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Rachel Perlow

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Everything posted by Rachel Perlow

  1. Last May, the crawfish we had at Sidmar's were $6 for 2 lbs. The people at the next table said that was outrageously expensive. For someone coming from NJ/NY, it didn't seem so to me, but they knew best. I'm sure that same appetizer would be about double that, which again, is something a tourist from out of town might not think twice about paying (if they are even available). But I can see how, for the locals who have crawfish 2-3 times a week this time of year, this shortage just adds insult to injury.
  2. Response (that was quick): "It is not replaceable. Expected life of battery is 7 -10 years."
  3. Rachel, is the rechargeable battery one that can be easily found if a replacement is needed or is it a proprietary battery? I have thrown away many rechargeable gadgets when the battery is no longer available or cost is prohibitory. ← Hmm, I think it is built in. But I find if you change it fully the first time (remember, mine is still working after 2 months on its first charge), then always allow it to completely drain before recharging it fully again, they batteries last a long time. I'll email your question to the manufacturer as well.
  4. Hmm, that reminds me, there is a savory bread pudding served at Silver Oak Bistro with the lamb dish. Apparently, many people like it and they get very good comments about it (so it isn't going to change), but I found it too rich and heavy. It is made with croissants, I believe. I took a touristy cooking class during my first visit to New Orleans and asked the chef about using beignets or croissants in bread pudding and he said not to. That you should use the day old dried out french loaves as a first choice, and if not available (i.e. you don't live there) to use any stale bread, but BREAD not pastry with a high fat content, and it needs to be dried out and stale. The bread is there as a matrix for the custard and shouldn't detract from it. I only use the cinnamon raisin swirl bread because otherwise I'd need to add spices and raisins to my bread pudding, and I can get it cheap at a day old bread store. This way I just cut up & dry out the bread, make the custard the next day, mix the two, allow it to soak overnight, then bake. Very easy ingredient list that way.
  5. I don't know what he's doing, but I've replaced my OXO salad spinner about once a year. One time it got smashed in an overloaded pot drawer and the clear plastic bowl cracked. Another time I dropped it and ditto. The rubber ring on the bottom of the bowl or the bowl itself usually gets warped if you wash it in the dishwasher, and then it doesn't fit right. I get around this by cutting the circle of the rubber ring, it will then stay in place better (but with an inconsequential gap). I still buy the OXO one, because I find it best for drying lettuce. It's relatively cheap, so not a big deal to replace once a year.
  6. Truth be told, I've never had a good bread pudding in a restaurant in NJ. I always thought I hated bread pudding until I went to New Orleans for the first time and had a good one. I've learned how to make it and now I make a pretty good one (I use Pepperidge Farm Cinnamon Raisin swirl bread, cut it up and let it sit out to dry out before adding custard). But somehow, all the bread puddings I've had outside Louisiana have been square dense hockey pucks with too sweet a sauce. If any restaurant should have a good version, I suspect Silver Oak Bistro's would be good, but I don't think they had it on the menu last time we were there. I'm hereby suggesting it to Chef Gary. I think chefs from the south don't think if making it here because it seems such an everyday type of dessert, something to use up old bread. But a good version would be such a treat. The main trick, IMO, is to use plenty of custard and to soak it for at least several hours before baking. I don't even want a sauce on a bread pudding that is truly a pudding.
  7. I just ran extensive tests. Pouring at each volume setting, with an empty pod chamber. First on the "tea" setting, from lowest to highest setting, then from highest to lowest, then random. Then on the coffee, but only randomly. 9 oz seems the most accurate, hitting 9.0 dead on three out of four times. It seems more accurate when the setting is changed randomly, than when it is moved one increment at a time. In fact, when it I ran the pour from highest to lowest, it was pretty regularly a full ounce over. The only time the 9 oz pour was off was after I ran the 10 ounce pour going from highest to lowest. So, I would say run your own tests occasionally and find a setting that works for you and the pods you choose to brew. In addition, I sampled the temperature, which ranged from 180-188F (measured with my instant read meat thermometer. I don't know how accurate it is, come to think of it, the top glass is cracked. But it is lower and less consistant than I think would be desireable. When I feel up to it, I might test the SimpleHuman, which has a temperature control, to see how hot it gets.
  8. Take a trip up to Englewood and stock up your freezer with a few varieties from Mandoo Inc. Technically, they are Korean dumplings, but they steam up in a couple minutes in the microwave, and they have a fabulous shrimp siu mai, wrapped in a web of skinny noodles, rather than a sheet of wonton skin. They also have excellent spring rolls, that heat up crisply in a toaster oven. Not exactly fresh takeout (although you can get the dumpling of the day fresh from the steamer), but handy in a dim sum emergency!
  9. It's the one we keep in the kitchen* and use the most. It seems to brew the water the hottest and is therefore the best one to use for tea. I like the blue glow it emits while brewing, but the water/beverage comes out under pressure and can spatter a bit as it rises to the top of the cup. Also, the volume indicator isn't consistanty accurate. Use a larger mug than you need and aim for the volume you want for the stength indicated for the pod size. The 12 oz seems pretty accurate, but 10 oz brews 9 or 11. Check the accuracy of your unit with a measuring cup. It comes with two pod holders. I recommend you clearly label the one for tea and use it exclusively for that. I can't break Jason of the habit of leaving the used pod in until the next cup, and the coffee taste permeates the pod holder. So, I rinse it every time right before using it. * The others are in the basement next to Jason's office, in a coffee central set up. The Melitta One:One has already been passed on to my mother. The other unit that gets used frequently is the Keurig.
  10. I had assumed the honeycomb suggestion was refering to the candy not the actually structure that bees make. It's like a Violet Crumble candy bar. I don't have a recipe, but googling brings up a bunch. ← A local candy shop has what they call honeycomb. It looks/tastes like a rice crispy treat enrobbed in chocolate. They're excellent. Cut them into small bites and dip fully or partially in the chocolate.
  11. Upperline has an amazing version, available for dinner, which blew away the one I had at Ye Olde College Inn. YOCI's version was small pieces of meat swimming in a thick, rather salty gravy, with a bland version of grits. Upperline's was much higher quality veal, napped with a much less starchy gravy. I'm checking for pictures... ... con't:
  12. So, your destination choice would be Harvest Bistro, only. As you know darn well that Xaviars is not in Bergen County.
  13. OK, I don't want this to just become an argument over which town is better or not, but just to summarize, the average price of a home currently on the market in Tenafly is about $1.5 million, with prices starting at 500,000. There is little to no industrial. I think Stacy might be confusing Tenafly with Teaneck, Bergenfield, or Englewood. All of which have more commercial interests, and homes in more affordable price ranges, i.e.: Bergenfield: lowest $337,000, average 512,000 Englewood: 300,000/1.4 mil (this town has at least two very distinct price differential areas) Teaneck: 325,000/561,200 Hmm, and just because I was curious, here are the current stats for these other very residential communities: Alpine: 1,049,000/avg over 5 mil. Closter: $475,000/1,130,000 River Vale: 465,000/834,254 Ridgewood: 485,000/991,000 (only one known as a restaurant destination) These stats are current as of today and most are rounded off to the nearest thousand. Everyone has their unique reasons why they prefer to live in one town over another, proximity to good restaurants might be one, especially for us eGS members. But my whole point throughout this thread is that there are many reasons as well why restaurants may succeed or fail. Let's keep that in mind and not blame the town in and of itself. Disclaimer Signoff: Rachel Perlow, Realtor at Weichert in Tenafly, NJ.
  14. Rachel Perlow

