Stone

I think you've found the venue for the next eGullet New York dinner.

I just had a Chipotle carnitas burrito for lunch. It was great. Contrary to my prior recollection, it is a bare-boned menu -- Burrito (meat, rice, beans, salsa, extras); Fajita Burriot (substitute sauteed peppers and onions for the rice and beans), Something-I-Forgot, and a Buribol (tortilla less burrito in a bowl). The meat choices were carnitas, spiced ground beef, marinted steak, chicken (I can't remember if there was a fish/shrimp option). There are four salsa choices (maybe five -- can you tell I was checking the cute blonde in the back of the line), two mild, one medium, one hot. And extras include sour cream, guac, shredded lettuce, and cheese. Watching the building process, I noted that the rice was a little clumpier than my other place, and the beans looked a little overdone (the "water" they were in was much thicker). The rice/beans/meat portions may have been a little smaller, but not enough to complain about. I had the hot sauce (tomatilla/chilli), a dab of sour cream, lettuce and guac. They're guac was definitely better than what I was used to -- it looked fresh, thick and creamy as opposed to the soupy stuff most burrito places use. At first bite I noticed two distinct differences: First, the hot sauce was actually hot. Not burning, sweating runny nose hot by any means, but there was an actual burn as opposed to just some chilli flavor. Second, and more important, was the smoked flavor, that I assume came from the chipotle. I've never noticed it in a burrito before, and it was very good. Initially, I worried that it would overwhelm all the other flavors in the wrap, but not at all. The pork was terrific, the guac as good as I expected, and the cilantro in the rice seemed to add something good to the mix as well. (After mushing everything together, there was no noticeable difference in the quality of the rice or beans.) The only downside was that the tortilla wasn't steamed enough and had dried out by the end. I'm not sure this is worth the extra two blocks from my usual burrito joint, but it was worth an excuse not to eat another salad for lunch.

I assume there would be some good places up above Adams Morgan -- can't think of the name of the area. Columbus Street? Man, it's been years.

Chipotle is much better than one would expect. I dropped in a SF location a while back. At first I was hesitant when I saw the "cilantro-lime" rice, but they made a pretty good burrito. (Is there any excuse for a bad burrito? It's not that difficult.) Not as good to me as the authentic Mexican joint, which is also closer to my office and doesn't have a long line out the door. I second the recommendation for Burrito Brothers near Dupont. That was the first place I started eating "authentic" burritos (meaning -- not Chi Chi's). It was around 1991, and I remember thinking -- damn, these things are big, cheap, delicious and easy to make. I wonder why there aren't more places selling them? I've been to Baja Fresh because it's one of the few options near my office on Saturday. (That and the horrible fake bagel place who's name escapes me.) It's not as good as any of the Mexican places. First, they seem to put sauteed peppers/onion/mushrooms in the burritos, which I just don't like. The meat isn't spicy enough either. Also, there's something too Californian clean about the place. And FoodTV (I think) did a short piece on Chipotle recently. The usual "I wanted to open a burrito place that was completely authentic but also offered everything that no burrito place would offer."

What means "sustainable eating in winter?" Are they talking about saving fresh vegies? Or building up our blubber?

I get the best results opening beers when I use someone else's teeth. I do it all the time. Open their mouth, place the rim of the cap against the top of the front lower teeth, whap down hard on the top. Pops off every time, and when you're good at it, you don't break their nose.

You could invite me to split the porterhouse.

Can you give us your recipe?

As far as slippery slopes go, Ellen's is less like teflon and more like, like, something not very slippery. We all (or almost all) break the speed limit, walk against the light, park illegally, experiment with illegal drugs (or so I'm told), and eat dishes with uncooked eggs. None of this reasonably suggests that we'll start whacking people in our spare time.

We didn't drink wine, so I can't discuss it. The bill came to a little over $520 (18% gratuity included, but I added on $25 more) for 7 people -- with comped appetizers. Three had the $29 special, and I think my strip was $33. We all had about four drinks (mostly beer and few glasses of scotch and grappa with dessert).

I wouldn't go that far, but I expected better.

