Suzanne F

I rather doubt that the kind of bag you'd need is readily available to the general public -- unless you have one of those "vacuum sealing" (sous vide) systems. What you need is something quite heavy that can take heat without softening. Something that can be used for cooking in a microwave, perhaps. A regular sandwich bag would certainly NOT do -- too flimsy. As for knocking your experiment -- not I. I just wonder WHY you want to try it.

No offense to the humans, but the breads were even cuter!

Red meats I don't usually flour before browning -- beef, lamb -- because the meats themselves brown so well and make a good fond. But in this case I prefer flouring the veal, precisely because it's the flour that browns; to get the veal itself properly brown, I'm afraid I'd have to cook the hell out of it. Also, if I'm not puréeing any of the veg in the sauce, the little extra thickening from the flour is a plus. Gives kind of a creaminess to the sauce that I really like. BTW: I'm with Marcella on NOT liking to add gremolata on serving; the raw garlic and lemon zest are jarring. But I do like to add some minced preserved lemon.

How about the fried, stuffed Sage leaves ? If what Bond Girl can't eat is meat, she can't have the fried sage leaves, either. That's what they're stuffed with, no? Well, if she still wants to try CB, there are some veg items -- I think I already mentioned roasted veg which were excellent. But then again ... not everyplace is for everyone.

What Liza said. Every single picture has me salivating. "A good piece of bread is better than cake."

But Tommy, isn't it a bit gauche to lick the plate in a fancy restaurant? Especially if one has a beard.

I'm not sure I've ever had albacore raw -- only canned -- but I know that what I ate was definitely raw, not seared. Whether or not it was actually escolar, I don't know. But if I see some escolar in a market, I'll check if it looks like what I had. In any case, neither He Who Only Eats nor I suffered any adverse effects.

Given your experience with serious kitchen gardening, what are your hopes for it for restaurants here in the U.S.? Particularly kitchen gardens that are a part of the restaurant's property (such as Primo in Maine, or Harvest on Hudson in Westchester), but also farms on the order of Chef Eberhard Muller and Paulette Satur's?

Oh. Too bad. It was delicious.

Oh, Tommy's just an instigator. But it IS a good question. Some places do indeed have a temperature-and-humidity controlled warming drawer built into the waiters' stations, where the bread is kept. This should ensure that the bread is warm but not dried out. Wrapping "cold" bread may be done for a "classier" presentation, to keep it from drying out (although it still will, if it sits around much), or to fool the customer into thinking that it will be warm. Useless pretense, IMO. I agree that warm bread is more appetizing, especially when the butter (if served) is cold. And you're also right about a mediocre bread experience detracting from the meal. My preference for first-class service, though, is for a bread server circling through the room with a wrapped tray of warm bread. That way there's no basket to take up room on the table.

I noticed that in the thread on Best Korean in Manhattan, LESider mentions having "white? tuna." I also had something I was told was called white tuna at Tokyo Bay, a new sushi place in Tribeca. Is this something new? A different kind of tuna, or just a different cut? What I had was incredibly juicy and soft, with a fatty-but-not-too mouthfeel. Anyone know anything about this?

Does anyone of us old farts have a copy of Peg Bracken's I Hate to Cook Book? I'll bet there's nothing as simple, or as appetizing, as what Mamster presented. Note to Fat Guy: I'm getting a little tired of having to tell every other 'zine author how terrific their pieces are. When are you going to publish a clunker? (Oops, better not say that -- I owe you another review )

I believe you are correct -- TC without DM.

Everybody's right so far. I pretty much use the recipe from Marcella Hazan's "Classic Italian Cookbook" and "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking." Sauté chopped onion, carrots, and celery until almost soft; add chopped garlic and lemon zest and cook until everything is soft. Flour the pieces of meat before browning them separately. Add them to the vegetables. Deglaze the pan you browned them in white wine; add the deglazing liquid, tomatoes(good-quality canned are all right), stock, herbs, and S & P to the pot. Bring to a boil, then cover tightly and bake at 350ºF for a couple of hours. Finito. Although sometimes when I do it, I purée some of the vegs to get a really thick sauce. She also has a version without the extra vegetables, tomatoes, or stock. Just brown the floured meat, add wine, and simmer until almost (~ 2 hours). Add lemon zest and parsley just before serving. This version is not a make-ahead like the other one, she says.

A note of Colette Rossant: she was born in France in the early 1930s, and raised mostly in Egypt and France by her grandparents from the mid-1930s on. In 1999 she published a"A Memoir with Recipes" called Memories of a Lost Egypt. A small but fascinating book, with quite a few tempting recipes. I think the original chef at DSGG was Guy Leung, from Hong Kong. (Can't find any clippings, so I could be wrong.) I assume that CR's husband had a hand in the design of the place, since once when we were there he was explaining the materials used in the decor to some guests of theirs.

What La Niña said! "Schwermanalysis" -- FYI: Alfanoose is I think only a Monday-Friday operation, and it's more WTC-area than Chinatown (take the 2, 3, 4, or 5 to Fulton Street; or the A or C to Broadway-Nassau; or the N or R [& sometimes the W] to Cortlandt street.)

Here 'tis.

Hey, great idea! And if there were an entry fee, we could raise money for the site.

Oh, dear. I've been there a couple of times, and had much better luck. The vaunted "duck prosciutto and Tallegio" sandwich was worth all the praise. We had a dish of roasted vegetables that was done just right -- and included ramps (!). I forget what all else I've had there, but it was far better than you describe. Sounds like you had a terribly off night.

Broiling, pan-frying, poaching* all work fine. Just remember to prick the sausages all over first so they won't explode. *mmmmmm -- French garlic saucisson poached in red wine, then wrapped in puff pastry and baked. Heaven, especially served with good mustard and cornichons.

Two places we like and return to are: Cho Dang Gol, on W. 35th. They specialize in dubu (=tofu), and have some really wonderful comforting homestyle food. Especially good in this weather. And the staff is very nice, especially to us Westerners who are willing to try the "unusual." Kori, on Church Street between Franklin and Leonard (Tribeca). A somewhat hip place, with delicious food and interesting cocktails based on plain and flavored soju. Also, nice staff.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, =Mark

No, that actually sounds reasonable. They're big, maybe about 2.5" X 2.5", thick (about .25"), and DRY DRY DRY. And despite what the blurb says, they are NOT all that flaky. So don't compare them to, say, a saltine. They really need a lubricant to go down easily.

Thanks so much for the reports. As noted in this thread and this other thread, he's a chef worthy of interest.

Just saw this photo caption in Nation's Restaurant News issue dated January 6, 2003: Can anyone cross reference this with Variety?