Augieland

A little JGV Porn

Me saying Jean Georges is a phenomenal restaurant is in no way profound or newsworthy, few people in the world do any food, let alone modern French, as well as they do, so rather than go on and on again about how nice dinner was when Bodhi, Nixon, Carter, Ford and I went, I will simply say we put ourselves in the restaurant’s hands as far food and wines to pair and offer you the porn that follows. I will say that if I were only going to afford myself one fine morsel for a long amount of time I would go sit at the bar and drink margaritas and not leave until they served me the egg with caviar, but you already knew that.

Amuse Bouche

Hamachi, Fresh Herbs, Cherry Tomato and Buttermilk
Alzinger Smaragd Gruner Veltliner Loibenberg 2004, Wachau

Egg Caviar
Champagne Pierre Gimonnet Blanc Des Blancs 1er Cru, Cuis Brut NV

Charred Corn Ravioli, Basil Fondue, Cherry Tomato Salad
Rochioli Sauvignon Blanc 2005, Russian River Valley

Fragrant Spiced Lobster, Tomatoes, Peaches and Young Coconut Juice
Reichsgraf Von Kesselstatt Scharzhofberger Spatlese Riesling 2004, Mosel-Saar-Runer

Red Snapper, Lily Bulb-Radish Salad, White Sesame and Lavender
Henri Boillot 1er Cru Les Genevrieres Mersault 2003, Burgundy

Caramelized Beef Tenderloin, Young Garlic, Romano Beans and Parmesan
Alberto Antonini Anada 2001, Tuscany

Foie Gras and Strawberry Brulé, Aged Balsamic
Domaine Sarda Malet, Rivesaltes 1995, France

Dessert Tastings

Stone Fruit
Chocolate-Almond, Apricot Compote
Local Peaches, Pistachio, Farmers Cheese, Balsamic
Plum-Oat Buckle, Buttermilk Ice Cream
Toasted Sesame, Peach Sorbet, Ginger

Strawberry
Carbonated Chocolate Mousse, Freeze Dried Strawberries
Local Market Strawberry Sorbet
Strawberry Shortcake, Crème Chantilly, Verjus
Strawberry Consommé, Litchi Gelée, Anise Hyssop Granite

Jurancon Uroulat 2004, Charles Hours, France

Fig
Chocolate Fig Tart, Almond, Mascarpone
Open Face Cantaloupe-Fig Ravioli, Allspice, Sour Dough
Grilled Fig, Raspberry Sangria, Cilantro
Fig-Marzipan Tempura, Tamarind

Chocolate
Jean-Georges’ Chocolate Cake, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Granite, Gelée, Coffee-Cardamom Meringue
Milk Chocolate-Peanut Cake, Salted Caramel Ice Cream
White Chocolate, Yuzu, Mint, Pink Peppered Sablé

Alvear, Pedro Ximenez Solera 1927, Montilla-Moriles

NYC Country Gravy

Weekend breakfast is an important thing around our house. Most often we get up on Saturday, swing by Joe on 13th Street, grab a coffee and continue on to the Union Square Greenmarket to grab some provisions for the rest of the weekend. This week, however, Wife decided to make a quick swing by the Market on Friday, just to grab provisions for Saturday morning (we had eaten at home a lot this week and had run through most of our CSA stuff already). Friday Greenmarket vendors vary from Monday, Saturday, and Wednesday folks to some degree, so what we had was an opportunity to try different food from different vendors.

When I awoke on Saturday, in the fridge I found:

Araucana Chicken Eggs

Pork Breakfast Sausage Links

Organic Wheat Buttermilk Biscuits (made with Ronnybrook buttermilk)

So I did exactly what you would have done – made fried eggs on biscuits with sausage gravy.

I started by browning about ¾ of the meat in the package in a cast iron pan.

Once it was all chopped up and tiny bits of it were sticking to the pan’s bottom, I removed the meat and threw in two big spoonfuls of organic AP flour.

Because the sausage hadn’t rendered as much fat as I thought it would and I wanted a thick roux I added about 2 tbs of unsalted butter and let the roux come together and brown well. I whisked 2 cups of raw milk and copious amounts of ground black pepper into this and let it boil till it thickened.

Once it was thick enough, I mixed the browned sausage back in and turned the heat off. I spooned this mixture onto the biscuits I had split and then put two fried eggs on top.

I assume anyone looking at this would call it a country breakfast, which I am cool with as long as you realize I made it in my 10th floor apartment with food bought from farmers within a stones throw of a McDonald’s. Woo Greenmarket!

