Daniel

Thanks Doc, You are always so nice.. Yeh,, I only went twelve courses. I wasnt sure I was going to like this place.. Despite all the coverage, 60 some thousand hits on egullet, I hadnt looked at the reviews or anything. I really went here because Ronnie told me after my Tru write up I needed to go here.. So I wasnt prepared to put my father and girlfriend through more then 3 hours of potentially weird and average food.. We had a nine o clock reservation and I had to be in a suit and in Rosemont at 7 am.. When i go back, I will get the big dog... My camera is a casio exilim or something like that.. The way I got the photos is by having my girlfriend wear a silver shimmering dress and my father held an umbrella... I really dont remember.. I just throw the camera into the plate and try to focus it.. I never edit or play around with my photos, first because i dont know how, second because it would be way too much time.. I would drive three hours for a burger, but if i spent more then 2 seconds on the photo, it would feel like work... Weird.

Had a wonderful birthday dinner at Alinea.. Was very impressed with the entrance.. Reminded me of Willy Wonka, or Alice in Wonderland... It is certainly symbolic of entering into a strange and fantastic world where culinarily (new word), anything can happen.. We were greeted by an incredibly sharp and bright eyed group who immediately made us feel welcomed and expected with anticipation.. We were led into the downstairs dining room and had the first corner table. The chairs were ultra comfortable, the dining room, bare and modern.. The amuse: Cucumber with mango and several aromatics.. This was really interesting.. Super strong tart sour flavor.. I dont really think it was to be enjoyed, but rather to shock the senses.. My mouth was alive and ready.. First course: Hearts of Palm filled five ways: First stuffing was vanilla pudding.. Very strange.. Very good..Pudding to start is strange enough, stuffing it in Hearts of Palm well thats genious.. Loved it.. Second stuffing: fava bean puree.. Very good.. Third stuffing: A garlic bulgar wheat mixture.. This too was awesome..I could see myself parking myself in front of this dip at a party.. This i think was my favorite and most familiar combo.. Four stuffing: A plum mixture.. Tasted very prune like.. Didnt care for it too much.. Fifth stuffing: A pumpernickel bread mixture with chopped black truffles.. This too was outstanding, might also have been my favorite. What a really inventive start.. Loved the specially made pedestals created for this dish.. Loved the presentation,the inventiveness and most importantly the taste.. Second Course: Dont really remember too much about this dish... What i do remember that i was served on a lavender pillow.. Beautiful presentation, forgettable dish.. Third Course was lobster with a carrot ravioli.. This dish was awesome!!!!The ravioli was stuffed with a coconut powder, the lobster poached in butter.. Fourth Dish was octopus with an eggplant soy puree.. This was my least favorite of all the course.. I really didn't care for this dish.. However, the other people at the table loved it.. Fifth Course: Squab with foie gras.. .. Great recovery.. Great presentation taking black licorice and grating it over the top.. The watermelon was a great addition.. This might have been my favorite dish of the evening..Such a rich flavorful sauce, I could have pick the bowl up and drank it.. Sixth Course..Bison with truffle and pistachios.. This too was outstanding.. I really love food prepared while cryovac sealed.. I have had this three different occasions.. My old favorite was chicken prepared this way at Blue Hill.. This really is a great way to prepare a gamey type of meat.. It was tender and juice and looked so bright and beautiful.. If i had trouble remembering the entrees, this is several drinks later.. I am really going to have problems with the desserts.. I must say all of them were fantastic.. Desserts: First was a black berry with a custard.. It was flavored with tobacco and had pepper on the end.. Great little taste and introduction to the desserts.. The tartness of the blackberry and the pepper cleaned the pallet.. Second Dessert.. Still dont know how the heck he made this.. This was like a light air ball filled with maytag blue sitting in a walnut milk sauce.. Excellent.. So inventive, so space age, so good.. Third Dessert: Corn custard cake filled with honey.. Outstanding.. I really love corn and find it great when its used in desserts.. This was my favorite dessert dish.. Really loved the liquid chocolate cake.. You can see Close up.. This was a hard outer shell filled with a bittersweet creamy liquid ganash center.. One of my favorite chocolate dishes ever.. The second thing on the plate was a chocolate pot de creme.. This was just ok.. Everyone at the table loved it.. I thought it was good, but nowhere near as good as the chocolate square.. Lastly.. Along with a wonderful tea they brought out the Sponge Cake.. The cake was attached to a vanilla bean There was sour cherry and a vanilla foam.. This was a perfect ending.. Using the vanilla bean to scoop up the vanilla and eat the cake.. Outstanding.. I cant say enough good things about this place.. The architecture, the design, the service, the staff.. Everything was perfect.. Some of the most knowledgeable and professional people I have ever met.. You could tell that everyone knows that they are apart of something special.. Its so rare to find people who are all happy and proud to be apart of something.. The food however tricky and different, is really great.. Most places go for style over substance, but I believe this place has achieved both.. Cant wait to go back..

