Fat Guy

I chatted with several servers and the chef tonight, and ascertained that the slow nights at Upstairs are usually Tuesday and Wednesday. Especially before 8pm, you can usually just walk in on those nights. Monday, unlike a lot of restaurants, is a usually busy night because Upstairs attracts a lot of industry people, many of whom have Mondays off (tonight was slow because of some event related to the restaurant show that has been going on for the past three days). Also tried some sushi. I'll join the consensus: it's quite good, but no better than what you can get at a similar or lower price point at several other places.

Bo Ssam is $180 Ribeye (presumably Wagyu) is $115

Tonight I decided to try the sequence Momo-Ssam - Degustation - Upstairs. Amazingly, I was able to get seated at all three without delay. What I saw (and tasted) tonight strengthened my belief that we're seeing a new phenomenon. No, it's not completely revolutionary and unrelated to everything that came before it. But it's tangible. I think saying that Upstairs is just like the Tavern at Gramercy Tavern really misses the point on a few levels. For one thing, the Tavern and most of the other "front rooms" are serving what I'd consider old-school rustic bistro fare. There isn't an haute-cuisine experience available at most of those places, so they're not relevant to the inquiry. For another thing, the issue of ownership, while interesting, is only relevant insofar as it affects the dining experience. Upstairs simply doesn't feel like Bouley's front room. It feels like its own thing. And for still another thing, there's the scene: there is, for example, a significant stylistic audience overlap among Momo-Ssam, Upstairs and Room4Dessert. Indeed, if you talk to the servers at each of those places, you'll find that they consider themselves to be part of a community -- mention to your Momo-Ssam server that you're going to Room4Dessert and you'll be told, or at least I was the other night, "Say hi to Will and the gang for us." Whether Degustation fits the pattern is an open question. I think the food, while quite good, is weaker and less haute than what's available at Momo-Ssam, Upstairs and certainly the Bar Room at the Modern. Visiting Degustation between Momo-Ssam and Upstairs really emphasized that it's operating at a lower level (I'd actually rather eat at Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar than at Degustation). And the Degustation crowd is older and more sedate -- it's much more like the Bar Room crowd than the Momo-Ssam/Upstairs crowd. I think if you look at it as a dartboard, with The Paradigm as the bullseye, you'll find a tight cluster of darts around the bullseye representing Momo-Ssam (inner bull), Upstairs and Room4Dessert (outer bull). Then you have other darts that are in the triple or double rings. That's where I'd put Degustation and the Bar Room. For what it's worth, the fried Brussels sprouts at Momo-Ssam are a revelation, and the custard with truffle and escargots is probably one of the two best dishes on the menu (the other being the uni with tapioca and whipped tofu) in the normal price range (I haven't tried the two $100+ items). The best thing I tasted at Degustation was the "tortilla" -- it's the only dish I had that was full on the haute level. Steer clear of the overpriced plancha items -- they're utterly unremarkable. Upstairs, on two visits, the scallops are the best I've seen at any restaurant this season.

$2.79 a pound here in Manhattan yesterday. Cut up into 2" lengths, sauteed very briefly in butter, added eggs and made a nice frittata, finished by topping with parmigiano and running it under the broiler. I'm ashamed to admit I also added a little white-truffle-infused olive oil to the butter.

I'm with Sam, in that I feel it's not worth any effort on my part to preserve tomato paste in multiple-bag arrangements, penguin-shaped ice-cube trays or end-capped cylinders. And I too have limited freezer space. My current practice is to use however much tomato paste I need and throw the rest of the can in the trash, unless I know I'll be cooking something else with tomato paste in the next day or two, in which case I'll leave the rest of the can on the door of the fridge.

I confess it never occurred to me to use both cans and tubes.

Okay, I've got some beans coming in the mail. I'll report on progress. Now I just need a small bottle of vanilla to get through the next couple of months.

Maybe it's even possible to leave the beans in and top it up a couple of times -- you might be able, over time, to get a couple of liters out of a good bunch of beans. I can't imagine there's a perishability problem. The alcohol should act as a preservative indefinitely. Maybe loss of some flavor over time, but I imagine that would be a long time. Commercial vanilla extract seems to last for years on the shelf with no problems. I think I might try this.

I wouldn't even consider Nougatine. It's just not that good. The main dining room at Jean Georges is one of the country's best restaurants, but Nougatine isn't a leader in any category. As between the Bar Room and the main dining room at the Modern, it sort of depends on personal preference. There are plenty of people, including the New York Times dining critic, who like the Bar Room better than the main dining room at the Modern. Certainly, the Bar Room is a better value. It's a quicker, more casual meal. And the Bar Room food is incredibly flavorful and interesting. But I'd definitely choose the main dining room at the Modern. If you (and your host) like fine dining, and you favor really elegant, subtle, artful cuisine, the main dining room at the Modern is a great choice. Also, the Bar Room has, I think, been somewhat overwhelmed of late, on account of the recent wave of recognition. I had a disappointing experience there recently, and have heard tell of several others. Something to consider -- this may not be the exact best moment to visit the Bar Room.

