Ericandblueboy

They were found and air-lifted off the island.

I just had a root canal, I can use some mushy food

Why is it relevant? Did anyone certify Beethoven? Did anyone certify Van Gogh? Who cares about the certification of your contemporaries?

whatcha talkin bout willis? You talkin' to me? Well I'm the only one here. Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?

Do you know the Legend of Din Tai Fung http://dintaifungusa.com/en/en_story01.html? He made great dumplings first before he put more esoteric stuffing inside the dumplings. As for Gen Tso's crap for food, it is a dish that pleases many American palates yet it is undoubtedly crap for food. I dare say the sales of Gen Tso's crap for food far surprises the food served by all of Puck's and JG's restaurants combined (but as Waitman already pointed out, economic success does not mean greatness).

They were all masters of western music. None of them attempted to improve Asian music (which in my opinion, needed lots of improvement). I didn't say all things should stay the same (if I did, then I shamefully retract such statement). I said let those who really know their craft be at the forefront of making changes.

I can't wait for Michael Landrum to roll out Ray's the Egg Foo Young.

I can only critique from personal experience. I can tell you my Chinois experience in Vegas was pitiful and my experience at The Soure wasn't much better. As far as I know, Spago has 2 michelin stars whereas Chinois has none. Maybe he has mastered Italian cuisine? The fact that LA swoons over his food really is of little relevance. Puck and JG are great businessmen and they have been successful. I neither envy nor resent them (your suggestion that I do brings an unncessary personal element into this discussion. If anything, I'm little bit protective of my native cuisine and don't want every jackass who has a wok to start thinking they can make better Chinese food). Are they creative? I suppose they are and I have no reason to dispute it. The only question I have is a theoretical one. Should someone who is not a master of a cuisine reinterpret/reinvent it? Let's take rap stars as an example. Rap music is considered music. Rap is an interpretation of music which is enjoyed by many (but mostly young Americans). Some rap stars are creative geniuses and have great business and marketing successes. Do you think rap music is as good as classical masterpieces? Classical music has stood the test of time and so has traditional Chinese food. You think 1,000 years later people will still be eating Puck's recipes? You think 1,000 years later people will still listen to rap?

I had this dish at Michael Mina's in Bellagio. Same presentation but the lobster was definitely overcooked. I'd like to try it again but it would be nice to know that the kitchen is capable of doing the lobster pot pie properly before I drop $85 (it was only $70-75 when I had it, but still the single most expensive dish I've ever had).

If he hasn't mastered the cuisine, then what business does he have to reinterpret it? Would people have accepted serial composition by Madonna? My meal at Vong was quite good and it was not heavily Asian influenced, IIRC. I'm not knocking on J-G's flagship, just his Spice Market brand.

Vong in London. Actually, a part of my point is that Asian food is comprised of many countries and many cuisines. It's rather insane that any one chef can claim to have mastered all of these cuisines. As for reinterpreting food, I say don't mess with something unless you're going to improve it (which begs the question, how can you improve something unless you've mastered it?) So, has Puck or JG improved the food? In my opinion, they haven't.

Not a fan of Esca, at least for lunch. I shared some liguine with clam sauce with my boss/partner - a little salty, pasta a little undercooked, but I like the spiciness. As for my entree of Fritto Misto, they don't have the frying down. It's nothing like Palena or the meals I've had in Venice, or even B&B in Venice (another Batali restaurant). Unfortunately I didn't get to order more than 2 courses.

When someone has mastered a cuisine, then maybe he/she could start reinterpreting it. The best analogy I have is in the art world. Picasso was a great painter and then he pioneered cubism. If Puck can make great Asian food, then he can go hog wild in reinterpreting it. Unfortunately I haven't had Puck's personal cooking but I've tried his restaurants and they're not great. I like great food, it could be authentic or it can be creative, but it has to achieve greatness. If you think Puck and his empire or JG and his empre can create great food, you should go eat there. In my opinion, they're just above the average Asian you can find here in DC.

I don't think Asian food needs modern interpretation. From my standpoint, it's dumbing down the food for people who don't know anything about Asian food to feel better about themselves. If you believe what you said, why bother going to Present, Nava Thai or Hong Kong Palace? What's the difference between The Source and PF Chang? What part about a $40 over-fried fish should I applaud? At Present, that same $40 bought us a fish that fed 7. At The Source, I didn't bother finishing the fish.

