robyn

Catching up on old messages. I am a total free trade person. Do any of you who advocate protecting US shrimpers also advocate tariffs on things like underwear - so people in the US can protect southern textile jobs and wind up paying what Europeans pay for underwear (my husband once had occasion to buy underwear in Europe - and it was about 5 times as espensive as what he was used to paying at home). Or what about cars? How about a $10,000 tariff on that Toyota you just bought - to force you to buy a Ford? And of course we could extend this to other food industries. I just made a batch of pesto today (before the freeze got the last of my basil). I buy my pine nuts at Costco. They're from China. How about tariffs on Chinese pine nuts so they'll cost $30/pound instead of $13. By the way - I happen to live in an area where there's a shrimp fleet. Shrimp are running now - and our local shrimp are cheap. I've never found decent Florida shrimp to be any more expensive than imported shrimp (except for those teeny-weenies in a bag which I don't use). But assuming I could get imported shrimp for 1/2 the price of the local stuff - same quality - why should 15 million people in Florida subsidize perhaps a few thousand people who make a living catching shrimp? Robyn P.S. Once you get into the subsidy argument - you're on a slippery slope. A lot of the "seafood arguments" here in Florida aren't between local people and the Chinese - they're between good old boys and people who came here from places like Vietnam. The latter work longer hours - are more frugal with money - pool family resources - can make more money selling things cheaper - etc. - and they drive the "good old boys" nuts. Some of the incidents over the years have been pretty nasty (things like boat burnings). So after we impose the tariffs - do we impose "support prices" for domestic shrimp and seafood (which basically means that people will eat twice as many burgers and half as much seafood)?

I know that it is highly recommended that one have tasting menus at high end restaurants on a first visit - but if X and Y are far from my favorites - and they're the highlights of the tasting menu - I go to the a la carte menu - and pick the things I really like (even when prepared by lesser chefs - including me!). There are people who could have the best lemon dessert in the world - and they'd still like the chocolate swirl at the Dairy Queen better. So my advice is to eat the foods you like - if you can get them - no matter where you're eating. And don't go to a seafood place when you want to eat a steak - and vice versa! Robyn

only if she keeps kosher ... ← Perhaps "need" was the wrong word. Since I'm Jewish, do you think I'm allowed more dishes than gentiles, even if I don't keep kosher? ← I'm Jewish - don't keep kosher - and have 4 - plus a "lunch set". Just in case I ever decide to keep kosher . My big problem now is I want a new set - and don't have room for a new set without getting rid of an old set. But I like all my old sets. Perhaps I should just box one up - give it a rest for a few years - and buy the new set I've been eyeing for the last year. Robyn

We had 2 lunches worth mentioning during our trip. First was lunch at Zinc in Kierland Commons during my Friday shopping trip. Zinc is a typical French bistro type of place. Attractive decor. Same menu at lunch as at dinner (which makes lunch a little pricey - and dinner relatively cheap). About $15 for main course meals. I don't know much about the place - but it must be popular and well regarded. We started lunch at 11:30 on Friday (we were still somewhat on Eastern time). It was starting to fill up then - and by the time we left (about 12:30) it was slammed. We spoke with the manager - and he said they do about 400 covers a night. I had a chicken leg coq au vin - the leg and the thigh - over a yummy risotto with chanterelles. And they threw in (if I remember correctly) a rosemary/thyme sausage. Luckily it was a relatively large dish - because my husband - who had virtuously ordered the fish special (also good) - kept looking at the sausage the way a dog would beg at a dinner table - until I gave him half . Nice bread to sop up the sauce. Definitely recommended. We also had the Sunday champagne brunch at the Enchantment Resort in Sedona on Sunday with my brother and his wife. We all agreed that it was a typical (although somewhat better than average) overpriced Sunday brunch (at $35). But it was a pleasant way to start an afternoon of gallery hopping and looking at rocks. Nice surroundings - no rushing - good service. And the view of the red rocks from the restaurant has to be worth at least $10 (like they say - the view alone is worth the trip) . It's not really a "food destination" - more a pleasant interlude in a day of sightseeing. Robyn

If you didn't know if Menard was there the night you dined at The Dining Room then I'm guessing that he wasn't. Because he makes a point of visiting tables, often more than once if you're there for a long dinner. ← In our case - it was kind of a slow night when he was in the kitchen (Thursday in August) - and he personally brought out a dish that he was in the process of "perfecting" for the menu - and asked for our comments. Robyn

