robyn

So this is a pasta place where everyone who knows knows one should order pasta - and maybe a starter - and skip the main course and the dessert? That's the general consensus? I know I'm ignorant of the NYT rating system - but a restaurant that's mediocre at best in at least 2 of 4 courses doesn't sound like 3 stars to me. I'm not fussing with you - I guess the recent review created certain expectations in my mind which most people here say aren't realistic. Robyn

Forgot to mention our server. I've read about "stuffy" service here. Our server wasn't stuffy. I was a little confused about whether he was from California and didn't like the traffic and moved to New York - or whether he didn't want to move from NY to California because he didn't like the traffic. Anyway - I know he doesn't like driving in heavy traffic - and his last job was at Gustavino's. (Person who took our payment at Balthazar said he had lost one of his servers to Per Se.) I suspect we know more about food than he does - but heck - we're probably 30 years older than he is and have a few more bucks. And that wasn't a problem with this restaurant. Still - this is not a server who worked his way up from hulling strawberries over the course of 10 years (the French tradition). And - I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable having him select a $300 bottle of wine. On the third (and last) hand - service was perfectly competent - and friendly. Robyn

I'm not sure I see that there is any intrinsic value in suprise in this particular context. Its a diffrent matter of you are talking about the avant garde chefs, but Aikens is fundamentaly of the classical school. However, I'm all for brief menu descriptions that don't list every element of a dish and its always nice when your expectations exceeded. ← I can't think of 2 people here who disagree more than you and me . But I'm curious - why do you define Aikens as being of the "classical school"? And what makes a chef avant garde? Why is it acceptable when the "avant garde" chefs do something - and not acceptable if Aikens does something? He's a young guy - too young to be pigeon-holed in my opinion (which you probably don't agree with ). Robyn

I am not exactly an expert when it comes to Italian cuisine. One trip to Italy (3 weeks) - and I'm a decent Italian cook. But I know the structure of a traditional Italian meal - and the pasta is the first course after the starters - and then you have the mains. One of my best meals in Italy skipped the starters - great pasta - and then delicious little roasted birds - sauced very carefully. So if a restaurant really isn't a winner when it comes to the main courses - is it really an Italian restaurant - or simply a "pasta place"? More importantly - is a supposedly "authentic" Italian restaurant that doesn't do mains well a really great Italian restaurant? I may be ignorant - but I don't think so. By the way - when I compare the pear dessert I had at Babbo with the one I had at Per Se - well I can't. It's simply pedestrian versus world class. Robyn

