alacarte

I've been whacking my head against the wall trying to figure out how to make this recipe work. I suspect the answer is easy -- maybe a matter of technique? I'm trying to refine a spicy peanut dressing to accompany a salad. What I'm working with now is essentially one part pureed peanuts and one part coconut milk, plus smaller amounts of red curry paste, lime juice, and sugar. The final product tastes great, but the texture is lumpy, oily, and generally offputting. Any thoughts on how I can fix this? I've been pureeing roasted peanuts in a food processor, then combining all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmering, stirring now and then. The peanuts break down a bit and the sauce becomes creamy and thickens a bit. Once the sauce cools, the oil from the peanuts rise to the top. Help! How can I make this smooth and pourable without affecting the taste too much?

I still don't think I would go. But I know people who live in Battery Park City who probably will be delighted if/when this opens.

I haven't been there, sorry! But would love to hear if anyone has.

NY Mag did a recent "Infused Vodka Crawl" piece. More info here.

While Carnegie & Katz may both be very good, neither is kosher. Second Ave Deli is the last truly outstanding kosher deli in New York. And one of the few kosher establishments in Manhattan, period. It makes the closing quite significant if it's permanent. It says a lot about the flight of observant Jewish communities to Brooklyn and surrounding suburban areas in NY. Plus, I'll miss their chicken soup.

I heard a rumor that they may close the Telephone Bar across the street (no loss there!) and open 2nd Ave Deli in that space instead. I hope it's true. I'd be truly bummed to lose 2nd Ave permanently just because their landlords got greedy.

I think they 'mild it' for my in-laws at their request.

My in-laws favor Chennai Garden. It's also in Curry Hill, but just off the main drag, on 27th St. The food is OK, the decor is nothing special. They like it because the food's not too spicy and it's very clean, if dingy. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, huh?

This was a fun read...like "Sex & The City" only the characters EAT as well as drink cosmopolitans!

We affectionately (?) refer to it as City Crap. That pretty much sums up my opinion of the place. It's a great space. I live nearby and still get pulled in there every now and then, hoping for the best. Each time I walk away with the impression that they just don't care. The service tends to be spotty and the food is ordinary and overpriced. It's time for something new to open up in that great space.

I'm agreeing with this. Dump that olive oil! It's served in pretty flasks that look like something to be sold at the hotel gift shop, but tastes like a mouthful of greasy nothing. I should have asked for butter.

Had brunch at Country yesterday, and I truly enjoyed it. Snaps for being open on Christmas Day (although I guess a restaurant located in a hotel is more likely to be open anyway). The saganaki appetizer was wonderful -- rich and flavorful. I've had this Greek cheese several times before, and too often it's served overcooked, undercooked, or just plain rubbery. Not so here -- the texture was perfect, melting and succulent, not a touch of rubber anywhere. Usually saganaki is flavored with ouzo, set aflame, and then the flames are theatrically doused with lemon juice. I didn't see anything set aflame in the dining room (thank goodness), but the cheese had the right lovely complex flavors -- salty, lemon-y, and the subtle flavor of licorice that I'm assuming must have been ouzo. It was served hot in the pan with cubes of fennel (accenting the licorice flavor -- seemed very thoughtful to me since it complemented the ouzo so well) and roasted tomato and a bit of the fennel fronds on top. IMHO, this was a dish that worked on every level. Mr. alacarte had the special of the day -- a smoked salmon entree served with wedges of potato pancake (reminded me strongly of latkes -- maybe that was intentional, maybe not) and a soft poached egg on top. The waiter told us that they smoke the salmon in house. The salmon was poached and not at all salty, which wasn't quite what I had expected but still was delicious. It had a nice velvety texture too. They should add it to the menu on a permanent basis. I had the risotto primavera, which was good but not outstanding. They got the texture right -- separate grains of rice, not a glutinous mess of rice. The vegetable broth the rice was cooked in was a bright green, which smelled fresh and appetizing but it was a little off-putting to receive a small glass pot full of green rice. They saute vegetables separately and then put them on top of the risotto with melted Parmesan on top, it looks very pretty that way. It was good but I missed the way flavors meld together in risotto -- this was like two dishes served together. One last note -- clever presentation of mr. alacarte's iced tea. Country freezes iced tea into cubes (a good idea, which I first heard about here from phaelon!). It's a nice idea, but they make a very big deal out of it. Guests are first presented an insulated cup full of orange iced-tea cubes and then a small pitcher of liquid iced tea is poured over the cubes with a bit of fanfare. OK, OK, we get it! The upstairs is beautiful, crystal chandeliers that look like icicles and a huge Tiffany glass dome. The second floor should be open in January. I have every intention of taking advantage of the Champagne Bar on the 2nd floor. The bar seems stocked with the same stuff as the big bar downstairs, but it's tiny and intimate. Summary -- this place gets a thumbs-up from me.

