fauxtarga

I'm a big fan of this Lunacy, unfortunately the bar that I go to that has it probably isn't going to have the fromagerie to match it. I guess it wouldn't be as bad as the time I brown bagged some cheese to a wine tasting... This thread almost makes me wish there was a cheese forum on EG.

← Oops. Peering. Peering. The second time I went there I had put together a somewhat complicated taco order, so I basically just circled things on their menu and put numbers next to the different tacos. My spanish accent must be pretty abysmal -I said huitlacoche a couple of times, and after getting a blank look I gave up pointed to the chalked menu on the wall. I would add that the definite downside to any "to go" taco product is that the in box steaming of the tortillas is really less than desirable. But now my fridge is full of little containers of salsa so I'm not really complaining.

Just to supplement with some more pics, I'm almost certain that there were egullet people there on saturday: two gentlemen peering over a taco or two intensely and murmuring about tortillas. The cheesy thing on the right is the huitlacoche quesadilla, which was kind of a dissapointment, and didn't have the intensity of flavor I wanted from corn fungus. The lengua and the chicken and all the tacos were outstanding though. This was my trial plate, before I came back that same night and ordered 20 to share with others. This place was totally worth it and I'm now even happier that I may be moving into this neighborhood. I wanted to snap a picture of the kitchen, but the nice ladies would always look at me suspiciously as I tried to peer in and guilted me out of taking one. And every restaurant like this should have a jukebox. Edited to remove accidental toilet humor

Any pictures of the tournedos of the steak? I'm guessing that this is done with the ajinomoto product discussed elsewhere here.

I'm going to be in Toysan this summer on vacation with the family, we are going to be staying in the "Taishan Garden Hotel." Can anybody reccomend any good nearby restaurants or food activities? It's on Namen Road West, in Taishan City. Thanks!

That's the form factor that I have the not so delicious apple pretz in. According to this site: http://www.japanesesnacks.com/newjs.php?id=164 The Baked Corn Pretz is "discontinued" but I don't know how reliable it is. Sad, as they were some of my favorites. http://www.x-tremegeek.com/templates/searc...0470&sk=MX51419 Has the ones that I used to like, but I'm hesitant to do my Pretz shopping on the internet. They also stopped stocking Honey Butter Pretz at my local store so there may be some truth to that first site. Edited to add: Oh and if you poke around on the pocky/pretz websites you can find some incredible commericals. My favorite is the Decorer Pocky one.

I remember seeing this on the menu at Yujin somewhere. Is this the kind of salt they would have put on edamame or is it too expensive for that kind of thing? Can't remember if it was that, but I devoured that bowl of edamame while waiting for someone to show up.

Is this the same thing that's just opened in the Grand Central food court? (I walk through the station on the way to work from the 6)

This also makes one think of the fact that there are different breeds of the "celebrity" chef. Surely Keller and Achatz are celebrities, but I wouldn't put them in the same league as Lagasse and Mr. Puck.

This blog is probably the best advertisement I can think of for a fraternity/sorority. The care and effort you put into making food for the sorority members is admirable. Food like this could defintely make college more bearable - but then again in my freshman year of college I lived a block or two away from Babbo and Blue Hill, so it wasn't too bad.

Funny you should mention that - I was just in Philladelphia the other day at this ultra touristy place called the "City Tavern" (not my choice) where the staff is dressed in old timey costumes... The food was passable but what was notable was that they had three brews there named after presidents Washington, Jefferson and Franklin that were supposed to be their personal recipies. Mr. Jefferson was pretty tasty. No idea if the presidents themselves formulated the recipes or if they were just their favorites. Wish I could have gone on one of your tours, but I was not in control of the plans for the day anyway.

After the NYmag blurb and a barrage of press I was wondering if anybody here had tried this "Vanilla Cognac." I believe it's from the Marnier people, and the herald tribute makes this comment: "Inspired by the lyrical tributes of rappers from Nas to Ghostface Killah to Busta Rhymes the last of whom penned the 2002 hit ''Pass the Courvoisier'' young urban consumers have taken a shine to the drink." Since I'm a Young Urban Consumer, should I consider adding this to my stash? I've never been tempted to drink cognac or like products with any kind of predetermined flavoring. Link: http://www.navanworld.com/navan.htm

Oh yeah I saw this and immediately started getting the plastic out, but then wondered - is a block like this potentially bad for knives? It looks like it puts a lot of pressure on one part of the blade, but maybe it grips it somehow.

I believe that WD-50 does a riff on this with something called a Sevilla 75 that has spanish brandy, cava, and lemon.

I didn't find it that bad.

My goodness, I had no idea the tasting menu included wine. I was on the fence and didn't go because I had just been not too long before - but that really makes it a no-brainer. And that meal looked like it was a lot of fun.

