mizducky

Thanks again, everybody! Hmmm, looks like this topic somehow didn't get closed properly ... I will go consult with the Powers That Be ...

I went and looked up that Epicurious recipe you cited--for what it's worth, the majority of the comments on that recipe are pretty to very positive (only 2 negative out of 10 comments). From my experience with epicurious.com, you'll always find a couple of people hating on a recipe, often for no very good reason that I can ever discern; if it's only a couple of those, and most of the comments are positive, I tend to ignore the negatives as outliers. The recipe itself looks pretty appealing to me--matching cumin and coriander with lamb is a natural to my way of thinking, and could play really nicely with whatever spicing you're using on the haroset. Some of the recipe comments do suggest upping the spicing in various ways; I could see that working great. Making it a day ahead so that flavors can blend would be an additional good thing (as the recipe advises, I'd wait until the evening you're serving it to put in the spinach).

Hmmmmmmm ... I could go several different ways with this concept. If I wanted to be purely pragmatic, and depending on how long I would be marooned, I might bring a whole case of MREs. Reasonable sustenance, relatively easy to doctor up, and bits of 'em (cookies, baby bottles of Tabasco, etc.) might be useful for bartering with the natives. For that matter, since way at the beginning of this topic it was specified that the natives had food in cans, I might also, or simply, make sure I brought a can opener. If I wanted to be as creative in my interpretation as others have been here, well ... I'd probably bring along a whole bunch o' pork products. Mmmmm pork belly. Or better yet, I'd do what somebody else suggested, and bring a breeding pair o' piggies. Dissertation on Roast Pig, anyone?

I'm totally loving the vicarious thrills of all the monetary and caloric splurges you're doumenting here. And I too am admiring that layered foie/mushroom dish (and am already plotting ways I can come up with a lower-impact version...) Meanwhile, at the risk of careening way the hell off-topic, I can't resist commenting on the bit of your post about Hostal L'Antic Espai: Boy, does that place look totally Edward Gorey. And as to the mixed signals on your gaydar scope, I was inevitably reminded of the subversively funny (and highly politically incorrect) Gay or Eurotrash? game perpetrated by the ezine Blair awhile back.

Hi astartenyny--one of the better ways I've seen of organizing a potluck was practiced by a group I used to belong to many years ago. They would put together a potluck sign-up list, that would include blanks for various courses--say, like four blanks for entrees, two blanks for salads/starters, etc. etc. (there were about 30 people in this group, so you'd scale the list accordingly). They were juggling a whole bunch of different special diets in that group, too, so they'd specify some of the blanks accordingly (i.e. "vegan dish", "no dairy" dish, etc.) Then they'd circulate the list and get the blanks filled accordingly. That way, they could be directive enough to avoid, say, the one evening before they put in this system when *everybody* brought a potato-based dish (yummy, but a bit heavy!), but still give people some freedom of choice. As to getting people to stick to a theme--depending on how foodie-ish your friends are, that could be more or less of a challenge. People have gotten enough exposure to, well, at least something they might think of as Mexican food, that they might be fine to run with that if you simply say "hey, the theme is Cinco de Mayo." You could maybe help jog people's creativity by providing a list of dish suggestions, including some really simple dishes as well as a few demanding ones. But for the rest--well, there's a reason they call it pot luck, y'know? Sometimes just seeing what the luck of the pot brings you is worth it in serendipity--or at least in entertainment value.

Aha! Found it! I knew I'd read about the "old lady" sauces somewhere! When I was last in 99 Ranch, I picked up a couple of jars of "Old Lady" brand hot stuff. One is fermented bean curd in chile oil. The other ... well, the scant English on the label calls it simply "spicy paste." The ingredient list is short and sweet: fermented flour paste (?), broad bean, canola oil, chile, monosodium glutamate. I dunno what fermented flour paste could possibly be, nor whether this is the same as the sauce referred to above with "fermented beans" in it, but I figured that, if the stuff I have isn't a version of toban jan, it's close enough for my purposes. So far, I've only had opportunity to try the fermented bean curd--and wow! That is the tastiest fu yu I've yet tried! If the other stuff is as good as this, I will be in chile heaven!

Hee -- try clearing your browser's cache, and then take another look at my avatar and see what you see ...