Thoughts week ending 9/8/06

…I am not sure who the people that come to Augieland are, but I assume some of the more regular readers are from my neighborhood since most of the stuff I write about happens within 20 blocks of home. For a very loose and somewhat wide guide of the neighborhood I refer to you can simply look at the map of the 66th assembly district in New York. Well, neighbors and readers, it is time to get civic.

If you ever made it to the Blind Tiger Ale House at its old digs you know it was awesome – a true sawdust-on-the-floor seedy little place that took beer very very seriously. (In the interest of disclosure I entered their chili contest last year and lost to a bar employee so I am clearly biased against the place). It was one of the few actually great and real New York bars left. In the vein of Stoned Crow on Washington Place and Johnny’s on Greenwich, it was a place that welcomed and enveloped the neighborhood, unapologetically being a bar for people comfortable in their skins looking for camaraderie in the diverse city; catering to people who actually live here, who don’t really care what brand shoes you are wearing. It was a place that was pure NY in that if you loved good beer you were part of the Blind Tiger, and that was all it took.

The Blind Tiger was driven from its home at 518 Hudson by the current inflationary trend late last/early this year. According to a letter Eater published from the Blind Tiger, the biggest reason they have been given by the license board for not having their liquor license approved for their new place in our neighborhood is a letter the State Liquor Authority received from our Assemblywoman Deborah Glick. On her web page in the ’06 neighborhood update, Ms. Glick bemoans this exact dilemma of the people and places of character that make the Village and the rest of her district so wonderful being driven out by rising prices, making it seem strange that she would be trying to stand in the way of such a salt of the community place relocating within the district.

I have to assume that Ms. Glick had never actually been to the old Tiger and is basing her reaction on words like “beer” and “bar.” Well, being one of Deborah’s constituents and a Blind Tiger customer I have decided to:

1) sign the petition
2) call her office (212 674-5153)
3) email ([email protected]), and
4) write (853 Broadway Suite 2120 New York, NY 10003).

I hope you will do some of the same. Let Assemblywoman Glick know that we are independent people who want independent establishments and that our celebration of character and individuality is what has always made our community wonderful. The Village has always been home to revolutionary people and places and in a city of ever- spreading mediocrity where places like the Caliente Cab Co. have taken hold, Blind Tiger and places like it are both important and revolutionary. Tell Assemblywoman Glick that if she can find it in her heart to accommodate a new place called Pardo’s that represents itself as “The No. 1 Peruvian Rotisserie Chicken Chain” just around the corner from the Tiger’s new location at 281 Bleecker Street (where it is functioning as a coffee shop while awaiting approval of its liquor license) we should have to open at least one home-grown beer bar.

In the meantime, please go buy some coffee at the Blind Tiger (a lot and often). They are going to need income to fight the good fight…

… Almost across the board I find that beets, especially red beets, taste like dirt. It’s something I have come to accept and even expect as part of their flavor profile. My copy of The Organic Cook's Bible claims that all root vegetables, including beets, express terroir more than other vegetables and that this flavor of dirt indicates nutrient deficient soil, a concept that has caused me to move the credit for the couple of times I have had non- or less soily ones from a chef’s skill in cooking to his skill in sourcing. Red beets appeared in our CSA allotment this week and Wife simply roasted them (for about an hour in a 425 oven on tinfoil in their jackets) peeled and sliced them and put them on a salad. Our CSA is organic and in general I find their food most flavorful, but these beets are ridiculous, absolutely perfect. Anyway, this must also have something to do with the crazy weather this year as well as their nutrient dense organic compost, so I strongly suggest you seek out your favorite organic farmer in the NE of America and buy beets. After years of learning to accept the flavor of mud, these are life changing stuff…

… The truths and the statistics as I believe them are that raw milk is safe when produced by small farms from grass-fed cattle and that it tastes far better than pasteurized milk, therefore I consume it on a very regular basis. This article in the Daily Mail suggests that studies in Great Britain are showing strong evidence that it may also be why I haven’t suffered from seasonal allergies. Ha! Anyway, I’ll keep drinking it for its taste, but apparently if you suffer from hay fever or eczema you may want to stop cycling through uselessly small non-drowsy levels of Claritin and just partake in a couple glasses of raw cow’s milk (realmilk.com can tell you where to get it). Definitely don’t tell Schering-Plough, they will have the USDA shutting us down in seconds…

…Dude, what the eff???

Roll and Dough, 260 methillian stars

Once you give up nationally franchised restaurants you lose a couple of things. You probably won’t have a general opinion of honey mustard, or frozen mudslides any more. You also lose strange sugary temple headaches from scarfing strange amalgams of salt, fat, and sugar while in motion. Sadly, also lost is the ability to walk into a place and grab a small, round easily handled food that combines salty, sweet, and savory in a manner that drives you to eat two to three times more than you should from two hands let alone one while walking or driving, with no more commitment required on your part than an exchange that takes a little less than one total minute and costs a little less than two total dollars. That is, before the bing store opened.

