Stone

Was there a place on the West Side called "Vince & Eddies"? Around 69 & Columbus, near Peters? Also I remember hearing about a place on 79th just east of Bway (across from the Dublin House). What about Cafe Des Artists?

i actually didn't find the food at OIBL/TIBS *good* ta boot. But Zagat says . . .

Anyone what thinks that vodka is vodka should try Cossack Vodka, brewed in Somerville, Mass. -- but first agree not to sue me. The differences between not only crap vodka, but, say, Absolute and Kettle One/Grey Goose, is obvious in both taste and mouthfeel. Of course, you must be drinking the vodka, not mixing it into juice, etc. To look at the definition of vodka as being without taste or smell is overly technical. True, as very intelligent and handsome people have mentioned elsewhere on this site, at some level it is silly to discuss and compete among high end vodkas where the successful goal is to eliminate flavor. But try the moskovskaya if you can find it -- it's really really good.

It's funny, but I read the original post to suggest that food tastes better when accompanied by wine. The the wine opens the palate and accentuates the flavors and by skipping wine, the dinner wouldn't taste as good. But these responses are interesting. Reminds me of a lunch I had in Milan (one of the few stories I have that begin that way), I ordered a primi/pasta and no entree. The waitress looked at me like I was crazy, but having eaten at the restaurant before, I knew I didn't need more food -- the pasta dishes were huge (and I have a stomach bigger than my eyes). The dish I got was so oversalted that I couldn't eat it. I believe it was cultural retribution. I tried to tell the waitress and hostess, but she pretended not to understand. Damn Italians.

When you say port-like, do you mean it should be an after-dinner wine?

"You can really taste the kale!" -- Woody Boyd. I usually buy a few bunches of kale to put under the turkey on the platter to add to the presentation. I had some left over and decided to have it for dinner. I was pretty happy with it. I sauteed some onion and a lot of garlic. Chopped the kale roughly (needed a little more chopping) and tossed it in. It's much tougher than spinach, so it doesn't wilt as quickly or as thoroughly. I added a little chicken stock to help the wilt - probably didn't need it. S&P and finished it off with a chopped tomato and some chopped parsely. Sure, it's not much for a main course, but it was fine for me. The only place I regularly ate kale was at Great Jones Cafe -- excellent every time. Anybody got any good kale recipes?

Familiar with it? I live it. The only good use for dukka is that when you accept that it's in your life you can take steps to remove it. You must learn to recognize desires and try to rid yourself of them. There's only one recipe you need: the four noble truths, man. Dukka is number 1.

According to the article, they add more yeast during the fermentation process. My recollection about stout, however, has been that it is a lower alcohol content beer because the mouthfeel is produced by decreasing the fermentation, thereby leaving more large sugar molecules to provide texture. I guess I need to read up on stouts.

Oh boy, Tommy's going to be hurt by that one.

A while back I went to a little Italian joint with some friends, and they ordered a bottle of amarone. They spoke of it as if it would be quite different from the merlots, pinots, etc. that I'm used to. I don't remember it being so specia, but, one guy, who had been a sommelier, said the bottle was not very good. I recently picked up an Amarone Della Valplicella from Allegrini. What should I expect from this, if anything?

March back to NY? That's a long walk.

I gotta get back to NY more often.

Some friends of mine are spending a week in NY with family, but they will have one Saturday night to themselves. They want to try a high-end restaurant. I recall places like Alison on Dominick and One if By Land, to have high romance factors, but I haven't heard much about their food lately. When I suggested some other places (Ouest, 11 Madison) and said, they're nice, but not top end like Jean-George or La Caravalle, she was interested in the top end. Assuming they can get a reservation, where should they go?

As for the comment about spending, that is another cleverly veiled insult If this is the "comment about spending" to which you are referring, I think Steve P was simply pointing out that the question of how much a person would spend to enjoy their wine/food/whatever is inherently a question about the person as much as about the wine/food. But there's a lot of kooky syntax going on, and maybe I don't understand what all the dander is about.

You pay $749 for a concrete vibrator but you balk at $25-$50 for a glass of the nectar of the gods? Like I said, I've paid ridiculous amounts of money for stuff no one else would appreciate. But it has a free floating head!

I thought Baruch's original jibe at Steve was not terribly offensive but silly in its repitition. No one here is a perfects speller. I thought Steve's response (punctuated by a rimshot) was as inoffensive as possible. Steve P -- I fully agree with you that wine, like art and many other things, there is no law of diminishing returns (although later you seem to say there is with regard to wines over $400). God knows I've spent ridiculous amounts of money for stuff that only I appreciate. One of my personal problems with expensive wines is that when you look at a per glass price of high-end wines, say $25-50 (or more in a restaurant), I think -- I would rarely spend that much on an entree, and the entree fills me up more, is a fuller more enjoyable experience (chewing (obviously enjoyable in itself), tasting, swallowing (as a joke I'll add, finding later that little bit stuck between your teeth)) than a single glass of wine. Of course, for you the wine may be a more enjoyable experience than any entree could offer. Is there a limit you would pay for, say, a steak (probably a bad example, but you know what I mean) that's lower than the limit you would pay for a fine wine? I will say that at one meal at Picholine I had a wine that I learned afterwards was $400 a bottle. It was, without a doubt, the best wine I've ever had (I wish I could remember what it was). Almost a different species of drink.

Please, any help would be greatful. I've tried a lot of recipes and have never been able to mimic the tastes or textures of restaurant cooking. How important is it to blanche (sp?) the veggies? For example, most Chinese restaurant kitchens I see have large pot of simmering water into which they plunge the veggies before stir-frying. Is there a way to compensate for the fact that home stoves can't give out the BTUs of a restaurant stove? Is peanut oil a must for Hunan/Sichuan cooking?

I've never been able to keep straight all the information about potatoes -- the difference between russets, fingerlings, yellows, German; which are starchy, which should be used for baking (o.k., I know that the sign in the grocery what says "baking potatoes" is a hint), hash browns, mashed, etc. Can people post their knowledge here for easy reference?

You can just prop them up on a half-full can o' Bud.

As was at El Farolito the other night and considered the tripe burrito. I thought better about it, and ordered carnitas. The bastards gave me a plain rice & bean burrito. However, I must say that it was excellent. The grilled tortilla instead of the usual steamed makes a huuuge difference. Thanks for posting the tripe recipe. I think I'll cook some up tomorrow morning and use it to stuff the turkey.

You want to try coffee with a kick -- try Mustang Coffee. From the Mustang Valley in Northern Nepal: fry coffee and sugar in butter. Add local red wine, heat, don't boil. Finish with a shot of rakshi (moonshine). Strain into glass. Tastes kind of like what the stuff in the grease pit of a grill at a truck stop.

You never watched Julia Child? You never watched Last Tango?

Misplacing the question? mark Not using enough butter. Trying to use too many ingredients/flavors in a single dish Not inviting me to dinner

I agree that these are probably the two best mass-produced beers in America. I usually choose Sierra Nevada because I like the hoppier taste.

I have a love hate relationship with fish sauce. It's got to be there, but I don't want to know. Does that make sense? Without it, there's definitely something missing. But if it's strong enough that I recognize the taste, it's too strong.