H. du Bois

Here you go! Cru: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...193&hl=goldfarb

Oh goody, it's you! Looking forward to a great blog. * * Am hoping for gratuitous mention of the chef's footgear as well.

Thank you for the pleasure of your company this week!

Tug, I haven't been there in recent years, but what I loved about USC was that it always felt genuinely warm and welcoming - a rare quality that most restaurants never quite manage, though they try. I had a great birthday dinner there once, not that I had told them it was that. They just managed to make the entire experience shine. As the management remains the same, I'd bet they could still pull that off. ETA: You know, I think the reason that USC didn't initially come up as a suggestion for you is that it isn't a place that screams "wow" factor. When I first went, I was really surprised that the decor wasn't fancier, that the menu wasn't more innovative. I guess I'd mistakenly presumed that there was a haute cuisine element to it. BUT ... it was exactly as Rich described above, and somehow the alchemy of the food, wine and terrific service transcends all the individual elements, if that makes any sense.

Functionally there is no reason you shouldn't be able to scrub them with copper scrubbies. The reason All-Clad doesn't want you to do this is because it will leave scratches on the surface of the pan and the cosmetic appearance of All-Clad Stainless is important to most people who purchase it. Personally, I'd recommend Bar Keeper's Friend over a copper scrubbing pad for this use. Either way, you're not going to have that mirror finish any more. I should point out that a certain amount of discoloration on your All-Clad Stainless isn't going to change its performance one bit. Thank you both for your responses! I could care less about a mirror finish - all that matters to me is that they perform (and that I be able to clean them properly). They are tools, after all. I'll go for the Barkeeper's Friend.

Happy anniversary to you! What a wonderful way to celebrate. I am inspired by your style, your grace (your hummingbird metabolisms!), and that you each seem to strive to live well, in the best sense of the word. I felt this after Henry's blog, and I feel it now - you provide a very, very compelling reason to explore Seattle and its food culture. Seattle couldn't ask for better ambassadors.

None of us were born with education, culture, or sophistication. Those all are qualities that are acquired along the way, and we can only hope that we’ve accumulated them to some degree before we’re gone. Just how much of them can be attributed to us at any given point in time depends on inclination, experience and chance (and, sometimes, geography). Each and every one of us are located somewhere on that same continuum. To crucify someone else for lacking the sophistication we now hold would be to deny our own journey to that point. And, lest we feel secure in our own culinary superiority, I offer you something that happened to me in Paris a while back. A little boy, maybe 6 years old, stared at me in horror as I ate my lunch, then whispered to his mother (in French), “Maman! She’s eating salad with a fish fork!” I remain, always and forever, humbled.

I was married to a vegetarian for 25 years, and gave it a shot for a little bit myself, so even though I returned to my carnivorean roots, I've done a lifetime of vegetarian cooking. Seriously, those Greens cookbooks are terrific (you're operating on the English notion of Californianism, which doesn't hold water in this case). I'd also recommend the later versions of the Moosewood cookbooks. For example, "Sundays at the Moosewood Restaurant," in which they stop trying to mimic meat dishes with tofu and sprouts and actually use international recipes which never had meat to begin with. If you like mushrooms, I found that soaking dried wild mushrooms in fortified wines like madeira and marsala, then using that mushroom infused liquor as stock really gave flavor to a lot of dishes.

It is hilarious. And I'm awfully glad the food police weren't there to witness some of my early attempts at dining on the unfamiliar (although maybe they could have advised me not to try to eat the leaves of the artichoke).

I just had to google "al pastor."

I'm starting to feel kinda sorry for the poor girl. Here she thought she ducked a culinary hazard, and then ...

Loved the drunken typing! I wouldn't be able to choose an iron chef winner from photographs alone, but I can tell you that I so wished I was eating at that dinner table. Thought the peach foie gras was a fascinating touch. My only feedback, beyond saying that everything looked enticing, is that the deconstructed Bellini would be a terrific amuse. Put that at the head of the meal and finish up with the other dessert, and all would be heavenly.

Finally got to Pegu Club last night - my first time! Brought two visiting Australians (who loved the place), and a great time was had by all. I had the lemon thyme daiquiri and a gin gin mule; one friend had a French pearl and the Pegu club cocktail. I can't remember the name of my other friend's first drink (something long with cherries in it), but her second was the intro to Aperol. It was fun tasting them all. Can't wait to go back!

I have a question. I now have some All Clad stainless pans, which have discolored with their first usage. If this were normal stainless, I'd have scoured them out with steel or copper scrubbies and have been done with it. But the instructions say I can't - that I shouldn't use steel wool. Why? Is this really kid glove cookware? Will I harm it? They look pretty sturdy to me, and I don't see why I can't treat a pot as a pot (unless I've been mistreating them all along, and didn't even know it). Any advice appreciated.

Ooooh, this is going to be a good blog! Well, I had no idea you were a couple, but given that I've admired the cooking of each of you, your combined talents should produce a synergy that will be a sight to behold. Can't wait to see what the week brings!

I think about food more, now (in the abstract, not just the concrete).

Oh, that's hilarious! Shoes off, too, eh? You know, I've always chalked up one of my best dinners in NY to Union Square Cafe - not so much because of the food or wine (though I had no complaints), but to the service. It was my birthday, first time there, and I was accompanied by a cranky vegetarian (which usually made it difficult to dine out at nice places). They rolled out the red carpet for him, and he ended up so well-fed and happy that I was able to relax and enjoy myself completely. Best birthday present I could have had, really.

Oh, you rode the Cyclone!!!! Ordinarily I'd have said that an outing like that deserved a Nathan's hot dog, but your pastries and cherries were way cooler.

I should say too that I haven't eaten here in a while. There may be slippage. But it could be Sunday night in August issues. (I never find food as good on weekends as on weekdays when I dine out, no matter what time of year).

This is why I hesitate to recommend restaurants - I never know if a place I find charming will have the same effect on others, or if a dish I've found terrific on a weekday night will be up to the same standards during the weekend. I've never eaten in the wine bar, so I can't speak for how it might impact on the experience. In fact, I can't imagine, somehow, eating there without eating in the main room. Odd. My experiences there have been different, but the circumstances surrounding them were very different, too. I'm not certain I'd feel quite the same about dining there if I had to go to a great deal of effort to get to it. But within the neighborhood, as a neighborhood place, it's very much beloved.

Who would have thought? Thank you, too! Therese, you get extra street cred for doing outer boroughs when it's close to 100 degrees. Hell, you get street cred for doing the outer boroughs, anyway. PS: Love the secret female code.

They don't stock Ronnybrook in the stores I frequent (which doesn't mean it isn't somewhere in Park Slope). Do I wanna add milk to the list of things I go out of my way to get? Not really (had to run to the corner store this morning to get milk for my coffee). The organic supermarket stuff tastes better to me than the other options available, so I'm willing to pay the difference.

I've always loved the Big Boy statue on the Big Boy restaurants.

Therese, here's the Al di La thread link provided us recently by SLKinsey. (Thanks!) How he found it, I don't know, as I've tried a gazillion ways to search for it in the past, with no luck. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=81000

Oh, I'm glad you photographed the tomatoes! I was admiring them the other day for their visual impact alone. Was down there twice this week while running errands - got sweet corn and peaches (had those strawberries a few weeks ago, mmm). And I bought something I'd never used before: purslane, which I tossed in with my salad greens.