alacarte

Jennifer Leuzzi predicts a new four-star rating...but for which restaurant?

?? spell check? time travel?

Welcome, Todd, and thanks for the interesting info. I'd love to see a listing of all the restaurants that pre-date WWII and then visit all of them. I'd also love to go back and visit them "back in the day," but alas, that's not an option.

We had dinner at the new & improved Kalustyan's last night -- overall, a very pleasant experience. We had no reservation, but the restaurant was about half-full at 7PM...more like 3/4 full by the time we left. We started with cocktails (I had the "Bombay," a guava-vodka-tonic that tasted rather like spiked grapefruit juice and had a slice of frozen guava at the bottom of the martini glass) and Mr. alacarte had a mango iced tea, which seemed to be a lot of mango and just a little tea. We started with naan bread and a chunky cucumber-yogurt raita -- both excellent. The naan was fresh out of the oven, so hot it nearly burned my fingertips. Then we moved on to the spiced chicken puffs (really just well-spiced, crispy samosas) and the tuna tartare, which was served with spiced soybeans and "silver fish." Though the tuna was good quality, Mr. alacarte found the soybeans way too hot/spicy for his taste (we were glad to have the cooling raita on hand). He was also offput by the description, and nearly reconsidered the order: "tuna tartare with spiced soy beans and silver fish." Though it turned out to be a sardine, In NY, we are acutely aware that "silverfish" is a type of cockroach. BLEAH! But we put that aside in the interest of enjoying our dinner. The entrees proved even better than the appetizers -- I ordered the "forbidden rice with congee," which reminded me of an Asian-style vegetarian chili: flavorful long-grain black rice was piled high with quartered green tomatoes, sea beans (they look like green beans but are saltier and more fibrous), corn, peppers, and other vegetables. It was not too spicy, rather it had a sweet flavor to it. Mr alacarte detected raisins and cinnamon in the dish. Meanwhile, he ordered the cod wrapped in banana leaf. Most of the reviews said that this dish arrived overcooked. I guess Kalustyan's took this critique to heart, because our cod arrived cooked just right, and still quite tender. The dish came accompanied with a vinegared cabbage (sort of like a kimchi-inspired cole slaw) which was not to Mr. alacarte's taste, but he's not a fan of vinegar. The service was attentive, although it took a while to get our server's attention to get the check, they seemed slightly understaffed. The price tag was a little steep for the neighborhood (our final tally with tip was about $80), but it wasn't altogether out of line for a good meal including apps and drinks. I'd go back again. Edit: I almost forgot -- Inspired by Monica Bhide's article in the Washington Post about Indian Weddings -- esp. the part about the "mouth freshener table," with 30-plus types of mouth fresheners, I bought a couple of packets from the Kalustyans store...one with all kinds of minty-green goodies and another with candy-coated fennel seeds. MMMmmmmmmm........

I grabbed a Shake Shack burger on my way home yesterday. It was one of the best burgs I've had in a while -- my only complaint was that it was too small. The meat was tasty and done perfectly (I prefer my meat done medium, and it was -- though they didn't ask me for preference) and the toppings were fresh and didn't hide the taste of the meat. Not a big fan of the supermarket-style soft bun, it would have benefited from toasting, but overall it still was quite good. I'll be back, and I'll order a double next time.

you are correct -- according to the Salli Vates blog page (which I do enjoy):

If you like ouzo (and even if you don't), you might enjoy reading Ouzo-palooza, one reporter's account of her adventures trying ouzo for the first time while in Athens "to cover parties and nightlife during the Olympics." Ach, reporters have such a hard life sometimes. Actually, it's a pretty funny account of "writing while intoxicated."

I went by Battery Park on Sunday and checked out the brunch menu -- pretty mundane stuff (eggs benedict, minute steak and eggs), with a $25 pre-fixe price tag. The area was TEEMING with tourists, not surprising b/c it was a lovely day.

yum. If you have a particularly tart lemon bar, you can gild the lily by drizzling melted chocolate across the top in stripes. I melt a square or two of bakers' chocolate in the microwave (inside a small ziploc baggie -- then I snip off the end to make a pastry bag).

Thanks for the great write-up and the link. I'm chuckling because the menu includes Maine lobster!

