jhlurie

Nope.

Well, can we talk about babies in Movies too. What are these people thinking? I'm going to see "Return of the King" some time in the next few days and I'm fully expecting to see (and hear) crying babies. Talk about being cruel to both the kids and your fellow patrons... Actually, on the "higher end", I've had this happen to me at a Broadway show too. Getting back to restaurants, what's really odd is the position this puts you in as an observer. If you say something to the parents, they look at you like you are some kind of monster. And I imagine it puts restaurant staff in an even worse position if you ask them to talk to the parents. Actually, I kind of enjoying watching one person who came in with well behaved kids approach someone who's come with badly behaved kids. And one I run into a lot is where one parent is oblivious and the other peers around the room giving embarassed looks to people. Recently, I recall a situation where one parent, and three others who looked like an uncle and grandparents were goading a kid to get up and run around the table in circles. The other parent kept trying to calm and sit the kid down and the other four people kept getting her up and coaxing her on. It was no excuse that this was, in fact, not a high-end restaurant. Frankly, there was no excuse for it at all. I'm not a parent myself, but I'm a fairly active uncle who takes his nieces out all of the time (but no... not to high end restaurants). If they don't control themselves, believe me... they hear about it. It's worked to an extent where the older of them will comment on misbehaving kids in a restaurant herself, "Uncle Jon why is that boy being so noisy"?

Hey... That really kills the Festivus Holiday buzz. That, and the fact that they came out with this flavor about six years too late!

because english is a strange and forgiving language. and because only a handfull of people give a squat. Which thread are we in here? Oh yeah... the one about nitpicking about pronunciation. Also... talking about her knowing one and not the other was kind of meant as sarcasm. Must... use... smileys... I'll nitpick on myself. I usually spell and say "pronunciation" wrong. Always thought it was funny since "pronounce" (with the inclusion of the extra "o") is correct for that form of the word. Unless I've completely misremembered (hey, it's possible), it starts with "cull" and not "cool" or "cule".

Here's how you can have too many clementines: - You buy a box of clementines at ShopRite in Little Ferry, NJ, because they're on sale for $3.99 a box and they look really good. Shows what you know. Pathmark, down the road, had 'em for $2.99

Ha. So much for Renée Zellweger. She just said "Feb-u-ary". How could she know "culinary" and not "february"? Oh, flipping channels the funny fruitcake guy is on Leno now.

They do tend to go like popcorn, don't they?

Color me impressed. I think Renée Zellweger must be a closet eGulleteer. She was on Letterman tonight talking about working in Thailand and pronounced "culinary" correctly. Also, she's in Bridget Jones mode (working on the sequel). Looks like she's been eatin'.

Maybe Mr. Baeder will do a painting of another New York/New Jersey icon... tommy.

Here's a little something extra... While searching for White Manna I also came across the work of a painter named John Baeder. White Manna Hackensack, by John Baeder White Mana Jersey City, by John Baeder Baeder's site is also filled with images of many other iconic "joints", including White Rose System, the Super-Duper Weenie truck, the Bendix, the Empire, the Market, White Diamond and dozens more.

Until a source emerges that offers testimony to the contrary, I will hold my belief that the original is in Jersey City. Until then we can agree to disagree. AOL city guide Jersey City history Guess what? If you Google search for "White Manna" eGullet occupies the top two spots. So our search for the truth goes in a circle. A little more digging leads to this site. Much closer to an answer if not 100% there, since arguments can be made based on both chronology and who owned what (and when) if you are using a term like "original". The Hackensack location is definitely "older", at a minimum.

Now if we can only get you that Rocco DiSpirito interview...

People reading this topic might also care to view Chef Fowke's Great Pastrami/Smoked Meat Experiment topic. It will be interesting reading, and may provide some additional fodder for discussion here. Incidentally, I have been to Katz's twice in the past two days. Someone here must have seen me.

That website is hilarious. Particularly the guy in the Red Sox jersey who's brandishing it like it's his favorite bong or something. Also: note that "hot chicks" will serve your alcohol (or they will appear "hot") after using this product. I mean the website practically promises this!

