Liza

What we need here is a 'I slap your face with my glove' emoticon, Simon. I, for one, accept your challenge. Shall we say vodka at dawn? Choose your seconds...

I agree, Andy. Of course, I never patronise any place that promises un-fine dining, either.

At the first gagging noise, I hope I would have said, "Oh dear, are you alright"? Ingrate guest responds, in up-voiced sing-song, "It's this...stuff. It's gross!" At this point, in my fantasy, the room is suddenly silent. All the guests, and hosts, look at the offending guest with slightly quizical, slightly sympathetic in the 'poor, deluded child' way, and then continue with their meals and ignore her. I'll add to Cabrales' list of proper reactions to a less than desirable meal: quiet pushing around of the food on the plate. Emphasis on quiet.

I've been very lucky trying the cheaper cuts of fish: skate is still quite inexpensive, especially bone-in, and hake was the cheapest cut of them all at Citarella last week ($6.99/lb.) Buying directly from the farmers (if you're near a farmer's market) can also keep prices down, on most items. Meat that requires longer, slower cooking (shanks, for instance) can often be cheaper as well.

In Wine Spectator, 31 Jan. - 28 Feb.: "Famed chef Charlie Trotter is moving to London this summer to open a new restaurant in November 2002. His project, Charlie Trotter's at The Hospital - a new arts-and-music building in the Covent Garden district - will serve as the facility's canteen and will have a 100-seat restaurant open to the public, with a la carte menus and an extensive wine list. His namesake Chicago restaurant, among the top in the United States, will remain open iwth its current staff in place."

Just what I suspected, Yvonne. So can we expect a beret AND whale blubber? Makes a nifty hostess gift.

Where are you moving to, Wilfrid?

Sounds like Tommy might agree with me on an agreement to not take photographs, and if we are to report on this later, to perhaps encourage disinformation? "Tommy indeed arrived without pants, but with a large entourage of Dungeness crabs who insisted on following him around throughout the West Village." (I'm guessing I'll win the coveted EGullet "Most Paranoid or Slightly Delusional" poster award?)

I'll take Tribeca not for the Bouleys and Waltucks, but for the local places like Sosa Borella, Gigino, Duane Park Cafe and Odeon. Plus, we have our own farmer's market! But I'm greatly, deeply biased.

Drat, I have no beret (though I do have bananas). So B Edulis and I shall look for a group of beret wearers. Hopefully the annual Beret Wearers of New York, downtown chapter, won't be meeting at the same place.

Only here would someone interrupt a perfectly fine digression on sex and caviar to inquire on the cost of a foot-smelling fruit.

Are we still on? Are we wearing floppy hats or carrying sunflowers to identify eachother? How about when we greet eachother, we all perform the typical "shocked" movie reaction: drop a glass on a hardwood floor. Wouldn't that be great? "Yvonne, this is Liza" (CRASH!) "Liza, this is Wilfrid" (CRASH) etc etc

We can add B Edulis to the list of attendees.

Perhaps there's a correlation between cities that rely on tourists and the rudeness of the city dwellers.

If you're in the nabe, and don't mind waiting in line and obeying orders, he really does make some awesome soup. Just digging into his Seafood Bisque - mussels, shrimp, scallops, lobster claws, flavored with paprika (I think it's the smokier Spanish sweet) thyme, black pepper. Also on the menu today, Mulligatawny, Black Bean, Shrimp and Corn Chowder, Chicken and Chili, Chicken Vegetable.

But of course! I wouldn't be a card-carrying Egullet-eer without knowing that! (Should we have cards? Or a theme song, like the Mouseketeers?) (And if they had a shoe-shine, they'd be the Spit & Polish Tea Room ;)

No disrespect, Fat Guy, but his "ancestral homeland"? How "ancestral" we talkin' bout? Is he, to cross breed a Monty Python reference, "pining for the fjords" like the Norwegian Blue in the Parrot sketch?

Ellen, Sadly there are places in the tri-state area where Momo would not be allowed, as well. It has nothing to do with his charm, beauty and pedigree, but with outbreaks of diseases among livestock. I know the UK quarantine was in place before this, but in light of recent foot and mouth, hoof and mouth, etc.(A Balic, please correct me!), I can understand their reluctance. When we visited a farm in Hunterdon County, NJ, last May, the farmer took precautions with us (inquiring if we had pets, or had travelled abroad recently) and told us he can no longer allow many people, and absolutely no pets, to visit some areas of the farm.

Where do you find these things??? (sound of Liza running from the room).

My diner standards: 1. Toast - they've got to be able to serve it properly, meaning toasted and not simply wilted. 2. Sausage - links not patties. 3. Service - slightly surly is ok, though having lived in Baltimore, I do like being called "hon" by bouffant-haired waitresses. 4. Coffee - just coffee, once they get into lattes and such, they are no longer diners. My second favorite was Gee-Whiz, on the corner of Warren and Greenwich, which is closed now for renovation. They had my possible #5, a house egg dish - scrambled with cheese on pita. And an excellent tuna on rye toast. Plus, matzoh ball soup every day. My number one diner: The Hotel Edison diner. A variety of soups (mushroom barley, borscht, matzoh ball, cabbage), decent egg creams, and limitless coffee. Plus they've been there forever and so have the waiters.

I'm with Tommy (oh dear, I mean, just on this point of course). I'll stow a few nickels away until June and happily spend it on a good meal.

"Is there any chance people could check in yesterday and say if they are still planning to come? " Jeez, Wilfrid, I thought you were working on the space-time continuum, but alright, I'll do my best. :) Count me as a strong-nearly-definite yes, as I don't want to be thought of as lacking the "let's go down to the pub" gene.

I leave you people alone for a little while, and return to THIS!? Alright, now I just might have to show up and set this panel to rights. Hey Rachel, should I tell my secret to this group or what? Or as Olivier said to Hoffman, "Is it safe?" ;)

Yes they meant peppercorn and breadcrumbs, and the like, for the crust, but still...charging for it? Jean-Georges' black-trumpet crusted lamb, I can understand that. I would love to know what other extras are being considered. Limes in drinks? That'll be .25, please!

Enjoyed our meal at Dylan Prime on Sunday but was a little surprised at the pricing structure. They have maybe five "chef's combinations" ("constructions"?) that are entrees with sides. Or you can order your cut of meat or fish with sides. OK, fine so far. But if you want a crust on the meat, it's an extra $2. If you want about two tablespoons of sauce, it's an additional $3. Is this typical for a la carte or am I easily surprised? Otherwise, lovely salmon tartare with sesame tuiles and a tiny dollop of guacamole; fairly traditional beef carpaccio; meats were lovely; dessert of molten chocolate cake was indeed molten, almost lava-like but in a good way.