Mano

Well, I'm hot on the bunny trail. Godshall's and Sonny D'Angelo both carry fresh rabbit; Martin's doesn't. Both say the rabbits are butchered elsewhere, but they're guaranteed fresh. They asked that I call a few days ahead. Thanks, all!. This Saturday I'm making a dozen stuffed quail for my wine and dinner group. New Years Eve we're serving rabbit at our annual Finer Things Club dinner.

Check out H-Mart Levittown location. I can't vouch for how fresh it is cause I've not had it but I go there regularly for all things asian. The other day I was in line and the lady behind me bought some and it looked good and the price was cheap. The produce is always super fresh and their meats do look pretty good. It's worth a try and its local. 1138 Oxford Valley Rd Levittown, PA 19057 (215) 949-1003 ← Thanks Jeff, it's in my neck of the woods, and I just called and had this hilarious conversation: mano: Hi, do you have rabbit? H-Mart (very nice lady with very heavy Asian accent): Rait? What's it? No have. mano: Rabbit, bunny H-mart: No have m: I was told you have rabbit h: meat, rabbit? m: yes h: no have, wait... (she gets someone who speaks better English, but still an accent) m: do you carry rabbit? h: yes...rabbit? m: yes, rabbit, meat... h: yes m: how much does it cost? h: no carry cos m: what is the price of the rabbit? h: no have rabbit... and so it went. Maybe I'll take a trip, as I'd like to check it out anyway.

Thanks for the quick-as-a-bunny replies! I'll contact them both. D'artagnan also has them, but I'd rather buy local. Lenski, is Chelsea Markets in Philly or NYC?

Looking for butchers that sell fresh rabbit. I've seen it in years past at the Italian Market, but don't recall where. Any recommendations would be appreciated, as would rabbit recipes.

In about 1985 didn't Sting come out with the album, "Dream of the Blue Pumpkins"?

I bought a case and shared a bottle with family on Friday. All four people liked it and thought it was an excellent deal. While I also enjoyed the Cosentino Syrah, I couldn't help but notice the 14.5% alcohol level. Accordingly, this wine seems to have a slightly "hot" finish for my taste, at least. Jeff, if you're still interested and you're the guy who lives in Holland, LMK and you may have part of my case.

I'm in PA outside of Philadelphia. I just learned one kitchen is no longer available and the other may not work because of sizing issues. Others may be available in the next few months. Tthat's fine as we're in no rush. Glad to see others had good experiences with this. Thanks for the advise about thoroughly checking out the cabinets.

I'm in the first stages of doing a total kitchen remodel and have come across two high-end ($35,000+) display kitchens for sale at about 90% off. Has anyone with a beer budget and champange tastes ever bought and installed a display kitchen? Aside from the obvious caveats such as making sure the cabinets actually fit, is there anything else I should be aware of? Also, my guess is that if I need to buy additional cabinets of the same type I might have problems with color matching.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but when the judges went over and immediately congradulated Hung at the end, Tom Colicchio wasn't among them. Later, when he gave Hung a hug, Hung didn't really reciprocate. That, combined with Colicchio's tendency to give Hung negative or confused facial expressions during the challenges (he was either neutral or positive with all other contestants) leads me to think the two aren't that fond of each other. That being said, I concluded that Colicchio is professional enough to put personalities aside and recognize Hung's talents.

As someone who is sometimes hired as an expert witness, I'd like to offer a different perspective. This is a civil case, not criminal. Accordingly, either a judge or jury will determine if Mr. LaBan acted with malice and if so, were there any damages. Not being an attorney, there may be other relevant issues at play, but whether LaBan was served a strip steak or a rib eye won't be an issue at all to a judge or jury. As far as I know, no one has disputed LaBan's assertion that, "A recent meal, ... was expensive and disappointing, from the soggy and sour chopped salad to a miserably tough and fatty ... steak.” I believe in this matter the trier(s) of fact won't care about what type of steak was served or who the purveyor is. What they'll pay attention to is that LaBan paid a lot of money at a high-end steak house and was served a tough and fatty piece of meat. When the average non-foodie person begins to hear dissertations on what they perceive to be hair splitting issues such as the difference between rib eye and strip steaks, eyes will glaze over in boredom and they'll become frustrated that their time is being wasted. They'll put themselves in LaBan's shoes and the issue to them will be plain and simple: the piece of meat was miserably tough and fatty. The fact that Chops is an expensive steak house and that Plotkin claims to be obsessive about quality only strengthens the case against him.

