LaNiña

Too late. My feelings are all hurt.

To Sripraphai: Take the #7 train to 61st St./Woodside. It's an express stop, so you can take either the local (circle) or the express (diamond). When you get out of the train, go down to the street and follow Roosevelt Ave. in the same direction the train was going, to 64th St. Turn left. Go one block, it's right there across the street, can't miss it. 6413 39th Ave. (718)899-9599 open for lunch and dinner closed Wednesdays

In the photo, it looks like the letter C almost, but a little flatter.

i shall give you all the info when i get into the office. zagat's sucks. so does TONY. duh.

Sounds like a field trip to Sripraphai is in order.

When I was growing up, we had a series of Danish au pairs, each for a year, for about 8 subsequent years. And we kept in touch over the years with many of them. And every time one of them would come to visit in later years, they would invariably ask to have a Thanksgiving feast made during their stay. It represented for them the quintessential American meal, and they all LOVED it.

Ha. But wouldn't it be maple something-or-other, in all seriousness?

For you, FG, even better: "...of the 6 New York-area butchers we called, only three knew what we were talking about, and none sold the cut. Invented in the 1940s by mater butcher Jack Ubaldi, Newport steaks are available at only one place: Florence Prime Meat Market in Manhattan, in the shop Ubaldi founded in 1936. Ubaldi never intended to create a new type of steak, but one day while breaking down a bottom butt, he followed his instincts and sliced the piece that is shaped like a triangle (and often sold as triangle roast or tri-tip, especially in California) into steaks about an inch thick, then folded the two ends together to make a neat little package. (Straightforward triangle steaks are common, but Ubaldi cut these a little differently: his exact method remains a secret). They were an immediate hit with his customers, who liked the taste, the size, and the price. Ubaldi, who passed away last year at 90, sold Florence in 1976, but the steak remains one of the shop's signature items. It sells over a thousand a week to locals and mail-order customers. And how did Newport steaks get their name? Ubaldi thought the steaks resembled the quarter moon featured in a Newport cigarettes ad." Note: there is also a recipe in the issue for Newport Steaks with Tarragon Mustard Butter, and some photographs of the dish and of the raw, cut steaks.

I went to Mie Thai for the last NJ egullet dinner. In my humble opinion, it didn't stand up against Sripraphai, not by a long shot.

That I understand, and it's a good question. I just don't understand the difference you tried to point out between book/movie and opera/museum.

Steve, I don't understand the difference. A person can't dictate what's in a book or a movie anymore than a person can dictate what's in a museum or an opera. It's a take it or leave it proposition in all of those cases, isn't it?

Hey, just telling ya what I read there.

There's an article on this exact thing in the May/June Saveur.

How about pizza? Or french fries?

Okay - finally made it to Il Gelatone, which is on 28th/3rd Ave. It was, in a word, delicious. I liked it better than Cones. Not as sweet, and more interestingly flavored, I thought. I sampled about 10 flavors, and ended up getting a cup with bacio (chocolate/hazelnut), mou (caramel, sort of dulce de leche-ish but better, hint of cotton candy), and fig. I spoke to the owner of the shop, an Italian guy - khao (who was with me) had noticed a sign that said "elenka," which he recognized from the gelato place on 4th Ave. between 9th - 10th. The owner told us that Elenka is the brand name of the "paste" he uses, the concentrates. The gelato base is made on the premises. We read some of the articles and stuff that are posted on the walls: gelato has significantly less butterfat than "ice cream," and is also not frozen as hard. Those seem to be the main differences we read about.

Going this evening for dessert after Congee Village. Friends just agreed. Phew.

I"m so jealous. I'm dying to try this place.

So whaddaya know, serendipity. My sister is coming into the city on the 14th of August, and is insisting that we eat Thai food in Manhattan. No budging. And anyway Sripraphai is closed on Wednesdays. Where the hell should we go? I haven't eaten Thai food anywhere except Sirpraphai in so long...(wait, except Mie Thai at the egullet NJ dinner, which was fine, but can't hold a candle to Sri...)

I think you ordered wrong. But I'll leave it up to khao to respond. He's a major Sripraphai maven.

That is, until Ali and Mustafa create that menu...cannot wait. And wait a second, lots of people would notice. Why wouldn't they notice? The Russian places are good, and fun, and popular...

Russian Samovar on W. 52nd is pretty decent, too. And sometimes they have great live gypsy music.

Jeez, hope it included that ultimate fabulous place in my 'hood that our friend Amanda reviewed a couple of weeks ago. Who wants to go to Sripraphai? It's the only place I can have Thai food anymore. It's that different, and that good.

Did anyone ever go to a restaurant called The Red Tulip back in the day...?

not to contradict you, but i have been attending lots of sherry tastings and have taken 2 pretty serious sherry tasting classes, and in all of the above the sherries were cold - all the sherries, and i have been told at all of these occasions that all sherries should be served cold. they're white wines. i ordered an amontillado to start, and when i realized it wasn't cold, i switched to a manzanilla, which was cold. go figure.

Ah, understood.