tommy

what about restaurants without sommeliers (which i'd imagine greatly outnumber those with)? i can imagine that a sommelier might very well know exactly what all of his wines should taste like (although i can imagine that's not a huge percentage of restaurants), but what about the situation where the guest knows more about what the wine should taste like than the sommelier?

allan, what's the "Steak" aspect to the restaurant? The Monster Sushi in NYC (with which i assume you're associated), don't carry that "steak" label in their name, nor do i recall any steak at those places. thanks.

i have a hard time seeing clothing fashion trends the same way i see shifts in culture towards food and interest in cooking/dining. i bet there are a lot more people making better meals at home these days than there were 10 years ago. i don't think that's a fad that going to die down. nor do i think chef's tables will fade away. granted, as more and more people have had the experience, there will be less and less that will kill themselves to get that table. but it's clearly more than a fad.

i have no ideas. you're welcome. seriously though, i've only ever had it marinated (or not), and served rare with a nice crust. could you consider a tartare with this cut? probably pretty chewy. would a vietnamese-influenced cubed (seared) beef over vermicelli with some herbs and a light dressing of lime juice/fish sauce/sugar be reasonable?

i don't know what it is either, other than it offends my sense of logic. the old thread isn't nasty, but rather quite entertaining.

what happened? it's really fatty and tough.

i will never again grind a chuck roast into hamburger.

Do you cook in your bathroom? no, but i eat off my floor.

only if you assume that the same people who are cleaning the kitchen are cleaning the bathroom, and beyond that, that they have the same standards for each. i sure hope the line cooks ain't scrubbing toilets in the middle of service.

my kitchen is cleaner than my bathroom.

why don't you name it ambra? i gotta wonder about a bar that smells like piss that "thrives".

no one? seems that the percentage of people who would rather eat in a wine cellar/kitchen is pretty low.

for what it's worth, i'm sure i saw you, as there were only about 4 people there btwn 8 and 9. one of which was the allman brother. i suppose you were sitting at the end? or were you by the sushi chefs.

when do you think this "trend" will be over?

That made me laugh out loud i only ask because there was a couple at the sushi bar (one of 2 as i recall), and the dude had really long hair. we figured it could have been you guys, and refered to him as "the allman brother" during subsequent trips out there to try to find you. the ark didn't seem to smell of anything but beer. although i wasn't paying that much attention, as i was so caught up in the moment.

i just saw someone on another website saying that that they put cucs in the left-over juice from their vlasics or claussens or whatever. i suppose in theory *something* would happen. has anyone tried this?

i've been eating Claussen kosher dills for as long as i can remember. still love 'em. never had strub's. but if i see them i'll try them.

i figured i'd try this place. what the hell, right? wasn't too bad. the pad thai was a little on the bland side for my friend, although i don't mind it leaning that direction, rather than the gloppy sweet direction. a chicken in green curry dish was passable, although there wasn't a lot of chicken in it. beef with basil, on the other hand, was plentiful. a pork salad was not very good at all. bland dressing. just a bit of pork. i expected charred pork, but it wasn't. the dish just didn't have much flavor. although we proclaimed it "a nice summer salad". the restroom was shiny and clean. the parking lot is tiny. so much so that with only 2 other tables, the lot was filled. i'm not sure where you'd park other than that lot. the waitress was exceedingly attractive. i won't go out of my way, but if i find myself down in that area, i might be tempted to try it again, if only to get another gander at the nice waitress. certainly not a destination spot, though.

lamb, does your husband look like an allman brother?

what means "nature boy"?

it seems to me that if you truss, you're making the legs into a more compact mass, which suggests to me that it would take longer to cook. i don't think i buy the trussing argument. can anyone explain how it helps the meat cook quicker?

looks like a chain steakhouse type place. website looks rather intersting, but i'm guessing it's pretty pricy. they claim to have about 100 wines by the glass, from 5 to 15 bucks. that's pretty promising. they seem relatively into wine, and their wine list is listed by variety, and then by increasing body and flavor. good for them.

well, we ended up hitting the following: frankie's in PPB. i love this place. had some clams and oysters Broadway. this used to be an old-man's/fisherman's bar when i lived down there. now it's a little nicer, but still pretty dumpy (during the day at least). The Off Shore. this place has been here at least 20 years. seems they've remodeled. they have a pretty good bar pie, but the wine list is sad. Jenks. it was raining and there was not a soul on the boardwalk. my friend had some crab claws for some reason, and they were bad. really bad. we couldn't get the smell out of our minds for days. martells. the front bar was open, and dead of course. the Ark. another favorite that i stop at whenever in town. something that used to be called "the blue whale" or something like that (behind burger king on 35 south). pretty much a locals place, still. westside tavern. point boro. right over the bridge on 88. i forget what this used to be called. however, i believe the building is a historic landmark, so they had to build around it when they built that bridge back in 79 or whatever it was. hopping place with a lot of young locals. idle hour. point boro on 88. this place has been here for years as well. definitely still a locals place. the sawmill in seaside. great pizza at this place. surprisingly jumping for a rainy night when the rest of the boardwalk was closed. bum rogers was closed. berkeley was open. the next day bum's was open. the bartender was shucking some clams in front of us, and boom, that smell from the night before came back to haunt us. bad clams. damn that's a disgusting smell. it reminded me of why i didn't eat seafood until my 20's. growing up "down the shore" i was subjected to miles of rotting, fly infested fish on the beach every day. and it smelled just like that. top of the mast. the bartender was pulling out some crabs, which were clearly from at the very least the night before (and since it had been raining for 3 weeks straight, maybe from 3 weeks before), and we told him the story of our 2 hits of bad seafood. he smelled the crabs and threw them right in the garbage. i think we saved someone's life. went on that slingshot ride on the boardwalk at seaside. damn, that's one awesome ride. and also another "premium" ride that was like a big ferris wheel with only one car. this thing must have gone around in a circle at 100 mph. it was quite amazing. made our way to the tiki bar. pretty crowded. had some fried food, as we didn't want to chance anything raw. lots of drunk and strange people there. we had a nice time giving everyone nicknames and commenting on their actions. one middle-aged fellow who was dancing with himself a la an SNL skit was particularly entertaining. and then the "dancing broad" who was dancing with anything and everything that would pay attention to her was quite amusing. this is what lonely guys do when ladies won't talk to them. looked for lamb at the sushi bar several times, but had no idea what she looked like, so that wasn't very successful. stopped in at what is now called "stretch's" on broadway. this used to be a faux-irish place. now it's just a normal bar, which means it's the same but without green walls. seemed like a fun young crowd. it was a long coupla days as you might imagine. thanks for the recs!

i love Linden's chocolate chip. probably because that's what my school system carried when i was growing up. sometimes they're soft, sometimes they're hard. doesn't matter. good either way.

no buns. forks.