Stone

Is that sass? Don't get much sass 'round these parts.

I'm sure the food is good, but the decor? It's all part of the mall-i-zation of the East Village.

The Ordering The Huddled Masses Dan dan noodles, sichuan wantons, pork buns. Ox tail and tendon. Looks like tendon in the middle, noodles on the left. Buns. String bean Looks like the braised beef front left, string bean, sichuan shrimp around at 2:00, chinese brocoli at 1:00, jellyfish in the center? Auzhou chicken. ] Shumai Clockwise from 6:00: kung boa chicken, family pumpkin, beef tendon, braised fish, string bean, dan dan noodle, braised pork with chestnuts, dried spiced chicken, a-choo chicken in the center. Soft shell crab? That green stuff in the center is bitter melon. It's really bitter. Like eating a bile sac. Yum. Dried spice chicken. Lots of chillis. done.

Years ago when I was living in Boston, I ran into an Indian woman who mentioned that her parents were having trouble selling their house because after cooking Indian food in it for 20 years, the smells had permanently infused the walls. She didn't notice it until she came home after spending three months studying abroad. Her parents had the house painted twice to try and cover the aroma, but it didn't fully work.

Greetings. I'll get the photos on soon. Here's what table 2 ordered (or general descriptions): Dan dan noodles Sichuan wanton Something like chinese broccoli in hot oil Braised beef filets in hot sauce Kung bao chicken Auzhou chicken Dried spcied chicken (or something like that) Braised whole fish in hot bean sauce Sichuan shrimp Braised pork with waterchestnuts Beef tendon in hot oil Dry fried string beans. My favorite was the sichuan shrimp. I admit, this was similar to a general tsao's shrimp -- breaded and fried and in a piquant tomato sauce. But it was perfect. Crisp, plump shrimp in a terrific sauce. The fish was excellent, although I prefer a crispy skin. Same with the braised beef filets. They were tender and tasty, but the braising left them a bit mushy. I'd rather it had been stir-fried. The fresh-killed chicken were each good. The dried chicken tasted great (it's served under a blaket of red chilli peppers), but it was on the bone. Too annoying to eat. By the time I got to the kung boa, etc., my tongue was burning so much that I can't say that this was the be all and end all of chicken. Not sure that I noticed a huge difference between fresh-killed and long-dead chicken. And, there were too many hidden pieces of gristle in the chicken. That's a personal skeeve of mine. Gives me the willies when I bite into chicken and get that crunch. The braised pork with chestnuts is usually served with fatty pork, but the guy used lean pork for us. It was terrific. The chestnuts add excellent flavor. Great string beans. Now for the beef tendon. Sorry not jump on the everything-icky-is-great bandwagon. But what's the big deal? It looks like think long shavings of clear lucite. Or perhaps the cartilage from inside a squid. I was pleased to find that it wasn't chewy at all. But, nor did it have a crunch. It wasn't much of anything. And any flavor in the dish seemed to come only from the hot oil. I found it completely unoffensive, but for the life of me, I can't see any reason to rave about it. There's no there there. The jellyfish we tasted from table 1 was quite good. Smalls shreds. Cold, crisp and fresh. They reminded me of geoduck, but less fishy.

I did Don't kitchen staff always have their hands in the food? tasting, testing, placing, etc.?

As an outside observer, who's only seen two episodes, if Rocco is really concerned about his credibility as a Chef, he' d take a more hands-on approach at the restaurant. That's where his credibility comes from. PR events with kids are great and book signings are fun, but he should remember that his first responsibility to run the restaurant, and until that's humming along, everything else should take a back-seat. Especially since this is on t.v. If Rocco succeeded, he'd write his own ticket. After watching his no-show performance, how many investors do you think are lining up to finance his next venture?

