Rachel Perlow

The "way too much cigarette smoke" applies to Yamaguchi as well.

DITTO. Curlz wrote my entire post. So you don't waste your time, there's no fish market in the area as good, let alone better, than Denville Seafood. Don't miss the point about eating there, they have several tables, but if you want to do dinner you need to be there by 6 PM, any later and the place is full, and they close around 7-7:30, so you can't really be seated much later and have time to eat dinner. You can, of course, get take out if you arrive late, but they have amazing fried fish & seafood, and that doesn't travel well.

I agree with Jason that this restaurant filled a void. We were heading over there for a burger at the Diner and were pleasantly surprised that the Italian restaurant was finally finished. Not only that, but a pretty bustling crowd for 8 PM on a Wednesday night. It was at least half full during our entire visit, including at least half the bar stools. And it is a very nice, welcoming bar (full menu available), which also has a few tables to make up the restaurant's smoking section. Unfortunately, the archway to the bar is very open and our table was one of the closest to the bar and the cigarette smoke was a little annoying, next time I'll request a table a little further into the dining room. The staff was very experienced for such a new place. It makes me wonder if they were transferred from one of Johnny's other restaurants. I forgot to ask. Oh well, I'm not going to question good service. I really liked my eggplant dish, I've never had such fresh, al dente almost, spinach in a baked dish like that. Of the desserts, my favorite was Jon's Chocolate Marquis, which was layers of flourless chocolate cake and chocolate mousse. BTW - they also have panini sandwiches, which might be a good lunch time choice. And they have a list of entrees including seafood, fish, chicken and steak. They also have an Italian styled Liver and Onions dish on the menu. I wonder how often that is ordered? I'll have to bring my parents there sometime to see how my dad likes it (the only person I know who orders liver in restaurants). I wish them lots of success, check it out if you're in the area.

I never thought of putting the bags in the microwave to get the heating started. Great idea.

Actually, I added one large strip of orange zest (stripped with a peeler, not a zester), so it was easy to remove at the end. I thought the cocoa was a little sweet, that's why I added the teaspoon of coffee. This would be a good place for instant coffee, as straining the grounds out was a little messy and some grit got in the mugs.

No, neither does the Garlic Rose. Well, maybe on Tuesdays at 5:30.

You're asking me? We've always had positive experiences there.

Since no one has mentioned Sagebrush Steak Cantina, I will. It's next door in Cedar Knolls. Lively weekend bar crowd. Tex/Mex/Steak by the ounce. Fun place. Second Cinque Figlie, one of our favorite places that I miss ever so. I disagree with the dis of Tim Schaefer's, we've always had very pleasant experiences. If you're going to the movies at HQ Plaza, keep in mind they validate parking, and don't bother with the food court or hotel restaurants, just walk across the street to any of the local places. Also ditto to Sammy's Ye Olde Cider Mill. Remember there's no sign to let you know you're at the restaurant, pay attention to the address.

I don't think Matthew disrespected her. I think he just went in with the attitude of someone who doesn't come from her tradition--who had neither an axe to grind, nor held her up as sacred. You have to expect that she gets two extremes from people who talk to her--outright worship and outright criticism. Matthew came from neither of those directions. That's exactly why we picked Matthew to do the interview. Great job, Matt!

Eureka!!!! Nooooooo!

No, I haven't. I don't see how you could get crisp skin if the turkey were cooked in a bag.

Jay, that's hardly a blonde roux gumbo. Blonde is just that, kind of creamy-caramel in color. I'm sure the roux for that gumbo wasn't as dark as the one I made the other day, but it was definitely darker than peanut butter.

I've made a lot of turkeys in my day (and I'm not that old), but I cooked them at least once a month for several years (shabbat dinners at Hillel during college). Anyway, the best turkey I ever made was when I was running late one year. I took the kosher bird (for the non-jews out there, it makes brining unnecessary), washed and dried it, then put it in a roasting pan, breast side down, and just bung it in the oven. I think the temp was around 350, 15 min per pound. Perfect and juicy with crispy skin. Main thing for any turkey to cook perfectly, IMO, is to do it breast side down and sacrifice the table presentation and carving. Besides, to properly carve a turkey, it is impossible and too messy to do at the table.

