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I don't know what Simnel Cake or Mothering Sunday are; however, my local kosher bakery (Moishe's on 7th St. and 2nd Av. in Manhattan) makes the hard hamantashen all year but makes the much better soft, breadier hamantashen only around Purim. They started being available again recently, and I bought a prune one which I found delicious.

I had a late supper at this taco truck on 96 St. and Broadway: two tacos de lengua washed down with horchata. Delicious, cheap meal, really tasty.

But Steve, when I go to San Francisco, I want to eat the food that is strongest there and, not coincidentally, weaker in New York. So I'm much less interested in haute cuisine or even moderately-priced French restaurants than Mexican, Central American, Thai, Chinese, and other East and Southeast-Asian cuisines. Of course, you might disagree with me on what SF is strongest in.

I like that website, too. Some foodstuffs mentioned there are not familiar to me: for example, dropwort. But the most intriguing item was the sesame leaves. I had no idea that any part of the plant other than the seeds were eaten. For that matter, I don't know what a sesame plant looks like or where it's most commonly grown (in the U.S., California, no doubt ).

How is hickory syrup? Does it taste like maple syrup?

There's a guy who is at the Union Square (Manhattan) Farmers' Market every Saturday who has it. I bought $1 of maple candy from him last Saturday, and was it good!

Steve Plotnicki: But it sounds like Steven is talking about a guide on eGullet. If that's the case, it'll be for people living in the New York area and those already somewhat familiar with New York as well as gastronomic travellers from hither and yon. I find the prospect exciting. Yeah, good end-around. But are you really claiming that the average visitor to New York is spending all or most of his/her time eating in upper-end restaurants? You're not claiming that, right? So do I take it that the statement that "Dining in NYC is really about eating at the upper middle/high end" and the statement that "anyone who needs to know about more then three or four Indian restaurants is in a different market from the average vivistor and needs a different kind of book that specializes in CDFPWOIADC" are unrelated to each other?

That's what I had figured, too. I found Viamichelin useful in checking contact information and addresses of listed restaurants in Paris.

Thanks. And is any of that on the www?

Does anyone know whether Michelin has any Red Guides for places outside of Europe online? They're not in the viamichelin site, which is just Europe, and Michelin's U.S. site seems to be only about their tire business. I'd find it interesting to see which New York restaurants are listed and how they fared.

I'd love to see your rankings, Fat Guy. Are you game?

Unless good values are rewarded with some kind of check mark, rather than penalizing less good values that are nevertheless fine restaurants.

I agree, Stephen. The under-$25 and over-$25 restaurants are judged separately, and to different standards. I just feel like it's too compartmentalized.

But I don't. I look at it as a dining experience. And there's also a difference between dining out for a special occasion and just having great food that makes an ordinary day special. I've previously gone on record as having a problem with the proposition that an "under-$25" restaurant virtually never is given a star by the NY Times. I know that we differ on that proposition. I'd have less objection if stars were as hard to earn from the Times as from Michelin, and then merely being _reviewed_ amounted to something of a recommendation (by analogy with a Michelin listing), with some equivalent of a Bib Gourmand being awarded to some of the excellent-value Chinese restaurants like Grand Sichuan, for example. Now, I'd give it 2 stars, frankly, but that's because food is paramount to me in a restaurant, so my standards are different from the Times's.

Except for the cucumber dish I recommended further up in the thread, of course.

I understand your logic, but I think it's more instructive to have separate ratings for food and service/decor/ambiance. Would you agree? By those standards, DiFara's gets 2 stars for food and nothing for ambiance or service but a check mark for the owner/chef and his daughter for being friendly and helpful, though overwhelmed at times of peak demand.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I really can't recommend the cold vegetable dishes listed in the "Cold Dishes" section of the menu, because stuff like the spicy Sichuan pickled vegetables are just way oversalted. YMMV

Yes, there are a number of cold dishes with hot oil. Tongue, tripe, thin-sliced beef, and conch are available. Those dishes are delicious, though really oily and salty (I don't object to the spiciness and like it). The fresh cilantro on top of them is a nice touch.

Here are some of my favorite dishes at Grand Sichuan Chelsea: Dan Dan Noodles Sichuan-style shrimp dumplings (in a soy/sesame paste/hot oil sauce) Jellyfish with Chives Oil (cold dish) Chicken with Garlic Paste (cold dish) The cold cucumber dish the 2nd dish in the Dishes for a Prodigal Daughter menu, which is a cold dish with celery and other vegetables Squid with Kung Bao Sauce Duck with Bitter Melon Aui Zhou Chicken (delicious, very spicy, but a bit too salty; I like it anyway) Shrimp with Sichuan Sauce Prawn with Garlic Sauce (we both like that one) Any whole fish dish (I like 'em all) Country-style Tofu (with meat) The Hunanese squid dish If I were looking at the menu, I could find more dishes for you, but that'll give you some more to pick from. I don't recommend the sea cucumber dish because the sea cucumber has the consistency of rubber, and the Chicken with Chinese Broccoli is just over-the-top salty. Otherwise, you should do well, for the most part.

Indeed not, because only the unwoody young shoots are used. But cinammon is the bark of a tree. The Malay name for it, kayu manis, means "sweet wood."

Where are these places, Steve? How may stars do you think DiFara's deserves? And what about if nothing but the food affects the rating (i.e. no demerits for the dumpy place).

I had no idea Lutece was still open after all these years! Does anyone go there anymore, if you know what I mean?

Thanks for the great posts, Stephen! It seems like you had a great time in New York.

California has had a law effectively prohibiting (we don't need to get into technicalities, right?) smoking in bars for a number of years, and it's such a joy to go to bars there! I'll probably go to bars more after the law kicks in here.