Honestly, it could be the next Hoboken. The riverside area is pretty sterile, but I see a lot of potential in renovating all the old warehouses. A friend of mine sold his place on 11th and 4th Ave and moved out to Jersey City. He loves it. The commute on the PATH is easy. Not sure how much dining there is other than PJ Ryans. (My other meals out there were Pizzaria Unos (blech) and Bertucis.

If you're ever unfortunate enough to find yourself in Jersey City . . . . I was banished to Jersey City for three weeks to review documents in an archive. The one bright spot was PJ Ryan's bar and grill at the corner of 2nd and Marin. Some of the best bar food I've had. Almost everything here is great. Big juicy burgers. One of the best shephard's pies i've had (although a tad heavy on the mashed potatoes). Truly superb chicken pot pie -- creamy gravy packed with large chunks of white meat chicken, peas and carrots, topped with a large puff pastry crust. Terrific chicken sandwich. Tasty meatloaf smothered in a flavorful mushroom gravy. Long, crispy chicken strips. Jumbo coconut shrimp. Wonderfully thick homemade chilli topped with melted cheese and onion. Great fries. The only disappointment was the onion rings which were "tempura" style and a tad greasy. And the calimari could have used more spice -- although it was very well prepared. Terrific staff.

Aren't restaurants expected to lose a lot of money in the first few months?

As an attorney, I love this show. It conclusively demonstrates that people in the restaurant business are way lower on the evolutionary chain than lawyers. (Sure, advertising, insurance, child pornographers and politicians are also beneath us.) Is it just me, or is every person on the show, from Chodorow, Rocco, Momma, to the wait staff, hostesses and, yes, the guests, simply repugnant? ("Is Rocco here? I've been here twice and I haven't gotten to drool over Rocco?") Chodorow needs a pr person to get rid of the "just got back from the Hamptons, haven't had time to change out of my all-black outfit or shave and -- ooh -- is my hair just right messy" ensemble. He should be the most sympathetic person on the show, but he's so smarmy. He looks like something out of Star Wars. Rocco -- take the fucking pacifier out of you mouth, stop whining like a little girl (my apologies to the little girls). Does any other chef prance like a nancy around the room posing for pictures? I can only imagine that Keller, Ripert, Ducasse, Batali, Valenti, Colicchio, and dozens of others are on their way over to 22nd street just to slap you in the face. I hear Julia Child's chartered a plane to New York. Momma -- When the Italian-American Anti-Stereotype Association is done with the producers of the Sopranos, they'll be stopping by the Restaurant. Drew -- Dude, your boss has a Don-Johnson, mid-80s, absur 5:00 shadow. Dont' be your boss. Oh, and what's it like to be humiliated on national television when you're 20 years old? Congratulations, however, most people dont reach a such a high "prick" level until they get their JD or MBA. The new waitress -- you're not hot enough to make up for being such an idiot. O.k., maybe you are.

i found myself in Queens again today, so I stopped by Ali's Kabab Cafe. It sure lived up to expectations. A tiny place on Steinway Street, with Ali and an assistant cooking in a tiny open kitchen up front. I didn't see any menus around, so I just asked Ali what was good. He asked if I wanted meat, and I asked for lamb. Then he asked if I wanted something to start. Of course. First, he brought over a hummus plate. I was amazingly good. The hummus was not as thick as usuall, but had great flavor. Little fresh made falafels were crunch and not at all greasy. Slices of apple and fried spinach leaves were an excellent addition. Overall, the spices were earthy and deliciious. Next, Ali brought over stuffed lamb with yogurt and sauteed garlic spiniach. The lamb was superb. It was stuffed with a mix of spiced ground lamb, nuts and raisons. The lamb itself was cooked perfectly, tender and just falling apart. The only flaw was that the stuffing was a little dry. But the taste was terrific. $26 for the food and two sodas.

Dessert.

Maybe this is counter-intuitive, being New York and all, but perhaps the reason people don't want to hang at the bar is because they don't want to be seen on a kitschy (tacky) reality tv show? That's why I wouldn't want to eat there.

Makes a nice sandwich. A nice sandwich. (Pass me a pickle, please.)

