Jason Perlow

Good to hear they are in stock, will have to pick a pack up.

Wow that is really cool. I'll look for that one at Mitsuwa.

Steven, you SO do not watch Gilmore Girls. If you do, I'm going to have to beat the crap out of you.

No Joon, but I bet that would be enormously entertaining.

Lower East Side. A few blocks from Katz's deli.

And the bar at WD-50 as well.

A French bistro classic -- Soupe Le Oignon Gratinee served in a crock with melted Gruyere cheese under the broiler. Word.

Update: Han Hae Do in the Ridgefield Park Han Ah Reum shopping center has now switched genres from North Korean style to conventional BBQ style, and the place has also changed names -- I can't read Hangul but they now have a pig in a chefs' hat as their logo. Apparently, they offer BBQ as an ALL YOU CAN EAT for $19.95 per person (Children 12 and under $9.95) which includes Kalbi, Bulgogi, and two other BBQ dishes, one of which is a type of pork. Haven't tried it yet, but will let you know shortly. I'm not sure with this genre change and the restaurant renaming if they stopped doing their really good Mandoo or their Yuk Soo "wet" Bulgogi.

Ah, you are correct Sir.

Yep, but the entries are in the database, if you go to the links directly as opposed as thru the home page.

Okay, but, it didn't bother him that shellfish and pork products were likely served on the same dishes that you were eating on? Or meat and dairy in combination? Or even cooked in the same pans as the food you were eating? I'm just trying to get a better understanding of what Orthodox Jews will tolerate, because I have several as friends and business associates, and most of them would be totally resistent at the thought of going to eat at Per Se or at any restaurant that wasn't under Kosher supervision -- and its always a challenge going out to eat with them, they pretty much have to pick the place. I have to really claim ignorance in this regard as far as understanding Kashruth. I thought that Orthodox Jews don't eat at restaurants that are non-kosher, period. I mean from the other posts that you have made in the past regarding your dietary restrictions, I sort of inferred that you guys were pretty hardcore Orthodox -- or rather, your husband was more Kosher observant than you were, but you both belong to an Orthodox shul and you kept a strictly Kosher household, but when you both went out to eat, it was at Kosher restaurants. Am I reading that correctly? I'm a bit confused.

What could have you eaten at Per Se that would have been even remotely kosher? The vegetarian tasting menu? The kitchen isn't certified. Unless you just didn't care about that.

The best asian buffet in NJ is the Sunday Dim Sum Brunch at China 46 restaurant. We've discussed it here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=4364&st=100 Its an incredible bargain, at $12 per person.

Greetings Faith! Welcome to eGullet! I love Cime di Rapa (Broccoli Rapa or Broccoli Rabe, or whatever they are calling it in the US now), particularly in pasta dishes. But my wife hates it because of its bitterness. I actually don't mind this bitter taste, but due to her aversion, I only order dishes that feature Broccoli Rapa in restaurants. We never cook it at home. Are there any techniques to reducing the bitterness of Broccoli Rapa? Also besides the typical Pugliese Orecchiette con Cime di Rapa, are there any other notable dishes that use this vegetable? And since you're a wine expert as well, what Italian varietals pair best with dishes that feature it? By the way, I've heard of another Italian bitter vegetable which is harvested as a weed called "Rabaste" (pronounced RAH-BASTE) but I think it might be specific to Sicily or even Italian American culture. Do you know anything about it? Thanks for your time, and again, welcome to the site.

Because this is almost always the case. I'm not saying that Domenic himself isn't being truthful, but the fact that we have already heard his children may have been involved in this at some point, lends me to believe we're not hearing the entire thing.

If the news on Slice is true, this is absolutely absyssmal and unethical business practice on the part of the Difara name usurpers. But I suspect this is not all there is to the story.

I think thats one aspect of it, and a very important one, yes. Some of the stuff served at 4-stars is heavily technique oriented, and also extremely labor intensive -- take a professionally made veal Glace' for example, which even the best home cooks might not go through all the trouble to make simply because it takes an eternity and helps to have kitchen staff to do the scutwork to make one. But certainly having really stellar ingredients has a lot to do with it as well.

I think the problem of the split/oilyness has to do with the fact that cheddar really doesn't suit itself to melting and as the primary cheese component, it needs to be incorporated with some other kind of cheese, like colby or monterey jack. I think also you need to have a considerable amount of bechemel to make a Mac and Cheese that suits itself to reheating.

Certainly if you read any of Michael Ruhlman's cookbooks, which center on chefs like Thomas Keller and Eric Ripert, it would seem that to a limited extent, if the home cook is commited enough, that they can compose a reasonable facsimile of certain dishes served at 4 star restaurants. However, I think we all have to agree that its very difficult for the average person to get ahold of the kind of produce and foodstuffs that Per Se, Daniel, Jean Georges, ADNY or Le Bernardin get from their top end suppliers on a daily basis. Some of this stuff such as high end meats and seafood can be gotten from specialty mail-order purveyors by the consumer at exhorbitant cost. I certainly think that if you go to the local farmers markets in places like New York City, Seattle and San Francisco it is possible at various times of the year to get the very same top notch local produce the restaurants get, but its more of the luck of the draw type thing -- on any given day you might see some amazing tomatoes or mushrooms or greens, but you may not be able to exactly reproduce a dish at The French Laundry because they have all those crazy microgreens and what nots locked up that they fly in from all over the place, not just stuff they buy locally. The bottom line is, they have consistent access to stuff that just never ends up in the consumer food chain at any price. And these restaurants pay to the nose for it. So the answer is, I think the accomplished home cook can get close, but you might not be able to reliably source the exact same things that top notch restaurants do on a normal basis.

So is it time for cheap Clementines yet? They still seem to be pretty overpriced.

Yeah, but this is not the Rich star system. This is the New York Times star system. Under the classic NYT star system, to achieve 4 stars, you have to serve for the most part luxury ingredients. We're talking the highest grade meats and vegetables, prepared using classic haute cuisine technique, in a highly labor intensive fashion. And on top of that, the dishes have to offer some aspect of creativity or unique contribution to the cuisine. Also as others have said, the restaurant must serve wine and other alcohol, and have a respectable list of offerings. While Sri may be the best Thai restaurant in the NY metro area, it doesn't fit any of those parameters.

You just suddenly figured this out, after what, nearly 2 years? It didn't dawn on you before that anyone that would willingly start a food discussion website was, well, a bit screwed up?

Well, if your're going to bring bacon into it for crying out loud. Thats cheating.

Its not if you prepare turkey properly. Turkey can be a great, provided that the moisture in the meat is maintained and that ample amounts of fat, such as bacon (try "roasting" your turkey this year on your outdoor grill with a whole package of bacon shoved under the skin and onto the breast meat) and herbs are used to enhance the flavor. Turkey is by far one of my most favorite of birds, even more than chicken. Its an incredibly versatile protein. My best turkey experience by far was at the late Verbena Restaurant in NYC, run by husband and wife team Diane Forley and Micheal Otsuka. They had a roasted turkey breast dish there that was fantastic -- if I recall, it had entire twigs of Sage skewered through it so that they would release their essential oils through cooking and it also was seasoned with lemon:

I've sampled some of the "Un Emile 68" created by Emile Pernot distributed by Absinthe Online (http://www.absintheonline.com, who also distributes the Jade Nouvelle Orleans and the jade Verte Suisse 65) as well as rare 19th century Absinthe side by side (eGullet member pierreverte was nice enough to send me a small sample to try at the time). I thought the Un Emile was a very close recreation of the 19th century stuff I tried. I'd be very interested in trying the Nouveau Orleans one to see how it compares.