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I've always found the service at Salumi friendly and unpretentious, from Armandino right down to the newest guy on the sandwich line. The only thing exclusionary about the place is the table, which is almost always full. I met Mario once, briefly, when I lived in NYC, and he seemed to be a similarly affable guy. ← me too - joe, maybe it's you.

crush serves late...

i don't think so - i do it for every party! it's delicious i call it "18 hour onion dip"

i just wanted to circle back - and thank both jaymes and andiesenji for the inspiration to make enchiladas. they were spectacular. i sort of combined recipes/suggestions from both Jaymes and Andie (who graciously provided her neighbor's recipe on the first page of this thread) here's what i did - sorry i haven't got photos... stewed the bird. i covered a 4.5lb chicken in a mixture of chicken broth and water and cooked it at a bare simmer for about 3 hours. into the liquid i added a couple of stalks of celery, a dried guajillo, 2 bay leaves, an onion, a couple of cloves of garlic, some mexican oregano and some pepper corns. when the chicken was tender i removed it and took the meat off in very large chunks. i then added the bones back to the pot and reduced the stock. i tossed the chicken (large, juicy pieces) with andie/mrs. obregon's onion, tomatillo, tomato mixture and refrigerated overnight. i loved that chicken... i made the sauce with new mexico chili powder (accepting no substitutes!) my chicken stock, and some tomato sauce. mine needed a squeeze of lime in addition to the other spices. i fried and smeared the (corn) tortillas a la jaymes - awesome trick btw, added a strip of pepper jack, some chicken and rolled. i topped with sauce just before leaving, then baked when we arrived at our friends. they held just fine, though i skimped on the sauce a little and wished later that i hadn't - that sauce was delectable. thanks so much for all the tips and advice!

Oops, Del Rey. No circular bar. ← it's owned by the barca people.

behemouth - i bet the folks in baking/pastry would be able to offer a ton of help on this... i love making creme fraiche iced cream - barely sweet custard base - i add vanilla sugar instead of bean to keep the vanilla in the background. i also made a toasted almond iced cream that came out remarkably almondy. i'd like to do a saffron to serve on an olive oil cake i'm planning to make. and olive oil ice cream is also on my list for the summer. i'll never approximate steveklc, but it's a worthy challenge. infusions - tea, lavender, verbena - you can steep in the (scalded) milk and then strain. i don't think rosemary would take too long. i suggest a philly style for anything delicate - like lavender. i wish i'd done philly for the almond - but i'm a classic lily gilder. show me the egg yolks! ok. back to you - fruit gelato is way lower in fat - it has a very small proportion of milk to fruit - and the fruit is generally puree rather than juice based. a gelato also has less air in it - but it can basically be made in an ice cream machine. and i have no idea how nut/non-fruit gelato manages such a high flavor to creaminess ratio - but i know it has less milk/cream.

emma, this is really intruiging - thanks for sharing it here. i'm not super familiar with squab (pigeon?) but is there a reason you've chosen 2 consecutive dishes of poulty/fowl? what about going back to your lamb idea but bringing in fresh spring flavors - mint, fava beans and marjoram? or ramps and fresh peas? i'm definitely an eater (with aspirations of competence one day) good luck!

wow wendy what an amazing blog! those handbags are just gorgeous. they're covered with fondant, right? do people eat that, or scrape the cake out? if you have a fondant covered cake for a wedding/event - do you serve it or bake off another cake for service? (thanks for the pastry 101 lesson ) are the photos of wedding cakes from weddings at the club, or private/older catering jobs? how much flexibility do you get with menus - especially for private parties...are clients given several choices depending on budget - do you have options for all budgets or are you held to specific items? what's in those luscious looking chocolate boxes...looks like custard of some sort? those made me drool. and i spent 5 minutes looking at the shells - they look so real. great job.

flash frozen are certainly reliably sweeter. but nothing beats fresh peas from the garden. mine especially. plus they're a snap to grow, and you can thin out the young by eating the vines. nature rules.

right. food does not give her any joy whatsoever.

bill, i am following this with rapt attention. best of luck. edited to mention re: peas - if the english peas are very large, i suggest mixing them with frozen. i know it sounds heretical, but only the small petite peas are sweet - and they are certain what TK uses. i generally mix fresh and frozen peas together in pea soup - both for cost and to round out the flavor if my fresh peas are large.

