weinoo

Make me even more jealous. How much?

The burger looks great...and the fries don't look bad either. Nice looking bun - does it hold up for the whole hamburger?

The short ribs are gonna be awesome.

Looking forward to this, ScottyBoy. But one question: How do you ride your bicycle from the East Bay to SF? I think I know the answer, but...

There are, of course, those who will miss Sifton dearly and hope the next critic carries the mantle of the style of writing which made Sifton, ummm, Sifton. Eddie Huang, of BaoHaus, is one of those. In his long blog post yesterday (when does this guy find the time to cook?), he wrote: So, while I'm sure there are plenty of folks around the cyberworld who, for whatever reasons are happy to see him go, I guess some wish he would stay.

You know, when you go out to a bar here in NYC, and they're charging $5 for a Bud or $6 for a Brooklyn, it's easy enough to pay that extra buck. Bottom line is good beers are being made and sold for close to the price of those crap beers listed in the article referenced above.

Yes, and I actually grind at what appears to be the same setting as yours.

If you're driving, why take any chances at all? Have a beer, or a glass of wine, and be done with it. Focus on the food.

Are you wondering about a pour-over or a 30 second espresso shot? I rarely switch beans for espresso; that is, once I open a package of beans for espresso, I use them all up so the grind stays the same.

Oh, I believe it. But evidently "some people" on a strict budget still seem to be buying coffee "out" on a daily basis. I'm just trying to reconcile the two, because if someone is buying coffee "out" every day, they're not sticking to their strict budget. And my advice is sincere that they will save money in the long term.

We recently had dinner here after a nearby show...it was our first visit in quite a while, since we usually go to Ssam Bar for the amazing duck at lunch. We didn't know what we were missing, as a top-notch ramen made us wonder why it had been so long since we'd been. A fresh corn saute, always a Momo summer highlight was good, but the shocker were the amazing (new to us) shrimp buns. I don't know what went on with the shrimp, but the buns were perfect. They carry on the torch of the great pork bun, which of course made its debut at the original Noodle Bar. As far as vegetarian options, there are some salads which will work; the cold ginger scallions noodles are, iirc, veg also. Early or late lunch on a Sunday shouldn't be a problem.

You gotta spend some money up front to save money over the long haul. I don't know where the $30 bean shipment comes from, but I spend between $15 - $18 a pound on good coffee. Works out to about $.50 - $.60 a cup. When you consider that a properly made cup of coffee probably costs around $2 "out," you'll more than make up for the initial spending over the course of a couple of months. I guess my advice for those who don't want to or can't mail order good coffee is to find a coffee that's acceptable to you and just enjoy that.

Over in his outstanding eGullet Fooblog, nolnacs shows us that he's a total menu planner, with specific lists for his planned meals. I suppose that if you have one day a week in which you do a large percentage of the next week's food shopping, it really makes a lot of sense to do it this way. I don't know if I could be that disciplined, even under similar circumstances. So I just go to the market (s) I go to, and buy what looks good and cook and/or eat that. Are you a planner/lister?

All good info above. And there are some great threads in this forum, once you've gotten the bug. For example, here's a topic dedicated to French press coffee. Over here is a recent thread about the best coffee grinders for drip . And another one simply about the best coffee grinders. Ane a best budget burr grinder one. Here's one about how to store your freshly roasted coffee. One about coffee grinder hygiene. Pour-over coffee makers. Here's my coffee set up at home. And a blog post I did about making coffee at home. Enjoy your coffee!

Dumplings first, followed by noodles. No wimping out when you're blogging... .

Yes, yes - I know there is a Fatty 'Cue in Brooklyn and that it has been open for a number of years. And I've never been, but now that a second location has opened in Greenwich Village, how could I resist? During the transition from what was here before (Cabrito), Fatty 'Cue became Fatty Johnson's, a pop-up of sorts, with guest bartenders and minimal menus. One night I enjoyed having the team of Brian Miller and Phil Ward mix up a few classics, as well as a few of their own concoctions, while behind the stick. And if you were there then, you wouldn't recognize the place now, all dark wood and adult looking..though we didn't make it into the back room, preferring to sit at the bar and eat instead. A simple stater of Chilies and Cheese brought a nice portion of house made buffalo milk cheese, the consistency of ricotta, alongside some sliced, slightly pickled chilies and a pair of soft, Parker- house style roles, which was good to soak up some of the booze. Speaking of booze, a few of the specialty cocktails were great, including their White Negroni (made with Cynar and a Spanish white vermouth) as well as the Fatty Manhattan, incorporating smoked cherry coke as one of its components. A late summer tomato salad was just as to be expected in the late summer, lush and delicious. For a main, the smoked lamb shoulder, served with house made pita bread and yogurt from goat's milk is an upscale and delicious gyro if ever there was one. A side of steamed and crushed new potatoes, paired with smoky-sweet corn off the cob, all served in a pool of green chile curry...sounding like a mess but tasting good, rounded out our meal. The kitchen and service were both in fine form last night, and I am looking forward to a return visit because the rest of the menu looks good too. Though I'll probably be avoiding the 1/2 pound of deep-fried bacon unless I'm with a half dozen of my pork eating friends. COMP DISCLOSURE: Pickle back, as if I needed one.

Wow, a return trip is in order soon.

That's why I put the word "food" in my OP. It's pretty much known that beverages carry a high mark-up. But so do things like guac, garden salads, some soups, etc.

I was wondering about the pricing of different food items on restaurant menus. Some stuff seems reasonable for what the raw materials must cost; others don't look reasonable at all. For instance, I think prices at some restaurants are outrageous for items like: Guacamole - I mean, avocados cost me $1.50 - $2 each; restaurants that "specialize" in Mexican cuisine can't be paying that much, and yet I've seen guacamole at $14 a portion. I'm looking at you, Dos Caminos and Rosa Mexicano, et.al. What about a wedge of iceberg lettuce with some blue cheese dressing? Isn't $10 or more a little crazy? Am I being unreasonable, or do restaurants need to charge this much for some of their dishes so that the raw material costs are better averaged over the entire menu?

I like my Edge Pro. Works great and I don't have to be an expert. At anything.

That's a pretty reasonable price - it's what we pay here.

Just out of curiosity, what was the price on the Rittenhouse?

What would be the term for a strictly kosher deli serving me a pastrami on white with mayo? It happened to us several years ago. It reminded me of the mayo scene from "The History of White People in America". The Goyish Deli.

I have friends with propane grills who, after I showed them the method, use it all the time. Everyone loves it.

Right, There is a pretty damn tasty, and I shudder to say this, Alton Brown "method"/recipe that I've doctored a bit and used with great success. Potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans, corn on the cob - or off the cob and browned in butter, chips, salsa, guac, etc. Beer. Sangria.