IrishCream

Yeah...that is what I am now thinking. Your lesson makes me have a craving for risotto (though I have never tasted it!). I'll just scoop out half for him and put cheese in the rest.

Hmmm...well fried turkeys are also soooooooo over! Thank goodness, because they were never very good to start with. Yeah, they are juicy, but that juice is fat, folks. Fried turkeys are greasy! (And yes, I lived in Houston for the past 20 years and I am married to a Cajun.) If you see it on Food TV you can figure it's soooooo over. Me, I am sticking with brining. Edit to add: The skin on fried turkeys sucks...so if you are a crisp skin fan, don't bother.

Great lesson! I never make risotto because my husband does not eat cheese (nor does he eat seafood so a seafood risotto won't work). Is there any way to leave the cheese out of risotto and still have a passable product? Anything that can substitute?

Ummm...I think both chains are godawful. But I guess you need to discover that for yourselves. You have the best delis in the world! What I wouldn't give for NY deli right now. Sigh...

I only had a croissant..........and dare I say.....shrug. The best part was I asked for butter and they had it and it was good butter.

What a great tip, marie-louise. Thank you. I have read about "dry gardening", but have yet to taste the results. I'll be watching for those tomatoes. In case I can't find them...where is the Market Hall?

Which is exactly what I did 7 weeks ago. It was also amusing to watch the staff arrive in jeans and old tees carrying their service clothes on hangers...but then, I am easily amused. Though if you are trying for a weekend night , you might want to arrive a bit earlier. I got there at 9 and was the 2nd person in line. By 9:45 there were about 20 or so people waiting...don't know if they all got reservations. Edit to add: for those, like bilrus, who can't just drive up to FL, the first thing to do is try to get a reservation on open table starting at midnight (I believe but am not sure Pacific Time) on the calendar date two months ahead of time. (I wonder what happens if you want a reservation for 11/31?) If that doesn't work start calling at at 9:30 am PT. But I confess, I tried the calling for weeks before I gave up and drove up there. The really, really safest thing would be to "bribe" an eGer who lives in the neighborhood to run over for you. I am a 2 hour round trip away, sorry.

In fact, I have heard that Charles Shaw wine is manufactured by one of the "Wine in a Box" companies.

I am shocked to hear you say that your Calphalon warped. I have pieces that are 20 years old and they have never warped, even under broiler heat. Were you putting them in the dishwasher?

I heard about the grape glut last year but I never saw it reflected in the prices at the many vinyards I visited in Napa (just moved here a year ago). So what is the deal? Why didn't they lower their prices in the midst of a glut?

Just want to enter a vote for Calphalon. I have been using Calphalon commercial for years. It is not non-stick but food rarely sticks. I love it for it's even heating and cooking capabilites, and it's ease from the stove top to the oven no matter how high the temp. But also it's relatively light weight. I recently set out to buy a very big casserole roaster and intended to buy a Le Crueset. Until I picked it up and thought about how much it would weigh with a 10 pound roast inside. Yikes! I stuck with Calphalon and it is performing beautifully. And Calphalon really develops a wonderful fond...so nice for deglazing. Also, I have cooked many a tomato sauce in my pans and never encountered an off odor or bad taste. I haven't encountered any food that reacts badly with it as I have with cast iron, for example.

Carolyn...after thinking about it for a while I was going to suggest that you go to the Slanted Door. Thank Goddess, I just checked their website. Their prices have doubled since the eG dinner there last February! I am in shock. But I still think there may be better places for a really good, relatively inexpensive meal...than anything at Belden Place.

Alison Cook left the Press after winning a James Beard Journalism award for one of her reviews. After the award she was hired by one of the big magazine publishers, perhaps Conde Nast? Houston is very, very lucky to have her back, if indeed she is. I never ate at the restaurant in question (it wasn't there when I left a year ago)....I always headed for Garson's for Persian. Loved the fact they brought out complimentary fresh-baked flat bread, with onions, radishes, "herbs" and feta. Made Garson's a good value along with the attentive service, nice atmosphere (quiet), and IMO good food. Sometimes I miss Houston! edit to say: the prices at Bijan sound fantastic...go before they raise the prices after a good review in the Chronicle!

