I was a giant fan of Andrew Carmellini's cooking at Café Boulud, so much so that I spent my own money there to celebrate special occasions, and voted for him last year when he was nominated for a James Beard award. He won. The novel four-part menu encompassed four distinct cooking styles, which emphasized, say, French classic cooking, farmers' market fare, Vietnamese cuisine, and nouvelle vegetarian. With a couple of apps and entrées in each category, putting a meal together became a pleasurable dilemma. Nevertheless, one always wondered at Café Boulud: What was owing to Carmellini, and what to his... More >>>