We've been in the Phoenix area for 4 days - and are heading home tomorrow. We've had some really good eating - and I'll report on it. But first things first. For those of you who are used to relatively compact metro areas - the Phoenix area isn't. And - at times - the traffic is as bad as any as I've seen in LA. So plan your eating based on where you're staying - or where you'll be at any point in time. That said - we stayed at the Four Seasons in the north Scottsdale area. It's a great property (our second stay here) - and it's relatively close to where my brother lives in Cave Creek (relatively close in this case being about 12 miles away). The first night we were here - we dined at Binkley's in Cave Creek. It was the most surprising and best meal of our trip. If anyone had told me 5 years ago that there would be a restaurant in Cave Creek that served an amuse bouche - I would have laughed at him. But now there's Binkley's. Although it only opened earlier this year - it's not exactly undiscovered - and has received great local reviews. And they're entirely justified. There's both an a la carte menu (which changes almost every night) - and several tasting menu variations - which consist of various numbers of courses from the a la carte menu. I had the 4 course tasting menu for $45 (there's also 5 for $50 and 6 for $60). My cold appetizer was slow roasted baby beets with blue cheese cheesecake, arugula and red onion chips. Hot appetizer was bacon wrapped quail with butternut squash puree, crispy mustard greens and maple gastric. Main was a choice of fish or meat - and I had the venison loin - rare - with parsnips, blackberries and and acorn squash. Last was the cheese course. Had a choice of 6! - and I had the pecorino romano, epoisses, cabrales and point reyes blue with appropriate sides like fruit and bread. I'm not much of a wine drinker - but enjoyed champagne throughout the meal. Everything (food and service) was excellent. This isn't only a great restaurant for Cave Creek - or Phoenix. I'd put it head to head against restaurants in much more food oriented cities like New York. Probably 2-3 stars on the NYT scale. And the people are nice to boot. The airline lost my luggage on the way here - so I didn't have appropriate clothes to wear. Called before dinner - and the restaurant said - not to worry - and made me feel entirely at home. Only warning is once you get out of dense near downtown Phoenix traffic - and into this part of town - it is relatively empty desert and very dark. Encountering large critters like deer and javelinas on the road is common. We took a cab there - and my brother drove us back to the hotel. I recommend similar driving arrangements if you plan to do more than a touch of drinking and/or don't like driving in the wide open spaces one frequently encounters in the southwest. Will write more in a few days once we get home and unpack (my luggage did arrive here - although after I did). Robyn

We live out at the Beaches - but we use a fellow who lives in Riverside to sharpen our knives. He has a truck (with a knife sharpening shop inside) - and most of his customers are restaurants. He makes stops at the restaurants at or near closing time - and since we have a fair number of knives to sharpen - he'll stop at our house as the last stop on a night when he's doing rounds at the Beaches. We do this about once a year - and it's usually a later night than New Year's Eve for us - but it's worth it - because he does a great job. I'm sure he wouldn't stop at a restaurant for one knife - but perhaps you could convince your employer to give him a try. If you only have a few knives - perhaps you could drop them by his house in Riverside (we've done that before - dropped the knives off on his day off - had lunch - and picked them up). If you're interested in his services - send me email and I'll give you his name/number (I'll be out of town this weekend so it might take me a while to get back to you). Robyn P.S. The first time he did our knives - he had to recontour some of them quite a bit. If a knife can be fixed - he can fix it.

Forgot to mention. Of the 2 meals we had at the Dining Room - the first was on Thursday when Menard was in the kitchen. The second was on Friday when he was out of town. And Thursday night was a lot less crowded than Friday. First meal was better than the second. So - if I could arrange it - I'd dine on a week night when Menard was in the kitchen. Robyn

Calphalon commercial nonstick has been discontinued. The only pieces that I've seen recently in stores are the 8/10 inch fry pans (in a set). Amazon frequently has a $25 off deal when you buy $125 or more worth of kitchen stuff (plus you get free shipping). Robyn

