*Deborah*

Either cool-inary or cull-inary, certainly not cue. ...IMO at least.

Well said. I agree. ← In theory I'd agree, but there are all sorts of unloving men for whom I have prepared all sorts of loving foods (the roast chicken and potatoes aren't entirely foolproof, and the seared pork tenderloin with sour cherry-Nebbiolo reduction was a complete waste of time, aside from my enjoyment of it). So you need to consider upon whose table you are setting your foods of love. Didn't my mother tell me something like that once upon a time?

Add my rhapsodies to the others': now I see why C receives the praise it does. I think that may have been the best salmon I have ever eaten. What's really exciting about that is that the slow-roasted method is one I think I might actually be able to duplicate at home (20-25 minutes at 190F, IIRC). The day was lovely, the food was delectable, and the wines we were treated to...a Turley Whitecoat! how many people can boast of that? Thanks to the panelists, and thanks to Jamie and our host. I was so surprised to hear Andy Lynes say that this was the first eGullet event of its type--it seems like a natural match to me. In any case, it adds to my sense of privilege at having been able to attend.

Horrible greasy sweet and sour pork, from a place that I know I will feel crummy in an hour for eating it, but sometimes you need a bowl of grease. Pistachio and black sesame gelato (not at the same time). Many years ago, when I was laid up for 6 weeks with a badly broken wrist that required surgery and a bone graft from my hip, my body (apparently) craved calcium, and I ate a pint of Chunky Monkey nearly every day. My bones healed quite well! Almost everything I put in my mouth, really, as even if I eat something good for me, it's usually covered by or accompanied by something that is not. Sigh.

Uh-oh. That was a lot of fun, Neil, thanks for having us!

According to the sandwich board out front they are already in effect. Open till 7, IIRC.

I finally got that Rodeo Burger memory buried where it belongs by having a Vera Burger for dinner last night. Even having walked home from the Davie Street location with full sog-effect of fried onions and mayo and Vera's Sauce (and lettuce and tomato), it was a damn fine burger.

Oh, Dude, pulled pork with raspberry this and that...fresh out of the oven...tortilla soup... *melts*

Yes...I'm so American-centric, my Spanish teacher was Chilean and most people with whom I have spoken Spanish are North and South American. Apologies for neglecting European Spanish!

Dool-se, the C (followed by E) is pronounced as an S in Spanish.

What's a "hot"? Regional pronunciations, Deborah. In my East-Coast US pronunciation, the vowel in "hot" is like "a" as in "father," but the British have a separate "o" vowel, as I understand. And then there's Jamaican English, Australian English, New Zealand English, South African English, Scottish English, etc., etc. ← Yes, of course. It's one of those English pronunciation vorteces: "scallop" and "wallop" should not rhyme if you're speaking in something resembling the standard North American newscaster accent. But if the rest of your speech resembles that of the Queen, Bob Marley, Crocodile Dundee, or Mike Meyers playing any character except Wayne Campbell, then fire away. Disclaimer. Attempt at humour. No flames, please.

I'm in the scallop camp, not the "scolllop" camp (what's a scollop, anyways?)

How about letting people know you'll only hold their reservation for 15 minutes if they don't call to tell you they're going to be late? and then giving the table away. I would be a bit put out if I were asked that question, if I had not dined there before and shown up late. (Or maybe there is a lateness blacklist, and they knew the caller's name!! )

Okay, I promised not to shill...one last thing: Keith has never, ever added a feature to the daily menu: Tuna Melt and Butter Chicken may be the first two! ← ...and what of the mushroom pesto? I thought it began as a feature...I could be wrong though.

Wow! Ever more incestuous! Congratulations to all And Keith somehow I haven't put in this thread how much I have been loving the tuna melt...I think I'm growing gills!

A roast chicken with lemon and thyme, gravy, and mashed potatoes has worked well for me.

My list is getting a bit shorter: Aurora Bistro Ba Guo Bu Yi Szechuan Baru Beach Side Cafe C Cafe Artigiano Cassis Le Crocodile Cru Dockside Elysian Room En Le Gavroche Go Fish Gotham Guu Hapa Izakaya Henry's Kitchen Hermitage Japone Living Room Long's Noodle House Maurya Modern Club Nu (when it opens) Octopus's Garden Okada Pair Bistro Phnom Phen Random Rangoli La Regalade Salade de Fruits Saveur Savoury Coast The Ordinary Cafe The Pear Tree Tojo's Vij's Vintropolis Yuji's

What's a BTC, Lee ?

I've had spinach gelatine on smoked salmon mousse, but not Jell-O. Thank God.

