sadie_siamesecat

Will do...thank you so much! the cocktails are what sold me so even though it's a work dinner--I will have to indulge!!

That marrow! Oh, the humanity (or, the bovinity, as it were). Looks so amazing...and I've only ever had a teeny taste of marrow before.

Hi--peeking in from the NYC board, which is my favorite lurking spot...I'm traveling on business to Philly this week and am planning the dinner for Thursday night. "M" sounds like it's perfect--but is this the kind of place where you need to book a month in advance? No Open Table availabilities for 4 people, alas. I left a message, but will want to investigate other options if this isn't going to be possible. Thanks for the reality check!

Trauma Center has me baffled. I can't make that stupid "star" sign, so my progress has halted. Um...back to topic. I like cooking so maybe I'll buy the game?

I lurk here all the time, just wanted to tell you how fascinating this thread is to me! I get nervous just making dinner for my husband--so cooking for 50 finicky people, regardless of their age, is just mind-blowing. FWIW, I'd happily eat anything you cooked for them myself except no seconds on jello--I'd eat the extra cupcake. I think, though, that the comment of older gentleman ("you're always making us food we've never had before...oh, yes it's all delicious") is quite telling. In only a few times there you are giving them food that they've never tried and really like! You can't please everyone, but perhaps one of your guests is saying to his/her family "You know, we tried these crazy things called Perogies and I liked them!" After 6 times, who knows what could happen! I'm sure a lot of it is about their building trust in you, as well--kind of like the song "Getting to know you...getting to know all about you..." In any case, I love reading about what you're doing! Thanks!

Maybe Pasha, a Turkish restaurant on (I think) 71st street?

I'm so happy I found this thread! So happy...and SO HUNGRY now. Honestly, I was hooked from your first shots of breakfast--I tried explaining that to some friends once: "Uh, it's fried dough wrapped in fried dough." So, so good. I've only really had the sweet soy milk because every time I've tried to order the salty, my mom looks at me and says: You want the salty? in this tone that makes me feel like I'm crazy. Too bad, next time it's salty all the way! Thank you so much for sharing.

I've enjoyed this blog so much! But it has made me sad, too--my dear fiance is allergic to all nuts and all seafood, so a lot of this food would be off-limits to him--and I would be nervous traveling to an area where I don't know the language and where it might be hard making sure he doesn't get accidentally sent into anaphylactic shock! I guess I will be making that trip to Vietnam by myself someday!!! (insert hopeful emoticon here)

Actually, I agree with you Pam R. What I was trying to get across in my post was that the key to any wedding arrangement is open communication between all parties, especially when it comes to the touchy subject of $$$. Hopefully your son and daughter-in-law will have a wonderful wedding that you can all enjoy.

Just wanted to mention that my family and I caught the Vegas/Philly rerun as we were prepping for dinner. The chicken-fried lobster got the loudest "ooooooooh" from the crowd. In any case, we really enjoyed what we saw--I know I'm repeating others' comments here, but I so appreciated that you actually TASTED the food before reacting to it as opposed to (ahem) other FN hosts whose initials are RR. I will write into FN and let them know as well. I really want to see the NYC episode. Happy travels!

I'm in my 30s and getting married soon. I've found that every situation is different in terms of paying. Some people follow strict tradition while others take a different tactic. While I can't say that it's traditional, my fiance and I are paying for a little more than half the wedding and my parents and my future in-laws are splitting the balance. This includes the rehearsal dinner. We are paying for our own honeymoon. While some might find that "odd," (though honestly, financial arrangements are none of our guests' business) our families were comfortable with breaking tradition. However, we also did make sure that everyone was OK with this plan well before we started any planning and have an agreed-to budget from which I'm not straying (and if I did, it would be out of my/our pocket). We have about the same number of guests from each side. I've heard of grooms' parents being asked to pay for their number of guests when they have gone significantly over the number of guests anticipated at the wedding (i.e. expecting to invite 200 people, getting list from parents of over 150 or so). It seems that you need to sit down and talk with the bride and groom and figure out what your expectations are. Perhaps it's just as simple as giving them a lump sum of cash and letting them do with it what they want. Or not. Good luck!

Lurker popping in to say that I've so enjoyed your blog! Thank you for sharing!

I'm getting married soon--our idea of the rehearsal dinner is that it be different from the tone of the wedding and that it still be a reflection of who we are. We're currently planning to have our dinner for our out-of-town guests at a local dive bar/restaurant where we like to have burgers every Sunday or so with a group of our friends. (Our wedding will be slightly more formal) On the other hand, my friend is also getting married and she and her husband wanted to do a Chinese banquet for the rehearsal (neither is Chinese, both just love the food)--but his parents nixed it because it wasn't "classy" enough (I'm just reporting this, not agreeing!). They are disappointed by this, since they would really like the dinner to not just be what his parents want, but a little of what they would like for their guests as well. I'm sure whatever you plan will be lovely. Good luck!