I'm not from Atlanta - and I don't dine there that often. So I can't comment on the full range of restaurants and the changing scene. That said - we had 2 fabulous meals at the Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton/Buckhead a year ago August. I'd be glad to fax you a copy of the menu - and I'm sure the restaurant itself will fax you copies of the current menus. Actually - we were supposed to eat at the cafe restaurant the second night - but it was only a bit cheaper than the Dining Room - and the menu was a bore - which is how we wound up eating there twice. Only possible criticism is that the room - while ok - is - to my taste - a bit dated. Robyn

Thanks for the ideas. I've been thinking and thinking - and if nothing too terrible happens on the home front - I want to buy one of those around the world airfares - and take 3 weeks and go around the world - mostly to Asia. I think Asia will be the most important area of the world for the next 100 years - and I want to at least see a little of it before we get too old for that kind of travel. I'm mostly thinking Japan, China, Korea, India. Doesn't hurt that we really like all of those cuisines. Will hit the books and the internet and talk with our travel agent after the holidays. Robyn

There must have been something wrong with that particular cobia - where it was caught - how it was cared for - something. It's a game fish - and you don't find it on menus that often - but when I've had it - it's good. Only fish I ever had here that tasted like mud was real non-farmed catfish from Lake Okeechobee. I'll be charitable and say it's an acquired taste which I never acquired . You know one thing we get a lot of here is shrimp. Type and availability vary around the state. Right now - shrimp are running off the northeast coast and we can get 16-20 fresh Mayport shrimp in Publix for $9.99/pound. As an aside - I'm sure that farm raised salmon is the most popular fish sold at Publix because it's hard to beat at $4-5 a pound (normal "sale" price at Publix). At the other end of the price spectrum are stone crabs. Pricey but worth it - although they don't travel well (so I only eat them in south Florida). And in the late spring - we'll change from stone crab season to Florida lobster season (Florida lobsters are more widespread throughout the coastal waters - so you can get local ones whether you're in the southeast - or the northeast - or in the middle). By the way - one thing I will not recommend this year (and I haven't recommended them for a while) is gulf oysters. Too many potential health problems (and 2 deaths so far this year). I've pretty much given up on raw oysters in most places (not only Florida) because I've found that restaurants frequently aren't truthful about what their oysters are and where they come from. Finally - if you really need a northern fish fix - you can do a heck of a lot worse than Legal Seafoods (which has a few restaurants in Florida - mostly in the southeast). Robyn P.S. I live in the Jacksonville metro area - and although we don't have much to write home about in the food department - I think Jacksonville is better than Orlando. When I leave Jacksonville in search of a food fix - Orlando isn't on my radar screen. It's like the line in Love and Death when Woody Allen is asked what death is like. And he says - you know the chicken at Trefski's - it's worse. So get out and take some day/overnight/weekend trips and explore other parts of the state (you're right in the middle - and close to just about everything except the Panhandle).

Have to laugh about the triggerfish. It's usually considered a junk fish in the Bahamas (where I used to go fishing). Too many bones - tough to skin. But I guess if someone else is doing all the fish prep work - what the heck . Robyn

I think the initial premise of this thread (which got tacked onto another thread) is that the restaurant was having problems - perhaps due to cost. Now I don't hold myself out as a sushi/sashimi expert - but I've eaten at high end places before in Hawaii and on the west coast. And in these places - and presumably Masa too - a large % of the fish is imported from Japan (although there are usually some local delicacies too). It's expensive stuff - but it's probably more expensive in New York than Hawaii or the west coast because shipping costs are higher. And because running a restaurant costs more too. Granted there are people who can travel all over to eat - and I guess I'm one of them (although I'm not in the "let's take the jet to Paris tonight for dinner" class). But whereas Japanese food of all kinds is at or near the top of my list when I head to Hawaii or the west coast - it's near the bottom of my radar screen on a trip to New York (simply because there are lots of New York types of food/restaurants that seem more "New York"). And perhaps I'm not alone. And - if Masa has a problem - that could be the cause. That NYC doesn't have enough residents to keep a high end restaurant like this going - and it's not high on the list of tourist food destinations in New York. For those of you who've been there - one thing I've noticed in higher end places (not only Japanese places but even our local Ruth's Chris - which attracts a golf crowd) is there are usually a large number of Japanese tourists or business people dining there. Is that true in Masa? If not - that's probably a bad sign. I note that when I was in New York a while back - there were large tables of Japanese tourists or business people (don't know which - but probably the latter) at places like Davidburke & Donatella. If Masa isn't attracting this business - then I think it has a fair chance of running into problems. Robyn

