dukeofurl

If you wouldnt mind, snap a photo of your all the gear you'd like to tote around. As Shamanjoe said - a gun case might be a good idea and I am an avid gun owner and I would be able to point you towards a good fit! Are you looking at primarily hard sided or soft sided cases? The $650 bag you linked to has MANY and I mean MANY comprables in the "Jack Bauer Wannabe" world in ballistic nylon for under $100. Also worth noting is that if you want to get fancy you can go down to B&H Photo on the west side and look into getting a Pelican or Hardigg case with foam inserts, cut out what you need for your shakers, jiggers, etc and that way you know if something is missing.

I like Charleys steakhouse if i'm in the mood for very nice meat! There arent too many burger places that I really like but Five Guys is always a good burger joint. Fish Bones is supposed to be really good too.

I live here, two words: Don't bother. Theres only a few, and I mean FEW places that I'd go but they're a bit on the pricer side. Dijons on the beach is very nice as is Continental Flambe but they are more upscale than most of the area. Dial it down a notch and you've got nothing but chains. If you need any help, look at yelp and Melbourne and you will see what I'm talking about

Howdy all, I'm duke. Long time no see. Anyhow, I've been kicking around the idea of building my own house for a while now and depending on what my accountant has to say in the matter in a month or two, it looks like I can finally hack together my part of the american dream. I've been in the same house since I was born and I've grown accustomed to the galley kitchen. It just dosen't have the depth or the openness that I've always wanted. In any event, I've kinda got a rough idea of what I'd like - at least 300-350 square feet of real estate, I'm thinking around 17x20 so I can have an island (and a wrought iron rack for my pots and pans right above it!) and the issue of appliances came up recently. I've always wanted to just call Wolf and cram a 6 or 10 burner range from the catalog in there and slide in a 72 CF True triple door fridge just for the sake of hedonism, but my contractor advised me that the fire code and spacing just won't allow for it. He reccomended Viking and Sub Zero and after a day online looking around, and my father has managed to build a restaurant kitchen from scratch on a smaller budget. $8,000 for a stove, $6,000 for a refrigerator, this adds up pretty quickly. Has anyone ever undertaken a project of this nature, and is there any reccomendations as to where to look brand wise and where the tradeoffs and tradeups are?

I have to chime in here.... Coming from a restaurant background, I just did not see the point to buying cookware from Macys or the house of needless markup. We'd always shop at the supply store. Vollrath makes some of the best stuff on the market - my dad still has his original set of tongs from when he opened 30 years ago. Yes, they still work. No, he won't use anything else. Superior Products - now a division of US Foodservice has outlets all over the USA. If I recall correctly there are around 12 or 13 of them across the country. My local was in Orlando, they have others all over according to their website http://www.superprod.com/category/store+locator.do Looks like they've expanded a bit since the last time I've been to their website. Anyways, at each store they normally have markdowns on items like a loose case of glassware, a couple odds and ends, discontinued styles of poi ramekins and such. The BEST PART ABOUT shopping in the closeout section is that if you know what you're doing, you can haggle. Back about 10 years ago, I remember my dad finding 1/2 a case of glassware (I cannot say enough good things about Libbey Duratuff by the way) and getting the manager to halve the marked price - where else are you going to buy 12 ounce service for 25 cents each? I don't even think Walmart can do that. Enough rambling, just figured I'd give you all wondering where a good place to shop at would be.

Honestly, and I'm not being pessimistic or overly critical here, there is NO good Chinese food in Orlando. In fact, the Sentinel food critic passed on a winner in the Foodie awards. Instead, eat some Vietnamese or Japanese - there are good options there. Vietnamese - Lac Viet, Little Saigon, Viet Garden, Pho 88 Japanese - Nagoya, Hanamizuki, Amura Thai is OK here, couple options we've liked include Red bamboo and G&G Thai. ← Being chinese and being an hour from Orlando, I'm going to concur with this statement. Theres really no "good" place, as in outstanding. There are some places that are consistently ok, but nothing head and shoulders above the others. Chans over on 50 is packed every weekend. Ming Court is all atmosphere, but the food is a joke.

I had a good one over at 27 sunrise a month ago. Well, I lied. We didnt have just one. We had three. It's a little off the beaten path at 27 division street.

As far as historical jaunts go, here's a few neat places you may want to visit. I just went up 3 weeks ago to see family and we had a very large table at Durgin Park, over by Faneuil Hall/Qunincy Market. The entire area there is a major shopping/dining area, although a lot of the joints in Quincy Market are fast food of every variety. We saw Dave Attell at Faneuil Hall and he said.... "Have you seen all the restaurants outside? Holy shit - its like the walk to heaven for fat people!" Durgin Park was nice, established sometime in the 1800's - as the sign says "Established before you were born", I liked the cockyness of it. We all had a nice family meal. Here's a picture of one member of our party with the "Durgin Cut" 18 ounce prime rib, it's 18 with the bone in, so you have to offset the weight of the bone to the actual weight of the meat. I believe the market price was $30. http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/5415/dcp10317vu.jpg Note: Famous for service with an attitude. I thought it was neat. Ensuing conversation: What two egetables would you like? Hmm, I want potatoes and I cant decide between the corn or the green beans. We'll do green beens. AND corn. I thought it was funny. I also made a mental note to visit Jacob Wirth's over on Stuart Street in the theater district, but I never made it over there. According to them, they're the 2nd oldest restaurant in Boston after opening in 1868 - although Union Oyster House claims to have opened in 1826, and Durgin Park in 1827. Why that is, thats beyond me, but they have a really good potato salad that I tried about 5 years ago that I liked. I've seen some mixed reviews on their sauerbraten, but I had a nice reuben sandwich there with some kickass waffle fries. Thats my .02!

