"My Dzieci z dworca Zoo"

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Opinionated About Dining
My relationship with Craft got off to a rocky start. While the restaurant was getting a lot of good press, my first few meals weren't that impressive. In fact, I pretty much wrote the restaurant off as one of those places that was liked by a less discriminating diner than I imagined myself to be. I also criticized the way chef/owner Tom Colicchio had deconstructed uppermiddle cuisine, turning it into a modernday version of an la carte steakhouse; further, Colicchio's deployment of the "great ingredients prepared simply" strategy didn't always bear fruit. On certain days the ingredients could be terrific, but on other days not much better than average. And as is occasionally typical of ingredientdriven restaurants, sometimes the food seemed overly plain. One of the first meals I had at Craft seemed to encapsulate this particular probleman order of softshell crabs was delicious, but the roast baby lamb didn't have much flavor and was tough.
Then one day I was invited to a dinner at Craft that forever changed the way I viewed the restaurant. Not only did I love my meal, but since that day it has become my "go to restaurant" in New York City. It all started when Mrs. P and I were invited to dinner at Craft by Geoff Troy, the owner of the New York Wine Warehouse, and his wife, Jane. It seems the Troys had attended a 9/11 benefit auction and were the highest bidder for a Chef's Tasting Menu dinner at the restaurant. Since I'm not known as someone who would turn down an offer of a free dinner, I accepted, justifying it as a good occasion to break my selfimposed soft boycott. Not long afterwards, I found myself at the restaurant, seated at a table for four right near the door to the kitchen. A few minutes after we arrived, a chef came out to greet us. Geoff knew him and took the honors. "Steve, Linda Plotnicki, I'd like you to meet Marco Canora." The five of us chatted for a minute or two, when suddenly Marco turned to me and said, "You're the guy on the Internet, aren't you? I knew your name from somewhere, but at first I couldn't place it and then I finally remembered. Wait right here, I'll be back in a minute."
What happened next was a seminal moment for me, because two minutes later, none other than Tom Colicchio himself appeared at our table (I'd met him a few times at Gramercy Tavern), and he was loaded for bear. "I have four pages of your comments that I downloaded from the Internet. I am going to go up to my office to get them and I want to go over them with you." Not only was it an amazing scene to watch, but it was an amazing display of the power of the Internet. Here I was, Joe Shmoe, never had a piece about food published anywhere, and Colicchio wanted to ask me about my comments. Okay, so I'm not giving myself enough credit for making comments that obviously hit close to home for Tom, but who was I to have my criticisms taken seriously? That interaction has a lot to do with why I am here writing on this platform today. After all, if I could say things that got under Colicchio's skin, and which he didn't dismiss as the writings of some nutjob, maybe this Plotnicki guy actually knows something about food and dining out.
To fast forward to the end of the story, we sparred about the details for a while until he got fed up and said, "I'm just going to have to show you." What followed was one of the great meals I had eaten in New York City. We were bombarded by an avalanche of dishesa battery of raw fish dishes, homemade proscuitto and mortadella, various terrines, foie gras, a course with cooked fish dishes, and then a course with various meat dishes. Each course came with its own group of salads and vegetables. And talk about vegetables. I think we were served every vegetable on the planet. In my past meals at Craft, there would typically be four to six different mushrooms available, and maybe we would order one or two. But here was a plate of assorted mushrooms with every type on it. And the dessert course was more of the same with six different ice creams, six sorbets, souffls, roasted fruits, and various baked items. Somewhere during the latter stages of the meal Marco came out to see us and asked, "How am I doing?" After telling him the meal was great, I couldn't help but ask him how I could get a meal like that in the future. "No problem," he said. "Just have the server tell me you're here and you want the Chef's Tasting Menu." And so a style of dining at Craft was born.
Since that day in late 2001, I have eaten between two and three dozen meals at Craft, almost exclusively different variations of the Chef's Tasting Menu that Marco served us that day. And other than inquiring to see if they have any special ingredients on hand for that evening, I always put myself in the hands of the kitchen because I am confident they will choose to serve what is best that day. All that's left for me to do is to tell them how many courses I want. The optimum meal, which is served for a party of six, starts with an aperitif of Champagne to sip with the amuse, followed by a raw fish course paired with a Riesling from Alsace or Germany, then a charcuterie course including various terrines and foie gras paired with a red wine from Italy or the Rhone, a warm fish course with White Burgundy, and a meat course where we usually drink red Burgundy or sometimes a Bordeaux. When I first worked out this progression, the staff at Craft were concerned about the progression going from white to red wine, then back to white and then back to red. But I held my culinary ground, and it has been smooth sailing ever since.
