shelly59

A great loss. Condolences to his family and friends.

I recently was given my great-grandmother's stemware consisting of various sizes of cut crystal. It is really lovely,but I have no idea what any of it was used for. Is there a forum here or a website that could guide me? I would love to be able to use the stemware correctly, as she was very fussy about such things. Thanks.

Up-date: We three, my nephew, my sister and I, attended the 9:30 Grand Tasting Menu at Vetri last Friday night. Let me just state for the record that we have NEVER had better service from nicer people. From Chef Vetri to the person who greeted us at the door, every single person we encountered was informative, kind, thoughtful and made us feel very welcome and comfortable. The meal was really wonderful, and, of course, I cannot remember it all as it was a non-stop progression of one delicious bite after another. Not one entree let us down. It was really fun to just sit back and be surprised by each course. I do recall the Sweet Onion Crepe with Truffle Fondue as I loathe onions and this was outstanding. Jeff Benjamin came to our table first and spoke with Michael and us for a bit. Chef Vetri took the time to come to our table a bit later, spoke with Michael and autographed Mike's copy of his cookbook (Thanks for the suggestion, Kretch!!) Both he and Jeff could not have been more gracious. Both addressed Mike's interest in cooking ( NICE TOUCH!!), which was a nice thing to do. The whole evening was money, time and effort very well spent. Thanks to all for all the help here. Could not have pulled this off without the help of everyone here.

Wow, thanks so much for all the input. After speaking with my sister, I reached out to Vetri and they could not have been nicer. We have a reservation for the 9:30 Grand Menu seating on the 24th of this month. I did let them know that he was very interested in meeting Chef Vetri, but if Chef Vetri is not available that night, I am sure that my nephew will be just as thrilled to speak to the Chef de Cuisine. I am keeping Le Bec Fin, Fogo, Buddakan,b Fuji, etc., in my back-pocket. He still has 2 more years of high school to go. And a birthday coming up!

Food trumps bragging by a long-shot. Our agreement was that if he made the grades we would go to the best place food-wise. Naturally if he can get both... , but he really enjoys going out to good restaurants. Meeting the chef would be awesome. Vietri looked like a place he would love, especially if he got to go behind the scene and meet the Chef. The Tasting Menu looked like a wonderful experience as well. I wonder if they would do it for just 3 of us? Trying to find out if he likes French food as LeCroix looked nice, too. I really am appreciative of the responses. I would NEVER have come up with meeting the chef and I know that is something he would go for in a big way as he is contemplating going into a Culinary program for college, or Chemistry, he is torn right now!

It certainly would be bragworthy. And his mother would KILL me.

At the beginning of the school year I made a deal with my now 16 year old nephew that if he pulled an A average each marking period I would take him to a really cool "brag-worthy" place in Philly. Well, he came throught (YEA!!!) and it's time to pay-up. So, he is a fairly sophisticated foodie and, being 16, is looking for bragging rights as well. Money is no object. I welcome any suggestions. Thanks.

Wilmington person here. First, be VERY cautious about roaming around the hotel area after dark, NOT the best place crime-wise. Not trying to scare you, but thought you should know that. You are VERY close to a high crime area. Cab rather than walking, imho. Ok, now on to the food. http://www.blueparrotgrille.com/ The Blue Parrot - Really good Cajun menu http://www.domainehudson.com/menu.html - Domaine Hudson - Expensive and worth every penny http://www.mororestaurant.net/menu.html - Moro - VERY expensive, also worth every penny http://www.orillastapasbar.com/main/ORILLAS-Home.asp?p= Orillasta - Tapas - haven't been there, but have heard good things Harry's Seafood has already been mentioned, but here is the website anyway. Good seafood, expensive. http://www.harrys-savoy.com/seafood_aboutus.asp One more, lol http://www.ameritage-bistro.com/ - Ameritage - French food, mid-range price wise. I loved it when I went, has been a while, though. Hope that helps

My sister brought a bottle of lemon-infused olive oil with her when we all went to the beach. I fell in love with it. However, I had massive sticker-shock when I came home and sauntered into my neighborhood grocery store to pick some up. $19.00 for a 6 ounce bottle!! I would like to make my own, but I have a little red flag waving in the remote recesses of my brain...something about organic substances and oil and botulism. I may be making something easy into something difficult ( I have a special knack for that!) but, in an abundance of caution, I thought I'd ask here. COuld anyone address my concern and, would anyone care to share their infused oil recipe? Much thanks.

Thank you so much. The Good Lord willin' and the water don't rise, I think we can make it on Sunday. Thanks, again, for your help :-) Really looking forward to this. ETA: Should we ask for you, Toby?

Our plans are still a bit loosy-goosy, but the quiet times, especially Sunday, appeal greatly.

I have been following this thread for a while with the hopes of getting a chance to get to The Violet Hour sometime. well, I am in Chicago this weekend to see my sister and we are looking around for a really nice place to have drinks & food . I would LOVE to try TVH. Is there good time to just come in for drinks & food? Do we need reservations? Much thanks.

THat certainly looks like them,and the ingredients would make a cookie similar to what I had. Much thanks!! FYI - I have a nice big pot of pea soup, your recipe, of course, simmering on my stove right now. Yummmm!!

Chufi, LOVE all of your recipes and have put several of them into regular rotation in my house, much to the delight of people who eat there :-) I recently had a very sweet-spicy-fruity cookie called a leckerli. It was part of a gift basket of gourmet cookies. A friend of mine's mom said that it was Dutch, so I thought I would come here and ask about it. It was very sweet & spicy, filled with candied fruit and was in a bar-shape. Are they Dutch? Are they difficult to make? Much thanks for all of your help and insights, they are invaluable.

Wow! This is GREAT!! So many good ideas. I knew I could count on people here. Jaz & Daniel, your drink recipes sound delicious, thanks. Can't wait to try them myself. I know we will be utilizing the Italian soda idea as well as stocking some of the more exotic juices, purees and fresh citrus as suggested here. The bitters SHOULD be on the bar list already, but I will double check that and make sure. I had quite forgotten about mulled cider, everyone I know likes that, so that's on the list. I think it will be really nice for people to have a variety of options, alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Especially as we are going all-out for the food and the decorations and the music. Now everyone is included in all the fun. And that's what really matters, yes?