markemorse

hey randi... yep! i'm in phoenix now...enjoying the ridiculously un-november-y weather.... i'm actually here for longer than i thought, another 3 full weeks, so i should definitely be able to get to pizzeria bianco...just have to synchronize with my dad's crazy work schedule... and genny, thanks for the penzys rec...i'll post a report on whatever i end up with.... thanks all! mark

Tell your Mom that heads and eyes are not on the Omakase, those were special occasions and that is considered a special thing to get to eat that. I would order the special omakase and let him do his thing (you will not get anything that you will not eat). If you decide not to, which is a mistake, then you will enjoy Sea Saw but you will not be getting the full experience. I ate many, many times at Sea Saw before I ordered the Omakase but I kept seeing cool things being served that are not on the menu (kobe, cool fish etc) and I decided to take the plunge and it was the single best dining decision that I have ever made. Besides the awesome food that I have been served, the knowledge that I have gained into an area that I had little knowledge of beforehand is priceless. ← Thanks a lot molto e, I've still got a couple of days to decide (according to the reservationist at Sea Saw...our reservation is a couple weeks away)...we'll see what happens. I may do the non-omakase with my parentals and go back for the omakase myself... mark

I just made reservations for the non-omakase menu at Sea Saw...mostly because my mom saw some of the pictures on this thread and requested "no heads or eyes please", and I've finally reached a point where I can acknowledge that I'll have a better time if I'm not constantly worrying about everyone else at the table. My question is: I just want to make sure that it's still a great, comfortable dining experience even though I'm not going to do the omakase...so, eh...is it? thanks! mark

So, I'm in America visiting my parents, and I immediately buy some bulgur and try to whip up a panful for lunch, using the same exact technique I use successfully every week in Amsterdam, and...it came out completely gummy and useless. I couldn't serve it. I'm going to try again today...

I don't see why not. Did you happen to take a picture of it? ← Didn't, sorry...it's not much to look at really though anyway....

Oh my, that does sound good. We were pretty much on a quick one-stop shop mission this time. Also, we were restricting our appetites in anticipation of a large dinner planned that evening, that we certainly didn't want to spoil. Next time. Edited to add: I noticed (online) that this sandwich is only offered on their "Take-Out" menu. markemorse, did you order this in-house or take out. ← Oop, yep, that was take-out in fact. Certainly they'd serve you one at the table if you asked all nice and everything, wouldn't they?

I ate at Joe's 3 times back in January, and I have to say that though I enjoyed the experience(s) as a whole, the food was unimpressive until I ordered the Grilled Lobster Reuben on my last visit: what a sandwich...next time you stop in for a light lunch, get one (or two)....

You're squatting the Zuiderkerk clock tower? You're totally in my old 'hood so I should be able to figure this out... ...is it a boat? April is a great time to come. I can help with just about any food-related questions relating to that neighborhood...I lived 30 seconds from Waterlooplein for 3 years and have ferreted out most of what needed ferreting out over there....

Hi all, apologies if this is somewhere already....I'm looking for a recommendation for where to find more unusual chiles in Phoenix, specifically I'm looking for Pasilla de Oaxacas (info here) for starters.... any info is appreciated....thanks!

Hi Betamax! Klary went to Burgermeester a while back, and wrote about it upthread.

Wow, as a chronic maple syrup addict, I'm wondering: was there a huge flavor difference between grades (assuming you did some sampling)?

yippeehooha, Nina C...looking forward to seeing why I seem to keep meeting more and more people who have moved to Brooklyn lately.... blog on! mark

ha, i have an old friend who calls me mr. horse.... yep, i went to talula in january, but we only ate at the bar...i'll hopefully have time to give you deets in a day or two...in short, we liked it a lot: great, friendly staff; a room that is approximately 319% more attractive than their website makes it look; and very good, interesting, realistically-priced food. more soon.... ← My bad, markemorse. ← no problemo... so, there we were, back in january, at the talula bar. i think it was a friday night, pretty late-ish, 10pm? we were still pretty jetlagged. the menu is modern american with a southern/southwestern emphasis. we had: +++ Tartar of Ahi Tuna Serrano chiles, cucumber, crispy rice, trout roe. Grilled Shrimp Tamale Fava beans, roasted poblano chiles, teardrop tomato vinaigrette. Grilled Sonoma Valley Foie Gras Caramelized figs, blue corn cakes, chile syrup, candied walnuts. Daily Soup: Corn Chowder with Grilled Scallops +++ i'm the sucka who ordered the tartare. i'm sure tartare is old hat to you 'mericans these days, but it's something that isn't as ubiquitous over here, so i ordered it an embarrassing number of times in miami. this one was the weakest part of our meal, because i guess...it's just tuna tartare. my bad. it was perfectly fine, the serranos could have been a tad more prominent. the tamale on the other hand was really very great, perfect texture and finely tuned accoutrements. i only got a few bites of this. the foie was eventually very good. the caramelized figs were presented on top of the corn cakes, and they displayed that sort of fig treachery (a term stolen from Chufi...actually she said "betrayal") where though figs sounded like a wonderfully creative and romantic idea during menu planning, they don't actually end up tasting like much or adding anything to the dish other than a confusing layer of tasteless novelty texture. but: i said "eventually very good" because once you got past the fig layer, the corn cakes and chile syrup were my favorite kind of thing: corny, barely sweet, and chile-tweaked. And the foie itself rocked. This was good. The best thing of the night was the corn chowder, we could've eaten a couple more bowls of this, creamy and a little smoky with scallops and a tiny kick. perfect. +++ so, the food overall wasn't flawless, but the vibe was welcoming, competent, and non-scene-y, the service was spot on, and it just felt like a good place to just hang at the bar and nibble on creative grub at exceptionally fair prices. i mention the prices again because talula was just about the only "nice" place we ate at in miami whose prices seemed to acknowledge that the restaurant knew that you knew what a dish's relative worth was. so, yeah, i was impressed that they had a 9 dollar caesar salad. we ate lightly this night b/c we thought we'd definitely be back for a full-on dinner, but we were both struck down by an intestinal bug a few days later and didn't get to do everything we'd planned (we also missed Sardinia, which we'd really been looking forward to). hope that helps! mark

