Jason Perlow

I'm surprised you say the Cabernet Franc went well with your meal.. as great as they are I always found they taste too much like chevre... kind of an olivey-earthy thing thats hard to match stuff with. But I suppose if your dishes had a lot of olive oil (like your veggies) that might offset it. Unusual to eat fish and fowl with it too I think. Call me traditional and set in my ways but I would have picked a white...

I dig the torchio and the gigli.

Jean Georges or Lespinasse? You'll get no sympathy from me, lady.

I actually use both. For my prized aged rums I drink them neat warmed up in a brandy snifter. For gold rums that I am going to serve on the rocks, I use a tumbler.

I wish I knew the answer to that. New Orleans is a big bourbon town, although there are many mixed rum drinks served. I would imagine though any reasonable liquor store in NO would have a good rum selection, however. However, there is ONE notable rum that is actually produced in New Orleans, N.O. Rum. If you go to Luis Ayala's website, he has a newsletter that profiled the company that makes it: http://www.rumshop.net/newsletters/september2001.pdf You'll need the Adobe Acrobat reader to read it. Great site. EDIT: N.O. Rum and many other premium rums are avaliable at Dorignac's a huge liquor store in New Orleans. Here's their premium rum listing: http://www.dorignac.com/rum.htm

Well I mean you can do anything with veggies. I would say get a sphagetti squash in there with lots of butter and parmesan, really good creamed spinach, fresh string beans sauteed in olive oil with tons of garlic. Baby vegetables if you can find them like miniature squashes that have been grilled with just a little salt and pepper added. A chinese green like a Gai Lan or a water spinach perhaps in sauteed garlic or oyster sauce. Perhaps squashes and green beans with onion in a spicy tomato sauce. I dont know what they feel about brussel sprouts, but with a ton of butter and garlic they are some of the best sides you can have -- put them in a wrapping of aluminum foil, a lot of butter and olive oil and sliced garlic, throw it in the oven or on your weber for 30 minutes, you got good eatins).<p>People also overlook their potato preparations as well. Mashed potatoes whipped up with a lot of premium olive oil and stock added can be great but nothing beats going whole hog for the butter and cream and lots of cracked black pepper. ####, its thankgsiving, dont look at me that way. :) Rachel takes mashed potatoes mixed with cheese and stuffs them into big cooked idaho russet potato halves that have had their insides scooped out (to make the mashed potatoes) and bakes them in the oven, these are fantastic. Use different kinds of cheese and spices mixed with the mashed potatoes for different flavors (parmesan, romano, oregano, basil for italian, cheddar, jack, chopped bell pepper, ground beef, taco seasoning for mexican). Or perhaps consider a gratin of some sort.

What town is it in?

So here's a tough question: what is considered to be the most exclusive and best quality sushi restaurant in Tokyo?

At a local diner this evening I overheard a couple talking about ice cream parlor experiences from years ago, and it occured to me that as a cultural icon it has largely disappeared from New York City. Other than Serendipity, anyone know of other major ice cream parlors in Manhattan? Peppermint Park closed years ago. I seem to recall another one in the Village, and Ferrara's in Little Italy somewhat fills that mold but not exactly. Ben and Jerrys and Haagen Daz doesnt count, sorry.

Kristian: Kaniche is an excellent rum, as are all of Gabriel and Andreu's products. Don't know who wrote that label on the Guadeloupe (probably the local importer) but the Kaniche martinique that they sell in the US is 12 years old and is a great example of a french style rum. I havent tried the Guadeloupe but its supposed to be nice.

Dunno about Oregon, but sparkling would work. Maybe a Reisling Sekt or a sparkling Weisserburgunder. Something very clean and not oakey.

Gewurtztraminer. Alsatian please. Nice and spicy with good sweetness. An off-dry Reisling Kabinett from the Mosel too will also work well.

The only catch is that in this neighborhood, the "locals" are more likely to have just returned from their summer house in the south of France in a blue blazer and ascot than from the Catskills in a pair of jeans. I think you've adequately described what I think Bux looks like :)

Cream Cheese, though the original version had the taste and texture of fine brie Oh. Duhhhh. I got a brick of Philly in my fridge right now. My preferred shmear for a Bagel.

