Jason Perlow

Pan roasted, not steamed, Brussel Sprouts. Cut them into quarters, throw them in a bowl, add salt, pepper, olive oil and lots of cloves of garlic. Toss to coat the olive oil evenly. Put on a sheet pan and roast at 400 for about, I dunno, 30 minutes or until you start to see the edges caramelize. Even your kids will eat these. I swear.

The Bonny Doon "Ca' del Solo Big House Red" is a great blended varietal red wine that is great for cooking -- plus it retails for like 8 or 9 bucks. Its also got a Stelvin screwcap, so if you don't finish the bottle, its easy to keep fresh. Its a nice red table wine for drinking too. http://www.bonnydoonvineyard.com/wine/view/54

But they are the same exact dogs. Prepared in the same exact manner. Made by Marathon, nearly identical to Sabretts.

I'm not sure how it started, but the papaya drink is a good match for a hot dog. Plus papaya aids greatly in digestion.

Thats not an apt comparison, as Gray's was started after Papaya King and there is only one Gray's, as opposed to multiple Papaya Kings. I'd also say Gray's is about the same as Papaya King in quality. Both of these places, however, aren't even in the same universe as the original Nathans. However as chain dogs go, even the chain Nathans are pretty damn good.

Dark Chocolate dipped crispy bacon strips. MMMM.

Wow. Holiday Spice Pepsi sounds downright normal by comparison. Although the Cranberry sounds good.

Potato latkes. They splatter like crazy.

ALL the white meat goes to sandwiches. All of it. The rest of the carcass always goes to soup. Turkey sandwich on nice fresh bread with lots of cracked pepper, mayo, lettuce, tomato, BACON. Oh yeah.

A Holiday Spice Pepsi reduction as a glaze for a ham might be good. Or make a Coca-Cola cake with it.

Actually Jon, I notice TheBevNET doesn't have a review of Pepsi Twist and Diet Pepsi Twist, which I think are the strongest products they've come out with in the last 3 years. I do think Pepsi Spice is better than Pepsi Vanilla, but I think Pepsi Vanilla isn't bad.

I tried some of these today with Jon's family and I must say, they are surprisingly good. For some reason I think that the mulled wine spices (Nutmeg, Cloves, Cinnamon, and perhaps some Orange oils) seem to go really well with cola, and I'm not even a particular fan of mulled wine. Imagine Pumpkin Pie spices mixed with Pepsi. It makes me feel American and warm and Gentile-like to drink it, its a pleasant sensation. Its festive. The only thing I am missing is one of those red sweaters with the embroidered copulating reindeers on it. If it were marketed 60 years ago and they had product placements in movies back then I could see it being used in Its A Wonderful Life and Jimmy Stewart promoting it on the radio. Maybe Pepsi will get Patrick Stewart to endorse it in character as Scrooge shortly. By the way, here is the website for the product: http://holidayspice.pepsiworld.com/home.php EDIT: According to the web site, the "Spice" is Cinnamon and Ginger, but I detect cloves and nutmeg as well.

Yeah, this is not typically the sign of a quality Japanese restaurant. A local place here in NJ called "East" once had several of these tables, and when they remodeled the place as a kaiten-sushi restaurant, they removed them all. Its actually considered to be retro, they had them for about 10-20 years.

Were these your first exposure to tots, Yetty?

Sripraprai is not serving "4-star food". Its not even serving 2 star food. The luxury of the ingredients just isn't there.

I've travelled with cases of alcohol before, coming from the Caribbean (Jamaica and St. Maarten, pre and post 9/11) and from Canada (Post 9/11) and all they cared about was passing it thru the X-Ray machine to see if there was any explosives or dangerous materials. They could care less about how much rum it was. Customs didn't even ask.

BTW, here is an interesting page with the "original" Pepperidge Farm stuffing recipe, written by Margaret Rudkin, the founder of the company: http://www.lysator.liu.se/etexts/recept/us...ad-stuff-1.html

Well, I am assuming this all started in the 1950's when convenience products started to become in vogue. Prior to that its hard to say if they even celebrated Thanksgiving in the traditional manner. Although, Stove Top stuffing wasnt introduced to the market until 1972. So maybe this more or less started when I was little when my parents generation started hosting their own Thanksgivings. But I am sure there were stuffing convenience products before that. EDIT: Pepperidge Farm Stuffing apparently was developed and marketed in the 1940's. So this would be consistent with it being used in family gatherings during my parents generation. http://www.pepperidgefarm.com/history_1940s.asp

Empire Kosher Turkey: No brining required, because it already is. The Empire bird is the gold standard around this house during Turkey day.

Nah, you misinterpreted. I think its possible to be a "destination" restaurant and represent the best food of its genre -- such as Sripraprai, which can be best described as an authentic family-style ultra-casual Thai restaurant where the focus is all on the food and nothing else -- or China 46, which is an authentic, family-style casual Shangahainese restaurant, although its definitely a few notches higher in decor and service than Sripraprai is. However, neither of these two qualify as a "Two star" restaurant in the NYT. I think you need to have a certain level of decor and service, and definitely need to be able to serve alcohol, to qualify for two stars and up. With that in mind, I think we can say Bruni has decided to throw several decades of standards out the window with the Sripraprai 2 star rating.

Two star restaurant according to the traditional conventions of the NYT rating system (which we can all say with confidence is completely shot to shit now) -- No. "Destination" restaurant by representing the epitome of its genre? Yes. By the same token, China 46 is also a "Destination" restaurant, although it rated "Very Good" in the Jersey section of the Times. I'm not sure how we can evaluate the star ratings of the other metro sections versus the main paper, though.

BTW, I think we all can make a distinction between a "destination restaurant" and a fine dining establishment that merits 2 or more stars in the NYT. I think any restaurant that serves the definitive example of its cuisine or genre and by nature of its existence demands that you travel to it or go out of your way to get there, is a "destination restaurant".

I'm not sure if its the same organization, but Heritage Foods is selling Turkey, Goose, Lamb and Berkshire pork via their website here, out of New York: http://www.heritagefoodsusa.com

That's the same rating given to David Burke & Donatella (albeit by another critic). Somehow I don't think I'd have been as happy traipsing out to Queens to eat there. Unless this is truly a "destination restaurant". I tend to doubt it - but what do those of you in New York think? Robyn ← Its largely considered to be the best and most authentic Thai restaurant in the entire NY metro area, so I would say yes, its a destination restaurant if that kind of food is what you are seeking and you want the best that cuisine can offer.

they make an awesome sorbet, especially when cut with another fruit like watermelon or strawberry.