SobaAddict70

Well maybe "covered" is not quite the right word. Sometimes what happens is that people will come into a take-out place, order the fried chicken wings (or hacked chicken, or whatever), ask for either hot sauce or ketchup or both and then proceed to douse stuff with the sauce. There was one place when I was living in Brooklyn where they gave you in addition to hot sauce/ketchup, little itty-bitty containers full of hot Chinese mustard and chili oil. (Not combined, just separate.) That was a winner, come to think of it.

Some small mom-and-pop Chinese takeout places in the outer boroughs have a really cool deep fried chicken set up with pork fried rice. In fact, you know the takeout place is a keeper if they have "deep fried hacked chicken" as opposed to the usual chicken wings/pork chop/fried shrimp/crab stick offerings that you find at these places. There's one place near Gravesend, Brooklyn that has fried maduros; probably not the only one of its kind but it stuck in my memory for some reason. Ok, so it's not where any eGulleteer would be caught dead in, but then again I'm not like most people you find on this site.

Did I mention that he was a vegetarian? Here's another: Back before the Internet bubble burst, it would be routine to go to financial printers such as Bowne or RR Donnelley for all-night sessions drafting things like registration statements and prospectuses for filing with the SEC. One particular night, we ended up staying until 5 am. Dinner was usually charged to the client. Now, some of you need to know that printers assignments were especially sought after because of the quality of food you'd get. Things like steak, lobster, filet mignon. One printer, I can't remember which one, even had an ice cream bar. Anyway, we ordered Chinese takeout. There was a lawyer who I've all but forgotten -- well anyway, except when I think of this episode -- who ordered a dish of General Tso's chicken, some shrimp in wine sauce and vegetable medley...all for herself. A number of us exchanged looks, even after we asked her if she meant to share. Feel free to contribute. We'd love to hear from you!

Time for bumpage. Any fans of Chinese takeout, post away...

A couple of years ago when I was a legal assistant at a well-known, high-powered Wall Street law firm located in downtown Manhattan, I had to come in at 7:30 am for a client meeting. We had breakfast ordered up from our corporate cafeteria. Well, the clients came in and breakfast was nowhere to be found. 15 minutes later, in a panic, I called down to the cafeteria and managed to have someone bring up the trolley cart into the conference room. Turned out that "breakfast" consisted of a platter of bagels, cream cheese and fruit. A particularly odious investment banker who I will never, ever forget, scooped up one of the bagels, exclaimed "This bagel is stale", and threw it across the room. What would you have done?

An ex-boyfriend of mine -- who I'd all but forgotten until this thread -- couldn't be bothered to walk out of a 8-block radius to try new restaurants. Now granted, within walking distance of his apartment are several gems: Jarnac, Wallse, Devi, Babbo. Although Babbo was pushing his limits. Homura An? "What sane person would want to go to SoHo?" Le Bernardin? "Why would I go to midtown Manhattan for French food?" Oceana? "You really love those expensive far-away places, don't you?" Chinatown? "Too far, smells of fish and overflowing sidewalks..." Needless to say, we didn't last very long. Memo to potential boyfriends: the New York restaurant universe does not revolve around Chelsea. Get over yourselves. Soba

Colors (Frank Bruni) Click here for related discussion regarding Mr. Bruni's style of reviewing and the New York Times star system. Soba

Al di Là (Frank Bruni) Related discussion regarding Mr. Bruni's style of reviewing and the New York Times star system can be found here. Soba

I recently had what I like to call "avocado sashimi": sliced avocado tobiko sesame seeds furikake Take 1 avocado -- Haas is available here in NYC, although I can only dream what other types taste like; slice thinly. Sprinkle tobiko, toasted sesame seeds and furikake. Eat and sigh with contentment. It's a take on your "california roll" without the rice and nori. Fat, salt and crunch....what's not to like? Soba

Thank YOU, Marlena, for making it all possible. Look for an installment from the lovely Mrs. Spieler sometime later this year. We'll be closing her thread now. Helen's and Marlena's successor blogger -- John Whiting -- has his installment up and running. Click here to view it. Soba

You're making this up.

Done. --Soba

I'm glad to know that Nao-san's magic hasn't flagged in the time since I've been to Sugiyama. Come to think of it, maybe it's time for a return visit. As I recall, the meal was sublime. Highlights -- though it's been some time, about three years: stunning sushi and sashimi; soup served in a ceramic pot with a bit of yuzu; the afore-mentioned beef and lobster on a hot rock (although at the time it was Kobe and not Wagyu); and a grapefruit sabayon for dessert.

It's that time of year again. Will you be making cassoulet? We'd love to hear from you and yours! (oh and incidentally, next week's Foodblog will feature a little of this: Soba

Stan, what is a "cutting diet"? I've heard of the term "reducing diet" to lose weight, but I've met you and you hardly need to lose weight! In fact, you could use a few belly bombs! If you don't want to use the fattier ground beef, you could use extra lean or ground chicken or turkey. However, if using the leaner meat, add extra onions for their moisture content (and/or additional vegetables, like grated carrots or red bell pepper). ← Without going too off-topic: The PSMF diet explained. PM me if you want to know additional details. Trust me, it's not pretty.

Both restaurants focus on Mexican food. Chef Sanchez is the son of Zarela Martínez. Mr. Bruni reviews both in his article. "Essentially unrelated" isn't the term that comes to mind.

Seeing Jason's thread on cheesesteaks reminded me of this thread so I'm bumping it up. I have a serious hankering for some belly bombs right now. The problem is I'm on a cutting diet.

For discussion in regards to 2006, click here. Soba

Centrico/Zarela (Frank Bruni) For discussion relating to the best Mexican restaurants in New York City, click here and here. For discussion relating to Mr. Bruni's style of reviewing and the New York Times' star system, click here. Soba

Admin: An archive of "Bruni and Beyond discussion from 2005 can be found here. A new year brings a new batch of reviews by Frank Bruni, the main restaurant critic at the New York Times. Let the games begin!

And there are those of us who view that every ingredient has its place of honor at the appropriate time. For this hobbit, it doesn't matter if its a bottle of Mrs. Dash, a bunch of Meyer lemons or a vial of aceto balsamico tradizionale....in my opinion. To redirect this back to saffron, it could be that you haven't yet had the experience that blows you away. You probably never will, who knows? That's ok though...more for us.

That's fine, but there are plenty of people in the world who view things differently. What is important is that one should strive to cook using the best ingredients available to them at any given moment, keeping in mind that what one views as "the best" differs from one person to another and also according to circumstance. There are no right or wrong answers. I know this is not the provocative answer you were looking for, but I really do believe in that ideal.

I know why it's expensive, does not mean that it's abound with culinary value proportionate to it's cost ← Different people view things differently. Doesn't negate the value or worth of an item. It is what it is. For me, its worth comes from what it adds to dishes that it enhances most. Its an item to be savored with care. I recognize its value and so act accordingly. Fleur de sel or sel gris (to use your salt analogy) is expensive and value-laden. You can use regular salt in place of it, but there are times when you want to use its rarefied counterpart. I don't know about you but if we solely used ingredients that were mundane, the world would be a boring place indeed.

The same could be said for any number of luxury ingredients -- foie gras, truffles, caviar, etc. They are what they are because the people who value them as opposed to those who don't feel they're worth their weight in gold, for whatever reason they care to assign. Everything is relative. There are no hard and fast rules.