Pan

What's wrong with using broccoli instead of cauliflower? Works pretty well, and broccoli is a very good vegetable.

In a different thread, Fat Guy had the following suggestion: I responded that: So here's the thread. Please offer your suggestions.

Thanks a lot for that detailed answer.

project: Thanks for your post, which was interesting. I don't know what you meant here, though: The other thing I noted is that you compared actual dining experiences of yours with a report from Schneier. It's hard to really know how you would compare the two places if you actually had dined at both. Ditto for Schneier: I am guessing he hasn't been to Harrald's. Which town is it in, by the way?

Rick Moonen of rm, Anita Lo of Annisa, and Mary Redding of Mary's Fish Camp were among the chefs quoted in "When the Whole Is Greater Than Its Parts" in yesterday's New York Times (link here; you may have to scroll down to the appropriate spot), an article about cooking whole fish. Would you say these chefs are among the best at cooking whole fish dishes in New York? Who else, or which restaurants, would you nominate? I would have to think that Chinese restaurants deserve consideration in this category. I love whole fish dishes in really good Chinese restaurants like Grand Sichuan and Congee Village.

ludja, I spent two weeks in Budapest in September of 1994, and it's one of the places I've loved most. I loved the beauty of the location, the architecture, the great musicians, and the people (frankly, I thought it had the highest percentage of gorgeous women per capita of any place I’ve ever been, and the men were good-looking too, though I paid less attention to them), loved walking around the city, and loved the pastries! (The savory food was good, too.) For breakfast, I went to a bakery that specialized in Retes (strudels) and got Megyes Retes (sour cherry strudels - my favorite) or Makos Retes (poppy strudels - my 2nd favorite). After lunch, I liked to go to a local bakery on the street that led into the Chain-Link Bridge to get Gestenygolju (Chestnut balls, with a chocolate exterior and not only chestnut paste but also sour cherries inside). Every night, I had Somlói galuska in the outdoor cafe of the same bakery. It was served in a tall, wide glass, and was something like a fantastic ice cream sundae atop a great cake. There was chocolate and plenty of tejszinhabb (whipped cream, or in the language of the neighboring Austrians, Schlag). You can see a recipe here: Hungarian recipes Other Hungarian desserts I love include Gestenypure (Chestnut puree), which is served with more tejszinhabb, and Gundel Palacsinta, a nut and chocolate crepe flambéed in what I thought was brandy (I Googled and found descriptions of it flambéed in cognac and rum, but brandy seems more Hungarian). I got one or the other as a dessert after dinner at a classy restaurant on Realtanoda Utca, across the street from the flat where I was renting a room, when I was feeling luxuriant and wasn’t stuffed already from dinner.

Some of you will be interested to know that: They, too, will give samples of many products. For a link to the full article in the January 21 New York Times, click here. (You may have to scroll down to the appropriate spot.)

In yesterday's New York Times, Eric Asimov said, in part, that (Link to the complete article here; you may have to scroll down to the appropriate spot.) I see some support for his opinion upthread (showing, once again, that eGulleteers are often ahead of the curve). Would anyone like to comment further?

In the Wednesday, January 21 New York Times, Eric Asimov gave a rave review of Chanoodle (link here; you may need to scroll down to the appropriate spot). I'm not familiar with this establishment. Are any of you? Do you concur with Asimov's very high opinion of it?

Marian Burros slammed Taste pretty hard in the January 21 New York Times (link here; you may have to scroll down to the appropriate spot), giving it no stars and a rating of "Satisfactory." Your comments, everyone?