My meal at Per Se was wonderful. I know that because there were several courses I wouldn't have shared for the world . I've mentioned before that I'm not a big fan of tasting menus for a number of reasons. Not the least of which is that I can't eat all the food. So I (in fact our whole table) opted for the 5 course menu. Note that our server said each of us could do different menus. He also said that the tasting menu had exactly the same amount of food as the 5 course menu - but I find that hard to believe because the portions in the 5 course menu were fairly small. Not that I'm complaining. The 5 course menu had exactly the right amount of food for me. I ate everything. And the meal left me satisfied - not stuffed. Now I have a healthy appetite - but I'm a small woman. If you're a larger person - perhaps you can do justice to the longer menu. Another reason I don't like tasting menus is that when I go to a restaurant of this caliber - I like to eat my favorite things - prepared by a world class chef. One can't do that with a tasting menu. My happiness with this meal perhaps reflects my satisfaction eating the best (or one of the best) possible preparations of things I enjoy. I usually comment on what my husband eats - because we frequently switch plates back and forth. We didn't do that during this meal for 2 reasons. First - a lot of the plates were really large. Second - we were 3 - not 2 - and it just didn't seem like the polite thing to do when dining with another person we didn't know very well. So I'll skip his meal - except to say that he liked his food as much as I liked mine. He did have one negative point though. And I'll put it here so I won't end on a down note. I drank champagne through the meal (not unusual for me) - and was perfectly content with the 2 I had (bottle of Pol Roget for the table at the beginning of the meal and then glasses of Veuve for me). My husband had some paired glasses of wine (a Meursault - and a Pinot Noir) - and was somewhat disappointed with them. They weren't terribly expensive - but he thought them disappointing. I'll leave it to others who know more about wine than we do to comment about that aspect of this restaurant. On to the food. The amuse was the little "ice cream cones". Good - but I would have been more impressed had I not read about this 100 times before. There was no element of surprise. I started with sweet butter poached scottish prawns (with celery branch batons, celery root puree and pomegranate brown butter vinaigrette). The dish was perfect. I don't know what a scottish prawn is (a langoustine?) - but I liked it better than lobster. Have to mention the bread at this point. There were several kinds. But the first I picked was a mini French bread - not a loaf - but the type that looks like a stem with leaves and you pick off the leaves one at a time. This bread was seriously delicious. Ditto with the butter (both the unsalted and the salted). I went through 2 of these mini loaves during dinner. Suppose I should have tried another bread - but I couldn't imagine anything better than these. The dishes were so clean by the time I finished with them (this was a great "mop up the sauce" bread) I don't think they had to wash them . My fish course was Alaskan white king salmon "cuit sous vide" (didn't know what that meant - but my husband told me "slow cooked"), served with ossetra caviar, crepe farcie a la fondue de poireaux, chive mousse and coulis de fines herbes. I've never had this fish before - and I wouldn't be surprised if I never had it again - but it was one of the best fish - and fish courses - I ever had. Reminded me of the first time I ever had dover sole with a beurre blanc sauce over 20 years ago in Paris - how delicious a fish with an elegant rich sauce could be (although here - the salmon was a lot richer in its own right than sole). For the meat course - BCM and I split (it's a dish for 2) the breast of Challan duck "roti a la broche" served with braised swiss chard leaves and ribs "en Ravigote", poached pluots and sauteed moulard duck foie gras. Didn't quite understand why it was a dish for 2 until our server came out and showed us a whole duck! This was my only serious disappointment of the evening - because I looked at all that crispy skin - and the legs - and I asked whether they could be incorporated into the dish. Our server went into the kitchen - came back - and said quite firmly "no" - explaining that the duck was a semi-wild duck or somesuch - and that the legs - while handsome - were basically inedible. (If I lived in New York - I would have asked him to pack the skin in a "to-go" box.) My disappointment was soon forgotten when presented with the chef's idea of what was "edible". Great duck. And the surprise of the dish was the pluots. Now I buy these things in the supermarket - and it had never entered my mind to try cooking them. Never saw them on a restaurant menu either. But they are perfect with duck (at least in the hands of this chef). A creative use of a relatively new ingredient. Hope to see more pluots on more menus soon. On to the cheese course. Cheese was Bayley Hazen Blue served with Animal farm ricotta "gnocchi" with toasted English walnuts and walnut oil emulsion. Although very good - this was the weakest of all the courses in my opinion. I like pretty pungent cheese. This was the "strongest" of the cheese courses - but it was still fairly mild. On the other hand - too strong a cheese might have thrown off the rest of the meal - been out of balance. So perhaps chef knows best. I am willing to defer to his judgment . OK - time for dessert - and I actually have room to eat it! There were 2 dessert amuse courses - and I have to admit that I forget what the first one was. The second was the "creamsicle" with the hot chocolate poured over it. Loved it. Then for my "real" dessert - the best pear dessert I've ever had (I'm a big fan of pears in dessert dishes). Poached asian pears with almond "frangipane" and chocolate pudding with "sorbet au Vin Rouge et aux Quatre Epices". I remember reading a thread here about different ideas for pear desserts - but no one here came up with this one . It was the ultimate - perfect pears with all the tastes that are a perfect pair with pears. This dessert alone was worth the price of admission. I know I've read people who've written here that they didn't have room for dessert. That is a major tragedy in my opinion. Next time you eat at Per Se - start with dessert if need be. But eat dessert. Then on to mignardises. All good. All gone. This was a fantastic meal - and a total bargain at $125 for the food (I can get fixed menus in Jacksonville for $75 - it's like comparing a doublewide trailer with an oceanfront estate). Easily 2 Michelin stars for the food and ambience - probably 3 (although Michelin takes things like wine cellars into account and I can't assess that aspect of Per Se). I want to thank BCM for allowing us to share her reservation with us - and Chef Benno for this memorable meal. And as for the person who wrote that dining in a place like this is death - he must not believe in heaven . Robyn