i am in the camp of not liking this article. francine is just fine - so what if she doesn't cook? her family seems fine. she's a happy, lively person - so what if she doesn't eat until noon and works out at 4:30? she's an adult, and at least is neither imposing her terrible cooking on anyone - nor (and imo, more importantly) spending half her life at something she thinks is pointless. the irritating thing about the article is that it never would have been written about someone of my generation - it's expected that younger people - weaned on packaged foods don't cook or don't cook as much as our mothers. but boy, that francine is a real enigma. let's hold her up to the light and see why she took the path less traveled. how about talking instead about a woman who has long-term ties to the washington community - a woman who worked her whole life and still works but for whom family is the most important thing. why highlight the one thing about this interesting person that means absolutely nothing to her? boo phyllis.

popping in to second mklynch. and add a clickable link!

kevin, really man. i love your work. i love the favas with pork and scallions idea. i'm intrigued by your use of soybeans (frozen edamame?) instead of favas. i'm still having trouble finding favas (in seattle) and because i'm ansty for spring, have been tempted to use defrosted lima beans instead. i usually serve favas at room temp with pecorino, lemon zest, olive oil, mint and salt. do you defrost the soybeans and just saute them with the pork and scallion, or do you blanch them first? hathor - you are my hero. please blog.

danielle - bibimbop is a perfect "wouldn't be same without sriracha" dish! i think you'd be set - as long as you don't forget the egg...egg yolk + sriracha + crispy bottomed rice = heaven.

thank you *ducky* for my new sig line.

great topic. 1) equal parts with mayo for tater tots or hot thin french fries. i also sometimes mix it in equal parts with bbq sauce as a dipper...especially for onion rings or onion pakoras. 2) added to a little olive oil and salt as a marinade for chicken or shrimp 3) on sandwiches: bahn mi, falafel, grilled cheese - does lovely things to burgers 4) with mac and cheese to cut the cheesy richness 5) definitely for pho or other clear (non-starchy) noodle soups 6) with butter and black pepper in a well-baked potato 7) as others have said, it makes great spicy tuna with mayo and minced scallion must try it with pulled pork - brilliant idea! maybe i'll add some to my next braise instead of dried chilies. i bet it would also be wonderful in a compound butter for a steak or grilled salmon.

i'm with the customers on this one. unless i'm doing a tasting menu and putting myself in the chef's hands - i'll order what sounds good. if that's 2 apps and no entree - so be it. high or low end - i'm paying for an experience - it's either one i trust the chef to direct - or it's one i direct myself. i nearly always drink and i'd guess my check average is on the high side of average - but i don't feel one bit guilty for asking for, eating and paying for what i want.

that is hilarious. isn't it amazing how people find each other? the in-laws spawned one of those two, but seemed normal enough.

everyone's food looks amazing. friday was my first ever carbonara. my local gourmet market didn't have (and had never heard of guanciale) but the pancetta was delicious. served it with blanched and then sauteed broccolini. amazing and i hate broccoli! i took a photo, but my lens was smeared. sunday i roasted some chicken thighs that i'd marinated in olive oil, lemon zest, oregano garlic, s&P and a little tahini. served with my first homemade pita, and feta/pepperoncini/cucumber/tomato & kalamata salad. oh, and a few roasted potatoes. very good.

eggs: poached, deviled, mayonaisse-d, custardized and bruleed, anglaised and frozen, whatever. we get each other. bacon likes me too. my curse is dough. yeast scares the crap out of me. it's all alive...i feel it disapproves.

lucy, your photos capture the essence of the subject. looking at the photo of the books for sale on the quay i found myself swooning, struck by the intense smell of moth balls and old paper. thank you for bringing us the melancholy and the romance of spring in lyon. rk

i can't believe i just found this thread. kevin, you are my hero!! the stuffed breads look absolutely incredible. i had to stifle a moan over artichoke and spinach torta. can you recommend one of your ligurian books for a relative newbie? is the (a?) plotkin book the way to go? by the way cracked me up. this blog is fantastic. i absolutely love the picture of the conchiglie with octopus...talk about matching shapes. i can almost feel how agreeable the pasta and octopus would be on my fork and in my mouth. do you have a special technique for octopus? can you find it fresh in texas, or is it frozen?

Karen, you never made it to the "old" ovio? i have high hopes for whatever they put into that space. it's a lovely size. i just hope they don't go too casual/family. no disrespect intended, but there's just not much i can walk to - and i'd love for one option to be...adult. i miss the old ovio.

istara (great cheese!) my future in-laws are brits too. i suggest the new celtic swell on alki for pub food of the beans on toast or bangers and mash ilk. sounds like your in-laws might be a bit classier than mine, but if they'd like a smithwick's or a harp - they might like celtic swell. i am pretty sure the fairmount (former four seasons) downtown does a high tea - at least they did when they were still 4S. and i found this for you too - a guide to local teahouses. it's from september, so may require a phone call or 2 to make sure they're still going. have fun!