bergerka

Out of curiosity, what exactly is bad about high sodium? Unless you are one of the (very) small percentage of people whose blood pressure is sensitive to sodium, in which case you need to be avoiding fast food, anyway (don't take my word for that, ask my dad, he's a doctor). K

Ok, Don, I THINK I understand where you're coming from here - and damn you, damn you for making my brain work after a numbing workday and a hard physical workout. Are you saying that the ideal in eating is to strive for the freshest and best ingredients to the exclusion, as much as possible, of "adulterated" ingredients (which is to say, mass-produced products and/or products containing large amounts of ingredients that don't really exist in nature, like Miracle Whip, Coca-cola, Quarter Pounders or Twinkies?), as a means of enjoying both the physical sensation of good taste (as in, something that tastes good, not, say, a dress by Oscar de la Renta) and the PERCEPTION of good taste (because one is experiencing only the individual flavors and the combination of flavors of the pure ingredients, untouched by bizarre chemicals and other byproducts of mass-production)? If so (good lord, that was a Faulkner-length sentence, and damn near as convoluted), I doubt there are too many who would disagree with you here. I, for one, happen to think that factory-type production of food in any form contributes to the overall dumbing-down and genericizing (is that a word?) of American "cuisine," such as it is. Call it the "McDonaldization" of America, if you like. On the one hand, it's predictable, you can pull into any McDonald's in the country (or the world!) and pretty much know what that burger is going to taste like (although you can get beer in the ones in other countries, which is kind of cool). On the other hand...it's predictable. You know what it's going to taste like. HOWEVER... if you're making an informed decision (basically, unless you live in a cave, you know that Quarter Pounder with cheese - mm - cheese - and fries is crap on a plate), wherein lies the problem? Is the company evil for producing it in the first place? (this is debatable. I'm not going to go to bat for McDonald's here, because I agree with some of their policies and disagree with a great many). Are you less of a decent human being for buying, consuming, and even enjoying it? I think not. I eat a great deal of very good food in my life (living with slkinsey, I kinda can't help it, because he cooks like a god). To a large extent, I go out of my way to find quality products; for example, I will not buy meat or poultry in a grocery store (not for me, not for my ferrety babies) unless it is free-range, organic, etc., for reasons of both my conscience and because I have no faith in either the government's or big business' commitment to keeping my meat safe. But damn it, sometimes I just want that $#@%%@! Quarter Pounder (or, worse, Nachos Bell Grande), and that's all there is to it. On the (rare) occasions this happens, I don't particularly fight it and I don't agonize over it while I eat it. I eat it, remember why I do it rarely (delicious while being devoured, but I feel kinda icky afterward), and go on with my day. If I absolutely HAD to justify it, well - I know just about as much of where the meat in that Quarter Pounder came from as I do the beef in the hamburgers at the diner down the street, don't I? As I mentioned in the Chipotle thread, I know more about the meat at Chipotle than I do the meat at the taco truck down the street - so why would it make me a worse person to eat at Chipotle than at the taco truck? Yes, both the diner and the taco truck are individually-run businesses, rather than fast-food conglomerates, but the prices are comparable, the product is (roughly!) comparable (they both taste good and satisfy specific cravings, although obviously the hamburger at the diner is WAY better than a Quarter Pounder, in general), and I know far less about how that diner and that taco truck treats employees than I do about how McDonald's and Chipotle treat them...so I can't even make myself feel guilty that way. This makes no sense, I'm sure. I mentioned this in PM to you, Don, but where does something like In-n-Out Burger fit into this paradigm? They are a fast-food chain with a commitment to quality product and decent treatment of employees (and a relentless refusal to overexpand, which means we don't have them in NYC, damn it)...and the food tastes good too. so because I get it at a drive-through window, am I supposed to feel bad about it? Did I get it? Am I having crack for lunch again? You tell me. K Edited to add that due to an error in literacy, I didn't realize I was bumping a two-month old thread. *blush*

