NNTP-Posting-Date: 17 Aug 2000 21:46:59 GMT User-Agent: MT-NewsWatcher/3.0 (PPC) Xref: usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu rec.food.restaurants:51527 In article , Michael Sierchio wrote: >Robert B. wrote: > >> So I stand behind my comments. Most reviewers in the press are not worth >> their salt and most "reviews" of AD/NY do not seem to satisfy either of >> our >> standards as reviews. > >No argument with the comment that most reviewers in the press aren't >worth their salt. This permits me to engage in daydreaming that I >might enter the profession at the top ;-) > >In response to your earlier post, I did finally eat at AD in Paris -- >it was very good, but Ducasse is a victim of his own hype. He does >as much boasting about the number of Michelin stars he has as he does >anything >in the kitchen. He does not have a distinctive personal style in >cuisine, as do: Senderens, Legendre, Pacaud, Passard, Boyer, >Loiseau, etc. He is a restautanteur and not a chef, and I prefer >to dine someplace where the chef actually friggin' works in the kitchen, >rather than lending his name. > >Anyway, the meal at AD wasn't even close to dinners I have had at >1- or 2-star restaurants. If you're ever in Geneva, I'd recommend >Le Bearn (Jean-Paul Goddard). I've not eaten at any of Ducasse's restaurants, although we're entertaining the idea of AD/NY in the fall. Two food professionals whose opinion I trust very much told me they thought their meal in Paris was exceptional. I would say they are attuned to perfection in a classic mode as much as creativity - or that they value creativity only from those who can achieve perfection. Of those chefs you've mentioned, I've eaten the food of Pacaud and Passard in Paris and Loiseau in Burgundy. I also prefer chef driven restaurants to those that are restauranteur driven, but I'm not sure how important it is for the chef to be in the kitchen at all times. This discussion seems to be going on wherever people speak of restaurants these days. Loiseau fed us one of the great meals of our life, although admittedly there have been many by now. He was there when we had dinner, but he's also the one who was quoted in the book "Burgundy Stars," when introducing his sous-chef that "(I forget the sous-chef's name) cooks Loiseau, better than I do." A large part of any chefs job is being chief. That's an executive position that requires training guys, who train the rest of the staff and overseeing the kitchen. A well trained staff can run without the overseer being there most of the time, it's a really well disciplined staff. "Burgundy Stars" is slim book that documents Loiseau's life in the year before he was awarded his third star. It's an interesting book. Back to Ducasse for a minute, and I can't attack or defend him from the perspective of a diner. in the NY Times recently it was reported that "He said he regarded New York as one of the Everests of his profession because, along with Paris, it was the most spectacular restaurant city with the most discriminating public in the world." That doesn't match the arrogance the rest of the press reports. Someday I may get to Geneva if only to dine again in the Savoie at Marc Veyrat's. There's a chef I rather wondered if it wasn't all hype and was ready to find a lot of pretense. I suppose I found a little, but I didn't know whether to be impressed by the originality or the perfection. He seemed in complete control as if he was cooking in some long lost classical style that was unfamiliar to me.
Switzerland