Jason Perlow

I would actually pay to see that.

I was having a pretty shitty day until I read Tony's last post. That was classic. I'll avoid Larium and stick with the IMODIUM. The guy who invented Imodium should get a Nobel prize.

While not strictly a champagne I forgot to mention one that Fat Guy introduced me to, the Argyle sparkling wine from Oregon, Knudsen Vinyard Brut 1996 which is labelled at 60 percent Pinot Noir and 40 percent Chardonnay. At 40 bucks a bottle its damn expensive for an american methode, but its an amazing hand crafted wine if you can get it. Most wine stores only carry the $20 argyle which is a standard champagne mix so you might have to special order it fromt their web site if your wine store doesnt have it. http://www.argylewinery.com/our_wines/our_...g_knud_brut.htm All of Argyle's wines are awesome even if you cant find this one so you should give them a try.

The Zardetto is not bad, I like the Nino Franco better. Even better is the Canevel if you can find it, but its a bit more expensive.

as far as Negociant Manipulant, mass market champagnes go, Bollinger, non-vintage. Without question. If you are talking "Champagne", the real deal, and not a methode champanoise. Now, when you get into blanc de blanc's, rose's and blanc de noir's , things get a bit more complicated, I prefer to go with grower (RM) type champagnes that specialize in this sort of thing, which can be a bit of a challenge to find unless you got a really good wine store. Virtually all of these are excellent and are under $50. If you can find any of the Egly-Ouriet champagnes, these blow away just about any of the big names and usually go for around $40 a bottle. In particular their Non-Dose and their Ambonnay and their Rose are quite exquisite. Their Non-Dose (Zero Dosage) is one of the few wines that will match with caviar because it is EXTREMELY bone dry and has not been dosed with sugar like most champagnes are. Personally, I think that many Prosecco's, Cavas and sparkling Reislings offer much more bang for the buck and a more interesting flavor experience in general than champagnes do, since I prefer my wines on the sweeter side. I detest the way Champagnes are made for the american palate. If only there were more Demi-Sec and Sec's around I would be really happy.

I'm partial to the cornstarch/thinkened kind that is usually billed as "Velvet Chicken Corn Soup" in chinese takeout places. Usually a variant of eggdrop soup, made with a chicken stock and has lots of corn kernels and peices floating around in it. I think the stock might be cooked with some of the corn and then blended slightly, and then more corn and then the eggs are added to complete it, with the cornstarch to thicken.

You can do it in a regular bowl. In which case its regular bibimbap. The hot stone bowl variant definitely makes the rice crispy at the bottom, I'm not sure if they are using room temp or hot rice in it though to make that effect. In korean homes regular bibimbap can be made with leftover reheated rice, its that kind of dish. Basically with bibimbap, its rice on the bottom, with ground or minced beef and other condiments on the top. Go into any good korean grocery and they will have all the "banchan" or condiment/side dishes (kimchees being a sub variant of banchan) pre-prepared in small plastic containers. They've probably got at least 200 varieties of banchan, ranging from hot and spicy pickled vegetables of all kinds, to mountain vegetables that are sauteed and spiced in various ways, to pickled fish and different kinds of seaweed, marinated and spicy tofus of different consistencies, you name it. Banchan is the DNA of a Korean meal. Place these in little piles on top of the rice with the beef, and presto, You Got Bibimbap. The egg yolk is optional.

The stone bowl or "gopdol" bibimbap is definitely my favorite. I also occassionally like the raw beef or "yookhwe" bibimbap when I'm feeling particularly klingonesque. We have no shortage of good Korean restaurants in Northern New Jersey and Queens. For the most part, bibimbap is considered to be a homestyle Korean dish, and is usually made with leftover banchans and kimchees of various types. Its not really a dish that is made the same way each time.

The El Dorado Special Reserve, as ed says, is a 15. Their "Superior" which is sold in a tall 750ml bottle is a 12. Its also a Demerara rum, which has its own special flavor characteristics. They have a unique way of making rum in Guyana, its one of the oldest distilleries in the world, and generally speaking they can be pretty expensive compared to other rums of similar age. Totally different kind of rum than the Havana Club. HC is not even in the same league. Generally speaking with these rums, you want to drink them neat, in a brandy snifter, and you want them to heat up to room temperature or maybe even a little warmer for all of their flavor elements and their odors to activate. I bought my bottle of El Dorado Special Reserve for $32 in Newark, NJ, which is considered to be a very good price. It usually goes from 40 to 50 bucks a bottle. Washington Times article on Demerara Distillers

Limabean: Actually there is also a River Palm in Edgewater, but I havent been to it yet. I've heard its good.

Do you think New Jersey suffers from a "second state syndrome", I.E., overshadowed by New York? Do you think the restaurants reflect any of this or are they coming into their own?

Do you have a favorite restaurant in NJ? What restaurant in NJ do you think is most exemplary? Or most interesting?

Really? Canada Dry or Seagrams has always been on the menu at posh, exclusive country clubs in the NY area. It also comes in 16 ounce or 12 ounce glass bottles. I remember so from the times I've been invited to my Grandfather's club, Muttontown on Long Island, which is one of the oldest. I'm not saying you should offer it exclusively, but I think you would be surprised if you said you had it along with Pellegrino or Perrier, you'd get a lot of customers asking for Canada Dry or Seagrams.

