madziast

I don't agree. If someone who showed the same degree of ignorance about the U.S. was rating buttermilk pancakes with Grade B maple syrup, would you say the same thing? I think that knowing what you're talking about is helpful, and based on the points I made, I have doubts that Sifton knows what he's talking about in regard to Southeast Asia. So sure, his review may well-serve people who also don't know much about Southeast Asian food. Perhaps they're Spice Market's target audience. bpearis, I screw up my facts, too, but I also deserve to be criticized for that. Pan, I disagree, too! If you print it, you RESEARCH and FACT CHECK it for crying out loud!!! But the Times has such a rotten record, they don't seem to think they should know much about the subject matter--they are the NYTimes, that's all that matters! I mean, to this day they print that mozzarella di bufala is "water buffalo mozzarella." AARRGGHhh!!! it's a type of cow called bufala, for f's sake! i want to see the crazy creature that tries to milk a buffalo... my Japanese friends gave up pn sending letters to Sifton after the horribly inaccurate article on Japanese food that ran earlier this year, they just roll their eyes now--none of their letters to Sifton and the writer of the article were even printed. i have no clue how working at Tina Brown's Talk magazine prepared him to be the editor of NYT's Dining Section (not in the lease would be my answer), all his attempts at "my lunch with semi-celebrity x" type afrticles in the past failed miserably. he should stop hogging Diner's Journal. although he WAS right about Zoe. it's goooone with the wind, tourist trap at best. i guess it's a good sign that he's trying to educate himself on food and dining by going out more... maybe he will actually learn something and the section will get better

I couldn't agree more on both counts. I also noticed that the more wine I drink, the more complex wine I want. Certain wines I used to like a few years ago are boring to me now.

thank you! BIG fan of cheesecake brownies here--Taylor's in NYC makes them and sells big, fat squares! creamy, mmmmmmm........

Stinking Bishop truly stinky--the washed rind smells of old socks (a scientific term ). try it in London but I wouldn't recommend taking it on any trip. (didn't they ban epoisses on public transportation in paris? the bishop will be next!). Charles Martell, Dymock, Gloucestershire is the name to look for when buying the Bishop. i hope a full report will follow when yo get back. I'll be in London end of May and definitely want to check out La Fromagerie's new branch!

good bread, good cheese and good wine--a perfect meal

Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Premier CruRose NV is quite nice. has anyone tried their '96 Palmes d'Or Rose? comments?

yes, yes, yes! must be thick and decadent, whipped cream required. best spiked with some bourbon my favorite in the whole wide world is the killer le chocolat l'Africain at Angelina in Paris. the richest i've ever had. mmm..... now i have to make some!

wine is personal taste but, in my experience, the more you taste, the more you see there IS a difference between an $8 bottle and $80 one. and the more you drink, the more you search for balance, complexity, etc., which generally come at a higher price. it doesn't mean all expensive wine is good or all cheap bad. i think that there is some truth to what the writer describes as "reverse snobbery," where "big-ticket wines are mostly a lot of hype". yes, there are plenty of overpriced bottles (CA cab comes to mind) but let's face it, all wine is not created equal--by and large you get a 'better' (taste being subjective, 'better' to me means multi-layerd, more complex wine) when you spend more. i drink a lot of different wines, all over the price chart (lucky to have friends who can afford to experiment at the higher end) and have found disappointing bottles on both ends. not surprisingly, fewer among the expensive stuff. plus, small producers have to charge higher prices to make any money at all, often for wines that made by a larger co. would cost half.

gorgeous pics, thanks for the close-ups! everyhting looks so damn good and what a party it must have been. how many ppl showed up in the end? aarrgggh, poverty sucks! the jello is absolutely out of this world and rachel, you have to promise you will make it for every e-gullet event! hell, sell tickets to see it! (add'l revenue for the site?) anyone got hypnotized just looking at it? and the moussaka, cheeses, bread, mac & cheese, cakes and pies, salads, everything else, damn, i'm going back to look at the pictures again

i'm sooooo envious of everybody who could make it! pictures, people, pictures! the pig and the jello, and everything else. and everybody eating, too! can't wait. and hope there will be another gathering soon.