About four months ago, walking down West 3rd street I saw a 10-foot blow up of a Times article about bings in some foreign land like Brooklyn, and a sign informing that a spot offering them called Roll and Dough would be opening soon. Then, about a month ago, I popped in on opening day, had free samples of a couple of traditional fried flour dough dumplings and bought four savory bings. In an attempt to encourage me back, I was given a sweet red bean dessert bing as well. I don’t remember exactly which dumplings I had or even the exact bings; I was simply left with the sated feeling of having gluttonously devoured four similar, yet singular, deeply flavored dishes in about five bites each (the first two barely contacting my teeth at all), being encouraged to return by the staff, and having paid for the whole experience with a ten dollar bill and gotten change.

Each bing is coated in sesame seeds of black and white, in what I assume is a pattern to differentiate their fillings. Inside, they are like a good meat pie filling – thickly liquid sauces with pieces of meats and in some cases vegetables inside. The net result is a profound and distinctly Asian flavor.

Since then I have stopped by a couple times and have decided that this place is pretty awesome. Like all the truly fast food offerings out there, bings are a small handheld circular food, favoring salty and savory flavors with an occasional slight touch of sweet and/or sour and/ or spicy and an artificially satisfying feeling (which I assume is caused by MSG or some other flavor enhancer).

In the ultimate tribute to their fast foodness, I am willing to bet that one bing has more than enough calories to qualify as a fitting snack and that two or three would definitely count as a full meal (or two, if you were on Weight Watchers), yet somehow it is quite easy to take down four or five. These tiny little buns blend the high and low, sharp and round, and unctuous and clean ends of the flavor spectrum into tiny little packages. Whatever you can jam into food that makes one eat like a starved lab rat in an experiment they have done, and since there are only two outlets so far you can give them your money knowing it stays in or close to the community and supports food diversity and authenticity.

Nowadays I limit myself to one bing a visit, usually the spicy pork. For the first time, though, I would suggest gorging: it is fun, filling, cheap, and may work as a jarring restart to the sense memory imprinted on your brain that makes you smell fries and Big Macs when they are on TV and you are in your living room.

Japonais NY: 471 banausicillian stars

In Neil Gaiman’s book “Good Omens” any audio cassette left in a car for a fortnight automatically morphs itself into a copy of Queen’s Greatest Hits. Much like the ill-fated tapes destined to blare the Bohemian Rhapsody, it would seem any empty space in New York with more than one hundred continuous feet spontaneously bursts forth as a “somewhere in Asia/somewhere else somewhere, fusiony but more on the Asian influence side” mega-restaurant featuring modern décor and a techno trance soundtrack.

This trend in New York dining has an intersecting set with another one – that of other American cities sending us their more successful franchises (L’Altelier, Buddakan and so on). In the dead center, AnB in our Venn diagram, is Japonais. Someone obviously forgot about a couple of feet on the north side of 18th street between Park and Madison because red vinyl chairs, flagstone tiles, and an undulating ceiling of blond wood beams have sprouted forth in a local incarnation of Chicago’s popular Japonais, complete with a lounge area, a cocktail list with way to many drinks ending in –tini and drum machine driven trance music blended into the background. If the Gramercy Park area was jealous of Nobu 57, Megu, or Morimoto they now have Japonais – the idea behind the newest comer being that genius may be achieved somewhere in the combination of an authentic sushi bar and a proper French kitchen (I can't remember what the first "fusion" food was but this version did not sound groundbreaking to me).

Originally Angelou and I were going to have dinner around 6:00 PM, in the end we sat at 7:30 joined by Lifeson, a change and a delay that the staff handled both graciously and efficiently. Besides testing the bounds of customer courtesy, this afforded us an opportunity to have a couple of appetizers and cocktails wich are vodka sake and fruit juice combinations, and get a feel for the bar space which is actually pretty cool and very convivial (I made friends with a guy waiting for a blind date while I waited for my group) and I imagine is actually more fun in larger groups.

Starting with the cocktail list and moving through the rest of the menus are separate sections of Les Spécialités de la Maison; the scope gets even narrower as the servers tell you which of these are suggested by the chef. In the absence of a chef’s menu I decided to focus on these areas when making my selections, here is what we had:

Kani Nigiri 2pcs spicy baked king crab: very highly recommended by the chef it was better warmer, as it was served. The sauce coating this dish was fatty which managed to dumb down the crab’s sweetness a little. Overall a pleasing flavor in spite of a homogenized quality.

