Fay Jai

Laurel and Killiki ---- In re: the Turf..... That sounds dangerously like a dare....

Ok, this is long, I know...but a great cautionary tale... The wife (Amber) got her first full paycheck and wanted to take me out to dinner. It was going to be a surprise, but I figured out it was Andy's Diner. I'm an absolute diner whore, and I have been dying to go there, so I was really stoked. We drive in....and there is one, one other car in the lot. "Well, it must be early" we said. Get in. Hostess, (who turns out to be our waitress, let's call her Flo) waits until I clear my throat (we're 3 feet away from her) to curtly tell us that she'll "be right there". Um, ok. Bartender comes out of the bar getting ice, sees us standing there, and gets us into a seat. We notice that the tables on the other side of the aisle have cool railroady type stuff on them, so we move over....onto a table that, while cleared, has not been wiped. Flo is non existent, so we get napkins and wipe off the table. We're having a good time otherwise, the place looked clean, and hey, its cool old railroad cars. We peruse the menu, and its basically what I expected. Amber ordered the Fried Chicken, (said that she hoped it wasn't the orange looking kind....turned out it was.) and I got prime rib. We also ordered some onion rings as an appetizer. Rings come, they are fine. Meal comes. I ask for some horseradish, and get some pretty vile stuff, it was more sour then hot. The meat was barely warm, and not the medium rare that I had requested. The sauteed broco-carrot-ini was thrown around a hot pan with some harsh assed garlic from a jar. The real ringer, though, was Amber's chicken. About 2 bites into it, she put it down and said it was cold. Not only was it cold, bleeding. Freely. we called the Flo over and asked if we could get a new piece. She took it no problem, and then we heard her tell the cook to "just cook it more". We look at each other and don't want to beleive our ears. About 5 minutes later, she comes back. With the same piece of chicken. Which now, courtesy of its second bath in the deep fryer, resembles one of pigs ears that we give the dog. She puts it down with a bright "there you go!" and disappears. We decide a couple of things: We're not paying for that dish, and dessert will be at Krispy Kreme. After about 10 minutes, Flo comes back. We ask to speak with a manager, and she informs us that there isn't one on duty but she can help us. We tell her that we were expecting a new piece of chicken and and that this thing that was on the plate wasn't gonna cut it. She caught the hint, and asked us, in what is probably the greatest restaurant line I will ever hear, worthy of a new entry on my signature line.... "So, do you want me to compromise your meal for you?" Ah, Flo....We both thought that the meal was quite compromised enough already. We got the check and got the hell out of there. What's so bad is that place looks like it has everything it needs to be a pretty decent diner, and looks like it could handle a fair amount of business. It may very well be a decent place for breakfast...(if you are hungover....) but I couldn't recommend it for dinner to my worst enemy.

Laurel --- Omigod omigod omigod OH MY GOD!!! I am sitting here with tears welling up in my eyes. I had despaired of ever having Dragon's Beard Candy again.... Cut to the summer of 1991. Little ol' 1/2 chinese me from podunk, washington, the product of a broken home who was raised by his Norwegian/Ukranian mom who was a uniquely bad cook, who moved in with his full Chinese dad in middle school and who grew up hating (for the most part, anyway) chinese food, is standing, sweating, in a mall in Hong Kong, having just walked past an ice rink. (AN ICE RINK!!! IN HONG KONG!!!) My dad's best friend growing up, (who of course, is referred to as Uncle,) is hustling me thru the mall, 'cause there is this candy that he wants me to try. I'm doubtful. My experience with Chinese sweets has not been good. From the cakes from the chinese bakeries that were always a bit off, to (shudder) the canned grass jelly drink, (which, well, tasted like grass, with the delectably horrifying addittion of thos snot like tapioca pearls. Yuk.) So, Uncle Edwin parks me in front of a kiosk iun the middle of this mall. And, before me, this guy is making Dragon's Beard Candy. Uncle told me that there were very, very few people who knew how to make this candy, and I should feel priveleged to be eating it. we ordered some, and man, it was some of the best candy that I can remember having. If you can, GO! Thanks for posting this, My dad's Birthday is that day, and I was going to try to leave for Longview before noon, but it looks like I will be late...

WHOA! He's on the cover of "Woman's World" Magazine, (available at a fine supermarket near you,) wearing the cheesiest grin I've ever seen and more makeup on a man since Tim Curry in the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Finished reading it last night. While I was reading the recipe for bearnaise, I was struck by the fact that he mentions hollandaise sauce but does not give a recipe for it. A willful omission? Too many memeories of "slinging Eggs Benedict"? An accident? 'Cause now I am curious...What Would Tony Do? Not make it? Is there a Bourdain-worthy Hollandaise Sauce recipe out there? WWTD?

HA!

Scorched Palate --- I talked with one of the owners last night. He advises that they would love to put a location in the Madrona/Madison Park area, (he used to live in Madrona, actually, and could not get delivery to his house). However, they have not found the right location yet, and they are, (as he put it) "picky". They would rather wait and get the perfect location, (knowing them, they have some in mind and are just waiting) rather then just put something in just for the sake of, well, putting something in! Um....good things come to those who wait?

I was at the Washington Restaurant Association's award dinner last night (Congrats, Dad! Lifetime Achievement Award! You deserve it!) and while they were passing around the appetizers, my whole table remarked on how the smoked trout would have been MUCH better on toast, yeah ok, it might have been like a grown up tuna fish sandwich.....Mmmmm....trout on toast....

SO, Deborah... What did you get and how was it?

