weinoo

Funny, I thought it was a pretty great week. Dungeness crab, anyone?

I'm an OXO fan for things like this.

I have no doubt that I love salt. From salumi to potato chips, salted cookies to salted caramels, it's one of my favorite seasonings. And I also know how important it is to help bring out the flavor of many ingredients when cooking. A pinch of salt in my ice cream base - of course. Making oatmeal in the morning - a little salt goes a long way. But...I think chefs, at least here in NYC, might be getting a little salt-happy. Over the past couple of months, there have been a number of restaurant dishes that we've ordered which have been practically inedible due to too much salt. So, is this a trend, a passing fad or just some really bad taste buds back there in the kitchen?

Fatty Cue in the West Village topic...click. Patrick's suggestions are good, as always. Maialino. Gramercy Tavern does a great lunch. Boulud Sud was one of my favorite openings last year. Balthazar - classic. ABC Kitchen. Fat Radish.

I don't know where this weinoo character got that rumor from (ummm, perhaps here on Eater); But the Acme management would like to clarify this, via Grub Street: Unless, of course, that's just a rumor.

What happens when a restaurant opens in New York City, and it’s informed by a cuisine with which you might know nothing about? In this case, go. Acme, or Acme Bar and Grill, on Great Jones Street, was for many years a club slash bar that served up some “Southern food” as well as some mighty fine rock and roll shows down in the basement. The r & r was the extent of my familiarity with the joint, since I’d never eaten there, but shows by the likes of Alex Chilton and Roy Loney are probably why my hearing is not as good as it used to be. Back to the new Acme. The executive chef is Mads Refslund, a Dane who was one of the founding partner/chefs (along with René Redzepi) of what many consider to be one of the world’s top restaurants: Noma, located in Copenhagen. Be that as it may, now he’s ours, at least for the time being. And that, from my experience so far, is a good thing. Two meals over a couple of days allowed me to try a nice portion of the menu (as well as a few of the cocktails), which is divided, as so many menus are these days, into a number of categories: Raw; Cooked; Soil; Sides; Sea/Land; Desserts. Mads, from everything I’ve read, is a promoter of the New Nordic Cuisine, and if I told you I was unfamiliar with that, it’s because I’ve yet to travel to the places where New Nordic Cuisine is being cooked and served. And, according to Mads, he’s not really cooking New Nordic Cuisine at Acme; what he’s cooking is in the style of and based on the philosophy of New Nordic Cuisine, which in this case means using as many local and seasonal ingredients as is possible, without mucking them up too much. So for instance, a starter of “sweet shrimp and bison” might not have been foraged in Central Park, but the interplay of sweet/bitter and soft/crunchy just knocked us out. It looked good too… "House-cured salmon" was another winner from the "Raw" section of the menu, and three of us fought over the last bites, even going so far as to mop up, with some excellent Sullivan Street Bakery bread, the last trace of buttermilk horseradish dressing. “Duck in a jar” was not quite confit and not quite rillettes. What it was was hunks of very tender duck tucked under a pile of pickled vegetables, the duck tender enough to be practically spread on the accompanying toast… While the “Country toast” was merely good, “Pearl barley and clams” was a hit. Maybe my favorite dish of everything I’ve tried so far, the earthy barley and briny clams were drenched in a roasted sunflower broth with hunks of artichoke heart and baby scallops along for the ride. The worst part – I had to share. Barley – who’d have thunk it, though it did kind of sneakily remind me of a Sardinian specialty, fregola with clams. I didn’t, though, have to share my “Pork chop,” cooked just enough for my liking (though if you don’t like pork rare, ask for it medium or more). Pork chops are on every menu in town, but most of them aren’t as good as this, accompanied as it was by parsnips, pears, cranberries and, I think, a pomegranate aril or two… My buddy’s “Arctic char” was another simple dish – just cooked and seasoned perfectly, all crisp skin and rare flesh punched up with capers and sherry vinegar, two of my favorite puckery things… I can’t not mention the “Hay roasted sunchokes,” earthy from both gruyere and black winter truffles, and the “Black cod,” a fish I happen to love because in another guise, it’s called smoked sable, and is one of my favorite things to put on a bagel. Here once again, the fish was perfectly cooked, just past the point of rare, which with a fish like cod makes all the difference in the world. Not cooked enough – it sucks. Cooked too much – it sucks. The only dessert we tried was a knockout. Called simply “Chocolate crisps,” brittle tuile-like bitter chocolate is served on a bed of intense ganache alongside coffee ice cream. This touched all my buttons, because I love chocolate and I love coffee. It was great. You know, dining out can sometimes be a learning experience, and two meals at Acme have taught me quite a bit. Certainly a bit about the philosophy of the New Nordic Cuisine, and how the use of bitter and sour components is as important as the use of sweet and salty. They open the palate. Raw, crunchy things on a plate are good and can serve to heighten the flavor and texture of the other components. Excellent ingredients are important, but hey, that’s a given…respecting them and treating them properly should be a given too, but often that’s not the case; here at Acme, it mostly is. The latest news from the Acme front is that downstairs, that great old room that saw a lot of loud music, will be a club with a DJ, open unti 4 AM. What that means for the upstairs, for a restaurant that a mere one week into its existence is turning out some fine food, is altogether another. Go soon – who knows how long Mads will be at the stove.

