bergerka

Doggone Frank Bruni anyway. Couldn't he have reviewed some bar where he'd "get it?" Where they serve you a glass of gin and call it a martini?

My guess is, since this is a post from someone who actually worked with Psaltis at the time referenced in the book and discussed here in minute detail, that this is the closest to an account of the upshot of the incident as we're going to ever get - or should need. Hypothetically speaking, of course. I might also just add that leaving by "mutual decision" is regarded very differently from being fired, at least at my day job. Hypothetically speaking. I'm not entirely convinced that Psaltis should, as has been intimated in this thread, have disclosed the actual circumstance of his departure from TFL in his book, as - who knows - there may have even been confidentiality agreements involved. While I have no idea whether such a thing happens in the food business or not, it certainly does in the opera business. Back to the cheap seats. Who's got the popcorn again? Are there any kit-kats left? K

Disclaimer: I haven't read the book, and I don't know Thomas Keller, although I'm dying to eat at Per Se. I have met Doug Psaltis probably twice and talked to him briefly. However, it occurs to me that this could be a case of one incident seen from different perspectives, no? For example, I have a former friend, to whom I no longer speak (and vice versa). Were you to ask the two of us why we no longer speak, my version would most certainly put her in a not-so-good light...and I am quite certain the reverse is true as well. Isn't it possible that this is no more than that kind of situation? I do agree that whoever's insisting there is "more to the story" needs to quit being mysterious and spill already. and with that, I'm off to join divalasvegas in the cheap seats. K

Chocolate truffle loaf? with raspberry sauce? My cup runneth O-VAH. Susan, I love this blog. I have never been to Florida, and your pictures are making me want to get on a plane NOW NOW NOW.

Yeah, I figured that must be the case. A real shame, I had to find another performance venue! K

ok, so you all know from his blogs - and some of you from real life - that slkinsey is a genius in the kitchen, and I do not exaggerate when I say that. I am incredibly lucky to have him in my life, not only for that reason, of course, but because he's a considerate, sweet, smart, funny, talented guy. I do the dishes when he cooks, I don't MIND doing the dishes when he cooks, sometimes I even like it. That said... 1. He is the only person I have ever met who can destroy a perfectly clean kitchen in ten minutes flat. I mean, FLAT. 2. If HE'S out and I make or order dinner for myself, I do my dishes and clean up the kitchen. If I'M out, he washes the plate he ate off and the silverware he used, and leaves the pots stacked in the sink for a day or two until I get annoyed and wash them (he can outlast me. I grumble, bitch and whine while I do it, though). 3. He will not, will not, will not take the garbage out, Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout. He WILL pull the bag out of the can, tie the top neatly, put a new bag in the can and...leave the old, full, sometimes leaky bag on the kitchen floor. As complaints go, those are pretty mild though. I can tell you what his is about me, too - I use sour cream in everything. oh and this is just a general one, why does not one single man I have ever met remember that part of cleaning the kitchen is wiping down the counters and the stove? ...looking back at this post, I realize I'm living with a Scottish version of my father. And that's a GOOD thing. K

I have rehearsals Thursday and Friday evening at a space just east of the park. Guess where I'm going for dinner...both days!!! mmm...I can taste that shack burger now. *rubbing hands together gleefully* K

I suppose it doesn't help that I've been nursing a vicious hangover all day. You're not going to believe this, but I have had that. It's delicious, especially if you're just desperate for fat & cholesterol. I just ate half a baguette from the bakery with some leftover very creamy French cheese of some kind - I've forgotten what. Yum! K

The bacon cheeseburger and fries I ate for lunch. That's better than yesterday's craving, which was animal crackers dipped in diet Coke. Fucking hormones. K

Um - I just called La Belle Epoque and their number is "not in service at this time" - does anyone know what the deal is? K

I would've gone with sausage, egg and cheese (the melty American kind that contains little-to-no actual product of cows) on a toasted everything bagel, myself, but I'm a hedonist that way. Damn the torpedoes! ...second Steven on the Twix, though. Very important aspect of any balanced mid-morning snack. K

Ok, that biscuit recipe sounds amazing. I'll be experimenting with um...learning to cook...for a month or so in the fall and I just added that to my recipe list, although I'd like to try it with a regular biscuit recipe rather than Bisquick. Not that there's anything wrong with Bisquick.

