adegiulio

Holy cow, is that how much they are charging?? I roast, grind, and french press my coffee too, but there is still that curiosity factor working...

I'm no expert in the field, but a quick query on Google "do lobsters feel pain" brings back quite a lot of responses on both sides of the issue. Scientists with PhDs from highly reputable universities cannot agree. I think it is far from consensus to say that they do not feel pain. Cherry picking sources and assigning more weight to people who agree with you doesn't make the point correct. I'm just sayin'. Do fish feel pain? Is it ok for us to slice pieces of sashimi from a still living fish? Or is all that writhing just anthropomorphic?

Sam, your use of the esoteric terms "malacostracan crustacean neurophysiology" makes me think you have a research background in the field. Or, is it just Google?

If indeed these lobsters are killed humanely and with minimal suffering, in accordance with their religious beliefs, then I welcome this clarification. On the flip side, eating live sushi as a cultural tenet still doesn't work for me. Cultures don't exist in a vacuum, and some reprehensible behaviors done in the name of culture should be stopped all the same. As it's still fresh in the news, the Canadian Seal Hunt began a few days ago. While seals used to be part of the survival code for historical Canadians, their bloody deaths at the end of a hooked club is done for nothing more than profit. The profiteering fishermen who still take part in this barbaric ritual claim they have the right to practice their culture unabated. Again, I"m not against killing animals in a humane way, but a club repeatedly hitting a baby seal on the skull hardly seems humane. I guess I am just crazy...

Err, this has nothing to do with anthropomorphism. Nobody is talking about a lobster laughing when I tickle it, or crying when I smack it. Pain is obviously not just a human characteristic, so to imply that those of us who would prefer animals to suffer as little as possible are anthropomorphizing is just way off base. Just as there are crackpots that say lobsters don't feel pain, there are those that say they do. But, as I've said over and over, it doesn't matter if they feel a little, or a lot or more than us, or less than us. A humanely dispatched lobster feels no pain, and it is in this state that we should eat them.

Your point is well taken that this isn't the forum to discuss most of these matters. However, you make no mention of the heart of my point, that being, if it doesn't hurt the dish perceptibly to have a fully killed lobster, then why not just serve fully killed lobster. It is in that sense that the discussion of whether or not lobsters feel pain becomes irrelevant. If we know a dead lobster feels nothing, why not just go with the dead lobster (or carp or frog)? And sucio, I'm sorry, I didn't realize your question was presented to only those who agree with you.

I find it amusing that your use of that short phrase "of course" implies that your assertion is unmistakably true. In my mind, life and death are completely discrete events, with no overlap or degree. If you are dead, you are absolutely incapable of feeling pain or suffering. The same cannot be said if you are alive. My point in all of this is not to say we should all sit out in a field and eat lettuce. My point is that it wouldn't hurt the dish substantially enough to ensure that the animal is dead before we process it for consumption. Whether or not a living lobster can feel a lot of pain is irrelevant, since a dead lobster can clearly feel none. As a quick aside, I doubt lobsters can't feel pain. Animals, as far as I know, rely on pain to alert them to personal trauma. I don't think a species could last as long as the lobster has if none of them were able to feel pain. I'm no scientist, but it just doesn't make sense if they couldn't...

Is that supposed to be regarded as some highly sought after quality in sashimi, or for that matter, any food? Is knowing your food is still writhing in front of you supposed to make it more tasty, wholesome, or just better? Maybe we should hack off a chicken leg and watch it shriek as we fry it limb. Good eats. I love meat, but stories of half fried, half alive carp, and lobster that still quivers while you eat it make me sweat with rage. Is it too much to ask that the animals that nourish us at least meet death with as little pain as possible? I'm sure someone will defend the practice by saying the lobster was dead already, and the quivering was just post-mortum muscle spasms. Whatever... ← While people may show off to their friends saying their food was alive...in the instance of lobster and other shellfish, it is actually worth something. The idea is that seafood goes bad extremely quickly, especially shellfish so being able to eat it right after it died does mean something. ← I appreciate your response, and I am fully aware of the freshness curve involved with lobster and other shellfish. But, "freshly killed" and "still living" are miles apart in terms of pain and suffering, but still a fine line when referring to palatability.

