markk

I suspect that for some reason the behavior of the crowds at Fairway has created the sometimes cranky staff. Yet, often the behavior of fellow shoppers is such that I am suprised the staff are not armed with whips and chairs! I make a few trips to Fairway (uptown, or UWS) from Jersey during the year when I need stuff, like when I'm out of the various olive oils they have under their own label, which are excellent. But I do take a deep breath and prepare myself for the experience (!!) One time I was waiting at the prepared foods counter (UWS) when a woman with a nasal voice and a condescending tone had her number called, and told the counterman "I'll have a half of a pound of the string bean and and peppers, but I want only string beans". The guy informed her, perfectly nicely, "I'll try, but you see it is called 'string beans and peppers'." The woman answered in a voice more condescending than the first time, "You'll do your best." Then she turned to the other customers (sadly, I was the closest so she addressed me) and said "The attitude in this store leaves a lot to be desired!" And I replied "Starting with yours." Immediately she asked me "you mean my 'You'll do your best' comment? - do you think I was too harsh on him?" I turned and walked away from her, and the other people around, sensing they were about to be drawn into this, turned away. But I have always thought that in the face of this treatment by custmers, that the Fairway UWS store employees do remarkably well. Another time I had come for the Spanish Arbequina olive oil specifically (Fairway label) and found them out of it - a wasted trip from Jersey! So I asked, and the fellow said that the were truly out but that the Uptown store 'should' have it. I asked if there was any way to be certain before I drove up there, and he radioed to somebody to call them, and they said they had it - so I pointed the car uptown. When I got there, there was none, and the guy said he thought they were out. So I told the story of the other store calling and being told they had it, and he said he'd go look. Then he came back empty-handed (I never know if people really go look, or just kill time when this happens) and he said that they did have it just come in on a truck that day, and if I had fifteen minutes to kill, they could get at it for me - and while I shopped around, they brought me a case of it. So, strange as it seems, I may be the only person who has happy Fairway stories to tell. (Unlike the time we were in an adorable store in France that was a French version of Home Depot, and took photos like crazy because of how adorable we thought it was, and upon leaving were surrounded by security guards who demanded possession of our camera and asked us to wait while they called the police. While we waited for the store manager to get there - we demanded they call him - we surreptitiously erased all the photos on the camera except for the few exterior shots we had taken on the way in - then we showed the manager by flipping through the photos that we had just a few shots of the outside of the store, and before those, photos of our last night's dinner, and the dinner before that.. so he told the men to let us go!)

NOBODY believes me when I tell this, but I was living in London in November of 1991 when the study known as "The French Paradox" was released, and the conclusion drawn in Europe, and the point of all the newspaper stories was that that they had seen that France had the lowest rate of death from heart disease in the world, and when they studied it, the heart-disease rate in the Southwest of France was so incredibly low that it was dragging down the whole French average, and when they investigated, they concluded that it was the duck and goose fat and their livers (which they found to be mono-unsaturated, by the way) were making them live longer - and they cited Gascons who live on duck and goose fat for 3 meals day and live well into their 100's. When I returned to the states, I found that people were ablaze with the US version of the French Paradox (thank you so much, 60 Minutes) which was saying it was the Red Wine that did the trick, when the media in Europe had specifically reported that in the study, they realized that red wine was a constant in European diets (all countries drink it liberally), and that it wasn't the wine at all responsible for the low rates in france, it was the duck/goose fat and the foie gras. And when the NY Times carried the story on its front page, the headline was "Can Foie Gras Aid the Heart?; A French Scientist Says Yes." So the story of Antoine Magnin eating foie gras every day and living to 85 is perfectly in line with those findings, and not surprising at all! Foie Gras and duck fat are health foods !!!! Now, if only somebod would come out with a study that Pastrami is good for your heart... Incidentally, two of us tested the French Paradox findings a few years ago when we were diagnosed with high cholesterol - we eliminated all the traditionally "bad" foods, but did eat foie gras and duck (magret, confit) on average 1.5 times a week for two months, and when we had our cholesterols re-tested, they had both dropped to the low end of normal; our doctor was astounded, until I gave him the full story and sent him the NY Times article. However, I have been known to rationalize that if I am mostly good, the occasional Pastrami sandwich won't hurt me... so add me to the ranks of the severely depressed as well !!

