Alex

I seem to remember some New England-y friends telling me a long time ago that that's the correct pronounciation. How about Quahog? Both KO-hog and QUO-hog are indicated as correct, but I always heard it the first way.

for gyro think hero...thats how iv e heard it pronounced in many a greek restaurant Yes, but with the "he-" a bit aspirated, if that's the right term, and the "r" not as "errr" as in English.

ive always heard it pronounced like fo...as in fe fi fo fum....... ← I believe it's definitely "fuh," though, deriving from the French "pôt au feu."

According the this week's installment of Chicago Magazine's Dish, OvS is also currently offering 1 free, 4 oz. pour with lunch. =R= ← Great. I'm there (even though the wine probably is one of their $15-flight selections). I like this story that also is reached via the above Dish link: "Funny Conversation with the Guy Who Answered the Phone at Reza’s on Clark."

I believe they're now serving lunch. According to Phil Vettel, "The format is the same, but there are fewer antipasti and the main courses include pasta, salads and panini. The lunch price is $17.95." Any lunch reports? I'll be in Chi in a few weeks; OVS certainly is on my short list.

My favorite local wine merchant must've gotten a heck of a post-off -- they've been selling the One.6 Chardonnay for $2.49 a bottle, $24 a case. Without a doubt, the low-carb thing is a marketing gimmick, but the wine itself is really not too bad. As the label says, there's some melon and a little citrus along with a bit of oak -- simple but nothing blatantly objectionable. For eight bucks there are better choices, but for two I'm right there. I'll probably have other preferences, but I think this'll be Ms. Alex's house white for the forseeable future. (We picked up two cases.)

Nothing from me, unfortunately. Umpteen years ago I briefly lived within spitting distance of Keego Harbor, but when I visit the metro area now I stay with a friend in the east burbs and we're usually not inclined to drive to Keego for dinner. Still, I'm looking forward to reading your always well informed report.

Our Senseo arrived last week. As several posts said, it makes a passable cup of coffee, but lacking the depth of flavor of one from our drip machine or French press. For what it is -- a means to a quick cup of decent coffee (especially a bit of late-night decaf -- it probably will be getting regular use at our house. The Douwe Egberts medium-roast decaf is indeed passable, as is the dark-roast regular. The regular medium- and mild-roast lack character, imo. I noticed the posts on this thread about Kona, and was wondering if anyone else has had direct experience with other brands or roasts -- podhead.com, easypod.co.uk, etc. There's also a seller on eBay offering DE's Kenya, Sumatra, and Brazil blends.

I think that Matthew's on sabbatical from eGullet, so I'll take an educated guess about the shops he was referring to. I'm sure that one of them is Van Ball's Prime Beef, on Plainfield between I-96 and 3 Mile. I imagine another is Kingma's Meats, inside Kingma's Market on Plainfield between Knapp and 3 Mile. The third might be the meat department at our local supermarket, Forest Hills Foods, at Cascade Rd and Forest Hill Ave. There's also Sobie Meats, on Remembrance Rd between Leonard and Kinney, which opened just last year. He also mentioned Heffron Farms Market (Plainfield just north of I-96 and Clyde Park north of 54th). The "near-organic" meat is pre-cut and frozen, but I've been happy with the quality.

Looks great, Paul! Perhaps you could start a separate thread about Waterstone. We trolls don't get to Marquette very much; Ms. Alex journeys there every 2-3 years for a good friend's family gathering. I'm sure she'll pay you a visit next time. Obviously you did your research and concluded that Marquette could support a place like yours. Are you counting on regular business from the university community?

I tried a batch last weekend. (Sorry, no pics.) I used a relatively new Rival Crock-Pot, high heat all the way, stirred occasionally, uncovered after ~6 hrs to let liquid evaporate, then covered again for another 4 hrs. Ingredients = 2# yellow onions, ~1T each olive oil and butter (unsalted Plugra), 2 bay leaves, ~1t each dried thyme, sugar, and Morton's kosher salt; I added a couple of teaspoons of Fini balsamic vinegar for the last hour of cooking. The confit (or whatever) was pretty decent, close to my best pan-made one. It made four generous servings. I would have preferred another couple of hours in the pot (i.e., softer and darker onions), but the entrée (smoked flank steak) awaited.

