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It's not only possible to spend several hundred dollars on a bottle of wine--most of the time it's worthwhile, Mike Steinberger says in a spirited defence of wine pricing: http://slate.msn.com/id/2093337/

That sounds incredible, Brooks. You seem to know a great deal about venison. Does your knowledge include the effect on the taste/quality of venison of available forage? Does rice, for instance, account for much (or any) of a deer's diet where you are? Is there any part of the country renowned for the succulence of its wild venison?

After reading a ton of stuff on eGullet about home coffee roasting I decided to give it a try and purchased some green coffee beans. Even using the most rudimentary roasting method (cast iron skillet on outdoor grill) the difference was astonishing--full coffee flavor with not a trace of bitterness. Hard to settle for pre-roasted stuff after this. I've had the same experience with home baked bread, and much else. What "benchmark" food or drink experiences have you had that make your previous standards pale in comparison?

Part of it may simply be vastly differing notions of what is an adequately sized hotel room in North America and Europe. In many medium priced European hotel rooms you'd be hard pressed to find space for one child in addition to parents. I'm with Heather; whenever possible we rent a flat in Europe--they're just more comfortable and convenient than hotel rooms, even without children.

I'm not a vegetarian, but I would very much like to unlock more of the mysteries of vegetables.

Pan, I'm with you as far as bringing in seeds, cuttings, etc. that could take root where they shouldn't. But don't see the harm in bringing cheeses, tinned goods or things in bottles back from overseas. Still, there is usually no reason to smuggle, especially if you live in a large city, where damn near everything from everywhere is available if you willing to look.

If France is beginning to lose some of its lustre as far as food is concerned, I wonder if the day is far off when sparkling wines from other countries (Spain included) will begin to outsparkle Champagne.

There are areas where government has a legitimate role to play, and setting (and raising) food safety standards is one of them.

She's the editor. While others may have input, I'd be surprised if a cover went out the door that she had not had a major hand in developing, and which she had not approved. Edit to add: didn't see your addendum before posting.

The liquor control board in ontario is bringing in some very decent Spanish wines under its Vintages (not general release) program, including some quite drinkable ones at about US$10 a bottle, usually from smaller producers. I can see why some discerning French wine drinkers might shop in Spain.

This is three or four covers in a row that have been panned on eGullet. I don't think this crowd '"gets" what Reichl is up to. The question is, does someone?

Tung oil can have a pretty strong odor. Since you don't intend to use this for a cutting surface, what about applying some sort of sealer and then a wax finish?

This may be as tough or tougher than "overrated"--every week there seems to be some new (or renewed) producer coming onstream. There have been some pleasant surprises from Argentina, and some unpleasant ones from places like Rumania. Where are the next great wine values going to come from?

I'm still at a loss about who Gourmet thinks its readers are. The "What's Next" spread, for instance, includes a bunch of stuff that seems dated already, including a piece on the Slow Food movement, heralding it as the next big thing. Could be wrong, but I'd think that people who are educated, affluent and care enough about food to subscribe to a magazine would have heard about Slow Food quite a while ago. What's equally puzzling is Ruth Reichl's editors note, in which she says that she and others at the magazine were dismissive when journalists persisted in calling and asking about food trends, but were shocked to discover in the course of some reader research that readers actually shared this intense interest in food trends. I think the staff at Gourmet should get out a little more.

Wasn't there a piece somewhere--New Yorker perhaps--which investigated and completely debunked the squirrel brain disease hysteria?

I wonder why high end knife shops (and manufacturers) don't come up with some arrangement where serious customers could try out one or more models for a week. It would be worth shelling out $20 or so as a rental fee to find out whether a knife is suitable.

Is there anything more steeped in ritual than wine, including most religions?

Are lobster tails even worth cooking? I ask this seriously, because my experience with them has not been good. Live, whole lobsters are great, and shrimp, even the monster shrimp, seem to survive the deep freeze in much better shape than lobster tails, which are often dry to the point of tastelessness. Poaching them in butter sounds like a sensible thing to do, but it also sounds an awful lot like the preparations employed to make tinned snails edible.

This may be the book you mean: http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/tg/detail...9304660-4487267

the weber, at the very least, has no paint on the inside of the lid. the flaking is harmless carbon. It does, though, bear a remarkable resemblance to flaking black paint--it's glossy, and about the right thickness.

Same thing happens in gas Weber.

The Canadian rendition is "I'm so hungry I could eat the ass end of a skunk."

Beef consumption in Canada actually rose after the discovery of the notorious cow: http://www.producer.com/articles/20031225/...031225ls03.html

This is ridiculous -- the idea that I shouldn't bring my well-behaved children to a restaurant because other customers might be worried that they might misbehave. Bad behaviour is inappropriate whether from adults or children -- we all agree. Beyond that I don't see why there should be special rules for children -- I have had more meals disrupted by noisy drunk businessman bragging about themselves than by children. I think restaurants should feel free to throw out disruptive customers whether they are adults or children. I've also had more meals disrupted because of drunken, noisy adults, than children. Recently in Las Vegas, we dined at a Japanese restaurant. The table behind us was full of loud, obnoxious drunken people who disturbed the whole restaurant. Loud enough that we couldn't talk to each other at our own table without having to raise our voices. The management did nothing about it. We've been taking our son to higher end restaurants since he was about 7. There was always something on the menu he would eat, and the experience taught him how to behave in nice restaurants. We would quite often when he was that young take a colouring book and crayons to occupy him until the meal arrived. He also finished before us and would colour quietly until we were done. Quite often, he'd give his pictures to the server. I've seen several of his "creations" still hanging in a couple of the kitchens of restaurants we frequent He was never allowed to get down and play on the floor or run around. As he got older, we allowed him to take his game boy (with the sound turned off), if we expecting the meal to be a long one (2-3 hrs). The rule was, he would participate in conversation with us until the appetizers arrived. Once the main course was done (again he usually finishes first), he could play his game boy until we were ready for coffee and dessert. The benefits of taking him to nicer places since he was young have been that he knows how to act in a restaurant, use the menu, ask questions, order properly and carry on a conversation with adults. He is never shy now when we have adults over. He is able to engage them and look them in the eye without fidgeting. He is also mildly ADD and these strategies have helped tremendously with teaching him to be able to sit in one place for a longer period of time. And I don't mean he's hyperactive, quite the opposite in fact. He just has/had a short attention span. Of course, it perhaps helps that my son is not a rough and tumble boy . He prefers quiet activities to physical ones and maybe that makes a difference, I honestly don't know. The genesis of this thread (and the title) was babies in high end restaurants. Of course older kids should be allowed into, and taken to, restaurants, because presumably, they know what is expected in the way of behavior and it's reasonable to assume they will act accordingly.

Dude, you're bursting my bubble with this shit. Well then, may I respectfully suggest you take your bigot asshole offensive racial stereotyping and fuck right off?