robyn

Daniel - So you think the server you couldn't understand was French? That's a hoot (at least to me). Because the restaurant (which basically serves French food - at least at RHR) probably went to a lot of trouble to get a US work visa for a French server. I doubt they scrounged up a French server out of one of the thousands and thousands of legal and mostly illegal immigrants in New York. Maybe they should just hire illegal Pakistanis (based on my experiences - their English is very good)? By the way - I happen to be awful when it comes to French (which is the most non-phonetic language I've ever seen). I felt pretty good this week when I read an article that said the average US diner - even a "foodie" diner - can't even pronounce "prix fixe" correctly . Regarding the set-up for dinner while you were dining - I don't care if you call it unacceptable or unprofessional. It's just not right. We agree on that one. Robyn P.S. With regard to cheese - I think US restaurants have a problem these days since customs started to enforce the laws against importing raw cheeses. It is very hard to get something like an Epoisses where I live - so I order cheese from France. But I can't get the raw cheeses these days - and restaurants can't either (legally).

P.S. I don't live in Orlando - I live near Jacksonville. Perhaps there is a restaurant of the type you're looking for in Orlando - but - if there is - I haven't heard about it. Robyn

Which exactly are unacceptable in your opinion? In both recent reviews - Daniel's and Little Ms. Foodie's - the restaurant was basically "cleaning up" and preparing for dinner before they finished their meal. While the former found this unacceptable and the latter found it acceptable - I find it unacceptable (unless the restaurant is supposed to close for lunch at 2:30 and I insist on lingering over my dessert until 3:30). With regard to the wine - I think it is a minor breach to exceed the budget by $50. The bigger issue was were the wines good wines? I've found that when my husband orders wine pairings by the glass (because I don't drink still wine) - the whites are generally better than the reds. So I wonder how good/bad the wines were. Based on our own experiences - and those I've read about - I think it is better to ask for the sommelier than to trust the server even when ordering wines by the glass. Finally - I do not consider it a breach of anything for a server to have an accent. There are many domestic accents that are difficult to understand (try the deep south). In addition - the US is a multi-cultural society - and New York is perhaps the largest "melting pot" in the country. In addition - New York has tons of international tourists - and it is not unreasonable for a high class restaurant to have servers whose first language isn't English. I have encountered servers both in the US and abroad who have accents that are difficult to understand (try Scotland ) - as well as servers who speak little or no English (Miami can be as bad or worse than Tokyo). I haven't had any problems that I've found insurmountable. And I am curious - Daniel - do you know/can you guess what the first language of your server was? Robyn P.S. The more I read about branches of famous restaurants/chefs - the more I think that I'll pass on all of them.

If you want to do some driving.... Jordi Valles is now the head chef at Salt - which is the new restaurant at the Ritz Carlton at Amelia Island. He used to be the chef at Mosaico in Miami. Here's some of his background: "Most chefs consider themselves fortunate to have an opportunity, no matter how brief, to cook with one of Spain's innovative chefs. Jordi Vallès has worked with three leaders of the culinary revolution there, including Pedro Subijana, Juan Mari Arzak, and Ferrán Adrià. Born and raised in Barcelona, Jordi is an ambassador for the new style of Spanish cuisine in the US." I took a look at the menu at Salt a couple of weeks ago. It didn't look that innovative. But there is a tasting menu available every night. If you go - I suggest calling the chef ahead of time and telling him what you're interested in. Perhaps he can do something special for you on a slow night. Closer to home - Chef Michael McMillan offers excellent seasonal tasting menus which change nightly at Opus 39 in St. Augustine. His cooking is more traditional - but it local and seasonal and excellent. Robyn P.S. Both of these places would make for nice overnight trips. Too much driving for a single day.