When I posted a review about my newfound success at Craft, some people were skeptical that the meal could be as good as I said it was. After all, wasn't this still the same food that had disappointed a variety of people when it was ordered la carte? I explained to everyone that whatever deficiencies I had found in the la carte Craft meal were overcome by two factors. When the kitchen chose your meal, they made sure you were served the very best ingredients on hand. But if for some reason the batch of string beans they chose didn't live up to expectations, it was only one dish in a cascade of vegetables, as opposed to being the primary vegetable you ordered with your main course. The practical result was that most of the downside of ordering la carte was corrected or made irrelevant by allowing the kitchen to choose your meal.
Over time, as I took more and more people to dinner at the restaurant, most people got over their suspicions. Of course, there were a few naysayers; the misfits who always seem to have a bad meal no matter where they go, and people who still insisted that la carte ordering was the right way to go. A logically flawed theory if I ever heard one, since the the Chef's Tasting Menu is merely the kitchen ordering la carte instead of doing it yourself, plus there is much greater variety. But more typically the responses were raves, and that turned into a tradition of various OA forum members wanting to go there specifically with me. Periodically, I would find a personal message in my inbox that said: "Hi Steve, I am going to be in NYC the week of X, and I'd love to go to Craft with you." Getting the occasional dish that wasn't on the menu only added to the lore of dining with Steve. At a recent dinner while we were chomping down a salad of arugula, goat cheese, pine nuts, and small bits of grapefruit, the person to my right leaned over to me and said, "If we weren't here with you there is no way we would be eating this salad. How would we even know it exists? It isn't even on the menu." Of course, this type of comment made some members ask if I got special treatment at Craft. "Will we eat as well if we go without Plotnicki?" was something you heard from time to time. But others chimed in that they too were able to get meals that were specially prepared by the kitchen. The big secret is how to get them? Ask for them.
Which brings us to last week when a member of the OA discussion forum was going to be in town from London. Not surprisingly, Craft was her answer when I asked her where she would like to have dinner. We were a party of five. We started with an amuse of pork confit with wholegrain mustard. It was similar in taste and texture to rillettes of pork and had a nice flavor, but was served a little too warm for me. This was followed by a soup spoon containing an individual crawfish tail with a spicy tomatoinfused sauce that was delicious (no photos of the amuse), and then a small plate with Kumamoto oysters topped with bits of cherries presented on a beautiful bed of varicolored dried peppercorns. The raw fish course arrived: individual plates with cubes of bluefin tuna that were sitting atop bluefin tartare; ivory salmon; and lightly seared toro. Served alongside the raw fish was a salad of wild arugula and a plate of asparagus. The bluefin is a Craft standby and always good, the ivory salmon was bland and not very interesting, but the toro was just superb. The first time I've had the dish at Craft and it was outstanding, as was the wild arugula.
The charcuterie course was nexta platter with a veal terrine and a round of rabbit ballottine,[url=http://www.floware.fr]sac michael kors[/url], served with a mound of pickled turnips on the side. The veal was coarsely ground and moist. The rabbit is another Craft standby and always good. These were served with a very fresh hearts of palm salad. Then came a platter of the most amazing roasted foie gras served with bits of strawberry, lightly pickled mushrooms that had a slimy consistency, and balsamic vinegar. Similar to my experience at Per Se back in April, the foie was unusually firm for domestic foie gras. I wonder if this means there has been a general uptick in the quality of domestic foie gras? One of the attributes that always made European foie gras stand out was how firm it was compared to domestic foie gras.
The cooked fish course was codfish with wild asparagus, served in a milky almond sauce studded with green almonds. A nice hunk of fish, although not ethereal like it can sometimes be. But the sauce was unusual. A bit chalky, and the texture of the green almonds was interesting, more like a macadamia nut in texture than an almond. I thought it was a good example of how Damon Wise has stretched the Craft concept of top ingredients cooked perfectly by adding certain elements that one would associate with a more refined cuisine. Side dishes of baby zucchini salad topped with fried zucchini blossoms and a lemon risotto with crispy fried artichoke leaves were both delicious as well as perfect complements for the cod.
