Pan

That meal sounds fabulous! One of these days...

Beats me, JJ, but I'm no expert on Arab food. Glad you like Zaytoon's, though! Have you tried their merguez sandwich? I love it!

I'm really full from a pastrami and cole slaw dinner at Katz's, yet that chili looks so good that I want to eat it! Who's Miss Vickie?

Hooray!

Thanks for that nice inaugural post, Joy. I hope you stick around and post more.

Take it easy, and feel better soon! You deserve a break.

Oh, they'll get used to it. Everyone has to start at the beginning. But we can talk more about this next time you're in New York.

What's ginger beef? Well, yes, I gather it's beef with ginger. But how?

My grandmother and grandfather on my father's side met at an anarchist vegetarian restaurant in New York (Brooklyn, I think? I'll try to remember to ask my father), and I figure that was in the first decade of the 20th century, probably 1906 or 1907. So some people were eating out a long, long time ago.

404 Not Found on the 2nd celtuce photo.

Marlene, I wonder if I could be permitted a non-food question about what you're working on on the piano lately? I'm enjoying reading this blog!

That sounds pretty damn good to me! Then again, I haven't had it once yet, let alone umpteen times.

I'll offer some constructive criticisms, too. One problem with the questionnaire is that my responses will be different if I have a dining partner than if I'm eating out by myself. Would I consider a half bottle of dessert wine? Sure, if I had a dining partner. No, if I were by myself. Same thing with the question about the cost of bottles of wine. If I'm by myself, I don't buy a bottle of wine, period, and the most I'm likely to have is a glass with the meal (usually not even that). If I have one dining partner, I might buy a bottle of wine, but I'd be much more likely to consider a $40 bottle of wine if I were one of a party of 4 than if I were eating the whole cost myself. What if I spend under $20 at restaurants a lot of the time and between $21 and $30 a lot of the time? And does the spending per visit count the cost of treating someone, which I often do? "Do you enjoy wine with your meal?" Well yes, I enjoy it when I have it, but most often choose not to order any. So how about "Yes," "Sometimes," "No"? "What is the least you will pay or a full bottle (750 ml) of wine at a restaurant?" Believe me, I'd pay less than $15 if there were a decent bottle of wine priced that low anyplace I go to, but this is New York, and I can't remember the last time I saw any bottle priced that cheaply in a restaurant. "Would you prefer a more intimate environment as opposed to live entertainment?" Depends if I'm there for the entertainment or want to have a conversation. The places I go for live entertainment usually have highly forgettable food, but that doesn't have to be the case, I guess. [nitpick mode on] Question 17: "Personal reccomendation" - correct the spelling of recommendation. [nitpick mode off ] You have a lot of good ideas in your survey, so please take my remarks in the spirit in which I offer them. Best of luck in your studies.

But that was precisely the problem. To my taste, it did not stand well on its own, but was "less than" both Thai and French cuisines. And that's the biggest risk anyone who attempts to sell fusion to me faces. It had better be good.

Welcome But are you gonna try it? In the long run, probably.

Sam, I haven't looked at Vong's menu lately. All I can tell you is that dishes I had at Vong the two times I went tasted like watered-down Thai food to me. And the price differential between what the food at Vong cost vs. what food at a Thai restaurant would cost was huge. Yes, it had a lot to do with decor and ambiance, and the decor was lovely, but as you know, if I don't find the food exciting, I don't care that much about the decor. Given a choice, I'd choose delicious food with ho-hum decor over gorgeous decor with boring food any day.

Thanks for the report. How are the prices?

Thanks for that good report. What are the prices like?

Tonight, after an opening of a show of a friend's paintings in Chelsea, I was part of a rather large party (probably 30ish, at two big tables) at the Chelsea branch of Grand Sichuan. It's still a very good restaurant. The dishes were Sichuan noodles with sesame, I think (which I didn't have), Sichuan wontons with sesame and chili oil (great as usual), the cold cucumber dish (excellent as usual), some kind of Chinese spinachy green leafy vegetable sauteed with garlic (very good), Shrimps with Sichuan Sauce (with a distinct ketchup taste but still quite good), Aui Zhou Chicken (excellent), Scallops with Green Squash (excellent and mild, one I've never ordered before), Whole Fish in Hot Bean Sauce (excellent as usual), tofu with mixed vegetables (which was probably good but which I didn't get to try), and a duck dish with a hickory-smoked taste (which I liked at first but ultimately decided was the one clinker of the bunch).

Two ideas: Pecan pie (with blueberry, raspberry, and vanilla ice cream, if you like) Something with cranberries (cranberry/blueberry cobbler or pie with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream?) Hmmm - you could also make blueberry pies with whipped cream or/and vanilla ice cream and strawberries or raspberries or syrup thereof.

Thanks for the progress report. I'm very happy to hear that you are nourishing yourself with some good food.

Thanks. You sold the place effectively.

I remember when someone's parole was revoked because he ate a sesame (?) bagel that got a few poppyseeds on it. And the crazy thing was, the judge didn't contest this but revoked his bail anyway. But fortunately, I don't get tested for poppyseeds. I do like the prune hamantashen, but they're a fairly distant 2nd-favorite for me. Moishe's has good prune hamantashen, too.

I've previously mentioned that for several years prior to its renovation, my favorite (and my family's favorite) restaurant in New York was Jo Jo. In my experience, the cuisine used to be absolutely brilliant and consistently wonderful there, in all respects. The service was also impeccable. After the renovation, I went once, and the service was weird and the food, though still good, seemed somehow less special. I don't remember what it was that wasn't as special, or whether the service problems skewed my opinion of the food, but I haven't been back since then. But the thing that made Vongerichten's cuisine special at Jo Jo was a combination of terrific, fresh ingredients and expert use of essences of fruits and vegetables in season. I think he's a lot better as an innovative chef in a European tradition than as an imitator of great Asian cuisines. Vong is beautiful but in two trips, I found the food boring and grossly overpriced there. (Sure, the ingredients are excellent, but the food doesn't taste nearly as good as similar dishes would at Sripraphai or even a decent Thai restaurant.) Why couldn't he have just continued doing what he did so superbly?

If I'm taking you too literally, that doesn't seem like much of a problem to me. The problem would be if anyone took some of the various revenge schemes to heart and tried them. But fortunately, Ondine seems not to have as much desire for revenge as some other people who've been posting in this thread. What that says to me is that she may have less trouble coping with breakups than some other people. But in all seriousness, perhaps we should get back to food and leave the unsolicited revenge schemes and other non-food stuff behind?