Barbara Moss

Oh, well. A fine meal shouldn't NEED a dessert. Maybe a little fruit. I have decided on Cru, What is Otto? What is 'noteca? Do I want to go there? Someone has suggested Blue Hill. What do you think?

Is Eleven Madison Park only pre-fixe or tasting? When I looked at the reviews that is what it seemed to be.

We are from Chicago and do not often get to New york. We will be in New York in December for three days. I have eaten in several of the Danny Meyers places and my husband would love to go back to Grammercy Park. I would like to try some new places. I have not eaten at Cafe Boulud and was thinking of that. Not Per Se even if could get a reservations. i did not have a successful meal at the French Laundry. So what is out there? There are so many restaurants that it overwhelms me. I think I want one upscale and two a notch or two down. any suggestions?

Why didn't you find the manager and let him take care of these issues? My feeling is that they want you to be happy. they are not doing these things to be mean. If you slip between the cracks, you can tell them in a nice way what is acceptable and they will do whatever it takes. Yes, there will be times when they are just too snotty( had this experience at the French Laundry) but for the most part I have found that they will do what they need to do. If not,I write a polite note or phone call the next day.

Just starting with the many lists for the Break the Fast. If anyone has any interesting salads I would love to hear about them. I think I have done every make ahead salad under the sun.I have done most of the baking and the kugels are in the freezer. It doesn't seem like so much work if I do a little bit at a time.

It is fine for a business dinner. i took a group of 8 and they loved it. I thought the wine list was very expensive but I did not have time to really peruse the list. It gives the appearance of being trendy but it is really not which works for the business dinner. For me, I thought it was fine but not fabulous. The food was more interesting when it first opened.

I also had my birthday meal a NaHA and loved it. So many places are so-o noisy and this was quiet and elegant. Service was serious and thoughtful and we were never rushed. I am trying to keep my wine consumption down so we probably had a glass each but they had lovely wines by the glass. The food was interesting but clean. I loved every bite. I always think this is an under-rated place and it deserves more of a reputation. I like it better than Blackbird, for example. You have reminded me that I need to go again. thanks.

I do a very large break-the-fast every years. actually, it is smaller now that we have moved but still i have between 25-30 people. People may say they want to eat lightly but they eat like Sherman marching through Georgia. Lately, I have found that they do not eat as much kugel as they used to but the baked goods disappear. The amount of smoked salmon is greater than it used to be as well. I do not try to be gourmet since it is really a very traditional holiday. I found long ago that people want what they have always had...Sometimes, I get very tired of the same old thing but it is a comfort to most people. I do make a wonderful whitefish salad that I stuff back into 5 lb. whitefish skins. That is my centerpiece and it is still just whitefish. You shouldn't fret about this. It is an easy holiday.

I like the bar at Nomi. I also like the food there but if you are going to Tru it would be too much. I also like Copperblu for a very well prepared meal.

the night we dined at Le Reminet it was a mix of French and Americans. You have to expect to see Americans in an area surrounding the 6th. It is, after all, a tourist area. The food was lovely and considering the difficulties of a Sunday night in Paris I thought it was great.

I want to thank John Talbott for his wonderful recommendation of Le Reminet. It was quite good and very charming. We had wonderful food, overall. Aux Lyonnaise was good but some may find the menu somewhat challenging. L'Angle du Faubourg was wonderful in both service and food. Cafe Constant was a good but not great casual meal.

I had our hotel make the reservations. I long ago realized that anything but a French voice did not always get a reservation. We did have trouble getting reservations at Aux Lyonnaise but the hotel seemed to do just fine. I had much more difficulty this time even though I did it much father in advance than I normally do. None of the restos were three star but most of them were"trendy". I don't know if anyone will cancel because of the proposed strike/demonstrations. Hmm, maybe I should try to get in Mon Viel Ami which I failed to secure on three different dates.

We got reservations at Le Reminet for Sunday so I thank you for the suggestion. I will be sorry to miss Mon Viel Ami since I really enjoyed it. I love Bistro du Dome in the 14th which I have gone to many times and I actually prefer it to the big sister next door. It is the perfect place to go on our first night in Paris when I am tired,fuzzy and little cranky. I find it soothing,foodwise. I thought of Allard but it has gotten such mixed reviews lately I decided to pass this time. I am anxious to try Aux Lyonnais on this trip and I always enjoy L' Angle du Faubourg. I will report in after we come back.

