tighe

I had dinner at Bandol and couple weeks ago, and like lmf, was very pleased. I started with the same braised duck crepe. Very moist and excellent texture, I just thought it could have used more seasoning to bring out the duck flavor. My entree was lobster in a Madeira broth. Perfectly cooked but I would have liked there to be a little more of it. Guess small portions of lobster shouldn't be surprising. The best dish of the night was scrat's seard lamb loin with mint-basil pesto sauce. Outstanding. Unbelievably, I skipped dessert (there was no seriously chocolate dessert). Scrat had some coconut milk ice cream with chocolate sauce. The sauce was brougth out in its own gravy boat and had nice pure chocolate flavor. With dinner we had a red wine from the Loire which I found pretty uninteresting. One of the Bandols or other wines from southern France would probably be a better choice.

I would have to say that dinner at Union on Saturday was not the best meal, overall, that I've had there. As vmilor says though, there were some excellent individual dishes including, my favorites, the snapper tartare and the asparagus soup. It is a tribute to his intense focus on dining that vmilor managed to try all the restaurants he mentions (plus Salumi) in 3 days! Why I never considered the possibility of starting a meal with some sushi at Nishino and then finishing up with some tapas at Harvest Vine, I don't know, but its a great idea.

Talk to me about my Gagnaire experience some time....

This thread makes me sad thinking about how much I'd like to still be able to recommend Sammie Sue's Diner at 12th & Pine (Pike?). Alas, it is no more.

One trick I've heard of for containing mint is to plant it in the middle of a "bottomless pot"....that is, surrounded by an 8-12" deep ring of plastic. Its supposed to contain the runners.

I have a cardoon plant in my garden that is going absolutely nuts. This is great, but I don't really know when to harvest or even exactly what parts to harvest. I know that its the stalks that are eaten, but is it the leaf stalks, the flower stalks or both? A couple online source talk about 'blanching' the stalks by wrapping the plant in burlap for 2-3 weeks before harvesting. Anyone ever try this?

Their sign and window simply say 'Belgian Frites', so as far as I know that's the only name....

I personnally think that Union would be better for a solo diner than Lark, since their bar area is more significant. Others here have dined there alone, so maybe they can give more substantive advice.

Last time we were at Mashiko, scrat and I talked to Hajime about this and he said all the fish they serve is frozen first.

Thanks for the guidance, it makes perfect sense. I need to shift from the 'sautee' frame of mind where these kinds of ingredients are cooked for a while before other ingredients are added. I would also think that with garlic in particular, one would need to dice it or crush it very finely to avoid have raw garlic flavor in the final product.

Yes, it's poop. I think I just need to get my knife sharper so that I can cut through the shell cleanly without actually pulling it off. Thanks for the tips...

I enjoy cooking with a wok and everything I've ever seen/read/heard is that you get the best result by cooking at very high temperature. My problem is that when I really crank up the stove I often end up burning whatever aromatics (garlic, shallots, etc.) I put in at the beginning. I don't see burnt garlic chips in the food when I go to Asian restaurants, so what am I doing wrong?

How can I be the man, when you the.....wait a second....I AM the MAN! Hope you enjoy it....

Fishmongers always give you more than you asked for, in my experience. When I'm buying filets, I usually ask for 3/4 pound and figure I'll get a pound. It's kind of like inviting people to a party at 7:30, meaning 8:00. FWIW, that hasn't been my experience at Mutual. I'm constantly amazed at how the people working there can eyeball how much to cut off and typically are within a tenth of a pound of what I ask for.

Don't Do That. Clean, then cook, please. I shelled and deveined mine before cooking, but have an observation and question on the subject... Obs: trememdous variation in the amount of "vein" in the shrimp. Some had none and some were uh....very full... Q: I know there is a significant camp that says cooking shrimp in the shell is the way to go for maximum flavor and tenderness. Am I correct in assuming that there's no way to deveine AND leave the shell on? Mamster, hope you enjoy strip malls. There is some amazingly good seafood in Florida, I will admit...

I speak French passably and it certainly helps when visiting France. My food vocab isn't that great though and I found this Gastronomical Dictionary very helpful on my last trip to Paris.

Thanks for the report reesek.... As we move into the fullness of the local produce season, I'm really excited to see what Ethan comes up with. I'm going for dinner on Saturday!...

Yep, but I couldn't help myself, and that's what we're having for dinner tonight. Great, what time should I be at your house for dinner?..

My suggestion would be Maximilien in the Pike Place Market. My favorite 'view restaurant' in town and an excellent lunch/brunch menu. It's also nice to be able to browse the Market either before or after lunch.

Obviously, you truly are a beer expert, since you agree with me! Thanks for the response.

I got some of the fresh shrimp at Mutual today...very tasty! With about half of them I attempted to replicate something I had a Mistral. Poached in olive oil at a low temp with lemon zest and rosemary. Served over a sautee of mixed julienned veggies. The rest I stir-fried with garlic, shallots, red peppers and mango plus a dash of roasted red pepper paste.

I saw softshells at Mutual today, but they're pricey, ~$4/each....

I was at Mutual today picking up some of the fresh shrimp. CR prices as follows: Chinook filet - $28/lb Chinook steak - $25/lb Whole Chinook - $23/lb Whole Sockeye - $12/lb Good thing I prefer the sockeye I guess...

I had spicy raw lamb meatballs in Istanbul that were excellent. So hot that I have to believe it killed anything bad! There's a recipe for chicken sashimi in the latest edition of Art Culinaire where the chicken is frozen before being served. Much like with fish sushi, I imagine this is to kill off any bacteria. I would try it, but I don't find the idea terribly tempting.

I don't think I can get Boddington's in a bottle, so it doesn't really exist...