NYTimes Weekly Update Thursday, January 22, 2004 A. In today's New York Times Room to Improve: The Ready-Mix Kitchen (Marco Pasanella) B. In the Wednesday, January 21 New York Times When the Whole Is Greater Than Its Parts (Matt Lee and Ted Lee) Famous Chefs! Sumptuous Food! Luxuriant Settings! (Florence Fabricant) Click here to discuss this article. For a B.A. in Bacon, They All Chewed the Fat (Linda Lee) Sources: Where to Get B. for the B.L.T. (Linda Lee) Taste (Marian Burros) Click here to discuss the review or contribute your experiences. Wines of the Times (Eric Asimov) Click here to discuss this article. At My Table: In January, Comfort on the Stove or in a Bowl (Nigella Lawson, talking about soup) Food Stuff (Florence Fabricant) The Minimalist (Mark Bittman on Biriyani) Click here to discuss this article. Celebrating the Year of the Monkey With the Heat and Spice of Sichuan (Florence Fabricant) Sichuan peppercorns are one of the staples mentioned in this article, and you can click here to discuss them. Eating Well: The Post-Atkins Low Carb Diet (Marian Burros) Click here to discuss this article. Chanoodle (Eric Asimov) Click here to discuss the review or contribute your experiences. Pairings (Amanda Hesser presents a Porcini and Barley Risotto recipe and recommends a pairing with Languedoc wine) Correction Other recipes in the January 21 issue: 1. Fennel-Roasted Red Snapper 2. Chinese-Style Steamed Black Sea Bass 3. Chicken Biriyani 4. Tom Yum Soup 5. Easy Pea Soup 6. Yellow Split Pea and Frankfurter Soup 7. Hot and Numbing Chicken Slices 8. Dry-Fried Green Beans Black Tie Is Not Required (Florence Fabricant) Click here if you want to discuss samplings at Whole Foods stores, generally, and here if you want to discuss this new Whole Foods store and Whole Foods stores in New York. C. In the magazine (Published: January 18, 2004) Food: Hearth Strings (Jason Epstein; includes a recipe for Chicken Potpie) Choice Tables: Comfort Food at Comforting Prices in Paris (Jacqueline Friedrich) Click here to discuss this article.

Sensible advice.

I disabled avatars a long time ago because of people's penchant to use flashing ones that gave me a headache, so I never saw that pic. [shrug] You blog was a lot of fun.

Thanks for the pics, Jenny. Which one is you?

They break a glass at Orthodox weddings? Interesting, since that's also a Jewish custom (the groom stamps a wine glass and breaks it). Anyone know what the broken glass represents for Greeks? (For Jews, it represents the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.)

They shouldn't have contracted to cater a wedding if they weren't competent enough to do so. Agreed? I don't think it's the customer's fault.

We artichoke-lovers don't think so.

I can't search for a string in the thread title. How do you do it? Bruce Here's how you do it: Click “Search”; click “More Options”; Search by Keywords = Ducasse; Search Where = Search titles only; click “Perform the Search.” Make sure you're searching only the New York board and search for posts on any date, not just the last 30 days.

So that's 7 so far. We have to keep in mind that the place is small. I think it will be very tough for more than a few more people to fit (like maybe one more), as we can't reserve the place for just our group. Even getting a free table for that many people is a problem on a Saturday. I don't have the complete list of toppings for pizza and fillings for calzone memorized, but here are some possibilities (not all are available all the time): Prosciutto, sausage, pepperoni, baby artichokes (a must!), delicious little eggplants, broccoli di rabe, porcini, regular (but very high-quality) mushrooms, red onions...And now I'm starting to draw a blank. Sam, do you want to try to come early and meet me at the place around 1:30? By the way, in the unlikely event that I am not there early, that means I had a meeting that went over. Possible, but unlikely.

What's Itzkaya? And could you please describe the rice balls? Filled with different things, or just balls of rice put in soup, etc.? Anko, we should go to Omen one of these days.

I know this is a tangent in this context, but I'd have to disagree. Dr. King focused not only on campaigning for civil rights, but also for the poor of all colors and creeds, and against war and oppression generally and the Vietnam War particularly. And one of the biggest crimes against the memory of Dr. King is when people who know better falsify his history by pretending that he was not a radical and ignoring everything he did that wasn't focused on simply integrating black Americans into a preexisting mainstream. He wanted to change that mainstream, too, by making it more just, more peace-loving, and more egalitarian. And in those respects, he actually had a lot in common with another great American who was assassinated at great cost to race relations and the country: Malcolm X, in his post-Haj days. OK, end of rant. Carry on with the food talk. (And, of course, nothing personal to you, Sam!)

Mazel Tov, inventolux!

Actually, I think we had 2 from down under in a row, or really close together. Misgabi and...?

Food served in the style of Kyoto! Did you hear that, Anko? Have you been there yet?

Thanks for the very detailed review, Bruce, and I'm glad you had such a great meal! Here are some previous threads that I found by doing a search of threads in the New York forum with "Ducasse" in their titles. Not all of these threads started with reviews, but all contain reviews. I've posted the links in reverse-chronological order (based on the date of the last post, not the first post): Dinner at Ducasse, Not perfect but pretty good Dinner at Alain Ducasse, A fight against high expectations Still Angry at Ducasse? Ducasse Lunch, Member Input? Contrast with Dinner?