Pan

My mother used to cook a tasty Chinese beef stew with whole, not grated ginger. It also had carrots, potatoes, and star anise, but I forget what else.

In other words, you're saying there aren't any? I'd love for you to rebut each entry so far in this thread.

Ellen, in olden days, you could have gotten rich writing travel books. I know I've said this before, but we're so lucky to have your contributions! Have you put any of your photographs into coffee table books?

I am not a coffee drinker, but when I preferred something other than tea, juice, or acqua minerale with breakfast, I really enjoyed the hot chocolate on offer. When in Italy, and particularly when travelling (as opposed to staying somewhere for a while as a student), I would often go to a bar and have a cornetto con marmelata di albicocca (croissant with apricot jam filling) if available or a cornetto semplice (plain crossant) with a drink as described above. If I were feeling self-indulgent, I might have a cornetto con crema (croissant with cream filling). And oftentimes, I'd have two cornetti or a cornetto and one other confection (torta di mele [apple tart], torta di mandorle [almond tart], torta di pera [pear tart], et al.). But the most memorable breakfast I had in Italy was one day during my first stint as a student in a summer program at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena. I was staying at a dormitory on a pieno pensione (full pension = three meals provided every day), and I slept late and missed breakfast. So at around 10 A.M. or so, I went to a nearby bar just off the Piazza del Campo and had them make me a panino of mortadella, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil. Man, was that the apotheosis of a sandwich to me! Such fresh, high-quality ingredients, including the bread itself. And in a humble bar, for a good price. I love Italy!

I always understood kvatch (properly spelled kvacs?) as the Hungarian version of kitsch.

Tell us what you really think, Luckylies. Seriously, I don't know if I ever went to Le Cirque (if I did, it must have been back in the 80s), but I always appreciate when people decline to blindly accept received opinion.

I haven't been there lately but always liked their pizza. I can vividly remember when they were just south of 95 St., with a little shop (smaller than now) next to the Symphony Theater (a movie theater that is now Symphony Space). They've existed as long as I remember, so that has to predate the early 70s.

At the risk of going on a tangent, does that bother any of you? In the PETA thread, Menton accused most of us of not being bothered by eating endangered fish. I think that really rare species of fish should not be caught. And that goes for caviar, too.

Baw, what do you think of Arturo's pizza?

Is something fermented there? How do those taste?

Thanks, Jo-Ann. And here's the first paragraph of the link to whet your appetite:

If you lived in Jackson Heights, though, would you go out of your way to go to Angon?

Thanks. Have you ever been to Patsy's in East Harlem? It would be interesting to see your comparison of the two pizzerie.

rl1856 and Gastro888, please tell us what kind of pizza you got at Lombardi's.

On the Upper West Side (and Washington Heights), El Malecon deserves a mention. I forget the former name of the 97th St./Amsterdam branch, but it's always been dependable for some hearty Dominican food, or at least as long as I can remember (which is well back into the early 70s). By now, it's been quite some time since they installed the rotisseries, too, and you can always depend on them for some delicious pollo a la brasa.

Have a safe trip home! A Starbucks at the Star Ferry? Ugh! But then, Starbucks didn't exist in 1987.

Susan, I can't offer you any advice, but I really feel for you. Hang in there, and may your daughter keep smiling for many, many years to come.

Wow, that was fabulous! Thank you Monica.

I just heard Bruni on WQXR, explaining why he held back on writing that Masa was the "most expensive restaurant in New York." He said that first of all, the price of the meal could change there; secondly, it's easy to spend more than that at Ducasse, especially if you spend a lot on wine (the sake is on the whole less expensive at Masa than the wine at Ducasse et al.); and thirdly, there are seasonal truffle specials and so forth.

Amazing, Chris. Sounds like you could write an interesting article about your experiences with contraband hooch in Arabia.

JJ, you probably remember that Ducasse also got a lot of harsh criticism for its prices, too, so this controversy is not unique to Japanese restaurants. I don't know if everybody buys more than they need, but when we consider that absolute necessities don't include a TV or even electricity and tap water, I'm sure we could all agree at any rate that an overwhelming majority of Americans have certain things considered luxuries in some parts of the world. I guess my feeling is that it's fine for people to consider the prices at Masa obscene, but it would be silly for the Times to refuse to review the restaurant fairly on that basis. If a restaurant charges a lot of money and don't deliver, they should be slammed hard. But if all that money pays for greatness, that's all a potential customer needs to know. And remember, this is a few hundred dollars. What does all that art the Times reviews go for, and how many meals for the hungry could those tens of thousands of dollars pay for?

Understood, Steven, but based on the New York Pizza Survey's experience, Lombardi's doesn't belong on any kind of "tried and true" list, in any case.

How did you know about Yellow Door Kitchen? Was it mentioned in that Hong Kong and Shanghai thread, perhaps? Have you taken the Star Ferry? Are they still selling curried fishballs on both the Hong Kong and Kowloon sides? Tried any? That was something I really liked on my trip to Hong Kong over 17 1/2 years ago.

I don't think five years is enough. Over ten, and we're starting to see a longlasting establishment.

Who sells these really long-aged cheddars in New York? I'd love to try one. Does Murray's sell stuff like that?