markk

I was looking for "enjoyable" at the bare minimum, and certainly didn't get that .

I'm undoubtedly one of the negative posts you read about Telepan. We ate airline food there. But I would like to second, and third The Modern. Word to the wise on two counts. (one, avoid Telepan, two, go to The Modern.)

For me, it was the opposite growing up in the 50's and 60's. My mom was a horrible cook and my dad loved to eat, so we ate out as often as possible, which averaged to 3 nights a week, more if he could get home from work early enough that she hadn't started cooking. So for me, restaurant dining wasn't "special occasion", it was a regular part of the rotation.

Having had a few (minor, assuredly) health scares (and not even being that old) has given me a new perspective - every day is a special occasion! So by default, going out to eat with my s.o. is a special occasion. Yeah, we do it way more than we stay in, but as I say, I have learned to take nothing for granted, so when the reservationist asks me "is this a special occasion" I say "yes". Sometimes they don"t ask more, but if they do, I say I'm "celebrating being alive". Oh, I know it's so that they can have the waiter wish us whatever the appropriate thing is, or send over something, depending on the level of the restaurant, but I really do think not only of going out to eat, but of getting up in the morning, as a special occasion. I remember once being asked that by the reservationist at a relatively fancy place in Miami Beach when I made the reservation, who pressed me for the detail, and since it was the truth, I said that it was our 30th anniversary. I wouldn't normally have volunteered that, but she asked. And at the end of the meal, they indeed brought over a dessert with a candle and sang "Happy Anniversary" to us. In that we were two guys dining together, doing that based on a reservationist's notation was, I thought, a very courageous thing on their part.

My main reason for wanting to know this was to see if Il Latini (where I had at a minimum, a few dozen meals in the 1970's) was the recipient of a Bib Gourmand, because I saw that it had one several years ago, and I have also heard from many sources since then that it has gone way downhill. But when I saw, several editions ago, that it had the BG, it made me think that the symbol might represent what it represents in France - spectacular meals at astoundingly reasonable prices. I was turned-on to this symbol while in Alsace some years ago comparing dining stories in the club lounge of the HIlton with a Frenchman who had been living in Hungary for many years, and who came to France a few times a year to eat exclusively at Bib Gourmand restaurants. We got into a friendly argument, and I told him that I had found a great restaurant the night before all on my own, and when he went to his room and brought back the Michelin, we looked up the place that I had found, and what do you know! It had a BG. So from that day on, I started eating at BG restaurants in France, and have never been disappointed. As to whether that corresponds to how useful the guide is in Italy, I don't know- but for the fact that the Il Latini I remember from the 70's certainly was in synch with what the symbol should represent. Here's a link to a bunch of my French BG meals- the restaurants Faude, Grange du Paysan, Am Lindeplatzl, Au Chasseur, and A l'Arbre Vert were all BG recipients: http://www.guyarts.com/france.html If by the question, "I hope your reasons for wanting this info have nothing to do with wanting to know the best places to eat", you mean that you're willing to suggest the best places to eat, I would very much appreciate your suggestions - I am charged with recommending restaurants to some dear friends of mine who are about to leave for a trip to Florence and Rome, and though I've eaten extensively in those cities, that was many (many) years ago when I used to spend the summers of the 1970's in Italy, and I would appreciate any suggestions you're willing to offer.

No matter how many bookstores I try, I can't find the red Michelin Guide to Italy. If anybody has one and would be kind enough to reply, could you tell me please if there are any restaurants in Florence (or environs) or Rome that have the "Bib Gourmand" symbol? If there are, I'd just like to know. If there aren't a lot and somebody might care to reply with the names, that would be an extra added bonus. Thanks in advance.

Because of butter's composition, as TheSwede said, it emulsifies into a sauce at the final stages of cooking merely from the whisking into the bubbling liquid. If you wanted to re-incorporate the fat you skimmed off because you like its flavor, you'd have to use an agent such as flour to do so, the easiest way being to cook the fat and butter together first to make a roux, and then incorporate your braising liquid into it.

