Pan

You had a PET SCORPION??!!

Todd, to my mind, that's very damning. I consider it inexcusable for fish to be the least bit fishy at that price point.

That meal looks good, Marlene! Maggie, I'm impressed! Good going, all you quitters! Dave, you around tonight? [Edit: Speak of the devil, I see Dave is reading this thread. Not that you're a real devil, Dave. ]

That has been my experience in Italy, but in France, many of the fancier restaurants indeed had a whole crew taking care of each table. Also, I think there's room for some differences of opinion on what "efficient" and "good" consist of. Meals can be a really leisurely affair in Italy, and some Americans don't understand that or get into that spirit. Of course, these are all really side issues that we could discuss in some other thread. So, getting back on topic, I'm having trouble recalling any recitations of specials in France or Italy. About the closest I can remember is the time when the prioprietor of a trattoria in Siena offered each of us a glass of grappa from his father's vineyard or something. We were charged for the glasses, but it was very good grappa and it was a fair price.

from here ← Hiroyuki (or Kristin, or whoever), could you please translate that or give an English summary?

Nope. Based on my experience in watching ice skating, the judges often wouldn't know "artistic merit" if it hit them square in the face. So no way do I think ice skating judging is less personal or based on anything more tangible than food criticism.

Is there any Jewish Polish tradition of these? I'm unfamiliar with them.

The low-fat study was a great example of a well-designed study, and the researchers who performed it deserve a lot of praise for being real scientists and just coming out with the results despite their probable disappointment.[...] ← I think most of us are happy with the results they got, but those of us who aren't scientists need to ask ourselves whether we might not view the study differently if by following all the same procedures they had gotten results we didn't like. Science has to operate without respect to popularity, and let the chips fall where they may. And if that results in not implicating dietary fat in heart disease but implicating beef and venison in prion-borne diseases, so be it.

Malaysian, Indonesian, and Thai, to name three. Shallots are part of the basic rempah (spicy paste) used for Malaysian curries.

That's because French was the language of culture in England, I think. We use the French names for many Italian cities. But getting back to the topic, what is "imprisoned polenta" (polenta imprigionata from the list posted by ludja above)?

Sneakeater, I think that some of what you're reacting to is based on professional respect. It's highly defensible for a fellow chef to hope Liebrandt does well in his new place, and I don't think less of such a person for not considering diners they mostly don't know personally to be more important to them than the chef. Where you stand depends on where you sit.

My feeling is that if he considered a two-star rating most accurate for Bouley, he should have given them two stars. Do we have to be Kremlinologists to understand the meaning of the stars? It sure isn't what the Times claims the meaning is! P.S. Please don't interpret this as sniping at you. You've done a great job in going pretty far to demystify all of this.

Current evidence very strongly indicates that coffee and chocolate are way healthier than cigarettes, so it doesn't bother me one bit if our beloved quitters are indulging in those caffeinated mood-altering substances.

You could try takeout from Patsy's original location in East Harlem. At least, I seem to recall they did offer slices for takeout; undoubtedly, someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

School breakfasts aren't a new thing in these parts. I remember them at least as far back as when I was in high school, so we're talking some 28 years at least. I love collard greens. and yes, that principal is silly for saying he'd like to tell students never to eat them.

The Sweet and Sour dishes I had in China got those tastes by using vinegar and sugar. I don't have a recipe for you offhand, but unless you had some other kind of sweet and sour dish in China, I'd look for that kind of recipe.

Pretty red fish. Do you know about how big they are?

Indeed. But you still can't take durians into the Bangkok subway, etc., etc.

Oh . . . I dunno about all the rest of the stuff. This makes you a heroine in my book. ← Agreed. Two packs a day is a lot to just go off cold turkey. If tapering off works better for you, terrific!

Please provide a reference if you have one. I don't think I've ever seen a regulation against smoking outdoors enforced, but I have seen signs saying "smoking section" at outdoor sections of New York City restaurants and bars.

Interesting stuff, John. One comment on Totonno's: I think the hype is for their original Coney Island location, not the other locations. Sure, they have quotes from Zagat displayed, calling Totonno's the world's best pizza or whatever, but those quotes probably referred to the original location.

So it's at the more formal gatherings with strangers and so forth that you bring up the topics that are likely to provoke a visceral reaction of nausea?[...] ← Naturally, that isn't what I meant, but I'm glad you got a laugh out of that.

Years ago, I remember getting what must have been a pork belly dish at Nice Restaurant on East Broadway, a restaurant which is so consistent that you can count on their food being the same year after year. I recall that the taste was excellent, but the cut really isn't for me; I didn't realize it would be literally half meat and half fat, and I discarded the fat and ate the meat. But the dish itself might be worth investigating. I just looked and Nice's menu isn't on menupages.com, so don't try to find the name of the dish that way.

In Chinese a second character defining meat is added to the animal name. Ergo, beef is referred to as cow meat, chicken as chicken meat, pork as pig meat etc. This doesn't apply to fish though. ← Malay is exactly like Chinese in all these respects, except that it's another word instead of another character. The word for meat in Malay is daging, so beef is daging lembu (cow meat). Fish and seafood don't get called daging.

I don't understand what your problem is with that usage of "disrespecting." One can respect or disrespect a dish, right?