9.3.08

A great place to start...

Greetings, Internet. Since I so enjoy reading about other people's adventures in fine dining, I have been toying with the idea of starting a little blog of my own for a while now. As I planned an epic feasting journey to our nation's new and unlikely culinary capitol (Las Vegas, that is), I decided to strike while the iron is hot. I hope you enjoy the opportunity to join me for dinner- over the next three days, I will be dining at Guy Savoy, Robuchon, Charlie Trotters, and as many more as I can manage. Just one note about my intentions here: I am a cook, and I am a fan of cooks. While I will inevitably have opinions about the meals that I will eat, I do not desire to take a snarky or superior tone. I will post critiques, but respectfully, and in full acknowledgement of the fact that my opinions are entirely subjective.

On the plane here, there was an interview with the great director Sydney Lumet. I wasn't able to grab a pen in time to capture his entire quote, but what he basically said was that he wanted the critics who parsed his work to have deep technical knowledge. He said that if a film critic couldn't look at a scene that he shot and know which lens he used, and why, that their opinion was basically useless to him- no better than his elevator man's. I thought it beautifully summed up the restaurant critic conundrum- a bunch of guys who couldn't fry an egg telling the great chefs of this world what they've done wrong. And so, dear reader, while I've been known to fry an egg or two, I pledge to offer only my humble, "elevator man's" perspective.

2 comments:

Peggy said...

Awesome site, Skye! Not what I needed on day 1 of a cranberry juice fast. You are the ultimate travelling companion, so why not join us (w/ Nate, Carter) in France in June? We are staying in Chef Lucia (www.lucias.com) Watson's Brittany country house, Maison de Granit, June 15-21. Also will be in Paris, but have not yet done accomodations. Any dining advice for a bunch of elevator operators is appreciated....better yet, join us! XXOO

Dan said...

What a treat to accompany you in your hip pocket on your journey through these incomparables! Thanks for edifying my culinary experiences with yours.