Unless you live in that area of the country, you'll probably have to make it yourself. After we came back from NO after Jason's first experience with the Bloody Bull, he tried ordering it everywhere. No one makes it in this area, and even those bartenders that have heard of it don't make it because they don't keep the beef boullion on hand. Here are some bloody mary recipes on the Tabasco website including the bloody bull. At Palace Cafe the Bloody Bull was garnished with a pickled green bean rather than an olive or celery stalk. You can buy them here.

Mmm, satsumas. We should have brought some home, can't find them in NJ. They're seedless tangerines that practically jump out of their peel. Eat'm in about 2 bites. More info, clickee.

For example, I like this seasoning mix called Joe's Stuff. I noticed it at Central Grocery for $9 for the large bottle. Thinking that was expensive, I passed. Couldn't find it at Langenstein's grocery store (NO institution, recommended to me by Mayhaw Man, 1330 Arabella Street), and the French/Farmer's Market stands had it for several dollars more ($12-14). So when we returned to CG on Friday, I picked up a couple bottles of Joe's regular and Hot Stuff. Here's a link to where you can buy some Joe's Stuff for not an outrageous price: New Orleans School of Cooking catalog (click seasonings on the left)

Is Creighton the creator of those "be nice or leave" signs we saw all over the place? (especially at Jacques-Imo's)

We sampled the crawfish and the pork boudin from Poche's (see link above), and they were both fab. Not too spicy, but the heat built up to a pleasant burn.

Mayhaw Man was all excited to return, and bring us, to Joe's Dreyfus Store Restaurant (2731 Maringouin Rd W, Livonia, LA 70755, Phone: (225) 637-2625), one of his family's favorite places. Unfortunately, they changed their hours after daylight savings and currently close at 8 PM instead of 9, as it said in the guide book. We arrived at 8:15 and were turned away. However, one of the waitresses, who recognized our intrepid tour guide, sent us down the road a piece to Camile's. At first Brooks didn't recall this restaurant, but as we pulled into the parking lot he remembered bringing his children there a couple years back. I'm sure Joe's would have been good, but I'm very glad we ended up where we did. Fresh seafood, simply prepared, was just what we were in the mood for. The spice in Jason's boiled shrimp crept up on him to a pleasant burn. The tartar sauce accompanying everything seemed homemade, with large chunks of vegetables among the mayonaisse based sauce. I loved the sweet and crunchy cornmeal hushpuppies and my chargrilled shrimp. Camile herself chatted with us and explained her restaurant's philosophy, that "we're making the kind of food people can make for themselves. They come here when they don't want to dirty the kitchen. So it better be real good to make it worth having boiled shrimp at a restaurant." It is Camile, it is.

I'm glad we saved Cafe du Monde for the last day of our trip. The beignets are so good that I probably would have insisted on several visits had we gone there earlier in the week. I totally forgot how good these things are. We were very surprised to find a new item on the menu -- the frozen cafe au lait -- but glad cause we were kind of warm from walking around the quarter on a sunny day. Still no iced tea though. A very pleasant ending to a fabulous vacation.

