weinoo

A bit over $10? It was $15 (I bought a few bottles there last week)! Which, btw, is still way cheaper than here in NY at Astor where it is around $18.

Stupak has changed the menu considerably and EC is now offering no main-course options...

No, not at all...just two posters arguing about each of our points of view . From my first post in this topic, all I've been trying to do is answer the OP as best I can.

From my point of view, I don't want anyone's knowledge of food to come from a cartoon-like character who thinks everything he tastes is "money," although by now he's made tons of it. If it makes you inspired to cook, then by all means that's a good thing.

A trip to D.C. this past weekend to see the cherry blossoms was a bust. For cherry blossoms, that is - because the bums weren't open. So I blogged about Jaleo instead... In Washington, D.C. 20 years ago, Chef José Andrés opened what was then one of the first restaurants in the U.S. to focus on serving tapas...that restaurant was, and still is, Jaleo. It sparked a revolution in dining here, and we know where that has led us to today - restaurants where the menu categories read like weather reports: sun, soil, water, earth, moon - and on and on. I mean, at some places it's actually difficult to cobble together what was once considered a meal: starter, main and dessert...because evidently, that's not the way we want to eat today. I guess that's why whenever we dine out, we have to hear the obligatory "how the menu works" spiel - as if we'd never ventured out of our caves to eat. Whatever. Now chef owns/operates at least a dozen restaurants, not just spanning "the district" but across the U. S. as well. Some I've loved and some I haven't, but that's neither here nor there. This past weekend, we had the opportunity to revisit Jaleo, which is celebrating its 20th birthday, and which recently had a makeover. The place looks good. And whatever they've done (lots of fabric, absorbent surfaces, etc.) it sounds good, too...the four of us could actually carry on a conversation without shouting. But what really blew us away was the food - we must've tried 15 or so items, and there wasn't a clunker in the bunch. Take the Aceitunas, the liquid olives that are a tribute to José's mentor Ferrán Adrià... A fun way to start the meal, to be sure. Here's another delicious one... A perfect combo of oranges, almonds and goat cheese happily nestled in an endive leaf, topped with some fine olive oil. Then some more serious stuff... A special of fried artichoke hearts atop a pool of tasty olive purée led to this... A warm brussels sprout salad with apricot, apple and crisps of Serrano ham was really delicious, though I'd hate to be the prep cook who has to peel the leaves off of the brussels. Next up... A lovely crabmeat salad and of course a classic, the garlic shrimp... I didn't get a chance to photograph, before our group started scarfing them down, some of the best tasting mussels I've had in years (and Significant Eater agreed). These were simply steamed with olive oil and bay leaf, but man were they good. We then moved on to what might've been my favorite bite of the night... Warm oysters with potato, sweet pimentón and olive oil. Sadly, I didn't get the odd one, but that's ok. To finish our savories... A paella of fried fideus (Catalan for noodles), perfectly cooked shrimp and squid - this was the surprise hit of the evening. A couple of desserts followed, including a fine gin & tonic sorbet with tonic espuma... Oh, the drinks were good too - my delicious Picon Punch went down easily, and at $9, a bargain. Sig Eater's cocktail (a fancy gin thing) was prepared with a flourish tableside, and was tasty too. For many restaurants, 20 years is a lifetime. Often, they get stale and predictable. But even though we've had some of this food before, most of it tasted as fresh and as vibrant as it did back in '93. On that note - happy birthday, Jaleo...you're looking good.

This post above is why I wonder why people think Californians are a happy bunch. And whether I'm taken seriously, whether by you or anyone else, matters not a whit to me. And Shel_B, now you know what the smartest person in the Bay Area knows, so you're much better off taking sigma's advice.

Actually, I've blogged about it more than once. That's neither here nor there, however; not with you having the ability to regale us with "they suck" or "are not very good." I'll agree on this point - I'm pretty sure the steakhouses are not up to the quality of Bern's in Tampa or one of a few choice places still left in NYC. But as I said above, I've had a great steak at Ruth's Chris in Boca Raton, so I wouldn't count that out.

I tried the Eberle chicken last night and it's really good (WF seems to be in the process once again of messing around with the types of chickens they sell and how they sell them, but that's another story). I probably won't be part of the "poll" above since I'm not following the format, but the dry-rub worked nicely .

And why is that? Because they pretty much suck. If you want a good steak, go to Kokkari, but not one of the steakhouses. Kokkari only has one steak on its menu, though it is an allegedly dry-aged rib eye. I doubt it's a better product than the steak houses I mentioned above are getting, though.