I'd cut a few holes between the bones and stuff in a clove of garlic and some rosemary every here and there, then sprinkle it with some salt and pepper, and brown it slowly but well on as many sides as you can with a little olive oil. (I'd also throw in a sprig of rosemary while it's browning, myself.) Then I'd add some white wine and some chicken stock (about a cup of each), and let it braise for a few hours. I like to use a herbaceous wine, like a Sauvignon Blanc, for this - and it doesn't have to be a great one. (I've been known to take it out, crisp it in under the broiler, and put it back in to braise some more). When it's falling apart tender, take out the liquid, de-fat it, and boil it down until it becomes unctuous and almost syrupy - this will be all the gelatin from the bones, and it makes a stupendous sauce for the sliced meat. You might want to go along the bones and remove the meat from them, then slice the meat as a roast, and cut between the bones and serve them alongside. I would serve it with some oniony potato pancakes, and some applesauce, which will complement both the meat and the potatoes.

If you're paying what they normally charge to serve you tea, I can't imagine how they can care that you're substituting your own tea in their hot water, honestly.

I'm helping some friends plan a trip to Florence to visit their daughter, and the dates they must arrive on March 20 - 24, and depart on the 25th. And that apparently coincides with Easter. So - will anything at all be open in Florence (or anywhere drivable to nearby) for any of those dates? Can anybody tell me what the rules of open and closed will be for things - restaurants and other things, for Good Friday (3/21), Easter Sunday (3/23), and Easter Monday (3/24)? Many, many thanks. (Myself, I've been places, like Germany at Christmas, where the only way we had Christmas Eve dinner was to stock up on Burger King before it closed at noon and heat them up with the hair-dryer at night, and we were staying in a luxury hotel! But that's another story, and in the past. I'm trying to get a sense of what to advise my friends to expect.)

I don't think it's rude at all either. I've brought herbal teas to restaurants that don't have them. I always just order tea, and ask them not to put the teabag in, and then I use my own. That way I'm sure to get charged for the full tea-charge/tea-service, and I don't have to go asking for hot water. But I can't see how they'd mind if you said that you'd like to drink one of your own teas. What level of restaurant are we talking about here, anyway?

Some of their other menu items sound a lot scarier: Sacchette di Prosciutto Prosciutto & fontina pasta purses in a ground beef, crimini mushrooms, green peas in a rose sauce (sic) Pasta Primavera A base variety of fresh vegetables tossed with whole wheat fettuccini with a light olive oil and basil Let's hope it's the menu-writer!

Thanks everybody! I learned something. Though their Tarte d'Alsace is something I'd like never to be without in my freezer; it's great. So far for me, that makes one thing out of the entire store. Good thing there's one close by now.

It was sort of bland. The meat chunks had the color and consistency and stringiness of what's generally sold in the cryovac packs as "corned beef", and had little relation to the rest of the pie. And it wasn't in any way "harmonious" or tasty, and in both cases, a significant amount of the "gravy" boiled over and out of the package (which was one of the warnings) while other parts of the pie remained cold, so however they devised this to reheat in the microwave didn't seem well planned. I dunno. It was just all-around "strange" and unenjoyable, and but for the fact that it was late and we just wanted something to eat, we wouldn't normally have eaten them. I was hoping that maybe some people who were familiar with them would come on and post other experiences with them. I am quite familiar with Shepherd's Pie in general.

I just checked with Red Lobster, and they said that "to fest" was definitely a verb, so there you have the definitive answer, no?

I'm relatively new to Trader Joe's, it requiring quite a drive to get to one, but I do make the trek to be sure that I always have their Tarte d'Alsace in the freezer. Two have opened up closer to me (one, quite close) so I've been able to experiment with more stuff. So I tried the Shepherd's Pie, which sure sounded good. But it was the almost strangest thing I've ever eaten (and not in a good way). Two of us were ready to give up on them after the first taste and scrounge for something else, but we figured "what the hell" and stuck with them, though they did not grow on us in any way. Does anybody like these?

Where were the little balls of stuff in the aluminum foil? Or was that exclusively at Jade Fountain?

And the most important of them all... "Lobster-Fest"

I'd think you'd get sick if you ate enough clams to correct that iron deficiency! Or at least be spending a lot of time in the bathroom. I also vote for supplements. But have you thought of eating liver as well? In fact, I'm surprised that the doctor didn't inject you. But if you're determined to eat clams, why not just with a fork out of the can while watching tv?

