Jason Perlow

I mentioned it before in a previous thread, but "Cafe Italiano" on Sylvan Ave. in Englewood Cliffs is actually a really good italian-american restaurant. Its situated in the former summer home of 1920's NY Mayor Jimmy Walker.

Rachel and I have been there twice. Its a good japanese restaurant, with lots of stuff on their menu (appetizers are really good) but they are in a shitty location. Nothing wrong with the place otherwise. The restaurant is actually Japanese owned and the sushi chefs are Japanese.

I've been told that the Sunday brunch at the Clinton Inn in Tenafly is supposed to be very nice. I havent tried it yet.

Actually, I felt that Maharani (in Fort Lee) had a better lunch buffet, in terms of selection. But what Kinara had was quality. Namaskaar in Paramus is also pretty good.

Rosie: are you down on Cinque Figlie?

thereuare: It sounds like you havent had any of the Shanghainese stuff. None of the things you mentioned are specialties of the restaurant. A bad service experience, however, is still a bad service experience.

Hmmm. On both occassions, what items on the menu did you order?

Come on over and cook dinner for us... :)

This weekend, Rachel and I bought a case (24) of the small Mexican mangoes from a local Indian grocery store in Englewood for about $12. We made most of them into mango sorbet -- We peeled about 20 mangoes and put them through a food mill, getting out all the stringy stuff, and then made a simple syrup with 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water, which we heated to a boil and let cool. We added the juice of about 4 lemons to all the mango puree. After refrigerating the mango puree/lemon juice mixture for about 1 hour, We then used 1/3 of the mango puree and all of the simple syrup and put it in our ice cream machine, reserving the rest to make more sorbet. This yeilded the most rich and flavorful mango sorbet we ever had in our lives. The next batch we will probably add more water though, because this stuff was so unbeleiveably sweet and rich you dont want to eat too much of it.

Recently I've become a bit more adventurous when selecting alcoholic beverages to drink with my asian food at restaurants. At Korean restaurants, Soju has now become my poison of choice, although most in the NJ area only seem to carry a brand called "Jinro (click)", although local liquor stores also carry one called Green -- they taste about the same in my opinon, and have about the same effect. Soju is made out of the distilled spirits of sweet potatoes, and it is VERY strong stuff, around 22-25 percent alcohol by volume. It typically comes in a 12 or 16oz bottle and korean men usually drink a bottle or two at a single sitting. Some of the better chinese restaurnts carry various kinds of rice wine -- one I tried recently and was very good was Wu Liang Ye, it was around 52 percent alcohol, and was not unlike the effect of drinking jet fuel. Here's a page that rates various kinds of grain wines http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/people/nieminen/chiew.html

Hackensack - Brooklyn Pizza, Potrero Grill for mexican, White Mana (hamburger dive), Cubby's BBQ Oradell - Badlands Tacos Cresskill - Roadhouse (bar & grill) We thought the Kuma in Paramus was OK, better than the one in Englewood. But better is to just drive to China 46 in Ridgefield Park. I don't really know Emerson, Oradell or River Edge very well. If you find something worth going to let us know. East in Teaneck is now Kaitan sushi. That's where it goes around on a conveyor belt and you pick up what you want and then they count your plates at the end to do your bill. The sushi is OK, not the best, but good for when you are in a hurry or going out with friends, kids love it. Real tables, not taking off your shoes and sitting on the floor. Some of the best sushi can be had at Wild Ginger in Englewood. Has anyone here been to The Restaurant in Hackensack? I may be going there soon. America and Jerry's Osteria in Tenafly are both excellent and worth the drive from anywhere in the area.

Fried shrimp and scallops. Fried mushrooms. Fried pork cutlets with tonkatsu sauce. Use em just like you would any breadcrumb.

The 1991 you have is one of the family of rums made by Gabriel & Andreu, a french Cognac company that also owns Kaniche and makes the Plantation series, one of which you have. They also have a 1983 Jamaica which I have, which is aged a bit older than the 1991. They also have a Trinidad and a Guyana. I like the 83 Jamaica a lot but its more like a Rhum than a typical Jamaican Rum or even an older aged rum from Appleton/Wray. Its actually a lot like Kaniche but somewhat better I think.

damn Plotnicki. -YOU- are the "eGullet guy?" I feel so insignificant. Sounds like a helluva meal.

Mango lassis are great because they really tone down the heat of a spicy meal. Besides mango what are the other common flavors? Tamarind?

thereyouare: Not BYO. It has a liquor license. And yes, shrimp still in shells.

How is a Pilaf/Pulao different from a Biryani? I like both.

