KatieLoeb

Can someone tell me if I am correct in assuming that "ABC" means "American Born Chinese"?

Pan: Thank you for the suggestions. It turns out that now my friend (the GM at the Cape May restaurant) is going to come up to Philly and join Melissa and myself for the tasting. Since she's doing a lot of the buying now since I'm otherwise occupied, we're thinking about going to our very favorite place in New York - The Tasting Room. I haven't been there in over a year, and I just love it there. Great creative menu and really interesting All American wines-by-the-glass as well as the regular wine list. Am going to call to see if reservations can be had that evening and will hopefully be going there. If not, will certainly check into your suggestions. I appreciate the heads up on Cornelia Street Cafe. As I said, I'd always heard good things, but I don't live there so I have to rely on past information (or mis-information) for what sounded good at the time. I'll defintely post back afterward and let everyone know what we ended up doing.

Suzi: I know that the Zardetto Prosecco is a Winebow product. I'm very fond of it, but I like the prosecco from Bele Casel (it's represented by Fleet Street Importers. PM me if you need their number - the whole portfolio is excellent) that we are already using as our by-the-glass sparkling at Martini Beach. It's about $2 more but a little more elegant, IMHO than the Zardetto. Also a little less "usual" so it's a good selling point since it's not something a lot of folks have seen or had before. But hey - all prosecco is good to me! The "Champagne of the Veneto" works quite well for what it's meant to do. Refreshing and easy drinking stuff. Not overly sweet like a lot of the Asti Spumante that most people associate with Italian sparkers. Haven't met anyone yet that hasn't liked it...

A couple more I tried today that were delicious: Hope Estate Chardonnay - HUGE butter bomb chard from Australia. Aged on the lees. Really delicious and ~ $10. Hope Estate Alvharino - tasty in a very elegant way. Crisp. light, almond like. Imagine a cross between Pinot Blanc and Viognier. Would be spectacular with seafood (hence we'll be buying it for the list here at Striped Bass). ~ $9

Hi David: Welcome to eGullet! And thanks for the support. I absolutely LOVE this place and can't understand why it isn't more popular with non-native folks. Blows the doors off the other Vietnamese restaurants I've tried in Philly and is so inexpensive you can eat like a king, have leftovers, and still get out of there for less than a twenty. We had a great DDC dinner there a while back and they were very kind and accomodating. And SO much food!

Here I am, dutifully at my desk, having a bowl of fat free Trader Joe's Blueberry Meusli, 2% milk and a couple of sliced strawberries I swiped from the pastry station. Good stuff. My cauldron sized mug of cappuccino is steaming before me nad I'm ready to roll. More later....

Vanilla - with lobster for savory, with almost ANYTHING for sweet. Avocado - I recently had avocado gelato that blew me away. Savory is easy. Sweet you could team it with another ingredient (or not) and do a sorbet or gelato. Rhubarb Goat cheese (already suggested, but worth repeating) I've made a savory "cheesecake" that has a layer of pesto and a layer of sun-dried tomatoes in it. Yummy stuff. Black pepper. Hot and Sour Soup for savory. Black Pepper gelato for sweet. Mango. As the main component of a savory salsa. As the main component of a sweet dessert or sauce. I'll think of others...

