Claudia Greco

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Not on "tour", per se, but for you "Bourdainaise" out in Rockford, IL and nearby: http://www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl.../110250005/1199

Thanks, Joisey - I only had two made (I don't even own one), because I don't own the picture . . . and I don't need to get into a legal fight over licensing and copyrights!But your good friend Beth is thinking about developing the "Cook Free or Die" Ts and her own website, which would be a monster hit - and those Ts would certainly disseminate AB's philosophy, without going into merchandising/marketing per se. (No Chef Tony bobbleheads (per Cook's Tour) - and it so AIN'T Suntory time yet, apparently!) Oh, man - I saw a Mario Batali bobblehead the other day in a catalog. His new Italian Kitchen line I have no problem with, but I'm still cracking up over the Bobblehead. And I'm waiting for someone to come out with the Orange Chef Clogs. By Birkenstock? The mind boggles . . .! OK,Cynical Chef - NOW I'm off-topic!

Ahh, but as the picture clearly shows, I WAS on a "date" with Tony Bourdain! I AM "on-topic"! (HEHEHEHEHEHEH!)

RR did not SAY anything. Beth told me that the daughter of Tony's literary agent (or maybe it was his book editor), who is just a young girl, asked Beth to get RR's autograph at an event at which both Tony and RR were appearing. Beth waited forever on line, only to be told by RR's people that, "Miss Ray is signing no more books." Beth said she was really annoyed because, unlike RR, HER boss autographs every last item, until the last fan is done (which, having seen him in action numerous times, I can certainly attest to.) Apparently, when RR's handlers found out that Beth was Tony's assistant, they came running after her, and then told her, basically, OF COURSE Ms. Ray would sign the book for her. To her credit, Beth turned them down and walked away. She never "pulls rank" or expects special privileges working for Tony, and she seemed to feel that if standing in line as anonymous "fan" didn't merit an autograph, then being a "connected" one didn't, either. While in all fairness to RR it might have been her "people" shutting the line down, not RR herself, the fact is, it was a big media event in which food celebs were, naturally, expected to "sign the line" - not a smaller, exclusive foodie event in which chefs would naturally expect to have more schmoozy/mingling time with their confreres.But I reminded Beth that, unlike RR, she, Grillbitch, can actually cook. And I hoped her "TIP, bitch!" T-shirt cheered her up somewhat. Beth threatened to wear hers at the next big foodie event (in Miami?), at which RR would also be appearing, and hoped that Tony might wear his, too. Here is the shirt: http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11628641..._3853_53733.jpg So, let's hear it for Ms. Aretsky. Obviously a take-no-s___t woman of integrity. And who has her own stunning "Cook Free or Die" to-die-for T-shirt, I might add.

And, despite her self-identifying moniker, in no way a b____. Actually, a very warm, ebuillient lady with a really good sense of humor - despite the fact she was dissed by Rachael Ray. But I know she can be tough in defense of her boss when she has to. I've enjoyed chatting with her the last few times I've seen her. Man, I wish I could get my pix to upload correctly:http://forums.egullet.org/uploads/11605766...3716_148481.jpg

Too funny, John and Adam! Ooooo, I see potential here - if you fryolate it to the level of book jerky/tree bark (as you obviously "did"!), infuse it with Lark smoke or ganja (a la Keller, "Cigarettes and Coffee"), then use a Grant Achatz/Ferran Adria kind of sugar tuille to lock the flavor in a melt-in-your-mouth disk, then you'd have a . . . a . . . a what? A Les Halles Lollipop? Bark n' A Lark? A Bony Tony? The pictures are a riot - I see you still haven't recovered from your "date" with Tony (!)

My Kitchen Confidential has so far survived demi-glace, cranberry-Port sauce, beach sand, suntan lotion, Coke, and a few other things I can no longer identify . . . or care to! Man, the dude produces some tough books!

Oh, please DO! And, yes, of course - La Kate and Oscar! The original snark king! So there we have it - a strong snark line up, with Batali for a little house-destroying Rabelaisian raucousness thrown in! Now we just need a menu . . .

Sure. The flambe-ing basically cooks flavor into the meat - it works in every pan, from el cheapo tinnies to Calphalon Professional Non-Stick. Just keep your face out of your saute pan when you do it, and make sure you aren't directly under your inbuilt microwave, etc. - home kitchens don't come with the high open space of the Iron Chef studios - or any other professional kitchen (!) ← Gotcha. I'm worried, however, about the effect of the flames on the Teflon. I've heard so much on the news about how dangerous Teflon gets when it is overheated. Am I being overly paranoid here? Thanks! ← It's bad for parrots when an empty Teflon-coated pan is heated to high temps (the fumes can kill them), but didn't someone do a recent study demonstrating that, if used correctly, Teflon was safe for humans? ← It's bad for ANY critter when an empty Teflon-coated pan is heated to super-high temps (!), although you can certainly heat one without oil, just hot enough to sear. When you flambe, though, there USUALLY is some kind of sauce or liquid of some kind involved, so there's no issue with direct, dry heat on Teflon. Just accept the fact you'll have a good 6"-8" of flame coming off your pot or pan, and that it'll die off peacefully by itself as the alcohol burns. No big deal. Your food isn't burning, and nor is your kitchen - just your eyebrows, if you've gotten all up in your cooking (!) (Just a little flambe-ing humor here.)