If you're a fan of Korean barbeque, this is definitely a place you should be going --- this 3 month old Mecca of Short Ribs has quietly been getting lots of business lately from the local Korean community for its great ribs, great appetizer/banchan selection (great buffalo wings and fried shrimp) and sushi (normal selection of basic choices but good quality) at cheap all-you-can eat prices. If you are starving for piles of marinated red meat and you want instant gratification, this is the place. Rachel and I and Jon ate here twice this last week, thats how much we liked it. Lunch is the best bargain of all - $10 per person gets you all you can eat short ribs and buffet selection (includes maki-sushi: eel, california, spicy tuna rolls, veggie) and free soft drinks. Dinner during the week is $16.95 per person and includes unlimited lobster and cocktail shrimp and snow crab (the sushi as above, plus nigiri-sushi of salmon and eel). Weekends dinner is $19, we didnt try it then. The cocktail shrimp were good, but i thought the lobsters were a bit overcooked, but not bad if you picked through em and ate em with cocktail sauce. Rachel felt the snow crab was watery, I didnt try it. While soft drinks are free, be aware their liquor prices are steep -- my bottle of Jinro Soju set me back $12. The main event itself -- the galbi -- is excellent. Theres a big barbeque area where two guys are slapping tons of marinated beef short ribs onto a grill, and you line up and basically take as much as you want, as long as the queue isn't too long or some people get pissed, as they only put out about 2 plates worth at a time -- so basically the best technique is to go with a group of 3 or 4 people and and have one person grab about half a plateful at a time and then send the next person up, so theres always ribs at the table. During dinner during the week the queue wasnt as long as during lunch as the place was not as packed. The place is located right near the end of Teaneck Rd in Ridgefield Park. NJ BBQ Buffet Restaurant 53 Bergen Turnpike Ridgefield Park NJ 07660 201-229-1099

What varieties does he have?

Liza: we are doing our garden too. Maybe after you are done with him we can all go out?

When i was in San Francisisco about 2 months ago I ate dinner with some friends at The Fifth Floor. I made reservations 2 weeks in advance and we still had to wait over an hour to be seated -- However, once we were we had some of the most HEAVENLY haute cuisine that you could have, New York and Paris included. Very inventive chef who clearly knows what he's doing, as it shows from his 5 years at Alain Ducasse. They have an incredible wine list, with over 1400 items on it including a Rare Reisling selection with such things as a 1937 Spatslese from the Rheingau. You dont wanna know what it costs. To compensate us for our huge wait, they comped us with the ENTIRE dessert menu. Like over 100 bucks worth of desserts. For free. Unbeleivable Klc-worthy stuff. Now thats a class act.

Porcinis rule. Fresh Porcinis. In pasta with tons of garlic and olive oil. Criminis are a close second.

As you will see from his CV below, Shaun combines the running of The Merchant House with writing and consulting, and has 35 years experience in the restaurant trade. Shaun caused quite a stir in 1994 when he left the luxurious and internationaly renowned Gidleigh Park hotel and restaurant (where he also won a Michelin Star) and moved to the then culinary hinterland of rural Shropshire. The AA guide compared the career change to being like Damien Hill giving up formula 1 racing for driving a bus! Since the opening of The Merchant House however, Ludlow has become a mecca for "foodies" and professional chefs alike. Shaun's presence has attracted other high flyers to the historic market town which is now home to no less than 3 Michelin starred restaurants and an annual food and drink festival. Courtesy of those lovely people at Conran Octopus, we have a copy of Shaun's most recent book "Cooking At The Merchant House" to give away to the person who, in the opinion of our UK Co-ordinator Andy Lynes, asks the best question so get posting! To give you a flavour of Shaun's cooking click here for an exclusive recipe not featured in the book. Shaun Hill's CV : born 1947 London Irish Cooking experience 1967 - 71 Carriers restaurant London 1972 - 74 Gay Hussar London 1975 - 76 Intercontinental Hotel - Souffle restaurant 1976 - 77 Capital Hotel - working Head Chef 1978 - 80 Blakes Head Chef - setting up new restaurant 1980 - 82 Lygon Arms Head Chef 1983 - 85 Hills Restaurant Stratford upon Avon Chef patron 1985 - 94 Gidleigh Park Chef and MD 1994 - now Merchant House Awards and similar Egon Ronay guide Chef of the Year 1993 Caterer and Hotelkeeper Chef award 1993 - Catey Caterer and Hotelkeeper Restaurateur of the year 2001 senior academicien Academie Culinaire de France Outside interests Research fellow Dept of Classics Exeter University Menu consultant to British Airways Books Shaun Hill's Gidleigh Park Cookery Book - Random Century 1990 (reprinted in paperback 1995 as Shaun Hill's Cookery Book) Quick and Easy Vegetables - BBC Books 1993 Cooking at the Merchant House - Conran Octopus 2000 (with Dr J Wilkins) Archestratus the Life of Luxury translation and commentary - Prospect Books 1994 Forthcoming (with Dr J.Wilkins) Food in Antiquity - Blackwell The Smart cook - Pavillion

Picked this one up the other day, its an 8 year old from Colombia. Pretty smooth, it was $14 at a local liquor store here in Englewood NJ in a very latino area. Anyone else try it?

They are not the same person. The fortune teller lady is much more forgiving of a culinary snafu whereas the the food reviewer lady is a total BITCH. I'd use a stronger word than that but Rachel would hit me. "Ohmygod! You can't say that word!"