the Mexican embassy sent some representatives to show off some the Mexican wines they are producing.  I must admit what I tasted surprised me.  I did not expect to taste good wines from Mexico.  Monte Xanic Cabernet Sauvignon was top shelf.

The team from the Mexican embassy. Baltazar, Marcella and Pilar

Roberto has spent his summers working at some of the worlds top restaurants.  He spent a summer at the Fat Duck in Bray UK working under Heston Blumenthal.  Another summer he spent working at Noma in Copenhagen which is run by René Redzepi and is equally avant garde.  Then to top it off he spent a summer working at Per Se in NYC.  Pretty impressive résumé for a 27 year old.

Roberto put together 3 dishes with the help of two of my students.  One of the dishes was a gelled cube of tomato with a purée of corn tortilla which was heated and the foam was extruded with a foam canister. The other was a deer tartare with a cilantro emulsion, avocado, radish brunoise and charcoal infused oil.

Deer tartare

Roberto plating the Deer Tartare dish

Several of my student's helping Roberto plate

It was a long day filled with tons of media diversions.  As a mater of fact our week has been one long line of media diversions.  Wednesday FOX network filmed some footage about career changers (this should air live this coming Monday on FOX report channel 42 on Comcast between 8-9am); a fine arts photographer took shots of us all day on the Wednesday; the following day someone from Colorado Homes & Lifestyles came and took some food shots for their magazine and a photographer for the Mexican embassy came to take shots of Roberto cooking with us.  Finally today a young student from Metro college came to take food shots to build a food photography portfolio.  She will be collaborating with us on a regular basis.

The day Roberto came was also filled with a little unexpected drama as we had a “cook for a day” (prospective student) that cut his thumb pretty bad and had to be taken in for stitches.   He was pretty tenacious and made it back in time for lunch sporting a well bandaged thumb.

The final dish that Roberto put together for us that day was the most impressive. He poached an egg in its shell at precisely 145 degrees in a thermo recirculator that I had to borrow from Douglas Baldwin (who if you have been keeping up on this blog is studying for a math PHD at CU Boulder and is in the process of writing a book).   Basically what Roberto did was to deconstruct a Taco.  The taco shell element was masa rolled into little spheres and deep fried, the black bean came in powder form, the red onion was turned into a foam and the chorizo was turned into a sauce. The precisely cooked egg was cracked and the white was delicately removed from the yolk and placed on the plate.  Eating all the elements together instantly conjured a taco. True deconstruction.

Deconstructed taco

Overall the day was stunning and memorable.  The opportunity to see how other chefs reflect on their traditional foods in exciting.

walking through whole foods the other day, i spied the most glorious and gigantic head of cabbage — creamy white florets surrounded by dewy green leaves.  it must have weighed 10 lbs by itself because after picking it up, i realised that i’d have a hard time lugging home another at the 2 for $5 price. we’ve been eating cauliflower for the past 3 days. i’ve had the chance to roast it, stir fry it and yes…to finally conduct an at home cauliflower panna cotta trial.

my lucky stomach has been to thomas keller’s per se twice thus far. and each time, aside from the fact that i feel as if i’m bursting at the seams with food, i walk away thinking that the degustatory evening was a rather zen-ish, cocoon-like experience — a bit, i suppose, like holly golightly falling in love with tiffany’s because nothing ever goes wrong at per se.

reading the cauliflower panna cotta recipe, i gained a deeper sense of chef keller’s genius.  the panna cotta itself is quite straight forward. but what i didn’t notice while eating it was the transparent oyster gelee he used to coat the top of the panna cotta.  that thin gelee layer leant both a glossy finish to the dish as well as adding a briny complexity which cut through the richness of the panna cotta. glancing through the other recipes, i realised that none of keller’s dishes are quite as simple as they might have looked at the restaurant.

for my home version (picture above), i made just the cauliflower panna cotta, leaving out the oyster gelee and the caviar.  i also took a shortcut and spooned the panna cotta into one serving dish — a definite mistake; it should have been separated into 12 servings. the resulting panna cotta is so dense and rich, that it really should be eaten in small quantities.  any serving size beyond the size of a 3 inch ramekin is really too much.

