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soochi said:

I'm sorry but rocky sand in my clams is absolutely unacceptable for this level of cooking and for what they are charging. Isn't this somehting Ramsay would crucify a cook for on one of his shows?

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Yeah, that's pretty much the same thought that was going through my head as I heard the big "crunch" and surprised expression emanating from my friend's face when she bit into it.  I have to wonder if Ramsey ever steps foot in that restaurant?  It almost feels like he might have just showed up for the opening to slap his name on the joint, never bothering to come back to ensure that a high standard is being upheld.  Seems like this place might just be strictly business and lacking the buzzing effect of the passionate drive that inspires an up and coming chef.

A quick note on service...

While our primary server was quite congenial, the overall service was lacking.  When we were first seated, I immediately explained that we were there for the tasting promotion, yet the server just handed us menus that didn't seem to indicate any order or explanation as to which sections of the menu we should be picking from and in what quantity.  The sommelier seemed annoyed and hurried while explaining the wines he had available, despite the fact that the restaurant was scarcely one quarter full.  Further, the red wine we received was downright refrigerated, taking until we had finished the majority of our first glasses for it to come up to temp.  Then he actually tried to tell us that it's a good thing to enjoy red wine that way, since (and I'm paraphrasing here, but this was the message that came across) you'll appreciate it more if you've had your first glass chilled and come back for another that is up to temp.  I don't think I kept a straight face at that point.

Later in the meal, we clearly expressed our love of their table bread, so much as to request to purchase a loaf to go, which was denied due to a "shortage" because their daily delivery didn't come in.  I can live with that, but not more than a few minutes later, somehow the basket of bread on the table which contained our last two pieces was whisked away from us!  I literally speed walked to the kitchen entrance in hopes to catch it before they threw it out.  Instead of simply bringing back the stolen bread, they ended up cutting four fresh slices for us to pack home.  While I no doubt appreciate getting the extra bread, it just seemed rather haphazard after we had explicitly made note of how much we loved the bread and wanted more in the first place, for them to then take it away.

So yeah, in so far as this "caliber" of restaurant is concerned, it was a bit of a let down.  The food was good, and there were some shining stars including the Snow Crab Salad Rolls (starter), Bone Marrow Toast (side order), the Lobster & Sweetbreads (main) and the desserts.  The rest of the dishes just fell flat.  Not that they were bad, but neither inspiring nor exciting.


Shoot, I had a $6 tostada from the local Mexican joint today that I enjoyed quite a bit more than several of the dishes at Ramsey's.

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LiquidSmoke said:
Dude when I come home in a month, we should hit up a good place or two.

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Stein said:

I have the entire UK set of Kitchen Nightmares, before he was anything popular here in the US. He goes around rips people for what they do, the dishes they use and how they present their dinner. Calling people pretentious.

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Interesting.  While I do not subscribe to the vast majority of Ramsey shows - often finding him to be way too over the top sensationalist to the point of buffoonery - I do respect his Kitchen Nightmares program, especially the UK version.  As someone who has toyed with the idea of opening my own restaurant (now evolving into thoughts of a brew pub), I have found the Kitchen Nightmares series very useful in helping to point out some of the common areas where problems occur in restaurant management.

I also think that in that show's context, Ramsey's garish and aggressive attitude is a positive influence in helping some of these hopeless restauranteurs to understand where they are going wrong... a little bit of tough love, if you will.  The show has a much greater deal of authenticity about it than any of his other programs, in my opinion, and I value it for that very reason.  It's no easy task to attempt to turn around heavily indebted lifeless restaurants full of stressed out owners on edge, in only a week or two's time.  I was consistently surprised at how well he handled some very difficult situations on that program.

That said, his behavior does not track so well for me when it comes to ANY of his other competition cooking shows.  In fact, it's downright discouraging at best, insulting at its worst, and generally stupid in between.  I mean seriously, how many times do you have to feign vomiting on camera?  I would be exceptionally surprised if he has ever actually vomited in response to a dish he did not care for off camera... people just don't do that!  Spit out the food into a napkin, sure.  But to grab a trash can and hunch yourself over?  Puhleeeeeze....

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soochi said:


and yes, I find that most places cut their foie way to thin. The way we did it at Citronelle in DC was to cut it literally a half inch think, deep fry it in clarified butter until very nicely browned and then finish the middle in the microwave (yes a microwave) until the middle was just quivering.

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