albie

Speaking of St. Peter's, the one in NYC... the Bruno brothers' restaurant San Pietro, 18 East 54th between Fifth and Madison is an excellent if expensive choice for Saturday lunch.

Craig, your observations square neatly with my experience; I do think that Tuscan bread has all the elements right EXCEPT for the elimination of salt, hoever. In Lombardy and the Piedmont, those fist-sized confections of cottony, tasteless rolls they put on the table with the affettati are no match for French baguettes.

This is offered with an admitted twinge of chauvism thar one might expect from a well-traveled third-generation Italo-American with roots in Campania: what passes for bread in regions north of Tuscany is mostly execrable. For me, the standard-bearer or paradigm for ``il vero pane italiano'' hails from Puglia, with Campania's output a close second.

Wish I were.. are you? This is one of my favorite Italians in NYC. Notoriously``Untrendy" and deserving of greater recognition and possible inclusion in the pantheon of Babbo, Felidia, San Domenico, L'Impero, et al, it combines authenticity, unusual regional focus, atractive ambience, integrity of ingredients and technique. Unable to make it to Beard, I console myself that as a New Yawker, I can always book a table, usually with ease given a few days advance planning.

Almost everything from Gallo of Sonoma, and Falesco Vitiano (from Umbria, Italy), come immediately to mind. Castle Rock has a very nice Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.

To me the criteria for perfection in roast turkey are (1) moist breast meat and fully cooked dark meat; (2) crispy skin and (3) uniform coloration. What is the secret to the uniformity of colors always seen in magazines and advertisements but so seldom attained at home? It is a convection oven? Also any insights as to how to assure consistently crispy skin at the same time?

Grimes' text reads like a two-star review; I find it perplexing that they frequently fail to correlate.

Seems to me Asimov is being groomed to replace Frank Prial, but one never knows.

I've eaten there three times and find it outstanding for quality and value; restaurants featuring seafood are generally the priciest but Acqua Pazza is exemplary in its restraint in this regard. To sum up the experience, it's about impeccable fresh fish/seafood, simply but imaginatively prepared; pastas are also first rate. The wine list is compact, but well-matched to the food and fairly priced.

My two cents, for whatever it's worth. My expectations when dialing up the Food Network or PBS cooking shows is to learn. Basically, I subdivide the tv chef universe in three: substance with style; substance over style; and style over substance. I also find it the most piquant of ironies that they juxtapose The Barefoot Contessa with Giada DiLaurentis! In my book, those from which I learn the most: --Jacques Pepin: (bar none the best; occasionally tongue-tied, but a paragon) --Julia Child: (a bit off her top game, but still informative) --Alton Brown (often tedious, but very informative) --Mario Batali: (rapid-fire talking, over-gesturing, slapdash approach can be offputting, but nobody has a better grasp of Italian regional cooking and traditional approaches to food) --Sara Moulton (foursquare and technically solid; sometimes too cutesy, but still a valuable source of techniques) --Lidia Bastianich (Italian gemutlichheit to the max; not as informative as Mario, but no slouch) --David Rosengarten (somewhat smug, but very knowlegable) In the ``style over substance" category: Emeril (his popularity is remarkable, considering the negative comments he's elicited here; probably more a performer than a chef); Bobby Flay and The Barefoot Contessa.

If it's not too late then maybe Jeffrey's, 73 Main Street, Toms River, has a lot to recommend it; promixity to you, not cheap but not ultra-expensive, and fairly well-regarded (a high mark in Zagats); BYOB. A bit farther afield is the Spargo Grille on Route 33 in Manalapan.

A someone who works in the vicinity, I've been surprised by the general paucity of first-rate dining options for a place of Princeton's cachet and the relative affluence of its demographics. Maybe it's the absence of large-scale corporate presence, but IMHO New Brunswick seems to have a far more dynamic, interesting array of choices.

There are several excellent threads on this topic, and at the risk of repeating myself, here goes: Although I have quibbles about them both, I give Brooklyn's Pizza of Hackensack (161 Hackensack Ave,) the nod over De Lorenzo's as my top NJ choice. While Brooklyn's commitment to the use of first-rate, fresh ingredients (incuding real olive oil, fresh mozzarella and basil)is praiseworthy, their plain pie is a bit bland (short of salt); my favorite is the egllpant pie. De Lorenzo's failing is in its seasoning (either non-existent or second-rate dried). For truly authentic Neapolitan pizza -- which admittedly is not to every American's taste -- there's Una Pizza Napoletana on Route 35 S. in Point Pleasant Beach, at the entrance to Bay Head-- is the closest I've ever had on this side of the ocean to how it's made in Naples and along the Amalfi coast.

