abier

Thanks everyone--when I make it to Korin, I'll be sure to take some notes and report back!

Thanks for your response. I just called them (Korin), and they don't carry the Ryussen/Hattori knives. Do any of you know of any other stores here that might? Thanks again, Adam

I'll be in the market for a new knife in about 2 months time (when I finish some freelance work)--I'd sure love to check out some of these knives in person. Can anyone recommend a good place to find Japanese knives with western handles in NYC? Thanks!

I like this idea! I'd like to second that. A few mouthfuls of the steak will certainly be enough to get a taste of it (which, in my opinion, is an absolute necessity if you're going anywhere near Williamsburg, let alone Peter Luger)--you can fill up on a burger if you like. Actually, you could fill up on the bizarrely good rolls--I almost did that by accident last time I was there (I'm not on the Atkins diet, if you can't tell).

Orange juicer press. Gets about half the juice out of an orange that a cheap plastic twist-type juicer gets, takes twice as much effort. Also, weighs about 10 lbs. and takes up a square foot of counter space (or did until I put in the closet, anyway).

Haven't checked out recipeGullet yet--and I will now--but of you've got a Mac, take a look at Watson. It's got a great search interface for Epicurious and its own recipe archive (I haven't tried the latter). Here's a screenshot of the Epicurious functionality. Adam

Hi all, I'm really enjoying reading all this and making my own long-term (as I get the money) plans for replacing the crappy cookware I bought in college. I just picked up the specially-priced Falk 1.5 qt. saucière to take the place of the 1 qt sauce pan I use to prepare roux-based sauces and work with chocolate (and I hope to give it a go for sautéing too), and I can't wait until this weekend to try it out-- I love the feel of it! Next up, I want to replace the 3.5 qt. saucepan I use for everything from boiling water for vegetables and pasta (obviously not too demanding) to making small amounts of soup and larger amounts of sauces. My plan right now is to get a normal stainless-sided saucepan with an aluminum or copper base, which should be fine for everything but the more delicate sauces, and then, sometime down the line, get a larger copper saucière for making larger amounts of such sauces. Does this sound like a good plan, or would there be any significant value to getting a fully-clad saucepan like one made by Falk or a sale-priced All-Clad LTD for my purposes? Assuming I do get a SS pan, what value, if any, would the Stiram Catering's copper base provide me with in my case, as opposed to a Professierie one or a Paderno? The woman I talked to at Bridge was definitely pushing me toward the Catering. I'm not really in too much of a hurry, so I can wait a couple months longer to buy more expensive equipment, if it's going to be better in the long run. Thanks to all of you, and especially Sam--it's great not to be "flying blind" anymore! Adam