Jason Perlow

Unfortunately all of the good seafood is off season now. Otherwise I would have suggested Joe's Stone Crab in Miami Beach. Theres lots of fancy expensive restaurants off the Worth Ave strip and near that big shopping center though. Rosie has suggested Norman's in Coral gables but that would be a schlep.

These people are ex-Arthur Avenue shopowners (they sold their place 5 years ago and moved to Norwood) and they are ethnically Greek but they are from Italy. So not only do they have all the great Italian stuff, but they also got homemade baklava, homemade sausages... home made cannolis.. etc etc... you name it they got it. Insane dried pasta selection, frozen homemade ravioli, all kinds of olive oils and vinegars... home made cakes and cookies and marzipan...

We actually met some people at Fink's in River Edge this evening who said Azucar was very good, and that lots of Cuban expats eat there. I think its' definitely worth a try. Migdalias Cuban Cafe in Bergenfield makes fantastic home-cooked stuff, their chicken soup is amazing and they make really good Cubanos. For upscale Cuban definitely Rebeccas, in Edgewater. For Mexican you want to go to El Gran Mexicano in Bogota. Its a little hole in the wall type place but the food, espcially the very authentic tacos and their mole, are very good. Tapas is probaby the best Spanish in the entire North Jersey area -- otherwise, you gotta go to Newark and my choice there would be Casa Vasca, without question.

Yes, this is something I am particularly interested in -- like did wacky animal rights groups ever call you guys for the airing of unedited chopping up of live lobsters and other still wriggling ingredients on Iron Chef?

The russians drink hot tea with vodka, so at least from a cultural standpoint its not too far off. The Koreans have a brand of Soju, which is a like a vodka but is at 44 proof called "sahn soju" brewed by a company called Doosan which made with sweet potato that is infused with green tea essence. Its very good. http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/kt_special/200...17454049110.htm

Gee, hasn't anyone seen Seinfeld? Episode 32?

Yesterday at the supermarket, we saw "Hostess Crumb Cakes" along with the usual and favored Drakes Coffee Cakes. So we bought both and decided who's crumbs will reign supreme. Hostess had a grainier texture, smelled sweeter than the Drakes. Drakes was moister, spicier. More cinnamon. Overall, we liked the Drakes better. Anyone else try any other brands? Does Lil Debbie or Entenmann's have viable entries?

As you can see from my latest avatar, I vastly prefer soup dumplings.

Given the educational/cerebral nature of the show and how different a personality he is from most of FoodTV's other celebrity chefs, how did "Good Eats" come to be produced, and how did Alton come from obscurity to become one of the most popular food shows on TV? What role did you play in that? Was this a question of being there at the right time?

Oh my god... Charo? Coochi Coochi? I'd pay to see that.

Yeah, I just emailed him, he was there the day before.

Too funny. A bunch of chowhound people went the day before. http://www.chowhound.com/boards/tristate/m...ages/11418.html

Well, just take a look at the largest producers of White Zin -- Sutter Home, Beringer, Turning Leaf. All stuff piled up in cases in front of the liquor store. Its so mass market it isn't even funny.

Table 2

Table 1

Salt and Pepper Soft Shell Crabs

Pan Fried Shanghai Buns

Shanghai Shrimp

Shanghai Sesame Buns (for stuffing the Ruby Pork into)

Scallion Pancake

Red Bean Crepe (Dessert)

Yu Choy

Ruby Pork

Fish Head Soup

Crunchy jellyfish appetizer