pups224

Weighing in on the pretzel bread discussion. The pretzel bread at Almondine, especially the one with cheese is worth a special stop. It comes out later in the morning and is gone very fast. It is amazing. Chewy, dense and pretzel-y. On Fat Guy's recommendation, I went to Glendale. For my taste, not nearly as good. Not as dense and the pretzel taste was short lasting. Fresh Direct has something called Beadzel which I have added to my cart. I will report back.

We are going down to Tilghman Island in mid June from NYC and are looking for restaurant recommendations. Besides The Inn at Easton (been there) and 206 Talbot (been there too, changed hands, awful meal), does anyone have any recommendations within a 30 mile radius of St. Michaels? We do not really want 'family style dining', but do not mind a place that looks like a dive but serves excellent seafood.

Another place to try is a dive named Judy's. It serves Puerto Rican food and is on Lex somewhere between 97th and 99th on the east side of the street. As I remember, they made a great mofongo (mashed plantains with crispy pork bits). I have not been there since I was a resident at Sinai, but it was very good.

Le Veau d'Or?????

I love Black Hound but what about Wm. Greenburg Jr. They've been doing cakes for years.

How about L'Impero? Great food. Pretty place. No attitude.

The Luchows sauerbraten recipe is on the web: http://www.astray.com/recipes/?show=Sauerb...toffel%20klosse I never found that the gravy came out well and did not thicken with the ginger snaps. I serve my sauerbraten with spaetzle which I make myself from a Wolfgang Puck recipe on the food channel. I have tried many spaetzle recipes and this one is the most authentic and fool proof. It makes a lot of spaetzle, which you can freeze after mixing them with a little oil or melted butter. I do use a spaetzle maker, which I purchased at a now defunct Hungarian grocer. It makes the job go in a jiffy. I did find another Sauerbraten recipe in an old favorite cookbook. Craig Claiborne's "cooking with herbs and spices". It looks interesting.

I just received a venison roast which I would like to make as a sauerbraten. I have used Luchow's recipe in the past with okay results, but I am looking for a new one. All comers welcome and thank you in advance!

Your beef looks delicious. I would love to jump into the picture and eat it. Would you care to share the recipe?

Ditto Tod's assessment. Went to Sushi Yasuda for the first time last night, based on EG raves. The sushi was pristine, the rice and sea urchin were amazing. The sevice was cold, fast and efficient. I ordered omekase, boyfriend ordered chirashi. We did not find it better than other top sushi restaurants in the city. Perhaps one should sit at the sushi bar. I was surprised that there were not more Japanese at the restaurant. Whay??

See my post on this restaurant here http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...1entry1366591

