Blueicus's Profile
Chefs and SMOKING
But how does that apply to smoking chefs at the top level using different and new flavour combinations? Am I to believe that they simply run into them by blind luck and can't judge whether or not their flavours work without the opinions of others? I don't smoke myself but I know chefs and cooks who've quit and I haven't heard them proclaim such a dramatic difference in the way things taste nor cook that much differently than before.
Loving Hut on Eglinton? Vegan Organic is it too good to be true?
Been to the location on Richmond. Food was okay but I did really like the vegan cheesecake. Just ignore the creepy supreme master cult stuff and it should be okay
25 Most Expensive Restaurants in the U.S.
I don't think any Chinese restaurant in the states has an average cheque cost of nearly a thousand dollars... For every order of abalone and shark fun there area thousand orders of less expensive dim sum or Yangzhou fried rice
Leaving for Ottawa Friday morning....where to go???
The people who own Social are not the same people who own Play. Play and Beckta are owned by the same people, Social, E18hteen, and Sidedoor are owned by a different group.
No More French Toast on Chopped
The dessert rounds are typically Half hour long which for a standard run of the milline cream maker means almost enough time to churn a batch that is refrigerator temperature into a very soft serve consistency. It will havemelted into a puddle by the time the judges eat it
Top Chef Canada (Spoilers for all Episodes)
People complain about things all the time... What matters is how they deal with it. I've had Ethiopian a dozen times but outside of handful of vague memories of a few dishes and some spices and seasonings I really can't claim to know much of the cuisine. I would be lying if I claimed I was 'comfortable' with cooking ethiopian
Top Chef Canada (Spoilers for all Episodes)
Just because I read the Wikipedia entry on Swedish cuisine doesn't mean I am comfortable with making a smorgasbord
Signature desserts at high end/michelin star restaurants?
Coffee and Donuts at the French Laundry. Some of them are in their eponymous cookbooks, or you could try emailing the chef/pastry chef, they may or may not be receptive.
Top Chef All-Stars - Ep. #16 (FINAL Finale Pt. 4) - 03/30/11 (Spoilers)
Didn't Thomas Keller do that a long time ago at the French Laundry (and has since had many riffs on it)? It's even in the FL cookbook.
Duck chin?
I ordered this once and what we got were the lower part of the duck's jaws. Lots of bones. lots of picking out meat. It was okay.
GLOBE EARTH comes to Bloor West Village
800 people? Is it a restaurant or a banquet hall?
Lonely Planet on top food countries
Well to be perfectly fair, that article doesn't actually rank them, it just lists them (in no particular order, says the writer)
Big changes in Hoof Land
By fermented slaw do you mean they called it that or was it going bad?
Do you eat, and enjoy, your steak rare?
Same with me, I find the taste and texture of overly rare steak to be less than ideal, unless you're eating tataki or carpaccio
Do you eat, and enjoy, your steak rare?
In theory, rare is around 120-125 F, which is warmer than a hot day in India. So if you feel the interior of a steak it should feel warmer than your body but still be red. Most restaurants try and get away with a colder interior because it is difficult for an average cook to differentiate a rare steak and one that's closer to blue because the muscle fibers are only just starting to constrict, that and because it's faster.
Best Shanghai Food in Toronto
Actually went to the Tian Xin Place (that replaced Xue Yuen) with family up on Glen Cameron tonight. We had the cold jellyfish, lion's head meatballs, the fried duck and stir fried baby bok choy. We also got a complementary basket of xlb when the lady out front discovered this side of the family was from Shanghai.
I have to say the food was quite respectable. The xlb were one of the better renditions I've had, thin but sturdy skin, cooked just right. The duck was a little salty to some but I liked it, the breast meat was still somewhat moist and the skin was free of fat and crisp (always a reservation I have with Chinese whole duck offerings). Lion's head was a very rich (read fatty) version, very tender (probably due to the fat) and served in a thickened sauce, was certainly preferable to the version I had at ding tai fung a week back. Veg and jellyfish were also decent.