If you go back to this post, you'll find a link to Jay Rayner's Per Se review. ← I read his review before I ate there. That's why I was curious about his reactions to my reactions. But thanks for the link. Robyn

I have to laugh. A lot of the younger (really younger) couples went out on the terrace to get in a bit of romance. But it was simply too cold (don't think they lasted for more than 10 minutes - neither did the smokers!). So I'd say late April to early October is the right season for this place. Robyn P.S. I promised good weather to those of you in NY. Didn't deliver 100% - but at least I chased away the rain.

OK - Per Se. What can I say about Per Se? Especially since tomorrow we're heading into a lot of medical stuff with my father-in-law. I want to write while the impressions are fresh in my mind. First thing I'll say about Per Se is it isn't a New York restaurant. Too much space for too few people. So if you want lovely dinner conversation - you have to rely on the people you're with. Can't rely on the people sitting 2 feet away from you on the banquette. Along those lines - well we really cheated in terms of eating there. A member here - BCM - wrote about having a reservation with a friend. And the friend couldn't make it. She got invited to a bar mitzvah in Florida. We in Florida got invited to a bar mitzvah in New York. We corresponded with BCM by email - and thought why not - she had a reservation when we wanted to eat there - she didn't want to eat alone - a perfect match - both in our email messages - and at dinner. We were a fine 3-some. Couldn't have asked for a better match. Similar ages and interests. Per Se isn't solemn and boring - as some younger eGullet member who dined there with his parents suggested many messages back - you just have to bring your own entertainment. Had I dined there with my parents - wouldn't have been fun at all. The restaurant has some weirdness. We had 5:30 reservations (hence my feeble attempt to eat breakfast at Balthazar). But the restaurant doesn't open until 5:30 - exactly. So if you're there at 5:20 - you stand outside and wait. The entrance looks like double doors with glass on the sides - but the double doors are fake doors - and it's the glass that slides open. (Both when the restaurant opened for us - and after I returned from the NY indignity of having a couple of cigarettes before dessert on the street). The space is simply stunning - inside (can't imagine what it took to do the coffered ceiling and the woodwork on the rear wall) and in terms of the view. Overlooking Central Park at the north end from the west side of the park. Lady's room isn't too shabby either . I've previously written about the availability of the Keller dishes here. They're available in many places in New York now (like Saks - more intensive marketing effort since the initial marketing only in Gumps in San Francisco) - but I don't recommend them unless you have servants in the kitchen. They won't fit in the dishwasher. In a high end restaurant setting though - where one doesn't have to worry about washing the dishes - they're beautiful. The flowers on the table are arranged in Alto vases (could be copies - didn't check - but I doubt it) - very difficult but beautiful understated arrangements. Now those of you who are simply into putting food notches in your belt may say - why is this old broad talking about this garbage? Well the simple reason is that when one has dined in Europe - the traditional difference between the 1 and 2 - and 3 star Michelin restaurants - is the attention given to the space - the decoration of the space - and all the little extra details - like the dishes - and the glasses - and the flowers (as well as other things - like the wine cellar). When I look at this restaurant I know immediately - this chef is looking for 3 Michelin stars (even though Michelin doesn't rate restaurants in the US). Anyway - the setting - and all the accoutrements - lead up to one big "wow". It's late - and I'm tired. Stay tuned for what we think about the meal. By the way - if by some chance Jay Rayner is reading this - I'd appreciate his input. He writes reviews for a London newspaper - I've been impressed by his writing and relied on it a lot in choosing where to eat in London. And - as someone in Europe - I think he appreciates "the Michelin system". Robyn