We're taking our annual two-week vacation to OC and are always looking for the best the NJ shore has for BYOB or places that allow you to bring your own but charge corkage. We don't go out often so we're willing to splurge a bit and travel within a radius of about 20 miles. It's been our observation that NJ shore restaurants are generally less than a stable commodoty, so to speak. They frequently close, change ownership and/or chefs so what may've been great last year may either be closed this year or may be a shadow of it's former self. Last year we enjoyed Steve and Cookies and gladly paid the corkage, as we bring special wines not on their list. We also know that OC doesn't allow alcohol at any restaurant. So, where are the best places for 2007? Thanks kindly.

I wish I had your faith. As time passes and the dust settles everyone will adjust to the injustice and carry on with their day-to-day business.

My understanding is that Tony Luke's has already signed a lease. That means he's obligated to fulfill the terms of the contract. No doubt, TL and RTM are in frequent contact about this mess. The RTM has publicly dug in its heals but TL has been conspicuously silent about all this. One way everyone would save face would be if RTM allowed TL to void the lease, ostensibly at TL's request.

Up The Amish!

Several months ago Great Burger opened in Upper Southampton, on Second Street Pike. Both the burgers and fries are very good. I watched the burger being made and noticed the cook lightly pushed down on it once with the spatula. That's it. Choice of sesame or wheat bun and toppings, including fried onions and mushrooms are at no extra cost. The fries are made with peanut oil that's changed regularly. Not sure if they're twice fried. They even have malt vinegar for the fries. I chatted with the owner, who indicated that after retiring from running several retail kiosks at a local mall he got bored and decided to open Great Burger. He knows his burgers. Meat is ground daily and trained the cook to "touch the hamburger only once aside from flipping it." He says they're pretty busy and he hopes to franchise them. So, for you folks in Bucks County, check it out.

Believe it or not, hiring the absolute best lawyer, who may charge top dollar is often most cost-effective. They function like a well-oiled machine and know exactly how to get things done and in the most expedient manner. In the end, you may end up spending the same amount of money, or even less, than you would if you hired an "average" lawyer, and with a lot less hassle. Of course, there are many exceptions, and I have no idea if Sprague practices that way.

As of three years ago Richard Sprague was charging $10,000+ per month (it might have actually been $20,000; I know it was one or the other) to represent someone, but I have no idea what he's charging here. Sprague has numerous associates, each one handling a relatively small number of cases. He buries the opposition by filing dozens of motions, forcing them to spend big $ and generally overwhelming them. Not only that, he was the DA for eight years and is probably the most well connected lawyer in Philly. When he goes to court, he always has at least two associates with him. The guy must be around 80 but he's amazingly savvy. I wish Rick Oliveri the best of luck.

First I’d like to apologize for not posting right after the wine dinner to thank everyone for their input. I was waiting to get emails for all the wine/course matching and some people are taking their time in responding. The dinner was a potential disaster, which turned into a great success. The chef, who is chef/owner of one of Philadelphia’s best BYOB’s was supposed to arrive at 4:30 and guests arrived at 7:00. His car broke down on the highway and he and his staff of a sous chef and server didn’t get there until 7:30. No food was served until 8:30. The 15 of us are a happy and patient bunch so we drank pinot noir and champagne. The chef was focused but frazzled and the food was fantastic. As you can see, there was an enormous amount of food; six appetizers and seven courses and three of the courses had foie gras! We were all pretty full after the appetizers, and we didn’t know there was another seven courses to come. On average, there was 30 minutes between courses and at one point about 10 of us took a 20 minute walk and a few of us smoked cigars. Two people ran up and down the stairs to get their bodies going. By midnight, we realized we wouldn’t be able to fit all the courses in, unless we planned on staying over, so the fifth course (beef) was 86’d. Also, the port for dessert wasn’t served. We didn’t finish until 1:15 and left soon after. As soon as I get the information, I’ll fill in the wines with ? Appetizers Baby Lamb Chop with feta and ratatouille Fresh shucked oyster shooter with spicy ginger broth, quail yolk and salmon caviar Prime beef slider with fried onions and gruyere cheese Petite Dungeness crab cake with grain mustard remoulade Baby octopus with chorizo, olives and chickpea puree Sweet corn arepa with spicy pork verde Moet White Star NV 1st Seared diver scallop and crispy sweetbread, favas and peas, shaved lomo, Spanish paprika and 25 year old sherry vinegar R PICHLER GRUNER VELTLINER SMARAGD HOCHRIAN 01 SIMONNET FEBVRE CHABLIS 1ER CRU MONT DE MILLIEU 04 2nd Seared foie gras with bing cherry beignent and cherry gastrique _ Château d'Yquem 1990 Sauterne ? Sauterne 3rd Pan roasted Long Island duck breast, tender organic greens, verjus macerated berries and duck liver mousse and cocoa nib crostini WesMar Sonoma Coast, Balletto Vineyard Pinot Noir 2004 4th “surf and Turf”: Veal tenderloin, butter poached lobster, sweet potato puree and sea Pinot Noir? 5th Barrel cut prime rib or strip steak (you choose), Braised beef shortrib, and creamy potato gratan Cabernet ? Cheese Django’s artisan cheeses served with crostini, madelines and home made jams and confitures Bordeaux/Graves? Dessert Chocolate terrine and almond semmifreddo 1997 Port? Del Dotto Chardotto Port (blend of zinfadel syrah)