Rachel and I finally made it to Jerry's Osteria for our 6th anniversary on Tuesday the 23rd. We wanted to go monday as it was our real anniversary date but it was closed. Jerry's Osteria 50 Prospect Terrace Tenafly, NJ (201) 894-1211 Jerry's is near the corner of County Road and Prospect Terrace, about 2 blocks up from Charlie Browns. The restaurant provides free valet parking. Jerry's is a charming restaurant although it looks more like a bar and grill or steak place in terms of decor, I presume that the location was taken over from a restaurant of that genre. According to the menu, the objective is to reproduce a real italian "Osteria" which is a small neighborhood cafe or a restaurant in someone's home with a limited set menu and very homey kinds of dishes. Jerry's menu however is anything but limited. We started with a mixed antipasto platter, which had six items that we hand picked from the comprehensive antipasto bar, all delicious, including a cold egglplant and ricotta layered thing in a marinara sauce, quiche, marinated artichoke hearts, a fried square of saffron risotto and a mixed seafood salad with shrimp and calamari, all excellent. I also had a rustic potato and leek soup, which had chunks of potato and chopped up leeks, as well as deep fried leeks floated on top. Tasty, but it definitely needed a bit of salt. A generous portion too. Rachel's main dish was a chicken scarpariello, which was in a light brown sauce, cut peices on the bone with mushrooms and sauteed italian sausage -- the chicken was cooked perfectly, tender, and one of the better examples of this dish I have tasted. I had the veal osteria, which was essentially pounded veal tenderloin medallions alla marsala with sauteed prosciutto and shitakke mushrooms added. I was pleased and very tasty but it was a bit too similar to rachel's dish, although I would add it was not as sweet a marsala-type dish as I have had before at other italian places which tend to be on the cloying side, so I would say this one was executed particularly well. Both dishes were served with potatoes (not pasta) and large brussel sprouts that were sauteed in olive oil, very good and an unusual pairing by american standards considering what you normally get. In addition to about half a dozen meat and fish entrees plus another or so dozen chefs special dishes, theres another or so half dozen fresh pasta dishes which the place prides itself on that I definitely want to try when I get back there. My only negative experience with the place is that the bus and junior waitstaff is badly trained and don't speak english, and we had more than one occassion where we told them not to do something and did it anyways, such as peppering of food, water glasses, etc. Our main water however was very attentive and very knowledgeable about the menu. I'll also add that Jerry's has a lot of wines by the glass in case you want to try different wines with your food. I had two glasses of prosecco which I enjoyed tremendously (I ordered one but the waitstaff screwed up, they let me have the extra :) ) Definitely a local restaurant that we'll be returning to often.

Yeah I totally forgot about Kinara's Heriyali Kebab. Man if only I could figure out how to make those at home.

Yvonne Newark should definitely be on your list for Spanish as well. If you ever are going out here for dinner, feel free to give me a call, Rachel and I would love to join you.

In the pre 9/11 world I probably would have suggested Windows on the World... Fat Guy or Bux will probably think I am nuts, by my gut instinct is telling me to bring her to Firebird for the prixe fixe dinner.. they have an amazing cozy little bar/sitting room there with phenomenal sweet honey vodka that would be perfect for a proposal, and their caviar and blinis are really good too. Picture: Parlor Bar at Firebird The other possibility is to go for a drink at the top of the Marriot Marquis overlooking Times Square, and then take her out for something nice afterwards. Any of the top restaurants that are the favorites of our cognoscenti (Babbo/Esca, Gramercy Tavern/Craft, Lespinasse, Bouley Bakery, Jean Georges, Le Bernadin, Alain Ducasse, Balthazar, Daniel/Cafe Bouloud) are expensive and require reservations several weeks in advance if you want to play it safe. You may want to consider taking her to one of these places for a romantic lunch instead of dinner as it is a lot less expensive and the food is the same. Thats how many of us foodies get to eat at these places. However I've heard from several reliable sources recently Nobu is increasingly easy to get into lately since 9/11 as less people are willing to go downtown to eat, so it might be a unique opportunity. Especially if the restaurant is threatened with the possibility of closure due to reduced business.

I've been told by many that Paris has some of the best Vietnamese food in the entire world. What Vietnamese restaurants in Paris would you recommend, and why?

Has Iron Chef completed its run in Japan, or are they filming new episodes there?

The cheesesteak is obviously philadelphia's most well known contribution to the culinary world. But besides that, what other unique food items and things are Philadelphian in nature?

Cluck U is definitely a great wings place (I've been to the Morristown one) -- I've had their top level sauce ("global") and its pretty insane. However I really dig their chicken sandwiches -- their "little roman" with the parmesan cheese sauce is great. Messy though.

If they are going to be in East Rutherford for a game I suggest they go to Newark for real Brazillian rodizio, preferably at Seabra's Rodizio attached to Mediterranean Manor. 255 Jefferson St Newark, NJ (973) 465-1966 If they are from the UK then I am sure they havent had a dinner of endless red meat debauchery in a long time since the mad cow epidemic. Definitely affordable, tasty, and lots of fun. East Rutherford is approximately 20 minutes from Newark and is 40 minutes in moderate traffic from Manhattan. As to Michael Jordans, Fat Guy actually has had a decent meal there but I think he prefers Sparks. here is the link to Fat Guy's steakhouse roundup: http://www.fat-guy.com/article/articleview/151/

Holly, is Carman your babe?

He's right Steven. Liberty State Park is in NJ, and the Statue of Liberty is part of that property.