johnnyd

Soft shell lobsters are everywhere. Our supermarket cooks off a small heap of them every morning and sells for $6-$9 each. Takes no time to break it down while butter/garlic/sage leaf warms up. Cheaper than a sandwich this time of year.

We used to pay $12 for some organic stuff, but our local Hannaford supermarket has an in-house brand called Inspirations which cost ~ $7 UPDATE: Went upstairs to cook something and the coconut oil (14oz) is actually Nature's Promise - Organic, distributed by ADUSA in Salisbury NC, sourced from Sri Lanka. My bad!

Local scallops sauteed in coconut oil, finished with a splash of sake

David Geary and his wife Karen built the first microbrewery East of the Mississippi after the repeal of alcohol production in the USA. Incorporated in 1984, the first of his English Ale type beers rolled out two years later. I met him around 1998 at an Irish pub here in downtown Portland and we pretty much saw each other every weekday at Happy Hour. He went to England and Scotland in the early 80's to study brewing there, including Traquair House. He sold the brewery in 2017 and it is still operating here in Portland. Here is a brief bit of eGullet blog about my visit there in 2005 RIP old chum. JohnnyD

Lobster Bun - butter, garlic, sage, wild fennel and chive

Grilled octopus appetizer at Scales restaurant, Portland Maine. Cipollini reduction and pine nuts. Delicious!

Seared Blue Fin Tuna at the Mixed Doubles Final!

Levantine Lunch with Wimbledon

Outstanding report KennethT. I've learned a lot this AM, like there are so many more sambals than the jar of sambal oelek I always have. And as usual with eGullet travel threads, I really feel like I'm there. Thank you. A shame you guys aren't partial to ripe papaya. In Brazil, my Mom would serve up some ripe papaya whenever my stomach acted up and I just about instantly felt better. Squeeze a some lime juice on it. Ginger is miraculous here too. Whenever my throat starts getting scratchy and a cold is nigh, I peel a coin of fresh ginger and chew it up. Works every time. Blog on!

"Nandos" peri peri is from South Africa that I see in the States sometimes. Weighing in with my recent purchase, from my Korean grocer, which he highly recommended. It's pretty damned good!

Prik Khing curry tofu. Not particularly attractive but unexpectedly delicious considering I wasn't using a recipe, just mucking around.

Opah, poached in vermouth, ginger sticks and tarragon

Pork belly, rubbed with S&P, sugar and 5 spice, cooked low and slow for 6 hours, in a ginger chx stock with udon. Mmmm....

No, go ahead and serve them. Not everybody cares how they look. Besides, maybe their regular shucker wasn't there. The guys at Scales know their stuff though, and Scales share owners of Fore St

Really great report, weinoo! Bad oyster shucking should be a hanging offense. Clams get no respect most of the time too. I worked in 3 oyster bars - the last one I owned - and have shucked thousands. The trick with clams is using a flat, wide blade so you can bend it against the shell, keeping the meats intact. If I'm served either that have been hacked to bits the tip goes way down. I see the Fore St gift certificate I've hung onto since before the pandemic won't buy as much as I thought.

Newish place off the Eastern Prom, called "Helm". Elegant oyster bar and great wine list. Found out about it from here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CrHSJfzrn2A/

It's definitely curious. The flesh is quite firm, and the skin is hard like fiberglass. I carefully cut it off before poaching in 1/4 cup each of water, shiaoxing, and soy sauce. In retrospect, I'd half the soy next time.

Opah doesn't come around very often. Here's a 1/3lb slab simmered in Siaoxing, soy sauce, garnished with thai basil, cilantro and togarashi.

You are right, Sir! I suppose it had been such a whirlwind this weekend I neglected to account for the extra blocks North. My wife and I had so much fun. We got all delusional about buying a pied a terre somewhere midtown, but I've run out of children to sell...

Pete Wells was lukewarm on a handful of vendors too, probably because things like satays were straightforward instead of going to eleven. He ends his article with a positive vibe, and says "But it could be amazing." We were there as the lunch crowd began surging, but before that, most occupied tables seated Asian patrons, which to me, is a vote of confidence. Honestly, if we didn't have a flight out, we'd've been there all day.

