jhlurie

Ellen. Strikes. Again. Of course Steven had to kick her for about a month first.

For some reason, the existance of something like this is simultaneously annoying and fascinating.

This is a point of confusion for most people, because of the 131st street address. The streets don't run exactly parallel in that area, so it's not clear unless you know that part of town. But if you know where either Fairway or The Cotton Club is... Dinosaur is within spitting distance of either. At least one feature of the interior is "original equipment"--the cement pylons holding the place up. Curiously enough, it somehow manages to look good and proper. They've done a lot of painting and decorating, but it also looked like they intentionally distressed the pylons a bit (as well as any paint they put on them) so it didn't look too neat and pretty.

I believe we were told that due to current pricing and availability, ONLY hickory was being used right now.

I know opinions vary widely on this, but I thought the fat content of the brisket was dead on--marbled a bit but not enough to make it stringy. Here's something neither Jason nor I has mentioned yet... the cornbread. I'm dissapointed so often by northern attempts at cornbread, but this was dead-on to my taste. Crumbly (although with a slightly sticky top holding it together) and with very little sugar (actually the menu describes it as "Honey Hush Cornbread", but I don't think the honey is taking the place of sugar--I think it may just be providing that glaze on top). Request extra when you eat at Dinosaur, unless you are a Carb-bustin' type. One thing I realize we didn't get to try was the Chili, so I'm hoping the next eGulleteer in will give it a go and get back to us. Also, there are two salads: one a mix of greens and pecans and the other greens topped with the BBQ product of your choice. We tried neither. By the way, the men's bathroom, at the very least, was ALREADY almost completely covered with (purposeful) graffitti 3 days in. So get there soon if you want some space. Much of it is fairly pornographic, but there are also a few examples of some real artwork--for example a really excellent Biker Devil Woman, a big ass "hog", some chap reacting to the odor (actually the bathrooms are very clean, even if decorated to appear otherwise), a woman diving into something, and well... whatever the heck this is. Also some drawings of male genetelia, but I don't think Jason bothered to photograph that. Rachel reported that the women's bathroom, only having had markers in it for one day, still has a decent amount of drawing space left.

Meat Good. Anyway, I'm sure Jason will come along and describe a lot of what he shot, but I'll note a few things. The pulled pork is good, the ribs are very good, and the brisket excellent. But the big surprise of the night? Something we didn't even originally bother to order--the chicken. Great chicken at a real BBQ place? "What the hell", you must be asking? I'm serious. They brine them and then smoke them low and slow. Most BBQ places are either too pedestrian or too arrogant in their regionalism to bother with chicken (at least the right way), but done properly it's glorious. Moist and pink, NO oilyness at all... zero. Mildly smoke infused, but not intrusively. And if you ever again visit a place where rotisserie chicken is being hawked as "BBQ chicken" after consuming this, the real thing, you may want to come up with some creative suggestions about exactly where those people can stick their rotisseries. The ribs were a nice St. Louis cut. They were perhaps a tiny bit more fall-off-the-boney than purists might like, but the color was perfect, the saucing appropriately moderate, and the mouthfeel nice. Again, a slight smokeyness, but not intrusive. The Brisket was both moist and yet also firm, topped with jalapenos and very light saucing. The pulled pork was a bit oversauced for my taste, but then again I like mine pretty dry. More later. The desserts need a page or so too, as does the decor. The men's bathroom alone could spark a nice discussion.

Ah, the infamous Lunch Lady Land. Sandler really DOES seem obsessed with simple childhood food experiences. Oh, here's a different one. The I Ran Over The Taco Bell Dog song. By the way, this Sandler bio says that his older sister, Valerie Sandler, "works in food industry". Does anyone know what she does?

Food folks, please. As much as that's possible with Mr. Sandler, could we try and stick with it? I thought about it a bit though, and recalled that Sandler had at least one food song (besides his various holiday songs, I mean): Food Inuendo Guy.

Cheese IS God. We'd have a lot less wars if people just recognized that. GREAT running start to the blog.

I had no idea that the miniburger problem had gotten so out of hand in DC DelMarVa. I live near the king of Miniburgers--the world famous White Manna in Northern New Jersey--and yet we don't really suffer from a wave of lesser competitors (other than White Castle, of course). Also: A halfburger? What would be the point. Either you want your burger full size, so it's nice and meaty, or you want it REALLY mini, so you get that unique greasy yet pleasant sensation that the minis can bring, and then multiply it by the four or five you need to eat for a meal.

Good for them, although the inevitible "Crossing Delancey" references no doubt invoked for any pickle merchant anywhere must get kind of tiresome. I wish I'd known about the pickle eating contest, 'cause that prize of a quart of pickles each week for a year would have been sweet. I don't know my chances in the main event, but I would have aced the spicy pickle division, since I seem to have a tolerance (frankly the build up of the sour would have gotten to me much quicker than any "heat" build up). This "Josh Teplow", whoever he is, would have been DEAD MEAT.

You know, I always wonder where seltzer fits into this spectrum. One one hand it is a form of soda. On the other hand, all it contains is water and CO2 and nothing else. ← IF GERD was a real serious concern, then Selzer would be as bad (or worse) than anything, unless some case can be made for some of the other possible ingredients exacerbating GERD (I doubt it). Whether or not GERD really contributes to espohogeal cancer is a real question, but likely one that can't be answered by a single study. As for Jason's statement... maybe Jews have been Seltzerized for so long they've gained a evolutionary advantage in terms of dealing with GERD. Or not. As for the endless "acid" arguments, I agree with FistFullaRoux that they are total bullshit. So a Coke can eat away paint? So what? Our stomachs are designed to take it for the most part. One important thing to me would seem to be the idea of not drinking soda by itself. Drinking it while also eating food would seem to be much safer than drinking it on an empty stomach.

http://gerd.msn.com/article.aspx?aid=5 Study? There's always a study... this one links soda consumption to esophageal cancer and doesn't seem to care which variety it is. Ultimately they blame our old friend GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease), which is tied to esophageal cancer. However, doctors employed by the National Soft Drink Association don't seem as concerned, when they were asked.

