whimsity

Hmm. And all this time the number 1 burger I haven't eaten was in my neck of the woods? must. recitify. Though I have to say my all time favourite burger involved beets and eggs... which I'm probably not going to find on this end of the hemisphere.

Apparently the kitchen constructed for the movies is completely taken off from French Laundry - Keller said when he walked onto the set, it was like walking back into his kitchen. Which makes me rather annoyed, since I swore a number of years ago never to watch another Sandler movie? Gah. Dilemma Dilemma.

Hmm... I just hunted down the Tony Luke's webpage (which strangely enough, was at http://www.tonylukes.com/) and they mention it on their front page too. I never made it out to TL's - I'd always get distracted by something shinier and easier for me to get to. (ooo, Dinic's!). Are the sandwiches any good? Though really, after a year away, I think I'd go into a victorian swoon if I smelled actual cheesesteak.

I just got my mom a signed copy of Bouchon (even as I drooled at the thought of Per Se, which was a couple of floors above Borders where the book signing took place)! *excited* I had a chance to flip through it whilst Thomas Keller was speaking - the book itself is massive, and filled with glossy pictures. It is in fact so big that I'm not sure I'd be happy manuevering around it myself - just a thought, in case anyone else has tiny manhattan sized kitchens. The recipes look great though - simple, but with the kind of attention to detail Keller's known for. Now onto my dad - would anyone happen to know of a good salad book?

The green tea produced in the proper ceremony using matcha and a whisk is super yum and almost thick enough to be a soup. The dregs always have small bits of... something though. I *adore* green tea ice cream, though for some reason everytime I buy it from an asian grocery store it never matches up to the ones I get from restaurants (not fancy we-make-it-ourselves restaurants, just middle range ones). Am also very tempted to make it with (my friend's) ice-cream machine, but for some reason my brain insists that if made with matcha it would have a grainy texture. Any thoughts, or has anyone tried it?

Durian, the famously smelly fruit that has been compared to the "the anus of a dead civet, wrapped in the year old unchanged football sock of a manchester united player"... and I unspeakably love the stuff. Probably a result of having grown up in a country where we'll go to pains to get good durians (my parents took me on frequent 6 hour long drives to get to various durian farms), it's one of the things I miss most whilst in the US. Amusingly one of the standard things to do to unsuspecting friends from non-asian countries is to take them out to the late-night durian stands and watch their growing horror as the smell gets closer. hee. For anyone new to the fruit I actually would not try to start out with candy or other derivatives. Very few food items seem to be able to replicate the intense flavor of durian, and the only ones I've found are durian puffs (a take on cream puffs) and possibly durian cream cake, but both are made with fresh, local durians. I feel like more people I've introduced to the fruit like it if they dive in the deep end of the pool and have actual fresh durian as their first experience. Also the probability that one will like it increases if you have a penchant for aged cheese. Anyhow, hope that more people give the fruit a chance beyond its novelty value - its worth acquiring the taste!

It's not on the radar - mentioned it as a sort of joke, it's an penn campus diner on 39th and walnut that's quite spectacularly bad. Did I do something wrong?

Hi - not sure if I'm doing this right, it's my first post, but I'm kind of sad to hear that the epicurean closed. They had what I felt was a lovely atmosphere and one of the best breakfasts I've found so far on my (admittedly) limited funds. I've tried morning glory since it was rather hyped up in citysearch, but really wasn't that impressed with the frittatas, and let's not even start on philly diner...