9/26/2008
Pimenton
I don't always agree with Mark Bittman's recommendations (I am a little bothered by his "I don't care if something is done this way or that so long as it tastes good" approach), but I have to say that I did not know about pimenton (aka, smoked paprika) before his various recommendations. What a cool flavor. I think I'll try it on halibut tonight, and report back.
9/24/2008
Odd scandal in DC
No, not a political scandal, though there are some of those about. Eric Ripert, the mastermind behind Le Bernardin, has been sponsoring a new restaurant in Washington DC. As Grub Street and the WaPo report, the chefs at the DC restaurant have been booted for behavior problems. Putting aside the question of what could possibly be enough of a behavior problem to cause a firing in the restaurant industry (in which, I hear, behavior problems are kind of par for the course), I noticed this follow up on Tom Sietsema's (the WaPo restaurant reviewer) chat:
Washington, D.C.: Tom,
Before your chat begins, I just wanted to say that Leo, Ricky and I worked incredibly hard this past year to turn the Westend Bistro into a major success. We cared deeply about the restaurant and strove for perfect food under difficult circumstances. In the end, The Ritz had other ideas about food and what it took to run a great restaurant. Eric Ripert's name was on the sign but the Ritz always called the shots _ for better or worse. So we parted ways. All three of us. I think it was best for everyone.
Robert Berry Former executive sous chef, Westend Bistro by Eric Ripert.
Tom Sietsema: Thanks for taking the time to write, Robert. I'll be interested to know where everyone ends up.
Interesting, interesting.
_______________________
Washington, D.C.: Tom,
Before your chat begins, I just wanted to say that Leo, Ricky and I worked incredibly hard this past year to turn the Westend Bistro into a major success. We cared deeply about the restaurant and strove for perfect food under difficult circumstances. In the end, The Ritz had other ideas about food and what it took to run a great restaurant. Eric Ripert's name was on the sign but the Ritz always called the shots _ for better or worse. So we parted ways. All three of us. I think it was best for everyone.
Robert Berry Former executive sous chef, Westend Bistro by Eric Ripert.
Tom Sietsema: Thanks for taking the time to write, Robert. I'll be interested to know where everyone ends up.
Interesting, interesting.
_______________________
Delicatessen
What kind of people go to restaurants like Delicatessen, which Frank Bruni gave zero stars today? I'd wonder why he was reviewing it, except that restaurant reviewers have an obligation to review popular places, but deep fried "rueben" fritters? Cheeseburger spring rolls? Fried chicken in a metal pail? It sounds like deli food interpreted by a drunken Scotsman recently laid off from a failing chippy.
9/23/2008
Geniuses
Amazingly, every single one of our esteemed Senators, according to their comments at the committee meetings on the bailout plans, foresaw all these problems, and each was individually ignored by all the others. We're so lucky to have such geniuses in power.
9/22/2008
Weekend Meal
I finally had a chance to cook on Sunday, after a week of late night meals in the office (disgusting, all of them).
For lunch, I mixed lots of ras al hanout with greek yogurt and slathered it all over chicken thighs, and then let loose my broiler on them. Voila. Pseudo-tandoori - a bright yellow, spicy, delicious kebab.
Dinner was a little more ambitious. I braised beef short ribs in a covered dish for six hours with wine (an oddly fruity American merlot, more on which later), mushrooms, celeriac*, and pearl onions. The meat, as it should, eventually melted into the sauce. Delicious.
My fiancee bought me Jacques Pepin's Complete Techniques DVD's this weekend (which I'd been collecting by tivo'ing the shows on PBS). To celebrate, I made a creme caramel, finally getting the caramel right (I usually burn it) by following Jacques's advice. A note to self - creme caramel really needs vanilla, otherwise it ends up tasty like sugary egg. Aside from that mild setback, all was delicious.
For lunch, I mixed lots of ras al hanout with greek yogurt and slathered it all over chicken thighs, and then let loose my broiler on them. Voila. Pseudo-tandoori - a bright yellow, spicy, delicious kebab.
Dinner was a little more ambitious. I braised beef short ribs in a covered dish for six hours with wine (an oddly fruity American merlot, more on which later), mushrooms, celeriac*, and pearl onions. The meat, as it should, eventually melted into the sauce. Delicious.
My fiancee bought me Jacques Pepin's Complete Techniques DVD's this weekend (which I'd been collecting by tivo'ing the shows on PBS). To celebrate, I made a creme caramel, finally getting the caramel right (I usually burn it) by following Jacques's advice. A note to self - creme caramel really needs vanilla, otherwise it ends up tasty like sugary egg. Aside from that mild setback, all was delicious.
Anathem
I finished Neal Stephenson's Anathem over the weekend. I liked it, though the best review of it I've read is a negative one, from Michael Dirda of the Washington Post. The story captures the imagination. The philosophy that litters hundreds of its pages is a comforting layer of intellectualism if you just want a story that sounds smart, and yet lets you dig in and think if you'd rather.
One thing that occurs to me, though - the avout are so smart (and, I guess, Stephenson wants everyone to realize that he is so smart) that their brains verge on acting on the story as a deus ex machina. Maybe not quite, but it is rather like the complaint that some have about the Eagles in Tolkien.
One thing that occurs to me, though - the avout are so smart (and, I guess, Stephenson wants everyone to realize that he is so smart) that their brains verge on acting on the story as a deus ex machina. Maybe not quite, but it is rather like the complaint that some have about the Eagles in Tolkien.
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