Oh, what the hell... (well, I couldn't decide which of the two options they gave was more readable)

My delivery story is probably pathetic, but here goes... When we have Chinese food, we order from two different restaurants, since neither of us can tolerate the food from the other's preferred restaurant (the choices are "horrible", and "hideous", so we each pick a poison) and I always ask the doorman not to let them come up at the same time if they should arrive overlapping (one place is a mile west of here, the other east of here, and without fail they both come within minutes, if not seconds of each other). Well, one day the delivery people met in the lobby while announcing themselves to the doorman. The first guy didn't care, but the other guy did, quite a bit. When he came to my door, he looked truly hurt, and he asked me with a very sad face "did you order from another Chinese restaurant too?", so I explained that there were two of us, and yes we did. Well, the result of this is that his restaurant started sending us all manner of free items - things that at one point I used to order (like shrimp toast) which I don't anymore just for reasons of cutting down on grease, and they always throw in something else as well - like those fried "pretend" scallops.

I wholeheartedly second the notion! The Spiegelau are great; I have a bunch of each, and when I set my table with many per person, which I do for fun lots of times, it looks like a million bucks, or so I'm told. Plus they are great glasses, and you don't feel bad when they break, which all wine glasses seem to do! (Of course now that I look, there are no flutes in that photo, but the flutes are great as well.)

Why, thank you. I can promise you though that I'm such a high-maintenance person (having nothing whatsoever to do with cooking) that you will NOT want to have me staying in your house. But thank you for the kind comments.

I remember the Tommy Lee's Islander in Hoboken (!!) but now I'm going back more than 30 years. Still, the Lobster Cantonese (the exact same sauce as in Jason's photo of the SLS) was superb.

Every time I look at their products in the store, they seem to be loaded with MSG. So "NO", I wouldn't buy them on a bet!

That's not Snow Pea Tips! That's ONG CHOY (Water Spinach) !! Did they sell them to you as Snow Pea Tips? Shame on them.

NO! And regardless of what you say, the accidental 3 gallons of Macedonia (fruit salad) that I made last week when everything seemed to be ripe was just a coincidence.

Having wanted to go here for quite some time, we took advantage of the traffic-free holiday weekend and snuck in from NJ and parked a few paces from the restaurant, and had one of the best meals of our lives... We also started with the superb Scallop Dumplings (thank you, Fat Guy) and snuck in some SuiMei, Har Gao, ChewChow and Seafood with Pea Shoots dumplings, one better than the next, all exemplary. But the colossal Soft Shell Crabs in the fridge on the way in called to us (literally, they waved to us) so we had a few of those - clearly the best we've ever had, salt and pepper fried to sheer and utter perfection. If we were two normal people (which we're not, that's why we're Gulletteers) we might have stopped there, but nooooo... We had been craving lobster, and when we arrived, engaged the Suit by the register (there was only one on duty) as to the size of the largest ones they had, which he believed to be 3 1/2 or 4 pounders, and as we spoke, he explained every wonderful looking dish that went by. Finally when we sat and they showed us their largest lobster, which they said was a 3.5 pounder, we didn't think it would do, so I went back to the tanks and we settled on two 2.5 pounders, which we wanted done with ginger and scallion. No to be! The fellow in the suit said to me "two lobsters is a great choice - I'll make one with ginger and scallion, and the other one with egg and black beans over noodles for you!" Well, I didn't think my partner would go for that and said I had to check, and the Suit said "Oh, surprise him!" Well, the dual preparations were approved, and Mr. Suit gave me two thumbs up as I conveyed this from our nearby table. And let the feast begin... At this point, the dim sum and the softshells arrived, and we began our ascent into heaven. Then the first lobster arrived, and I would say that it was just an ethereal version of the true Cantonese version with ground pork, egg, and black bean (merely a hint), over Lo Mein - and we lost our minds from how delicious this was. The lobster itself was succulent and sweet and juicy. But then came Lobster #2, and indeed it was in the most delicious ginger and scallion sauce I ever had, over a bed of the lightest and most hauntingly delicious chow fun I've ever tasted! We kept going back from one to the other, unable to decide or stop evaluating. With this came a platter of pea shoots sauteed to perfection with garlic. If I didn't make this clear, everything was sublime, subtle and intriguing and the comment "it's like tasting this dish for the first time" was uttered at my table more than once, and the service was simply great, including various waiters who walked by, and ran for various little bowls and plates so they could offer us tastes of the dishes we hadn't yet gotten to without crowding up our table. Cleverly, we had brought some delicious Alsace Pinot Gris to go with our pig-out feast. And one of the nicest things about going into an overeating stupor fueled by much wine is that you remember such things you've read and filed away, like... ...so when the meal was over I waddled to the counter, shook the hand of the Suit who arranged our feast, and said "That was wonderful - what's your name?" and he answered, "Choy". (I am assuming he is the shorter of the two, by the way. But I'm told this morning that he's much taller than 5'5" [indeed he was tall] - and I cannot imagine that he was the "less" helpful host!) But he immediately began planning the menu for our return visit, and I'm keeping him!

