tanabutler

Great idea! Technique I use: quarter smaller tomatoes (Romas, lengthwise) and toss in a bowl with olive oil, a smattering of salt, some fresh ground black pepper, and a scant touch of sugar. Put on a foil-covered sheet pan at 200 degrees, and roast for about two hours, until they're shriveled but moist. I love to use these in an omelet with smoked trout and goat cheese. Welcome to tomato cocaine.

No. I wish it were mandatory! Just as I wish that UrbanLegends.About.com were mandatory for anyone with a modem. I think they should issue internet licenses, and you can only get yours by passing a test that makes sure you don't forward e-mails containing useless and outdated petitions to save NPR, warnings about perfume-wielding muggers in parking lots, and schemes offering free money for every e-mail address you forward it to. </grumpy internet geezer who's tired of encouraging people to think first before forwarding idiocies>

Good idea with the salsa, since Romas are not the best for slicing and eating. For the cherry tomatoes, I might halve them and toss with some bocconcini, basil and olive oil (maybe garlic?), and do a little Balsamic. You know, a micro-Caprese salad.

Katie rocks! She's like Captain Liberty of the Good Varietals!

I hope to God that Katie can help your friend get better wine for the same money...or slightly more. She could probably approach eGulleteers and fundraise: we'd kick in $2-$5 each to up her budget, if money is a consideration. (Some of us. Most of us. Most of us who read and post in the wine thread. Florida Jim's probably good for $15K. KIDDING!) For every freeloader who just wants to get blasted for free, there is probably another person who can taste the difference between kerosene balsamic and something "potable and palatable," as Katie succinctly put it. Bad wine is unconscionable. Right? (Looking for support here, folks.) Life is too short to serve cheapskate wine. (Are the caterers really doing their job?)

For simple fare, especially when feeding a family, I never get tired of Molly Katzen, especially Still Life with Menu, which has organized menus. There are probably thirty or fifty things I've tried in there, and not one I wouldn't do again. I like her style, and I trust her.

I will issue the challenge to Manresa (Chef David Kinch)--and Ron (pater familias) and Eric (he's bona fide) Lau (trust me on the Lau rep), and anyone else who wants to become "Iron Chef Taco Truck for the Bay Area." My condition, of course, is that I get to go along and do the photographs. Come to think of it, I'll make them look really bad so none of you move here. The motto in Santa Cruz is: "Tourists go home, but leave your daughters."

Hmmm... I am sure that this has come up on other threads on this subject but I will ask it again anyway. Where do vegans stand on breast feeding? There is nothing illogical about vegans breastfeeding. If they cut off a body part to feed to their child, it wouldn't be vegan. Nothing is healthier for a growing baby than its mother's milk. And no animals are injured in the process, unless you count me. My baby grew two little white razors in her bottom gums when she was 14 weeks old. Talk about screaming. First me, then her.

Skip Tra Vigne, absolutely. The attitude in that joint reeks of haughtiness. We walked in and left almost immediately when the hostess arched her eyebrow and asked if she could help us. Nobody arches their eyebrow at Bob.

I hope someone sends a heads up (hint: info@tartinebakery.com) to the bakery. They need to read that. Better yet, someone should print it and distribute it to Acme and other bakeries for display. Good thing Squeat uses an alias.

Oh, Squeat, you made me laugh. Sorry for your pain. You are hilarious, even if you are so stupid that, if brains were made of cotton, you wouldn't have enough to make a Tampax for an ant.

The chapter in Tony Bourdain's A Cook's Tour on the vegan potluck in Berkeley is one of the funniest and most damning accounts of veganism I've ever read. His politics are so right on.

Yes but in the US, the meat eaters will most likely sue. In the U.S., any idiot will sue. It's the American way!

Try this Or this:

I am willing to bet that Santa Cruz, where I live, has more vegans per capita than most cities represented on this board. While some of them are vegans out of sheer compassion, which extends to animals and humans, most of my encounters have been with the unpleasant, condescending, holier-than-thou kind like the staff from Millennium. The next time someone tries to serve me a dessert with soy "whipped cream," they're gonna get a pie in the face.

Please don't make me Google, Pim. Translation for us bumpkins?

SusanFL, that picture of the melon/prosciutto is just perfect, especially because you used natural lighting. It goes beyond documentation to art. Well done and brava. Dinner tonight for us: farfalle with two kinds of smoked salmon with haricot verts tossed in a tomato/garlic/red bell pepper/sun-dried tomato pesto kinda thing. It was certainly good enough to replicate: the summery flavor of those green beans was just music. They're thin like the tiny pencils you get at the putt-putt golf course. They were grown at Dirty Girl Farm (a favorite of Alice Waters and David Kinch); I got them at the Sunday farmers market on East Cliff Drive. No photos, though; I'm having problems with my camera.

Squeat, I ain't no Goldilocks. My comment about Delfina is based on things I read over the years, lots of which warned about the noise level. If that's changed due to a remodel, thanks for the heads up. The Slanted Door wouldn't be my definition of a romantic restaurant, in general. The design is elegant, but in a stark/edgy kind of way. It's lots of glass (green glass) and metal. I don't find photos of it on their new website, which depict an old wooden door (evocative of other days?). I would be surprised if there is anything wooden at the new site, honestly. It's sleek, gleaming and tailored. I'd consider it a place for a power lunch or business dinner, but it doesn't evoke warmth and romance, unless perhaps modern minimalism gets you all hot. Great views, though.

Um, maybe it's better now, but Delfina is (check your web) loud, loud, loud. He asked for romantic, but maybe we need a definition. Whispering? Boinking on the table?

They are, absolutely. But they look so formal that I'd feel self-concious there. GoodGrub, another thought occurred to me. San Francisco is quite often socked in with fog. You won't be able to count on having a good view, even if you're on the water. And the litany of every coastal Californian: "Dress in layers."

Those places are pretty, but they look so formal and hushed. They look like the kind of place where a dropped napkin would be the loudest thing in the room. I prefer the dreamy opulence of Farallon--and the comfortable noise level--but maybe that's just me.

You're right, I didn't mean to agree but to posit. I haven't had my tea yet.

I enjoyed my San Francisco-Paris flight on Air France three years ago, and the return flight, too. The champagne in coach was abundant and goooooooood.

I would agree about vegans tending to be unpleasant. I am surrounded by them here in Santa Cruz, and there can certainly be a big ol' attitude. The Outstanding in the Field farm dinner featuring Millennium (Eric Tucker, chef) of San Francisco remains the all-time worst meal of all the dinners--make that the only dinner I can complain about, period. Not only was the dessert wretched (from an attempt to imitate butterfat with soy products), but the attitude of the staff was haughty and judgmental. Some of the courses were truly delicious, but the underlying tone of self-righteousness was off-putting indeed. I don't need to be preached to: I am capable of making fantastic vegan courses that are not seasoned with sanctimony. And about that dessert...they could have redeemed themselves had they simply gone in an entirely fruit direction--with a sorbet or something that didn't require ersatz dairy products.

I would definitely choose The Girl and the Fig, based on what I know from this board and friends in real life.