Waygu Carpaccio thinly sliced wagyu beef with yuzu and dark soy ginger sauce: dressed and topped with lemon zest, micro greens, chives, and toasted garlic. The toasted garlic took center stage from the other flavors, which was ok because it went well with the lemon and the sanguine beef but made the rest of the components seem kind of senseless.

Eight Samurai Tartare lobster, scallop, dungeness crab, tuna, octopus, salmon, bonito, and botan ebi served with Japanese fried taro and lotus chips: The menu declares “Our unique menu is designed for sharing” which this dish belies. Eight separate chopped fish are served on Chinese soup spoons differently and sometimes well complimented (I didn’t see the sense in the curried octopus, but loved the quail egg and black sesame in the tuna). The starchy thickness of the tartares made the thin chips useless for scooping them, leaving the three of us to use chopsticks to scoop bits onto the chips. This is a pretty dish and it tastes pretty good but if you intend to share it, share it with someone you are comfortable at least double dipping chopsticks with, otherwise get it as your only appetizer and enjoy it yourself.

Sashimi Japonais otoro, whitefish, botan ebi, and zuke sake: If you are going to throw your hat into the current ring of sushi masters offering food in New York your sashimi better be of the highest quality, and this was; almost perfect examples of each fish in each case.

Ebi Ebi panko shrimp topped with shrimp and wasabi tobiko sauce: as good as I imagine a shrimp tempura roll will ever taste.
Tuna Tuna Salmon salmon roll topped with sliced tuna and avocado wasabi tobiko sauce: pretty straightforward large-gauge roll rested on a very light avocado purée.

Toban Yaki Seafood oysters, sweet shrimp, king crab, and clams served with yuzu butter: This dish was a total miss. All the fish ended up tasting the same and not necessarily good and most was well overcooked. The only real dud of the evening, it had none of the genius possible of this type of cooking and dropped into all of the pitfalls.

House Smoked Waygu Rib Eye 10oz grilled rib eye served with truffled miso potato purée, grilled asparagus and kirin beer fondue: all around very good flavors and exceptional beef, the purée and fondue were both a little tan and again kind of homogenous, thicker than they seemed to need to be; the texture was way short of ethereal but the flavor was quite agreeable.

The food at Japonais is satisfying, even pleasing, while somehow feeling safe. The closest dish to amazing was the smoked Waygu, the prices tended to the higher side of fair, and the room is best described as convivial. Japonais fits squarely in the middle of the list of places I would take a group of out-of-towners looking for a scene, keeping in mind I don’t much care for actual scenes. Japonais seems a solid stepping stone restaurant; if you need a place to take a person who sees the dragon roll as the ultimate in sushi preparation this is the perfect place to go and have quite a nice meal.

Thoughts week ending 9/1/06

…So Bayer, a German company, has crops of GMO rice growing in America. I assume this is because GMO’s are’nt allowed in the EU, as well as in most of the rest of the world. The decision makes sense of course because besides being one of the few places that can buy food that has had different poisons spliced into its genes, we are happy to offer our entire ecosystem to multinational chemical companies to try stuff out on. Why not?

Anyway in this case, Bayer was playing around with three different versions of a rice that has a bacteria spliced into its genetics in order to make it poison-proof so that agri-business can dump unbefore seen amounts of poison on ceral crops. Sounds exactly like the miracle we need, right? We will never know, because years ago Bayer gave up on it and never finished it’s approval process.

“Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced late yesterday that U.S. commercial supplies of long-grain rice had become inadvertently contaminated with a genetically engineered variety not approved for human consumption.”

So something that is not supposed to be in our food is in our food.

“Bayer CropScience of Monheim, Germany, had provided information to the Agriculture Department and the Food and Drug Administration indicating that the rice poses no threats to human health or the environment.”

So we are not worried because the guys that have done the contaminating tell us not to worry.

“Johanns said he did not know where the contaminated rice was found or how widespread it may be in the U.S. food supply. The agency first learned about it from the company, he said, after it discovered "trace amounts" during testing of commercial supplies.”

We would have no idea if the company didn’t come clean about their screw up, and even that they have now done the first half of our job, we have decided it doesn’t really merit much of an understanding.

“Johanns acknowledged that the discovery could have a significant impact on rice sales -- especially exports, which are worth close to $1 billion a year. Many U.S. trading partners have strict policies forbidding importation of certain genetically engineered foods, even if they are approved in the United States.”

The USDA, whose primary job it is to insure that we can safely sell our food, knows little other than that we may not be able to sell huge amounts of our food, thanks to this little screw up.

