Liza

I'd like to suggest that perception is a very large part of the dining experience. When one believes that the chef is preparing a special menu, one could easily believe that the meal is somehow better than what others are receiving. I've been treated to a number of special meals, special in the "we're changing the meal you've ordered to include these specials because the chef wants to please you" way. And honestly, sometimes the chef isn't in the kitchen. Sometimes, the chef is in the kitchen at the beginning of the meal and is gone by the time I want to send my thanks to him/her. But regardless of the presence of the chef, the meal is always fine.

Thanks for reviving this thread, Priscilla. We're living in a borrowed flat and are using borrowed flatware. However, Davy is very fond of three-tined forks and I'm hoping to find some. Does anyone else have a preference, tine-wise?

Braised rabbit with bok choy, olives and beans. Sauced with a pea puree and a drizzle of balsamic. Latkes. Embriux 2000.

Made my very first latkes last night. Hand-grated, as I enjoy the effort. Wrung out in cheese cloth. Fried in Crisco. Eaten over the stove.

yeah, it was the run-on sentence thing wasn't it. Actually, no. It was the nearly legal-ese of it.

Tommy, you're scaring me.

Jin, that really reads quite deliciously. I hope the meal was capped with an appropriately lengthy round of applause.

Vanessa - wow. Glad you evaded the cooking ennui. Last night: D. marinated chicken legs in something brilliant and mysterious, but I'm guessing it was plum sauce, garlic, ginger, sesame oil. These were then grilled. I bathed some tomatoes and an onion and garlic in olive oil, thyme, S&P. Roasted them. Mushed em up to a nice dip for some grilled bruschetta. A bottle of "Cherry Red" bought at Nancy's.

You are making an assumption that Belo, who previously owned FN but was not the original owner, would be content with a .3 rating. Since Scripps bought FN, the average ratings is above a .6 and it was listed by TV Guide as one of the top ten cable networks of the year. I can't think that by those standards, they're doing anything wrong, especially as you admit you don't watch it. They've given us "A Cook's Tour" and for that, we should all be grateful.

Cathy's so dreamy

I can only offer an explanation for my own silence - I didn't see this thread until now. Perhaps members are unfamiliar with wheat berries, so I'll clear that up here: they're whole, unprocessed wheat kernels. They're packed with protein, and requre a good long simmering to become edible. So that's where I'd start to replicate that dish. (I think you can get organic wheatberries at the greenmarket in NYC, by the way). I wonder what the veggies were...as the wheatberries were probably al dente, and the hazelnuts real solid, I'd wager on some yielding texture, perhaps tomatoes and sauteed zucchini. Just a thought.

I saw it for nearly half price at the downtown Strand...

Just to point out that this is what all television networks do - try to grow their audience; try to raise advertising rates; try to program shows in order to reach the largest audience; and yes, try to earn money. In a year when many television networks laid off many workers (Viacom comes to mind) or replaced a lot of people (A&E comes to mind), Scripps - the company that owns Food Network - kept to their no-lay-off policy; raised ratings; and made money.

Nope, not Balduccis. There, that was easy! I'm still with you at D&D. I have bought pancetta at Bazzini's, which has expanded much beyond nuts these days. But I think that's even further downtown than you might want to venture.

I dare someone to recommend my handy nearby Food Emporium.

Oh that's just a signature waiting to happen, Mighty W.

Good food shopping in NYC is part trek part detective work and part exercise. Like Toby and others, I try to buy as much as possible directly from local farmers and producers. Most fish, all chicken, lamb and pork are from greenmarket suppliers. D&D cheese can be hit or miss, yes. However, I do find the people at the cheese counter to be well informed, which helps.

Yes, I do recall the Bone/Jones connection. Most days I feel like Mrs. Plumleigh-Bruce's maid.

Ass kickingly good. This was way back in '96 when Helmet was Helmet. Got most of it on video.

Amazing to find the seemingly only two other Hamilton fans here on Egullet - Simon and Wilfrid. Part of me wishes someone would do a decent movie adaption of "Hangover Square". Then the smart part of me slaps the dumb part and I move on.

What's the one in Tijuana I'm thinking of - something innocently called The Frog, is that possible? Went there from San Diego with Therapy? and Helmet. They played, I got stomped on by a particularly aggressive female skin head. We got pulled over by the Mexican police. Luckily, we had been warned and all the unmentionables were back in San Diego.

"20,000 Streets Under the Sky" by Patrick Hamilton and the Gray Kunz book.

In anticipation of our trip to Tesuque, I googled New Mexico vineyards and found many more than I anticipated. I'd appreciate hearing about places worth visiting and any wines worth sampling.

Larousse says: "The coral smells of iodine." Well, that's definitive. Also notes that Paracentrotus lividus is the sea urchin of choice in Europe, where it's found off the coasts of Brittany and Ireland, and in the Mediterranean. I'm thinking I read about Santa Barbara sea urchin, somewhere...could it have been Saveur?

Congrats on the minimal gag reflex. It's a start. I guess. Of course, the possibility exists that you just don't like it. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I happen to be cilantrophobic. I don't consider it a character defect but more of an allergy, as I'm sure I would like it if I didn't hate it. That said, please come to NYC and we'll go to Union Pacific and have my favorite dish of all time (gold star here, please) of Taylor Bay scallops with sea urchin. My cunning plan: If you don't like it, then you really just plain don't like sea urchin, and I get to eat the rest of the serving. OH! Did I write that out loud?