Jason Perlow

I'm going to be spending a few days in Sacramento next week and I have no idea where to eat. Burgers? Ethnic? Mexican? Fine Dining? Where do you go?

Most of the best ones come out during the holiday season. Samichlaus (14 percent ABV) is one of my favorites. Another high alcohol beer I like is EKU 28 (11 percent ABV)

My pick would be Mike Colameco, and he already has a cooking/food education show on PBS. His wife is Korean and he's prepared authentic Korean dishes before on his program. http://www.colameco.com He's also a really nice guy and very down to earth. However, I don't think America is ready for a dedicated show about Korean cooking. Perhaps a miniseries on it of 3 or 4 episodes. I've already made my points about this on another thread (click). Be it as it may, that doesn't mean the eG Society isn't ready for it. We've been wanting to do a eGCI course on Korean food for a while, but nobody so far has stepped up to the plate to do it. So Farid, if your wife would be perfect for such a thing, perhaps she can be convinced to do this for us? The last time I asked her, she said YOU were the best candidate for the job. The two of you should put your money where your mouths are and propose a course outline to Janet Zimmerman (JAZ), Dean of the eGCI.

Thanks for joining up, Jennifer! We've got lots of upgrades and improvements in store.

If you want to try something a bit different, I would go with asian-inspired mayonnaise-based toppings. blend of Sriracha/Lime Juice/Mayo/salt/pepper Blend of Wasabi (real wasabi paste if you can get it, like from Pacific Farms) / Dijon Mustard and Mayo/ salt and pepper and lemon juice to taste. Lemongrass/Cilantro/Galangal (or ginger)/asian basil/green chile/mayo/salt/pepper You could do all 3 and it would be totally wild.

Here's some Slurpees we had on the way back from New York City today, including the free ones in the retro cups.

7-Eleven Celebrates 40 Years of Brain Freeze

Some more OPH cell phone porn: The Saturday Morning Queue Happy Diners Fresh Squeezed OJ Corned Beef Hash and Scrambled Eggs Southwest Omelette (Jalepenos, Cheddar, Tomato, Onion) before incision and saucing. By the way, this sucker is huge, like 6 or 8 eggs and then whipped up and then baked. I was able to finish only half of it. After cutting open and saucing. Strawberry Pancakes.

AK, I could not disagree more with Papa Georgi. The place is totally inconsistent and I haven't had a decent meal there in at least 10 years.

Hard spirits such as rum, gin, vodka and whiskey and brandy have no expiration date. Keep them in a cool place, however to avoid evaporation. With brandy and rum as well as some liqueurs you need to be a little bit more careful because they have components in them that can oxidize, so make sure that the bottles are corked tightly when not being used. Heat is obviously something you need to avoid of with liqueurs.

There's no reason why marinades can't be frozen.

BTW the site in question is http://www.pacificpalate.com/shows_podcast.html Its done by a Canadian food journalist based out of Vancouver. It's a great program, by the way. Evan Kleiman out of KCRW Santa Monica, CA does the "Good Food" podcast: http://www.podcastbunker.com/audio/goodfood.php

It's going to be a shame to see a Fort Lee landmark like Callahan's go, John.

You're right. I had a chocolate truffle/peanut butter dessert that was fantastic.

Yesterday afternoon I had the opportunity to sample the two competing falafel stands near 6th Avenue on 46th street -- "Miriam's Falafel" and "Moishe's Falafel". Miriam's, on the southwest corner next to 1177 Avenue of the Americas, is the more expensive ($4) and actually is a smaller falafel sandwich than Moishe's -- its less stuffed with salad and the pita is smaller but of the thicker variety -- but contains an equal amount of falafel balls as Moishe and I beleive he is using Israeli tehina as opposed to the domestic Joyva that Moishe's is using, and the balls themselves are nicely seasoned as well as have a nice crunch to them. There's no options with this guy -- You ask for a Falafel Sandwich and he gives you a sandwich already dressed out the way he dresses it, with lots of pepper sauce and already wrapped up in foil. I was there towards the end of the day and he told me I bought the last one, so its possible that this was an anomaly, however. He also told me "This is -the- best falafel. I know you are a new customer but you will be back tomorrow." Indeed, I will be back, but not on his timeframe, unfortunately. I ate the sandwich, standing up on the corner of 6th and 46th with glee. Moishe's ($3.75) on the other side of the street on 6th, is a different animal. Here the adage of "More is Less" rings true. The Moishe's falafel is overstuffed, to the point where its impossible to eat it with your bare hands -- eating this monster requires a fork and LOTS of extra napkins. Remove all your extra articles of clothing as well. Its utterly drenched with Joyva tahina sauce and the thin pita gets soggy very quickly. The falafel balls are also less seasoned than Miriam's and also somewhat mushy. I basically picked out the balls with a fork and left most of the sandwich over. Next to Moishe's is a really good fruit shake stand, and for $4 I got a big Strawberry/Mango/Pineapple/Papaya combo which was an ideal match for the falafels.

I think it's R&G actually. I must have been confused,

I've said on a number of occasions that I like Brandy Ho's Hunan (217 N Columbus near the Transamerica Pyramid), and I usually hit it up to get my spicy food fix each trip, but I've been told by locals that D&G is considered to be the most hardcore Cantonese in the area.

Pamela I think you are referring to Royal Canadian Pancake House... another Pancake chain. There's one of them in NYC as well. EDIT: Actually, I'm wrong. Royal Canadian Pancake House is a New York-Based company and they apparently have only a few locations, one in Miami and I think they tried to do one in Florham Park, NJ briefly but it closed. There are in fact, Original Pancake Houses in Canada, but I am not sure either if they are the same company. A listing for the two locations in Winnipeg says Its certainly possible that the Canadian branch of the company might have been franchised off to a totally different group of people and have changed the menu options somewhat. Most of the OPH's that I know of don't have stuff like burgers and soup on their menus -- although the Rentzis folks apparently do have some extra things they make, but they are mostly different types of breakfasty things.

Its totally fresh squeezed. So is their grapefruit juice. And their regular coffee is also very good, plus they have real cream to go with it.

Via email from Philip Rentzis, GM of OPH in Fort Lee:

I particularly liked the Prawns a La Plancha and the "Croque Madame" as well as the raviolis.

I think that making this viewpoint known in a more public form would have quite a deleterious effect on your reputation as a food discussion guru... You mean eGullet isn't the most "public" food forum on the entire Internet? Where have I been wasting my time this last 4 years! I think my self-professed love of Tater Tots and While Castle hamburgers have already put a "deleterious effect on my reputation." I could care less, honestly, what other people think.

That's too bad, its probably some of the most innovative cuisine in the city right now.

It's a chain, Menton. It may be a very high end chain, but its a chain. He's got multiple MIX and SPOON locations worldwide, not to mention the two "AD" restaurants. Ergo, it is a chain.

It doesn't have to be that way at every chain -- the ones you mentioned conform that way and certainly that is true of franchise fast food restaurants, but not -every- chain. Certainly, the 5 Les Halles restaurants ( http://www.leshalles.net ) have individual differences about them and under no way would I consider them "chain food". The Fort Lee Original Pancake House, for example, has specials on its menu and the Rentzis family has creative control over their particular franchises. So while they do serve dishes on the chain menu, they also have things that are not -- such as the specialty crepes they make there and the burgers they have at the other two OPH's they own.