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Thanks for all the info. I still have to wonder why the big chain grocers in upstate NY stock the "creamy" variety (exclusively) while I have to go to a specialty Italian grocer here in Chicago to find it, if at all? One would thing that with FDA regulations there should be a standard if something is labeld as ricotta.

Growing up in Chicago (in an Italian family), I'd always had ricotta which had a gritty, "curd-like" consistency, not unlike cottage cheese. When I lived in upstate NY for a few years, I encountered ricotta with the creamy consistency of crème fraîche. I much prefer the creamy variety, but back in Chicago I've only found the grittier kind. Admittedly, I haven't searched much farther than my local big-chain supermarket. Is there a kind I should be looking for?

Yum! Recipe, please? ← Thank you, George, but they were only very simple, just sliced baguette toasted on one side, buttered and immodestly Emmenthalered on the untoasted side and then broiled, before serving in the onion soup. "Very simple" works for me, Priscilla. Thanks!

No. Just teasing - it actually looks rather good.

I agree, though usually LEYE's changes are for the better. I hope OdT gets its act together again. I agree with Ron's post. I feel the experience is becoming more middle-of-the-road and less special with each successive visit.

Yum! Recipe, please?

I'm just back from a week on Kaua'i. Look for an update in the Good Eats on Kauai thread. Not much new there, but some great meals nonetheless.

True Confession: I always thougth Wimpy's burgers on Popeye looked soooo good!

Thanks for the wonderful write-up, Eliot. Your pictures were beautiful!

Thanks for the recipes/tips. Recipes I've found online seem to often include coconut extract. This would keep the syrup clear. I'm interested to hear how yours turned out, zoe b!

I'm traveling in Hawaii, and restaurants here serve coconut syrup with their pancakes. I'd love a good recipe (the restaurants that make it homemade won't divulge their recipes). The bottled kind looks rather milky and fake, whereas the homemade varieties are clear like simple syrup. Any good recipes out there? Thanks!

Feel free to compare it to Trio if you must, because it occupies the same space; that still seems a rather inane practice. But your blasting of a restaurant barely a month or two old based partly on the fact that it isn't up to the calibre of the space's previous tenant just doesn't hold water. I was under the impression that you aspired to some kind of entertaining yet informative format. But swift and damning comments about a restaurant in the first stages of its life which affect the livelihoods of all those who work there are not entertaining to me.

Dish, Chicago Magazine's weeky column, just printed a very negative and unnecessarily mean-spirited capsule review of Quince. I'll refrain from quoting any of their vitriol. It seems rather unfair and disingenuous to blast a new establishmet, which is just trying to get off the ground, based on a one-time experience. The "Power of the Pen" seems to have gone to the authors' heads. Based on this ignorant mini-piece, I can no longer consider Dish a reliable source of information. I now see it as nothing more than a self-righteous gossip column, and will take whatever I read in the future in it with a hefty grain of salt. Everyone's entitled to his/her opinion, of course, but the carelessness with which the negatives were spewed struck me as incongruous with the spirit to which the column purports to aspire, that is, the promotion of new places which are honestly trying to create and celebrate a dynamic restaurant scene in our area.

Love the list, Ron! Of course I wholeheartedly agree with you about Vie. Always a class act. I'll work on my list.

A warm welcome to eGullet, nsxtasy! I've read some of your writing (including this review) over at ChowHound. Glad you have you on Board here. Since I started this thread with a not-very-glowing review, I'd love to know for my own reference point which other French places you've dined at. My experience at Michael (or at least drink we had there) was 180 degrees from what you reported. I'm glad to see that the place seems to have improved (there really was only one way to go, truth be told), but my experience was so bad there that you'll forgive me for not being too excited to get back on that particular horse.

We're leaving for Kauai in a couple of weeks. Are there any new exciting places (opened in the last year) that are worth checking out? Our favorites last time were Scotty's, Hukilau Lanai, and Beach House. Didn't care much for Pomodoro, not particularly noteworthy. Any opinions on Bar Acuda? I've heard good things, and the menu and small-plates style sounds promising.

Yikes! Do you get to keep the staircase to take home?!?

You MUST try Zeffirino at The Venetian for a totally authentic (don't order from the $19.95 lunch special menu) northern Italian meal. Fantastic wine list too. I can't believe this place isn't written about more; it's among the very best in town.

Did you ever consider that your evil intentions may backfire and he may actually like the p-a-c?!?

Thanks, everyone, for all the suggestions. I ended up finding some 4" springform pans at Crate & Barrel. These are a tad large for a single portion, but hey, who's complaining?!? I think it's a nice presentation to do individual pies, and springform pans are the best for graham cracker crusts.

I have a fantastic Banana Cream Pie recipe (OK, it's from Emeril, but it's really good - honest!) which makes a VERY LARGE 10" pie. I'd love to use the same recipe but make individual-serving-sized pies. I can figure out the filling part, but where would I make the individual crusts? The crust for this recpie is a graham cracker crust. Would I use cake rings? Small pans? Where would I find such pieces? I'm thinking a 4" diameter would create a generous portion. Would there be any other interesting shape I could use?

As I was at the table, I can say that these were malted milk ball consistency, but they tasted more like chocolate-flavored rice puffs (think Cocoa Puffs!) The meal was, indeed, extraordinary. Great write-up, Ron; it brought back lots of sense-memories.

It is, indeed, an osso buco. I found the recipe on epicurious, a reprint of a Mario Batali creation. It sounds intriguing. It's served with the aforementioned toasted pine nut gremolata. If I try it I'll report back. Thanks to all for their tips.

I have a recipe for Gremolata which calls for combining and mixing well by hand the following: Leaves from 1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted at 400°F. for 2 minutes Zest of 1 lemon 1/4 cup freshly grated horseradish Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Some questions: How much parsley is meant by "one bunch?" Is it the amount you'd get at the grocery store? Should the lemon zest be chopped? Microplaned/grated? Should the horseradish be mushy after being grated? Or should I use the bigger holes on the box grater?

Yeah, pretty much trapped. ← Actually, now I'm finding out that we will be somewhat mobile. We'll have a rental car, so we will be able to travel a bit. Maybe in a 20-mile radius? Some good local Italian? Thanks!