Laura B

I thought I would bump this thread up to say Happy Thanksgiving and to show off my Rich Man's Brioche. I think the brioche is still the only thing I have made from this book, which is a crime. My results from making both Rich Man's and Middle Class Brioche have always been outstanding. I just love making this bread.

The pop rock shot was a little shot glass filled with melted dark chocolate. Sitting on top of it were some little bits of white chocolate and then on top of those some pop rocks. They served it with a little spoon (that we had to ask for twice before we received) that you break up the toppings with and push them down into the chocolate. Then you scoop it up and eat it. I have had a chocolate bar with pop rocks in it before, and I don't know why I like it so much, but I do. It is really fun. I think the ice cream was made there. It wasn't particularly creamy but it wasn't icey, so I guess it falls in the creamy category. Because we were not given spoons, we went at with a fork. The ice cream was so thick that the fork worked. We didn't have the shake this time, but my husband had been once before and had a shake then. He said it was really good (he had the a mocha shake) and very thick.

I had dinner and dessert there this evening, and I must say that I really did not like it. I had the french toast salami sandwich, and it was uninspiring. I could only eat half. I did enjoy the side salad that came with it. My husband had the waffles lorraine, which were better than my sandwich but still not enough to make me want to have another meal there. The desserts, as one would hope, were much better than the food. We had the "sharing" platter for two so that we could taste a variety of things. There was a scoop of very good chocolate ice cream with some hard chocolate on top, a "banana split waffle," a milk chocolate fondue (we had the choice of white, milk, or dark) with fruit and marshmallows, a chocolate pop rock combination in a shot glass (my favorite), and one more thing I don't know the name of - it was a small layered chocolate pastry. While the desserts were tasty, they were not spectacular. But even if they WERE spectacular, I cannot see myself going back. The atmosphere was like a zoo and the service was terrible. The place seemed very gimmicky - from the decor to the little beakers used for the sauce (which I witnessed some poor man trying in vain to get his mustard out of) to the hideous glasses with built-in metal straws they serve the milkshakes in. I get it - indulge the big kid in you. But I think he is trying too hard at it to the point of being tacky.

Thanks all, for your input. Molto e, those pictures are amazing. We're in Paris now and are having a great time. Our reservation at Le Bristol is Saturday and Le Pre Catalan is not until next Friday Jan 5th. But we did pack the suit!

We are leaving tomorrow afternoon for two weeks in Paris. I hope that someone happens to see this in time to respond to my question. We have booked only two fancy restaurants - we are going to Le Bristol and Le Pre Catalan (each for lunch). Are these places jacket required? My husband would rather not pack his suit if we don't have to. Would he be too out of place in nice slacks and a sweater? Thanks for your help!

Todd, thank you for all of that information. I moved to NYC a little more than a year ago from Chapel Hill, NC, and you are indeed correct, the Japanese steak house style is all over the south. I enjoyed it and realized recently that I just never see anywhere that serves that style of food here in the city. I suppose I will just give Benihana a try the next time I have a craving for hibachi steak!

I realize that this is of questionable authenticty as true Japanese cuisine, but are there any hibachi/teppanyaki places in Manhattan other than Benihana? Not necessarily where they cook at the table like at Benihana, but that at least serve that style of food. Any suggestions?

I frequent the downtown location, and I am sorry to say that the service there can be very bad. We go anyway because it is so close to our apartment and we love the food, but I think it is about a 50/50 chance that we will get bad service on any random day. I think some days it is just bad waitstaff and others the restaurant seems to be understaffed.

Just back from three hours at Madison Square Park! We had some pulled pork from Mitchell's BBQ in NC (we are from NC, so we had to have a taste of home), and then we tried Elgin's brisket and sausage plate. We loved both. Mitchell's was very good - I had never eaten his BBQ before, and I must say it was the best of the NC-style pulled pork I've ever had. To finish up, we had some custard from the shack and headed home. By the way, the shack had a custard and drinks only line today which was MUCH shorter than the regular line. I forgot to ask when I got to the front whether that was just for this weekend or there to stay. We might go back tomorrow to try some of the Memphis BBQ and maybe get some more from Mitchell's. We are not inclined to stand in line for the NY vendors since we can just go to their restaurants if we want to try them. Next year, we will definitely buy the fast pass! The lines are killer.

I second the recommendation to eat at Shake Shack. It is always full of people with young kids. It is a walk-up burger, hot dog, frozen custard place in Madison Square Park with lots of outdoor seating, but the food is really fabulous. It is owned by Danny Meyer. One word of advice, though. Go for an early lunch or you will seriously regret it. The lines can be an hour long! But they open at 11 am every day, and if you show up just after 11:00, you will be fine.

That is really good to know. I have no idea why we had a few orders of fries that seemed "off" somehow - old oil was my best guess. It has only happened about three times (including last year), and lately everything has been really delicious!

We just returned from lunch at the Shack. Sadly, we were told that the straight-cut fries were sent by mistake from the distributor. They said they are happy with the crinkle cut fries and are not changing. Our fries were crinkle cut, so they must have run out of the other ones already.

Bah! DH and I have decided for various reasons that we are going to postpone our little alphabet tour for a month or two. Redwinegulper and anyone else, carry on without me! I will post about it once we actually do it. Thanks for the restaurant input. It will be put to good use eventually!!

Any input on Druids or Dish? Zagat says Dish is the "poor man's Craft." They are both moderately priced options for D. I am considering English is Italian for E, but I can't make up my mind. It would only be two of us, so I think it may be too much food??

We have been about five times so far this year. Last Saturday, the fries were different. They were straight cut instead of crinkle, and they were much better! I hope this was a permanent change. The only complaint I have ever had about the Shack's food, and this was also true last year, is that occasionally the fries taste icky as though the oil really needs to be changed. To the point where we could not eat our fries. Of course, we didn't say anything about it. We probably should have let them know.