Arcturus

Despite the fact that I've never met Don, I can confirm that this is totally true.

Signed,

Nonsmoker

Same here.

is disgusting.

Is it?

One one hand, the act itself can easily be seen as off-putting to many, and KMango makes some excellent points above.

On the other, it's a physical competition like any other; one that requires hours of training and dedication for a person to excel. Competitive eaters are athletes in every sense of the word. What really differentiates competitive eating from, say, mixed martial arts? Or golf? Or chess? They're all individual sports that require a huge time commitment and physical and/or mental conditioning in order to excel.

Fino in Georgetown has been good the last couple of times I've eaten there. On M, right across from the Latham.

Those Pizze look like Sh!t. Sorry. I admit to taking a half hour break today-it's been a very long week. Please allow me to make it up to you.

Thanks.

They absolutely do. I take responsibility for that. Again, apologies.

Will you be doing carryout starting Tuesday as well or just dine-in?

Carryout as well.

So I must whisper my criticism to my employee? According to you, I have the right to march into your kitchen or household and tell you how you should run your business or raise your children. You know, this is a free country and we're governed by laws, not whims. Marching into someone's kitchen uninvited is trespassing. No law condones trespassing unless you're preventing physical harm to someone. When there's no imminent threat of physical harm, you're the menace, not the savior. Two wrongs don't make a right.

Laws are established codes of conduct generally agreed upon by members of a society, not infallible moral commandments. If I'm driving with no other cars on the road and the person in the passenger seat is having a heart attack, I'm going to run a few red lights and go over the speed limit on the way to the hospital.

Also, if the crux of your argument is based solely on the letter of the law, I'm not sure if going into the kitchen (which it's not clear that the author did, as he even states in the article) even constitutes trespassing if he was already in the restaurant.

And it's a far stretch to say that I'm espousing entering a household uninvited and giving unsolicited parenting advice. I'm espousing intervention in instances of physical or verbal abuse, something that I have done before and have every intent of doing again should the situation present itself.

As for the "imminent threat of physical harm," would you be perfectly content to stand by as an elderly lady is verbally berated by a much larger man? There are people that prey on the weak in the world, and do so because they're enabled by the rest of society. I refuse to stand for it.

Mind your own damn business. It ain't your place to tell him how to run his job. Just like it ain't your place to tell someone how to raise his/her kids - especially when there's no physical harm. If I was the chef, I'd taze the dude for trespassing in the kitchen.

Bollocks.

It's that sort of attitude that enables people to victimize others, and I'd argue that it's every bit as damaging to society as a whole.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30105703/

..is it a good thing that the subway workers were "minding their own damn business?" If I see someone being attacked, I'm going to jump in. If I see someone being verbally assaulted, I'm going to say something. "Minding your business" is a method of self preservation and self-justification for those that choose to put themselves above the greater good of society.

Looks like it's death metal time, Shaggy.

Really last minute, but I'm at a conference being held at hte HIlton in Pgh and would like to do a nice lunch nearby one day. My mom recommended Six Penn, and there's also Palomino nearby. Nothing else seems to be within walking distance and my schedule doesn't allow me to get further away. Are either worth it, even at lunch prices? Or is there something else you can suggest?

If I *coiuld* get away, any recommendations. Le Pommier interested me, and I think there's a nother place down there that gets good recs - Dish I think. Also trying to convince my mom to let me take her to Bistro 19 for an early mother's day, but not sure if we'll make it.

thanks!

Le Pommier is like a 10 minute bus ride from downtown, as is a nice Spanish place called Mallorca (both on Carson St.). I've heard okay things about Six Penn, but never been.

Here is a link to the trip planner.

There's a nice Indian place on 5'th, between Liberty and Penn, as well. It's not upscale, but the lunch buffet is very good. Went there a lot while in school. India Palace, I believe, is the name. Montecello's also has pretty good pizza, and is close. Stay far away from Sree's.