“If we become aware of any new information to suggest that food or feed is unsafe, we will take action," Johanns said.”

We feel confident that the guys that screwed it up in the first place are the right ones to look out for the best interest of our farmers and our consumers and will trust them to handle decisions on how to handle this going forward.

So here we are, years after Bayer stopped caring about this certain frankencrop, and it is polluting the rest of our crops, which in turn makes the affected crops un-sellable in most of the world. Whether or not they are unhealthy for us seems beside the point, a trifling matter to be ignored. Do any of the rest of you feel like we might as well find out exactly how many of each of our tax dollars go to this agency and withhold them next April 15th???

...Once faced with the contention that it was cheaper to buy some burritos from Taco Bell than anything else by a friend in college, I countered with my evaluation of the cost effectiveness of a pound of pasta, a head of broccoli, some garlic and some olive oil. Some simple kitchen skills can turn the advantage to the consumer when looking for healthy/ fairly-priced food. Here are some pretty reasonable thoughts regarding how to get real food into the lives of people in a lower income bracket…

…I know this is convoluted and a tough way to get there, but this article from the Times proves to me that an open market is the way to make food better. In spite of the enormous subsidies given to corn in America, these farmers and consumers have managed to find each other and are improving their respective situations. I am sure it won’t take long for this to get all screwed up, by the government looking to help big business compete with the smaller farmers and muddying up what grass-fed means as they are already doing with organics. But at the moment, in an open un-tampered market, this seems to be working well, even if you need to learn the name of a good maker and not be lazy and just trust truth in marketing (but would you buy brand-less clothes?)…

…Turns out not all Chicago politicians are boobs; some are just slow to act. Mayor Daley finally comes out about the silliest legislation ever…

Minibar/Café Atlántico DC: proper porn

Early on this year I made a visit to Minibar, the small six seat venue inside restaurant Café Atlántico in Washington, DC, and fell in love with it. Minibar is one of the forerunners of the avant garde new cuisine movement here in America, and the one with the most direct ties to its patriarch Ferran Adria of El Bulli in Roses, Spain.

Minibar won my heart with its sense of whimsy, by not taking itself too seriously and offering comfortably in the same flight both foie gras cappuccino and dishes garnished with corn nuts. Minibar strives and succeeds at using new technology and technique to reinterpret and reinvent, and offers a local spot to sample things like Ferran’s olive sféricas. After my first meal I knew I would have to go back soon, so I organized a trip for Wife, Bear, Soho, Thursday, Two, Bytwo, and myself to make the trek to DC for a dinner in late August, so that those who had had to listen to me, Thursday, and Bear rant about the place could finally experience it.

Then at some point at the beginning of June I got an email from the Minibar team that they would be closed for August. In the intervening months since my first trip to Minibar, I have managed to see José and Katsuya a couple of times – in Aspen, at their New York ham release – and Katsuya alone at a symposium at the Smithsonian about new plating service, with Grant Achatz and Homaro Cantu. Part of the charm of Minibar is how available its owner and its executive chef make themselves to interested diners.

Having struck up a dialogue with Kats during this time, I sent an email explaining my predicament and he arranged for a tasting menu dinner at Café Atlantico for our visit that would be an amalgam of dishes from Minibar and the larger restaurant.

As much as I stand by and am pleased with what I wrote on my first trip, I took the pictures with a cell-phone and that has always bothered me. So here’s some proper porn of my August hybrid meal in all its glory:

MAGIC MOJITOS

MARINATED “OLIVES” FERRAN ADRIA

LIQUID CONCH FRITTERS

CAPRESE SALAD INJECTION

PLANTAIN AND AVOCADO SANDWICH WITH CAVIAR

FOIE GRAS CAPPUCCINOS

HOT & COLD OYSTERS: WITH GINGER-MANGO-JALAPEÑO OIL AND PINEAPPLE-MISO SAUCE

PEACH GAZPACHO W/ YOGURT, VANILLA AND JAPANESE BABY PEACHES

COCONUT TUNA CEVICHE WRAPPED W/AVOCADO AND CORN NUT POWDER

SHRIMP “ELOTE LOCO”: CORN PUREE, COJITA CHEESE, LIME AIR, CHILE THREADS AND WARM
MAYO

SCALLOPS W/ HOUSEMADE RICE CRISPIES AND INK OIL

QUAIL TWO WAYS: FRIED AND SEARED W/MANGO-ANCHOVY RAVIOLI, AND AVGATARAHO

BRULEED DUCK CONFIT W/LATINO STYLE CATALAN SPINACH AND PASSION FRUIT OIL

SOFT SHELL CRAB

BACON WRAPPED BABY PHEASANT BREAST, CONFIT LEG, SEARED WATERMELON, AND DECONSTRUCTED MOLE

ORGANIZED CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD

JERK PORK CHOP W/FEIJAO TROPEIRO

PASSION FRUIT SHOT W/ JALAPENO AND GINGER

CHOCOLATE CAKE W/ BANANA

it was basil infused Makers Mark in a shot glass, I shot it before i shot it, it was tasty.

