bergerka

Not sure if this counts as a cocktail, but I had one at Franny's last night and god DAMN it was good. It was prosecco with lovage-infused sugar syrup, garnished with lime. K

that's a bit over-dramatic and far-reaching, don't you think? perhaps DQ = Drama Queens Dude, what do you expect from a guy whose last name is "Spawn..." K

Hi folks - an acquaintance needs to purchase several dozen cookies for a reception after an arts event, and is soliciting suggestions on where to find large quantities of really excellent ones! So have at it - where should she shop? I'm not sure what her budget is like, but for the moment let's assume it's not a huge problem. If we're talking like $5 per cookie, that might be an issue, though. Thanks! Kathleen

Sam said all there was to say about the dinner, so I will say what there is to say about the desserts. We had: the pistachio cake with zabaglione gelato and peaches. Stunning. You can imagine how it tasted from the description. Chocolate sorbet: dark, rich, chocolatey, OBVIOUSLY Valrhona (confirmed by our server), with a very creamy texture, not grainy at all. and the one that was so good it almost made me cry: mascarpone ice cream with fresh local raspberries. K

*double take* MICHAEL! You're HERE! And you're not alone. Sam STILL laughs out loud about the time I absentmindedly ate the entire box of dried apricots (well...I mean...they're good). Several hours later, I was on the phone with Dr. Dad, trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with my stomach. Dad: What have you eaten today? Me: Um...let's see...waffles for breakfast and a cup of coffee...some dried apricots... Dad: How many dried apricots? A few? Me: Um...a whole box? Dad: *dissolving into hysterical laughter* That's the second time that BOTH Dad and Sam have laughed at me like that. The first time was when I had to call dad to find out how to boil an egg (no, I'm not kidding) because Sam was laughing too hard to explain it. K

I don't either. It tastes like really nasty cough syrup to me. And Jaegermeister always reminds me of frat boys. K

The German chocolate brownies (and, as we discovered yesterday, the crème brulée cake) at Corrado's in the Grand Central Market are good enough to make you cry. K

Litchfield Park is my hometown, and was I surprised to see its name in a subject line on egullet! I was just out there for a visit about a month ago, so this information is current as of then. First, the bad news. If it's more than a year or two since you've been out there, you're in for a shock. The area has been insanely built up, strip malls and poorly-planned housing developments abound. On Litchfield Road, on the way from I-10 to Litchfield Park, you'll find about eight million chain restaurants, including a Friday's, an Applebee's, I think (the horror!), an On the Border (truly scary and awful - what the hell happened to the Taco Cabana that was there six months ago?) and the best of the lot - a Romano's Macaroni Grill. I happen to hate Romano's, but maybe you don't, who knows. The Grille on the Greens on the golf course at the Wigwam is always good, but if you want to get away from the resort for a while, there is a reliable and quite friendly Italian place called Bella Luna (a little more "upscale" than the chain restaurants, which is to say you can be perfectly comfortable in khakis and a golf shirt, or you can go a little fancier. Not much, though) on the southwest corner of Litchfield and Indian School Roads (the former Litchfield Road, the one that runs N/S through the middle of Litchfield Park, is now OLD Litchfield Road. The former Indian School Road, which also runs through the middle of Litchfield Park the E/W direction, is now Wigwam Boulevard. Confused yet?), in the shopping center with the Blockbuster Video and the Driver's sports bar (that's a fun bar, by the way. Two years ago, slkinsey and I watched the Jets annihilate the Packers there, surrounded by Packers fans vacationing in the warmth, and me, the lone Jets girl). In Litchfield Park proper, across the street from the Wigwam in the shopping center at Wigwam Boulevard and Old Litchfield Road, there is a delightful little coffee place that actually makes GOOD cappuccino, a really nice wine shop that holds tastings with cheese and other munchies, and the Old Pueblo Cafe, which started out very weak but has improved pretty significantly and is now a good choice for local Mex, although I still prefer Raul & Theresa's in Avondale. It's definitely not upscale, though. I'd stick with Bella Luna. It's not particularly "authentic" Italian food, but I've now been there twice and liked it both times, and they have a good wine list. Hope this helps! K Edited to correct stupid spelling errors and one sentence fragment that somehow ended up in the wrong paragraph, making no sense whatsoever.

