Megan Blocker

What type of stone?!? Marble, slate, granite, ...?!? ← Carrera marble, no?

How about Buddakan? People seem to really like the food, and it's definitely a scene...it's a little B&T, seeing as how it's in the Meatpacking District and all, but could be a good time. Il Buco is a lot of fun...I went there with a larger group (around 7 of us?) for a friend's birthday a little while back. Saw Matt Damon and Heather Graham that night. Good celeb sightings, etc. Have fun - and congratulations!

Devi is probably too sedate to be considered scene-y - it's awesome food, though.

As someone who knows nothing about macrobiotics, just wondering if you can go into a bit more detail about what yin and yang are within that framework? I'm curious!

MizDucky, I love your couch and your new shopping cart - though I don't know that they compliment each other too well. And that meal looks amazing...$15 each? Ridiculous.

Absolutely not. But I am of the belief that pride and dignity come not only from defending yourself, but also from knowing when backing out of a no-win situation makes you the bigger person. In this case, leaving was the dignified thing to do. IMHO, of course.

Nah, Rich. It sounds to me like you did the right thing. ← Yeah, I can't quite bring myself to think that physical violence is the way to solve anything involving getting a table in a restaurant. I think leaving and not giving them your business was the best thing you could have done.

:laugh:

Unless they lose ← Exactly. The US exports a LOT of horse meat (more than any other country, I think), mostly because we decline to care for our pets once they outlive their usefulness.

Ummmmm, I think a lot of people would disagree on many counts. Yes, Danny Meyer is an extremely successful restaurateur here in NYC, much like Starr is in Philly, but Meyer's restaurants are more consistently known for their food and service than their "hip" scenes. At least, that's what I would argue.

Does Starr have any involvement in NYC? ← Yup. We just got a Buddakan and a Morimoto, both in the Meatpacking district. There are eG topics on both: Buddakan Morimoto

And Les Halles is right there, too - Park and 28th...

I love chopped salads when things are chopped separately - I often make my own tossed salads like that, chopping all the vegetables into same-size pieces. But this just made the lettuce turn to mush. Ick. Iceberg might have held its own, but not arugula.

FYI, Little Korea (or "Koreatown") is generally thought to be 31st through 36th Streets, from 6th to 5th (or Madison, even). Here's a link to some Korean food recommendations: click! And here's a Wikipedia page on Little Korea: click!

And I don't recall a mezzaluna being used at Chop't when I used to go to the one down on Park...or am I thinking of Tossed? So many salad places!

I think this might be different from Chop't, but maybe not...we had a Chop't down by my old office (Park Avenue South and 22nd, maybe?), and this seemed different...but could be the same people, no doubt.

Has anyone else tried this? It's a salad-and-wrap only shop, on 51st between Park and Madison (closer to Park). I'd been passing it every morning on my walk up to the office, and it opened a couple weeks back. I finally got around to trying it this afternoon, and was not impressed. The line out the door seemed promising indeed, but when I got inside, the noise level was deafening, the process unclear, and the list of available items for your salad nowhere to be found. You get to choose your lettuce (or an assortment thereof) from a decent selection, including arugula, romaine, mesclun mix and iceberg. I picked all arugula and trotted down the line to order my toppings. Only thing is, I couldn't get anywhere near them, so I couldn't see what there was, and the only listing of them was on a card being passed around the line. I finally ordered grilled chicken, onion, cherry tomatoes and green beans (which I assumed would be haricots verts but turned out to be normal string beans, which is fine, just different). THEN they move you down the line to have your salad chopped. HOLD UP, people. Chopping my arugula back and forth with a giant mezzaluna? My baby arugula? Recipe for a sodden mess. But before I could stop them, bam. There it went. I will say that the white balsamic vinaigrette is quite tasty on my arugula soup. Anyone else been? Is this a chain? I couldn't find anything (albeit via a half-hearted Google attempt).

Gooooo, MizDucky! Can't wait to see all of your tempting ethnic treats, straight from San Diego! I had bun last night, in unwitting preparation!

New York Media Digest - 6/5/06 Reviews Jack Be Nimble The magazine reviews Jack and Grace Lamb's new restaurant, Degustation. The new place features small plates, and nothing is more than $16. Score! Features Sea Change A look at some of the new and notable restaurants in the South Street Seaport area. 1,000 Points of Wine High-tech wine tasting in Union Square. Watching the Clock The magazine takes a look at the minute-by-minute days of four New Yorkers this week, including Il Buco sous-chef Lesley Covitz. Openings and Buzz Recent Openings Openings include Chinatown Brasserie and Penzeys Spices in Grand Central. Insatiable Critic Dressler Dressler is over the river, and the portions are huge.

Went to Otto tonight for dinner with my aunt, two cousins, and my cousin's girlfriend. Had a very good meal, with lots of the pizzas, two pastas, and some salad and carne. Also sampled some desserts, but let's begin at the beginning. We started with three salads - the caprese, the arugula and tomato, and the escarole and sunchoke. I loved the arugula, and the pesto in the caprese was delicious. I didn't love the escarole, though - the sunchokes and escarole were great, but there were also some nuts in there, which I felt detracted from the sunchokes and even tasted a bit off/rancid. We also got a plate of the coppa - delicious. Salty, just a little bite, and luxuriously fatty. I couldn't convince the team to order the lardo pizza (or to order any of the pizzas without cheese), but we got the pizza bianca (with mozzerella added ), the pepperoni, the margherita and the quattro stagioni. I loved the pepperoni - I usually hate pepperoni pizza (it's fatty and boringly spicy), but this was some of the better pepperoni I've had. Also loved the bianca and the margherita. Nothin bad about tomato, basil and mozzerella. For pastas we had the spaghetti carbonara, which they make with slivered scallions, something I've never done. It added a lovely kick to everything, though the pancetta was not as good as the bacon I usually use. We also got the special bucatini alla gricia, which has guacinale, red onion, garlic, and some chiles, I think. I really liked that one a lot. For dessert, gelati! Chocolate and coffee...very good, and intensely flavored. And creamy, of course. A lovely dinner overall, and even with two bottles of wine, dinner was about $40 a head, including tip. Not bad. Also had an odd celeb sighting - Emeril Lagasse walked past our table on his way out, dressed in Mario's signature orange. Huh!

In an effort to save money, I bought bone-in chicken breasts last week, and have been boning them myself, mostly cooking them on the grill pan. For lunch today, I quickly marinated one in a little olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Grilled it and served it with two salads. Potato salad: yukon golds, cut into quarters and boiled in salted water, tossed, when warm, with shallots, whole-grain mustard, a little mayo (Hellman's, mais oui!), red wine vinegar, parsley, salt and pepper. Cucumber salad: one kirby cucumber, sliced, tossed with sliced white onion, rice wine vinegar, a littler sugar, salt and pepper. Summer is here!

Whipped up a couple of crepes tonight...ate one with just sugar (crepe sucre, I guess) and one with some Bonne Maman peach preserves. Mmmm....

I know you said you didn't want to make brownies, but I have to tell you that Ina Garten's brownie tart (from her Barefoot in Paris cookbook) was a huge hit at a bridal shower that I threw last summer. I served it cooled with whipped cream and fugde sauce. People loved it. It also went really well with the Champagne. It's like brownies but just slightly more elegant.

Gorgeous tarts, Patrick! Binkyboots...I love those s'mores! What a great idea. Yum!

Parker Meridien?