Fat Guy

It will be interesting to see how it goes. Will Landmarc become a morning weekday neighborhood hangout, where people come with laptops and sit for a couple of hours? (Do they have WiFi?) Will tourists go there in the morning? Will increasingly casual businesspeople use it? Will they do morning events, like where the pharmaceutical reps bring in a bunch of doctors from Roosevelt and show slides? Catering and delivery? It's really hard to know.

I was sort of hoping for "I'll come over and do it for you." Is there a trick to this, like refrigerating or starting with a certain size chunks?

I don't think there's a clear template for it. If breakfast turns out to be a money-loser, they'll close for breakfast, unless they're contractually obligated to be open for breakfast -- in which case there's probably a subsidy in place to compensate. It's not as though anybody is really paying market rent in the pretend society of the Time Warner Center. If Himmel wants Landmarc open for breakfast, it will be open for breakfast through the year 3,000.

Assume somebody gives me a 5kg block of Callebaut 70-30-38Basis. Assume further that I wish to make a zillion chocolate chip/chunk cookies. What's the best way to convert the chocolate into chips or chunks? By "best" I mean easiest for a lazy amateur with no special equipment. But of course academically I'm interested in other approaches.

Okay, why do I do this too? ← Because you're insane. Also, whenever I touch a plate in violation of a command not to, I make sure to look injured and gasp "Aaaaaah!" The less hot the plate is, the more pained I'll pretend to be. There was some contention on the Making your own kitchen towels topic that cloth diapers make good kitchen towels. For those who are unfamiliar with cloth diapers, they don't look like Pampers at all. They're just squares of cotton. In order to make them into actual diapers, you have to fold them a certain way, pin them, etc. You'd never know they were diapers otherwise. And they have a million other uses, for example you put one over your shoulder when you burp the baby. Anyway, today I compared a blue side towel to a white cloth diaper. I was amazed at the similarities. The dimensions are slightly different: the cloth diaper is a little bit larger (by a couple of inches in one dimension). The fabric itself, though a different color, is extremely similar when you look at and feel it close up. So, for those of you looking for a New York-restaurant style side towel, you can always grab a pack of Gerber "birdseye weave" cloth diapers for about US$14/dozen.

My new collection of battle-scarred side towels:

Tonight a manager at a restaurant I frequent scored ten blue side towels for me. Apparently the guy from the linen service was so amused that somebody was asking questions about side towels that he just threw in some extras. Anyway, now, in addition to a nice supply of side towels, I now have the name of the place they come from: White Plains Linen. I'll try to learn more.

Turkey: interesting idea. I'll have to look into that. There hasn't been any forward motion on my chicken-finger project, but maybe soon . . .

Look at what they accomplish with the kitchen space they have downtown, and compare it to the fantasy kitchen they now have at Time Warner. They should be able to handle many times the throughput. And look at the menu. I think the original Landmarc was either designed from the ground up to be repeatable and scalable, or unintentionally developed that way (probably the former). There's nothing on the menu that requires the presence of a superstar chef or any great amount of artistry. You just need good purchasing and good training (okay, easier said than done; then again on the purchasing side you can often do better with a bigger operation -- all of a sudden you're a major account with your meat supplier, etc.). There's no reason you can't do 600 seats 24/7 the same way, if the demand is there. The nice thing is that Marc Murphy has the talent to create a menu with so many winners despite a fundamentally simple formula. And I think he has the integrity to keep from going in a mail-it-in direction. He's just not the kind of chef I picture telling the crew to par-cook all the steaks at 5pm. He wants the place to be good, in part because he's a serious chef with a lot of self-respect and in part because if it's good and successful the next one will be at the Genting casino in Sentosa, Singapore.

That's not what I'd be worried about. The cuisine at Landmarc is not the sort that breaks when you try to top 150 covers. It's more like steakhouse cuisine, which is easy to scale up so long as you plan for it. I'm pretty sanguine about the quality of the food. My concern would be the opposite: that the place will become so (deservedly) popular that it will be difficult to get in, or the prices will go up, or the table turns will have to be pretty aggressive. Landmarc downtown is one of the great neighborhood restaurants, and the Upper West Side is a densely populated, affluent area desperate for anything like it. I suppose there will always be Mondays.

