Rail Paul

When I lived down at the shore for a while in the '80s, the place for fish was Frazee's in Point Pleasant Beach. Right on the junction where 35 and 88 come together, opposite jenkinson's. Does it even exist anymore? It was very local, you could see fishermen delivering their stuff in the back

Elyse - are you selling the batter as well as the bread? if so, that might be a way to distribute your product commercially via UPS local, and let the restaurants, etc bake it onsite Paul

Scotch Plains is a very nice walking town, like Westfield. Pleasant stores, very downtown feel to it. In either town, I enjoy parking a few bocks away and walking to and from the restaurant. SHI&WB has a corkage deal running on some nights during the summer, call ahead and see if Thursday is one of them

This sounds very much like a Mongolian BBQ place we visited in Corning NY about a decade ago. Up a flight of stairs, big grills at either end of the long room? You picked out your ingredients and took them to the chef, who cooked them for you. If it's the same place, that's a switch, throwing out the Chinese workers and outsourcing to Americans Got a $2 parking ticket, also. If I didn't pay within 10 days, the fee went to $2.50!

I would suspect that Zagat's policy is to publish their findings, and not discuss specifics. I don't know this as fact, but opening a discussion, on somebody else's terms, would be a mess. This isn't unique to Zagat, most book and movie reviews work the same way. But, like a restaurant review in the NY Times, an unfair or biased Zagat review / omit imposes an economic hardship on good restaurants like An American Grill, which clearly exceed some favorably mentioned places in their Guide. Tommy references a pack of insane foodies, which may be true, but Zagat has nothing to gain, and much to lose by entering into a discussion. Most radio and TV interviews have an agreed upon format, scope of questions, etc before the mike goes on. Even eGullet reviews questions in the Q&A forum. That said, I wonder if Nina or Tim would be interested in doing a Q&A?

golf shmolf. we're hittin the Hitching Post after lunch. The Hitching Post? Is that one of those quickie wedding places? I usually try to steer clear of such places...

I wonder how Jose's thought process works? This sounds like a wonderful item, but the assembly of ingredients is so unexpected, so different. Does he sit in a pizzeria and say "If I changed this, or added that, and did this to the dough?" I'd have something I might like? Or does he just bring in good friends and colleagues and start noodling ideas?

The NY Times had a comprehensive overview of Korean restaurants in the Pal Park / Cliffside Park area on June 29. There are at least 27 in Pal Park alone, and writer Marge Perry may have visited most of them for her article. This area of Bergen County has seen an influx of Korean, Japanese and Chinese families in the past two decades. Pal Park for example is now 36% Korean by population. Beyond Bi Bim Bop

Lorraine - thanks for sharing this fascinating story! Several of the NC bbq houses (Wilber's, Parker's, Ralph's, etc) have pictures of their places over the years. It gives a real sense of history. Parker's, just outside Weldon NC, went from a shack in the fields by the side of a two lane road (301) to a complex amid an industrial and office park. Many, many pictures of employees on the walls.

Expect to see a huge amount of advertising on both sides of this issue before it gets resolved. The Federal Appeals court in NY has already thrown out NY's ban on out of state importing, even Spitzer knows he's unikely to get an overturn from the Supremes. The Federal Appeals Court in Richmond declined to enforce North Carolina's ban, and the Third Circuit (covers NJ) is a rock solid bet to overturn NJ's ban if it gets the case. NJ's law is similar to NY's law as it gives preferences to domestic producers (delivery by UPS) that it denies similar foreign (California) producers, and establishes much higher qualifications for foreign producers to sell wine in NJ. These are the same grounds that got NY's ban whacked. The state has the right to establish and enforce alcoholic beverage policy. It does not have the right to discriminate against a producer if that impedes interstate commerce.

it seems like the hunt will be a bit more organized than that. it's for a limited time, and limited to a certain area. I'm guessing it will be similar to either the Morris County or the Princeton deer remediation model. Rednecks need not apply, as shooters tend to be selected from experienced folks, often police officers, or from professional killers Morris County Model. A large area of public land consenting private land is placed off limits for 2 or 3 days. Selected hunters, with rifles, are placed in elevated tree stands in areas near where bait has been placed. Rifles are not usually allowed for most hunting in NJ, due to the distance issue. Hunting from platforms allows a downward fire, minimizing distance carry. For bears, their habit of returned to a baited area may improve the kill ratio. Princeton Model. Deer are enveloped in netting and killed with a bolt to the head by professionals. Not especially efficient or pleasant. Not sure that throwing a net around a deer and trying to bolt kill him is good model for doing the same for a bear. It beats trying to convince a male bear to use a condom, though. If you're looking to kill bears, the best way is to run a den search on the coldest day in February and give the critter and any cubs a lethal injection. Haul them out to the dump when the snow melts.

There is an irony to folks who build their 5,000 square foot McMansions on a quaintly named rural lane like Bear Swamp Road or Bearfort Mountain and have the nerve to complain that bears are in the area. Pennsylvania and New York both have bear hunts on an annual basis. Permits are granted in a number sufficient to thin the herds. NJ hasn't had a hunt since the 1970s and development has taken much of what was once open bear habitat. I'd say if you move out into bear country (all of Sussex and Warren counties, Upper Passaic and Morris north of I-80, you ought to be prepared to coexist with the bears. Or move. For folks in areas which haven't seen bears historically like Summit, Madison, Wayne, that's a different story. Whack 'em, and turn them into rugs...