BASIL HAYDEN IN DISGUISE

Deep in the summer doldrums of the hot, humid, repeat-visit restaurant scene that is late August, one of the two things I looked forward to most was this dinner at Café Atlántico. The meal straddled the line between traditional and modern, fine and fun perfectly. By being great at what they do, Minibar has made of its chefs people I consider friends, so I have nothing but praise. The peach gazpacho was amazing and the foie cappuccino was a little salty, but I can no longer claim objectivity. Each of the seven of us had a different favorite dish, and each left satisfied and impressed. Of course it all has to do with great, interesting food; the loss of whatever objectivity I am capable of has a lot to do with a restaurant that makes itself available to its guests, even if the most regular they can be is only twice a year, after a five hour drive.

Thoughts week ending 8/25/06

…. Had dinner at Hearth this week and was discussing with Marco how interested I was in having the food of a guy famous for his mashed potatoes (Robuchon). I joked it would be like having a favorite restaurant with a chef famous for his gnocchi. In turn, with our entrées Marco sent out some of his mashed potatoes. All I can say is try them, they are seriously fantastic. I would say more but I was well served by the time I tried them and it could just be the Pinot talking…

…Went back to Intent this week and had the amazing curry Crab Napoleon again. This time it was far more about the curry than the crab. What had been a fantastic dish about the flavor of crab and butter accented by a touch of curry and the crunch of potato was this time an interesting curry dish…

…The Times has an article about foie civil disobedience going on in Chicago, begging the question what will happen when this already ridiculous situation gets taken to a new level by Joe Morre (the genius alderman with such a clear understanding of the current food situations and ethics in the world and Chicagoland that he saw fit to outlaw one of the few positive products produced by American farmers) if he tries to punish these civic-minded people standing up for their civil liberties? Who will be the Bill Kunstler for this Chicago Sevenish???

…Speaking of civil disobedience and stupid laws, USA Today has an article about raw milk, and how safe or unsafe it is. I seek out raw cheese whenever possible, and regularly drink raw cows’ milk. I don’t drink it because I believe it to be a miracle cure or because I know that, thanks to the current situation of most farming in America, commercially sold pasteurized milk is so loaded with hormones and antibiotics that it is probably dangerous. I drink it because it tastes better, and because I am the kind of guy who geeks out on the changing flavor it shows through the seasons of the year. If you are interested, go to the Weston A. Price foundation’s website or realmilk.com and figure out how to get it. If you are concerned about its healthfulness, read Ron Schmid’s book “The Untold Story of Milk” and all the studies made in the interests of factory farming the USDA and CDC are very happy to pass along. I will testify that, although my experimental food lifestyle has given me many of the illnesses the government warns you about (I have never considered them very bothersome I just keep Lomotil in the medicine Cabinet), I have never been made sick by fresh raw milk from grass-fed cows on a small certified farm, and have no doubt the supposed risk is worth the actual reward…

…The Times also has an article on how to make Zak Pelaccio’s Cubano. Just like any drug, the subsequent trips are never as good as the first so I will simply say if you decide to play along you will know you have made it right if you have good sensations in non-food places, as I did the first time I had it back in ’03 at Chickenbone (still the only thing that ever got me to Brooklyn six consecutive times; they now serve it at 5 Ninth)…

…Just when you think Coke may be becoming the new McDonald’s as far as the ire of ethically conscious consumers goes, McDonald’s starts an awesome campaign giving Hummers to children. Usually I am not a guy to protect children from companies (let them learn like I did through slow poisoning), but on this site you get to write dirty words on the McD sign and it’s fun for a couple minutes (yes I signed the petition)…

L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon NY, 613 enhhzillian stars

A branch of L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon has opened in New York at the Four Seasons Hotel in the old Fifty Seven Fifty Seven space. Starting about two weeks ago and running for the next three it is going through a protracted soft open. This time (during which walk-ins are received, but reservations are not) is claimed to have been set aside to work out the menu and the service.

In general I am suspicious when the public is asked to pay full price while subjecting itself to the working out of kinks, but most of New York is clamoring for the chance to finally eat Robuchon’s food here in our town; before this the closest examples were in Las Vegas (which I might mention as interesting had he not opened the Japanese location  prior to the Paris). It would seem the chef likes warming up. 

