lala

Oh my God, that's so sweet! I wish I had good kitchen equipment handed down to me, with those kinds of memories... My grandmother was such a terrible cook, all her pans were burnt! I don't think I have too many foibles...I do use my ancient (ok, 20 years old) Sabatier knife a LOT, even though it's carbon steel. I remember buying it at this fabulous knife store in Soho in London, and it reminds me of my youth, learning how to cook. My main compulsion is my morning routine, which includes cooking the same breakfast each day, timed between showering, drying my hair, and dressing (one bedroom apartment, easy to pop into the kitchen to turn the soy sausage on the griddle, then get back in the bathroom and put the anti-frizz stuff in my hair, etc). I'm not sure if it's a routine for a good purpose, or if I just do it because it's automatic, and it takes me so long to actually wake up - and I can do this all in my semi-awake state without damage to body or home.

I worked at a restaurant in England where one of the componants of an appetizer was a soft boiled, peeled quail egg (runny yolk)...what a pain in the butt! That said, they sure are cute...

"Why does everyone feel the need to claim their doctor is the very best in their field. My dad is notorious for this and it gives me vast satisfaction and amusement to query his assesment of his medical professionals' skills. Everyone I've ever known to need any type of specialist whatsoever has been fortunate to get attention from the very top practioner in their field. Statistically speaking, alot of you must be receiving substandard care, because I know for a fact that I've never spoken to an average doctor in my life, nope, only the very best and brightest for me." Well, would you want to admit that you had an average, or worse doctor? No, I bet not! My guess is that your Dad and others you know want to a) impress you with the doctors at their command b) reassure themselves that they are getting the best care that they can. I sure as heck wouldn't want to say "Well, I got this guy, he graduated at the bottom of his class from a podunk med school, and he's gonna open me up and muck around inside me! Yahoo!" I think it would be fascinating to switch jobs with someone of Dr. Oz's caliber. I bet his knife skills were amazing!

I've been known to bring small snacks into a theater, cherries, a chocolate bar, etc. Most commonly, I bring a drink. Sorry, I see no need to pay $4.00 for a freakin' bottle of WATER, after paying $9.00 just to get in. And I've brought my own food on planes for over 20 years. Most of my flights have been transatlantic, and besides the food being bad, who's to say if I might be sleeping, and want to stay that way while they bring the trays around? This way, I can still live on my own schedule, and hopefully arrive more rested for it. I've never had a problem with bringing food on board, and usually get envious looks. I tend towards smoked salmon sandwiches, lots of fruit and cut up veggies - simple, light, but containing lots of water to help keep me hydrated. Of course, there was that late summer flight a few years ago when I pulled out that bowl of fresh figs, strawberries, peaches, and a container of creme fraiche... never felt so hated in my life!

lala, you rock. Stick around will you? Couldn't have said it better myself. I especially agree with the drunken toast with jam theory. Mmmm mmm. Oh, you're sweet! Thanks, I will Of course, after all this bread disucssion I had bread (volkhorn) and cheese (Irish sharp cheddar) for dinner last night! Who needs to cook?!

I have a 20 year old mug that says that on it! It's from Boynton, who does those squishy people and animals, and it shows a big blue fella shaking hands with a layer cake!

My best friends Mom made the Best homemade bread when I was a kid...mmmm.... One of the best breakfasts I've ever had was in a Paris hotel - a fresh baguette, fresh Real butter and cafe au lait. Heaven Austrian Sunflower bread from Cafe Beaujolais bakery. They also used to do a chocolate bread with chocolate chunks. Stunningly good. Real bagel and schmear The little rolls made in Austria with butter and their whole apricot jam Garlic bread made with any good artisinal bread, topped off with reggiano, run under the grill. Those sesame seeded, chewy round rings of bread sold on the streets in Greece. Good bread and Good butter is the perfect whoops-I-drank-too-much midnight munchy food. Preferably with homemade blackberry jam. Cornbread slathered with honey butter.

I'm not sure that 'Endless Emeril' is bashing. As you know, much worse has been said about him than 'Endless'! Personally, I like the description of 'Fake Food Hoochie' for that awful woman. Re: Bourdain...are those new shows on Sunday night, or reruns? He's one of the few things worth watching on FTV...

