mrbigjas

word, me too. i'm thinking for my birthday in june maybe i could work it out.

um, duh, yeah, i can read. really i can! sorry about that percyn.

holy moly, rlibkind, you were right on the money with this recommendation. brunch at lacroix is crazy, rich, and expensive and totally worth it. to expand on the things mentioned above, the dish in the egg coddler was a lobster pot du creme. what we had that i didn't see on your menu was a foie gras custard, which could very well be the richest thing i've ever eaten. those little fried ravioli things were filled with pumpkin. the vegetables at the serving station were sauteed potatoes, a root vegetable braise, and braised cabbage with apples and chestnuts (aside: if you ever get a chance to eat an entire braised chestnut in one bite: don't). the one downside for me was that the creamed spinach with quail egg was overcooked from the heat lamps. the plate was really hot to the touch and the egg had gone rubbery. the short ribs were amazing. oh and that thing on the metal spoon in rlibkind's pics, is a smoked duck breast with pine nut brittle. damn good. one of the main highlights was chef lacroix graciously welcoming us to the kitchen and thanking us for coming, and serving up the chicken fricasee and spelt himself. obviously a guy who likes seeing people enjoy his food. we gorged like i rarely do; dinner last night was a small bowl of potato-leek soup and a salad, and that was all we could handle, eight hours after the fact.

how about that.

i cook about six days a week, usually. but i don't spend much time in the northeast. there's a good meat store in levittown, but that's not much help to you.

whoa, i totally had one of those bowls. and a cup and saucer too. my mom only used them when we were sick. recently she gave them to me when they moved, and i haven't been able to figure out what to do with them. i can't remember the picture on the bottom. i'll have to check.

that's not too far from frito pie, actually.

bet. let's plan for next week or week after. early dinner with a coupla drinks ain't a bad idea.

i mean, seriously, that menu is insane. so anyway percy, come by and introduce yourself if you come. i'll be the nine foot tall gargoyle with thrashing worms for hair, clanking bronze gauntlets for hands, and giant frankenstein boots. i'll be wearing tattered rags and i'll be accompanied by a strikingly lovely young female mortal who was foolish enough to give up her chance at a normal life for an eternity of meals such as the above.

ok i don't wanna get all burger-clubby on this, but what i like in a burger is a couple of things: 1. a good amount of char on the outside. i don't mean like burned, i mean like on a steak. 2. a contrast between that and the inside 3. i used to care about the bun, thinking that only a decent toasted kaiser or onion roll would hold up well to the meat. but lately i've come to appreciate a brioche roll too, even if it is weaker. i don't like london's english muffins that much. also i like blue cheese and bacon on burgers. and caramelized onions. and i don't like tomato. oh also they're one of the only things in the world that i'll eat ketchup on, although even that needs to be adulterated with hot sauce, and can be left off entirely. my favorites are still black sheep/dark horse, with good dog and ten stone a close second. rouge i haven't had in a couple of years, and need to revisit. i used to enjoy the burgers at tangiers too, but again haven't had recently. i also haven't had capital grill--i should make a little trip down there during happy hour one of these days and score one for cheap.

boy oh boy am i going on sunday. i'm beginning my starvation in preparation for it now.

I saw Shola just before Christmas - he popped in to Rouge and said hello. We created a new dessert idea together- a Moscato Float with the yummy Lemon-Brie Ice Cream he makes. Yow! I can hardly wait to actually try that with him. It has potential to be truly awe inspiring. He is well and busy doing the catering in NYC thing a few days per week, but StudioKitchen is still very much an ongoing concern in the present tense. He hasn't mentioned any plans to move, at least to me. We could certainly try and arrange an eGullet outing sometime in February perhaps. Anyone else interested? ← of course

of course not.

thinking more on this, it seems to me i would enjoy someone taking the concept of an antipasto hoagie a little further. one kind of salami, chopped olives, marinated artichokes, maybe those kinda pickled cauliflower and carrots, roasted peppers, a hard boiled egg, some tuna, lots of chopped romaine... ok basically i'm thinking of marra's antipasto in a hoagie now.

interesting you should post and remind me tonight--last night i made caesar exactly as described in julia child's 'from julia's kitchen.' recipe here: http://members.cox.net/jjschnebel/caesrsal.html it's a great salad, definitely plenty for lunch, and definitely different from the derivative version that martha stewart presents here: http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?ty...true&resultNo=1 the real thing is much more mildly flavored than hers or many of the other derivatives that up the anchovy, the garlic, etc. after i made it, i realized that really i don't know that i've ever had the real thing before. good stuff.

i'm 'in the biz' of working with databases at nonprofit institutions. does that count? i didn't taste the foie gras. perhaps i should revisit. i do love a good burger. but i have kinda specific preferences.

perhaps a use for those williams-sonoma and amex gift certificates you got this year? just a thought.

they didn't scoop out my bread. and yeah, that sandwich is saltariffic. but think about the stuff in there; it's no real surprise. did you tell them no salt? they salt the sandwiches--i noticed that when i was in there, but forgot to mention it.

i finally got to good dog a couple weeks ago. the burger was damn good, but i like black sheep's better. it was on the rare side, but didn't have enough char on the outside. i like a slightly charred outside of the burger with a medium-rare inside. this was more lightly cooked on the outside.

yeah i'll go too, if the timing works out. i'm trying to figure out whether i'll be able to make the pizza club's brooklyn trip--this sounds a lot easier to organize.

personally i dislike going to restaurants with people who won't do that. but that's me.

boy oh boy does that look good.

it was a really good hoagie.

yeah that was the source of my confusion. thanks philadining.

i was down picking up stuff in the market today, and thinking of this topic i stopped by ricci's for an antipasta [sic] hoagie. it's a GREAT sandwich. two kinds of salami, prosciutto, roasted peppers, olive tapenade, aged provolone... excellent stuff. aside: we were the only white people in there besides the employees. that kinda surprised me--a place called ricci's, two blocks from the market, and there's not an italian-american in sight? weird.