juuceman

permanent marker can cross out the dollar amounts, which are in eight, four and two dollar increments.

Union Square greenmarket between once and three times per week, depending on how frequently I'm working from home. Almost year round it's possible to purchase lettuce, sprouts, carrots and potatoes, milk, bacon and sausage. In the Spring/Summer/Fall we'll purchase the bulk of our produce there as well. Once a week I'll stick my head into the Gramercy Fish Market and pick up fresh fish, usually Branzino, to cook that evening. About twice a month we'll stock up from Whole Foods and the Met on staples. Meat is picked up on Saturday from Florence, or infrequently from Gramercy Meat (formerly the French Butcher) during the week. I'll frequently stick my head into a bodega or health food store for whatever I need to supplement meals, pick up sliced fruit, etc. on the way to or come home from work. Pain Quotodien for bread. If I could shop on a daily basis I would. I much prefer this to having to plan meals and cook from the fridge.

OK, the apples are kept in storage over the winter. Big deal. Those tomatoes you buy in December? The ones from Chile? The ones that are picked green and gassed and put in storage containers and shipped here? You like those better? Farmers markets in New York let you buy that which is in season. They let you have a connection with what's happening in the world, that all too few of us have. Why eat asparagus in December when it tastes like crap, or tomatoes in April when they're hard and tasteless. Eat them in spring or late summer, when they're at their peak. Also, buying at the farmers market means buying local, means less carbon emission to transport the food here, means a cleaner and healthier environment. There's nothing like buying bacon from the guy who raised, slaughtered, butchered, and smoked the pig. You know what it ate, and whyit tastes better than the stuff you'd buy at the Met.

Bill Buford recounts his experience when Mario Batali comes for dinner in the opening chapters of Heat.

I too remove the meat after bringing the braise to room temp, strain the sauce discarding the vegetables, cool each separately, remove the fat that separates and rises in the sauce overnight in the fridge, and then bring the meat back to temp the next day in a small sauce pan over a low heat with liquid to come at least half way up- cover on. After reaching serving temp, the meat is removed, given a smear of dijon mustard on one side, and broiled for a minute until a nice crust forms on one side. This is then plated with the polenta or potatoes and sauce.

Eat the sopes and the tacos dorado from the taco truck, both are made fresh and are much better than the tacos. Otherwise, on the UWS, head to Noche, the somewhat nice storefront Mexican place on Amsterdam in the high 90's or low 100's, west side of the street.

I always ask who I've made the resewvation with and note it in my agenda. This tends to avoid the blank look when I show up at the podium. Some people will use this to their advantage, especially in NYC, at restaurants that are impossible to get into. They'll show up without a reservation and claim they had one, or they'll call to confirm a reservation they don't have..

(a) you get twice as much in a medium as you do in a small. They weigh it on 32nd Street. (b) it's under $7 for a medium with three toppings, again on 32nd Street. © Having eater a decent amount of Pink Berry over the past two months, it's got something that Tasti-D never did. A different mouth feel and something all it's own in the flavor that I enjoy and crave. It's nice to be able to get fresh kiwi, mango, pineapple, raspberries, blueberries, etc. on my frozen yogurt. I'm not really all that big into the stuff that goes into Tasti-D, it gives it an off flavor and texture.

according to a post on Chowhound, it's being reopened by the beginning of June. http://www.chowhound.com/topics/361563

(1) this isn't the place to bring a three year old in the middle of service on a Saturday night, end of story.. I'm troubled that people with children feel that they have the right to bring even their well behaved child with them anywhere, but there is a time and place for appropriate decisions, and this isn't one of them.. bring the child to a place that is likely to have other children present or that is welcoming to young children and will make menu accomodations for them or hire a babysitter, end of story.. (2) calling at the last minute significantly hurts a place this small, with two scheduled seatings a night, with daily menus, especially when they're closed on the following day and have a habit of not accepting walk-ins.. (3) he was wrong to give you grief when you called to cancel but that's the nice thing about owning a place - you can tell someone to f**k off when they've upset you as much as you obviously did in this instance.. it's not a place for everyone and they don't make excuses for it..

Heat is definitely in this vein but it does get a bit verbose about travels and philosophies at times. Also Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries is an interesting read and more about the process than the recipes, although it is full of them..