Where do you live? And what's your definition of "fast food?" I live in NYC, and don't consider the burritos at either Noche Mexicana or Taqueria y Fonda (or a host of other places in the city, of varying quality) to be "fast food," since the restaurants aren't chain, mass-production type restaurants. In Glendale, Litchfield Park, and Avondale, AZ, respectively, I like La Perla (Machaca burrito, yay), Peter's Cafe, Raul and Teresa's, recently. K

Not to cause trouble, but may I ask why it's troublesome? Yes, we ALL know McDonald's is behind it. Yes, it's pretty easy to guess that ANY restaurant food you eat, fast or slow, unless it specifically says "low-sodium," is going to be higher in sodium to SOME degree, small or large (and, for that matter, calories, fat and sugar) than food you make at home. However, it seems perfectly obvious that with Chipotle they are TRYING to do it right (Niman Ranch pork, very fresh ingredients, etc., etc.), and it seems to me they are succeeding so far - for what it is (a fast food burrito, not unlike those served at, say, Burritoville), the product is, IMHO, excellent. If the food starts to suck, I'll stop going there (and yes, I will know the difference). Furthermore, I know where the meat is coming from at Chipotle - which is more than I can say for the meat served at the (admittedly excellent, but too far to go for lunch from work) taco truck down the block from my apartment. Why is it wrong to eat at Chipotle, but ok to eat at the taco truck??? ...mmm...taco truck...I wonder if they're out there now. Even Eric Schlosser, in "Fast Food Nation" (specifically, in the Epilogue) suggests that it might not be the worst thing in the world for fast food giants to use their remarkable influence to advocate for safer, fresher, better ingredients and food preparation...what is Chipotle doing, if not precisely that? So what's the problem? This seems to me an odd case of a fast-food company setting a GOOD example...shouldn't that be applauded? Furthermore, enjoying the food and appreciating the concept are not incompatible with a healthy degree of skepticism. K Edited to add the bit about the taco truck. Don, I'm genuinely trying to see where you're coming from, so how about posting proverbs in a language I understand? like French or something?

oooh I love Chipotle. I may have to have lunch there tomorrow and it's ALL YOUR FAULT. There's one right near the office...Slkinsey and I call it "the 'potle," as in totally potley. My usual order: barbacoa burrito (I like the carnitas too, but prefer the barbacoa) NO rice. Rice makes burritos too filling, IMHO, although Chipotle's rice is quite tasty. Pinto beans pico de gallo (mild) corn salsa (medium) a LITTLE cheese a LITTLE sour cream lettuce. a diet coke. (NO, not to counter the calories in the burrito, just because I don't like regular coke and I DO like Diet Coke). How are their margaritas? I usually go on a workday...wouldn't be prudent to have one then, usually. K

*sigh* anyone know where I can find the sarcasm tags? apparently my post was too subtle. My point was that someone - the Times? the restaurant? only their hairstylists know for sure - was trying to make it SEEM "hip, hot, et al" by putting it in the Styles section instead of, say, Wednesday's Dining Out. Then again, not being a trendy cocktail aficionado myself, I wouldn't REALLY know (I tend to think of myself as a cocktail classicist, really, although always willing to experiment). Since when has ANY cocktail located in that section been about the cocktail, per se (*snort*) instead of, well, the nifty-poo stylishness of the location, the bartender or the glass it's in? K

Given that it was in the Sunday Styles section, might it just be an attempt to cover which cocktails are hip, hot, new, now and happenin' for the trendy cocktail aficionado? K

I love my sister very, very, very, very much. She is just a beautiful person, so nice, great sense of humor. She makes incredible salads, creative, lovely to look upon and they taste terrific. Her spinach dip is (really) unparalleled and the toast of the parties she hosts. Her main dishes are a horror beyond all compare. I won't even try to describe her spaghetti sauce...suffice it to say it's mostly jarred, with a couple of "fresh" ingredients thrown in (like dried basil or oregano) and some crumbled up ground beef that has been cooked beyond the point of being a food, I think. She does not use salt or pepper, or other seasoning type things. She once served this at a RECEPTION for board members of a guild to which she belongs and couldn't understand why she had so much left over. In fairness, she CANNOT use any milk products or cheese, as her husband's milk allergy has become so severe that even a little causes him to experience several hours of excruciating pain. This, at least, spares us from having to eat her never-quite-firm-enough-yet-somehow-still-sticky-and-chewy!-cheesecake. My other sister got the cooking gene...she can make McDonald's taste homemade and great. K