In sticking with the “working out the kinks” theme, I offer this report in questionnaire format with the porn following.

What was your impression of the space at L’Atelier on a scale of 1-10?  8
Comments: The deep and glossy black and red room with its blond wood accents is aesthetically pleasing, feeling metropolitan by way of Paris, Tokyo, and New York all at once.

Did you sit at one of the bar seats around the open kitchen? Yes

How would you rate this experience on a scale of 1-10?  6
Comments: The bar is comfortable and gives one a good sense of the calm confident buzz in the kitchen adding a dynamic to the whole room. However the lay of the kitchen within the bar space means all you really see is the Garde Manger section, relegating most of the more interesting things you would want to witness to the background, or behind closed doors. With Opera glasses you could watch entrées being plated, but the cooking happens in the unseeable kitchen.

There is an awkward service aspect to the bar seating caused by the large blond wood partition that divides the customers’ and the kitchen’s sides which makes service, 100% of which is from the kitchen side at this point, somewhat discomfiting. I suspect this will be resolved by moving water service, mise en place, and clearing to the customer’s side, leaving just the presentation of courses to overcome the design obstacle, or else they will hire a ridiculously tall staff with superhuman reach.

Would you be interested in sitting at one of our tables in the future? Yes
Comments: As nice as it was watching the kitchen staff do their work in front of my seat, in the end I felt it was about an even trade for sitting shoulder to shoulder with my dining companions. I am sure I would have had as good a time exchanging some of the proximity with the kitchen for the ability to discuss the food with all of the other three diners attending with me (Helmet, Pichon and Deputy). All food is served by waitstaff rather than kitchen staff, making this more like a glorious diner counter than the interactive experience of a Hearth or Minibar.

How would you rate the presentation of our food on a scale of 1-10? 9
Comments: Every single course was beautiful. From the lemon amuse in the shot glass to the lavender sugar sphere that was a component of dessert, the food was plated in a manner that could only impress without going so far as to distract from the taste.

Overall, in comparison to other classically French fine restaurants you have been to how would you rate the food at L’Atelier on a scale of Wow, Enhh, and Blech? Enhh
Comment: There were a couple of Wows – like  the crispy egg and caviar, and the lemon amuse – and there were zero Blechs, but on the whole the food seemed to lack by the slightest degree of seasoning, primarily salt, which left it in the middle of the road as far as fine cuisine goes; in the middle with obvious potential, but not at Wow.

How would you rate the execution of our service on a scale of 1-10? 7
Comments: Besides the awkwardness of receiving food from over the bar, I got two distinct feelings from the service. The first was that I was in the hands of a journeyman professional very secure in his position, comfortable enough to use simple, dismissive explanations like "Tapas," whether in spite of or because of our level of comfort. The second was that this journeyman professional was working here because it was a good job and not because he was passionate about this or any other food. On the whole, the service was very good but in no way exceptional. To be honest it felt very French, maybe on purpose.

Did you have our tasting menu? Yes

Would you recommend it to your friends? Yes
Comments: In its context and its progression I think the tasting menu was exemplary. It moved well and confidently from lighter tastes to stronger and my hunger was sated at its completion.

Did you sample dishes from our À La Carte menu? Yes
Comments: We requested a round of courses to be chosen from the favorites as an alternative to the tasting menu, and on the whole I would say the big hits were evenly sampled from both menus.

Are our desserts worth $20? Most certainly
Comments: Read any other report on the blog and it will become obvious I don't care for desserts; here I finished one and tasted another. The first was all about the play of sweet and sour, while the other was an herbal dish. Both were gorgeous, and a perfect ending to any meal. I may go back for dessert, and I am sure I have never said that before.

How would you rate the wine list on a scale of 1-10? 5
Comments: It feels like a list inherited from the previous restaurant, overpriced even by midtown hotel standards and scattered, with little in common with the menu.

How did you feel about the prices? Daunted

Did you find value in your meal? No
Comments: The pricing seems to hover at the absolute top end of what the market will afford for this chef in this town and this kind of food, and it is prohibitive. No matter how much wow factor a course had, it was hard to ignore that you were paying just a little past the top dollar for it. I have spent as much on food elsewhere before and felt those places contributed much more to my having a good time in exchange for the money. I have also spent far less for a better experience.

What does L’Atelier translate to? The Workshop

Would you suggest your friends come try L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon? Whether I do or not they will, he is Joel Robuchon and, like me, my friends believe his food should be experienced. I would not however declare your life will be changed by any of the dishes I had, even the potatoes, but each one had potential, and this is the trial run. They are so tortuously close to that subtle balance between room, ambiance, excellent technique, the finest product, and appropriate price that I intend to go again at least to try what I haven’t yet, but won’t be surprised if in the end I am left un-rocked.