If I'm going to cover a whole cake in cream and it's not being served instantly, I normally use the Dr. Oetker powdered stabilizer, just so I don't have to worry. I have found that well-whipped cream in a plastic bowl lasts very well, too (e.g., overnight and fine the next day), although it's just plain dumb luck in my case, and not the result of any scientific experimentation!

I used gel colour straight onto white chocolate fondant with a paintbrush and it dried after an hour or so. To get Mondrian-dark colours I can see it taking longer to dry, though. Yes, K8, Colette used a paper towel or a J cloth or something to blot on the colour, I finally got to see that show yesterday.

Wednesday dinner: My mum and I went to HSG because it's nearby and we were quibbling, deciding, and I said, "Neil's is where we had that gingerbread pudding" "What? Oh, no question then." I had the filet mignon tournedos with béarnaise and garlic mashed and random veggies, delicious, and she had the smaller sirloin and a caesar, and we finished up with GBP (of course). Wednesday, of course, is Neil's night off, so we didn't get to say hello (count yourself lucky, Neil: it really means my mother didn't have a chance to pontificate at you about anything ), and what was it we drank...the Tinhorn Creek Collector's Merlot, something like that. 2001. Pretty good! not as big and bad as I might prefer, but it was fine. Thursday dinner: both parents and I stopped in at The Smoking Dog en route to the Bard on the Beach. My dad's plane was delayed, so while waiting for the parents, I ordered a nice bottle of Bordeaux, a 1999(?) Canon-Moueix Canon-Fronsac, on the recommendation of Adam. It had a lovely nose, very smooth on the tongue. There was no Table d'Hôte menu, but my mother and I managed to order the same things nonetheless: pâté maison served with cornichons and olives to begin, and the pasta du jour: veal and truffle ravioli in a sauce beurre blanc with chanterelles and morels. Que c'était délicieux! My dad began with a salad of some sort, and enjoyed a pork chop prepared with a wine/ginger sauce. He has been in Unalaska for the past six months, less about a week each month, and has grown less fond of halibut than once he was. For dessert, my mother had a chocolate fondant cake (Mummy to me: "what's fondant?" Me: "goo!" the waiter concurred), my dad had the pear sorbet, which was delicious, and I had profiteroles with a very good pastry cream inside. Friday dinner: we were scheduled to go to West for the early prix-fixe before the Tom Jones show, but they decided they weren't into the menu items. Chambar was the next choice, for proximity to the venue, but we couldn't get a reservation, and the lounge or bar would not have suited. So we ended up at Lucy Mae Brown, for proximity to my house. My mother started with the tart with sausage and apple this time, which she loved as much as the last one she tried, I had the seared foie gras (surprising, isn't it ) and my dad had the spinach salad with goat cheese and roasted beets, which he enjoyed. For mains, my mother had linguine with white clams, I had a pasta that I can't remember how to spell with a duck and orange sauce (actually kind of similar flavour to the pasta I had the night before...I must have been craving sweet pasta) and my dad had the chicken breast with organic vegetables. We began with a bottle of Primitivo that, while not off, was not to any of our taste (we have had several Primitivos that we enjoyed before). When even I of the lame palate couldn't drink it, I asked for the wine list back and we got a bottle of Gran Feudo instead, which was satisfactory. We should have just had the Pirramima in the first place. For dessert, my mother had the sticky toffee pudding, my dad the palette of sorbets (darling presentation, the dish is like an artist's palette), and I just went with a Monte Cristo, as I was feeling under-alcoholized and under-caffeinated. (The Tom Jones show was tons of fun, by the way, he sings just as well as he ever did!)

Thanks for the info, and best wishes and luck to your wife.

Hake rhymes with rake (in English). Turbot I would tend to say like turbo, but then again, if it's British, the final T is probably pronounced, so I may well be wrong.

I have a vegan friend, and when he comes to parties I make sure there are several things he can eat. I won't have an entirely vegan menu, but I don't make him sit in the corner eating corn chips. I try to make sure there are lots of things for him to eat something approaching a balanced meal, without making him feel like he's under a microscope...he doesn't proselytize, and the group of us respect each others' food choices (meaning they don't get on my case for eating foie gras, although I doubt any of them would; and the meat eaters don't ridicule the non-meat-eaters or vice-versa). It's a challenge that I'm up to, although I don't know if I would feel that way if I had to feed him every day. My vegan friend takes vitamins to keep up the things he has a hard time getting in his diet, and coincidentally was, until his recent promotion, one of the poorest friends I have. He may be intellectually elite, but that's about as far as I'd take that. So it must be possible to eat vegan on a pretty low budget.