I'm partial to Anejo Reserva, which is a blended 6, its smoother than the 7 in my opinion. However, theres nothing wrong with the 7, and I wouldnt mind having a few bottles of it either. :)

Its nice. I have a bottle of this, as well as their 3 year old cuban style. Very smooth, I like it with a few ice cubes.

Patron Silver is overpriced? Really? I dont recall spending more than $30 for it here in NJ. But that was about 2 years ago when I bought my bottles.

Bacardi 8 is an OK rum, although certainly better than anejo or 1873. There are other 6-8 year old rums that are less expensive and are better products, IMHO. Ciclon is definitely something you either like or don't. As flavored rums go I think its pretty interesting, certainly at least as good as Marti Mojito, which is strictly a white rum with some lime flavor and has been selling pretty well from what I hear. I think the gold rum with the lime and the tequila gives Ciclon some balance and smooths it out somewhat.

1. Is the brand of water important? If it's not on the menu, do you ask what kind of water is available? I do ask but the brand is not important. I almost always order sparkling water with my meal, especially at a fine restaurant. 2. Would you not order water because of the brand? [For argument's sake, assume it's an upscale brand, i.e., Panna, Pellegrino, Voss, Evian, etc.] No. 3. Would you think more or less of an establishment because of the brand of the water it carried? I like the Sole' because it seems that the more educated restaurants carry it, because its less expensive (which usually translates to a less expensive bottle for the customer) and just as good as the other premium name brands. Overcharging for bottled water pisses me off. So cutting corners on brand names, as long as it means a cheaper bottle of water for the customer, is a good thing. Even offering something really cheap like 1 liter bottles of Canada Dry seltzer and selling it for 3 bucks a bottle would be preferable to selling Pellegrino or Perrier for 6 or 7 bucks a bottle 4. Is it important that that small bottles are available, i.e., .5 liter? If they're not, would you not order water or would you order a large bottle? I prefer to order a large bottle. Or medium sized. The small ones to me seem like a rip off. 5. What is your favorite flat water? sparkling? Reason, if any? Flat would be Poland Spring. Sparkling, Sole', Fiuggi or Pellegrino, with a slight edge to Sole'. Poland Spring tastes pure to me, and, and Sole is a bit less sulphury than the other two. 6. What do you consider a reasonable charge, bearing in mind prices generally range from $5 upwards for a large bottle? What do you consider unreasonable and would it detract from your overall experience, all else being equal? above $6 a bottle would be oppressive. 7. To the best of your recollection, is water on the menu at most establishment you frequent? Do you think it should be? Yes, it should always be on the menu.

We're pleased to welcome David Corcoran, restaurant reviwer for the New Jersey section of The New York Times to eGullet.com for a Q&A session Thursday and Friday, September 5 and 6, 2002. You may begin asking questions at any time, and David will be here to answer them on the arranged dates. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn how a reviewer works, picks his restaurants, stays anonymous and eats all that food! Whether you agree or disagree with any restaurant reviewer his is not always an easy job. DAVID CORCORAN David Corcoran has reviewed restaurants for the New Jersey section of The New York Times since April 2000. His reviews appear every other Sunday, alternating with those of Karla Cook. He has also written about food for a number of papers, including The Record of Hackensack, NJ, where he reviewed restaurants in the 1980’s. He and his wife, Karrie, are enthusiastic amateur cooks. They have three children and live in Bergen County, NJ. Mr. Corcoran’s full-time job is assistant science editor at The New York Times. He joined The Times in September 1988 and has worked in a variety of positions, including education editor and deputy New Jersey editor. As a special sections editor in 2001, he edited The Times’s 150th anniversary issue. He came to The Times from The Record, where he was editor of the editorial page. In 1976-77 he was a Professional Journalism Fellow (in what is now the Knight Fellowship program) at Stanford University. Born in New York City on July 22, 1947, Mr. Corcoran graduated with a B.A. degree in English from Amherst College in 1969.

My take on this is if I lived in the local area, like Tommy does, I might go back, hesitantly. But I was highly disappointed in the lack of authenticity in the Pho flavor (It was closer to a Hu Tieu than a Pho in terms of flavor characteristics) , and that pretty much kills a Vietnamese restaurant for me. I dont care how much cheaper it is than other Vietnamese places in Jersey. If the Pho sucks, the Pho sucks. This is a restaurant that is trying to find its way, and doesnt know if wants to be Vietnamese or American. I say they should drop all the American stuff off their menu, and dive into some more serious Vietnamese dishes, especially they need to offer some salads as well as true Banh Mi sandwiches instead of their American sandwiches, and they need more noodle dishes. I also think their Pho needs to be tweaked considerably, offer the traditional accutriments, and they need to offer Spring Rolls made the traditional way, with pork and seafood in it. Their Creme Caramel dessert was awesome -- and I might even drop by to pick one up on occassion.

You know, I hate to throw a compliment tommy's way, but I think he'd do a good job. Buy him some fries along with the sandwich. Jason, for all his ability to fall naturally into the "angry" role will personalize it too much and not know the proper point to stop. But tommy may not want to truck all the way down to Union, so maybe your Dad? Assuming he knows when to strategically get up and go for a bathroom break? Me, I'd be best at playing "bored cop". What, are you saying I have an anger management problem, you stupid fucking asshole?

Dont drink the local water. Only drink bottled.

I might have to kill you.

How did you season this?

I've never had a bad German Trockenbeerenauslese or Eiswein in my life. All of them are good.