...that sounds delicious. Hmmm, I wonder if we have any eggs? K (yes, this post was lame, but I had to show off my nifty-cool new avatar)

One from my best friend: She will never again hold her seven-month-old baby while making cookies. Baby, while extraordinarily sweet and adorable, likes to tell little baby stories and sing while mommy makes cookies. Mommy got distracted, and somehow read that "one teaspoon of baking soda" as "one CUP of baking soda." Ever seen exploding Toll House cookies? I am ashamed to admit that when she told me this story I laughed until she whacked me one and reminded me of the time I had to call my dad to find out how to boil an egg (yes, I asked slkinsey first, he was laughing too hard at me to answer. Then my dad laughed at me. It was traumatic). K

Actually I think they closed and redid the D'Ag and then re-opened it. It didn't improve anything, just made it more expensive. I've only set foot in there once and exited about forty seconds later in utter disgust. and I am SO PISSED OFF about West Side...where the hell am I supposed to walk to get decent cheese?????? K

I have to put in a vote for the Silver Moon, on 105th Street and Broadway. Just go. Get a croissant, a fig and pepper bread and a hazelnut sourdough. And...lessee...a blueberry ginger muffin, an applesauce muffin, a cheese and currant brioche, a challah, and um um um... you get the picture. K

Wait...didn't University Food Market just reopen after extensive renovations that made the lanes even MORE narrow? I swear I just walked past it on Saturday and it looked all new & shiny... K

Generalize much? We've had many and many a polite political disagreement around our dinner table, although I don't recall our discussing politics when you were there... it is possible, though, even in New York City. Based upon prior experience, I would say the only taboo topic would be expressing dislike of Rossini, Bellini or Donizetti when an unreasonably fanatical (redundant?) advocate of those composers (no, Sam, I don't mean you, you are able to deal perfectly well with others not liking them) is at the same table, as said fanatic will begin to sing some Lucia di Lammermoor under her breath while stabbing at the tablecloth with her butter knife, and no, I don't mean me, either. This was an isolated incident involving a very scary one-time dinner guest - I thought we were about to see murder and mayhem committed. I try to avoid religion, though, since it's pretty much a slam dunk that NO ONE is going to want to hear what I think on the subject. K Edited to add that although sex (and who is sleeping with whom) is always intriguing over one's capon, except among intimate acquaintances (not necessarily THAT intimate, they just have to be REALLY CLOSE friends), the topic of certain obscure sexual practices is probably best left alone.

oh great, thanks a lot, now I have to go get some of these and bring them home. And we all know how much I despise having to eat cookies. K, off to go find anyone who has girl scout cookies at the office.

oh my god, how did I only just find this incredible blog? Bleu, I'm drooling and practically sobbing at the same time...I want to go back to France SO MUCH. more more MORE MORE MORE can't you just permanently blog? K

Well, how about that? I'll be out in Phoenix visiting the family at the end of April and it sounds like I need to hit this place hard! I've never even heard of it...how long has it been around? K

I'm with your Kathleen on the sushi thing, I think it's icky. Cucumber wraps sound delicious though--about half my problem with sushi is the seaweed wrap *gag*. LOVING the blog. K

I liked Giorgione's a lot...only had two minor issues with it. One was the noise - they would have done well, as SarahD said, to go with fewer hard surfaces and more sound-muffling curtains or cloth or something. The other, unfortunately, was the martini. This was the first time I had ever seen a bartender use the "washing out the glass with vermouth" method...and frankly, if I had wanted a glass of cold...gin, I'd have ordered a glass of gin. The red wine I had with the 'za made up for it, though. I ordered four lovely oysters (two Malpeque, one Blue Point and one Kumamoto), and then the pizza with prosciutto di parma and arugula, which was really, really good, just enough prosciutto and arugula and not too much cheese. Oddly, even though it was just as thin, the pizza was much more filling than Patsy's. Not sure what that's about. And yes, double kudos to Lisa the waitress...she was fantastic. K

