Rachel Perlow

Nope. I kept looking up (I was packing Jay's suitcase while he watched the show) and expecting to see you. Instead it was Jim "no one knows what I look like" Leff half the time.

You know what? Screw the disposal, I'll start a compost pile for the garden. Jay - how'd you feel about that?

I think they are supposed to all be closed on Sundays. But then sometimes you run across one that isn't. Closed that is. Shh! Don't tell the blue law police.

Jaymes - I'm curious, are you a travel agent or formerly from Alaska?

I figured it's time for an update. To recap, the kitchen was 90% gutted on Wednesday, June 19th. Contractor discovered leak in the roof. Roofers came with estimates Fri-Sat. We ended up removing the skylight on Monday. The guy did a really great job patching the roof, you can't even tell where it was. Much discussion over the weekend about vaulting the kitchen ceiling. Contractors came back on Tuesday and finished gutting the ceiling and sub-floor. We discussed vaulting. Because of ductwork requiring big soffits we decided against vaulting the entire ceiling, however we did decide the do a tray ceiling in the dining room. Here's a picture of a tray ceilinged room I found on the internet, so you can get an idea: As we had finalized plans for the ceiling, I had to go out and pick out the lighting fixtures for over the DR table and peninsula. I found the perfect contemporary fixtures at Capital Lighting. Here is a picture of something similar to what I ordered for over the table: Our's has a ring of frosted glass around the metal circle, and it is of brushed steel. Jason thinks it looks like a flying saucer. A smaller matching flying saucer will be over the peninsula. They also did the plumbing work on Tuesday. Today, they finished the new sub-floor and framed the tray ceiling. More work on the ceiling tomorrow then the town inspector has to examine the plumbing. Hopefully the electrician can finish his work by the end of the week and we'll be able to have both inspections next week. That's it for now!

Cherries were a part of my appetizer during a recent meal at Gramercy Tavern in NYC. The tart/sweet fruit was a nice counterpoint to the richness of foie gras.

Not in Bergen County. Except at the liquor stores that are open.

Excellent points, Tony.

Thanks for the extra info Bon. Please note that in my Pocky tasting (which includes Pocky-like products) I correctly identified Fran as a Meiji product.

Repeat: You are not obligating yourself to order that dish that night. It's just to get an idea and assuage Rosie's fear that there will be 5 orders of Pad Thai on the table.

Mark - I sent you an email about this, but when we were planning on having everyone order off the menu, there were also only about 10 people coming. Now that we're closer to 20, I think it may be wise to order ahead. I was trying to work out a menu of 5 dishes per table, then I saw Mark's dilemma - they have sooo many choices, it would be a shame to limit it to 1 noodle, one chicken curry, one beef curry, one fish, one duck. What about seafood, vegetarian, non-curry chicken or pork? Why doesn't everyone look at the menu, click here, and post what they are planning on ordering? That way we can see if there will be too much repetition? You are not obligating yourself to order that dish that night. Also, I think we should give the restaurant the leeway to bring dishes out as they are ready, rather than all at once. 20 orders is a lot for a kitchen to handle all at once. I personally will either order duck or fish, perhaps PED MA KAHM (Boneless crispy roast duck with tamarind sauce) or PLA JEAN (Crispy fried whole fish topped with ground pork, ginger, mushrooms and pepper in bean sauce). Jason usually gets a chicken or beef curry, HOT. While we're at it, say if you're in the Hot-cha-cha Camp (Mark is Captain, Jason is Co-Captain) or the Wimpy Thai for Dummies Camp (Me & Rosie I guess ). And if you won't commit to one or the other, say which side of the border of medium you are on.

How often do you actually cook at your restaurants these days? Considering your busy schedule, other businesses and cooking shows, I assume not often. If so, are you mostly now an Executive Chef, planning menus, etc., or do you leave that up to others too? Bonus Question: Could you share the technique for making Fricos? I saw you do it on TV years ago, but I'd appreciate a refresher. Thank you so much for your participation in this eGullet Q&A.

American Roadhouse 44 E Madison Ave,Cresskill,NJ 07626 Phone: (201) 541-7575 Edit: I've changed the title of this thread to reflect the correct name of the restaurant.

How about all the people who like their food HOT sit at one table, and all the people who like it mild-medium at the other? Or would that mean I'd be sitting alone? Seriously, Mark you've done a great job. The only dish I wouldn't recommend was their Pad Thai (or was it the Pad Mie Thai), it was too sweet. Perhaps we can ask that they garnish the really hot dishes with a red pepper on top or something?

It was probably a Prosecco or a Riesling Sect.

OK - I'm back. Their front door was locked (didn't know they are usually closed Mondays), so I went around back. There was a car with its engine running so I tooted my horn. The owner, Steve, came out. He was surprised that another chef in the area had heard already, but, yes, last night was their last. I told him to keep us informed of any news and asked for the Beef Pot Pie recipe. Hopefully he'll join us here on eGullet to keep us informed of their future plans. It was a nice local bar & grill to go and enjoy a burger & beer.

I'm going out to run an errand, I'll take a detour and check. That's a real shame. It was a useful restaurant to have nearby.

I think a webcam in the kitchen would be really coo. When you do it be sure to add the link to your sig or profile.

Not in that area. Well, maybe the Whippany Diner. They have moussaka on Friday nights, get there early. It's Greek to Me is OK. I like the Englewood (always insanely busy) and Cliffside Park (hole in the wall, busy but we always get one of the 4? tables. Similar cuisine, Bennies in Englewood is Lebanese. We lived near Morristown for a while and the lack of Greek food is appalling. The Millburn Diner used to have a Greek section on the menu. I remember liking the moussaka, but I haven't been there in a few years.

I would say you'd have to go to a Japanese store, rather than a general asian grocery. We found those at Mitsuwa, but they were not at Han Ah Reum.

I remember that episode and thinking, "Yuck! What the hell is he doing?!"

Hey Fink, could you post your restaurant hours here and/or on your website? Thanks.

Thanks Jon! I fixed the link in my original post above. Everyone, if you find a broken link in a post (which will happen primarily in links that bring you to another place within eGullet), please email or PM the author of that post so that they can edit their post and fix the link. Even better, do a search and provide them with the URL for that link to make it even easier for them to fix it.

Butterscotch Glico Pudding Pocky - for kids. Thin coating of butterscotch flavored fudge with chocolate swirl. OK but not great.

Green Tea *Glico Mousse Pocky Green Cha - Thick coating with pronounced green color and strong green tea flavor with good and slightly bitter aftertaste, long finish *Kirin Nama Cha - Similar thickness, light green color, strong initial taste of green tea, but weaker aftertaste Both of these are good if you like green tea. *Kirin Gogo No Kocha - Thick coating of chocolate and black tea. Very strong tea flavor, has an aroma reminiscent of a fresh pack of cigarettes (but not in a bad way)