bergerka

To be fair, was Indochine ever all that much about the food anyway??? All I really know about it, never having been there, is that it is one of the "hot" restaurants that the guys go to in "American Psycho" (the book. I don't remember if they go there in the movie or not). All the restaurants in that book were about scene, and the food was uniformly weird and generally lousy. Was that the case with Indochine? (oh, and come on, TELL ME you didn't love the description of the shrimp won ton in today's review. We cackled over that one for quite some time chez moi). K

I will never forgive you for reminding me about Halloween. Must...have...mini Millky ways...NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW ooh. and candy corn. I like candy corn. Is that wrong? K

The monkey riding around on my back says it's all a filthy lie. Now if you'll excuse me, I need another @#%#@%%$ pumpkin spice latte. K

Might I just add that if you go into the Ben & Jerry's at 104th and Broadway in NYC and ask for a waffle cone when they are out of them, they will make one fresh for you? *faints* K

Dude. Waffle. I'll take sugar if I can't get waffle, though. and whipped cream on top. K

My guess is that they couldn't get someone to come fix it until after the holiday weekend. K

SarahD and I ate there last night as well. We showed up at 6:10 pm and were one of only three tables (six people total) at that time, and the place did NOT get full and busy until just before 7:00pm. Unfortunately, we were ignored until 6:20pm, when we finally tracked down a waiter to take our order, and we asked for a wine and beer list at that point. Said waiter then disappeared into the kitchen and never came back - we finally got the attention of one of the two remaining waitpeople to obtain the beer/wine list. Only four of the approximately twelve listed kinds of beer were chilled and ready to drink. No big deal, they were four beers of kinds we liked. The big problem - it took over an hour to get our food. Remember - there were no more than four tables occupied until 7pm (about ten minutes after us, a group of three came in. When we left, at 7:50, they had still not been served any of their food except for one appetizer, and one of their drink orders was wrong. By that time, the place was full and hopping...but when we and the other group came in it was NOT BUSY AT ALL). We had to ask twice (we asked nicely, with smiles) and finally say "I'm so sorry, but we're going to have to just pay for our beers and leave if our food isn't ready at this point," at which it was suddenly discovered to be ready. I will say this: the food was delicious. We shared the vegetable curry, which was perfectly seasoned with a nice hot bite right at the end, and one of the chicken kabob dishes - ground chicken with spices formed into patties, which was juicy and flavorful, and the rice was just the right texture and temperature. We also had a puffed bread described as "layered with butter." It was steaming hot and tasted like nothing so much as those wonderful balls of puffy fried dough you can get at street fairs. Yum! The lassi was listed as having rose water, but I didn't taste it - it was a perfectly good lassi, though. After several minutes of repeatedly (and politely, with a big smile) asking for our check, I finally got up and (sweetly and politely) cornered one of the waiters until he allowed me to pay. So, to recap: we arrived at 6:10 to an almost-empty restaurant. We ordered at 6:20. The restaurant suddenly became quite busy at 7:00, which should have been plenty of time for us to get our food. We did not get our food until about 7:25 (and we had to remind them about the lassis), with no explanations forthcoming whatsoever, at which point we had to eat fast to get to a concert...and we were unable to pay and get out of there until 7:50. The food, again, is delicious, everyone was very nice, and I recognize that they may have had some problem with staffing. But Angon is significantly more expensive than most of the other places on the block, and for me, seriously slow service is a dealbreaker for an informal restaurant of this type. I will not go back again until someone I trust informs me that this issue has been resolved. K

Hey LauraB - slkinsey, SarahD and I just missed you. We ate lunch there around 12:30 yesterday! Rather, we ARRIVED around 12:30 and ate around 1pm, there was a very long (but friendly) line. I had the Shack burger with cheese fries and a root beer float. The burger was OUTSTANDING, period (it says they're cooked medium, but mine was medium rare, just how I like it - and I had not specified). The fries were extremely tasty, indeed, but we all agreed that the cheese on 'em isn't worth the extra $ you pay for them. The root beer float was HUGE, rich and delicious. We'll be back for lunch, dinner and snacks frequently, I think. K

While Dr. Dad and I agree with this for the most part, I actually drink at least three liters (yes, I said THREE liters) of water a day, every day (I'm a singer), and I still get cramps in my legs at night that only quinine or yoga stretching will help (had a bout last night, and NO TONIC WATER TO BE HAD IN THE HOUSE, go figure ). But that's a really important point - make sure Mr. Bottomless pit is getting enough WATER! K

I was JUST going to add this - my dad and I both still get painful tingly cramps in our legs at bedtime, and the quinine in tonic water is one thing that helps - the other one is yoga or Pilates-type stretching (yoga actually might be good for a quickly growing kid anyway, as it will help with the inevitable temporary balance and coordination issues while he or she gets used to the new body - and then gets unused to it again at the next growth spurt). Tonic water is best with gin, but I don't necessarily recommend that for a teenager... K