I'll put in a good word for the Fat Burger (?) in Brunswick, directly opposite the Naval Air Station fence. It's on the local road parallel to the interstate, just north of the Bowdoin campus. Might be highway 128 or some such. Roadside stand, burgers, dogs, fries, naval fliers picking up a few for the boys and girls on Guam or Rota, etc. Greasy, tasty, local favorite. There's also a decent brew pub in an old mill just northwest of Brunswick on the road out to the interstate. Great view, good beer.

I suspect the worker's comp costs for restaurant employees are quite high, as well. Typically, these costs are driven by on the job injuries and minor disability, and tend to be set by industry classification. These costs are usually absorbed by the employers but go into the cost of labor

The US Bureau of Labor statistics has a wealth of info on the growth prospects for various businesses. I pulled up a few statistics and time series projections from www.bls.gov For chefs and head cooks nationally, the BLS projects a growth of 17% or 17,000 jobs from 2000 to 2010. For cooks and food preparers, BLS projects growth of 27% over the same period, or 160,000 net jobs. These are pre-adjustments for terrorism influenced events and may be subject to interim modification. For bakers, the news is less happy. Bakers in eating and dining places are expected to grow by 9.6%, dwarfed by a 2% drop in the much larger group of bakers working in commercial bakeries. I'll see what their income projections look like next...

Montclair is unusual as it has four very high quality retail bakeries in a town of 20,000 people. Montclair Bread Co and Gina's Paneficio are across the street from each other on Walnut Street, up from Corso 98. Nicola's is off Glen Ridge Avenue by the new train crossing (the Munchmobile called it one of the best in NJ), and Forno's is on Bellevue Avenue in Upper Montclair.

The Pennsy chain Yocco's has several locations in the Allentown area if you're out that way. One convenient location is on PA 100, opposite the big brewery visible from I-78/US-22. About one minute off the freeway. Decent dogs, rolls are crappy.

The prep cooks in our local (insert supermarket chain name here) catering unit make about $13-16 an hour based on seniority, with benefits, plus overtime, I'm told. They're in the meat-cutters union. Work virtually every weekend, have interaction with the catering manager and customers. The two guys with whom I've become friendly used to work in restaurants and jumped at this opportunity. It's like journalism or TV news. The supply of eager wanna-be's and illegals will always keep down wages for most people with little experience or demonstrated skills. You follow the formula Emeril laid down and do it 100 times a night, make no changes. Innovate on that recipe, and you're fired.

Everybody I know who's not represented by a union makes that decision evey morning. Do I go to work, or do I seek a new job? Many of us do both. If you don't know what you're worth to another informed buyer, how do you negotiate a raise or new skill? My firm just paid a specialist for what was at most a week's work by one person. We absolutely got our money's worth in improved process and lower costs, even though their hourly rate was $600. Expensive? Sure. Worth it? Yup. Chefs are free to find new employment, nobody's forcing them to work 60 hours a week. That's how free markets work. Managers make these decisions all the time, what will it take to keep this person on board? If he leaves, can we replace him? Alex Lee leaves Daniel for a new job, making a judgement on pay, benefits, travel, growth, stress. Four guys want his job at Daniel, one gets it. That's three other guys who either shop for a better deal or go to work on Monday morning and put up with it.

It never received closure as far as I could tell. David Bouley ran a series of ads for months on WNYC which would make you think they fed all of the rescuers / workers / emergency people, and pretty much buried the story. Thanks for digging up this thread, lots of old names in it.

There's a nice write-up on Zatinya in the May 2003 Conde Nast Traveler (page 160). It's listed among the "75 hot tables of the world" Steve Klc's "dessert to order" is the "warm semolina cake with orange water compote and pomegranate seeds and dried fruit." Unfortunately, Steve's not mentioned by name, but they liked his work. Only a few restaurants among the 75 had a detailed description of a specific dessert. Zola and Ortanique are the other DC restaurants mentioned in the article.

breads, rolls, pastries?

The last stand was Alstede's from Chester, I believe. Melick's was first, then Greenwood, then Bobolink, then ?, then Alstede's. The market is located at Madison High school, on Ridgedale Avenue through September, when the site moves to the town pool property. Dates as noted in Rosie's citation

Made my first visit to the Madison Farmer's Market today. A few of the vendors were back, I'm sure the rest will emerge as the crops ripen. About six vendors had stands up. The layout suggested the gaps were assigned to no-shows. Nina Stein White of Bobolink Farm was there with the Spring Frolic, Cheddar, and Jean-Louis. Also had the Mommy Bread, the braided bread, and a cheese loaf. Got a lot of oohs and aaahs with her samples. Bobolink will be at the Millburn market on Friday morning, I believe. Greenwood Farms was back with their home made smoked mozzarella, ripe red tomatoes, radishes, and basil. Promises of free range chicken next week. GF offers a natural, free range turkey for thanksgiving and christmas dinners with advance notice, too. Alstede Farms had a small selection of ripe greens, broccoli and promises of much more. "We're about two weeks behind schedule with all the rain and the cool spring."

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the average salary of a bartender in San Francisco metro area is $11.03 per hour, or $22,940 per year. That's job classification 35-3011. Waitresses make a bit less. The info's about 3/4 of the way down the page. The mean and the median are pretty close, which suggests there are some, but not a lot of people who earn much more than the average. BLS - SF metro