Stephanie

Oh yeah, definitely. I got a bad MSG headache when I was there, so bad that I'm reluctant to go back.

Well, I would too if I'd only had the Joyva version. Fresh halvah is wonderful, especially the marble kind or the one with chocolate on top.

Well, the chow mein was definitely there last August. You have to really search all the menus up on the wall--I don't know what heading it's under. Of course, maybe they took it off the menu after all.

If you're feeling really brave, go to Nathan's and get the chow mein on a bun. Or the frog's legs.

That's what they seem to be, anyway. I have no idea as to what else they could be. I like that place because the portions are huge. The $11.75 portion of feijoada could easily have fed three hungry people.

Nigella Lawson's recipe for caramelized onion and lentil pilaf that appeared in last week's NY Times. Even though I had all the right ingredients (including curry leaf--not terribly easy to find), kind of a boring meal. Should have turned up the spice levels even more. The salad I made with it was good: cucumber with a dressing of Greek yogurt, olive oil, dried mint, and fresh parsley. Put me in a spring mood even though we got slushy snow today.

It's Cantina da Lina in Astoria, on 30th Street just north of Broadway. Basically takeout only, though there is a counter with 2-3 stools.

In my neighborhood, there's a tiny Brazilian takeout place run by a husband and wife (she does the cooking, he mans the register). They have daily specials, and Saturday is feijoada day. The version that was presented to me last night was a huge portion of stew with black beans, pork, sausage, shredded collard greens, and BIG pieces of fat, served over rice. It came with toasted yucca flour (that had crispy pork in it) and orange pieces to go on top. It was wonderful, except for the fat chunks, but since I'd never had it I'm wondering how authentic that version really is. What constitutes a "definitive" Brazilian feijoada?

What's wrong with Cool-Whip? It's the perfect accompaniment to Jello. Sometimes you just want pure junk food.

I could have used that knife guard this weekend when I got a nice cut on my thumb as I was using my chef's knife to peel an onion. Thank goodness it wasn't deep enough to require stitches.

I would think white cheese would be the lesser abomination, given that yellow American cheese is probably that color because of food dye.

Well, unfortunately, there isn't. For Ashkenazis observing the rituals, all grains are out, as are legumes such as peas and beans, as well as corn. Anything fermented. And, btw, olives are out as well. And only pickles specially prepared for Passover are permitted. Yup, the list is long.... I have seen Passover noodles, but I don't know what they are made of, and I don't know how they taste. Frankly, if it's not a real noodle, I'm not interested. I have read on several sites that quinoa is OK for Passover. I don't know how strictly observant the people hosting the seder are, so if you make something with quinoa in it you may want to bring printouts from the Web as backup! Barley is always out. I think spelt is very iffy.

Only if your idea of raisins in cereal are those nasty, sugary things found in Raisin Bran. Fresh raisins are a wonderful addition to cereal--they add sweetness so you don't need the extra added sugar. I'm a definite raisin lover--could you tell?

I will be looking forward to my mother's cooking, especially her matzo ball soup, and taking home as many leftovers as possible. I also plan on conniving my way into a few parties; I figure if I plan right, I won't have to cook at all. I detest Passover macaroons, and Passover cookies are only marginally better. My favorite dessert is plain old dark chocolate. At home we always had Kopper's Coffee Beans, which is solid chocolate with coffee in it shaped to look like the beans. Since I'm not really observant the rest of the year, I treat the Passover dietary rules as a test; if I can make it through the 8 days without blatantly eating chametz, I've passed. My rule is: if I can read the list of ingredients, I will avoid products with chametz, but I will not ask the person behind the counter if the soda they're serving me is made with corn syrup or what oil they cooked the fries with.

I too, enjoyed the meal very much. I have nothing further to add regarding the decor and the piss-poor acoustics (I had to shout at the people sitting next to me, urgh). Regarding B, I don't think we were necessarily meant to consume all the sauce. Since it was not covering the tuna, some could have been left to the side. But, it did complement the tuna well in small doses, I thought. The pan-seared sea bass had an interesting smoky aftertaste, as if it had been grilled rather than seared. The black cod with miso was absolutely heavenly. I know that many other restaurants have this dish on their menus now, but I can't see how any of them would surpass Nobu's version. There was an exact balance of sweet and salty, of fat and flesh. As for the sushi, I have had better elsewhere. And there was way too much wasabi on a couple of pieces. For the record, they gave us amberjack, tuna, king salmon, Japanese snapper, and an unagi roll. The addition of clams in the miso was unexpected, at least to me. Interestingly, they didn't provide spoons with the soup--the waiter said that in Japan people just pick up the bowl and slurp it, like tea. But all in all, it was a lovely, relaxing evening with fun, lively company. Now I can say I've been to Nobu!