tommy

profound insight from someone who probably never met alton and most likely doesn't watch his shows.

welcome, cleo. Cafe Centro, in midtown behind the Met Life building, has decent enough food for midday midweek people watching. same for Django on lex and 46th. i'll second Grove and Miracle Grill, although i don't find the food very moving at either. the cafe at st bart's in midtown is another decent midweek lunch spot if you're looking for sun.

what wine?

the last time i ordered a burger med/rare at Blue Smoke it came out med/well. it was still delicious, however.

what restaurants stood out in your opinion? they all kinda looked the same to me, with the generic white signs and whatnot. i honestly didn't pay much attention to the dress of the servers though. and thanks for telling me about this thing! i had no idea it was happening.

every year, you read literally thousands of stories in the papers about people who were blown up or who blew up their deck from this practice. it has reached epidemic proportions. open your lids, people, for the love of all that is holy, OPEN YOUR LIDS.

great. now i have to take off my jeans for holly too. could't you guys have just arranged a party for this or something? i'm only here for a few days you know.

Can't speak for the Striped Bass, but Carman will be just as happy if you're in your jeans or if you take them off. i was thinking she'd be happier if he took them off. course, i don't know tommy well enough yet. how 'bout now?

so what's the dress "code" like at SB anyway. last night, i was perfectly comfortable in jeans at django. i'm assuming SB requires a bit more, you know, effort on my part. comments?

what the frig is that? should have been "pork sammies", which, i suppose, is pork sandwiches, from that place in that other place with the greens and the aged cheese. i'm on webtv and have no patience for correcting typos and whatnot. :smle:

nice city you people have here. can you do you something about this *&$%#*^$in weather? thanks. crabs at bonk's were real good. django was great to good. cheesesteak was fun. franklin institute was filled wth kids. pork sammy's, striiped bass, and morimoto left. so far, so good. this thread served as our tour guide. thanks again.

that's cool.

you're too pretty to think. you just let tommy do all the thinkin round here and everything will be OK. K?

because you don't add preservatives when ya make them at home? stuff don't grow in that stuff. because it's too acidic. or something. or not.

those "putzes" want to make money so they can have a network. i find your analysis laughable at times.

you be gotting that backwards methinks.

sour grapes.

helena, it's always good to see you come around and drop some sense into the mix.

oh my god, i'm embarrassed to admit it, but i've had various colors of thai chili paste in the fridge for years. i've noticed no difference in flavor, although i do try to buy a new tub about once a year when i think about it. it's not expensive, and if it's available, why not. but certainly at least 2 months. if not a year.

you're missing the irony. but i'm glad we're on the same page.

Fromagerie -- It's been in Rumson for about 30 years. rozrapp, good i stand corrected. however my point that these upscale towns don't necessary have upscale restaurants remains. and judging by toddevan's last post, it's becoming even more clear that he has a hard-on for Montclair, if not the people who choose to live there. you (general) can come to your own conclusions about that.

Tommy, I am not chef David. But I wish I could cook like him, and move to Maine: at least for the Summer. And while I can be clever, somehow I don't think thats what you had in mind. oh poo-poo. i misread and read many things into your post. my bad. that type of thing seems to be going around the internet a lot lately. my apologizes.

this is almost as riveting as reading about cabrales drowning a chicken in maggi sauce.

oh. it seemed like you just felt like taking a swipe at montclair, and by extension, the people who've bought homes there and send their kids to montclair schools. i think you'll see that very few upscale towns have good upscale restaurants. ridgewood - few to none summit - few to none upper saddle river - none westfield - 1 or 2? rumson - none? montclair - few to none etc. what towns *do* get when people are dumping money into the town, is a bunch of middle of the road restaurants, and that's only if they have a "downtown" to support it. although, it's better than no restaurants, that's for sure.

i don't see how the price of homes should be discussed on a food website. but it might be important to note that Montclair is generally accepted as a good place to live, and the last time i looked the real estate market is showing little signs of letting up. not much unlike summit, westfield, chatam, etc, montclair is a bit bullet-proof as far as big swings in real estate go. thai chef used to be such a great little gem. no more. i haven't been to montclair in years. actually, there really aren't many great places in NJ, so montclair is just like the rest. the restaurants appeal to people who don't have very high expectations (although they have higher expectations than most).