    Dinner for 40

    Just get a crew together to help peel them, it'll go faster. That's what we did for the dozens of eggs that needed to be peeled at Varmint's Second Occasional Pig Pickin'.
  15. That is a total fallacy. Cafe Cafe has been around for several years; how long was Max's open before it closed? You're forgetting Mr. Wok's (on the second floor, on the corner of Jay/Highwood/Piermont, nice sit down restaurant, but it does do a lot of take out/delivery, but not a "take out joint"), Japanese/Chinese, been there for years; the Chinese/Korean place (nice restaurant, not a take out joint) around the corner from Tenafly Gourmet Farm (can't find the name on yp.yahoo). Aw heck, I didn't want to use them as examples, but Charlie Browns & Friendly's have been open for years. Maybe it means that Tenafly is not a destination town, like I said before, and that the places that remain open cater to families, not high end diners. Whatever. The towns are in such proximity around here, that you hardly notice where one ends and another begins. Menton, Does a restaurant have to never close for it to be sucessful in your eyes? At what point is it successful? How many places have closed that you wouldn't expect to close? For example, Blue Sky in Montclair. It was acclaimed, popular, we had an eG event there after 9/11. It closed, but the reasons given were that the family wanted to move to Maine (or was it Vermont?), do we not believe them? When a restaurant closes, does that automatically mean it failed?
  16. Tenafly's name is also of Dutch extraction. Meaning either "of a meadow," "willow meadow" or "ten swamps," depending on the source. I prefer the meadow reference, there are large parkland tracts in the borough, not so many swamps now.
  17. Rachel Perlow