I swear that big pig is smiling. It looks like EVERYONE had fun! Sorry I missed it. I see Joe's wearing a CIA apron in the gnocchi shot...who's the culinary school grad?

Julia was a HUGE supporter of educational/public television. I'm glad to see PBS, WLIW, etc. are rolling out the red carpet for her.

I'm just sorry I never got to meet her.

Do you mean freshwater (as in caight in a lake) bass or just that it came from a vendor who's based upstate? I'm just curious as to what variety of bass it is if it's freshwater (large mouth, small mouth or walleye). I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't know. The vendor is from upstate, and I assumed that the fish was as well. (I know, never assume...) I can confirm that the skin had lovely grey and white stripes, if that helps.

What is it about the greenmarket that inspires rampant impulse buying? That always happens to me too. I plan to do a walk-through to "browse" and leave laden with bags. Last Saturday I bought: beautiful striped bass fresh from Upstate NY fingerling potatoes a bunch of "tri-color" carrots (three different types, white, yellow, and orange carrots tied together into a single bunch) shiso leaves baby fennel, with the long fronds still attached yellow peaches kirby cukes I tried cooking from the Craft cookbook, with decent success. We had a nice meal of braised striped bass with fennel, roasted carrots and roasted potatoes. No idea what to do with the shiso leaves. That's what I get for impulse-buying!

mmm, shaved ice. haven't had that in quite some time. I'm remembering fondly shaved ice with adzuki beans, which I tried in Hawaii many years ago. what is mizore?

well, I think we can safely assume that you're both a class act (OK, I knew that already) and an exception to the rule!

dumb question -- what's the point of the poulet Bresse? Does milk-fed chicken grow larger (sounds like it from adegiulio's post?), is the taste different, does it become more tender?

Lemon bars can drive you out of your gourd if you let them. I developed a lemon bars recipe for an article I was working on recently, and it took several tries before I got what I was after. If I posted this in the Lemon Curd thread already, please forgive me. For the base of the lemon bars, I wanted to use a basic butter-cookie recipe, but with a bit more butter than usually is called for (guess which ingredient I was trying to showcase? ) So I had to keep an eye on the oven -- it got a little greasy in the middle, so I re-did the cookie base a couple of times before I got the proportions right and then the oven time right. Not all lemon bars have a cookie base, though. So...I made a batch with the cookie base, mixed up a lemon topping, poured it into the base, and refrigerated. The lemon mixture soaked into the cookie base, didn't solidfy properly, and I ended up with a goopy pudding-like mess. Strike one. Then, I made a new cookie base, and let it cool while I made a lemon curd by cooking it on top of the stove. I spooned the lemon curd into the base, but it wouldn't adhere properly -- I would cut a cookie square and the lemon curd would plop right off the cookie onto the plate! Strike two. So...I tried the same thing again, but cooked the lemon curd at the same time the crust was finishing its baking time. I spooned the lemon curd into the still-hot crust, and then let it set. Success! I never would have guessed that technique would be so important if I hadn't gone through this process of experimentation myself.

BUMP! Is anyone still Baking With Julia, or is this the summer hiatus?

To echo docsconz -- I learn something new every day from eGullet. Now, not only do I know about poulet Bresse, I ALSO know that chickens are lactose-intolerant.

I PM'd him a while back, making it clear who I am and what I worked on. I'm not posting this info here to make anonymous threats. It's more a public service announcements to the myriad writers who frequent these boards.

There's a Houston's here in NY. I can't see anyone obeying a no cell phones rule and still getting a weekday lunch crowd. Couldn't care less about baseball caps and tank tops. It's a slippery slope, though. Why rule out tank tops for men when women are allowed to wear bare shoulders and bare toes everywhere and it's considered fashionable? I don't think baseball caps are such a travesty, either. But I agree with leo that Houston's has the right to set rules for proper attire, or to turn people away if they don't comply. If you don't like it, head for the nearest McDonald's.

Thanks for the reminder.... I was hope, hope, hoping that I'd be able to come...but it's looking more and more like the work schedule will be keeping me at home. Sorry. I do love Saratoga, and I haven't been there for years. And I was looking forward to seeing some of my favorite e'Gers! I hope you all have a blast, win lots of $$ at the races, and eat well.

You could call your chicken wings "Where's the Beef?" remember that commercial?