Oh, congratulations!!! Please please please keep us up to date...this has been a secret dream of mine for years. ...need any, er, classical entertainment? K

You have already inspired Sam and me...we made iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk this morning, even though it's like 35 degrees outside. This is GREAT! K

Last entry! Sam, ewindels and I went to Celeste tonight, on Amsterdam between 84th and 85th Streets. as I understand it, it's owned by the same people as own Bianca? Is that right? I got annoyed right off because we were told it would be a twenty-minute wait...and it was fifty-five . I mean, it was OBVIOUS the place was packed, and even my only semi-experienced eye (1.5 years waiting tables in Kansas City) could see the tables were nowhere near ready to leave...just freaking TELL me it's going to be an hour! I'm ok with that! I'll go get a martini and come back! Speaking of which, Celeste could REALLY use the advantage of a bar next door, like Bianca has. We were all kind of packed into this little lobbyesque area, and this idiotic bimbo (about 22 years old going on 12) with a cell phone kept striding in and out, bumping into me. If she had done it just ONE MORE TIME, I was getting ready to say to her "Excuse me, but could you get STOP talking to your buddy and PAY ATTENTION to where you're walking, before I jam that phone up your skinny little ass?" Which probably wouldn't have been nice and might have ruined my good-girl reputation. The main problem seemed to be that there was no real front-of-house person, just an overworked and utterly clueless bumped-up waiter. He was terrible at predicting how long the wait was (I heard him tell the same person "just five or ten minutes" at least three times) and eventually one of the busboys (men?) yelled at him for seating tables in the very small, very crowded room before the table was cleared, wiped and reset. It's NEVER good if you hear the busboy yell "JUST WAIT TILL THE TABLE'S READY" across a small, packed restaurant. I mean, I realize front-of-house is an art...but it's not THAT hard, people. Anyway, we finally got seated and ordered. We had: bread with olive oil: still good olive oil, but we quite obviously got two different kinds of bread (we ended up eating two basketsful plus one more with the cheese). One basketful was obviously Sullivan Street Bakery, as ewindels pointed out, but it was slightly stale, and the other basketful was something lower in quality. Antipasti: fried ricotta di bufalo: two relatively small pieces of ricotta, delicately fried, with a huge mass of salad. This was pretty tasty, the cheese was nice and delicately flavored. There just wasn't ENOUGH of it. carciofi fritti: this was SUPPOSED to be a plate of fried artichokes...but what appeared was a plate with one or two little fried artichokes and a SHITLOAD of fried parsley. Now...don't get me wrong, both the artichokes and the parsley were perfectly yummy, but there was NOT much artichoke there. chicken livers with balsamic reduction, on toast: this is the same as we had at Bianca, last Saturday night, but what a difference! Bianca's version was totally sublime...this one was ok, but the livers were overdone. As I said to Sam, if I'd had this version first, I'd have been disinclined to try Bianca's, because Celeste's rendition was a letdown. Things improved markedly with the appearance of a delightful Primitivo and the main courses. We had: Sam: tagliatelle with shrimp, cabbage and sheep's milk cheese. NOT three flavors you'd think would taste great together...but they did. I was really impressed. Ewindels: lamb chops, medium rare, with roasted potatoes and sautéed spinach (the main dish special). Delicious. Perfectly cooked, very flavorful with just a hint of rosemary, the potatoes were beautifully done and the spinach complemented both really well. Me: Tagliatelle bolognese (the pasta special). This was second only to Sam's bolognese (yes, I say that a lot...if you haven't tried his cooking yet, you're just going to have to trust me that he REALLY IS THAT GOOD), very rich and meaty and creamy-textured, and the pasta (made onsite) was beautiful, presenting just the right amount of resistance to my teeth. AND they avoided the temptation to drown the pasta in the bolognese. For dessert, we shared the medium-size cheese plate with the rest of the wine. Unfortunately, the place was too busy for the waiter to really describe the various cheeses, honeys and compotes for us (other than to point out the order in which we should eat them...and he was exactly right), but it was absolutely fucking sublime. Each cheese got progressively more complex, they were perfectly paired with the condiments, and the last pairing, a gorgonzola dolce with a bitter orange marmalade, was practically orgasmic. Between the pasta and the cheese course, my mood improved considerably. I would definitely go back (although not on a weekend, that was an insane rush and it seemed to be all college kids of the obnoxious type. I KNOW there must be nice college kids somewhere in New York City), just for the pasta and the cheese course, and I'd like to try the sponge cake with ricotta and limoncello sorbet, even though it has candied fruit. But my god, they need a better front of house person. I was ready to kill that kid (or hold him while the obviously frustrated waitstaff beat him to death). Well, folks, that's my blog! Thanks for the opportunity to do this, I've had a wonderful week and enjoyed this much more than I expected to, even. Since I've had NO volunteers for next week, I hereby pass the torch to...*drumroll please* ALACARTE! ALL ALACARTE, ALL THE TIME! And with that...they all lived happily ever after. THE END.