We ate at Babbo Friday evening. It was the most disappointing meal of our trip. I'll get some issues out of the way first. We had a reservation and were seated on time. The service was excellent (our main contact server was from the south - Alabama - and she was terrific). Music didn't bother us at all. Babbo only serves Italian wine - so I couldn't have champagne. But the drinks I had were fine. So that wasn't the problem. The problem was the food. We had 2 dishes that were excellent. The pig's trotter appetizer - which was kind of like the best sausage patty one could imagine - and the beef cheek ravioli (we split the pasta course). The rest was disappointing. My husband's starter - tripe. It was a very large portion - but the way it was sauced - too much mediocre red sauce - too much cheese - it was mediocre at best - kind of looked like and tasted like a boring side of pasta in a boring Italian restaurant (my husband used to eat tripe when he was taking Italian lessons - his teacher - a retired Italian professor - cooked tripe for him - Babbo's wasn''t as good as that). Mains - sweetbreads and squab - were cooked appropriately. But the saucing was done with the heaviest of hands with the squab. A fruity sauce. Too sweet. Too goopy. Kind of like what I'd expect to get in Jacksonville (where I live) - and go home cursing Jacksonville. And its lack of sophistication. Sweetbread saucing was just blah - kind of brothy. Only thing similar I've seen was at the Fisher Island Club in Miami - and I thought it dismal there. In other words - not refined at all. Just didn't sing. Again - we split a dessert. I am going from memory here on the whole meal (not copies of menus). Am pretty sure it was a pear crostada. But it was definitely a crostada. And the pastry was like lead. Like what I had at a wedding demo/promo thing at Belk's (a local department store). Extremely mediocre pastry. Unlike the pastry puff at Balthazar's which held my scrambled eggs - the dozens of layers of light flakey pastry. This was just a lump. (I sometimes forgive that in Florida because light and flakey is hard to do when it's 95 and the humidity is 100% - but it was cool and dry in New York this week - no excuses.) I think when one judges a restaurant - it's expectations versus reality (and cost enters into things too - I'm not saying the restaurant was outrageously overpriced - although cheap it wasn't). But this restaurant got 3 stars from the NYT just a month or so ago. I could understand if it got the 3 stars 5 years ago - and I was just too late - that it was already over the hill (that's happened to me before). But I figure 3 NYT stars equates to about 1-2 Michelin stars - and that's not the caliber of food we ate there. It was simply very uneven - and very clumsy in large part. Like lots of places in New York (and other cities as well of course). So - if there's a big deal here - it wasn't apparent to me. Is this a case where everyone can recognize Frank Bruni - and he gets different food than the rest of us (like the old Ruth Reichl Le Cirque 2000 review)? Got me. Those of you who live in New Yoork probably know better than I do. Robyn

The Bar Mitzvah reception dinner was at Terrace in the Sky. Not exactly on the beaten path in New York. Up at Columbia University on top of Butler Hall. I thought they did a very nice job for a reception and dinner. Food was better than average for a catered event. Room was pretty - and the views were spectacular. Only caveat is not too many cab drivers know how to find it. First cab driver we got told us he'd ask for directions (while the meter was running ). We found another cab driver (he didn't know exactly where it was either - but at least he had a good sense of direction - got us there on the first try). It's not the Four Seasons - but if you don't have a fortune to spend - it's worth looking into. Robyn