You're right about the sherry vinegar. The paprika is also an unusual spice to add to scallops and sweetbreads. The dinner is catered so I don't know how pronounced the sherry will be. This a.m. I bought the Chablis and Gruner Veltliner, and as luck would have it, a store 30 minutes closer just received a few bottles of the Gruner. The fellow at the store was far more knowledgeable about wine than any PA wine and spirits employee I've ever met. He tried to talk me out of the Chablis and also recommended a Pinot Noir. His point of view was informative, and along the lines of your recommendation. After some discussion, I decided to stay the course. Your choice of a Pomerol with scallops and foie gras makes sense as the foie gras is far richer and will coat the mouth compared to sweetbreads, which are the most mild of organ meats. Also, you're not alone in your recommendation of a Jura, another wine I know nothing about. Someone on Chowhound wine gave a wonderful description of Rijckaert's 2004 Arbois «Grand Élevage» Vielles Vignes Savagnin from the Jura. It's not available here in PA and a Google search turned up nothing for NJ or DE.

If that's the worst news I get today (or any day), all I can say is, life is good in America. Katie emailed me again and also recommended a 2/2 split of the Chablis and R PICHLER GRUNER VELTLINER SMARAGD HOCHRIAN 01 or the JAMEK GRUNER VELTLINER STEIN AMRAIN FEDERSPIEL 03 $20. The Jamek is available closer by than the Pichler, but I'll probably take a road trip and buy the more expensive wine. Thanks again for all your help.

Thanks for all the great suggestions; it's exactly what I was hoping for. Perhaps I should've given some brief background and parameters: There are 15 of us so all 4 bottles have to be the same. My wife is not a fan of champage. The wine group is comprised of some educated and discerning drinkers/collectors, along with some people who enjoy good wine, but are mostly along for the ride. Although we strive to have wines match the food, some of our dinners have been "big red" blowouts. Fun, but we certainly could've done better justice to both the wine and the food. All of our dinners have great wine and food, but this is a particularly special event. Clearly, this is a tough dish to match with wine, but it deserves my best effort, knowing it's unlikely a perfect match exists. I PM'd our own Katie Loeb, who lives here in PA and is familiar with our State Store system for selling wine and liquor. I got her PM this a.m. and Katie recommended the R PICHLER GRUNER VELTLINER SMARAGD HOCHRIAN 01, from Austria. I'm completely unfamiliar with this wine, but trust Katie's judgement. She's been in the wine business at some terrific restaurants and knows her stuff. It's about $37 and I'll have to drive about 45 minutes to the nearest store that carries four bottles. I'm willing to spend more and drive a bit if it's that good a wine. I can also buy SIMONNET FEBVRE CHABLIS 1ER CRU MONT DE MILLIEU 04 that's now on sale for $20, which is $24 off the regular price here in PA. I drank this wine last Friday with Vietnamese food. It was not a great match so I can't say I really know what this wine tastes like. Moreover, my experience with white burgundies is not extensive. There's plenty available 10 minutes away. So, what do youse think?

My wine assignment for a dinner on Saturday is to find a match for Seared diver scallop and crispy sweetbread, favas and peas, shaved lomo, Spanish paprika and 25 year old sherry vinegar. 3-4 bottles and I'd like to keep the price around $100-125. It seems to be a pretty rich dish. White seems obvious, but my knowledge of whites is limited. I was thinking of a Grand Cru Chablis, which is flinty and may be a counterpoint to the sweetness of the 25 year old sherry. Or maybe a Vouvray Loir Valley? Bottom line is, I'm just guessing here. Any help would be appreciated.

Jackson Pollock + schmaltz + steak?

Yes, how were they? I'm going to both places tonight. Do you know the address or cross streets for Little Saigon? White wine, beer or both? edit: got my fingers off their little asses and did a Google search: 113 Fairfield Ave Upper Darby, PA 19082 (610) 352-1002

About $10-15 for breakfast and $20-25 for lunch. I'm up for any type of cuisine. In fact, I look at any trip to NYC as an opportunity to try something new and different. But it doesn't have to be. My sister just recommended Saphire, an Indian place around B'way and 60th. "Good, not great, but it's a nice place." She also mentioned Jean George (sp?) Cafe' Artiste and O'Neals. According to her, there's lots of cafe's in that area. Edit: I just checked the Jean George website and their prix fix lunch is $45. Excellent, I'm sure, but a little pricy.