Wilfrid

"one of the shamans we visit" - did you mean visited, or do you have a regular family shaman? I would not want to have a live guinea pig rubbed over my naked body. The last pet guinea pig I had went for my throat, and I was saved injury by the fact my collar was fastened. He bit off the top button. I have also been bitten in a very delicate extremity by a rabbit, much to the amusement of the former girlfriend whose pet it was. Oh no, I'm eating them, they're not eating me.

Hate to be negative, Rail Paul, but your comment on Bid is consistent with the suggestion I called Option Two, namely around $100 and we'll figure out the drinks later. And also I didn't like Marichu - thought it was a bit dull.

I have never eaten armadillo. Putting that aside, let's be assertive. Two options: Option One a dinner where the estimated food price will be around $40, and Option Two an upmarket tasting menu around $100. We'll sort the drinks out later. We'll sort the dates out later. Those of us who care seem to be willing to do both types of dinner, probably not on the same day. Can y'all* just say whether you are interested in One, Two or both. This does not oblige you to show up, of course, it's just with the aim of finding out what if anything is worth planning. tommy can then take over all the detailed arrangements. *I am learning American.

I completely agree with the last point, and I have got better over the last three or four years at resisting the lazy option - some of the time. I have had to pay a price for improving the quality of my at-home experience, which I could describe as eschewing eclecticism. I have cooked since I was a kid, but as the years go by time for cooking (and, crucially, shopping) decreases. I have three or maybe four chances to cook a proper meal in an ordinary week - and I lose many weeks to travelling or other commitments. In order to cook to a satisfactory standard, I consciously decided to practice only one cuisine - the one I like best. So, gone are the days when I would try a curry one day, a Chinese dish the next, then a lasagne, and a roast at the weekend. I work quite hard at trying to cook French bourgeois dishes - mainstream, fairly old-fashioned French family or family-restuarant style food. The result is that I am a pretty reliable cook in that genre. The price for improving my dining out experience is more obvious, as a perusal of my bank statement demonstrates.

That's not a couple, that's three. But it's a good idea. Clarification? By $40/$60, do you mean all inclusive? Or do you mean that's the estimated food bill? The latter seems more plausible. How about asking people to sign up in principle (obviously depending on date and final details) by the end of the week? Doesn't mean people can't sign up later - just so as we have some idea. Put me down for any of the three. Edit: I just read Mark's post above. Perhaps three options is more complicated. Why not do a $40 and a Bid. Who needs the middle of the Road?

Food stabbing: I had heard that this was inappropriate in Japan, but when eating with Chinese friends (based in Singapore) I was encouraged to stab large dumplings to make them easier to pick up. I learnt to shovel rice from a bowl (held in the other hand) when I lived for several years on the edge of London's Chinatown. Of course Chinese people do that. What puzzles me about Chinese restaurants in New York is that they give you chopsticks, but plates, not bowls. Useless combination. You can usually get a bowl if you ask (and you often have to ask for chopsticks too).

This was being discussed down on Stellabella's bio thread http://www.egullet.com/ib3....0;st=20 and although I am sure it's come up before in various guises, I would certainly be interested to read more views. What's better? Cooking at home, when everything goes okay, or visiting a restaurant? Or if you like doing both, as I do, what are the pros and cons? If you had all the time in the world, would you cook at home more often? I certainly would. Or is the whole ritual of dining out too good to miss?

I am currently agreeing with the last several posts. I can't find listings for Pinxtos in Zagat or on City Search, although there's a thread on Chowhound. Does Manhattan have advantages over Queens? I am not sure if there's a preponderance of Manhattanites among likely attendees. I still like the idea of a blow-out at Bid as well.

Pinxtos sounds cool. I disliked Pico, and Chanterelle is going to be more expensive than Bid. Also like the idea of taking over a whole place for the evening.

Oh Cabrales, really, I'm sure you don't eat their tails! There was a detailed article in The New Yorker, of all places, explaining that squirrel's brains are a delicacy in Tennessee. And I am sure their diet will indeed influence the taste of their flesh - look at the huge difference in flavor between wild and domestic rabbits.

One uses woodwn chopping boards, of course, but I have two concerns: first, needing, as you say, to drop things or put them down quickly when there's a lot going on in the kitchen at once; second, my Better Half's propensity to cut and chop and drop hot pots wherever she likes, even when there's almost nothing going on in the kitchen.

Rodents are gnawing animals. They have big teeth, and gnaw. Okay, enough zoology. When you think how many quails get plucked and cleaned, guinea pigs are no big deal. Their skin would come off with a simple tug, just like rabbit, and bob's your uncle. I know squirrels are eaten in the American midwest, but haven't had the opportunity to tuck in yet. Obviously, the most widely eaten rodents are rabbits and hares. Rats certainly have been eaten in some cultures, but there you do have to be extra-careful about disease.