Oh, and a general question to anyone. What is the reasoning behind the smearing and dolloping of various components at many of the "nicer" restaurants? I know its been done forever but I still don't get it. The accompanying stuff is either really great and you wish there was more or really gross and you wonder why its even there. I appreciate the effort that goes into creating so many components but I'm just puzzled by that style of cooking.

Because a starch, a vegetable, and a protein plopped on the plate with a drizzle of sauce has been boring for the last 35 years, and has no intention of stopping now?*

While I think that more does not necessarily equal better, there is something to be said for variety as one eats a dish. Nobody wants to take the exact same bite ad nauseum until they're stuffed to the gills, so arranging a plate with the idea of making each bite (or series of them) unique in terms of taste and/or texture is an attractive one to me as a cook and as a diner, especially when it's done well.

*Don't get me wrong- a dish served in this manner can taste good, it's just not something that inspires me. Unless it's a concept-specific thing (steak at a steakhouse, cassoulet at a bistro, etc.), I think that we can all do better as cooks.

Er, do you mean "damn skippy"?

Congrats!!

Hah! Thank you.

Last one down.

Chef named one of the best new chefs for 2010. Damn skimpy.

You know ... the moderators on this website are effing awesome!

That is pretty funny.

Drat! Foiled again!

(penchant for mischief)

just saying...

B...but high fructose corn syrup is good for you! Your tax dollars say so!

The sad thing is that we shouldn't need to have this discussion in the first place. With even a modicum of safety training and common sense, spices should be essentially bacteria-free indefinitely.

Hello,

I am a longtime journalist who is seriously weighing a mid-career change into the pastry world. I would love to hear thoughts from those in the field about this question:

How important is pastry school in building a career in the field, especially if you're starting at midlife?

In other words, are programs like the one at L'Academie pretty much prerequisites to being able to find good opportunities in kitchens? Or is learning on the job an equally viable path?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you can offer.

Catherine

First, go stage and see if you like it. Call a place and offer to hang around for a bit unpaid and see if you're into the environment and such, and see if it's something that you're interested in doing.

Second, it all depends. Going to culinary school can open doors, but it does so at a high price. If you find a good chef that's willing to take you on and take you under their wing, it can be as good. Ferran Adria, Thomas Keller and Heston Blumenthal never went to culinary school.

Exhume to Consume

Well-played, sir. Well-played. Can't go wrong with the classics.

I see your death, and raise you American Black.

Wolves in the Throne Room.

Though I will say that I can't really think of anything better to my ears for dining than well-played jazz. Away from the easy listening/elevator music tripe, there's some really cool stuff. The Bad Plus, Esbjorn Svensson Trio, etc.

If I were going to Chicago, Topolobampo would be on my list. Rick Bayless is serving up the best Mexican food in the USA right now, as far as I can tell.

I respect him as a chef and admire his success, but his food doesn't wow me in the same way that the others on my list do. Mexican food in a fine dining setting, while it may taste good, isn't my style.

I didn't like anything about Moto - I didn't find anything to be that interesting, and our meal wasn't well executed. There were a lot of unusual techniques of course, but all of the flavor combinations were either simple or unsuccessful. It's really great they give you an edible menu, but it didn't taste good. Far too many of the dishes relied on familiar flavor patterns, but in a really straight forward way. If you are going to make soup taste like pizza it shouldn't just taste like Papa Johns in a blender. WD-50 does a much better job of doing the same thing with traditional american food. Alinea made everything about it seem amateur.

Very interesting. Thanks a ton for the elaboration- it looks like we'll make Blackbird and Tru the first choices for the fourth dinner. It's just a matter of getting reservations...

What were some of the differences between the Spanish restaurants? I'd love to see/read a comparison of the three...

I was lucky enough to hit El Bulli, Arzak and Mugaritz over three days a few years ago, and did Alinea, Moto and Avenues (Bowles) in three days around the same time period. Schwa was closed at the time, I would love to go. I would skip Moto.

