Jason Perlow

From the President of Montecristo rum: I'll let you guys know how this rum tastes as soon as I try it.. Sounds like it has a lot of potential. Montecristo Rum Web Site (CLICK) Montecristo Rum Media Kit (CLICK)

Next time, try an Ecuadorian made rum for an even better value, especially if you're going to mix it. Try Ron San Miguel (Silver, Gold, 5-year or 7-year). Bigbear: At least in Ontario, good rums are hard to come by. The LCBO outlets only have what they have at any particular time, you can't special order. The do occasionally get in some interesting stuff, however. I found a really nice aged Dillon in their "Vintages" specialty store inside the main LCBO in Ottawa. Havana Club 7 and Appleton Extra appear to be their main premiums.

Its an extremely popular rum in the US. Not a particularly premium rum however. Not sure where you are in Canada though, but you have the benefit of being able to get Havana Club whereas in the US we cannot.

Its a big commercial smoker.

???????!!!!!!!! Are you serious? I've read Mr.Corcorans reviews and I'm always scratching my head as to why he is a food writer for the New York Times. A bad review from the NYT is not damaging because its ego deflating, its bad because it could ruin your busines, and that's the reality of it and that's the power of it. Peoples livelihoods are at stake when a review is posted and i think more respect should be given to that. Quite serious.

Here is a picture of the tiles, recently installed (grouting to be done tomorrow) The field tile is ceramic, while the border decoration here in the center of the kitchen is made out of tumbled marble, it is called "River Rock". You can see a close up of it by going into this album and selecting the "Tiles" picture: http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4291669675

Ping's for dim sum in chinatown. But I thought you guys meant REALLY cheap. Ollies is not bad but kinda greasy if you like that sort of thing, they do a good shrimp fried rice.

Its hideous. It tastes like Pledge. Vanila Coke isnt bad, but its far better as a mixer for Rum and Cokes (with a twist of lime) than drinking straight.

Nathans on Coney Island. No other Nathans will do. Papaya King for a close second. "Fried Dumpling" in Chinatown: http://www.fat-guy.com/article/view/62

Sounds like a yiddish haggis.

From my recent trip to Canada I brought back a bottle of HC Anejo Reserva as well as a bottle of the HC 7. I've tasted both, and while the HC 7 is older, I like the finish better on the Anejo Reserva. Comments? FWIW I couldnt find a single bottle of HC 15 or cuban Matusalem at the LCBO locations in Ottawa. Lots of nice french Rhums though, the big LCBO in Ottawa on Rideau has a really nice stock of aged Dillon.

This is a new rum from our friends at La Nacional of Guatemala, the same guys who are responsible for Ron Zacapa, Ron Botran and Ron Zaya. I have heard that it is a lighter rum than Zacapa and is targeted as a mixer, not a sipping rum, and that it is supposed to go for around 40 a bottle. I guess the importance here is they have licensed the Montecristo name. 40 bucks for a mixer rum? I dunno. Botran is a 12 year old and costs not even half that here in Newark.. Maybe they figure people don't like to sip rum and would rather have mojitos with their fine cigars? I think we need to try some of this stuff.

that corn was from Georgia,I think if you r going to sell any thing in a farmers market it should from the same farm that is selling it . Who the hell cares as long as it is fresh and tastes good?

Yeah, I was pretty much between the Canon G2, the Nikon 4500, and the Nikon 5700, and the Sony D7. At the various price points, and considering I wanted the telphoto capability, and the 5 megapixel, I was pretty much sold on the 5700. It would have been nice to have a digi cam I could pocket in Rachel's handbag, but it would have sacrificed too many features and I wanted a serious leap above what I already had.

My reasoning behind the 5MP was so I could ditch my SLR. I havent gotten the unit yet, but dpreview.com has samples in the discussion forums that look really impressive.

Ellen: I just purchased the Nikon Coolpix 5700 5 megapixel to replace my aging Olympus D340L. Let me know what you think. http://www.dpreview.com/articles/nikoncp5700/ BTW, got any friends that are interested in a complete EOS 1 outfit? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=1365157563

Trautwein in Closter definitely gets good corn but I havent tried any of his this season yet.

Yup, that was us.

Considering that its a very small ethnic restaurant, a VG rating is probably the best that that kind of place can get and they should be proud of it. I don't think I've ever seen that kind of restaurant get anything better than a VG.

Nice writeup Steve, and great pics. But when are you going to finish the american part of the tour?

Saigon Republic is now officially incredibly busy. The NY Times Corcoran review, which came out last night for the Sunday paper, was a Very Good and now you need reservations. We ate there last night and were lucky to get a table. If you havent been to Saigon Republic, call in advance and GO NOW. Lunch may be a little less busy.

Tommy: he has an 8 and a 12. I had the 12, cooked on the char broiler to order, with thick cut crispy bacon, onions, and melted american cheese. Soft bun with sesame. Needless to say I am in extasy. Nice charcoal taste. In my opinion the best big burger in north jersey. He's got different kinds of fries. His standard fries are made with idahos with the skins partially on, cooked I beleive in pure veggie oil. We had those (very good) and also his cottage fries, which are made with new red potatoes that have been dipped in butter (or did he say sauteed? I don't remember) and seasoned with herbs... very good.

From David Corcoran: Hi, Jason ... feel free to post this on the site if you wish ... Greetings. Jason asked me to respond to this thread. I'm not going to get into a discussion of a specific restaurant, but I'm happy to try to shed light on a couple of factual questions. The Times has two New Jersey restaurant reviewers, Karla Cook and me. We alternate Sundays, so neither of us is the "lead" reviewer. The division of labor is geographic. She concentrates on Central Jersey and I concentrate on the north, and we divvy up the Shore. As for stars: they appear only on reviews of New York City restaurants in the Dining section on Wednesdays. We don't use them in any of the regional weeklies -- New Jersey, Connecticut, Long Island, Westchester. Haven't used them since the late 1980's, when we switched to one-word ratings (good, very good, excellent, extraordinary). I wasn't here at the time, but I can guess that the top editors felt that the star system should be reserved for the Lutèces and Four Seasons of the world. Best, David Corcoran

I saw a sauteed tomatoes in caramel sauce dish served with vanilla ice cream that Lidia Bastianich prepared on her TV show. It looked really weird but she said it was good.

Wow Rochelle.. nice report!