Lurker delurking for a moment to tell you how much I've enjoyed your blog! I'm especially impressed that cooking together in smaller-than-ideal circumstances AND spending an unusually long period of time together did not lead to blows! Congrats on what looked like a really fun week. Off to search for Chinese long beans...

Not sure if this helps, but the "approved" kosher caterer for my venue is Foremost Caterers. http://www.foremostcaterers.com/ I don't know if they meet your standards--but I do hope so, as I have a few Orthodox guests and I would like them to eat at my wedding! Good luck.

I can't verify Eater's sources, especially as that is not a site I frequent--However the sign that was on the door at @SQC (last weekend I think?) basically said that they were exhausted with running the restaurant (though no mention of "stroller set" was included). I also seem to recall some mention of wanting to have a family and not even being able to see each other (due to the demands of the restaurant). If anyone with a photographic memory cares to add a more detailed description of the note--please do!

So, we went to Telepan on Saturday--a date night, at last, after 6 months of planning our wedding. In any case, the night was marred by one service issue that's kind of been bugging me. Would love to know other's opinions, though I do know that opens this up to a world of interpretation and possibly a world of hurt! I had the smoked trout + the pea carbonara, both great if heavy choices for a Saturday night. He had the foie gras followed by the duck. Though we both prefer the winter prep of the duck with the foie gras custard, the food was great, our server attentive, and we enjoyed our meal very much. They took off the walnuts on the foie gras after he mentioned his severe nut allergy. Do you see where this is going? Then we ordered ice cream for dessert. Besides the sorbets, the choices were strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla. Foolishly, we said it was OK to bring us a mix. Next thing you know, I am stopping my fiance from taking another bite of the chocolate because it is really chocolate peanut butter and I don't want him to go into anaphylactic shock and die. Call me crazy. So we got the dessert replaced after explaining the situation (calmly) and then it was as if we were the pariah table. We had to ask a passing manager for a glass of soda so that my fiance could take his Benadryl that he always carries with him. I explained the situation, the manager said "yes, I heard that," he brought the soda and then we were pariahs again. Our server never came back except to drop off the check. Now, in retrospect, yes, we have learned our lesson and will always reiterate no nuts even when the desserts as described have no nuts in them. Normally, we are extremely careful--just lulled by wine and a lot of rich food. So this isn't to blame anyone for bringing the chocolate peanut butter ice cream and that's why we didn't get more loud or vocal. It's just that no one came by to even check on us or to offer some sort of half-hearted apology. I wasn't making a big screaming fuss (anxiety or excitement can make an allergy attack worse), we weren't blaming anyone, we didn't ask for anything special. Regardless, I still think that the manager should have come by and at least asked "is everything OK?" or that the server could have apologized when he brought a new dish of ice cream sans nuts instead of plunking it down on the table and walking away. We did mention the nut allergy explicitly at the beginning of the dinner and they did not mention nuts when telling us about the ice cream and--you know, forget the caveats, it would have just been thoughtful. It's possible that they thought he hadn't eaten any--since he is not a glutton with the big bites like me--but it bugged me then and it bugs me now. Again, would have been thoughtful. Just a blip in a restaurant not really known for fabulous service, but I found it kind of surprising. Not that you can ever guess, but I couldn't help but assume that if this had happened at Union Square or EMP--we would have at least had some sort of apology or at least a drive-by to see if my fiance was gasping for air. (He wasn't and he's fine as we think he managed to miss the peanut butter swirl, and obviously if he had collapsed I'm sure they would have been attentive). Also, if I had made a big screaming fuss--they would have responded, I'm sure. But all we needed was some sort of acknowledgement of a potentially very bad error, and that didn't happen. Oh well. Telepan is our best bet for good food in the neighborhood and I have been recommending people to go there since it opened. I think we'll go back, but I just have a funny, not-so-good feeling about it now.

Back when I was working in publishing as the lowliest of the low (editorial assistant)--and wanted a treat besides my subsistence diet of tuna pasta salad, the red beans and rice were my favorite. $3 or so, if I remember correctly. Occasionally I would splurge on the ropa vieja ($7)...then I moved 10 blocks away and I haven't been back since.

ditto on the frosty + wendy's fries... Just a thought: Does anyone else remember that scene in Farmer Boy (of Little House series) where Almanzo reflects on putting popcorn in milk kernel by kernel? I've never tried this, but this thread may inspire me. Too bad I don't really care for milk. Just another take on "The Dunk."

Social Tea Biscuits, which my family could only find in Canada and have not located a reliable source for yet in the US (and we've been here 15+ years; perhaps we're not looking hard enough). Accept no substitutes. Dunked in...tea. How original. But a perfect combination with the hot, sweet, milky tea. And I savor the sludge!

I think this may be the first time I was ever helpful on egullet--so glad you liked the carrot cake! In any case, the wines we had: Montus, 2001 Madiran. The other label copied too dark--it was Marion, 100% Terodelgo from Verona (Veneto). The second wine was interesting--no tannins, no acid, but our table prefered the character of the first. Hope others get a chance to experience this restaurant soon, as well!

