Someone wrote: > And yet, you had the time to write "glowing reviews" for two dishes you > sampled two months ago at Charlie Trotter's. > No, I don't get the point. Fancy and expensive sounding ingredients > don't make a dish. No, they don't. But when they are prepared with flair & style, with the flavors married well. Properly cooked & exciting to the eye & palate then they do. I noticed you edited out the comment on France & being arrogant. If you cannot respond to my comments then I will no longer respond to yours. And by the way many of the ingredients used in Charlie Trotters are not expensive at all, just put together well. > > [Reviews of the dishes] > "perfection", "incredible", "lacked depth", "seasoned to a tee", "delightful" > are great adjectives, but they are just your opinion. They don't really > help you convey the specific taste and texture of the dish to someone who > haven't had the same dish. If you don't understand these expressions, don't blame me. All critiques are opinions, that is what they are. How can any single person profess to be the opinion of every person in a city or state? If you read critiques of restaurants these expressions are often used, opinion or not. > "a little too strong with wine" is a good description, I can almost imaging > the taste of the sauce (assuming it's a white wine/chardonnay variety.) No, it was not. If you had read the menu item you would have noticed it was a red wine essence I was describing. > I normally let these kind of things slide on pgh.food, but from someone >who eats and cooks for a living, I expect more. Well I am quite sure all that live here appreciate the fact that you let things slide. As far as expecting more from a professional I appologize for not meeting your standards on restaurant reviews. Why don't you share with us your worldly knowledge on how to critique restaurants. These were from notes I took during my visit, I merely had to copy them over. It was the first thing on a pile of menus on my desk. If the selection didn't suit you, then why did you read it? > If you don't like a place, why don't you just tell us why you don't like it, > instead of flaming, and comparing it to some other restaurants in some far > away places. I do not believe I flamed anywhere in this response. And I did not compare it to anywhere "far away." How long does it take to drive to Chicago??? Oh, and P.S. why did you delete out so much of the response. Why did you respond to so little. You claimed you did not judge American restaurants with those in other Nations anymore. I offered to challange the notion that America is no longer on the back burner of cuisine. I even offered to give you a list to take on a long weekend to Chicago. Or if you prefer New York I can provide that as well. And before I write up an old critique of Tambellinis why did you not mention the critiques I offered up from E-mail that I did not feel like rewriting????? Critique of Louis Tambellini from 1987, last time I ate there. Some notes are hard to read. But I will do my best. Monday Aug 24, 1987. <Deleted, comments on atmosphere, W/W, seat counts and so on> Appetizers. A large selection. Most on menu very standard, nothing exciting. Of note, the dreaded fruit cup is on the menu!! A lot of appetizers on the special sheet. Clams Cassino, very tough, plain breadcrumbs, no flavor. Clam was overcooked and rubbery, textbook TIC. Sliced Smoked Norwegian Salmon. This salmon is not from Norway or Scotland, a lot of lettuce and tomato, horrible. Salmon is wet, Alaskan maybe at worst frozen a long time. No sauce, this is not even worth going on about. Mussles with mussel sauce. Mussles in dishwater, I may be wrong but it tasted like powedered garlic, and dry parsley??? Pastas very standard. Capellini al Pesto. God aweful, capellini was a poor dry brand and the pesto was clotty and did not contain any depth of flavor. Could not taste nuts, the parmesan used tasted like stella, domestic. With entrees they offer slaw, cucumber in sour cream, kidney bean salad, french fries, mufalda "_________" I thought you said this was Italian?? Entrees: A lot of selections, Veal Chop recomended by W/W (dressed like a diner waitress). Served with Natural au jus? Tastes like base & water. Chop was average quality & dry. Fresh mushrooms were overdone button mushrooms sitting in their own juice, Dark Ahhhh. <Something else I could not read> <Deleted, reference to another restaurant not being evaluated here>. I was afraid to order any sweetbreads, for fear of what they might be. Fresh soft shell crabs saute. Ok, a little soggy. Covered with blanched slivered almonds in brown butter. Best dish here, not nearly as good as <deleted, another restaurant not being evaluated here>. Declined dessert. Desserts included JELLO and sherbert, pecan ball, spumoni, cheesecake carrot cake, black forest cheesecake. None sounded good. Waitress was very pleasant, she did inquire if there was a problem after we didn't each much of dinner. "__________" I would not waste your time comming here next week. I see nothing that is of interest. Absolutely nothing that is original. Just the same plain old crap. We went back & forth but ended up with a 5. I have had a lot worse. There, you asked for it. A few pieces edited out but for the most part just as it was jotted on a yellow pad seven years ago. Is that enough reason to not like Tambellini??? Please have the dignity to not delete what you do not feel. Like responding to. If you do not want to respond, leave the text so the flow of the original letter is not lost. GAT.
Pittsburgh, PA