Cauliflower Panna Cotta
(adapted from the French Laundry cookbook)

1. Spread cauliflower evening in a saucepan
2. Add butter and water.
3. Simmer for ~30 minutes, until the water is mostly evaporated.
4. Add the cream and simmer for another 10 minutes. The cauliflower should be completely cooked at this point.
5. Transfer the mixture in the saucepan into a food processor and blend until completely smooth.
6. Strain it.  Chef Keller advises using a chinois.  Lacking one, I used the strainer I had on hand.
7. Add salt for taste.
8. Soak the gelatin in cold water for 2 to 3 minutes.  When the gelatin leaf has softened, squeeze out the excess liquid and add it to the warm cauliflower mixture.  If for some reason, you’ve allowed your cauliflower mixture to cool and the gelatin won’t melt, you can put it over a water bath.  That said, don’t overcook the gelatin — it will smell like fish bones if you do.
9. Spoon 2 tbsp of the panna cotta into 12 serving bowls and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to set.
10. When set, top the panna cotta with 1 tsp of oyster gelee and garnish with a quenelle of caviar (beluga, of course)

Oyster Gelee

1. Place water and gelatin sheet in a small bowl and set over a water bath.  Stir constantly to dissolve the gelatin.
2. Remove the bowl from the water bath and add in the oyster juice.
3. Stir until everything is well combined.
4. Add in the pepper.
5. Chill in refrigerator until it has thickened to the consistency of oil and the pepper bits are suspended in the jelly.

On Monday, October 5th, Michelin will be releasing their 2010 New York restaurant recommendations for the fourth year to the delight of status- and food-obsessed New Yorkers, who have embraced this elite culinary ranking as if it were their own creation.

A little context: Unlike star systems in say, The New York Times, Michelin stars are scarce, carefully and secretly researched, and reserved only for haute cuisine. Last year, only four New York restaurants were deemed worthy of three stars—the highest rating (Per Se, Le Bernardin, Jean Georges, and Masa). Seven restaurants received two stars, and thirty-one received one star. While most restaurants in the fabled Red Guide receive no stars, mere inclusion is a notable achievement.

Despite all the media hullabaloo (accusations of ratings inflation, alleged biases towards French cuisine, and most recently, the not-so-subtle marketing of Michelin’s “secret” inspectors), I’d be willing to bet even the most devoted New York gastronomes have never caught a glimpse of the coveted award. (Given the popularity of shows like Top Chef, and this year’s hit film Julie & Julia, Michelin would be well-advised to develop their own awards show, not unlike the Academy Awards.)

Last summer, I was momentarily thrilled (and then horrified) to discover an actual Michelin star on display behind the intimate bar at Saul, a delightful, one-star restaurant on Smith Street in Brooklyn. To my dismay, I discovered that l’étoile Michelin is not really a star at all, but an oversized, six-petaled flower.

For me, the Proustian moment conjured up dreary memories of non-skid, rubberized decals designed for the bottom of suburban bathtubs in the Brady Bunch rerun-era. Call me crazy, but by definition, a star (the symbol, not the celestial body) must have points (five or more)—its form is inherently geometric, composed of acute angles and points.

Is the Michelin Fleur another example of French graphic design’s descent into the country’s most desultory creative expression? Or perhaps an unfortunate collaboration between a French multi-national and an American branding firm hoping to reshape Michelin in the image of another consumer-friendly, green-washed BP? A little research reveals the curiously inappropriate pictogram was part of the original sketches done 1900:

Michelin Pictograms, circa 1900

And there lies the kooky interbrand connection: the Michelin star (on the left) mimics that bubbly, winsome trade character we all know and love, the Bibendum (known on these shores as the Michelin Man, forth from the left).

Bibendum et son propre étoile

In 1897 by the Michelin brothers, Édouard and André, saw a stack of tires in their warehouse and remarked that they looked like a man, inspired them to commission the French artist O’Galop to bring the character to life. The jovial, rotund Bibendum is an unlikely Frenchman, but a memorable corporate mark that has endured and evolved over the past 100 years.

