Kouign Aman

high end, and a pretty drive Mille Fleurs in Rancho Santa Fe, about 45 min from downtown San Diego. I agree on Khyber Pass.

I miss The Belgian Lion, especially the confit de canard . I hadnt realized it had been somewhat re-incarnated. I'm terribly excited. Nathan is the grandson of the BL founder. Michele is his daughter. Current address: 7556 Fay Avenue, Suite D La Jolla, CA, 92037 Current menu for Nathan's at Michele Coulon's Has anyone eaten there? Or at the old BL?

Perhaps mix a few traditional chinese dishes into the mix, so that there is something for those who just cant face something new (like my (english) grannie)? Or some kind of pork dish, with greens?

Alberto's on Convoy for chicken burritos, if you like a bit of spice. Its a drive-thru, with a table or two in the parking lot. Try horchata, tamarindo or jamaica (sp? "ha-mike-a") to drink. Drive your goodies to the coast somewhere and enjoy a picnic. (San Diego is all about location)

Breakfast/brunch at Brockton Villa, La Jolla. Check the tide tables. high tide is extra nice at The Marine Room. Rapongi La Jolla. The Fish Market, downtown. Its a fish market. Its good. It sits on pilings above the water.

Someone upthread suggested fried chicken - would that work for you?

Bertram"s at Mr A"s has a view thats tough to beat> jacket required but not tie> i dont think anyplace in san diego actually requires a tie> excuse weird punctuation> my keyboard is scrambled

I read Kim's letter before she sent it. I've read the thread. I still think Kim politely brought a potentially recurring problem to the attention of the restaurant in an appropriate way. She clearly indicated her enjoyment of the food, the service etc. She did not ask anyone to go back in time and silence that child. She pointed it out so they can work on a solution for the future. Based on the status of the private dining room, and location of room/restaurant, these will probably need to be technological solutions. Sound-deadening is a thoroughly studied science. There is almost certainly a method or combination of methods to prevent sound from the private dining room from penetrating to the restaurant tables. Perhaps no one was previously aware of the need to research such options. Now they are. Kim did the chef/restaurant a favor. The replies on this thread (bigboss etc) indicate they also think she did the restaurant a favor by notifying them.

Oh my! Could you taste differences in the tortillas due to the different breeds of corn used? If so, what sort of differences in flavour were there?

which reminds me, thank god Jaffa cakes arent easily found in this country. I ate three sleeves in three hours last time I had ready access to them. I didnt hide them, but it was hard to share! And y'all reminded me of a few more: lipton onion dip - dont hide it, but cant stop eating it. pretty much any kind of potato chip Boston Market chicken skin, from bird purchased at end of day. This one I sneak because everyone wants the skin and I take way more than my fair share popcorn - I have the same sharing issue as Lilija But, the hands down A#1 trouble food remains those Kettle Chips in Black Pepper, and we get em at Trader Joe's too, Andi (also at Price Club). I have to struggle not to growl at my husband if he takes a handful, and he's the one who buys them! :shame:

How lovely. I love the clean lines and strong colors on the set table. The white menus were integral to the look, rather than added on. I also very much like the black plates you used during prep and for the cheese course. and, of course, the food (menu and pix)... kisses tips of fingers... What icecream maker do you use? It must be seriously quiet for you to use it in that space during a dinner party. And seriously fast.

I hide chocolates, because Mr KA is a chocolate-eating fiend. But my biggest temptation is Kettle Chips Black Pepper flavor. They are diabolical.

Easter.... I've never cooked lamb. My mom loves it. I like lamb chops, hate leg 'o lamb, love lamb in stews/curries etc. Any recommendations for a lame-lamb-beginner for Easter dinner?

We have two threads going on the board right now that mention: a hamburger on a krispy kreme donut for a bun fois gras on a halved donut hole for a bun In the 'greater context', is this simultaneous discovery acceptable levels of influence copycat-ism ("is almost identical to a dish" EQ above) or other?

This thread is awesome reading. Must bake a chocolate cake soon. Will it be CI.1, CI.2.1.2.1.1, CI the original, Wooley, or ???? Or should CI 2/1/1/1/2 better be referred to as CI ala steve/ling/WtruffleG etal? Oh yeah, its definitely time to give a couple of these tweaked and optimized recipes their own names.

I got the impression KimWB did not expect a response, and the tone of her letter and the added last paragraph did not invite one. Nor did I get the impression that dinner was "horrible", just less comfortable than it deserved to be, given the food. If I were to receive such a letter, I hope I'd toss off a "thank you for bringing this to my attention" note, but if times were busy, as Vadouvan describes, the response note might slip under the radar, even tho the info in the letter did not. KimWB, if you ever get a chance to check it out, it would be interesting to know if that table is still there, and if there were changes to the interface between the hotel dining room and the restaurant. If there were, I think you can attribute them to your letter, and assume the chef is grateful.

To build on what Malawry wrote, I would deliberately add a few of the really common jarred baby foods, just for the illumination factor: two or three of the really snazzy sounding 'casserole' flavors of any brand (which all seem to be predominantly carrots and all tasted the same - blech, and which stain like an SOB so provide bibs), and of course, Gerber's spinach (which contains onion etc.). If you do this to the mom-in-process, be kind and include a food mill among the gifts! Strawberries and cream. Shortbread.

I've dried fruit in both gas and electric ovens. In both cases, i put a lot of space between the pieces. If you live where its sunny and there's some air movement, you can dry outdoors too. Its not a touchy process. I had a gas oven with a pilotlight that kept things about the right temp (I live in a pretty dry climate, which helps). The electric oven got turned on to the 200F setting every couple of hours for about 10 min, then turned off. If things didnt look pretty shriveled in the first half day, I cranked the temp a bit. I never dried enough for long term storage so cant address your mold question. Good luck and have fun. (I never tried cherries. Too much work to pit them).

Pan, I surely wouldnt know of the situation if not for the web pix. I lean toward attribution. Its good manners. FatGuy, are you saying chefs shouldnt borrow techniques? Quelle horreur (sp?) - we all have to go back to raw food! <editted to respond to simultaneous FG post>

IMO, at the Big-Name-Chef level, copying recipe and presentation without attribution is rude. I can see a purpose in providing such copies, at a geographical location so far removed from the source. There is a simple method by which one can provide both attribution and get credit for execution and creative menu planning. List it as Blahblah ala Whosits or Blahblah de Whosits. As a consumer, I'd be impressed the restauranteur is providing items from such a high level of world-wide creativity, but there'd be no fear I'd mistake it for the kitchens' own creation.

I think you just described paradise.

Kraft is also not in the business of maintaining a specialized language. They are in the business of selling product. I agree that cookbooks should use the standard terminology and if necessary provide a glossary, and I'm glad JoC went that way. Adults can begin from a place of ignorance too. Warm boot, anyone?

Lets band together and buy Marlene a ticket! with butter and an egg chopped in so far to the west that its irrelevant good question (j/k) the perfect breakfast food

San Diego - outie. We may not be a hotbed of cutting edge, but we work everything into what we do do. (noto bene - not always successfully)

gfron1, good question. me too. I think mexican horchata is made with rice. When I was in Madrid, our waiter insisted rice had nothing to do with horchata. He brought out a dried seed he said it was made from. I cant remember what he called it.