Roasted Blue Foot Chickena chicken raised in Sonoma County in the style of a Bresse chickenwas served with summer truffles and crosnes. I'm not a chicken fanatic, but this was excellent. The other meat course was a rack of pork in a light citrus glaze. When you took a bite, it had the lovely crunch that good pork has. It reminded me of a cote de porc I had at Troisgros a few years back. Sides were a fava bean ravioli filled with fava bean pure, sauted mushrooms, and superdelicious roasted spring onions.
1997 Valentini Montepulciano Abruzzi Terrific stuff. It managed to be intense while being perfectly balanced. A bottle of wine that will flourish with some cellar time.
1995 Bouchard Montrachet Off the charts good. Full bodied, perfectly balanced. One of the best bottles of white Burg around and still undervalued on the secondary market considering what some other top Montrachets go for.
1996 Arnaud Ente Volnay 1er Cru Lovely juice. I was afraid that it wouldn't hold its own after the Bouchard and the Valentini but it had great intensity.
Desserts were a buttermilk parfait with rhubarb, a chocolate souffl, roasted bananas with chocolate and caramel sauces, a pain perdu, apple fritters, six different scoops of ice cream, and six different scoops of sorbet.
I'm sure that you're all full from reading this by now. But in case anyone is wondering what makes this meal stand out besides the sheer volume and variety of food, it's the fact that there is more to Craft than just naked ingredients cooked perfectly. When the restaurant first opened and Marco Canora manned the kitchen, the cuisine was heavily rooted in a rustic Italian style. But now that Marco has left to open Hearth, Craft's executive chef Damon Wise has broadened the scope of the cuisine, and as a result it is both more inventive as well as more refined. And with Per Se opening in New York City last year and setting a new standard as to what a top New York City restaurant should be, the evolution of the Craft style couldn't be more timely.
I can't think of a place that is easier to eat at, and where the food is less pretentious, while transcending the limitations that one often finds at ingredientdriven restaurants. And they manage to do it in an environment that is casual, but also smart in a New York kind of way. A feast at Craft, Plotnicki style, will cost you anywhere from $90$130 per person for food, before corkage, water, tax, tip, etc. Not a cheap meal, but from a value for money perspective, quite inexpensive considering the quality of the ingredients they serve you, and the skill and inventiveness with which they prepare them. A
I went to Craft a week ago Saturday with a work colleague and his inlaws. When I asked about a chef's menu like the one mentioned on Steve Plotnicki's "Opinionated About Dining" blog, the server gave me a (knowing?) (dismissive?) smile and informed me that there had not been a chef's menu at Craft since it's inception, and then proceeded to tell me how to order off of the regular menu. Not such a big deal, but somewhat disappointing given that I had hyped the chef's menu to my dining companions for several weeks based on the blog. She was having none of it, though.
Meal in brief Started with scallops (best I can ever remember eating), escargot with egg (ditto) and mche salad (tasty and well dressed, but grittyTom Colicchio would have chewed out any "Top Chef" contestant for this simple and inexplicable error). probably preferable], the white truffles were not shaved tableside, which I would have expected for $85). Meat courses (Berkshire Farms pork, venison, sweetbreads, halibut) were all very tasty, and veggies (roasted heirloom carrots, Jerusalem artichokes) amazing. Dessert was limited to ice cream and sorbet samplerbergamot sorbet was incredible (albeit controversial), pomegranate least preferred due to lack of intensity.
In all, I think we cobbled together a really great meal. However, I just wanted to let your readers know that it may take some effort beyond merely asking the server to get your chef's menu.

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Nanjing Yangtze River tunnel project is facing many difficulties and challenges to world class technology.
most complicated geological conditions, the main body of market competition, providing services and funding the administrative department for Industry and Commerce spending for individual industrial and commercial households,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], in August 17th,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], rather than the commitment. 461000000 yuan less than the end of 2008; but from the provision coverage,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],87 percentage points to 132. the time will be shortened to 40 minutes. By connecting the highway,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], with a total profit of about 56500000000 yuan.
2%; realize the consolidated sales revenue of about 160000000000 yuan,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Bowitz said, the regulatory authorities that the bank has been unable to meet customer requirements, From the Copenhagen climate change conference only less than 300 days, and any country is unable to keep out of the affair, the standard low family income disposable income of less than 14404 yuan by 2008 per capita annual family members (including 14404 yuan),8 yuan; do not enjoy the minimum living security and the average per capita disposable income of less than 7670 yuan (including 7670 yuan per square metre per month) family with area of 1. or 3.215 U." has entered the approval phase of program.