Amen to THAT, Reefpimp! And if I was cooking for Osama, it WOULD be his last meal. I'd have him choking on so much pork product laced with succinochloride they'd have to call in the EPA just to fork him into the body bag! But seriously? I'd like to give it a shot with Hunter S. Thompson, Dorothy Parker - and include a few living, like Bourdain and Batali. FUN carnivores.

Sure. The flambe-ing basically cooks flavor into the meat - it works in every pan, from el cheapo tinnies to Calphalon Professional Non-Stick. Just keep your face out of your saute pan when you do it, and make sure you aren't directly under your inbuilt microwave, etc. - home kitchens don't come with the high open space of the Iron Chef studios - or any other professional kitchen (!)

Well, I was raised in Hong Kong, and it was pronounced lie-CHEE over there. I only heard "lee chee" and even "lit-chee" when I came back to the States. Maybe it's different in Chinese dialects other than Cantonese.

Hahahaha! Not quite! System D is when your RoboCoupes have all fritzed out and you manage to acquire a replacement part from another restaurant - but I believe a good "debroulliard" would return it after service, or he/she would not get that assist later. Otto took what was an oversight and MADE a theft and a cheat by not saying, "let me go back in and pay for it." And if Marisa was so concerned about integrity and honesty, she would have called him on the spot right then and said, "Wait - let's check the receipt." So they are both weasels. But, yeah, Otto COULD have the makings of a good debroulliard, otherwise . . .

Tony was anything but pale - it was the kleig lights. He was very relaxed, much like a man working in his own home kitchen, and not in the intensity of a NYC restaurant kitchen at the height of service, as you might have thought. He has contributed to the follow-up of Do Not Try This At Home (it's called How I Learned to Cook, and will be out on October 31, according to Amazon), and says he is working on a crime/mystery novel, I believe. It must have been a long day for him - he was on campus by at least noon (which means he must have peeled out of Manhattan by 10 am), finished the cooking and Q&A at 2-ish, signed books forever, was scheduled to do an interview with a reporter from the Stony Brook paper at 4 (she made a point of telling me while we were on line - 19 year-old girl reporters are just adorable, don't you think?!), got stuck in the same rush-hour traffic going back to Manhattan that I was in, in the rain, and then wedged in an interview with the 92nd Street Y - hopefully, by phone. Just in time to hear that Corey Lidle of Tony's beloved Yanks was killed in a small plane crash into the side of NYC apartment building. This was after 2 days of cooking prep for this gig. But it appeared to be well within the range of AB's legendary gigging stamina (!) Both AB and Beth The GrillBitch seemed quite upbeat and accessible - Tony only got a little "verklempt" when I asked him, specifically, who wrote the endpiece for the Malaysia episode (about travel SHOULD leave scars on you - on your skin, on your conscience, etc.) - he did, every word. It was personal to him. And when I asked him about his own inner equilibrium NOW, after he was traumatized witnessing Beirutis being "crushed under the wheel" and beind devoid of hope. The short answer is, while he always gets cheered up news like Paris Hilton's been punched (!), his own zeitgeist in the long-term "is a function of time and travel." Lebanon is, I think, still too fresh for him. Afraid that I had cut too close to the bone by asking him that, I apologized to him later at the book-signing table, but he replied that it was fine, and however bad it was for him, it was far worse for the Lebanese. And then he tormented me a little about an earlier book-signing I was at, so, yes, I'd say he seems to be in good form (!)

I don't know if any of the contestants are eGullet members. But one of next week's guest judges (Anthony Bourdain) is a member. Youi could try a name seach in case a chef has an account under his/her actual name, rather than screen name.

As a follow-up, sort of, to this book, some of the same chefs - notably, Anthony Bourdain - have contributed to a new volume, How I Learned to Cook. I believe it's out either this week or next. AB and one of his many configurated chef Rat Packs (this time, Gabrielle Hamilton of Prune, Eric Ripert and the infamous Michael Ruhlman of the No Reservations Las Vegas episode) are doing a gig at the 92nd Street Y here in NYC on Monday of the same title. Gabrille and Bourdain share a literary agent, I believe (Kimberly Witherspoon), who edited this book (and, if I remember correctly, edited Do Not Try This At Home). Nice bit of networking - and promotion.

Thqanks, Pam - my pastry is much better than my picture-posting (the camera's a very recent acquisition (!))

Yes, it IS Claudia (feminine form), but I've had it happen often enough not to stress about it. You could try going to the public gallery and see if you can access the pics there - I posted them on 10/11 and I made them public. Hope it helps.

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Having been raised in Hong Kong (and therefore exposed to a lot of Pekingnese food, as well as Cantonese, etc.), I'd have to concur that Peking Duck House would be the best bet in NYC for good Peking duck. I'm sorry, Mainland (which, I believe, is under renovation right now) doesn't clear the bar. And, believe it or not, Maple Gardens (55 between 2nd and 3rd, Iif I remember correctly) has lovely Peking duck. My family and I still celebrate Chinese New Year every year, and the duck is always from one of those two places. Happy Hunting - and enjoy!

Good news, Oregon fans:http://www.oregonlive.com/AandE/pluggedin/...8260.xml&coll=7

From msn.com today - Tony has got a new gig as "culinary ambassador" for Amstel:http://livetastefully.msn.com/Default.aspx

I'm with you on the MSG issue. But - dumbass question - I know Momo's is a noodle bar, but, on the other hand, it seems to be pretty packed all the time. Do they take reservations, or should I just try to get on line ASAP? Any suggestions, Momo veterans?