tomweir

You're not alone. I lived my first couple of years in NYC in Little Italy and the best time to experience it is on a Sunday morning. Sleepy, newspapers and coffee, church bells and just the locals.

You must press fresh tofu first. I slice it and press it much as Katherine does. I chop it into thin squares. Then I dust it in curry powder and the juice of half a lemon and let it sit for 10 minutes or so. I shallow-fry in a hot frying pan with a light coat of sunflower oil. it crisps up beautifully and goes a nice yellow-y brown. I add it at the last minute to stirfrys, oil and all, then I douse with the juice of the other lemon half. edited for typos.

Cavistons is great if you are South Dublin based. But I find Sawyer's on Chatham Street, just off the top of Grafton Street, to be much handier to get to and the fish is very good. All that said, my favourite place to buy fish is in on the pier in Howth Harbour at Nicky's Plaice, run by Nicky McLoughlin. Truly great seafood store - Bad pun, great fish, good prices. He has his own smokehouse and his smoked salmon is lovely. The harbour is just around the corner from the Howth Dart stop by the way so you could just hop on that if you aren't nearby. Failing that take the 31 or drive.

You can happily get chipotles en adobo in Dublin now, Blondie. I love'em. In eggs, in salsa, in chilli...

I always did. At that point it's a get-me-outta-here situation.

I think you should remove the name and telephone number. It sounds like you guys are going to have your own Hell's Kitchen alright. The restaurant as a prize will be the only change and the use of budding chefs instead of b-celebs... enjoy... It won't be the same without GR.

Amen to all of that in Dublin... I too love the Mermaid and it's sidekick Gruel. Sheridans have an even bigger cheese shop in Galway right by their organic market (saturdays only).

Sligo... near me then! Locally Montmartre in the Market Yard, good French restaurant in the town. Excellent value early bird (order by seven) which is our favourite "Oh lets eat out" last minute decision. But good food the decor is okay, a bit 'neat bistro' if you know what I mean. Donaghy's, near the train station, a restaurant with pub. Italian style, I haven't been but I have heard very good things about the NY trained chef. The Atrium cafe in the Model Arts Centre, locally sourced ingredients for a nice lunch, bruchetta with roasted veg and goats cheese, quiches with mixed leaves. That kind of thing. They have a lot of free events also. Poppadom on O'Connell Street. Well above the average Indian with other Asian fused in. The interior is surprising, nice smooth decor with Sinatra in the background. Don't miss their ragda patties... We did have at one point , and yes very surprisingly, the best pizza restaurant in the world... but it closed. Closed five years ago but the town is still in shock. Best latte - Bar Bazaar. Two great delis, Cosgroves and Kate's Kitchen. Best old bar - Hargadon's Lots of snugs, okay chowder at lunch. And that's about it Out of town and both on the pricier end. Authentic regional restaurant, Cuisto Perigord in Dromahaire. And Cromleach Lodge, topflight grub from self-taught chef, odd decor. www.cromleach Friends of mine recommended Temple House near Boyle, a crumbling pile which does dinner and bed and is pretty fabulous apparently. You dine with the family and stay. ---- Just came back from Galway - Kirwan's Lane is good restaurant in the centre of town. Buy a Bridgestone Guide as recommended on the other thread. You might want to check out the slightly alarmingly named www.forkncork.com, it's an adjunt to Ireland's Food and Wine magazine. More to follow...

The phone jammers are illegal in many parts of Europe, they constitute a broadcast and that is regulated over here. A nearby cinema had to remove theirs. I think the issue here becomes really clear when you combine New Yorkers with a cell phone. Crowded uptown R - two female straphangers "Do you know what he gave her, did you hear? A f***ing Corvette. I'd b*** him every day for one of those". Cue the lowering of a dozen New York Times. Now that scene was, well whatever you think about it, funny in my mind. And somehow quite, uh... human. And pretty well everyone in the subway car thought 'only here', lifted their papers back up and went on with their day. I don't think anyone was irritated. Well, maybe... But if she had been on a cell, I'd have changed cars.

I too was on a bill-pay type system until I read a report that prepaid users on average spend 60% of what bill-pay users do.

I think there should be a "Leave Your Phone At Home" day myself. Why do people instantly answer them? During any transaction, including social. I'm talking to you, hit cancel on your phone, don't answer it, you'll get a message, deal with it after you deal with me... I hate them. I (of course) have two.

Laksa

When I lived in NYC Teresa's was where the East Village waitresses used to go when work was over. Do they still? I like it too.

I should show it to my wife... I am not alone it seems. We are currently planning an extension to our house and a new kitchen is involved. After many years of me kicking people out of our tiny 7' square kitchen which had two doors and was the only way you could get out to the back garden. So endless streams of kids running in and out and a person or two talking and watching all drove me crazy when we had guests. Especially when plating or draining anything. Out, out, out now... (people think I am rude - the very idea) She thought I would want a big ole square kitchen with cooking area and a hangout area. Heck no. i wanted a kitchen that primarily worked as a kitchen, my only concession to socialising is I have set up a stool near the entrance that a visitor or two can stand and chat but will not be in my way. The kitchen opens right onto the dining area and I will be able to interact with them but i can also cut them out if I need to. I don't mind the chat, I love the radio on, I just hate the watching and the being-in-the-way.

