weinoo

He may not have much to do with his Burger places, but he has lent/sold his name and cachet to them; he therefore should at least care about the food being sold. Now, Bar Americaine is interesting to me. I can't remember the last meal I had there; for that matter, I can't remember the first one either, but I'll have to give it a try. Can you name for me the restaurants (which was the point in the original post) in which Mr. Pepin has been the chef, owner or principal partner?

Is Blue Ribbon really known in "some circles" as the best fried chicken in NYC?

I guess what I'm driving at is the fact that the chefs I referenced above, the food they're selling now, whether in the restaurants which catapulted them to fame or in new ventures, is not as good as it once was. Forget the fact that it may not be providing thrills; I can live with that, since I get so many thrills elsewhere . Let's take Flay, for instance...his burger place, at least here in DC, sucks. I mean, you're Bobby Flay! Can't you make sure your burger places are making great burgers? Jose - this is a man who arguably brought the small plates concept to fruition in the United States. So why is Zaytinya as tired as it is. Jaleo, too. And Oyamel, just another Mexican restaurant in a sea of mediocrity, in my opinion. Let's look at it another way...another early Food Network star whose empire keeps expanding - Mr. Batali. I still love eating at Lupa. Otto is still as good as it always was. maybe Babbo has fallen a notch or two, but I haven't eaten there in ages. Del Posto - 4 stars. Obviously, he has great people running those restaurants and has been able to keep them. Can't say the same for the other two.

I guess this topic could also be called "chefs who, due to their expanding empires, have restaurants where the food has declined from what made them stars." But that title is way too long. I'm starting with: Jose Andres Bobby Flay Now save your cards and letters. I respect both of these chefs tremendously. It's just that, well, their restaurants are tired. Don't you think?

The recipe I used is on the bag of the coarse grind cornmeal. It's the same as the 3rd recipe you link to above, except for the grind of the cornmeal...

Another question, because, you know, I just like to annoy people with questions: What turns you off about the buttermilk? Too tart? Bad consistency?

So your recipe should be baking powder instead of soda?

I don't, But Batali has always said that the pasta water at the end of a shift is the best due to how much starch is in it.

Wow, Chris and Jane, awesome stuff. Chris - I will try these as soon as I get to WF and pick up some of the recommended cornmeal. Have you experimented with buttermilk and/or the addition of baking powder?

Yes. I've also had the arepas which Panaderia Canadiense gives a great recipe for above. Back many years ago, I'm pretty sure I ate at Mark Miller's Coyote Cafe, the eponymous cookbook which I've just pulled off the shelf. Miller's 1989 recipe calls for "coarse cornmeal (polenta)" (and minimal soaking) as well as a/p flour, which is the same as recipes from Joy and The NY Times Cookbook. Also, as in many of the other recipes I've found, both baking powder and baking soda are used. It's not the holy grail, though.

Those sound nice, Panaderia Canadiense, but they're definitely not the product I'm aiming for, which is much more of a pancake and is not made with masarepa.

Just last night, I decided I had to have cornmeal pancakes with my dinner...don't ask me why. So I followed the recipe on a freshly opened package of Bob's Red Mill Coarse Grind cornmeal, and using that same coarse ground cornmeal, made a batch. They were okay, good even, but I felt that the coarse ground cornmeal didn't soften enough and created a texture in the pancakes that I didn't love. Then I started leafing through a few of my cookbooks (which isn't always the greatest idea, cause once I get started...). Most, if not all of the recipes I came across, call for yellow or white cornmeal, but don't specify the grind; they are, however, fairly close to the proportions on the Bob's bag. So...do you make cornmeal pancakes? Are they called flapjacks? Johnnycakes? What's your recipe? And, how do you use them? Breakfast? Sweet or savory? Tell me everything you know, please.

It looks like they just want to totally eliminate any possibility of a customer saying they got sick from something that wasn't cooked enough.

Er? But not Jersey. Jersey is in the Channel Islands near France. That's where the cattle breed came from. OK. When we say Jersey in New York, we mean New Jersey.

