R Washburn

I would say that the Hospital cafeteria at Temple makes better cheesesteaks than either Geno's or Pat's.

Lunch in the main dining room at J-G is one of the best deals in NYC. I go as often as I can.

Yes, and they do make a typical Philadelphia Cheesesteak. Better than Pat's or Geno's, not as good as Tony Luke's IMHO.

I haven't tried Petrossian's Black Forest cake, but i am sure it is first rate. I am more concerned about Payard, since I have noticed a decline in quality there the past few years. I wouldn't hesitate to order from Petrossian.

Bluesmoke. If you get the catering packages for 10 ($39) or 25 ($79) servings it is also quite affordable.

Yes it is 100% authentic. All the ingredient's are trucked in from Tony Luke's in South Philly.

Yes. Lunch and dinner are the same menu.

Given what an easy grader LaBan is, I wouldn't expect a great deal from a "3 bell" restaurant.

Jeans-Georges. I was lukewarm on it when it first opened, but now it is one of my favorite restaurants.

TrishCT, Good pick. Norma's wouldn't make my "top 50 places for breakfast".

What about the old standby "Wimps" on 125th st.? A guy at my gym was just raving about the place.

The Fauborg Pave's ganache made a great frosting for the Chocolate cake i just made from the "Cake Bible".

Are you sure that doesn't have more to do with the overall decline in the quality of beef? Which steakhouses are doing a better job than Luger?

I can't say I agree with your opinions on #1-3 at all. Daniel and Peter Luger are among the best restaurants in NY, IMHO. 11 Madison is thought to be, while good, not nearly as good as some of Meyer's other restaurants, so it is hard to see it as "overrated".

Thanks for the update Jason. I will give Full moon another try after my next Teitel Brothers run.

Not at all Patrick, I am just not sure it wouldn't make more sense omit the baking soda and increase the amount of baking powder if I am going to use Valrhona cocoa. It could be that your cake, although tasty, is quite different from what the author intended. I shall have to try the recipe with Scharfenberger vs. Valrhona cocoa and see what happens.

The only remarkable thing I have found about pizza in that neighborhood is the size of the pies (20"?). I will have to try Full Moon again, but when I was there 2 years ago it was no better than Ivana's. I like Arturo's, all though I am a little concerned about the vermin situation. When we were there a few weeks ago a small rat caromed off of my wife's foot in the middle of our meal.

The recipe calls for unsweetened cocoa, not untreated cocoa. I used Valrhona and the cake tasted wonderful. ← i meant non-alkali treated cocoa. I am pretty sure that Valrhona is treated with alkali. As i understand it baking soda is used in recipes with natural cocoa to neutralize the acidity and provide leavening. I will try the "She ain't heavy" cake with some natural cocoa.

I was going to make the "She ain't Heavy Cake" but i wanted to use Valrhona Cocoa, whereas the recipe appears to require untreated Cocoa. Rather than substitute baking powder for the baking soda I used Rose Berenbaum's recipe from the "Cake Bible" and frosted it with Pierre Herme's caramel chocolate ganache from the "Pave Fauborg" recipe in "Chocolate Desserts" I liked the cake alot, although it could be a little moister. Would increasing the butter from 1c. take care of this? I appreciated Rose B.'s comments about mixing the Cocoa with boiling water to bring out the flavor and not using milk or baking soda in the recipe to avoid bitterness and the soda aftertaste.

BB Sandwich bar's offering isn't really a Philly cheese steak, although I would sooner eat one of those than a Pat's or Geno's steak. Tony Luke's actually trucks everything in from South Philly, so you have a good chance of receiving a cheesesteak comparable to that served at Tony Luke's in Philadelphia.

brooklyncook, Please list the recommended places and we can offer our opinions of them.

On a good day, Tony Luke's NY location serves as good a steak as the original Tony Luke's on Oregon Ave.

chopjwu12, Daniel does turn tables, but, unlike Bouley, they do not routinely overbook. While I have waited HOURS for a table at Bouley, I have never waited more than a few minutes for a table at Daniel. I suspect that the inspectors will be hard on restaurants that fail to honor reservations.

My Cuisinart is noisy, but it works pretty well.

What kind of Cocoa did you use? If it was Hershey and Nigella used Valrhona, that would make a big difference in the intensity of chocolate flavor.