sjb7501's Profile
Paris cheap eats suggestions--I'll start with a few
> It's pronounce "Vee yay".
You've left out an "i", however.
looking for best Risotto in NYC
I recently had an amazing risotto with cauliflower, confited onions and pancetta at Sorella. I went back but they'd changed the risotto dish; didn't try the latest that time.
How to deal with a wine snob?
I have to say I'm a little surprised by the people who suggest you have him pay for the wine or order a separate bottle for different people at the table. That seems so unconvival or even hostile. So does shoehorning the sommelier between him and his beloved wine list. He gets pleasure out of choosing the wine; maybe in his excitement, he has no idea everyone else is slightly alarmed at the price. Much better to have a direct, friendly talk beforehand about your preferred wine price range, as others have said. It's nothing to be ashamed of or angry about.
Le Buisson Ardent?
Went a couple of months ago because guide books seemed to say it was good. It was not. Pretentious, pretentious, pretentious. Obnoxious, dismissive servers (and my party was all speaking French, I was the only American, so it wasn't tourist-snobbery), ambitiously "creative" food that completely misfired with every single dish, and slow serving times. Never going back.
Les Pietons in Paris-Any opinions?
What is this place? How did you hear about it? Who recommended it?
Paris query: looking for old traditional places
I think it might be better to go with non-chain establishments. Those have the ambiance, maybe, of old-style restaurants/brasseries, but are hopelessly mediocre as far as the dining experience goes. For the price, one might chip in for good food....
Seeking impulsive, flippant Paris advice...please help!
Interesting and understandable, given the presentation. But actually, the restaurant is situated in one of the least touristy places in Paris (off the Place d'Italie in the 13th). I have bought wine at the wine store "annex" across the street, but haven't eaten at the restaurant.
Why not throw in Ribouldingue instead of Aux Lyonnais? Not Lyonnais food per se but really great offal... and very "soigné" (i.e. white tablecloths, amuse-bouche, etc.) for just 27 euros prix fixe.
Of the markets you mention, I would avoid the Belleville market (very cheap, and quality suffers, though more North African and Asian produce than in other markets; didn't find any good fish or meat around there). Consider also the rue des Martyrs in the 9th (a market street).
Seeking impulsive, flippant Paris advice...please help!
I think it's good that you're not trying to cram in two meals a day...
As for the markets, depends where you're staying, unless you go to covered markets (i.e. Le Marché des Enfants Rouges on the rue de Bretagne in the 3rd, etc.).
I haven't been to Aux Lyonnais for a couple of years, but I love it... best salad with chunks of bacon and lamb's foot and a poached egg over céleri rémoulade... and great quenelles de brochet.
Why, out of curiosity, do you think L'Avant-Goût is touristy?
Seeking impulsive, flippant Paris advice...please help!
Very good choices. But AVOID Chez Jenny. Part of the Flo group; chain restaurant, mediocre choucroute, awful the rest.
So.. truffle oil in Paris...?
Try truffle salt. Apparently, the aromas from truffles cannot leach into oil of any kind, so truffle oil is always an artificially flavored product (sorry Souphie).
Truffle salt, however, is actually salt mixed with a small amount of crushed truffles.
Champagne in the $100 Range
Yes, treat yourself to the 1990 Henriot Enchanteleurs. A wonderful aged champagne, beautiful and balanced. This is what you're looking for.
Interesting Discussion of Not Serving Red Wines with Cheese
Whatever the case may be for white wines with cheese (and they are often the best pairing), this article was profoundly STUPID and SELF-AGGRANDIZING.
Yes, we hang out with Aubert de Villaine. Yes, oh, just some trifling Montrachet.
And red with St-Marcellin? No, no, no, no, no.
And the source of this red wine prejudice being England?! As opposed to the country of 350 cheeses and as many traditionalists who eat them with red wine?!
Barf, barf, this "journalist" makes me so angry.
