Stone

When I was in Croatia a few years back I brought home three bottles of wine and a bottle of olive oil from the Island of Korcula. (Everyone should visit Croatia. It is spectacular.) Perhaps the wine was affected while I carried it around Italy for three weeks, but my sommelier friends all agreed that it kind of sucked. Very thin. The olive oil, on the other hand, was some of the fruitiest I've ever had. And the rakia could put hair on a bowling ball. If anyone knows where I can find rakia in America, I'll buy another bottle for him/her.

It seems that Steve and Schaem have each hit the nail on the head, although they're driving it back and forth through the plank. Fat Guy asked what we think artisanal means. Schaem explains the more traditional meaning of the word -- made by a fine craftsman. Steve is simply pointing out that today, when a consumer sees the word "artisanal" on a product, she shouldn't expect more than a hope for higher quality but, in the end, its really just become a marketing term. Shaem -- I don't read Steve as making any value judgment on large corporations adopting the terms artisanal. He hasn't offered an opinion on whether corporations are selling out or scamming the public. He's just saying that's what they do. True, maybe those who really care about food will try to influence some higher meaning to the term, but nowadays artisanal don't necessarily mean anything.

Schaem, perhaps you're being overly artis-anal?

I think it means that I'm going to pay more money than I would if it didn't say artisanal.

Been there a number of times. Excellent food at astronomical prices. Horrible bridge and tunnel crowd (why do all cities have bridges and tunnels?). But fun for a night out with the crowd. They have a full Vietnamese menu, but focus on the crabs. About 4 styles if I recall. All very good. But expensive for a night spent picking out tidbits of food from the shell. I prefer the Maryland crab feasts. Thanh Long. I believe the same people own Crustacean on Polk at California. And I'm pretty sure the family owns a place or to in La La Land. (Those garlic noodles -- which are suprisingly good for such a simple dish -- are about $7 a plate.)

Any thoughts on a crab/squash pairing? I'm making sqaush soup for Thanksgiving. I use 50/50 butternut and spaghetti, so it has a nice buttery taste. (The stick of butter I toss in helps with that also.) We've got oodles of Dungeness crab in SF right now and I thought that a dollop of crab meat in the bowl of soup would look nice.

I told you -- they're Yankee fans. Sorry you didn't have a better meal. By the way, if you turned right at the bridge you head into Ardsley, and on your right would be the world's second Carvel. Tom himself lived high up the hills to the right. He was a whale of a guy. I myself grew up on the hills to your left. That's about all the memorable sites in Ardsley.

Is Hunan Village the white detached building on Central Avenue? If so, it was one of the first Hunan style restaurants in the area, and I recall it was very good. Haven't been there for years.

Cream, butter -- good. I tend not to like fruits and other sweets stuff in dressing (or anywhere near the main course).

There was a thread a while back where some guy described building his own tandoor in the backyard. I couldn't find it though.

Just north of Yonkers in Dobbs Ferry is a great family Italian restaurant called "Scaramellas." Take HH north, get off at Ardsley/Dobbs Ferry exit (11?), turn left over the bridge and immediately left into the little strip mall. I haven't been there in a while, but I recall big, delicious veal chops served in a number of styles. Good calimari. Fresh swordfish. Very nice people. They are Yankee fans, though.

O.k. I did a search and found 7 threads. Lots of good info, but none actually had a recipe for ice cream. Can someone give me one? Preferably one I can turn into pumpkin ice cream and make in a 1.5 quart delonghi. Thank you thank you thank you.

Alton Brown's been puttin on the pounds.

I've had some oysters recently that I love. They never bothered me, but many weren't anything special. I love mussels. I like steamed clam (except the ones with the long black schlongy thing weird me out). I'm generally good at trying new stuff. And as I said in the original post, I don't know why the texture bothers me so much. It's not that different from other stuff.

Nothing wrong with that. I once had to explain to my girlfriend that it was unacceptable for her to finish her entire dinner and not leave me anything.

Last time I was in LA I went to a place called Matsuda. I think it was near Studio City (I don't know LA at all). It looked like a cheesy place in a strip mall to me. It was some of the best sushi I ever had. And since we were on my friend's expense account, the quantities were almost painful. But pain in the good way. You know?

Still there. Along with Ace and Jacks. Three great places within stumbling distance.

I went to Blowfish last night. One of San Francisco's best (arguably) and hippest sushi places. They guaranteed me that the uni was fresh and delicious. The first piece was definitely the best uni I've had -- but since most have been quite unpleasant, that's not saying much. The "flesh" was firmer than I've had before, not as repulsive. Can't say that I actually enjoyed it. The flavor was not nearly as strong. It wasn't like . . . . well, you know what bad uni is like. The second piece popped into my mouth and had that icky flavor. Luckily, the piece was on its side and the uni slipped off onto my tongue from where it slid quickly down my throat. No chewing, minimal gag reflex.

Yes, yes, get the rack. I have one that folds flat for easy storage. It is very good that you mentioned this--the rack is KEY. It is very helpful to have someplace to put the pasta where it won't stick to itself or to something else. good point. I drape the pasta over chairs. not very practical.

Perhaps this is buried somewhere in the thread -- Is someone going to post all the recipes?

Um. You wanna talk about that coaster?

I've never noticed a strong flavor from the seeds -- perhaps I'm not toasting them properly? I use copious amounts of powder to thicken curries.

Thanks for the memories. I was on a date with a girl from Boston. When I mentioned that I used to frequent Nicks Beef & Beer House while in college, she said, "yeah, I heard that was great, but it shut down right before I got to high school." Remember Chippies? 10 pm to 6 am. The bathroom was through a trapdoor in the kitchen and out to the neighbor's yard. "Don't make too much noise, she calls the cops." We once got kicked out for singing happy birthday.

Marz Bar was the first place I saw a herion overdose. Circa 1993. It lost it's panache when they put in more lights and hung that weird art work. Wilfrid -- for a second I thought you were talking about the Scruffy Duffy. I'm partial to the Grassroots Tavern (St. Marks) on weeknights. Where else do you have two regular pooches to play with. (Too many NYU kids on the weekends.)

When I was a lad, Rolling Rock was the lowest of the low -- after Schmidts, Schlitz (which rocks America, by the way) and Miller ponies. Then the whole green bottle fad came and RR got themselves some good PR machine. People were begging for the stuff. Buying buckets o' rock. I don't get. But, Dude, I love your Doritos. I'll crunch all you can make.