bleachboy

I'll second or third or fourth or fifth the votes for Amy's products. We have a full selection of their frozen burritos on hand always for quick hangover cures or whatnot. Tater Tots. My wife has a fetish for those cheapo Totino's (?) Party Pizzas stemming from her childhood. The stuffed chickens from Poche's in Lousiana. Thanks to Mayhaw Man for turning me on to them. You could serve 'em at an elegant dinner party if you were so inclined. Not that I've ever done that.

Most of these places have their own separate threads, I think, and there are also all the "THE BEST" threads - check out the linked list pinned at the top of this forum if you haven't already. You can also start a thread asking for specific kinds of recommendations. I'm sure people will be happy to offer helpful suggestions. ← Wow! Great list! Thanks for the tip -- I guess I always just view "active topics" so I've never really taken the time to browse the actual forums. The More You Know!

As a foodie who's visiting NYC soon, I'm curious to hear specific recommendations, with addresses.

Are these opinions still accurate? I'm going to be in NYC mid-November and would really like some Peking Duck, as it's been over a year since I enjoyed this treat, one of my favorite dishes in the world. I was hoping to eat it for lunch and will only have one duck-eater (and one vegetarian) with me. The Peking Duck House website seems to indicate that you can't order the Peking Duck for less than four.. huh? My friend and I can easily eat a whole duck with trimmings by ourselves. My wife, ever patient, will probably be happy to eat some rice and some broccoli with garlic sauce or home-style tofu, or a seafood dish or something. She knows I love duck. She's a trooper. Mainland (mentioned upthread as a place with better non-duck dishes) seems to be closed. True?

Green olives. I won't even try.

First off, I'll say that some of Target's food items are pretty darn good. For real. And I have respect for Ming -- he left FoodTV to do a PBS show that would allow him to play his own game. If he's doing a product for them, I'd say it'll be quality. Look at Target's reputation for comissioning REALLY high-end designers (Philippe Starck, Michael Graves). Those products are good products. But, heck, look at the Martha Stewart kitchen stuff for K-Mart. It's actually really great, too. That's where my current rolling pin came from. I don't inherently distrust these big chains -- they can put out some damn good stuff, and I'd bet Ming's line will be worthy of his name.

That was the exact technique I followed for my big Christmas Banquet this past year, except that I roasted the potatoes in goose fat (goose was the centerpiece) and they were downright mouthwateringly good. More trouble than I'd normally go to for roasted potatoes, but definitely worth it for a special occasion. They probably wouldn't really be much trouble if I memorized the technique, though. Kinda like the way I do mashed potatoes -- if I were to write it down, it looks complicated, but if you do it enough you can go into "robot mode" and just churn 'em out.

4. If it's one of Thomas Keller's restaurants, all bets are off.

My wife organized a "Restaurant Club" at her place of employment (the Nashville Public Library). We only did it once a month, but the first few meetings went well. After we went to a provencial French place, though, there were grumbles about "nothing on the menu worth eating" and stuff -- primarily because most ingredients were unfamiliar. Suddenly, we were eating at kitchy novelty restaurants that served the culinary equivalent of frozen TV dinners. I'm all for going to a good meat-and-three or something, but the restaurants being chosen (we took turns choosing) more often than not were total crap. After that, the club kind of fell apart. So perhaps set guidelines. It may sound snobbish, but here's my recommendation: 1. If they serve chicken tenders, it's out. 2. If they hand you a pager when you walk in the door, it's out. 3. If the restaurant provides high chairs or a "kids menu", it's out.

I am not a nutritional anthropologist, but I can confirm that the BLT is, in my opinion, the most perfect sandwich.

I really have nothing useful to add to this thread, except to say that I live around the corner from a birreria and I love goat, too.