Michelin Brothers' inspiration made real by O'Galop

In the beginning, Bibendum’s appearance was based on a stack of bicycle tires, so his rolls were thin and white (the addition of carbon to tires as a preservative in 1912 resulted in the change in coloration). Like Michelin’s affluent cyclist and early motorist customers, Bibendum originally wore pince-nez spectacles and smoked cigars.

Nunc est Bibendum, by O'Galop

Later, he evolved into a chubbier, affable working-class character who rode a bicycle and helped automobile customers fix their flat tires.

Bibendum on Bicycle (Poster by H. W. Roowy)

At the time of the company’s centennial, in 1998, Bibendum went through an extreme makeover: he toned up, slimmed down, and readied himself for the new millennium.

The Biggest Loser, 1998

Michelin should know that quotidian products (like tires) and luxury experiences (such as haute cuisine) have two distinctly different audiences, and need not share a brand identity. Ultimately, the design of the Michelin star fails because it undermines the authority and prestige of the ranking by tethering it to the cutesy identity of the Michelin Man. The curvy, floral icon is, at best, an awkward standard bearer, too round and too friendly. It is everything the ranking is not. The design dumbs down something meant to be taken very seriously—something precise, rigorous and most definitely pointed—the highest level of culinary achievement.

I handle all types of criminal cases, from violent crimes to “paper” crimes. Of all the crimes I defend, I firmly believe that DUI cases are the most challenging.

DUI cases frequently involve more complex issues of law, science, physics and mathematics, than most other serious criminal cases. Further, in the past twenty years, the constitutional rights of persons charged with DUI have been severely limited. At the same time, the consequences of a DUI conviction–even a first offense–have become severe. In other words, it ain’t just a glorified traffic ticket anymore.

Posting information regarding Mississippi DUI law on this site could keep me busy for years. I think the best place to start is with what the law says is illegal when it comes to drinking and driving.

What is the crime of Driving Under the Influence under Mississippi law?

Driving under the influence is prohibited by Miss. Code Ann. § 63-11-30. This statute prohibits two (2) specific acts. First, the law prohibits a person from operating a vehicle upon the public roadways if his blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is .08% or more. This is commonly referred to as the per se DUI law. Second, the law generally prohibits a person from operating a vehicle anywhere in the State (public roadway or not), while under the influence of an “intoxicating liquor” or other substance which has impaired the person’s ability to operate the vehicle.

A person may be charged with violating both parts of the statute. However, he may be punished for only one violation, due to principles of double jeopardy.

If a person is charged under the per se section of the code, all the prosecution must prove is that the person operated a vehicle on a public roadway while having a BAC of .08% or more. That’s it. The prosecution is not required to prove that the person was impaired, that he was driving dangerously, or even that he was actually experiencing any effects from the alcohol. Simply having a BAC of .08% or more violates the statute.

If a person is charged under the general DUI section, the burden of proof for the prosecutor is more difficult. The prosecution must prove (a) that the person was under the influence of alcohol or another substance; and (b) that the alcohol or other substance impaired his ability to operate the vehicle. This section comes into play when the BAC is unknown (usually because the Defendant has refused the test), or where the Defendant is accused of being under the influence of “another substance” (such as marijuana).

Prosecutors typically attempt to prove impairment by showing that the Defendant was driving erratically, and/or that he appeared to be impaired when encountered by law enforcement (swaying, stumbling, falling down, lack of balance, etc.). If the prosecutor does not have this “impairment” evidence, the chances of a not guilty verdict are high.

These are the two (2) ways a person can be charged with DUI in Mississippi. Next time, we’ll talk about the potential penalties if a person is convicted of DUI.

If you’ve been charged with DUI, you need to retain a tough, aggressive Mississippi DUI defense attorney to protect your rights.

Sejak beberapa tahun terakhir, pro-poor growth atau pertumbuhan yang berpihak kepada orang miskin menjadi strategi ekonomi terpenting bagi keterlibatan sosial (social inclusion) kelompok miskin.

