jhlurie

Apparently the show has been moved from Thursdays at 8PM to Saturdays at 8PM. Tonight is the first night on this new schedule. I guess it wasn't quite getting "Survivor" ratings in that Thursday slot.

I've seen it more often in recent years, but they are like... plastic jug things, not really bottles. Actually, Whole Foods and one or two other places I've seen carry glass, but only for the expensive Organic stuff. EDIT - Never mind, misstenacity got it.

If requests are being taken, I'm hoping for a Stacked Enchilada appearance. Then again, it probably takes an extra Pilates class or three to get rid of that.

I'll start with an odd one, but it's probably info much wanted by those who are into this place. Han Ah Reum, the Korean supermarket chain, seems to be having a monster sale this week. Due to my lack of Korean reading skills I can't swear this applies to all locations, but I was at the Little Ferry store and things were in full swing there. Pretty much ALL of the produce is on sale, and a lot of the rest of the store too. The end date is Jan 27th 2005, so hurry up.

We've got a topic specifically on Shoprite, but it seems a slightly wider topic might be useful, since NJ has about a dozen different Supermarket chains--more if you count independants. The Supermarket Generic Products in NJ topic might also be a useful resource for NJ folks looking to save money. Also, as a resource, here are links to online version of the sales circulars of a number of major NJ serving chains: A & P ShopRite (all locations) Pathmark Whole Foods C-Town Super H-Mart/Han Ah Reum - NY/NJ wide circular

What is the deal with NFLers and restaurants in Florida? Does every single player have one?

That's the last straw! Put the man on subscription radio if he's going to go all Howard Stern on us. The horror!

You know what I love about Diet Mountain Dew Code Red? The name! I mean it was probably the winner in the "how long can you make a soda name" contest up until "Dr. Pepper's Fountain Classics Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper". Yes, please, fire up the smoker!

Spotted today: Pathmark Cocoa Crunchies ARE Cocoa Puffs down to the last ingredient as far as I can tell and come in a HUGE 32 ounce bag for about three and a half bucks. I'm not sure of Cocoa Puffs exact current price, but I think it's approximately the same price for half that amount. Someone above mentioned America's Choice New York Extra Sharp Cheddar. Today I got the Pathmark equivalent and it also seems superior to Kraft, at the very least, and far cheaper. I look at other recent generic items I've bought--saltines, long-grain white rice, even bread and I wonder why national brands get away with higher prices anyway--at least with simple items like these. Are saltines from a major manufacturer really going to be any better? Will MOST non-premium rice be better?

Let's try and stay in-bounds with each other here folks. It's okay that our opinions vary, as long as we bash each other with debate instead of personal criticisms. Be passionate, but be civilized, okay?

I just see SO little supporting evidence for most of the claims in this thread. The Southern Culture forum people are probably chuckling reading some of this. Claim: A BBQ joint must only serve one kind of meat to be great. --Well, as several people have shown, there are too many counter-examples to credit this. And in fact, it makes very little sense on it's own. True BBQ is smoked meat. Smoking techniques are not wildly different for different meats. Ergo, it's not enormously difficult for a BBQ place to serve multiple meats at approximately the same quality. Supply of quality ingredients is about the largest factor, if one must exist. My guess is that, if for example, most of the state of North Carolina only serves one kind of 'cue, it's mostly because they only WANT to eat one kind of 'cue. No more, no less. Claim: A BBQ joint must have some kind of "authentic" decor (whatever that is) to be great. --I ask... what does this have to do with the food? Perhaps there IS a mental component to taste which may be affected by decor, but I've yet to see it proved. Claim: BBQ is inherently regional in nature. --People's preferences are regional. Talent at running a smoker, properly trimming a cut of meat, or making a particular sauce is regional. But all those arguments prove is that those resources must be relocated--thus making it more difficult but not impossible. Claim: The absence of visible smoke in a restaurant premises is a sign of a lack of authenticity. --...Or even what seems to be refered to as some kind of aura of smoke... and yet NYC has laws which don't apply to any other part of the country. People sniffing the air for the scent of wood smoke will be doomed to eternal dissapointment not because its used in some inferior manner, but because the ventilation is controlled in a manner not required anywhere else. The fact that this is done doesn't prove a thing about the cooking being done. Here's a suggestion! Wood smoke scented air freshener! I give far more credence to claims that the brisket is too dry, that the sauce is too sweet, the pork stingy in quantity... those seem like substantial and relevent objections to me. Honestly, in my opinion, the rest just seem like expectations, not rules, nor even necessary guidelines.

Several of the participants on the show were men. One of them is even married.

I actually think of those comparisons as fair, because it's an attempt to put the restaurant in the context of its own other locations. Comparisons to totally unrelated places in Texas, or Kansas City, or North Carolina are a different matter. They can still exist as some sort of ideal (expecially if and when the facts are correct--like how much wood should be used or the type of smokers used), but the attitude shouldn't be "this sucks because we aren't there". In terms of a pure food quality evaluation? They may well be. It's the inability to place the reviews in context, and to get past what seems like some really overblown assumptions that seem to irk a few people. This is Manhattan and you are going to be in pretty big trouble if your restaurant is filled with smoke. Conversely, this is Manhattan and yes, it doesn't have a depth of BBQ tradition as deep as at least 50 other cities in the U.S.