Oh wow, did THIS post ever give me deja vu! I shot up from just over 5'5" to 5'9" in a year (growing that fast actually hurts, did you know that? I had this deep ache in my bones & muscles that kept me up nights), and a few years later (just to prove he could grow more than I did faster, I'm convinced), my younger brother went from 5'9" to - no, I am not kidding and my mother has pictures to prove it - 6'3" in a year and just about seven months (Jess and I were very weird - we each grew MORE between the ages of 20 and 22, me two inches, him one). All he did - ALL he did was sleep and eat, eat and sleep, with swim team and a little school here and there. Here are some of mom's winners from that time: homemade pizzas: Bobolis had JUST come out, she would buy a bunch of those, throw together some tomato sauce to keep in the fridge, and buy a bunch of different and interesting kinds of cheese. Brother and I would put our own pizzas (with tomato sauce for me, white for him - he was, and is, the most bizarrely picky eater I have ever met) together on nights when Mom & Dad were out or if we were hungry after school. meatloaf: good for dinner, good in sandwiches, good cold for breakfast. chicken fried steak: a hell of a delicious way to cook an inexpensive cut of beef. And you can serve it with mashed potatoes (see below). potatoes: mashed, baked (maybe with spinach or broccoli or radicchio and/or caramelized onions and cheese on top), twice-baked, boiled, broiled, as pancakes with sour cream or applesauce, in a kugel...cheap, fun to assemble (if we're talking baked & topped), filling, healthy. hard-boiled eggs, and lots of 'em: good by themselves, good as egg salad, the perfect after-school snack, especially when eaten as a side dish to a plate of celery and peanut butter. homemade roll-ups: deli sliced ham, turkey, roast beef or *cringe* bologna (still my favorite) and either thinly sliced cheddar, jack, some other hardish or, er, "american" cheese (calcium enriched!). Lay slice of meat flat on cutting board, lay slice of cheese on top of meat, roll up meat and cheese and anchor with toothpick. I second (or third) "Mom's" homemade Mac-n-cheese, and you can add a little tomato and ground beef. I also second "do-it-yourself" type Mexesque dishes. Keep tortillas, tortilla chips, grating cheese and refried beans (the canned are perfectly fine for this sort of thing, heresy though that may sound...I like them) and salsa (depending on where you live, you can probably get good inexpensive homemade, or you can just make a quick pico de gallo yourself and keep it in the fridge - it will NOT go bad before he eats it, I promise) around, and once in a while slow-cook (Mom used to and I still crock-pot, but you can do it just as well in a big Dutch Oven and that way you could even sear it first for crunchy ends and still only get one pot dirty) a pork butt (you can marinate it in garlic and lime juice overnight first) or a chuck roast (or other cheap stewing cut) with garlic, onion and chopped jalapeno slow-cookin' along with it. Shred the meat out after it's cooked - and pop into the fridge, great for homemade tacos, nachos, burritos. Peanut butter is of the gods. Peanut butter and jelly, or honey, or banana, or bacon, or whatever may be his pleasure...ants on a log, just a spoonful all by itself - filling and cheap. For my picky-ass brother, mom used to get protein powder or - oh hell, what's it called, the high-protein, high-calorie liquid you see advertised on tv all the time, comes in chocolate and a few other flavors - and dump it into the blender with whole milk, a banana or some strawberries or blueberries or something, a couple of scoops of ice cream of one flavor or another and maybe a little peanut butter and blend it all up into a shake, which he'd have either with his breakfast or after school. Hope that helps. I'm now craving those burritos I mentioned, damn it. K

Joe, two sentences do not constitute details. Since I'm pining away over having missed it, post some damn details before I whack you with a wiffle bat. Please. I know where you live! K

I have actually encountered this, at my ex-in-laws' in way southwest Kansas (Elkhart. Where? Elkhart. No, not Elkhart Indiana). I also noticed it at the little restaurant there and, not infrequently, at the restaurants and at meals I was invited to in homes in Vinton, Iowa. I actually did ask about it in Vinton and was told that it seems to be a middle-of-the-country farming community tradition, but no one really knew why. K

Guys, I'm sorry to do this, but it turns out I'm going to be unable to attend (damn it, and I've been looking forward to it, too). It has just become impossible for me to leave town for the entire weekend, and it doesn't seem practical for me to bus up Sunday morning and back Sunday night (not to mention a total of 8 hours on a bus would make me really, really cranky). Big hugs from me to everyone. Next time. K

