Kevin72

Morgan pretty much hit the big recommends I offer for Houston: Hugo's and Dolce Vita. It's a great casual type eating town and offers a lot of what you're looking for.

Was this by any chance a benefit or some kind of promotion? Invite only? Seems like word would've gotten out that they were filming there and it would have produced a stampede. Plus you had people in the crowd with the LH cookbook so some came prepared or, I guess, hauled ass home to grab the cookbook and bring it back to sign.

I can't help you with the two questions you probably most want the answer to, but maybe use just a descriptor of pasta or long thin pasta for the taglioni.

Diana might be worth a visit at lunch. Their lasagna Bolognese has been praised elsewhere and they have a neat trick of crumbling hard boiled egg yolks over it. But it's a pretty formal place and you'll need to dress accordingly, or at least not in jeans and hiking boots the way these two turiste were when they went . . . I really enjoyed Risorante Montegrappa DaNello, Via Montegrappa 2; tel. 051-236331. I don't remember much about the prices but it's not as formal in attire as Diana was.

Hee! I caught that too and was wondering if I was doing it wrong all this time since Tom was adamant that it was cooked with egg. Now granted, he's not as far off base from the recipe as that guy's horrific attempt was, but it still would be a different texture and effect. And no mention of capers, either.

Meh, the souffle didn't get him sent home, so it's a moot point, I think. I think if it had tasted good the judges wouldn't have been so hard on him, since they seemed willing to forgive the lack-of-souffle-ness. ← Good points.

Is souffle considered a pastry and is this another case where chefs get penalized for having to work in an area outside their expertise? I guess by season 4, the pushback could be that you would be well served to learn some pastry to give you an edge. Has a pastry chef ever competed on TC? I guess Blais is my early favorite. I liked Stephanie, too, though I worry that her nerves will get the better of her down the road. Oh, and the New Zealand chef, though maybe just because he looks like a hobbit.

When does the new season start? Got my eye on the San Fran and Spain shows. And as usual, I'd expect the Asian countries to be top notch.

Man, I got nervous during that episode! Nice capper. I assume we're at a break now?

Nothing new to add other than my continued enjoyment. There's a neat technique I learn in every episode, it seems, which is something I haven't said about a cooking show in a long time. I loved the idea of draping the leeks with pancetta as they caramelized in the pan a couple weeks back. The game episode this week was great as well.

Good review. Sounds like they're smoothing out the inconsistencies.

I'm really bad about which parts of town are where, but I'd also recommend looking into the area around the Lemmon/Blackburn exit off of 75. Quite a few neat restaurants in that area as well.

And he still did better than the Sopranos star who flat out refused to eat some of the dishes prepared when they debuted the show a few years back. Hell, even going back to the original IC, they had baseball players, rock stars, and fortune tellers ( ) on the judges' panel. If anything, I think the show's improved by leaps and bounds since it premiered. I have to admit the whole Next Iron Chef and Michael Symon coming aboard had me worried, but he's integrated quite well. Has anyone seen those anime-style ads for it? Hilarious.

I agree with Foodman; I enjoyed the ep but Jamaica remains on my "No Interest in Visiting" list. Good God, that cave! Tony's pain is our gain, I guess, but towards the end I just felt sorry for him. How awful. The looks he kept shooting the guides were pure murder.

Yep; check out the Deep Ellum area for all sorts of dinner spots and potential breakfast spots. I've always liked Pepe & Mito's for tex-mex but I'm not sure if they're open for breakfast during the weekdays. Though, not sure how wise it is to be out on your own after dark in that area . . .

Tony's three "issues" shows (Texas/immigration; Beirut, and now NO) have done a fantastic job of cutting right to the human heart of the matter and showing the everyday, anonymous people effected. He completely fulfilled my expectations and brought a spotlight to the real possibility of losing one of the most unique eating and food cultures in this country. Foodman brings up a good point: each ep seems to have its own flair, theme, and even cinematography. My wife pointed out that much of the NO episode seemed to be shot like the "haunted house" shows on Discovery.

Two Batali recipes for lacinto kale come to mind: 1) Bruschetta: Braise the chopped kale with garlic and white wine or water, then top grilled bread slices. Sliver a fresh pecorino over it with a veg peeler, lots of black pepper, and the best olive oil you can find. Too much of these toppings is never enough. 2) Cavatelli or gramigna (sp?), a hollow, corkscrew-type pasta with kale, sausage, a jot of tomato sauce, and again, blankets of pecorino.

Only problem is my wife hates goat cheese, or you'd be onto something there, I think. Hmmm. I tried the chocolate/salt thing once and it was a disaster. Is there a particular kind of chocolate and/or salt to pair together? And dockhl, I think I tried that same one you're talking about and noticed that it was supremely salty as well, so either I'll skip it or be very judicious with it.

For Christmas I got a bunch of little packets of various artisan salts: Himalayan pink, Hawaiian, this really cool shaved kind, a black salt, and a smoked salt. So I've been wanting to cook a meal that highlights the salts in some way or another. I've got two courses definitely locked down, I just need one or maybe two more. 1) Radishes with butter and that shaved salt: Seeing Tony and the other chefs reduced to puddles when served this at Prune(?) on No Res piqued my interest, then we got to actually try it at Catalan in Houston over the Holidays and loved it. 2) Poached scallop with smoked salt: I want this to be really, really simple and clean. So I'm poaching it just in plain tap water to keep it sweet, cooking it medium rare at the most, then slicing it, sprinkling it with the smoked salt, olive oil, and some microgreens on the side. This was the first dish I thought of when I considered doing this meal. I really like the idea of contrasting the smokey salt up against the sweet scallop. Though I'm also dying to try it on some nice grilled steak come summer! So, like I said, one or two more courses (I'm not doing a course for each salt I have). Nothing too complex in technique (i.e., no sous vides or anything). Certainly a main, meat or fish type course. If I do another course it'd be an app or vegetable, I think. I considered doing something in a salt crust, but got concerned that it would be too pricey and really, how much of the distinctive flavor of the salt would get in there? Thoughts?

You dodged a bullet with the lamb barbacoa. At least the last time I ate there, it was the first dish in the many times I've been to Hugo's that left me underwhelmed. But good call going there, anyways. It's certainly a very unique place and not the kind of food you can get everywhere.

Good stuff, Pontormo. And yes, don't bother frying the eggplant: baking, broiling, or even grilling gets to a similar effect and lends more flavor, particularly if grilled, to the final product.

Thoughts on the new batch so far: Singapore: Another stellar episode in Asia. Half the fun is watching how genuinely giddy AB gets when he's there. It's a good thing these shows air so late or we'd be ordering takeout before the first commercial break. Berlin Sandwiched between the Singapore ep and Vancouver which he also clearly enjoys, it becomes all the more obvious when Bourdain's less keen with his locale. The end riff on cabaret shows was funny. Most of the food looked good but how much sausage can you eat? Vancouver How cute is Nari? I really liked this episode, lots of out-loud laughs. The "reaction" to eating Tojo's sushi is so spot-on. I love how technically accomplished the show is getting and how they're more willing to try new things and be more off-the-wall. And boy did he let Uwe Boll off easy.

Really liking this show. Best cooking program FTV has aired in a long time.

Here's an article from January 14th that references Brawley as the creator of Fireside Pies' crust. Impressive! Anyways, given the turmoil there recently, he's probably not there anymore. And the way they refer to him makes me believe that he's between gigs right now. Maybe contact the article authors?

According to the DMN Eats Blog, Ascolese appears to be affiliated with Urbano Paninotecha now; if they aren't still working together maybe Ascolese knows where he went to.