It's funny, besides sauces the Poche's Market site recommends: I haven't gotten a chance to try that, but at least a portion of the Tasso I got hauled back to me from NOLA went into some Tacos. Just little thin shavings of it among a majority of other ingredients was enough to do the job.

Rocco does a radio interview to promote his new book Flavor... (click me - requires Real Player) If the direct link to the interview doesn't work, the date of the interview is December 8, 2003 and should be listed somewhere off of this page for the "Murray in the Morning" show. I have no clue who this "Murray" guy is, but apparently he has a radio show and has tons of pointless reality show stars on his program (at least if you go by that index page). Thank you Google for listing this otherwise lost gem fourth if you search for Rocco's name and the word "radio"! As dumb as the "radio guys" he's speaking to are, the piece is over 20 minutes long. So you get to hear Rocco's "food populism" theories in exquisite detail. For example, Rocco says that a chef's main job is "to make people happy".

If you are the producer who is responsible for "Survivor" which is essentially a success because it's about bitching, moaning and backstabbing, then naturally you assume that this is what "people" want to see in any reality show. The odd thing is, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" has been a monster hit since the first version of the "The Restaurant", and features none of this activity. You'd think it might teach network execs that there are ways to build a reality show with mass audience appeal which doesn't rely on the wacky antics and misbehavior of a bunch of folks who even Andy Warhol wouldn't have granted "15 minutes of fame" to.

An apple.

Mayhaw Man, different time zone, pal. That said I didn't eat very healthy tonight. I bought into a corporate sales pitch.

Did anyone just watch the ABC news special which just aired on exactly this topic. Well maybe not exactly, but really close. The special was on how the food corporations and their lobbies basically have a stranglehold on congress, which has kept the regulation agencies at bay, which has led to thirty years or so of unregulated advertising of junk food to children, federal subsidies to corn growers over other crops (to make corn syrup, of course) and other nasty stuff. This link leads to a partial version of the report (a lot is missing). One of the best parts of the report is missing--the tale of how last time a federal agency proposed trying to regulate food advertising to children, the food industry lobbyists got their congressmen so worked up over it that the agency was almost disbanded as a result. So all of the other agencies have been scared witless since then.

Are the bags microwave safe? I wouldn't have thought that they would be. So anyway, my latest foray into bag experimentation has been what I've been calling "toaster tacos", but Rachel pointed out to me might better be called "toaster changas" (as in "Chimichanga"). I've been heating corn tortillas in-bag for a while--two tortillas back to back. But finally I was brave enough to try actually placing stuff inside of a tortilla and folding it over. A standard corn tortilla is slightly too wide for the bag, folded in half OR flat, but folded in half and filled you can still crimp one end a bit to fit it inside the bag, if you are careful. I went weird with my first try at this for my fillings. It was during our little blizzard, and I was running lower on stuff than I thought I might, so I just rolled with it. I used a tiny portion of meat (I wanted something strongly flavored, so I used some of the Tasso I was brought from New Orleans--shaved off a frozen block almost razor thin), a handful of raw onions, some sharp cheddar and (only because I had some handy) some slivers of sun dried tomato. It sounds like a weird combo, but it works. Put it all in the middle of the tortilla, being careful to not overstuff, crimp one edge a bit, and make sure at least some of the cheese is located near the top. Gently place in the bottom of the bag and toast from one and a half to two toasting cycles at FULL darkness. What happens is that instead of burning, the soft corn hardens into a kind of crispy shell (it will START to burn as you approach the end of the second toast cycle).

Best. Quote. Ever. (bolding is my emphasis)

I guess I fit the profile: vodka and bourbon for me.

Yes, the Perlows were nice enough to shlep me some Tasso and Andouille from NOLA. I love any topic title with gratuitous yiddish in it, by the way.

Well the usual ingredients are soy sauce, bean paste, sugar, vinegar, sesame oil, black pepper, chili oil and garlic I think. Darn, nothing more specific in RecipeGullet. I'm sure Google will get a million if you aren't picky though.