Honkman

Finally we bought a superautomatic espresso machine (Jura Capresso F7) and are now testing different coffee beans to find the ones we like most. In the moment we are trying the "standard" one like Illy, Lavazza but I would be curious to hear what kind of coffee beans you like (preferable not to oily, the machine won't like it) and which online shops/roasters you can recommend.

Several asian supermarket in SD have very good and fresh fish. I like Lucky Seafood and Seafood City (both Mira Mesa)

I don't think that the important reviews on egullet are the positive ones. It is important to get positive and negative reviews on restaurant. It helps other people avoiding bad restaurants and waisting money. Or would you recommend a lousy book to somebody else because it might hurt the author. At the end restaurants are "just" businesses like everything else and a bad business deserves to get bad reviews if it doesn't deliver what it is promising. And there shouldn't be a difference if you know the owner or not.

I disagree with your opinion. To say that the chowhound board consists of people reposting and rehashing there same anonymous opinions is as wrong as saying that egullet posts are the culmination of food writing by the most trustworthy food professionals in the world. Both boards have their advantages and disadvantages and on both boards you have a broad range in terms of quality of posts, or do you really believe that there are not also posts on egullet which are simply crap. ( Which is fine with me because other posters will have different opinions about specific posts). Egullet is a good board for general discussions about every aspect of food whereas chowhound is a better source for good overviews/reviews about restaurants which I think is relative weak on egullet.

Thanks for your fast reply to my post. The Bosch machine is available in the US since beginning of 2005, and it is manufactured for Bosch by Jura. What I like about the Bosch machine is that it has two heating elements (F7 has only one) and that it has an active cup warmer (F7 is passive). I don't know how the Bosch service would be, Jura might be better in the US. Both machines come with a 1-year warranty and cost about $1300 - I want to spend between $1000-1500. I'll check out the Schaerer.

I am looking to buy a super-automatic espresso machine for home use and have narrowed down my search to either the Jura Capresso F7 or the BOSCH Benvenuto B30 so far. This will be my first espresso machine and I would appreciate any feedback about these two machines or preference for one over the other. I am also open to recommendations for other machines (but only super-automatics). Thanks a lot for your help in advance !

Thanks. For some reasons this didn't show up when I googled (might be because I orginally looked for Moevenpick, not Movenpick (always the same problems with umlaut). And I am interested to see if there is any shop with fresh roasted Movenpick coffee online. I like Movenpick coffee quite a lot when living in Germany and Switzerland and haven't found an equally good coffee here in the US.

I am looking for a online shop in the US to buy Movenpick coffee (a swiss brand). Weren't successful so far. Anybody with suggestions where I might find such coffee ?

I vote for Ba Ren.

Milka, Lindt, Toblerone, Feodora and some of Rittersport (German brand) The worst chocolate ever tested was Hershey's - I still wonder if this was really chocolate other something which just looked like it.

Living in San Diego it is: mmm-yoso!!!

Mille Fleur Georges at the Cove Arterra J. Taylor El Bizcocho A.R. Valentien ← I forgot Region: http://www.regionrestaurant.com/

Mille Fleur Georges at the Cove Arterra J. Taylor El Bizcocho A.R. Valentien

There are papers published in recent years who show in animal studies that increased levels of IGF-1 might be associated with higher risk for certain cancers. (I can look for the citations if there is interest) Also the point that "They conclude that no rbGH can make it into the blood stream from an oral dose." is very controversial and most likely wrong. Their methods in 1990 were simply not good enough to detect those levels even so such levels have an effect on IGF-1 levels. Nobody in the scientific literature is concerned about rbGH and its direct effect on humans but on the indirect effect of rbGH on IGF-1 and and its effect on humans.

Do you know if this test by "Stiftung Warentest" is also available online ? I would like to see if they also tested EVOO which are available here in the US.

So I guess they're visualizing a daily hit of EVOO as maybe being something like the daily baby aspirin prescribed for many heart patients. ← Just a short reply because that is very OT. One problem in the US is that way too many people think that taking any kind of drugs (like Aspirin) on a daily base will have more positive effects than side effects. People have to understand that we don't know much about taking any drug in small quantities over a very long period of time and we don't know much about the possible interactions of any drug with the different enzymes/receptors etc. There are quite often new papers about Aspirin (just to pick one drug) having any kind influence on enzymes unknown before (and that is for a drug we have now for more than 100 years). I highly recommend not taking any drug for a long period of time if not having a very good reason (and a possible prophylactic effect is not a good reason). And it is interesting to see that this is really an US specific problem, you hardly see it in Europe for example.

After reading the paper there are certain issues that should be explored before I start drinking several liters of EVOO every day. All measurements regarding the "inflammatory" activity of oleocanthal are so far in vitro result but there aren't any in vivo data. That's also called the "biotech disease". Something what is active against certain enzyms in in vitro assays doesn't have automatically the same or even any activity in cells or the body (PK or metabolic reasons). So I really would like to see more "realistic" data before I think that it is a result which has any relevance in humans. In addition, not only since the problems with Vioxx and similar compounds it is at least very controversial if you want to hit COX-1 and 2. There is no evidence until now if the Vioxx side effects are compound or target related.

Some other interesting SD restaurants: - Wired Cafe le Bistro: Nice little French-like cafe. Good for a nice lunch - 8935 Towne Centre Drive - Tropical Star: Small shop for south american stuff with a very small restaurant (few tables) attached with good south american food (peruvian etc.): 6163 Balboa Ave. - Don Chuy: Nice mexican restaurant in Solana Beach: 650 Valley Ave. - Thai Garden: Best Thai in SD (or closeby since it is in Oceanside): 4750 Oceanside Bvd., Ste. A-18 - Barnes Bar-B-Que: Good Memphis style BBQ: 2625 Lemon Grove Ave. - Mediterranean Cafe: Good mediterranean food, kabob, gyros, spanakopita etc. : 112 Washington Ave. (And please don't go to Daphne (as somebody else wrote). That is the worst greek-style restaurant in SD.) - Mucho Gusto: Don't know why but their Carnitas Burrito is great: 5650 Balboa Ave.

Im sorry to say that all the Fins location except Mira Mesa and La Jolla have closed down. ← The Mira mesa location will close in a few days and the La Jolla locations is sold to somebody else who will keep the name but it is not sure what will happen to the food.

I highly recommend "The secret of baking" by Sherry Yard.