Thanks, everybody. You're all continuing to be fabulous. Oh, FYI, here's a link to the writeup I wound up posting on Humphrey's: clickie

It's still not 100% set-and-forget by a long stretch, but it has gotten a whole lot more habitual than it was at first. For instance, when I got home from dinner at The Linkery earlier in the blog and sat down to reconstruct exactly what I'd eaten, I realized that I'd unconsciously eaten a lot less meat than I had anticipated--and that at a restaurant that specializes in sausages! And that after I had made a point of arranging my food that day so that I could splurge on meats at dinner if I had wanted. My old self would have vaccuumed down a whole plateful of sausages on my own without blinking an eye. But my current self had simply and unconsciously gone for just a taste of everything, plus a great (meatless) entree, and been well satisfied. But there are still plenty of days when I struggle. In fact, last night my lizard brain was doing its best to take advantage of my end-of-blog letdown and energy drain to worm its way through my defences. Wouldn't that have been embarrassing, after going on at such great length about my progress and all that online here! But I'm not too proud to admit that such thoughts did help me to resist the lizard's blandishments. In fact, that's one of the reasons I do blog about my regimen online--knowing I have an audience helps keep me honest. And for the rest, the habits I've built up so far did kick in, so I wound up satisfying that late-night urge to munch with a couple of blood oranges and a celery heart. (And the celery itself represents a major milestone in getting more used to this whole lifestyle--I used to loathe raw celery due to heavy association with past bad dieting trips; but now, I actually like the stuff. Will wonders never cease? ) (I should add that I've made a solemn vow to myself, if I ever should totally give in to the lizard and have a food freakout, that I will instantly forgive myself and do my damnedest to climb right back on the regimen without angsting myself to death over it. So far it's yet to come to that ... but I want to be ready.)

Soup can be a little more challenging to manage in a potluck environment, as diners can't just sling it on their plates along with all the other solid foods, and thus have to juggle a separate bowl/cup or else make a separate soup trip. On the other hand, soups are very satisfying crowd-pleasers, and they feed a lot of people. Myself, I'd say a good soup is worth the slight extra logistical fuss. One of the groups at my church regularly does an all-soup potluck, and it's a real hit--they get about ten crock pots and several additional pots/bowls laid out on the buffet, plus a big green salad, fruit, and cookies, and people just go nuts over it. (People bring some darn good soups to this, too--it's like it becomes a friendly little contest.)

Oh cool! I can sneak in a couple more replies! Ah! So true! At the closing hour of your blog I just HAD to jump in. Thanks for sharing this week of food and life and gorgegousnes with us. And YAY for losing so much weight! To the above observation, I can only say that I was born and raised a vegetarian, never had a single bite of meat and had been heavily overweight for at least my entire adult life. Up until about two and a half years ago, that is. Around that time I suddenly started feeling SUCH a strong craving for MEATMEATMEAT that I could't just ignore it. So I stopped being a vegetarian. I am now a carnivore to the bone- I like my meat and I like it red- and I lost over 40 kilo's in the course of a year, without any diet or effort whatsoever. So my new 'rule' for healthy living and eating is that if you totally honestly listen to what your body asks of you, there is no going wrong... ← What a terrific story! And another anecdote to add to my stock of evidence. Many thanks for sharing that, and congrats on your weight loss. I went and checked out that other topic--very cool! I will definitely look for that product, and report back when I've got some to experiment with.

Hi, johnnyd! Those noodles do look really fascinating. I love all the seaweed products I've tried so far, so I bet I'd dig these too. They look like they have at least a little similarity to the kind of noodly seaweed used in salads in a number of Japanese restaurants around here, though I'll have to find some of this noodle product to do a for-real comparison. I would probably try these noodles in similar salad type preparations, or in a soup or other simmered dish. Good luck to your friend--it does sound like he's got a great concept on his hands.

