BigboyDan

You can also use Miracle Whip to grease the lugnuts on your 1975 Pinto, if and when it's not up on blocks in front of your double-wide; y'all take care, tornado season be-a-comin' - and do somethin' with those kid's teeth, will ya'? Good Lordie... http://www.wackyuses.com/miracle.html

Miracle Whip: nastiest crap ever.

Here in Texas we use lard and tripe (Menudo), and plenty of each.

The best part is that you can use the book to cook the recipes at home BETTER than they at the restaurant. Heh, heh... Edited to add: I do love drinking at the FSM bar, though.

For home use, Thermador; for restaurant use, Blodgett.

As far as celebrity books go, I received as an unsolicited gift, The Elements of Taste, by Peter Kaminsky and Gray Kunz; Little, Brown & Company, 2001. (Kaminsky previously co-authored with Andre Soltner, The Lutece Cookbook). Gray is a well-known New York chef, currently at his namesake, Cafe Gray, and formerly of Lespinasse. Just for the fun of it I tried several recipes, some worked, some didn't. Odd. Now, I just look at the pretty pictures...

Ditto.

Chips and salsa - of course.

Scruggs and Paul both are New York culinary school grads and it shows in their food - now known in the industry as "CIA" food, text book stuff. Yawn. And at $120 per person, you've got to be kidding... And as to tetsujustin's reference to Pope and Waters concerning Wink/Zoot, spot on.

As far as I know Marx is still the GM and chef at the Château Cordeillan-Bages in Pauillac: Marx

Been there forever: Long Horn Meat Company 2411 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Austin, TX 78702 (512) 476-5223 You're welcome.

Culinista, WOW! What a spot on post. Fact is, chains have a clientle, including those who'll only stay at The Four Seasons... the "traveller" is, indeed, a breed himself.

Keep my water glass full; if you can't/won't, get me a bigger glass. Down here where it's hot, most down home places offer 24 oz. glassware - now that's the way to do it.

Yes to all of the above. Also, the French just don't eat "steak and seafood" like the Amis do. And, for sure, beef cattle that only eat grass (albeit grass-fed is much better for our beloved Texas pit BBQs) do not make the best American Steakhouse fare.

Down here chili con carne is a big deal, and one can rarely get good chili in a restaurant. Also, as mentioned above, tamales - we make our own...

There probably won't be another Passard or Gagnaire; the three-starred world be a-changing... Go with Chauvel...

Thanks for the report. Is that the spot where The Granite Cafe used to be?

Any heavy boiled meat or vegetable dishes. No thanks on the sauer kraut...

Of course Puck is European, being an Austrian. Also, German can be used ethnically in the same way as the word "Anglo" - as any German well knows... For those who are interested in an extensive listing of finer restaurants in Germany: Restaurants in Deutschland

Hey Kent, Fearing is opening a restaurant in downtown Dallas somewhere. It's possible (so some have speculated) that The Mansion on Turtle Creek wanted to change cuisines, as the "Southwestern" that Dean specialized in is on the wane with patrons. Also, The Mansion is a Mobil 5 hotel without a 5 star kitchen; counts for a lot at Rosewood Hotels.

Got a name of the new chef yet? A different cuisine in store? Has anyone eaten there in the last few weeks? Huh?

Aluminum? We don't use no stinkin' aluminum... stainless steel. Stainless. Get it?

Coming from a Brit? Does take one to know one...

Also, it depends on where you are: East coast, whiners and always in a hurry about everything. Texas: no whining (try it), and what's with the hurry?

Well, at least Puck can cook. Like many in the kitchen biz, you finally can't take the idea of working your butt off for years and ending up with no money. As a foreigner, Puck, by far has done the best with what he had to offer (Lagasse and Prudhomme and other Americans of a specific regional style are excempt here). I know this, Puck would now be hard pressed to need to find Europe on a map; and he has to be one of the happiest persons on earth. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/53/Q10O.html