I'll drink to that : Chardonnay

Recently, I'm kind of in the mood of Riesling. I drink at least a bottle of Riesling per week. It's kind of fun and fascinating that each terrior has different taste and bouquet. The last bottle I opened is Leeuwin Riesling 2005 from Australia. I didn't like it that much for the first taste. It doesn't taste like German Riesling or Washington Riesling at all. It's almost full-bodied and has other fruit that I don't expect from riesling. But after the first glass, I started to enjoy it. Not that it's my favorite riesling but it's different and enjoyable.
Yesterday, I wanted to change the mood by opening Macon-Pierreclos 2005, Chardonnay from Burgundy. It surprised me a little that eventhough I think I'm a riesling freak, I have to accept the fact that Chardonnay is the king of whites, -especially Burgundy style. It is so balance and possess the depth that I couldn't find in Riesling. Eventhough, ABC people might want to stay away from this grape, I cannot deny that Chardonnay is always at the top of white wine varietals.

Whistle while you work

11.00am I open the restaurant, walk downstairs and change to chef coat.
11.30am I finish setting up the kitchen. Now the hard part, cooking employee's meals. Oak gets a PCU noodle. Antonio gets a fried rice. Whenever I go for A la carte dish, that means I'm lazy. I have a list for today production. There are
Chocolate cake
Semifreddo
Creme brulee
Carrot puree
Green curry
Cranberry sauce
Pastry cream
To toast nut and seed
11.50am I starts to make creme brulee, a saturday morning job. I cook my self a vegetable curry, for I have no apetite for meat.
12.15am I call Yo to make sure he buy grocery in for weekend use but he doesn't answer. Maybe he's sleeping. Whatever, I have another 40 minutes until creme brulee would be done. Let's play my iphone a little bit.
1.30pm I realize that I forgot the creme brulee. It's a little bit overcooked. But I'm selling it for creme brulee, so it's acceptable.
2.30pm I finished Semifreddo. I accidentally slipped egg yolk into meringe. Well, the semifreddo looked fine. So it's acceptable.
3.30pm I am writing this blog and only 2 items on my list are done. Lazy.

Every story is a love story

Here we are. At the restaurant the Boy likes. From outside the Girl can see a guy at the bar. She remembers him. She knows that it will end up like last time if she doesn't do something. Quickly, the Girl steps to the door first. The Waiter comes to greet them. Seconds before the Waiter opens his mouth, the Girl asks for a table. The Waiter leads the way and she quickly follows. However, the Boy graps her hand and asks her to sit at the bar. As though she expected this to happen, she loudly inhales and exhales. She makes herself clear that she wants to sit at the table. She turns back and looks for an empty seat. Will she be able to do it this time?, she talks to herself.

The Boy doesn't come. She's sitting alone. He raises his voice and insists that he wants to sit at the bar. She looks around and sees two customers walk in and sit at the table next to her. Suddenly, she asks the Boy why he wants to sit with the guy at the bar. Rapidly, the Boy's face shows his anger. Nevertheless, he walks to her and sits. Will this really be the way she wants it to be?, the Girl talks to herself.

No, it's not. The Boy is angry. He wants to sit at the bar, flirts with the guy at the bar, and deserts her, like always. Not with anger or sadness, the Girl says if he sits at the bar, the Girl will not pay for his drinks.

The boy left. The Waiter walks past her and walks into kitchen. Remotely, she hears customers talking. Her eyes turn red. She doesn't know what is going to happen next. Looking to the right, a Chef in white coat walks out of the kitchen, makes a brief glance at her, and runs downstairs to the basement. The Waiter walks back. He asks for her drinks and she orders. At the very moment she begins to speak, tear drop falls into the table. Why is she crying?, the Girl talks to herself.

To be continue

Money that makes the world go round

A few days ago, I went to have lunch with Atsuko, a very good friend of mine, in Korean town. We haven't seen each other for weeks due to our busy schedule. I picked a new Korean restaurant that I never try before. The food tasted great. But I just couldn't help thinking about how expensive Korean BBQ is. Kalbi at this restaurant we went costs $22.95. Kalbi is short rib. The best quality short rib I can get from my supplier will cost me not more than $8 a pound. And the portion of one order of Kalbi is not merely half a pound.

I'm not complaining that the restaurant overcharged me. My question is just what makes people think a restaurant is expensive. Corn dumpling at Jean-georges costs about $14 at lunch. It is about 5 tiny pieces. But dumpling of a Thai restaurant around my house costs me $6. However, it is overcooked and, from my point of view, it is frozen and microwaved.

For me, a restaurant is expensive when the quality of food I get is not worth the price, no matter how much it is. It doesn't mean that I always go to fancy restaurants. It's just that the restaurants which charge me medium price with a low quality food wouldn't get my money, eventhough they have very nice decoration and friendly service.

Movies in my mind

Have you ever paid extra attention to a movie because it's talking about something you do in your life? People who are deeply in love may like to see romantic movies. Paleontologist might have been very excited when Jurassic Park came out. How about movies about cooking? Do chefs get excited when they see movies about cooking? What are the best movies about cooking out there?

I once asked this question to my colleagues at JG. Chef Mark Lapico told me his favorite movie about cooking is Eat, Drink, Man, Woman. I never have a chance to see the movie. But from what he said, the movie has very elaborate cooking scenes.
At that time, my favorite was Sideways. It's not much about cooking but more about wine. However, that was long before my new favorite movie released, Ratatouille by Pixar animation studio.

I really like the scene when Anton Ego, a prestigious food critique, spent the whole night deciding what the review for Remy's ratatouille should be. It really reflects how serious a good critique should consider before publish his review. If any chefs ever have experience with bad, unfair reviews, they will understand me.

Another point that I like and think it's cool is when Gusto's chef tries to get Linguini drunken by pouring him Chateau Latour! Chateau Latour, guys! I wish I worked in that restaurant.

What's also funny is that Anton Ego choice of wine is Chateau Cheval Blanc. The very same one Miles drinks at the end of Sideways. How luxury their lives are.