I've noticed a HUGE increase in the number of places offering pickled vegetables to begin and I've taken to ordering them every time I see them on the menu. The Spotted Pig does an excellent rendition as well.

actually, according to Tasti-d'Lite the lower range is 14-15 calories with the majority being between 15 1nd 17. So according to the manufacturer, a small should have no more than 68 calories. Suprise you that a small pistachio chocolate actually has 241 calories in some places?? It shouldn't. Ever realize how Tasti D tastes better in some places than in others?? It's because of the amount of air they mix in. Overage, which should be at 75%, generally runs more from 20-50%. This is huge in terms of caloric content. Additionally, it generally has a fat content of between 2% and 3.5%, as opposed to the skim milk the use to make it. I'll give you the lactose levels, which doesn't bother me because of the infrequency with which I actually eat either of these options. I prefer one spoonful of Haagen Daz at night. Of course you get more for your money. But remember, you're getting more calories too. Calories come from overall weight, not volume. The more you get for your money, the more calories you're getting. And the fruit is fresh, and the toppings generally of higher quality at Pink Berry.

Bill Telepan is one of the more under rated chefs in NYC today, he cooks seasonally and locally.

While you might prefer Tasti-D-Lite, it's not substantially healthier than PinkBerry. Tasti-D uses corn syrup and is reported by the manufacturer to be between 15 and 22 calories per ounce. Most vendors of Tasti-D don't follow the manufacturer's recommendation for making the stuff though, and it regularly has up to five times as many calories per ounce as that. You read that right, the purported 40 calorie small actually has 223 calories in it. If you want to ruin Tasti-D for yourself, ask for a 4 ounce vanilla the next time you go. Have them measure it. Eat it, then go home and cry at the delusion that you've been engaging in. Pink Berry doesn't appear to use corn syrup or other artificial sweetners, and is 25 calories per ounce. I prefer the consistency and flavor of the yogurt, but then again, I don't fret about the number of calories in it.

I still ask the question, what is an appropriate corkage fee if someone brought a beer or two? ← If the restaurant has a liquor license and sells beer or wine, I don't think you should be bringing your own unless it really is a special occasion or bottle. Part of eating out is taking the restaurant for what it is, all in. In the same manner that not liking the wine selection isn't really the intended reason a restaurant allows corkage, your preference of Guiness over Murphy's shouldn't allow you to bring your own.

Did the restaurant offer dessert wine, port, armagnac, or anything along those lines? I'm in the habit of drinking a bottle of wine with dinner and a glass of one of the above before coffee or with dessert. If I owned a place that offered all of the above, and charged a corkage fee and people insisted on bringing both their own wine with dinner and with dessert, you'd be damn sure that I would charge for both, especially if they changed types of wine towards the end of the meal. Understand that you're taking away from the most profitable part of the meal from a restaurant's standpoint. True specials and higher end items can have higher food costs than standard menu options, so you're not necessarily doing the restaurant a favor by ordering the most expensive option off of their menu.

In NYC tipping the delivery guy is a way of life. Depending on the size of the order, the distance traveled by the delivery guy, and the weather, I'll usually add a few bucks, i.e., the Chinese place literally across the street will get a bare minimum of three dollars to bring soup and ribs over; if we order dinner for 4 - 6 people the tip will be five or six bucks.. The guy from Sarge's who brings over three large boxes, in the pouring rain, and who manages to keep the food nice and warm is getting $15..

That seems high. Have you been in to Canko's, on 21st St, btw. 5th and 6th? They're pretty straightforward and have decent prices.

I`m sitting in the internet shop on the Zocalo right now. We`ve been here four days, and the city has gotten more and more lively since January 2nd, it`s odd but nice to see. The restaurants and hotels are empty. Literally. Along the zocalo the cafes that used to be, and still should be, packed have been pretty much empty until this morning, there`s been a large influx of Mexicans into town lately. It`s completely safe, but more police-like. All corners of the zocalo are under police control and while it is easy to come and go as a foreigner, it`s weird. The Camino Real is offering a rate that`s more than 50% off of the regular rate, and most other hotels here are willing to deal. The hotel on the North side of the zocalo reopened this morning and is offering a 25% discount for bookings but they are still doing a lot of renovation to the rooms. All political grafitti has been covered with white wash making for an odd scene all across the city. There was a significant amount of anti government grafitti so pretty much every wall in the city has at least one white wash. El Naranjo is still closed, and looks like it will continue to be closed for the near future. The facade is completely covered in paint and the whole thing is slightly depressing. I will post a few pictures upon my return. In terms of must hits - at the 20 Novembre Market there is an area where you purchase your meat, tortillas, and vegetables and they grill them on indoor charcoal grills. It`s probably the best street food around. Tortas from anyplace that specializes in them are great, generally there are good tacos in these places as well. Both of these options are dirt cheap and should be under $10 in total. We`ve eaten a couple of meals at La Biznaga, located at Garcia Vigil 512, centro, and found it to be very good. It`s a newer restaurant, featuring what they term cocina mestiza, basically using Oaxacan ingredients in both traditional and more updated versions. It has a great atmosphere, is an interior courtyard restaurant with retractable roof, and is open for lunch, dinner, and drinks and coffee all day and featured a comida corrida at lunch for $60 pesos (the cambios are advertising 10.71 pesos to the dollar right now). It`s casual, but I highly recommend it, it`s basically the best food we`ve had here this trip. I`d suggest skipping eating lunch and dinner on the zocalo, the food is middling in quality and rather expensive. Olivo has been closed three nights in a row, and we`ve been disappointed as the meal there was good, but it is not traditional Oaxacan fare, so it`s being closed might not be a big issue for some visiting. Casa Oaxaca`s menu turned us off, it was just too expensive and the restaurant itself was empty. Where else are you headed, I`m thinking maybe the coastal beaches¿¿

