KarenS

There is a Hotel and Restaurant group called Kimpton. They are very low key because they do not want their restaurants perceived as chains. Sazarac, The Painted Table, The Fifth Floor, Masas, Postrio, Ponzu, Scalas Bistro, Kuletos, Grand Cafe, are (or with Masas and Painted Table- were) Kimpton restaurants. Kimpton brings in Partner/ consultant Chefs (donna Scala, Wolfgang Puck, Jan Birnbaum, etc...) Their contracts are sometimes renewed or sometimes not. Library Bistro, Pazzo, Bambara, Panzano, Cobalt, Helios, are all Kimpton. The company started in SF and is very large now (DC, New Orleans, Denver, Portland, Seattle, SF, Aspen, Boston, Salt Lake City).

I buy those frequently. You can make turkey and black bean chilli, whatever kind of pasta sauce, stuff it and put it on a rotisserie etc...

I don't get meatloaf or tuna casserole or marshmallows on perfectly good- sweet potatoes. I think that "ground beef" is good for only one thing- hamburgers. I get Mexican, (yum) I grew up in California and now live in Hawaii. There are some days when I wish I could go straight to the SF Mission district for a Mexican food fix. Taco Bell is NOT Mexican food!!!

Hey, your kitchen is way bigger then mine! It is also bigger then most European kitchens that I have seen (I have heard that Asian kitchens are small). Get a cart, use a table etc... I never let it stop me! (and I only have two burners). You know, most Europeans have a refrigerator that is half the size of yours. This is families with three children, grandparents, that all come for dinnner (during the week and on Sunday).They shop for what they are planning to cook that day or the next.

popcorn, I love popcorn! When I was little, my dad taught me how to make it (of course so I would make it for him). He still uses the same pot (revereware) 30 years later!

This is taken from an article in today's SF Chronicle. "Low-carb foods won't kill you, she says. What's replacing many of the carbohydrates is lots of fiber and fillers like carrageenan and guar gums. "They're not great tasting," but they hold moisture and also can help the body shed cholesterol, she says. The sweeteners, too, are generally considered safe. But if you eat too much of foods loaded with sugar alcohols like maltitol or sorbitol, you're likely to pay with gross intestinal distress. "You better bring your Pampers," she says. The real concern is protein -- too much of it. All the low-carb products are crammed with protein, and are usually eaten on top of a meat- and egg-based diet already rich in proteins. If, like Monette Meo, you eat low-carb cereal for breakfast, a couple of tortillas at lunch, some crackers for a snack and a cookie after dinner, you've already consumed 91 grams of protein. Add 8 ounces of meat or fish, and you're at 155 grams, Bennett says. That's more than three times the 45 grams needed by the average woman, 2 1/2 times a man's needs. All that protein makes the kidneys work much harder and requires drinking plenty of water, Bennett says. Getting rid of all the protein byproducts take a lot of calcium out of the body, and eating a lot of protein is one reason American women are prone to osteoporosis even without the low carb diets. Calories are another consideration. Most of the low-carb breads, crackers, cereals, ice creams, chips and pasta have just as many calories as their regular counterparts, according to a Chronicle comparison. Candy, diet soda and the pizza have less. "

Well, I for one am worried about what the plate lunch is doing to locals. It is way too fatty and too many calories (and too much food) for modern Hawaiians. I work with many that have high blood presure, adult diabetes, gout. Fried food, 3-4 scoops rice, mac salad, potato salad. The one plate lunch where you WILL find lots of vegetables is Korean. Green salad, vegetables and fruit are what is lacking in a plate lunch. There are places that try to make them healthier (Kakaako Kitchen is one) with brown rice and green salad, grilled fish, etc...

I certainly realize people with health concerns DO exsist. My sister has juvenile diabetes. (and has lived with it for 40 years) I'm saying that people need to be very careful about singling out refined sugar as the enemy. Fruit juice and fruit are also things to be very careful of. Pasta, white rice, flour etc... You can make room for a "real" dessert if you are careful with your diet.

Guess what! A very large restaurant where everything is fresh and seasonal. No microwave either. If you didn't like the octopus, you should have sent it back, and told your server. Chef Staffan Terje is a very talented chef. Their seafood is better then Farallon.

Guess what! A very large restaurant where everything is fresh and seasonal. No microwave either. If you didn't like the octopus, you should have sent it back, and told your server. Chef Staffan Terje is a very talented chef. Their seafood is better then Farallon.

Italian with an A. Scalas is great!

I think that people need to balance their food choices. Baking with splenda makes dessert a less enjoyable experience, and you are still consuming calories. Why don't you plan in your week or day for those calories? Flour has calories, as does everthing else (except water). I don't cater to "dieting" people as a pastry chef. I believe that dessert can be a part of your life- just not everyday and all the time.

I am sick of "HRC". It became his or her "royal checking account". Let's see, nachos, wontons, sirachi encrusted, mac nut encrusted, "blackened" everything, throw foie gras or buerre blanc on it kind of cuisine. I don't see it as ever evolving. Oh yah, and also at any cost- never give anyone else any credit. Some of those famous chefs never pay overtime, don't pay for vacations (and yes, they have lots of money). There are famous chefs who expect their cooks to work 14-16 hours everyday (all mis en place, all plating, and all kitchen clean up, meaning the floors too). Shame on chefs who pay their cooks for eight hours, while the cooks work 14-16 that is illegal. I hope you get caught. There are also the chefs who have really not cooked in their kitchen for 10 years. The HRC is a farce, retire it already.

