Jason Perlow

Todd, pipe down man. John Besh got his props as best Southeast chef at August. We should all be happy.

As sammy says, you do want to leave ample time for dining at Robertos, I would say about 1 and 1/2 hours to not be rushed. Umbertos or eating in the Arthur Avenue Retail market itself may be a better choice if you are on a tight schedule. You could also just stop at the Retail Market, grab a few of the Mikes Deli subs, and bring them to the game. Lots of people do that.

Karen any of the fresh pasta dishes at Robertos -- its a Northern Italian style place cooking authentic regional style food. Umberto's is more Italian-American traditional red sauce type stuff, but very well executed. Roberto's is known for its pasta dishes "En Cartoccio" where they cook the pasta and the seafood in an aluminum foil pouch and open it up for you at the table: I would drive to Arthur Avenue first, eat, and then the stadium. By the way, if you wanted to exercise other options like shopping on Arthur Ave, here's the Arthur Ave thread with photos: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=19774&st=30

So its an electric chair, for lobsters?

That's certainly something to consider, Steven. I agree also that the Modern is an outstanding restaurant and Gabriel Kreuther is extremely talented. The question though is did they really evaluate it or any of the others on their actual merits, or was it politically motivated, as you suggest.

But Jason, you don't really know yet, because you haven't had a meal there yet. I'd like to hear from you after you do. ← No, I don't know yet. I've just seen pictures of stuff like peeled grapes on a wire and I'm assuming I might need a slice of pizza at Geno's or Lou Malnatti afterwards. I have a morbidly large appetite, you know.

I like wide noodles, whether you call them Tagliatelle or something else in your neck of the woods. Double wide "miniskirt" as well. Fantastic with meat sauces. I like Bucatini. It's more or less replaced spaghetti and linguine in our household. I like radiatore, particularly in Mac and Cheese. Gemelli is great with seafood sauces.

I'm finding it very interesting that "$10 drinkable plonk" is now being relegated to 3rd or 2nd-world wineries. Just a few years ago it was places like Australia.

I haven't eaten at Alinea yet (a situation I hope to rectify within a few months) but I've eaten at The Modern twice so far. It strikes me, however, that Alinea by virtue of being Avant-Garde style dining doesn't constitute a "meal" in as much as an "experience" in the traditionalist sense of what constitutes fine dining. I would be hard pressed to say one could walk out of Alinea being completely satisfied from the perspective of a "meal". You also have to factor in the reality that James Beard at the end of the day is a New York based institution where the power base and influence resides -- hence a choice like Modern. As to why Atelier de Joel Robuchon NYC didn't get it... Well, Ducasse didn't exactly wow them from Day 1, either, if I recall.

Rachel has the same exact problem.

Those are definitely Xiao Long Bao, AKA soup dumplings. These are Har Gow: Incidentally those are from Hong Kong Flower Lounge in Millbrae, another excellent Dim Sum place in the Bay Area. Close to the airport.

Marlene I think the key thing with carpaccio is you want to use a pristine cut of filet, and then you want to put it in the freezer for about 30-45 minutes to facilitate slicing. You don't want to put a beef tenderloin in a meat slicer without it being firmed up first. An nice alternative to the Euro style of Carpaccio, you can do a Beef Tataki, which is the same sliced beef with a scallion/soy/ginger/lemon/sesame oil dressing on it. Try it with a sashimi grade tuna as well: Again the key feature here is the beef or the fish itself, you don't want a sauce that totally overwhelms it. A thin emulsion of olive oil, mustard and balsamic vinegar with salt and pepper added, with perhaps some chive or other herbs finely chopped up in it, sparingly applied is what you want. I think it is also helpful if the serving plates are pre-chilled.

Heriyali Kebabs. That be Indian chicken wings grilled with a mint/coriander marinate/pesto on it.

Although I am sure she didn't want to toot her own horn, Picnicchef's place, Picnic in Emerson (about a 20 minute drive from Teaneck) http://www.picniccaterers.com is also an excellent place to get cheese. She can't keep a huge selection because of her size and she is more focused on catering, but what she does get in is excellent:

Podcast #13: Simon Hubig Gets Whacked Simon Hubig Gets Whacked (click)

I taste the coconut also.

Nice photos, Doc. Koi Palace is my favorite Dim Sum place in the Bay Area.

Oh stop your worrying. Boar's Head is good stuff. Especially their hot dogs, which scored best overall in all criteria in our roundup in July 2004.

I haven't seen the show, but actually I like the concept. That doesn't mean that FNC can execute it well, though. You need the right cast of people with the right skills and right on screen chemistry. I think a good example of this would be like Discovery's MYTHBUSTERS. The two guys in that show have an amazing rapport with each other and watching them interact is I think at least 50 percent of the appeal of the show.

Nobody I know does this unless you are going with a table of absolute non-foodies. Or if ALL of them are Gentiles. Or if ALL of them have major psychological/emotional problems. Potential business partners? Walk away! The only time I don't share Chinese food is if I am out for a quick business lunch and ordering a $7 plate lunch special, where nothing is in a full sized, sharable dinner portion.

If you're into growing all kinds of heirloom tomatoes, Old Hook Farm is also a great place to get tomato seedlings of all kinds. Great for herbs and various kinds of mint and stuff too. They should have all that stuff in the next two weeks. Unfortunately they never tend to do that well in our backyard garden. The genetically engineered stuff from Home Depot Garden Store always tends to bear the best fruit!

The 7 I think makes a very good mojito mixer. I like my mojitos with older rums, personally. The Matusalem Clasico and Barrelito 2 star (they also have a 3 star but its more of a sipper) I mentioned above along with Ron Botran (a 12 year old) and Montecristo Rum (similar to the Ron Botran, same producer, same age) are good alternatives for actual Cuban rum. I was at a Montecristo sponsored event in NYC a few years ago where they made Mojitos with their 12 year old rum. They were fantastic: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=18881 HC 15 is very, very expensive and in countries that can legally sell it, very difficult to find. In Europe I've heard of it going for around 150-200 euros per bottle, and even there you have to get it from small private resellers.

You know, I really like POM, but the stuff is really goddamned expensive compared to other generic, non refrigerated pomegranete juices.

Makes a really good bubble tea shake flavor too (center):

I do more than fill out the customer cards. If something displeased me, I opt to talk to the owner and chef, directly. God knows I enjoy confrontation. Same goes if the experience is overwhelmingly positive.