Back from a conference in NYC yesterday, where before our flight we had the chance to check out Urban Hawker which I read about in the NYTimes in January. Developed by KF Seetoh, Tony Bourdain's partner in his multi-ethnic street food project for the old Fulton Street pier fish market. As veterans here probably already know, things got complicated and then Tony checked out, but Mr. Seetoh kept at it. A pared down version of AB's vision focusing on just Singapore street-food 'hawkers', who had been cleared out of Singapore streets in an effort to polish the city for foreigners - I think some have been allowed to return after fierce citizen lobbying. Located in a indoor concourse between 50th and 51st St. near 7th Ave, Mr. Seetoh invited existing and semi-retired Singapore street chefs to participate and they opened in September 2022. My wife and I eagerly explored the ~17 vendors there and settled on sharing two dishes and an amazing Singaporean coffee for dessert. Since it was just after opening, not everyone was set up, but these guys at Dim Sum Darling were ready to go. Happy to honor the crew recommendations, we had the Meat Supreme, represented convincingly by the ubiquitous food sculpturing on the far right. Would we like to add marinated shitake mushrooms? Say no more. How about a hard-boiled egg, (which I suspect, was simmered in mirin/soy)? Why, yes, yes we would. Fish cakes, seasoned ground pork, cabbage hide the dumplings nestled in thin vermicelli in an amazing broth. Served with a bit of XO and chili sauce. About $20. (Far and away the best meal we had in NYC over our two-night stay). I'd have this for breakfast every day. The Sling Bar, serving seasonal gin-based cocktails and Singaporean twists on classics. Not even noon so they were quiet. The bar is at the entrance on the 51st St side, right across the street from Le Bernardin Next, we had the highly popular Singapore Hainanese chicken rice, at Hainan Jones (see row of hanging chicken above). These guys were the only ones with a form-a-line tape divider, and the staff was cranking, and it's just Tuesday. They handle a brisk call-ahead crowd too. Our order was ready in about 90 seconds... Available fried, roasted or poached, we chose poached as suggested by Pete Wells in his NYT review. We ordered a side of tofu. A thickish, soy/hoisin/maybeblackvinegar condiment electrified the dish. Chinese broccoli was perfectly steamed. Both of our dishes featured liberal scatterings of fried shallots. It was time to start our walk to Port Authority so we got a kopi from Kopifellas, dark-roasted coffee brewed in a sock and steamed with Evaporated ('for the cream') and condensed ('for the sweet') milk. It was delicious. While my wife watched the capable crew concoct our brew, a lady struck up a conversation. She was an event planner from mid-town and had come to check it all out. "Wait. You're here from Maine, and I've only heard about this place yesterday?!" Indeed, I'm a little bewildered our esteemed NYC members haven't mentioned this jewel box near Times Square, but as a former New Yorker, I understand the appeal of avoiding the area. We have been exactly nowhere for four years (obligatory holidays at in-laws outside of Boston don't count) so a whirlwind two nights in Times Square when our annual industry conference resumed was just what we needed. There are many, many other dishes here we have to come back and try - Mr. Wells covers quite a few in the NYT review above. (Alternative review without paywall in Thrillist.com) For our first step into the post-pandemic (so far) travel milieu, this was a home run. Do visit soon. Post your reviews in this thread if you like. Cheers, JohnnyD

Yellowfin Tuna for Lunch, this time with leftover Yam Nua dressing

Local scallops and heirloom fingerlings, sauteed in sage butter. Amazing...

Really good! Tasted like a true classic. We had no bean sprouts, so next time. We used what we had, rice noodles poached for about three minutes. Half went into the fridge for something else later, but the book said the hardening was due to starch that crystalizes. He recommended spreading the fridged noodles on a plate with a mug of hot water and microwaving for a few seconds at a time. I suppose making a nice soup would take care of it too. My wife thought of Crazy Rich Asians because I was reading the book aloud while she crafted, then made dinner. She thought of the street-food vendors the kids visit when their plane touches down in Singapore, so we put it on. Probably my favorite scene! Speaking of which, who has been to Urban Hawker NYC at 50th street? Bourdain's old partner for that big street food pier project started working on this after Tony died and it opened 9/22. He flew in street food vendors from Singapore to run it. I'll be there end of March to check it out. https://www.urbanhawker.com/

Valentine's Day is my birthday, and my Valentine gave me this masterpiece. I buried my head in it for three hours then made a big batch of Chow Fun, and watched Crazy Rich Asians.