Sabrosita

She also has a book called "The Skinny" in which she and a friend talk at more extensive lengths about the topic. I dislike her food writing style and found I had the same problem with the book, though I think it talked about really interesting things--changing the way you think about food so as to enjoy the small bites as much as the big and the such. It's less of a diet book and more of discussion, but it does make some good points. My mother really enjoyed it and read it in tandem with a lot of other work she did, which altogether resulted in the loss of nearly 50 pounds over 3 years.

I think your last comment is interesting. I was surprised because the whole time he was there, it seemed to me he WAS enjoying himself...Which surprised me because, having lived there....well, lets just say besides the immense amount of food, this is not a culinary mecca. In fact, I'd say it was the opposite. I probably would have chewed off a body part in exchange for anything with flavor. Once, I had someone bring me dried red chili flakes from Argentina, but found the package was crawling with worms...I spent about 20 minutes trying to pick flakes from worms before someone finally dragged me away, promising to at least find pepper....

The Quinn's Ultra burger, I'm pretty sure....(rare) 8oz wagyu beef burger on brioche bun. Under the burger is braised shortribs, the top bun is spread with duck rillette and the beef is topped with 3 oz of foie gras. Side of fries served with foie demi glace. Sigh...Think I'll need to go there tonite....

not exactly a restaurant, per se, but "'Zaw, Pizza in the Raw" is coming to capitol hill. I actually laughed out loud on my way home when I saw it. Somebody is working hard on the marketing...

Going to be something called the Olive Tree Bistro.

I'm looking forward to the Uruguay episode--mostly for comedic value...I lived there and the food is TERRIBLE. Yeah, I know you went for vacation and someone served you a good steak and you were happy, but trust me I lived there, these people couldn't cook a good meal if it shot them in the foot.... I've been trying to see if I can guess everything that he's going to do there...My most interesting food experience was definetly eating Nutria...but I'm guessing he'll stick to the novelty of a Chivito and hit up the beaches and ignore the fact that the food just plain sucks...

Yeah, but I gotta say, I think AB had respect for Spike's method of playing the game--he got his kitchen claim in with the braise, did well out in front, and knew that his teammates would bring each other down. AB is a smart guy, I feel like he would have respect for that. But that is just my guess. On another note, I think AB shouldn't replace Tom--he should replace Padma. Then he gets to tell his jokes AND be around all the time. I think he would be well balanced by Tom's thoughtfulness, but he could still have free reign to call things doll heads and baby vomit...

Oh it is so lovely to see all the beautiful spring vegetables coming out in all the pictures!

When you have a nightmare that somehow you ended up on a road trip to vancouver with a vegan, a lactose intolerant who only likes to eat 'white' foods (white bread, sliced chicken breasts, etc) and a girl who hates anything spicy and/or condiments. Oh wait, or if that was your weekend last weekend, and now you are just crying into your keyboard thinking of all the izakaya food and dim sum that you could have eaten. Sorry...still a little bitter.

Was feeling lazy while I started dinner last night and ended up with a fun solution to my laziness problem: Decunstructed Vietnamese Summer Rolls. Shrimp on a bed of rice noodles, topped with homemade peanut sauce, basil, mint and a drizzle of sriracha.

Good to see this thread! I just found out I'm going to be in Chang Mai in November, so keep up the suggestions and trip reports! I have six months of computer screen drooling till I get to taste it all!

Oh my god! Those are amazing. I'm imagining the chickens feeling a little bit like I do when I eat szechuan hot pot for dinner, but for eggs that tasty....

Holy heck! I just finished breakfast and this is already making my mouth water.

We always do potlucks for top chef, so this was my contribution this week: Spicy mango salad with homemade duck prosciutto.

This isn't really going to help you understand, but I'm happy to offer it anyways--Shrimp is a fairly common allergy, though often those people can eat lobsters as well. Our executive chef is allergic only to shrimp and nothing else, but we have a supervisor who is allergic to both shrimp and lobster. My mother is deathly allergic to mussels (and abalone) but can happily eat clams, oysters, shrimp, lobster etc. So basically, I'm saying that I think these things are pretty specific, but it is not something that is easily categorized...

Hey! They stole my name!

I just moved to the neighborhood, I will have to see id I can find these women!! that sounds amazing

Duck Advice needed! Okay, so I've been curing my duck prosiutto for exactly a week, but I butchered the duck myself so the pieces aren't real even, and the outer edges, the thinner parts are like rock solid. Mean while, the meatiest parts are definetly harder than they were, but still have a good amount of bounce in the flesh. What is the desired hardness? Right now the centers are like...a medium steak? should I let those get rock solid? or is there a happy medium? Any advice or soothing words ("I'm sure your duck will be fine..." or "I made it too, and it worked") would be welcomed.

Some days you are just not into sides or sauces. These were great without. Last week I made some cheese that turned out quite bland and a little dry in texture, so I made them into gnudi (or gnocchi? I'm not clear on the difference) and they were much improved. Sauteed in brown butter with rosemary, salt and pepper.

While I am still personally mourning the loss of frites, I did learn what is going in there: Michael Hebberoy (of One Pot) is opening a "Fish Fry"--with fried fish of all sorts, including red snapper, anchovies, sardines and more.

On 14th between pike and pine, a liquor lisence in the window for Pancia Piena, LLC. Yes I walk by here every day on the way to work, no I can't for the life of me remember what it was before.

So after some time of being a food porn voyeur, I'm going to do my first dinner post. If you are ever wondering about how things are made, I usually post that on my blog, listed in my signature. Tuesday was Hot Pot: The layout: Clockwise from the top, starting at 1, is oyster mushrooms, pho noodles (there was a shopping mix-up), beef, pea vines and long cabbage, chicken and tofu. In the middle is the much needed cooling peanut sauce. The (Hot) Pot The Aftermath And then Thursday, I made the left-overs in to a take on bibimbap: Again, clockwise from 1 is the peavines, oyster mushrooms, onions, tofu, beef and the egg in the center.The red is dollops of gochujang and it is all over a giant pile of rice. And all mixed up

Hmm. I did leave a large tip, but it definetly didn't have to do with the touching--more to do with the comped bread pudding and the fact that he gave us the olives to go since we hadn't gotten our order and were far too full to eat them at that point. I can see it with the female servers. I have no issue with touching, especially as described about in kitchens. I am in the industry and that is necessary touching. I understand. This is different. This was waiter/patron touching for no reason. He had my attention, he was a great server, there was just no reason for him to keep touching me!

The hot pots have me salivating! I live no more than 5 blocks from two great Szechuan hot pot places, but we don't have all those goodies that you do!

Why do some waiters insist on punctuating their service with touching the customer. A light brush here or a pat on the back their, why does it freak me out? Anyone else? I just wrote about my recent dinner which prompted this topic (see below) but really I would love to hear how other people feel about this. http://thegastrognome.wordpress.com/2008/0...-touching-meal/