"del posto" news and stories

Frank Bruni dined at Del Posto this week, Mario Batali’s newest venture in New York City. Apart from the official review, Mr. Bruni waxed philosophical about the marks of a celebrity-staffed restaurant. First and foremost is visibility, because to capitalize on the recognition that a celebrity has, they must be seen. This means that the chefs will often spend half their time wandering around the dining room and not necessarily in the kitchen. But celebrity can spark other unusual things in a restaurant. For example, diners at Del Posto were given a bag of breadcrumbs as they left. No, customers were not expected to make a trail back to the restaurant. They were given a sheet of information on how breadcrumbs are used in various dishes so they could try cooking them at home.

Never having been confronted by a phenomenon such as this, I cannot say how I would react. Clearly the purpose is to further the celebrity of the chef by inspiring cooking at home based on his or her recipes and not necessarily to further the reputation of the restaurant. After all, if they wanted people to eat out more frequently, shouldn’t they discourage them from cooing at home?

Source

The main feature of today's New York Times food section is a foray into the world of cultivated truffles. Apparently cultivated black truffles are more common than many consumers think and many restaurants care to admit.

Other stories:

• Eric Asimov sings the praises of white Bordeaux.
• Mark Bittman does Moroccan chicken with green olives.
• Nigella Lawson returns with chickpea curry and herbed millet.
• Kim Severson talks about Louisiana's crawfish shortage.
• Frank Bruni visits Del Posto.
• Marian Burros gives an update on the ongoing meat-and-carbon-monoxide issue.

[Photo: Tony Cenicola/NYT]