Ramainya perdebatan terkait hal ini dipicu tulisan David Dollar dan Aart Kraay, Growth is Good for the Poor (2002). Dalam studinya, dua ekonom Bank Dunia ini menyimpulkan bahwa tanpa diduga, pertumbuhan ekonomi mempunyai pengaruh besar dalam perang melawan kemiskinan global.

Menurut mereka, sejak 40 tahun terakhir, ternyata pertumbuhan ekonomi global berbanding lurus (satu banding satu) dengan kenaikan pendapatan kelompok miskin. Selain itu, sejak beberapa dekade terakhir ditemukan bahwa tiada tanda-tanda telah terjadi pekemahan pengaruh pertumbuhan atas pengurangan kemiskinan.

Mengapa berpihak orang miskin ?

Dollar dan Kraay juga menguji pengaruh berbagai strategi kebijakan yang mengalokasikan porsi besar bagi belanja kesehatan dan pendidikan. Temuan mereka cukup mengejutkan. Ternyata, tidak ada bukti yang cukup kuat bahwa strategi itu membawa dampak sistematis pemerataan penghasilan.

Dengan demikian, bisa saja muncul pertanyaan apakah konsep pro-poor growth sebenarnya dapat saja direduksi menjadi sekadar pro-growth ?

Jawabannya tidak karena, menurut mereka, sekadar pertumbuhan ekonomi tidak cukup untuk memperbaiki kondisi kehidupan orang miskin.

Lalu, apa yang membuat pertumbuhan ekonomi menjadi berpihak kepada orang miskin ? Sebuah gambaran cukup lengkap termaktub dalam kumpulan tulisan yang dipublikasikan Michael Krakowski (2004), Attacking Poverty, What Makes Growth Pro-Poor.

Di tengah beragamnya definisi pro-poor growth, Stephan Klasen memberi batasan jelas. Pertama, harus dipastikan bahwa kelompok miskin memperoleh keuntungan lebih dari pertumbuhan dibandingkan dengan kelompok masyarakat lain. Sebuah perbandingan lurus seperti diungkap Dollar dan Kraay tidak masuk dalam dalam katehori ini.

Kedua, diperlukan distribusi pendapatan dalam kelompok miskin itu sendiri. Mereka yang paling miskin perlu diprioritaskan.

Pengaruh pertumbuhan

Berbeda dengan Dollar dan Kraay yang melakukan studi secara global, ada temuan lain yang diperoleh dari studi di beberpa negara. Louise Lopez dan John Page, misalnya, menunjukkan pertumbuhan bisa berjalan paralel dengan pemerataan, atau sebaliknya memperbesar kesenjangan.

Dalam penelitian mereka di Kosta Rika, El Salvador, Nigeria, Panama, Senegal, dan Tanzania, pertumbuhan ekonomi yang tinggi ternyata berjalan paralel dengan menurunnya penghasilan orang miskin.

Sebuah posisi berseberangan ditunjukan Surjit Bhalla dalam buku Imagine There’s Np Coountry-Poverty, Inequality, and Growth in the Era of Globalization (2002). Secara eksplisit, Bhalla mencari jawaban atas pertanyaan terkait dampak globalisasi terhadap pertumbuhan ekonomi, distribusi penghasilan, dan kemiskinan.

Menurut dia, sepanjang 1980 hingga 2000, pertumbuhan ekonomi yang tinggi telah mengurangi perbedaan penghasilan. Pertumbuhan per se, menurut dia, adalah pro poor. Berbeda dengan hitungan PBB, Bhalla mengatakan, tujuan pembangunan milenium (MDGs) yang menargetkan pengurangan kemiskinan menjadi separuh pada 2015 sebenarnya telah tercapai tahun 2000.

Argumen Bhalla, tentu saja, tidak sesuai kenyataan. Meski demikian, cukup menarik karena ia menunjukkan beberapa kelemahan metodologi terkait ukuran-ukuran kemiskinan.

Hal ini seakan dijawab oleh sebuah penelitian di delapan negara, termasuk Indonesia. Dalam penelitian itu, Ravallion dan Chen mengembangkan sebuah alat Measuring Pro Poor Growth (2003) sebagai metode untuk meneliti pengaruh pertumbuhan terhadap pemerataan penghasilan. Secara teoritis pendekatan ini dianggap ideal, tetapi mensyaratkan tingginya kualitas data yang secara praktis sulit ditemukan di negara-negara berkembang.

