SobaAddict70

Diner's Journal: Hearth (William Grimes) (from this weekend's DIGEST. You may have to scroll down for the appropriate link.) Chef Marco Canora puts his lessons from Craft and Craftbar to good use at Hearth, on East 12th Street in the East Village. Think of it as the Italian version of Tom Colicchio's vision. Sounds like a new "go to" place if you ask me.... Soba edit: merged this thread with pre-existing thread started by Bond Girl.

NYTimes Weekend Report Friday, 19 December 2003 -- Sunday, 21 December 2003 A. Dining In/Dining Out Section and the Sunday Magazine Diner's Journal: Hearth (William Grimes) Restaurants: Christmas Menus Sidebar: Wine For $20 Or Less (Howard G. Goldberg) Sparkling Wine From Pinot Meunier (Howard G. Goldberg) Great Equalizers (Michael Boodro) Recipes in today's issue: 1. Bûche de Noël 2. Meringue Mushrooms 3. Susanne Bartsch's Special Stuffing B. Elsewhere in this weekend's Times... The Rise And Fall Of Parmalat (John Tagliabue) Pfizer's Newest Acquisition (Tracie Rozhon) Glittering Grays (Linda Lee) The Mandarin Oriental (William L. Hamilton) Happy holidays and good cheer, folks. Have a good week, Soba

Besides tom kha gai (chicken soup with coconut, lemongrass and galangal), there is tom yum koong (shrimp soup with shitaake mushrooms, celery and herbs) and tom yum puk (vegetable soup with lime leaves, lemongrass, chiles and tamarind), What are your favorite Thai soups, how do you make them and what do you prefer to serve them with? Vietnamese, Laotian and other southeast Asian soups/soup dishes are fair game as well. (Besides the ubiquitous pho and kai soi, there are also fabulous soups such as canh trung (tomato egg drop soup with mushrooms and lily buds), bun bo gio heo (beef and pork leg soup) and canh bap cai cuon thit (cabbage, leek and pork dumpling soup). Discuss away... Soba

This isn't the Sarbanes-Oxley Act any more than a restaurant review resembles an opinion delivered by a Supreme Court justice. That said, I think that El Gordo is a responsible journalist. I don't see what the problem is here. Soba

Thanks Rhea_S! guess what's for brunch one of these winter weekends. Soba

I've seen versions that call for cooking cubes of beef and pork first, then shredding the meat by hand. Also, one version (Julia Della Croce's, unsure as to which of her cookbooks) calls for mortadella or other type of sausage. I'd imagine that testa would work as well. Soba

Wow. Do tell. I've never heard of this. Soba

This was provided courtesy of our corporate cafeteria. I have to say, ever since the upgrade in late August, that things have been better than ever. That's not to say that our cafeteria provides occasional duds. For example, yesterday at breakfast they had sliced bologna with stewed peppers and fried onions as a side dish. ...although that probably beats neon pink sliced frankfurters in ketchup, peppers and onions. Soba

tonight I'm having dinner in the office: roast lamb steamed broccoli roast potatoes grapefruit juice Soba

Well now. Thanks again Ronnie, for your herculean blog. Now we know who to turn to if we ever do a national eGullet convention. So, among likely candidates for this week -- 1. Guajolote 2. Fresser 3. Toliver any others? c'mon now, don't be shy. the floor is open, gentles all... Soba

How about Toliver? Soba

Oh, god, I love tripe. I think it's right up there as Favorite Organ Meat, Ever. People either love or hate tripe. It inspires either unconditional foodie love or total revulsion and disgust. I remember going to a place in the East Village, Little Poland I think it was, with friends many many years ago for an impromptu lunch. I had tripe soup as an appetizer much to the disgust of my friends, something we talk about still, lo these many years later. (The waitress paused for a second, just to confirm that I ordered what I ordered. ) Campagna used to serve tripe bolognese, which is pretty much a version of bolognese sauce with tripe and pork chunks over either paparadelle or polenta. I haven't seen very many restaurant offerings with tripe on the menu, but when it's present, I'll be the first in line for an order. In home cooking, tripe plays a starring role in a diverse and varied selection of ethnic cuisines. It shares center stage for example, with oxtails, in the Filipino stew known as kari-kari (oxtail and tripe stew with ground nut sauce), and in certain Mexican specialties such as menudo. What are your favorite tripe dishes? And if you don't like or revile tripe, share your disgust as well. Soba

NYTimes Weekend Report Friday, 12 December 2003 -- Sunday, 14 December 2003 A. Dining In/Dining Out Section and the Sunday Magazine All The Kitchen's A Stage (Robert Simonson) Sidebar: If Food Be The Words of Art, Cook Away... (Robert Simonson) Diner's Journal: Boi (William Grimes) Restaurants: 'Tis The Season To Celebrate And Spend Sidebar: Wine Under $20 (Howard G. Goldberg) New Classics From Old Hat (Julia Reed) Recipes in today's section: 1. Pumpkin Gratin (Adapted from ''the Dean & DeLuca Cookbook'') 2. Bourbon Pecan Pie Sweets To The Sweet (Howard G. Goldberg) B. Travel Choice Tables: San Francisco (Bryan Miller) Restaurants profiled in this article: 1. Baraka (288 Connecticut Street (18th Street, (415) 255-0370)) 2. Chez Papa (1401 18th Street (Missouri, (415) 824-8210)) 3. Chez Spencer and Bar (82 14th Street (Folsom, (415) 864-2191)) 4. The Last Supper Club (1199 Valencia (23rd Street, (415) 695-1199)) 5. Tallula (4230 18th Street (Diamond, (415) 437-6722)) C. Elsewhere in today's Times: Alcohol Advertising...On Cable (Stuart Elliott) White House Letter (Elisabeth Bumiller) Auld Lang Syne: Year-End Celebrations (Kate Zernike) Have a good week, folks. Soba

