daisy17

Violin d'Ingres and Cafe Constant are open on Sunday - it's been a long time since I've been to either, but they're now on my list for Sunday - and Le Comptoir is as well.

I'll be there in a week and a half, and on my list are the following: Places I haven't been yet: Frenchie Spring Le Chateaubriand, or their other place, Le Dauphin (wine bar) Places I'll return to: Les Cocottes (my favorite meal on my last trip), or Violin d'Ingres (both are Christian Constant) Le Comptoir Paul Bert (bistro) Les Itineraires L'Atelier Joel Robuchon (have been many times, and I never tire of it)

Go there. Pretty sure you can eat at the bar if you're solo.

I fell in love with Le Pigeon in June. Still think about that meal.

I can't disagree with the premise, but is there a way for him to say it without sounding like a total asshole?

Pongsri's ok. I prefer Wondee Siam on 9th ave in the 50s (there are 2, the one further north is much larger).

My strategy on a Friday is always to go to the bar first (and yes, both are possible - they are about 6 blocks from each other, and I often do both in one night). I like to sit at the bar, not a table, and neither PDT nor D&Co reserve the bar. They both open at 6 and you should get seats for 2 at the bar if you're there before 6:30/6:45. If you want a table and can't make a reservation at PDT for one, you should be fine at D&Co for a table at 7. Later on on the weekends it can be hard to get seats at all, which is why I prefer early. I also don't see a problem at either Momofuku for 2 people at any time. After 7 you might have to wait for a little while (the cocktails at Ssam can help with this). As far as the idea of putting your name down at Ssam and then going to D&Co - I can't imagine the wait for 2 people would be long enough for that to be worthwhile.

how many people?

Read Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton and Life, On the Line by Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas this weekend. Highly recommend both. Compelling stories, and Hamilton is an amazing writer.

Read it cover to cover in 2 days and loved it.

Gluten finds its way into nearly every packaged or processed food, regardless of whether you think of that product as "wheat" or "flour" based. You know the crap that you can't pronounce or identify in a label? Well, a lot of it's gluten. Ingredients like hydrolyzed vegetable protein, malt, maldodextrin and modified food starch have gluten in them. Now, regardless of my gluten sensitivity, I don't know what the hell these things are, and I very rarely, if ever, eat or ate them. Shopping at a regular grocery store is still a nightmare for people who avoid gluten but eat processed or packaged foods. Do you know that many flavored yogurts have gluten in them? Does that sound necessary? Right. Obviously, taking crappy gluten filled food and replacing it with crappy gluten free food is not particularly healthy or helpful if you care about what you're eating, but I'm not telling the GF community what they should or shouldn't be eating. They are replacing products in their pantries with the GF options. I have found a few companies that are putting out relatively healthy frozen food without preservatives and ingredients that I can't pronounce (like Amy's, evol and four tines), and yes, they are labeled GF. And I eat them on occasion. And when I (rarely) want a bagel for my cream cheese and lox, those GF bagels you're mocking do really come in handy. What I'm still grappling with in this thread is why people with no medical knowledge or personal dietary health issues feel the need to judge here, or question whether other people's health issues really have been resolved by avoiding gluten. We're telling you they have been, and that should be all you need to hear. Our food systems are a disaster. Is it really surprising that people might experience better health by avoiding overly processed and genetically modified crap? Even more importantly, why do you care? I don't tell you what to eat.

It is precisely this perception that upsets me most about the gluten-free = healthy campaign. While there are plenty of folks who will latch onto a gluten-free diet for the wrong reasons, there are those among us who genuinely benefit from avoiding gluten, if not eliminating it altogether. At my doctor's suggestion, and after testing negative on a blood test for Celiac, I began a two-month long elimination diet in order to determine the cause of my nearly lifelong digestive issues. I did not eliminate sugar and unhealthy fats, nor did I increase my fiber intake. (That actually decreased once Cracklin' Oat Bran was eliminated from my diet.) My notes were detailed and precise, embarrassingly so. By the end of the two months, I was feeling spectacular. Was this anecdotal? Yes. But many doctors will tell you that NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity) is a very real phenomenon. This one, for instance. I would never choose to be this way. I love to bake. I love pasta. Most gluten-free breads and pastas are vile. In fact, more and more since I discovered this problem, I have been deliberately avoiding them altogether because they are, in most cases, a complete waste of time, an utter disappointment. I'd rather eat the real thing and feel sick to my stomach, which I do quite often again these days. Thank you, Abooja, for telling a story very similar to mine. JAZ, with all due respect, your post makes me very angry. Yes, there are fad dieters for everything. But there are many people with food sensitivities, and there are many doctors, mine included, who firmly believe that there exist gluten sensitivities other than celiac, but the medical community has not identified markers for diagnosing those yet. The "anecdotal" evidence of gluten sensitivity shouldn't be ignored just because the medical community and tests haven't caught up. Like Abooja, I've lived with GI issues for as long as I can remember, and when they finally became completely unbearable - including, most recently, crippling stomach cramps - last spring, I started reading about food sensitivities and allergies with a real interest. I tested negative for celiac. I took gluten out of my diet (this was my idea based on what I'd read, not a Dr's suggestion). Three days into my elimination diet my digestive issues were almost completely resolved. I can't even begin to tell you what a difference this has made for my life. On the rare occasion that I do have gluten - as in a bite of pasta, not a bowl - I risk having it all come back. No one loves freshly baked bread, pasta, or baked goods more than I do, and yet I rarely eat any of that. Gluten-free replacements are generally crappy and not worth eating. I have never been on a fad diet, and that's not what I'm doing now - I'm choosing my health and well being over food, and while I miss all that good stuff, at the end of the day I couldn't be happier about having figured out what was making me so sick. There are a lot of us out there.

