Suzanne F

It has been around for several years as a local Boston-area publication. About six months ago or more they started pushing as a national. I have yet to subscribe, although I thought their more local coverage was excellent.

Zilla, don't take it personally. It's just ignorant customers who have not eaten in decent restaurants often enough to know that they can trust the kitchen staff to make food properly, and who are used to being served by waiters who have a huge empty space between their ears and so cannot convey any useful information in any direction, least of all between customer and kitchen. You're working in a start-up, right? Once the word gets around that you make a proper salad, and you get enough repeat business, that problem should go away.

May I pass along to you what I was told by a Greenmarket farmer when I complained about all the worms on his broccoli:

Andie -- as you may notice if you read everything here , I have a lot of issues with Ruth Reichl and her two books of "memoir." And I'm not the only one who is bothered by her journastic moral lapses of making stuff up. Her recipes are good, but take everything else she says with a rock of salt.

You lucky dog, you!

MJ Grill has been around for about/at least a year now. By now the owners HAVE decided what they want it to be. And that is indeed that mix of bar food and upscale. While I've been to MJ for steak several times, the only thing I have had at MJ Grill is the burger: Too big in general, too big for its baguette chunk of bread. Good meat, though. (My report was on a thread now disappeared.)

Maybe that's why it closed?

Can't believe I didn't post after my lunch there. But: everything was excellent, and not, I suspect, just because I was with Kim. I especially remember a sinfully creamy macaroni dish (truffled, IIRC) that I just wanted to wallow in.

Was that the new U.S. version, or the old U.K.? If the former, how quickly some people give up. If the latter, that's really a find! (But I warn you, there are a few errors in it. )

OHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Fried clam bellies.

No offense, but: IDIOCY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION

Alas. I never noticed the 30-day limit either. Oh well, we'll just have to keep posting links to new ones, then. However, the Cartoon Bank doesn't seem to have a time limit.

Planked salmon.

My turn to be jealous. Both of us just love him. And his sidemen, too.

We were lucky enough to receive Suvir's recipe for Tomato Chutney on the boards, and also his Green Chutney and Tamarind Chutney in an article about bhel poori on The Daily Gullet. Yum.

The Half Note, of distant memory (early 1970s). Yeah, Bottom Line: Olu Dara, recently. Lush Life: great sight lines and a big stage, as well as decent food Sweet Basil: co-owner Phyllis used to be a schoolteacher, IIRC, and she would make sure everyone got and stayed quiet during the music.

Toothbrush.

What is this, the Oscars?

Along the same lines: Lush Life, at the other end of the Bleecker Street side of the building from the Gate. Except that the food there was actually pretty good for a jazz club, as it was at Sweet Basil (same ownership). But the good news now is Jazz Standard, under Blue Smoke. Yeah, La Fonda del Sol. Who knew back then (mid-1960s) that Latin American food could be Haute? And on the subject of Restaurant Associates, Zum Zum (about which there is a thread somewhere). Non-RA chain, Dosanko. And, until Mohammed finds a new space in the vicinity of Fulton Street, ALPHANOOSE

OMG, juuceman: we were that loud 4-top a couple of tables down from you! (Two couples "of a certain age.") You couldn't have gone to Azafran on Monday anyway: they're closed Mondays. (That had actually been our first choice to take sis- and bro-in-law.) We've had that table you got. Feh. Waiters bumping past all evening without stopping. But don't blame Open Table (you still got your 1000 points, anyway, right?). And don't hate me if we had better service (not entirely, though -- we also had the disappearing drink routine) -- they know I know the GM. But yeah, isn't the fish great?

Ask SobaAddict70. He knows everything there is to know about broiling chicken breasts.

It was actually bergamot (the citrus fruit used to flavor Earl Grey tea). But when we had the Galactabouriko on Monday, the sorbet that came with it was Blood Orange instead. Much better, to my palate.

Ratner's, yes, even though we used to refer to the potato pirogen as "lead sinkers." Petit Souchow, yes, even though I can't remember what we used to eat there Foo Joy: no. We made the mistake of ordering 2 dishes that were both deep-fried. Paid for it all night. Also: Bellevue (9th Ave, around 39th Street) -- terrific roast chicken and frites; 4-5-6 -- the first "real" Chinese food I ever had. Horn and Hardart: not only the Automats, but also the regular sit-down restaurants (esp. the one in Fresh Meadows). Oh! the vegetable plate! AND: Sloppy Louie's and Sweet's, before the Rouseification of the South Street Seaport; also the Sketch Pad, with decent chili, and beers for a quarter (yes, children, 6 ounces of beer for 25 cents)

. . . turn the burner under a pot down to "warm" and then remove the pot from the burner without turning it off. that's a lie. I know I will do it many, many times more.

You mean he finally got it all off???