MetsFan5

My main was the lobster from the seafood selection. My husband has the duck and loved it. My main was excellent. We drank a Pinot Nior from Williamete Valley with these dishes. I was FULL. But I loved this because I can’t eat a lot but I love being able to eat more than one dish. My husband finished with the chocolate soufflé and they gave me a birthday passion fruit cake/ sorbet. It was good. I’d go back.

We didn’t take a picture of the risotto because it was too good. I was angry at myself when the table next to me asked to take a picture because they’d forgotten. I had the Dungeness crab salad from the appetizer menu. It was good. Not great. My husband had the tuna from the seafood menu:

I wen there tonight for my birthday dinner amuse Bouche of duck soup with Thai flavors:

@blue_dolphin WOW! It all looks so good! This makes me even more excited to dine there in a few weeks.

Also what type of scene are you looking for? There are tons of places filled with people in their early to mid 20s with super cheap happy hours.

@Kim Shook can you share the recipe for the shrimp burgers? They look delicious! I loved Callie’s biscuits when I was in Charleston. I may order some from GoldBely.

I’m sorry, I’m probably reading this wrong. But are you saying you have a full sized oven that reaches 400 degrees F in five minutes?

We get pretty good sushi here. I usually order it from here: https://www.sushiloungenj.com/ and I usually order the optimistic roll, the fantasy roll and the whatever appeals to me. But my friend is doing a taco bar so... I’m unsure about the combo. I’ll check in with her tomorrow. I could always do a bunch of charcuterie instead.

I think it’s really versatile. I’m considering baking the puff pastry (I use Pepperidge Farms) then topping it with scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage, cheese and a drizzle (or spoon fulls) of hollandaise.

I think Danko will win out over Zuni, since Zuni is open for lunch. I’ll be solo most days (3) so if any local members are down to have a nice long boozy lunch let me know! 😗 I’m still eying Lilholo Yatch Club since it’s basically next to my hotel. Weee spending two nights in Napa, one we should probably eat then sleep before a day long tour and the one to have dinner after a tour. We will be right in downtown Napa. Is Morimoto worth it? Does anyone recommend an Italian place to soak up the wines on Friday night? I’m down to Uber.

These, the simple lightly salted Ones: https://harvestsnaps.com/products/ i can’t explain it. The taste is ok. The mouthfeel is odd. Yet I keep eating them!

The other night my dinner was 100% due to Egullet. I reheated pizza in a skillet (and pizza in northern NJ is GOOD) and the I ate 3/4ths of a head of cauliflower that I roasted. I was very happy to say the least.

I made this the other night (when we did appetizers for dinner): https://www.howsweeteats.com/2015/12/super-easy-pepperoni-pizza-puff-pastry/ it was a bit decadent with the puff pastry and I used shredded mozzarella. Tasty though. My best friend always hosts and I always bring sushi (that I don’t make). So I feel like if I do anything else, it would be a let down. I have a few ideas so sushi is still up in the air (but the easiest especially since I can have it delivered to her home).

Keens or Sparks would be my recommendations. They’re iconic Manhattan steakhouses. They’re also easy to get to from Union square area depending on when you’re going. It’s soo cold in the city to walk anywhere right now IMO. I’m going to a concert at MSG tomorrow and dining at a steakhouse there, Nick and Stef’s. I only picked it due to the location, it’s just ok. Both Keens and Sparks have decent seafood options. I don’t think Luger’s does but I haven’t been there in a while. What time of year are you going? Ocean Prime May be another option but it’s not what I would consider a classic NY Steakhouse. They do have dry aged steaks though.

NJ has relaxed the laws regarding shipping wine between states. I’ve read that wineries can charge a lot to ship. I looked into wine suitcases and they start at $300. That seems excessive, given that the wineries on my list are ones I could probably purchase at home (Peju, Silver Oak, so far).

So I made a reservation at Gary Danko for my birthday, which falls on a Sunday (and is always on St Patrick’s Day). My reasoning behind doing so is that I can’t eat a lot of food. So the concept of having 2 appetizers and a cheese course while my husband eats more traditionally is appealing. That said, we will be in SF for 5 nights so I may cancel or change the Danko reservation in favor for Zuni, who’s opentable reservation system is currently offline. Our hotel is super close to Liholiho Yatch Club but they aren’t open on Sunday, so I’m hoping we can get there super early on Tuesday. We’re going to Napa for two nights as well. First time for me and my California born husband so we are going to get a private tour guide and hit up the better known wineries for a day. Any advice on how to get wine Home?

Since it’s snowing (ok any excuse would suffice) we did cheese fondue again tonight. We used this product: http://www.mifroma.com/ourcheeses/classics/original-swiss-fondue which was very good and about $8. It has the wine and sherry in it. For dippers we had ham slices, radishes (a new one to us but it was good), califlower, bread, mushrooms, zucchini and apples. Ideal for a snowy night. Now I’m about to another the left over apple slices in peanut butter and watch a dvd!

I’m in the midst of reading this thread in its 5 sections from the beginning. I don’t like to cook on weekdays mainly because I never know when my husband will get home. The warmer setting on the IP makes me think I can eat when hungry and he can eat when he gets home. I’m also thinking this could be useful because I dislike cooking protein. I’m always worried about over or under cooking. That said is the IP “idiot proof”? My friends all have one and post delicious dinners on Instagram every night. I definitely want to cut down on the frequency of restaurant food delivery but I don’t want to buy something I won’t use/will be intimidated by/ can’t make easy and tasty recipes in.

A close to perfect dinner to me. Those clams are gorgeous.

Maybe serve it with some cheese and melon on the side and let people decide for themesleves? I’d probably eat it on its own too.

We had the basic shrimp cocktail and salami/ cheeses/ olives as pre dinner nibbles. It was my parents, my inlaws and my husband and I. So we didn’t want to overload on apps. Dinner’s main features were 4 marinated flank steaks along with sweet Italian sausage (as a large amuse Bouche?) from this tiny butcher in my area: https://greenvillagepacking.com/ This is the.. 4th year we’ve served this. My mom made creamed spinach and brought a shredded raw Brussels sprouts salad from Costco with all types of delicious things in the mix. I roasted halved baby red potatoes in olive oil, kosher salt and fresh pepper. Super easy. I also cooked about 24 ounces of baby Bella’s down until they released all their water, added about 3 tablespoons of butter and 1/3rd cup of Marsala wine until most of the liquid was evaporated. Again really easy but good. We have SO much meat left over. I need left over ideas! Happy holidays!

I actually never had fondue until I was in my late 20s. It was popular before my time.

I don’t bake (except the occasional banana bread) but I absolutely love peacans so I used the Chex mix method on just pecans. I did a half pound last night and they were all gone by mid afternoon today! My inlaws loved them. I have another half pound so I will make more.

Well my inlaws were excited to do fondue so we did! It’s such an extravagant meal— all that melted cheese (it’s a cheap thing to make but seems like such an indulgence). TJ’s fondue was very good. We used both packages so I will go back and hope I can find more. We are it with ham, slightly cooked baby carrots, cooked baby potatoes, raw califlower, zucchini, mushrooms and apples and of course bread. It’s a fun meal and everyone enjoyed it!

@Kim Shook where the the tails come from?