Random Notes, June 29, 2004 — It looks like the French Laundry is open again. (Free registration required.) I guess Thomas Keller is finally done opening Per Se in New York City.

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A friend at work is spending a few weeks in Singapore. Please bring me back some Tim Tams.

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I'm always fascinated when recipes call for wrapping everything up in tinfoil, or parchment paper, or clay, or whatever. Something about packaging up the food while you cook it is neat to me. The Los Angeles Times (free registration required) has some thoughts and recipes for cooking in parchment paper.

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Zagat rated a Brooklyn restaurant unusually highly. And the New York Times (free registration required) decided to write about it. I'm not a big Zagat fan anyway. The numbers (what's a "27"?) don't mean anything to me, and I feel like everyone just plugs for their favorites anyway. I see places that are uninspired scoring raves in Zagat and I know it's not for me.

That said, Frank Bruni, the Times restaurant critic is great. Check out this quote: "She brought my guests and me an appetizer of chanterelle mushrooms that had been sautéed in a white truffle butter and then mixed with creamed corn. It tasted the way a warm bath feels." Writing about food in a way that's both creative as well as effective in conveying flavor is hard. Bruni does both and entertains as well.

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Alex forwarded this article from Slate. Maybe I should get a standalone freezer after all.

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