Does it have to be a "restaurant"? How about taking out salad from Whole Foods's salad bar. Or are we anti-Whole Foods now? I may be- I can't quite decide.

No, that's absolutely not true. I've had two recently, a 6 lb. and a 9 lb., and they were hard shell and top-notch, and fresh tasting as can be - sweet and delicious. http://www.guyarts.com/lobsters.html

Here's my question: If you have a wine whose alcoholic strength is 8%, and another which is 11% - in a practical sense, what's the difference by amount of wine - in other words, how much more of the 8% wine would you have to drink to equal the alcoholic content of the 11% wine? (I've wondered this as well with 13% wines - I won't use the word 'whopping' -versus 11%, but I happen to be sipping an 8% wine at the moment, and thought to ask. How much more would I have to drink to get the same alcohol as an 11-percenter? THANKS

I make a LOT of lobsters (check out my website in my signature) and I use the Julia Child/Jasper White traditional steaming times of 13 or 14 minutes for the first pound, and 3 minutes per additional pound. Max. This works for lobsters as big as 8 pounds.

Ditto! I just finished it as well and found it a most, most enjoyable read. Then I read: "Blue Trout and Black Truffles: The Peregrinations of an Epicure" by Joseph Wechsberg (I'm not entirely sure who he is, but I know I've read another book of his, a biography of Giuseppe Verdi). The Bluet Trout book is utterly, utterly delightful, and highly recommended. He lived in the early and mid 20th century, and his culinary tales of European dining are just wonderful. I discovered it browsing some book site - I don't remember which- and couldn't have loved it more. There are several chapters on "boiled beef" that are just fascinating!

There's a restaurant chain called Texas de Brazil, a Brazilian "rodizio" (the various meats, and there are many of them, are grilled or roasted on skewers that rotate around a fire, and then the servers walk around the room with them and carve them tableside - it's an all-you-can-eat situation as well) which is a billion times better in quality, and ambience, than The Knife - and they have a Miami location where I've eaten a good half-dozen times. The quality of the meats is truly superb, and they have an enormous salad bar with lots of salad, and now that I think of it, hardly any mayo-based items. And the meal includes really delicious garlic mashed potatoes and fried plantains (don't know if they're delicious, never tried them). It's more expensive than The Knife - and I would say for a very good reason: the quality of the meat. And as I said, it's a stunningly beautiful restaurant. I would say that if you're in the mood for an "assorted meat" festival, definitely go there instead! If you go to their website, you can sign up for their 'club', and you'll get a 25% discount certificate for your first visit, and an entirely free dinner on your birthday (for whatever date you put it). But even at the full price, I'd say it's worth it - and worlds and worlds away from The Knife !!

Sorry. It's at 12409 Biscayne Boulevard North Miami 33141 305-891-2355 If you'd be kind enough to explain that you saw the photos on eGullet by a guy who had been there on vacation, I think they'd get a kick out of that. It's barely visible from the road - but it's in the plaza with the Fedex, and it's one very short block north of the 123 St. Causeway, and on the east side of Biscayne.

As I said, its a dump. Its bad Chinese food at its self-indulgent worst. Which is why I keep going back. ← Oy, not only is it a dump, but I remember it before its current expansion, like from the 70's! As far as bad Chinese food at self-indulbent worst, that it sure is, but what's interesting to me is that I have long realized that I share Jason's love of even bad American Chinese food, but this one's too bad for me somehow; the Cuban stuff, however, is filling, greasy, and tasty, and I've been eating that for some 30 years, although less and less as the years go by. One reason is that I've seen them carting in barrels with "MSG" stenciled on them, which is in the Cuban food by the ton. I once debated with the owner that the Accent (which they can omit from the Chinese dishes made to order) and the MSG that they put in all the Cuban food (which they cook up in batches and dish out from the little drawers) are one and the same, and he said "no, trust me, the barrel MSG s stronger!" (I don't know that I believe him, but for many reasons the MSG turns me away more and more from the place.) My La Caridad anecdote is that in the original place, the seating counter was parallel to 78th St, with the wall of drawers behind it, and the counter space where they dished out the food was always filthy, and dirty, or at least caked-up with the drippings of all the food they served. I was in the neighborhood when they reopened after several months of remodeling and turning everything around as well as expanding, and that very first day, the counter under the drawers was caked-up with just as much dried food gunk as had always been there! Still, it's tasty food that nobody I know ever got sick from!