I am surprised too.. Let me tell you, when i first saw the place a few years ago, it might have been in another location, or I am getting it confused with another Hatian spot.. Either way, I didnt expect to see a Chez anything around there.. So its kind of funny in that respect to see a Chez in a rough neighborhood.. But yes, dont let the Chez fool ya, its no cutesy little black tie restaurant .. This is E-town baby, recognize!!!

So basically what i have taken from this thread is that I should move to China open a restaurant and specialize in Monkey Brains.. First, there wont be any competition.. Second, I will get a lot of press for being the Worlds First Monkey Brainery, and third I can live out this weeks life long dream of mine to sell monkey tables... Thanks guys.. Now i just need to figure out which route me and my girlfriend need to drive to get there, or maybe I should have her start digging.

Tmus, Is the pizza place you are talking about Mario's Famous.. That is a favorite of my Dads as well as a lot of people in my office.. I get there sundried chicken roll it, which is very good there.. Also have you been to Chicks Seafood yet.. Its a great little place..

Today I had to go back to the Post Office because i screwed something up on my application.. So while driving back to the office a passed another place i have been wanting to try.. Chez Maguy Restaurant.. 1122 East Grand ST. Its about a block closer to Route 1 then Shack's.. Sorry no outside photo.. The place is a little more run down the Shack's from the outside.. When you go in its not the nicest place, but it looks clean and there are tables.. The menu is very limited.. The only have Poulet, Cabrit, Lugume, Griot, Tassor, or Lambi.. Yeh, i dont know what those are either, and the peoples english wasnt the best.. I pointed at the Griot and she baaahed.. So i am thinking its goat.. hehe.. For eight bucks I got so much food one picture wouldnt fit it.. This dish is pretty good.. Its stewed goat with onions.. The sauce is meaty and really flavorfull.. Fried plantains are excellent.. I saw her peal the plantain and fry it into cakes.. Good stuff.. And five patties.. The rice was like a dirty rice with beans.. Really good and went well when i poured the sauce over it.. The salad havent tried.. Not pushing my luck.. This place is a good change up.. I will try other things from here, but first need to make myself more familiar with the language.. Nice little spot though..

What I think is funny is people from New Jersey are stereotyping people from Middle America... Who are people from New Jersey to assume that all of Middle America is a bunch of ignorant, judgemental, goody two shoes.. You cant complain about people mislabeling you, while mislabeling someone else..

Nice nice.. I hope Stanley's builds a bridge betweem Pawtucket and Central Falls.. There are also a bunch of good looking Spanish Restaurants in town, but I havent been to any..

Thanks Johnny, If you can find away before my August road trip I would be much obliged..

Now thats very very funny.. Dorian Gray, I am not, Although people have said "the ruddiness of health suffused his cheeks; his eyes sparkled with wholesome fun, good humor, and high thoughts ...He was the sort of boy who makes the world seem jolly even when the east wind blows" O.W. That pic was taken not too long ago, so I am sure someone is paying the consequences of my eating.. I am sure glad its not me.. Anyway, thank you so much for reading my thread and more so responding.. Edit to add: Just posted the other half of my weekend in New York, in New York Board.. new york sunday

Where did he go, where did he go?