Hey all! Sorry my first post is so late today...I got up at 10, left the house for my lesson at 11, and only just got back about 1/2 hour ago (my lessons regularly go for 1.5-2 hours and then we sit around and catch up on the opera gossip. I study with an internationally working singer, and she always know who's doing what with whom, musically or otherwise). Johnjohn (HI JohnJohn, where ya been?): we usually use Skyy or some other good mixing vodka for gimlets...not the expensive stuff. For breakfast I had a café au lait with two sugars and a blueberry ginger muffin from the Silver Moon Bakery on 105th and Broadway. I cannot tell you how happy I am that the Silver Moon has stayed busy since the day it opened...it's a HUGE asset to the neighborhood. Here's a profile of the owner and head baker chick (as opposed to biker chick?), Judith Norell, who started out as a harpsichordist and baroque opera specialist at Juilliard! The Silver Moon's owner My teacher & her fiancé fed me a cappuccino after my lesson. Upon returning home, I ate a little leftover mac & cheese. More later - we're definitely going out for dinner!

Yes, absolutely. I'm a total cat person (unfortunately allergic) and find ferrets to be EXTREMELY catlike, with a lifelong babyish playfulness that reminds me of kittens or puppies. Sam will deny it, because he insists he doesn't like cats, although my mother's cat Mewsy could tell you differently. K

My guess is, the person who said that is the same City Council member who, at a meeting I attended (it was the last legalization vote, which passed, then was vetoed by Giuliani and they didn't quite have the votes to override the veto), declared that ferrets should not be legal because, well, they were bred to hunt rabbits, and since they can't hunt rabbits in New York City, they eat babies, because babies smell like rabbits. I promise you, she said that. I was there. The best response was the next guy, who stood up and said "Ma'am...I don't know what YOUR baby smells like, but MY baby does NOT smell like a rabbit." Our ferrets might lick you to death, or dance around and play tag with you until you drop dead of exhaustion, or scare you into a heart attack by licking your toes in the middle of the night, but that's as dangerous as they get. Anyway. Dinner! I remembered to buy eggs, so Sam made frittate tonight! He made one of 'em out of the leftover spaghetti all'amatriciana, and the other out of the leftover kale, potatoes and chorizo (and he melted the remaining Shropshire Blue on top of them). We drank Fresca with them. Here they are! After dinner, thanks to the wonders of pay-per-view, we watched Pirates of the Caribbean (very cute, but Johnny Depp won the Golden Globe for THAT? Are you KIDDING me? Geoffrey Rush was better. Not that I don't love Depp. There are some lines in that movie that I'm going to quote for a long time, like "they're really more like...guidelines."). I made gimlets. I don't think I shook 'em long enough...they were kind of...strong. Then I took a spoonful or two of Chubby Hubby out of the freezer and now I am beyond full. I can't believe I actually ate dinner. Usually, after Indian Buffet, I don't eat again till the next morning. Tomorrow my online access will be a bit spotty, as I have to go to the Bronx for a voice lesson. I'll probably eat breakfast on the way, then post about it after I get home. I'll go out with a blast, though, because I THINK we're going out to dinner again tomorrow night somewhere fun. And I WILL be tagging someone, so if I haven't heard from anyone who WANTS to, it's going to be someone random and you can all just DEAL with it, so there. Good night! K