Data naratif dan analisis

Karena itu, selain menggabungkan berbagai data ekonomi mikro dan makro, pemanfaatan data naratif dianggap sama pentingnya dengan analisis data kuantitatif. Lebih dari itu, perdebatan tentang pertumbuhanyang berpihak kepada orang miskin sebaiknya mencermati berbagai dimensi kemiskinan, tidak melulu berkutat pada kemiskinan penghasilan.

Pemahaman Amartya Sen (1999), misalnya, bahwa kemiskinan adalah kurangnya kesempatan bagi seseorang untuk secara mandiri memperbaiki kondisi hidupnya, perlu menjadi pertimbangan. Kesehatan yang buruk, konflik kekerasan, lemahnya tanggung jawab negara, serta buruknya kondisi lingkungan hidup adalah berbagai kondisi yang, menurut Sen, ikut membatasi kesempatan itu.

Sumber  :

Pertumbuhan dan Orang Miskin, Ivan A Hadar | Analis Ekonomi-Politik, Co-Pemred Jurnal SosDem
Kompas, 10.09.2009

In a little bit of synchronicity, as I was debating the advantages and disadvantages of tipping vs. wages/mandatory service charges, Phoebe Damrosch, noted author of Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter, has weighed in on the subject.

Here is the pertinent part of her post that discusses service charges, a post which otherwise discusses the fact that waiters tend to be underappreciated and yet somehow lacking in solid commitment by falling into some stereotypical categories:

Tipping provides American waiters with an incentive to increase their check average by pushing bottled water, extra courses, expensive entrees and pricey wines and by showing guests the door as soon as they stop chewing. The service charge shifts the focus from the money to the experience. Instead of worrying about how much money she will take home that night — and upselling and groveling her way to that goal — a waiter can worry about doing her job well: making people happy at whatever price and pace they prefer.

Lower turnover resulting from a more professional employment package would encourage restaurants to invest time and resources in training. They might offer menu tastings (important with the ever-changing “seasonal” menus fashionable now), wine and spirits education, guest speakers (winemakers, foragers, game hunters), employer-sponsored travel and dining, mentoring programs that connect newcomers to leaders in their field, externships for service staff, and — most important — cross training between the kitchen and the dining room.

I would take issue with some things here. First of all, let’s not forget that Ms. Damrosch spent her time since 2004 waiting tables at Per Se in Manhattan (her bio is a little thin regarding her previous time waiting tables, and I must admit that I haven’t read her book yet – I’m certainly planning to).

Why is this relevant? First of all, Per Se does indeed pay a salary and it’s paid through the 20% service charge that’s folded into the price of the meal, as it’s done in many parts of Europe. But what’s practical for a 12 table restaurant (not counting the newer private dining rooms that have been made available fairly recently) isn’t necessarily practical for most other restaurants, especially restaurants that have to deal with the masses, and especially restaurants outside the very rarified Manhattan dining scene.  Per Se has a highly structured dining flow (two seatings, no dead tables, exact staffing for the business, guests insensitive to price, etc) that can take advantage of a bundled service charge. Charlie Trotter’s does the same thing and can do it for many of the same reasons. Try doing this at a place like Chili’s (yes, the masses also deserve professional, competent waiters as well!) and it just wouldn’t work.  The low wage/tipping scheme allows for the very flexibility in staffing that’s required in most restaurants. And menu prices! I note that the prices at Per Se has risen close to 25% (not counting the added service charge) since they changed from tipping to service charge. This in only 4 years.

I maintain that, in most circumstances, tipping is a win/win/win wage structure. It’s a win for the restaurant because it allows more restaurants to actually get open because of the lower requirement for payroll (it’s hard enough just to get a restaurant open since it’s very hard, if not impossible, to get a conventional business loan). It’s a win for the guest, since it keeps menu prices lower (Per Se is a perfect example of how just adding a 20% service charge doesn’t translate to simply a 20% increase in menu prices), plus, let’s face it, most people actually enjoy the act of tipping for various reasons. And it’s a win for the waiter because, not only does it act as an incentive, it keeps the job flexible in terms of scheduling and obviously allows the waiter to have cash in hand.