This morning I walked up to the flea market on 25th and 6th. Boy, was it sad. Almost completely empty. I wonder if that's because it's Easter or if the flea market is dwindling away? Anywho, since I was in the neighborhood, I walked over to Dimple for lunch. I ordered a thali. It was very good. They loaded my tin tray with a huge pile of food. Rice, yellow lentil daal, a spicy curry of cheese, tomato and onion, aloo matter (with peas so incredibly flavorful that i was shocked) and something that looked like malai kofta with a little piece of chili in the middle of the dumpling. In addition, they gave me something they called "patra". It was completely new to me. Spiced chickpea flour with spinach pressed into a large meatloaf-like cake and sliced. It was a tad too dry, but the flavors were very interesting. On the side were two chapatis, papad, a few chutnies, and a good-sized bowl of brown lentiil daal. On the whole, the food was very good. The different curries managed to pull off a nice range of flavors with a good amount of heat that wasn't overpowering. My one real criticism is that the food wasn't heated enough. The thali was $9.75.

I never went there. And didn't hear of people who did. For some reason, Nob Hill gets largely ignored in the SF food scene -- especially among the younger crowd. I lived there for 3.5 years, and didn't eat on Nob Hill until my last week there. It was a very different crowd from the rest of the city.

Hmmmmm... perhaps that's why so few Thai places have it on the menu? I loved it as did my dining partner but we're quite possibly part of a small minority. I actually liked the sour curry I previously had in Rochester NY at Mama Sans much better but was pleased just to see it on the menu elsewhere and still enjoyed Spripraphai's version. I think it's one of those flavors that doesn't necessarily translate to the American palate. There was an aftertaste that I found very harsh.

I found myself in Queens today, so I hopped in a cab and went to Sripraphai for a late lunch. I got there at 3:30 -- it was packed. I was able to squeeze into a small table. I ordered papaya salad, pork larb and, based on recommendations here, sour curry. The papay salad was terrific. A tall mound of shredded green papaya, fresh and crispy, flavored exquisitely with onion, lime, chili and peanuts. A great start. The larb was also terrific. A large portion of coarsely ground pork, boiled lightly and flavored with lime, mint leaves, chili and ground toasted rice. Love the stuff. I told myself that I would only eat half of each salad to stay hungry. But of course I ate it all. As for the sour curry, I can't say that I'm a fan. This is a thin brown curry, more of a soup, with cabbage, beans and some shrimp. But the flavor, from tamarind, was too bitter and acrid for me. Almost bile-like. i think it's one of those things that some people like and some don't. I don't. But still, I walked out drunk (two oil cans of fosters), full and happy. A good way to go through life.

For some reason, A&M doesn't get the respect of other steakhouses in Manhattan. Perhaps it's the overly boisterous, generally young-ish, often B&T tacky crowd. But I've always had excellent steaks there.

Is there an easy way to zest all those lemons?

So did he! I used to refer to that guy as Robin. And I think Smith paid a lot of money to someone to avoid having his day in court. But my memory could be failing me.

I'm not a fan of the sweets & meats. My brisket recipe (my Mom's actually) is similar to a standard pot roast. But people really like it. Brown the brisket -- or coat with Kitchen Bouquet. Coat with S&P and some garlic powder. Place in large foil pan, and add two packets of onion sou mix. Add carrots (I just buy the pre-cleaned baby carrots), celery, onion and potatoes. Add enough beef stock (I use "Better than Boullion") to just cover. I start it off at 400* till I hear it boiling, then drop to 250*. Let it go until it's very tender. A friend of mine does something similar, but adds a can of Dr. Pepper. It's suprisingly good -- not overly sweet.

can someone post driving directions from Manhattan? I can't seem to find the big thread. I'll hopefully be there for lunch tomorrow if anyone wants to stop by.

There's a small market at 86th and Amsterdam which I beleive has quite a beer selection. but I haven't been in the area in years.