Lady T

Hm. For your next week's conversation I should then draw Dave's and your attention to the Robert Parker series of Spenser novels, in which food figures prominently. Not a hint or anything, oh heavens no...

"Laugh", my oversize foot. By the end of business on the average Monday, I'm not likely even to notice.

Based on the Tihany-designed restaurants I have seen (long on concept and often short on workability for the staff or comfort for the customers) -- and on what I have seen of Chef Trotter's preference for spaces that stay mostly out of the way of the cuisine aesthetically -- I anticipate that there will be a fairly intense clash of visions. Based on what I know of the two individuals, I anticipate that neither will back down quickly or easily. Watching two much-regarded geniuses butt heads, so to speak, is likely to be amusing and/or educational, I believe. Does that help?

Ah, good, Gentle G. Then, afterward, we can go up to your place and continue the cleanup of the authentic 24-carat howling mess we're about to make of your house and yard on Saturday. (Edited to put my punctuation back where it belongs.)

Tihany vs. Trotter. Talk about the immovable vs. the irresistible (and don't ask me which role I assign to whom, please!)...I expect to hear the infighting all the way up here in Chicago.

The basement of the local Crate and Barrel store is heaven for people who like a good solid water glass and don't want to buy a three-size, 12-place ensemble to get one. You can get exactly what you want, in precisely the numbers you wish.

Yes, they do, Maggie, particularly when they get older. Think about the Dark Side of tuna breath.

I know a house you could demolish with the gas output of its resident English mastiff. Thank the Infinite Wisdom it ain't in Chicago.

Fresser...paging Fresser...hungry lady on the Opera thread...

It may be that what is needed isn't to delete the bread, but to dive deeper into the challenges of what can be done with bread products: quick breads, crisp crackers, yeast dumplings with surprising and course-harmonious fillings, tiny waffles, pretzels to be dipped in who knows what, or filled with who knows what else, or wound around with some other fascinating thing entirely. Unchain the bakery department from the two-rolls-per-plate paradigm, and even you might be surprised at what they come up with.

Interesting. I would have expected Vongerichten or maybe even Ducasse to cherry-pick Alex Lee out of Boulud's kitchen to head one of their branch operations before now. I bet Boulud & Co. are going to miss him something huge.

August 1st is a concert night (the only one this summer!) for the CSO Chorus at Ravinia. If the caravan is departing Saturday, August 2nd, I'm clear and delighted to go along; otherwise I can't. Watching to see how the consensus comes out...

I'm sorry. It's tough to think about cleaning up when a body's that full of food and wine and good cheer. At the end there, it was tough to think about anything but a nap. Lord, but that was good, Maggie! Many, many thanks! Anyway: *sniffle* Will do better about cleanup next time. I promise.

I'll volunteer to attend Hell's Own Wine Tasting, if someone else'll volunteer to get me there and get me home.

Me too.

Got it. File powder and variety of hot sauces: from 'wake-up-the-taste-buds' to 'please-kill-me-now.'

I am, if necessary. Let me know; I'm going to Treasure Island tonight.

And for $7.99/bottle at Treasure Island and Whole Foods, no less. If it's on sale there, it's on sale everywhere...!

I like the idea of oak there, Dave: in keeping with the whole "less than $8" theme, I'll bring a couple bottles of Lindemans Bin 65 Chard. Plenty of fruit, and just a bit of oak.

I'm bringing a pan of cornbread, plus a bottle of wine (likely bubbly).

I'm in. Can anybody meet the train that arrives at 3:35 at West Chicago? Or: if you're coming, Guajolote, may I (and the cornbread) hitch a ride?

As Thai goes, I'd reach first for the Pinot Gris among the whites; the reds would be a toss-up for me, depending on the precise menu. I've never been to Arun's. The buzz I hear is that when they're good (as regards food and service), they're among the best in town, and if you catch 'em on an off night it can be notably mediocre. Luck of the draw, apparently, and I really don't know how to help load your cards. Let us know!

Oh Lord. Oh yum. Let me check my calendar and I'll be back to you. If things work out, I'll see your red beans and rice and raise you a good big pan of cornbread. Then we can argue about whether the cornmeal should be white or yellow, and whether there should be any sugar at all -- when we're done with the arguments over roux. A pajama party too? I can hardly wait to see Fresser's negligee... At that rate, we should be done arguing by about next Thursday, July 3. Maybe.

I imagine my mother's ghost shaking her head gravely over how much time it takes me to make bread each week. I don't even bother comparing it to the mushy uniform oblongs on supermarket shelves; it's impeccably fresh, I know exactly what's in it (and the chemicals that aren't in it), I love taking out my frustrations in the action of kneading, and baking it makes my apartment smell like the south end of heaven. It is, in fact, that much better.