I do this almost every time I give change but in my defense I always round in favor of the guest. A check presenter full of dimes and nickels is a metallic shower waiting to happen when it get picked up before being opened. I do use quarters usually, if it is not close to a whole dollar amount. Sorry, I should clarify: I have no problem with rounding on change. But what's happening here - it's now happened several times at different places - is rounding in the house's favor, not in mine. (For example, the bill is $21.40, I put down $30, and I get back $8.) Again, this is not about the money, and I am far from cheap (really, I swear, I am not cheap). I don't need or want more coins or my 60 cents back. It smacks of presumption on the part of the server to round in their own/the house's favor.

Reaching across the table is only acceptable if there is no way for the server to get into the space at a better angle. Otherwise, no. My biggest pet peeve is the auctioning of dishes to the diners by the waitstaff. "Who gets the salmon" is not hospitality. Please use position numbers and put the plates down where they go. Please. I also cannot stand an obvious upsell, most usually done on water. Lately I've noticed this one (in NY restaurants only so far) - when my "change" arrives, it actually contains no change (coins). I haven't noticed it when dining at tables, only at the bar, and it would bother me less at a table (I realize that servers on the floor may not have access to a register as easily, but a bartender should). I don't really care about 75 cents and that's not what it's about - to me, it smacks of entitlement and laziness. Not a fan.

Yup, the menus used to say that it was not vegetarian-friendly. Momofuku vegetable dishes have long been among my favorites and there are times I won't go because there aren't enough on the current menu. The cauliflower and brussels sprouts (different preps at Noodle Bar and Ssam) are amazing, and the corn in the summer is something I constantly crave. I'd love it if they did more vegetable dishes, even if they're not vegetarian.

That's funny, weinoo - I was going to suggest August when you said you were going but figured you'd have a full dining plan already mapped out. I ate at the bar there a few years ago and absolutely loved it. I agree wholeheartedly that there are a lot of crappy popular restaurants in New Orleans. Glad you enjoyed. I ate at NOLA (Emeril's) about 14 years ago with my parents/brother and we all loved it - definitely was not a gimmicky Emeril thing, just straightforward, excellent food. It was the highlight of the trip (Bayona and Commander's Palace paled in comparison). I don't know that I've ever publicly admitted dining at one of his restaurants, but it was definitely a great meal.

I'm pretty sure I'd want what I always want: a manhattan. It's the answer to every question.

If those are in the mix I think the Averna is more versatile and absolutely better for sipping. Averna is my #2 after Nonino actually. Ramazzotti is very syrupy, on the sweet side, and has a strong cola taste. I don't think I would ever want to sip it.

I agree with EvergreenDan's advice here on the Nonino for sipping. It's my absolute favorite amaro - if I had to drink just one for the rest of my life (God forbid) that would be it. Well worth the price.

Any remaining disappointment relating to weinoo's refusal to brave the elements to catch Liz Phair in Williamsburg on Wed night has dissipated with his Russ & Daughter visit and photos. R&D is one of my absolute favorite places in NY and not only because the whitefish salad is laced with crack (it has to be - that's the only way to account for me eating something with mayonnaise in it). It is uniquely New York and one of the last of a dying breed. I walk in and am instantly transported to my childhood (which was not in 1914 when R&D opened). I'd like to start a campaign to keep the word "appetizing" alive.

I can't agree with the basic premise - I didn't grow up around excellent cooking but that hasn't dimmed my enthusiasm (or my brother's) for food. My father is the kind of guy to take a bite of something, exclaim loudly, and remember it years later, and so I grew up with a model for loving food, but the cooking in my house was far from stellar. This is an interesting topic for me personally though. I grew up in a kosher home. We ate lots of non-kosher food outside of the home, and my dad loves and would order non-kosher ingredients, but I did not grow up in a kitchen where pork or shellfish were EVER prepared. There is no doubt that this has affected my relationship with food. Pork was an entirely uncomfortable realm for me for a very long time (see, e.g. my trip to Spain in 1999), and I credit my exposure to it and love for it now to an ex-boyfriend's passion for all things traif. I would not know how to cook a lobster if my life depended on it, and shellfish has never really made me swoon. I do cook pork now all the time and have stopped expecting to be struck down by lightning while doing so (whew). I strongly believe that familiarity with ingredients and a specific food culture as a child can certainly affect your love for and comfort with them as an adult.

I don't even know how to answer that! You know that I'm a R&D devotee, but the smoked salmon in Barcelona was ridiculous. I would never have thought to order it but kathryn and/or spaetzle_maker told me to and it was so amazing that I then had it at Paco Meralgo and QyQ also.

That was my favorite thing there too (after the salmon at Inopia I ordered it everywhere)! Looks like we all have to go back now.

I'm pretty sure they did. Could have sworn that what I had was Yzaguirre but that doesn't mean there weren't others. I'd happily go back to research and confirm.

I had vermouth on tap there (ridiculously good) but did not know they had homemade vermouth too. Quimet y Quimet was one of my favorite stops on my trip....