Ohhhhh...man...I forgot about jalapeno poppers and also fried cheese finger thingies - why would anyone ever eat them with marinara when you could have RANCH? Now I need bar food. With ranch dressing. need it bad. damn. K, who just walked 4.5 miles fast in a vain attempt to burn off the damned cheeseburger, forget the bacon.

...LIGHT RANCH? dude, that's like fat-free oreos or Mcdonald's selling health foods. WHAT THE HELL IS THE POINT???? If I want ranch, I want FAT AND SALT AND TRANS FATS, now now NOW NOW NOW. Ok, I feel much better now. I will stop yelling. K, who did not have ranch dressing on her bacon cheeseburger at lunchtime.

Cool Whip is an abomination. Ranch dressing is more on the order of McDonald's hot mustard sauce (also delicious on fries!).

I hate that cliched 'Europeans are better' stuff. Frankly, I lived in Germany and I'd take Fruit Loops, Kraft Singles and, especially, salads composed of iceberg lettuce and one eighth of a tomato (ranch dressing on the side, however), over something I often saw in Germany: slice of white bread, completely soaked and saturated in some sort of meat drippings (usually sausage or bacon grease), and then fried in more grease, and served sometimes with more grease-based gravy over the top, but usually not. And sometimes with meat on the side, but usually not. Just basically grease fried in grease, with just enough dough to hold all that grease together. Grease on grease in grease. Yuck. It's been my experience, having lived literally all over the world, that every country has its 'good eaters,' and its 'simple crap' eaters. Sweeping generalizations are rarely accurate. Agreed, and in fairness, I think we're talking about two different subjects here, one being the unfortunate marketing of both "fast" or highly processed food plus the "more is better" ethic that seems to predominate in American commercials and subsequent expectations of seeing aisles full of sixteen different kinds of ketchup (not that there's anything wrong with that, but Heinz still wins), often at the expense of quality, and the expectation of seeing huge portions on the plate (as expressed in another thread), ditto; and the other being the deliciousness of ranch dressing/ranch dip/all things Hidden Valley Ranch. For the record, she said defensively, I live in probably the number one food city in the United States, with a guy who is an absolutely fantastic cook. I eat a huge variety of foods including tons of fruits and veggies - as, I imagine, do most of the posters to this thread. I shop at the local greenmarket whenever possible (in fact, I just had to desert the keyboard to wipe the juice from an INCREDIBLE peach off my hands, face and shirt!)...and none of this stops me from zipping out to the local Gristede's before football starts on Sunday afternoon (thank god it's almost f-ball season again) and picking up some Ruffles (or Lay's, or whatever. Fancy chips, though, just don't go with ranch dip), some sour cream, and a packet o' Hidden Valley...and it takes me right back to my first apartment, in college. I loved that apartment, my roommates, and the freedom that came with being out on my own. The short version of the above is, I think we run the great risk of taking this discussion far too seriously. Ranch dressing/dip tastes good and serves as a great reminder of my college days. That's why I like it. It has nothing whatsoever to do with my eating habits and I think it would be a mistake to turn this thread into a semi-spurious indictment of the eating habits of either Americans or any other country's occupants. I might just also add that I see nothing wrong with white bread saturated in sausage grease, fried in more grease, and covered with gravy, and if you can tell me where that restaurant in Germany is I'll be heading right over. K

Last time I was in Phoenix, I met my sister, my best friend, my brother and his girlfriend at some more upscale-ish chain restaurant with a jungle theme (I cannot remember the name. Safari?). I had a gigantic French dip sandwich, finished about half of it, and then my sister and I decided to share a mud-pie type ice cream dessert thingy. When it arrived, we burst out laughing. It was, quite literally, a pint or more of chocolate ice cream on a cookie crust with a ton of whipped cream. The five of us couldn't finish it. K

