kiliki

Has anyone tried them? I haven't had pastries from Gelatiamo in a couple of years, but I wasn't impressed then.

I think I got a little indignant about the droopy crust reading Wesza's post. Hey, yeah-if it's not so hard to do, why NOT make it better? Why SHOULD we have to settle for less than excellent? If they are going to call themselves Neapolitan, than make it Neapolitan! Etc etc. But in truth, it still tastes better to me than 95% of the pizza in this city and it's close to home, so I'll keep going.

I think they are open 3-10. I didn't see anything about slices anywhere. Tutta Bella

That's my experience with weddings, too. Whether it's a sit down dinner (where we checked off what we wanted on the rsvp) or a buffet, there is always salmon (bourbon glazed sounds great), a veg option and chicken or beef.

I like the magazine a lot but one thing that bugs me-and seems to have gotten worse in recent years-is their inclusion/discussion of low quality prepared foods like precooked breakfast sausage, jarred salsa, etc. Most of the brands they try I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole-made by large corporate producers and full of crappy ingredients. I think they are trying to work with only those items that are widely available but c'mon-it seems like their readership would be willing to mail order or visit a specialty store rather than only settle for what Safeway has to offer. Edit: Alamut, I remember a chocolate chip test from a number of years ago where there winning brand was only found in natural food stores-that is exactly what I miss! I'll bet they wouldn't even include this brand now.

I agree about the baguette-it is wonderful. I just wish it (or anyplace in Seattle!) had the kind of selection that a Parisian patisserie would have.

I saw a sign on the door saying they do indeed take reservations.

We went there tonight and it was packed (and the place is huge!)-there was always a small crowd waiting. Upon seeing the scene I immediately lowered my expectations (which were already tempered knowing it was only their second night). But, things were great. The wait was short (for everyone-very rapid turnover), the service friendly, we got our food quickly and the despite the crowds everything looked like it was running very smoothly. Although the pizza was the same style as Via Tribunali the crowd and atmosphere are quite a bit different. It's very bright, open and casual. It seems to be a very family friendly place if anyone is looking for that-there were tons of kids and babies there (the place was pretty loud, so if they were fussy you never would have heard them over the din). Kids were also having a good time watching the pizza makers in the open kitchen. I liked the pizza quite a lot, though if you can't tolerate droopy slices, you might not care for it. It may not be perfect neapolitan pizza but I'm happy to have something close to that so close to my home. The tiramisu was pretty good (big portion) though not excellent. They have Italian beer on tap and quite a few inexpensive glasses of wine. They do take out. I recognized the IKEA tables and had to laugh imagining the staff assembling so many pieces of furniture.

So that's probably why those giant corn nuts that I loved didn't last very long there.

The egullet course on cookware would be a good thing to read: stovetop cookware Cook's Illustrated magazine has great cookware reviews every issue-if you have the time you might want to head to your local library to read back issues, or perhaps you can access this info online if you join their site. I wouldn't get a set. Jgm is right-different materials are great for different things. My all-clad non-stick, my Le Creuset French oven, my Lodge cast iron and my stainless skillet all have their place. Also, with a set you may get pieces that won't get used much, depending on what you cook. You seem like you know what types of pans you need most, so I'd start looking for sales and accumulate pieces as you can. Get on kitchen store mailing lists, find your nearest Le Creuset outlet, look at the department store's housewares sale ads. The three things I couldn't live without are my Le Creuset round French oven, my 12" All-Clad non-stick skillet and my 12" All-Clad saute pan.

I'll admit that I haven't had this in quite a while-it was a staple when I lived in the neighborhood (and the prawns were always great), but I haven't even been since they remodeled, so maybe things have changed.

Don't forget the prawn sandwich at Paseo. Today I took a new-to-working-downtown friend on a tour of great lunch spots; the tour ended at the Market Grill, where we had blackened halibut and salmon sandwiches, the best sandwiches downtown.

I was craving raclette tonight but instead of the usual boiled potatoes, I made rosti. Along with the prosciutto, cornichons and white wine from Alsace it was a wonderful meal. My first attempt at food photography failed and the melted cheese couldn't wait for me to fiddle with the settings, trying to get a good picture. I made my rosti just by grating the potatoes on both the small and regular holes of the grater, draining over a bowl, adding back in the starch and frying in a combo of butter and canola oil. I don't know that this is the best or most authentic way to make rosti-I can't find in my cookbooks or online sites like epicurious a consensus about rosti (not that it's a complicated dish), and even in Switzerland I've had a variety of versions (it seems like it often comes with bacon).

Those are gorgeous! I started adding Italian parsley and green onions to my basic recipe (grated russets or yukon golds, grated onion, egg, flour and salt) after reading the Cook's Illustrated recipe. It does add a nice little bit of freshness to the pancakes.

GourmetLights, does TJ Maxx have a good selection of Le Creuset consistantly, or is it a hit or miss thing?

Yes, it's there, right in the mall at Tulalip (just north of the casino). Good prices and it seems like a "real" outlet-most outlet stores these days carry cheap stuff made just for the outlet, but the Le Creuset store has seconds, scratched items, etc for really low prices. They also have their "regular" (non-seconds) items, too. My boyfriend was up there last weekend and reported back that every item in the store was 25% off-I'm not sure how long this sale was to last.

I had a very nice Saucisson Sec with cornichons and a brioche from Belle Epicurian for lunch today. They have lots of free samples sitting out...

Don't forget the montly class offered at Le Gourmand. You can call the restaurant and ask what any given month's focus will be.

I do that (it only takes a minute for the starch to collect at the bottom of the bowl), and I think a previous poster mentioned it as well. Then the latkes are crispy, not soggy, since you got rid of a bunch of moisture, but they still have a creamy starchiness on the inside. This, to me, is hash browns. Indeed a wonderful dish, but with no egg or binder how is it a pancake/latke?

I'd especially like to know what kind of oil everyone uses, and how deep the oil is in their pan. I was drooling at work over Pam's pictures and had to run home and make potato latkes for dinner.

I do that a lot, too-a big plate of them just with sour cream. Potato pancakes are one of my top 5 all time foods. Pam, will your column with the 8 kinds be linked to your website? I'd love to hear more about the different kinds.

Their website says they will open the 12th...

You can see that we did a low backsplash out of the same material as our counter (soapstone) in the pictures I posted about a third of the way down the page here: soapstone counter/backsplash

I think a 7 is a very good score; if you search the site for some of Seattle's best restaurants you'll find they routinely have higher (meaning worse) scores than that.

According the the health dept. site, they did very well on the return inspection, so I would assume they have opened. It's probably good to give a call down there first, though.