ExtraMSG

Depending on how late you're leaving on Aug 1 (a Monday?), LOW BBQ serves out of Apizza Scholls on Mondays starting at 5pm. It's better than ever, too, since they don't have to reheat. Apizza Scholls is open other days except Tue same hours and makes possibly the best pizza west of the Mississippi. Probalby the only new place since you were last here is Gotham Bldg Tavern owned by the same people as clarklewis and as good or better (and in a little better place, imo, and on the Max). Enjoyed meeting you last time. If you'd like to meet up again, PM me.

You should probably read through my blog report with pictures: http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?name=N...article&sid=212 There are regularly people in wheelchairs who attend and there is a place to pull in with ramp access quite close. There aren't many stairs, but it's not perfectly flat either.

Portland author (and previous Beard winner) Janie Hibler was nominated for her excellent book The Berry Bible. (Which you can find on sale at Powell's for under $12 at the link provided or on their clearance rack.)

Remember, market opens today. http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?name=N...article&sid=199

http://www.wweek.com/story.php?story=6124

Personally, I haven't bought jarred salsa in a *long* time. Salsa is just too easy to make. Muir Glen now even has canned "fire-roasted" tomatoes which are very good for salsa making in the winter. Most grocery's Mexican/International sections will carry canned tomatillos, too, if you don't have them in produce aisle. I will buy a simple hot sauce, like Tapatio, on occasion. And I usually keep Bufalo's chipotle sauce in the frig. But I rarely use those straight. They're generally flavor additions, like Worcestershire. When America's Test Kitchen did tastings, they liked Old El Paso and Tostito's, among off-the-shelf salsas. However, they liked all refrigerated salsas better. Their least favorite were the Mexican brands, Herdez and Embasa. But I actually like these better than Old El Paso (I've never tried Tostito's). They have a flavor profile much closer to what Mexicans actually make and eat. Given that the ATK people are from New England, though, their taste buds aren't exactly accustomed to actual Mexican food. I generally think salsa verdes off the shelf are better than tomato salsas. I'm sure everyone would love to have a mouthgasming recipe, btw.

Thanks. btw, if you're in the DFW area, you should check out my friend's website: http://www.dallasfood.org. I'll talk to Scott (the guy who runs that site) about it. I'm a Californian by birth and an Oregonian by choice, so the traditions are fairly different. In some ways, I'm more familiar with Mex-Mex than Tex-Mex. Maybe theabroma will pop in. She knows both quite well as a Texan.

Thanks. This was really focused on table salsas, the condiments you add to your food. I'm not familiar with any table salsas that use stock or drippings. Many cooking salsas, such as enchilada sauce, especially in Texas, just not table salsas. Certainly doesn't mean they don't exist. Just not something I'm familiar with. I'd be interested to hear about them.

Don't have time to add much except to say that at night, Mercado Merced is indeed quite dangerous. It's $5 hooker and drug dealer territory. If you're looking to get robbed, AIDS, or put in jail, go there at night. The only place in Mexico City I felt truly scared. I walked about block and then ran back to the Metro station. And I walked around by myself all over el centro and zona rosa, even taking a night stroll to look at those statues and obelisks in the middle of the street.

A friend is making a business trip for three weeks to India and will spend about a week in each of Bangalore, Mumbai, and Chennai. He'll be on an expense account with few limits, but he's not big on fancy. But I don't know how much cash they'll give him. Where can he go that he can use his credit card, but also get quality local food? Of course, Indian food would be the first choice, but if there are especially good restaurants for other cuisines, especially nearby cuisines, that would be great, too. He loves spicy, btw. If you've got some "don't miss" cheap recs, too, that'd be great. I'm sure he'll have some cash. And if you want to throw in any info about the cuisine in general, the area beyond it's food or whatever, don't hesitate. TIA

They're actually starting BBQ for the first time this Monday, 5pm-10pm. Rodney, who was one of the partners in LOW, is now in charge of salads at Apizza Scholls, other nights. A bunch of us from PortlandFood.org are meeting for Q this coming Monday at 7pm. See here: http://www.portlandfood.org/modules.php?na...&t=148&start=30 For pictures and a review of LOW BBQ, see here: http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?name=N...=article&sid=26 For pictures of Apizza Scholls, see here: http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?set_al...=view_album.php For pictures from Scholls Public House, see here: http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?set_al...=view_album.php

This site often has stuff like that: http://www.willamettewines.com/ PortlandFood.org did do a tour of some wineries this last fall, too, here: http://www.portlandfood.org/modules.php?na...c&t=77&start=60

I went to SLC during the Thanksgiving holiday. Got to eat out a few times. Didn't eat there, but have you ever tried the Oasis Cafe? Both my wife and her brother who lives there like it. They had a couple other suggestions I haven't tried and can't remember. My wife's company has an office in SLC, so she sometimes is there on business. I had two food requirements for this trip: Red Iguana and Crown Burgers. Also hit Hires Big H for comparison. Liked all three. Red Iguana would be a good Mexican place in any city in the country. I love Crown as well. When I was in college there was a knock-off run by Pakistanis, Royal Burger, that was even better. But they're gone now. Anyway, a fuller report with lots of pics can be found here: http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?name=N...=article&sid=37 And here's a pic of the Crown Burger:

Thanks for reporting back.

