Rachel Perlow

I hope you enjoy it, Bob. Please post and let us know what you think.

For those that don't want to cook it yourself at the table, they will prepare it individually in the kitchen, that's the way Jason had it last time we were there. I just wanted to emphasize that the specials list is written only in Japanese. It is written by hand in beautiful caligraphy by the chef, and it displayed in a book by the front door. You have to ask to have it translated for you. The prices aren't out of line with the rest of the menu either. I checked the bill and my (special) sea eel (anago) tempura was the same price as Jason's (on the menu) shrimp tempura, both were $8.50. Sukiyaki for 2 is $25 per person. I think the shabu shabu is the same price. They are very welcoming to non-Japanese patrons. But maybe a little over solicitous with the advice on how to prepare and eat the sukiyaki. She broke the eggs for us, but I prefer to only use egg yolk if I'm using it as a dipping sauce, I don't care for the texture of the white or beaten together. I also like to slip a whole egg in to poach it, but since they were paying so much attention to us, I didn't feel comfortable doing that. Generally, I'd dip my beef in the egg, then slip it back in the simmering broth for a moment. Just to cook it and slightly adhere it to the meat, and some would end up in the broth and thicken it slightly. Actually, many of the Japanese patrons seem to stick to the prix-fixe dinner, on the front page of the menu. If I remember correctly, soup/salad/appetizer, main, dessert, for $25 pp. But it was a limited selection of mains, none of which I was in the mood for that night.

I only wish mine came out that nicely, those were made by guppymo.

Sorry we didn't come up with something more creative for you, Tammy. But what you are doing sounds good to me.

The bill came to around $60 pp (w/tax & tip).

In reading some of the comments about other WC's V-days, I feel a little jipped. Some locations offered free appetizers and/or sparkling cider! We did get the polaroid pic though, and a little bag of chocolates at the end.

Exactly, and you can really relax at the bar, because you aren't waiting for a table so you can then order your dinner. You can sit and relax and talk over drinks, maybe even play a game of skee ball. Then, when you go to your table, a family style salad is served almost immediately. Are there other apps served too? The price seems high, but I think it is a full dinner price that includes these apps, right? (I haven't been in more than five years, so someone please clarify this part for me.)

Edit note: I edited some of Jason's pic captions, above, and added the address/phone. They don't take reservations, but you could call ahead about the uni. Truly, one of the best, freshest sushi experiences in or outside of NYC. The part of the uni that moved was the spines on the shell. The chef knocked it with a knife and several spines moved. I'd never had it so fresh (my previous experience with uni was not as pleasant), this tasted like ocean butter, it didn't need any soy or wasabi. Mmm. They have the usual (or not so usual) overdone fancy rolls, but what is most impressive about Sakura Bana is the "plain" sushi/sashimi. It's just impeccably fresh. I loved the Tai and the Red Trout especially. The sushi chef (Ken-san) asked us if we wanted the Tai with the skin on or off, and we said, "however you would want to serve it." He gave it to us with the skin on, and the richness of the fat/skin was very complementary to the lean flesh. He said Japanese people usually want it with the skin on, while others ask for the skin off, so he was pleased that I liked it with the skin on. The only negative was the other service was a little slow, i.e. I had to repeated ask to have my water glass refilled, or finished dishes cleared. But the non-sushi bar food part was served promptly (the blue crab miso soup and fried shrimp). Oh, and I always order some Tamago sashimi at the end of my sushi meal, it's like a bite of dessert to me. Many places disappoint with commercially prepared tamago. This was obviously made in house and was lovely. Totally worth a drive to Ridgewood, but get there early, as it was crowded the entire time we were there (arrived at 7:10, but our dining companion had already scored us sushi bar seats).

Although I made a real pate brisee, not an oil crust, I would still say to blind bake it. It makes an amazing difference in the taste and texture of the crust. You want it nearly browned, not just set. Also, if you have two pie plates use one inside the other to keep the crust thin and crunchy. More room for custard. And, keep your fillings in check, also to have more room for custard. See Quiche thread.

I was just reviewing this thread for a friend and wanted to bump it up. What better way, than with this post of guppymo's beautiful summer rolls? Mmm.

Also, you order at a door just inside the restaurant, then go downstairs to the bar/game room. The menu is posted on the wall next to the door, inside. It's like a half door (farm house door?) to the kitchen, if I remember correctly. "A nice place to go for special occasions" when you want a casual atmosphere.

I hope you also show them to pull the whole chicken out after about 45 minutes, carve out the breast meat and return the carcass to the pot. There are so many things to do with the simply poached breast meat, including just throwing some in, pulled, with additional mirepoix veggies, after the stock is finished, for a hearty chicken soup. You could do a simple tasting of the meat pulled from the stock early vs the meat that has given everything to the stock. I sure wish my mom know about that, way back when. She served her chicken soup with meat that had all the flavor cooked out of it. And, with the carrots & celery that were nearly as mushy as the liquid of the broth itself.