Well, from our friends at Eater today, and from the ridiculous to the sublime, here's the latest... That's the word from Toby's Estate Coffee, coffee roasters and sellers from Australia. They're opening their first US shop today in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Well, the opening menu is now on line. Here are a few classics and their affordable prices: Hamburger (with fries) $14 Fried calamari - $18 (although my diner never had this) Caesar salad - $11 Roasted chicken - $24 Grilled cheese - $15 Classics...yes. Affordable prices - you be the judge.

That's my question. For $10, is it worth it?

So let's see: For around $10 you'd take the chance that you or anyone else you're feeding could end up seriously ill? Or perhaps: I really have a hard time understanding this and all the other questions about potential food safety issues. And NancyH already answered the question above. Properly.

They are on sale w/ free shipping at Sur La Table. Thank you! I just ordered twice as many as I needed due to above sale.

I repeat -- kegerator, cornelius keg, regular keg full of beer, CO2 tank, splitter, shutoffs. Fresh beer and soda water any time. Much less all the way around than a Sodastream. My guess is your kitchen is larger than 100 sq. ft.?

There's #32, evoking soome rather passionate responses .

Simple - because I find at least a dozen things that I must buy. Starting with #32 - The Picardie Tumblers.

I don't know about anyone else, but on the first page of my oven's manual, the Important Safety Instructions, it specifically states: Are you cooking on top of your furnace as well? How about putting on a sweater and a hat?

Meat - Never. I barely trust the food handling in most supermarket meat departments, even as it pertains to the freshest stuff. Isn't there enough of the fresher stuff that goes on sale to provide you with the challenge of cooking something that you might not be thinking about cooking?

Benoit. Pretty classic French done right and not outrageous.

For high-end places other than Per Se, you could try: Le Bernadin Eleven Madison Park Del Posto SHO

Her's is a blurb, from Eater, about a new restaurant called Bowery Diner, which is slated to open in the next few weeks on Bowery in New York City... Now, I don't know about anyone else, but most classic diners that I've eaten at already are pretty affordable. I mean, that's generally what you expect when you eat at a diner. Couple of eggs, home fries, bacon or ham or sausage, cuppa Joe - around $10, no? Burger - maybe $7 or $8, right? So - how are they gonna get much cheaper than that? And is "next-level artisinal soda program" perhaps the most annoying phrase you've heard this year? I know - it's early - but gimme a break. Bring it.

Eric Asimov has been writing for the NY Times since the early to mid 90s, in various guises. He conceived and wrote the $25 and under column, he was (and is) the chief wine critic, and at various times, including just recently, he has served as the interim restaurant critic. Today, he pens an insightful article on just how the paradigm has changed (in his opinion) related to restaurant dining and reviewing over the past 10 or so years. He writes about superior ingredients being available today as well as the upgrading of wine, beer and spirits lists offered by many restaurants. However, what he feels is most different is the presence, on practically everyone's person, of high-speed internet and the ability to communicate one's feelings (if so desired) practically instantaneously. He even gives a shout out to the food boards which were on the leading edge a mere decade ago: My takes is that he feels that it is essentially more difficult to be a traditional restaurant critic now, what with technology practically guaranteeing a lack of anonymity. But the bottom line is, it doesn't seem to bother him all that much, and his deep-seated love of the social importance of dining with friends and family comes through nicely in his last few paragraphs.

Your personal evidence and struggle is indeed is what I learned from the article. And also the article is trying to point out that society, taken as a whole, should not be looking at the problems clinically obese people have with losing weight and then keeping that weight off as simply as those people not having the willpower to do what's in their best interest, but the fact that those people have a greater struggle due to what's going on inside their bodies physically. In other words, it's not all in your head.

Exactly. As far as your example of Minetta Tavern, you probably have to know the maitre d' in order to get a decent table at a decent hour. Or at least be a friend of the house .

Today, the author answered some questions on the Times' blog, The 6th Floor. The point I think I was trying to point out in the OP, is this which she so simply explains: Because I think for so long people have tried to make it seem so simple to both lose and keep weight off.

This past Sunday's NY Time Magazine cover story, excellently written by Tara Parker-Pope, is entitled The Fat Trap. Evidently, as hard as it is for many people to lose weight, it's even harder than we think, because those same people's bodies are literally fighting to stay heavy. So it has me wondering: As science is uncovering new truths about obesity, weight loss and weight gain, is science also getting closer to some new therapies and will it get easier for someone who is obese and wants to lose weight to do just that?

I realize that this topic is about where to find coupes. But I just found these Nick & Nora glasses, which are quite elegant and not huge (6 oz.) and, better still, they are reasonably priced... Nick & Nora glasses