Megan Blocker

Ditto. And I think this is the point Rich is making when he says... I admit to being a bit of a gossip lover myself - I read my Gawker.com and IMDB faithfully every day (though I can't bring myself to actually spend money on US Weekly and the like). However, when I read a restaurant review, I expect to hear about the food, not the celeb sightings. I can get that elsewhere; say, in the TWO style sections the Times puts out every week. In other words, I am not necessarily disinterested in reading about Bette as a celebrity hangout, but I certainly don't expect that kind of piece to replace the weekly review.

My favorite picnic treat (besides cold chicken, mmmm...) is french bread with cheese and chocolate. Seriously delicious.

The recipe in Silver Palate's "New Basics" book is great - it has tuna instead of anchovies (or is it sardines?), and is delicious. I'll see if I can find it for you when I get home!

Kraft mac and cheese, preferably with noodles shaped like cartoon characters. Pure, unadulterated bliss.

That is just so wrong. You've ruined all my good feelings about chocolate, though I'm sure I'll recover quickly.

Pasha is great! It's Turkish, and is located at 71st and Columbus.

I would head down to the Flatiron District...how about Eleven Madison Park (24th and Madison) or Tabla? Both are in the building I used to work in, and they're great, lively lunch spots. Eleven Madison might be better for a (traditional) ladies' lunch, but the more-casual Bread Bar at Tabla is very cool, especially if you like naan and sitting outside. Another spot in that neighborhood that's quite appealing is Blue Smoke (27th between Park and Lex), which serves refined barbecue, for lack of a better description. Another sentimental favorite (I really miss working in that 'hood) is I Trulli (also 27th between Park and Lex), a lovely little Italian restaurant and enoteca. They have a garden out back, and the whole place is just so pretty. Let me know if you need any more info about any of these spots! Have a good day on the town!!

Scallion pancakes from New Green Bo on Bayard Street! Yay for jury duty!

Cafe Luxembourg is always a good, classic choice. If you're willing to venture a bit farther north, Ouest is one of my favorite spots on the UWS. Cafe Des Artistes is another classic - a bit more upscale, but still within reason. Have a good time!

A link to this week's review of Taboon, a Mediterranean restaurant in Clinton. I've eaten there a couple of times, and quite enjoyed it. (The bread he mentions was worth the trip for this Upper East-sider.) Seemed like Frank's kind of place - very pretty, and a clean bathroom.

I like Kitchen Arts and Letters, which is on the UES (Lex between 93rd and 94th).

Thanks to all for your suggestions! The happy couple met with Ron Ben Israel on Friday and have decided to go with him (something with honey and ginger cake, caramel and cinnamon filling, I think!). They thought he was an incredible artist, but not at all temperamental, and totally willing to incorporate their vision and suggestions into what he will do, which is not the feeling they got at some of the other places they visited. So, thanks again! I'll report back after the big day (September 24th) on the results.

I had a "too-much" encounter last night, at Ocean Grill on the UWS of Manhattan. I knew I should have stuck with the raw bar when I saw my wasabi-encrusted tuna steak approaching. The tuna looked lovely, but was accompanied by three huge fried wontons, a mound of over-salted cabbage, and some sort of radish salad. The plate was just monstrous. I had no idea what to do with it all. On a social commentary note, it's fascinating to me that some people just won't eat places without huge portions. My mother's fiance is like that - we went to a brasserie around the corner from my apartment when they were here in June, and he ordered the roast chicken. It came and looked delicious to me (I had steamed mussels, yum) - a half chicken, some mashed potatoes, fresh carrots with dill. He b*tched and moaned that there wasn't enough food. My mother (who was also having mussels) jumped in and offered up my food, her food, everyone's food, which just drove me crazy - enabling him!!!! It struck me as a classic example of the American need to be filled to the brim with food, rather than pleasantly sated.

I've always loved Chinese dumplings, particularly steamed pork dumplings. Lately, I've been into manti, tiny Turkish dumplings filled with spiced lamb and served in a milky broth. Mmmmmm...

← Thanks! I'll check it out....I could use an injection of academia.

I'll happily find and sell you some 99 Dolce for $400/bottle. ← I was thinking of the Dolce Saint Nicholas, so pardon me! It's a lovely gift, and partially tax-deductible (20% of the price goes directly to charity). Phew. Thought I was going crazy there.

That is so cute! Further proof that anything becomes dainty and elegant when served in miniature, even deli!

Very interesting...as a resident of Yorkville, I'm always interested to learn more about New York's Germanic heritage! One of my favorite Sunday spots for a beer is the sidewalk in front of Heidelberg. I suppose that I do enjoy it somewhat for its kitsch value, but also because it is one of the few authentic places left in a neighborhood once known as "Little Germany."

So what do you do when the kids get drunk and disorderly?

Hmmmmm.... - Jean Georges' Egg Caviar - Eggs scrambled with half and half, cooked gently in a double boiler (they get all custardy...) - Spaghetti carbonara Oh, man. Now I'm hungry!!!

I don't know that I agree. Try disciplining your child in front of a room full of people and see how many give you dirty looks. What kept most of us behaving as kids was fear, pure and simple. In my case it was fear of my mother grabbing my ear and hissing in it just exactly what she was going to to do me when we got home if I didn't "stop doing that this instant." If I did the same to my daughter there very likely would be 4 people around me on the phone calling the cops. Taking away the Gameboy just does not inspire the same kind of fear. ← Fair enough. I do remember not being punished so much as being scared into submission, though that may have had as much to do with my own personal guilt complex (in place and intact for as long as I can remember) as anything else. I did get soap in my mouth once. Liquid Palmolive. To this day, I can't smell it without gagging. But it worked - it only happened once. It is funny how alarmist we've become about parents and children - worried that child abuse is all around, rather than assuming the best about people. Although that Cracker Barrel story is sufficiently sketchy.

Carmine's, baby! Why mess with a classic? Some folks in my neighborhood (UES) seem to like Tony DiNapoli's on 2nd Avenue...you can eat outside, which is nice. Not on a day like today, of course, but, you know, in general.

Yeah, this sounds like a lot more was going on than just a cranky toddler. What a scary experience.

Whether this argument is true or not, the kind of behavior described on this thread (screaming, kicking, crying) isn't acceptable even when attending a public gathering (say, the movies) that is typically accepted as un-"event"-ful. I think it has less to do with the lag in appreciation for fine dining and more to do with the growing culture of friendship parenting. Parents are more and more afraid to truly discipline or upset their children, for fear that the children won't "like" them. Or so it seems to me (I am admittedly (and happily) childless, but was a champion babysitter and am a surrogate aunt to my friends' children.). For the record, I was raised by a mother unafraid to discipline. I turned out pretty good, and she and I are very good friends - but I still understand that this relationship is different from a pure friendship. Parent-child relationships should not be pure friendship, and parents who lag in discipline in order to achieve it are in for a sorry surprise, in my opinion. Wow. I now see why people think I'm judgmental. Huh.

A bottle of Far Niente's 1999 Dolce, if I could find it!