Since moving in with Slkinsey on October 18, 1996, I have cooked perhaps five times, and he was out of town for four of them. So yes, he cooks, and the stairmaster is the only way I avoid buying a whole new wardrobe in a whole new size every few months. He even roasts the coffee beans for our morning cappuccino. I do dishes and clean the house and remind him where his watch and keys are when he loses them (at least once a day), but the nice laundromat around the corner does our laundry and folds it. I do put it away, though. The only problem I foresee is getting him to understand that I have a brand-new interest in learning to cook - and I don't want him to teach me because he'll just end up doing it FOR me, which doesn't teach me anything! He grills, too, AD. I must say, that's not a form of cooking in which I have any interest (in the process - the PRODUCT is ALWAYS interesting, especially sliced on my plate). Must not be a chick thing. Oh, and Jsolomon...you're dating the wrong women. The single ladies I know would faint over your described alfredo dinner. K

If anyone tries to tell you that coffee ice cream in coffee isn't a float, send 'em to me and I'll make sure they sleep with the fishes. Both vanilla and chocolate ice cream are also wonderful in coffee. My mom orders a chocolate soda with coffee ice cream when she goes to Baskin-Robbins, but of course that's a soda, not technically a float, even though it's ice cream floating in soda and is really really really delicious. I like Dr. Pepper floats with vanilla, chocolate (yes, it's good, try it sometime) or chocolate chip ice cream (I like little chocolate bits at the bottom of my float, yes, I'm weird). And a tall glass of orange juice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream is to die for - an orange juice float! oooh how about pineapple juice with raspberry sherbet? I'll bet raspberry sherbet or cherry sherbet would be good in a Dr. Brown's Black Cherry soda, too. K

GG, what the hell kind of rendezvous are you having?????? By the way, Phaelon...cappuccino is also very romantic. Especially if one's beloved makes a little heart shape with the foam and coffee swirl on top... K Edited slightly because I apparently can't spell.

Well, I'm a woman, whereas apparently most bbq lovers are men...but this is pretty much me. "Barbecue sauce users are more extroverted than other condiment lovers and describe themselves as more creative, competitive, athletic and witty than any of the other condiment users." K

Seth, I might even be able to get Sam to read the book with your interpretation! I love it! I always thought the book - for all that it was enjoyable - had a little too much touchy-feely fairy tale stuff. K

Dudes, I just had a Diet Orange Slice with lunch...it was DELICIOUS. Who knew???? WAY better than Diet Sunkist, more orangey and less aspartame taste. K

1. Fresca! 2. Diet IBC root beer (if you say "cream soda" to me, I will gag. I swear I will. Sam thinks it's hilarious). 3. Diet Coke, caffeinated or non. I actually have found I can't drink regular soda anymore, because I find it too sweet. K

Am I the only one who finds fresh bread smeared with um...roasted garlic...sexy? Might be a little difficult to lug to a rendezvous, though. I must also recommend Nutella or other chocolate-hazelnut-type spreads. Not with the roasted garlic though. Afterward. Good bourbon is sexy too. In fact, I recommend bringing a beautiful cocktail shaker, two chilled glasses (use an ice chest, do I have to think of EVERYTHING?) and the ingredients to an Aviation. A cabin in the mountains with a fabulous view is best for this... K

Frankly, after last night, I can't BELIEVE I'm not nursing an enormous hangover, and by the way, I can debunk that stuff about mixing giving the hangover from hell - which rumor I've heard since college - right now, as the various cocktails I had last night included gin, vodka, rum, bourbon and a couple others. Worst hangover ever: a night of tequila shots and very little food (do the lime and salt count as food?), lo these many years ago. I can't even think about it without gagging and feeling blinding pain behind my left eye. Must be the Thai food. Green papaya = no hangover? Actually it's probably the fact that we drank SLOWLY (arrived at 6:30 pm, left at almost 10:30pm) and drank water throughout the evening (Bemelman's staff are very good about keeping water glasses full!). The music probably helped, too...Gershwin is good for the soul. Edited to add that yes, Audrey Saunders rocks. my. world. She is so incredibly cool that I want to be her when I grow up, and I'm not kidding. K

SarahD and I stopped by after a Green Market outing last Saturday. The custard wasn't ready yet, but we were told "10 minutes" and it was actually slightly less. In the meantime, I had a lemonade. My big problem with most places that advertise homemade lemonade is that, without fail, the drink is way too cloyingly sweet. I like LEMON in my lemonade, and find the tartness to be part of its thirst-quenching deliciosity. Shake Shack's lemonade is perfect - tart enough to be a bit puckery, refreshing, cold and flavorful. I'd go out of my way just for the lemonade. And I'm happy to report that the chocolate custard is smooth, creamy, deliciously chocolatey and rich. it was the perfect lunch. K

Dairy Queen's chocolate dipped cones are AWESOME , and I'll fight anyone who says they aren't. K