Kim WB

Hi..anyone know of any Kamado grill dealers in NJ or Philly area ..someplace where I could go and look at one? I found a few places that have the big green egg..but these sure are prettier! thanks

Thanks Brian....they're on the list..perhaps lunch next week. Kim

brian, can you name a few of these places? I'd love to try this cuisine, as I am a fan of thai, chinese and Indian, but never fused together, and would appreciate a more local place to experiment. I know you are a fan of te Iselin/Edison Indian Route 1/ Old Post Food corrider..where would you suggest there?

Ideally, that is how I would prefer to order. I'd choose an appetizer, a bottle of wine, see how that works, get an idea of what is coming out of the kitchen, then order the next course, wine, etc..but that is impractical from many viewpoints, both consumer and kitchen's. Although, when afforded the luxury of time, I've ordered meals that way. The dessert, for me, ties the meal together. I do make a point to balance apps and entrees...but often find myself, as the entree is being cleared away, with a strong craving or desire for fruit, or cheese, or chocolate, or something very tart, or something very creamy... not based on any dessert menu I've seen, just by what my palate has a taste for. I'd have no issue with dessert being part of the menu..I would simply not examine that part until after my entree was done, and I could listen to what my body and mind were telling me would be the perfect ending! ( and its not an issue of what one could consume..I eat when I'm not hungry all the time! )

Dessert should be selected after the rest of the meal, in my opinion, because its only after tasting the appetizer and entree that you can really "balance" the meal with the dessert...Perhaps the food was lighter.heavier/spicier/blander/saltier than you expected, and so your dessert selection might need cool tropical sorbets, or dense dark chocolate, or sweet coconut foam, etc etc to balance your meal. I recently went to dinner, and the food was more bland than I expected, smaller portions, etc. I went with the dense chocolate dessert, not my usual choice..but I needed strong flavors.

Maybe. My grandfather served in the Navy during WWII, so perhaps he brought it back from somewhere. He's passed on and she has Alzheimer's so I can't ask either of them, but maybe it's in their letters somewhere. I have those. It's the one thing of hers that I asked for in her will. Heather, "spoon rings" were very popular at NY/NJ flea markets and craft shows in the early-mid 70-s..just fyi.

Suzanne, we are talking about the Mr. Latte tittering are we not? Well, the book was about self discovery, as it relates to her relationships with food and family and her courtship with Tad. And tittering is a well known by product of falling in love.

I've heard some recent grumblings that Hamilton Grill Room was on the slippery downhill slope, but a recent visit didn't reflect that to our happy party of 4. A recent Thursday 7pm reservation landed us a lovely table overlooking the canal, Spring like enough to have the windows opened. Service was efficient and professional..wines opened promptly, friendly small talk but not intrusive, nice descriptions of specials that sounded genuinely enthusiastic, not memorized. We were dining with our physician and his wife...so I ordered perhaps a bit more healthfully than I might have..I rarely order a salad as an appetizer, but was not disappointed. A rather traditional chese/pear/nuts/greens combo,but well dressed, sparkling fresh. Dining companions had grilled asparagus, oysters and another salad...I'm blanking on the name of the oysters..its those tiney ones with a K..kumumoto? My husband, an oyster afficianado, declared them to be very good. Entrees included a well prepared, MR lamb, with a wonderful curry vegetable ragout. My husband had brook trout, which I thought was a four star dish, and rarely seen on menus in this area. It was accompanied by a creamy starchy timbbale..I'm not sure what it was..not polenta, perhaps a mashed potato cake of some kind..had a leek and turnip taste as well. Only had a forkful, and forgot to take a peek of the menu on the way out to confirm what it was. Dessert was hit or miss..the gentleman ordered a chocolate peanut butter mousse..and to the waiter's credit, he repeatedly said it was not the "texture" of a mouse, more like a "pudding"...um..more like canned frosting, actually. A few spoonfuls and it was too overwhelming. My coconut lemon tart was perhaps one day past its prime..nice bright lemon flavor, but mushy insipid crust. I had a taste of a companions apricot sorbet, which was dazzling with flavor. I'm thankful there was no parsley or rosemary savory/sweet fusion dishes...no basil with my ice cream. please. ( And, as a side note, no vanilla with the steak. I can't wait for this particular trend to pass) Certainly not an inspiring meal, but a pretty atmosphere, good service, reasonable prices, and above average food. Coupled with a before or after dinner drink at the always charming Boathouse next door, I think Hamilton's Grill Room still provides for an enjoyable night out.

