H. du Bois
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Posts posted by H. du Bois
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Whoever came up with that inauguration food selection deserves a medal!
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Blue Ribbon Sushi on 5th Avenue between Garfield and First Street in Park Slope. Far outstrips any of the other Brooklyn joints (and many in Manhattan) that I've tried.
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I wouldn't presume that either New York City or its upper echelon restaurants are immune to enforcement of the law, precisely because of the high-profile status of its restaurants. A zealot with an agenda could get a lot of airplay in the rest of the country for bringing down a chic restaurant or two in this town.
We weren't immune from Prohibition, we weren't immune from the smoking ban. And we aren't immune from New York State law, despite the fact that culturally, we might differ significantly from the rest of the state (and country).
I vote that we secede (or that all of Manhattan island be declared U.N. property - they can smoke and drink as they wish in that building).
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Disregarding the law has to operate with absolute respect to place, and appropriateness. If the restaurant's proprietors aren't comfortable with having the law that they're being held accountable to disregarded, it's our obligation as customers to respect that.
H. - are you saying the customer who knows they are under age, shouldn't ask for a drink? Or are you saying the under age customer should ask and accept the restaurant's decision?
Don't know. I never tried to order a drink when I was underage (as stated earlier in this thread, the drinking age was 18 when I was young), but I wouldn't have assumed that I'd be served if I had. At the same time, I believe that if parents want to serve their son or daughter wine with dinner, that's certainly their prerogative, and not the nanny state's (to borrow a splendid expression from the English). Where it gets sticky to me is the at home versus out at a restaurant scenario. What may be the custom in one's home/culture/state/city etc. may not fly in another, and I think we have to adjust our expectations to that.
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If you can bear with the jaywalking analogy one more time, I'll say that when I, a New Yorker, jaywalked in Tokyo (as I am accustomed to do here), I nearly gave my poor translator a heart attack. They don't do that there. I stopped. Why make my hosts uncomfortable?
Disregarding the law has to operate with absolute respect to place, and appropriateness. If the restaurant's proprietors aren't comfortable with having the law that they're being held accountable to disregarded, it's our obligation as customers to respect that.
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Part of what I think must drive the "micro-matching" in American restaurants is the prevalence of (genuine or would-be) oenophiles here at a certain price point. Although it may happen every so often, I don't think it's particularly common for Europeans to read the wine list first and then match the food with their choices. The only people I know who do that sort of thing are Americans. Quite to the contrary, most of the time in Italy, France, Spain, etc. wine is just something that is consumed with food. Yes, one cares about the quality of the wine and how it pairs with the food, but no more than one cares about the quality of the food and the food is driving (of course, many Europeans are far more invested and involved in their culinary culture than most Americans). The times I have enjoyed several different bottles of wine over the course of a European meal or outing, it has not been to make specific "this wine pairs so well with the hint of rosemary in the duck jus" kind of pairings, but rather just to enjoy a different and interesting bottle of wine.
Agree absolutely.
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One good chef's knife, but go to a store and weigh it in your hand and see how it handles and balances. IMHO, you can't get the right knife without doing that. (What may feel just right in one person's hand may balance badly in another's).
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Given the legacy of the iron-fisted Giuliani administration, which closed down many of the city's clubs and bars for minor infractions of ancient and obscure city regulations (i.e., we don't have a real night life here anymore), I wouldn't blame anyone on a restaurant's staff for erring on the side of caution where state liquor licenses are concerned - the loss of one could break a business.
That said, I came of age when the New York State drinking age was 18, which seemed reasonable enough at the time. That a 20 year old in the company of his mother cannot drink a glass of wine at a respectable establishment is ludicrous to me. After all, Bryan, you are eligible for the draft, are you not?
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Home:
Bacon & Eggs - Deep Fried Poached Egg topped with seared Serrano Ham & Salsa Fresca (December). Terrific texture from the egg combined with the richness of the ham made this my favorite creation of the year.
Interestingly, this very same item was my best dish of the year as eaten at someone else's home. It was spectacular and simple, both at the same time. I still keep thinking about it.