Hmm. Dont know anything about the Slow Food Organization..I thought slow food was mainly stewed foods.. I would love to hear more about them..

Didnt cook it, but i made it kind of.. Bought herring in cream sauce from Zabars NYC and added it to an H&H everything bagel... Good stuff..

Monkey table! Monkey table! Monkey table!!! Please encourage me.. Can you PM the link at least.. I needs to get my monkey on..

So being that we have driven all around the country.. I have really noticed a lot of things about people and their behavior while driving.. I will not go into some rant complaing about how people like to speed up just so you cant pass them.. Or how people tend to hang out in the left lane even though they are going below the speed limit.. Or how people tend to enjoy the safety and security of driving in slow packs blocking all the lanes while there is huge open highway stretching for miles beyond them, perhaps going back to the hunter gatherer days.. I just have one question to ask.. Do people know about flashing your brights at oncomming traffic when you see a cop using radar on their lane? Perhaps its just something my father taught me and what he did.. We would always warn the cars traveling in the opposite direction with our lights.. Thus telling them to slow down, there is a radar jocky looking to ruin your day over some arbitrary nonsense like a speed limit.. This is a practice I still do and have not in the last 18 thousand miles once been warned.. Next Stop: Stanleys. Another place that has been opened forever.. I believe it is 1933.. Opened during the depression it still using the same philosophy that made it successful during the Depression.. Good food, cheap.. We started with the "Quebec Fries".. This is a bad version of Poutine.. Using Mozz instead of curds, gravy and homemade fries.. Call it disco fries, call it cheese fries and gravy "just please dont call it jelly".. The name Quebec fries had my psyched for Poutine and its a bad version.. However, taking it for disco fries, I still didnt like it.. Something about those fries made them flat and just ok.. The burger on the other hand is the real star of the show.. As you park in their lot, you can smell the onions bursting from their walls.. The burger is served thin, fried and just perfect.. Covered with tons of cheese, fried onions on the bottom, it was the best burger I had all day.. It was the best burger I have had in a long time.. MMM..It is taking all of my commensense to not stop typing and to jump in the old family truckster and head right back there.. So now what? I thought this was a day trip.. We are now a couple hours from home and its getting dark.. After deciding not to continue to Maine and then Quebec, and then eventually running away from home and devoting our lives to eating at every burger place in the North America, we decide on dessert.. We head over to Gray's Ice Cream in Newport.. They make all their ice creams.. It is very New England in that I havent heard of some of their flavors. Frozen Pudding, GrapeNuts, what the hells a cabinet?(Milkshake) I opted for the buttercrunch while my co-pilot got the coffee.. The coffee was soome of the better coffee ice cream I have had.. The buttercrunch on the other hand was good but not great.. I lacked any crunch, it was more like butter.. All in all a good ending.. I also have a problem where I dont like to eat ice cream with anything but a small little spoon.. I nomally ask for the tasting spoon, but this little wood guy was all they had.. It worked. It is amazing to see how many options New England has.. I could take the same route 20 times and never eat at the same place twice.. You guys are really lucky up there.. I cant wait to visit again.. What an easy and great trip..

Next Stop: A recent favorite.. Lenny and Joes Fishtail.. On my previous post, Driving from New York to Maine, we had stopped here and had really enjoyed the lobster roll... In fact, it is my girlfriends favorite place to get a hot buttered lobster roll.. So since she is my co-pilot and in charge of directions, i was unknowningly directed here.. As we were approaching the place, I knew I had been tricked.. Oh well.. We go inside and I obviously know where she is going to order, so i decided i would try something new... Here is the lobster roll.. Looks like some sort of buttery boat, with the lobster claw as a sail.. It is still outstanding.. The butter still squirts out and hit unsuspecting chiildren and passerbyes.. Its just a fantastic sandwich and a special place for us.. I ordered the scallop roll.. I really wasnt expecting a fried scallop sandwich!? I never heard of anyone deep frying or breading a scallop before.. Who would you do such a thing.. Scallops are served medium rare or raw.. Lets just say, I was wrong.. Although I do prefer scallops raw or cooked medium, I like it this way too.. The scallops were still moist and chewy while they just had a fried outer shell.. This was a fantastic sandwich.. I was shocked and surprised..