Is that supposed to be regarded as some highly sought after quality in sashimi, or for that matter, any food? Is knowing your food is still writhing in front of you supposed to make it more tasty, wholesome, or just better? Maybe we should hack off a chicken leg and watch it shriek as we fry it limb. Good eats. I love meat, but stories of half fried, half alive carp, and lobster that still quivers while you eat it make me sweat with rage. Is it too much to ask that the animals that nourish us at least meet death with as little pain as possible? I'm sure someone will defend the practice by saying the lobster was dead already, and the quivering was just post-mortum muscle spasms. Whatever...

I go to a restaurant not just to interact with my guest, but everyone else too. Other diners, the waitstaff, whomever. It's a big world out there, and I am a friendly guy. I'm happy to meet everyone I can. The idea that waitstaff should be invisible is, to me, quite anti-social and dehumanizing...

Has anyone been to this restaurant? Good? Bad? Meh? Edited to add this link...

Hi Gary, thanks for popping your head in to eGullet. I'm very excited about the opening and plan on being a frequent customer. Will you be selling d'Atragnan products at the store? Say hi to Lou Manzo for me Anthony

I've got no problem with it. I'm a touchy person too...

OK, never mind...I didnt see the Petite Cafe news in its thread until after I asked...

Stupid question here, but who is relocating? Fine Grind, or Petite Cafe?

So now that Starbucks is trying to revitalize their business with, among other things, the purchase of the company that makes The Clover, I'd like to know if anyone has tried coffee from this machine. Here is a link to the Clover

Ouch, not a very flattering review at all. My experience there was much better than implied in the story. I think that over time, the small kinks the writer alludes to will work themselves out. I can understand how frustrating it must be to pay such high prices while the restaurant ramps up its learning curve.. If they get their act together and execute well, the restaurant will truly be the gem of the area...

I love game, and eat it every chance I get. I am fortunate to live 6 miles from a deer farm, so I make it all the time. Elk is tops in my book. A restaurant in Boulder called Flagstaff House offers a lot of game. On one visit, I had a grilled game tasting platter. It included venison, elk (wapiti), bear, quail, kangaroo, squab, and one other I forget. It was fantastic, and an honest bargain at $55. The restaurant has a monster wine list also, as well as a beautiful view of the city below...

I've been there a number of times. Strange as it is to admit, my mother hangs out there a lot (ever since it was Boodles), so I meet her there occasionally for dinner. The food is nothing exceptional, but it is good. I wouldn't avoid it, but I wouldn't make a special trip to go there... If you see a surprisingly hip 62 year old woman named Joanne there, tell her I said hi...

We stopped by last night for a few drinks at around 11pm. I guess i should have read this entire thread, since we didn't make reservations, and clearly needed them. Next time I know. Had some tasty hot dogs though...

These donuts have a wonderfully light chewiness to them. They taste like something. KK donuts have no chew, and taste like sugar. Lots and lots of sugar. A krispy kreme, when hot, isn't bad, but doughnut plant donuts are leaps and bounds better. I would take a day old doughnut plant doughnut over a hot KK anyday...

Since we live upstate, it's a rare treat for us to stop by Doughnut Plant. Yesterday's flavors were: Blackberry Jam (wow, best donut I have ever eaten) Toasted Almond...good Chocolate (terrific) Orange (Amazing) Love this place. It's probably a good thing that we live so far away, lest I die from diabetes, heart disease, and nirvana.

On my way down Rt. 23 this morning, I saw a billboard advertising a new Gary's store on Rt 23 north. A few more miles down the road and I saw the site. I will be taking over the space of the old Treasure Island store. I'm a fan of Gary's, both for their wine selection as well as their gourmet foods. A welcome addition to the Wayne environment...

$1.29?? They are $3.19 up here. At five bites per sandwich, that's an expensive treat. Thanks eGullet for re-addicting me to FoF.

I'm a little confused. You felt bad because you were 15 minutes late?