Who cares if the point is right; everything is in the form and its expressions, which are, as the French would say, "à vomir."
Thoughts on Marrow?
As with sweetbreads, I usually skip the soaking stage. Roast away!
As for recipes, I think the simpler the better. Nothing is more delicious than a roasted chunk of marrowbone with some toast and fleur de sel. Just scoop, spread, sprinkle, and devour.
Petrus...how to pronounce?
What? The "s" is always pronounced!
The only difference in its pronunciation in France is peh-TROOSE vs. pay-TROOSE.
How do I reheat paella?
My microwave is out of commission and I was wondering if it's better to reheat paella in a pot on the stove or in a baking dish in the oven?
Is this kind of dish any good reheated?
Thanks!
Petrus...how to pronounce?
I know... But good reminders. (I speak French at home.) "The last syllable" was shorthand for "the last syllable in a cluster of words" ; since here, Petrus is one word, it gets it on the "trus", so to speak.
As quoted above : "l'accent tonique du français est marqué pour chaque mot ... seulement quand ils sont isolés."
I used to date a Latin American guy named Pablo. He said "PA-blo", everyone French said, "pa-BLO". Except when the sentence was longer: "C'est pablo au téléPHONE..." etc.
P.S. winepunkguy - great answer!
What to make for guests when I don't feel like eating a lot
Thanks for the suggestions! I don't have a barbecue, so I think I will go with shrimp + jasmine rice, with some gaspacho to start. Not too heavy. Now for dessert...?
What to make for guests when I don't feel like eating a lot
This is a strange question, because usually I am not too shabby with a fork in hand and I hate people who pick at their meal or prefer salads. But I've been doing too much intensive dining lately, and tomorrow evening, friends of my boyfriend's are coming over for dinner (we'll be 6, total). So here we go again... As a result, I am having trouble planning the menu (yes, I am the only one who cooks in this household).
Any good ideas for a lightish meal that cleverly seems normal? (I mean, 3 of the diners are hearty-eating guys, and one of the girlfriends is not too hung-up either.) Thanks!
Petrus...how to pronounce?
Actually, there's no accent because it's the Latin for Peter (whose statue is outside the château). But in French, it tends to get bastardized to Pétrus, and pronounced that way (roughly: pay-TROOSE - though the "oo" vowel is the tight French "u"). In French, the tonic accent falls on the last syllable.
Clam chowder without potatoes?
So, yesterday was the dinner. I made the clam chowder with potatoes (just in case they were needed to absorb some of the salt from the clams, or add some other taste or texture) but then removed them at the end. The soup was delicious!
Thanks to all those who encouraged me in this act of culinary heresy!
Cabernet Franc?
Yep, I believe we have officially entered hair-splitting territory! Let's put this one to rest... Especially since we're not even talking about Cabernet Franc anymore!
Clam chowder without potatoes?
Thanks for all the responses. There are two things that I have to work with or around: 1. my boyfriend really wants me to make "my" mashed potatoes, which he loves, with the entree. 2. I want to open a nice Meursault.
So, Hungry Pangolin, I like your idea, but I think it'd be too highly seasoned or herbal for the Meursault.
My other thought was just making clams with cream sauce, shallot and thyme. But then I thought of adding chunks of bacon and I started drifting back to the clam chowder idea...
Anyone have any good bisque recipes?
Clam chowder without potatoes?
I'm having people over for dinner and was thinking of starting the meal with a cup of clam chowder (also because it'll go well with the white Burgundy I want to open). But with the main course, I'm going to serve mashed potatoes. So that might be potato overkill, with the potatoes in the chowder...
Has anyone ever made clam chowder with some other vegetable instead of potatoes? Maybe parsnips or turnips?
Any thoughts? Or should I just make some kind of lobster or shrimp bisque?
Cabernet Franc?
I think we have just entered the zone of semantics, here... We don't fundamentally disagree.