I just cut out a recipe from the Wall Street Journal (subscription only) - Daniel Boulud's "tender beef with horseradish". Calls for bottom round - but I plan to use it on a chuck roast. The recipe calls for small amounts of a couple of exotic ingredients - like juniper berries and celery root - but I plan to omit them - and you probably can too. Should be worth a try. If you PM or email me with your email address - I'll forward the recipe to you from the WSJ website. One nice thing is it calls for vodka and red wine. You can be very happy while preparing it . If it looks too complicated - I will give you the recipe I use for brisket (a similar cut that needs long braising). Very easy with only a few cheap ingredients. One nice thing about a meat braise is you can make it a few days in advance - then reheat before serving. Whatever recipe you use - you should be prepared for about 2 1/2 - 3 hours of braising. You know - one interesting thing about getting old is you tend to lose your sense of taste. So strong flavors aren't bad - as long as they're agreeable to the taster. I think that's one reason why the elderly tend to like really sweet things (most people like sweet things - and you need more of "sweet" to taste it as you age). And maybe that's why the salad was a success too (a lot of people like oil and vinegar). By the way - I thought the salad looked terrific. And I'm not surprised it "sold out". For some reason - at least in our families - making the salad is/was the husband's job. So our folks ate a lot of salad (the men took pride in what they made - and the women were relieved not to have to make everything!). We eat a lot of salad too (my husband inherited his Dad's skills). Wonder if families elsewhere are the same? Robyn

CaliPoutine - I lived in south Florida for about 25 years. We were probably there together at least part of the time . And my 88 year old father moved from south Florida to be near us last year. If you get down to Florida - you should come here and visit the skilled nursing home I mentioned. It is one of the best - if not the best - in the state. And I thought the food was pretty good (we used to eat in the cafeteria all the time) - especially considering all the dietary restrictions faced by the kitchen staff. Maybe you can get volunteers to do some shopping for you in the big box stores? For example, rice in a lot of them is very good (even here in Jacksonville - because Costco has a large number of Chinese and Indian customers). And cheap. And sold in 50 pound bags! I don't know anything about prices in Canada. But here in our local Costco - they sell packages of boneless chicken breasts. Six presealed packs - two in a pack. 12 breasts for about $15. I use them all the time for stir fries. Etc. If you can somehow keep your food costs on the big stuff down - you can afford to spend more on little "flourishes". Your situation reminds me of a big fight I had with a local outfit a few years ago. A reasonably large shelter for battered women/children. The state of affairs was that all the "country club women" (and I guess I'm one of them) would have luncheons and bring little baskets of stuff to donate to the shelter. Like one roll of paper towels - and 3 rolls of toilet paper - and a small container of cleanser - in an expensive basket topped with a big bow. All the stuff was bought at the highest possible price - and the basket cost more than the stuff in it. I suggested that instead of doing this nonsense - each woman should write a check for $25 - and we should use the money and buy a gift card to a big box store. And I was told this was a ridiculous idea - because then the country club women wouldn't have anything to do - like put together gift baskets and go to lunch <sigh>. (As an aside - I note that they also asked me to address invitations to the annual fundraiser. I said sure - and I'll put the whole mailing list in Microsoft Word - with a fancy font - so you never have to address invitations again. I was told that I had to do it by hand. And that was the end of my relationship with that charity!) But I hope you don't wind up in my situation. You're the new guy on the block - but I think if you have some good ideas and some extra pairs of hands - and the powers that be are willing to think a little out of their pre-existing "box" - that you can change things for the better. Robyn P.S. One thing I haven't mentioned is the possibility of seasonal or holiday "themed" meals. I am sure I'm not unique in liking to cook/eat certain things once or twice a year because of a season or a holiday. Like red velvet cake for Valentine's Day (that's a southern thing). Or corned beef. Terrible for you but I make it once a year on St. Patrick's Day. Perhaps leg of lamb would be traditional for Christian people in Canada (I admit I don't have a clue). My FIL's nursing home used to have a birthday party once a month for all people born in that month. And special meals for every Jewish holiday (and there are many of them) - and every US holiday too. Plus things like summer BBQ meals (another southern thing - just no pork!). You get the idea.

