La Grenouille: a French classic

Checked out La Grenouille with M today for lunch. Not the sort of place that I would pick on my own but I am always willing to try a new place, once. I was happily surprised. M and I were the youngest diners there by a couple of decades; it has been a long time since I've dined at a place and felt both young and unadulterated.

I love dining with M. He loves food, loves champagne and loves good service.. plus, it had been four months since we had seen each other. He looked very handsome with a turtleneck sweater and jacket. I love it when a man dresses well. We couldn't stop talking. We shared updates on our recent trips. His to Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile and mine to France.

I was bit anxious when I arrived, as one of my bedside tables, a Nelson Bubble Cigar Wall Sconce, had just exploded before my departure. Fire and electricity make me feel uneasy, especially in my home. Luckily, I was in my room when the event happened. Who knows what I would have returned home to if unattended? I feel grateful today.

It was a cold and windy day in New York and I was in the mood for heartier food. We started with the Le Risotto Aux Champignons (wild mushrooms risotto), which was good but not noteworthy. The temperature was a bit too cool and it was not cooked slightly al dente, which I prefer. We were comped the middle course, the La Tourte Aux Poireaux, Frisee Et Persil Plat (leek torte with frisee and flat parsley). It was decent. I liked the sauce in the Les Quenelles De Brochet Lyonnaise ("quenelles" of pike "lyonnaise") but the didn't like the spongey texture of the quenelles, a house specialty. I also didn't like the accompanying separated white rice.

The management liked M and they comped him a bottle of the 2002 Paul Goerg Blanc de Blancs. It had some apple and leesiness on the nose and almost a gritty texture on the palate. It went well with our dishes. I didn't like their champagne list; this seemed to be the most reasonable option.

My favorite dish of the lunch was the La Tarte Feuilletée aux Pommes Chaude et sa Glace Vanille. Executed perfectly! Like an apple tatin but surrounded with puff pastry. I am usually not a huge fan of desserts(more savory palate) but this dish had the perfect balance of taste, texture, and density. Oh la la!

I was impressed with both the service and the decor. La Grenouille is famous for their flower arrangements and deservadly so. The staff executed flawlessly. My only hestitation in returning here is the crowd. I don't like the plastic surgery and heavily botoxed set. There is a place in NYC for classic French food yet after dining here, I felt nostalgic for the food of an old favorite, La Côte Basque.

La Grenouille
3 East 52nd Street
(between Fifth and Madison Avenues)
New York City
(212) 752-1495

European wines will only get more expensive

Many importers and distributors further increased their wholesale prices of European wines to retailers and restaurants effective January 1, 2008. More increases are scheduled. Hopefully, wholesale players locked in a fixed forward exchange rate but how long will this be sustainable and are the prices from the supplier translated? Compound price increases in light of a recession and the resulting decrease in US consumer spending stemming from housing woes and challenging equity markets and I see decreased sales. Luckily, most retailers and restaurants use cost accounting so the EUR/$ may not have immediate impact on consumers. However, six months forecasts look more optomistic. Wonder what Ben Bernanke will do...

Read the below from Goldman Sachs:

Further easing by the Fed will also provide a headwind for the Dollar
as rate differentials narrow and the Dollar moves into the carry funding
camp. Specifically, we now forecast EUR/$ at 1.51, 1.51 and 1.40 in 3, 6
and 12 months.

On my personal portfolio, I have played FXE, ERO, UDN, and UUP. Note that power shares are taxed on a marked-to-market basis while currency shares have regular equity-style capital gains.

Ultreo: the ultimate wine stain removing toothbrush

I purchased the Ultreo toothbrush a few months ago and I love my newish toothbrush. It is especially effective for removing wine stains, especially after a session of red wine barrel tasting. My teeth feel squeaky clean and are noticeably whiter. It is a scrubbling bubbles party in my mouth! If I am tasting a lot, I use Sensodyne toothpaste but I have found the Arm & Hammer Advance White with Baking Soda and Peroxide to be most effective daily toothpaste. With bi-annual use of Crest whitestrips and an occasional BriteSmile visit, I have avoided tawny-hued teeth.

I would advise caution on the above products with the exception of the Ultreo and Sensodyne, as they can make your teeth more porous and thus, need to be used judiciously.