Ms. Damrosch talks about upselling. What she fails to acknowledge, probably because she hasn’t really had to work in the sort of restaurants that most waiters work in, is that upselling is a required part of the waiter’s job. It isn’t just a matter of greed, it’s something that waiters must do in the event that they are visited by a secret shopper. Many restaurants employ these services and a waiter can be docked for not mentioning bottled water (my own $75 per head restaurant even requires mentioning the various waters by name). They can be docked for not trying to sell appetizers, deserts, coffees, etc. And, let’s face it, waiting tables is a sales-type job. Most restaurants don’t have prix-fixe menus where there’s actually no “selling” involved.  One of the job of most waiters is to help the guest build their dining experience, and much of this is done through selling certain items that can enhance the dining experience. If it’s done for purely craven, economic reasons, it’s not serving the guest, which is the waiter’s job. That’s why I’ve cautioned in the past that “upselling” be done to enhance the meal, not rob the guest.

Let’s also not forget that Americans often need to be “shown the door as soon as they stop chewing” because of the very impatience that Americans display, especially when it comes to dining. Nobody likes to wait an hour and a half for a table and the only way to do this is by being efficient in service. Most restaurants don’t have the luxury of demanding reservations a month in advance and being able to offer a totally relaxed three hour dining experience. And, let’s face it, most Americans don’t actually like to dine in such a relaxed, long term manner. They have movies to catch, babysitters to get back to, dining companions to ditch, jobs to get back to, etc.

So, we have to move people along. Having said that, the great waiter never moves them along at a pace faster than they should be moved along.  But the waiter is always mindful of the crush of people who also want to dine. Obviously, turning tables is a financial benefit to the waiter. I would agree with Ms. Damrosch that pushing people out the door only for its own sake is undesirable. But she should also remember the dining circumstances of the non-Per Se type restaurant.

I’d also note that I’ve worked in restaurants that do all of the things that she’d like to see restaurants do. Even in the humble P. F. Chang’s, continuing education was done on a daily basis, wines were tasted and discussed, wine reps lectured, every dish was tasted, many “exotic” ingredients were tasted separately as part of the training process, and yes, even the occasional field trip was offered to interested parties. Another American bistro restaurant that I worked in indeed has a seasonal menu with a menu rollout mandatory tasting session for all servers as well as some pretty intensive continuing wine education and constant tastings.

So, the waiting environment isn’t as bleak as she makes it. Could it be better? Sure. Could be get more training? Of course. It can always be more and better. But I’m not sure that a service charge/salary is a magic bullet.

I obviously share some of her concerns. This very blog exists to support and demand professionalism by waiters. I too hate to see lackadasical and mediocre service, which is why I cajole, counsel, needle and talk about the little things that underpin great service. I try to motivate servers to constantly refine their service. But I’m not sure that taking away the motivating aspect of tipping would move us toward the goal of perfect service. While a salary can help give the job a professional air, it can also offer the danger of complacency. If I’m getting my money regardless, am I as motivated to improve, especially in the high volume type service that I have to operate in?  Hard to say. It’s easy to see yourself as a professional when you’re rarely in the weeds from getting double and triple seated.

Don’t let my quibbles blind you to the fact that I agree with the basic tenet that Ms. Damrosch is promoting – that service is the weak link in the dining experience and should be improved. Hopefully my blog is a small part of improving the service level of waiters in every dining experience, from the most humble meat and three to the Per Ses of the world.

The correct term is “per se”.

It is meant when you are saying “essentially” or “fundamentally” or “by definition”.

I wouldn’t call him ugly, per se.

I ett stort antal tidningar i landet kommer idag Resetidningen från Respress där mitt reportage från New York om hur man kan göra en hel del spännande saker utan att för den delen spendera hela reskassan med en gång.

I våras när jag var där kostade en dollar ca 8 kronor. Nu står den närmare 7 kronor.