First up: Pirouettes: Cream-filled Tubular Cookies Of Goodness. I've always been addicted to these bad boys. Typically I'll overindulge in these and finish one of those 14 ounce canisters in days. Whenever someone buys one of those Pepperidge Farm assortments, I'll quickly empty out the Pirouette part of the container. I was thrilled recently to see that the classic Hazelnut-filled flavor (with Vanilla cookies) has now been supplemented with a new Chocolate Fudge-filled flavor (with Chocolate cookies). There have also apparently been Vanilla-Cream filled and Chocolate Mint flavors (both with Vanilla cookies--the new flavor is the only truly chocolate one) for some time, although I've never actually found them in a store. Screw Milanos! Any other Pirouette fanatics out there, or are we going to have to fight it out for the title of best Pepperidge Farm cookie?

While that's certainly true (the large amount of sodium), we're probably fooling ourselves if we think that any kind of highly flavored fried chicken doesn't have a heck of a lot of sodium. Of course the price of these things is pretty unreasonable in my book. I've seen the 10 pack averaging around $9.99, although I've also seen it as low as $5.99.

I may give a place a second shot if the trouble I encountered was a service problem and not one with the food. Or occasionally if the majority of the food was excellent but one item really sucked. Occasionally--rarely--I've gone to a place repeatedly ONLY for a single food item. It has to be really exceptional though.

Show off.

My reaction to this... thing... is kind of a "so what?" Mind you, I'm one of those people who saw "SuperSize Me" and also said "so what". I saw the film as something of cautionary tale, but to be honest kind of snickered at those who saw it as a call to arms. So Hardees is making a honking huge burger, and of course it contains lots of calories and tons of fat? I'm not all that troubled. When you sit down to eat this monstrosity I think it's apparent that it's being presented as one huge "portion", thus its perfectly clear what you are getting into. If you don't, you need adult supervision or something. I can understand the arguments that such a huge portion encourages a culture of excess, but I'm not really sure it's my place to do something about it. My concerns have always been more about labeling than legislating availability. You know what offends me more than a 1400 calorie burger? The box of cookies sitting on my counter where the portion sizes are manipulated to make them seem tolerably low-caloric. It's the lying--the misrepresentation accompanying a lot of food--that's the most harmful, not the mere existance of or access to it. Now for the real question... would I EAT one of these? The answer is... maybe. I'll try most things once, for the experience--even occasionally when I have reason to suspect they MIGHT suck. At the same time, I couldn't conceive of eating this more than once, as an experiment. I'm not really sure what has Hardees convinced that ANYONE would eat this more than once. Therefore, it's a stupid idea.

For years I got very used to hearing something that sounded a bit more like "yeah-row". Then again, I've also heard "yee-row", "jye-ro", "gear-oh" and probably ten more.

And it would have to be regional, because at least in the Midwest and Northeast it's still my impression that more places send out butter than not (although, yeah, it's usually crap in little plastic packs). BTW: oleomargarine is hardly "new fangled" as one person has said their family believed. It's been around since 1870.

Here's my list of top 4 best mainsteam Diet Sodas: 1.) Diet Dr. Pepper (the king of mass produced Diets) 2.) Diet Coke With Lime (vs. Diet Coke With Lemon, which is one of the most disgusting sodas in the universe) 3.) Diet Pepsi Vanilla (vs. Diet Vanilla Coke, which can be used to induce vomitting if medically necessary) 4.) Diet Pepsi Twist (again DON'T force the Diet Coke With Lemon past your lips instead, or you will be very sorry) Less mainsteam top 4: 1.) Stewart's Diet Orange N' Cream (Mmmm) 2.) Diet Cheerwine (Varmint sent me some once) 3.) (Yes, I like) Diet Cricket Cola (too. ) 4.) Stewart's Diet Cream The "Stewart's S" line of sodas sounds good almost across the board, but I can't find it near me. I vaguely recall trying a Stewart's Diet Ruby Red flavor and being impressed, but it was years ago and I'm not sure if it's the same. Of course, as has been discussed here frequently, the REAL problem people have with the "sweetness" of non-Diet sodas these days may be more one with how stomach churning High Fructose Corn Syrup can be. The Cane Sugar sodas seem just as sweet, I'd argue, but the character of it smells and feels so much better it's a totally different experience from HFCS. That's why Diet soda almost seems like a relief these days instead of a punishment. Until you walk into the local bodega and grab a Mexican Coca-Cola and realize sugar CAN taste good. As for Splenda... I've tried several examples but I just don't think it's been perfected yet for Soda. Diet Rite is okay, but I couldn't drink it that often.

But... time to lock now! Bye! Further developments can be spun off into new threads.

Well the main difference would be if the bottle is plastic or glass. Glass always works best, it seems.

Why sneer? It's the single best Diet soda made. Screw the infinite crappy Diet Colas when there's a Diet Doctor Pepper around.

If they mean to make this a limited run, I hope they at least contemplate the idea of making it annual. The comparison against the non-limited but failed Pepsi Blue in the review is unfair (especailly since they give the Diet version 4 stars)--really if its any good, it's more like the Mountain Dew expansions.