Interesting. How long?

I'm looking to buy a liter or so of vanilla extract. It doesn't have to be the super-premium stuff, but it has to be real vanilla extract without all sorts of other garbage in it. Any ideas on the best source for such a thing? I've already done all the Googling, so what I'm really asking for is personal knowledge. I'm assuming mail-order is the way to go, though if there's a place in New York City with great prices that works for me too.

Maggie, I too have slowly been reintroducing milk to my diet. Milk wasn't really a food group for me in college, and afterwards we had skim milk in the house almost exclusively for all of my adult life, until we had a kid and he reached milk-drinking age. All the authorities say you shouldn't give skim milk to toddlers, so we started buying whole milk. And because nothing is too good for the precious child, we buy the best milk on offer, which where we shop is either Ronnybrook or Organic Cow, depending on what's on the shelf. The thing is, he doesn't drink it. He's a water drinker. He'll have maybe two sips of milk, and then ask for "Agua?" (Don't ask me why he prefers Spanish.) So now we always have surplus whole milk around, and as it nears its expiration I use it on my cereal, or as a beverage to accompany cookies or brownies or blondies or whatever. And I love it. I don't drink very much of it -- the last thing I need is more fat in my diet -- but a couple of glasses a week has brought me a great deal of pleasure.

I'm in the process of figuring out how to make chicken fingers for our son. I can't stand the thought of using store-bought frozen chicken fingers. Not only are they full of crappy ingredients, and not only do they taste bad, but also they're ridiculously overpriced compared to fresh chicken. If it's possible to make good chicken fingers in the oven, without the need to deal with messy frying on the stovetop, that's even better. Ideally, I'd like to be able to fabricate a lot of these, freeze them and then be able to heat a few of them (or have someone else, like a babysitter, heat them) at a time in the toaster oven. Any thoughts?

What attracted me to these steaks was that they were from the OBE brand, which is an Australian brand of organic/natural beef. I've really enjoyed other OBE cuts, and these were really cheap. I figured with that provenance, maybe there would be some virtues to the eye round cut. What about stir frying? Isn't the round what most Asian restaurants use for beef for stir frying? Or what about cutting them up for kebabs? I'm not sure I understand the braising idea. Is there enough fat and collagen in these things to make braising a good option? In general, I think of lean cuts as best for slicing thin and cooking quickly to medium rare -- but maybe that's wrong.

Okay, not a million. Five of them, actually. They were on sale. I bought them. Visually, they look a little bit like tenderloins, but they're not. They're "eye round steaks." What should I do with them?

I imagine if you're using a prepared mustard made with vinegar, it's plenty acidic. I've had similar problems, and I don't really feel like doing all the necessary experiments to rule various additives in and out, so I just cook the beans plain with water and salt until they're al dente, then I add whatever needs to be added.

I have in my cabinet Hunt's, Contadina, Luigi Vitelli, and Muir Glen Organic. The Hunt's is as Carrot Top says. The Luigi Vitelli is "Whole Ripe Tomatoes, salt." The Contadina is "Tomatoes" and also says "100% Tomatoes" on the can. The Muir Glen is "Organic Tomato Paste And Naturally Derived Citric Acid." Interesting.

Sorry to pop up with yet another supermarket sous vide product, however I noticed this morning, when purchasing some Rocal cooked beets, that it said right on the package: Betteraves rouges sous vide épluchées issues de l’agriculture biologique (Vacuum pack peeled organic beetroot) What I'm thinking is that these beets are probably cooked sous vide for real. In other words, I don't think they're cooked and then vacuum packed. Rather, I'm guessing they're vacuum packed and then placed in either a water bath or a steam chamber and brought to X temperature for Y time.

I've never done a side-by-side test -- indeed I've never really tasted tomato paste straight, except while licking my fingers -- so I don't know if the tubes taste better. But I've never found them to be economical. One 4.5-ounce tube of Amore paste costs as much as something like six 6-ounce cans of whatever tomato paste is on sale two-for-a-dollar (about $3, either way). So even if every time you open up a can you only use a quarter of it and throw the rest in the trash (an unlikely scenario), you still come out ahead. I've now reached the limits of my mathematical skills, but even if you take Amore's "double concentrated" claim at face value and assume that means an ounce of Amore has twice as much tomato power as an ounce of Contadina, it still doesn't seem worth it. Heck, I was just out this morning and even the organic tomato paste cans only cost 89 cents, and there was a deal on little trays of 12 cans of regular tomato paste that worked out to a hair under 42 cents a can. Meanwhile I think the Amore tubes were $3.29.