I second that-as a cook in a open kitchen, I have a lot of interaction with customers-when I ask how their meal was, if they say "well a little to salty, to dry" or whatever, I tell them they should of sent it back-and the look of amazement in their eyes when I suggest this baffles me. Tell someone you don't like your meal, especially if you are dropping the coin that a 4star warrants. Personally, as a cook, I want to know if I sent something out mediocre. ← Okay then, since I'm the guy that started this, let me ask you a question. If I came in on a busy night, and you had some 4-star dishes on the menu that were complicated, and I asked if the alcohol could be omitted in one, and you decided to make me a whole other dish instead, and to leave the wine out of all the sauces, and then I went on an internet forum and said that the food was lousy and named your place - would you be pissed? I'm not defending the restaurant, or in any way saying that what they served was acceptable at the 4-star level. I was just thinking of extending a kindness to the chef who certainly didn't have to do any of that on a busy night. I can buy two different explanations, one that special requests can throw a kitchen off on a busy night, and the other that at that level, they should be able to modify a dish and still send out something culinarily dazzling. But all I'm asking is, if you did those things for me and then I trashed you by name online, would you be pissed and think of me as an ingrate?

That's really funny - I didn't see where you were going with that! In olden times, before I got the glove idea, I'd wash my hands as I cooked, and apply my ointment. And when people would say "Wow, that's delicious - what am I tasting in there?", I would answer, "cortisone creme, probably".

I use them all the time, the disposable vinyl gloves you described, and in exactly the same situations and for the same reasons, plus one more. I have extremely dry skin, especially my hands. If I were to wash my hands as many times as is required while cooking, to avoid cross contamination, as well as before I went from skinning a piece of salmon to answering my phone, my skin would just come off, or be a dry, scaly mess. So I keep a dispenser of gloves handy, and put them on while prepping with the frequency that a doctor does when seeing patients. Once, when I was running low, I examined what I was doing, and realized that I could actually wash the gloves (i.e. wash my hands with the gloves on) with hot water and Dawn, and then move on to touch something else, so now sometimes I do that, but I'm probably more likely to peel the gloves off and discard them and grab another pair in a few minutes when I need them. The difference it makes to my hands is just astounding.

Well, we went anyway, on Christmas Day, and it was a most pleasant surprise. The place is totally without pretension, and from the decor, I was sort of afraid of what we'd get. But it was a delicious meal. We started with many orders of Tarte Flambee, and though it wasn't the exact authentic thing (I've spent a lot of time in Alsace), it was a very enjoyable rendition. Clearly it was something that had been prepared and reheated, but it performed well enough to make a very enjoyable start to the meal, along with a delicious Alsace Riesling. I had read somewhere (not here, obviously) that starting with the various sausages was a must, and we did just that - appetizers of their Duck sausage, Pork sausage, and "White" sausage. Each came on a bed of hauntingly delicious and thoroughly authentic Choucroute (sauerkraut), and the sausages were exemplary, especially the duck sausage. I had ordered the Choucroute Garni as a main course, not realizing that sauerkraut would be the first course, so I changed my order to Cassoulet (not in any way Alsatian), and it was absolutely delicious. The beans were beautifully flavored, crusted with breadcrumbs, and perfectly firm and al-dente. The duck confit was superb, and there was yet another variety of duck sausage that was outstanding, as well as many other meats and pork belly. I'd surely have it again, though now that I've tasted the sauerkraut and sausages as an appetizer, I can't wait to go back for a full Choucroute Garni! Two of us had the Cassoulet, and our third had the Baeckeoffe of lamb, which we all tasted, and which was thoroughly delicious. An outstanding Madiran (Montus 2003) accompanied the main courses. And there was a quite acceptable "fine" apple tart for dessert. It was a better meal than I could have hoped for, and would definitely temp me to schlep all the way over to the East Side. And believe it or not, we completely forgot to take photos, though there was absolutely not enough light anyway.

Ah, but what are you going to do when the recipe says to put something in an oven pre-heated to "gas mark II"? ( )

I would try to find the nearest location of Paul, because it is stupendous. I know it well from France, and can tell you that the American locations, all in Florida, are every bit as decadent. And it seems there's one in Sunrise, if that helps you. Paul Florida Locations