kiliki

I grew those "Purple Haze" carrots last year and I'll do so again this year--they are gorgeous and were even more so pickled (the brine turned beet red). I recently learned that wild carrots were originally red or purple or black; carrots have been bred to be orange.

A story about the rising global demand for wheat, and accompanying high prices, was on the cover of yesterday's NY Times. I heard a bit on the radio the other day about widespread disgruntlement in Italy over the skyrocketing costs of pasta and bread as well.

This has been a problem for us as well--we certainly don't mind spending $$ on dinner, but not if we don't perceive it to be a good value, and Whistler restaurants seem to be terrible values. Crepe Montagne was recommended her as a good, inexpensive place--this might have been the fondue place you referenced--but when we checked out the menu dinner crepes were $22+, and Raclette was $33 per person. !! (It's melted cheese and sliced ham for god's sake). So I'm interested to hear if anyone does have any mid range good value recommendations. We've given up looking, and just cook in a condo. I've had good beer and decent food at the Whistler Brewhouse--I wouldn't call it a must-visit, but it's nice to at least find entrees in the under $20 range.

You won't, but if you are a skier, it won't matter. Whistler isn't even a tourist town--it's a ski resort development. A land of time shares, overpriced restaurants and ski shops. BUT, who cares. The skiing is fantastic. Just don't go thinking the "town" will be interesting at all. Definitely give yourself a full day there so you can be in line when the lifts open. Another thing, and maybe since you're from NY you won't be surprised, but some of the nicer restaurants and bars have dress codes. Mostly just "resort casual," but if you're like me (okay, you're a guy, so you're not) you don't necessarily pack a skirt on a ski trip. If you're only there a full day or two, just ski. There's other snowy stuff to do--dogsledding, sleigh rides, snowshoeing, but you can do that stuff a lot of places. You don't, however, get 8000 acres of skiing with 5100' of vertical just anywhere. As to where, it depends on your ability level. Here's a good guide to get you started: Whistler Blackcomb trail guide Also, the resort offers free mountain tours for intermediate or advanced skiers from the Roundhouse, at the top of the Whistler gondola. I asked about cocktails in another recent Whistler thread and was given a few recommendations, if you search. Since you mentioned budget--I think most of us stay in condos at Whistler. They are more plentiful and often less expensive than hotel rooms. Having a condo, of course, means you can cook your own food (and for me, it means more time on the slopes, since I'm not wasting time waiting for someone else to serve me eggs in the morning). There's an expensive but nice grocery in Whistler, or a cheaper one in Squamish on the way up. One great site for condos is alluradirect.com. I can give you a specific recommendation if you like. The drive is fairly annoying right now--its 50 km/h for much of it, due to construction. You don't need a car there and it seems like most visitors that aren't locals take a shuttle (we're in Seattle, so we drive). If you're coming from Seattle, and planning on going straight to Whistler, you might see how long the shuttles take, and then compare how long it would take in a car (4.5 hours as long as there aren't bad border delays AND you use the truck crossing and skirt the east/north sides of Vancouver. Google maps will point the way). All the lodgings you marked are quite central. The only thing I would caution you about is noise if you are in the very heart of the village (the two bottom lodgings on your map). Last weekend when I was there they had hip hop, djs and live rock in the Village plaza all day until, I think, 10pm. You might love that, but if not, you might want to check to see if there are events like that going on while you're there.

I probably should have said "sign" rather than tag--I meant the sign in the case that identifies each item. When you look in the case, there's often a sign for each item, and it it doesn't say DRY scallops, I ask. Or, if they use a blackboard for prices, it might say dry there. If not, again, I ask.

If I don't see the word "dry" on the tag, I always ask, even at my favorite fishmonger. My understanding is that most scallops have this preservative.

Thank you! Those suggestions sound right up our alley.

My local (Seattle) fishmonger raved about her (American) Dover Sole recently; I bought some and when I looked it up in James Peterson's Fish and Shellfish at home, there was a bit of a warning about how this fish isn't true sole and lacks all of the good qualities of real Dover Sole. It was fine, it just didn't really have any flavor, and fell apart completely when cooked (not overcooked).

I know that President's Day=peas but it's always too cold to want to be in the garden--it's hard to think about gardening on a day I usually spend skiing (this year might be the exception, since its supposed to be so warm Sunday). So do you usually plant them this weekend?

Can anyone recommend a bar that makes a good cocktail (bars in restaurants are fine), and a low key/casual pub type place (as opposed to a meat market place that caters to obnoxious 21 year olds)? Thanks.

There's a new "Japanese confectionary" called Katara (sp?) on Phinney at about 64th, in the little house that used to house that pottery shop. I THINK I saw a sign that said "open house Feb. 8th."

