tommy

prick stole my line, again. i quit.

and there's nothing quite like the chill that mother nature throws on water. to the bone, so to speak. there's a natural spring near Edison, NJ, of all places. i'm not sure if anyone tests the water anymore, but people line up to fill their jugs. if i'm in the area, i'll stop by for a refill on a bottle, much to mrs. tommy's chagrin. ahhhhh.

can you *feel* that it's the king of beers? this new bottle is very exciting for me. a subtle faux finish of sorts. the insides, however, remain as sweet and crappy as ever. gotta love it.

food and wine at food and wine if you're into that type of thing.

oh, it's only like, the only thai cookbook/reference you'll ever need. a-duh.

nockerl, but you and i are not the average diner. if you're talking about the impression that it makes on the average diner, then i'm totally in agreement with you. they also like to see a sprig of parsley on the side of their plates because it's so "fancy." my point about the ryland inn, of course, was to suggest that there's a good chance that if something blew across the lawn, the staff might not notice it. and if i did happen to notice it before they sent their people out to pick it up, drawing conclusions about the cleanliness of the kitchen would be ignorant. additionally, i'm under the impression that bathroom attendants aren't hired, but rather work for free and live on tips. it's, if anything, a *cheap* way of the restaurant to handle a dirty bathroom problem, and, to me, doesn't suggest anything about how much they care about their restaurant, their customers, or their workers. i'm off to get a haircut. see you in 3 hours.

nockerl, so you know enough about restaurants to know that it's not an indicator. fair enough. that's what i was hoping to hear. i addressed this in a earlier post. what does the condition of the bathroom have to do with the common sense of an employee? those who don't wash their hands tend to not wash their hands in dirty *or* clean bathrooms, whether at work, home, or your house. to me, a dirty bathroom *does not* beg the question, er, in question.

i am so with glenn on this one that it's ridiculous. how 'bout this brain-teaser: a restaurant notices its bathroom is a bit dirty and that they can't keep up with it during peak hours. so they hire a guy to stand in there, accepting dollar tips whilst handing out lollipops and cleaning the bathroom. now the bathroom is always spotless. so, what affect did this have on the cleanliness of the kitchen? i saw a a bit of garbage on the lawn in front of The Ryland Inn the other day. what a filthy kitchen they must have.

suckup Nick i was told last night by a friend of yours that i'm much nicer in person than i am online. but i thought i was pretty nice online. so i guess i'm not. therefore i'll try harder you imbecile.

I noticed your quote. This is Rene, one of the Record's restaurant reviewers (I think I've been doing this for six years). Anyway, if the bathroom is filthy, you have to wonder what's going on in the kitchen. One of the all time top restaurants in North Jersey had a bathroom so bad I actually took photos of it in case no one believed me. I mean, the staff uses these rooms. If they don't want the bathroom or clean the vents (over years) do I really think they are washing their hands? Every detail counts. Rene. rene, be that as it may, a clean bathroom doesn't suggest a clean kitchen. also, conscientious employees will wash their hands regardless of the condition of the bathroom (no soap, of course, is a bad sign), and irresponsible employees will skip washing their hands even in the cleanest of restrooms. i don't put too much stock in the very unscientific deductions than come from surveying a bathroom. note: that quote is from someone who has worked in the industry for some years: "Some people say they judge a restaurant by the cleanliness of the restrooms. Those people are idiots." - unknown also, i enjoy reading your reviews.

BLT. 2 days in a row. (having to season a cast iron pan is a great excuse to make bacon all weekend). coffee. new york times. unhealthy dose of egullet.

dlc, great catch on the wines. i think that i've been thinking so much about mentioning the list that by the time i got around to posting i totally forgot. mentioning LOS without mentioning their list does the restaurant a disservice. quite a list.

robert, in my estimation, Arun is very well known. i live in new jersey, as plotz so gleefully points out (as a character flaw of course of course) and i knew about Arun 6 years ago when i was a wee-foodie-in-training. it's been written up several times in the main stream food mags, and has most likely been mentioned on TV programs. and, it was certainly one of the best thai experiences that i've had (outside of NJ )

but lots of foodstuffs are good. i don't expect them all at the beginning of my meal. or the end for that matter. again, it's probably a separate thread, but i'm just questioning why the free and tasty bread is still served at the beginning of meals, cold or warm.

what salad course!?!?! this, i think, is one of the reasons that there aren't any hard in fast rules about when/how/if bread should be served. i'm still standing by one of my initial points which remains: why serve bread at all???? give me an amuse, get me a glass of sparkling wine, and i've get the perfect start to a meal.

i had the hottest dish of my life recently at lotus of siam. due to some miscommunication with the waiter, our green papaya salad came out "crazy thai spicy" instead of the northern larb. the otherwise (and normally) innocuous looking papaya salad put a hurtin on everyone at the table. tears. red eyes. red faces. the whole deal. the food was brilliant. the waiter was very friendly and went out of his way to make suggestions. i did appreciate that they had a separate "northern thai" menu. i had not seem many of these dishes before. the northern larb was quite different from the version that i'm used to. much deeper in flavor. less spicy. not acidic (no lime juice). quite a good dish. i think i'd get one and one the next time. after lunch i headed over to the hilton for the Star Trek thing. i had a romulun ale at the "geek bar" and felt like a complete idiot. i'll definitely return (to the restaurant).

swallow. and if you're going to spit, it's a good idea to practice (at home) with water. purse the ol' lips and give it a good "pwwut".

cool. let us know either way.

ho hum.

yikes. i just thought "jeesh, i don't remember posting this the other day!?" but it was a year ago. although i don't remember posting it then either. i get my cocktail franks from the butcher. many make their own. right on.

nope. i've driven past it 2,419 times in the past 4 years but never stopped. i've heard good things about it as well. i think there was *some* mention of it here a while back. i bet searching on "clark" might get you somewhere.

the thought of french beer makes me not want to drink beer. my experience has been that it's very hard to find decent beer in france. it's certainly not as ubiquitous as it is here and in many other european countries.

clearly i'm not pulling my weight. i'll try harder. sorry.

nobhill, in las vegas, serves bread on a platter that is kept warm with a sterno type thingie. the bread is baked fresh all day long. nice touch.

to paraphrase helen keller, huh?