Restaurant dish - for this year, honestly, I haven't got one. (The one meal that keeps popping up in my head was from a year ago, while I was travelling). Either I've got to go out more, or vary my restaurants - all these new American cuisine restaurants using greenmarket products and name brand purveyors can taste an awful lot alike.
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Meat good, sides good, salad bad, desserts dull and boring. Bring lots of money.
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A zillion people have listed salad dressing. Honestly, I don't understand why anyone buys bottled salad dressing. It's all horrible, and making a vinaigrette, for example, which is really as good as salad dressing gets, takes all of 40 seconds. Or dressing a salad in the Italian manner, just tossing it with olive oil, then some salt, then some vinegar...if the salad greens are good, and the olive oil is good, you can't get better than that.
Amen, brother. (Sister?)
Bottled dressing makes me want to weep.
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Whatever cream cheese the deli with the best coffee near my office is serving on a toasted everything bagel.
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Ling, after your recent trip to NYC, I can see where this would seem like starvation rations.
Where's the cannoli?Seriously, I think anyone could do this for three days. But what does only three days of this really do for you? That's the part I'd like to see borne out with research.
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I think you should feature Rich's maitre d' at Gallaghers.
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That's a seriously impressive 66 hours of dining! I have to commend you on your photography - the shots are beautifully clear and composed. It's nice seeing the aesthetics of the food depicted aesthetically as well.
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We certainly don't eat meat pies to the degree that the English do, but we do sometimes eat them - one of the great treats of my childhood was eating chicken pot pie at a genteel but shabby restaurant atop a downtown department store with my grandmother.
Any frozen food case in an American grocery store will yield chicken pot pies or turkey pot pies (not good at all, but they were an early version of convenience food). Beyond that, not much in the way of meat pies. Cottage pie (incorrectly called shepherd's pie*) will turn up at English style pubs and the like, but there isn't any reason it shouldn't be a part of mainstream culture, except that it isn't.
I wonder if the lack of meat pies in our culture doesn't have to do with our cooking habits. I think that here, we're far more likely to grill our meat to begin with, and leftovers are often used in sandwiches. We don't tend to recook it. Ground (minced) beef tends to be grilled as well, as hamburgers.
Fruit pies and tarts do reign here, and they're very good.
* Ground beef is ubiquitous here, ground lamb is not.
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You did all that in three days????? Wow!
Looking forward to hearing about it.
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A weekend in Paris eating bistro food and hanging out in cafes watching the world go by.
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A Lean Cuisine.
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I thought there was another thread on this. Anyway, did takeout from here for lunch today, and the spicy pork dumplings are very good. I don't know what flight of idiocy made me think lo mein would be a good idea, but it wasn't. Stick with the spicy stuff.
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Tempo's worthy of mention (5th between President & Carroll). Also, Stone Park Cafe's quite good (5th at 3rd Street). And I'm devoted to Blue Ribbon Sushi.
Where's Tacos Nuevo Mexico?
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I've only ever had it in England, as an accompaniment to roast chicken. Made just like the accompaniment to the partridge recipe, but with a whole clove or two, which were strained out. Good stuff. Thanks for reminding me about it!
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I don't think I've ever had it - maybe it's a southern thing? I grew up pretty far north, and the only way I like my marshmallows is toasted on a stick over a campfire. But it sounds like it has great dessert potential.
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Sneakeater's assessment is dead-on: stick with the meat pies and the beer, and you'll be a happy camper.
My fries were soggy, too, and that was before I vinegared them. I had the fish and chips, and if fish and chips are what you crave, I sincerely recommend that you walk to Chip Shop on 5th Avenue and get them there instead.
But the beer and the company were very good, and Sneakeater was kind enough to let me taste his meat pie, which was miles beyond the rest of the meal. I had also expected it to be like a Cornish pasty, but the filling is more like the mince used as the base of a cottage pie. Good crust.
And there ain't no amount of liquor that would convince me to eat a burger with pineapple and beets. Sneak, what the hell were you drinking before I got there?
Applewood
in New York: Dining
Posted
Check out johnder's food blog, link below - it includes photos & discussion.
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=93532&st=90