misstenacity

Thanks for the heads up - I love Tim's writing, as well!

I'm looking to stay at La Posada end of March for a birthday treat and will have at least one meal on the premises, no price constraints. Is Fuego or the Staab worth it, even if it's not on my own dime? :-)

Roasted Marrow Bones at Blue Ribbon Cafe - because it was the first time I ever had marrow, the atmosphere was amazing, and it was early in my first trip back to NYC since becoming a foodie. More "starred" meals followed, but that marrow.... mmmm.

I've been getting my natural process cocoa for the last few years from Dean's Beans - dirt cheap in bulk and organic, to boot! http://www.deansbeans.com/coffee/BAKE.html Enjoy!

You might want to try Target if they have a freezer section - that's the only store in Albuquerque that stocks chocolate peanut butter. Kudos to HD for figuring out a way to pack a truly insane amount of calories per serving in that stuff. 370 or something like that? Sheesh. Oh, and that is the flavor choice for filling the best freakin' ice cream sandwiches in the state: Harry's Roadhouse sandwich

Any possible chance that any of you are dining at Alinea either Friday or Sunday evening (10th or 12th) and you have a extra seat at your table? :-) I was a dolt and waited too long to call and inquire about a reservation for one. I might have to wait until Friday daytime and just call to nab a cancellation, if one comes up. Take care, Andrea

I was a complete newbie to Boston when I visited for 5 days in April, and had some fabulous meals. The blow-out meal was at Neptune Oyster, where I shared a HOT lobster roll (that means with butter rather than mayo) and ate no fewer than 21 oysters and 3 clams on the half shell. Hey, I had just finished Boston, I earned it! The crazy expensive meal (in retrospect) was the brunch at Henrietta's. It was really, REALLY good but that didn't mean there wasn't sticker shock when my tab for $39 plus a $10 bloody mary arrived. Eesh. That being said, an indicator of the variety and quality lies in the 7 kinds of terrines available for sampling. Expand that out to fruit, bread, oysters, pastas, desserts, et cetera. . . Basically I'm saying it is a good value, but not of the cheap kind. If you're an ice cream fiend, you're in the correct city. Herrell's for hot fudge on anything and everything, J.P. Licks for whatever, Christina's in Cambridge for Kulfi or any special flavors, Toscanini's for burnt caramel. Favorite breakfast in town was nearby in Somerville (I was staying a longish walk away in Cambridge), a cool little family cafe/storefront called The Neighborhood. Portuguese, but not just that. Order linguica and cream of wheat and you'll have the full experience, no matter how weird that sounds. Then I had some chocolate at Burdick and all was well, in a stuffed-to-the-gills kind of way. Whew! I only regretted not having a reservation for Helmand (Middle Eastern), but ended up eating next door at a pretty darn good Thai place. The tales of my trip in real time can be read over at chow.com. (edited to fix name of brunch joint and add external trip details link)

I think my response to the Chile Festival was this - sure you're never going to get away from the crappy turkey leg and deep fried twinkie vendors, et cetera - after all, it is a "fair". However, given how much our state loves chile, I was suprised to see it shown and sold strictly in its most simple state. Makes me believe that most eaters, even those that love a certain ingredient, really are unadventurous. In addition to roasted chiles and the occasional green chile cheeseburger and just ONE place that had some red chile brownies, I expected chile EVERYTHING and a booth for it: - chile ice cream - deep fried chiles - roasted chile on toast - chile smoothies - green chile stew(!) - chile puree for sampling in red and green and multiple kinds of each - chocolate dipped chiles - apple chile pie And on, and on.... Maybe I need a booth next year.

Nice shootin', there, Chris! Obviously having a killer camera helps a little bit with the low light photos (I'm using a 7MP point-and-shoot with a maximum "lens width" of 38mm) - my dinner photos are going to be horribly dark, so I might wait to see what comes out of Chris's batch.

Let there be tamales! (aka Silver City, night one) We convened on the neighborhood home of Consuelo and Tom, high on a hill and lovely in decor. Immediately the prep work was beginning, even as Tyler arrived with margaritas in a pitcher and no limes, which Tom was dispatched to retrieve. Even with that addition they were rather strong cocktails - again I was reminded that I'm a cheap date. First, the knowledgable Consuelo preps her kitchen island: Next, we all try our hand at patting the masa into place, after some tips from the master (click link for youtube video): Hilarity ensues as some of us really aren't that good at all (me, a few others I won't name) as well as those of us who learn quickly (Tyler) all crank out several specimens - each one of which is "adjusted" in some way by Consuelo. Even the one from Tyler she said was "perfect!" So that we wouldn't starve (ha), the steamer was opened up to reveal already-made tamales just finishing their cooking: A quick demo of making corn tortillas followed (no pics), and those were assembled into Sonora style enchiladas with chorizo, beef, tomato sauce, and cheese: Our completed tamales and their filling sat waiting to be frozen for later cooking by us as well as many of Consuelo's neighbors and friends: Enormous bowl of guac ready for fresh tortillas and chips: Pile o' tamales: Hot steamy tamal-on-tamal action: Lonely and blurry tamal on my plate: Consuelo enjoys a hard-earned stiff margarita and husband Tom chows down: In attendance were Chris and Karen, myself and Dave (who arrived later), Consuelo and Tom, Tyler (no gfron as he as cooking) and two other ladies whose names I've already rudely forgotten. The highlights were Consuelo's constant wisecracking - she's quite a sparky woman, the really great tamales with rich pork filling and very thin masa (even though I do like a lot of masa these were still great), and the ancho-parmesan flavored corn tortillas hot off the dry griddle. Afterwards we all toddled off for a nights' rest before the chile fest in the morning.