When I first emigrated to NYC, cinnamon was this oppressive omnipresence... of course I ended up not noticing it but for a while it was just part of the smell of New York.

I am very fortunate to live where I live. I am in Leitrim in the North West of Ireland and I have a range of organic producers near me. There is an Organic Centre nearby which trains farmers in organic production and I am a member of their CSA (which starts today :o) ) My village has a great old store in it, sells everything from locally produced patés to wellies to building supplies, and some very neat original Star Wars merchandise...as in original... some stuff needs the dust blowing off it, but the food is fresh and I have a standing order for some locally produced organic eggs which are from hens which roam freely up the side of the nearest mountain. I am about 10 miles from Sligo town which happens to have two of the best delis in Ireland, Cosgroves and Kate's Kitchen, and it's oldest health food store, Tir na nOg, which stocks a lot of the locally produced organic veg and fruit. There's a couple of good greengrocers to boot. Oh and a Tesco and a Lidl and an Irish supermarket called Dunnes... and personally (after living in NYC) my favourite thing is that I can walk to all of them (bar the Lidl) and do my full shop in about 30-40 minutes. No fishmonger bar Tesco and Dunnes's own counters. I live in hope. There's a good butcher in the village who has a sign in their windows stating whose farm they take their meat from. I don't eat meat but visiting friends (and my mother) are known to raid the place before departing for Dublin. My Lidl run is for loo roll, OJ, juices for my kids lunches, and my wife likes their Bran Flakes. That's it. I heard their jams are okay but I haven't tried them. My Tesco run is for some fruit like limes which may not be in the greengrocer or healthfood store, breads, kitchen towels, some cleaning products, baby supplies, bathroom supplies, kids pizzas, butter, cheddar, fish, water, tortilla chips, cheddar, Alpen, biscuits. It's certainly a smaller bill than some of the others. One thing I have noted is that a lot of the more successful products in the delis or health food store end up with a stand in Tesco. They must have someone who goes out and sees what's selling and gets it.

Another factor in play is the relationship other countries and communities have to New York City in particular. "The next parish" is what they call it in Ireland, and I am pretty sure there's a strong sense of a continuity between the culture of most immigrant communities in NYC and their originating countries. 9/11 showed the ownership of that city throughout the world. These things muddy very easily.

I use a lemon as well but I also heard that rubbing in dry mustard powder will get rid of the smells. Ditto on the multiple chopping boards, I have a board for fruit for example, nothing kills a pear like onion. I buy a plastic one for fish every couple of weeks.

Ha!

well, back when I ate such things, I liked them rare. Hard to see a lump of flesh that thick being anything other than wobbly...

Al certainly was pretty brown-nosed alright. As for Jen, the steak looked good, the chips did look overcooked.

Wow, that's pretty extraordinary. Do you have a sign up? Or is the place big?

Still hooked, despite finding all other shows like this utterly dull. Gordon's marking scheme was interesting. He said that if the venison had not been overcooked then Abi's was an 8 or 9 but it was overcooked so it was a 3. Hmmm... So don't overcook it for the service...right? The fish pie looked good. The show is pretty well clutching at straws trying to set up rivalries and a who-will-win deal. James will win if the viewers get their choice even if Big Al is the cook in the room. His character is the only one with, eh, any character... It was interesting how the other participants were so gobsmacked when Belinda got kicked out, they all thought Edwina was heading for the cliff but it was pretty obvious to the viewers that Belinda was feeling, well, really sad, all the time. And people obviously did the kindest thing. Edwina is going to be like the impossible guest at the party, you will have to shoot her to get her out of there. But the real interest lies in seeing if they can merge as a team and do a good service under the trio of sergeant, hartnett and ramsey. That's what's interesting. Who's out? Who wins? Who cares?

Yes, the Ireland-wide smoking ban is a great success... now eating outside is the health hazard ;0) given the clouds of smoke out there. Seriously, it's good news. I never add a tip to a credit card bill. A lot of places don't give it to the staff, or don't give it to them accurately. I always leave cash. So, ditto. 20. I would encourage the spread of green markets throughout the city.

Why? Well, because it's a relationship. And depending on your setup, with certain customers, you could have different kinds of relationships. Every customer is different. One of my in-laws dads used to work in the Fulton Street fish market and he always said "you size the guy up. Do you want him back? Do you give a shit? What's he good for?" I have a local restaurant, a small bistro, who I visit regularly, and whose staff I tip well, and who I steer people towards. Sometimes I pay the whole bill, sometimes they comp dessert and coffee. They almost always round the bill down. The owner and I have never met outside his doors but I would call him a friend at this point. He comps because he likes me, he likes my frequent business, he likes me looking after his waiters and he likes the business I point his way. Do I expect it? No. Absolutely not. Does he feel bound to do it? No. He would feel free to bill me the whole amount, and does regularly. Is it nice that it happens? Yes. Does it keep me coming? Yes.