I mostly think of lassi, curries of various flavors, nan and the look on slkinsey's face the time he ate the REALLY HOT LAMB VINDALOO. It was hilarious. K

For the same reason every restaurant in Phoenix is. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you, and I like your blog too much for that. K

Oh, I know, I'm basically jumping up and down with impatience because slkinsey and I aren't going to NC until the end of July and I want More. Pulled. Pork. Right. NOW. K

I do. And, in agreement with cakewalk's post, it was always "having a barbecue," never "having barbecue." Another memory that goes way back into my childhood in the early 70s is the shop on the southeast corner of 86 St. and Broadway that I believe still has a big sign up saying "Bar-B-Q Rotisserie Chicken" or some very similar formulation of words. Agreed. In our li'l suburb of Phoenix, "having a barbecue" meant having friends over and cooking stuff (marinated flank steak being my favorite) on the grill in the back yard and eating on the patio, most notably on the fourth of July. A "cookout," however, was done out in the desert or on the beach (after the five-hour drive to San Diego) and involved hot dogs, hamburgers, and marshmallows cooked on sticks over a camp fire. However, "having barbeque" meant, yanno, bbq beef on a bun doused in sauce in the school cafeteria or something. I don't think I tasted REAL, good bbq until I moved to Kansas City. Unless the rotisserie-esque chicken at El Pollo Loco counts. Does it? K

I have the feeling I probably stood in line with some of y'all. I was the tall chick in the long black dress, red heeled sandals and FABULOUS sunglasses, carrying a bag that said "Natchez Opera Festival." I got there at 10 minutes to noon today, waited all of about two minutes in line to get my coupons, hopped into the Mitchell's line and, less than five minutes later, had a plate (plate?) of porky goodness. I went back about 1/2 hour later for more - to Mitchell's again...slkinsey and SarahD had arrived by that time and we split up, with me in the Mitchell's line, Sam in the 17th Street line for ribs, and Sarah in the line for KC brisket. Even the second time, the line moved very fast...I was in & out of it in about ten minutes, no big deal. Fat Guy and Ellen were so nice to me that they SHARED their bbq and got me a diet coke. Now THAT is NICE. Because of their generosity, I also got to taste the Texas brisket (dry) and sausage (yummy!), the Alabama pork shoulder (super tasty, would've been even more so if Mitchell's hadn't been there) and my first bit of the KC brisket (YUM. good shit). Like slkinsey, I'm a huge fan of eastern NC style bbq, in the form of pulled pork with thin vinegar sauce (although the best 'que needs no sauce)...and Mitchell's, I thought, was a sterling example of the type. If I hadn't had to leave by two pm, I'd have gladly spent all day going back again and again. I'd have fought people for that pork. I got little thingies of hot and mild sauce, but we never used them - the meat was just too ambrosial to gild that particular lily. Bread? What bread? Even the coleslaw was pleasant, for coleslaw (yuck). The KC brisket, I thought, was just right, moist and tender and fatty and didn't even need the red tomatoey sauce, which was a tad too sweet for my taste. The ribs were dark pink/bright red inside (SMOKED MEAT), juicy, and practically melted in my mouth. (you think I had a good day of eating? I think so!). I was going to have some frozen custard to finish things off just right, but they had lost power to the machine and it wasn't available. I just couldn't see spending $4 for a root beer float, much as I love them, so I settled for another diet coke and a bottle of water. The faint scent of smoked meat that apparently clung to my clothing was commented upon (as a positive thing) at my gig afterward. Oh well. As Michael Lee West says in Consuming Passions: A Food-Obsessed Life, "Many a young woman has been seduced after an evening of torrid barbecuing." With that in mind, I have just purchased some root beer and vanilla ice cream, and am about to prevail upon slkinsey to make us floats. After that...who knows? But damn, that was fun. K Edited because I forgot to mention that I also tried the snoot! I thought it was delicious, more a snack food than a sandwich food, crunchy, chewy and porky all at once.

OH THANK GOODNESS, I'm no longer alone, I HATE coleslaw. YUCKY! Keep it the hell away from my pulled pork, what are you, crazy? and I don't get Krispy Kremes, either. K

Hey! Sam keeps a bouquet of herbs on the table as well! It's so pretty. I suspect the reason you're noticing the taste of food more has to do with the way you're thinking about it and its preparation...obviously, from your blog, you are someone who always pays attention to what you're eating, but now you're really IMMERSED in the ingredients and the preparation, from necessity. This is a fabulous blog. K

Sara - I've been hiding in fear, because I feel the same way. I like the cheesecake ice cream (or yogurt) at Coldstone, mixed with fresh raspberries and chocolate brownies. When I crave a cone here in NYC, I hit either the Ben & Jerry's on the corner of 104th and Broadway (only 1.5 blocks from my apartment, the rat bastards, and on the way to the subway) where if they're out of waffle cones they'll MAKE you one fresh, or Emack & Bolio's on, um, Amsterdam and something. 79th or something. I've only been to Cones once, but liked it. I also liked the ginger ice cream at the Chinatown Ice cream factory. K, thinking that today is actually the perfect day for some ice cream.

