Alex

Hello-I was just wondering: Have you had a chance to get to China Cafe? In a more general vein: I don't know how I could have forgotten it, but I would like to add my hearty,if belated, praise of Diamond Jim Brady's ← Naftal, could you elaborate on your praise of DJB? Back in January, boagman opined that DJB was far superior to Steve and Rocky's. Boagman, if you're reading this, could you expand on that? Thanks.

You're welcome. There are several Japanese restaurants in Bucktown/Wicker Park, but I believe the close by 11 or midnight, except maybe Fri/Sat. I lived for a long time in Detroit and environs, but moved to the west side of the state a number of years before Tribute opened. When I get back to the east side I'm usually not in the Farmington Hills area when it comes time for dinner, so unfortunately I haven't been there yet.

It's not a noodle place, but a lot of people like the 24/7 Arturo's Tacos, on Western at Armitage (about a half mile from Takashi).

Any particular area(s)?

The photo gallery from the Detroit Free Press is from last month, I think, but I just discovered this photo of the Yardbird sandwich from Slows Bar BQ. Oh, oh, oh.

David Burke's Primehouse has foie gras on the appetizer menu and offers a foie gras and truffle sauce for their steaks, so I suspect they can prepare the combo however you like.

Stillwater, MN. There's a link to their web site on H20's post.

Green Zebra I seem to remember a similar thread, or portion thereof, about this topic. Try searching a bit.

Full story in The Detroit News

Start, All Programs, Accessories, Calculator (I'm assuming you're not using a Mac.) Still, I'll often do my calculations on paper or in my head. Got to keep that decrepitude away from those old neurons, you know.

← Obviously from anyone who has one of these at TVH it is NOT a play on the dirty F*&King martini, the salt is there to bring forward the cucumber, not be an aspect of the drink. I should have given the amount of grains, (about 15-20 of kosher salt) and then it's possible that it would have come out more like it is at The Violet Hour. This is the problem, and the joy of recipes. There is always room for some interpretation, and sometimes it works out well and sometimes it misses the mark. I am not sure who has seen the thread over at the LTHfourm about making TVH drinks at home. This is the link. http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=20283 It is better to give specifics and hope and prey it gets made correctly. Toby Edited to remove venom, bile and spite from post. ← On LTH you specified Beefeater's gin, but IIRC, at TVH you used Hendrick's. How would you alter the LTH recipe, if at all, if we used Hendrick's at home?

Whoa, indeed.

Mine, too, by far. Unfortunately, I was disappointed by a surprising number of dishes.

And that certainly got one's taste buds standing at attention. No messing around at this place! IIRC, on the table was Spicy Szechuan Cabbage; Sliced Beef and Maw, Szechuan Style; and something with Pig's Ear.

How about A Mano? (restaurant site here) The tagliatelle and skate wing I had been looking forward to were off the menu when I ate there on the 10th, but my three companions and I had an excellent meal nonetheless.

I love this recipe, from Gourmet/Epicurious. It calls for Bosc pears, but I've made it successfully with Bartletts. It gives a choice of Manchego or goat cheese, but I've always used the latter.

The people you are missing are Neil (Amy Viny's husband), Amy Viny, and then me (Santo_Grace). The person next to jesteinf is my guest Steve. Also, judging from the serious look on Marisa's face, I know what she was talking so intently with Tammy about. ← Me, too, but I'm not telling...

Here's one of the four different "cocktail stations" at The Violet Hour. The ones we sampled -- all gin-based -- were Juliet & Romeo, Aviation, Martinez (precursor of the Martini), and something I can't remember (help, please). The Juliet & Romeo was by far my favorite. It recently was named one of the 20 best cocktails in America by GQ (#3 on the slide show). Toby (Alchemist) posted the recipe here on LTH, although I believe he used Hendrick's gin at TVH instead of the Beefeater specified in the recipe. Groups rotated through the stations, and Toby would stop by for an instructional session on how and why each cocktail was constructed. For example, if I remember correctly (someone correct me on this, if needed), when we sampled the J & R, we started with just the main liquids, then in succession added the mint leaf, bitters, and rose water. Clockwise from the far left, there's tammylc (Tammy); two people I recognize but am absolutely blocking out their names (help, again, please); nyokie6 and spouse (Toby and Ron); HeatherM (Heather); someone I don't recognize; and jesteinf and spouse (Josh and Marisa). I'm pretty sure this was the Martinez station. And this is how things looked after sampling all four cocktails. That's Ronnie (ronnie_suburban) on the right.

From Kerry Beal et al.: 1. how to temper chocolate 2. how to dip stuff in tempered chocolate 3. the wonderfulness of Portuguese "Saltcream" sea salt from The Spice House 4. the even greater wonderfulness of crème brûlée chocolate cups And let us not forget: 5. how three days of continual eating and drinking (and cooking) tires one out. In a happy way, of course. Oh, and I really don't like the texture of pig's ear.

The corn fungus is called huitlacoche. Great-looking hats there, guys, but I can't quite make out what's on them. Could you clue us in? (Nice picture, too, Randi, getting the Sears Tower in the background.)

For my table, clockwise from the far left: Toby - nyokie6 Ron - Toby's spouse Maggie (aka Margaret) - maggiethecat Lou - Maggie's spouse Ann - Alex's spouse Richard - Alex a friend of the family whose name I forgot -- help! Randi - CaliPoutine Kerry - Kerry Beal Steve - Fresser Please let me know if I got any of this wrong; I'll correct it ASAP. ← The woman between Richard and myself is Cathy2( on LTH forum). I'm not sure if thats her Eg name too. ← Thanks, Randi. IIRC, her real-life name is Cathy, too (Ha! -- Cathy2). I don't think she has an eG name. I'll edit my post right now.

For my table, clockwise from the far left: Toby - nyokie6 Ron - Toby's spouse Maggie (aka Margaret) - maggiethecat Lou - Maggie's spouse Ann - Alex's spouse Richard - Alex Cathy - Cathy2 (LTH) Randi - CaliPoutine Kerry - Kerry Beal Steve - Fresser Please let me know if I got any of this wrong; I'll correct it ASAP. (Edited to add Cathy's name -- see CaliPoutine's reply three posts down.)

I use a slightly tweaked, jammy-leaning recipe out of the Cooks' Illustrated Sept/Oct 2001 issue. I've yet to eat a tastier version. Make it even better by plopping it on some crispy fried polenta and topping it with some goats cheese.

I'd love to post a few pictures I took at TVH, but ImageGullet is not cooperating with the upload. Oh, well.

I'm also having a bit of a hassle uploading the two decent pictures I took at TVH , so I'll do that when I get home. It's been a good time so far. There was a surfeit of wonderful food and beverages at the group dinner last night, of course, especially, imo, the desserts. A big thank you again to elfin and Lady T for their contributions of wonderful after-diner potables. It's 11:30 a.m. and I'm finally able to think about food without feeling woozy.