tommy

is this place still open? i want german tonight.

and i heard that about smokers and pot smokers. there goes both those theories right out the window where they belong.

i grew up "down the shore" and used/heard this term many times, although i had no idea what it meant, or that it had an origin like that at all! most excellent.

surly for sure. a search of "chez cheese" returns pages. and there's a Chez Cheese in northern NJ already which might pose a problem.

our take on this place is that it has all of the right flavors, depending on what you order. the lighter dishes have the wonderful flavors of herbs and fish sauce. but as stone says, no better than a bunch of other vietnamese places, and very similar to all of the other "upscale" vietnamese places. the ravioli was very good, and just as i expected it should be. i'd most certainly order the monkfish again. and it was probably the only dish that jumped off the menu as being unique in any way. the advantage to these types of places, as i see it, is a comfortable and perhaps more sophisticated atmosphere (and hopefully service to match), and a better-than-usual wine list. the wine list here has a couple of unoaked lighter/sweeter white wines, which for me works just fine. the room is nice, the staff seemed to be trying, and in general it's nice to see another place popping up down there. certainly not a destination place by any stretch. if one works in the area, it's a decent option for lunch. edited because i have no idea what one of those sentences meant.

a very decent and now defunct thai restaurant in chinatown NY used to try to get people to vote for them. they had the survery form in an evelope on the tables, and more than once the owner asked me to please send it in, as she knew i liked the restaurant and knew that zagat had been ignoring them, for whatever reason. they didn't offer a discount, but then again they're not in business any longer.

i suggest you get your ass to China 46.

the thread.

don't be afraid to look into http://www.picklelicious.com/store.html in nj.

excellent! i sometimes buy boneless/skinless thighs. and they're still about half the price of breasts. obviously the ideal situation is boneless/with skin thighs. but to larb i think skinless is probably best.

something occurred to me the other night as i was grill chicken thighs. i got into this whole discussion about how i'll never eat a breast again because a thigh is so superior, and it occurred to me that i've never larbed with thigh. i need to do this asap.

i got a benjamin. you wanna bet?

lou, now you should use the "reply" button at the lower righthand corner of the post (as opposed to the upper right corner). Blend is in Ridgewood, and by all reasonable reports, sucks. although a friend of mine closed the place one night and claimed it "ok to close." i don't believe that he actually ate anything, though.

brutha, i was 2 seconds from doing just that tonight. but i was coming from the city and the roads were still effed up and whatnot. i ended up having an interesting, but not fun, snack in NYC. should have just headed out your way. hell, i might have been leaving Randolph right about now had i done that. next time if the elements work with me.

Blend has jazz.

it's in one of the malls. not the big one though. sister of Oakville Grill, Bacari Grill, loosely related to South City Grills...in other words, i won't like it very much.

that's a good suggestion. although i've actually been there a few times and never liked it very much. at all, really. although it almost does seem like a "mall-dining" kind of night. hell that's what i ended up doing last week! although i know it will suck, perhaps i'll give the Pacific Grill a try. that outta be suitably horrible for a rainy night.

it would be an odd place for me to return alone to have dinner. my history there has always been filled with social events and groups of people. it was that kind of place to me. i've never considered it the type of place for a solitary meal, like a would Babbo or some others that aren't coming to mind. so in that regard, it would be weird. and i think the food is exactly the same as it was 4 years ago, which would be weird too. the menu doesn't look like it has changed much. that's weird. but you're right about whoopi and ted.

that would be too weird.

throw me a bone with the address/phone number and i'll consider it. can't find anything under that name anywhere. check: Porto Leggero 160 Greene St Jersey City, NJ 07302 201-434-3200

experts have PM'd me with top secret information regarding P&O. my only question is: is there anything on that menu worth eating? i mean, i suppose i could sit there and drink wine at the bar all night, but that doesn't sound like too much fun.

it's sort of tuesday. where should i go to dinner? i'm thinking somewhere with decent wines by the glass. probably eating at the bar with any luck. sound familiar?

clearly. glenn, once this thing takes off, can i call you the cheez wiz? thanks.

seriously curlz, that really really sucked bad.

you have to be kidding me with this new quote/reply stuff at the bottom and the post and everything. anyway, "melt factory" sounds like a cheesy dance club. excuse the pun. speaking of cheesy, the Meltcheese Fountain. a ridiculous play, of course, on words of a Bogart movie. the lowest form of humor. and one that i practice every chance i get.