Okay, now I really have to go finish up my restaurant rec so I can get it posted ... but I'll continue to monitor this topic for any final comments before it shuts down, which I think happens sometime tomorrow. And if for some reason I don't get in here again before it closes, I'd just like to take this opportunity now to thank everyone once again for reading, for commenting, and for well-wishing. This was a really beautiful and rewarding exercise for me, and I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity to go on at such length before such an appreciative audience. Cheers, /the duck

Once again, folks, many thanks for all of your thanks! It's been a pleasure blogging for you all. Though I confess it will be nice to go back to a slightly more private lifestyle! And while I obviously do a bunch of dining out as part of my food writing gig, I also confess that I think I've temporarily burned out on this whirlwind of dining and partying. Witness this evening: when I finished with chorus rehearsal, I toyed with the idea of eating dinner out to give you one last restaurant photo op ... but both my bod and my belly were sending out weariness signals, so I came home instead and simply defrosted a little pork chop and threw it on my roommate's George Foreman Grill: The side is the last of those king oyster mushrooms I braised during the veg-cooking frenzy the other day. Not the most photogenic dinner on the planet--brown, brown, and brown!--but low impact, and it hit the spot. Responding to a few more posts: Aaa! Thank you Kathy! That's it. (Being a Chinese, I always skip the "L"s and the "R"s... ← Hi, Ah Leung--alas, Google doesn't turn up anything named Fanigans or Flanigan's currently in San Diego. That whole stretch of Friar's Road north of the Mission Valley Mall probably looks way different from when you lived here--it's now wall-to-wall brand new condo complexes, interspersed with more shopping centers. And since I've only lived here since 2002 I don't know what was along that stretch before they apparently knocked it all down to build the new stuff. There is a branch of the Bennigan's restaurant/tavern chain just east of the Mission Valley Mall, on Camino del Rio North. But as far as I know they don't have dancing there. For that matter, I have no idea how long it's been there ... but that seems to be the closest thing in the area to what you're remembering. Hey, that may yet happen one of these days--I'm way overdue for a visit back to the Pacific Northwest. Whenever it happens, have no fear, I will give you all plenty of notice. I like the way you PNW eGulleteers party too! Aha! Great minds think alike! Actually, in normal bright daylight the Humphrey's dishes are black and white just like the ones you both turned up. It looks like the keys on the Humphrey's dishware are a little fatter than those down that link, but that might just be an artifact of the photos. In any case--score!

Okay, I'm finally leaving the house to head off for chorus rehearsal. While I'm gone, if there are any remaining questions you'd like me to get to before the blog finishes up--or if you asked something awhile back and I missed it--please post and let me know. See you all in a few hours!

All of the above is by way of introducing a question that may well be wandering across all of your minds--it does occasionally wander across mine: "Ellen, with all these vegetables that you eat, and all that meat that you're no longer eating, why don't you just go whole hog (so to speak) and become a full-fledged vegetarian?" Well, the simple (or rather oversimplified) reason is: because I still like meat too much to give it up entirely. The more complex answer: I have in fact tried to go full-on vegetarian at several points in my life, and just wasn't able to keep it up. I'd get a few weeks into it, and the cravings for meat would just get so strong that it was no fun fighting it anymore (I now recognize that as the Lizard Brain switching into full-on Tyrannosaurus mode). It's been my (admittedly anecdotal) observation that some people simply have a physical preference for or against meat-eating. We are not all cast from one mold, metabolically speaking. Some people actively thrive on a diet free from animal products; others just can't function at their peak on such a regimen. (And I was pleased to discover, several years ago, that my supposition had some support from natural/macrobiotic cookery expert Annemarie Colbin; her book Food and Healing has given me a lot of food for thought, so to speak, as I stumbled my way towards my current way of eating.) Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that I am in the need-to-eat-meat camp. Even these days, when I'm eating very little meat, and frequently have days that are completely meat-free, I do notice subtle, almost indefinable, positive differences in my state of being when I do have a serving or two of meat. But it actually only takes a little meat to make me feel like I'm on the beam. If I go overboard with it, especially these days when my day-to-day eating is so... well, "clean," for lack of a better word, I can also tell the difference--and it doesn't feel good. Interesting that as I continue on in this process, my bod is actually self-selecting for this low-meat but not no-meat regimen. So, yeah, I do still eat meat; I eat it in small quantities, and I keep eating it because it continues to be right for me at this moment in time. If that should change for any reason, then I'll change too. And if it works for other people, then great; and if it doesn't work for other other people, that's fine too. The bottom line for me here, as in all food decisions, is: each person is their own best judge of what foods work best for their own unique condition and circumstances. There is no one-size-fits-all magic bullet that works for all people in all places in all situations. So--of all the stuff I've been spouting off about here and elsewhere in this blog, on eGullet, or wherever, please feel free to take whatever works for you, and don't sweat the stuff that doesn't work for you. And that's what works for me.