Wow - I've really been terrible about keeping up with my blog the last couple of days, but perhaps when I explain the outrageous level of activity and stuff that's been happening you'll all forgive me. This will be a long one, so go get a drink... The reason I had to go into work at all on Saturday was because I found out incredibly late on Friday night that we had a Chef's table for 10 people on Saturday night and no one had told me So I went in to get the menu from the kitchen (which is never made up until that day, as are all our menus) and set out to pairing wines. I shall try to recreate this from memory for all of you as best I can: 1st course: Baked Oysters with Lemon Sabayon and Beluga caviar Pierre Moncuit "Cuvee Reserve" N.V. from magnum. 2nd course: Mackerel Carpaccio with Melon & Cucumber and Ponzu sauce Theo Minges Riesling Gleiswieler "Holle" Spatlese 2001 3rd course: Jumbo Lump Crab salad with ...(I don't remember) Domaine Dominique Roger Sancerre "La Jouline" 2001 4th Course: Poached Salmon with Chive Butter sauce and Osetra caviar Neyers Vineyard Estate Chardonnay 2000 (This bummed me out fiercely that the cellar is so light right now that there was no high end rose wine to pair with this course. Would've been a knockout with this dish I think, but with the butter sauce I was forced to go with the obvious chardonnay. Grrrr...) 5th Course: Serrano Ham wrapped Wild Striped Bass with sauteed Oyster mushrooms, truffle, and Foie gras Talley Vineyards Estate Pinot Noir Arroyo Grande Estate 1999 I had to leave for the football game before Pastry had told us about dessert. I left it in the hands of the sommeliere and told her to give them whatever she thought complimented the dessert. It ended up being some type of chocolate thing that they were served 5 year old Malmsey Madeira with. Brilliant menu with adequate wine pairings given the shortness of prep time and the dearth of what I really would have wanted in the cellar. Unfortunately it was all for naught. More on that later... Went to Temple-Villanova football game at new Lincoln Financial Field with my dearest friends and their two children, Ruben (6) and Sasha (4) whom I consider my niece and nephew as they do call me Aunt Katie . My friend is a partner in a law firm that purchased one of the club boxes so he gets tickets whenever he wants and when there aren't too many folks with seniority in front of him. Eagles games are tougher to score ticket for than a college game, so snagging an extra one for me wasn't a big deal. Game was pretty tight most of the way, but Temple totally blew it by shooting themselves in the foot TWICE with two offsides when they could have put it away. Eventually Villanova won in OT, but it certainly was a good game. And the club boxes are the way to go! Comfortable, great view, giant flat screen TV, private bathroom, their own refrigerator, etc. Cool. We went to Chinatown for dinner and feasted on all manner of yummy things. Crab & Corn soup, spring rolls, Oysters in Black Bean sauce, Singapore Noodles, Orange flavor Beef and Snow Pea shoots. The kids tried a few new things and liked them. I trying to become a good food influence for the kids and so far have succeeded. Their parents certainly let them eat everything and they've both loved sushi and lobster for as long as I can remember. Recently I was out with them for lunch at a Japanese restaurant and ordered a baby octopus salad for an appetizer. I showed the little bitty octopi to the kids and Sasha (the four year old) said she'd try a little bite. She liked it so much she decimated my order and we had to get another one! (That's my girl! ) So they had a little of this and that and found a few more things to like. I was dropped off back at the restaurant after dinner at about 10 PM, since my car was close by and I wanted to check in on how the Chef's Table was going. The Chef's table was supposed to have begun at 8:30 PM. I figured they'd surely be on 3rd or 4th course by then. Nope. They'd arrived late, hung out at the bar for at least an hour getting smashed before dinner (ordered and drank a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Demi-Sec prior to even sitting down) Turns out they were loud, obnoxious, and utterly unappreciative of the experience. The Chef even came over to speak to them and ask how everything was and according to every single staff person I spoke with, they were rude to him. Can you imagine? After having that awesome menu prepared for them personally, to be that crass??!!?? Then I found out they insisted on switching to red wine for the 4th course and insisted on drinking the Pinot Noir I had so carefully chosen for the 5th course because it had all those lovely earthy nuances to go with the mushrooms and truffles, etc. Bloody Philistines. I guess I should have known after the bartender told me how drunk they got before dinner that there was nowhere to go but downhill and pick up speed. Alrighty then. So I go up to my desk to do about 15 minutes worth of paperwork that will prevent me from having to come in too early on Monday and the first bartender gets off of work. "Hey Kate! I'm done. Wanna go grab a drink?" Sure, I say. I needed to calm my nerves after learning about what an effing waste of work the wine pairings were, and how the Chef got dissed. So we go down the street to the usual staff hangout, have a great chat and a couple of drinks. So far, so good. Slowly, the rest of the staff start trickling in as they finish up their respective shifts. We have a couple more drinks. Now my bartending friend is about one half drink over the line, but has definitively crossed it. She decides that NOW, while she has the courage, is a good time to find out why a certain waiter gives her a hard time. Oy - I think. This isn't a good idea. Mercifully he is saved by other staffers calling him on his cell phone. I stay out of