I'm a Northville native and can provide a few ideas: Northville: Emily's - Hands down the best in town. Rick Halberg's menu and presentation are terrific. Little Italy - OK Italian food. Fun atmosphere in an old Victorian house. Plymouth: Cafe Bon Homme - Nice french restaurant. Haven't been there in a few years. Good location in the center of the downtown. If you want an out-of-the-box culinary idea, try the restaurant at Schoolcraft College. It's called American Harvest. Supervised by several CMC instructors and run by students in their culinary arts program. Supposed to be very good. Dinner only. Dress warm. It's gonna be cold here for a while! Gary. ← What he said. Also, M-14 gets you to Ann Arbor in 20-25 min., so go to Zingerman's if you get the chance. This and other threads have more info about A². You mentioned Dearborn in your first post. If you're there for some reason, maybe around lunchtime, I second La Shish.

The good news is that I've still managed to resist this temptation. The other good news is that I got seven books at a Bargain Books half-off cookbook sale for $35: Ready When You Are, Martha Rose Shulman Great Tastes Made Simple, Andrea Immer Chez Panisse Cooking, Paul Bertolli White Dog Cafe Cookbook, Wicks & Von Klause off the eaten path, Bob Blumer Cooking With Claudine and Jacques Pépin's Table, Jacques Pépin Also, from the remainder table at a Schuler Books, Cheese Primer, Steven Jenkins. ← Yeah, I know -- resistance is futile. My four from The Good Cook: The Gourmet Cookbook King Arthur Baking Cookbook Simply Ming Patrick O'Connell Refined American Cuisine And, in advance, my required purchase will be Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating.

Detroit's a sprawling place. Where will you be staying and how long a drive will you be willing to make?

The good news is that I've still managed to resist this temptation. The other good news is that I got seven books at a Bargain Books half-off cookbook sale for $35: Ready When You Are, Martha Rose Shulman Great Tastes Made Simple, Andrea Immer Chez Panisse Cooking, Paul Bertolli White Dog Cafe Cookbook, Wicks & Von Klause off the eaten path, Bob Blumer Cooking With Claudine and Jacques Pépin's Table, Jacques Pépin Also, from the remainder table at a Schuler Books, Cheese Primer, Steven Jenkins.

My first cup of coffee.

Hi, my name is Alex, and I'm a cuisino-biblioholic. It's been 2½ months since my last cookbook. I've been doing well -- I put ecookbooks.com on my list of blocked sites, rewarded myself with a scoop of Ben and Jerry's when I checked a cookbook out of the library instead of buying it, and did my daily reading from One Recipe at a Time. However, temptation has again crossed my path, this time in the form of a "please come back" package from The Good Cook, and I don't know how long I can hold out. Four books for a dollar, buy another at the regular price, and that's it. Hey, like they say, I can quit any time I want.

The Frog and Durian

Ah, but the exception... I wish you could have been at my (non-Chinese) wedding -- it always helps to have a friend/chef/CIA grad as both guest and caterer. Apps = stuffed grape leaves + grapes rolled in Boursin and pistachios; Soup = gazpacho (made by me); Entree = cold poached salmon with 2 sauces (ginger remoulade and yogurt dill) + couscous w/veggies; Dessert = wedding cake = three-tiered chocolate cheesecake decorated with edible Hawaiian orchids (also made by me).

