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dannyboy

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Posts posted by dannyboy

  1. Got:

    Lidia's Italian Table cookbook

    The French Laundry Cookbook

    The Babbo Cookbook

    Olives: The Life and Lore of a Noble Fruit by Mort Rosenblum

    Iron Chef 2004 Wall Calendar

    Iron Chef board game

    Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical by Anthony Bourdain

    Attractive pottery olive pot

    Extra virgin olive oil

    Aged Balsamic

    TV Tray Set (does this count?)

    Splatter Screen set

    Stainless-Steel Potato Ricer

    Steel Can Crusher

    Calphalon Stainless Steel Collector's Edition 4-Piece Multi-Pot Set by Calphalon

    Gave/Giving:

    A Cook's Tour by bourdain

    Leifheit ice cream scoop

    Various Wines

    Sausages

    Great Japanese meal at home for a group of friends

    ...Wow, it' a great year!

  2. Moore Brothers in Pennsauken, NJ (five minutes over the Ben Franklin Bridge) has an excellent sake selection.  You can check out their store online at Moore Brothers  I don't think the sake selections are listed on the website, but you can call and ask for Jonathan Read.  He's the resident sake expert and he'll be happy to both hook you up with something and teach you a thing or two about rice wine.  Heck - tell him I sent you and that I miss him!

    Great! Thanks Katie; you ROCK. I appreciate it.

  3. Bayless himself says the biggest problem with the sandwich "is that some [burger King] outlets are not baking the baguette enough to make it crusty." 

    Ha! This statement is a parody of his own self! Can you imagine some pimply faced teenager caring about the crustiness of the baguette? Quality control is not one of BK's finer points. How about that the biggest problem with the sandwich is that the chicken meat in one sandwich is most likely a conglomerate of chickens from corporate owned farms, from 5 different countries, chemically processed and congealed back into one nasty patty?!

  4. By the way: has anybody noticed the changes at La Veracruzana lately?  Fancier menus (with some more expensive dishes), for one thing.  And there was a non-Mexican waitress when I was there a couple of weeks back.  (I think it was her first day: she really didn't know what she was doing...)

    Yes, they have added some specials and taken some off- as long as they keep the "Alambre", they can change whatever they want. :biggrin:

    Speaking of change, they've re-invented their tableside salsa rojo for the umpteenth time, and I kinda like it. I liked the original incarnation more; it was darker and more robust. I think they've switched to canned chilis perhaps?

    as for the non Mexican waitress, that's quite a surprise! I have to imagine it's sink or swim there...

    Has anyone tried the new "Weekend only" specialty taco?- Pork, Onion and Pineapple. Gotta git me some...

  5. I think if you want to gorge yourself on whited-down "old El Paso" frozen dinner style Mexican, Azteca is the place to be. I can tolerate it when I'm in that mood. But most of the time, I rely on Veracruzana. 3 Tacos for $5 is cheap and very filling. 2 totally different restaurants.

    I believe Veracruzana delvers now.

    I won't eat at La Lupe again; Tamales and tortillas are good, but everything else I've had there has been consistently unsatisfactory.

    Someday I have to try Garibaldi...

  6. I had dinner there on a Saturday night a while back. 4 of us had early reservtions, so I didn't experience the "hot crowd", but our food had touches of Brad's experience. I was appaled at the portion size and lackluster flavor of the $24 ceviche sampler platter. I have never been served a more comical portion of food for that price before. The Mojitos were so savory, but again, with the appaling $9 price tag. Wife had empanada appetizer that was exactly how Brad described. On the other hand, each and every one of our entrees was more than satisfactory. The portions were plentiful, everything cooked, flavored and presented well. After our entrees, things started to go south. Our waitress took a snobbish tone when we didn't order anymore alcohol. She continued the attitude when we decided we weren't going to partake in the pricey dessert and coffe combo. By the time we whipped out our partial payment of $50 Steven Starr gift certificate, she was barely able to thank us and bade us a goodnight before finally abandoning us in derogatory glances and huff.

    Overall, I did have a good experience minus the few problems. If I found myself there again, I'd skip the ceviche and the drinks. Brad's right about a place like this not lasting a heartbeat in NYC. And I also have a hunch that things at Alma don't get better on any other night.

  7. I haven't tried DeNics, but love Tony Luke's. I get mine with Broc. Rabe & "make it wet!", so they spoon lots of the pork drippins on! Add Sharp Provolone and yer in fer a serious treat. Their liquid/gravy the pork is simmered in also contains lots of garlic and red pepper flakes for some nice bite. mmmm...craving one right now

  8. I had Chicken Mole from Las Cazuelas a while back. It was very respectable, dark, sweet but smoky and hints of nutty.

    I have lurked here for quite some time and I have a lot of respect for you veterans ( I have looked to all of you for guidance pretty often), but have to chime in about Rio Bravo and my experience there.

    Mi familia and I went there a while back on a Sunday at dinner time. The place was completely empty. The service was terrible; As I dug my spoon into my queso con chorizo appetizer, my soup arrived. As soon as I dug my spoon into my soup, my entree got plopped on the table. There were literally piles of plates tetering off one another. The same happened to my wife with her appetizers and entree.

     

    Bogus portions; Queso con Chorizo has microscopic bits of Chorizo in it, yet the queso was swimming in grease? How?

     

    Bogus preparation; Had a "shrimp cocktail", which was supposed to be like a ceviche, according to the menu. It was a bunch of frozen medium shrimp (thawed to perfection), not deveined, half still had shells, swimming in ketchup with lime and cilantro. Nasty. The no deveining doesn't bother me that much, but there were so many shells in this thing it just amplified everything else that was remotely wrong.

     

    Bogus communication; I feel the need for there to be SOME English spoken by the waiter or waitress. Our waiter, who seemed to be around 14 years old, could not answer any questions like what were the ingredients in the soup. He was also riding his mountain bike around the dining area, which curiously didn't bother me that much, but it was pretty wierd. Also, they don't inform you that entrees include this Spaghettio-like soup. I ordered a soup off the menu and the next thing I know, our "complimentary" pasta-fa-zool-overcooked-Franco-Mexican-American soup arrives. Of course my 6 year old son loved it, but I was bummed out that I was now going to have 2 soups. We ordered a chocolate shake for my son, when it arrived it was actually chocolate milk. I guess that's how Mexicans do their shakes.

     

    Thank God we had a 10% off coupon or else it would have been a total wash. I'll stick to Veracruzana (love their alambre [isn't there an emoticon of Homer Simpson drooling that I can insert here?]) . Tried La Lupe. The wait was ridiculous (30 minutes for some Chorizo and pork tacos!) and and their rice had a weird synthetic taste to it. I've heard some good tales about Plaza Garibaldi, though.

     

    PS. Rio Bravo had no Squirt soda. How can you be a Mexican restaurant and not carry Squirt? Call me a snob, but I need my Grapefruit soda!

  9. And as far as I know, TV is a pretty quiet place (no rowdies, drunken workers/partygoers).

    TV IS a quiet place with no rowdies. The trouble, I think, is next door. I wish they would close the place to the left of TV on the corner of 9th and Washington. The sign says something about Korean or Japanese food, but there are nothing but toothless hags lurking around guzzling 40 ouncers of cheap beer. They lurk in and out of that place and are very disruptive to an otherwise up and coming neighborhood. It baffles me why this place has a liquor license, but you can't bring a beer in TV. My guess is that the police have their hands full enough with that festering sore next to TV to want to deal with the possibility of anymore...

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