mark922

Thank you. Both of these threads are very helpful.

How about Imperial for dim sum? And if I were willing to take a cab, could I get some good Vietnamese food?

I am coming to Vancouver on Thursday for three days and I'll be staying at the Four Seasons. I'm looking for pho, smoked food, and other delights. I'm not into the big steak house thing. I would be very interested in hearing about local delights. Thanks in advance.

And this you call Jewish? Feh. Question: when does Jewish food become Goyish? Answer: see above. Seriously, I suppose the question becomes: what's Jewish about it? If the origin of a recipe is Jewish (and I'm not really 100% sure what that might mean) but the recipe has evolved to something "other," is it still Jewish food? One can order the above in a restaurant and still ask the question ... "why don't Jews eat Jewish?" ← Mon ami, it is quite Jewish. There's an interesting article by Steingarten about how foie gras was a Jewish creation as a result of finding alternatives to pork pate made in that region of France. So it ain't Goyish...now a Reuben sandwich, that's Goyish...a fine shmaltzy line. From others, I'm getting a lot along the lines of "That isn't Jewish". What then should define Jewish food? ← Query: was the liver chopped? But, more seriously, I think you're stepping over the obvious answer, the one that keeps getting repeated: what is Jewish food? I eat felafel and hummus about once a week. Very popular among Israeli Jews. Also very popular among most of the inhabitants of the Middle East and much of North Africa. If I eat my felafel at a restaurant called "Petra" for the legendary spice trading city, is it any more Arab?

I'm going to be getting into Atlanta on Sunday evening about 8, staying at the Renaissance Downtown. Is One.Midtown.Kitchen open on Sunday night? Is it still notable after Blais's departure? Are there any other suggestions?

I use McCormick Season-All. If you want a product that is much lower in salt content, I recommend Old Bay. I use it in all my rubs and I have a million other uses for it as well.

Green Goddess dressing. I bought a bottle last week and I've had it on a salad with dinner every night for the last week.

These are the absolute only kind of canned vegetables I will eat, and I almost always use them in preference to dried beans. I find I sacrifice nothing in flavor, and they are more reliable for consistency and taxture than dried eans which can often stay hard as pebbles no matter how long they are soaked or cooked.

Chicken in a Biskit crackers.

Wasn't that chicken liver and bacon wrapped water chestnuts, aka Rumaki? Pretty good recipe to be found HERE. ← Not if you hate, hate, hate chicken liver (or any other type of liver for that matter).

Salami and provolone on crackers peanut butter by the spoonful wasabi and honey roasted peanuts quesadillas pasta with olive oil, salt and pepper

Bacon is kosher. It's in the Talmud.

My comparative religion professor in college taught us that religion came about to explain why we die. That creates an obvious dichotomy, since food is a big part of what keeps us alive. But that juxtaposition is unsatisfactory to me. I think you have hit on something with the idea of food preparation and eating being a ritual, much like the rituals of religious practice. Obviously, throwing together a sandwich for lunch isn't vey ritualized. But consider the holiday dinner, or, for some, the Sunday dinner. These meals can take on a strongy ritualized character.

That reminds me: toast squares with mayonnaise, parmesan cheese, and minced onion, broiled until they brown a bit on top.

I can't believe you're even thinking of a 50's era cocktail party without the quintessential two snacks: bacon-wrapped water chestnuts and mini hot dogs wrapped in Pillsbury crescent roll dough.

This does have potential. Perhaps we should start with the parable of The Fall, when Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden for eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Obviously, all animals eat. But does what we eat make us human? Does it in some way keep us from knowing God?

First, thanks for all the info. Second, is the Diaphragm readily available? Under what moniker? ← It's generally called skirt steak except in Texas, where it's more often called fajita.

Night N' Gale lives because it's a favortie of the Lake Forest crowd that needs a place to go eat on the nights the club is closed, or when they're trying to avoid the club because they're late on last month's statement. These are people for whom exotic cuisine is Stouffer's Welsh Rarebit on white toast. They drink bullshots. Several of them. After that, the Night N'Gale seems delightful.

I had my third pie at Gino's on Rush. No need for the history lesson. It doesn't change the fact that the original Gino's East, which was the joint under discussion, Gino's on Rush having closed back when I was young and pretty, has reopened just east of Michigan Avenue. History and geography having now been dealt with, I shall reitereate that I am planning on trying the reconstituted Gino's East and shall report back. Probably today. ← Well, as promised, I hit the newly reincarnated Gino's East on Superior. The pie was good, but it wasn't a Malnati's or Uno's pizza. They still spread the sausage pretty evenly; I only had a couple of bites that didn't have sausage. The cornmeal crust is interesting, but I think it makes for a too-dry crust. The sauce was a major disappointment. The best thing about Chicago pizza is the light, tangy, chunky sauce. This pie had some chunks of tomato, but they were too cooked and had lost their integrity in a sauce that was overall too thick and not tangy enough. It would almost have been better as a marinara. The cheese was nice and stringy, but it was a bit light. All in all, I'd go back since the price was right ($8.50 with tip for a personal pizza, minnestrone, and diet). But I don't see myself becoming a regular. And it certainly wasn't a pizza I'd go out fo my way for with a Malnati's a few blocks away at Grand and Wells.

See my post on the gas station chili dog, in the Franks & Fixins thread.

I have to weigh in in favor of the Chicago dog, too. It really can't be beat for a day-to-day dog. Of late, though, I've been sampling what only the truly dedicated hot dog eater could swallow: the gas station chili cheese dog. Imagine an Oscar Mayer weiner (that is what I'd truly like to beeeee) with mustard, onions, this sort of chili-like substance that is dispensed from a contraption that keeps the bags (yes, I said "bags") of chili and "cheese" sauce liquid enough to flow. At 2 for $2, they're worht every penny you pay for them and not one cent more. And yet, like crack, I can't stay away.

Isn't the flatiron steak just a crosscut of tri-tip?

As long as it's not the job I just applied for.

I had my third pie at Gino's on Rush. No need for the history lesson. It doesn't change the fact that the original Gino's East, which was the joint under discussion, Gino's on Rush having closed back when I was young and pretty, has reopened just east of Michigan Avenue. History and geography having now been dealt with, I shall reitereate that I am planning on trying the reconstituted Gino's East and shall report back. Probably today.

The "Original" Gino's East shut downa number of years ago and moved into the former location of Planet Hollywood. Apparently, theyneglected to conduct a cleansing seance, because the new location is a pale shadow of its former glory. They have just opened a new location on Superior, across from the Archdiocese of Chicago. I haven't had a chance to visit yet, but I will soon and give a full report.