tommy

my *god* it's good to see jhlurie back. and i'm not a religious man at all.

larb? tommy like.

this might be a stupid question, but if you shoot those people, aren't you pretty much guarenteeing that they won't ever return? i'm no expert, but that just can't be good for business. how to the rest of the restaurants all over the globe handle this? surely there's a book or something?

jim, thighs are my new favorite part of the chicken. BJ's warehouse sells 'em boneless and skinless for pennies. for flavor and moisture, i don't know why anyone would buy breasts. of course, the boneless skinless thighs are pretty hard to come by, so i find myself with breasts more often than i'd like. i'll probably do the simple and delicious thai chicken thighs this weekend (coco milk, lemongrass, kaffir leaf, fish sauce, honey, and some thai chili paste, then on the grill. yummy)

my birthday is two months away. i'm feeling excluded. i don't think we at egullet need an occasion to write about food. any time is a good time. birthdays, firings, stubbed toe, all fine in my book.

my friend's parents are headed down to Bay Head for july 4th weekend, and they were hoping for some recs. a mix of fine dining, local favs, etc. it has been quite some time since i've been down there, so i was hoping someone could offer some suggestions. my thoughts so far: mike's sub - the best on the planet. stay away from joke baker's, shrimp box, et al. i'm sure someone might mention clark's landing, which to me is simply a bar with a nice view of the river. how's foy's? how about that place on what i guess is rt. 70 going into brick (is it the pilot house or something like that) maybe frank's on 35 south for some clams? thoughts?

and it's got prostitutes. lots of them.

recently had pasta with what amounted to a sea urchin "sauce" with crab meat at esca with another egullet-y person. i thought it was quite good, and i don't usually eat sea urchin. the butteriness and richness of the sea urchin seemed like perfect qualities for a sauce. full disclosure: i mention i was with an egullet-y person to make newbies feel uncomfortable and to send them running for the hills. i don't need no stinkin' new egullet-y people.

i've already got the box, the bike, and the bro locked up in my basement. safe and sound. obligatory on-topic comment: i find the "vitner's blend" zin to be pretty horrible, especially in recent vintages (2000/99 to be exact). their "lodi" bottling is especially nice, and i think a good value at 13 bucks or less.

my feelings are hurt and now i don't wanna play. i'm going home.

great, and i had pizza and watched the sopranos for the 100th time. i'll have to re-evaluate my priorities the next time this thing comes around.

i second that emotion. although, i haven't noticed much "one-on-one" btwn customer and butcher. their smaller store, which is in, ummm, i'm not sure, provides a more personal touch, but probably isn't as well stocked.

i am sooo looking foward to hearing about this. with any luck, there is a laptop next to the stove, and y'all will remember the rest of us who couldn't make it and post some details asap. next time, we need to hook up an egulletcam. a live feed from the kitchen. now that would be some "must see tv."

i got a sandwich at Sub Base (paterson) today, after all of the hype in the bergen record. in theory, it's a good sandwich (cold cuts, lettuce, onion, tomato, o/v, oregano, s/p). however, somewhere btwn theory and execution, something goes wrong. the sandwich was anemic. it suffered from too little meat and it was a bit underseasoned. i added more vinegar and oregano to give it some oomph. the menu had lots of non-sub items, like taylor ham and egg sandwiches and all types of stuff that would no doubt be awesome after a good drinking session. although i don't think they're open very late. below ther are photos of the sandwich. as you can see, you can barely make out the meat. compare this to jersey mike's (click me). the photo on jersey mike's website is actually what the sandwich looks like. edit: hopefully the pics work now. click these stupid things. ugh, this stuff never works for me! http://www.imagestation.com/mypictu....son%201 ]http://www.imagestation.com/mypictu....rl]

re: corkage fee. you should not find a BYO in NJ charging one.

on my last trip out, which was about a year ago, we stayed in sonoma. however, we spent one day in napa. i found that this worked out nicely. napa still has some bright spots. it's not *all* bad.

thankfully wilfrid's old ears are decaying by the minute. huh?

nick: yawn. tell me something i don't know.

no problem.

sterling up on the hill is ok. it's a fun tram ride at the very least. there is an italian sounding winery right at the enterance of sonoma. i'll try to remember the name. at any rate, it's a nice place for lunch. it's rather large, but they have plenty of tables that overlook a valley. also, they have lots of prepared foods and breads and all sorts of stuff to eat. it's good in a pinch, that's for sure. it's not a "spread out a blanket under a tree" kind of place, but it was enjoyable. david bynum in sonoma is off the beaten track, and had a couple of decent wines. nothing much to the room or the grounds, but the wine was good.

have you tried cubby's in hackensack?

patience, young grasshopper.

you can afford neither my taste nor my opinion.

ok paul, well let's just try to get your act together tonite, aye?

paul, make sure you're comparing apples with apples. ravenswood makes countless zins. at 16.99, i'm pretty sure that wasn't their standard "vintners blend", but probably one of their county bottlings like "sonoma". personally, i prefer "lodi", which is usually a couple of bucks less than sonoma and their others in the 13-20 dollar range.