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First, let me qualify by saying that I'm a native noo yawker. I've been exiled to Northern NJ for some time now, but all of my culinary experiences still happen in the City. In fact, with the exception of a few neighborhood eateries, I am completely naiive about NJ dining. We tend to gravitate to the City ) So, in November I will be celebrating my 30-10th birthday (ahem). My husband is treating me to a weekend in the City, complete with a 2-night stay at an over-priced hotel. I am already planning to go to Pegu Club, and I need a recommendation for a show stopping dinner for one of the nights. The other meals will include dimsum and a few favorite spots we like revisiting. I have read a few recent reviews of Babbo and find it to be going through a luke-warm stint at the moment. With such high expectations for the weekend, I really want something consistently special. My husband is old-school English (read: meat and 2 veg) with a burgeoning palate. I'm hoping to find something that will stimulate him, not altogether shock him. He's fine with most Asian cuisines (I am part Asian), yet I cannot get him to embrace Japanese food. Its been a long time since I had my hand on the pulse of the City's culinary offerings. Can anyone help? )

Theres now one in Nutley - on Center Street, near Franklin Ave.

here ya go http://www.mitsuwanj.com/en/location.htm

I've yet to acquire a taste for red bean I really enjoyed my shopping excursion to Mitsuwa. It certainly has changed a lot. I remember going there regularly before it was renamed to what it is now. I was so disoriented that I had to go back in to buy my onigiri. It used to be conveniently located at the front of the store, right near the door. I did manage to get some ikura and unagi for my bento tomorrow. We'll see how that goes

Thank you Hiroyuki! What kind of fillings are traditional? They were offered here in only red bean and cream.

what, preytell are these called? we had some "cream" ones today .. they were yummy!

we always shop at Venieros! http://www.venierospastry.com/ yum yum

hot hot hot!

I too eat this on everything possible. One question though, should it be refrigerated?

Jaffa Oranges, from Israel. A dear friend of mine sends us a crate from Israel every year. No other orange seems to come close

my husband bought me one of the boxes from kookisushi.com i'd love to see some pictures of anyone's attempt to make these at home. i just cant bring myself to eating this

My husband uses 16 oz of Dreamfields Elbows, 1 lb of sharp white cheddar, whole lb of bacon. He makes his own bechamel and adds 3/4 of the cheese to it. The cheese sauce gets combined with the macaroni, then he mixes in crispy bacon. Tops the casserole with slices of tomato, and reserved cheddar, then seasoned breadcrumbs. He toasts the whole thing under the broiler until the crumbs brown and the cheese topping melts. Heavenly.

I dont have any written recipes passed down from mi abuela, they're all in my heart and my palate. If I had to transcribe them .. this website http://www.elboricua.com/recipes.html would come the closest. Forgive me if this is deviates too much from Daisy's interpretation ... but as we all know, authentic home-cooking depends more on the home-cook than the recipes I do want to share one funny culinary story of my world's colliding. Years ago mi abuela was in front of the stove, fine tuning her pegao when my chinese grandmother (yen-yen) started babbling wildly and gesturing madly at the caldero. Through the translation efforts of my parents, both grandmothers were overjoyed to share in a cultural similarity. My yen-yen recognized the beginnings of jook (congee) and, for the first time actually identified with abuela, my mother, and our puerto-rican side of the family. It was a priceless moment.

I found it! http://www.laweekly.com/index.php?option=c...ent&Itemid=119# any volunteers to buy some for me?

PERFECT! now .. please drive over .. buy as many chicharone burritos as you can carry .. freeze them ... and fedex them to me please edit: actually Joe Blowe if this is the place you have in mind .. http://losangeles.citysearch.com/profile/59599 .. thats not the one I mean. The one I mean has NO space inside. It is only a walk up window? My mother can vaguely recall First Street?

Forgive me for bumping such an old thread, but I came by this post during an extensive search. I'm wondering if this is the place where my mother and I used to get delicious chicharone burritos. I vaguely remember that it was near a hospital, and a police station. It was a walk up place, with no tables inside, only picnic tables on one side. The burritos were filled with chicharone, and spicy rice n beans. I often dream about them

Thank you, eJulia for starting this thread. I was blessed to have all of my grandparents until I turned 18. They were all immigrants, proud people. My fraternal grandparents were Chinese - "yen-yen" and "yeah-yeah" I learned at a very early age that the best way to my "yen's" heart was to join her in the kitchen. I have memories of being about 5-6 and standing on a chair in front of the sink, washing rice in a pot. I used to top-and-tail beans, scoop out seeds from melons, peel garlic, I was in heaven. Yen used to babble at me in "Chinglish", eventually finding the words that I understood. As I grew older I used to go food shopping with her, describing to her what the American foods were. I learned more than cooking at her side. Through the language barrier we connected over steaming pots and poured all our love into our food. My maternal granparents were Puerto Rican and Filipino. As a Merchant Marine, and the chef cook aboard ships, Granpa travelled extensively. We used to delight in the exotic dishes he bought back from his trips. I had my first taste of oysters with him, my first baking experience, my first passions for food were because of him. My Gramma hated to cook. She prefered to be cooked for. When she did cook we were treated to Puerto Rican soul food. Pasteles, cucchifritos, mofongo, arroz con gandules, pernil. My taste buds have memorized all the food they introduced me to. I can re-create sauces and flavors soley from my palate. I can only hope to honor them by keeping the food alive for my family.

Bourdain and Batali I would've picked the obvious Julia but I don't think my palate would do her justice.

I usually crave something very salty, followed by something sweet .. then salty again .. its a vicious cycle. this time around i want spice. nuclear spice. violent red kimchis .. chipotle sauce, right from the bottle. equally violent reactions from my colon .. but oh so good

We made sour cream apple pancakes

I posted this in another thread and handmc refered to it as food porn! Sexy Pasta Carbonara

This will probably divulge too much about my own seductions .. we happen to think that pasta carbonara is very sensuous... a steaming pot of boiling water .. separating egg yolks through your fingers .. (microwave the bacon .. naked bacon is a big no-no!) .. adding heavy cream .. deliberately chorographed movements with cheese grating and lots of fresh pepper .. fabulous rich combination of the long strands coated with the golden, creamy sauce .. feed each other .. mouths open for big forkfuls .. lips pursed to slurp noodles .. ahem with a nice pitcher of mimosas, or a bottle of wine .. not a bad meal for anytime of the day

hrmm, I'm not a baker .. by any stretch of the imagination. But perhaps a good ginger cookie recipe can be adapted? Allowing for the right moisture content to withstand a second baking? the 'mellow could be included as a frosting/glaze .. then dunked in to your fondue? i'm getting hungry

thats pretty much what I have done. I did recently buy some covered bowls. I might try adding the egg to the whole thing after the onions and katsu are on the rice, then popping the lid on, letting the steam cook the egg. The dishes I've had of this tended to include more egg in the rice, and I cannot achieve that if the egg is cooked beforehand. wow .. I want this for dinner now!

how about .. chocolate fondue with 'mellows and graham crackers .. or, better yet .. homemade graham biscotti studded with 'mellows? I ate in a restaurant in NYC's Lower East Side that featured little cast-iron, potbellied stoves with a lump of Kingsford in it. We toasted the 'mellow .. then made our own s'mores