Shortly after moving to the Bay Area last September, we discovered Smith Family Farm in Brentwood. Their u-pick vegies were/are 50 cents/lb. That included row after row of gorgeous heirloom tomatoes, such as Flames, Brandywines, Purple Cherokees, etc. We drove out to the farm this past weekend expecting to pick more than we could ever eat...but they had no heirlooms for picking! They don't stake their tomatoes, so the heirlooms were devestated by late rains in April and cool weather through June. They did have plenty of "regular" tomatoes, plus cukes, and many varieties of peppers, squash and eggplants. Their farm stand has good-looking heirloom tomatoes for $1/lb. Also, for anyone planning to make Suvir's Tomato Chutney, the farm stand has 25 pound+ boxes of ripe tomatoes for $6 per box. Sigh, I was going to make the chutney this year but after moving two weeks ago I am too discombobulated! Maybe in a few weeks...

I've eatan lunch at Cafe Bastille....the mushroom crepes weren't bad but the real treat was the people watching. If you do a search for Plouf you will find that some eG members swear by the mussels there.

Who is bringing the buns?

Stone...have you tried La Tortilla Factory's low-carb "flour" tortillas? They come in several flavors and are available at all the supermarkets around here (they are located just north of the Bay Area). For a quick snack or lunch...just spread them with soft cheese like Boursin, layer with deli meat and vegies, and roll up and slice. Also, discover the joy of turnips. They can do anything a potato can do. Dice them and fry for really good home fries...mash just like mashed potatos...or roast.

Great work, Mark. A few comments. They say chiles can do no harm to your body but....many years ago I grew some supposedly Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers from seedlings I picked up at a nursery. The first time I cut into one I could tell it was flaming hot. I touched the cut edge to my lip, and blisters rose on my lips! I never dared to eat them for fear of what they would do to my insides! To counter that, I have not had time yet to write the Digest on the new Chile Pepper magazine but it has an interesting article. Apparently, for many years Drs. thought that frequent chile pepper consumption could be a cause of stomach ulcers. New research shows quite the opposite: that not only may chiles be a deterrent to ulcers, but maybe even a cure! Nothing definitive yet, but interesting. I am glad you explained about how one's toleration for chiles can increase. In the last 20 years I have gone from being able to eat nothing hotter than a poblano (with the seeds removed) to enjoying Habanero salsa (in small quantities)!

Thanks, Jack. On your instructions for garlic butter, did you really mean one head of garlic to a stick of butter? I usually use 3-4 cloves and it is quite powerful stuff!

I am lucky that my mother is a great cook. I always say that she didn't teach me how to cook (she didn't want anyone else in the kitchen)...she taught me how to recognize what tastes good. As an adult on our, unfortunately, infrequent get-togethers, I love cooking with her. I play sous chef...and keep my mouth shut when she does things differently than I would. I am going to be home in October and have already told her we are cooking "fillings" together. "Fillings" are an old family recipe, basically cabbage leaves stuffed with raw ground pork and cooked rice, then cooked for hours in a dark brown roux with shredded cabbage and saurkraut. Luckily I don't have a cholesterol problem!

Steve, I didn't mean be rude. I was being rushed out of the house. I sincerely apolgize to anyone whom I may have offended. And I'll start looking for the other reviews now and post back when I find them. And you are correct, I first read about El Bulli right here on eG.

The reviews I mentioned are available to anyone with Google. An Example:WIne Country Living. I don't have time right now to search for others. Just because I ask if the food is delicious, I am subject to not being worthy of eating there? That seems a little harsh. It was a genuine question. And I probably will eat there...the problem for me is convincing my husband who has been googling like mad in an attempt to avoid what he fears will be an unenjoyable meal.

I am planning a trip to Europe next year and I have seriously considered Spain as a destination just to eat at El Bulli. But as I have surfed the web doing research, I have encountered many reviews which say that most of the food goes uneatan...it is sent back to the kitchen because...it just isn't very tasty. While I love the idea of eating avante garde food, if it isn't delicious, why bother? So that is my question...is the food truly delicious?

Sorry Jess, that I missed this part. Congratulations! Will this be a girl? (I seem to recall you talking about the toilet seat problems...drives me crazy).

For me the classic eating contest will always be the "Barfarama", in Steven King's "Stand By Me". If you haven't seen it, it is worth renting at the video store....a great coming of age movie.