Rail Paul

I have several ceramic bowls for chopped, diced, sliced, etc ingredients, as well as the usual pyrex measuring cups, fat separators. I use the fat separators as pouring devices since they rarely drip, and have a cover. A 2 oz size plastic drinking cup ("bathroom size") is useful for pre-measured spices, chopped herbs, wine, etc. $1 for 100 of them. I have a dozen Plochmann's glass mustard jars (at least 16 years old) which stack nicely for leftovers. Each holds about a pint of liquid or leftovers. They're nicely supplemented by Ortega Prima Salsa jars with measuring marks on the sides.

Don't forget the Alberta beef if you pass thru Calgary. I've been pleased with Hy's (next to the Westin). It has been on the same site since 1947, or thereabouts.

Dee and I had dinner at Marseille (45th at 9th) last night, first time there. Made reservations on OpenTable early Tuesday, receptionist said they have get a lot of reservations that way. They had 545 and 945 slots open. Pleasant greeting, corner banquette for 2 was a little tight, as the layout was set up with a 4 and a 2. I didn't take notes. They inquired if we would be going to the theater. Offered tap water or choice of Evian and Pellegrino. Tap was refilled as the halfway mark was reached on the glass. Dee had a Vouvray by the glass($8), I had a Hoosengarden Weissbier. They offered a taste of the wine by the glass before pouring a full glass. I ordered a mezze (two small disks of intense pepperoni with warm cheese, and two other items which now elude me). We each had the mushroom broth soup (very intense mushroom flavor) with a tiny mushroom popover on the side. Dee had the salmon in an olive crust (broiled salmon coated with an olive / pastry topping) which was superb. Very moist. The server warned us "the chef prefers to cook the salmon on the rare side, is that OK?" My hanger steak over pearl pasta was medium rare, with an exceptionally beefy taste. That was a combination of beef juices and trimmings used to thicken the natural drippings, I think. Nice salty finish to the steak crust. Steak was served exactly as requested, delivered sliced and stacked on the pasta. The pasta may have been cooked in a chicken broth rather than just water. Dessert was a nice ending to the meal. I had a warm date sponge bread with a coffee ice cream. Dee had the warm apple tart. The pastry chef was credited on the menu. Overall, I liked Marseille very much. Very attentive and collaborative staff, people kept an eye on each other's tables, high communication factors, prices were recited with specials. Damage for two, as noted, with tip was $120. I mentioned I had heard about Marseille via eGullet as we were leaving. The maitre said they've benefitted from very favorable word of mouth and hoped we enjoyed our evening. The new cast of the Producers was a lot of fun. Goodman brings more lewdness to the part than Lane did. More of the Mel Brooks / Groucho Marx eyebrow raising, cigar waving nut case. Stephen Weber is a much better singer than Broderick, and a better dancer, but conveys a too confident character for the part. Maybe he'll get more scared as he grows into the part. Great seats, center, one in K, one in J.

Sonic restaurants in the South and Southwest tend to be pretty good. Drive-up, car-hops, tray affixes to your window. I'd try any thing new on their menu. Menu is hot dogs, chili, burgers, devilishly good onion rings. It's tough to escape with less than 500 grams of saturated fat clinging to your hips. Whattaburger, on the other hand, is terrible, in my experience. Even the food they do every day is consistently bad. LotsaBurger, same thing. LotsaGas is more like it.

I liked the original thread on Ducasse's Olive Mill Pasta, and have experimented on four tries. Added strips of cooked duck leg meat as the exact recipe was finishing, that worked well. Used home made chicken stock and very little tomato, that worked very well. Used a lot of garlic in that version. Used red wine in place of half the stock, I liked it, Dee didn't. Substituted half carrots for half the potatoes. Less successful was a garlic and chicken version. I over cooked the chicken legs (browned them first) when I let them finish in the sauce with the pasta. I think I'd take the meat off the legs before browning them next time and add them like the duck, at the last moment.

I've been very pleased with fish at Bellissimo's in Little Falls. Usually 3-4 choices, prepared your way, they're very good about that. Although my last meal at the Sea Shack in Hackensack wasn't the best, their simple, broiled fish has usually been very good. I'd stay away from complex stuff.

In Bergen County, NJ, most other than food stores are required by law to be closed on Sunday. Paramus has a municipal law which is more restrictive, and designed to survive an overturn of the county law. It's the only day of the week the roads are other than completely jammed. Stern's Department store was required to close its Paramus computer facility on Sunday, but Becton Dickinson could operate its facility. (BD handled blood transfers for emergency centers on its server.) Utah was even more restrictve toward alcohol. Until 1989, each restaurant with a liquor license had a little booth where miniature bottles of alcohol were sold (cash only, no credit cards) max two at a time. You had to walk over (servers couldn't handle hooch) to make your purchase.

Rosie - tell me you didn't eat ALL of that. You must run 20 miles a day to stay in shape! Paul

I fully intended to drive down to indigo smoke this afternoon, and check out the menu (but didn't do so). If you find info,please post!

