jsmeeker

the Dallas Five Guys recently opened. (it's in the Galleria mall in far north Dallas). I was there (in the mall) this afternoon, and this is the first time I noticed it being open. Mall wasn't very crowded, so there were only a few people in the Five Guys. I woke up late this morning, resulting in a late breakfast, so I wasn't really hungry for a burger and fries at that time. I'll have to go back in the future date to try it out.

wow.. That was a little surprising to me. He seemed the least comfortable on camera. Of course, I think Aaron is more approachable than Lisa for a Food Network audience.

after a few episodes, I think it's clear what a restaurant chef's big secret is. SALT!! I like this show and like the way she cooks. But it's still really light on measurements, times, temps, etc. I'm surprised Food Network lets her get away with that.

I went to Picasso a few years ago (I guess 4 years ago now). I thought it was great. Beautiful room. It's certainly more traditional fine dining in that regard as opposed to places that make it a little bit more modern. I will add that I am sad to hear DJT has closed. Didn't it just open? Isn't it the only restaurant in the Trump hotel? IIRC, the chef from there is a member here and has posted a bit about the place.

I'll give that ratio a whirl. I have home made grenadine. (but I don't have the bonded stuff. Last time I was in the liquor store, I almost bought it, but decided to save a few bucks and buy the regular Laird's Applejack)

Since you are a local, I would certainly check it out. I've only been downtown once, so I am not totally sure what it's like for a local to drive and park there, but I know that getting to strip places can be a PITA with the traffic, and self parking can involve long hikes. Texas Station seemed pretty convenient to me if you are nearby. The only issue we had was getting OUT of the place on a Staruday night. No cab stand like at the strip places. We had to call and wait a while.

Texas Station is miles from your other nine choices. Is Austin's that good? I haven't heard anything about the place. How would you rate the place against, say, Binion's? Speaking of Station casinos, I missed one -- Main Street Station. They have what I consider to be the best microbrew in Las Vegas. (OK, "Best brew in LV" is like saying "Best Downhill Skiier in Libya." The pale ale certainly refreshes, and is a bargain at $4 per 22oz. ← By miles, do you mean physical distance or do you mean not in the same league? Yes, it's physically a long way from the Strip. I didn't pick the place, but went with a large group of people that just wanted to go someplace different and get away from the Strip just to get away from it. But I thought it was really good. Pretty typical steakhouse decor. But lower prices than most of the places on the Strip. And really, my steak was very good. I put it on my list pretty much because I wanted to include something that WASN'T in one of the big strip casinos. I've never been to Binion's (the steakhouse), so can't say what it's like. But I'll say if you want a traditional steak place and you were thinking of getting away from the Strip, I would certainly recommend it.

I've got a recipe for a Pink Lady that calls for gin and applejack. (and lemon juice, grenadine, and an egg white). Made one, but it seemed a little weak. I think I need to tewak the ratios. The recipe I found was really just a list of ingredients from a cocktail menu.

Indeed, there were a lot of haute cuisine meals on this trip. I guess the short answer is that I don't believe in white flags. You're in Europe you might as well experience it as best you can. ← Fair enough. Getting over to Europe isn't as easy as jetting off to Las Vegas. But still, after so many back to back, do they start to blur together? Does it make it tough to appreciate the meals, or do you get jaded to the whole experience?

your "snack" at Lateral looks great. I've never been to Paris, but that's exactly the kind of meal I would want to get at a casual sidewalk cafe/bistro/whatever they call it. Maybe it's sterotypical Paris, but sometimes sterotypical stuff can be really damn good. Now, a question. There are A LOT of "haute cuisine" meals in this trip. Seems like some days, more than one. Does that get a little overwhelming? How can you eat like that so often in a short amount of time? The closest I can come to doing something like what you are doing is going to Las Vegas. I've done the fancy dinner thing there a couple of nights in a row and I get burned out. All the food. The wine. The time involved. It just "kills" me. In a good way, but I have to throw up the white flag eventually.

using that definition for spirit, what about drinks that used Cointreau? It's 80 proof. Just like most gins, vodkas, etc. That would make a whole lot of drinks fall under the "two spirits" type. Of course, I don't think that's what we are looking for here. So, there must be more to the definition of what makes something a spirit.

I've got two "go to" methods for green beans. One is a southern style preperation. With this style, frozen green beans work well.. I really like the cut ones, as I think it makes eating them a little easier. First, I cut up some bacon, then cook it to make it brown and crispy. Bacon is removed to a paper towel line plate or some other surface. Keep some of the bacon fat in there. Now, sliced red onions go in to be sauted. Beans go in. Chicken stock goes in to cover. Salt well. Add some pepper. Simmer until very tender. At the end of cooking, a splash of cider vinegar goes in along with some brown sugar. Season with more salt if needed. Serve with bacon sprkinled on top. Or you can mix most of it into the beans just before they are done cooking and sprinkle a smaller amount on top. My other method for for preparing green beans (always fresh ones for this method) is to blanch and shock them. (heavily salted water, of course and blanched almost to the desired doneness level). At this point, you can certainly wrap them up in a paper towel and store them in the fridge in a zip top bag. To finish, I heat a sute pan. toss in some butter. Saute some shallots (I don't brown them. just soften them up). Add the blanched beans. A good splash of white vermouth. Salt. Pepper. Get the heat up and cook until most of the vermouth is evaproated. When it's almost all gone, toss in a knob of butter. toss 'em around to get it all combined. Serve.

