Stone

My first week of freshman year, a bunch of us were sitting around having the "soda" or "pop" discussion. The Houston kid said, "I just call it coke." Those of us from civilization were shocked. "What if you want a 7-up?" "You'd ask for a coke, and they would ask what kind." I think he dropped out and is now a homeless crack addict.

Why not? A 50 calorie soft-drink. With a mix of Splendra and corn syrup. Why?

If you go to Tu Lan, sit at the bar and watch that guy running the stove. It's quite impressive. Tu Lan is a bit inconsistent. Their imperial rolls can be excellent, or stale & gummy. I've had excellent soups there (crabmeat and asparagus or corn); and some great grille meats. Stir-fries are little iffier. Usually they taste great, but there's often too much sauch involved. My best Tu Lan experience was when a bum . . . home-deprived person . . . crack-head came in to sell them 3 six-pack of random beer. After about ten minutes of arguing, the owner gave the guy $10 bucks to leave and someone took the beer out back. By the time I was finished, a new fellow arrived trying to sell the very same beer.

If you go there, the answer to your question will be obvious. Because. I once had a client in Stockton, which required me to spend more than my fair allotment of nights at the Days Inn. I recall one morning when they started construction on the room next to mine at 6 a.m. I called down to the front desk to ask them to stop, to which they said "no." As for food, on my first night at DI, I asked where I could go to grab a burger. Two places were suggested to me. One ended up being a Chinese take-out place where the entirety of the establishment was behind thick bullet-proof glass. The other was a dark bar which no-doubt should have been behind thick bullet-proof glass. There is a good supply of fast food just off the highway. I recommend it.

Took the folks to Otto. Again, the antipasti were excellent. Especially the mixed mushrooms, beets, and lentils. I forced everyone to be daring and ordered the porcini & tallegio pizza and a Leo -- which was guincale (sp? -- cured pork jowl) and chickpeas. The first pizze proved that, indeed, good cheese smells like happy underpants. The folks winced at first, but then really enjoyed it. (Now that I think about it, that's a little sick.) None of was a fan of the Leo. The guincale was a little too sweet or gamey. The chickpeas didn't work at all for me. We had a large sampling of gelati -- ricotta, hazelnut, meyer lemen, pistacchio, and olive oil. Again, everyone cringed at the thought of olive oil gelato, but it was everyone's favorite.

Oh. I think you've simply discovered the fact that New Yorkers are smarter than people in the rest of the country. I mean, after all, the others haven't moved to NY. (I am reminded of a night when the extended family was sitting around watching America's Funniest Home Videos. My cousin, from St. Louis, observed, "you know, you never see New Yorkers on this show.") (Yes, I'm only joking.)

Perhaps you can quote some examples of what you're referring to? Fat Guy, of course, is a professional food writer who spends not only an inordinate amount of time thinking about food and restaurants, but he probably also puts more thought and effort into his posts than us lay-people. eGullet also seems to have had hard-core group of New York based posters that that write seriously about the restaurants here. There are, of course, many serious posters in other cities, but due to the way eGullet grew, it seems that New York has more of a critical mass. (The San Francisco crowd has -- or at least had some very serious thinkers.) Also, I think that due to the fact that many New York restaurants get more nationwide and worldwide attention, there is more interest in them, which in turn leads to more significant analysis. Of course, you'll fnd a lot of in depth coverage on eGullet about "national" restaurants elsewhere in the country, such as French Laundry, of course, Trotters and Trio. There are certainly many posts with in depth analysis of El Bulli in Spain and Fat Duck in England. Edit -- when I first read the title of this thread, I thought it read "NYC Culinary Cultural Flatuency."

Sounds like Vietnamese Potstickers (or dumplings). Basic dumpling filling, rolled in sticky rice and deep fried. A little painful, but delicious.

Fish camps remind me of the "Fish Fry" in Nassau, Bahamas. I line of shacks in various stages of decrepitude (some actually quite nice for the tourists) that sell a variety of fried XXX in various shapes: fish shape; french fry shape, hush puppy shape; etc. And lots of conch salad. (Which, I must admit, I always found terribly disappointing.)

I'd avoid Than Long. It's very over priced. I'm a big fan of Sunflower, at 16th and Valencia. Can't vouch for the "authenticity", but it's damn good.

phoGullet

If you plan on using it more than infrequently, I would choose quality over the $30 price savings. If you're living in NY and buying an ice cream machine, you can afford the $30.

Evil Little Vaginas.

If Per Se bumps you, give me a call. I'll buy you a burger. (No foie gras or short ribs, though, just fat and meat.)

I've never ordered tonkatsu because it looks like it's just breaded pork cutlet. Am I missing something?

The Eggstractor. Peels eggs ten times faster than by hand. It's based on "science."

I just hope Steve McQueen, Paul Newman and OJ Simpson were nearby. (And where was that dastardly Richard Chamberlain last night, anyway?)

If you like the hamsters, here's a better clip of the angry kittens.

So if I were to take my really expensive cut of prime rib and grill it, it would be a $$$ ribeye steak?

Are these the same cut? Where on the cow are the from?

They do make bread there, the bread looks amazing but I have not tried it as I've got half a dozen loaves of bread around the kitchen from my efforts to perfect an open crumb sourdough bread. But I suspect I'll end up back there today anyway, so I'll try their bread. Or I suppose I could just go to lunch at Bouchon as they will be serving the bread there... Melkor never answer this question. I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but I'd rather not say, because I like both Melkor and Fat Guy.

I noticed that the subways are now plastered with ads for Anheuser World Select lager. Anyone?

I was there for Valentine's Day. The food was a great as everyone says. I had to compare it to my eGullet dinner at Diwan. The portions were smaller. One of the best surprises was the wines chosen by the sommelier. Excellent. Especially the whites. Great service all around. Oh, and the chocolate flan dessert was exceptional. I usually don't like chocolate desserts after a large meal. I find them too heavy and rich. But this was exceptional. Terrific flavor, a little . . . granier than one would expect (and I assume that franco-philes would criticise this). It seemed to have a subtle cinnamony flavor. Perhaps a tad of chili.

What's a good brand of anchovies?

Rub it up with oil and bung it in the oven.