Do these things even have their parent beverage in them? It was my understanding from my limted experience with these things that they were primarily some kind of fruit flavored malt beverages - kind of like the relationship wine coolers have to wine.

Many Thai places that sell Singha also sell Tiger, which I find goes well with many of your standard Thai dishes.

It would seem to me like the high temperature/short time preparation makes more sense if you cut your vegetables to a smaller size. A longer, slower preparation with densely packed vegetables seems like it would allow for more vegetable to vegetable steaming than dehydration, which is what I believe is in part behind the concentration of flavor in roasted vegetables, though I guess the long cooking times might make up for this. Caramelization also might be an issue if you are stacking your vegetables densely. I guess it's all a matter of preference. And yeah, eggplant flesh definitely can have a tendency to soak up oil like a sponge, amen to that.

Kitchen magic seems to me to be sometimes more like alchemy, in that you don't always have to understand exactly what is going on, and sometimes you produce gold.

I will be hitting the motherland with my family and the family of the girlfriend this summer, and we will be going to Toisan and the relevant family villages. I know this is a longshot, but I always try to make any trip more food related - are there any restaurants in the region that are representative of Toisan cuisine? This can be anything from white tablecloth to hole in the wall. Any regional delicacies that they don't really have in the US due to lack of ingredients or demand? Thanks!

Once for kicks I did all white roasted vegetables - Cauliflower, Parsnip, Potato, Cel Root. This actually worked and was quite fun. I don't think I need to invoke the mammoth roasted cauliflower thread on here that got me started on the whole thing.

Some notes on the Bar at the Modern: -They have an interesting selection of "non-alcoholic cocktails" on the menu, good if that is your kind of thing. Nice glassware for the wine. This was the first thing that tipped me off that this was more than your ordinary museum restaurant. Oh and the fact that it's a very pretty place. -The four of us got 3 plates each and 1 plate of dessert with little replication. This made us full, but not outrageously so. -Mushroom soup: I agree, it was excellent. -Duck 1/2 entree: This was actually introduced as the Venison terrine, which was a curveball along the lines of "Oh how interesting, a deconstructed terrine with all the ingredients next to each other. This is surprisingly mild and tender cut of venison" But then we realized what had happened and it made sense. Nice dish, lightly sauced, there were lychees or some like fruit I recall. -Actual Venison Terrine: Excellent, nice contrast between meat and other vegetable products. -Cassolet: This was very rich, lots of the flavor of the butter and creamy potato. I couldn't really place the marrow though - could have been from some of the fat and giving some of that meaty richness, though that could have been the tongue. They also forgot about this dish, and it came out a little late. -Steak tartare: Very good, it wanted another quail egg. Almost forgot about the bread that came with it, unfortunately. Nice texture, drier than the fish tartares I'm more used to. -Baekoffe(sp?): interesting combination of tripe, conch, and something else I can't remember with a panko crust. Another rich dish. I only had one bite of this and would get it again to get a better idea of what it's all about. Really tasted the conch in a distinct way. -Tagliatelle: Oh my, this was good. As comforting as anything can be that has truffles and chanterelles in it. -Ricotta Crepe Flan: Ricotta + Crepes + Flan + Brulee'd Crust, crepes were integrated into the flan. I've never had anything like this before, but my pastry perspective is limited. The fromage blanc sorbet complimented this extremely well. -Beignets: This was fun. A member of my party saw it on a nearby table and requested it. The maple ice cream melted as we ate it, mainly because we were using the warm Beignets to scoop up the ice cream. There was also caramel and "citrus mango marmelade," which seemed tart in contrast to the other accompaniments, but was quite nice. -Ten Hour Cooked Apple: I can't resist anything that's prefaced with the phrase "Ten hour cooked," and the apple was very tender and flavorful as one might expect. Unfortunately, the ratio of apple to the quince gelee was such that the apple overwhelmed the dish and I wanted more of the gelee compliment. Ordered but did not taste: Tuna carpaccio, black bass, foie, poached egg. I felt like I was getting a pretty good deal, as far as the prices and level of cuisine was concerned. It didn't seem to be out of sync with the environment, but I was happy enough with the food to not really notice the room, which probably was a little loud. This was a nice introduction to the restaurant - the main dining room was not open on a Sunday. We did, however, take a look at the menu - very interesting. I will definitely go back.

This makes me want to cry. I got the chance to try something called jamon iberico pata negra gran reserva (or some combination of those descriptors) last year and I have been pining for it ever since. It was in Sweden at an interesting restaurant called Bon Lloc. "The White Part" I was told, "was delicious." It certainly was. They just served it sliced on a huge platter. Is this the kind of thing they are going to stop you at customs for?

Well that cinches it, Amazon/Froogle here I come. Thanks!