weinoo

This past March, a friend and I led an IACP tour group, where we got to see first hand a rooftop "garden" in Queens, NY. It was followed by dinner at Roberta's, in Bushwick, where gardening is also part of their claim to fame. Yesterday's NY Times ran a nice article about rooftop farming, including a profile of the place we visited, Brooklyn Grange. Now don't call it a garden, because the rooftop we toured in Queens actually was an acre large...not your typical backyard. In addition to supplying residents and restaurants with locally grown produce, these urban farms are also supplying places such as Whole Foods. I personally have bought greens from Gotham Greens (based in Greenpoint) at Whole Foods; I'm sure others have as well (otherwise they probably wouldn't be stocking them). Other than the obvious locally grown produce, these rooftop farms provide certain ancillary benefits. As the article points out: So, looking at all the benefits, as well as few downsides, is this the future of agriculture? What do you think?

For some reason, I expected the food costs to be higher...carry on!

Start plucking. I have been known to pull out stray feathers with the same tool I use to pick pin bones out of salmon.

So give us an idea of food costs over there. For instance, how much was that chicken?

Tough call. This is far from standardized American Chinese fare. So, if they like spareribs and wonton soup, this isn't the place for you.

I think Mjx is here per the OP: One of the owners of Cafe Katja, here on the lower east side of NYC, is from Austria, where his family has an elderberry farm. There's often an item or two on the menu containing them, usually a cocktail, sometimes a food course - always delicious.

Yes. Until a certain point, when the bean will be carbonized.

My point exactly, Steve.

Oh, please. I think you're grasping at straws. She is self-righteous and preachy - but that's not the point. And Trump didn't change the way business is done the way AW changed the way food is understood in the US; he's just a big ahole in a world of aholes.

A long time ago I started a topic called Tired of the Alice Waters Backlash..., that sure brought out people's varied opinions. I've always been a fan of Alice, her didacticism and sometimes holier than thou-edness notwithstanding. And I guess I'm not the only one - especially amongst the professional field. As Jonathan Waxman says in an Eater interview, when asked about certain people mocking Alice: It's certainly nice to see a respected professional offer an opinion about this, because it seems like most of the disrespect comes from those who, ummm, don't really know as much. But they're certainly not afraid to offer their opinions. And Bourdain - well, he's just out to make a buck, no? So, what do you all think now?

Great points, all.

A few more visits keep confirming that Chef Bowien is putting out some amazing food and is not averse to tweaking the menu, depending on availability of various proteins and produce. Lunch is a civilized time to try MCFNY, and last week Significant Eater and I did just that. A few standouts included this fiery catfish dish, Catfish A La Sichuan... It was so bloody hot, that we figured a cold dish would hit the spot. We weren't wrong when we went with the Chilled Buckwheat Noodles... I'd been wanting to try the Savory Egg Custard for a while, and was happy it was available... Easily one of our two or three favorite restaurant openings this year. As an aside (okay, maybe not an aside), I just think the service here is great. Everyone is so nice and helpful. Keep up the great work!

Usually, the neck sold here (in NYC or DC) is pretty darn bony. Love it for stew, however.

Yes.

Probably the shoulder, which can be cut up into its different muscles and then into cubes.

I don't know how romantic it's considered, but the food at Boulud Sud is top notch.

Glad you like it and yes, the staff is very nice. Interesting about the 8 PM opening time now...I suspect that will drop back after Labor Day, when drinking starts at a more reasonable 6 or 7 PM .

What's up with the margarine?

Is the book dedicated to baking with spelt flour? I've always treated it precisely the same way as plain wheat flour, although I'll if a recipe calls for cake flour, I'll cut it with a bit of rice flour, since the protein content is pretty high. I don't know that Gabriele Bonci is that much of a celebrity outside of Rome or Italy. In any event, his pizza is great, and according to knowledgeable expat writer and Roman food guru Katie Parla, the book is worthy.

I find it humorous that this writer's "research" on the best Neapolitan pizza doesn't include eating pizza in Naples. And really, is he covering any ground that we haven't argued endlessly about here? We ate at Motorino just this past Friday night. And you know what? The pizza was great, but it wasn't as good as other pizza I've had - at Motorino! But that doesn't answer your question - it just proves that I'm indeed a curmudgeon. Be that as it may - I think that any given style, on any given day, can be the best. All depends on whose manning the ovens, whose making the pie, and on and on.

Last week, craving some Japanese and/or sushi, and not wanting to head too far north to one of our favorite soba places, we decided to give BRSI a try. BRSI went into the space that was once Shang, in the Thompson LES Hotel...I never got around to eating at Shang so I don't really know what the space looked like before, but it's pretty nice now. Huge, too. In any event, with only one meal under our belts, we will gladly return. Our skewers were perfectly cooked and delicious (we must've tried 3 or 4 of them), and the sushi we had was high quality as well. I don't know what it's like on a Friday or Saturday night at 10, but at 7 or so, it was practically zen-like. Service was a little too omnipresent, but I'm sure that goes away the more crowded it gets.

A rental apartment - no problem. And if I had any outside space, I'd do it in a flash. But in a cooperative, it's a bit of a different story. I suppose I could sit in front of a window, with a fan at my back, holding a heat gun...

I don't know where it will end, but we have to be getting close. If not, then is this only the beginning? Eater reports: Do these two have no shame?

Oh, to be in Oklahoma, roasting my own. Sadly, I gave up my roasting years ago due to my not wanting to make my fellow cooperators, here in our NYC apartment, really pissed off. Do you roast outside, in a garage, or where?

Could it be Italy and NYC?