And don’t you nasty people drive Steve off before I have a reasonable opportunity to exchange ideas with him!
If you really think Canadian Lobsters superior to Scottish I can’t take what you say seriously.
Russell - for the love of god, feel free to debate lobsters all you want, but under no circumstances bring up tomatoes with Steve!
Faulkner - They import Canadian lobster to Scotland. We never see Scottish lobsters here. Nobody wants them because our lobsters are superior. An exception to that would be small lobsters from Brittany which are sweeter than Canadian lobster which is why they are prized by French chefs. Norwegian lobsters are better than Scottish lobsters. In fact other than certain types of fish that do better in the Atlantic off the French and Spanish coasts, the Scandinavians have the best fish and seafood in Europe. There are a few exceptions like local scamponi off the Tuscan and Neapolitan coasts but as rule go to Scandinavia if you want to eat good fish.
Doug Johnson - You think because you have seen tunas frozen on the floor that you understand what the tuna market is all about? I have heard stories of Masa paying tens of thousands of dollars for a tuna. And you know what he does when it comes into his restaurant in New York? He calls Eric Ripert, Daniel Boulud and an assortment of people who work in the food industry. He also calls his customers that appreciate that level of tuna. The price for a meal featuring that tuna is higher than the usual price, and many people in the business attend because they know it is an experience that they can’t have every day.
Now regardless of how little you think I know about Chinese food, there is no equivalent of what I have described happening at Masa in Chinese cuisine. Trying to spend $100 a person on a Chinese meal is a chore. But there are people who appreciate Japanese cuisine who are willing to spend that much money on a serving of tuna. Just like there are people who are willing to spend $500 a person on the perfect tempura. Even for something as simple as ramen, there is an entire body of literature, and discussion that follows, on what constitutes a proper ramen broth. That type of quest for excellence simply does not exist in Chinese food. And not because I say so. It’s because they do not exist. Shark’s fin soup is as close as you will get and that is motivated by luxury, not a quest for perfection. But despite the fact that I have eaten many bowls of won ton noodle soup in my day, and I am in search of the perfect one, I have yet to see a single discussion about how to make the broth properly. The same level of interest as there is in ramen broth simply doesn’t exist. And that’s because Japanese people are obsessed with perfection in their food, and have the wherewithal to act that way, while the Chinese can barely afford to eat for sustenance.
Yes they import Canadian to Scotland, they are half the price and inferior in every way.
How about a hard shell versus soft shell debate?
Faulkner - So where have you been in the U.S. to eat lobster in order to reach your conclusion? And have you had lobster from France or Scandinavia at its source that you could compare to Scottish lobster? How about blue lobster from Brittany? Warm water lobster from Florida?
Eric - I have had soft shell lobsters and I can’t figure out what the big deal is. To me, the best tasting lobsters are 4-7 pounds when they are physiologically mature.
I eat all my lobster at Red Lobster.
Eww, that’s a pretty big bug. They get tough past a couple of pounds.
Sadly, as a Boston boy who moved out to Seattle and now keeps a Kosher kitchen, it has been a loooong time since I have had my lobster fix. So I can dream of any of them. North American. Scottish. Big. Little. Hard. Soft. Yum!
I have had blue lobster at Guy Savoy and Taillevent (and I think at GR RHR), and eaten many at (casual) restaurants in Maine.
I ate Norwegian lobster at Onda is Oslo in 2012.
I have tried lobster in the Keys (the RC brunch), though I don’t recall the provenance.
So why did Savoy and Taillevent not use Scottish lobster?
Steve, I am absolutely NOT telling you how your food should be prepared, nor who should prepare it, nor even how much “craft” is appropriate to a meal fit for a Plotnicki. And I concede that craftsmanship of top chefs has its place in the larger world of food. I am a retired lawyer, and have long enjoyed the ability to eat whatever I like, wherever I like, free of ideology and surely free of ignorance and primitivism. My foodie johnson is every bit as long as yours, and perhaps longer, so to speak. What I am telling you is that you are myopic nearly beyond human capacity for that particular character flaw. You are arrogant (takes one to know one on that count!) and egotistical, to be sure, but you cannot seem to understand that people far brighter and yes, more worldly than you are need something more than your effete, absolutist, wholly unsubstantiated assertions to take you seriously.