Tasting menu porn In order:

Amuse bouche
Comments: Seriously amusing, tasting of creamy lemon with sarsaparilla or burdock notes. I'll be bummed if it is not there next time I go.

Sea urchin in a tender jelly, topped with a cauliflower cream
Comments: Perfect urchin in a layer of jelly, the bottom of which tasted deeply of shellfish while the top tasted far lighter.

Capellini dressed with tomatoes and Ossetra caviar
Comments: Tomatoes can't live without salt, and caviar definitely tastes of salt, but here a glorious quenelle of lovely caviar gave as little of its brilliance to the combination as the tomato did. All in all I wished the pasta had been served with just a simple touch of good salt and the caviar were put on another dish.

Crispy langoustine fritter with basil pesto
Comments: By far the best fried shrimp I have ever had, which I wasn't sure I needed, and still am not.

Soft boiled eggs on a spicy eggplant stew
Comments: Like an eggplant tangine that favors cumin in its spice blend. This was a dish that a touch more salt would have made all the difference in.

Cod fillet and an aromatic broth
Comments: Light light light. Light broth, ethereal pasta, fish so light as to almost go unnoticed.

Caramelized free-range quail stuffed with foie gras and served with potato purée
Comments: Finally the potatoes. Believe it or not, the thing that made Robuchon most famous to me was that he is literally famous for his mashed potatoes. Here they are topped with some of the nicest summer truffles I have had. The potatoes are very good, as for the rest of the dish the breast portion contained foie stuffing, a mousse which extruded itself upon cutting, and the leg was a little tough. Both were nicely gamey; while the sauce was rich, the herb salad played well to halt that in its tracks. 

Green Yuzu granite with a Vervain jelly
Comments: Wonderful in the pre-dessert role; citrussy, licorice and all around refreshing.

Cherries served with a soufflé and bitter almond ice cream
Comments: I didn't taste, it was gone when my turn came.

Espresso coffee and raspberry macaroon
Comments: No picture, great petit-four, nice espresso (not the best though).

Other dishes sampled porn in no order:

Sautéed squid, baby artichoke, chorizo, with tomato water
Comments: This may have been made with concern to keep the squid from getting chewy to a fault. The squid was so tender that the dish actually seemed to lack a slight chew. I have seldom seen greens of this quality though. When you do your wine studying and learn about cynar, the oil in artichokes, and other thistles that make you perceive wine as sweet this is the type of preparation they are talking about. If you want this course plan your wine consumption accordingly.

Gazpacho soup with croutons
Comments: A jelly that tastes of great gazpacho with all its good and various notes represented. WOO-HOO?

Lobster in a turnip ravioli
Comments: The finest lobster salad I have tasted; again not sure I was looking for it, but it is great.

Poached baby Kusyu oysters with french salted butter
Comments: Cooked and seasoned just enough to be solely about brininess.

Crisp poached egg with Ossetra caviar and smoked salmon
Comments: When I go back it will be because of this course (not for it, it is $98 without tax or tip).This was the dish of the eve. Served just shy of warm, the soft poached egg in a nest of fried shoestring potatoes was about perfect medium for the caviar.

Beef and foie gras burger with lightly caramelized bell peppers
Comments: One all beef patty, one foie, spicy catsup, soft bell peppers, on a sesame seed brioche bun. Glad I tried and you should as well, won't need it again.

Violet and lychee sugar sphere, milk ice cream, wild rose and blackberry coulis
Comments: This is the other thing that will get me to go back (but in this case, for $20 I may get two). The most amazingly thin blown lavander sugar bubble full of creme anglaise and lychee slices with rose notes, wonderfully sour blackberry, and a milk ice cream to tie it all together.

restaurant reports

As we learned from my taking easy pot shots at Frank Bruni last week, idle hands are most certainly the devils playground. In order to keep my hands busy today I added a quick list of restaurant reports on to the main page of Augieland. These are not all my restaurant reports, just the ones I have given stars to (the google tool bar is still the best way to find all the content regarding a certain place).

Since November ’05 I have kept track of places I have been dining at usually just on an inaugural or particularly significant visit, follow visits as they happen don’t get much of a note unless my opinion changes significantly. The reports are pretty much my impressions of the significant aspects of a restaurant. Hopefully this tool makes it easier to find the more in depth content regarding restaurants, or serves to help you check out your experiences against mine, if we jibe often maybe you can trust me, if not there are many awesome blogs in this town.