it. Bar announces last call. Staff announces they're going around the corner to after hours club. "C'mon Katie. You never party with us..." OK - I'll go have one. Definitely had fun even though I gave myself a mild hangover for the next day... Sunday. Sleep in. Drink tons of water and take an Aleve. Watch some TV. Work on computer. Have plans for dinner with my buddy Barb (we've been friends since we were roommates in college, some tweny odd years ago, so we go WAY back.) to celebrate my new job. We decide we shall BYOB and each bring a bottle of wine. I decide since we're being celebratory I should whip out the big guns and bring along a bottle of Ployez-Jacquemart N.V. Rose Champagne. Can I tell you how yummy this was??? We went to a little restaurant that's right in my neighborhood called Azafran. A great Nuevo-Latino quaint bistro with a very ecletic menu. We ordered a seared spiced tuna dish with a fennel slaw on the side, and a grilled calamari dish, that was basically a gigantic salad with a flattened, scored and grilled calamari on top. There were crisp thin plantains instead of croutons for crunch. Calamari was incredibly tender. Very tasty! Of course both of these things went fabulously well with the Rose bubbly. Loved it! We both ordered the filet for our main course. It came atop a log cabin built of logs of fried yuca, steaks grilled to order and covered with chimichurri. It was so beautiful we didn't want to touch it. Barb described it as "Culinary Jenga"! Great analogy. We got over thinking it was too pretty to knock over and enjoyed. Barb had brought along a bottle of Rioja Riserva, 1995 (can't remember the producer since it wasn't in MY wine rack) that was tremendous with the filet. All in all a lovely dinner, and a great way to treat myself to celebrate my promotion. Good food, great wine, company that knows me well and loves me anyway ... I went to sleep in anticipation of waking up early and going in to do the inventory as I always do on Monday mornings. My ringing phone awakened me at approximately 3 AM. It was my friend Catherine, who is also our lead receptionist at work. She called to let me know whe was in labor and at the hospital, dilating and getting ready to give birth! She wasn't due until the 18th! Her last day was supposed to be this coming THURSDAY!!! Since my home number was the only one she had, she called to make certain the management would know why there was no receptionist this morning when they came in! Oh my! I rolled over and went back to sleep and then called the office first thing to let the manager on duty know what was up. At first I thought I had dreamt it, but realized when I was a little less foggy, that no, this was no joke, baby was making an early appearance. Called and left voice mail (since Catherine wasn't there I had to do the voice mail route) re: impending motherhood and then jumped into the shower. Made it into work and spent my day as I spend all Mondays - counting unending bottles. Mercifully, I have assistance from the sommeliere and between the two of us we can usually bang it out in about 4 hours. Entered all the inventories from all three restaurants, made a bunch of calls to place orders, placed the beer/soda/water orders for all three restaurants and prepared to go down to the hospital to see mother and bouncing 7lb. 8oz. baby boy! Cory, our Reservations Manager and also friend of mine and the new mother came with me. We brought a big bunch of flowers, some plastic stemware (hey - a girl's got to have her standards! I may drink wine out of a plastic cup, but it's stemware dammit! ) and a magnum of Mumm Cuvee Napa. Now, before you all condemn me for the lush that I probably am, please know that I've been promising Catherine for seven months that the first time she saw me after the baby was born would be with an outstretched arm with a drink in it for her, who complained about not being able to drink all through her pregnancy. I am nothing, if not a woman of my word. I thought her whole family (husband, sister, in-laws, etc.) would be there so I figured it would be rude to show up with just one dinky bottle. Since the mags were in the cellar anyhow, and we got an awesome price on them, it seemed both more cost effective and just good old Girl Scout thinking to show up with the big assed bottle, n'est ce pas? It turns out that we were the only visitors until one of our managers joined us there. So we asked the nurses if it was OK for her to have a glass of bubbly, and after checking her chart they said (direct quote) "Oh - she's bottle feeding. Tell here to knock herself out!" So great - we opened the bottle and all had a glass or two. But now onto the best part. Baby Kenyon is truly an example of an angel on earth. An absolutely gorgeous and perfect little being - fresh out of the wrapper, but definitely an old soul. I'm told he finally came out while Miles Davis was playing in the delivery room. I think he was just waiting for the appropriate tunes to be on for his grand entrance . Calm, sweet, with an enviable head of wavy dark hair, and translucent skin. Perfect little fingers and toes. Wrinkled little knees. Too cute to be true. Mother and baby are happy to finally meet. This child is destined for great things. I just know it. His name is grand, masculine and powerful. He could be a Supreme Court Justice or a Poet Laureate. But he'll be something and someone on a grand scale. No woman has ever wanted a child as much. She's going to be a wonderful mother. If he gets half of her wonderful disposition he'll be unstoppable. So I am finally at home and having an opportunity to catch you all up on the foodblog and life for the last few days. Pretty hectic! But wonderful things have happened. I think I shall go to bed now. I'll try and be more on top of this tomorrow, but then I think it'll be my turn to tag somebody else! Watch out...