I am also a former banana slug. We mostly lived on pizza off-campus. Pizza My Heart is very good and they'll put on a show by tossing the pizza by hand, which is always fun for someone unaccustomed. She's quite lucky food-wise at UC Santa Cruz. Sure, off-campus she won't have the options of nearby San Francisco, but UC Santa Cruz makes some good on-campus food. My dorm food (Crown College) was much better than any of my friends' dorm food at other universities. Steak night made me an omnivore again. Also, when I was there, there was a free shuttle to the Berkeley campus we'd take occasionally. Lots of great food in Berkeley. It's been too long and I haven't eaten enough in Santa Cruz since college to make very many recs now, though.

Blech, Jason. Fifth Floor is one of my most disappointing high end dining experiences ever. Not only messed up food, but poor service and higher prices than other places in town. That might be a little over the top. It wasn't bad food, but I liked my meals at Danko, Masa's, Panisse, and French Laundry all better. And there've been few **** and ***** restaurants' food I've liked less. Maybe it was an off night (only one visit), but everyone in my party was very disappointed. My grandparents who eat out a lot in the bay area at haute establishments and were dining with us said it was their least favorite meal they've had at a high end restaurant. They also thought the wine was ridiculously priced. And they're not cheap. If someone does go, I think the dishes would do better as tasting portions than full portions. I third or fourth or whatever Gary Danko. Great food and a fabulous value. I think Chez Panisse is great and much more unique in its style than Danko. I would highly recommend spending some time in the east bay, although an obvious choice is the farmer's market at the ferry building. But I love the east bay: Cheese Board and Cheese Board Pizza (still my favorite ever), Berkeley Bowl, Chez Panisse, miscellaneous Indian restaurants, etc. Plus in Oakland, the Fruitvale area has a great Mexican stretch with some great food. Much better, imo, than the Mission district. See here for some more info: http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?name=N...e=article&sid=8

I had pork neck larb in Chicago at Spoon Thai: http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?set_al...=view_photo.php

Thanks Scott. Looks and sounds great. Guess I should have jumped on those $130 tickets. Next time. Looks like the presentations could be improved a bit to catch up with a lot of the Dallas **** restaurants, but it sounds like the flavors performed well. It seems that the food is more Mexican accented new American rather than traditional Mexican with additional refinement and high quality ingredients. I'm sure Sharon could speak to that better if she's active on eGullet these days. Some obvious questions, though the above, if true, maybe make the comparisons difficult: 1) How does it compare to the other high end Mexican in DFW? 2) How does it compare to other high end Mexican outside of DFW? How does it compare to other high end restaurants in DFW, not limiting the comparisons to Mexican? I can see one obvious advantage. Whereas many other high end Mexican restaurants are doing fairly traditional stuff and so are truly competing with taquerias, pozolerias, etc, Lanny's is competing more directly with places like Lola's Tasting Room making the marginal returns not such an issue. (eg, a pozole at Frontera Grill may be great, but is it worth spending triple the amount you'd pay at a low end place down the street.)

There's also this very useful article by mamster as well: http://egullet.com/index.cgi?pg=ARTICLE-mamster030303

I'll be interested to hear how this comes out. Has anyone tried Nightscotsman's recipe? I did a parmesan ice cream a while back based on an Adria recipe as printed in some periodical and linked to here. The texture was too....pasty, imo, and the flavor was too strong. It was mostly just cheese and cream, if I remember right. I would try to keep the flavor subtle, if I were you. The cheese flavor can be very strong in such things. I balanced mine with pears, prosciutto, and reduced port and it was still too strong for most people. The creamier texture, I think, increases the intensity of the flavor, I think.

If some Hank Williams, Jr., lookalike came into your restaurant sending back your "signature" osso buco....

Ironically -- or intentionally -- it probably emphasizes the rudeness of the owner, too. If Walsh had just writ him the riot act, or made fun of him ala London-style reviews, you might have thought he was petty or maybe deserved the lashing he got. But instead, it's like when two people are debating and one is yelling while the other is calmly explaining his points. It just makes the screamer look even worse. Again, he has skills.

Thanks for the response. I'm more of a Yosemite Sam, mumbling cusser in my home kitchen, so "pinche" is most appropriate for me, I think. Though, yours could get a lot of use, I think. Thanks again. I look forward to seeing pics from the coming dinner.

And, as entertaining as the article is, he manages to throw in a very fair-minded and useful review, plus a nice bit of information on the various cuts of osso buco. The man has skills.

AmyH, I'm interested by your use of the word "sweetness". I find it appropriate, but the things that you apply it to wouldn't normally be considered overly sweet, I don't think: two melons, watermelon and cucumber, eg. It's kind of like complaining about the sweetness of peas, corn, or carrots. Do you think there was added sweetness, like sugar, in those dishes, or do you think maybe it's more an issue with your palate, perhaps? Not a rhetorical question. I mean it honestly.