Jason Perlow

The Blairs products are really good quality chips. Death Rain is brutal, though. I really like the spicy nut mixes in Indian groceries -- recently I had some cashews with lots of black pepper, they were awesome.

$50 corkage fee at the French Laundry? Holy crap.

Gewurztraminer or Reisling (although I prefer German ones because of the lower alcohol content) or any other Alsace white like Pinot Gris. High acid is the key.

Han Ah Reum. But if you come all the way to Ridgefield or go to the Philly or Cherry Hill locations I recommend you get yourself a big cooler with ice in it. Why I Love Han Ah Reum Han Ah Reum (Original Thread)

Theres Alba Vineyard and about 2 dozen others, I think. Alba produces a decent Reisling, as I recall. Alba sponsors a multi-vineyard wine tasting event on its premises every year, I think one is coming up. We went to it once, it was a lot of fun. EDIT: Here is Alba's calendar of events: http://www.albavineyard.com/calendar.html

Its a solid thai restaurant, I've eaten there a few times.

Yup, I've had it in a hand roll with cucumber -- its called a "Wasabi Bomb"

That was a joke. But feel free to start the blog!

Wow. Now I'm really looking forward to the fall when we can go down to North Carolina in an RV and check some of these guys out in their native environment.

you could start a website devoted to hating and talking about zagats. http://IHateTimAndNina.blogspot.com ???

Jolly Ranchers, Interesting. The best infused vodka I have ever had was at Firebird Restaurant in NYC. They have a honey spice vodka that they make that is truly AMAZING stuff. I've tried to duplicate it on several occassions, but I always miss the mark. I've even gotten the ingredient list once or twice from the bartender there, but can never isolate the exact technique they use. This infused vodka recipe site looks really cool: http://www.bigosbar.com/vodka_recipes.htm

I wouldn't infuse cheap Vodka. I'd use some really good stuff with character, like Belvedere or Chopin. Or something neutral but clean tasting like Absolut or Stolichnaya.

Substantiate this, please. I can only say refer to all of the reports about The French Laundry... Then read all of the reviews of el Bulli. The numbers don't lie. And as for Adria having more bold moves than Keller I say DUH?... My request regarding substantiation of your statement was in reference to the "often ends up ass down on the carpet" part, Spencer. If you are going to make a blanket statement like that, I think we'd like to see some empirical evidence supporting it.

Substantiate this, please.

The flaw in your argument Spencer, is that MANY respected foodies and professional critics have visited El Bulli recently and enjoyed it, if not at a bare minimum appreciated Adria's talents. Just because Matthew didn't like it doesn't make it not exceptional or creative or indictative of Adria being off his game. Personally, I can't imagine liking most of Adria's stuff, but I've never been there and I have very conservative and classical tastes in food preparations -- this however, does not mean that Adria's food is "bad" -- it is simply not to my taste, from reading some of the descriptions of his dishes. Neither is most of the stuff coming from Thomas Keller -- but I haven't been to his restaurant either. Matthew, like me and everyone else, is entitled to his taste. However, one cannot deny that he is currently one of the most cutting edge and influential chefs in all of Europe, and to say that Adria is "off" because one foodie says he didn't enjoy it is purely flawed logic. Taste is subjective. We've had this argument on this site with some pretty thick headed people about 5000 times, and every time we've arrived at the same circular futile results.

Which begs the question, why the hell didnt the Daily News consult John for this peice?

from the Yakult site: "Taiwan Yakult went into operation in 1964 as our first overseas base. Since then, Yakult’s global network has expanded to encompass 22 countries and territories with sixteen main companies, and a total daily consumption of 15 million bottles of Yakult. We will continue expanding the “ring of good health” until it encompasses everyone who wants to enjoy the benefits of good health." Wow, that sounds kinda freakin ominious, sorta like SPECTRE, don't you think?

I actually think at least in NJ, Nathans still does a pretty good job and their dogs are very good -- I guess that its expected in NJ that if you are gonna specialize in hot dogs, you'd better at least make more than a token effort. The one in the food court of the Paramus Park mall comes to mind, because it is so highly trafficked and has very quick turnover -- you know those dogs havent been sitting there very long. I also think as fast food burgers go, Nathans has one of the best -- its simple, it really is grilled and has that charcoal grilled taste. I havent been to the Coney Island one recently (the last time has to be 10 years ago) or eaten at any of the Nathans locations in NYC for a while, though. Nathans in Florida is another matter... I havent had a good dog or a good batch of french fries at any of those.

My God, that is sinful. But then again, theres things in the US which are easily accessible that are obscenely expensive in Japan... I guess there has to be some balance in the world.

Wow, what a cool episode. I really loved the scene where you get that close up of Tony biting into that spring roll and you hear that "crunch" sound. That dinner with Linh's family must of been a wonderful experience. And that honey-glazed chicken at Madame's Ngoc's restaurant looked fantastic -- and it looked like she was using Toast-R-Ovens to make it!

I really think you would prefer to go to China 46 instead of Silver Pond for dinner. Silver Pond really excells at its dim sum during lunchtime on weekends, although it is a fairly serious Hong Kong seafood restaurant. It does NOT do dim sum during the evening! Should you go Silver Pond for lunchtime on a Saturday or Sunday, be sure to get there between 12 and 1. Typically there isnt more than a 10 minute wait to get in. China 46 of course is Shanghainese, and not Hong Kong style, but they really excell at seafood dishes, particularly ones with shrimp and crab and whole fish. China 46 also does VERY good soup dumplings as well as pan fried dumplings, which are very dim-sum "like" things.

As someone who has only recently starting enjoying REAL wasabi, I can say with alacrity that once you start using the real thing and not the powdered horseradish paste stuff most sushi restaurants give you, you don't want to go back. Torakris is lucky she lives in Japan and has access to actual Wasabi rhizomes. I recently got some of the fresh wasabi paste from http://www.freshwasabi.com/, its much more mellow and complex a flavor than what most people are used to from the green horseradish paste. See: http://www.report.ca/archive/report/200204...0ai020415f.html

Relatively new slice place with Grand Opening signs in the Huffman Koos shopping center in Paramus right off kinderkamack, across from the Total Wine store. Had a peek in there the other day, pizza looked decent (they appeared to be using fresh mozz) but havent tried yet. Anyone been?

They do make a damn good chicken sandwich. I wish there were more of them in Jersey.

Er. Jason. Ummm. Did the code talk get by you? Hello? Anybody home? Besides, we are talking about Chicken Sandwiches. Were the breasts nice and juicy?