tommy

bottled water. But what else did you change at that time? i think a lot of things changed btwn 6 and 28. can't pinpoint any particulars at this time, however.

bottled water.

cool. i stand corrected on the TV's.

it is terribly wasteful. especially if you don't recycle. i've been saying for years that they should make flourinated bottled water a standard. i've been reading about the tooth decay issue for a while now, and all evidence suggests that there's a real problem here. i didn't have a cavity until i was about 28 yrs old. i can only think that the water was helping.

that's pretty neat. although i've only been going there for about 15 or so years, i feel it's a very important part of my life, probably like this guy does. quite a place.

indeed. and they apparently are planning on changing the name soon.

but people *did* vote for An American Grill, and it still hasn't been in.

i'm pretty much in +1.

all of batali's restaurants do it, so it's not unprecedented. of course i have no idea if Blue Ribbon does it too, but i'm guessing they are regular pours of the 6 ounce variety. anyone know for sure?

nah, i'm just guessing about the TVs. actually, yes, several times. i like their burgers very very much. although they can sometimes be a bit overdone (but still juicy). i'm not a fan of BBQ in general i suppose, but i do like doing to Blue Smoke for that burger of theirs. and then off to the Rodeo for margaritas and music.

i don't think there are. why don't you go there for the meal, and then head out to somewhere else for your TV fix? hmm? ehhh? edit: yeah, there are 2 TVs per macrosans below post.

any sunday you want to take a drive up the Turnpike you just give me a holler.

a clear case of costcoitus. stay away for a month or two and it might clear up. edit: that was painfully unfunny. it's been a slow day.

wouldn't one categorize wine as a "sweet" drink? yes yes, there are varying amounts of sugar in different wines. but there's sure more sugar in a white burgundy than there is in diet pepsi.

But they do the math each and everytime, at least where I work. tommy have you ever served? well then they should realize that they not only got 15%, but also $70, which is more than what they would have gotten had the table ordered a 40 dollar bottle. yes, i've served. not that this matters.

server folk don't have to do any math in their head other than knowing what they got as a tip was quite possibly still higher than the other tables. i just can't sympathize with someone who is getting a 70 dollar tip, and one that equates to 15%, as in my above example. if a server has a problem with that, he/she might consider a different line of work.

can i plead the 5th? wanted to use peanut, but used vegetable. not sure if that splatter thing is going to help, though. i mean, the shit didn't splatter up to my second floor, did it?

calling people names isn't going to help. food for 2: 250 bottle of wine: 200 tip on food at 20%: 50 tip on wine at 10%: 20 total bill for food and wine: 450 total tip for food and wine: 70 computed tip at approx 15.5% of total bill. i don't see a problem here.

i'm assuming the book is based on participants' reviews. perhaps people in other parts of the state have been more proactive in participating in zagats.

what Rock said. lou, i'm getting to it...k?

ah. because i was going to suggest that those bricks and stone draw moisture from the dough to aid in crisping. something that cast iron clearly cannot do. nickn, don't forget the oregano. it's the single most important ingredient in english muffin pizzas.

i'm sure we'll have our fill of hogs by then, so we should probably avoid shakers.

i fried the whole bird (in 1/8 ths) tonite in a cast iron pan for the first time ever. yes, i'im quite pleased with the results. Popeye's can go #%(* themselves. this is where it's at. i got that dark brown crusty part on the parts too. love it. although, i'm told the whole house "smells like Burger King." with the benefit of hindsight, perhaps this wasn't such a hot idea.

and i'm said i'd use this approach. "really officer, i'm fine. i've just been drinking beer all night. didn't touch a drop of wine!"

I wanted to track down an Alton Brown item before I replied. I finally found it on page 50 of I'm Just Here For the Food. Rather than paraphrase, I think I can get away with an attributed quote: Now, he doesn't mention crust per se, but AB fans will queue up to testify to his affection for things crusty. Since reading this, I have refrained from oiling, just to see if he's right. I get everything else: color, quadrillage and release. But I don't get much of a crust (except on the grill marked areas, unless the steak has been treated with a marinade of some sort. And then, it's probably sugars in the marinade that are crusting, not sugars in the meat proteins. To further confuse things, I still do oil meat if it's going to be pan-roasted, to ensure good heat transfer between the meat and the pan surface. In these cases, I do get crustage. But I can't draw any conclusions. Two different applications, two different treatments. Finally, we have a theory that high smoke-point oils develop better crusts than their less temperate brethren. This seems counter-intuitive to me -- think about pan-fried chicken or frites, where low-smoke-point oils like shortening and lard promote crust formation better than highly refined oils. On the other hand, this is in association with large volumes of complex carbohydrates, not the relatively small (but obviously still significant) quantites of sugar bound up in protein. I couldn't find any theory that attempted to explain how smoke point might affect crust formation. The only possibility that occurs to me is that applied high-smoke-point fat acts as an insulator, allowing the surface protein to dehydrate more fully without overcooking it. A low-smoke fat would burn instead. And no fat at all would let the meat overcook. The outlines of an experiment seem pretty clear. We test for the difference in crust between oiled and unoiled (but salted) meat, then between different types of oil. Then we might need to test some oils against salted only. FInally, we would need to test grapeseed oil against another high-smoke-point oil, like safflower or avocado, to make sure there's not something particular in grapeseed oil (perhaps free fatty acid content, or mono/polyunsaturated balance) that creates the effect. I figure I need 24 each 1-1/2-inch thick strip sirloins to conduct the experiment. I'm willing to do the cooking and eating, if someone else will contribute the meat. i love your posts.