I would say your taste buds are obviously not refined enough to appreciate the subtle, salty, sour-cream-tastic herbaceous glory that is...powdered ranch dip. K

Ranch dressing saved my sanity during the two years I lived in a city in the middle of the country somewhere where a "salad" consisted of some semi-fresh iceberg lettuce with a few carrot shavings and some croutons on top. I will forever love it for giving flavor to my salad. What I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY love, though, is...ranch dip. The powder that you get (Hidden Valley, of course...accept no substitutions!) and mix in with a thingy of sour cream and set out with chips (Ruffles have Ridges!) and/or some veggies for dipping. :wub: Man, I can't help it. I adore the taste of that crap. K

However, since the server obviously didn't notice - um - did the customer mention the problem?

Ok, sorry to bump a year-old thread, but I just got back from my first trip to Starwich (yeah, I know, I've apparently been living in a cave). I went to the one at 53rd and Lexington, inside Citicorp Center. Holy crap, this place is really good. I had the braised short rib with balsamic poached red onion and cabrales on challah (right off the menu, I spent less than a minute deciding). There was only one customer besides me, it took less than five minutes to get my sandwich and my diet root beer. The whole experience, including subway up to 53rd from Grand Central, ordering, eating & drinking and subway back to Grand Central took well under an hour - I was able to make my way back to the day job in leisurely fashion - and it tasted so good it was well worth it. Will I eat here every day? No, but I don't eat at any one place for lunch every day, how boring. I WILL probably eat here once a week. How much more expensive was it than my "normal" lunch? About $3-4 more than my typical deli lunch, $3-4 more than a Bistro NY salad or soup-and-salad combo with drink, but no more expensive than the places I go for hamburgers (fine, bacon cheeseburgers), Chinese food, Chipotle, or Indian food. Or the Shake Shack, which is also close enough to work that I could go there for lunch if the lines weren't so frigging long. In other words, in terms of my lunching experience, the price did not stand out as at all remarkable. John, the manager, was simply charming, wanted to know how I found out about Starwich (and when I said "I read about it on eGullet," he said "Oh! I read that all the time! I love it!"), and made sure I had everything I needed for a great experience. Oh yeah, and I found out that they will deliver from that location to here. Now THAT could be deadly. K

Way upper west side, low 100's. We get delivery maybe once a week, occasionally more if we're really busy, from the following places: Noche Mexicana Taqueria y Fonda V&T One of the eight million bad Chinese places in the area Flor de Mayo (we get roast chickens, rice and beans from here. Yum) Having recently discovered that Awash Ethiopian delivers, I intend to order from there one of these nights. K

Does it count if I didn't make it? I had a fresh peach brioche and an iced coffee with milk and sugar syrup from the Silver Moon Bakery :wub:. I usually treat myself there en route to my Saturday voice lesson in the Bronx. K

While I agree with giving up soda because of price, I totally sympathize with the diet cola addiction. One thing to do is to buy ONE two-liter bottle of whichever generic brand is under $1.00 per week (and watch for sales - frequently, at our local cheapo place, Coke or Pepsi brands will go on sale for about 89 cents for a 1.5 liter bottle). After that's gone, if you absolutely MUST have something fizzy to drink, buy lemons, they're cheap, make lemonade and add seltzer water - at my local grocery store the generic seltzer is 50 cents a liter. I buy $2.00 worth a week. Or just drink the seltzer...I do, all week. Iced tea is an excellent substitute as well, and you can do half iced tea/half lemonade.

Do you have a crock pot? They're PERFECT for people with extremely busy lifestyles - you can stick the food in the pot in the morning, turn it on low, and go do your day. If you don't have one, get someone to buy you one for your birthday or a holiday. The cut of meat will be somewhat pricey, but will last you several days and once the meat is cooked you can do all kinds of things with it! K