Jon Marcus x

An unusual differentiation. Can you explain it? ----- Jon Marcus jonathan-marcus@excite.com

Not at all unusual for unrelated plants to taste similar. Look at fennel and anise or how wine smells like all these things that aren't grapes. The tastes you find in nature can pop up anywhere. No they are not botanically related except insofar as they are both plants. ----- Jon Marcus jonathan-marcus@excite.com

Please everybody I will decide this. Deliver a large plateful of your mashed potatoes to my home tonight, each of you, and I will compare and judge. See you later. ----- Jon Marcus jonathan-marcus@excite.com

Oh, there's absolutely no comparison. WHITE MANNA makes real hamburgers. White Castle makes a fake thing from sawed off frozen beef and onion sheets. Sassy's Sliders is slightly better but much closer to White Castle than to WHITE MANNA. All hail WHITE MANNA! ----- Jon Marcus jonathan-marcus@excite.com

That's all well and good, Jason, but in your haste you managed to omit what stands as one of the greatest restaurants in human history: WHITE MANNA (River St., Hackensack) This is the definitive hamburger in the "slider" style. Burgers are cooked on a metal griddle the size of an open Wall Street Journal. The grill cook (you must place your order directly with the cook; try to order with anybody else and you will be disciplined) places small (single) or large (double) balls of chopped beef on the griddle, tosses a pile of raw slivered onions on the ball, and flattens it with a spatula so the onions and meat integrate. Later in the process, the bun is placed atop the cooking patty to steam/warm. Gooey orange cheese is added early enough to melt fully. Fries and breakfast items also great. ----- Jon Marcus jonathan-marcus@excite.com

I saw on TV that there's a place in NJ that deep fried its hot dogs. What is the name? I also remember a NJ friend boasting that NJ has many great hot dogs. Some names of places would be appreciated. ----- Jon Marcus jonathan-marcus@excite.com