What are some good late night eats places in Austin? I'm not really super familiar with the city, but I am guessing there must be something in the city around the capitol and UT campus. Open to all suggestions cuisine wise, but I am obviously looking for non national chain places and looking for places that say Austin or "weird"

looks like Texas De Brazil is opening a location in Las Vegas soemtime this year. But I can't find a date. I haven't been to Samba, but I have cruised by it while in the Mirage and have seen pics from meals there (taken by friends that did go). Didn't appeal to me, either. Just didn't even look to be up to the same level as a Texas de Brazil or a Fogo de Chao. Also, I'm really burned out in the whole Churascaria thing, anyway. I mean, I like meat and I can pack it away at those places, but in Vegas, there are way too many choices for more interesting food and atmosphere. Can I assume you want to stay in one of the big casinos on the strip? Does it HAVE to be a "meat palace"?

I'm just going to make a list. It will be a mix of fine dining and casual. (but mostly fine) I won't make an attempt to put it in any real order. L'Atelier de Joel Rubochon (MGM Grand) Picasso (Bellagio) Bouchon (Venetian) N9NE (Palms) Sensi (Bellagio) Michael Mina (Bellagio) Daniel Boulud (Wynn) Lotus of Siam (not in a casino hotel) Burger Bar (Mandalay Bay [mall between MB and Luxor, to be exact]) Austin's Steakhouse (Texas Station)

getting better, but I too think some of the details of the actual "secrets" get glazed over. Like salting cooking water. I know a lot of us know that, but really, explain what "heavily salted" is. Give others that don't know an idea. I think for a lot of home cooks, "heavily salted" is really even more salted than they would think. For me, salting the shocking water is new. Never heard that before. I guess I'll do it next time I blanch some green veg. Tricks/tips in prep should be better detailed/shared as well. restaurant chefs and cooks always have the good ones since they have to do so much. They come up with ways to save time. Share those tricks. It's useful in the home kitchen, too.

I was in Madison, WI this past week. Had a few different beers from Capital Brewery, plus some Spotted Cow from New Glarus Brewing Company. Now, I am in St. Louis and have been drinking some various types of beer from Schlafly. Having their Pale Ale right now, in fact.

are people REALLY turned off by pro stuff? Almost every cooking show out there uses a Kitchen Aid mixer. (Of course, you can debate that a Kitchen Aid mixer really isn't a true pro mixer and that you need a big Hobart instead..) And then there are the pro style cook tops and ranges. All the rage in home kitchens. They are designed to LOOK like a pro range. I think people are more accepting of it. And really, if the title didn't have Restaurant Chef in it, I don't think I would have even brought it up.

The Sofitel is near the Kitson stores on Robertson Blvd. There is the "main" one, then a kids store and most recently, a men's store all within a two block stretch (between Beverly Blvd. and 3rd Street) The Sofitel is really nice and priced like it. One place I really like a lot right off of Robertson, right by Cedars, is Chaya. I've had many nice lunches there. Another place in the area I have had good luck with is Barefoot. It's on 3rd street, just east of Robertson. I have more suggestions for that area if you neeed them. Robertson Blvd. is the hot and trendy place to shop these days. There is more than just Kitson there. Watch out for the Paparazzi.

I certainly don't mind a little work and "elbow grease" to make something tasty to eat or drink. Heck, lately I have been making mayo at home by hand with a whisk.

I watched the Leg of Lamb show on Sunday. Like others, I have mixed reviews on it. Yes, it will take time for her to get a little more comfortable on camera. Right now, I think some of her on camera mannerisms are a little, dare I say, Rachael Ray like (cutesy names for the ramekins). Also, I had the same issues with not telling us how to check for doneness of the lamb. Yeah, most eGullet society members know how to tell, but we aren't the only audience for this show. I keep thinking of the title of the show. It has "Restaurant Chef" in it. Would it be better if the show were set in an actual restaurant kitchen? Should she wear a chef's uniform? It would be nice to see the professional restaurant chef aspect emphasised, in my opinion. Of course, that seems to be the opposite of what Food Network wants.

thanks the for the tips and the warnings about cocktails. I like beer a whole lot, too.

Looks like I'll be heading to Madison next week for a business trip. A training class in Verona, actually. Not totally sure where I will be staying or if I'll even have a car. I'll have to get those details in the coming days. I'll be in town three nights. I guess I will just need dinner places. (B-fast and lunch are part of the class). Most likely I would want something "unique" to Madison/Wisconsin. No particular cuisine desired, but I'll say I'm not looking for something like, say, Sushi. I got plenty of that with all of my travel to Los Angeles. There will be some new co-workers with me. People I have never met but will be working with soon. I suppose I may be spending all the evenings with them. I dunno. Who knows. And of course, depending on where I (we_ actually stay and the transportation situation, our options may be rather limited in that regard. Anyway, I'll be checking out the more recent posts in this topic for potential ideas.

Ah.. I see. I thought Toby was saying to get rid of the foam before it went into the serving glass. Which didn't make sense to me. I just misread what he posted. I'll certianly try this again. Cutting back on the orange flower water is an easy enough thing. I'll also cut the amount of citrus. Could the type of cream matter? I just use what is called "heavy whipping cream". It was the Horizon brand (organic). I've never ever been able to find heavy cream that was JUST cream and didn't contain any sort of stablizer. Just doesn't seem to be available here. I've looked and looked.

I picked up the Cortas at the Plano CM. It was on the shelf, near the beer and wine, with the club soda, tonic water, cotcktail mixes, etc. Only brand of ornage flower water they had up there. I think there were some other brands of rose flower water there. It was only a few bucks for the bottle, so no major loss if I replace it. I'll keep looking each time I go back, now that I know the difference.