Detta innebär i Hard Core NY Foodie Value att:

Stora avsmakningsmenyn på 3-stjärniga Per Se går loss på 1925:- (exkl dryck) istället för vårens 2200:- 

Tvårätterslunchen på 3-stjärniga Jean-George går på futtiga 196:- istället för 224:-

Ja, ni ser ju själva. New York on a shoestring.

My version of having Breakfast at Tiffany’s is getting a Pain au Chocolat from Bouchon and then going one floor up to look at what’s on the menu at Per Se.  I never really liked diamonds until I walked into a Tiffany’s and I’ve never thought of food as poetry until I looked at the menu at Per Se.  OK, listen to this:  TERRINE OF HUDSON VALLEY MOULARD DUCK FOIE GRAS- Tellicherry Pepper-Scented Yogurt, Strawberry Gelée, Watercress and Balsamic Reduction with Toasted Brioche.

Or this: MUD PIE- Dark Chocolate Mud Cake, Liquid Caramel, Chocolate “Crémeux” and Caramel Parfait  with Sassafras Ice Cream.

Did you read it aloud?  Is not the alliteration just savory?  Just reading it makes me feel elegant.  Like I could be so Audrey!

My first thought upon logging onto wordpress was, yes! I have spam!

It really doesn’t matter to me about receiving views and comments and whatever. I mean, this is for me to write and ramble on, and if someone happens to stumble across it and like it (or not like it) then great.

But I’d forgotten how cheering it is to know that someone actually saw the page. Someone’s checking in, someone cares. It makes me smile.

On a different hand, I’ve had a constant headache today. I don’t know if it’s the shift in energy– with Caitlin here everything seems more exaggerated, more energized, and I’m not used to that kind of hyperactivity. I’m usually a laid-back kind of girl, unless something needs to get done. Then I’m driven, but not (usually) to the point of frenzy. The house has been a whirlwind of frenzy lately.

So, I’m ready for some downtime. I’ll admit it. I’m just tired and achy and a little pissed. Why pissed? one might wonder.

Well, I guess I’m not really angry, per se. Just a little peeved. But when you suggest making plans with someone and then never get back to them, it’s irksome to the one you don’t get back to. Translation: goddammit, if I said I’d text you back about the plans we were going to have, I fricken would. No question. I don’t leave a friend hanging.

And I guess I was left hanging.

It doesn’t matter, and I’m not cranky because oh no, he might not “like” me. I’m cranky because it’s simple common courtesy to say if the plans won’t work out. And I’m not bitching about bad manners, necessarily, but I’d do it for my friends. I’d tell them when something was going to fall through.

Oh, yeah, and I have bug bites effing everywhere and I’m itching like the dickens. It’s too warm and I feel disgusting and did I mention I have a headache?

I’m going to bed. And hopefully just go right to sleep instead of brooding over issues I have no control over and will only constantly think on if I don’t.

[One of my photos has been published at a blog owned by NBC and written by chef Ariane Duarte. Check out the entry here!]

Hello, people of the interwebs! Sorry for the lack of updates in a while. I’ve been pretty busy lately, mostly with work, eating, and taking pictures.

I still need to blog about my trip to Taiwan (amazing), Hong Kong, and Macau.

I’ve eaten at Le Bernardin since I last blogged, as well:

And this past Monday, I had a life-changing meal at Thomas Keller’s Per Se.

Lately, I’ve been cruising the Montclair restaurant scene, collaborating with local restaurants to get some food photography done. I’m not making any money doing it — I’m just doing it out of a bit of boredom and a desire to collaborate and help grow some of these businesses. Thanks go out to David Hobby at the Strobist blog for getting me off of my lazy keister. I’ll let you know when some of these pictures make it up onto their websites. In the meantime, if you’re from around my area, definitely check out CulinARIANE restaurant and Mesob Ethiopian restaurant.

The photo of the Jonah crab at the top of this post was shot for Oceania Seafood company, in New York (check my Flickr photostream for more pictures). They’re building a website, and I’ve been working very closely with an awesome IT support company called “Blue Lion Solutions” to help Oceania Seafood company grow its online seafood shipping business.