Perhaps I could curtail myself from aforementioned purloining of condiments--I'm not a ketchup-household--however, try to keep me from keeping an inch-stack of napkins and I may have a problem. I don't think my parents have bought napkins in a long long while, so this is probably a genetic problem as well.

Had dinner here with 3 friends last night. In short: Wonderful, friendly service (including 2 wine recommendations from our server, Jerry) and a delicious food experience. In long: We all ordered the $55 4-course prix fix. You can order a la carte or the prix fix with smaller portions. Please note that the smaller portions certainly seemed generous to us. The pacing of our meal was relaxed and serene—over 3 hours. I imagine that if you came for pre-theater, though, they could match your timing fairly well. Instead of the Burgundy we originally chose, our server suggested a wonderful alternative that was 100% tennant grape. Our second bottle was also a recommendation from the server—called Marion, I think? I’ll post both the names later. We saved the labels and the person who took them is supposed to email the information out this afternoon. We started with an amuse of salsify soup with truffle oil cream, salmon rillette, and a mushroom-ricotta focaccia. Of these, the salsify soup, rich, creamy and satisfying, was our table’s favorite. Appetizers included Hen of the Woods mushrooms with poached egg, smoked trout with the addition of osetra caviar ($15 surcharge), Foie Gras Terrine, and Scallops. We didn’t do too much sharing on this course—more like heads down eating—testament to the quality or our selfishness? I’ll let you decide. I had the hen of the woods mushrooms—loved the texture of these, especially on the bed of frisee with small croutons. The crunch of the croutons, the soft poached egg yolk, the firm texture of the mushrooms…our plates were sparkling clean after our appetizers, helped by excellent bread (ciabatta, 5 grain, and semolina were the bread choices). Our midcourses included the short ribs, black truffle pierogi, robiola tortellini, and sweet potato blini. Of these, the blini and the pierogi were standouts. The blini were sweet but as my friend described “winter-appropriate sweet”—with the right amount of spice and warmth to combat the freezing rain outside. The robiola tortellini, while excellent, reminded me of the “tiny veal meatball” appetizer at ‘Cesca; I don’t know enough to comment on origins of the dish any futher. Plates? Sparkling again. Mains: Heritage Pork Cassoulet, Seared Duck Breast, Wild Striped Bass, and Organic Lamb. Of these, we adored the Seared Duck Breast—with the foie gras custard—oh, just amazing. I enjoyed my pork cassoulet very much, especially the fatty bacon and the rib. Of course, there’s nothing not to like about fatty bacon. So delicious. Some felt that the beans were too salty, but I didn’t have that impression. I didn’t get a bite of the bass or the lamb, unfortunately. Can I mention how wonderful the duck was again? Desserts: Peanut Butter and Chocolate Gianduja with Peanut Brittle Ice Cream, Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Ice Cream, Steamed Chocolate Cake with Banana Ice Cream, and sorbets. If I could have just eaten all the ice cream off the plates, I would have done so. The Cream Cheese Ice Cream was unbelievable! The steamed chocolate cake is actually two layers—the bottom, rich and gooey, the top mousselike and airy. With candied bananas on the side and a wonderful banana ice cream… The details: A lot of care has been put into this restaurant from the flattering lighting to the comfortable seating (the people in chairs didn’t resent the people in the banquettes—good since our dinner was over 3 hours)—and the lovely print on the fabrics. Overall, it managed to play well in that space between traditional and modern. I’d only ever been to JUdson once, so I can’t compare too well—Telepan of course, is much smaller and more intimate. Oddly enough, we especially liked the flatware—the spoons in particular are beautiful with a flattened tip that makes them look like—well, for lack of a better decription—mini trowels? The steak knives are also beautiful with a “bone” handle and a gently tapering point. To be honest, I’m not sure if the price points will allow this to become our favorite neighborhood place that we can go to on a regular weekly basis, though I would love to--but I know we are looking forward to going back when we have “an occasion” and certainly we will go back once lunch and brunch begin in a month or so. I’m curious to see if other people have the same positive impressions that we did. What a wonderful beginning to a new (culinary) year!

Went there for dinner last night with a group of people (6 total) Should have brought the digital--but forgot so will leave detailed descriptions for another time...Highlights included the chicken livers, veal special with shitake mushroomw and pasta special with sea bream, asparagus, and olives. We always finish with the 15-cheese plate. I personally choose to believe that he brings them back in his suitcase--perhaps it's a fairy tale, but it's one I like. I find the food to be consistent like the rest of the posters--the only complaint about last night is that Carmine is in Italy, so we didn't get the speed-description of the cheeses, which we feel always adds to the experience. However, you DO get larger pieces, so I suppose it's just a trade off!

Is it bad for me to admit my love of Peppermint Bark? I can eat an entire tin at one go. Yum! I'm going to go look for Edy's Eggnog Ice Cream...