There is at least one other sushi place in NYC that has similar budget busting prices (but no $300 minimum) and that would be Kurma. Kurma is known to be able to turn out very good sushi, at prices to match, and Masa would have to beat Kurma on sushi to survive. My budget doesn't allow this right now, but I'd like to compare Masa to Kurma. In the cooked food department, Masa has to show its better than Sugiyama, which already has the $150 prix fix budget locked up. I also have to wonder if Masa can really make much money on beverages. Having recently eaten at ADNY, where $2,000 bottles of wine are scattered across the list, I have to wonder what Masa can sell? Wine is not a typical sell for that kind of food, and sake rarely goes above $100 for a 720ML bottle. One of the reasons why the food at a place like Sugiyama or Kurma is so expensive is that they can't sell the expensive wine a place like ADNY or Jean Georges does. This isn't my own theory, I've been told by the owner of a very high end Japanese place that many customers drink $6 bottles of beer with $100 dinners, others like green tea, and more than you think drink house sake. Some do drink premium sake. Very few order wine. High end Japanese places have trouble making large amounts off of beverages. ← What you're saying is probably correct - but my husband and I tend to drink pretty much the same stuff no matter where we dine. A few cocktails - some middle of the road wine/champagne (perhaps $200 worth altogether). But dinner for 2 at ADNY was $750 - and $500 for 2 at Per Se. So we'd be talking about more than $1000 at Masa. I'm sure it's better than Tojo's in Vancouver - but not 4 times better. Robyn

I don't even like grouper, or snapper, the two state fish it seems. I can't go to a restaurant that doesn't have those on the menu exclusively. I want to find somewhere that has cod cheeks, halibut, skate wing, turbot, bream, brill, plaice, anything other than grouper!!!!!!!! Maco shark is a novelty too, so don't even talk to me about that. I wish I could have oysters that weren't from the Gulf Coast too, hard to find blue points, kummumoto, malpeque, or any other type of farmed oyster that actually has taste to it.... disgusting..... I get so depressed.... Edited because my public schooling is apparent... is fishes a word????? ← Well - grouper and snapper are two of the fish that live here (and there are many many varieties of both). Plus there are more hard to find local fish like pompano. If you want cod, halibut, skate, turbot, bream, brill or plaice - well they're not local - they're northern fish. Frankly - I don't think there's anything better than a fresh yellowtail (snapper) or pompano. Robyn

In light of what you've said - I think the first thing you have to establish is the budget for the food and the things to serve the food - and who's going to give you the money to pay for it. I would think a minimum of $30/person - so you're talking about $3000 rock bottom. When someone offers to give you at least that much money - it's time to talk about menus. Otherwise - you're just looking for a big headache. Robyn

Since you're a food professional - I have to ask you a rather delicate question. When you've eaten there - did you pay for it? Almost a thousand bucks for dinner for two is a bit much. Even when the chef was at Ginza Sushi-Ko in Beverly Hills - our sushi/sashami/Japanese expert eating friends in Beverly Hills deemed it not worth the money. There was equally good available at half the price (I ate the "half-price" stuff - and it was terrific - but I'm not an expert in these things). And - of course - Masa is even more expensive than Ginza Sushi-Ko. On my part - I'd probably rather use a thousand bucks to fly to Toyko to eat Japanese food than eat at Masa. Robyn

Sure, marie-louise for all you lucky US residents! Unfortunately, I am in Canada and between shipping, taxes, custom duties (if they would even ship fuel!) it's not so easy - but many thanks for the information anyway. ← I bought mine directly from the manufacturer in Nevada - and you might click on the link I gave above and see what the story is for Canadian residents. If you pay with a credit card - will probably work out ok. Robyn

Looks nice - but I wanted something I could use easily inside (I have a grill for outside cooking). Robyn