    Dinner for 40

    It sounds like you had a great time and produced a fabulous meal to boot! Have you raised the groups expectations of your future meals?
  18. (actually, I'm a member of the NJMLS, not GSMLS, but that's beside the point) Listed above are a bunch of restaurants that failed/closed in Tenafly over a period of several years. I'm sure if someone did the research, they could come up with a bunch of restaurants that failed in Teaneck (without doing the research, just off the top of my head: La Posada, East Saigon, Stickey's), Cresskill (44 E Madison has been a revolving door, there was a previous incarnation of Saigon R in Cresskill that closed many years ago), Montclair (I did just a little research, as I don't go to Montclair that often: Blue Sky, Mulberry Street, Restaurant 28, to name a few), restaurants open and close in Hackensack on a regular basis. I'm sure some places have come and gone in Ridgewood as well. What I'm saying is that restaurants open and close in every town. I think it is unfair to blame any one thing for a place closing down, even the town itself, or parking, or rent. One thing I will say is that you don't generally pass through Tenafly on your way to somewhere else. You have to mean to go there, and it really doesn't have a big enough reputation as a restaurant destination (as does Montclair and Ridgewood) for people to come here for that reason alone. Montlcair and Ridgewood also have bigger downtowns with shopping and/or theatre as other attractions. As for Max's... their food was good and it was usually busy, but I had a major pet peeve about their service flatware. It was of a quality on par with a high school cafeteria. Thin, bendable, sharp edges. I asked the chef/owner about it, he blamed patrons stealing as a reason for not purchasing higher quality flatware. I'm not talking a need for sterling silver folks, just something decent, that didn't feel like I would scratch my lips on it. We went at least 5 times in the first couple years we lived nearby, but eventually, I just couldn't get over that issue, and the attitude that comes along with it.
  19. Ouch. Jason and I were talking about going there for dinner last night, we ended up going for rodizio in Belleville instead, planning on going to AHD for lunch today. That just sucks. Sorry guys. Please let us know when you are ready to reopen.
  20. That's kind of a harsh thing to day, and pre-mature. You first posted two days ago, give it some time. No law says you can't be the first one to go and let us know what you think.
  21. OK, gravy cheese fries, et al, noted on my list.
  22. Thanks for the input, revising lists accordingly, now in alphabetical order: Arnaud's August Casamento's Dante's Kitchen Dick & Jenny's Galatoire's GW Fins Herbsaint Irene's Cuisine K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen (get coconut cake) La Crepe Nanou Lilette Morning Call Parasol's (lunch, roast beef poboy, gravy cheese fries) Peristyle Ralph's on the Park Longbranch in Abita Springs, and any of the other places Brooks has made famous (and wants to ferry us to ) Places we've been to in the past and want to go to again: Central Grocery (other recommendations for Muffaletta's welcome, I didn't love CG's last time) Crabby Jack's Drago's Jacques-Imo's Liuzza's By the Track (lunch, closes at 3 or 5) Upperline Ye Olde College Inn (maybe, mostly I just want to see their new building) Since we want to hit Dante's, Peristyle, Lilette, etc., I took off Brigtsen's and Bayona off the revisit list, for now. I love the advice on timing (lunch vs dinner) and ordering, please keep it up! Thanks all. I don't expect to hit every place you all recommend, but I want to have choices, especially since we'll probably have to be flexible on hours and such.
  23. OK, I reviewed THE LIST, this is a first pass through my printout with a highlighter... Places that are open that we've never been to, so should try to hit this time:* Longbranch in Abita Springs, and any of the other places Brooks has made famous (and wants to ferry us to ) Herbsaint Ralph's on the Park Irene's Cuisine K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen Peristyle Morning Call Dante's Kitchen Casamento's Dick & Jenny's La Crepe Nanou Can you believe some of the places we haven't been to yet? Places we've been to in the past and want to go to again: Ye Olde College Inn Liuzza's By the Track Bayona Cafe Du Monde Central Grocery (other recommendations for Muffaletta's welcome, I didn't love CG's last time) Crabby Jack's Bozo's Drago's Brigtsen's Jacques-Imo's Upperline Feel free to make additional suggestions. But we've only been to New Orleans three times in the last 5 years, for a week at a time each. Just can't fit everything in that you want to! *This list is not in a preference order, just in the order they came up in neighborhood sections on the nomenu list.
  24. We're all booked for the first week of April. I printed out the nomenu.com list and after moving it into Word and double columning it and shrinking the font, it is still four pages long. I think we'll be able to come up with 20 or so places to eat, no problem. On Brooks' advice, we're not going to rent a car this time (place we're staying at has no parking, so that choice was easy) and instead will put what we would have spent on renting a car towards taxis, spread the wealth around, dontcha know. We are both not handy in the least, and I'm rather clumsy to boot, but I bet the volunteers over at Willie Mae's would like some Hubig pies! Part of the reason we chose this time of year, is our synagogue is alligning with a local one passing out Passover kits or something during that week, so we'll join in on that brigade. And, we'll have to find time to go back to some of our favorites as well... Upperline (got to have a JoAnne fix), CrabbyJack-Imo's (duck po boy, fried oysters, chicken livers, yes I combined 2 names), Parkway (roast beef poboy), Drago's (charbroiled oysters), any snowball places open in April? See y'all soon.
  25. That link seems out of date, here's one based on a search: New Link
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