We bought the black PepperMills Supreme 2000 back in December. My mom had gotten us a gift certificate for Fortunoffs and Jason immediately thought "new pepper mill!" Our manual Cole & Mason had been semi-broken for a while now. I'd had a battery powered pepper mill in the past, it took 6 AA batteries, and they needed pretty frequent replacing. The store had one of these PepperMills out on display and the first thing I noticed was the speed. It grinds a lot of pepper pretty fast, and it is powerful. We gave it a full charge (comes with an AC adaptor) overnight when we got home, and it is still going STRONG on that first charge, with near daily use. There are five grind settings. They are very easy to change, with just a twist of the base. I've set up a display with the fine, middle, and coarsest -- Jason will post a picture of it soon -- each is about 10 seconds of grinding (one touch button). I also like that it has a matching coaster to rest the PepperMill on -- keeps the "dust" off the counter. It also has a very easy to load chamber, I haven't measured it, but is must hold more than 1/2 cup of pepper corns. The grinding mechanism is ceramic, so it is good for other spices and sea salt as well, although I'd get multiple units, either in different colors or use my P-touch to label the contents. The only caveat is that the coarse grind setting could be one notch coarser, with just cracking the pepper. I, personally, don't like pepper that coarse, but if you want to make "authentic" steak au pouve, that would help. What I would do is just seive some coarsest ground pepper to sift out any finer particles -- put that in a mise en place dish to sprinkle on the finished dish or for your side dish.

Cucumber water, how refreshing!

I figured I'd better check in on this thread, just so you all know I'm not mad at Jason or anything. We've had some V-day doozies in the past, and frankly they are rarely worth the hassle. This was silly and fun. We both thought they could have upped the kitch with more Valentines decorations and maybe a Valentine themed menu item (besides a sack of burgers). They used to have a Roma Burger (with a slice of roma tomato), or how about a pizza burger, cheese and sauce are easy enough to add. But it was fun and all the women were giggling, most of the men we spoke with did it as a surprise to their ladies, with something else planned for afterward. I kept the sliders to a minimum, so as to better enjoy some greens at C46 afterwards. The fish nibblers are one of their better offerings, very fresh and crisp, with chopped parsley in the coating.

I'm sure at least the TV news spot was engineered by Diaz Schloss, their PR firm, which did a fabulous job. Although I know that Jason's inspiration was eGullet, we did get some snail mail from them inviting us to their opening. But, I didn't open that particular piece of mail until after we had already visited the place, so we didn't get to that party. I'm sure it was sent with plenty of time, but PR mail sent to us tends to go in a large pile that I only open every few weeks/months.

How are you guys feeling about continuing the battle without this virtual support group? Not that we won't still be here for you, but without this specific thread in which to vent and/or confess.

FYI - the second quiche has the same amount of filling as the first. But, because it was weighted and blind baked, the crust is thinner, allowing for more filling to be used. Alton warns against overfilling, saying that the eggs cause it to puff. However, it only puffed in the middle. The edges were at the same fill line as at the start. So, next time I'd add more solids and another egg & 1/2 cup half & half.

Free quiche for anyone who wants to come and shovel our driveway!Edit: It's in the oven right now... the crust was blind baked darker than before, with a weight. It almost looks commercial. The filling is the same mix of salumi, spinach & mushroom, but with some artichoke mixed in, and fresh mozz & parmesean cheese. Mmm. Come and shovel us out and I'll give you the whole thing!

I blind baked it, but forgot to weigh it down! I had to smush it a bit with a fork to make room for the filling. Silly me, since I'm using disposable pie tins for this (I had them, why not use'm?), next one, I'll put another pie tin on top and weigh that down, since I don't have any parchment just now. Here's the second quiche crust before and after baking:

We're in the process of making some quiche right now. The crust is made (Martha Stewart's pate brisee), pie plate lined and chilling inside a plastic bag on the deck (for future reference, there's also about 2 feet of snow on the deck), the custard is in the fridge (Alton Brown's Refrigerator Pie), fillings cooked and cooled (spinach, mushroom, shallot an assortment of chopped up charcuterie, asiago cheese). The question is whether to blind bake the crust or not? Some recipes say to, others do not. Help. Answer quick, we want to bake this soon.

So, how did it go last night? Got any pictures of the cake and/or your chocolate dessert buffet?

Any chance of his accepting home made french toast made into French Toast Sticks? Next time you make F.T. make extra, cut into sticks and freeze. Keep a bag of those in the freezer and you won't mind him eating FTS from the freezer.

Kinchley's Tavern

Well? Did they burn? Don't worry about stock cubes, it concentrates down along with the onions. Or wait, did you mean a dry boullion cube or a homemade stock ice cube?