lleechef

Here in Anchorage the king fillets are $19.99/lb. and the red fillets are $14.99/lb. Most of us catch enough of our own salmon during the course of the summer that the first run of fish at this price is not very tempting.

Living in Alaska, you can't get any farther northwest......so don't forget king crab, moose, caribou and halbiut.

We spent 3 weeks in the Palm Springs area this Jan-Feb and our Canadian octogenarian friends asked us, " do you ever think of anything but food????" We looked at each other and said, " NO, not usually!"

I LOVE the Clam Box in Ipswich, used to live in Newburyport and would regularly go down to Ipswich and also Essex for great shellfish. For lobsters, we would dive off of my friend's 50' Hatteras......love New England summers!

For professional chefs I like Food Arts mag.

Surprised noone has mentioned Maroilles which smells like something long ago dead but tastes delicious, and the Boulette d'Avesnes which smells AND tastes like something dead. The Boulette is aged on straw and washed with beer. Both from the North of France.

Cook em alive! Reminds me of a funny crab story. I had this pimply-faced prep kid who would think nothing of getting all liquored up and smashing someone's head through a plate glass window or punching them in the face. I bought live Jonah crabs to make a nage and I was wacking them in half with a cleaver when said prep guy ran out of the kitchen, shreaking, and never came back!

Dredged in flour seasoned with Cajun spice, sauteed in clarified butter and topped with a little creole meuniere sauce.........heavenly!

For one, a "Mitsuko's Vineyard" chardonnay from Clos Pegase. Plus the artwork is the best in the valley. Vist the caves. In Sonoma I like DeLoach in Santa Rosa, ask for the OFS Chardonnay. My friend Tom Burgess at Burgess Vineyards (St. Helena, but up in the mountains) always makes lovely buttery whites........I have not visited him in 2 years, don't know what he's up to now but I'm certain it's delicious!

This company's website says they overnight ship ss crabs but they are not available at this moment. They had a large selection of sizes. http://lintonsseafood.safeshopper.com/13/cat13.htm?266

I agree with my friend clothier: the best advice is DON'T DO IT!! The help will drive you crazy, the customers will drive you crazy, you work 120 hours a week.........and those are the good things! Good luck to you!

Last restaurant I left, I took the recipe book and wiped them off my computer. My sous chef and four other cooks followed me to the new restaurant. Just part of the resto biz.

CAB dry aged strip loins are the best.....with their cover of green fur......but underneath the meat is succulent!

clothier, the hole in one was not as impressive as the blackberry pie! It was an accident.......the pie was calculated! And delicious!

Kahrs beat me to the punch on recommending Nemacolin! It is beautiful........I hit my first hole-in-one there on a par 3 hole and we'd go to eat afterwards and have homemeade fresh blackberry pie for dessert.