So, if you need the freshest seafood around, contact Oceania Seafood at 917-662-8028 (website coming very soon!)

And if you need web hosting services, IT support, and boatloads more help from tech-savvy types, contact Blue Lion Solutions (or just click here).

Per Se To Open In Early August at Carlsbadistan

Women rushing from the office to the beach and back again this summer will cherish knowing that – beginning today – they can make a one hour appointment with Per Se to get their fall wardrobe in order well in advance of the season! …

Taming The Wilds of Carlsbad-by-the Sea, California.

Leegin&s effect, however, has been muted due to the possibility that the per se rule would still apply under certain state antitrust laws and that Congress would legislatively overrule Leegin. The Discount Pricing Consumer Protection …

Leegin&s effect, however, has been muted due to the possibility that the per se rule would still apply under certain state antitrust laws and that Congress would legislatively overrule Leegin. The Discount Pricing Consumer Protection …

Leegin&s effect, however, has been muted due to the possibility that the per se rule would still apply under certain state antitrust laws and that Congress would legislatively overrule Leegin. The Discount Pricing Consumer Protection …

[Photo Credit: Water-Fall]

Last winter, during a food writing spree, I read Pheobe Damrosch’s memoir Service Included, an ode to her stint as back server and captain at Per Se, Cosmopolitan: A Bartender’s Life, by the once infamous dive bar Passerby’s Toby Cecchini, and Kitchen Confidential, by the omnipresent Anthony Bourdain. I’d recommend all of them, though Damrosch and Cecchini have, to me at least, much more striking, fuss-free narrative styles than Bourdain. But anyhow, the reason I bring them up now, is that all three books mentioned the phrase “in the weeds,” restaurant speak for “over-loaded to the point where catching up is impossible.” Last night, in the upstairs service kitchen of the restaurant, surrounded by racks of dirty and drying dishes and mountains of tickets, I tried the phrase out on the beleaguered bartender. He laughed and ruffled my hair with the hand that wasn’t carrying six Buzzard’s Bay Pilsners.-

An hour or so later, as the weeds began to clear, a tray of rocks glasses, blushed and frothing, appeared in the service kitchen. I drained mine almost in one gulp; it tasted of berries and summer and sea salt.
“A sloe gin* fizz,” the bartender told me. “Sloe gin, gin, and sprite.”
Simple enough, then, for me, and you, to make at home. Make sure, though, that you use a shaker, loudly and with fervor.

• 1oz sloe gin
• 1oz gin
• 1oz sprite

First pour the sloe gin and regular gin into a shaker packed with ice and shake it, baby. Once shaken, pour into an ice-filled collins glass (I’m guessing other square-bottomed glasses work fine), and top with the sprite. Pretty, no? Now sip.

-

-

*sloe gin is a gin-based liquer that’s been steeped in sloe berries and sweetened. Sloe berries, and their parent, the blackthorn plum, make me think of On the Banks of Plum Creek and Anne of Green Gables, both of which are quietly moldering away in some dusty corner under my bed.

Got reservations at Thomas Keller’s Per Se and Eric Ripert’s Le Bernardin. Will report back (hopefully with pictures!) once I dine. Gotta get my laptop fixed first, cuz borrowing computers to access the web is teh suck. At any rate, I’m on a mission to eat at Michelin-starred restaurants, starting at the top.

Discovered a mouse in my apartment. Not sure if it’s the same mouse my roommate and I found in the winter — we named it Teacup. Oh well. Time to hide the dried fruits that I suspect he’s munching on and break out the peanut butter. I’d like to build a better mousetrap, a la Jim Clark, but we’ll see how much motivation I have to do something so cool/geeky.

Finally, a word of advice: avoid cheap tongs. Trust me. I speak from personal experience. Despite owning numerous knives (including the super-sharp Shun Kaji 10″ chef’s knife) and sharpening them all myself with Japanese water stones, I haven’t cut myself in the past year or 3 — that is, until tonight: on a pair of tongs I bought from the dollar store.

Don’t ask. I don’t know how I did it, either.