At Ginas you get your choice of taigu, daikon kimchee, kimchee, bean sprouts, cabbage, watercress, mac salad, plus a few "specials". Four choices (plus your main item- kalbi, bbq chicken etc...) and 3 scoops rice for 5-6 dollars. Your plate weighs over 2#. All the salads are made fresh everyday (and everything is grilled fresh too). I run into lots of people I know-plus I love the daikon kimchee! Now I really gotta go... Oh yah, you would get three marinated and grilled boneless chicken thighs.

Maple Garden and Ginas are on the level of "needing a fix of".

Good choices, how could you forget Maple Garden (on Isenberg). My favorite Chinese restaurant in the state! I love Ducs Bistro in chinatown for Vietnamese/French. Yanagi Sushi too is very good. Big City Diner- not very good. Korean- Ginas, in the Market City Mall (they even plate my order with no rice and a smile now). Hale Vietnam good, also the Bale in Manoa- I have taken their comforing food (and lots of pho) home many nights with me. Mekong. Chaing Mai, yum... Gotta go!

Ketchup with eggs, yuck! I was in college whenI first saw this- I remember because it made me so sick (also, a1 "sauce" on anything resembling beef). Th Phillipino habit of fish sauce or vinegar on everything (I always ask, can you taste what you're eating?). Hot sauce on everything. Ranch dressing; it is a chip dip- and a bad one at that! Thousand island dressing (it really is, mayonaise, ketchup, and pickle relish).

As a child I did not like:eggs, liver, cauliflower, oysters, clams, and tripe (my mom tried to server me menudo many times saying that it was "chicken"- uhm hello, even then I knew what tripe looked like), cow tongue, and curries. My favorite sandwich in kindergarten was liverwurst... until, my older sister told me that it was made from liver. I still can't handle cow liver or tongue or tripe. I love curries, clams, oysters (and lima bean). My dad was a big root vegetable person. My siblings and I were O.K. with beets (and still am). The nights were torture with parsnips and turnips (even though we just had to "try" them). Now I love root vegetables. I made a big breakthrough on cauliflower after tossing it (cut up) with olive oil, salt and pepper- then roasting it at high heat, tossing a few times while roasting. My mom only served it very cooked with a cheese and egg sauce. Grilled oysters are what won me over to oysters. I remember when my mom made boullibaise- I spooned in and lifted up a clam (and started crying)- I was probably four at the time. My brother very dramaticly fell to the floor and said that a squid tentacle was stuck to his throat, and that he could not breathe. Meals were at least very entertaining at our house. Tofu and sashimi were no problem, we would have preferred hotdogs over abalone (uh, now NO hotdogs, and where is my abalone?). My parentss live in Mendocino; usually even before I look for them when visiting- I check the porcini spots (and yes, my mom has been known to miss some...)

Salt will do the same thing as the cream of tartar (and lemon juice will too). I use salt because I want salt in my cake and if I introduce it to the whites later, it will deflate them some. The salt instead of tartar gives me a head start in introducing the salt in the recipe.

I have read plenty of Harold Mcgee. I am also a member of the Bakers Dozen (yep, my name is inside the cover). I don't really care for The Cake Bible. I disagree with you about egg white foams. I have 20 years of professional baking experience. Try making a souffle and a chiffon cake with fresh whites and older whites. Start the whites on low speed with a pinch of salt. When they are foamy, turn the sppeed to high. Gradually add your sugar when they start to form soft peaks. For a souffle, fold them into your base all at once. For the chiffon cake, fold the whites into your egg/ oil/ flour mixture.

I would have also asked the woman to leave. Why would you bring chicken into a vegetarian restaurant? To ask the staff to heat it? I think there are many people that need lessons on proper restaurant behavior. Yesterday we had a table order one bowl of soup and ten spoons. That was right after a table requested a lovely dessert split in half. Last week a woman ordered a piece of a tart from our espresso bar. The tart was rectangular. Her slice would be the first. She wanted it cut from the center so that she would "have more fruit and not too much crust". There are also the people that want free samples of everything (Oh, I guess I'll just throw the rest of the item away now since I can't sell it). I also love the customers who want (a washed cup, saucer, and spoon- none of that is free) "just hot water", and they bring their own tea. The customers who bring their own cake and can't understand why they are charged (clean plates, silverware, tablecloth, glasses, server to cut cake, wash and put away plates and silverware). Petit four hounds (the ones who ask for more to take home). That's all for now...

I disagree on " thick fresh egg whites" being better for a souffle or cake. Your cake or souffle will be denser (you will also notice that you have less batter). This is not what I am trying to achieve in a cake or souffle. Heat and flour "sets" your foam. The whites are in there to put air in your batter.

extramsg, do you want to help open a bakery in hawaii? I know how, I need $$$ (or should I try Bill Gates).

Very fresh egg whites are not the best for meringue or anything that you are trying to achieve egg white volumne. When the whites have a chance to relax and start to unfold their bands they can incorporate more air.

Hi Maggie, Make sure to grate the beets small. For one cake use about 1c grated (not too packed). I have never heard of tomato soup cake! Will you post the recipe?