ha, i have an old friend who calls me mr. horse.... yep, i went to talula in january, but we only ate at the bar...i'll hopefully have time to give you deets in a day or two...in short, we liked it a lot: great, friendly staff; a room that is approximately 319% more attractive than their website makes it look; and very good, interesting, realistically-priced food. more soon....

Good one. I've had another unlikely peanut butter sandwich here that works some similar alchemy under what I imagine are similar circumstances: peanut butter + Indonesian sambal + cucumbers. It's so unusual and so sensible at the same time (as homemade as this sounds, it was actually served to me in a cafe)...though it lacks the trashy Doodle vibe.

I've got no idea how I ended up on this topic, but since I'm here... I'm agreeing with this: cereal before bedtime is the shit. Even more so with a chopped banana and a drizzle of maple syrup. And maybe a raisin or two. All of which reminds me of Eric Stoltz not wanting to answer the phone while he's eating his cereal in Pulp Fiction.... And this is also completely true. Broodje pom, moksi meti, tjauw min...an excellent prelude to your bowl(s) of cereal...

In a little town called Nickelsdorf on the Austria-Hungary border, I had 3 absolutely genius wienerschnitzels (on 3 different days, but from the same place)...perfectly breaded, and served with a subtly exotic and tart cabbage/caraway slaw or salad that spiced things up considerably. With a bowl of goulash on the side. Very good.

No one ever did come forth with valuable intelligence, but when i was in Nancy (where I didn't have time to eat anyway due to the van breaking down in Neufchateau), there was a restaurant that was right next to our hotel called Les Nouveau Abattoirs maybe? Didn't eat there, but the menu looked fascinating. Not much help, but you are now armed with more information than I had when I went there.

IlCuoco, I've no idea!! I don't think the Dutch know much about cider! maybe you could try one of the health food stores (natuurwinkels?) or one of the expat stores, Eichholz in Leidsestraat or the one on Sarphatipark 114. Good luck! ← Mr. Cuoco, hi there.... The Natuurwinkel/Demeter/BioMarkt chain in Amsterdam has at least one apple beverage that I think could be called cider, but there's nothing that's exactly like American cider....these are lighter in color, and seem to taste a bit more like fresh apples to me. our Avondmarkt also sells a couple of German ciders, both rather light in color. good luck! mark

I'm not sure it's just the water ratio....we make coarse bulgur a couple times a week (it became our go-to grain years ago). With the bulgur we use, you could never get away with a 1:1 water/bulgur ratio, it would start burning in about 8 minutes. my suggestion: leave the fat out until the bulgur is cooked. a quick breakfast bulgur for us goes like this, and it is perfect every time. 1 cup of coarse bulgur 1 3/4 cup boiling water 3 tbsp or more soy sauce or kecap manis 1-3 tbsp butter +++ Combine bulgur, water, and 1 tbsp soy sauce. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, turn heat off and let sit for 10 minutes. Stir in remaining soy sauce, the butter, and tweak to taste. Garnish judiciously or don't with a bit of scallions, coriander, almonds, mint, peanuts, bean sprouts, etc. Good luck!

Didn't Babette's Feast in Atlanta used to do a strawberry vinaigrette? And I have a vague memory of them serving it with either oysters or mussels...

hey Rachel.... i, like Abra, am a Mexican food lover who has ended up somewhere without Mexican food, so i am always excited for any second- or third-hand contact with something actually Mexican. Thus: many thanks for taking the time to blog your week! Also, let me take this opportunity to thank you for your informative and provocative article about the Islamic roots of mole (linked here for those who haven't read it)...we talked about this article quite a bit last year when i introduced some European suckas to mole poblano and tamales... blog on! +++ ETA: actually, removed Sanborn's guess after I did some reading about it.

Sorry, should've mentioned that Richardson's was my introduction to Southwestern cooking back in the early 90s, I've been quite a few times...and I try to keep going back, but at some point the waits seemed to become more memorable than the food...maybe my palate is changing. in any event, i'll check out Frank and Lupe's...thanks! mark

Actually I retract my molto e guess after further examination of the salsa/saucier photo. Still considering whether there's a possible better guess than gfron...

Apologies if this is somewhere else on the boards...there are a lot of Phoenix posts. Essentially, I'm headed out to Phoenix for 3 weeks to visit my parents, and will need some serious grub. I'm already planning on hitting See Saw and Zinc, but I need some updated Southwestern recommendations...seems like the last couple times I've been to Phoenix, it's been hard to find an unqualified success in this department. MediZona was our last outing, and it was fine...but a very small menu that hadn't changed much in the years since I'd last visited. My main goal is to find someone cooking interestingly and consistently with a variety of chiles in a non-formal atmosphere. Doesn't really matter where, but my folks live near South Mountain Park in Chandler. thanks!