I love congee. You can toss almost any leftover in (early or late in the process, depending on the leftover. Cheap, as well. I rank it up with frittata as a "clean out the fridge" make-over meal. BTW, how salty is that better than boullion stuff? ← The Better Than Bouillon base is admittedly quite salty, though not nearly as bad as those salt licks called bouillon cubes, and a whole lot tastier. I wind up using it at about half-strength compared to package directions, and find that it still gives plenty of baseline flavor on which to build other dishes. One of the first times I ever used it was for a batch of lentils; I wound up basically inhaling the whole batch in one sitting, it was so good. (Erm, that was pre-weight-loss regimen ... ) I spotted that plate design in one of your earlier blogs. I still want some of those! ← Alas, I remember going looking for that pattern on-line myself, when last you asked about it, and coming up empty.

Your wish is my command, o Madame Blog Wrangler! I prefer my congee on the chunky side. My method is to put a scant 1/4 cup of raw white rice in four cups of boiling broth--I didn't have any suitable batches of leftover broth available, so I went with one of my favorite secret weapon ingredients, Better Than Bouillon's vegetable base. Then I turn the pot down to way low, cover it, and let it simmer away for a couple of hours, giving it an occasional stir, until it thickens and the rice starts breaking down a little. This batch I additionally flavored, once done, with a big cube of chile-flavored fermented tofu, and garnished with a little bit of roast duck left over from yesterday's dim sum feast. Note also the big glassful of Crystal Light knockoff in the shot. I'm making a point of it to pound a lot of fluids today, the better to help clear out my system after the past day's excesses. Erm, yeah, I did have more than one of those Manhattans last night.

From where I live in Mission Valley, it's a straight shot westward, via the I-8 and Rosecrans Blvd., to the short causeway leading out to Shelter Island. This island was little more than a sandbar before it was built up in the 1950s with material dredged from the bottom of the harbor. Now it's home to a bunch of marinas and resort hotels, many of which have, or are growing out of, tiki/Polynesian themes. The sun was setting as I arrived on Shelter Island ... ... and turned into the parking lot for the Humphrey's resort/restaurant complex: You can see from that pitched roof that Humphrey's used to have the tiki theme going on too. But somewhere along the line they decided to transcend that, and now their Backstage Lounge has more of a golden jewelbox look going on: Humphrey's is also home to a wildly popular outdoor summer concert series that draws lots of national pop, rock, and jazz acts--one of the first concerts I saw in San Diego was when Cheap Trick played the Humphrey's outdoor stage in 2002 (they kicked butt, by the way; I managed to catch one of the dozens of signature guitar picks lead guitarist Rick Neilsen always pitches into the crowd ). Thus the "Backstage" in the indoor lounge's name, and the numerous larger-than life photo portraits on its walls of artists who have played the outdoor stage (that's a portrait of Alice Cooper in the shot above). I grabbed myself a seat and placed an order with one of the cocktail waitresses, and soon my dinner and drink showed up: Heh. This is a far cry from the crappy beer and dodgy burgers I grew up associating with rock'n'roll bars--the lounge definitely benefits from being next door to Humphrey's dining room, which has won various accolades in local magazines. What we have here is their warm scallop and shrimp salad, on a bed of baby spinach with a garnish of mango and pickled ginger, along with a very respectable Manhattan (with just the well bourbon--I'm not remembering what their well bourbon is, but it does quite well for my purposes). I ask for the salad with the beurre blanc sauce on the side--I imagine someone back in the kitchen might be having a fit over that ("dammit, it's not a warm salad anymore if you don't put the warm sauce over the &%$ing greens!!!"), but there is already a light ginger/sesame dressing on the spinach, which is plenty of dressing for me. Plus I prefer enjoying those nice big barely-cooked scallops in all their pristine beauty. And then I sat back and enjoyed my friends in Rockola as they kicked into action (apologies for the blurry photo--I was trying to avoid getting flash in their eyes): This evening was a special show, Rockola's sixth annual George Harrison Birthday Bash (those of you who are heavy-duty Beatles fans will no doubt point out that George's birthday is back in February, but this year the guys had several different halls fall through for the February 24th/25th weekend, and so finally had to go with being one month late). Rockola's forte is highly accurate recreation of Beatles and other songs from the 1960s and early 1970s--not going for the Beatlemania mimickry, but rather for fidelity to the sound and feel of the music. They are aided and abetted in that effort by great vocals--guitarists Bob and Mark do eerily accurate John and Paul vocals respectively, and bassist Doug does a pretty decent George. Bandleader Bob is also a real stickler for accurate instrumentation: for instance, for this show they brought along sitars and tabla to play some of George's Indian-inspired stuff, an autoharp for "My Sweet Lord," a horn section for songs like "This Song," and even a pair of boots for the bootheel-percussion on the early Harrison-penned hit "Don't Bother Me." These guys are hard-core. I got Bob to hold still long enough to give me a Rockstar Attitude pose: Yes, that is a bathrobe he's wearing onstage. It's a long-running in-joke associated with the annual Harrison show; I'm sworn to secrecy as to the details of the bathrobe thing, because Bob gets a kick out of all the theories fans offer about its significance and possible Harrison tie-ins--Beatles fans just go to town with that kind of stuff! After an evening of great music and other assorted merriment, I ended with a nice cup of coffee: I'm impressed that even the coffee in this joint tastes good--buying and making good coffee is one of those details that tells me the kitchen is paying attention. And so to bed, as someone once said ...

