Dryden

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this or not, but Balthazar's lemonade (at least from their attached coffee and bread annex) is among the best in the city.

If you pull them straight out of a cold fridge, having them kick too much shouldn't be a problem, just make sure you have a good head of steam going before you add them. As for the "poo" in the lobster, I have a feeling that someone is referring to the tamale, which is often incorrectly though of as excrement. It's the mushy green stuff (actually, green when cooked, black when undercooked) in the middle of a lobster's body, it's actually the liver, and it's the second best tasting part of the whole beast. Other than the roe of the female, that is. Is my family the only one that only eats female lobsters? I've taught more fish counter guys how to sex one properly than I can keep track of...

Since returning from France, I have been wondering if there is anywhere people know of in or around NYC to find poulet bresse, either on the menu in a restaurant, or from a butcher. Can anyone help?

With regard to an earlier comment regarding dogs and the bone from the porterhouse steak, we have for many years (30? 40? 50?) been in the habit of taking the bones home with us. My mother, and now my wife as well routinely eat them on the way back into Manhattan in the car or for a late night snack. And if you ask for them, they will always be more than happy to throw 5-10 extras in a bag, for the dog, for a stock, for whatever. Many of them will even have a fair amount of meat on them... I always feel that whoever leaves that much meat on the bone should be shot, but hey - that's just me.

bilrus- We had some of the same experience at FL, as well. But I think one of the best qualities of a great restaurant is to go in with astronomical expectations and have them met (sometimes, they just can't be exceeded). What I remember most about the trip (other than the amazing food) was the one dish that wasn't up to snuff, it was a beef cheek, done beautifully, but we had been to Danube the week before and it had been better there. But by the time we left, all we really could say was that we had gone in expecting a perfect meal down to the last detail, and Keller and crew had delivered - and given what we were expecting, that was really something special.

Per Se reservation note: So I got one this morning for July 4th, keep hitting redial, so on and so forth. I was absolutly sure I got the first call through after they switched the line from "we're closed" to "we're taking reservations". Literally, it went through at 10:00:01. So they pick up the phone, and all that's left is 5:45 and 9 PM. We took 9. But if you plan on calling at 10:01, don't even bother.

Substitute the same volume of iodized salt in a recipe developed using kosher. A cut potato will only absorb so much, apparently.

Let my sister in our kitchen. My wife, who is an excellent cook, decided to let her help for our first married hanukkah together. So the oil is heating for the potato pancakes, and my sister grabs a glass of water "to check to see if the oil is hot enough". I got there just in time to see half of the glass hit the dutch oven, and tackle my wife out of the way. I'm still finding old oil on the ceiling, though.

The most important thing to keep in mind about fresh pasta is that it is very malleable. If you have lots of waste, grab a ball that hasn't gone through the rollers yet, stick it on, and pass it through a few times. This should all but eliminate your waste problems. As for the width issues, you may find that by pre-rolling your dough a bit with a rolling pin or wooden dowel, you can get a good width to begin. Each machine has its own quirks as to whether or not it stretches the dough wider while lengthening it. It sounds like your setup does not do this as much, so make sure you are feeding in dough that is as wide as possible to begin. As for the nests sticking together, FLOUR! Lots of it, to prevent sticking. Also, cooking in batches helps - as each bit of pasta is ready, cook it, and make the next while it cooks. Then fish it out with a spider or something similar, and go on to the next batch. If you pile too much pasta on top of itself, it will eventually stick no matter what you do. Finally, on the question of how much flour/egg/water, I find that every time I make dough it varies a bit, due to the age/moisture in the flour, the size of the eggs, whatever. The best way to go is to get a feel for what good dough feels like, and shoot for that. It should have a slightly moist feeling to touch, but should definitely not be sticky. Don't be afraid to use more flour if your dough feels way too moist. Also, make sure it is kneaded enough - it's amazing how much the moisture can redistribute. If it seems like certain parts are staying dry and others are staying wet, try ripping the dough ball in half and putting those parts together. It may take a bit longer to work, but you will end up with a more uniform dough in the end. Hope this helps.

I'd like to put in a vote for Suenos for best Mexican as well. If you like the Rocking Horse (which I do), it is just in every way better. The "authenticity factor", if you will, is very high, not to mention the excellent view of the kitchen from the sidewalk. The first time my wife and I went there, we spent the better part of half an hour just watching the cooks work, which was something, given that it was about 5 degrees out at the time. The only unfortunate thing is the lack of salsa on the tables - it's only available in the bar area. But the guacamole and black bean dip more than make up for it.

Another place that does good shabu shabu is Lan, on 3rd and 8th (I believe). Unlike many of these places, they also take reservations... To point out a slight issue with a previous poster's comment, the Chinese do not do shabu shabu, they do something called hoi gau. (pronounced like "hwah gwah"). Shabu shabu is normally done in water with a big piece of konbu (seaweed) in it for flavoring, hoi gau is normally done in a broth mixture. Also, shabu shabu is normally served with a variety of sauces, while hoi gau is generally served with Chinese barbecue sauce. I would seriously recommend for anyone who likes shabu shabu or hoi gau to look into buying an electric skillet and doing it themselves at home. It literally pays for itself after you've made it 2 or 3 times. You can get excellent quality meat for shabu shabu in many Japanese markets (such as M2M or Sunrise Mart) or in Little Korea. In particular, I recommend the Zojirushi Gourmet d'Expert skillet (http://www.zojirushi.com/gourmet.html). It's what we have at home, and it's great. Hope this is helpful to people.

Do we like them? We're getting married in September, and we're giving them out as dessert to the guests (of which only half will be Asian, so it will be an interesting test to see which tables eat them and which don't). Of course, we're not using the egg yolk-bearing kind, to be fair to those who have never had them before.

Create an elimination-style reality TV show with various cuisines as the contestants (a la "Paradise Hotel"). Develop some rules and pick a winner. Italian and French team up over their mutual love of lemons to eliminate the non-lemon using, yuzu-loving team Japanese , who when asked "What dishes do lemons really, really not go with?" answers "Well, at Nobu, they put yuzu on every dish that's ever been served, so..."

First of all, thanks to everyone for their extremely helpful advice... I think we're leaning a bit toward Pierre Gagnaire, I'm curious to know - what is it that some people have found to be un-fantastic?

We've never been to France before. I'd say the kind of meals we really enjoy - The French Laundry, Jean Georges, 71 Clinton... I would say that what we're really looking for is the "if I had one meal left on earth, I'd eat it here" meal. Which is, to be fair, very highly subjective, but that's at least what we have in mind. Actually, the main reason we're staying at the Crillon is that my company has a phenomenal rate there, and for 200 euros a night, we really couldn't see turning it down. That level of formality would not be the norm for us otherwise, we generally try to go for more substance, less style.

Good point... By and large, we're looking for real creativity from the chef and excellence of execution in the kitchen, not so much an expression of a particular classical style or ingredient.

We're going to be in Paris for the last week of September. We're staying at the Crillon (very excited, indeed!) and were looking to eat the greatest meal we can eat. No holds barred, but it has to be in Paris proper and accessible. What do people think?