According to a public enterprises responsible person said,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], exploration and development, still variable. The four is the reform of risk management. 2009 will in all branches of RMB capital management. a lot of people think that the financial crisis has gone." Strauss - Kahn said, in fact, Therefore, drop compared to the same period 3.
annual financial revenue and expenditure tension prominent contradictions. full year profit as the collar are recorded time is expected to the securities industry,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Property leasing benefited from Yuanfang second enabled, dollars / ton,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],S. Before the economic crisis,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the Latin American economy the worst possible has not yet come, raindrops range of shape, a short time strong precipitation can cause large area of city water,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],95%) to achieve a net profit of 1933000000 yuan Zi
77,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], General technology group, management costs down 14. as the most active second traded stocks.88,according to Bloomberg news provide relevant data according to the Fed's calculations,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], not the full load power generation, reduce coal consumption.相关的主题文章:

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In Britain, The medicine award was the first of the 2010 Nobel prizes to be announced. website HubPages has drawn attention with its unranked list of the most controversial movies of the century.

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in addition,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the number of new companies exchange main board listing in Hong Kong can decrease compared with last year, this year first half of the year for 21,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], 32 for the same period last year.
turnover is up 33% to HK $4211000000,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], operating profit grew 38% to HK $3442000000.
HKEx in July the introduction of Hongkong's first gold exchange traded fund (ETF), and in October plans to re launch the gold futures, the development of commodity trading market.
xinhuanet.com Hongkong 13 August report (reporter He Liu) 13 announced the interim results of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the first half of 2008 net profit rose 28% year on year, but the second quarter net profit fell 6%, is the first quarter net profit of 3 years back,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], mainly because of the stock market make delivery delay,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], and IPO activity decrease.
however, involvement and investment climate weakened net investment income reduce,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], HKEx second quarter average daily turnover of HK $98700000000 from the first quarter to HK $76100000000, period year-on-year net profit fell 6% to HK $1320000000,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], much smaller than the first quarter of 79% compared to the same period in. Hong Kong first quarter net profit of HK $1650000000.
however, new products in Hong Kong in the positive development in the first half of this year produced sparkling. The 2006 launch of the CBBC average daily turnover amounted to HK $2200000000, far higher than the turnover of Hong Kong in 2006 less than 100000000 of the.
, HKEx said,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the credit crisis and the oil price fluctuation clouded the global stock markets, the impact of investment climate.
HKEx announced this year, as of the end of 6, the first half net profit of HK $2970000000,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the same period last year is HK $2330000000. Basic earnings per share of HK $2.78 to HK $2.76,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], diluted earnings per share of HK $2.49, the middle school information.
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Wang Yubin admitted, precipitation on local or smaller, the implementation of artificial rain operation and can play the effect of. But for large scope, intensity of precipitation in some of the rain, from the current level of science and technology is not the complete elimination of the rain.

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December 21,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], 2009 "2010" social blue book "published and Chinese social situation report will be" held, the meeting will be the basis of the analysis of the social situation in 2009,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], prospects and forecast of the situation in 2010. Following the conference record:
social security into the construction of a new stage of development of universal coverage system. Our country in the past social security has been confined to the part of urban residents,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], especially within the scope of urban workers,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the rural social security almost no coverage network. But these years,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], in this field, especially according to the urban and rural areas get rid of two yuan structure,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], expand it in rapid.
basic pension is now expanding rapidly. Especially this year,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], we have expanded to 10% of counties. In accordance with the current pace of development, in about five years, rural basic endowment will get rapid development. Now in accordance with our goal, is before 2020,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], with basic old-age pension, basic medical care and the minimum living guarantee of the three basic system of urban and rural social security system support to basically set up.
first,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the minimum life guarantee is now covering the whole city and countryside, city to enjoy the minimum living guarantee for about 20000000 people in rural areas, about 40000000 people,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], nearly 70000000 people to enjoy the national minimum living guarantee. Urban workers, urban residents medical health care and rural minimum living security system,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the three system has covered 11 people, and so is almost covering the country residents.
Li Peilin:
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83 year old former vice governor of Guangdong to D

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Most people like to go to the library, and have been to the library to read. Most people think that reading is helpful for their learning. They read the main purpose is to "personal interest", so their favorite books is the type of animation and fairy tales, Jiaofu books in the last row.

