Liza

And you have reminded me, Jinmyo, that we have chicken breasts in the freezer. Leftover from a SmartChicken delivery. Must make room for the onslaught of tomato sauce. . .

I'm impressed that Pret is using Tribeca Oven's breads and Ronnybrook's milk in NYC.

Defrosted osso buco sauce with ground buffalo meat over pasta.

I adore amaranth - it's magenta color works so well with 'real' greens. I think it's too tender to cook, best served raw. You must have been at Morse Pitts' stand - he has the best greens at the market. If he has arugula flowers, get 'em.

Speaking of Gruner Veltliners (ahem), Glenn from Crossroads on 14th St. in NYC called me with news: some of the new 2001s are in! I'll do my best to drink a few this weekend and report back. Egullet: you drink, we analyse.

"If it is not the HOB's live entertainment that drives you wild, it will be the dancing which makes you go oh ah, da na na." And then kill yourself?

"Once we walked inside of the restaurant we were greeted by the friendly staff and the French environment. " Well we knew the French government was friendly to someone.

Tim Stark's tomatoes (thanks, Toby!) with Mark Gilman's Cato Corner's Hooligan cheese on toasted rye bread, with thinly sliced red onions.

You're right, BoatMan - I forgot about the Wagyu at Lobel's. I'm pretty certain that when the weather cools off and we're dreaming of beef, we'll try some. And I look forward to posting about it!

We just had a marvelous meal at Taberna Del Alabardero, 1776 Eye Street NW (entrance on 18th) 202-429-2200. We ordered the tasting menu and a Guzman Aldazabal Rioja 1998. Started with a tomato soup topped with smoked tuna, and a drizzle of Spanish olive oil. Simple, yet fresh and awakened the palate nicely. - Avocado, crab and frisee salad with fig oil. - Seared rock fish with squid ink rice and potato and green pepper. - Veal sweetbreads with veal stock sauce and shiitake mushrooms. -Selection of Spanish cheeses, including Mahon, Idiazabel, Drunken Goat, Torta del Casar (the best bite of the night), Cabrales, a few aged goats. - Selection of 9 (nine!) desserts including profiteroles, flan, kiwi and raspberry sorbets, pistachio mousse in a pastry horn, cheese ravioli, banana tart, and a 'gypsy arm' jellyroll cake. Excellent service from David Bueno, also the assitant manager. Highly, highly recommended. (Sorry for the rush by I'm late for a meeting...)

I just read Jeffrey Steingarten's chapter on Wagyu beef in "The Man who Ate Everything" and am seriously considering knocking off a bank in order to try some. We rarely eat beef, but when we do, it's from Lobel's.

As a generous, thoughtful, accepting person, I shall be happy to accept overage of your giganto-sage for experimentation purposes. Of course, of course.

Fresh poblanos stuffed with leftover Niman Ranch pork loin, rice with almonds and pork fat, Provolone, and dash of home-made tomato soup. Baked til runny and oozy and the poblanos near collapse. (spoonfuls of homemade tomato soup for dessert, followed by a serious belly-rubbing session with Spot. Sorry for over-sharing).

The famous red chicken? You got something against free-range organic chickens, FG?

And let's not forget our great and good friend the Internet who makes it possible to order from Dean & Deluca, Faraway Foods, Igourmet et al. If the local Stop & Shop doesn't carry sweet Hungarian paprika, order it. Personally, I eat much better today than I did a few years ago: at home, we use only organically raised meats and fowls and nearly all locally-grown produce, season permitting. Another possibly controversial side issue to bring up is cost. Personally, I think food is incredibly cheap - considering the amount of time and effort that goes into raising the foods I like to eat.

Where oh where is this place?

"Sauces" by Michel Roux always tops my list.

Quattro's is at Union Square on Saturdays. As are the Messerich's.

And now that you've discovered fresh eggs, fresh chicken should be next, yes? Try the Messerich's at Union Square on Saturdays: the chickens are killed (that's really what it is so why mince words?) on Friday for market on Saturday. I don't think you can get it any fresher than that, at least in NYC. And they're going to become Kosher some time soon, something which will be reported here, of course of course.

"Would you like another schnitzengruber?" "15's my limit on schnitzengruber, baby".

Would it be possible to get off the Amtrak from DC to NYC and scoot over to Morimoto's for dinner? If I can get the reservation, of course of course.

Blow fish tails (!) sauted in butter and olive oil, with early cherry tomatoes and squash blossoms. Lovely texture and taste to the tails, btw. Available from the Karlin's on Mondays and Saturdays at Union Square.

Thank you both for those excellent reviews! Go go with the Gruners!

I can find out if it's available at the farmer's market...

Jonathan Gold reviews Jewel Bako in the August "Gourmet" magazine. Pg. 48.