Jason Perlow

In Italy, you know, they don't call it "espresso". People just ask for a "cafe" or a modification of such like "cafe lungo" or "cafe americano" or "ristretto". Add regional accents into the mix and I am sure we are all mispronounciating everything. We can thank our president for turning it into an acceptable art form. Mistakes in pronunciation doesn't nearly rub me the wrong way as improper preparation of a recipe or food item, or misrepresenting the product itself. I dont care if someone serves me an "expresso" if its a damn good one. But if someone serves me a sucky espresso I'm going to be pissed indeed.

I haven't been for a couple of years. May have to try it again one of these days, though, you know, so many restaurants, so little time (and money). I've never yet managed to make it to Bourbon House. I'm one of those locals who can get squirrelly about "messin' wit da Quarters," despite the fact that I lived in the 900 block of Royal Street for two years! ← Again, its very easy to get set in your ways in thinking about restaurants. God knows in New York and New Jersey I have pre-conceptions and re-inforced opinions about a lot of places after only a few visits. But when you have something so traumatic and disruptive like Katrina happen, and essentially all these places have to now start over again, you can't take the attitude that they were either performing on the same crappy level they were before or even continuing to do the same great job they were before. Everyone needs a reality check. The staff without a question at a lot of these places have changed, and in a lot of cases the original chef who became an owner and a front of the house guy now has to man the stove again. That's going to impact the end product, without question. You just gotta go to them again and see for yourself.

Well, I don't know how recently you've eaten there, but the desserts we had (albeit WITH Dickie Brennan and his PR person) were phenomenal during our last visit. The visit we had before in 2003 was disappointing, it felt like they dropped the ball in many ways. But a lot of folks are telling me that their food has greatly improved since Katrina, they are working much harder. Both there and at Bourbon House. I dont think you can take a lot of these restaurants on their pre-Katrina performances, I think they all need to be re-evaluated.

Well, I know a couple of Nigerian guys (in fact, one of them is named "Chuka") and their wives and mothers all make them the Nigerian stuff they want. "Fufu" is their national dish which is cassava or yam bread they eat with spicy stew. They also have a spicy peanut soup thats popular. Seriously, go with the roast. Nice horseradish sauce.

I'd stay away from the ethnic. He's becoming a naval officer, a classy roast dinner is just the kind of thing he'd be served at an officer's club when he gets his membership card, he'll love it. Strawberry Shortcake sounds great. Get some nice reds, make a few cocktails, done. For an appetizer I might do some sort of mushroom pasta of some sort. Since you cant do shrimp or crab or anything like that and the roast will be really rich, you want some sort of earthy thing to go with it. Maybe stuffed mushroom caps with breadcrumbs and cheese, and you can pre-prepare those. Or an antipasto with roast peppers with a nice cheese and salami selection. What ethnicity is he, exactly?

This isn't related to Dickie Brennan's establishment in New Orleans, is it? EDIT: Sorry, I'm a dumbass, I glazed over your post

I don't know a single navy guy that would turn down a nice beef roast.

Stuffed pork sounds very nice.

Do a nice roast, like a beef primal of some sort, go with the asparagus and a tomato/onion steakhouse salad. Scallopped potatoes, Steamship Roast Beef. Sauteed spinach and garlic. Classy.

jpr, what bothered you exactly? The smell of the balalao? As I understand its perfectly okay to keep that stuff out in the open, but it does stink a bit.

Raxelita: Danno's site is consistently one of my favorites... the man really knows how to cook.

I admit it: I am technologically-challenged!!! But I'm working on this...probably need to hire someone (aaargh!). But THANKS (Probably, around the time you manage to add delicious smells to your blog....) ← Brigit, its really easy, and you dont have to install the software yourself. Just get a free blog on Wordpress or Blogger or Typepad or any of the other places, and just redirect your domain address there. If you want I can give you a simple HTML file to replace your existing home page with, and it can automatically re-direct traffic to your new site. ← You may be my saviour! But then, don't I have to master Wordpress or one of the others? I got bogged down (blogged down) with MySql etc and gave up. I'd like to keep the format the same and not have to re-upload all the pages and images...could it possibly be that what you are suggesting would NOT require me to do that? ← Wordpress is really easy. If you know how to post on eGullet or use a word processor, you know how to use that stuff already. Go to www.wordpress.com, sign up for free, its that simple. Pick a site template from a pre-designed site layout, enter your first blog post, and you are done. You also dont have to re-upload your existing images, just link to them from the posts. You will have to cut and paste in the text, though.

I admit it: I am technologically-challenged!!! But I'm working on this...probably need to hire someone (aaargh!). But THANKS (Probably, around the time you manage to add delicious smells to your blog....) ← Brigit, its really easy, and you dont have to install the software yourself. Just get a free blog on Wordpress or Blogger or Typepad or any of the other places, and just redirect your domain address there. If you want I can give you a simple HTML file to replace your existing home page with, and it can automatically re-direct traffic to your new site.

Roboppy has excellent Mitsuwa photos. I went there a few days ago and posted similar stuff for my blog, but I didn't have my real camera with me, so I had to use my cellphone. Ugh.

Brigit: Wonderful content -- but you really should use real blog software if you want to increase your traffic on the search engines. RSS feeds exist for a reason, you know!

I'm working on the technology.

I'm not of the opinion that the seafood cartoccio gets overcooked, but I do prefer the tomato/mozzarella version.

I am an avid reader of http://www.nolacuisine.com Slice http://www.sliceny.com A Hamburger Today http://www.ahamburgertoday.com and for news, I check http://www.accidentalhedonist.com and http://www.sautewednesday.com

Okay, on the opposite ends of the spectrum, Honeydews. I've got this honeydew that has been sitting on my kitchen table for like close to three weeks now. Still hard as a rock and no indication of loose seeds when I shake it. When can I eat this sonofabitch?

I agree with everything above. Their gumbo is definitely one of the best ones I had during my last trip, if not the best one. As to fried oysters.. I really like Crabby Jack's as well, but they are stylistically different.

Maybe its my eyes acting up on me, but the scallopine looks unbreaded and it looks like a light "pink" sauce to me.

Ya-Roo Yang, "Bond Girl" interviews THE MODERN's chef de cuisine Gabriel Kreuther on Off The Broiler: Gabriel Kreuther, THE MODERN (Off The Broiler Podcast #15)

Ah yes... The praline bacon at Elizabeth's in New Orleans's Bywater section (Off The Broiler) is a good example of that as well.

Bacon wrapped grilled shrimp are awesome too. The smokiness of the bacon combined with really good seafood, excellent.

BLTs. There is no better showcase. I second the carbonara as well. But done the real way, using raw eggs as the sauce, not the cream-based kind you see at second or third rate Italian places. Here is an interesting variation -- deep fried poached egg, over pasta with a carbonara-like sauce, with thick cut pancetta. From Herbsaint in New Orleans.