scottie

Is cheesecake pie or cake? I think it's pie, because of the crust. So, pie for me. Even better, little flaky tarts. Cake is boring and too sweet. Pie is tangy and I like that. edited to add that I think I'd really enjoy that pork cake, though.

I'm kind of excited about the Modern winning because it's the only one of the six I have dined at. Also, the meal I had there for my birthday last year was easily the best meal of my life, both in terms of service and cuisine. I like the decor and the ambience, as well, at least in the dining room. However, I don't really have enough fine dining experience to say whether the Modern did or did not deserve the award. I can say my meal there was better than the one I had at Le Bernardin, but that's neither here nor there. I've only dined at each place once. FWIW, I think Alinea is probably the most creative and "cutting edge" of the six, but my understanding comes only from reading about it, not from actually having been there.

I've definitely experienced this when dining out with co-workers or with other people who don't know each other very well. My little brother always used to break into tears when the rest of the family just assumed we were all sharing! He eventually got over his "quirk"- he had to, in our family.

I understand that in the case of Morbier and other cheeses, the ash was originally there to protect against insects. I.e., the tub of milk from the morning is hanging around, waiting for the evening's milk to be added, so a layer of ashes is added to protect the morning's milk from bugs and other stuff. Maybe the case is similar with the ash-coated chevre logs. Leek ashes sound very strange. Why would you want to eat carbon of any kind?

That's a great idea about the sanitizer. Thanks. I am definitely in the wrong kitchen for me. I knew that two weeks into the job. The combination of low quality product and bad hygiene really upsets me. I was about to quit when the chef promoted me! So I'm sticking around a little longer. I loved the kitchen where my internship was. I've since found out that their standards are considered some of the highest in the industry. And no, I don't know the one about law and sausage!

Wow, I'm glad this question got so many responses! So, here's what I do: I put on gloves and wash my hands every chance I get. I just don't get as many chances as I'd like, due to how busy the station is and the fact that going to the handwashing sink requires walking off-line. If I touch raw seafood or chicken, I ALWAYS wash my hands with soap, no matter how busy we are. But it really is so busy that sometimes it takes too long to put on different gloves to toss four different salads, then throw shrimp in the fryer and hamburgers on the grill, then plate dessert, then toss more salads, etc. I try to be careful with the stuff that doesn't get cooked. But the reality is with the rapid orders and the chef de cuisine shouting "Go! Go! Quit f***ing around!" in my face, sometimes I'm not as clean as I'd like someone fixing my food to be. Know what I mean? What grosses me out the most is how little bits of certain foods get dropped into other food. With the huge mise for the station, it's probably inevitable that that will happen from time to time. I try to combat the mixing-up by putting spoons and tongs in all the pans, and putting the messiest stuff up front. Still, sometimes cheese drops into the pans nearest it. And DON'T eat the celery sticks with those wings, dude! The water they've been hanging out in is nasty. I interned at a USHG restaurant in NYC, and their standards are so impeccably high. I was really shocked at the low hygiene when I started my current job. The line is a lot cleaner than banquets, though, where a sous-chef actually discouraged me from putting seafood on ice during prep. I've already put in my notice, BTW. Going back to NYC.

Don't get me wrong, I looove food. But... I'm new in the industry. I interned at a very nice USHG restaurant, and now I'm on the line at one of the nicer places (five star! whatever that means) here in North Carolina. My problem, since I started this work, is that sometimes I find the food really gross. And not just the stuff I make; sometimes I read other folks' reviews here on eG, and all I can picture is the gross, slimy 9-pans of god-knows-how-old food items in front of me at work: sauerkraut with cheese bits in it, chervil pluches with sauerkraut bits in it (not as bad as the cheese), salads with my inadequately-cleansed fingers in them, etc. etc. So, my question is, which I'm sure has been asked here before: Does working in a restaurant ruin restaurant food for you? I ask this of cooks in "fine dining" establishments- everyone knows what goes on at like Chili's or wherever. But now I know that lobster can come from Sysco, avocados come vacuum-packed, and oysters-on-the-half-shell come frozen. Plus, I know how lacking my own hygiene practices are. I love to dine out, but will it ever be the same?!

perhaps not. But they were too big to be chicken, and too small for anything else we could think of. Maybe they were duck. My dad likes to say they were monkey.

Chefboy means the seasonal leeks, I believe. They're in season now and sooo delicious. We currently have them pickled in a salad. But if you eat them raw, they stay with you for three days! Or so mountain lore has it. (don't mean to step on toes, just wanting to clarify )

has anyone had brunch at Prune? I love dinner there.