(no particular order) Furikake (thanks to Kristin for my newest addiction ), Mrs. Dash, EVOO, fresh garlic and unsalted butter. Soba

Probably not as funny as learning how to pronounce "Otto". damned Romance languages... Soba

In NYC, there is the NYTimes, and then there's everything else. (And imo, the "everything else" part doesn't even amount to a hill of beans compared to the Times.) Other views may vary, of course. Soba

Thursday dinner in the office: black and white sesame crusted cod, couscous, steamed broccoli, sweet potato puree. Grapefruit juice. As our cafeteria food goes, this wasn't that bad. I'll have to re-evaluate. Heading home soon, hopefully... Maybe have a midnight snack later. Soba

None of us have said that either (at least I haven't). A $300 to $400 budget is certainly doable (adjust the figures based on your own personal household, spending habits, cost-of-living expenses and location), but a lot of this depends on your (the generic "your", not you therdogg) set of values and priorities. In the end, what matters is that one lives his or her life within whatever means that he or she can afford to, keeping in mind that one set of personal circumstances does not necessarily apply to another's. Soba PS. The bit about "boneless, skinless chicken breasts" is my personal badge of honor on eGullet.

Part of this is convenience too. I live in New York City, specifically east Midtown, blocks away from the United Nations (and coincidentally right across the street from Amma ), within walking distance of several grocery stores -- some mediocre and some not. I could go and shop for food in Queens, for produce at the Union Square Greenmarket (and on occasion I do), for Asian pantry necessities in the East Village and Chinatown (ditto), but as far as general food/non-specialty food items are concerned, why should I when there are stores that cater to my immediate needs that are literally around the corner? Most "ethnic" food markets exist far from my neighborhood (i.e, Chinatown, the Lower East Side, upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs). Why should I routinely schlep somewhere just to get ground beef when I can get it two blocks from my apartment? Full disclosure: I am a 32 year old single gay male with no dependents -- my food budget runs anywhere from $100 to $200 a week depending on whether or not I'm entertaining friends, eating out, or working mondo overtime in the office. New York prices being what they are, you should take the figures I quote in my posts with a grain of salt. Also, a lot of this budget vs. utility debate depends a lot on your personal set of values and priorities. Like Mr. Mayhaw says, I could easily eat for less than $100 per week, but then again I wouldn't be very happy doing it. I'm not a vegetarian, have no interest in becoming a vegetarian, and apart from my boneless, skinless chicken breasts, manage to eat well for the amount of money I routinely blow on comic books and out-of-print Dragon magazines. Soba

Something tells me that a $130 dinner for one would be way over the top. ($130 is the most I've ever spent on myself (eating out that is), and that was for a dinner at Sugiyama.) Soba

Wednesday evening was dinner in the office: barbecued salmon (was actually kinda good) corn salsa with pickled jalapenos (not bad) red beans and rice Poland Spring oranges plain yogurt Soba

Balancing Act: Matsuri (William Grimes) (from today's DIGEST. You may have to scroll down for the relevant link.) Matsuri, newly opened in Chelsea, is Tadashi Ono's newest theatrical stage. Chef Ono, formerly of La Caravelle and Sono, offers both traditional and modernist Japanese food in a club-like, high-energy setting. The beverage of choice at Matsuri is sake, and not just any old sake. The restaurant offers a mind-boggling choice of nearly two hundred sakes. Clearly, this is a restaurant with a mission. (Jinmyo, are you listening? ) That Mr. Grimes rates the sushi offerings at Matsuri in the is a challenge that eGulleteers of any stripe would be glad to take up on offer. So, has anyone been there, and what were/are your reactions? Soba

NYTimes Weekly Update Wednesday, 10 December 2003 A. Dining In/Dining Out Section Table For Five: Post-Modern Power Lunches (David Carr) Sidebar: Click on the link beneath the link to this story on the NYTimes Dining In/Dining Out page to find out where the rich, the famous and the worldly prefer to sit at The Four Seasons. Cookbook Carousel (Florence Fabricant) At Lunch With: Tom Valenti (Alex Witchel) Mediterranean Road Trip (Nigella Lawson) Balancing Act: Matsuri (William Grimes) Schiller's Liquor Bar (Eric Asimov) The Minimalist (Mark Bittman) Pie Pottery (Denise Landis) Bits and Pieces (Florence Fabricant) From El Bulli, With Love (Florence Fabricant) Corrections Recipes in today's issue: 1. Beef Stew with Prunes 2. Pasta and Bean Soup 3. Involtini 4. Spinach Salad with Lemon and Mint 5. Pumpkin-Seed Brittle Sidebar: If you point your browser to the NYTimes Dining In/Dining Out home page, you can hear a presentation given by Eric Asimov, Amanda Hesser, Howard Goldberg and David Rosengarten (editor-in-chief of the Rosengarten Report) on Sweet Rieslings. Click on the box marked "Sweet Rieslings" to begin the presentation. B. Elsewhere in today's Times Restaurant Hiring Spree = Capital Gains? (Sherri Day) Carrot Pate For The Hungry And The Needy (Alison Leigh Cowan) I'll Have A Wi-Fi Happy Meal With My Fries, Please (Roy Furchgott) Build A Better Mousetrap... (Betsy Cummings) Sorry for the late update, busy day today in the office... Soba

Tuesday dinner: chicken adobo stir-fried mixed vegetables steamed rice Poland Spring blueberry yogurt Chicken adobo is one of those dishes that gets better the day after. Unfortunately it's 6:30 pm and I'm still in the office. Oh well... Soba

So, what does it taste like? Vegetable oil? Soba