A friend was a manager of a fish packing house in Chatham during the 1980s. He was amazed at how few Cape restaurants sent their own buyers to the house for fresh fish back then. Some would buy Cape fish in the Boston market, and have it trucked back (cheaper that way). The NY wholesalers were fanatics, had their own local agents, dedicated, iced trucks, etc. The fishermen knew the time mark they had to hit for premium prices. FedEx and UPS air freighted fish to much of the US for wholesalers. The Japanese were the absolute best. In some cases, an agent would be on your boat. Premiums would escelate for fish landed on the last day, line caught. When the tuna was iced, it would be tagged for blood side down (blood settles to the lower of the two sides, which distresses the fibers, I've been told). Four good sized tuna could make your numbers

Dublin Pub in Morristown for pitchers of harp and Guinesss. Any day of the year except March 17th... Ditto for McGoverns in Newark. You could go there on 364 days of the year and be one of 20 people. On the 365th, there would be people lined up to get in, people pushed chest to chest, drunks puking on your shoes, women in drunken abandon, and you couldn't even get them to take your food order...

Calandra's Mediterranean in Fairfield has its pizza ovens and some of its kitchen in full view (low counter) of the seated diners. Makes for interesting kid amusement.

Buckhead Diner, Pano's & Paul's, Chops, and Nava are all owned by Buckhead Life Restaurants Group. The Diner and Chops are at least 15 years old. Also Bluepointe, Atlanta Fish Market, etc. Big outfit which manages to keep each restaurant functioning creatively while retaining its individuality. Buckhead Life

Tuba City Truck stop in Tuba City AZ (Grand Canyon area) Dam Site Inn, Kingman AZ (great steaks in a sweaty roadhouse) There's a great breakfast place in Sapulpa OK, I'll eventually recall the name.

Stefanyb - you might call Mark Bergman at Alle Processing, which does a lot of the Kosher meat processing in NYC. The firm is in Maspeth 718-894-2000 Also, a firm in Scranton specializes in glatt kosher flash freezing Blatt Meats If you're interesting in picking your own live calf and watching the slaughter, there are several vendors in The Bronx and and Queens who will provide the venue. Paul

Sorry, you're out of luck. No BBQ in NC worth eating. Gotta head into SC for a shot at something decent, or to Texas if you want real BBQ, spelled BEEF... Seriously, Holly has several excellent suggestions on his webpage, measured in grease stains... HollyEats

Terhune in the Record enjoyed her meals immensely, other than a quibble with the BYO's wine practices. Commented favorably on the $4 cheese service. Scalini

The NY Times H&G section (Thursday March 7) had an interesting article on the jazz diva Cassandra Wilson's visit to Tutwiler MS. Ms Wilson also recorded several new numbers in the area, using the station and a box car for that purpose. Nice comments on Turner's Grill, and its "outrageously good" food.

We had dinner there after a movie in early December. Wind whipping, hint of snow. Cassoulet was excellent, very thick, not soupy. Hit exactly the right notes. Clairidge, Wellmont and Screening still offer a decent bargain on Tuesday nights, movies for $5.50. We've been the only people in the place more than once.

actually, I have driven by it. Any time relatives from out of town come, they DEMAND to see it. But the house doesn't look anything like it does on TV. When they do the exterior filming of the two houses, a landscape crew installs shrubbery, a new door appears, and voila! When they finish, the landscape moves on...

I would apply the same criteria for "afffordable" wines at BID as I would at apply at the local pizza / Italian / Chinese place on the corner. My point in mentioning the price range was, and is, to suggest the distribution of prices. If you expect to pay $75 to $100 per person, perhaps a $75 wine is a bargain, at 3x retail price. Especially if it was a wine which was not in wide circulation, and had been selected to enhance a specific dish. BID, as I recall, named a wine selection for each menu item as part of its tasting program. Dee and I are the couple toward the rear of the picture. The ringers are to the right.

Bellissimo's? Nice place, upscale clientele, good food, they enforce the no smoking rules. Don't know if I'd be able to tell an organized criminal (or a disorgnized one, either) on sight. I suspect anybody in a black shirt and white tie would be laughed out of the joint. In the back of my mind, I think the chef/owner and maitre came from San Carlo in Lyndhurst. But, it is only a short distance from Tony's TV home. Rosie - It's just before schools stadium in Newark, perhaps 4 blocks from Belmont Tavern. I believe family members own La Panna Griglia in Madison (the former, and lamented Three Central). Right around the corner from, and sharing a loading area with, Il Mondo Vecchio.

Michaelangelo's in Newark has some of the same elements. Good, technically proficient Italian-American food (veal parm, baked ziti, etc) but the real show is the crowd. Guys in black shirts with white ties, muscle shirts, lots of jewelry, women showing off all God gave them (and maybe a little more). Blue haze from the cigarette smoke. Dean Martin songs. For all I know, maybe these folks are accountants on a night off, or Mafia wannabes, but it can be fun. Bloomfield Avenue, about a mile east of the railroad tracks, on the right, cross street might be 9th.

ScanPan is my choice. Made of titanium. High heat transfer, cleans easily with a 2 minute steam bath (boil a cup of water for two minutes, wipes clean) to release any cooked-on matter and can take a rubbing with steel wool when necessary. The woman at the scanpan outlet told me "all new US battleships are made of titanium" so it must be good. (I didn't tell her the last US battleship built was the Missouri in 1944). She may have been thinking of submarines, which have titanium elements...

Yeller Dawg is the Yazoo Valley RR?