Paris tips?

originally posted by VS:
I've had much better steaks in Spain than in the US lately
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The best steak I've ever had was at Asador Lopez de Aguileta, in Labastida, four years ago. I would've been there again last April if a damn volcano hadn't erupted.

Btw, sorry I couldn't make it to Per Se to see you yesterday, Victor. Hope you come back soon with a little extra time.
 
originally posted by JSchwartze:
Go To Luger For Lunch...and get the burger, which is excellent. Get the Canadian Bacon on the side, choke down Beck's Dark on draft and be done with it. The steaks are a shadow of what they were twenty, twenty-five years ago, as people who were going there back then will vouch.
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I completely agree with this.
 
Interestingly, it's nearing about 20 years since my first Luger meal, and I don't remember how the steak was, but I do remember that even then people were complaining that its best days were long behind it. Personally, I think their meat remains absolutely top notch. But the kitchen often screws up the steaks - "black and blue" still means "medium" to a lot of people, and rare = medium well. Fortunately, most of the Luger steaks I have consumed have been bought there raw and cooked and eaten at home, and nobody else's meat has ever bested them; same goes for those occasions when the restaurant doesn't overcook.
 
Luger might be the one. Close behind would probably be Keens but then you'd miss their prime rib hash, which would be a real shame. Tough choice. Since they often have the current vintage of Thivin Cote de Brouilly on the list for about $35 maybe order a bottle, go all steak house glutton-like and have both.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
The brain I ordered was the best thing at our table (of 7) that night, actually. I believe I made two new converts to that part of the beast.

However, I don't like that restaurant, and I'm not afraid to say it. One's treated like dirt, and the food is competent at best.

And almost all of the cellar is a secret only the owner holds (I refuse to refer to him by his nickname, which some people delight in doing).

You shouldn't have to be "someone" to get a good bottle of wine in a restaurant.
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you just need to not be Sharon Bowman to have a good experience there.
 
Great to see you back, Guilhaume, but my experience there also didn't live up to the billing, and we were "sent" by one of whatshisnicknames's best friends.
 
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:
Oh, not contentious and unpleasant, just wrong.
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It's only been 38 years since I first ate at Luger's. I know I'm not wrong - and others here seem to think likewise. That said, perhaps you shouldn't opine on my Spain/Luger comparisons until you've tasted a couple of top-level Spanish steaks yourself, don't you think?
 
You guys may be better than I am, but I start to wonder about the calibration of the test equipment when I compare to 25 y.o. taste experiences.

I hate to rain on the nostalgia parade, but is it possible that memory dims or that tastes may have shifted a bit?

I ask in all modesty, as aside from an interesting but industrial product like McCann's Oatmeal I am unsure what I taste that has complexity along with 25 years of real continuity of flavor.

Huh.
 
originally posted by VS:
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:
Oh, not contentious and unpleasant, just wrong.
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It's only been 38 years since I first ate at Luger's. I know I'm not wrong - and others here seem to think likewise. That said, perhaps you shouldn't opine on my Spain/Luger comparisons until you've tasted a couple of top-level Spanish steaks yourself, don't you think?
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If you'd take a moment to read my post, you'll notice that I didn't opine on your Spain/Luger comparisons.
 
Some simple products are still what they were: butter and pickles come to mind. They don't meet the "complexity" criterion but so it goes.
 
Clearly, the Luger/French/Spanish/long time ago/today steak question can be decided by everyone giving ratings between 50 and 100 and then submitting them all to VLM for objective analysis.
 
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:
originally posted by VS:
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:
Oh, not contentious and unpleasant, just wrong.
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It's only been 38 years since I first ate at Luger's. I know I'm not wrong - and others here seem to think likewise. That said, perhaps you shouldn't opine on my Spain/Luger comparisons until you've tasted a couple of top-level Spanish steaks yourself, don't you think?
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If you'd take a moment to read my post, you'll notice that I didn't opine on your Spain/Luger comparisons.
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Sorry for my obtuseness, but the only text I found in your post was "Oh, not contentious and unpleasant, just wrong." I must have missed the hidden contents.
 
originally posted by VS:
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:
originally posted by VS:
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:
Oh, not contentious and unpleasant, just wrong.
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It's only been 38 years since I first ate at Luger's. I know I'm not wrong - and others here seem to think likewise. That said, perhaps you shouldn't opine on my Spain/Luger comparisons until you've tasted a couple of top-level Spanish steaks yourself, don't you think?
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If you'd take a moment to read my post, you'll notice that I didn't opine on your Spain/Luger comparisons.
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Sorry for my obtuseness, but the only text I found in your post was "Oh, not contentious and unpleasant, just wrong." I must have missed the hidden contents.
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No, quite the opposite, you imagined content that wasn't there.
You called the meat flavorless, I responded that that wasn't true. Simple as that. I have no idea what the Spanish meat you're talking about tastes like and didn't imply that I did.
 
If you think Luger's meat is flavorful, you'll probably think that Spanish meat resembles Fred Flintstone's dinosaur steaks, so maybe it's better that you keep away from it.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Some simple products are still what they were: butter and pickles come to mind. They don't meet the "complexity" criterion but so it goes.
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Actually, Jeff, I've learned from Bob Henrick (I think) that butter has changed quite considerably in the last 60 years or so. Butter now sold is labeled "sweet cream" butter, but in earlier times butter was made from cream that had partially soured, giving it a decidedly tangier taste. Being under the age of 60 myself, I've never had (or seen) that earlier version of butter, but I defer to Bob or whoever it was who described it as tasting quite different from present day butter.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by MLipton:
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Some simple products are still what they were: butter and pickles come to mind. They don't meet the "complexity" criterion but so it goes.
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Actually, Jeff, I've learned from Bob Henrick (I think) that butter has changed quite considerably in the last 60 years or so. Butter now sold is labeled "sweet cream" butter, but in earlier times butter was made from cream that had partially soured, giving it a decidedly tangier taste. Being under the age of 60 myself, I've never had (or seen) that earlier version of butter, but I defer to Bob or whoever it was who described it as tasting quite different from present day butter.

Mark Lipton
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The Wiki entry on "Butter" explains the difference between "sweet cream butter" and "cultured butter." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter

If you've eaten European butter, you have almost certainly had "cultured butter."

Vermont Creamery, Organic Valley, and Organic Pastures are U.S. dairies that produce and sell cultured butter. Or you can make your own: http://ruhlman.com/2010/03/cultured-butter-at-home.html
 
originally posted by Robert Fleming:
The Wiki entry on "Butter" explains the difference between "sweet cream butter" and "cultured butter." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter

If you've eaten European butter, you have almost certainly had "cultured butter."

Vermont Creamery, Organic Valley, and Organic Pastures are U.S. dairies that produce and sell cultured butter. Or you can make your own: http://ruhlman.com/2010/03/cultured-butter-at-home.html
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Thanks, Robert. In that case, I have had cultured butter and it helps explain my decided preference for French and English butter.

Mark Lipton
 
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