One preparation of oysters from our raw bar selection had a sort of Bloody Mary granita (tomato juice, touch of vodka and lots of fresh horseradish) spooned on top of the half shelled oysters. The effect of the really cold icy crunchy granita with the cool briny oyster was awesome. Lots of contrasts of texture, temperature and flavors all at once. I was thinking that if one could produce a similar wasabi granita or sorbet and scoop it with a tiny little melon baller type gadget it would look like a beautiful cold little green pearl on a shelled oyster. Probably taste pretty damned good too. Am still trying to convince the oyster bar chef to give it a whirl.

Yeah!!!! Troy's!! That's exactly what I was thinking of! Oh. My. God. Some of the most horrificly bad food in the world. Open late, serving beer to underage students and causing all manner of gastric problems for those who were brave enough to partake. Yup. Them's were the days...

Apple Cobbler with Dulce de Leche drizzled on top. Droooling just thinking about it. Cheesecake with diced apples and a ribbon of Dulce through it. Apple bread pudding with Dulce sauce. I'll post again if I think of others.

...pearly white teeth flashing against smooth mocha skin. Yum. You'll have to read my novel when I get it finished. Long dark eyelashes on half-masted lids... I need a cold shower

i'm gonna guess Lorenzo's. Good call Herb. Open late, $2/slice and right on my way home! Humongous slices (The whole pies are probably 24" in diameter and sliced into eighths) of solidly mediocre, but tasty-in-a-pinch pizza. For an extra .50 toppings of your choice will be slapped on top haphazardly and with little love. But hey - you get what you pay for. Both in the pizza and with the help Suzanne - very astute observation. With me, it depends on the day. Mondays, since I'm in the dining room early doing inventory before service, I'm there when breakfast is made so I'm all over it. Other days it's haphazard, because I'm either running between the three restaurants (only three blocks) or am chained to my chair in front of the computer crunching numbers and going blind looking at those little boxes on the spreadsheet. Eventually I realize my stomach is growling and I look at the clock. If it's the right time I can run downstairs and score staff meal, if not I'll go run around the corner to the food court and see what strikes my fancy. Sometimes I'll have lunch at one of the other restaurants if I'm meeting with the manager for whatever reason and they're about to have lunch too. But yes - if I were in the kitchen I'd definitely have more regular eating habits!

Welcome to eGullet Greg and whimsity! There's always been a "bad-food-option" on 39th Street on/near Walnut for as long as I can remember. Before that space was Epicurean I think it was some other equally greasy and horrific diner type joint that's been giving gastric distress to Penn students for at least 20 years. I hope the Vietnamese place is a success. I'm with Greg - if it falls somewhere on the spectrum between good sit down (the much lamented Saigon on Washington Ave is sorely missed by me, at least) and one the Pho joints that'll do just fine. I'm still a big fan of Pho Xe Lua in Chinatown though. That fits that criteria perfectly - awesome bathtub sized bowls of Pho as well as delicious plated entrees. And you can eat like a sumo wrestler in training and still get out of there for less than $20. As for the neighborhood sustaining more than just Rx, I'm sure there's plenty of customers to go around. As for welcoming the competition, we should ask Greg. Greg - how do you feel about a new restaurant/potential competitor right there in the neighborhood?

All this talk of spatchcocking (sounds like an odd medieval sport, but whatever...) has made me think that perhaps one of the masters of this might consider doing an eGCI short course with photos. Anyone?

Thanks Herb! What are friends for... Sorry I was so out of touch yesterday. Not much to report however as I was swamped at work and not having much time to eat. I ended up having a bag of Salt & Vinegar potato chips to tide me over (I worked until 11PM ) and then had a few glasses of wine whilst dropping off some paper work at the other restaurants. {Note to self: Take the heinous Cotes du Rhone OFF the wine list at Bleu. Yech. No wonder it hasn't been selling...} Grabbed a few slices of pizza on the way home and that was it. Slept like a hero after a grand total of about 5 hours sleep the prior two evenings. On my way to the Temple-Villanova football game. Will report back tonight!

