Carolyn Tillie

Even more ludicrous was this quote: The Slanted Door, while having declined somewhat in past years, still maintains the highest quality wine list and has promoted the pairing of wines from all over the world with Oriental food. Who is this Olivia Wu anyway???? BTW, I prefer a less-sweet Gewurtz with my spicy Asian and I shop at DeeVine all the time! So there.

Heck, I stalk THIS forum!

Yes, but that was pre-Internet when all we fans could do was write letters to our adored-ones and hope against hope they might respond with an autographed photo. The adored-one-in-question could then promptly throw our letters away and forget about us.

Ahem - it is now known as Infineon. And I hope you are being facetious about the winery crack!

For what? Coffee or pastries?

You'd think so, wouldn't you? Except that there is WAY TOO MUCH SALT in those tubes. If you know it ahead of time and prepare, you can salt your dish afterwards but since I cook with very little salt, I had to give up on the tubes after one or two tries, finding the salt content too high for even a tablespoon or so. Pity.

Especially in the restaurant business... Perhaps as a cheap substitute for parmesan. There is a little store in Sonoma that sells specialty soaps (grapefruit bergamot comes to mind) and olive oil...

Cilantro...

Okay, Chris - here's a question. If this "guy you know" did this, what would he get out of it? Is it just a money thing? More meals out? More responsibility? A better opportunity to hone your writing skills? I kinda agree with fresco, again. If "this guy" has developed his own, known "voice" than readers might begin to see similarities. Is "this guy" willing to go to the extent to develop a different tone in his writing to assure a qualified difference in the reviews? I remember that community - it is small and I don't think it would take very long to figure out that "this guy's" writing style is awfully similar to someone else's. (It reminds me when I was a bookseller - managing a Crown Books almost 20 years ago - both Stephen King's Thinner and Anne Rice's Exit to Eden came out under the pseudonyms Richard Bachman and Anne Rampling, respectively. Those of us "in the biz" read the books and SWORE they were written by those two but the publishers assured us we were wrong, waiting to see what sales would be. If only I had kept those first editions of those small releases - what a chunk-o-change I could get for them on eBay these days!)

Concuring with Lady T and Fresc0o, alternately, do you know of any budding food writers who might benefit from such a gig? It may help another "find their voice" thereby alleviating you of unethical feelings. Yeah, the other writer may have to deal with it, but it would give someone a chance they might not otherwise get.

Okay, that explains why I haven't been able to taste any. No rich friends...

Gosh I tasted some at the Fancy Foods show last weekend and LOVED them! (Go figure).

It has happened to me... I generally ask the Sommelier to taste it as well to confirm my corked suspicions and then possibly recommend a replacement from their list... If my bottle is from a known supplier source, I will keep it and return it (wineries really like to know about corkage as it helps them in the future).

Okay, okay, I confess - I've never HAD a Montrachet! Up until two or three years ago, I didn't even drink WHITE WINE AT ALL! ('cept bubbly). I'm trying to fix that and will promptly go get a Montrachet - care to recommend a good producer for me?

I dislike California Chardonnays - those that are heavy, buttery, oaky, and dark yellow. I don't recall ever having been offered a California Chardonnay that I appreciated or enjoyed. And by all accounts, both wineries I work for apparently make darned good ones! (note the word "apparently" as I won't attest to it whatsoever). I like Chardonnay grapes when made into sparkling wine and Champagne. Does that help?

What's the cut of meat? That'll tell what to make with 'em!

I think I get it... You were referring to this paragraph: If I guess correctly, you are wondering why a server would offer a taste of a wine brought in by a guest. No, it can't be returned (obviously), but it IS proper to offer a taste to assure that it is not corked. One would never assume that even a BYO bottle is perfect and it would need to be tasted. Am I on the right track?

WTF? I think I need a little clarity. I'm glad I'm not the only one... I kept re-reading the post trying to figure out what the question or comment was.

Damn... I'm so gullible I thought you really had some!

Wanna trade? Working for two wineries, I'm sitting on DOZENS of cases that Shawn and I can't possibly ever drink and I ADORE Ice Wine!

The same reason why I can be a wine lover and despise Chardonnay! Everyone's tastes are different, that's why! It is okay to not like a particular wine... The same goes (I suppose) for soda lovers - "how can you like Pepsi, but not Coke?" To me, they are the same but the analogy works.

Okay, I'm figuring it out... At first, I thought FLN was perhaps a Canadian cable channel but a surf of the 'net shows it is a sister network to HGTV. In previous threads lambasting The Food Network, I have commented how I prefer the food shows on HGTV - from the looks of it, HGTV is simply taking some of its 'better' shows and branching out (although it looks darn similar to HGTV with less decorating and craft shows). Interesting about Chiarello too -- that was originally showed on NoCal PBS stations which could be a whole other tread... (they run upwards of 6 hours of cooking shows on weekends!).

Methinks Darrell Waltrip ought to be involved in the Indy 500 instead of NASCAR... (For those who are unfamiliar with Indy tradition, upon crossing the finish line, the winner traditionally chugs cold milk out of a glass bottle...) ...except for Emerson Fittipaldi who, as a Brazilian, drank Orange Juice - damn philistine... <in a past life, I dated a race car driver and we watched Indy, Cart, and F1 - some of these things are still stuffed in this brain of mine>

My boyfriend, Shawn, has a specialty that he makes for us... Using Trader Joe's Middle Eastern Flatbread, he rubs it with a bit of olive oil to start. Toppers include sautéed mushrooms and spinach, roasted garlic, kalamata olives, goat cheese, fresh basil, and then a bit of parmigiano reggiano. Grilled under the broiler until the cheeses melt. A great appetizer...

According to Mollie Katzen Online: The basic recipe that is found in most restaurants is dashi (broth) with a teaspoon of miso, a few cubes of tofu, and a few slices of scallions or seaweed.