tanabutler
-
Posts
2,800 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by tanabutler
-
-
Yeah, I know, but do they offer mud baths?
-
Here's how the midtown Manhattan restaurant I used to work at got in, after years of lobbying and being ignored: Tim Zagat whizzed past in a cab one night just before the book closed for the year, and saw that we had a huge crowd outside. It was a private event, but it made it look like we were a hotspot. He whipped out his cell phone and called an editor from the cab. The guy contacted me for info/details the next day, and we were in.
Silly, but true.
How'd you know when to stage the party so he'd be whizzing by in a cab? Wow!
-
Apparently we have a Lee's here in Santa Cruz, right on the Pacific Garden Mall, where I strolled with the baby (see my current avatar) for an hour today.
Who knew?
-
Napa is no snootier than Carmel, to me, and it does have pockets of amazing stuff. But I am much more comfortable in Sonoma, for whatever reason.
I'm sure if I were there with someone great like Rancho Gordo, I'd enjoy myself just fine.
I'm just generally aware of the classes in Napa. Jealous of all the money, too!
-
Had to de-lurk for for this...
Tavern On The Yellow
THAT is funny!!
-
Also, everything in the Napa valley seems to be on the same god-awful street full of limos and stretch-Hummers ferrying people around. Don't get me wrong, I loved Napa, but in my opinion, Sonoma is a little slice of heaven.
I had to see that again. I love Sonoma, myself, for so many reasons. It's not nearly as self-conscious as Napa seems to be. Or status-conscious, perhaps. And the hilly roads are so beautiful.
I think one of our best little getaways was one November when we headed up the coast and went to Sonoma. We drove and strolled through several little towns, and finally wound up in Jenner, after following the river there. The trees were still in autumn foliage, and we saw several deer running along the banks. We had an absolutely perfect dinner at River's End restaurant, and found lodgings via the bartender there, who gave us the phone number of a man who lived nearby. We got a queen studio overlooking the river and the ocean, for $100 (cash).
Best of all, no cell phones worked out there. It was a slice of heaven.
And if there is anything on earth uglier than a stretch-Humvee, I hope I never have to see it.
-
I think D&D is too expensive, like Williams Sonoma, if not downright sterile and snooty. I much prefer the crowded joy at Oakville Grocery. (Though D&D does sell Rancho Gordo stuff, so they can't be all bad.)I much prefer Dean and Deluca for winecountry picnic supplies if they are to be gotten up-valley. Otherwise Vallergas in Napa is an excellent choice (there are three of them - the one at Imola and Jefferson is the best of the bunch).As far as restaurants go in the Napa Valley:Tuscany - 1005 First St, Napa (707) 258-1000 (Italian)
While the food at Tuscany is better than you'll find at a place like Pasta Pomadoro, it's hardly worth the effort to eat there given the number of options available in the area.
Angele - 540 Main St, Napa (707) 252-8115 (French)
Acceptable food, nice setting. The restaurant isn't great by any stretch of the imagination, but it's in a nice area, the outside seating is great in the afternoon. A much better choice than Tuscany a few blocks away.
I don't get it. Why recommend a place for a "must know" directory that you're already basically apologizing for? "Hardly worth the effort"? "Acceptable food"?
-
How about this?
Bayless Payless
-
Maybe if I ordered a financier, I could afford to eat out more often.
Thanks for whetting my appetite.
-
Shouldn't this post be in "Adventures in Eating"
Adventures in Not Eating, maybe.
-
Bobby Flay's Skin & Peel
"Snuff Films" Outtakes and Take-Out
Testicular Ooze
A Boy Named Sous Vide
Jeffrey Dahmer's Steak House
International House of Bran and Spotted Dick
Grits, Groats & Gruel
Like Cabbage for Chocolate
Peanut Butter & Calf's Foot Jelly
Blinding Pain Perdu
Haggis & Watermelon Smoothie Shack
Green Eggs & Salmonella
Charlie Trotter's Pigs Feet DeLuxe
Tastes Offal
Ready-in-an-Instant Everything
Spit & Polish Sausage
Viet Nam Prik
Rhymes With Kumquat
Lard Shack
Ling Cod, Lingonberries, & Lingam
Jesus's Away in a Garde Manger Mexican-Israeli Snax
Mohel's Head Cheese Deli
-
One of the many things I loved about Italy was being presented with unsalted butter with our breakfast items. When I was there, I started cooking with unsalted butter and usually do so, still.