Interesting. The former is quite a Trio (pun intended!). That must've been amazing.

Why the recommendation to skip Moto?

I'm constantly amazed at the depth of food in Chicago- it seems one would need a month to hit the top places there, and still might not be done.

Spain would definitely be number one for me- El Bulli, Arzak, El Celler de Can Roca, Martin Berasategui, and Mugaritz in a week would be amazing.

However, the wife and I are in the process of planning a close second in Chicago this summer- Alinea, L20, Schwa, and one (or two, if possible) of Moto, Tru, or Blackbird this August. And Hot Doug's as well.

I agree- it is a bit silly. I think one would be surprised at how many people don't fit into the "healthy" category on BMI because of both body build and muscle mass. My level of amateur athletics is probably higher than most due to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but the 10 pounds of muscle I've put on since October makes me "obese" when calculating BMI. I think things like being able to run/exercise for a certain period of time, bodyfat %, or being involved with some sort of strenuous activity outside of work would be better approximators of physical fitness, and the discount. I do like the no-nicotine and low blood pressure and cholesterol criteria, though.

Had a nice dinner here on Saturday night. The bar and restaurant was packed to the gills, but the dining room was still quiet and calm.

We started with the goat cheese ravioli and warm pork terrine. I don't remember the details and the online menu is not totally current. Anyway the terrine was served with a softly poached egg and some dressed greens. The somewhat dry terrine was overpowered by the smoky bacon that surrounded it, although I can hardly complain with a bacon and egg salad.

Mains were the Costa Rican Mahi Mahi (pan roasted arborio risotto, matsutaki mushroom, apple cider reduction) and Baked Sea Bream (mushrooms (forgot the type), pickled watermelon, bok choi). Both fish dishes were excellently prepared and quite delicious.

We had a small cheese plate before dessert as I was tempted when looking at the menu. They have a list of available cheeses and you can create your own, which I like. The cheeses were served with some stewed plums (IIRC) and some bacon fat fried pistachios.

Desserts were the Malted Chocolate (valhrona ganache, malted milk sherbet, devil’s food) and the Peanut Tart (banana sorbet, molasses caramel, burnt fluff) which, while flavorful, come in the 'deconstructed' style. Am I the only one tired of this?

To drink we had a bottle of Anton Bauer, Grande Reserve, Wagram 2006. Makes me want to try some other Grüners.

Looking forward to a return trip. The bar looks like a nice place to grab a bottle of wine and small plates.

Tab for 2 firsts, 2 mains, a plate of 3 cheeses, 2 desserts, a bottle of wine and 2 coffees was about $190 before tip.

Glad you enjoyed your meal!

The appetizers that you had (both prepared by me, incidentally) were as follows:

Goat Cheese ravioli with house cured and smoked salmon and lemon oil, beet/bonito froth, beet powder, and paddlefish caviar.

Warm pork terrine with panca paste, escabeche onion and frisee salad, and poached egg in buerre monte.

Citronelle uses fresh escargots. Dunno if they're on the menu or not now but when they are, they're delicious.

I let my wife's cousin decide where to take me to convince me that Chicago pizza does not suck. He decided on Gino's for two reasons, past experiences, and being friends with the owner. After one bite of the pizza he leaned over and apologized to me. The sausage pie that we had was horrible; starting at the top, parmesan was visible, but indiscernible, sauce was so acidic as to overpower any semblance of tomato, the sausage tasted as if it were boiled (most likely a result of being poached in the horrible sauce), and mozzarella was barely melted.

Your food may have been delicious, ours was appalling. I should add that the fried calamari was more akin to something that Good Year would put out than what you would expect from a restaurant.

Is "Sweet Pea Ravioli" really old school?

Ah, understood. I certainly can't vouch for the consistency there, having only been there once..

The way that it was done and presented was definitely more of a nod towards classical cooking and presentation, as Palena has a tendency to do so well.