I'm not really watching FTV any more, either. Whenever I turn it on, it's either Emeril, Sarah Moulton, 30 minute meals, or that awful fake food lady. Not a fan of any of them. I usually switch over to PBS to see travel shows, or Discovery. I'll have to look into getting Fine Living!

I just saw that. I'm soooooo sad! I've only bought my meat from Crystal's for over 5 years now. They're such great guys, who know their stuff, and treat their customers very, very well... *sigh* Too bad the Market has such Merchant - Unfriendly policies.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. craft n 1: the skilled practice of a practical occupation; "he learned his trade as an apprentice" [syn: trade] 2: a vehicle designed for navigation in or on water or air or through outer space 3: people who perform a particular kind of skilled work; "he represented the craft of brewers"; "as they say in the trade" [syn: trade] 4: skill in an occupation or trade [syn: craftsmanship, workmanship] 5: shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception [syn: craftiness, cunning, foxiness, guile, slyness, wiliness] v : make by hand and with much skill Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. art n 1: the products of human creativity; works of art collectively [syn: fine art] 2: the creation of beautiful or significant things; "he was a patron of art" [syn: artistic creation, artistic production] 3: the superior ability that is attained by study and practice and observation; "he had mastered the art of a great craftsman" [syn: artistry, prowess, superior skill] 4: photographs or other visual representations in a printed publication [syn: artwork, graphics, nontextual matter] Personally, I think of a Craftsman as more of a journeyman, with knowledge and skills, but an Artist takes it to the next level. I've had food prepared by Craftsmen, and I've been lucky to have food that's been created by an Artist. The difference is that the food created by an Artist hits that 'sixth' sense that literally sends shivers down my spine.

Dungeness!!! Loved going to Jack's in the Market for live crab - they're also the only seafood vendors with a tank, who cook their own crab. I wish I'd had my camera the morning I was down there early and watched a pallet of frozen crab being unloaded at another seafood place! BEST crab experience: Depoe Bay, OR a few summers ago. As friend and I stopped at the scenic spot just north of town (Devils...Churn?), we noted a crab boat so low in the water it was nearly sinking. We headed excitedly down the narrow, steep road to the habor, and bought two live ones off a boat. Following the directions to have 'the girl over there' cook them for us, we found this young woman in fisherman's yellow waders, cigarette hanging out of her mouth. She had a large stockpot boiling away on a bunsen burner, and told us it'd be a dollar each to cook and clean the crabs. We handed over the money and sack of lively crabs. She took one crab in her rubber gloved hands, raised it above her head, and brought it down forcefully on the edge of a stainless steel sink. "Gotta kill 'em quick" she grunted. Next, the shell was ripped off, and the innards quickly dispached. Same sequence followed with the second crab. She was moving so fast, her ciggie fell out of her lips, into the gooey guts in the crab shell on the ground. She picked it up, studied it for a moment, shrugged, and put the cig back in her mouth. Both crabs were splashed into the boiling water, and we were told to take a walk for 10 minutes. When we returned, she cracked the crabs and put them, still piping hot into the bag. We drove back to the overlook, pulled a couple of Henry's out of the cooler, and had the most Fantastic crab dinner, overlooking the swirling ocean and setting sun. *Lovely*

And you might want to consider other people's veiwpoints, too, whose feedback is equally as valid as yours.

Crystal Meats in the Market. Excellent quality meat, good prices, knowledgeble staff...

Love Etta's, never had a bad experience there. Good food, excellent staff...

"Eh, the parking problem in downtown Ann Arbor is overrated. It's really not that bad. Especially compared to any city of any size. I mean c'mon people - if you can't find free parking and have to park in a structure, it's a whopping 80 cents an hour!!! It doesn't stop the restaurants from being full and Main St from being busy and active. If I'm going to pay $100 for dinner, I'm not going to complain about paying for parking. And for what its worth, downtown has a really broad range of restaurants in terms of price, from the low end to the high end. The most high end Ann Arbor has is downtown, in fact." Harsh, Tammylc...harsh.