I spent this past summer (read: wedding season) at 13 weddings and was part of four of the wedding parties.. i'm 29 and live in nyc, to put some context on this.. the rehearsal dinners have really ranged, but all have really been on the casual side.. none of them were in the hotel, which (a) is where the wedding was held sometimes; and (b) would have been a lot more expensive and probably had worse food than we wound up having.. italian restaurants, brazilian restaurants, bbe spots, and lobster bakes were all pretty popular.. no open bar all night, it leaves everyone, wedding party and guests, in poor shape for the wedding itself, which is really what it's about.. in my experience, people don't expect to get raging drunk at the rehearsal dinner and if they do they'll pickup their own and take care of it.. if a good number of people are traveling to be at the wedding, it's only right to invite them to the rehearsal dinner.. if it's a local thing, wedding party, dates, and family.. cocktail hour with a full bar plus wine and beer with dinner has been fine at most of these, liquor if people are driving isn't a great plan, nor should you feel responsible for transporting people to the rehearsal.. keep it casual.. the hotel might have a shuttle that you can prearrange, at no or little cost.. the hotel should offer a discounted rate for your blocking out a large portion of rooms, you shouldn't subsidize rooms, tux rental, etc.. basically, in my experience, out of towners get to go to the rehearsal dinner so they have something to do, they get themselves there (or the hotel does it for you) and there is an open bar or beer/wine at the dinner (which is paid for).. the wedding party (and often guests) are transported from the hotel to the ceremony, ceremony to reception, and reception back to the main hotel.. the bride and groom have once, in 13 weddings, arranged a post-reception party, but this was the odd way out..

Balthazar for atmosphere; the Waldorf brunch in the Bull and BEar used to be incredible, I haven't been since the reopening but it's likely worthwhile if you're into grand hotel uffet brunch; Arabelle, in the Plaza Athenee, offers an incredible brunch with decadent amount of shellfish and well executed desserts. The Water Club, on a barge floating in the East River, is a nice locale for Sunday brunch as well.

Press Cafe, the italian panini joint, located on the north side west side of the stadium. If you take the subway up, walk uptown under the elevated tracks, with the stadium on your right, and make the left on 157th Street, it's the place with the guiness emblem hanging off the side of the building. They open 3 or 4 hours before each home game and close an hour after. Great place to watch the game or wait out a rain delay too.

Yeah, won't make it to the Pacific Coast this time, but everyone's been incredibly helpful with making an alternate plan. Looking forward to good eating, and will report back. Regarding the bus situation, how is traveling on them with suitcases (airline carry-on size with wheels)? Overhead storage, or do they get checked into a storage area? And upon arriving at destinations, are there storage lockers if we're not planning to stay overnight in the town? ← yes - baggage claim tickets on most, if not all, first and second class buses now.. and most, if not all, of the bus stations have luggage checks for a few pesos, again with numbered claim tickets..

buses in Mexico are incredible - first class buses, especially those that travel overnight, are extremely comfortable, often setup with 2 seats on one side of the aisle and one on the other all of which recline almost fully.. there's a small kitchen in the back with packaged snacks, drinks, and cup o'noodles, and the bathrooms have a small anteroom, so there's little, if any smell, that emanates into the bus.. seats are assigned and honored.. 2nd class buses are another story altogether, maybe half the price of Executive or 1st class buses, and are often oversold and make numerous stops.. buy the most expensive bus ticket you can afford for overnight trips, and skimp on day buses if you prefer.. Puerto Escondido is great, it's nothing like Zihua, which is nice, but completely over run by the tourist industry as compared to Puerto.. It doesn't sound like you'll make it to the Pacific Coast this trip, which is a shame as it really is beautiful, but hopefully you'll return.. we're headed to Puerto for the holidays and might go up to Oaxaca City for a few days, depending on reports of violence, access, etc..