Everyone else here has covered the basics, so I will just leave it at that. Suffice it to say that the "typical American breakfast," (bacon and eggs, e.g.) is not usual.
-
Krys, though I live south of SF, I know two things in the "markets" category for the Napa/Sonoma area that need to be added.
Oakville Grocery, located in all places in Oakville, is my standing recommendation to visitors to Napa. Stock up on picnic supplies and then find a winery with a picnic area. Beyond that, their condiments are dazzling, dizzying, and stupefying. More than once they have landed me in Double, Secret, Condiment Probation. My husband, the silly man, thinks there is such a thing as "too many condiments." I particularly like the Stonehouse products, like the Maple-Chipotle grill sauce, and the Fig-Vidalia Onion sauce.
Also, though I haven't been there, Jimtown Store in Healdsburg comes highly recommended by board members. They have the added bonus of carrying Rancho Gordo products. And who is Rancho Gordo? Sister, Rancho Gordo is in our midst.
For visitors to Santa Cruz county, the two markets of distinction that come to mind are Shopper's Corner (at Seabright and Branciforte) in Santa Cruz, and DeLuxe Foods at the Rio Del Mar exit (one block towards the beach) in Aptos. I prefer the DeLuxe because it's bigger with a much greater variety of everything, but Shopper's is like the California equivalent of a NYC market: crowded with tiny aisles, and an impressive selection of specialty foods, along with a crackerjack butcher's counter, wines from all over the world, and the kind of produce that one would expect in the California county with 80+ organic farms. (I don't believe either has a web site.)
I might add more, but my standard, broken-record link for finding anything related to farmers markets, CSAs, and so on is this nationwide, searchable (by zip code or town, etc.) database: LocalHarvest.org. You can also buy specialty food items there (such as Rancho Gordo products!). It's a wonderfully done web site, and I am constantly trying to send traffic there.
EDITED for secret reasons that I will take to my grave.
-
The sites are nicely done, but the images sure could use optimization. They appear to be over 200K or so (some of them). (Just a little bit of pro advice. I'm on DSL, and they still take a few full seconds to load.)
Who's that pretty woman on the first site? Wow, she's gorgeous.
-
Monica, congratulations and thank you for one of the most enjoyable threads ever at eG. Your initial query asking for input on what we wanted you to photograph was time well-spent, for all who responded, I see. (Though seeing the McD's depressed me.)
Beautiful work.
-
My first entry.
Quite simply, tonight we're having twice roasted 5-spice duck with a tangerine sauce with Grand Marnier, wild mushroom rissotto, steamed broccoli and a baby green salad with balsamic vinegrette dressing.
This is my attempt at duck...not much meat and WOW look at all that fat! This is a peking duck (I think (white?)) purchased at a local asian market. Is there a particular type of duck with more meat or all they about the same?
Last night we had chicken breast with stuffed with cilantro, garlic and onions, a side of roasted cauliflower and roasted garlic loaf. The roasted garlic loaf was a hit. Bought it at Costco. My wife said she thinks she liked it better than the Gilroy Garlic Festival recipe I have for their garlic bread. I'm still undecided because it's a different taste all together. Man, just thinking about it, I can't wait until July 29th. The festival started in 1979 and since my first year in 1981, I've only missed 4 years. I love the GGF. (sorry for going OT).
Cheers,
Bob
Howdy, Bob. Welcome.
(I live very near to Gilroy, myself.)
Wanna try my recipe for garlic bread?
Ultimate Garlic Bread concoction
Mix in a smallish bowl with a fork:
1 stick butter, softened
A few cloves of crushed/minched fresh garlic
Grated parmesan cheese (about 2 TBL.)
Italian Seasoning (less than 1 TSP.)
Slather thickly on slices of (preferably) Alfaro's 4-Seed Sour (a local bread, but do your best), and broil until the butter and cheese are molten, and barely golden brown.