Sadly, it's pretty rare that a restaurant makes as good an impression on me the second time as it did the first. Landmarc did it. I can't wait to go back. If I thought my wallet and my waistline could take it, I'd be there tonight, sipping a raspberry lemonade (raspberry stoli and house-made lemonade - DELICIOUS), ordering the totally fantastic asparagus appetizer and maybe -MAYBE ordering something besides the mussels for a main dish. MAYBE. Also, it's very nice to know that sitting upstairs is as pleasant an experience (with the exception of the screaming baby whose mother was gabbing on her CELL PHONE, RUDE RUDE RUDE unless she was being informed that a family member/her best friend/the president was sick/severely injured/dead/in jail ) as sitting downstairs. They open the big window up there and the breeze comes in. LOVELY. K

I don't know what I can add to this that Sam hasn't already said...but I was thoroughly blown away. OH! He didn't mention the cocktails! I don't remember what he had, but I had a rhubarb thingy that had JUST been added to the menu. It was vodka and fresh RHUBARB juice, as in juiced at the restaurant, with a little lemon juice, garnished with a thin slice of rhubarb. I LOVED it. It's definitely a girly drink, all light pink and sweet, but the lemon adds a little bite and it's very refreshing. It was also hilarious to see all of the waitstaff gathered around the bar waiting for me to try it (it was the very first time anyone had ordered it). Part of what made Franny's so enjoyable (even besides the absolutely stellar food) was the enthusiasm and customer-savvy of the staff, from the hostess to the waitstaff, the bartender and the owner. EVERYONE seemed absolutely devoted to the ideals espoused on the menu and to making sure the diner's experience was overwhelmingly positive and pleasant. It worked, too...we had FUN. I'll be going back a LOT. Who's with me? WHO'S WITH ME???? K

triple-cream mascarpone on a mushroom pizza? I think I'm in love. K

Selfishly, I'm so awfully glad you're blogging your Montignac efforts...because it means I get to see more of your beautiful pictures and read more descriptions of the delicious food you eat on a DAILY BASIS...aw man...ferrets are legal in Lyon, right? We could just pack 'em up and fly over... How many times a week are you exercising? A couple of months ago, when my pants got too tight for comfort (damn that slkinsey and his cooking), I started working out six times a week using three dvds (each twice a week with one day break), one Pilates/ballet/yoga, one an intense workout for the "core" (the abs, the stomach, the glutes, the thighs), and one Pilates with weight training added (light weights, 5 lbs), for anywhere from 40 minutes to 1.5 hours per day. I didn't really change my eating habits, just cut down the between-meals snacking, and here I am about 12 weeks later, no weight gone but I look very different and my clothes fit comfortably again. I'm shocked at the difference it makes and how much more flexible I am. I'm tempted to try Montignac, though, just so I can eat like you do. K

Ok, I ate here last night with Sam and Eric Malson. I have a new favorite place to go and even though it isn't in my 'hood, I firmly intend to become a regular. The bartender rocks (and is a former opera person who knows our old roommate, how's THAT for a small world). The food blew me away. I will post more details when I have time - day job is making me crazy today for various and sundry reasons, but yes, Steven, the mussels with pesto and cherry tomatoes were to DIE FOR. K

I'm very glad they resolved this, because the martinis are good. Skip it on weekend evenings, though, unless you want to be in the midst of a swarm of undergrads. They intimidate me. K

However, compared to bergerka, you didn't have any chance but to look a bit, er, ah, full-bodied!!! I'm pretty sure that was a compliment, right? Thank you. Our buddy Phaelon got the "cutie pie of the day" award* though...what a doll, and SO nice. K *after, that is, the itty bitty teeny tiny doggie that we saw right outside Totonno's. I have never seen anything quite that cute except for my ferrety babies.

well, actually, you can keep the rat turds, old socks and ostrich snot soufflé. I gotta draw the line SOMEWHERE. K

Having just returned from a Chipotle outing (it's all the fault of this thread, too), I can hereby confirm that it both TASTES good...and IS good. So there. K