Alex

Amen to that. I haven't been to the Detroit area in quite some time, except to go to a Tigers game or two, but I've been to terrific places in Ann Arbor, Traverse City, and here in Grand Rapids.

I guess one's opinion depends on what one was expecting or needing to learn from the book. As I mentioned upthread, I just got my copy from the library. I'm a reasonably skilled home cook, but I don't do sous vide (but I've been know to do low-temp oven cooking), "molecular" cooking (e.g. transglutimase), or other cutting edge stuff. However, I'm always up for learning a new technique or seeing an interesting suggestion for making a familiar dish. Which is to say, at first glance, but before having made anything from it, I like it. I'm not sure what I'll try first, but it'll probably be something simple, like Kale Slaw with Russian Dressing. I'll keep you posted. I do agree with Bojana, the reviewer in the linked thread, that the pictures are uninspiring. There's just something a bit off about the focus and color saturation. I noticed that the book was printed in China. I don't know enough to say whether that might have been a factor, but perhaps someone more knowledgable about such things can speak to that.

Right here in GR, aka Beer City USA

From the link in Toliver's original post: LC's TV ads also stress "More than three and a half feet!" My first thought was, "Wow! Mega-bacon!" My second thought was, "Wait. How much is that, actually?" So I did some mental math. 3.5' = 42", so "more than 3.5 feet" probably is somewhere between 42.5 and 47.5" -- otherwise they would have said "four feet." There are eight pieces of pizza to an order, and it looks like two sides of each piece are bacon-wrapped, so that's 16 sides, meaning there'd be less than 3" of bacon per side. That doesn't sound right. Maybe the "3.5 feet" refers to each of the two four-slice pies. But that wouldn't make sense, either, as the ads would then tout "more than 7 feet of bacon!" Or would they? "Seven feet" does sound like an obscene amount of bacon, at least in this context, which might turn off the average consumer -- although it's actually only 10-11 regular slices (assuming 8" per slice, which is what the bacon we have at home measures). Yeah, I'm overthinking this.

Business Insider (?!) checks out the bacon crust pizza/

I'm rather distressed by some of the comments I'm reading here already, not to mention the ones in the WaPo article. I mean, let's not play "blame the victim" here (and she doesn't see herself as a victim; see the quote below). She is taking personal responsibility and she does acknowledge that people make mistakes. Her main contention is that the bar part of a restaurant usually receives much less attention and training about this issue than the food part -- and that it shouldn't. This post to the Comments section, by "StarM" at 11:16 a.m. EST today, sums things up nicely for me:

When even one drink could kill you (Washington Post article)

Apiaries at airports O'Hare's apiary (Not to mention their goats, sheep, burros, llama, and vertical farm.)

Just requested it from my local library system. Stay tuned...

I finally got around to watching. That cake is the scariest thing I've ever seen on a screen, movie monsters and politicians included.

Not at all. Maybe you could buy that card and send it to him next Thanksgiving (or sooner). I did order several from her. She acknowledged the order and shipped the cards very quickly. Her card "Sisters Vermicelli and Fusilli" reminds me of this cartoon from The New Yorker (20+ years ago!).

And my most recent favorite, currently occupying a place of honor on the fridge: chopped liver

There's an 18-bottle "Slimline" Wine Enthusiast unit at Bed Bath & Beyond that might be worth checking out, especially if you have, or can get a hold of, one their ubiquitous 20%-off coupons. (Joining their email list is one way.) It's gotten good reviews on the BB&B web site and on Amazon.

It's also sensitive to temperature fluctuations. Ideally, its environment shouldn't vary by more than about 5 degrees F.

Thermoelectric units can range from nearly silent to having very noticeable fan noise. Their reliability is hit or miss. However, for your purposes, I agree that that's the way to go. I've owned, and still own, several thermoelectric units (and one coolant-based unit). I do own a Haier -- a cube-shaped 16-bottle model -- and the fan is indeed noisy. I can deal with it because the unit was very cheap (Craigslist, barely used) and it resides in the basement. I own two 32-bottle Cuisinart units, model CWC-3200, that are extremely quiet. The reviews of that model complain about reliability (one star on Amazon!), but I've had no issues whatsoever, and one of them is going on three years old. I've owned three Vinotemp units, two of which now reside in The Great Wine Cellar in the Sky. The one that's still working is their two-door, 48-bottle model -- scratch and dent, no less -- which was the very first unit I ever bought, a good 10-11 years ago. Maybe the cooling unit wasn't made in China, as I think virtually all are nowadays.

Cara Scissoria (She has lots of other themes, too.) For example: Happy Textgiving Angel Food Truck

thekitchn.com chimes in, with "21 Food Words & Phrases That We Should All Probably Quit Using". And which word was #1?

The New Yorker tends to have funny (imo) food-related cartoons. Here are two recent ones: bagels presentation

Banished!

Thank you for the information, David, and for the link to John Curtas's article. I know you have extensive experience with LV restaurants. Kabuto (#8 of Curtas's 50) is also on my short list. And I had no idea about #10 Estiatorio Milos. Their lunch menu looks wonderful, and a bargain at that.

Thanks, basquecook. I've read your eG post about YG (same pics as on brooklynbite, I think). Drooled on the keyboard, I did. I've been to Raku, but wouldn't mind another visit, of course. I've also been to LSC in Chicago.

Maybe we'll make room for both, but if we had to choose just one for our upcoming trip to LV, which would you recommend? What are the pros and cons of each? Thanks. Chada Thai Lotus of Siam

We're starting to make decisions about our three lunches and four dinners for our trip to LV in December. The plan is to go off-strip for most (or all) meals. Here's what's decided so far: We already have a dinner reservation at Takeshi Omae, most likely followed by a visit to Sweets Raku. We'll go to Chada Thai or Lotus of Siam another night (I started another thread about that decision). We'll probably take a road trip one day and eat lunch at Pahrump Winery. It's a dismal pizza scene here in Grand Rapids, so we're contemplating that option for LV. As far as I can tell, the best bets are Settebello, in LV or Henderson (I was there once, several years ago); Novocento (several locations); Due Forni, in South Town Center; and Dom DeMarco's (NY-style pizza, half-price bottles on Monday). Comments (+ or -) about these? Other pizza recommendations?

I did some Google searching, which revealed this more detailed article in the online Daily Mail, which mentioned the specific pasta and sauce, but still no specific information about how it was reheated and to what temp. I think the study was reported in this episode of "Trust Me, I'm a Doctor", on BBC2, but it's available online only in the UK, and only for the next 25 days.

Full story here (from the BBC) If these findings hold up under further rigorous scrutiny, it could be a game-changer. As someone who's supposed to (but doesn't always) minimize my carbohydrate intake, this is exciting news. I wonder if it also applies to cold or reheated pizza (the subject of a recent topic).