"Irwin Special"... I talked to the GM of the Delivery Kitchen that Irwin orders from today. He advises to ask for the crust to be "very well done". Good tip on asking for the frequent pie'r, BaconFat! Have a nice weekend! Jason

Laurel --- Kudos to you for working Luigi (thats the name the company has given our ordering software) like an absolute champ. that was great. Pat --- Good question. Care to answer, Irwin? ;) Scorched P. --- I'll let the owners know. I'm not privy to everything, but my sense is that they are trying to push North right now and encircle the lake. I agree that there is a lot of potential biz in Madrona/Madison Park area. (BTW...Have you tried The AGOG? Mmmmmm.....roasted garlic....(Homer Simpson slobbering sounds.....) This may sound blasphemous, but I am really sorry to hear that Mad Pizza was so bad. I used to work for the guy that wrote the recipes and opened the Madison Park location, and one of my former employees was an assistant manager there b4 she got promoted to GM at their Fremont store. (Took them long enough, Onjoli! ) I haven't eaten any of their pie in awhile, but I used to really like the one that they put apples on.

Ok... Full Disclosure... I am the GM of the Pag's on the Ave. Elswinger, Deborah, and Ms. Ramsey --- Thanks for the kind words, particularly to you, elswinger. Next time you are in look for the heavyset guy with the beard and the shirt with the collar and say hey. I'd love to put a name to the face. Tighe --- Jeez, what can I say. Speaking strictly for myself (NOT ON BEHALF OF THE COMPANY,EVEN THOUGH IT MAY SOUND LIKE IT...) Sorry to hear that you are so unsatisfied with our pie. I will say that if you ever order one and you are unsatisfied with it, be it delivery or other wise, let us know, because we want to. Yeah, I know that it may sound like some company line that we want every customer to be satisfied, but at no other place that I have ever worked have I seen it more in evidence then at Pagliacci. I'll admit, we don't have wood burning ovens from a boutique oven maker, and our cheese does not come from free range cows that have never seen the inside of a pen and solely eat grass, but we do use the best ingredients that we can to put out a quality, affordable product. We would love the chance to try to change your mind. I am proud to work for them, they treat their employees well, and they do care. I'll get off the soapbox now...

Yikes....Look at the screen marks on the crust... Let the bricks do their work!!!

Hey Mb7o --- Please define "Philadelphia style" pizza...I'm curious... Thanks, Jason

Made it last night, finished simmering and skimming at about 1 am (Don't ask... ) Will report when we eat later....

Thanks for the Suggestions! Tony Bourdain will be doing a reading and a signing at 3rd Place Books in Lk Forest Park on the 7th, sorry about the lack of clarity there! Jason

The Beef Bourginone (yeah, I know I know I probably mispelled it. ) My wife has laid down the law...I am to buy no more cookbooks until I have made her something out of each of them...but I could not resist Bourdain's. Can't make (ok, afford) the Brasa dinner, but who will I see November 7th at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park? I'll letcha know how it turns out...

I'm going to attempt to cook something out of Bourdain's new book this weekend, and I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions on pre-made Demi Glace that I can find locally. Thanks! Jason

Mmmmm....the Imperial Mix Up....reminds me of the fried rice that Dad would make for breakfast on the weekends that he had us....Man, that was GOOD!!!

I need a recipe for this cake, my wife wants to make it for her best friend and doesn't have a recipe....Pretty Please? Thanks!

(Paraphrasing here...) "Due to the end of the lease, the cost of doing business and Washington State's unfriendly business climate, Great Western Dining regrets to say that the Northgate Copper Sky location is permanently closed..." Crapola...

Feeling slightly better today...(Had to clean up some Ave Rat's dog poop from in front of the store yesterday....put me into a REALLLLY good mood.) I'm so glad that I made my original posting. I've loved, LOVED seeing everyone's opinions. Great discussion! I do see the point about not wanting to feel to heavy or full after eating. However.... there are some places where I guess I have just gotten spoiled...

So...am I just the lone fat assed glutton here??? (Sorry...I'm loopy as hell, its been a long day at the pizzeria... )

Bingo, ms foodie. That was what I meant to get across originally. I can completely understand not wanting to throw away food, but, like, I've already paid for it. If I choose to be wasteful about it, I feel that is my business. Like I said in my original post, I have no problem at all paying more if the particular economics of the restaurant calls for it. For example, I saw that Sterling Caf'e has been certified organic. Great for them, I applaud their efforts, (seriously, I do.) However, I do expect that when I finally do make it in there, I EXPECT to pay more, and I am fine with that. I am sure that their raw food costs more, no sweat. However, in the case of the 2 palces that I mentioned earlier, I don't see that they have gone all organic, or for that matter, switched to free trade coffee. (Again, yet another reason why I don't mind paying a little extra.) In these 2 cases, I see 2 places that appear to be doing well and are maybe getting a little greedy. I'll allow that I am much more likely to take dinner leftovers home then breakfast ones. But...like little ms. foodie said, it's the principle of the thing. There. End of rant. Am I just way out in left field about this?

2 examples, to wit.... Agua Verde....Still tasty, still hella busy, looks like they have even expanded, but what is the deal with not serving a side with the burritos anymore...Bah! What's up with that? (Whoops...Opera won't let me, but insert angry face here) Even for the more appetite challenged people I know, just the burrito is not enough. Gimme a side already. (sort of) the same deal at the Dish...It seems like every time I go in there, the portions seem to get just a little tinier each time. Seriously, just keep the portion sizes as they were and raise the prices. I don't mind. In the past, these have been good, reliable places where I can expect reasonable food for a reasonable price. Yeah, I know the economy has not been the best. However, getting what I feel is a good value for my (rather limited) funds is part of the reason why I really loved those places in the first place. Granted, I am a big eater, and yeah, maybe what is "just enough" for me might be considered excessive to other people, but still... (sigh) Just seems kind of greedy to me, and that's disappointing...