crouching tyler

Thanks for your suggestions. As I have been browsing through the discussions in the Hawaii forum, I have noticed an absence of vegetarian items. At this point, unless I come across new information, I am leaning towards making some sort of Thai salad - with either mango, or papaya - based on the idea that these fruits are avaialable in Hawaii. Weak, I know. But I am reluctant to attempt poke - given that I would be substituting an essential ingredient into a dish which I have not yet tasted in its original form. I clearly have some exploring to do though. It should be fun.

I've been asked to contribute a vegetarian Hawaiian entree and/or salad for a party being thrown for a friend. She is from Hawaii, now living in Seattle, and a vegetarian. The party's hosts would like to surprise her with Hawaiian food, as made by a variety of non-Hawaiians. I am not sure of the wisdom of having a bunch of people attempt a cuisine they are unfamiliar with, as a surprise, but it is not my party, so why not? Since I haven't yet had the pleasure of visiting Hawaii, and have limited time for research, I thought I would see if any of you have bright ideas for me. The party is this Saturday, June 10th, in the late afternoon. Seattle has a decent selection of Asian grocers, so I can probably track down tropical and/or Asian ingredients without too much trouble. I'd appreciate any advice you might have for me.... Thanks, Robin

Just a price update: At University Seafood & Poultry, CR Sockeye is $20/lb, CR King is $27/lb. If you are planning to go Saturday, however, remember that the U-district Street Fair will be underway...

Our default dinner restaurants: Taste of India Siam on Lake Union Musashi Sometimes I wish I could arrange a combo meal: Spinach Naan, Pad Thai and Noodle Salad. Ugh. Actually, that sounds awful all together like that. But, at each of their respective restaurants, I love them dearly.

Or look at this past Wednesday's NY Times for a comparision of traditional tangines and those made by Emile Herny, Le Crueset, and All-Clad. NY Times votes for the traditional one.

This is probably a silly suggestion but have you tried Uwajimaya? I have been happily surprised lately by their coverage of what I think of as Caribbean/Latin American ingredients. There is obviously a fair amount of overlap due to climate and trade, I guess. So, it is probably a long shot, and one you have probably already ruled out, but I thought I would mention it just in case.

We have a 24" Liebherr, which we bought in August 2005. So, I can't say anything about the longer term, but so far we love it. It is well designed, quiet, and super efficient. I describe it as a super model ( tall, sleek, styllish) crossed with a librarian (quiet, efficient). We had a similiar dilemma with a smallish kitchen - actually more of an awkward kitchen, and opted for standard cooktop/oven and sleek, stylish, skinny refrigerator. There is a thread lurking around in the depths of egullet that lays out our particular situation - but that is largely irrelevant to you. My recommendation - based on experience with the Liebherr and the standard size oven/range - is to do just that. We occasionally have to resort to a cooler to keep beer/sodas/ice cold if we are having a party, but that has been the only inconvenience. And we usually have 10 lbs of chicken in our freezer at any given time (long tangent - it is for the dog - spoilt damn dog). I have lived in apartments with small stoves/cooktops and infinitely prefer the convenience of having a cooktop on which you can have at least two largish pots/pans, and an oven in which you put two 9 inch cakes pans next to each other. So, in summary: Love the Liebherr Buy the biggest range/oven you can! Good luck with the new kitchen!

Plantains. Don't get me wrong. I don't hide my need for plantains. It is very important, if there are any plantains within reach, to warn any unsuspecting folks who might presume to eat any of them... it is very important to warn them that all the plantains are mine. Plantains are the only food about which I am truly irrational.

Make it fresh!! Galangal you can find at Uwajimaya or Central Market, no sweat. Central Market sometimes has fresh turmeric; I don't think I ever saw it at Uwajimaya, but occasionally at the other asian markets up Jackson street. Oh, and where did you find kao soi in Seattle?? ~A ← My husband and I made Khao Soi this past weekend - and we found almost everything we needed at Uwajimaya - including fresh tumeric and galangal. Like Abra, we have had the Khao Soi at Thaiku. Except in our case, we go there specifically for Khao Soi and Mien Kham (feel free to correct my spelling...) and we go there fairly often. We made the curry paste in a mortar and pestle, and 3 days later our house still smells slightly of Khao Soi, which only makes me hungry for the stuff all over again. As an aside, we had to go Viet Wah to get the leaves for the Mien Kham.

I saw Sandra Bernhard in a Whole Foods, too. In Seattle, no less. Strange. I am thoroughly enjoying this blog - this slice of NYC. I think this blog may end up giving a slight increase to NYC tourism, as you continue to inspire us to plan our next trip to the city, and all its food fabulousness.

I have a Liebherr that I bought at Albert Lee Appliance. I would recommend both the refrigerator and Albert Lee. We just have one 24" unit, with the freezer on the bottom. Super quiet, and very sleek.

What I want: Timovo Table. Why I can't have it: It would not fit into the "dining room" (which is not actually separate from the "living room").

This semi-lurker (what is exactly the threshold for lurking? - the percentage of posts made of posts read, perhaps?) had lunch at Green Leaf with a few friends, Sunday. It was a perfect day for vast, steaming amounts of tasty noodle soups (duck, udon, and pho, in our cases).

