TrishCT

The Palace? It was featured on 60 Minutes with Andy Rooney.

Great story, Ingrid, gave me several good laughs! One HOCAS/NOCAS experience I had happened while I was on a car trip to Montreal in the dead of winter. My college friends and I stopped into an empty deli to grab some hot chocolate and warm up. While we were there, the man and woman running the place (who appeared to be husband and wife) struck up a friendly conversation with us. They were very accomodating --couldn't be nicer, so we lingered for awhile and even ordered some sandwiches to go. As we were leaving, one of my friends noticed the rack of Canadian candy bars, which were different from American ones. At that point, the husband and wife raged into a very loud argument between themselves, in a language none of us understood. The husband looked at us with nostrils flaring and said loudly, "Good bye ladies!" Hocas and Nocas in the same visit.

La Maison Japonaise, japanese/french fusion...Loved the Mt. Fujiyama ice cream sundae. I also liked Maxwell's Plum... because of the noise.... (I was young then, when noise was good.)

Fat Guy, Since I consider you the god of all that is steak (after all you wrote the treatise), if you say Wolfgang's porterhouse is as good as Luger's... I believe it and will go there... It will be a pleasure not to battle the traffic to Brooklyn...

Two steps back, deep breath everyone. I interviewed several people involved in The Restaurant. They are hard working, ambitious, and yes...aspiring performers.... There is nothing wrong with that. Sadly, with the animosity and tension between RD and JC, to date the show gives the audience nothing to cheer for. If there is one positive to be gleaned, perhaps it's that some hard working people are getting opportunities from the media exposure they wouldn't have gotten otherwise. I say let them have their moment. It's a shame really...because this could have been a vision and instead it's a black eye.

Sheri, it's sad that JB's closed. (couldn't compete with the MickeyD's next door.) One day about a month ago, I drove by and poof it had vanished. Too bad because it was a good easy on/easy off pit stop off I-84. in Danbury

Everyone is entitled to his/her opinion. But somehow, I smell a troll...

Thanks for the recipe for the torte, what do you use for the chocolate glaze?

Jane, glad it was a hit! Looking forward to your samples, I have a feeling my family will become customers.

Jason, Please thank Ted for explaining his take on the dishes. I have been trying, to no avail, to reach Jeffrey Steingarten to get his opinions as well... It certainly helps to hear more from the judges.

Or... Fun, fun, fun, till Rocco takes the Vespa away....

'tis pity

Very good Jon, very funny! (BTW, that's more than anyone said about my lyrics to Kitchen Confidential, The Musical...)

Nope, if you were LCD you would have said Shemp....

This is my recipe for: Snow White Cake 3 cups all purpose flour 3 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 5 egg whites, room temp. 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar 2 cups sugar 3/4 cup butter, softened (very soft!) 2 teaspoons vanilla 1/2 teaspoon almond extract 1 1/4 cups whole milk 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. 2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. (Make sure to sift, you don't want lumps.) 3. In a large mixing bowl starting at low and progressing to high speed, beat egg whites, adding cream of tartar as they start to froth, beat until stiff but not dry. Transfer to another bowl and set aside. 4. In the large mixing bowl at medium speed, beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and almond extract. At low speed beat in dry ingredients alternately with milk, starting and ending with flour mixture, scraping bowl frequently. 5. By hand, stir in about 1/4 of the egg whites; then fold in remaining whites until no streaks remain. 6. Pour into pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until toohpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and cool completely. This recipe makes good cupcakes too. Bake them about 20 minutes.

We have a brand new Shaw's Supermarket in my town, with a huge selection of imported items...two aisles worth. In addition to carrying 10 varieties of Ritter Sports bars.... Thay also carry Nocello, the italian version of Nutella. Because it was 30 cents cheaper than the american Nutella, I bought a jar for my daughter and stuck it in her Easter basket.... Alas, I did not get to sample it... but since it disappeared so fast I imagine it was quite good.

Milk prices are expected to rise to about $4.00 a gallon by next week here in Connecticut. Sadly, milk isn't something you can really stockpile.

May I be the first to welcome you, fellow spud.

I was initially very excited about the thought of a Manhattan Luger's because schleping from CT to Brooklyn is a major traffic nightmare. But now I'm wondering... The thing that sets Luger's apart from everyone else is the quality of their meat, which is selected by eye, by one buyer (I don't recall her name, sorry). Does Wolfgang's have access to the same calibre beef as Luger's and who is selecting Wolfgang's product? Is it a person with the same level of expertise who doesn't get fooled by "prime crime?" Edited to add: Fat Guy have you tried Wolgang's?

My family loves all things garlic and I wish we could make the event, but my kids have a drum corps competition this weekend. I hope other E-gulletters will go... I volunteer our family to be on your guinea pig list! Best of luck Jane, Trish

There is no written contract.... only a verbal one. Or as they taught me in law school, the agreement was not memorialized in a writing.

I actually loved the pizza I had at Antico Forno a few months ago... a simple margherita-- sauce cheese, basil. But then again, I totally recognize that pizza is a personal thing. I happen to enjoy pizza that has a thin yet bread-like tasting crust, sauce that tastes like fresh tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella, which because its baked in a super hot wood oven is almost fused with the crust. Just my preference and I think Antico Forno does it well.

Chris have you had any feedback about how the shows did rating wise?

You know I didn't need to see Rocco in bed with his (now ex) girl friend... But hey, where can I buy one of those school kids' soiled tee shirts...? Ebay?

The interview by Patricia Gay was marvelous! Insight into the various internal components of ICA make my viewing of the episodes so much more interesting ... Thanks for this humorous and insightful article, Patricia. Thanks for your comments! Please call me Trish.