Mmmmmm....Parkside. The real deal, but a schlep from practically anywhere on the island on Manhattan.

Right, Southside was very good. Last year, a couple of friends and I were given the special treatment by Mike Mills - some of the best ribs I've ever had in his little private tent.

Don't think that can be classified as a Negroni . I can certainly call it a variation. Of course you can...but it ain't a Negroni. I love the Old Pal, bitter and dry; what's not to like?. Another fine variation, which I think was "invented" at Rye, in San Francisco, is the 1794 Cocktail.

My experience over the years has been that our local, indigenous BBQ does as good a job at this event as any of the out-of-towners. Blue Smoke does a really good job. Dinosaur also. Other favorites tend to be Ed Mitchell, Mike Mills and Chris Lilly.

Yes, you are. Simply Grazin' Organic Farm is about 55 miles from the Whole Foods on Bowery. I consider that local.

I don't know how many others will think it's a sad day when 100 year-old Chinatown mainstay Sam Wo has had to close its doors forever, especially when the city's health inspectors decided to: All that aside, Sam Wo was where I first tasted Chow Fun noodles, and where I loved taking out of town guests on our jaunts to the city. I'm sure Edsel insulted my friends and me many times, as he served us our wonton soups brought up from the kitchen on that ancient dumbwaiter. And I'll never forget the look on friends' faces as he threw down the pencil and pad and implored us to write down our own orders. RIP, Sam Wo. Edsel Ford Fung, too.

As I mentioned in this topic, my local Whole Foods has entered, at least for the time being, the burger wars. I first spotted the Bowery Burger sign a couple of weeks ago; at that time, I wasn't able to give it a try, because I had just come into the store to pick up a few things and was in a bit of a rush. But I returned earlier in the week, once again to do some shopping, but also to try the burger. Whole Foods sells some excellent quality stuff...that's why it's probably my main food shopping destination. I don't generally buy beef at the store, though, because I prefer a butcher's shop or the green market for that sort of stuff, though they do sell locally raised grass-fed beef at the meat counter, at least in this store. And that's what the burger was made of - beef from Jersey raised, grass-fed cows. And it did have some nice flavor - but man, the cooking technique needs some work, as I wrote about on my blog. Basically, they cooked the living hell out of this patty, rendering it barely edible - tough, dry and everything you don't want from your burger. There are plenty of places doing this style of burger (thin patty, griddled, etc.). My advice: seek them out instead.

Not a bad choice, but be aware that the Frankie's on Clinton Street has morphed into Francesca's, their attempt at Spanish tapas, pinxtos, etc. (my first visit there was less than impressive). They still have a Manhattan outpost, though, at 570 Hudson. Frankie's Spuntino website. I've had a couple of good meals at Sauce, which has opened in the old Kampuchea location. Real red-sauce stuff, along with some more innovative fare; for instance, I like their zucchini "pasta" with bottarga. As a matter of fact, Eater listed it as the affordable alternative to Parm in this piece. It's from another Frank (Prisinzano), the owner of Lil' Frankies, Frank and Supper, so he must be doing something right.

You could take the FF, use the money you've saved to buy a really good grinder (I don't even know, but does the FF take ground coffee or pods?), start resaving and then when you're sick of the FF and want to move up to the next level, the Silvia will most likely still be there.

My dishwasher has an adjustable rinse aid dispenser. Since our water here is so soft, I set it on the lowest possible dispensing number. I probably fill the dispenser twice a year, so that cost is also pretty darn low.

I use Cascade powder very sparingly. I decant it into a 6 cup Tupperware container which I keep under the sink and use a measured coffee scoop full or so per load, a bit more if the dishes are really dirty. I mostly don't rinse my dishes either - just scrape them off, per the instructions...if they're got something like avocado or peanut butter on them, then I might rinse. No etching so far (7 years) and my dishes come out totally clean. That said, I find a 4.5 lb. box lasts me months and months, and if I spend more than $15 or $20 a year on dishwashing soap, I'd be surprised. Which is a long-winded way of saying I have no idea what the CPL is .