Well 65 to 90 is a pretty big range. You ought to get more specific numbers of how many people you have in whch age groups. Here in Florida - a "junior senior" is 65-80. A "senior senior" is 80+. The needs of the 2 groups can vary dramatically. If you're cooking for seniors - especially senior seniors - you have to keep health in mind. I'd simply take a poll. Who has what wrong with them. E.g., if 75% of the people you're cooking for have to limit salt intake - then do it. It's hard to tell without knowing your audience. Cooking for anyone - especially in a "quasi-institutional" setting - isn't about cooking for "foodies". It's about giving people what they like to eat. Putting a smile on their faces - not trying to educate them. I am probably more sophisticated than the people you're cooking for - but I eat meat (although sparingly) and I hate feta cheese and yogurt. No reason to spend your limited dollars on things your audience won't like. FWIW - I live in north Florida - and I'm sure the food tastes here are more similar to your clients' than they are to yours. Plus - I travel a lot. There are more places (in terms of food likes and dislikes) like your current area and mine than parts of California. FWIW - the average resident of my father-in-law's nursing home was a Jewish person in his/her late 80's (my father-in-law was in his early 80's and not Jewish). The Depression generation. Talk about meat and potatoes. And braised meat - or burgers like hockey pucks - because rare meat with a drop of blood is out of the question in a kosher environment. My father-in-law was the VP of the Resident's Council - and the #1 most common complaint about the food was that the potatoes in the potato salad weren't well done enough - they weren't mushy enough for most peoples' tastes. It's just a question of knowing your customers. Did anyone tell you why you can't serve pasta? It is cheap and healthy and - if prepared in certain ways - nutritious. BTW - I have an old cookbook I never use called the "Meat and Potatoes" cookbook. Sounds like you could use it - and I'd be glad to send it to you if you PM or email me with your name and address. And you should have a fundraiser and buy a big cheap freezer so you can drive to Sam's or Costco once a month or so and stock up. In general - most staples are about 1/2 price there (unless you have local stores that sell lots of BOGOs). Finally - I do not think of $3 and change as an impossible goal for a meal. We have lots of buffets here - like at Golden Corral - where all you can eat for lunch is about $6. Which includes food - cooking - employees - cost of restaurant - and profit. It isn't fine dining - but some of it - particularly the veggies - is pretty good. Robyn P.S. I don't care for margarine - but it is a southern staple - and it's all you'll find in a kosher nursing home. Shouldn't be a deal-breaker.

Of the 240 residents in our facility - 80 of them are on some form of texture modified diet. Not for cost reasons but because they either canot chew or cannot swallow. It is more expensive for us to make these types of diets than the regular food. About 50% of our facility have cognitive impairments. Maybe we are confusing the issue with the names of facilities? I work at a Nursing Home, for people who need heavy care (feeding, dressing, just getting out of bed.) this is not assisted care living. We are the end of the line, most care you can get - no going back kind of place. Retirement or assisted living places are different and you can expect a different level of food service. For this type of care you can expect to pay in the order of 2-3000$ a month. Because I am in Canada it may be different here than in the States. ← Yes - the US is different than Canada. My father-in-law's skilled nursing home cost almost $7000/month - and the price has increased since he died 2 years ago. And we live in a relatively inexpensive part of the US. We have assisted living places too - and they are less expensive. In general - the most frequent reasons for moves from assisted living to skilled nursing are 1) that the resident becomes incontinent; 2) that the resident can no longer self-administer medications (there are laws regarding what kinds of health and other care providers can and can't administer medications); and 3) that the resident needs medical care on a daily basis. I've read this whole thread - and - so far - no one has explained who these "seniors" are (except that they are Canadian and live in a non-urban area). How old are they? Seniors can be 65 - or 85. My husband and I are 60ish - and my father is 88. Big difference. So what is the nature of the group you're trying to feed? Range of ages? Range of physical ailments? How many people need to be on restricted diets (salt - fluid - sugar - etc.) for one reason or another (heart problems - diabetes - etc.)? How many have dental issues and have problems chewing? I assume you won't be dealing with people with serious health/eating issues - like people who need thickened food to swallow properly. You're not dealing with a large group. Take a poll. I suspect if you're dealing with a pretty old group - your most common problem will be cardiac issues - and in that event you should be working with a "heart healthy" diet - like low salt. It is easier for people who can eat a lot of salt to add it at the table than for people who can't to take it out. I don't know what is wrong with trying to prepare meals that people enjoy. No matter how boring that job may seem because of the peoples' lack of culinary sophistication. The job isn't to educate some 90 year old. It's to give him or her a meal that he/she enjoys - one that won't cause an episode of congestive heart failure. So what do these people really like to eat? ASK THEM. Again - a poll would be a good idea. Because my father-in-law had congestive heart failure and because his skilled nursing home was kosher - his treat for the week was a breakfast out with 2 slices of bacon. He loved those 2 slices of bacon . As well as his weekly lunch out for a cheeseburger. I find nothing wrong with eating frozen foods. In fact - when it comes to certain vegetables - like peas - frozen is usually much better than fresh (unless you're getting English peas in the spring in a high class restaurant). I would try mightily to get a large freezer you can use on a regular basis so you can take advantage of sales on things that are or can be frozen. You know what people at my father-in-law's nursing home loved? Ice cream. Except for the diabetics and the people with bad congestive heart failure - they ate tons of it. Do you have access to any kind of "club" - like Sam's - or Costco? If you do - even if it's an hour away - you can use it to stock up on things cheap. And you can buy institutional packages of condiments - so people can do things like dress their salads to taste. In my opinion - the worst thing you can do to older people is to take away their dignity - and you do that by implying that what they really like to eat is garbage. Robyn