I know! Its refreshing to see some serious attention nowadays!

I emailed Rock Center with our experience and they shot this back: Thank you for your recent email. I apologize for your recent dining experience at Rock Center Cafe. We pride ourselves on giving the best service to our guests, and unfortunately, we fell short of both your and our expectations. From your email, I understand approximately where you and your guests were seated, and it can be breezy at times when we seat guests outside. When you asked to be moved to another location out of the breezy path, your server should have contacted a manager and your party moved. Our service staff has been counseled on how it should have been handled as to prevent this from recurring. Our chef and ktchen staff take pride in their preparation of the dishes they serve and appreciate your comments Measures have been taken to correct the inconsistencies. Please accept my invitation to join us on your next trip to New York. I would like to show you how true hospitality should be at Rock Center Cafe. Please feel free to call me directly to make your reservations at 212-332-7620. Again, thank you for your comments. Happy holidays, Steve Low, Director Rock Center Cafe 212-332-7620 ------------------ So what does this mean? I book another table, spend $200 and maybe I won't get bitter coffee and a draft?

Chinese: We visit about a dozen places, none of which I remember the names for. We do dim sum, seafood, you name it and we've ordered it. None are particularly mentionable. I am unable to find a hoisin mein that's worth it anywhere in the chinatown or brooklyn area. I've lost faith in New York's chinatown. Visited Original Pizza #5 in Forest Hills over in Queens. The pizza was not bad, but the crust was a tad too thin for my tastes. I'm not a fan of the chewy crust, but it was satisfactory. I had lunch is at Rockefeller Center's Rock Center Cafe with some family and it was TERRIBLE. We got the table next to the door to the ice rink and it was cold and drafty. My filet was ordered a medium rare and wound up horribly overcooked to a medium well. The dessert coffee was bitter and stale. Not suprising in the least at $50 a head. Later that day we go uptown to a place over on 90th and Broadway called Carmines. The first good sign was that my cousin Joanne's fiancé was already at the bar. I like the way he thinks. There's a great old world atmosphere, nice bar, and we have a huge meal. Our table for 14 eats one plate of calamari, salad, rigatoni, clams, prime rib and potatoes, chicken marsala, bow tie pasta with a tiramisu for dessert while downing 2 bottles of vino in the process. Portions are elephantine and the only thing wrong was the bowtie pasta was a tad raw. Besides that, everything was great and we had a wonderful time. I highly reccomend the place. I ask about the Bourbon list and Knob Creek has made the cut. I order it over rocks. The waitress informs me a LIQUOR STRIKE has greater NYC metro in its fat union grip and they are out. I curse the union as I sip on ice water and embrace my bourbon snobbery. Carnegie Deli: The man who said getting there is half the battle wasn't kidding. Had a hell of a time getting uptown and their pastrami/corned beef was par. Nothing spectacular, but it was ok. I was still hungry so I went downstairs to 8th and 36th Street to find a Grays Papaya around the block. Grays Papaya: I've never been and decide to take the plunge. I order a recession special with an orange drink. The drink is not bad, the dogs are crispy and have a bite to it. Mine are slathered in sauerkraut and I have a nice little meal. Not the best hot dog ever, I personally prefer Boars Head - but its a neat snack. The Recession Special is up to $2.75 now, which makes me sad. Anyone know if the price changes at other locations? Lombardi's Pizza: Here's a story that you won't believe, but I'll tell anyways. We visit some old friends around Mott street and mom and dad witness a line of biblical (exodus to mott street?) proportions. I wonder if the pizza is really *THAT* good to justify a line in the middle of the afternoon that warrants NYPD crowd control barriers, as I discover today is 5 cent pie day. Our friends around the corner ask if we want a pizza. I say sure, and he uses his key to get in the back door and we walk right into the kitchen. We get the grand tour and see the entire coal fired oven from the kitchen side and the boss asks if we want a pie. He pulls a peperoni right off the line and boxes it up for us. Here's some pictures. http://img456.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dcp10724mk.jpg http://img381.imageshack.us/img381/8265/dcp10715xl.jpg http://img468.imageshack.us/img468/6607/dcp10680dz.jpg Shake Shack: On a whim, I decide to head over to Madison Square Park to the Shake Shack and get some cheeseburgers. Not a bad burger and it takes us 30 minutes to get the burgers from 23rd and Madison back uptown to the office. I must say that Danny Meyer has a nice outfit that beats the hell out of BK/Mickey D's. The fries are pretty good, I've been a fan of the crinkle cut and I like them crispy. My brother does the taxi and chicago dog - he isn't a fan of the chicago. Les Halles: Unable to get reservations at Lugers, my future attorney takes us to Les Halles and we order Sirloins and Ribeyes. Each are accompanied with some good fries - they are straight and crispy and I think they're on par with Shake Shack but my brother says they are better. The beef is good, and the little side of salad and bernaise is a treat. I enjoyed it, although table space was very tight and elbow room was at a premium. That was it for NYC! One week just isnt enough