Kent Wang

September 7, 2006 Austin Chronicle Habana SoCo. by Mick Vann Cuban restaurant reopens South Congress location after 2004 fire. "The food is as good as it was before the fire."

From Dale Rice. Miguel Ravago to retire.

Thread on MT Supermarket I like Peach Tree Farms, too. Didn't know about seasonality with pork. Definitely makes sense.

Where does one even find ahi eyeballs? Can it be found in certain restaurants in Japan? I wonder about the eyes of other aquatic animals like cephalapods. The Giant and Colossal Squids possess the largest eyes of any species in the animal kingdom.

I was fed steamed egg custard, served plain with no soy sauce or scallions. Steamed Egg Custard with Conpoy (瑤柱蒸金銀蛋) ←

Yes, but truffles in a salami tastes a bit strange to me. It's still very good, I just like the bold flavor of the Felino more.

I've seen a few delis here with whole, uncut Citterio prosciutto. I tried it once and thought it was fine but did not have a chance to do a side-by-side with imported products. At about 25% cheaper ($15/lb vs $20) than the ham from Parma I'd rather just buy imported.

Do not buy the mass-produced Boar's Head and Applegate Farms stuff. Their prosciutto has a bizarre Pine-sol like taste! It may be a good value if you're going to cook with it as it is about half the price of imported Parma prosciutto ($10/lb vs $20/lb) .

Chicken pot pie. KFC is the only place I can think of that has it.

If there is indeed such a sector of the public that is so ignorant and foolish that they will be unduly swayed by a single negative report then that sector probably won't be able to identify good food from bad anyway. In fact, they wouldn't even be on eGullet to begin with, they'd be on CitySearch! I can't agree with any logic that says that I should dumb down or otherwise alter what I say because someone might misinterpret it.

First Chinese is open. Pretty good, similar to Din Ho. I posted about it in the Chinese restaurant thread. The noodle house also looked to be open last weekend. Didn't go and check it out, though.

Piller's Sausages & Delicatessens Piller's is a producer from Ontario making mostly German and Eastern-European salamis, i.e. non-Italian styles. As you can see, these four all look identical with the exception of the few seeds in the mustard (lower left). All are finely ground and tightly packed, very much an industrial product. Sadly, they all taste nearly the same as well. Clockwise from top right. Hungarian. The baseline sample. Tastes like... nothing. Medium salt, no sweet, semi-dry; more moist than most Italian salamis but much dryer than bolognas. German. Similar to Hungarian but saltier with slightly more complex flavor. Mustard salami. Similar to Hungarian with barely noticeable mustard taste. A few mustard seeds are visible. Old Forest. Most distinctive and the best of the entire group, deep smokiness. These were all quite disappointing. There are a few more Piller's salamis that I have not yet tasted, one of which is the Gypsy which I've had before but have not taken notes on. It is quite unique with a mild sweet flavor. Hopefully my next round of Piller's salamis will not be so dull. Salami Rankings My current rankings of the salamis that I have taken tasting notes on recently are below. 1. Columbus Felino 2. Columbus Crespone, Cacciatore 3. Vismara Genoa 4. Molinari Toscana 5. Molinari other salamis 6. Piller's Old Forest 7. Piller's other salamis

I believe it is the acid in sake that tenderizes the meat. In Chinese cooking, rice wine (which is essentially sake) and rice vinegar is used in the same way. Vinegars and citrus juices are more common in the West.

Is this being backed by those that want to restrict drinking or by those that have a vested economic interest in preventing competition?

Mikeb19: I'm with you. It only dilutes the term. Kind of like calling employees 'team members'.

A bad review will "be there forever" in the same way that the bad experience will. You can't go back in time to correct a bad experience for a customer. A bad experience is going to damage your restaurant just as a bad review will. The solution? Prevent as many bad experiences as possible and the reviews will reflect that. Sounds like a good system to me.

I've always considered it a Southern dish with the similar chicken noodle soup being more broadly American, but I'm not a native so I may be wrong. Once I had a chicken dumpling soup that had shredded chicken and tiny dime-sized dumplings at a county fair in rural Texas. It was unusual but very good.

Duck eggs are definitely richer. The cholesterol content of a single egg is above 100% of your daily recommended value.

Can this be considered a Southern dish, or is it more broadly American?

Dark denim trousers. Won't show stains -- even if they do, just don't wash them and let the denim develop character.

I like this sentiment a lot.

August 31, 2006 In a rare coincidence, both the Chronicle and the Statesman review the same restaurant the same week, Houlihan's. Austin Chronicle Drink It on the Rooftops. This place actually rules. by Claudia Alarcon "[T]he best thing about Houlihan's is the breezy rooftop bar. As a friend pointed out, it gives one the feeling of being on the deck of a cruise ship, somewhere far away. It has a great view of Downtown – especially at night – and a cool, yet laid-back, atmosphere." Austin-American Statesman Perfect neighbor for the convention center by Dale Rice "With that kind of welcoming service, atmosphere and food, Houlihan's is an all-around good restaurant, just the kind of place city officials would want next to the convention center. "

John Tesar.

According to the Austin Chronicle: Dolce Vita is changing owners. El Chile founders are opening El Gringo next door at the old John Mueller's building. Dot's is re-opening.

Do you think slow roasting can maximize the amount of browning? If anything it seems like a good, fast broil may be best.