I would return again to try some of their other items.
Help! Best Korean resto at Yonge and Finch for lunch tomorrow?
Agreed, it's a favourite of my friend and though I've only been once myself the food was really good... the only place where I like their kim chi
Road trip
Cool, gizzard city's along the lines of what I'm looking for. All the other suggestions sound good too.
Road trip
Google suggests (obviously not always the best route) going through sarnia but taking (no the ;) )I-94 straight to Chicago, which brings me past Detroit and Ann Arbor. I am not in a huge rush and I can take one route back and the other there but which one would have greater potential for good roadside chow? Also, I'm going in three weeks so it'll be the dead of winter.
Road trip
I am planning to drive from Toronto to Chicago and I was wondering if there are any interesting chow stops on the way there. Will most likely take the I-94 west but if anybody has other travelling suggestions I'd be open to that too.
Top Chef All-Stars - Ep. #5 - 01/05/11 (Spoilers)
But the deep frying/oil blanching is usually done in the cuisine as a precursor to braising, sort of like how European cuisines sear meat before braising. Similar effect
Drinks and dinner for out-of-town foodie
The food at Boehmer is pretty good, though I'm personally not a fan of having to pay for bread (and then getting only one type of bread...)
Best macarons in Toronto?
I too occasionally go to the SLM on Saturday before work and I have to admit that I usually go down there to grab a few of them. They are tasty and with good texture though quite sweet (really I can't eat more than 6... but then again I'm a pig).
Wedding Reception @ Canoe
A vast majority of restaurants don't "outsource" cooks and servers for functions... it makes no sense at all, especially at a place that does as many large groups and parties as Canoe. At most they have a separate group of cooks working on these things. (Boy, talk about digging up an old thread)
Is it OK when David Rocco pronounces Italian words correctly but not when Giada does it?
The multi-language network used to show his program with him speaking italian voiceovers over the standard english (presumably it's him speaking... it sounds like him). So presumably he knows enough Italian to give directions or to have at least simple conversations
~$50 Prix Fixe Meal Downtown-ish Toronto?
Went to Simple Bistro recently and was pleased with the $30 prix fixe. Food was good though perhaps just a touch small for larger eaters. Have to admit I ate quite a bit of bread
How respectful should we be as diners?
And most diners don't realize that a relatively simple-seeming request such as "no mushrooms" can quickly degenerate into a frenzied thinking game for the cooks and chefs alike. A dish at a fine dining restaurant will typically have five or more elements to it, some of which are comprised of many different base ingredients. Now let's say the dish has mushroom fritters and the veg is mixed with a few morels... ok, that seems easy enough let's take them out. But what about the sauce? It's made with a bit of mushroom stock to add a background flavour! Is the client allergic? Is it a preference? Will they even notice? A couple minutes later the meat cook remembers that the protein is marinaded in a solution that includes a tablespoon of mushroom soy! Well, once the cooks have figured out that all that will remain on the plate is a spoonful of spinach and a herb salad they basically have to rebuild a dish from the ground up that will resemble the original and taste the way the chef wants it... and remember they're doing this while 30 other people in the dining room want their apps, mains, desserts, cheese courses, etc. at the same time. That is why the kitchen prefers to provide an alternate dish without the ingredient rather than mangle a pre existing dish.
Perhaps you would say that one tablespoon of mushroom soy in a marinade is inconsequential, or "Mushroom stock? They won't notice"... but how do we as cooks know that, and can we conscientiously send it out hoping they won't notice or don't react to it?
Celeb chef Mario Batali sued by workers at Manhattan restaurant Babbo for stingy wages, tip-gouging
Agreed. The high end restaurant is not a place for money and free time craving cooks to work at
Top Chef Masters 2 Ep. #6 - 05/12/10 (Spoilers)
In Chinese culture cooks generally come from a poorer background and are not generally well regarded... very blue collar and rough around the edges.