i like this take on the subject of snobbery. the moment you care about what you put in your mouth, on your back, where you park your behind--is that when you become a "snob" or "discerning"? if "snobbish" means sticking to certain standards you choose for yourself, then be it. i find that the more i explore food & drink, the more exclusive (for lack of a better word) my taste becomes. e.g. once i tried earl grey from mariage freres, i stopped buying earl grey from any other company. i still drink other teas, but when i have a choice, i always go with my favorite. do i feel superior to those who drink lipton? no, i feel lucky i discovered mariage freres! that said, i'm annoyed at ppl who go to certain restaurants because it's the thing to do. they never look beyond what's socially acceptable for them to do, considered "the best" by their circle. i wonder if they truly enjoy the food or merely believe they do because they are supposed to. same with the new york times food section--why do so many ppl follow it so slavishly? and if it's not in the paper it may just as well not exist? i will never understand ppl who do not choose to acquire the knowledge on their own, develop their own taste but instead are content with accepting a digest, somebody else's opinions--whether it's food, film or anything else. critics and journalists are not gods, people, and the reviews and articles are not gospel. they are selling the newspaper. but that's a whole different rant.

it's not about how good the restaurant is-it's just that it's the place to be right now and hard to get into. and it's not a large restaurant. actually, it's not the kind of restaurant i see Clinton at. it's a young, casual but funky/stylish neighborhood place--except for the prices. subterranean with some natural light, grafitti on the walls and pink everywhere. i ate there in may and thought it ok/good, not great, which was disappointing. husband's yelling from the kitchen "amateur hour!", lol. yeah, the food sounded better on paper, execution lacked--mainly seasoning and balance issues. not surprising as the kitchen doesn't have that much experience and Oliver wasn't there. we decided to skip dessert after 3 unremarkable courses (no recollection of what we ate--something salad-y, some pasta and fish). ok, i dug up the menu to see what we ate, couldn't remember one dish. here we go: asparagus soup with poached duck egg, wheat asparagus & pecorino--pretty good but the egg was poached too long. would have been fine without it scallop crudo, yuzu lime, ruby grapefruit, herb shoots, crispy ginger and fresh coconut--too acidic, too much going on the plate, coconut? ayayay! lobster & mascarpone ravioli with light lobster sauce & watercress--bland and unmemorable stracci pasta of wild, white and essex asparagus with butter, parmesan and mint...fantastic!--this is the actual description. "fantastic" is an exaggeration, but it WAS the best dish we had warm salad of poached monkfish tail (cooked and marinated in dolcetto d'alba) with puy lentils and lemon creme fraiche--good lentils but not a good dish. can't believe we paid 22 pounds for it! there were some service issues according to my notes--the food took a loooong time, and they brought it to the table when the plate was ready. we watched a table of four get served their food one at a time, the rest waiting for their plates to arrive. i like the idea behind the restaurant and don't think jamie oliver is only motivated by money & fame. definitely an interesting experiment. oh, and the bottom of the menu says "All profits from this restaurant go to Cheeky Chops CHarity which takes on unemployed youngsters every 6 months to train as the next generation of chefs... love Jamie O xxx"

sadly, cannot afford to rent a car this weekend, public transportation not practical due to hours and don't know anyone to ask for a ride. I hope that you guys have a great time and will post extensively afterwards--with as many indecent closeups of food as possible!!!!! you must, really.

oh, don't be! try it somewhere by the glass, i had one at aquavit for about $40 2or 3 years ago. it was delicious, I've since enjoyed assorted vintages largely thanks to generous friends and it's never disappointed!

i ate there about 3 weeks ago and it was very good. the smoked swordfish appetizer is wonderful and so are the ceviches. also liked the lobster tacos and shrimp empanadas. very seafood oriented menu (which is great for me--i don't eat meat), nice raw bar selection. my only disappointment was the octopus (the mole was just not for me). and the pompano was was delicious but the black rice left me cold. By the way, it's not just Placido Domingo's restaurant--Richard Sandoval of Maya is the chef/owner. Chef de Cuisine Josefina Santacruz is great and pretty much in charge of the kitchen. oh, and the dessert menu is very short--tried the dulce de leche custard (cajeta), delicious, and lemon souffle, which was outstanding. mexican hot chocolate was not. the room upstairs is beautiful. you should definitely try it. have fun and report back!

