ned

Go to Soto. You won't regret it.

Do you believe the server saw the $100 bill clearly? ← She looked at it and there was only one bill there to see. I dunno, maybe she didn't see it. At the time it felt like she had. ← There aren't too many other single bills that would warrant change from a $50 tab. ← That's kind of what I was thinking.

Do you believe the server saw the $100 bill clearly? ← She looked at it and there was only one bill there to see. I dunno, maybe she didn't see it. At the time it felt like she had.

Twenty-one dollars per pie. Twenty-one dollars. It's a good pizza. A very good pizza. But at twenty-one dollars I will not return. I had made that decision before my server asked if I wanted change on a hundred dollar bill for a fifty dollar tab. It was an extra nail in the coffin.

I should have been more specific I guess. I need a burr grinder. I'm making espresso.

wizz on triscuits

When my wife of almost ten years was just barely a girlfriend she got sick and I made her campbell's chicken noodle soup with pace picante salsa and cheap smoked gouda grated in. We fought about it then and occasionally still do.

I'd like to see salt on all the tables too. But no chef is going to send out an under-salted dish so that you can decide how much salt you want. That's an idea for a concept restaurant. ← OK, then at least a reduction in the salting in the kitchen would be nice. But I do think it's telling that shakers have disappeared from table tops lately. ← I used to think it was arrogance on the part of the chef, the disappearance. Now I wonder if it might have more to do with the interior designers or maybe they're just streamlining the front of the house.

I've actually tried this. I was surprised to find that t made no difference whatsoever. I'm going to look into the mazzer mini. That damned pavoni is deafening.

I have been happily using a pavoni grinder for a few years now and there's nothing wrong with it except the noise. It wakes my children in the morning. I can't have that. I know the rancilio is quieter because a friend has one. Any other suggestions?

I'd like to see salt on all the tables too. But no chef is going to send out an under-salted dish so that you can decide how much salt you want. That's an idea for a concept restaurant.

Thanks for the report Raji. I've been missing ushi very much.

Tim, Those are two VERY cool websites. Thanks.

I've been frying quite a few zucchini blossoms this summer. Stuffing them with herbed riccota that has an egg yolk and parmesan in it. I'm using a batter made from prosecco, flour, baking soda and an egg. I've varied the proportions of the batter, omitted the egg, messed around with oil temperatures ranging between 300 and 375. I want a batter that is light in color and that will still crunch and hold up under the weight of the blossom. Instead, I'm getting too much color and not enough structure. Not sogginess but not snappiness either. Any and all advice is welcome.

Raji, I'm curious to hear your take on Soto's sushi. My guess is that you'll come away with a very different experience than the one you are guessing you might have.

Oy Vey.

Casa Mono

With respect, I'm equally disinterested in Richman's opinions about the finer points of sushi as I am in his comments on interior design. Of value in his review is that he calls out the incredible food coming out of the kitchen at Soto's and gives a nod to Maho-Soto's wife-who is very ably and with remarkable consistency running the show back there.

Quality control problems. Salt taste egg doesn't taste like salt. Pork tough and dry. Broth cloudy. . . not so brilliant. All of the above has been echoed by others to whom I have suggested Setagaya. Big changes from my last visits and none for the better.

I once made the mistake of asking one of the guys if they were open on Sunday--I was kind of in a panic about being able to pick up something or other. The response was unforgettable "Even God took one day off."

My experience on three or four visits has been of very tasty pork, well cooked and moist. I ordered seconds of it last time I was there.

I hope readers won't be misled by the sour grapes sentiments expressed above. Chikalicious is amazing. Tight tight food, great and very personal service in a fantastically architected space. Go there. Eat excellent dessert. Don't listen to the naysayers.

I have restrained myself from commenting on Soto as I am friendly with him from his time in Atlanta and didn't want to offer biased commentary. So here it is, I am biased. . . towards Soto. He is a special guy. Deep thinker. Fanatical about ingredients and eqaully so about the way he prepares them. Every time I go (and I go often) he has different tuna. It's always stunning on top of his rice but he is searching for something in the tuna. Tonight it was wild bluefin from Morocco. Last time it was part wild, part farmed from Italy. Maybe next time it will be from the fjords in Norway. Who knows. At eight bucks a slice for chutoro, who cares? It's awesome. I ate his uni tonight also. Yikes. I thought about ordering eight more after the first one. For the bargain hunters as well as the guys with Wachau wines stacked up in their cellars that need drinking with sushi, let it be known that for the moment, Soto is still byob. Dotingly so. Me, I like red stripe. I've got more ideas about Soto but I'll save them for later.

I noticed the other day that the market in Grand Central has a very wide selection of sausages. I've sampled none of it so can't comment on quality but I was very impressed by the breadth.

The restaurant didn't apply those stars to itself. Why is it beholden to them?