Next stop.. Ted's Cheeseburgers in Meriden CT.. We arrive at Ted Cheeseburgers to see a small box of a place.. This place has all the tale tell signs of a great spot.. It is small, unassuming, and there is sign hanging outside that says Open Since 1959.. I am a sucker for any place that has been open for a long time.. I figure, if a little burger shop has been making food for over 40 years, there has to be some years of grease flavoring the food.. Another sign was that there were cars parked across the street all along grass on the side of the road.. This meant people were going out of their way to pull up on the curb and cross a busy street just to get a burger.. Ted's is another place that uses a special contraption to make their burger.. Here they use a steamer.. They place ground meat in little metal containers and then put them into a steamer.. In addition to meat, they also steam chunks of a white cheddar cheese in these metal boxes as well.. Here you can see the little boxes on the counter that have been pulled out of the larger metal box where the steaming takes place.. Luckily for us, we had missed the lunch crowd and their werent too many people in the third lunch crowd, but if all the cooking is done in that little box, i would hate to see it when its busy there.. The dont serve fries at Ted's, they serve fried potatoes. We ordered these right away with cheese.. We were very curious to see how steamed cheese would come out.. Well, it came out excellent.. I would compare the consistancy to Greek Saganaki with out the fried shell .. It was melted, but firm and in one piece.. Outstanding.. The burger itself was great.. The patty had a strong oniony flavor, the cheese again was great and rather plentiful.. My only complaint would be the bun.. I really didnt think the bun went well with the burger.. It was too big and too bready.. This is just a minor complaint.. Might as well start another post now..

So yesterday morning we awoke feeling rather lousy.. It appears that greek wine sangria, a few ouzos, and a lot more sangria is not the best route one could take to prevent headaches and general discomfort.. After considering several different methods of recovery, we decided a burger would be the best avenue.. What better place to get a burger then "Louis Lunch" the argued birth place of the burger... So by 1030 we were out the door and on our way to New Haven CT.. While driving along, thanks to HollyEats.com and our previous trip, we were aware of a couple of little stops along the way and couple just passed our destination.. First Stop: Super Duper Weenie.. This is a beloved hot dog place in which the owner serves several homemade toppings as well as specially made dogs and buns.. We ordered two different type of dogs.. I ordered the New Englander while my girlfriend ordered the New Yorker.. Here is the New Yorker.. It has onions in a sauce, kraut,their own relish and mustard.. Now my girlfriend is not a hot dog fan, but after being reassured of its "healing" properties she decided to try it.. She really enjoyed it.. Here is the New Englander..You can really see how the hot dog has been split and grilled.. It had raw onion obviously, sweet relish, mustard, kraut, and supposedly bacon.. Mine came baconless!!!! At this point I waited too long, and didnt want to stop eating it.. For me I would say that everything about this place is excellent, with the exception of the hot dog.. For some reason, I really dont like the hot dogs they use.. The bun is amazing, the relish, the onion sauce, all were great.. But something about the dog i didnt care for.. The fries: Hand cut served with salt and pepper and more salt from me, they were really good.. They had such a strong potato skin flavor.. Very earthy, very crispy, very salted.. These fries take me back to carnivals, fairs, and boardwalks of my childhood.. After a semi positive experience at Super Duper Weenie we were quickly in New Haven standing outside Louis Lunch.. This place has been a destination of mine for some time.. I mean, how can one consider themselves a fan of the burger without having been to where it all started? Louis' Lunch.. A little box of a place serving meat patties cook in a special sideways broiler.. Meat patties are placed 9 at time into a metal rack similar to a fish cooker and then clamped down.. Placed sideways in these ancient broiler, they are seasoned with salt and pepper and are served medium rare on white toast.. We were happy to see that the old women from the Hamburger Special was manning the broiler.. There was a long line and she was banging these burgers out at a fevered pace.. Here fingers and hands were so swollen with arthritis, that she was using her hands like a huge mit.. Palming onions while slicing them, using all her fingers as a single claw to grab things.. She was a real champ and had been doing this her whole life.. She worked with the skill of a craftsman.. Here is the final product.. There are just a few choices one has when dressing their burger.. You can get onion, tomato, and a cheese spread.. No ketchup, no mustard. The burger is really good.. Its a meat sandwich essentially. Served medium rare the meat was juicy and perfectly done.. This was great burger, not the best, but certainly great.. I really liked the cheese spread they used as well. Edit to Add.. Whoops, didnt mean to post this so sooon.. I will continue posting the other places..

