Ling

I've only been to Mistral and Union, and although I enjoy the food at both restaurants, I definitely prefer Mistral. Union makes good NW fare--lots of seafood on the menu. It's like a step up from Clarklewis in Portland, if you've eaten there. I find the dishes at Mistral more creative and refined, and the room is more quiet (far smaller restaurant than Union) and more romantic. Henry has eaten at Lampreia twice and wasn't impressed, but I've never eaten there so can't comment. There is a new chef de cuisine at Veil, who did stints at Jean Georges and Alinea. Right now they're running some experimental specials, but I heard he will be revamping Shannon's menu very soon. Should be worth checking out! ETA: If you can't decide between Union and Mistral, you could always order a bunch of things off Union's Happy Hour menu with cocktails, then head over to Mistral for dinner.

^Hey, I've been reading this thread carefully! I know to get my brisket moist.

You're probably right. We'll see where we end up.

I just skimmed this last page so I don't know if it's been discussed already, but Master Hung BBQ on Garden City and Blundell is back! (He used to have a location near Lansdowne mall and we used to go there all the time for suckling pig and duck). This new restaurant is larger, and the food is very good. I especially liked the Peking duck (and the duck meat dish that came afterwards), crab with vermecelli hot pot, and the appetizer platter (jellyfish, 'fai cha' aka fatty char siu, bbq pork, soy sauce chicken, and duck). They have the usual dishes (freerange chicken and soy sauce chicken, shrimp and chicken over brocolli, pea shoots, etc.)

Wonderful. Smitty's it is! Thanks so much, everyone! I am REALLY looking forward to my first taste of Texas bbq.

IIRC from my google search this morning, 2 of them close at 8pm and one closes at 7pm. I'm afraid I won't be able to go to all three--my friend just wants to stop in one of them for lunch quickly before heading to San Antonio. Any favourites in Lockhart? I like brisket and ribs (and pulled pork, obviously, but I know they probably don't serve that here.) Sausages and smoked pork chops I don't care for as much.

Yes, we're doing a Tex-Mex place the day we go to San Antonio. My friend says it's not a problem if we stop in Lockhart that day for BBQ, and I've checked to see if all three (Smitty's, Black's, and Kreuz) are open on Saturday, and they are, so I guess I'm all set! Thanks for all your help!

I apologize in advance if I am mixing up BBQ restaurant names and city names, but I am terrible with names of any sort and directions just confuse me even more. From what I understand: -Hewitt is north of Austin -Taylor is NE of Austin, and Mueller's is located in Taylor. Mueller's > Sam's in Austin -Lockhart is 30-40 minutes south of Austin. Lockhart has 3 top-tier BBQ joints, all generally > Mueller's > Sam's Here is my rough schedule: Thursday, Nov. 28th 3pm - fly into Waco airport, and I'm staying in Hewitt at my friend's house Friday, Nov. 29th - this is our day in Austin, and they've given me free reign on restaurants...I believe I requested Nubian Queen Lola's for dinner Saturday, Nov. 30th - we are going to San Antonio (is this anywhere near Lockhart? I checked a map and I see the San Antonio is also south of Austin!), my friend wants to take me to a Tex-Mex restaurant Sunday, Dec. 1st - we are dropping off our other friend at the Austin airport, and then we were going to go to Sam's (although now I'm not so anxious to go there!) Thanks so much for all your help...please let me know when I could best fit in a meal at Lockhart or at Mueller's!

Do they have any drinks with Chartreuse on the menu? Can I get a Last Word here?

RJ, did Alex compare favourably to other meals you've eaten in that price range (both in Vegas and outside of Vegas?) The amuse bouche are too cute.

WHAT?! Excellent news. I can hit two places for dinner! Or maybe Lola's for dinner, and Sam's at 2am after the clubs. I might have time to get bbq at Schoepf's too! My friend in Austin asked her husband where his favourite bbq was and he said Stubb's. Any thoughts on this place?

I am not big on burgers...I guess I just didn't really grow up eating them, so I never crave them. And I am so over the Kobe beef burgers...maybe I've just never had a really good one. I don't find them particularly exciting, and definitely not new or creative enough for me to waste a meal on one. Ditto Red 8 and Noodles--I grew up eating Chinese food in Richmond BC and I still visit once a month to get my fix, so I'm probably not too anxious to pay $12 for wonton, as I can't imagine it being spectacularly better than the stuff I get regularly. Thanks for the suggestions about Lenotre and the other pastry shop in the Paris hotel. I will DEFINITELY check that out! That's too bad Payard is opening in November. Guess I can cross that off my list... Thanks for the info, though! I've never eaten in a David Burke restaurant, but I'll avoid it, thanks for the tip! I guess I'll skip Olives in favour of Fix, Enoteca San Marco (any other opinions about this place? I know nothing about it) or Brasserie with the new chef on board. I'm sure Henry wants to hit up a buffet (probably the Bellagio one) and I'll be at the pastry shops or shopping when he's gambling. Thanks for all your help!