If you gravitate towards more broth-like pan sauces, as I do, your choice of service vessel becomes especially important. You can't effectively serve a broth-like pan sauce on a plate. You need to use a bowl. So, for those who plan to make sauces like this, do yourself a favor and invest in a set of rimmed bowls. Also, when setting the table for a course that is to be served with a broth-like sauce, be sure to provide a spoon in addition to the knife and fork. Conceptually, when you plate something up with this sort of sauce, you are serving it in the sauce. By contrast, with a thicker sauce, you either serve the item on the sauce (the more contemporary way to do it) or you serve the sauce over the item (old school). Using a broth-like sauce also affects the way you treat sides/garnishes. For example, if you plate veal cutlets in bowls with a broth-like sauce, you can't really put mashed potatoes in the bowls. You'll need a second serving vessel for the potatoes, or whatever else you're serving. This is a nice opportunity to use vessels like covered ramekins, or mini Le Creuset pots. Although, some garnishes can go in the broth, like mushrooms.

So that's what they're called!

Peter Hertzmann has an excellent piece on pan sauces on his website. To break it down along French classical lines, there are generally four elements of sauces au moment (that is to say, pan sauces): First, the garniture de base. This would be where jsmeeker's shallots come in. Once you've got the meat out of the pan and have drained off the excess fat, you may want to add something like shallots, or there are many other options: garlic, pancetta, tarragon to name just a few. There may be several items added at this stage, for example in a Bordelaise pan sauce you'd add shallots, thyme and bay leaf. Second, the deglacage, which is jsmeeker's white whine. But it could be cognac, or vinegar, or even water if the other ingredients you're using warrant less rather than more flavor at this stage. For Bordelaise, it would be red wine. Third, the fond, which could be stock or a variant (demi-glace, glace). For Bordelaise it would be veal demi-glace. After some reduction, this would be the point at which you might strain the sauce (for example if you used bay leaf). Finally, the liaison or finition. This could be a thickener/binder, like a roux, or it could be something like capers or mustard. Or it could be nothing, like in Bordelaise. There's some crossover among categories, for example an herb can be a garniture de base or a finition. But the classical categories help one to think about and experiment with pan sauces. Of course there are many pan sauces that are formally described in classical French cuisine -- you don't need to reinvent the wheel. Start with Hetzmann. Also check out the pan sauces section of Jack Lang's eGCI course. And you can move on to plenty of books.

I spoke to an actual person at schwa today, and was told they are open Mondays at present.

To expand on that, a New York Times article ("So Pink, So New York," bu Erika Kinetz, 22 September 2002) quotes Mark Russ Federman's daughter, Niki, on this point (Russ & Daughters is the preeminent Jewish appetizing shop in the universe): I think the problem overall is that smoked- and cured-salmon terminology is simply not standardized in any meaningful way. So you really have to interrogate people about exactly what they're saying, if the even know what they're saying.

The reason I like Schneider so much as a CSA cookbook is that it's encyclopedic in scope, organization and style. When you open up to a vegetable you get the whole botanical rundown, history, photos and information on storage and basic preparation methods. More fully fleshed out recipes follow.

An updated vodka gimlet is easy to make by the boatload and tends to please a wide variety of customers -- especially non-aficionados, a group in which I include myself and most guests we have over. Vodka, Rose's lime, fresh lime (or a mixture of lemon and lime) sweetened with a little sugar, ice, shake, you're all set. You'll have to determine the exact ratio by taste because the strength of the fresh juice varies a lot.

Throughout the winter, I've been steaming Brussels sprouts routinely as part of family dinner. I don't do a lot of steaming, but it's such a simple way to make Brussels sprouts that it has become the default. Using the pot I use, with one of those collapsible metal steamer baskets, if I put 16 ounces of cold water (it so happens that there's always a 16-ounce cup on the counter -- it's not like I'm really measuring the amount out) in the bottom, add the Brussels sprouts, put on the lid and turn the burner to high, I have nicely cooked Brussels sprouts in almost exactly 15 minutes every time. This is a prize-winning photo of the setup I've been using: Brussels sprouts, however, are quite forgiving. And now that they're becoming less available (not to mention we're sick of them), I'm probably going to start steaming other vegetables. Do you all think we could have a mini-clinic on steaming vegetables? I have a few questions to start with: - Is it worth my while to get a dedicated steamer, as opposed to the collapsible basket in pot that I use now? - If so, what's the best setup and also one that's cheap -- I'm not going to buy a $200 All-Clad pot with steamer insert. - What are some good candidates for steaming (other than Brussels sprouts)? - What are the best tips and tricks for getting the vegetables to come out well? - Are there ways to improve the flavor of steamed vegetables? Would it make a difference if I used something other than water? Is there a way to season what you're steaming, either before or during, or is there a best way to do it after?