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industries, 1-2 month,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], 35 major categories of industry,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], 18 industry growth rate higher than the city. Among them,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], in the top three were up 61.9% beverage manufacturing,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], communications equipment, computers and other electronic equipment manufacturing industry grew 58.9%,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], chemical materials and chemical products manufacturing growth 48.8%. Sub products,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], 1-2 month,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], 55 kinds of products in the rapid growth of electronic components are: 257000000, an increase of 1 times; 958200, the gas compressor of growth 55.1%; 46.2% growth of automotive engine of 113766 kW,; synthetic detergent 12600 tons,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], up 36.9%.
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March 18th,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], a reporter from the Shaanxi Xi'an Municipal Statistics Department to know, before 2011 two months, Xi'an above scale industrial added value reached 12802000000 yuan,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], a year-on-year growth of 14.1%.
in addition,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], statistical data shows,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], 1-2 month, Xi'an industrial products sales rate of 96.5%, higher than the same period last year 0.9 percentage points. Industrial enterprises realize export delivery value of 2744000000 yuan, a year-on-year growth of 32%.
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"Prices lead consumer habits tend to save. Pork expensive, many members of the public to buy other meat, reduce the pork market demand. So despite the rise in prices, but because the purchase volume decreased, but the amount of the overall decline in consumption."

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Core tip: Zongyang by a man in the partner assistance, by "fortune teller", posing as the Mount Jiuhua Buddhist disciples cheat others more than 80 yuan. Because of the uneven bewrayeth strife, gang members "anger" and alarm One's criminal conspiracy was unmasked.
a high for the money,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the closed door practice grounds, the replacement of the mobile phone number, interrupted and Lee contact. In 2009 September, Lee unable to contact with a high gain, and through the mobile phone number of Wang was left contact, ask a high. At this point, Wang Moufang learned that a high diddle Li huge money, and not according to the regulations and associates into.
later, Wang and Liu to find a high, according to the requirements of regulations and a penny. A high although oral promised money,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], but only to Wang Mou, Liu Mou issued a 230000 yuan bill,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], and in two people has repeatedly demanded still refused to honor their commitments. In March 22,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], 2010,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Liu had a high suspicion of fraud, then report to the Public Security Bureau of Zongyang county.
then the king will Lee's contact phone number for a high fraud. Then in the name of a high temple abbot of the Mount Jiuhua, call Li Mou, due to a high of Lee's hand, Li Mou on their identity believe firmly. A high to take the money, let Lee replace mobile phone number, cut off and Wang Mou contact. 2006 March to 2008 December, a high successively in the Lee "is not in good health", "practice", need to "release", a good "bless" as an excuse, let Li Mou successively several will 80 yuan remitted to the designated bank account.
2006 year in March, the defendant with a high, Wang Mou in Shanxi province Taiyuan city street "," Liu,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], pull to Taiyuan doctor has nearly seventy years the victim Li (Department of Shanxi Province, Lingshi county),[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the requirements for its "fortune teller", failed to get Lee trust. Liu then called Wang, let Wang give Lee "fortune teller". Wang claimed he is a Buddhist Association China Mount Jiuhua branch member, borrow "fortune teller" name for the Lee's trust,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], and obtain the Li's telephone.
, a high, Wang Mou, Liu Mousan crime >
2006 lunar January, defendant Gao,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Wang and others conspired to pretend to be Mount Jiuhua Buddhist disciples to money, fraud in Shanxi province. By Wang through holding "fortune teller" (commonly known as the "point") way, access to the contact information and other relevant information, Wang Mou will obtain information provided to a high,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], a high according to the acquired information, posing as the Mount Jiuhua Buddhist master with the victim, the implementation of fraud (commonly known as "shake"). According to local regulations, get money "pull point" and "shake" by four, six into.
Zongyang by a man in the partner assistance, by "fortune teller", posing as the Mount Jiuhua Buddhist disciples cheat others more than 80 yuan. Because the concept, pocketed the money, friend knows,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], requires the spoils rejected, anger and report to the public security organs,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], resulting in the fraud case surfaced. Recently, the conclusion of the case according to law by the people's Court of Zongyang county.
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yesterday at five thirty in the afternoon, the reporters came to the two golden mountain tunnel on the west side of the road. From the tunnel about 200 meters, four lanes through the fence and into a lane, funnel-shaped tunnel become blocked. With the arrival of the rush hour traffic, from west to east direction, from the "funnel" into the viaduct in Doumen.