OK - here's what we had. For starters - I had the sea urchin - sea urchin filled with urchin, scrambled egg and caviar. Only second time I've had a dish like this. First time was at Robuchon's Jamin maybe 20 years ago (that was urchin with a quail egg on top). I'd be a liar if I told you I could compare the 2 renditions after 20 years - but this one was excellent. My husband's starter was the lobster and green apple bisque with crispy lobster roll. When we got his dish - we couldn't exactly remember the menu - so we thought the long skinny thing sticking out of the bowl was maybe some kind of bread. Well it was the lobster roll - the single best thing we ate all night. We would have fought over it - but my husband is a gentleman and he gave me a healthy sample . For mains - my husband had the baby halibut "t-bone" with lobster dumplings, lobster bordelaise and tomato marmalade. He pronounced it one of the best halibut dishes he's had in years (he likes halibut). He was almost tempted not to share the dumplings . I had the handmade cavatelli and braised short rib with wild mushrooms, mushroom chips and truffle mousse. Like the rest of the meal - yummy. By dessert - we were running out of steam (remember - we had nibbles at the bar - and what nibbles they were - before dinner) - so we split a chocolate citrus bombe with fresh raspberiies and raspberry chocolate. Beautiful rather than dramatic like some of the other desserts we saw (e.g., the cheesecake lollipop tree). But we had enough steam to lick the plate clean. Regarding wines - like I've said in other messages - I'm not the best person to talk about them because I usually like a cocktail before dinner - and only wine that agrees with me is champagne. I like Veuve. Did both of those here - cocktail (bartender's favorite) was excellent - champagne was as expected. So I'm reporting second hand from my husband - who is only drinking wines by the glass because I'm a wine party pooper. He had a New Zealand S. Blanc he knew - and was happy with it. I absolutely refuse to get drawn into discussions/arguments about the fine points of the NYT star system - because I don't understand it. But this place would be either 1-2 Michelin stars (I'd probably give it a 1+ or 2- if there were such such ratings). About the only caveat I have at all is avoid the tables in the front room by the bar. The bar is very crowded and it's no fun eating a wonderful dinner when people are 2 deep at the bar and bumping into the back of your chair. I don't know how one avoids that seating (we just made reservations and were seated at a nice table in the back room) - but whatever it takes - do it. Oh - and I have another caveat. Like I've said - the restaurant was slammed that night (maybe every night?). And when we got to the table - the tasting menu was there. And after asking a few people (at the beginning we weren't sure who our main server was) - we were led to believe that the tasting menu was the only menu. But it wasn't. There was a complete a la carte menu too. Would have thought that perhaps I had too much booze at the bar - but the people next to us were similarly confused when they were seated. So I guess I'd have to say that the service was a bit confused at the beginning. But then our main server - from Paris - took over. He was excellent. And there was no confusion after that. He also had a droll sense of humor (which is hard to do when English isn't your first language). Liked him a lot. And just for price comparison points - our bar tab was about $28 (2 drinks) and dinner was about $300 including a $95 bottle of champagne. Really not bad at all in a city where it's easy to spend $60 on a room service breakfast for 2 (assuming I liked breakfast - which I don't). Robyn P.S. Perhaps one reason for the serving confusion at the beginning is that some of the servers were Japanese - or from other non-English speaking countries. We ran across this in London earlier this year. A fair number of really high end diners world-wide these days are Japanese - or from other non-English speaking countries (and - unlike us - they seem to buy big red wines that have to be decanted - so they are certainly valuable restaurant customers). Any respectable high end restaurant in any big city worldwide would be stupid not to have servers who speak Japanese or languages other than the native language of the city. But pairing the right servers with the right diners can take 10 minutes or so. Let's face it - there aren't many servers anywhere in the world who speak 5 languages perfectly. I want restaurants to do well - so I don't mind the occasional bit of server confusion at the beginning of a delicious meal in a great restaurant.

I'm surprised at you! I'm an upper middle age upper middle class woman from Florida - and the only thing that was "hard" in the place were the chairs. OK - they didn't exactly spend a fortune on decorating - but my husband and I felt very comfortable there at lunchtime - next to a few tables full of professionals taking a work break and ladies getting together for a "let's catch up on gossip" meal. It's not as if you walk in and everyone (or anyone) is a punk rocker with purple hair and multiple body piercings. Plus the place is very convenient to the Tate Modern (only a 5-10 minute walk) - so it's ideal for tourists like us. Only possible minus is I don't think the place has airconditioning - so it wouldn't be high on my list on a really hot day. Robyn