Most of the food pictured above is in tasting portions. JoAnn Clevenger, our hostess (an eGulleteer) chatted with us extensively and wanted to show off most of her menu. Since we didn't order anything, the captions are from memory and the website's menu rather than receipt printout. All the food was so good and rich and delicious and perfectly cooked. This was easily our favorite restaurant experience of our entire vacation. That is a half portion of the Cane River Shrimp. The brown bits with the shrimp is tasso ham and there's some mushrooms in the fabulous sauce as well. Plates wiped clean with bread -- would have picked up the plates and licked them clean if bread weren't available. Upperline created the combination of Fried Green Tomato and Shrimp Remoulade in the early 90's, it is now copied on menus all over New Orleans. The perfectly crunchy coating on the tart barely cooked tomato slice was a wonderful foil for the creamy remoulade and fresh shrimp. I could go on dish after dish -- everything was so good. Really, not exagerating. The gumbo in that trio of soups was the best gumbo of our trip (second place goes to a little luncheonette in New Iberia, Lagniappe Too). I let Jason finish that while I enjoyed the Oyster Stew (that's the light green one). While the turtle soup was good, it didn't have a unique taste that I could identify as "turtle." The bits of meat could have been beef for all I knew. We had fried oysters with a variety of sauces. My favorite accompaniment, however, was the celery root salad -- a nice cruchy counterpoint to the creamy oysters. I have to mention Jason's reaction to the roast duck... "tastes like pulled pork!" Now you have to realize, Jason doesn't care for duck and never orders it. But I made him taste it. His description does make sense though, reddish fatty meat with crispy skin -- sounds like pulled pork to me. JoAnn agreed with his comment and I think it is destined to inspire a Pulled Duck dish on Upperline's menu in the future. We sampled several desserts. My favorite sorbet among a trio was the Passion Fruit and Banana. The sweet creaminess of banana nicely balanced out the tart passion fruit. Upperline's version of creme brulee was a nice contrast of textures, with crushed praline on top to remind you of your location. Next time in New Orleans, plan for Upperline as your first dinner of the week -- and make sure to return for a second visit as well.

We didn't order at Uglesich's, JoAnn did that for us. My favorite dish was a current special of bacon wrapped shrimp atop a sweet potato casserole. The Italian flavored fried shrimp were very good, as was the trout. Unfortunately, the BBQ Comination Oyster and Shrimp was way to salty and overcooked, as was the soft shelled crab (fried to the point where the meat disappears from the legs). The restaurant can also be surprisingly expensive if you don't stick to the po-boys. I think this restaurant remains popular due to its reputation, and maybe its time is past?

We were told to go to Tujagues for dinner. We should have listened to that advice. Lunch is a three course affair with three choices for your main course. We hadn't had jambalaya at that point in our visit, so we both ordered it. It was too lightly seasoned and devoid of protein. It was described as having shrimp, sausage and chicken. I got one piece of chicken (and I don't mean piece like a whole drumstick or something, I mean one bite of chicken), a few specks of sausage, and a sprinkling of itty-bitty shrimp. The meal opened nicely enough with a delicious spinach and crab soup, but the salad was pitiful (pickled vegetables on top of watery, undressed, lettuce). We were then offered coffee and dessert, as if it were part of the prix-fixe. It isn't. The bread pudding was just OK to boot. Dinner is supposed to be a more elaborate, six-course affair. Which sounds interesting as it includes their signature beef dish. And the service was very good (except for the lack of explanation regarding dessert). My verdict? Go for dinner or order the fish at lunch time (that looked very good).

I'm glad we went to the Tabasco tour, even though it was less in depth than we expected. Basically, it starts with a short talk and a walk past displays of past marketing and packaging for Tabasco. Then they show you a short movie on the history and process for making Tabasco sauce. Then you walk past the bottling facility, behind a glass wall, like the workers are zoo animals. Then you enter a small museum with exhibits about the McIlhenny family and additional information about Avery Island itself. It sits atop a mountain of salt as tall as Mt. Everest and there are also oil deposits being drilled for in an environmentally friendly way. BTW - the fish sculpture in the second-to-last photo, above, was part of a state-wide exhibit of fish sculptures -- similar to the cow scultptures that were done several years ago. The fish is biting ino a Tabasco pepper, like it's bait. The company bought back the fish they commissioned in the charity auction of all the fish art.

We came here with JoAnn Clevenger to sample the BBQ shrimp, since this is the restaurant that originated the dish. It was our second lunch of the day, after a disappointing visit to Uglesich's, so we just ordered the shrimp and the combination pan roast to share between the three of us. The seafood in the pan roast was a little overcooked and the sauce/breading was too thick. The oyster pan roast at Palace Cafe is leagues better. The shrimp, on the other hand, were great. Large head-on shrimp in a buttery BBQ sauce which was dominated by black pepper. This version and the one made by Mr. B's were our two favorite versions of BBQ shrimp, but it is a tie for first since they are completely different. Mr. B's has an emulsified roux based sauce, where this was the (more typical of BBQ shrimp) butter and spices visible sauce. You'll have to sample both and determine which you prefer. Although Pascal's original version was great, I preferred the more sopable sauce at Mr. B's.