Good morning, all! On this last official day of my foodblog, you find me working on a cup of coffee, after my semi-usual breakfast of a couple of wedges of Laughing Cow Light cheese in a half a whole-wheat pita. One of the lessons I learned from years of dealing with a cranky bod is to be prepared to revise and triage schedules based on physical energy level and condition. Well, I woke up after the late night I had last night, on top of all the running around I'd been doing this week (which has been more than my norm), and realized it was triage time. Sooooooo ... I am playing hooky from church this morning. SHHHHHHH! Don't tell, now ... I will, however, be going out this afternoon to attend the regular weekly rehearsal of the community chorus I sing with, San Diego Women's Chorus -- depending on my energy level after that, I might immediately return home, or I might grab one last dinner out for your blog-viewing pleasure. But in the meantime, I'm going to have a mellow morning of blog catch-up and summarizing. And, oh yeah, putting the final touches on my weekly restaurant rec for Eats.It. And one little low-impact cooking thing is going on right now in my kitchen: a pot of congee is currently working, and should be ready in time for a late lunch. I've got photos from last night to show you all, but first, a couple more responses to posts: Doug informs me that he attended Penn from 1987 to 1991. Fascinating! I'd be very interested to hear how that works out for your daughter. I'd love to find a nice (relatively) simple solution for my knee that does not involve major surgery.

Hello again, folks-- Well I did have a great evening ... in fact, I had so much fun that I'm pooped, and really should crash soon. I do have photos, but I think I may have to wait to post them until tomorrow morning when I'm a little more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. But I'll at least try to catch up with some responses to posts: Yes, chicken feet have lots and lots of little bones, and very little meat to speak of ... it's the skin over those bones that's the big draw, especially after long braising that breaks down the collagen so that the skin gets meltingly tender. These were done in a savory glaze with a slight sweetness to it, and the skin just melted in one's mouth. That's part of the reason why it was so hard to hold one up with chopsticks--it was wanting to fall apart and slip out between the sticks. You know what, now that you say that, I am thinking those items were fried tofu stuffed with a shrimp mixture. Thanks again, Ah Leung! I recall my boss saying that he had to go through an outfit in Italy to get it, but knew none of the details, so I checked in with Doug and this is what he said: I did mention it, but way at the beginning of the blog, so no worries that you missed it. I do take daily supplements of omega-3 fatty acids both for my joints and for coronary health. I also take a daily supplement of glucosamine. Both of these supplements were actually recommended by my primary care physician, which I think was pretty cool, myself.

Hi folks-- I see some new posts have cropped up that I'd like to respond to, but I hope you'll forgive me if I postpone those responsed until my return. For now I've got to dash out the door ... or more like hobble out the door, because my knee is attempting to go out of alignment yet again. But sometimes, especially when one lives with a chronic problem like this, you just decide to go out and do your life even when the problem's acting up. So--I'm a-goin' anyway. And I'll be hopefully enjoying, and photographing, some good eats and drinks as well. Talk to you soon!