Back from Brussels, Bruges and Amsterdam. Had several superb meals. In order of favorites: 1. Den Gouden HARYNCK (Bruges) 2. Sea Grill (Brussels) 3. Le Fourneau (Brussels) 4. De Bijgaarden (Brussels) 5. Lucius (Amsterdam) 6. Oysters and herring at the Poissonier at Place Ste. Catherine Gouten Harynk: Beautiful space. Simple and white washed walls. Quiet, efficient service. Dinner: Chef’s menu, Amuses, then raw, thinly sliced scallops with Asian/Indian toasted seeds Sea bass in lovely nage Tenderloin of Pata Negra pork topped with a thin slice of lardo with salsify, encasing pork forcemeat, and brussels sprouts with lardons. Desert was tropical fruits with a clear foam that the S/O said “what’s this, it looks like semen”. The pork was the finest I have ever tasted. It was smoky without being smoked. Porky without being piggy and moist with the lardo on top. The salsify was brilliant. The chef was a lovely man. The wine (a white Bordeaux was perfect). Sea Grill: Looked corporate and posh with tons of obsequious waiters. A wine list that weighed a ton and was quite pretentious. Amuse of oyster in an herb sauce. Fabulous breads with sweet and salted butter. Apps: Seared scallops with foie gras and chestnut emulsion. Good but not earth shattering. S/O had King Crab, Risotto with Ceps and, Cappuccino of Ceps with Almonds. The risotto was wonderful. Mains: Dover sole for me. Pristine, perfectly cooked. Monkfish with more foie gras and chestnut puree. Again, well executed and superb fish. Desert: A raspberry Bavarian mousse cake with raspberry coulis and encased by raspberry pate de fruit. By far, one of the best and most intense deserts I have had. Light and pure fruit. I had a ‘nut’ cake which was so-so. The petits-fours were out of this world and then came the chocolates. Wine was an Austrian riesling. Perfect. Le Founeau: A great, informal, very hip space. The kitchen is in the center of the restaurant with a semicircular bar with seats all around it. The menu consists of small plates, cooked in front of you. The chef has an amazing mise en place. Amuses were wonderful chorizio and a mousse of foie gras with (I think) a lingonberry coulis). Starters were scallop risotto and a ravioli with snails, a butter sauce and brunoise vegetables. Clean and impeccable. Then came more Pata Negra for me (not nearly as good as in Bruges) and scallops on a bed of wild mushrooms for the S/O. Then we could not resist the pigeon which was rare and tasted livery as it should. We also had some sides; mashed potatoes with a kilo of butter and lentils de puy. Desert was only one choice. Almond semi fredo and other ice creams with sauces which I have forgotten about but were zinging with flavor. The scene was very chic and one must get there at 7pm sharp to snag a seat. De Bijgaarden: The reason for the trip. This restaurant had two Michelin stars, then it was sold and now has none. I guess it deserves one. It is situated in a beautiful house, right outside of Brussels, with lots of dark wood and an intimate bar. The dining room is large and airy with large windows and a huge flower arrangement. The place had five covers for the evening. We had the chefs menu with wines. Amuse: Seared sea bass on polenta. Apps: Foie gras three ways (mousse, torchon and yes, ice cream. Delicious, but no toast to accompany it. Then frogs legs, snails and a green sauce with chervil. I really could not taste the frogs legs nor the snails. It just tasted seared. Main: I had pigeon with leeks and onions. The bird was a bit overdone for me and did not taste gamy enough. The S/O had filet of lamb. The meat was superb. The desert was citrus fruits with a gratineed sabayon flavored with almonds. The wine was very disappointing. The first three courses were server with a single white (Torres Sauv. Blanc, followed by a so-so Bordeaux). That was it. No desert wine. The meal was excellent but not outstanding. The tastes were just not exciting, except for the desert. Lucius: Lovely old restaurant, surly service. Best oysters of the trip. Very fresh Dover sole.

We are leaving for Brussels at the end of the week and were planning to celebrate the husband's major birthday at De Bijgaarden, a place he remembers very fondly from years ago. Unfortunately, the restaurant has lost both its Michelin stars and the ownership and chef have changed. Has anyone eaten there lately and can report back? Is it worth the visit? If not, are there any suggestions for an alternate meal? Bruneau? Sea Grill? etc?

← Going this week. Will post results.

Any chance for the recipe? It looks devine!

Ditto. I finally sprang for two NY strips for a holiday treat from Lobels (almost 100 bucks). Not worth it. No where near the quality of Peter Luger. Skip Fairways as well. Looks good, tastes bland. I once and only once lucked out on a wonderful dry aged poterhouse from Food Emporium on sale. Good luck and report back.