I recall the sommelier at Mansion on Turtle Creek being a tremendously grand old burgher, festooned with chains and ribbons of office. Can't remember if he got his snout into my wine first, but it sounds plausible. I once had to send back repeated bottles of brown ale in a pub, because the whole crate had clearly turned to vinegar. Not as expensive as losing a crate of wine, though.

Liza, you reminded me ofsomeone I used to dine with a lot for work reasons. He freely confessed to having "food issues". He would slice and chop everything on his plate until he had the smallest possible mouthful to put in his mouth. I think he was really phobic about eating! I have seen him slice peas! Also time-consuming and somehow horribly fascinating.

Not only that. You can get asopao de pollo or de camarones, even de cangrejo.* All the versions I have eaten involved a fairly thin but tasty broth, flavoured at least with garlic, onions, cilantro and an appropriate stock. Bit sof fish or chicken float aorund in it with some vegetables, often bits of boiled potato or some rice (but it's not thick with rice). It's a Dominican dish too, and my Beloved could certainly cook it. However I would have to stand over her taking notes to get the recipe. *Chicken, shrimp, crab.

Continuing thanks, and I'll let you know which option we get around to trying.

judging by your comments earlier (click me) regarding tasting wine, i would think that you'd get more comments like "Ooh, it's freakin corked you idiot." I am going to report this post to A Moderator.

Nothing wrong with sharing food, if it is done with delicacy. I do object when someone spears something on their plate which either they don't like or which they think I will like, and flips it onto my plate without asking or warning me. Yes, cigarette breaks during the meal, especially when a course arrives while the smoker is absent - very annoying. It is no fun either to wait for their return while everyone's food gets cold, or tuck in while watching their food get cold out of the corner of my eye. I have mentioned this before, but here goes: people who try to order off menu, not because they have exhausted the possibilities of the restaurant's kitchen, but because they just haven't got the concentration to order from what they've been offered. "Do you think they could do a spaghetti bolognaise?" And ordering appetizers for the table in a restaurant where it is clearly inappropriate. Ideal for Mirchi; not at Jean-Georges, please. What about the people who always, always insist that I order the wine, even when I frankly say I have no competence (I don't know my way around Italian lists, for example), but then complain? "Ooh, it's a bit dry isn't it?"

I wondered why Tommy was made to sit at a different table on Friday night. Forewarned, eh?

Interesting comments by Christopher Russell and Tommy (he insists) on the Corked Champagne thread... http://www.egullet.com/ib3....62;st=0 ...about the reasons for tasting wine before pouring and when it is appropriate to send a bottle back. I think it's obvious that a corked/oxidised wine, or a flat wine which should be sparkling, should be withdrawn by the restaurant without hesitation. Two other circumstances: What about when the wine is what it claims to be, but you just don't like it? Do you suck it up? Can you reject it if it was a recommendation from the restaurant - and if so, how many times can you do that in one meal? Secondly, what about when the wine is essentially okay, but the cork has crumbled into it. I don't mean a few crumbs, but a major cork breakdown. This happened to me once with a very expensive bottle of Opus One. The sommelier went to enormous lengths to strain the cork out. He did a good job, but he was not absolutely successful, and he lost about a fifth of the bottle in the attempt. If it had been vin de table, I 'd have ploughed on, but given the price I insisted on a new bottle (and got it, without complaint, but with a little bit of plaintive sighing). Was I right?

Yes, of course it was, but I am trying to impress Christopher. There is no point trying to impress you - you've met me. :confused:

Well, I have been trying of a way to make my question about the reason for tasting seem smarter than it was, but I give up. Yes, I can see it practical after all, especially given Christopher's point about the cue for food service. When to send wine back is another thread, I suppose. Let me go off and start it...

But that's an issue, isn't it, regardless of whether we're eating guinea pig. I think the assumption I am making is that if a Peruvian or Ecuadorian restaurant in Queen's is taking the trouble to serve guinea pig, (a) they know what they're doing, and (b) their regular customers will know whether it's being done right. I would be more nervous of unskilled kitchen staff cooking chicken by numbers in a chain restaurant.

Christopher, the "but..." intrigued me. Whatever the reason for asking the customer to taste the wine before pouring might be (and the paramount reason might be that they expect it), it surely can't be to detect whether the bottle is bad (in the sense of corked, oxidised, or - in the case of a sparkling wine - flat). I assume that any restaurant will take a bottle back if it's in such a condition, regardless of whether full glasses have been poured or not. It's not like, you are wasting wine by filling all the glasses, because in this case the wine's bad anyway - arguably you are wasting some time. I am perfectly happy to taste wine before it is poured, and quite enjoy doing so, but it has long struck me as a courteous ritual rather than a practical exercise - or am I missing something?

Wait until they mate and then eat their children? Okay, Cabrales, you have found my heart after all. That does sound a bit too gruesome even for me. And I agree about the health stuff. Imagine the scene with the veterinary surgeon when I turn up with my shop-bought guinea pig: "Hello, I would like you to examine this guinea pig to ensure it is in good health, as I plan to take it home and eat it." No, this one is best left to the professionals. The restaurant hunt goes on.