Hi: Just wondering if any of the wine professionals here will be attending the Winebow Portfolio tasting in New York City Wednesday and Thursday 9/17 and 9/18. I'm planning on attending on Thursday 9/18 and will be taking the train up from either Phladelphia or driving to Trenton and taking the train from there. I'll most likely be accompanied by Melissa, the sommeliere here at Striped Bass. If anyone will be there, I'd love to meet, compare notes and say hello. May hang out for an early dinner in the Big Apple and then head back. Nothing too pricey or fancy, but I've sort of outlived my enthusiasm at Gramercy Tavern and Union Square Cafe. Any other suggestions for a light and not outrageously priced dinner? The wine tasting is taking place at a hotel (don't have the invite with me I'm afraid) that's on 18th St. between 7th & 8th Avenues I believe. I was thinking of hitting the Village or perhaps Cornelia Street Cafe. Never been but always heard good things about the place. Is it still good, or was my information flawed. Thanks. Looking forward to meeting anyone that might be there.

I just called my old boss Guillermo, who is the one that taught me this trick. I asked him specifically about putting small holes in the cans to prevent explosions and he said it's unnecessary. He puts as many cans of sweetened condensed milk as will fit standing into a very large stockpot. He said to completely submerge the cans in water, heat to a rolling boil and then turn down to a heavy simmer and boil the hell out of them for 4 to 5 hours. Make sure they stay submerged. Let them cool. Open can and use for whatever you'd like. It's great drizzled over cake, as a puddle of sauce under another dessert, or just off the end of a really big spoon. This stuff is indescribably delicious. I could eat it with a spoon (and I'm ashamed to say I have once or twice ) but it's just amazing in texture and caramelized flavor. I trust the source implicitly. He's a great chef and very into making things simpler rather than more complicated.

So Ali - what'd 'ja make??? Folks - my sincere apologies for having been no fun today. I'm a little overswamped at work and trying desparately to finish one project before confusing myself with the next. Plus I'm helping train our new sommeliere on the finer points of printing the wine list, keeping the 86'd list up to date, etc. so I can't seem to hunker down and get anything truly accomplished or carried through to completion. Short entry. So far today I've had the equivalent of a whole mango sliced up, a big handful of cashews and am about to dig into our staff meal tonight which is heirloom tomato salad, what appears to be a shredded chicken puttanesca-type sauce and mashed potatoes (YAY - finally get my mashers!). It is warming in the micro as I type and then I'll be off to finish plugging in this week's purchases, coding the invoices for the Accounting Department and creating the new inventory sheets for all three restaurants for Monday. I fell like I may never get out of here, but I hope to be gone in a couple of hours at most. I'll report back on what's looking to be a late dinner when my weekend has truly begun and I can relax a tad...

My OB/GYN's office has a variation on this (...Have a Gun) on a poster that is prominently displayed behind the receptionists. One of the funniest things I ever saw was an interview where someone desribed PMS as swinging wildly between Pardon My Sobbing and Pass My Shotgun.

I found a really cool site called emoticons4U.com Clickety. There are many categories of emoticons and if you click on the one you like it will give you the entire IMG address to copy and paste right into your post, or an e-mail. I've been having fun with them, and sometimes the little emoticons express things so much better than I could in words. Also, Hotbar.com allows you to download a toolbar right into your e-mail program that has a cute collection of emoticons, e-mail backgrounds, business cards, etc that can really jazz up your communicative ability. Still wondering when I'll have an opportunity to use the ones of the doggie lifting his leg on the fire hydrant and pissing on it or the little smiles performing various sex acts . Yes - they do exist!

I find the sound quite a bit less offensive than every possible excuse for a close up of the woman to slowly lick food off of her fingers or a wooden spoon and moaning contentedly. Very exaggerated. Very annoying. All that's missing is the cheesy soft core porn music. Perhaps instead of the loud crackling bags? I realize she's an attractive and clearly "sensually involved" large breasted woman. So what. Really - all that's left is to show is the woman deep throating a balloon whisk, ferchissakes. Enough already.