Joe, I will offer just this one reply, and I will try to respond to the content of your posts and not the tone. As I said more than once in my first post, I ate dinner there, along with Ms. Alex and my cousins, both food and wine enthusiasts who have dined at Kinkeads, Galileo, Citronelle, etc. multiple times. We had an assortment of starters, including the crusted oysters, white anchovies, sardines, and cheeks/foie gras. The oysters were an absolute delight of taste, texture, and temperature contrasts; the anchovies were disappointing (I love white anchovies, but the presentation with the cornichon and olive oil just didn't do it for me); I did not taste the sardines; my cousin loved the cheeks/foie gras (accompanied by a glass of 1985 Yquem, which the rest of us saved for after the meal) but I found it monochromatic (if that makes sense) on the palate. To your puzzling question, "Why would you ask for a special preparation of a dish in a restaurant you are visiting for the first time?", I answer, "Because it was offered on the menu." For an entrée I had the Bourride, which, as you said, was as good as I've had anywhere (better, actually); everyone else ordered the lobster. The pastry chef's care and talent clearly showed in the two chocolate desserts that we split. You are correct that I didn't mention most of the dishes specifically. The intent of the post was to follow up on an earlier one and to give my overall impressions, not to report in detail. I'm sorry you perceived it differently, but I believe that my saying it was a "two-star kind of place" clearly was only my impression from just one visit and was not intended to represent a comprehensive review. It also certainly was not a slam, as I think is quite clear from the post's content, for example, "All in all, we were pretty impressed." And yes, I do know the amount of skill and effort that goes into producing a menu the quality of BlackSalt's. As bilrus mentioned, though, I also believe that a four-star restaurant needs to deliver the whole package -- food, service, decor, ambience -- in spades. I did not experience that at BlackSalt. You disagree with that approach, which is fine; that's what this site is about. However, I think you may experience more reasonable discussions if you do not call it "wrong." It also may help if you do not cast aspersions on others' integrity without presenting reasonable evidence to back it up. Perhaps this subjectivity, and the emotional reaction it sometimes engenders, exemplifies a key problem with the "star" system. In fact, I never used stars or any other ranking system in my restaurant reviews (eight years in Detroit and Grand Rapids). I included it in my first post only as a point of reference, having immersed myself in reviews from the The Washington Post in preparation for my visit to DC and in those from the Chicago Tribune when I visited Chicago. Still, as bilrus also said, "If its max is really three stars and it isn't quite fulfilling its potential, wouldn't that make it a two-star?" That's where I was coming from. My cousins fully intend to return there, as do I when I next visit. Edited slightly for clarity.

We made it to Blacksalt for dinner on Jan. 1. (They also were open Sun., Jan. 2. Way to go, guys!) All in all, we were pretty impressed -- a two-star (out of four) kind of place, with potential for more. The positives: 1) As mentioned elsewhere, the fish and seafood are of impeccable quality. The Nantucket Bay scallops that I served as a ceviche for our New Year's Eve dinner were the hit of the evening. 2) The menu says that diners can ask the chef to create a dish from any item in the retail display case. I requested something with grilled squid. Despite being slammed, he put together a very tasty Asian-themed app. 3) Good wine list, with small or large pours by the glass, including two of my reliable favorites, Steele Chardonnay and Argyle Pinot Noir Reserve. We brought a dinner and a dessert wine but were charged only one corkage fee ($15). I don't know if this was policy, an oversight, or because we ordered a lot of food, but hey, I'm not complaining. 4) Friendly and efficient service 95% of the time, even with the place being full. 5) $3 at the retail store for an individual serving of chocolate-chestnut mousse bombe; it's da bomb. The negatives: 1) The space felt cramped when full, less so after it started emptying. I'd recommend a table in the back alcove or one of the booths. 2) When I made the reservation, I requested and was led to believe that we would be seated at one of the booths. We we arrived for dinner and the booth was occupied, we were told that specific table requests are only on an "if available" basis. 3) The lobster tails at the retail market (and, I assume, at the restaurant), came in from Brazil. They were good, as lobster tails go, but still not worth the price tag. I have minuscule hands, so I didn't notice. Sorry.

I'll add another endorsement of Indian buffet lunch, at least at the one I frequent here in GR. The tandoori chicken and naan are ok, but the palak paneer and chana masala are top-notch, as is the fragrant rice pudding. The food is brought out in small quantities, so it seldom tires out on the steam table. I still believe that Chinese buffets are evil, the antithesis of what good Chinese food is all about. I must confess, though, that every couple of months I eat lunch at a buffet place that actually is pretty decent if one is selective. The key is arriving at about 11:15, just as they're setting out the first batches of the day. I usually opt for shrimp and onions in a slightly hot red sauce, stir-fried/steamed mixed veggies, and -- minimizing the carbs -- just a bit of rice. By the time I've finished, the nori rolls are ready and calling my name. A few orange slices for dessert, and I'm set for the rest of the day.

It took me 2 clicks to get to this: I've been buying from them for years and years, and never found them to be dishonest in any way. Dare I suggest that you just thought you saw the inclusion of Canada? ← Isn't Canada part of the Continental U.S.? :ducks very quickly: Not kidding: Amazon.ca offers free shipping on orders over $39 Canadian.

Orange segments macerated in a Grand Marnier - vanilla bean - sugar syrup.

Check out The Heartland Chicken Liver Society thread.