Chicken feet in a Dim Sum restaurant in Boston. Sea cucumber and dog in China. I didn't know it was dog until later, but I remember eating it and thinking it quite good. Rich, and a lot like pork, but the meat's darker. I would eat it again. Probably the weirdest was dried rice paddy eels in a Muslim restaurant in Bali. The heads looked kind of like tiny versions of the alien in Alien. My dad had monkey's brains at the same meal. I would really like to try donkey sausage.

No Kidding!! BTW, did y'all see where Pop's is going to expand their bakery and open it to the public? It was in last week's Independent food pull-out. So maybe Durham is ready for a real bakery, but Pop's might have beat you to the punch.

In Carrboro, birthday cakes come from Weaver Street Market. You can even get wheat-free ones. They have a pretty good bakeshop, but were it not attached to the market, I don't know how it would do. Definitely has a following, though. It would be nice to have a bakery in Chapel Hill, but between Weaver Street and Whole Foods, I don't know how well it would do. People like that one-stop shopping.

I realized that this sounds like the foie gras was served without a sauce, which was not the case. It was a more savory sauce- not cloyingly sweet like some foie gras accompaniments. The foie sat atop a polenta cake, and the sauce (a reduction of some sort) was drizzled around. I could definitely taste some veal demiglace in there.

I'm having a debate with a colleague about this. I maintain that green olives are an authentic, though not indigenous, ingredient in some Mexican dishes, particularly from Veracruz. He says I'm nuts and green olives don't belong anywhere in Mexican cuisine, that the presence of green olives in a Mexican-style dish would make it Spanish. But if olive oil is used so much in Veracruz, why not green olives? I'm sure I've heard about this before, but of course I can't think of any particular Mexican dishes right now that would include green olives. Whaddaya think?

I think White's Truck Stop is your best bet! There's a decent coffee shop right off the road in Harrisonburg- a Virginia chain called Daily Grind, it's even on the food options billboard at the exit. If you're willing to go off of 81 into Roanoke, there's a food court downtown that has some interesting choices- bbq, Greek, Asian, sushi, all locally owned and operated, no chains.

I was fortunate enough to be treated to dinner at Bin 54 last Saturday. It was fantastic. The restaurant was completely dead due to the UNC-Duke game, which was fine with me, it meant we got a lot of personal attention and got to chat with Chef Dale. We started with the tuna tartare and the foie gras. The tuna was amazing, so flavorful you could just eat it with a spoon. It tasted very fresh. It was possibly the best I've had, and it was nice to see it executed so well when these days tuna tartare is often an insipid gesture towards some bland interpretation of fusion cuisine. The foie gras. Well, it was big. It was the biggest chunk of duck liver I've ever seen on a plate. While it was refreshing to see foie gras served without a cloying sauce, I think I might have liked just a tad more sweetness. I agree with detlefchef about the polenta, I think the strong corn flavor detracted from the more delicate flavor of the foie. The main thing is the size, which when confronted with my enormous steak, I rather regretted having pigged out on what is essentially pure fat. It fills you up. It's an impressive hunk but I think less is more when it comes to something so rich at the start of what's bound to be an exceedingly rich meal. I had the Kansas City strip, which is a NY strip with the bone still attached. In hindsight, I think I might have preferred the hangar or the ribeye. I'm not a very experienced beef eater, so I'm still learning what I like in this category. I had it with the blue cheese butter. Definitely good. My friend had the pork chop. Oh my god, I think that was the best dang pork chop I've ever tasted! It was delicious, incredible, superlative! He ordered it rare. Wow. I'd never had rare pork before. It was like buttah. He was wavering on accompanying sauces, and our server (who happened to be his brother) suggested the cherry sauce. A felicitous combination, to be sure, and one which will haunt me for months. The pork had this faint bacony quality, which could have been overwhelming, but ended up being enticing. Delicious. For sides, we had the haricots vert, farrotto, and the wonderful king trumpet mushrooms. The beans were textbook, the farrotto chewy without being gummy, and the mushrooms out of this world. I only object to the farrotto being called "farro risotto" on the menu, but that's just semantics. For dessert, I had the apples and honey ice cream. The flavor of the ice cream for some reason stimulated dirty thoughts in my head, it was one of those food experiences that transcends gluttony and crosses over into lust. I can't even remember what my companion had for dessert. We were completely stuffed at that point. I had trusted the wine parings to our server, who chose a Sauternes with the foie gras and a nice Shiraz with my steak, which went even better with the pork and cherry sauce. This was one of the best meals I've had in Chapel Hill, I'd say it's Top 3, and Bin 54 is easily on a par with some of my better dining experiences in NYC. Great service, great atmosphere, great food, now all I need is someone else to take me to dinner there!