Guys, is it impossible to accept that the reviewers didn't like Dinosaur? The criticism goes far beyond talk of overly sweet sauce. The titles argument -- this is barbecue, this isn't barbecue -- is moot here. Neither reviewer said, "The food is great, but how dare they call it barbecue!" They each criticized what they thought was poor food. And, presumably, Severson made her comment about irrefutable truth after she ate at Dinosaur -- and I doubt she meant it as a Nostradamian prophecy. When I read it I took it with a grain of salt. If Dinosaur were good, she would have opened the piece differently. ← Yes, but at least in the Sietsema article, a key argument was based on either misinformation or disinformation. And even though I felt the Severson piece was better, I can understand Steven's position that her thesis is kind of sloppy and inherently unprovable. Is it probable that these reviewers actually don't like the food? Sure. I trust that. But why not simply say so instead of taking cheap shots or unprovable editorial stances?

Okay, I've been bad. Let's continue on a more serious vein. As serious as we can be with a reality show, I mean. In the future, I will only waste time disparaging Bobby Flay if it's in line with actual commentary. He's too easy a target, and thus there's little dignity in it anymore. The preview for this week's episode reveals that it's about planning a dinner party in a compressed time-frame. So it seems it might actually be interesting viewing for eG members. The worst part might be having to listen to host Joan Lunden's droning voice. Darn, what did I just say about cheap shots?

This is the sort of review that challenges even a writer's fans. It begins with an unprovable premise ("New York will never be a great barbecue town") backs it up with nostalgia ("Regional food tastes best in its region") and then falls into the abyss of self-fulfilling prophecy, not to mention questionable research (I would not be so quick to complain that a North Carolina-style barbecue sandwich is "more chunked than pulled," given that North Carolina-style barbecue sandwiches are supposed to be more chunked than pulled). It is extremely difficult for me, even accepting the idea of significant variance in smoked products, to accept the conclusions in this hatchet-job as having been based on open-minded tasting at the same restaurant I visited. And in "$25 and Under" there's just no reason to slam a place this hard. Eric Asimov would have focused on constructive criticism. It is unfortunate that this important function has now been handed over to a gaggle of writers who don't necessarily seem to have a feel for the column. Every time I see an injustice like this perpetrated on a hard-working, conscientious restaurateur who is trying to improve the New York food scene and is showing early signs of success, I grow even more disappointed with the community of New York City restaurant reviewers. Dinosaur no doubt has flaws, but it also serves some really good food. It did not deserve this slam or the one from Sietsema. ← I see her premise as conventional wisdom, Steven--although I can see the point of view that such could be construed as a lazy and unfair shortcut. Admittedly her thesis is that the restaurant is somehow inappropriate from its inception, but she does give a lot of supporting very food-specific objections to prop that up. This is versus Sietsema, who basically just made stuff up.

And I agree about the problem with the Pulled Pork. I was trying to figure out why I rated it as barely more than "okay", and this probably hits the nail on the head.

I have a lot of respect for Kim Severson, she's a very talented, highly respected and intelligent writer, and she's someone who does her research. The only thing I can toss all of this up to is that Dinosaur is still in its infancy and that at times the place is either very "on" or very off. The one time we went, it was definitely "on". ← I too am okay with this review. It doesn't take cheap shots or make spurious unjustified unresearched assumptions.

Chief Asshat? I saw a few minutes of it. Mostly while boredly channel surfing. There did seem to be quite a bit of foodiness to the show, but Flay's role seemed to mostly be to come in at the end and under heavy editing bumble around a bit tasting stuff. Also, there was this hairdresser/style guy named David Evangelista who went on a lot about things being "sublime" and other over the top cliches. On the first show, there was some business about them picking apples and having to use every single apple regardless of type or quality for either some food or some craft project. I got a bit bored and missed a lot of it, but some of the food looked decent. Hey, look... it's better than "Joey", okay? Putting a nail through my forehead is probably better than that show. CBS has a website for it, where no doubt you can catch up on what exactly occured.

Years ago I used to regularly go to a pretty good shawarma take-out place right across the street from Columbia U. No idea if it's still there, but it was both good and cheap at the time.

But you don't have to go north of St. Louis, they still exist there! (although the huge group of Castles in and around Kansas City all closed down a few years back due to mismanagement) As for further south/southeast? Well, there's always Krystal, right?

Sometimes using the posessive form of a name brings the funny. For example, what if someone named "Mann" opened a Juice Bar? If someone named "Pusser" opened just about anything?

Report here when you do!

Pizza Hut. You Kill Em', We Grill 'Em. Hair In My Soup. Broken Glass Cafe. Lucky Cheng's Body Sushi.

Part 3! Part 3! I'm dumb for not seeing this until now! Part 3, huzzah and all that! Maybe our buddy Cecil at China 46 in NJ can tell us what that street food is? Or maybe not, if even locals had no idea.