I went by Glendale again yesterday for a comprehensive tasting. I tried the pretzel shape, stick and round roll. My perception of denseness was influenced a lot by the shape: the ones with more surface area appear denser. So, the pretzel shape appears the densest, followed by the stick and then the roll. They are all, however, less dense than, say, a street-vendor pretzel. But they're certainly denser than most white rolls. They have a nice crust, I think, with a good ratio of salt. The sticks actually have poppy seeds in addition to the salt. These are not gourmet items -- they're just honest bread from an old-school bakery -- but to me they're very tasty. I made a really good sandwich on one of the sticks, with a little Muenster cheese, Romaine lettuce and Dijon mustard.

One of my favorite books along these lines is "Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini: The Essential Reference," by Elizabeth Schneider. It has 500 recipes and 275 photographs, and is simply overflowing with great ideas. <iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=egulletsociety-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0688152600&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr&nou=1" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Oh, if you're a whole crew definitely do a Chinese banquet at Ricky Ly's. Also, I would certainly suggest planning one evening in Cleveland -- it's an amazing town. If you can get an afternoon and evening, even better. I forgot to mention the Kraus Pizza chain. It's a local chain of pizzerias that makes a relative of the Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. Totally overloaded with cheese, sauce and toppings. They make a stuffed version (dough on bottom and top), which is the local favorite. There are several branches, so you'll want to find the one near your location.

Oh yes, this place Angello's is not bad. It bills itself as "California Italian," which is relatively accurate. It's semi-upscale Americanized Italian, but not Italian-American red sauce cuisine. 4905 W Tuscarawas Street, Canton, 330.477.1486.

Over the past decade or so, we've spent a total of several weeks in the Canton area. We have close friends who live there and we visit them whenever we can. In terms of fine dining, forget about it -- that's simply not the strength of the area. Make plans to drive the hour to Cleveland and go to Lola or one of the other good Cleveland restaurants if you want a fine-dining experience while you're there. You will also find that in the Akron-Canton area pretty much all the middle-market chains are represented, and that they dominate the food scene. The restaurants around Canton that tend to be good are mostly of the down-home variety. A couple of places I can recommend, that I know are still open and still good because we were there last year, are: The Cameo Grill, owned by Joe and Judy Heinzer, is one of the best breakfast restaurants I've been to anywhere. If we're in Canton for a week, we're likely to eat breakfast at Cameo's seven times. You will not find a better plate of eggs and sausage with white gravy anywhere. And it's cheap. Incredibly cheap. A total dive, you'll be dining with a crowd of bikers, mill workers and various unexplained people. It's at 809 South Erie, Massillon, Ohio, 330.837.1919. Ricky Ly's is, as far as I can tell, the one good Chinese restaurant in the area. I've spoken to Ricky Ly (he's the owner, in case that wasn't clear from the name of the restaurant) a few times, and hope to include him in a book I'm working on. Like pretty much all Chinese restaurants in Middle America (and even in the Chinatowns of the major cities), Ricky Ly's has all the usual American Chinese glop on the menu. However, the kitchen can also produce a lot of good dishes, and is oriented towards providing good food to those with a willingness to order it. Somebody in the Ly family is Thai, so there are a bunch of Thai dishes mixed in with the menu, and they're good. The best experience the restaurant offers is a banquet, which you have to arrange in advance. It's not cheap, especially not by local standards, but you can set up something very nice if you sit down with Ricky and plan it out. The address is 4695 Dressler Road N.W., Canton, Ohio, 330.492.5905. There's a website with menu here. There's also a good steakhouse in the area, however I'm having trouble pulling up the address. The problem is that it used to be called Leonard's, but has since changed names, but we still call it Leonard's. I'll email our friends there and see what I can find out.

Norma Kamali

It would be interesting to see the startup kits that new Chinese restaurants use. I'd love to know the name and address of the company, if there is one, that supplies generic American Chinese restaurants with their menus and, perhaps, provides for their supply lines and basic recipes.