Don't any of these places mentioned in the article take (and honor) reservations? I'm at a point in my life where I can't standing waiting for anything - even a doctor's appointment. Robyn

Not if you live in Nutley, NJ. ← Which means...? My husband grew up in Montvale - but he didn't know what you were talking about either. FWIW - neither of us has ever been to Nutley. Robyn

And let us know what you think of the restaurants. I've had to cancel my last two reservations at Bacchanalia because I had to cancel the trips to Atlanta due to ice storms. Will be going to Atlanta end of this month. Want to bet that although it will be 70 tomorrow - there'll be an ice storm then . Robyn

Raintree is still there - I think. Haven't been there in a long time - because there are better places in St. Augustine these days. Lapageria - if I had to make one recommendation - it would be this. If you're around in January - do an overnight trip to St. Augustine. They're still having the nights of a million lights. The city is all lighted up and it's beautiful. Do some sightseeing in the afternoon. St. Augustine is the oldest city in the US - it has remained relatively untacky - and there are interesting things to see. Stay at one of the nicer hotels or B&B's downtown. And have dinner at Opus 39 (IMO the best restaurant in the greater Jacksonville area - which includes St. Augustine - these days). Even though you're from Napa - I don't think you'll be disappointed. Being from California - you will probably laugh at the prices. If you're interested in this trip - I can make more specific recommendations (like the driving route - things to see - etc.). Robyn

I always used to cut up whole collards. It was a lot of work - and I always had a pile of those outside leaves left over. I was really tired this weekend - so I tried the bagged collards from an outfit called Glory Foods - which another shopper told me was a good company (they were a BOGO at Publix). They were better than any I've cut up myself. So I think I'm hooked. They also had mustard, turnip and kale greens (which I haven't tried). Note that unless you're cooking the shoe leather outside leaves - you really don't need a pressure cooker. My receipe takes a total of about 1 1/2 hours (20 minutes to boil the seasonings and flavor the water - then an hour to simmer the greens). And now that I've discovered that at least some greens in a bag are great - the prep time is about 5 minutes (which consists of putting everything in the pot - including my secret ingredient - which is a smoked pork hock). Also - when it comes to sugar in cornbread - I have tried a half dozen recipes without sugar. I suppose they are "regionally pure" - but nothing tastes better than the excellent cornbread mix from Williams Sonoma (which has sugar). Finally - I think it's really sad that this is the only time of year you can find fresh black-eyed peas in the markets here. They're super easy to cook - and about 100 times better than canned or dried. Robyn P.S. Perhaps it is traditional not to have sugar in corn bread because people used to be too poor to buy sugar. When the reason for the rule ceases - etc. I mean people here used to eat grits and grunts - because that was all they could afford. But if I had to choose today - I think I'd prefer shrimp and grits .