Perfection can never be objective, Steve. It is in the eye of the beholder. Likewise, the “best” of anything constantly shifts, with time, with context, with perception. It is much easier to arrive at a consensus or near-consensus of “bad”. There are no objective absolutes to be found in your neighborhood in the Hamptons, save maybe for you and a handful of like-minded pomposities. Your “best” lists are not objective, Steve, nor even original. You and your contributors have the same restaurants on the list that a thousand other writers do…French Laundry, Per Se, Alinea, Masa, blah, blah, blah. Are these among America’s best FINE DINING experiences? Absolutely. But they are so as a result of a consensus that totally eclipses you and your 900 or whatever you claim. But is the food found at these culinary temples the best food in America in absolute terms? Absolutely not, and Thomas Keller would tell you that. Chefs rarely eat the craft that they serve you, Steve. They revel in very different foods on their own time. Ethnic foods, foods too lowbrow to serve to the likes of you. And they consider such foods to be every bit the equal of their own artistry. They see the art in less is more. You would know this if you read and learned (or if you do read, read and understood, free of the filter of your own “I”-driven lens). Not a week goes by without somebody asking a famous chef what they prefer to eat on their own time, or at home, or on vacation. It is almost never the haut cuisine of a chef friend. It is usually interesting, excellent-quality ingredients simply and deliciously prepared. In your experience, you do not enjoy a meal unless a skilled chef prepares it. That is the worst imaginable subjective bias. You are, in essence, saying that if I pour 1961 Haut-Brion into a Two-Buck Chuck bottle, you will not enjoy it because you read the label and understand that you will be drinking the swill of commoners. You draw the wrong conclusion, Steve. You are fooling yourself, both about your objectivity and the relevance of your palate and your opinions. Your statistical impossibility" is in your mind only; no evidence, no proof, just “because I said so”. You are right that you have this argument over and over again, and always with the same result:, you lose in what should be in extremely embarrassing fashion, because you offer nothing but your own narrow opinions, biases and prejudices. However, you are self-deluded, and feel no embarrassment as a consequence. You instead claim that those who have destroyed your feeble assertions are not as advanced as you are, not as bright, not as handsome perhaps. You are wrong, Steve. I am, in fact, brighter than you are. I am dramatically better at analysis, logical argument and supplying evidence for my assertions. So is Bill Boykin. So are many others here. We have not hit the ceiling and now must cry subjectivity, as you claim. We stand above at look down upon your self-imposed ceiling, one that is invisible only to you, and we see you crying that “I”-driven subjectivity is in fact the ultimate objectivity. As I said, delusional and narcissistic behavior, nothing more.
By the way, food is not at all like your golf example, Steve. Some of the greatest, most historically important golf courses on earth are not much better maintained than cow pastures. St. Andrews is not Pebble Beach. Many people who are hard pressed to scrape up the greens fees play the legendary public links courses in Scotland, Ireland and England. Not at all the homogenous escape from reality that is much of the Hamptons…
Eric - Large lobster being tough is a myth. People prize large lobsters and the cost on a per pound basis is significantly higher than for a small lobster. As for being kosher, don’t take this the wrong way but I grew up in a kosher home and I can not think of a fate in life that is worse than being kosher LOL. In fact I do a long riff on it in the film when I was at Katz’s. Hopefully it will make it into the film.
Because they are French Restaurants, in France.
Gordon Ramsay RHR uses Scottish usually - currently as does La Gavroche IIRC, Hedone, Pierre Gagnaire at Sketch did, don’t recall for Waterside Inn.
Well I said that I keep a Kosher kitchen. My wife grew up in a kosher home, and we keep a kosher home now. The good news is that I eat everything and can do whatever I want out of the house. However, being in Seattle, it makes little sense to get Maine lobster. I would rather eat what is local and fresh.
Per Se Menu:
Bill Klapp - Why is it that you can’t address the nub of my thesis. Craftsmanship is not subjective, it is objective. A watch that is self winding has more craftsmanship than one that uses quartz. A stradivarious demonstrates more craftsmanship than other violins. A Ferrari exhibits more craftsmanship than a Mercedes. A Brioni suit has more craftsmanship then a Hugo Boss suit. Giacomo Conterno Barolo Monfortino has more craftsmanship then Cerreto Bricho Rocche. And as long as you brought up the Hamptons, a house that costs $500 a foot to build exhibits usually exhibits a higher level of craftsmanship than one that costs $200 a foot.
Do you disagree with any of that? Remember, I am not asking you if a higher level of craftsmanship should matter to you or not. I am asking if the actual craftsmanship part, which you can see with your own eyes, touch with your own fingers and hear with your own ears, is subjective or objective?
Russell - I believe it is logical to assume that the “scottish” lobster on that menu is quite possibly canadian, as evidenced by the $50.00 supplement. A round trip airline ticket costs more than one-way, eh?
Can you agree that superior craftsmanship does not always result in artful or elegant results, unless that is your only benchmark? Aesthetics and craftsmanship need not be married, and I believe the former can, and often does, trump the latter.
The vastness of your ignorance is truly awesome!