Jason Perlow

Ick. Definite ick. Although, the pasta with caramelized parsnips and pancetta I had at Babbo was amazing.

I dont like it. Sickly sweet with artificial vanilla flavors in it.

Mmmm, gay flavour...... wonder what that would taste like? I dunno, a generous portion of Bob Fosse, with a dusting of Rock Hudson with a Village People coulis? With Paul Lynde souffle for dessert?

The Bendix Diner in East Rutherford, NJ. Yes, its a hellhole. But its got a blind waiter. The Silver Moon Diner on Union Turpike in Flushing, Queens. One of the oldest, I beleive. (EDIT, I think its out of business. ) The Georgia Diner in Elmhurst, Queens. A true landmark, and they know how to do breakfast better than anyplace I know. The Scobee Diner on Northern Blvd in Little Neck, NY. Nothing distinguishing about it other than the fact its the diner I have been to more than any other diner in my life.

No way. It would be a different drink altogether. But I bet it would taste great though.

Excellent Double0, looking forward to your report.

Tortilla de Patatas for lunch today, Italian style. Or should we call it Fritatta Spagnolo Con Zafferano, Peperoni e Salsiccia? Saffron infused eggs with caramelized onion, potato, Italian frying peppers, sweet and hot Italian sausage, and chopped green italian olives.

Cold pizza is great, straight from the refrigerator, at like 8AM. To be young again.

Sauteed sweet Italian peppers with onions... With Arthur Avenue Sausage, Balthazaar baguette and Corn on the Cob.

Tell us about that sandwich. Blown up it looks great. Read the Arthur Avenue Market thread. Many more pictures from where that came from.

According to the menu they call it Fusilli in Cartoccio. Keep in mind that Robertos makes FRESH pasta inhouse. All of their pasta dishes use fresh pasta. But you are right it does look like Gemelli. Maybe thats what they had that day and substituted or they never bothered to change the menu (which look pretty beat up these days)

Er, not! "You're an asshole, motherfucker!" Easy as pie. Same sentence, even! Yes, but can you use it at the Christian Science Monitor? That would be impressive.

I'll be sure to drag the David Lynch book with me next time.

Ouch - The Chiarlo should run about $9. I've seen it at $7 on sale. It is solid, but commercial wine. Find a pizza fast. The Jolanda I have never heard of and is not in any of the guides. Who is the importer? Alert - the primitivo could be better than either of these depending on who made it. You may be cooking with the wrong bottle. The Primitivo is a Masseria Del Pilone 2002 Primitivo Salento, IGT. Ouch on the Barberas. Guess you cant get winners everyime. Analyzing the Jolanda bottle, it says SOLE USA AGENTS Leonard Kreusch Inc, Northvale NJ. The dudes I bought it from! It said it was bottled by Santero SPA - S. Stefano Belbo.

It was less busy than usual. I guess a rainy day is a good day to go. However, this did not stop people from packing Robertos like a sardine can by 6PM. We had thought if we got there by 6, we'd get a table inside for sure. Instead, we ended up eating outside under the enclosed awning space with the outdoor heaters. Hence the checkered tablecloths instead of the nice wooden tables. Tip: If you don't get to Robertos by 5:15-5:30 on a Saturday, you're hosed.

More barberas purchased this weekend at a local wine store: 2000 Michele Chiarlo Barbera D'Asti DOC, $11.99. This one makes me nervous because the producer isn't in David Lynch's book, but hey it was dirt cheap: 2000 Villa Jolanda Barbera D'Asti DOC, $10.99 I also picked up a 10 dollar primitivo but I didn't think it was worth mentioning since I intend to cook with it.

We then walked down the street and went into Madonia's bakery: And picked up some cannolis. Then we went back in the other direction and checked out Randazzo's Seafood. Here's a guy shucking cherrystones: And here's some conch: All that running around made us pretty hungry, so we stopped in at Roberto's. Here's a shrimp and zucchini appetizer with an arugula pesto: and a risotto with sausge, potatoes, peas, and black truffle. And finally, the signature dish of the restaurant, Fusilli with Seafood in Cartoccio: In the foil: And out of the foil: We were totally stuffed afterwards, but we went over to the Arthur Avenue cafe to top off the evening:

Okay, so we went back to Arthur Avenue today. Theres no such thing as too much good Italian food, right? Here is what the Retail Market looks like from the outside: We found some people inside eating an antipasto platter, prepared by Mike's Deli: The crazy guy was there again: He was pretty scary, but he sold me some really nice looking frying peppers: The Pete's Meat guys were happy to show off their wares again: Dave Greco was doing his daily stretching exercises: But I was too distracted by the salumi, the free samples, and Mussolini. The Cigar guys at Casa Grande were too busy to talk to me: I checked out their smoking room (yup, its legal)

Not to mention it is not even in the same league as China 46, another Shanghainese restaurant which I beleive also got 3 diamonds.

On the recent episode of A Cook's Tour, Bourdain was seen eating them in San Sebastian, Spain in tapas form, breaded and fried into some kind of croquette, I think.

I've had =Mark's Piquant Salmon Rolls and yes, the wheatsworths work really well. They have a very small amount of residual sweetness in them that goes well with spicy toppings.

This evening we went to go to Greek Village for dinner, and the restaurant was closed -- according to the hastily pinned up message on the door, Jimmy, the owner, has passed away. The restaurant will be open in a few days. I plan to go back there ASAP to give my condolences.

Yes.

What the hell is wrong with giving recommendations for places when you are drunk? I'd figure as an Australian you'd appreciate that

I had the opportunity to attend the Cooking for Mr. Latte launch party and meet Hesser in person on Tuesday. She's a very nice, sweet person. She deserves to have the book be a success. I'm really looking forward to reading it because these are the unexpurgated and expanded versions of her columns, plus some new ones, and theres much more recipe content.