melkor

A few years ago, at Yobo in Newburgh NY I had the misfortune of having the band-aid that had previously inhabited our waiter's thumb re-appear in my dessert - I would have preferred to notice this before it made its way into my mouth, but alas it was destined to be discovered as I attempted to figure out what was chewy about my whipped cream. Strangely enough, in retrospect I'm not sure the band-aid was the strangest part of the meal. Needless to say, I haven't been back

Sure, there are countless places in California that serve fine steaks. But there has to be someone somewhere in this state providing a meal to rival what the NY steak houses are offering. Of the places on your list, would you consider any on par with the NY crowd? (excluding Lugers)

Meatloaf with hard boiled eggs and pickels baked into it.

NY has Lugers, Smith and Wolenskey, Sparks and countless other steak houses. What does California have to offer for the hungry carnivore? Coles Chop house in Napa has the best steak I've had in California, but there has to be better steak somewhere in this vegitarian filled state. Vic Stewarts in Walnut creek, Harris ranch near Bakersfield on I-5, and Ruths' Chris are all reasonably good, but not quite as good as Coles' I need to make it over to SF to check out the Acme Chop house. Where else should I be looking to find the ultimate California steakhouse.

From 'The American Wine Cookbook' c 1941: Pork Cake Ingredients - salt pork sherry molasses sugar cinnamon cloves allspice flour baking soda salt orange peel lemon peel citron raisins currants walnuts and eggs What could sound better than a cake made from salt-pork and sherry? The recipe says it only has to bake for 2 hours.

There are hundreds of winerys in California, yet most people have a favorite - what's yours? When I have guests in town we always seem to end up at Joeseph Phelps for their patio tasting. Almost every wine they make is good, several are excellent and the view from the patio is outstanding. There are other wineries I love to visit, but Phelps would be the one I'd go to if I only had time to visit one.

I think donut jokes are a good idea, though Chris may disagree.

I really need to come down to SoCal for a ride-along.

It's all a matter of personal preference. If you want a cup similar to what you get at a diner but of much higher quality - find yourself some columbian. My favorite for drip coffee is a 50/50 blend of Yemeni Mokha and Java. Some people really like Kona, but I don't find it very compelling. If you have a local roaster, buy a small amount of each coffee they offer and try them. thx very much. i live bet fairway, citarella's, & zabar's in nyc (uws) so have many options re: sampling. i guess the main intent of the question is "which is considered the best"?? usual answer is Kona, but seems that it is very hard to find REAL kona??? what about illy?? Kona is easy enough to find, several producers in Kona will ship directly to you. Illy makes reasonably good coffee also, but freshness is a concern. The best coffee your likely to find will be some reasonably high quality beans roasted 24-48 hours ago, it's hard to overstate how much of a difference freshness makes.

Luce, Frescobaldi, Mondavi 1998 $145.00 :laugh:

Moka-java would absolutely blow as espresso, but that doesn't mean that Brazilian, Sumatran, or Columbian beans by themselves wouldn't make passable espresso. There are far more beans that would make bad single origin espresso than there are good ones, but the good ones certainly exist.

The poor results you've had may have something to do with your hot-air roaster, the coffee/espresso will be much much brighter if its roasted into 2nd crack in 5 minutes rather than 20 minutes.

Generally you'll want your beans roasted a little darker if your going to make espresso with them. Lighter roasts often taste sour when used for espresso drinks.

It's all a matter of personal preference. If you want a cup similar to what you get at a diner but of much higher quality - find yourself some columbian. My favorite for drip coffee is a 50/50 blend of Yemeni Mokha and Java. Some people really like Kona, but I don't find it very compelling. If you have a local roaster, buy a small amount of each coffee they offer and try them.

Forget bread, it's good but it can't compare to the potato.

La Toque is indeed spendy and fancy. I haven't been there since last winter when I had a nice black truffle tasting menu there - they offer wine parings with every dish, which is a nice change from the french laundry where you either pick glasses of the their list or drink several half/full bottles. I didn't find the food at La Toque to be as compelling as the french laundry, I'd rank it slightly lower than Gary Danko in SF. Their space is very comfortable, the tables have a lot of room between them and the meal flows nicely from course to course at a relaxed pace. I'd likely go to Terra instead, simply because I find the food to be as good at Terra and the price half as much.

Bistro Jeanty is more or less the same concept as Bouchon - I prefer the food at Bistro Jeanty, the tomato soup topped with puff pastry is outstanding. Pere Jeanty has a broader Mediterranean influence - they have excellent salt-cod dishes and they serve pizza. Both restaurants are excellent, it depends on your mood which is better - I'd go to Pere Jeanty if you’re already going to Bouchon. If you go to Pere Jeanty, ask your waiter for an affogato for dessert, it's not on the menu but it's spectacular there - amazing vanilla gelatto, a touch of whipped cream, and surprisingly good espresso poured on top. It's a great way to end a meal there.

In the last few weeks I've had excellent meals at the Martini House, Terra, Bistro Jeanty, Bistro Don Giovanni, and Pere Jeanty. I had a reasonably good meal at Pinot Blanc, but I'd recommend Terra or the Martini House if your in St Helena.

A Pony!

Hell no.

Feh. The flash sucks

Bah. No pictures? The wine we had was a 1989 Dr. Wagner Ayler Kupp Riesling Kabinett.

The main advantage of a griddle as I see it is that you can make far more pancakes on a double burner griddle than you can in a fry pan. Cast iron will also give you a better crust on the pancakes than non-stick can.

oh melkor and pim...this could be very bad for me...you can't have any idea how small my kitchen is...my kitchenaid has to live in a closet - i thought i was safe on the francis francis due to cost...thanks for the link - i think. the espresso machine doesn't have to be in the kitchen - I'm sure you'll find room for it somewhere

I wasn't saying you shouldn't cook them - I said you shouldn't eat them. You can't get the full smelt experience if you don't try one before you use the rest of them to fertilize your garden.