Daisy

I think the problem, or a big part of the problem, is that Liebrandt is rather odd. Extremely talented but odd. And not willing to adopt a persona for p.r. reasons which believe me some chefs do. I can think of one guy, very high profile, very articulate and bright, very affable persona. In 'real life' he's nasty,sexist and has substance abuse issues.

The real problem isn't that they're doing this. The real problem is that they have an audience that either can't tell the difference or doesn't care.

 

Well, everyone seems to assume that there's enough of a market for high-end food that Carmellini, White, Wylie, Stupak, etc., could all be striving for 3 stars at multiple restaurants and filling seats every night.  But it seems to me that almost all of the ambitious restaurants in the last few years have 15 seats.  I wonder if they could fill 50 or 75?  

 

I'd be very pleased if Carmellini strove for three stars at just one restaurant. No one's asking for multiple.

I think he flirted with it when he was in early days at A Voce. Which when he was there was more high end than LV (which I like) certainly (can't speak to AV now, have not been there in ages).

Is there anything unsound about the suggestion that the food at Cafe Boulud required more expertise to prepare than the food at The Dutch?  I'd also say, based on my experience, that the food at Cafe Boulud met higher standards of execution.

 

Now, Carmellini could offer you six pristine oysters and a perfect peach for dinner, and you might enjoy the food enormously.  It might be the best meal of your life.  It would still be reasonable to say that Carmellini was not using his deep training and impressive expertise.

 

Of course, it's open to anyone not to care whether someone uses their skill or not.  I don't care if the doctor down the street could be a brain surgeon if she tried.

Right. I enjoyed both Lafayette and Blanca recently. Did Lafayette wow me? No, but I had a good time and enjoyed the food. Blanca otoh wowed me. Apples and oranges......

Another factor is of course cost. Lafayette about $250 a couple, Blanca slightly over $700. And I think Blanca the better value but that doesn't mean I'd dine there more than 2 or 3 times a year.

I have done it a few places including WD-50 and nobody seemed to mind.

I am going to be in Athens for a couple of nights--June 17 and 18--and wondered if anyone had any recent recommendations for dining etc. We want to have dinner in Exarhia the first night because it's the same area as the Archaeological Museum which is open late that night.

Also making cruise stops at Santorini, Rhodes and Chios should anyone have any lunch ideas--Mykonos we have covered.