Well, you're not alone--I've have that experience as well (obviously, since I posted above you about a less than thrilling Union experience). Raves+high prices=big expectations, so its not all that surprising when someplace disappoints. If you look at restaurant threads at egullet you'll find people disappointed in all sorts of places that are supposed to be great-Per Se, etc. I've often had the experience that the kitchen is putting out food that is creative and beautiful, but not, to me, truly delicious. I also think that the "best" restaurants are on the forefront of certain dining trends, and if you don't like those trends, then, well...I'm generally happiest at restaurants that are a notch down from fine dining-Boat Street, Matt's, etc. I've also, by the way, had some fine dining experiences that were not disappointing in the least. The food at Mistral was great. Though, probably because of my expecations, I do remember the little things I didn't like about it. (I wonder if this is a better topic for its own thread in restaurant life).

Most of the overpriced items I see are so expensive because they come from very far away, or are out of season, and so I don't buy them for those reasons as well. I wouldn't buy one of those little plastic half-pint containers of berries you see in winter not just because they cost $5, but because they come from Chile and taste like nothing. I'll wait until berries are in season, less expensive, and actually good. I guess this is the point others are making--there's usually so much other stuff that is delicious that is in season, local, and less expensive. For me here in Seattle, anyway. I do understand that in NYC everything is more expensive, and that in some places, there just isn't that much local stuff. Case in point. If I were you, I probably wouldn't buy salmon. I get the BEST local salmon at my farmer's market for $18.99/lb, and I don't mind paying that for such a great product. But I don't buy the very expensive and shipped-from-afar Maine lobster at the store. Well, once every couple years maybe.

So we all heard the news this week about the new study that tells preganant women to avoid caffeine completely, right? That was the attention grabbing headline I saw everywhere. But what is never explained is why, if this one study found a link between caffeine consumption over 200 mg/day and miscarriage, the researchers recommend consuming NO caffeine. If they are correct, what's the problem with a 25 mg cup of green tea, or 50 mg cup of black tea, etc etc? And I found it interesting there were potential problems with the study that the radio and other news reports I heard ignored:

Thank you!! That definitely sounds like a worthwhile stop. So even for a truffle deprived American, you think that canned or other truffle products are not worth buying? I'm not sure I've ever had canned truffles.

We'll be in Dordogne in May and I'm wondering about bringing back truffle products. I know it's not truffle season, but is it worthwhile to buy and bring back canned truffle, truffle butter, etc? Is there anything to watch out for (for example, I know with foie I need to beware that I'm not buying the cheap eastern European stuff)? Or, will I only find the same products that I could get in the US, and so with the low dollar, is it not really worth it to buy?

How far in advance should I reserve for a May lunch?

I LOVED it!! Even the fiction section, and I'm not usually a big fan of the New Yorker short stories. I got it from the library but may need to buy my own copy.

I admit I saw her pushing these on her show. She says they are humanely raised (she's checked out the farm), no hormones/antibiotics (I can't remember if they get organic feed, too)..anyway, I am not a Costco shopper but I imagine that would make them different than the standard meat they sell? They will come back for Easter.

There's no bar, but I dined there solo on a work trip recently. Really, it's just like any other Thai place in terms of size/decor (so it's not weird to be alone). I'd make a reservation for dinner and either get there right at 11:30 or plan on waiting, for lunch. I also got take out from there with no problem. I had 4 things on 2 trips. 2-the egg noodle/curry dish on the northern Thai menu, and the green chili dip-were stellar (though I don't think steamed veggies made the best vehicle for the dip). The spicy glass noodle salad, which I ordered "medium" spicy when asked, would probably have been fantastic had it not been painfully spicy (and I do love spicy food-I eat tons of Szechuan. When they tag the menu items "spicy", believe them). The Tom Kah Kai was too salty and oily, and I wouldn't recommend it. All in all, though, it was great to see Thai dishes I wasn't familiar with, and I'd be so happy if a restaurant like this opened in my city.

Absolutely. There is no evidence that alcohol and caffeine, in moderation, are harmful, for example, and pregnant women in many European countries don't avoid either one. Nor do women in other cultures avoid raw fish or raw cheeses. In France, raw vegetables are the taboo--there is a funny bit in Adam Gopnik's From Paris to the Moon where his wife's doctor, upon finding she's pregnant, asks urgently if she's had any salad since she conceived (and I remember from Susan Loomis' On Rue Tatin that her doctor forbid car rides later into her pregnancy, that she should walk and use the Metro. Can you imagine that happening in the US?). Here is one very good NYT article where the pregnant author decides to look for scientific proof behind some of the food/drink pregnancy taboos. I think this bit sums it all up: NYT article

I'm halfway through and loving Secret Ingredients (the new collection of New Yorker food articles). It's worth it just for the food related cartoons alone.

I second the recommendation to pick up the Molly O Neill (ed) anthology: American food writing

The NYE dinner was disappointing. While the first couple courses--lobster salad and celery root soup-were very good, the rest of the menu was pretty blah. The scallop and the lamb courses were probably the least tasty scallops and lamb I've had in years. The quail was just boring. The chocolate dessert was similar to something I'm addicted to at Licorous, except not nearly as good (I didn't even finish it), and something was really off (a rouge rancid nut?) with the crumb topping for the ice cream. I don't ever expect to love everything on a tasting menu with no choices, but for $300+ for 2, it would have been nice to like everything a little more.

It was fried chicken that did me in, back in my 20s when I was a veg.