I've said the same about The Source - above average Asian food but nothing to get excited over, add in the inflated price, they can kiss my little yellow ass. After looking over Spice Market's menu I get the same feeling.

Portion question. We're going to Esca for a late lunch tomorrow. Will I be able to eat a primi, antipasti, and a secondi? Eating with clients and they're picking up the tab - I don't want to over order if I can't finish the food.

Going in April. What's the best restaurant in Rehoboth these days? I looked at Espuma's menu and just doesn't sing to me. I don't care for any kind of salad when I'm eating at a fancy restaurant. Couldn't care less about any attempt at Asian cooking (not while I'm at the beach). I'm likely to eat at La Tolteca for lunch - my favorite tex-mex joint in the entire mid-atlantic region.

I'm with Waitman on the lobster in the risotto - tough. As for the salmon belly in the cone, we loved the mixture of texture, soft belly, crunchy cukes, and crispy cone - yes the cone was a little overpowering on the sweet side and the salmon lost in the ingredients, but what an interesting PARTY IN MY MOUTH. Oh, everything is in the order we were served.

Never understood how that place stayed in business. I've never been much of a tea drinker myself. As for the food, wish there were more choices to entice me to eat there.

We were able to secure the chef's table for just the two of us by e-mailing Lindsay at Teatro Goldoni. The tasting is still $125 per person, with wine pairing at $40. I'm not certain that the cost of wine pairing is fixed. As there were two of us and we ordered only 1 pairing, we were downing one glass after another and Aziz just kept bringing out more wine. After the baby octopus, we told Chef Enzo that we're stuffed. He told us there's another duck course before dessert but we passed on it. Overall impression - Spectacular. This can only be compared to Komi and it is easily just as good. The seafood soup in eggshell was my favorite, every piece of shellfish inside was cooked perfectly tender. Unfortunately Chef Enzo was cooking on the other side of the kitchen from where we were seated so we couldn't watch him work.

Seafood soup (with shrimp, clam, scallop & squid) with olive oil and basil salt on the side, served in an eggshell Cigar box branzino with portobello mushroom, flavor enhanced by the smell of burning wood ships Foie gras custard in pea soup and fried scallions on top Confit of lobster and cherry tomato risotto with fried basil Open ravioli, squid ink pasta on the bottom, white pasta on top (with embedded basil leaf), with scallops, artichoke capers, tomato and basil Ravioli with fontina cheese and quail egg yolk still runny topped with black truffle and parmesean crisp Baby octopus with polenta cream Vanilla panna cotta with orange juice reduction

Salmon belly mixed with cucumber topped with caviar, fennel and sour cream Deconstructed olive Ahi tuna over anchovy garlic sauce topped with crispy capers Foie gras topped with yellow tomato marmalade Liquid pizza - tomato, olive, creamy mozzarella, anchovy and fried basil leaf Artichoke puree topped with olive foam with a corn shoot Italian sushi - prosciutto wrapped around cream cheese asparagus and portobello mushroom

My wife's at a friend's house for pot-luck and games. Not sure what kind of games they're playing, hopefully nothing involving my money or my honor. So I went down the street by myself. Strangely enough, the sushi bar was reserved but there were plenty of tables. I started with some fried oysters, tempura fried eel and clam miso soup. I love anything tempura fried and the eel was fantastic - crispy, flaky, and boneless! I wanted smelt but they didn't have it. The clam miso was also good but the oysters less so (not tempura battered). Then came the sushi - fatty tuna, uni, horse mackerel, mackereal and escolar. The toro was fabulous until I got the bill, $15 for two pieces. Uni was $10 for 2 pieces. I ended up dropping $63 before tip (with only 1 12oz Sapporo to drink). Damn menus without prices! I'm not a big sushi fan and I seem to have a short memory when it comes to Tachibana. After I tried the fried oyster, I recalled that I ordered it the last time I was there and didn't care for it. I'll probably forget how expensive it is soon.

Meeguks are Americans?

No +1 for me.