Jason Perlow

I did not know that.

When I made my one and only trip to Israel in 1965, Coke and Pepsi were not being sold there. They had, instead, something called Israeli Cola. It was -- in a word -- blech!! Yeah, I think its safe to say that Coke has now been successfully assimilated into Israeli culture -- those Hebrew Coca-Cola logo t-shirts are like one of the biggest sellers in souvenir shops in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

How is Okayu different from Zousui? I like Zousui a lot.

Besides Rachel's chicken soup, I also like a nice bowl of Vietnamese pho, with a lot of chilis in it. Thai Tom Yum and Tom Kha soup is a close second.

Israel DOES have some really good sodas. In particular, the Schweppes line of sodas that is bottled and sold there. Not sure if they still have it but they had a mean Schweppes Mango and Schweppes Strawberry. San Pellegrino sells a soda made of Israeli Grapefruits -- called Pompelmo, thats imported into the US. Its one of the best grapefruit sodas I have ever had.

Felafel has been referred to as the national dish of Israel -- although I think anyone would be hard pressed to say that it originated there. Certainly the Palestinians and Egyptians and Lebanese and Turkish have their own versions -- as do other Middle-Eastern countries, but in Israel felafel and shwarma are phenomenons -- the felafel "bar" restaurant concept is unique to Israel and the Israeli style of Felafel and Shwarma and their accutriments are specific to that country. Here's an interesting article from the Slow Food website about Falafel: http://www.slowfood.com/img_sito/riviste/s...18/falafel.html

Starting yesterday, and thru this week, Israelis and Jews around the world are celebrating the Independence of the State of Israel. What are your favorite Israeli dishes? For me, its gotta be Falafel and Shwarma.

I don't think Tony would be caught dead doing Iron Chef as Alton's sidekick. But thats just me.

Mark, are you sure you REALLY want to be an eG member?

Yeah I didn't care for Big Pussy at all. The man is a culinary ignoramus. BTW, did anyone notice that while they had some pretty sophisticated restaurant equipment (fryolator, smoker, convec oven, pacoject, robocoupe, etc) they used pro-style home ranges and wok burners as opposed to restaurant ranges? What the hell is up with that?

Pedro Ximenez Sherry and Cabrales/Valdeon

Soba: Never mess with a paralegal!

I don't think there is any question that Amanda is qualified to make those judgements, Russ. My qualms are strictly with the judgements themselves.

Russ: There's no doubt in my mind Amanda is talented. And smart. And likeable. Hell, I've even met her in person -- I attended the launch party for Cooking for Mr. Latte -- and I can attest to the fact that she is very sweet and personable as well -- although I can't figure out how she manages to be a food person and yet be a skinny belink as she is! The problem Soba has -- and Shaw has -- and I have -- is that in her tenure as interim restaurant reviewer at the Times, she's made some questionable decisions. Hell, she has done some good writing as well -- but she has also botched things to the point that it will take YEARS for the Times to unravel that mess. She's guilty of some seriously bad judgement, she's screwed some things up, and I don't think most of her peers in the local scene will deny that.

Again, 2 episodes in, I still gotta side with Chodorow. And believe me, that bothers me, a LOT.

Along with some roast chicken, roasted cauliflower and leftover dirty rice, we had... JELLO!

Gumbo! Chili! Paella!

Sauteed Sea Scallops in a Butter/Lemon Sauce with Roasted Asparagus and Curry Couscous

Some of you might have missed Julia Moskin's great article about sushi in the New York Times this week: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/21/dining/21SUSH.html It includes a really cool multimedia presentation and lots of pictures of the sushi at Megu.

Poulet a la Perleaux with Cajun-Style sauce, Dirty Rice and Sauteed Greens.

I think after Totonno, L&B Spumoni Gardens should be next, because they are supposed to be a Sicilian style pizza specialist and we havent evaluated a good square pie yet. Its also a 65 year old restaurant (1939), so while it is not in the same coal oven genre as the others, it should be recognized as one of the original NYC pizza places nevertheless. http://www.spumonigardens.com/

The key dates in espresso machine technology are 1901, 1948 and 1961 (boiler and portafilter design, lever pressure, modern style pump) though some might consider the addition of dates associated with the development of the pressure relief valve, three-way solenoid and automatic volumetric dosage. I did not know that.

Yeah but do they have that same burnt cookie taste and consistency that the chocolate ones do, but with Vanilla? Unless they had that, I would tend to think they would suck.

Traditionally Gang Keow Warn (Green Curry) is served with either Pork or Chicken. BTW, don't miss the "Moo Ping". Thats like the best appetizer at the restaurant. Their bean thread Pad Thai is also very different from most pad thai's you may have had as well.