I have been meaning to add to your review of EMP as I must have been there the same night as you and had the tasting menu with wine (first time). I was also at the Bar Room at The Modern (BRM) the same week (third time), and had a meal last year at the dining room (once and immaterial to this thread). Bruni's review of the two places is like comparing apples and oranges except that they are owned by the same person. Would he have reviewed them together otherwise? Doubt it. That said, I think that that the highs at both places merit three stars. The foie gras torchon at the BRM was gutsier and tastier than the one with coffee at EMP, which I found had no flavor. The gnocchi with sweetbreads and shrooms at BRM had me swooning. The flavors were so deep and the gnocchi so light. I agree with your critique of EMP. The egg with uni and the fish were outstanding, the wine pairings were superb. I found that the pacing of the dishes at EMP was uneven and by the time I got to desert, four hours later, with all that wine, I could barely eat and wanted to put my head on my plate and pass out. I will go back to EMP (after the review madness) and go for the a la carte dishes. For my lifestyle, I prefer the informality of the BRM and love the ability to taste many small dishes, but I'm not Bruni. The review would have been much fairer had he reviewed The Modern restaurant together with EMP. I just don't get Bruni. His reviews aren't even fun to read and the stars he delivers after the text are bizarre. Then there are the recommended dishes at the end that he never mentions in the text of the review. Why the long, irrelevant intros and why so little time devoted to wine and desert? Of all the reviwers at The Times since Claiborne, I find him the least informative, with his reviews prejudiced by his personal tastes.

There are not a lot of options along Madison Avenue. 1.Do not go to 'One Fish Two Fish', you may eat, get food poisoning, and die. 2. Hanrattys...A burger joint with half way decent salads, Mad. between 97th & 98th. 3. Satchi...A reasonably decent sushi bar, not cheap, Mad. between 95th &94th. 4. Mexican joint on 97th between Mad. & Park. Street food, not low carb but good. Maybe she can find something, like fajitas w/o the tortillas. More choices on Lexington, but is's a hike and tends to be Hispanic (i.e. high carb).

I enjoyed the food at both, and as Henry mentioned, it is hard to compare a lunch (simpler preparations, less expensive) to a tasting menu at dinner. I also agree with what he said that the Jean Georges lunch dishes seemed to be consistency very good, while Bouley had an excellent dish and some merely good ones. If you can send me a plane ticket and pay for a tasting menu at Jean Georges, I will be happy to give you a more detailed response comparing the merits of both restaurants. ← Thank you both very much. Your culinary journey has been a treat. Have been to Bouley, not Jean-Georges and wondered how they compared. Bouley used to be outstanding and I felt that I has gone down a notch. Now it's on to J-G!

Reporting back on Gum Fun. I went with two others. The restaurant is quite attractive and service is efficient. The dim sum was so-so. The best dishes were those with seafood that was quickly cooked and sauced, i.e. clams with brown sauce or baby octopus with XO sauce. A scallop dish was very overcooked.The Chinese veg was good as well. The dishes that were not memorable were those with fish or seafood paste. They had no taste and the paste's origin was not evident. I would go back again to try more items but may go to Gala Manor first. I found this place not nearly as good as Dim Sum Gogo, and quite a bit better that Ping's.

Thank you both for this wonderful thread. Which restaurant did you find the food better, Bouley or Jean-Georges??

Just to weigh in on this very intersting thread. I went to the CIA in Hyde Park for five months (became an MD instead). The CIA will not make you a good chef if you are not one already. They taught me knife skills and knife sharpening techniques that I could have not learned elsewhere. Learning cost control and nutition is a must before opening a place of your own. The rest you can pick up on the job. Aside from the above, the CIA degree is a pedigree which helps open doors, nothing else.

Does anyome have a recipe for Grand Marnier Shrimp? These are large crispy shrimps/prawns whith a mayonnaise sauce on them. I tried to Google them and looked on eGullet and Chowhound. No luck. They should be very easy to make at home but I have very little experience in Chinese cooking.

Can we update this thread? Would like to take some sophisticated foodie out of towners for dim sum and would like some recommendations. Is it worth driving to Flushing? If so where. If not, where in Chinatown (Manhattan)?

Ditto Jamison. I order from them all the time. They will butcher to your specifications and are very nice people. Their lamb is superb. In NYC, you can get Colorado lamb at Ottomanelli's in the villiage.