Snapshot. Ate here tonight. It was just about everything I expected - and wanted tonight. Epitome of upper east side chic. For people of a certain age (like me! - 40+). Excellent food. Nice buzz. Even Barbara Walters . Restaurant was absolutely packed when we arrived at 8 - and only beginning to thin out at 11 when we left. Too packed in that certain NY way - but one can forgive that when you're having a good time. And we did due to great food and a very friendly (although obviously very busy) staff. Only sad point is my husband got to talking to 2 very nice looking ladies sitting next to us - and we found out both of their husbands had worked at Cantor Fitzgerald and died on 9/11 <sigh>. A few more points. The bartender was good too. We arrived 30 minutes early for our reservation and enjoyed drinks (I had a tasty raspberry martini) and delicious nibbles at the bar. We were seated promptly at 8:30 (time of our reservation). Nice table in the back room (there are 3 rooms - and the front one has the bar - that front room is much too crowded and noisey on a busy night like tonight). I hate places that keep you waiting when you're not a first seating - and we didn't encounter that problem here. And they didn't rush us out either. I can't find anything I didn't like about this place (suppose I could if I tried really hard - and I probably will when I dissect the meal in a clinical way later - but who wants to spoil a good experience by searching for minor faults when you're still feeling warm and fuzzy). Will go into our menus in detail when I get home (got photocopies so I don't have to worry about my memory). And to answer one of my own questions - this is definitely a dress up place. Almost all the guys had suits and ties (including my husband). If you have impressive jewelry (I don't) - this is a good place to wear it. You will also see a lot of the latest fashions that I usually see only in magazines - but worn by women of that certain age. Kind of the exact opposite of the crowd we saw walking by the H&M opening party tonight (which was definitely a size 2 jeans 20 something kind of crowd). Anyway - this is my idea of a great high end NY restaurant - and I loved it. More to follow later with food specifics. Robyn

Perhaps another reason is they're small - I make a couple of big cuts - throw them into the mini-chopper - and scrap them out with a spatula . Robyn

My husband and I are both retired lawyers who did a lot of personal injury work - can appreciate the "trip and fall" aversion . On the other hand - most people who get hurt in houses live in those houses! Can't sue yourself - but you don't want to break your arm because you tripped on a cord after having a reasonable amount of liquid holiday refreshment. Will the crock pot work for a holiday soup - like corn chowder - just keeping it warm without getting it so hot that it thickens up too much? That is an appliance I've always wanted to try out - and this might be a good excuse. (My basic rule of thumb is I don't buy any appliance "on spec" - I have to have at least one meal planned that I'll use it for before I buy it.) By the way - I am a big Ebay fan - mostly as a seller. I've sold a fair amount of kitchen stuff over the years - like my old Cuisinart 14 cup food processor which I hadn't used for years because it was too large for my needs (bought it to make Thanksgiving dinners - and then no one came to our house for Thanksgiving for 20 years!). Took what I got for it - added a few bucks - and bought a newer smaller food processor which I use a lot more. Only problem with being a seller is there's a learning curve in terms of becoming a shipping clerk . Advice to buyers - investigate your sellers. I think there are a lot who sell a lot of junk (their definition of "near mint" is sometimes my definition of stuff I'd be embarrassed to give to Goodwill). Thanks for the kind thoughts about family. Movies/TV always make it sound/look so easy. People just "pass away" peacefully looking as wonderful as they did before they got sick (of course - people who get shot and die don't bleed either ). Those of us in the real world know it doesn't always happen that way. Plus - there's a lot of tension. E.g., my husband has a bad back - so whenever he tries to help his father get into and out of the car (it's like lifting a deadweight) - he stands a good chance of throwing his back out. Then I get mad. Luckily - I've always been a person who is quick to yell and blow off steam when I'm angry (those of you who've read a lot of my messages might have guessed that ) - but I am also quick to simmer down after. So there are ups and downs - but I will muddle through. Think the people who have it worst are those who can't/don't feel free to ventilate once in a while. Robyn

Well - technology has to offer a better solution. Just to compare - when I made my reservation at Babbo for this trip - I got through to a "message" first time I called ("all our reservationists are busy - please wait"). Waited on the phone for about 5 minutes - and then a person picked up. In other words - a telephone queue. Same thing you find when you call most businesses these days. Some keep you holding for a short time - some for a long time (I think I've sometimes waited 20 minutes for Dell support to answer) - but at least you can turn on the speakerphone and get some work done while you're waiting for a person to pick up the phone. Now I know Babbo and Dell are larger than Per Se - but Per Se is larger than my dentist's office - and when his phones are tied up - I don't get a busy signal - I get a "please wait" message. So there has to be a way to do it. Robyn

