tommy

michelob is fun. it brings me back to when i was young. it's so 70's. with that paper all around the neck and over the cap. you gotta love it.

i recall that i drank a lot of luke-warm Piel's in college (at 6 bucks a warm case it was terribly cost-effective), and it was particularly disgusting. a mixture of overcooked cabbage and sulfur. loverly.

perhaps they had no-shows, in which case it certainly isn't thier fault. or perhaps they didn't have enough staff to handle you at 1 but they knew someone else would be available by 1.30? it's a tricky business that reservation-taking stuff is.

that's what someone above said. phaelon i think. since i was on the road and it was a last minute thing, i stopped at the village gourmet to pick up wine. it was a Ridge something or another, which was a blend of primarily zin. suitable, i thought, for the dinner, and at 15 bucks you really can't get hurt. i was fully expecting the village gourmet to gouge on the prices, but they seemed fair across the board. fyi, france isn't very well represented at that wine shop. the village gourmet, as you might expect, was packed, with people for some reason enjoying the stir-fries, steaks, seafood, pasta with red sauce, and whatever hell else they have on the menu these days.

so i searched on "mignon" to see if there was a Mignon thread, and there is, but there's not discussion of Mignon on it! well, very little at least. anyway, i was going to a korean place in rutherford last week, and drove past mignon. i had heard about it, but kinda forgot about it. a few nights later, we decided to try it. the place is casual and nicely decorated. hip and not stuffy at all. the waitstaff was eager to please, and did a very good job. we started with a crabcake app. 2 small crabcakes, served with some fried potato strips over a small salad on the side. the salad was limp and had some sort of gloppy mayo-based dressing on it. the salad was completely unnecessary and detracted from the dish, both flavor-wise and visually. the dish woul have been served better with a small salad of crisp greens lightly dressed in an acidic dressing. the crabcakes, however, were very good. mrs. tommy loves crabcakes, but hates all crabcakes (yeah, i don't understand it either), but she approved of these. filet mignon was cooked perfectly as ordered (m/r). with a nice crust on the outside, and beautiful red and pink inside. mashed potato and sauteed mushrooms were ordered as sides, and both were passable. 2 of these large sides is too much for only 2 people, however, so i would order only one the next time i go with a group of less than 3 (i guess that would be 2). there were several cuts of meat available on the menu, including rib eye, a porterhouse for 2, and sirlion if i recall. the total for the above was about 80 dollars before tip if i recall. perhaps in the 70's. amex.com is down right now so i can't check. the most appealing part of this restaurant for me is the fact that it's BYO. i can't think of any other steakhouse where you can bring your own wine. and steak, to me at least, is one of those things that you sometimes can't duplicate at home. it's nice to be able to bring whatever you want and save some cash at the same time. i can't speak to the quality of the meat here since i have only had the filet. i'm not sure the other cuts are dry aged or anything special at all. but, all things considered, i'll return.

i should also note that the village green is not inexpensive, with a rack of lamb at 34 dollars, and most apps/salads at 10 or 12. ediot: i keep interchanging "village green " (ridgewood) with "village gourmet" (rutherford) on egullet, in speech, and in my head.

jeez hank, i'm flattered that i made an impression on you. i forget what kind of stemware zarole has, but i would expect at their prices that they are at least reasonable...but certainly not as good as bringing your own. i have been carrying glasses with me for a few weeks now, but haven't needed to use them. the village green in ridgewood has *passable* glasses (though not ideal), and my cup of tea in allendale has very good stemware, offering red *and* white. i'm glad to hear that zarole is "getting better." my one trip there was not good enough for me to return, especially at 110 bucks at a BYO. however, i'll need to give it another shot. speaking of the village green, i'm finding that place to be a pretty good option in ridgewood. although it doesn't get the press that 28 oak and zarole get, i'd put it right up there.

does the Pope wear a funny hat?

i'm rather sloppy with vegetables and fruits, i don't sanitize boards enough after handling chicken, and i've never gotten ill by my own hand, as far as i know. with all of the time i've spent in the kitchen, i can't help but think the odds are pretty low. however, some need to be more careful than others, as some of what lives in a kitchen can kill some people.

i can never get bored with reading about babbo.

stealing isn't very nice.

i've never seen that happen. quite the opposite in fact. there is always a contigent that doesn't bring anything yet ends up drinking anyway. well, perhaps this group is different. suvir, i'll be sure to arrive already half in the bag.

you're not invited anyway. being a NJ person, 7.30 is better for me.

my pleasure.

pizza sucks. peasant food.

i think that's being bit presumptuous. perhaps there will be enough non-meat dishes to satiate those who choose to not eat meat.

ok then.

some ravenswood lodi zin (aka, grape juice) earlier, and now a beck's light. tasty, refershing, and only 140 calories. quite a bargain. and a bottle of poland spring.

i suppose the subtlety of my humor was too evasive?

i think i'm drunk again. i love you man...

you see, now *that* was funny.

now on 40th off of 9th. still dirty.

am i sensing some sort of larb movement in the northwest? if so, i'm honored and thrilled to be a part of it, even if it's just virtually.

worth purchasing, adam?

wilfrid, i'd appreciate your input on your sloppy joe experience. please consider describing your first go-around with joe.