tommy

this stuff is usually sent in by viewers, and i don't doubt sometimes by people interested in getting the particular product's name out. not to suggest that this is the case with Mo Pho, but obviously it was sent in by someone who thought the name was funny. and we all do. jay's "punch line", however, isn't nearly as funny as most of us could have come up with. perhaps we should have a thread on possible punch lines for jay.

i don't think that's a very good analogy. i think our perception of NJ zagat ratings, and how they might be misinterpreted by NYers, differs. a 26 in NY is more than slightly different than a 26 in NJ.

It's the same chef, same management, same cuisine, same name. Since their NY outpost was too new at the time to have its own Zagat review, I don't think it's unreasonable to post the New Jersey rating. ← ...same servers, same room, same cooks, same runners, same wine list, and if NY's zagat ratings were in any way in line with NJ's, then i'd almost make a concession. but it's misleading.

i'll be lucky if my sanity doesn't buckle under the pressure of my existing holiday social schedule. however, i could possibly squeeze a dinner in.

i've been meaning to, rosie. what's the parking situation around there? i lived in hoboken for close to 15 years and could never figure out why out-of-towners were so reluctant to drive in because of the parking hassle (you tend to know where to find a spot when you're living in town, but drive around like an idiot when don't know where to go). now that i'm an out-of-towner, i dread it.

rocca received 2 1/2 stars in yesterday's bergen record. the review read a bit better imo, but i'm sure it's a good thing for the restaurant.

this sounds like fun. john's run (it was a roadfood thing iirc) sounded most excellent. if we don't want to travel all that much btwn dogs, there are certainly enough places in bergen and essex alone to make a full day. off the top of my head: clixes johnny and hanges hot grill rutts the one or two places in hackensack whose names i can't remember hot dog house on 17 (am i the only one who goes here)?

we got ourselves a fatburger here in NJ. i might check it out on that recommendation. but i'll still try to get to in-and-out. are you involved in that pastry shop in any way? i so i'll make it a point to stop by.

any comments on this itinerary? Day 1 Dinner: Bouchon (day 1...will likely be tired and not up for anything too grand if history is any indication. assuming Bouchon will be adequate?) Day 2 Lunch: that Burger place in Mandalay's mall Dinner: Nobhill Day 3 Lunch: LOS (open during the week for lunch?) Dinner: Bradley Ogden i'm staying away from seafood-oriented restaurants and steakhouses. likely going to fit In-n-Out in there somewhere. also heard good things about Viale for lunch and people-watching. thoughts? thanks.

i hate when people are nice. i can see right through it.

the new strips don't fit very well into the existing mcnuggets dipping sauce containers. they're also pretty pricey, and dry. i prefer mcnuggets overall, although it's probably not fair to compare the two. i guess i prefer chopped up chicken product mixed with other stuff to make it taste better. kind of like a hot dog, or pate.

i guess it's time to start a thread asking for kosher wine suggestions. looks great. are those pictures going to be added to their (sparse) website? they're almost too perfect.

it looks like chef Coury and chef Levy (of Rocca) might have both worked at Ciao. i wasn't going to make mention of the parallel i felt between these two places as it was too easy (not direct similarities, but more of a shared philosophy and approach to italian food in NJ). but if they did in fact come up through the same ranks, i wouldn't be surprised. and that's a good thing for everyone. rosie, could you confirm any of these ramblings? edit: i just confirmed with from this 2003 Table Hopping with Rosie: http://www.njmonthly.com/issues/Feb03/rosie/chefs0205.html Michael Coury is the new sous-chef at Ciao-Cucina Rustica/Pizza Alforno, 665 Martinsville Rd, Basking Ridge (908-647-6007). Craig Levy, formerly of Il Capo, North Haledon, is the new executive chef at Ciao-Cucina Rustica/Pizza Alforno, 665 Martinsville Rd, Basking Ridge (908-647-6007). cool.