If you'll be making it as far as the Jacksonville area and/or St. Augustine - I can make some recommendations (I live in the area). Let me know whether you want lunch or dinner suggestions or both. Robyn

This has long been my explanation and commentary about NYCers being more into food than the average American. But I'm not sure how it applies to the critical mass of high end restaurants and both their existence and failures. I would bet that one difference between Tokyo, Hong Kong, and other cities in Asia and NYC is that the other cities have a greater percentage of their households being couples with children (if not grandparents/aunts and uncles as well) than NYC. NYC has to have more households with single people/roommates/couples without children than the other cities. I'd say the latter are more likely to dine out more often. I doubt this applies to high-end restaurants though. NYC does have more of a "showman" mentality than any city in the world I know or know of, with people doing certain things just to show off, and some of the financiers backing restaurants have that as their reasoning, and I suspect that's even more true at the high end, especially with the huge bonuses, salaries, etc. being thrown around. ← My impression in Tokyo - and I certainly didn't learn the city in any depth - is that once people had children - many moved out of the "center city" area. A large % of the people who frequent the restaurants "in town" are businessmen entertaining people for various reasons after work. And I do emphasize the word men. I hardly saw any women at any place where there was business entertaining going on (from the bar at the Four Seasons where I was staying to the little places under the train tracks). In many US cities built after the automobile (and perhaps cities outside the US) - whether you're talking about Los Angeles or Miami - there is no urban center to live in - or move out of - whether or not you have children. Everyone lives in the suburbs. Robyn

Did they stick to the shell? Had they been frozen? Or just kept around too long? We had a really bad cold front come through most of the state on Sunday/Monday and it wouldn't surprise me if the crab/shrimp/fishing fleets couldn't get out for a few days (didn't clear up until mid-day yesterday here in NE Florida). Robyn