This sounds like a wonderful event, but unfortunately I'm headed into Philly on Sunday ( Moshulu, inspired by this thread!) and again for the wine tasting on Tuesday...then again on Saturday to pack up my kid at Temple...so I'll have to pass this time..I hope everyone has a wonderful time...sounds great!

Randi, thanks for that link. Rachel, thans for introducing scallops to the thread. I've been too busy to cook, but signed on this morning looking for dinner inspiration for tonight, when I'll finally have an evening to kick back a bit and open a botlle while preparing REAL food. Scallops it is, from Wegman's

well, even if you are not impressed with his food, you have to admit Burke is an original when it comes to cuts of meat...See Fat Guy and Ellen's report here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...=0entry524276 ps, disclosure, fond ex wife!

In one of the monthly glossies, there was an article on food vacations, with formal lessons included in the trip. I;m not interestede in that, but am interested in some of e-gulleters favorite destinations..which are bound to have great meals incorporated. Specifically, I am looking for a long weekend kind of place near the central east coast ( Mass to GA, PA) that has high end accomodations and dining, relaxing, touristy shopping ok. Baltimore, Annapolis, Newport, all perfect but done before. Suggestions? Some great resort in Georgia? No golf focus, please. Your ideas and suggestions highly appreciated.

There is a legitimate issue with lingering food issues of any kind. As a real estate agent, I can assure you that this is often a subject that comes up, predominantly in Indian homes but in other homes as well. Often, the buyer request that some funds be kept in escrow until the home is repainted, at the buyer's cost, until the buyers is certain that the repainting remediated the problem. The biggest mistake that I have witnessed is homeowners buying new construction, not using primers or a sealed latex paint, and then the cooking odors get into the sheetrock. One kitchen cost close to 30k to remove all the sheetrock ( which was "oily" to the touch, so much had seeped into the walls) and replace and repaint. This was settled in court, and the buyers prevailed. If you cook any cuisine that uses strong spices, slap a coat of high quality paint on your kitchen walls every year or two. A spicy dish can fill your kitchen with pleasant odors that will eventually dissapate, but prolonged stove top high heat cooking can create a situation as described above, and that is not a pleasant smell by anyone's standards.

I use and egg wash and some heavily pepperred Wondra, then sautee in butter/evoo mix, remove the crabs and finish off with a touch of wine, lotsa lemon and maybe a dab or two more of butter...some capers if they are around, sprinkle of parsley. I've also grilled them from a simple garlicky marinade. I eat them all season..I have never cleaned them. I cook them a few hours after they are cleaned. If for some reason I don't want to saute them, or have extra and they need to be used that day, I use a tempura mix from an envelope, and have them the next day in a Kim version of a spider roll. They rarely go under $3 each, even at the peak of the season, here in NJ. Most of the season they are $5 each, and not real big.

Certainly the food selections are different, but the schools in my area, public and private. offer simialir variety: today Private HS'er had bagel with PB, chix parmigiana, and watermelon. He always has avail a potato bar, salad bar, stir fry bar, and rice or plain pasta. Public Jr High had "hot" lunch choice, which was rigatoni with meatballs, salad and bread pudding, or "cold" which was turkey on pita with cukes,carrots and ranch dressing, plus pinneaple...and then there is always chef's salad, PBJ, bagels and CC and ham sandwiches. I think these choices are prevelant in many suburban areas of the scountry.