ok KatieLoeb-- nice food blog by the way. but you just cinched it--i have to go to Chinatown for dim sum this weekend. there's no putting it off after your soup-dumplings description... Hi Gus! Thanks for the kind words...this is very interesting having my eating journaled and posted in cyberspace for all the world to see and analyze! I suppose I should have confessed this in my earlier post, but what I think set me off on the soup dumpling tangent was reading Rick Nichol's article in today's Inquirer (HERE) I suppose I didn't want to seem so easily led and influenced. Oh well - my secret's out now! You should try and join the Dangerous Dining Club for some of our various ethnic feasts. (Unless of course, you already have and I just don't realize it!) There's been talk of a dim sum brunch as a near future endeavor, as well as my thoughts of trying out New Joe Shanghai. You can scope it out at Yahoo.com in "Groups" and then type in Dangerousdiningclub as all one word. The restaurant review in today's South Philly Review was of the gargantuan Chinese restaurant at the corner of 8th & Washington Avenue (New South Garden, maybe?) that mentions that they serve dim sum daily. Sounded pretty good and they have parking which Chinatown is always scarce on. Slightly closer to my Queen Village digs, but not tried personally - yet! I'll report back in the Pennsylvania forum when I have a chance.

Wow - what a great thread I'd not noticed before! I'm in the I-love-any-and-all potato salads camp with Suvir. You just can't go wrong with potato salad lest you overcook the taters or over-drown it in the dressing of your choosing. Gloppy dressing will NOT do! Mayo/Miracle Whip (I like the stuff personally) based dressings should be whisked with a little milk and/or sour cream to a smooth consistency before being added to the rest of the solid ingredients. Contrast of textures and colors is always appealing so I like diced bell peppers of any color, diced celery, diced pickles, diced radish or even diced water chestnuts to add a little crunch. I've sometimes added a bit of chopped watercress for that peppery bite and some color. Some very interesting combinations listed here, especially by Jinmyo. Will have to try a few as lunch salads soon. Does Nicoise Salad qualify as a potato salad? I've always thought of it as a vehicle for Tuna on a green salad that had quartered hard cooked eggs, tomato wedges, Nicoise olives, steamed haricot vert and tiny boiled new potatoes de rigeur. Are the versions that you speak of with lots of boiled potatoes with the potatoes mixed in? Sounds intriguing but I'm not certain if I'm picturing this correctly. The "speck" that I'm familiar with from eating in Austria and Bavaria was definitely not like bacon or pancetta. I can see how some might think that because it has the stripes of fat throughout and might be the same cut of meat, but it was more of a cured product that was closer to prosicutto or Serrano ham but cured to an even drier texture that was like a "moist" jerky, if that makes sense. Very delicious stuff though, and I'm certain fantastic in kartoffelsalat. :Heavy sigh: If these are the vanilla kipferl I dream of then I understand your nostalgic feelings perfectly. Little crescent shaped cookies that are mostly ground almonds with tons of butter holding them together and they're rolled in powdered vanilla sugar. Yes - that's a drooling emoticon!

I did indeed succumb to the pull of Shanghai cuisine and the thought of not having to cook or even open the fridge tonight. I stopped at New Joe Shanghai in Chinatown and ordered one order of eight soup dumplings and one order of Szechuan Beef soup. I love to eat soup when I'm feeling the need for comfort - especially spicy soups. Although I love Chicken Matzoh Ball or Chicken Noodle soup when I have a head cold (Jewish Penicillin - the Bubbe cure for all that ails you) I swear by a quart of Hot & Sour soup to make you start to sweat and get those fluids into you. Not to mention blasting the congestion out your head. This evening's soup dumplings were sublime. Perfect little doughy masterpieces that I nipped the top off with my teeth and then poured a tiny bit of the gingery vinegar-soy sauce into and ate each one in a single big sloppy bite. Yummy!!! The Szechuan Beef soup was really good, and was something new to me. Lots of spicy red beefy broth with big thick noodles and shredded beef and what appeared to be tendons (similar to what I've had in Pho before). Very good and hearty. I had a very pleasant chat with the proprietress of the restaurant while waiting for my order to be prepared. I'm thinking this might be a great location for one of our future Dangerous Dining Club gatherings. The place seats 120 people and Susan (the nice manager) told me they'd be delighted to have a large group on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening when they usually aren't so busy. Shaighainese (is this a word, or did I just make it up?) cuisine is one we've not explored yet, and might be sufficiently different from our blowout Chinese New Year's banquet to attract a large crowd. {Note to self: post on Yahoo DDC Board to see if anyone is interested} My predicted sweet craving seems to be satified by the diet ginger ale I'm drinking. Hoping to go to bed relatively soon, so maybe I won't turn into a she-devil devouring all in her path until tomorrow. I'll report back if the demons overtake me