Depends what you mean by "family". I don't see any particular need to spend Thanksgiving with 15-20 of my sister-in-law's family on my side (it's the same gathering every year - and has been that way for 20 years now). I just wind up bored and feeling ill-fed (not to mention that they live 350 miles from us - so we'd have to fight holiday traffic too). Ditto with my sister-in-law's family on my husband's side - where it's a lot of her husband's family - and the guys' idea of Thanksgiving is having the women do all the cooking and the cleaning while they watch football games. And that Thanksgiving is 400 miles away in the opposite direction from where my brother lives. About 5 years ago - a year after a 13 hour trip home from North Carolina (a trip which usually takes 5 hours absent holiday traffic) - we just decided to stay home on Thanksgiving. We knew no one would ever visit us due to the 2 long-standing "ritual Thanksgivings" mentioned above - so we made our little meal - sometimes with some neighbors - the last few years with my FIL (who's in a nursing home near us now). Until this year - which is probably my FIL's last Thanksgiving. I decided that my husband's family would come if invited - and they did (even his brother and family - who live 1000+ miles away). I think everyone enjoyed the change of pace. By the way - we did go to New York last month for a family bar mitzvah (my family) - where we saw lots of aunts/uncles/cousins we hadn't seen for years. Had a great time. And my favorite holiday meal in terms of cooking was making a Christmas Eve party for about 30 in a rental condo for my husband's family. My husband's sister was doing Christmas. His mother usually made Christmas Eve but she was pretty sick (she died 2 months later). That was 2000 - a year when Chanukah was late and overlapped with Christmas. So I cooked both my traditional Chanukah dishes and my husband's family's traditional Christmas Eve dishes at home - packed them in coolers - drove them to North Carolina - and served both. My MIL had a lot of difficulty getting food down then - but she ate my kugel (she'd never even heard of kugel before) with a gusto that everyone couldn't believe. It was a very gratifying family party. I guess what I'm saying is you should see family - but not on forced marches you know you're going to hate. And I'm also saying that families shouldn't get into ruts. Mix it up a bit. Both in terms of who goes where when (especially important when not only cousins - but siblings - sometimes live thousands of miles away) - and what you eat. Robyn

Chabad is known for their "oversized" menorahs. They light a massive one every year in Grand Army Plaza (in front on The Plaza Hotel) in Manhattan, and they also have a huge one they light in Red Square, Moscow. They need to use a cherry picker to light them. ← So maybe it is 20 stories tall . Robyn

Tomorrow is the end of hurricane season - and I was finally able to get a portable gas burner. For next hurricane season. Or some outdoor cooking. Or if I want to play around cooking with a gas burner (I have an electric stove). Came in the mail today - and it's very well designed. Works fine. Would be useful whenever you lose power and can't cook on an electric stove. By the way - I ordered this directly from the manufacturer. The prices and service were both good. Robyn

For anyone who's inclined to feel sorry for him/herself - just feel grateful that you're not my brother and sister-in-law. They are both adventurous eaters and excellent cooks. And they cook Thanksgiving every year mostly for her family (and my parents). Half the family is Kosher. Most of the younger people are vegans. The older people either can't eat salt (congestive heart failure) - or sugar (diabetic) - or both. I did manage to find one new recipe for them this year - but it wasn't easy . I like to see my brother and sister-in-law - but not on Thanksgiving. Robyn

Actually, Robyn, you are doing precisely what one ought to do, namely, publicizing the miracle of the way in which the oil in the original menorah lasted eight full days ...this is why we light our menorah each night, with appropriate blessings, in the front bay windows of our home .. to celebrate the victory of good over evil that the Maccabee story tells... and sing the songs which commemorate this holiday .. one is my favorite by Peter, Paul, and Mary... ← When I first moved into this house (from a high rise condo) - I envied all the beautiful holiday light displays. And then I figured - Chanukah is the Festival of Lights - no reason I can't do a similar display that's Chanukah appropriate. I light the regular menorah - but also put an electric one in the window (I'm afraid of burning the house down with candles in the window). Will also add something else to the schedule - a first night Chanukah party/Menorah lighting here at the Jacksonville Beaches sponsored by Chabad. Now I am about as far away from Chabad in religious terms as is possible - but I thought it was so weird when Chabad set up shop here (because of the small Jewish population) that I have to give one of its parties a try (especially since it's serving fresh latkes and donuts - 2 things I won't make for our dinner for 2 at home). If anyone here is from the Jacksonville area - Chabad will also be doing "Chanukah at the Jacksonville Landing" downtown on December 12 right after the Jaguars game - complete with a "huge" menorah lighting (they show the menorah as 20 stories tall on the invitation - but I doubt it's that big ). Robyn