tommy

i'm all about the ramekins for prep. r-gal, what's a "tomato knife"? i call that a bread knife in my house!

oh man, before i got the mortar and pestle, i was doing all kinds of crazy things to grind spices. after i got it, i got way into grinding spices and soon realized that it totally sucked having to do it all by hand. and then the electric spice grinder came into play. ahhhh. there's nothing more satisfying than blazing through a cup of coriander, cumin, and fennel seeds in about 40 seconds. :)

i have several pepper mills, one of which does a nice job of cracking coursely. if i need more control over the size, i generally use a mortar and pestle. a couple of whacks in a spice grinder does the trick too, but with less consistent results.

i invite everyone over to my house, so that you may all pee in my pool. every drop counts. if i'm not home, please leave a (biodegradable) plastic bottle filled with urine on the porch. thank you. regards, tommy

i'm confused. doesn't a decent peppermill do a fine job of cracking pepper into various forms?

absolutely. but i'd make sure i tell the manager that i'm going to the restroom and that i'm flushing the toilet 3 times. at a gallon a piece, they just lost all of the conservation they would have had for the entire night. well, almost anyway.

it's a good thing that i don't go to any of those mediocre restaurants, because if i did, i'd have to stop due to this asinine stance.

the NYT's Dining Out section has a little blurb about restaurants lowering their bottled water prices. the blurb mentions DB bistro moderne, which lowered the price "one whole dollar, to $7". apparently Lure is giving each table a free bottle of water. Yvonne, is that OK? ;)

if you're going to little saigon for dinner, i'd call for reservations. it's small, and it gets filled up. and don't forget that it's byob if you plan on wine or beer with dinner. i've only been to tao for lunch, but i've heard dinner is very much the meat market. i can only imagine.

little saigon is on franklin ave in nutley (the main drag). very close to montclair. cheap and byo. i went to deja vu twice when it opened. it was always too crowded for me, although i remember the food being pretty tasty for the most part. i can't deal with le colonial, if only because it's so expensive and the food just isn't that good. i think 20-somethings on expense accounts find it very exciting. i'd much rather go to a hole-in-the-wall vietnamese place for much better food. there is a place called vermicelli up on 2nd ave and 76th or so. is a tiny tiny bit "upscale" vietnamese, but it's very good. and they have a decent enough wine list, which you don't find at the typical hole in the wall. there is good thai on first ave at about 49th/50th if you're in that area. i forget the name, but find it pretty damned good for that area. also, you might want to look into Tao, on 58th btwn mad and park. it's "asain", which means sushi, thai, chinese, vietnamese, et al. it's actually quite good, and the room is stunning. best if on someone else's dime.

i've recently realized that fresh ground black pepper and the typical "powered" stuff that i grew up with are two completely different animals, each with its own applications. yes, i have a new found respect for the sawdust stuff.

two words: china 46. probably not more than 25 minutes from montclair. there are various discussions on this place including this link. Click me you'll never have the urge to go to chengdu again. you see, i care so little about the place that i probably can't even spell it. i agree with your assessment of thai chef. they are a victim of themselves. and don't forget little saigon in nutley for the best vietnamese in the state.

c u at jimmy's. ;)

probably not what you're looking for, but perhaps helpful on some level: zagat's puts out a "nightlife" guide, not much unlike its restaurant guide. it has a category for "beer specialists" or something of that sort. also, the Time Out New York Eating and Drinking guide has a "Bars" section with some detailed reviews. newyork.citysearch.com has some info that might be worth browsing under "nightlife", where you can choose "brewpub" which gives you a list of bars that probaby care about beer. or you could just keep going to jimmy's and not worry too much about it. :D

i've never heard of such a thing. i *would* literally collapse if i didn't have my several pints of water throughout the day.

obviously the wrong place for me to ask, but do you believe that a bottle benefits from "breathing" if it remains in the bottle uncorked for 30 minutes?

it seems like there are so many interesting places down that way. why can't they migrate norf!?!?!?

many times, after asking for my 5th refill, the server will bring a carafe over. :D and i now see that rachel just posted about a carafe and a 3rd refill, so it's going to seem like i copped her idea. ;)

i think one specific day a week is a bit too restrictive, and the state probably recognizes that. "written permission" was obviously an exaggeration of fact, and one that doesn't alter the validity of my point. if you watch TV, read the paper, or have in general have contact with humans, you're aware of the drought. forbidding servers to refill or ask if you want water under the guise that it will raise awareness is silly. or rather, believing that it will actually raise awareness is silly. eh, they're both pretty silly if you ask me.

how could you possibly enforce a once a week rule? i'd imagine the odd/even system has been set up because 1) it will, in fact, cut back on watering, since it is enough of an inconvenience that people might skip a day or two that they normally wouldn't 2) driving past someone's house is all you need to do to know if they are breaking the rule as far as raising the awareness of the public by not being able to refill water glasses without their expressed written permission, well that notion seems plain silly.

that sux!! did you notice the prices on the beer, and if they had any wine at all?

i don't think i would generalize and say that jersey is faster or slower. and i also wouldn't generalize that all new york restaurants are too slow. (i know you weren't serious) i've obviously found a mix of both in both states. but generally, i do find that the food comes out too fast in NYC, which may be a function of the types of places i often find myself frequenting (mid-range stuff). sure, jean georges and daniel will keep you sitting, but more often than not, your zoes, soho steaks, ethnic type places, miracle grills, ruby foos, etc, are prone to having really crappy timing, erring towards the quick end of the spectrum.

agreed. even at places in NYC that you'd expect decent service from this is the case. i am *very* careful to not order any food until the wine has been presented, opened, and poured. sending back food is problematic unfortunately. this brings up different issue: have you ever ordered apps first and purposely waited before ordering entrees? i find myself doing this often as i'm much better at pacing my meal than the kitchen is.

i'll give ya that much. we'd all be better off if people generally weren't so damned ignorant and lazy.

whoever thought of this absurd policy should be shot. the automatic pour/can't offer thing is just ridiculous. i have *much* less of a problem with marketing (gasp) than i do these tools coming up with ineffective and foolish rules that do more harm to businesses than they do good for the environment.