glenn, did you have that bean spread by any chance? i forget what kind of bean it is. he gets it from a guy in NY who's getting them from italy. he cooks them, blends them with some olive oil, s/p, lemon juice, and maybe something else, and serves a bowl of the stuff with some grilled country bread. holy cow. give me that, salume, a quartino, and i'm a happy guy. regarding price, i think it was about 65 a head before tip. entrees, i guess, were in the upper teens to low 20s?? portion size varied. the scallop crudo was smallish, but appropriately sized i'd say. the oxtail entree was enormous, as was the osso bucco (chef, you should serve a marrow spoon with this!). my veal chop was about 1.25/1.5 inches thick, and cooked to m/r. juicy and tender. a really good piece of meat in my estimation. unforunately, i was really full by this point and only ate about half of it. i'd like the other half now please. thank you.

i had dinner here last night. during my research, i found out that it's related to the Madison across the street. not a good sign in my opinion. although, i think i'm still pissed at the Madison for the very illogical reason of it being in the same spot where my beloved Madison Sports Bar used to sit, where many a pint was downed and many a game of pool was shot in my mispent youth. the jefferson appears to be one of the best restaurants in hoboken. top 5, hands down, and one of a kind. for several reasons: the menu is interesting (at least for now...they'll likely dumb it down when the lug heads from hoboken start looking at the menu with a confused look on their faces). the service during this visit was top notch. the waitress was knowledgeable and engaging. the additional help was efficient and friendly. and they were all very accommodating (splitting shared pastas into several dishes, making sure the meal was paced to our liking, etc) you can start your meal with a glass of prosecco (the only place in hoboken serving prosecco by the glass? quite possibly). you can have salume to kick off your dinner. or as a snack with some... wine served by the quartino. close to ten reds and ten whites i'd say. the restaurant is very pretty i think. crudo. the server knew what guanciale is. the Bucatini all'Amatriciana has actual guanciale chef Michael Coury has a passion, and it shows. they validate parking (up to 3 hours in the lot at 14/15th and washington). 1319 Washington Street 201-386-9955 the night was rounded out with a trip to Maxwells to check on the progress of the restroom rehab...and to have a pint. restrooms look good. J. Mascis was happily shredding away in the back room in front of a vintage marshall stack that towered a foot over his head. now that's rock n roll. and one helluva great way to spend a few hours in hoboken.

during a recent email exchange with the neighbor, where i started to lay out the options, i received this: "you give me waaaay too much credit. I will purchase a cooked turkey and heat it on the grill! " game over. actually, i don't know why *i* didn't think of that.

i've certainly noticed those guys hanging out in the front and washing their trucks and whatnot. but seriously, aren't *all* firemen cute? to the left, iirc, was a little bodega. too small for a restaurant. i'll have to investigate. ← i stand, i think, corrected. directly to the left of the fire house was a nail place iirc. but i might not be rc.i called. it is where anniello's was, or whatever that place was called. i'm going tonight. rosie and foie, this had better be good.

you're at rock center now? there are several good choices in the area. lots of variety at the very least. i agree that wu liang ye is a madhouse during lunch. gotta get there early.

are there many better descriptors? one of the goals of cooking, presumably, is to have your product cooked to perfection. from a reinforcement and teaching standpoint, it doesn't hurt to announce this fact when presenting the final product. let's think of a bunch of other ways of describing something that's "cooked to perfection." and remember, don't use too many words as we only have 22 minutes of program and want to cut to the chase during the wrap sequence. i'll throw in: "perfectly cooked."

puh-leeze. then what would we do to feel better about our insignificant lives?

perhaps if we all write in and completely trash AAG they'll get in. hey lou, you know what they say about publicity. who on egullet has been discussing zagat as if it were a serious source of restaurant reviews?

it's my understanding that different cultures pronounce it different ways. can anyone support that? i think i inquired about a recipe a while ago. a real long while ago. didn't get very far. let's see what happens here. edit: well looky gyr-o.

i suppose all restaurants should be required to do that then. that'd make eating out a lot of fun. maybe the server could actually recite the nutritional information of my foie gras while he's reciting the specials, just in case i didn't read the bold type on the menu.

devi gets a nice mention in today's AM New York newspaper. oddly, so does Republic.

my in-laws, who are decidedly not southern, introduced me to this very odd concept. i don't know what they put on it ('cept for celery, olives, and perhaps radishes), as i rarely pay much attention to it. nobody does. it just sits there looking all perdy. the dish is about 12 generations old it seems. the choices never change. it's just tradition. a weird one.