jhlurie

Tina Turner? Seriously... this person claims it was Hostess. Wait... Here's even more of the story. Apparently "Big Wheels" were identical to "Ding Dongs" and were also occasionally called "King Dons". Who knew? That person is clearly insane. Actually, Big Wheels may have been a larger version of Ring Dings or Ding Dongs (I can't believe I'm having this conversation). But we definitely had them as a kid here in NYC. Never saw them in the suburbs. Nor the "King Dons". Nor the "Don Kings".

Great. 10,000 amateurs around here shooting anything they see moving in the trees. Just what we needed. EDIT: Oh, I just read a bit further -- this is to shoot 1/8th that number of bears? So 7 out of every 8 of the hunters will be pissed? So maybe they will shoot the bunnies too. I could deal with that.

I thought all of the commercials were about how "sexy" Rocco is. Like that was somehow the point of the show or something. With bad seduction music playing in the background. from NBC.com: The subtext being that all people do at a restaurant is fuck? Or at least fuck around? I STILL want to know if Tony and Eric Ripert were actually shanghaied into making on-camera appearances or not.

Bump. This seems to have the most posts on this subject, so I'm making it more visible by bumping it. Those commercials SUCK!

Tina Turner? Seriously... this person claims it was Hostess. Wait... Here's even more of the story. Apparently "Big Wheels" were identical to "Ding Dongs" and were also occasionally called "King Dons". Who knew?

Okay life-long Nero Wolfe fan here. Liking this.

I can't speak for anyone but myself. I hadn't read the review, but knew that reaction to the restaurant was far from overwhelmingly positive. I didn't actively dislike anything I tried (either on my plate or anyone else's), but with the exception of a single item--the duck appetizer--I didn't feel any "magic". With four people and two courses--with only one item repeated between us (I'm not counting dessert), that was seven chances to wow me, and they only hit once. For me, also, its something of a price/performance thing--as "unfoodie" as that attitude seems (I've in fact, made it clear many times on these boards that I am probably the least "foodie" person here). It was certainly not the most expensive meal I've ever had, but the cost was in a range where I felt that I was owed a bit more of that magic than the mere trickle I got. So the oysters were flat? So what, I found myself asking. And I don't want to dwell on the oysters, which were really the only item I found "bizarre". The lamb, as I mentioned in an earlier post, was just kind of dull. Well, to be brutally honest, really only dull for that price. And thus I reveal why I am not a foodie.

So what does this development mean to the "war on Fat"? (And isn't the advertisement MSN put below this story hilarious, in contrast? EDIT - wait. It's a rotating ad. The first time I opened this link it was an ad with a very buff woman doing push-ups and some "thin down for the summer" type of slogan.)

How long has that restaurant been there? I have a vague memory of going to a Thai/Indian hybrid in Bergen County around eight or nine years ago. Could this have been it? Rosie will know. Rosie is the encyclopedia on things like this. Rosie?

Maggie, you may want to edit your first post on the other thread and include the image there. It's a bit confusing if you go there first and not here and miss the photo.

I've been to the Thai Chef in Montclair. Frankly the only thing which REALLY wowed me were the exquisite souffles they have for dessert. The rest was passable, but a bit more fru-fru than I like my Thai food.

Geez. Has he been reading this thread? He's gotta be feeling a bit defensive about a few of the comments. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I probably have very little to add. The others have said it very well. Bond Girl even represented things she didn't eat quite nicely by astute observation. The corned duck (really it was more of a duck pastrami, I think) is the one thing which totally and completely worked. Jason called it "an ode to Katz's"--which was funny since he'd never really been to Katz's as an adult before, and confessed to never having had the pastrami there (that was half the reason we went there afterwards--it wasn't just him complaining about WD's "small portions"). The taste I had of the Squid linguine interested me as well--perhaps the rubbery texture only got to you after a bit more. The sauce is what made it anyway. The lamb was... just there. It looked lovely. It used wonderful fresh ingredients. The odd thing is, for a place we've otherwise accused of "being weird just to be weird" it was a bit safe. I'm sorry now that I didn't try the Pork Belly. Also, as the others have noted, Pastry chef Sam Mason is very talented. Out of the five desserts we had, I loved 100% of them. The one thing which struck me is that Mason also has a mad-scientist kind of thing going on design-wise. The desserts aren't that high off the plate, but he manages to make them all very "three dimensional". Things are at different levels--on 45 degree angles, sometimes at right angles. The lines are occasionally curved. It just looks neat. And yes, they tasted as good as they looked. One valid complaint we had that WD50 can easily fix was that the flatware was wildly innappropriate for some of these odd preparations. The spoons needed to be a lot shallower, or at least flat bottomed, to deal with the shallow pools of consume/gazpacho/whatever liquid of the moment. We all agreed that Bond Girl's flat reinvention of oysters needed some kind of trowel or maybe a spatula (maybe the flat bottomed spoon would work again here). A few of the dishes may have even been most appropriate to chopsticks. Okay, in the end I guess I did have a bit to add.

Yeah, that's why Salt & Pepper is really my default. It still tastes like a potato.

I'm thinking the states of New York and New Jersey have been cheated of New Mexican because they don't like the word "New" to be hijaacked. I'll bet the same is true of New Hampshire. Okay--is this even vaguely New Mexican? These guys seem to think so.

You got the quotes backwards--at least partially. First quote bracket should NOT have the backslash and the second should. If you nest them to quote within a quote, they should always pair off so that you have an equal number without backslashes and with them. Stacked how?

How do they deal with food allergies? (assuming they ever happen among that population) I won't ask about religious restrictions, since it seems to me they are assuming uniformity in their students in that regards.

I think my neck of the woods has been cheated in the "New Mexican" department. Can someone elaborate on the particulars of New Mexican cuisine? I'm assuming there's more to it than Chilies and Chile. Most importantly what distinguishes it from Mexican and Tex-Mex. And let's see if we can avoid those old "authenticity" arguments about "Mexican". If this gets too incredibly off-topic, feel free to start another topic for it. If it can be answered fairly authoritatively and quickly, then just do so here.

menton1 saying "it was mentioned way down the list" implies Jason's list Rachel, since The Star Ledger mentions it not at all. The explanation for the Ledger's oversight? I think they considered Saigon Republic "too fancy" for something like a "Munchmobile" to visit. I mean the "Munchmobile" tries Wonton soup. So "pfui" to the "Munchmobile"! They should stick to hot dogs.

Look, are we considering something BBQ simply because it either has BBQ sauce on it or a piece of grilled meat?

Breakfast is for tourists!

Because this topic predates the existance of Saigon Republic.

Oh, I suppose you could use Jason's Bio thread, since its already started on the "geek" end of the equation! Just specify "science geek", "computer geek", etc. and procede from there.

I'm having flashes about something having to do with marshmallows, but I'm not sure I remember the ice. Buxie?

Ditto. Too tired to write more now. Bye for now.

You know, its funny. With the new avatar I can actually see the words come out. I have eG moments occasionally. Sometimes in reverse. I see something and realize that some of the people here are the only ones who'd appreciate it.