Viceversa, 325 West 51st Street, is another good choice in the Theater District.

Rich...Your entitled, of course, but DeLorenzo would rate much higher w/ me if they discovered fresh herbs, especially fresh basil in season, and the judicious use of decent olive oil, especially their pies cry out for some deft seasoning.. that's why Brooklyn's of Hackensack gets my nod....but hey, that's what makes forums like this fun. Better than them both is the little-known Pizzeria Napoletana, Route 35 South, Point Pleasant Beach.

La Locanda also has arguably the best and fairest priced wine list of all the recommendations on this thread. (One partner in the place is a senior executive w/ Winebow)

Rich, I guess this belongs in a ``pizza" thread, but I would definitely give Brooklyn's Pizza of Hackensack the nod over DeLorenzo; the latters' plain pie is excellent but lacking in the addition of either fresh basil or even oregano.

Much the same can be said about Arthur; it's often hard to distinguishe between a legitimate restaurant review and a commercial. That being said, his breadth of knowledge is very impressive; on live call-in, I can't ever recall him being stumped or left at a loss for words or specific advice.

With all due respect to all you Turducken fans out there, the whole exercise seems so pointless, all the labor and high risk of failure to produce a gastronomic Frankenstein, a real redneck culinary abomination.

My experience has been that much like their polenta, the style of risotto in the Veneto is softer, more liquid, (``all' onda") closer to the sea, and sturdier as one moves inland or into other regions. Never, however, should risotto be so sodden as to have ``pantani" (``puddles") of broth in the crevices.

Peter, Nocino is walnut-flavored

How about Mastori's Diner, on Route 130 in Bordentown? It has a very big local following.

Honestly, I avoid any place that acts like its doing me a favor to take my money especially a place like Rao's. It doesn't take an actual dining experience there -- just peruse their cookbook or buy a jar of their overpriced sauce -- to get the picture. Certainly not in these days in New York, where a gaggle of world-class restaurants are falling allo over thems to attract diners. Even if they were willing to grant you a reservation, you're bound to be setting yourself up for disappointment, if the recipes in Pelligrino's book are any indication. Which isn't to say that their food isn't honest, reasonably well-prepared generic red-sauce Italian-American; but certainly not the sort of transcendent gastronomy that justifies subjecting onself to the humilation -- intended or otherwise-- of constant rejection. If food is the real object opf your efforts, I ask: why bother, when I guarantee that Baldoria or Patsy's downtown does this type of food as well, if not better? If you want a Runyoneque experience without the hassle, then I suggest you try Andy's Colonial in East Harlem. Make mine San Domenico, Felidia, San Pietro or I Trulli.....

As someone whose eaten there fairly often, I found Grimes' review somehwat puzzling. While Fada's cooking is excellent, I can't bring myself to rhapsodize over it, much less elevate it significantly above places like Felidia (where Fortunato Nicotra is IMHO a self-effacing, underrated chef), San Pietro, nor even I Trulli. Perhaps the wait staff recognizes me-- I'm acquainted with Tony and Marisa his daughtet, her husband David, sommelier Piero and Roberto--, so maybe they know enough about me to distinguish me from an out-of-towner or one-time tourist; but I've never found the level of service to be less than competent and quite efficient-- certainly nowhere near as boorish as Grimes describes them.

Agree here with all fans of Becco. It's image as an ``all you can eat" place may diminish its appeal to the snobbish and trend-worshipping elements of the NYC dining crowd, but stands to reason that consistency of quality if a place concentrates on making -- and making well-- three staple pastas which probably 85 percent of the diners will order-- making them in large quantities and sending them off to the dining room when they're as close to peak as the chef's skill will allow. While on the subject of excellent, if not exactly ``trendy" Italian retaurants that deserve more acclaim than they're generally given, here are three that come to mind: La Locanda dei Vini (Ninth Avenue at 50th Street): a largely unheralded neighborhood place with a fabulous wine list and some of the most authentic regional Italian comfort food in town, including the best rabbit in the city. San Pietro (54th Street between Madison and Fifth): Horrendously expensive but southern Italian dishes taken to extreme expression; fanatically loyal client base comprised of many of the city's richest and most powerful; all but off the radar screen of the Bastianich/Batali loyalist; as good as Felidia but with better service. I Trulli (East 27th between Lexington and Third); family-run establishment of highest quality; mama's homemade pastas and open-hearth cooking are specialities here.