I grew up in A2, visit frequesntly, and my Dad still lives there... he reports that it's a real pain in the a** to even get downtown to a restaurant, due to parking. As well, as the students are downtown, that's where the less expensive/ lower quality places will be. And the burbs tend to have chain restaurants... he's not happy... it's easier for him to stay home and cook.

Sorry, Tommy, but I'd have to say that a gift certificate would not make me happy. If I've gotten that ill at a restaurant (and I have), I would not be eager to set foot in it again. Knowing what I know about restaurants (and that's a lot), most food poisoning cases result from poor sanitation/holding temperature/food rotation practices, not (for instance) a single bad oyster. There are many restaurants out there, and I wouldn't want to go back to one that I'm suspicious of. And...while e-mail is a global tool, there ARE regional differences. Just like there are cultural and food differences. In Seattle, where the original poster lives (as well as myself), people seem to prefer e-mail to snail mail - remember, we live in the shadow of Microsoft, and have an abundance of tech companies. This has created a culture that is extremely comfortable with technology, as well as being a bit more casual than the East Coast, even in business. I'm not saying you're wrong, but maybe you could see that other viewpoints and knowledge are valid, too, instead of just telling us all that you're right and attempting to stop any further discussion.

Tommy, it must be good to always be right... That said, here in Seattle, which is ahead of the curve technologically, e-mail has become de rigeur in business communication. You're in New York, right? There may be regional differences at work here in this offshoot discussion.

"the aspect of "warning" the restaurant doesn't seem to be the thrust of this discussion as it was initially framed (although it's certainly a valid issue). the concern seemed to be the compensation and reaction of the restaurant, which is only loosely related to the mode of communication issue currently clouding the discussion." Tommy, you've been pounding away at the issue of whether or not e-mail is appropriate in the business world, and weighing it against a new or existing relationship, and whether it's professional or not. You cloud, you... In any case, it sounds like reesek and friends had a horrible time, and the restaurant's reaction was lame. I will say that if it's the restaurant that I think it is, I'm not at all suprised. And I don't think that $100 (not nearly what they spent) would be compensation enough for me. How about an apology and assurances that they're checking the food supply. Why, it would take at least a thousand dollars, and the chance to slap the Chef silly to make me forget that I barfed all night!

whoopsie...I meant Three Girls for my comment...mmmmm...meatloaf sandwich...skip the potato salad, though. Love the carrot cake. Has anyone tried the baguette sandwiches from Le Panier in the Market? They look authentically French...Ham and Butter, Pate and cornichon...??? And how are the grilled sandwiches from the new cheese shop? I keep meaning to go...

"i do business via email all of the time. when i feel it's appropriate. i think pen on paper and a wet signature may have been appropriate in this particular instance. " "WordPerfect/MS Word; press print; use pen to sign; fold letter and mail isn't much more effort than an email and a very powerful way to deal with the problem. It is a hard copy that haunts or praises and carries more weight to recieve correspondence via snail mail from a guest. Those are the kind of letters that find their way into personnel files as well. " What Tommy Suggested was actually writing a letter - 'pen on paper', the ridiculousness of which is what I responded to. Even if she waited until she was better (when, the next day?), writing a letter and mailing it is the slowest, and most ridiculous way to let a restaurant know that they are serving tainted food. Regardless, the issue was food poisoning, not how to write a letter. If you write a letter and mail it, by the time it gets to the restaurant, the offending batch of food would most likely have been served to others, making them sick as well. We're not talking about a "hard copy that haunts or praises and carries more weight to recieve correspondence via snail mail from a guest. Those are the kind of letters that find their way into personnel files as well. " This isn't something for a personnel file. We're talking about something that at the least, is making people sick ON THAT DAY, and at the worst could kill someone. Not exactly a message that you want to wait for Snail Mail to deliver.

She's puking her guts out, and you want her to stop, find a pen and stationary, write a letter, find a stamp, and walk to the post office to mail it?

"Being called tableside for an unhappy customer complaint is hell for any member of management." Sorry, that's part of what 'Management' is: dealing with disgruntled customers, whether it's doing the deed themselves, or backing up their staff. God knows I've done enough of it. They may scream in the back room before they go out, but it is their JOB to do it.