- - - - - - - - - -
Give it a try and let me know what your wife thinks.
I made more soup for dinner. Lentils, spicy and puréed, with the extra addition of the cap to the blender, which fell into the container and got a little, um, chewed up. (I strained it through a fine screen, and hope I'm not eating plastic. Glad it wasn't glass.)
-
What makes restaurants think that music and animated movies are cool on their web site? I've got my own music, thank you very much. Why not just add flashing text and pop-up windows and become truly unbearable?
Having just double checked 100 sites for a local food guide, I'm amazed how prevalent this is among higher end places. I surf around the web way more than I should, and I don't often encounter animated movies. I almost NEVER run into websites with music, except when I look up restaurants.
Any ideas on why this happens? Herd mentality? All restaurants use the same web developers? I'd be curious to hear from restaurant owners on why they added music to their sites.
A thread about restaurant web sites started in August.
I reiterate: I believe Flash is nothing more pissing contest, and I think people that put music on web sites should have electrodes fastened to their....you get the picture.
The worst part about the music is that so much of it sounds like a soundtrack for soft porn. Er, um, how I imagine that music would sound.
-
Just found this. LONGHI'S? I smell ballot-box stuffing.
-
Gayle's Bakery & Rosticceria does not make donuts.
That I knew, hence the use of the term 'baked goods' ... but was thinking more about Gayle's Danishes and Croissants which are delicate and buttery:
I look at it every single time I take my daughter to work or pick her up. That's how I knew there are no donuts at Gayle's. Well, that and being a loyal customer for upwards of a dozen years at least.
-
Roasted Cornish game hens with herb crust (fresh rosemary with dried sage and tarragon in the coffee grinder + s/p); new potatoes boiled/seared in olive oil with kosher flake salt; sweet English peas plain; sautéed mushrooms with a dash of lemon juice and white wine.
-
don't miss Lotus of Siam, though. go twice in fact. three times if schedule permits.
The wise man speaketh.
-
I like the Farrell's and Allbright's ... the stuff from New Leaf will be organic and more healthy .. not a bad thing but also not something for a vacation splurge!!
Best baked goods yet in this area?Gayle's Bakery (sorry, I forgot this before!)
Gayle's Bakery & Rosticceria does not make donuts.
Donut shops near Santa Cruz. Dunlap's* is good, as I recall, but I haven't eaten a donut in 10 years, easily. Don't bother with New Leaf: while they are a wonderful health food store, they will not give you the satisfying trashy ingredients necessary for a decent donut.
*An especially appropriate name: my Granddaddy always called someone overweight "Dunlap." Why? "His stomach done lapped over his pants."
-
I'll be there all week (in SF Sat through Thurs).
at the GourmetFoodMall.com booth #1081.
Is there anything to eat in San Francisco? I know it's not New Orleans, so my hopes aren't too high, but surely there must be someplace decent.
I will also be making some sort of attempt at documenting the thing online, and I take terrible photos, so if any of you have cameras there and feel link emailing me the photos, I will be glad to include them in the thread. I look forward to putting some faces on some of the text I have been reading for the past couple of years.
Brooks
They won't let you take pictures in there, unfortunately, Brooks.
-
Why don't you just go ahead and subtitle this thread, "Chronicle of a Happy Marriage Ending in Divorce."
Now, now. Bob (my husband, the general contractor) says that most good marriages can withstand a kitchen remodel. (But that means that most marriages can't.)
I think if Varmint makes a bacon sachet to stick under Mrs. Varmint's pillow every night, all shall be well.
Food Shutter Bug Club (Part 1)
in Food Media & Arts
Posted
Not so fast there, little lady.
CNET reviews digital cameras, and there is an 8MP Canon with a very high rating indeed....
Top digital cameras
Also, Toliver mentioned panoramic stitching in Photoshop. Most all the Canons have a Panoramic Stitch mode, and the software does it for you.
Here are a couple of samples.
Siena Hills
Life Lab Gardens at UCSC (268K photo)
Canon has pretty damn good software. That's why I have bought three. (All are PowerShots.)