Rutabaga. Even the guy at the checkout didn't know what it was (he rang it up as beets, but they were the same price so I let it slide). Simply roasted in a 425℉ oven, with salt, pepper and olive oil - quite good.

Why do you want a steak house if you don't want huge portions and drinks are of minimal interest; that's why you go to a steak house! In all seriousness, you might be better off asking at what restaurant might you get the best steak, steakhouse be damned. I just took a cursory glance, and many of the restaurants considered happening a bit right now basically have 1 steak on each of their menus. Of course, San Francisco is a tough one for great steaks, but I think your best chance for both choice of steak (hopefully one of you will have a rib eye ) and quality of beef might just be Ruth's Chris (which I like a lot in Florida) or Harris' (an old classic), both on Van Ness. They won't fuck up your steak, that's for sure...and they both have that steakhouse mood you're looking for.

In my never ending quest to buy stuff I've never heard of, has anyone tried this... Pow-Wow Botanical Rye. Straight Rye Whiskey Infused with Botanicals. 90 Proof. Georgetown Trading Co., LLC, Los Angeles, CA I picked it up at Ace Beverage in DC at the recommend of Joe Riley - (note the Georgetown connection).

I'm been in DC this past weekend, and it looks like the local crab season opens this week. A number of hot new openings include Montmartre, Carbone and Alder...Montmartre takes reservations, Carbone is pretty much reservations only and Alder is walk-in only (for now). I've only eaten at one of the three but reviews are fairly positive for all. Mission Chinese Food and Pig & Khao both fall into the cheap eats category (but not from carts) with some excellent food.

My thoughts are that whatever the ratings are, most of them are from amateur reviewers and they are as worthless as yelp.

OliverB - that idea is, ummmm, totally money! But how do you get rid of the sriracha odor?

One of my (of course) pet peeves is the wait, certainly in America, to get out of a restaurant after you're done eating. And, this week in The Daily Beast, Michael Tomasky tackles the issue head on in a piece entitled Are You a Restaurant Lingerer? Now, I may not be as much of a extreme case as Tomasky, who even says: However, when I'm done, I pretty much want to pay my check and leave. How about you?

Your grandmother had a toaster oven?

Nick - I often do this when I roast a whole bird. Either butter or duck fat - along with a sprig or two of thyme. If I'm feeling really industrious, I'll sliver up a clove or two of garlic and add that under the skin as well - it practically melts into the bird.

The whole idea of a roast chicken (for many people) is that it's supposed to be a fairly simple dish. Many want to take a chicken, maybe rub it with some butter or olive oil (or even better, in my book, duck fat), sprinkle on some salt and pepper, stick it in the oven for an hour and have a nice roast chicken. This recipe, of course, suggests that people want to spend hours and hours on that process. Or that they have rotisseries, and gram scales, and injectors - whatever. But - you still haven't told us what the really great secret to roast chicken is - and that's what kind of bird you're roasting. So please - let us in on that.

Patrick - I saw your post in the thread I linked to above. I'll have to give it a try. But I really have found Bell & Evans (at least the air-chilled, organic) to be better than Murray's? Have you tried it? I used to only buy kosher birds, or Bobo birds, but even they pale in comparison. I roast chicken differently almost every time I roast one. One time, it'll be Julia's method. Another, Thomas Keller's. Another - vertical roaster. Another on it's breast. Sometimes on a rack, sometimes on a bed of potatoes. If I had a rotisserie, I'd use that. A lot depends on the size of the bird. If you're starting with a 2.5# chicken, it's going to roast differently than a 3.7# bird. Cooking it outside - different than inside. Convection oven or no. There are a lot of variables to consider; I don't find it as simple as answering a survey.

Take a look at this post and the rest of the Roasting a Chicken topic for some really great ideas. As Ttogull's post immediately above mentions, it's all about getting a good chicken to start with. Cause if you're roasting a Perdue bird, it's always gonna taste like crap. I've been preferring Bell & Evans organic air-chilled birds lately - nice texture to the meat, and good flavor. If I lived in France, I'd be roasting a Bresse chicken twice a week.

A less bitter cocktail which we found ourselves returning to again and again this winter (and ala Sam as well) is the Grandfather... 1 bourbon / 1 Applejack BIB / 1 Antica / dash peychauds / dash ango / cherry garnish

Matzo ball ramen...

I'd never toasted any matzo before until Perlow mentioned it above. The matzo pieces were certainly not regular in shape although they may look that way. I'll try again with regular matzo soon.

I think they're both fine drinks, but that's just me. Adjusting the ratios, different sweets, etc. all make for a slightly different cocktail. For instance, I like my 1794 2 to 1 to .5.