Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare Review

never been

Maybe we’ve been swindled all this time in LA, SF, and NYC. Texas serves the best fish.

That’s a super thing to have done. I’m sure he loved it.

I guess I didn’t realize that was a regular occurrence. Not good.

Meh if it is Uchi, they probably think Nobu is great “Japanese” food.

EMP a few years ago before they were crowned #1 was excellent. Although after they won #1 it was probably the worst Michelin rated restaurant I have been to, let alone 3 stars IMO. Nothing but gimmicks to justify their “simplicity”. Service was not there I waited nearly ten minutes for my water to be filled AFTER I asked. The duck came out cold and over salted (I complained and it still came back salty). The dessert was a joke, it was merely two quenelles of ice cream.

Think the cause of this is due to the over expansion of their mediocre sister restaurant.

Not much gimmicks this time around but “simplicity” was perhaps a bit extreme. To be honest, I enjoyed the 2 ** Californios in SF much more than I did Le Bernardin or EMP.

Chef Ramirez seems to have calmed down a bit. In the early days in Brooklyn, he was threatening to kick people out if he saw note or picture taking. He quietly, after the meal, told one person I know that she was not to ever return, as he saw her taking some notes.

When did this happen?

Now that’s a good question. Years roll by quickly these days and I can’t believe I’ve been on food boards for almost 20 years now. So… I’m guessing maybe 7-8 years ago. I’m pretty sure it was when it was byob, so maybe that’s a way to figure it out. At any rate, its even a better story (as told to me by 4 friends who were there that night, including the one who he said this to) but the rest of it isn’t really for publication.

I’m glad he took a chill pill over the years and relaxed the rules. Did any of your friends ever go back?

I’ll never forget the time I was at Flying Saucer. I may have reviewed the chef when he was cooking at another restaurant, maybe Auberge de Soleil, and maybe not too favorably. I can’t really remember. At any rate, he had borne a grudge for a long time, and he had eventually opened this little place which I thought was very good, very charming, and the food was out of this world. You couldn’t make reservations, so I waited for a table. I sat down, I started eating, I was taking notes. It was an open kitchen, and he’s looking over at me taking notes, and I could see he was just getting more and more upset. Finally he walked out of the kitchen with a 14-inch chef’s knife in his hand, came right over to me—he was sweating, he was hot, he was pissed off—and he said “Are you Patricia Untermann?” And I looked him right in the eye and I said “No! I am not! I am not Patricia Untermann!” Then he just—it was a cathartic moment for him. He poured out all his beefs about critics and how little they knew and how they didn’t understand what it took to be a chef and what kind of training was involved and how could all these shallow California chefs who had had no training be getting attention and getting good reviews, and Frenchmen who had studied and been cooking since they were 14 be discarded because they—I mean, he had some justification, to tell you the truth, but I don’t think it was a good way to treat a guest in the restaurant, I really don’t.

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I agree that he had good points. And not a great way to treat a guest.

Perhaps “guests” should stop being critics. With multi-page reviews.

If you do something in a business area with public access for money, e.g. being chef, you should be able to handle criticism/review or you are in the wrong business. (everybody should be able to handle criticism/reviews of their professional work)

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I hear ya but I do get frustrated at the occasional Yelp review where poor ratings are given due to at least one of the following reasons:

  1. Neta on nigiri isn’t melt-in-your mouth so fish can’t possibly be fresh
  2. Lack of vegan options
  3. Not given an complimentary dessert on a birthday or anniversary
  4. Orders a hanger steak but complains about it not being tender like as t another place where a filet mignon was ordered
  5. Restaurant being inside a market/dodgy neighborhood

Many more…

There are in every profession people who have little idea about the profession but always a loud voice - if one is intimidated by (or wants to silence) such voices, it only shows that one is insecure and has little confidence in the own abilities. Either you believe in yourself and clearly recognize which criticism to take serious or…

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I’ve hesitated ordering due to the seemingly simple descriptions.

Should have known better… why did I doubt Mr. Ramírez?

Impeccable cooking and flavors. The carabinero Iranian rice dish was off the charts!!

Pairing tonight

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fuck

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Indeed, my sentiments exactly on my first spoon of the rice

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what’s the first dish? lamb?