Balthazar

I'm very much liking the sound of this...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/27/braised-thin-rib-beef-recipe

... except for all the binding with string stuff.  I'd be looking to find a way to do it without any of that sort of faffing around.

I had lunch at Balthazar once, an experience which, for reasons too complex to explain here, was set up to be a horrible disappointment, but proved far from it.  The main course I had - something very similar to the sole en papillote recipe in the sidebar of that Guardian page - I remember as being excellent but that's it, i.e. not terribly memorable, but the starter, a platter of a dozen different New England oysters, and the dessert, the prettiest and finest apple tart I have ever seen or eaten, made it one of the best and most memorable lunches I've ever had.  And the general atmosphere of the place was all, and exactly what I'd hoped for.  There are many reasons I can't wait to go back to New York, Balthazar is one of them.