Unfortunately, they come wrapped in a slice of bacon. I'll do some without the bacon if there is any interest. These need to be made in advance and just finished on the grill. Please let me know. Jim definitely going to try these, sans bacon!

manhattan, west side & 42nd st

ok, potluck virgin here. how much of anything--solid and liquid? there are two of us, no meat eaters so we can bring sth veg. what's the final cost per person? why, oh why, does the public transit suck so badly? 2 hours on the bus plus Vernon Taxi Service... the foliage better be good! and the last bus goes back around 4:30pm--we'd have to leave around 4pm, possibly missing the cleanup... any thoughts on this??

Saw that (back when I had a TV.) It was great! He sounded and almost acted just like her. Ended up cutting himself (not really), blood all over the place and it was still Julia carrying on. Great piece. I've heard about it for years and would absolutely LOVE to see it! don't they re-run SNL on Comedy Central? Julia did freak me out the first time i saw her show, too, but it's WHAT she says, not HOW, that i enjoy

this sounds so wonderful, the cheeses, the bread, the farm... the pictures were amazing. must go ASAP--can one get there using public transportation or is a car required? also, where can i find out more about the potluck on sept. 21?

er, just boozing here with great wines: olivier cuilleron's rhone red, schneider's potato barn (long island, ny) and walter filiputti's '99 picolit. a tiny bt of truffled cheese from italy (sott cenere), etorki (basque) and new zealand blue to go with the wine... watching old movies

yea, i was wondering about that. maybe he decided to skip and just go to the after parties. what's the point if madonna didn't go to her own party? i do wonder what chris rock would make of the restaurant biz, given the chance... the fab five were peeing in their pants to be part of the awards, cute! loved those guys and hope they don't lose their charm and enthusiasm

and "very realistic", ha ha ha. wait, whiskey and gatorade???? !!!

no signs of th ethread slowing down despite the show's end, huh? still can't escape rocco (conde nast traveler, gulp) and now this: "All the reality shows I missed totally, and I am very happy--I find them stupid. It's fake; it's a disaster. I don't understand why people like them....It's not something to spend my time on, to watch these idiots talk on television....But Rocco's show is very nicely made, it's very realistic." Eric Ripert, chef Le Bernardin (New York Observer 8/25-9/1, pg 17) WHA???? i think he was trying to be nice to his friend. (or looking for a similar...?)

ha ha ha, i couldn't agree more and thus i will start with those i don't particularly enjoy--that would be about a legion , pretty much anyone you find on tv. i find most shows offensively, fist-eatingly boring and therefore do not watch most of them. i will watch a new or newish show but usually they are so dissapointing. food network be damned! can't watch emeril , mario (although early episodes when he burns stuff in saute pans can be entertaining), jacques pepin and claudine (how many years in this country and still barely understandable? i do prefer him on his own or with julia), bobby flay (annoying and smug), wolf puck (brilliant individual, extremely uncomfortable tv show host, paiful to watch), rachel ray (see the quote), todd english (so stiff!), barefoot contessa (dead wood, boooring), the FN "best of" hosts: mark silverstein and jill sb (although i'll take mark over jill). oh, and "cucina amore" host, rock moonen (plagiarist), sara moulton (way too sweet and monotone), charlie palmer with his kids (must be the kids), john villa (for the playgirl spread--everyhting is for sale mentality; sadly, it didn't save pico), grimes (he does NOT enjoy his job), and rocco on his show (although it's an edited and manipulated rocco but he should know better). i love nigella, the two fat ladies (when there were two), david rosengarten and arthur schwartz (nyc radio) ON A GOOD DAY (great knowledge of food but both can be moody), jeffrey steingarten, julia, tony bourdain,alton brown-- basically anyone who's got a great knowledge and passion for food, sense of humor, unwillingness to compromise on quality but still laid back and having fun in the kitchen, is irreverent and does not take him/herself too seriously. obsessed is good! on second thoughts, i prefer writers to tv personalities (not much of a tv fan in general). and radio over tv. i like a lot of ruth reichl's writing (but not the reviews) and that of elizabeth david, mfk fisher and james beard. jeffrey steingarten. piero selvaggio of valentino in la, although he's not a celebrity. he's a wonderful host and has an amazing knowledge of wine and food. jose andres for his incredible enthusiasm for food, throughout history. tetsuya wakuda for doing his own thing and walking away from money when it meant he wouldn't be able to control the food. pure entertainment but only at times: gordon elliott (murdochian take on food on tv--evil but entertaining in that aussie tabloid way, the guts!), certain martha shows--for the wrong reasons: how she intimidated her guests and flirted with others