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I used to think I disliked virtually all beers, until recently. I still don't love beer generally, however. That bitterness factor, again. No really dry, bitter wine for me, either -- which doesn't mean I like fortified Manischewitz.

Here's the Sweet-n-Tart thread, where among other things, you can read about a banquet I had to celebrate my 40th birthday in February.

I respect your point about decorum, but the solution for the other point is to put some of your dish on the other person's plate (even better: on their bread dish) before you've used your fork or eaten any of it. Whether you give the person more later, after you've eaten some, depends on how close you are to them and how comfortable they are with that.

? What does that stand for?

30 degrees Celsius=86 degrees Fahrenheit.

I disagree. What did you order?

Yeah, I can't drink coffee, either, though I am OK eating things that are coffee-flavored, because they aren't as bitter. Somehow, other types of bitterness like bitter melon are OK for me.

Yeah, I forgot: I don't like goat cheese unless it has almost no goat-smell taste. There are examples of such. I also don't like blue-veined cheeses unless they're of really high quality. For example, I always thought I disliked Roquefort until I had some at Grand Vefour, a Michelin 3-star in Paris.

I have another thought of a mystery ingredient or whatever: Hibiscus. Right now I'm heating up the tea kettle for some hibiscus tea, but I mean using it in something cooked. Perhaps a red-themed meal featuring rhubarb, hibiscus and some other red things (I don't know, red grapefruits? blood oranges? cherries?).

Wow. Could you please elaborate on what you saw in the kitchen? And how did they mistreat you?

Whoa, you're a sport! I'm impressed! Looked really good, too. Take care of that shin.

I've never liked caviar. Googly brine. But then again, it's very expensive, so I seldom have occasion to be offered it, anyway. One thing that's funny is that I like mint in leaf form only. That means, no mint-flavored sweets, jelly, nothing, but mint tea and leaves are pleasant to me. I can't explain why, but it hasn't caused me much trouble.

Was there any Barbie© memorabilia, like dolls or posters?

I'm sure your husband's worried about you. Best bet is, if you don't know what something is, don't pick it and eat it.

I usually coordinate ordering with my dining partner(s) so that we get different things, for just the reasons stated above, but there are occasional exceptions to the rule when there's some item both of us just have to have.

Emma, I second PoorLawyer's recommendation of Greater NY Noodle Town (corner of Bayard and Bowery). Look at the linked thread for some recommendations of what to get there. You also might want to check out Fuleen, a seafood specialist, and my favorite Shanghainese restaurant in New York is Yeah Shanghai Deluxe. I haven't been to Yummy Noodles in the Chinatown Arcade -- recommended by Irongut -- for some time; maybe it's time to go back. They have a really interesting, non-pandering menu, and as of the times I went there, it was really their casseroles that were their foremost specialties and most popular items, generally.

I still think California is better, or at least that you don't need to put in as much effort to get high quality there. Sam, my problem with Oppenheimer's is that they never or almost never had organic chickens; instead, they sold Bell & Evans and claimed that was organic chicken. It isn't, and you can taste the cod liver oil that was in the feed. My father goes down to Citarella for poultry and meat because they sell actual organic meats, even though Oppenheimer's is almost around the corner from him. Are they selling any organic meat nowadays?

It was in a separate thread about gyros. Apparently, the "g" is actually not a Gamma but a Chi in Greek, and is pronounced like the "ch" in "chutzpah" (but, I think, lightly sounded) ; ergo "khiro" or some such.

Michelle, one question that hasn't been asked is, would you be willing to go to a halal Muslim eatery and just avoid seafood? There is a substantial Muslim community in Beijing.

How about rhubarb? Bonus points if used in something savory, as I seem to remember there was a thread about savory uses of rhubarb that had trouble finding much.

I wasn't sure where the most appropriate place would be to post about an article about the pairing of Israeli wines and French food, but on reflection, decided it would be of most interest in this forum. Capsouto Freres, a French restaurant in TriBeCa, in downtown Manhattan, has 13 Israeli wines on its list out of a total of 130 wines, and Jacques Capsouto, one of the three eponymous brothers of the restaurant, loves them. The following article is on Haaretz.com: Carmel - selected in Tribeca And here are some excerpts for you to chew on: Capsouto says that his cuisine, although classic, uses light sauces. Have any of you tried Israeli wines with French food? If so, how did you find the result? And do you agree with Capsouto that "wine lovers[...]will come to admire wines from Israel, as they now do wines from Chile, Argentina and Australia"?

Anyone else want to add to this thread? We'd love to read your stories, I'm sure.

It's been a long time since we discussed Moo Shu dishes in this forum, and we have many new members. Do you make Moo Shu dishes? How do you make them? Do you order them in restaurants? What do you feel is the right way to make them?

Now, now, Jon. Do you really think these two venerable site managers will be spouting off nonsense?

Have any of you also been to Chikalicious in New York? I'd be curious to see a comparison.