A variation or interpretation of Tres Leches Cake.

Thanks so much for putting this all in one spot. I'd thought I'd looked around sufficiently to determine there wasn't a thread that answered my question, but I was clearly wrong. I will get to Whistler armed with restaurant recommendations - which is my favorite way to enter any new food territory. My friends will probably be delighted with all the Starbucks, but perhaps I can convince them to give something else a shot at Behind the Grind. Sounds like there is good food to be found as well - and no shortage of steak and oysters apparently. Too bad I am allergic to oysters, and will have to eat steak instead.

I'm headed up to Whistler (from Seattle) on short notice tomorrow. I just learned that a friend who lives in Singapore will be up in Whistler for a while. I'd love to hear some recommendations from visitors/locals or anyone else familiar with the area. In particular, I am looking for: - a great coffee shop, or at least a place to get a good Espresso - somewhere to have a lively, entertaining, casual meal on Saturday night. Cuisine is not so important as a good atmosphere, great food. Preferably not a chain. - a good pub for lunch on Sunday But, basically any recommendations would be useful. We are all adults, so kid-friendly is not important in our case. Thanks much, Robin edited for clarity edited again for spelling

I just returned from 2+ weeks in Costa Rica. While it is certainly not a foodie destination, we were able to find plenty of good food, and even some great food. If you must have fabulous food of incredible diversity during your travels, Costa Rica is not the place for you. There are plenty of other reasons to go to Costa Rica, however. A summary from the food perspective. We had: - many well-prepared simple meals - one incredible steak - daily doses of fresh fruit juices and/or batidos - consistently superior coffee ( we only had 1 bad cup of coffee in 16 days ) - surprisingly good beer (Batavia Dark) and one of my favorite foods on the planet: plantains ( platanos). I had them every day, in one of several forms (none of which are healthy, by the way). And we, too, returned with a hearty appreciation for Linzano - and 3 bottles of it. Good to know there is a source in the U.S. I think it will be part of permanent condiment repetoire, henceforth. I 'll probably post a few of my recommendations in the next day or so. Like others, I had heard warnings of dire dining in Costa Rica. I was happy to be pleasantly surprised again and again.

Just a quick bit of agreement here. 4 of us had dinner at Magnolia Bistro (which is strangely in Ravenna) on Wed. night. Two very good steak frites, and two even better roasted chickens. The chickens, as mentioned elsewhere on this thread I believe, were both moist and well-flavored. For some reason, I think juicy is a weird word to apply to poultry, and moist is just a weird word. But moist will have to do. Anyway, I hope this place halts the seemingly endless parade of restaurants in this spot. -Robin

A few years ago I went to a little sushi place with a view of the marina at the south side of Magnolia (?). It was sort of tucked away, in the shadow of some large spendy pac. nw. restaurant. And only a few tables actually had a view of the marina. It wouldn't suit downtown big spenders at all. But does anyone know the name of the place I am weakly describing? Is it any good? I don't remember. I was on a date, and wasn't very focused on the food, I am afraid.

Count me as another Toby's fan. Although, I have never managed to get one of those booths overlooking the water. Hmmm. Maybe I need to drive to Whidbey today. Toby's alone is not worth the drive, but if you are on Whidbey and looking for regular food, I too would recommend the fish and chips. The beer is pretty good too.

I couldn't agree more - they are the perfect food. Except for the fact that I haven't found anyone in Seattle that makes them. If it helps at all, the Jam. Beef Patty recipe from the NYTs was in the July 20, 2005, paper. If I had a flat bed scanner, the recipe would be yours in a heartbeat. Alas, I do not. But perhaps you can fetch it from the NYT archives for a small fee ? I would also be interested in seeing family recipes.

Forgive me if you've already mentioned this, but what is your favorite cheese shop?

Who are these waitstaff who are running around indiscrimately touching customers? I'd love to hear from some of them - and their persepective. For my part, I wonder, isn't a warm smile and a pleasant tone a sufficient indicator of friendliness? And I think a handshake is a perfectly acceptable way of greeting waitstaff whom you often encounter. I, too, am in the camp of people who prefer not to be touched by random strangers. And perhaps there is something in my general demeanor that communicates this quite clearly to waitstaff. I can't think of one experience when a waitperson has just reached out and laid a hand on me. I do, however, throughly enjoy the super hug I get when I run into my friend Dana, on staff at the Luau, for example.

I've been to the Indonesian place once, and have been trying to get back to explore more of the menu. The staff was super friendly. It is a casual, inexpensive place and has that vibe. The food was great (but I was also experiencing waves of nostalgia for Indonesia so I might have been biased). There was one really tasty chicken dish. I 'll try to remember the name of it and let ya'll know. edit: The name of the restaurant is Batavia (or something very very close).

Here is a picture of the back porch, in its current condition. So, there is room out there for a small/mid-size freezer perhaps. Hmmmm. We haven't actually moved in yet, so please excuse the mess. By the way, the veg/herb garden (the one that is being dreamed up as we speak) will probably occupy the sunny space to the left of the deck.