Three of us are going to Paris at the end of March to shop, eat and partake of a little culture. We are having trouble getting reservations especially for Sunday night. We tried Mon Viel Ami and it is full for Sunday and we could not get into L' Os a Moelle . We did get into L'Angle du Faubourg. and are waiting to see if we are in Aux Lyonnais. We are staying in the 6th but are will ing to go somewhat far afield. I know this group will have suggestions. Although we are partial to the modern bistro, we basically eat anything .I am sad about Mon Viel Ami since I ate there last year and loved it. We will be there for five nights.

[Host's note: To minimise the load on our servers, this topic has been split. The discussion continues from here.] My situation proves one of Fa A side note about the open table reservation. I didn't realize TFL was close the first 2 weeks of January, so that's why I was unable to make a reservation. Since that time I've been able to make a reservation once or twice a week. So now I have several reservations available for the forth week in January if anyone wants them :-)← Do you still hold them? We are going to be in Napa on January 27 and 29...Let me know . Thanks.

I think Grand Luxe is a great idea but there are many places that would be fine for the under five set. Even SeaBlue which is a Michael Mina was very nice when we brought a 12 year old . The food is straightforward and the manager made a point of coming over to talk to us.The is a Mexican resturant across the way from SeaBlue which would also be fine. The coffee shop in the Bellagio is another good choice.

I guess I am not the only one doing New Year's for 10. I love the idea of the fall apart lamb shanks. What cookbook are they from? I think I will do the frisee salad from Alfred Portale's Simple Pleasures. We have one person that is Kosher so i will leave out the bacon. I will also add some kind of fish although I might serve that room temp. I am also thinking of Tom Valenti's short ribs which I made recently that were fabulous. I am torn about the apps since I want something to sop up the alcohol but I don't want to spoil their appetites. Any suggestions?

After I make the soup I might continue to simmer for an hour or so to concentrate the soup. Be sure and use enough chicken. Any kind is fine except white meat. I also add parlsey and parsnips. After you have finished the soup I add a small amount of veggies such as carrots, onion and celery along with the matzah balls. Oh, and don't take off every single bit of fat since fat adds taste.

I would love the quanities. Thanks. Barbara

One of my assignments this year is to make a nonchocolate dessert. I am trying to think if I have ever made such a thing...Anyone have a really special one? I have a spinach zucchini kugel from Marcy Goldman if anyone wants it. I plan to make a cauliflower one.

Many of the Mexican places are very far away.Cafe Allegro is very close and across the street from Marshall Field's. Very nice food but not Mexican. The kinds of places that are the best for Mexican have low rents and of course, that is not the Loop or Michigan Avenue. Gioco is Italian and not too expensive. It is in the South Loop. You could take a short cab ride to RHumba which has Pan Latin and dancing after 9:30 or National 27 which is also Pan Latin. Not as authentic as some of the places mentioned but easier to get to . The Mexican restaurant on Superior is fancy but supposed to be quite good. i have only eaten lunch there. There is an Emelio's tapas on Ohio, I think.

That sounds about right. I haven't checked here in Chicago but i suspect that some people buy a little at a time because of the price of Passover foods. I am thinking about Marcy Goldman's matzoh butter crunch. i wonder how far in advance i can make it. I will have my soup stock in the freezer by the end of the month. For me, it is just one less thing to think about.

We sell garlic brisket too - we tried to take it off the menu a couple of years ago because it is so expensive but the people demanded it! So we returned it to the menu and have to charge over $30/lb for it. We don't count the cloves, all I know is it takes me at least an hour to get the garlic prepped for it! (we usually do between 4-6 15 lb. double briskets each holiday) Did you want ideas on desserts? Or just on menu items? ←

My MIL used to get every thing catered and I must admit it was not great BUT it was better than her cooking. Everyone was extremely happy when I took over but i still hate doing all those dishes. This year I am splitting the cooking with a friend and she is having it at her house which she loves to do. i love to cook so it works for me. We were trying to think of some new desserts and side dishes. It does get boring to do the same stuff over and over. I don't think our group would do carrot soup. I happen to love the fish so I don't want to give that up. I am doing low carb so i would like to do some stuff that is not sweet. I may do my brisket with 36 cloves of garlic for the second night. Fabulous. Any ideas? it will be here before you know it.

Thank you for all the choices. I am am sure we will try a couple and I will pass along all the suggestions to him. At the moment he is living in temporary housing in Redwood City but works in Santa Clasa. I think I will skip Bouchon since I have not heard a ringing endorsemnt and make reservations at Bisto Jeanty for a start. Barbara