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Thanks for the rest of the quote, Ruth. I thought the next word might be "abandon," but I wasn't sure.

Sorry you had a less than good meal. Just out of curiosity, did you pay a lot for the meal?

Thanks for the pictorial, Jason! I feel like I recognize all the dishes except for that saucy (if I wanted to be negative, gloppy-looking) dish with eggs and I think tomato pieces. What else is in that? The eggs are stuffed with some kind of pig meat, no doubt? I'll add that the rest of the dishes look like things I might have liked. Oh, I might have liked the gloppy-looking dish, too; I just can't tell from its appearance. This is in Fresh Meadows? What avenue? My flute repairman's shop is in Fresh Meadows. I'm wondering if King Yum is a place he gets takeout from. Do they have a bunch of vegetarian dishes? (He's a vegetarian.)

Nessa, do you remember the rest of the slogan on the wall of the bread section? "Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with..."

Yeah, that looks like Larb Gai. It was made with minced chicken, right?

Sounds like they have to find a space first. Good luck, Chef G.

It's mostly a glaze but there is a little bit of sort of molassesy liquid. Dinner tonight cost $10.90 + a tip to the delivery guy.

I got delivery from Mancora tonight. Again, nice pollo a la brasa and good caramelized platanos maduros. The salad, I've decided, is a prop and not something to eat (I saw the edge of a withered lettuce leaf poking out of the container and didn't bother opening it). The black beans and rice was too salty, and apparently is the only kind of beans you can get with the chicken. Have any of you tried other menu items? I walk past the place frequently, and it seems to be doing a good deal of eat-in business.

Like something I'd be very skeptical of. I love mushrooms, but I've never thought much of ferns. Ramps aren't ferns. Fiddleheads are ferns. Ramps I would tend to describe as a mild single clove of garlic with a stem coming out of it to which is attached a blade-like green leaf similar in flavor to leek greens. See some pictures of ramps here. Hmmm...Well, I didn't like ramps the last time I had them, but I like every other member of the onion family, so maybe they just weren't high quality or something.

It was indeed odd for Ms. Hesser not to settle on a star rating, but the conclusion was an effective piece of theatrical suspense to prepare the grand entrance of Mr. Bruni. I agree with others that this was a great review, though, and Hesser's best as Interim Critic - and that's more important to me.

Thanks, tanspace. I've spun off a separate thread on Korean-Chinese restaurants on the New York board. Please feel free to offer any further relevant insights there.

Thanks for the warning, Daniel.

Like something I'd be very skeptical of. I love mushrooms, but I've never thought much of ferns.

Kel G, look four posts above yours for a link to the story.

Professors are also sometimes known to up the grades of particularly diligent students with good attitudes. (Could you guess I spent 5 hours finishing grading and paperwork this afternoon/evening?)

Congratulations, Shelly! You might want to read this eGullet thread on Ambassade d'Auvergne while you ponder whether the restaurant would be right for you. My family and I didn't think it was a very good value, though we didn't have the Aligot, and if I ever did go back (which is unlikely), that's definitely what I would get.

Or perhaps they were just being weird in April. Or whatever. Good luck with your meal.

Thanks for that report. My first reaction is that I may have learned more from your report than from Hesser's review, but that may have more to do with my reaction to the tone of the writing than anything else. Regardless, it sounds like you had a wonderful time, all told.

I've never seen a Korean-Chinese restaurant in New York. But could you please elaborate on the "four original cuisines"? Glad to have you aboard.

Mr. Cutlets, would a brief explanation of wet aging as opposed to dry aging take this thread too much off topic? If so, please post an explanation in another thread, if you'd be so kind.

Thanks, Andrea. That piece left me with a smile on my face.

Bux, I think the atelier analogy is questionable, because "School of" paintings are virtually never considered as great as paintings where the master himself did some of the work on the canvas. I think a better analogy is with a great composer who is also a great chamber music coach who picks the members of the ensemble and supervises them during rehearsals. If his conceptions are good, he's explained them well, and he's picked the players in the ensemble well, then there's a good change they'll perform his music expertly, whether he's there with them or not. Granted, this, too, is an imperfect analogy, as you would rightly point out, but I think it's a closer one.

I'm glad your power is back on. Had you lost power for the rest of the day, we would have all worried about you. Sleep well.

Another news story on durians: Read the rest of the story from The Star Online, a Malaysian newspaper.

Thanks, Dave.