Unfortunately, it doesn't really work that way. Even one of the "off-the-radar" restos in Manhattan is still reasonably full on both weeknights and weekends. In smaller cities, OTOH, for whatever reasons (and I'm not an industry expert, so I can't offer any), even excellent restaurants can be barely full (or fully reserved, but without the crush of people they have jamming the doorway in NYC), and less well-known restaurants can be nearly empty even if the quality of the food is high. I've been to places that top the Zagat ratings in cities like Austin, Baltimore, Dallas-FW, Philadelphia, Portland, Minneapolis, Miami, or Houston on less than a day's notice and had no trouble scoring a table; a slightly more restrictive calculus applies to DC, Boston, Seattle, or LA, but not much. By contrast, I have at least *twenty* pretty well-known/well-trafficked restaurants within two or three blocks of me, all of which are jammed on weekends and fully booked most weekdays. You just don't get that volume, at those prices, anywhere else with the possible exception of San Francisco or Chicago (and probably not even there). New York is *the* place to operate. IMHO, this topic is a bit of a red herring in general. Restaurants anywhere have a poor survival rate; the criteria for haute cuisine are even more grueling than those for neighborhood eats. The restaurants of this era are not for the most part the personal labor or love or family enterprise of France's Michelin-starred establishments, and chefs are quick to move on, and owners to close up shop, when profits go down. I don't think this is an unusual phenomenon or an indication that NYC has too many high-end restaurants. (May I also note that "critical mass" is a bit of a malapropism in this context?) I think that tastes change *very* fast, that an increasing proportion of the populace defines itself as "foodie" and is therefore quick to seek out new techniques and dining trends, and that the economy is not nearly so solid as some people would like to think. In NYC at least, a large number of high-end restaurants are driven by Wall Street bonuses; the newer crop of restaurants get the bigger share of those proceeds. Bonuses have tended to concentrate among a very small population of financial professionals in the last couple of years; those same people aren't going to keep going to Daniel every month. Incidentally, this isn't really unusual or new; Mimi Sheraton and Bryan Miller's reviews of the Palm and the Four Seasons, respectively, note the unusual nature of their longevity in their reviews. Things probably *do* move faster nowadays, if simply because people track new trends in dining more quickly and with greater assiduousness. ← I think you could probably devise a formula that incorporates both the population of the metropolitan area and the size of the average resident's kitchen that explains it . The New York metro area is the 4th largest in the world (about 18 million) - and the average resident has a kitchen that's tiny (if it isn't in a closet). With younger people - many share apartments - they don't have their own space. And what about dining areas? Many serve double or triple duty (as home offices and the like). So how are you going to cook - much less entertain (whether you're talking about another person - another couple - or a bunch of people)? So you don't do either - you go out to eat. If you're a single or a couple with no kids where both are working (and many people in New York are in that category) - you're talking eating out or take-out both during work and after (who has time to cook? - I know when my husband and I were both working - neither of us ever cooked). New York isn't unique. The Tokyo metro area has twice the population - and the apartments are even smaller. I went to a kitchen showroom in Tokyo and the kitchens looked like something you'd put in a kid's playhouse. Tokyo has even more restaurants than New York (about 100,000 by last count) - and they are packed too. Note that both in New York and Tokyo - it is unusual to be invited to eat at someone's house. In Tokyo - it is even unusual to be invited to meet someone at his/her house - because the places aren't big enough for any socializing (e.g., one couple we dined with in Tokyo had 550 sq. feet for a family of 3). On the other hand - here in the hinterlands - my capacity for entertaining at home is limited only by my lack of desire to do a lot of work . If I want to have people over - I do it - whether it's 1 person or 15 (although the 15 is a very very rare happening - having another couple or two over is more like it). Also - most of the cities Mayur lists (except for Los Angeles and Houston) are relatively small. And with Los Angeles - Houston - and other smaller "slurby cities" - there's the hassle factor in terms of getting from work/home to many of the restaurants in the metro area. E.g., in Miami - you'd have to be nuts to try to get from south Miami to north Miami (or vice versa) for dinner at a highly rated restaurant because the traffic is the pits. So you tend to eat very locally. And because there is a much lower population density in a city like Miami (or Los Angeles or Houston) as opposed to New York - you have much less to choose from in terms of local places. Anyway - that's my take on that issue. BTW - I have never seen a B&T argument before - this is my first - and it comes across as really silly. I'm reminded of some things - like Ruth Reichl's description (in Garlic and Saphhires) of meeting a young (probably in retrospect B&T) couple at a bad restaurant she happened to be reviewing - and telling them where they should go and eat next time - and what they should eat. I personally love teaching people about food things I know - and I also love when people try to teach me about food things I don't know. And I don't judge them on the basis of who I think they are - just on their willingness to learn/teach. I don't even care if they chew gum. I smoke. No one is perfect . Robyn

Wimped out and bought them in a box (imported from Germany). Good move - because I had my hands full cooking a half dozen other things this weekend. They were quite good. Robyn

I like collards and fried chicken - but rarely eat them in restaurants because they're usually way too salty. Also - fried chicken is really not a great thing to eat that often. I do make collards at home - which I think are much better than those I find in restaurants (won't tackle fried chicken at home - too much of a mess). I think it would take more than pork and chicken to resolve the problems with the United Nations . Robyn

What's interesting about The Four Seasons, is that it is frequented by some sophisticated people who—although they're not "foodies"—have been around the block enough to tell the difference between fine dining and an imitation of it. It's not like One if By Land or Tavern on the Green, which really do survive almost solely on the tourist/B&T crowd. ← There was an interesting piece on CNBC about the Four Seasons. A lot of rich/famous frequent diners were interviewed. A surprising number eat exactly the same thing for lunch (which is when most rich/famous people tend to eat there) day after day - year after year. Like a lot of people. They just get a really good version of their regular meal - which usually isn't fussy - served in extremely nice surroundings - and a chance to maintain/make good contacts with other business people who matter to them. Now some of the meals are weird - one fellow ate a plate of spaghetti and a baked potato every day - but this is their regular lunch. Don't most of us have a "regular" - a "go to" meal. I know I do - and I just feel bad I can't eat it at the Four Seasons every day . Robyn