Traci Des Jardin, former (current?) executive chef at Jardiniere, and a partner has opened at new steak house at Pac Bell Park. I went last Saturday night with six other fellows for the beginning to a bachelor party. The skinny on the night was that the great service could not make up for the mediocre meat. I was hesitant about finding any serious steak house in San Francisco, much less one housed in a ball park. But once we were inside, any sporty feeling from the location was left outside -- other than the two t.v.'s unobstrusively set in the corners of the open bar area. The room was large and open, with the obligatory dark wood tempered nicely by lighter colors and some brushed metal. The kitchen, of course, was open and flames shooting up out of the grill threw light across the restaurant. It wasn’t a dark old boys club like some NY joints, but it had good raucous atmosphere. They sat us quickly at a great round table in the center of the place, and promptly took drink orders. As the drinks came, the runners brought over complimentary appetizers from the manager. A very nice touch. The calimari and tempura vegetables (broccoli, fennel, green beans, etc.) had good flavor, but lost its crispness. Not quite soggy, not at all greasy, but not hot and crisp. The charcuterie plate looked good with pate, slices of a dark dried sausage, and other usual suspects, but I passed on most of it. In the center of the table they placed a large plate of iced seafood -- shrimp, oysters, dungeness crab, and clams. It was an ample plate of food, and everything was fresh and tasty. The menu was usual steakhouse fare -- NY Strip, Ribeye, filet, chicken, fish of the day. They had a few salads including the obligatory steak house wedge of ice berg with blue cheese. And sides -- creamed spinach, sautéed, spinach, onion rings, fries, mac & cheese. A good selection. The menu also had a "Dine about town" special -- appetizer (wedge of ice berg w/ blue cheese), 12 oz ribeye, mashed potatoes, side salad and dessert (apple tart?), for $29. Three of us had the special, three had the NY strip and one ordered the regular ribeye. We also ordered sides of onion rings, spinach and mac & cheese. The sides were o.k., but nothing special. We had two orders of spinach -- I think one was supposed to be creamed and one regular, but both came out pretty much the same. Which is about how it tasted. Some steak houses have cream spinach that stands up in the bowl and shouts, "hey, I'm as good as that steak you're eating." This stuff kind of sat there and wimpered, "I'm a wilted green, leafy vegetable." Moreover, instead of the heaping portion of spinach I expected, these servings formed only a blanket in the bottom of the serving dish. Why any restaurant would not splurge on an item as cheap as spinach is beyond me. At $6 a serving (according to a website I just checked), there's no excuse. The onions rings were thin -- not the thick, juicy type I hoped for. I find that on thinner rings the higher batter to onion ratio often overwhelms the onion flavor. But these were quite good, with nice flavor, crisp without being overdone, and piled high on the plate. The mac & cheese suffered from the same problem as the spinach. The taste was nothing special, and the portion disappointingly small. (Again, not what I expect for $8 worth of pasta and cheese.) That brings us to the steaks which were, of course, the reason we were there. The restaurant didn’t give us a good reason to come back. The three people who ordered the special received an odd looking steak that looked more like a pounded veal chop. It was a good six inches or so in diameter, yet cut about 1/2” thick. Obviously the chef could not risk getting a good char on the outside because the meat would have been well-done throughout. The result was that the meat was only grayish on the outside, and practically raw on the inside. My strip was a decent portion of meat, and quite good quality. The problem was that I ordered it medium rare, and there was no hint of pink left anywhere inside. I don't mind a medium steak and still enjoyed it. But I figure that any steak house worth its salt has be able to do medium rare -- and usually they err on the rare side. The highlight was the full-order ribeye. It was large, wonderfully charred on the outside and bright red/pink on the inside. Eaten with gusto, it disappeared completely. Desserts were o.k. I ordered the chocolate cake with hazelnut ice cream based on a volume observation from a near-by table. The cake was a little dry and the icing thick and heavy. The best item was the butterscotch pudding, which was sweet and tangy and filled a large parfait glass. All in all, it was a fun evening, even with some disappointing food. And the staff was terrific. But at a steak house, there’s simply no excuse for small portions or mediocre meat.

American health regulations are often stricter than Europe's, and vice versa. (And they don't have as aggressive lawyers over there.)

I can't say that I know anything about why unpastuerized cheeses are prohibited here, but I assume its out of health concerns and, more specificially, health concerns for the elderly, young or infirm. That is, although most unpastuerized cheese is probably fine for most people, the regulators think the risk to some is high enough to ban the stuff. I have no way of knowing whether their evaluation of the risk is correct. Of course, I also have no way of knowing whether the regulators just caved in to the American pastuerized cheese lobby in a fit of nationalistic xenophobia.

What other illegal foods are running around out there? More stuff like unpastuerized cheese? Or are we talking about endangered species, whale meat (I think that's illegal), etc.? (By the way -- nice tactic to get your post back on the first page of the "active topics" thread.)

Thai food. Buy decent red curry paste. Fry in a little oil, add a can of coconut milk, mix. Add chunks of fish, shrimp, mussels, scallops, etc. When they're cooked, add a can of straw mushrooms and/or baby corn. People go nuts. Noodles -- buy fresh rice noodles. Stir-fry some garlic and onion, shredded chicken or pork, add noodles, light & dark soy, a few dashes of fish sauce. The key is about a tspoon of sugar, then push the stuf to the side and crack an egg in the wok. That combo give the uniquely Thai flavor that most people don't expect in a home stir-fry. (Fresh hot basil is also good.)

Long streamers and confetti will fly out of the can, and you will hear a loud "SPROING" sound.

Gordon -- does that mean that all this time those guys on Sopranos who said "gabagoo" were actually saying capicola?

I guess a little dilution ain't such a bad thing. Goes to show some folks here (not necessarily you) that, in fact, that administrators are not going to operate the site with a heavy hand or a hardened heart.

Nothing is over until we say it is.

As Jaybee points out, this is getting way off-topic. I only asked about the lighter gimmick. edit: (this is not necessarily directed at Jim. it goes for all of you thread-wanderers.)

I remember Faccia Luna's fondly (from 10 years ago). Also Julios (?), at P and 16th. (Of course, they pronounce it wrong.)

IMHO the topic is I.N.A.N.E., pronounced in-ayne. Mah nishtanah, ha-topic, hazeh, m'call ha-tapicot.

The cities themselves never made it into the story, and I'm sure my notes are long gone...but it seemed like there were a couple in Texas and maybe one in the NE somewhere...one persistent claim is that they were first served (in the US) at the St Louis World's Fair in 1904. St. Louisians claim that everything was first tried at the 1904 worlds fair. So far as I can tell, hot dog buns and ice cream cones is it. (And the ferris wheel was introduced.)

I think my hand's too fat.