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I just realized no-one has mentioned the garlic fries at Pampa. I haven't been there since July 2003 (and due for a return some time in the next couple of months), but I really enjoy those.

I just remembered one: My mother told me not to eat too much chocolate or other sweets, lest my face break out in pimples.

Not very close. "ll" is a separate letter in Spanish, and I don't know of anywhere where "ll" is pronounced like "l". "ll" = English "y" or "j", not "l". Anyone disagree? ← I do. I posted this recently... ← Point taken, but "ll" never = "l" in Spanish, correct?

First of all, I've had a dish that I believe was marked "seasonal" and probably not exactly part of the New Years menu, at the St. Marks branch, and liked: I think it was called "Red Spinach." I had something else that was definitely from the New Years menu, but I don't remember the dish. It was pretty good but tasted kind of buttery, something that's true of various dishes at the St. Marks branch, and which I don't favor. Comparison of the Chelsea and St. Marks locations: Both very good, though I think the Midtown location is better than either. The Chelsea location's menu is more similar to that of their Midtown location (c. 50th and 9th) than the St. Marks location's. The St. Marks location features more Hunan-style food. I think you'd like either branch. I can make specific recommendations of some St. Marks dishes I've had, if you like. For the Chelsea location, you'd do pretty well to get most anything recommended for the Midtown location.

Joiei, Tulsa is a bit far from New York.

I've always liked Chicken Tetrazzini. I didn't realize it was out of style. It's a good way to use leftover white meat, which is primarily why my mother used to make it.

A Koreanist is a scholar who specializes in the study of things Korean. In this case, I'm talking about an anthropologist. Her husband is a historian, also specializing in East Asia. Both of them speak fluent Korean and have spent a great deal of time living in Korea.

Hey, you can always repeat this exercise with different dishes! Actually, the sensation you're feeling is just like the way I usually think about vacations: You can always come back and see the things you were interested in but missed the first (or second, or third...) time.

Caution about Bell & Evans: Unlike purveyors of free-range chickens, they include cod liver oil in their chicken feed. Bell & Evans is definitely better than Perdue et al. but, in my opinion, far inferior to real free-range organic chickens. (Of course, cod liver oil is organic, but it's a bad flavor, noticeable in the meat but really evident in the bones for you marrow-lovers.)

That seems like a plausible explanation.

Not very close. "ll" is a separate letter in Spanish, and I don't know of anywhere where "ll" is pronounced like "l". "ll" = English "y" or "j", not "l". Anyone disagree?

I had forgotten until this post jogged my memory, but as a young child, I loved chicken croquettes. I believe I haven't had one since the 1970s!

I don't have a specific comment on your question, but my father has flambeed rum instead of brandy a bunch of times with good effect. (He can't use brandy for health reasons.)

I've heard the one about seeds sprouting in the stomach before. An old childhood girlfriend believed that, but I don't remember believing it. I think her mother tried to convince her of it and my mother kind of joked about it.

That just goes to show that folklore is not infrequently wisdom!

I've never understood why you would just write "Dubai Fried Chicken" transliterated into Arabic. Why don't they translate the words? Are there are lot of Arabs who understand spoken English but can read it only in Arabic transliterations? (Chicken comes out "Tshkn," incidentally, as there's no "ch" letter in Arabic.)

Yes, Emma, that was the place he was referring to. Here's the thread on the Southwest & Western States Forum: Phoenix Has the Best Pizza! And here's a quote from the initial post in the thread: My comment is that for many of us New Yorkers, that fact that Ed Levine considers a pizzeria in Phoenix the best in the country is of only academic interest. If I visit Phoenix, I'd love to try the pizza there if I'm not too busy stuffing my face with the great Mexican and Southwestern food I figure must be there. But this thread is about New York City pizza favorites, not Phoenix or for that matter Neapolitan favorites. I can't help it if there are better pizzerie someplace other than New York; some 8,000,000 people and I are in New York now, and it's a hell of a lot cheaper and less time-consuming for us to find really excellent pizza around here than to go to a pizzeria that may well indeed be better, but which is hours away by plane. Chinese food is a heck of a lot better in Shanghai and Beijing and Kuala Lumpur than it is here, too. So should we stop talking about Grand Sichuan? I don't think so. That said, if anyone wants to compare Pizzeria Bianco with New York pizzerie, I'd love to see a point-by-point comparison. Otherwise, back to favorite New York City pizzerie...

You can learn a lot by watching. I've noticed that the customers in the Yemen Cafe in Brooklyn use both hands to tear the really big oven-baked flatbread but then eat with their right hands only. In Malaysia, I think Muslims mostly manage to eat their roti canai exclusively with their right hands. But anyway, back to Dubai.

What, do they drive on the left side of the road? But seriously, when you eat at the houses of Muslims, you must remember to use your right hand only, especially if you are eating with your hands (not with utensils)! When we were in that Malay village in Malaysia, my left-handed father had to sit on his left hand when eating in anyone's house, to prevent himself from reaching for the food with that hand! It's OK for you to tear bread with both hands, but only your right hand should go toward your mouth.

I don't think I have. I'll admit that I speak French with somewhat of an American accent (though French people have also thought I was German), but I do think my ears are good.

Oh. Thanks for clarifying that. [sheepish grin]

There are some kosher vegetarian Chinese restaurants. One new one just recently opened on Mott St. near Chatham Square.

Sal & Carmine's has been around way longer than 12 years! I wonder what relationship the brothers have to the previous management.

Yep. Sorry to disagree with Chefzadi, but Muslims use the right hand for eating and the left hand for "sanitary ablutions," as I think I saw it put somewhere.

Italian in my experience is totally consistent (within dialects, of course). Gu = gw. Ca would equal "ka," but the addition of the "i" after the "c" creates a "ch" sound. It looks like it should be "gwahn-CHYAH-lei" but it's really "gwahn-CHAH-lei." Similarly, "Giovanni"="Jo-VAHN-nee." The "i" simply makes the preceding consonant "soft." It really isn't that complicated; you just have to learn the connection between spelling and pronunciation, and then you know. As others have pointed out, it's not that hard for English-speakers to learn how to pronounce Italian, except for people who can't help saying their "o"s with a "w" sound no matter what. I've been thinking about this for a long time, but haven't mentioned yet that: You folks think this is hard? Try Hungarian! They have a long and short schwa sound and long and short sounds equivalent to German u+umlaut, and the length of those vowels as well as their precise pronunciation affects comprehension and meaning to a large degree! Just about the only thing I find easy about Hungarian is that the first syllable of every word is almost always stressed. One of the easier things to say is paprikas csirke (PAH-pree-kash CHEER-k@, with @=schwa). But how about somloi galuska? "SHOM-loi GO-lush-ko," from what I remember.