But a producer's "expression" of the same plot matters. And I'm not just talking shoddy, placeless wines vs. earthy, nuanced ones.
A lot of expensive stuff from well-reputed producers and negociants in Burgundy is disappointing. I have never enjoyed a bottle from Bouchard Père et Fils, for instance, from simple Beaune or Chassagne-Montrachet village wines to Volnay 1er cru "Cailleret" and Meursault 1er cru "Goutte d'Or" (not to mention their generic Bourgogne, which, bafflingly, seems to get praise).
As far as Laurent goes, that is definitely a charge that has been laid against him often. Unfortunately, my experience with his wines is limited to a 2002 Nuits-Saint-Georges village and a 1998 Clos de la Roche. Since I am not enough of a Clos de la Roche connaisseur to be able to say whether or not that particular grand cru was captured by Laurent, and since I haven't tasted his other 1998 grands crus, I can't address that. The Nuits-Saint-Georges was very Nuits, but then again, that is what you're saying...
Cabernet Franc?
Sure. Burgundy, unlike Bordeaux, is very much broken down into small parcels. Each parcel is classified by the INAO (Institut National des Appellations d'Origine), from regional appellation to village appellation to premier cru appellation to grand cru appellation. So, for instance in the village of Pommard, the outlying or lower-classified plots go into wine that gets labeled simply "Bourgogne". Then there are village plots. A Pommard that uses a mix of different village plots is labeled "Pommard". A Pommard with grapes from a single plot in the village appellation plots is labeled "Pommard 'Plot Name'" with the plot name in quotes after the word Pommard (e.g. Pommard "Vaumuriens"). Same for premier crus. A Pommard wine made from grapes that are all from premier cru plots is labeled "Pommard 1er Cru". If all the grapes are from a single premier cru plot, it is labeled "Pommard 1er Cru 'Plot Name'" (e.g. Pommard 1er Cru "Pézerolle"). There are no grand crus in Pommard, but for example in a village such as Gevrey-Chambertin, there are a number of grand-cru plots, and they lose the name of the village to become Chambertin, Charmes-Chambertin, Griottes-Chambertin, etc.
Anyway... Within Pommard, not only does plot or "cru" status make a difference to the final wine (for instance, a Pommard village will mature much earlier than a 1er cru; also, one 1er cru from the same producer will be very different from a different 1er cru from the same producer and the same year: Montille's Pézerolle and Rugiens are completely different beasts) - but in Burgundy the key, key, key factor is producer. As I noted earlier, there are excellent producers and there are weak ones. One of the weakest is Bernard Delagrange, who makes indifferent, low-quality juice. One of the top is Comte Armand, also Montille, Rebourgeon-Mure, etc. The wines from these producers, even simple village Pommards, will have much more going on... and will also have a purer expression of their village and plot. One of the biggest pitfalls of shoddy or incompetent producers is producing a wine that tastes like it could be from anywhere, or nowhere...
Hope this helps!!
Cabernet Franc?
Maybe I should repeat: "No comparison is going to match a situation perfectly."
Bordeaux, yes, is much broader an appellation than Chinon (unless we're talking about the AOC Bordeaux, which is just straight (blended) low-end red wine). Chinon, by the way, also produces white and rosé wines, and allows up to 10% blends in with the cabernet franc. Try some Joguet chenin.
Perhaps I should have only used Pommard as a comparison point. One grape. One village. Many different wines and expressions of the village, from sublime to crap.
A tasty and tasteful first course?
I'm making dinner for someone I don't know that well who did me a favor. It'll just be the three of us, me, guest, and my boyfriend. I'll open some nice wines and I already know what I'm making for the main course (sweetbreads with porcini mushrooms). Dessert will probably some kind of fruit tart.
But I'm stumped for a classy first course that isn't too showy or trendy (I want to treat the guest well, but not act like I'm going overboard). Just something that tastes good and is tasteful.
Ideas?
Thanks in advance!