And I never will eat at that restaurant (I'm amazed anyone remembered what I said)! Can't agree with your statement about no connection - except in ownership. Maguy Le Coze was the person who pissed me off in person in Miami - and I'll be darned if I'll go anywhere on purpose where I might run into her again. To give you an outsider's (non-New Yorker's) point of view - the problem with a lot of the restaurant scene is that many participants are in it for the short run trendiness of a place - not the food. That means that a lot of the expensive but not highest echelon places will be like shooting stars - bright for a period - and then flame out. This is an attitude that a lot of New Yorkers brought/bring to the Miami Beach restaurant scene - which did nothing to improve dining in Miami Beach. Most of these participants are local - because - when you're from out of town like me - and don't get to New York that often - it's hard to figure out which places are most trendy - even if you care about what's most trendy (which I don't). On the other hand - there are both in and out of town participants who are in it for the food - not the scene. Decor and service too. An overall great dining experience. I'm more or less in that category. And I'll gladly spend 2x instead of x to get that great dining experience as opposed to a not-so-great but trendy dining experience. These great restaurants may last longer than the trendy ones because it takes a while for those of us in the hinterlands to find out that they're not great anymore (whereas everyone in New York probably knows to the minute when a so-so but trendy restaurant ceases to be trendy). Curiously - the older I get - the more my restaurant experiences wind up in 1 of 2 categories. Inexpensive or cheap (or really cheap) and ok. Like Waffle House . Or really expensive and fabulous. With nothing in the middle (the middle is eating at home). At some point - I just got tired of spending $100-200 (for 2) for mediocre/pedestrian meals. Robyn

Sorry to disagree about your "the past is the past" statement - but the school desegregation case in the area where I live (near Jacksonville Florida) was only over and dismissed in 1999. That is hardly ancient history. These days of course - desegregation cases would be silly - because people simply avoid desegregation by moving to counties like mine (1 county south of Jacksonville) where the population is largely white - or sending their kids to private schools. Not that the north is any different. I lived in Boston and Philadelphia before I moved to Miami - and then the Jacksonville area - and their schools are no more desegregated than ours. Of course - there is housing segregation too. And anyone who doubts that just has to look at the congressional districts in Florida (both those that are drawn so only white people will be elected - and those that are drawn so only black people will be elected). Just because different people eat the same kinds of foods doesn't mean that they have a whole lot to do with one another in everyday social life. And that goes not only for race - it goes for religion too. Can't tell you how many people I know (including family members) who changed their religions to Baptist to fit in socially in the south. These are basically Christian people (Catholics and Protestants of other denominations). Being Jewish - it never entered my mind to become a Baptist so I'd have a better social life. Robyn

Bump - would like to make some spaetzle to serve with a pork tenderloin with an apple/prune cream sauce for Christmas. Any suggestions about the best way to make them a day or two in advance and then serve them? Unless I can find a spaetzle maker at Williams Sonoma - or Bed Bath & Beyond - I'll be making them with a potato ricer. Robyn

The only place I've ever seen anything that big is in a meat cooler in a market before cutting! Will it fit in your oven? What do you plan to cook it in? In terms of serving people - I made a 3 rib roast for Chanukah for me and my husband - almost 6 pounds. We got 4 meals out of it - and lots of fatty leftovers for our back yard critters (all of them - even the birds - like beefy/fatty stuff). So that's about .75 pound per person per serving. If you're serving 8 - that would mean you need about 6 pounds plus some for people who like ends/not rare pieces - people who are big eaters - plus some leftovers. So unless you are really really big on leftovers - or will be having lots of people to help you with leftovers - I'd cut junior about in half - maybe 60/40 - serve the larger half for Christmas and freeze the rest for another nice winter meal. Robyn

I was in Publix today and everyone was snapping up rib roasts (at $5.99/pound). I talked to some customers - and they all use "roasting bags". I've never used one before - but the technique sounds very similar to SV. Doesn't seem like an undiscovered method of cooking a rib roast. Robyn