Jacques Gastreaux

So my 1x yield is 16 quarts. I would like to reduce this to 2 quarts (so a 1/2 cup of reduction is a quart of 1x stock). Obviously, I will reduce verrry slowly (probably over the next 24 hours). Is there anything I should worry about flavor-wise?

Are you sure that it not a 2x yield?

Woops so sorry to confuse - When I referred to the front room, I meant the room that is directly to your left the moment you walk up the stairs. That, to me, is the front as it was where we entered the establishment. The Blue Room also can be called the front I suppose, if you consider the entrance the back. And there certainly are 3 spaces in which to sit, and I think 4 really (or 3.5)- the 'front' room with the purple couches directly to your left when you walk in, the actual Bar, the bar area to the right of the bar if you are facing it, and then the Blue Room, in the back. I look forward to hearing reports from your research!

What you call the front room I call the back room.

I know about ten people I wish could have this procedure.

On other notes, does anyone have a dialysis machine I could borrow?

I could loan you my artificial liver, but it's in the shop for repairs.

I'm having trouble following this (I've been confused about other stuff today as well). What's going on. Trying to read between all thses posts I get the impression that there is a HH this evening at RK?? If so, I could stop by for a beer on my way home from work.

I'm confused. I thought the blue room and the front room were the same thing, the room that overlooks the intersection of King and Columbus.

Happy 100th birthday to Joe H!

Hear hear. And many happy returns. (not on the 100 thing though).

I could see a $300 tab for 6 at 2 Amy's (assuming you ordered an ocean of wine), but not for a party of 2. And who would go to 2 Amy's on NYE anyway?

I'm fine with it not getting better as long as it stays approximately the same quality. With wine we're doing well to have a bottle open for 2 hours before it's gone, but some of my liquor bottles are probably approaching having been opened for 3-5 years.

They should still be OK, so long as you put the corks back in. The most that can happen is that the alcohol could evaporate if you don't close the bottles.

the question came up, does liquor go bad?

The short answer to this is "no" but, unlike some wines, they also don't get any better with age either.

Personally, something more than 4 stars but well less than 100 points seems right to me--maybe a 10 point scale, 20 at most.

How about a 20-point scale that had 5 points for each of 4 categories (food, decor, service, etc), sort of like Iron Chef or Zagat. That way people could get a more meaningful picture of what a restaurant is like from the score, without having to read the fine print.

According to OpenTable, Central Michel Richard is accepting reservations for the 29th of January.

I had lunch at the BLT bar this afternoon and a prodigious lunch it was. I was a little disappointed when told that they had no lemonade (I mean come on, any bartender worth his/her salt should be able to whip up something in the nature of lemonade without too much thought) and made do with just plaim old tap water. The field green salad was what you would expect at a place of this sort with a nice mustard vinagrette dressing. The salad was accompanied by the popovers that looked like misshapen WWII German handgrenades. I was nearlly full from the salad and a popover when my hangar steak arrived in its own cast iron serving vessel. The hangar steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare and had the nice chewy texture and beefy flavor that is characteristic of the cut. It came with its own bowl of peppercorn sauce. The fries also were nice and crunchy (no soggy fries here).

My peeve was that I had to pay $9 for a small/medium cone of frites to go with my $24 hangar steak. For $9, I expected a bowl of frites large enough for me and my two dining companions to share. If I had ordered the $16 hamburger, I would have gotten the same amount of frites as part of the price. I'll admit that I could not tell if the frites were of the commercial frozen variety or house made, which might justify a higher price. They were good and crunchy.

Summary: Steak frites are great but a little on the pricey side.

The went on to say that the word "prime" has two meanings when it comes to standing rib roast. There is prime grade (which is an indicator of marbelling) and there is a prime cut. The prime cut is the loin end. So you have to be careful when someone says they're selling you a prime rib roast. They could mean prime grade but usually it means prime cut of a choice/select grade.

The safer way to play this is to assume that the word "prime" has nothing to do with the grade of the meat and only describes the location from which it was cut. If the meat is prime grade, you will know because of the price and they will go out of their way to make the grading known to the customer.

And one more question, considering I will probably be picking this up at a WF and might not have access to a knowledgeable/caring butcher, how can I make sure I get one from the loin end? I keep hearing people tell me you should get one from the loin end but is there anyway to tell without actually being there when it is cut? Does it have a different look or size?

Specify ribs 10-12.

I'm resurrecting this thread since I've decided to do a standing rib roast for New Year's Eve. I liked Scott's suggestion about making a paste out of rosemary, garlic, etc. My question is would this crust end up burning if I were to crank up the heat to 500 at the end? Any why not pan sear the roast to start with??