Thank you! And once again, thank you to everybody for your kind words and encouragement. It really means a huge amount to me. Now I really have to make myself take a little nap before this evening's activities ... I'll try to at least stick my head back in here for a "hallo" before I hit the road again.

Okay--we've got photos. Thanks, Doug! This first shot was taken by me rather than Doug: Emerald is located at the southernmost end of the Convoy Street Asian-restaurant enclave, inobtrusively tucked away on the ground floor of a quiet office building. (That jalopy with all the hippy bumper stickers in the disabled parking space is the Duckmobile. ) Behind the mirrored glass, Emerald has a sizeable and pleasantly decorated room. Dim sum service was already in full swing, with the usual assortment of couples and multi-generational families flagging down the cart ladies and having at the tasty tidbits. I was joined for brunch by SanDiego.Eats.It owner Doug and his partner Laura; fellow Eats.It writer Candice; and Gayla, better known here on eGullet as kalypso, who very generously donated an Emerald gift certificate she had been saving up for just such a situation. Thanks, Gayla! And thanks also to Candice, who brought along a lovely bottle of Schramsberg sparkling wine whose light sweetness went great with our meal. The carts started coming at us fast and furious, and Doug wasn't quite able to keep up with all the offerings (there was a key moment when his camera batteries died but we kept eating! ), so the following represents most of what we ate: Here we have assorted dumplings: counterclockwise from the top are shu mai, chicken-filled steamed buns, har gow, and another type of shrimp dumplings whose name is escaping me right now. Turnip cake (actually made with lo bak, a big Chinese radish related to daikon). Calamari--looked like they had been dusted lightly with cornstarch before a quick deep-fry and salting. A hair on the dry side for my tastes, but the flavor and crispiness were great. Stuffed crab claw with shrimp chips. It took some skill to keep this chicken foot elevated for your viewing pleasure, but anything for eGullet! I loved these--they were melt-in-your-mouth tender. After some intensive negotiations with the manager, Candice was able to procure us a little saucer of XO sauce to have with our dumplings. First time I ever tasted XO sauce--nice and rich with a low-key chile kick. And of course we had to have daan taat (egg tarts) for dessert. These were great--still a little warm, nice flaky crust and eggy filling, not too sweet. Not pictured: Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce on the side (gotta get those veggies in! ); taro dumplings (a personal favorite of mine--I've had better ones than Emerald's, but even an average taro dumpling is fine by me); glutinous rice balls; shrimp cheong fun (we loved the rice noodle wrappers, felt the shrimp were a tad overcooked); sliced roast duck (decent flavor, very tender); a beef-filled dumpling wrapped in a very nice flaky pastry whose name I'm also not recalling right now ... I think that was everything! All in all an excellent meal with excellent company. Thanks, folks!

Hi--I'm back after a very enjoyable dim sum brunch. I'm just waiting on Doug to email me the photos he took, to help remind me of what-all we ate--it went by so fast! But in the meantime: more responses to posts: Many thanks for that reference! I will definitely go track that book down for my own further information. Hmmmm ... according to the Internet Movie Database, the Fish Heads video was made in 1982, so you might be transposing your memories by a decade ... According to IMDB and various Googlings, the Fish Heads video was aired on Saturday Night Live, and was also in rotation on MTV and Nickelodeon back in the day. Oh yes--the early days of MTV, when they actually played music videos--and really strange wacky non-corporate videos at that! I remember one of Wendy O. Williams driving a school bus across the desert and through a wall of TVs ... but I digress. My impressions of the Kasekrainer that evening kinda got lost in the sea of other impressions, but I've had it on previous occasions and really dug it. It's got a modest hot-and-spicy kick to it that I really like. The Linkery regularly makes their sausages with a lower percentage of fat than is customary; for some folks this takes a little getting used to, as it does result in a dryer sausage than they may have been accustomed to. But I really dig it, not only because of my healthy-eating obsession but also because, at least for me, it actually seems to make the flavors shine through more clearly. I realize that might sound paradoxical to all of us who have learned the "fat carries flavor" mantra, but anyway that's how it strikes me.Many thanks for posting all those additional links to The Linkery (heh--pun not intended). Obviously, I've become a big fan of the place--you can read my official Eats.It rec of The Linkery here.