If you haven't already seen JJ's article on nam prik at Sripraphai in the NYTimes (way to go JJ!), here's the link: Humble & Hot

Japonica, on 11th and University. Outstandingly fresh, succulent, and beautifully presented fish. Zero attitude from the staff, they are welcoming and pleasant. Serene and fairly authentic decor. I only wish it were easier to get a seat during peak times. And it can be a little expensive, but at least I always feel that I am getting what I pay for. This is the sushi to which I compare all others...

Thanks for all the wonderful info. I had no idea there was so much to know about Prosecco. I'm going to start trying some dry Proseccos and see if that gets me closer to what I remember. Do Italians also drink the still version? In my opinion the bubbles were part of what made the drink so refreshing.

This week's Washington post food section has an article on limoncello. ...as usual these days, the WP is a bit behind the curve, following a month after the NYT article....

During a recent trip to Italy, I was served a wonderful glass of Prosecco alongside an appetizer dish of crudo and raw langoustines. I continued to sip it through the seafood risotto and parchment-baked fish that followed. It was wonderful with all three dishes. I never thought to pair Prosecco with seafood, and certainly not with crudo or what resembled sushi (the raw langoustines). Usually I think of Prosecco or other sparklers as something to drink with dessert, or alone. I only wish I knew exactly which Prosecco we had that evening. I've tried to duplicate the combination now that I'm home again, but the bubbles seem bigger and the taste more melon-y, not as clean and crisp as the one we had in Italy. Guess I'll just have to keep trying.

Our office uses Keurig coffee makers. They use single-serving coffee packets and the coffee is pretty decent. http://www.keurig.com/

I recently took a trip to Northern Italy, and was delighted to find that the cappuccino everywhere was just wonderful, without exception. Smooth, flavorful, aromatic perfect crema, strong but not too strong. Aside from the obvious answer (duh, Italians created cappuccino ), what makes Italian capp so fantastic, and how do I duplicate the effect here? I'm wondering if it's the water, the way the coffee is ground or stored, the machines used....I'm baffled. Also noticed that the serving size tended to be smaller than what I'm used to -- i.e. a small teacupful vs. a brimming mug or Starbucks supersize. Not sure why that is either. Grazie mille for any insight on this!

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Nice!!! We're ALL coming over for Thanksgiving dinner this year!

I think a more important question is...what's a coffee shop, exactly? Starbucks? Diner? Cafe?

What bothered me most about the article was this sentence: While I personally don't see breast-feeding as a problem... ...don't owners of stores, cafes, and other spaces have the right to set certain ground rules on their own premises without "the neighborhood" getting involved? Since the spokesperson here is the alderwoman --an elected official -- this sounds like it spiraled to a much larger, organized issue beyond new moms exercising their right to boycott a cafe.

That makes sense -- brandade is what I was thinking of. Actually, I think brandade would have worked better on the pizza, it would have helped the toppings stick to the pizza dough! I'm saying that it can happen at any restaurant, so I don't fault Barca for that. The important part is that they took it away and replaced it with the correct order, and did it quickly and with a good attitude. I think the attitude is the important part of this transaction! I've had blood sausage before, though I hardly consider myself an expert. I'd say it was definitely sweeter than what I've had before. Is it supposed to be sweet? I was expecting something salty/tangy, closer to a traditional sausage flavoring. I didn't detect much onion in the tortilla, so I do think the sweetness came from the sausage.

Thanks for the heads up. Always nice to find another independent coffee shop. There used to be a shop on this block that specialized in tea and insubstantial little crumpet sandwiches (I kid you not), which abruptly disappeared a few months back. I wonder if it's the same people. I don't think the tea shop did a brisk business, maybe they turned it into a coffee shop instead.