mikeycook

Other than the food and wine at hand, I find travel is usually a common discussion, as a good meal invariably brings to mind other good meals in other places.

Funny you mention that. I just remembered that is what I had as my main when I went last summer. Best dish I had, I thought. Great picture, too.

It does bring up an interesting point about the Norman conquest, however. The Norman words all pertained to the food as it would be eaten, while the Anglo-Saxon word referred to the animal while alive. This would make sense since the the Normans were the conquerors and the Anglo-Saxons would have raised the animals for their consumption.

Opinions? I had an excellent piece of pork belly at Veritas on Friday, thick cut and crispy on top (referred to as Tender, Crispy Pork on the menu) with cipollini opions and a balsamic glace. I previously had a great dish on special at L'Impero (thin sliced) last summer, but it has not reappeared on the menu. Where can I find the best belly? Any style of cuisine is welcome.

A group of us had a great meal at Veritas the other night but one thing we noticed was that the bread was nothing special, something that I noticed as a common thread through several restaurant week destinations (including Lupa and Union Square Cafe). In fact, it seems to me that it has been a while since I have had decent restaurant bread (went to L'Impero and Gotham Bar & Grill end of last year and neither of them had good bread either). A lot of the restaurants seem to offer the same thing, a basket with three (sometimes four) options, usually olive, ciabatta, and something else. The breads do not taste particularly fresh and are not warm (which I wouldn't care about if the bread was fresh). They all have the appearance of having been gotten from the same source. Is there a common bakery that most restaurants are using now? When we used to dine at Bouley more regularly, fresh-baked breads were one of the hallmarks of the meal, something I always looked forward to. Now bread, even at top places, seems to have taken the role of filler starch. Am I the only one who feels this way? In addition to Bouley, how about some other top restaurants that are making their own bread?

Really enjoyed dinner at Veritas on Friday. My first and second courses could hardly have been better and the four of us (my wife and another couple) all enjoyed our meal immensely. The crispy, tender pork was, in fact, pork belly and it was wonderful, in the sherry-vinegar-based sauce. It was not sliced thinly as I have had it most times, but in a thick slab, maybe an inch-and-a-half thick and maybe 3 x 1 1/2 wide. Completely delicious in a "how embarassing would it me to my dinner colleagues if I licked my plate" way (I resisted). I had the short ribs in barolo wine as my entree. I can understand the praise it has gotten here. It was beyond fork tender. As I started to cut into it, I asked myself how they had gotten it onto the place without it disintegrating. My wife had the ravioli with tarragon and hon-shimeji mushrooms which I (and she) thought was excellent. She and the other lady in our party had the lamb and my male counterpart had the black pepper venison. I thought I would have been happy with ordering either after tasting them (although they didn't compare to my short ribs IMHO). For the wine, we had two bottles. In both cases I picked our 6-8 wines and asked the sommelier to help me pick from them (was generally looking for wines under $120). For the first wine, we wanted a red burgundy, so I asked from among a Nicolas Potel Charmes-Chambertin, a Denis Mortet Gevrey and a few Cortons and the sommerlier instantly recommended the Mortet. It was a delicious wine, graceful, but powerful enough to hold up to the belly (although a little bittersweet after hearing of his death earlier in the week). Since everyone was having a heavy red meat dish, I asked the sommelier about a few Chateauneuf-du-Pape (there were quite a few in my price range, a lot of nice 98s and 00s) and we settled on a 98 Clos des Papes. Drinking very well, a great combination of fruit and earthiness. All in all, while there are plenty of pricey wine options, there is a huge amount to choose from within lower price ranges, even if you wanted to focus on a specific region and/or time period. That being said, I thought it was worth visiting for the food alone and the fact that it has such a great wine list is just another great reason to go. Definitely will be looking for an opportunity to go again soon.

Going to Veritas tonight and was curious for feedback on a few dishes I am considering. I saw that the foie gras and the short ribs get excellent marks. I no longer see sweetbreads on the menu, which is a disappointment (I love sweetbreads ), but I was curious if anyone has had any of the following dishes. Chilled Lobster Salad - This has peas, but I assume it is different from the lobster and english peas dish that was spoken of a couple of years ago. Crispy Tender Pork - Does anyone know what cut this is? I am hoping for belly, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't order it if it isn't. Roasted Saddle of Lamb - I am leaning towards the short ribs or this (although the venison looks good as well). I'll report back on my meal. Plan to drink red burgundy exclusively tonight.

I took a knife class and was taught a technique that I have found preferable to the garlic press, but with similar results. If you are right handed, brace the clove of garlic with your left hand and hold a good paring knife parallel to the board with the top of the blade toward the clove and the cutting side pointing away. Quickly scrape down and away (to your right) with the knife in a circular motion (I put my index finger on the upturned side of the blade) so you are basically scraping the clove with the top of the blade (not the sharp side) and the clove will quickly disinegrate into bits that make it look like it came through a garlic press (with the attendant oils released as well). Since I have yet to use a garlic press that didn't involve taking some chunks out and mincing them by hand, I have found this to be a more consistent method and it is relatively easy to get the hang of.

