Jason Perlow

Bennie's in Englewood. Theres also a ton of places in Teaneck but really Bennies is your best bet.

I like their basic pasta dishes better than their entrees.

I actually beleive Sapphire is better than Kervan, but they are only related in the sense that the nephew of the guy who owns Kervan runs Sapphire -- Sapphire used to be Kervan II, and when the old man got tired of running it he sold it to his nephew. Kervan is still good but is getting a little tired, I think. In terms of Middle Eastern food in Bergen County, its pretty much all Turkish kebab house places or nothing. Bennies is the one that is truly middle eastern and in my opinion, the best of the bunch. There is also Shiraz in Edgewater, an Iranian place, but I havent tried it yet. I've heard mixed reactions on it.

Well... 1) Kervan in Cliffside Park (of the many kebab places in Cliffside it is still the best one) 2) Bennies in Englewood (definitely qualifies as inexpensive, and excellent quality) and Lebanese. 3) Sapphire in Tenafly (my choice for medium-end dining) 4) Samdan in Cresskill Of the 4, Bennies should not be missed, but they are all good.

Not yet. But when the kitchen is done in a few weeks I'll probably make some for a party.

Youre referring to the Jamaican pattie takeout joint in the strip mall with the Radio Shack and the asian buffet place? Yes, they have really good patties. They have some pretty good jerk as well. Theres another one in Englewood near the cirlcle on Palisade Ave (next to a bagel place) that is primarily a bakery but they also have patties and stew.

Mise en Schmendrick

White rum seems to be the drink of choice for native Caribbeans. In Jamaica, overproof white rum (120 proof) Wray and Nephew is what almost every home has for their chosen poison. Not only do they drink it to get wasted but also it is commonly used as MEDICINE and in place of rubbing alcohol beleive it or not. Often the Overproof is brought to people in the hospital. Very rarely do native Jamaicans drink the better Appletons, such as the VX, the Extra, or the 21.

Corn Bread with bacon bits in it, potato salad and stewed greens, preferably cooked with ham hocks. Oh wait, you said light. Sorry.

Saute thin slices of peach with jumbo shrimp (or sliced chicken) in a wok, with a little bit of soy sauce, red chinese chiles and some garlic and snow peas. Sprinkle a little bit of cilantro, mint and some fish sauce. Serve with rice or over rice noodles. This also works with mango.

Bolivar: The Mount Gay Extra Old in my opinion is their best rum, and it is a damned good rum. I have the cane rum as well, and I only use it as a mixer.

And irregardless of what ethnicity Petrossian is or isn't, Firebird is most definitely Russian.

holy shit, we have walls!

It was mostly faithful, the sandwich was correctly pressed, the bread was good, but it had more deli ham than pork, and the pork was sliced rather thin, it may have been commercial roast pork used in delis. It had the right butter/garlic seasoning though, although the pickle was not sliced, it was a deli pickle cut in half and laid on the inside of the sandwich. I thought it was very tasty and went well with the Greek Salad, which had like 50 olives in it, I kid you not. Yum. If you want the real deal though, Migdalias Cuban Cafe in Bergenfield is the place to go.

Leslie Brenner, author of The Fourth Star: Dispatches From Inside Daniel Boulud's Celebrated New York Restaurant will be answering questions related to all aspects of the book on August 7 & 8. Leslie's a participating member of eGullet and you may want to check her post in the Member Bios forum and an earlier thread about the book in the Food Media and News forum. The forum will open this week for members to post their questions in advance.

Plotnicki, you ignorant slut.

Just because you say so Steve, does not make it true. While Russian Tea Room was unsuccesful in its most recent incarnation, that does not invalidate the genre. I happen to think Firebird and Petrossian are fine restaurants and are successful because people do generally like this type of cuisine, myself included. If anything else, these Czarist type restaurants are as haute cuisine in some of their preparations as French food is.

I dunno, it would be difficult to say that Texas has more Indians than NY, though. BTW, I agree with you about the Basmati -- now, how would you compare it to Jasmine? For fried rice dishes and most asian food, its my absolute favorite.

What do you guys think of that Texmati stuff? I kind of like it.

Brand new Gelato/espresso and cafe/sandwich Italian deli place on River Road in Edgewater, Cafe Noni, right across the street from the movie theatre complex. Its right by that other weird looking cafe with the green organic/alien infestation looking concrete work and Rebecca's. Rachel and I ate dinner and had gelato there this evening -- they had really good salads (I had their Greek salad, with LOTS of olives and very good feta, very fresh tomatoes and lettuce) and their renditon of a Cuban sandwich, also very good. Rachel had sort of a braised steak dish with a side order of pasta (very good, tangy sauce on the pasta, perfect al dente) , we had gelato afterwards. I had a combo of the pistachio and the chocolate. The pitachio was very good but the chocolate suffered from an abundance of ice crystals -- rachel had the same chocolate and some bananas/caramel flavor with pecans, which was very good.

The idea, as I was told, is that a lot of women don't like to drink rum straight. Well if your woman doesn't enjoy a good rum straight, it's time to find another woman. Heh. I might make an exception for a Penthouse Pet though.

I like Barbancourt 15 a lot. That being said, its the only Barbancourt in my collection -- but I have tasted the 8. I think the 15 is smokier, the 8 may be a bit smoother. But as I like smoky, I might be in the minority.

Yeah, I can't bring myself to mix it Ed. I told Tim privately maybe they should consider doing a real mixer rum as well instead of using the "good stuff" as a mixer. I could see making a really hedonistic stinger out if it given its brandy-like qualities, however.

I havent cracked it open yet, as my kitchen is being redone and a lot of stuff is boxed up. I'll see if I can dig it up.

I would take the middle-eastern route by making it a giant felafel ball shaped like a burger patty. Deep fried, served on a burger bun with fixins. I might try some combination of fava beans and chickpeas for different consistencies. Perhaps use a spice mixture similar to those used for seasoning steaks or burgers. I might also consider a patty of reconsistuted dried mushrooms mixed with fresh (like portobello or porcini), with some type of starch like maybe potatoes or tofu as a binder, with some eggs, then breaded and deep fried.