I'm looking for a wine-of-the-month club for my dad, for his birthday. There are lots and lots of low-quality w/mo clubs out there, basically the equivalent of Gevalia. I'd like to avoid those. Can anyone recommend a decent wine-of-the-month club, with care given to selection and quality? Forgive me if this topic has been previously discussed, I searched but didn't see anything similar. Thanks, Scottie

2005 was a very good dining-out year for me. This was the year I first tried foie gras, pork belly, monkfish liver, and sweetbreads. The Inn at Fearrington House, Chapel Hill, NC - Feb. 14. Excellent service. Blood Orange Trio dessert was fantastic. Gramercy Tavern, NYC- April. Grilled pork belly, meltingly delicious. Made me feel a little naughty. Elaine's on Franklin, Chapel Hill- May. Excellent Kumamoto oysters with sake/yuzu granita. The Modern, NYC- June. My birthday, and by far the best and most enjoyable dining experience of the year. First foie gras experience ever! Le Bernardin, NYC- July. Not as good as I had hoped, but pretty incredible, nonetheless. Annisa, NYC- summer sometime. Visiting parents blown away by this meal. Tabla, NYC- October. The wine pairing with the squab opened my eyes to what the right wine can do for food. Too bad I don't remember what it was! Prune, NYC- December. A really fun time with great food- monkfish liver, sweetbreads, and cardoons, all firsts for me. Very friendly service. Fred's, Sarasota, FL- December. Surprisingly excellent. Ophelia's, Sarasota, FL- New Year's Eve. A wonderful and beautiful night. Excellent foie gras. Honorable mention: Sammy's Roumanian, NYC. Sarge's Deli, NYC. Too many meals to count at DuMont in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, all of them good, some of them really really good. Angus Barn in Raleigh, NC- very good venison in a rather ridiculous good ol' boy environment. Recounting the year's top meals makes me realize how very lucky I am to have such a wonderful and generous boyfriend who shared most of these meals with me. It was being with him that made these meals so memorable. Apologies for overuse of the word "excellent"!

Growing up, I always volunteered to make the relish tray for special dinners so I could pig out on olives, artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, baby corn, etc. These days, it's generally salad stuff that doesn't quite make it into the salad: radishes, green pepper, avocado, nuts, little tomatoes. Yum! I miss summer! Anchovies, too.

I've been using more pomegranate syrup, mostly in salad dressing. One day I'll make a sauce with it for duck or lamb. I've always enjoyed finding and trying "new" products from various ethnic grocery stores. I brought home a bottle of pomegranate syrup for the first time a few years ago, and my husband and I only used it as a beverage! I discovered its versatility through reading cooking magazines and restaurant menus. Just got some smoked paprika, but haven't used it yet.

I went to Early Girl on a trip to Asheville almost two years ago- it was very good. I had some memorable trout. Also went to Tupelo Honey on the same trip- it's always good. Asheville is lucky to have so much good food, in such a beautiful setting.

Desparate leftovers, after being gone for two weeks and having nothing in the fridge: Chunks of raw fish from last night's take-out sunomono, fried up with an egg, and here's the worst part: I unrolled the leftover California rolls, dumped out the middle, and added the rice and nori to the egg/ fish mixture. Kinda gross, but not nearly the worst thing I've fried with eggs for lunch.

You have quite eloquently expressed the feelings I get upon tasting a new dish I've spent three or more days thinking about/ preparing. It can take so much effort to get the "right" ingredients or tools together. After the labor investment, I always expect to be blown away by a new taste sensation, but the end result tends to be rather anticlimactic.

They have these at Tabla, in New York! I just externed there, and these were on the garde manger station. I was so excited, because I'd never heard of them before. They look like grubs! But they're crisp and crunchy, very reminiscent of water chestnut. Nut much flavor, IMHO. Great texture, though. Also, Prune is serving cardoons these days. They said they order them from Baldor's. I used to have a loquat tree in my back yard in New Orleans- they're popular as an ornamental. Once made a loquat sauce for deep-fried duck. That was good! Is there any pleasure equal to the discovery of a previously unknown comestible?