I am pretty sure it's Fall River, Mass (if not, then New Bedford). Good heritage of portuguese cooking in the area, which are Emeril's true cooking roots. Actually, I am glad, in some ways, that he said what he said. My wife and I have been considering visiting New Orleans in the next couple of months because we love it and we want to help the city get back on its feet. Reading his comments on Page Six yesterday, I was very upset with myself for not planning this trip earlier. His comments reminded me how badly tourism is needed (that being said, I will probably go to restaurants other than his). I think every eGulleteer who can should take a trip to New Oreleans this year and do what they can to help support this wonderful and original city.

If it's done in a similar way to Project Runway, it should be good. For some reason I find myself interested in Project Runway even though I could hardly have less interest in fashion.

Even worse, a lot of places where I've ordered a Cubano you get TURKEY instead of smoked pork. What am I, at Subway? Mangia on Wall St. used to have a decent traditional Cubano but I haven't been in a while (and it was expensive).

Yes, my condolences, absolutely.

Jancis Robinson is reporting that Denis Mortet has committed suicide. No additional details other than it is believed to be the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Sincere condolences to his friends and family.

I would DEFINITELY recommend James Hook and Co. I did a similar thing a few years ago, picking up lobster and steamers, driving back to New York, and cooking them that night. I am sure there are other good places, but James Hook has the freshest lobsters I have personally bought (so fiesty that they snap their tails hard against their bodies when picked up.) This is from someone who was born in Maine and considers lobster a birthright. I was the only time I considered building a lobster tank in my trunk.

Well, you could also buy roasted and processed coffee, or you could go to the tropics to see the actual tree, but I prefer the already-processed product. It's somehting like that with artichoke hearts, as well. ← I'll give you that. Triming artichokes is a pain in the %&$#.

You can't get ANY KIND of artichoke hearts there, mikey. ← No, you can get actual artichokes (in season, of course).

I agree. You generally can't get frozen vegetables and the greenmarket.

I would also suggest Ma Gastronomie by Fernand Point. It is an excellent combination of stories about Point, discussions of his philosophy, and recipes.

Made the Pouissin with Garlic Cream Sauce last night for the first time, my first recipe not in the original edition. The sauce was great, although I didn't get the port and stock reduced quite enough before adding the garlic cream. Although I liked the final sauce, I was actually thinking that the garlic cream by itself (w/o the port and stock) after I removed the solids was a great sauce (certainly more intense). Has anyone tried this? I am thinking about it with some pan-roasted chicken.

I go for the former as well for the exact reason you stated about the latter. I have no consistent position on the continental method, except that, being right-handed, I do not switch the folk back to my right hand unless I want to eat the meat with some potato or veg. If it's just sauce or nothing I continue to use the left hand. Sorry, Miss Manners.

Of course, a lot of restaurants ask you to shut off cell phones, so this might not be as helpful as it at first appears (although it will be wonderful in a wine shop). I usually try to do my research online before going to the restaurant.

I don't disagree that there will be some overlap, but my point was that the greenmarket crowd, by which I mean people who primarily cook for themselves , is not their target audience. Using myself as an example, having been to TJs and as a frequenter of the farmer's market, it seems to me that the majority of people who have posted pluses on this board have focused on the following types of products: - Frozen fruit, veg, and prepared meals that is of a higher quality - Better quality chips, crackers, salsa, and other party-type foods (also alluded to in the LA blog) Products that are "healthier than x" seem to come up as pluses a lot as well, i.e. the Trader Joe's chips/frozen burrito/pizza has fewer grams of fat than the one at my local grocery store. I agree with all of this and that these are all good things, but virtually none of the things listed above are things that I, personally buy. Being a Manhattanite, I rarely cook frozen pre-packaged foods because I have a world of take out options that are good and cheap. I don't buy snack chips, cookies, etc. too often because I try to avoid snacking (weight problem) and I don't entertain extensively because I live in a 1BR apt. Other than a few packaged grocery items, such as cereal, bread, paper products, cleansers, etc. I almost exclusively buy "ingredients" (raw veg, fruit, meats, seafood, etc) that I plan to cook with, so I am going to judge whether Trader Joe's has better produce, better meat, better grains, etc. or look for the same items I usually buy at a lower price. In my experience, I have better produce and meat today than I have seen at Trader Joe's. I certainly expect that I would go there to get certain staples like sugar, flour, etc. that I buy completely on price, but if that is the primary reason I am going, I will probably not go a lot. If I am, I am then judging TJs the way I would judge a Costco, purely on price. I don't mean this as a knock on Trader Joe's, in fact they might get killed if they tried to compete with the Citarellas of the world (although the D'Agostinos of the world leave a ton of room for improvement.) I just think that the strengths of a Trader Joe's will show better to people who cook less frequently than people who primarily cook for themselves and don't buy as much packaged, ready-to-eat food.

I first became aware of Bacon Ice Cream when reading about british chef Heston Blumenthal of The Fat Duck, who has a Bacon and Egg Ice Cream on his menu. It is apparently a signature dish of his. That being said, I can't say for sure he was the originator, but he certainly made it a dish other chefs were aware of.

Went to USC for the start of restaurant week (my first time). They did a nice job, giving 4 options for each of the 3 courses. I settled on: - Apple, Caramelized Onion, and Thyme Risotto with Taleggio and Parmegiana-Reggiano - Marinated Sirloin Kebabs with Spinach-Gorgonzola Bread Pudding and Gorgonzola Sauce - Frozen Key Lime Parfait All very good. I think I will try a dinner there some time.

I agree with the recent sentiments. It has improved since opening. And the best thing is they do delivery.