While searching the Miami New Times online (a very trusted source for excellent restaurants) I came upon the description of a little French bistro in a strip mall on Biscayne Blvd. in North Miami - the Bistro Plein Sud. Well, the food was so good that we ate there three times in our week in Miami. It's a tiny storefront restaurant, extrememly prettily done up, and the people who work and cook there (and own it) are all French. The first night we started with a sublime terrine of foie gras (in very generous portions) and followed with the special of the day, a veal chop with wild mushrooms in a light cream sauce, which was superb. A few nights later I had called to ask the specials, and one was whole Daurade (sea-bream) baked in the oven with vegetables and potatoes, and they kindly saved me two of them, for when we arrived at 10 pm, it had sold out. As had just about all the appetizers! So no foie gras that night. We had a salad which was excellent, and the fish was outstanding. We learned that a few nights later they were having a "themed" night - a celebration of Perigourd, so we reserved our tables and brought the video camera, from which these (not great) stills came. The first course was a generous and excellent sauteed foie gras, plus another cold foie gras (different from the first terrine we had had) and some smoked duck breast in a raspberry sauce: The main course was a trio: duck confit, rare duck breast with an excellent sauce that I don't remember the name of, and a little side dish of "cassoulet" which was an exquisite preparation of beans and a duck and pork sausage: The dessert we had each time was an individual tarte tatin served warm with ice cream, and it was sublime. This place is just a wonderful find, and honestly would be for any city. It's like a little bit of France transported over here, great chef and all. PS - If you copy this link and paste it into a browser window, you can see a little video we made of the place! http://guyarts.com/plein_sud.wmv

It's the steam/moisture that collects in the foil, not the foil itself. Meats that are moist cooked, or long, slow cooked, for the purpose of breaking down collagens and tenderizing the meat will not be affected. But meats that are broiled or roasted only to a certain doneness like rare, medium-rare,etc. (steaks, chops, 'dry' beef roasts (i.e. not pot-roasts), will toughen in the presence of steam, and are best rested in a warm, dry oven.

1&9 Seafood can be great, or not so. I've had dim sum there more than a dozen times now, including weekend cart service. It only once was "spectacular", and that was on a Friday when they were preparing the weekend stuff; on the weekends, twice, it's been 'okay' to 'good'. The restaurant China Chef, Secaucus does qualify as a dim-sum place on weekends - it's a small place, but they have carts that circulate and provide most of the requisite stuff. It's fairly lousy, though. That doesn't stop me from going for a fix every now and then, because it's a mere 2 miles from my house. But it does answer the question of what dim sum "parlors" exist - except that this one's never better than lousy!

Yes, I ate there last night. What were you even thinking? How could you look at a restaurant that offers all-you-can-eat quantities of things like skirt steak, flank steak, NY Steak, rib steak, etc, PLUS a free bottle of red wine per person, for $24.95? What kind of an idiot are you even to be considering such a place. As I say, I ate here last night. There's a salad bar, and then you line up a grill station holding your plate, and specify the cut of meat that you want. And regardless of what you request, the cooks throw some charred pieces of gristle on your plate, mumbling the name of what you asked for. So the guy will heap a piece of meat on your plate and say "sirloin", and when you say "oh, no, I wanted the skirt steak", he'll say, "oh yeah, I meant 'skirt'" If you get a charred piece of fat somewhere in your gristle, it's a good taste, and if you've ever been curious to explore the wonderful red wines of Argentina, you won't do it via the bottle that's included with your meal. Oh I know, you've probably been following the advice of the Miami New Times website, which has been entirely responsible for introducing you to such fabulous restaurants as Chispa (Coral Gables), and the fabulous Bistro Plein Sud on Biscayne Blvd. in North Miami Beach, so when you read that The Knife won their award for Best Argentinian Restaurant, you believed them. Well, maybe you're not an idiot after all. Too bad about The Knife, though.