While in Shanghai about three or four years ago we went to this place right across the street from our hotel as we arrived rather late... Knowing I like to try different foods I was excited to see the waiter come to the table with a red bucket.. After seeing many people along the road with red buckets filled with in season crabs, I assumed this is what I was getting... In turned out that In this red bucket was a turtle. Our chinese speaking associate gave a nod and the turtle was taken back into the kitchen and was most likely adopted as a pet and went on to live a very happy comfortable life.. They brought out a different cooked turtle that was prepared several different ways.. There was a soup, there was some other dish, and then there was turtle prepared with this sweet glaze on it.. Anyway, i am sure we ate every part of it.. The meat was extremely boney and while spitting out my ninth little curved hammer looking bone, my guy jealously looks over and tells me I must have one of the feet..

Spicy and Tasty has been a place I have been wanting to go for some time now.. After seeing these photos I would say its a must.. I have a question for you.. How do you determine who brings the food home.. It seems to me, you have been getting the short end of the stick lately...

When I go to China, I am normally in very rural areas researching factories with an occassional day or two stop over in Hong Kong or Shanghai.. In rural areas, I rarely find places that debone meat for you even upon request.. I have heard them deny requests by people to deshell shrimp.. I have definately had to deal with the extremely boneyness of snake and turtle.. I never realized how many little bones turtles have even in their one little foot.. In terms of Monkey Brains, I am really enjoying the conversation and learning that I might never get my Monkey Table without having it made.. I dont really remember what it looked like, but I might have to watch Indiana Jones with a carpenter.. You professor seems like a very interesting guy, we need to get him on Egullet.. I would love to read an adventure of eating story written by that there feller..

You really think monkey brains is an urban legend? I have no factual information to add, just observations. Cultures eat the animals that are around, and most cultures utilize the majority of their kill.. I mean the tutors ate everything , people eat beating snake hearts, we eat cowbrain tacos, bbq pig noses and feet, head cheese, tongues, lamb eyes, and testicles of every creature endowed enough to fill a plate. I have seen huge charter bus luggage compartments filled with dogs in China... What so sacred about a monkey.... I mean, if i never saw tarzan, or Friends, I wouldnt think twice about eating me a double monkey with cheese...

If not monkey then what? ← Monkey is so last year plus a litte chewy, I strictly serve Orangatang at my house..

If I only had the skills.. Perhaps someday I will get one made for me.. I wouldnt want something stenciled, I was looking for an authentic monkey table with some old wood.. I am going to China in October and meeting this psycho guy I do business with who tried to get me to eat the official dish of his town.. "Tiger Fights Dragon" is the translation.. A spicy cat and snake dish, so I am sure if people eat it, he knows about it..Along with several bottles of rice wine, he ate most of the dish while i watched in respectable horror. Among him trying to find me the spiciest dishes at Sichuan Places, we drove 2 hours to try his favorite snake restaurant. I cant wait to document my next visit..

Watermelon lemonade huh, that sounds awesome.. I might have to make that into an "evening" drink if the daytime version is good... This thread is not for me, I was hoping other people would share their lunch experiences... I would love to hear all of your recommendations. Since I work there most days, I am a captive audience.. I really think Elizabeth is a such a interesting town.. Is the Jamaican chopped chicken a jerk relative? or is it just a spicy bbq sauce.