If I luck out like you did on the slots, I'm going to Guy Savoy AND Joel Robuchon, despite two friends in the industry who tell me it's hideously over-priced for what you get. Memphis BBQ--this I also considered, but I'm going to Austin, TX in November so I might not want to waste a meal here. There is only so much room in my stomach, despite what some people think. Forgot to mention Lotus of Siam, although the reports I've read have been 50-50. I'll have to look into Aquaknox and Andre. Thanks for that!

Hi everyone, I've been combing this section of EG this week looking for suggestions on where to eat. We are coming in late October and we already have the perfect guide lined up--our friend nightscotsman. We're kind of on a tight budget so our one pricier meal will probably be at L'Atelier. Outside of that, here are some places I've read good things about: -Olives (although the reports I read were mostly from 2005/2006...has anyone been there lately? My only reservation about this place is that I think Todd English is a tool and a half with zero charisma, and this restaurant seems like a branded chain to me. But maybe I'm just being a snob. Mesa Grill is out for the same reason, although that decision was easy since most people seem to just find it OK/good anyway.) -Fix (have read good things about the food, but the photos online seem like it's a nightclub. Also, one 'reviewer' mentioned girls throwing up as a "con"...the scene doesn't sound all that appealing to me, but I'll go if the food is good.) -Bradley Ogden (a chef friend recommended it, and it looks like they change their menu everyday based on what's fresh? That's always appealing. Might be out of our price range, though.) -Brasserie (Daniel Boulud?) I didn't get a chance to eat at any of his restaurants in NY, and they also have a 3 course prix fixe for $48 before 7pm. I am hoping Payard will be open by the time we get there, so I can snag some pastries and compare with Jean Phillipe. Anything else we should consider?

Thanks so much! Sam's it is (especially as we'll be on 6th Street.) You know, I saw that picture of the pork chop/onion rings/gravy from Nubian Queen Lola's late one night and I had a dream I was actually there and eating it. Must be a sign.

I think it's pretty obvious that Hung, Lia, and (arguably, to a smaller extent) Tre are the only contestants who can cook. At least, this was obvious to me since the start of the season. I am sure Hung will be in the finals, although I have no idea who he'll be competing against because I don't see any other talent left. The scene where Casey was mincing the onions was probably one of the most entertaining I've seen this season. I liked Tre a lot, and even moreso after this episode. I'm betting he'll come back with some gig like Leanne. I'm sure he had a lot of fans, and not only because he's cute! ETA: Dale may have cooked the poussin, but I am willing to bet anything it was Hung who plated it for the camera.

I am visiting a friend who lives in Hewitt, Texas in late November, and we are going to be going to Austin for a day. I've read through this thread but am unsure if there's a place en route from Hewitt into Austin that may have better BBQ than the Austin Q joints discussed in this thread. (Is Luling or Lockhart anywhere near these two cities, for example?) I am also hoping to go somewhere like Nubian Queen Lola's Cajun or Hoover's for southern food, perhaps for lunch. I only have one day in Austin and my friend is not that into food, so I would feel bad if I dragged her around to places that are too far out of the way, especially since she's driving.

Thanks for taking us to Spain! And just so you know, I did end up making the olive oil chocolate mousse.

Ugh...why did you have to go and say this. Guy Savoy was my #1 pick for our upcoming trip in October, but Henry vetoed that motion considering the hefty price tag. Now I think I might have to make a reservation just for myself and eat there alone!

^I just cut half the white sugar and didn't replace it with anything. You mentioned your cookies spread out a bit more than mine did--I often stick the dough in the fridge until it's cold, then roll it out into balls and barely flatten them. Make sure your oven is pre-heated too so they don't "melt" in an oven that's not hot enough. I've tried a few other recipes for chocolate chip cookies in the past few months but I've been going back to the Macrina recipe. I like to also use a touch more salt than specified.

Inspired by bergerka's foodblog this week, I made a Valrhona chocolate mousse with olive oil (Colli Etruschi Blera?), black pepper, Maldon. The mousse is Herve This's recipe from Molecular Gastronomy, since that's the theme for dinner tonight. It's made with nothing but water and chocolate, and is at once richer and lighter than standard chocolate mousse--richer, because it has no cream to cut the flavour of the cocoa, and lighter because there is little fat to dull the taste of the chocolate. The biscotti is flavoured with anise and wild fennel pollen.

Thank-you! I am going to do a version of this for dessert tomorrow and serve it with wild fennel pollen biscotti.

Quite possibly the most incredible dessert I've seen on EG thus far!

Nice to see this thread resurrected! I've made the buttermilk biscuits several times and I love that recipe. Also made the ham and cheese biscuits and my bf likes them even more than the buttermilk recipe (I like the buttermilk ones better.) I used aged gruyere instead of romano, and chopped up a handful of herbs and threw them in there as well. They went really quickly at a recent brunch and everyone loved them.

Are the lentils cooked in water? Chicken stock? Pork broth? Beef? Are they rounded out at the end with some sort of fat, like butter or olive oil?