ulterior epicure

112 eatery spoonriver Cafe Lurcat (check out their bar) Solera Lucia's

Tu as? I couldn't possibly rip up (or praise) this menu without eating it. BTW, what is "ths" - is this the name of your (some?) new resturant?

pizzabella has a fun new website, but the menu seems to be the same as before the website changed.

Short of sounding like a broken record, I'm going to state it again: I'm very anxious to find out what "African brasserie" food is. Except for ryanj's post about the friends and family event, I have yet to hear about the food post-opening. It has opened, hasn't it?

And, my impression is (I've never been, and have been warned against going), that the mega-bucks "flagship" of the Bastianich-Batali team, Del Posto, might as well be named "Out-Posto." Even this star-studded team's most deliberate effort, put in the MePa, turned out to be a culinary step-child, or afterthought, at best.

I know! You beat me to it!

Actually there is no such thing as "African Brasserie" food, it just reflects the pervasive silliness in the food biz by using marketing niches that are non existent. Like I said, I'm very anxious to find out what "African brasserie" food is.

Um, if there was Jamon Iberico appearing on a vegetarian dish, then we've got a problem here. To be sure, are we talking about the cured ham from Spain? If so, how does this compute?

Now, is that dry-aged or wet-aged for 21 days? If it's dry-aged, then that's pretty impressive, if true.

BekkiM. I'm sorry for your "let down," but I'm thankful you posted. Question: what made the cubes of "Korean flan" Korean?

Perhaps cooking the sea cucumber with ginger? I usually buy the already-rehydrated sea cucumbers from the market. I can steam it and pour some light soy sauce with green onions and ginger and chili. I didn't taste any bitterness. To me the sea cucumber itself doesn't seem to bear any taste. No bitterness. No fishyness. It just picks up the taste from the flavoring. ← Yes, *ideally* that's how sea cucumber should taste. I'm afraid the bitterness in my sea cucumber might have been due to the fact that I cooked it without gutting it, and then soaked it in water. I should have reversed the method - soaking first to rehydrate so that I can gut it, and then cook it.

What is/are the current price(s) of Komi's dinner menu(s)?

It's easy to forget, but Jean Georges was considered innovative in its day — not as far "out there" as El Bulli, but not classic French cuisine by any means. Obviously the edge has worn off a bit, because Vongerichten has stopped innovating. But there's a huge difference between JG and La Grenouille. ← .... moto in Chicago; The Fat Duck in Bray, UK; L'Arnsbourg in Baerenthal, France;... what about L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon? Sometimes "exciting" is just what's different from what we call familiar. For an Asian, David Chang might be doing classic Korean/Asian food in an "exciting" way. Likewise, as oakapple noted, Jean Georges has brought a new way to approach French and Southeast Asian cuisine. The same might be said of Samuelsson and Scandinavian and, now with Merkato 55, Indo-African cuisine.

Can anyone tell me (with assurance) what the two seating times are for dinner at per se? I'm wanting to say it's 6:30pm and 9pm, but I'd like to be sure.

Do they sell Indian groceries, too? Or, is that just a name-play?

joiei, you have *NO* idea how dearly you shall pay to make one of my days "great." I will be anxious to see (and eat) what changes ChefCAG makes to the menu at bluestem.

I'm very anxious to find out what "African brasserie" food is. Jennifer Leuzzi describes some of it in her article for The Sun, but I'll be curious to know how it works for New York diners.

Has anyone mentioned the fact that Bruni does cite a change in chef at Le Cirque? As discussed (ad nauseum) on this thread (Fiamma Osteria, for one), a new chef at a two/three/four star restaurant puts it back within the purview of the NYT restaurant critic.

I purchased a rather large (and expensive) sea cucumber for a Chinese New Year's eve dinner party I'm throwing. Everything about the sea cucumber turned out fabulously - except there is a horribly bitter aftertaste in the sea cucumber. I rehydrated it, scooped out the insides, and cooked it in water for 4 hours. Then I soaked it in cold water overnight, changing water frequently. Should I have cooked it in water with vinegar? Salt? What takes the bitterness away?

You're in luck, joiei. You can now drag them kicking and screaming to Starker's Reserve, where Mr. Crum is now cooking.

Not nearly.

Ndy, yes, thanks, I have been to Cassis. I'm looking for something new - closer to the 135th corridor. However, Kaiyo still alludes me. Any reports from that sushi-ya?

Not typically a carbonated beverage consumer: I didn't know that! Straight sugar, then?

Okay, I'm going to humor myself and ask - what is "Mexican coke?"

I'm a Northerner, through and through. And, though I do make it down to JoCo once in a while for some whatnot (Whole Foods, Chinese at Jen Jen's, etc.), 40 Sardines at 119th and Roe is about as far as I get. Now, I know there's a whole new world south of there - especially clustered at the 135th latitude. I'd love to get some suggestions on places to eat down there. I know there's One Bite, at 133rd. There's Nick and Jake's, and even a Bo Ling's. What else?