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Andrew Fenton

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Posts posted by Andrew Fenton

  1. Ooooh, that looks good. What/Who's roll does Sarcone's use? How about Tony Lukes?

    dude, it's sarcone's! ain't no better hoagie rolle available than their own!

    actually, if you want to be finicky, you could point out that the bread (used for the medium or, I presume, large hoagies) is way way better than the rolls (used for the small). Which is why I always get the medium. It's totally not because I'm a pig.

  2. Not so great. I'm sure they could make the tofu without the pork, and it'd be almost as good. There are maybe a half-dozen strictly vegetarian options-- though they may be made with fish sauce, I don't know.

    There are plenty of options for piscitarians, though, especially if they are dried shrimpetarians...

  3. Went back to Aqua last night, and had another nice meal. The place was packed-- granted, Friday night at 8 is prime time, but there was a line out the door. We were four people, and waited maybe ten or fifteen minutes; if you're going with a big group, it's probably worth it to call ahead.

    Roti canai and Aqua tofu were as good as before. Sambal squid was... shrimp paste-y. You want to make sure you like that flavor before ordering it. Mango chicken was fine (it's not a dish I like all that much, but my co-eaters did), but I enjoyed the pineapple beef.

    Oh, it's totally worth it to save room for dessert: there are a few dishes wrapped in roti: coconut paste, fresh banana or mango, etc. We had the peanut pancake with coconut ice cream, and it was pretty great.

  4. I'll try Bootsie's one of these days, too.

    ... and I did, today!

    I thought that the organic beef dog was pretty good, and the chili nice and spicy. And I'm always psyched when I go to a place that serves fresh lemon- and limeade.

    Service was friendly, and more efficient than I was (I walked away from the counter without paying and had to be gently reminded that the food wasn't free...) The bill for two dogs, two lemonades, and fries was $15, which doesn't seem too unreasonable to me.

    Next time I'll try some of the more exotic sausages. I definitely haven't had enough baby animals in my diet lately.

  5. i'm just gonna let pizza napoletana handle this one.  i...  well, i don't care that much.  i mean, i don't want it to appear that i'm discounting anyone's personal quests here; i just don't share that level of obsession with anything.  a great pizza is kind of a transcendent experience, but so are a lot of other things--i can't focus on just the one.

    I know, and I'm totally not trying to pick a fight with you (or anybody else). I'm just trying to get a sense of whether the wood oven is something that's based mainly in tradition, or whether there are specific effects that come from a wood oven-- and more importantly, why.

  6. the impression i've always gotten is that a wood fired oven can maintain a higher temperature than a regular oven.  those gas ovens that are the norm top out around 600 or something; wood regularly reaches 900.  and then there are the dudes who throw a shovel of sawdust on the fire when the pizzas go in to get the super blast of smoky heat...

    I'm not so sure about that. After all, there are industrial and scientific ovens that can get up to about a billion degrees. I don't know why you couldn't make an electric pizza oven that would get as hot as you would want it to.

  7. It's a short article, and probably worth reading. According to it, the freeze is a reaction to alcohol-related murders:

    The unanimous action by the New York State Liquor Authority, which was immediately denounced by a trade group of city nightclubs, follows the deaths this year of two young women. They were killed after drinking heavily at nightspots in SoHo and Chelsea.

    Others know the situation far better than I do, and the article may be misleading. But it suggests that if there's a critique to be made of the freeze, it's that it's a hysterical over-reaction to a real problem.

  8. I always check out the parking lot, calculating the pick-up truck to minivan ratio.  Anything less than three to one and I drive on by.

    Speaking of planning: Holly is too modest to toot his own horn. But for those areas of the country where he's traveled, you won't find a better guide than his website.

  9. Interesting site. Too bad there is no way to search based on route (i.e. the roads you are taking).  There ARE maps available that have all of the places marked, but you have to pay $20 per year to get it. 

    Not sure I understand your post. "Too bad there is no way to search based on route..."

    Yes there is. As you go on to point out.

    But it's not free, right?

  10. I'm totally into eating desserty things, I just don't cook them at all...my wife is the pastry chef/ice cream maker. That gelato sounds amazing...in fact, most of their flavors look devastating. Are they as good as they sound?

    Better.

    Oh, another totally natural combination is goat cheese and truffles. Goat milk isn't exactly the same, of course. But I bet you could figure out a clever way to pair it up...

  11. Of course, there are now scores of American cheesemakers producing worthy cheeses of many types, but none represent new varieties--at least none that I am aware of.

    Which in itself might point to a national characteristic (and by "characteristic", I mean "stereotype"); the American propensity for adopting, adapting and remaking other peoples' products.

    Oh, in other news: according to British scientists,

    mice don't actually like cheese.

  12. Great summary, Judith.

    Reading the section on cheese reminded me: if you can get hold of some buffalo ricotta this month (or any month), do it. It's a blockbuster cheese: sweet, rich and light at the same time, with a little bit of fruitiness, like apples or pears. It's tough to get in the US compared to mozzarella, but is absolutely worth it.

  13. Yeah, it was great, and thanks to Diann for putting it together. I will say that I'm relieved that the pig head conversation went the way it did, rather than veering off into Lord of the Flies territory.

    Too much food? Probably; the tapas were so good that by the time the pork came around I wasn't too interested, I'm afraid. I was too full-up on that terrific short rib flatbread, or flat-rib shortbread, or whatever it was. Yow. Still, my only real regret was that I didn't manage to snag that pig carcass, to lug it home and make some awesome roasted pork stock.

  14. First, let me be the first to admit: I am a lazy, wasteful barbarian. OK? we're agreed.

    Then I'll follow up to say that when corn is as cheap as it is in late summer- like 10 cents per ear- I don't bother checking it in any detail. I'll eyeball it, but it's not worth it to me to stand around feeling up a bunch of ears. Instead, I just buy extra (because there's always room for corn, right?) and if I get home and find that an ear or two isn't so good, I toss it. No big whoop.

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