kathryn

They have a menu but it's posted on the back wall. Sidling up to the bar and pointing is more fun!

I might go with something neat rather than a cocktail, given the way you've phrased it. It feels more "Death Row."

Crif Dogs in Manhattan has deep fried bacon wrapped hot dogs for years now: http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2008/12/bacon-wrapped-hot-dogs-crif-dogs-east-village-nyc.html I believe it's a take on a New Jersey style and many other hot dog places in NJ do similarly.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/09/dining/reviews/09rest.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all 1 star from Sifton for Hunan Kitchen of Grand Sichuan.

By "best" they mean, the ones top-ranked in the Zagat survey, yes? Presumably a lot of the respondents are looking for egg rolls, chop suey, orange beef, etc. when they dine out at a Chinese restaurant.

What kind of food do you want? Shanghainese food & soup dumplings at Nan Xiang? Cantonese seafood at Imperial Palace? Sichuan at Spicy & Tasty? Hunan at Hunan House? Dongbei at Golden Palace? Shandong at M&T?

The writer of the Serious Eats review states he was sitting at the sashimi bar. Is that separate from the sushi bar?

These service issues mentioned on Serious Eats sound alarming: http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2011/02/niko-soho-manhattan-opening-review.html

Here's their site: http://helloniko.com/

Chocolate or Gianduja on sliced baguette is pretty common in Spain and Italy, no? Just expand that to plain foccacia bread. Mario's dad's salumi was $31.80/lb yesterday for the special varieties like mole (cocoa & clove) and argumi (citrus and cardamom). Yikes.

Sam, that scallop crudo looks wonderful! Mitch, I'm guessing you didn't buy any of their crazy Danish salmon? $52/lb! What kinds did you make off with? http://blog.russanddaughters.com/2011/01/19/russ-daughters-once-again-has-double-smoked-danish-salmon/

I'm gonna have to go with Johnder's meal for the moment -- his appetizer and dessert look better to me, although Mitch's risotto looks awfully tasty. Now, where is Sam?! We have a Miele vacuum cleaner and love it, especially because it's compact and stores nicely in the upper reaches of the closet (sure there's probably a price premium but I'm willing to pay it for a small vacuum whose cord ACTUALLY retracts neatly after months of usage). I love that dishwasher utensil shelf idea. Nice one-up-manship with the Kindle 2 & New Yorker. I still think I prefer the paper version on the subway, planes, etc. since the Kindle's default justification is 'full' not 'left.' NYC is still pretty buried under snow right now. Madison Square Park is waist deep in it. Lots of fancy footwork to cross over 1-2' wide slush puddles, too.

Mitch, you might be the only person I know who can go to inoteca and not order the truffled egg toast. For Indian skip 6th St (aka Curry Row) and head uptown to Curry Hill. My favorites are Chennai Garden, Saravanaas, Tiffin Wallah. Stop in a Kalustyan's beforehand. For SE Asian, Manhattan is pretty weak. Laut is OK dependent upon what you order but can be pretty unreliable for Malaysian -- stay away from the other parts of the menu. Rhong Tiam used to be great for Thai, now it's less a restaurant and more a takeout joint. Go to Queens for Thai -- Sripraphai, Thailand Center Point, Ayada, Chao Thai. Vietnamese can be pretty weak too, but I know Mitch likes Co Ba and O Mai (I haven't tried).

Yes, Ralph's in all of our thoughts these days. I think the shortage has been going on for some time (pre-holidays) as the family was trying to get more distribution outside of NYC. 17 bottles of Stagg! So if you invite me over and 1 disappears...who's gonna notice?

I believe any one can visit Cocktail Kingdom. Just make an appointment. And bring a granny cart. As for cooking and eating cheaply, healthily, and quickly, the "Once a Month" cooking sites have a lot of great tips on making the most of your freezer. Tips like stacking freezer bags, lining a pan with aluminum foil and freezing multiple casseroles, freezing soups/stews in muffin tins, etc. And let's not forget this thread: There is a huge shortage of Tuthilltown Spirits in NYC right now. Astor Wines, the premiere liquor store in NYC, received their allocation of...4 bottles. Last I checked, there was a letter on the empty shelf apologizing. And John? That is quite a bit of Stagg you have at home. Damn.

I love Cara Cara oranges and eat them peeled. However, the ones I've been getting lately have that annoying center part where there's a ton of tiny segments stuck to the stem end. Right now I'm eating a blood orange which we got on sale for $0.75/each last week from FreshDirect. They're back up to $0.99/each now though.

BTW, you can get from Manhattan to Flushing in 20 minutes using the LIRR. And it's only $3.75 on weekends under the CityTicket program.

There are at least two notable ones in Flushing: Hunan Kitchen of Grand Sichuan 42-47 Main Street Hunan House 137-40 Northern Boulevard (not to be confused with the one on Union St)

Other names to check out: Old Sichuan on Bayard in Manhattan Chinatown Famous Sichuan on Pell St in Manhattan Chinatown Legend in Chelsea Chengdu Heaven (aka Chengdu Tian Fu) in the Golden Shopping Mall in Flushing Little Pepper (aka Xiao La Jiao) in Flushing Bamboo Pavillion (may have a new English name now) in Bensonhurst Grand Sichuan House in Bay Ridge Tung Shin House in Rego Park

I want to like Sweet Revenge more but I find their cupcakes to be really ugly.

Wait, did you not order the montadito of smoked salmon, yogurt cheese, and truffle honey on toast?!

A very limited number of bottles of Mezcalero Release No. 2 have made their way to NYC at Astor Wines. Priced at $69.99, which is comparable to Del Maguey Minero and Chichicapa here.

From the NYT: BARCELONA, SPAIN Ferran Adrià has not abandoned his cultish fans. Not long after he announced that he would close El Bulli, his wildly acclaimed restaurant, in 2012, he and his brother, Albert, signed on with the chefs who own the landmark Spanish seafood restaurant Rías de Galicia. This month, the team plans to open a contemporary tapas bar called Tickets, as well as a cocktail bar, in the Parallel neighborhood. Tickets will be far less formal than El Bulli, though its food and space will embrace a sense of the theatrical, with “stages” set up throughout the restaurant. At one, classic seafood tapas, like red shrimps from Costa Brava and razor shells from Galicia, will be showcased; at another, more-experimental small plates will star, like artichokes with smoked Idiazábal cheese serum. http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/travel/09restaurants.html

The gold standard for a lot of people seems to be sugar frosting piled on high in a giant swirl. Whatever is most Duncan Hines like. And the cupcake acts more like a frosting delivery device than anything else. For that style, Sugar Sweet Sunshine is the best of the Magnolia-esque as long as you avoid the red velvet which has an off taste to me. I love Chikalicious' cupcakes but they are petite and the frosting is whipped. Not super sweet and less impressive looking than Magnolia. I like them a lot but people looking for the Magnolia style and the resulting sugar high are often disappointed. I also like Sage Kitchen (available at Dean & Deluca, large but a more reasonable frosting to cake ratio), Two Little Red Hens (especially chocolate, but they are large), Butter Lane (more natural and organic tasting, not super sweet). Not a fan of Magnolia, Crumbs, Buttercup Bakeshop, Cupcake Stop, Cupcake Cafe, Billy's. Quality control seems to be an issue overall as it's so easy to over-bake a cupcake.

Seriously? You eat it at your desk, like every weekday at your job. Which is why the food trucks all fight for spots around Midtown, noon, Monday through Friday.