Also, I believe it was in Cooks Illustrated that they discussed the pros and cons of having your butcher remove the roast from the bone, then tying it back on. Apparently it makes the final carving much easier. Any comments on this??

I've made standing rib roasts both ways: (1) started with high heat and then low and (2) started with low heat then cranked up. The last time I tried hi to lo I did the high part, turned the oven down and went to 5:00 Mass. The roast was overcooked by the time I got back from church. The next year, I put the meat in the oven at low heat, then went to church. When I got back the internal temp was up to about 100 so I took it out of the oven to rest while I cranked up the heat. When the oven got up to about 500, I put it back in for about 15 minutes and it came out with a nice brown crust. The low to high method is what I will use in the future.

On the bones issue, I leave them attached but tie them on to keep them from pulling away from the meat during cooking. They are real easy to remove after cooking. Just turn the roast on its side so that the bones are pointing up and slice the entire slab of bones off with your carving knife. They will detach very easily. Then separate the bones from one another and serve on a separate platter for those who also want to gnaw.

Naah...keep posting, trust your judgement and enjoy the "lively" discussions as they arise.

I disagree, start posting when you have something useful to add.

And posting PMs won't win you many friends. I'm still trying to figure out what you point was with that.

wow...it looks like you are not allowed to criticize this restaurant on this board. The poor guy in the deleted posts was forced to go away just because he expressed some negative feelings...when looking through this thread anyone who dares to say anything that is short of calling the restaurant Nirvana- will be slammed.

I have eaten at the restaurant a few times and it has been great and not so great. But of course that is my opinion.

Restaurants, like all service businesses need feedback to grow and improve. Not just glowing reports but they need to hear the not so great things as well. Only when they hear these not perfect things can they learn or change..or decide not to change. I would think that the management would be happy to hear constructive criticism.

This board is so aggressive that many would be intimidated to post anything beyond glowing reviews. Chill out everyone!

To say something to the effect "their steak was inedibile, it came out pink" on their first post just does not convey any useful information on any level. Especially when the poster has never been to the establishment.

Oh, and welcome to DR.com, iluvfood. There is a separate thread for criticizing restaurants, which is perhaps where this discussion belongs. This particular discussion has been deleted once, but someone apparantly wants to beat this dead horse some more.

The "remember me" login function does not seem to be working. I use XP and IE 7.0.

Hanger steak special-Excellent

Frites--Excellent

Service-Sucked ventworm nut. Just bad attitude all around. If anyone wants specifics, I'll be happy to elaborate.

It looks like the only opporutnity I will have to do a TMB at BCC is Wednesday evening. If too few are game for Wedesday, it'll have to wait until next year.

Cocogirl:

Weclome to DR.com. Upthread, Birus reports that Korubuta porks is available at Wegmans. I don't know if it is the same stuff your father had, but you might consider taking one for the team and filling the rest of us in.

Thanks to Chef Wabeck, GM Mike Hill, bartender Jen, and cocktail waitress Kattie for their generous hospitality and impecable service Friday evening. The complimentary venison pate and Merguez "mini-burgers" were wonderful. I'd like to see a trio of the mini-burngers on the appetizer menu.

And the contrast between the atmosphere at FF and that of another nearby establishment was stark.

I was left wondering, when did the dining public start to feel so entitled?

Some (initials are M.L.) are of the view that this not a trend but a feature of the climate in Washington, DC; what with all those macrocephalic politicians running around all over the place.

Would anyone like to take a stab at what is contained in the spice mixture? These are so perfect for cocktails that I'd like to attempt to recreate them at home.

I will take a stab. I'm speculating that he uses the same spice mixture that he uses for his diablo steak sauce and blackened scallops.

Well, tonight's the night. I've had a few PMs inquiring about what time we will get started and the only response I can give is "it's happy hour" which means after work. If you get there around 6:00 you can count on things approaching full swing.

I also wanted to let you know that we are now somewhat over capacity for the lounge, (I find it hard to say no). Chef Wabeck has told us that he expects one of his busier nights of the season. The plan is to clear space in the lounge as much as possible for standing and mingling. I expect people to start their own tabs with the waitress and/or bartender, and order drinks and appetizers rather than sit-down entrees etc. (in other words, I don't want to have to contend with figuring out an "uber tab" as I've found that my ability to do so after a few glasses of wine diminishes considerably). If you want to stick around for dinner at FF after the HH winds down, reservations are recommended (Opentable shows space available).

And: Jake Parrott has arranged some special wine for us this evening: Muratie chardonnay and Amira syrah.