The Contadina website has quite a few recipes that use tomato paste. They don't seem particularly imaginative, though. http://www.contadina.com/Recipes.asp?cat=Tomato%20Paste I've never paid much attention to the available varieties, but from the websites Hunt's seems to have a no-salt-added version, which would seem useful if the tomato paste is to end up as part of a reduced sauce: http://www.hunts.com/gateway?waf.action=Hu...3&mnav=products

Crocs don't work for me either. But electrician's boots? The issue for me, and for most people I think, is that workboots are an impractical and uncomfortable solution for the home cook. Most people's needs run more towards something that slips on and off, breathes a little bit and doesn't look too out-of-place. Clogs seem a good solution. There are a lot of variants available. I should add: when I put in lengthy kitchen time, like spending a week in a professional kitchen, clogs don't cut it for me. My current preference is a pair of Timberland light hiking shoes. They have many of the elements of boot construction but don't cover the ankle. But . . . you can only accomplish so much with shoes alone. It still helps quite a bit to have a softer surface to stand on.

I used to walk around barefoot and cook either barefoot or in socks. Those were bad ideas for a number of reasons. Over time, I did plenty of damage to my feet, some of which I was able to fix and some of which I'll probably never fully be able to undo. In addition, I've had a couple of incidents where I've dropped heavy or hot objects on my feet, stepped on sharp things, etc. Luckily, no serious injuries -- but how long can such luck last? So, I now always at least wear slippers around the house and in the kitchen, and if I'm really cooking I wear clogs. Also, if you have tile floors this is less of a concern, but with wood floors you want to protect the floors -- not just your feet. My kitchen's wood floors are far better preserved on account of the carpet mats we use. It's a real pain to refinish your wood kitchen floors, so it's better to protect them so they don't need refinishing.

Pardon my sloppy language. I meant fast-food chains. The table-service chains do seem to operate differently.

I'm not telling, I'm asking. What is tomato paste anyway? It seems like an incredibly useful substance, but I've never been all that creative about its applications. I've used it to make stocks or sauces richer and more colorful, and I've used it to thicken tomato sauce. There must be a million other uses. Tell all.

It's hard to see a sensible objection to the idea of providing nutrition information. There may be some details that need to be worked out, but it seems like an overwhelmingly good idea. It's true that nutrition information is only an estimate, however as long as the estimate represents an average it has just as much ultimate value as an absolute number would. In other words, if I estimate an order of fries to have 1,000 calories, and I eat two orders on two different days, it probably doesn't matter that, on account of inconsistencies in serving size, or the composition of potatoes, or whatever, that on one day my serving actually had 1,200 calories and on the other day it actually had 800. I think it's also important to note that it is not at all burdensome to provide nutrition information. I'm not sure how many people reading along here have ever compiled nutrition information, but if you did you'd realize it's as easy as entering a recipe into a computer. Cheap software (which the federal government should make available as a public domain product) looks up the ingredients in a huge database, does all the computations, and spits out a Nutrition Facts label. No problem. No burden, or such a limited burden it's not worth worrying about. For some reason people are under the impression that only mega-corporations have the resources to provide nutrition information, and that's just false. It's easy for a mom-and-pop place to do it too. It's easy to do it for the daily special -- it just takes a few minutes. It's probably worth noting that a whole lot of restaurants, and certainly the overwhelming majority of chain restaurants, do provide nutrition information. It's more a question of the venue: do they provide it on the menu or menu-board, in a handout available at the restaurant, or do you have to go online to do the research. The proposal on the table now is to put this information on menus. As someone who is pro-information, I wouldn't have a problem with this (I also don't think it would accomplish much, but that's another story). There might be some aesthetic concerns, but if the information listed is just calories and fat it can probably be incorporated tastefully into a menu. If you have to list things out at the level of riboflavin and folic acid, then I think you have to go to an off-menu system, but making this available in the restaurant is still sensible, or at worst harmless. One good point the advocates of this kind of on-menu information make is that it may encourage restaurants to compete by offering less caloric, less fatty food. In other words, with mandatory calorie counts on the menu, you generate incentives for the big chains to say, "Our food has fewer calories than their food!" If the focus of competition can be shifted away from big portions (actually, this is already happening -- there is no Super Size at McDonald's anymore) and towards fewer calories, that might be a good thing. Then again, it's hard to predict the unintended consequences -- the drive to reduce calories could lead to the introduction of a lot of artificial sugar and fat substitutes. So, I think it makes sense to provide the information. I wouldn't invest much hope in the plan -- there are too many weak links all along the chain of reasoning from assumptions through implementation through predicted consequences -- but it's probably worth a shot. As for the CSPI, well, we're talking about a group that favors fat taxes and other coercive solutions -- the information campaign is a friendly face that CSPI puts on, but it's only a small part of CSPI's program. But perhaps the most illustrative events have to do with the CSPI's involvement with trans fats. It has been mentioned many times in the press now (and it should be said that most of those mentions tie back to ConsumerFreedom.com, an advocacy group just as militant as the CSPI, just on the other side of every issue) that the CSPI is in large part responsible for the food industry's widespread use of trans fats. In the 1980s, CSPI went on the attack against tropical oils and animal fats, and was a major defender of trans fats. This is one restatement of that history. Now, the CSPI is opposing trans fats. While a different issue, it's a good illustration of the fact that proceeding with such apparent certainty, in an area where so much remains unknown, can backfire.