I'm in no position to tell any restaurant how to run its reservation process - don't have any expertise in that area. But I can tell you that the most civilized experience I had as a customer this year was making reservations at 2 Gordon Ramsay restaurants through email. Granted - Gordon Ramsay isn't this week's restaurant of the year - and I wasn't trying to get a dinner reservation for 8 pm on Saturday in high season (whenever that is - always?) - but it was just a pleasure. I've also looked at Opentable lately - and that looked like it should work fine (I especially liked the way it searched within a certain time of your requested reservation if the time you wanted wasn't available). Robyn

What were the rules and regulations? I reconfirmed a NY reservation at another restaurant today - and the receptionist reminded me of the "dress code" (no jeans - flip flops - etc.). Frankly - I didn't think it would be necessary to tell people these things before they go to a high end restaurant in a big city - but I guess it is. Robyn

You're right. Those particular dishes are from an August menu. I don't think it's unusual for a restaurant - just about any decent restaurant much less a great restaurant - to change part of its menus about 4 times a year based on seasonal availability of ingredients. On the other hand - you would expect a great restaurant to have certain signature dishes which are more or less constant (or at least slow to disappear from menus). Robyn

Our Costco didn't have that one last week. It does have a 4 quart round for between $25-30 (forget the exact price). Can't exactly say it was beautiful - but it wasn't ugly. Wouldn't detract from the rest of the table setting. I hope I'm not the only one thinking of putting out a nice holiday spread - and I hope my questions - and the answers from all of you here - will be useful to lots of other people. On my part - our holiday plans may be making a 180 degree turn. The family that's coming here (they've never come here before) was supposed to come for Thanksgiving with my husband's Dad. He's very sick - he recently got worse - and he's starting radiation therapy in his head next week - for 2 months. By Thanksgiving - I don't think he's going to be up for a meal at our house. So the family will probably spend the day at the nursing home - and I may wind up making something quick and easy for dinner at night (like steaks on the BBQ). Guess I'll just have to remain flexible - and see what happens. I hope my cooking and hospitality skills are up to it - and that all (most) of you don't have to deal with something like this during the holiday season (although most of us will deal with things like this some time or another during our lives). Best wishes, Robyn

And what do you do with the juice? Hopefully not rub it in your eyes <sigh>. Or on your private parts <ouch>. My hands are pretty tough - and these peppers didn't bother us until they got in touch with various mucous membranes (including my mouth). Thanks for the tip about yogurt. Should have remembered that (that's why one eats raita with Indian food - and we always have yogurt in the refrigerator). Robyn

I guess I might have suspected trouble at Publix when I asked the produce person about the pepper - and he started looking it up in the produce "crib sheet" (where the pictures are even worse than mine). Many more peppers at Publix - but the labels over the peppers might not necessarily be correct. To Publix - "A" for effort - "F" for execution. Still - if we don't support the efforts - all we'll be left with is green bell peppers (and the bread slices that you can compress into a ball smaller than a golf ball). So we will endeavor to persevere (or - fill in the cliche of your choice). While remembering to use gloves as a precautionary measure with these new-fangled peppers!. Robyn

Are you sure? Here's a bigger picture. Sorry for the 2 pictures - but this is the first time I've uploaded and used pictures under the new software - and I'm trying to get my settings straight. Thought that the first picture was a little small for a 100% positive ID of the culprit. We want to be 100% sure before we cuff this little fella and send him to jail . Thanks for the ID. Robyn

OK - here's the offending pepper. Doesn't really look like a cubanelle because I read a description that says a cubanelle has ridges like a green pepper. Saw a picture too. This pepper was smooth - no ridges (although it's been in the refrigerator for a while now and is a bit dehydrated and wrinkled). Any additional ideas after looking at the picture? Robyn

I used to have electric griddles - but when I ruined the 2nd or 3rd "immersible" one by immersing it - I switched to a stovetop griddle. Still - at the right price - just about anything makes sense. I saw last week that Costco is getting in all its holiday serving ware - and I'll check it out over the next couple of weeks. Thanks, Robyn