Wow that was a quick stay. After downpours this AM and a killer diner breakfast (killer in the sense of "families and grandmas" atmosphere rather than the food), we're about to head northward, this time towards Reserve for about 60 extra miles and some different scenery than I-25. I have a sack full of tamales and treats from another eGulleteer, and a red chile brownie from the festival yesterday - yum! :-) Dinner photos from last night will wait a little.... sorry.

Quick update before I head off to get into slightly nicer duds for dinner. We stopped in Hatch yesterday for the World's. Best. Bowl. Of. Green. This was at B & E Burritos, a teeny dive of a joint, and the only scenery you need is this: ....and then later we had to have some gelato, at Alotta Gelato. Choc-coconut + chocolate: Pistachio (the BEST): More later.... :-)

Chris did take quite a few photos while explaining that he was no match for the tamale prepping. I made a good dozen and all of them were corrected in varying degrees by Consuelo. :-) The food was amazing - we were warned that it could be just our fresh tortillas and beans since the tamales of course needed steaming. however, Consuelo had made a bunch ahead of time, plus there was guacamole, chorizo and sauce for the tortillas to make Sonora-style enchiladas . . . and margaritas with tangy potency from Tyler. Needless to say there really wasn't a good reason to have had gelato before the workshop, but I did anyway, since Alotta Gelato is better than the inferior stuff in Albuquerque. On the way back from Hatch to see the Silver City gem/mineral show and cool our heels before gfron's big "show" tonight. Oh, and I've barely eaten so far today. *grin*

Just watched the first episode.... this might be a love/hate for some people. She has a strong personality, putting lots of growly noises in her emphasized words. Almost sounds like Grover. That said, so far, I like it. Dunno if she is writing her own material (I hope so), but she is full of quotable goodies. See the new .sig for prime example! Also: "We have achieved crud-dom!" - on properly browned meat "It might seem a little bit excessive..." "You know what it's missing? Salt!" et cetera. It is obvious she's spent a bit of time with Batali. Not afraid of big flavor, big oil, and emphasis on technique over high-falutin' ingredients.

Eesh, long response time. Sorry, Jake. Things are going, but slower that we'd hoped. Our other clients are spas/salons and I have to say, restaurants are a bit tougher of a sell, at least until I get to know them better. It is starting to look like approaching it from the angle of doing marketing and driving new diners in the doors is much better than the "sell more from your website without doing anything" pitch. Most restaurants have a budget for marketing but not for their website per se, so we can get a toe in the door a little more easily by going for marketing right out of the gate. More thoughts? Any eGullet restauranteurs that would like to try us out will get TLC treatment from me - use PM for those discussions, please. I hope everyone's summer is doing well so far, despite the cloudy economics out there.

Do the recommendations "made then" STILL apply? I have close friends visiting Gatlinburg for a week and they'd love to not eat chain food. Thank you!

Oh boy oh boy oh boy... this is gonna be a fun week. :-) Carry on!

Bobby's dishes themselves don't bother me nearly as much as the freakin' use of those orange and green oil/sauces on nearly every single plate. Makes me want to shake him. Let the dish stand on its own, dude! There actually was a place here in town that did something nearly identical, 'decorating' both red-sauced fish and a filet/potatoes presentation with the same 2 brightly colored flavored oils. Grrrr.

Allllright. I got the go-ahead. Here's the snippet; please enjoy! From an email with the subject line, "nananana-boo-boo", emphasis added by me: "Hate to break it to you, but I think Cruces, or Mesilla, might have a better restaurant than any I've eaten at in Albuquerque. I say "might" because I haven't eaten everywhere in Buerque. Last night a friend treated me to dinner at Torch, inside Meson de Mesilla. Fan-freakin-tastic. Amuse bouche (sp) was crab with a roasted cherry tomato and some infused oil, appetizer was blissfully prepared sea scallops crowned with Ossetra caviar, intermezzo was a mango sorbet, entree was pheasant breast filled with grapes and fois gras with confit all topped with thick slices of truffle, and dessert a tartine Valencia garnished with micro mint. Instead of a simple after-dinner mint, we were brought tiny chocolate cups filled with macerated fruits and little chocolate cookies. To top it off, the chef, Jacob Hillbert, is fairly good-looking. He even had sweetbreads on the menu." Ok, so its Mesilla, but isn't that close enough? Here's their website: Meson de Mesilla main site Andrea, in the Duke City

A local whom I trust recently sent me a quick review of a four-star meal she'd had. Once I get her permission I'll post it here. So it does sound like there's something useful in that city to be eaten other than custard and brisket burritos and relleno burgers. :-)

Jakea222, I hear you! We've even found that since we're not really selling a THING, it is extra tricky to get someone's interest. We want our restaurants to make more money because of us, and then just kick back a small amount of what they make. So there's no "$1000 of product" to unload, or anything like that. We might suffer from being almost too simple (?) - add this thing to your website, and you'll make more money because of it. Owners are dubious about it being that straightforward, frankly. Still pondering.... but we did get a few takers in NYC that are getting started, so that's a joy. Andrea

If your partner already knows and loves Sushi Den, you might go for their new sibling, Izakaya Den. The line in my signature is from a review of the place. Also, check out the 'best of' list in Westword, which just came out in the last few weeks. Westword's Best of Food 2008 Have fun!

I have now met the esteemed Mr. Connoley, and he is a wonderful person, indeed.

Flirting with possible GI consequences (*see below) by eating a yummy mishmash of leftovers - edamamme salad tossed with cherry tomatoes tossed with marinated cooked shrimp. *And its been in my fridge waiting for consumption for nearly a week, including a several hour stint at room temperature. Hee.

The software/ability to sell instant gift certificates on the restaurant's website - no cards, no paper. They are emailed to the recipient or printed by the giver. That's it. :-) Andrea