I agree...my son rowed on the Skuykhill (sp?) recently, and we headed over there during a gap in the races....yikes! Just a mish-mash of selections, but in the same Pub atmosphere..no flow, to rhyme or reason...Dickens was a staple for us...but not for tabboleh or beet salads! Even with the unpleasant dichotomy of decor and food, the food itself was just ok, IMO.

Hold the phone there, fella. Mr Rodgers was a kind sweet man. Meet him a few times, talked to him on the phone as well (my mom was an advisor on a book he was working on) and he was never, ever an ass. He was a very kind gentle man. no way....I've been in a restaurant with him, he ordered a grilled cheese sandwich, water with lemmon, sliced tomatoes and milk. He wrapped up 1/2 the sandwich to see if the "nice driver, who's been pointing out all the sites in your wonderful busy city" would like the rest..there is no way you could BS that..he is really that nice.

Not only do I remember Sunday dinners, I remember my dad getting paid on Fridays, and my mom doing the weekly shopping on Saturday, and then often prepping the "Sunday Roast" on Saturday evening, so it was ready to pop in when we came home from mass...I used to sneak peaks all Saturday night at the leg of lamb, or veal, or roast beef, with anticipation of the next day's dinner!

I was off base injecting that unnecessary judgement call into my post, and I am sorry...I think the Bistro is wonderful, and its a great decision...my apologies for sticking in an undeserved "accusation" of sorts...and congratulations!

Went this week to the Bistro at Ryland..wonderful, charming, very good and reasonable Bistro food...however, it IS your anniversary, the celebration of your years together..is she worth the full boat at Ryland?If she is diagnosed with "the big C" next month..will you regret not bringing her for dinner at the Ryland Inn..that sounds oppressive, I apologize, but the fragility of life is always on my mind lately onto better thoughts... if she bore you children, please, spring for the big dinner!

Please, save me from basil and parsley and curry in my dessert..and foams. All foams...followed by..essences.....egads, I'm eating essence!

Halo pub is for locals, TS is for...tourists. Mace, good luck selling cardomom flavor ice cream in this town...its just liberal vanilla! Serously, there isn't even a progressive restaurant in town, let alone a progressive ice cream flavor! I hope you chose a location with onsite parking...I have a number of aquaintances who I'm sure won't visit the library once it relocates from the shopping center! LOL..but really. PS..bakery with bread and patisserrie? Princeton proper needs a Badger Bread co, IMHO.

I might need to change my sig line, to include " kids with Perfect manners who eat everything". In our house,its a lot more important to have read a newspaper in the morning, or discuss and dissect something we heard on the radio, than it is to put your napkin on your lap. It's much more of a priority to me that I raise a child with strong social convictions and opinions than a child who knows how to use a fish knife...a fish knife, for crying out loud! And its much more important to me that we laugh..REALLY LAUGH together at dinner, milk coming out of the nose kind of laughter, than it is to give them a speech about milk coming out of their noses. Be able to tell me what the presidential candidates stand for, not how important it is to sit like a soldier at a meal in your own kitchen! With that said, my teens are all operating within the boundries of social acceptability. They don't shout in restaurants, they are lovely guests ( I have been told) and there is nothing unapppealing about the way they eat..but they say that don't like things ALL the time, my sons still fling an occassional morsel at each other, my daughter eats like a speed demon, and even mom has been known to do weird Pelligrinno experiments at the table.

unfortunately, I will not be able to attend on that date. Enjoy!

I do recall a Reichl review that spent a paragraph or two going on and on about the deep brown eyes of ..was it Guy LeCoze (sp?) of LeB or David Bouley...whatever, it was actually a bit embarrassing, she used as many adjectives and superlatives on his looks as used on his food. I believe lipid was used, along with soulful and hooded. Yikes!