You won't be sorry. Hate the BAM! all you want, but I've never been to any of Emeril's restaurants that weren't drop-dead good start to finish. And I've been to most of them. The thing to get (steak-wise) at Delmonico is the bone-in dry-aged prime ribeye, which is f*cking delicious as all hell. They usually serve it with three or four different sauces on the side, all of which are worth trying. The parmesan truffle chips are the ultimate munchie, and the New Orleans style BBQ shrimp (they're not really barbecued) are superb. Their wine list is wonderful and the bar serves up very good -- and potent -- cocktails. Add to that an old-fashioned Caesar salad prepared tableside, plus mouthwatering daily specials (there's always a foie gras special as well as edgier stuff) and it's a winner. I've eaten there about six times, which is VERY high praise for a restaurant in a city that's jam-packed with great restaurants. (I'm in Las Vegas a lot) Since you love food, I also recommend going to L'Atelier Joel Robuchon and ordering a few tapas some night. It's not on the menu, but they'll definitely serve you a little bowl of Chef Robuchon's famous potato puree. Then you can say you've had it. It's like eating a bowlful of potato-flavored butter, and it's heaven.

Seconded. I go and sit at the bar every time I go out there just to get some of those parmesan truffle chips. Prime is excellent and likely more impressive than Delmonico, if you're just trying to impress. Their fruits de mer platter is excellent and the steak ludricously huge. Possibly my favorite is Craftsteak at the MGM Grand. It's very a la carte (much like it's sister Craft) -- try the onion rings and order a steak you normally wouldn't, like a skirt steak, and prepare to be amazed. When they have Wagyu, it's obviously worth getting as well. Be sure to ask about off-menu specials, especially vegetables and the like.

A medical case could be made that trans-fats are not just unhealthy, but actually poisonous. Such a case could likely not be made about foie gras. I cannot say that I would oppose a ban on trans-fats in processed food. I would oppose a ban on products like Crisco, though -- like you said, it makes a perfect pie crust and unless you're eating pie every single day, a little bit of trans-fat isn't going to hurt you.

Well, I guess I don't know too much about boxed wine -- I thought they all had those dispenser spigots built in! Yeah, I'm talking about the "bag in a box" type with the spigots. To the best of my knowledge, they never oxidize, as the bag inside is basically a vacuum. I think the "Black Box" brand is pretty good, though obviously not GREAT. You might have to ask your wine store, but I think there are some good wines being sold in boxes these days, they could probably order some for you.

The best way to keep uncorked wine from oxidizing is by using a Vacu-Vin. A box wine never has that problem, either. And some of 'em aren't bad. If I were only going to drink one glass of red wine a day, however, I'd want it to at least be a good one. I'd probably go with a nice Rhone style red and Vacu-Vin it, which I think will definitely keep it good for 3-4 days.

Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

Urbani Truffles. 215-699-8780.

So who's gonna "take one for the team" and go try one of his dishes?

Can you make me an aviation? You just got a $10 tip for a single drink. Ya rly.

I usually use the recipe in Julia Childs for the garlic mashed potatoes or something, but stop before the potatoes. It involves simmering a huge amount of garlic cloves in butter for about a half hour. At this point you essentially have something very similar to roasted garlic (very mild and very soft) and some very garlicky butter. Then I take a whole baguette and smear the soft garlic on and drizzle the butter and add some coarse salt, wrap in foil, and warm until everything's uniform. It's very good that way. Incredibly garlickly, salty, and buttery, but not really "strong" in flavor. I love it.

Unless it's God On A Crust with a side of white truffles, an hour's too long.

I don't get it. What's wierd about that?

I'll be staying in SoHo for about a week in mid-November and was planning on checking out Room 4 Dessert. I have a Per Se reservation at 10:00 pm and figured I would go by there early to have a snack and a cocktail, since dinner's so late. Do you eG'ers consider it worth checking out? Do they still serve breakfast? It's only about 4 blocks from my hotel (at Mercer and Prince) so I figured I could maybe take a nice morning walk and have some brioche and coffee, too.

Awesome information in this thread. Thank you, Kent! I'll have to admit this is the first I've heard of the "pre-salted" phenomenon, and I'm a long time briner and brining advocate. Although I'll probably still brine my turkeys at Thanksgiving (hey, it's cold outside and I can save the refrigerator space) I will definitely try the pre-salting method next time I roast a chicken or cook duck breasts or pork parts. Again, thanks for the insight!