Blue Star Range

Own a 30" in a co-op in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Might be the most expensive thing in the apartment. Would not mind if one of the 22Ks were in the back, its' my understanding they come with 2 22K, but I bought it last year.

Bought an Ikea (Westinghouse) convertible hood. I am NOT cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner on this thing and we are NOT using the burners at 22K for more than 20 min. at a time (I think the pots would melt), keep that in mind because people do suggest a lot of air movement and that comes at a price, and if you can't vent OUT it does not make sense.

OTH: This thing does get hot because the grates are cast iron and the oven is powerful and it doesn't have lots of insulation so the sides warm up - a lot. I can't imagine not having some ventilation over it.

See photos, The darker photo has the hood, the other photo was the day it was installed

fkerm in Cookware

Mexican place on Coney Island Ave.?

the cinco de mayo folks took over a place on CIA, forgot the name - this would be near Cortelyou. I would recommend it based on the cinco experiences

fkerm in Outer Boroughs

free-range meat restaurant recommendations

I assume you mean the boros. I know some places in bklyn: Flatbush farm, near prospect park and in williamsburg: Diner, Marlow & Sons, Robeling Tea Room, which all buy from a known grass-fed butcher; The good fork, Farm on Adderly also usually provide some sustainability friendly options.

eatwellguide.com, greenforkblog, sustainabletable.org can help you find restaurants and other vendors of 'good food'

I applaud your efforts and hope you enjoy what you find. I suggest you investigate the issue a little more, read stuff from slow food and Michael Pollans books. In the end - simply being an urban dwelling consumer means that we are more part of the problem than the solution but hey - 5 years ago the most you would find was free-range chicken and maybe duck - today I think the terms 'free-range' and 'organic' are pre-printed on the paper used for menus.

fkerm in Outer Boroughs

FASCATI CLOSED FOR ONE MONTH :: WHAT TO DO?

my mistake, I was not aware they had stopped making pizza, the online menu I found does not suggest pizza, obviously i haven't been there in a while.

sorry

fkerm in Outer Boroughs

FASCATI CLOSED FOR ONE MONTH :: WHAT TO DO?

Queen on court, pies only, don't think they deliver, I forget.

Or

My Little P as mentioned already

I believe Fatoosh is still making pizza on hicks by Atlantic - a nice alternative in all aspects...

fkerm in Outer Boroughs

Blue Star question

might have confused me with the OP. I spoke to 3 NYC dealers who carried both. They did not try too hard to convince me to consider other brands, We spoke about them but they agreed the Blue Star was a worthy choice for my needs.

fkerm in Cookware

Blue Star question

(disclosure: I just ordered a blue star)

One of my main observations has been the number of BS OWNERS that bother to put up positive posts on this and many other boards..("That Home SIte"; apartment therapy, another 'chefs' site I can't remember; amazon, etc.) Maybe I haven't read enough but it seems to me that very few say 'i would never get a BS again or 'stay away' You see many more complaints about the other brands being discussed.

If brand loyalty and customer satisfaction is the new gurrella marketing, I can't wait for my fatigues to arrive.

fkerm in Cookware

Gas stove install, NYC

Hello. I am installing a new stove soon and was hoping that someone could recommend an installer or at least tips. experience with having a stove installed. The particular brand I am installing specifies using a licensed installer. I assume they are referring to a licensed plumber. My gas line is in place, so that is not what I am looking for, its literally the flex hose connection between the stove and shut-off valve.

Thanks for any input.

fkerm in Cookware

Pomme de Terre, midwood-ish BKLYN; any reports?

I am sticking with the Midwood-ish, purely as a subset of Flatbush. As I believe everything between Church and Kings Hiway, east of Ocean Pkway to Utica is "Flatbush" anyway....(before the mods come)

Marthaamy and chowhundius confirm my worst fears - more ameribistro. We did not even look at the menu closely, we are Farm adherents, Thanks for the reports, very helpful and insightful. We will wait until the buzz dies down.

thanks

fkerm in Outer Boroughs

Pomme de Terre, midwood-ish BKLYN; any reports?

Not since the heady days of... I don't know 97, 98 I guess have i seen a place as packed, Reminded me of Henry's End at its height.

We walked in, early I thought (approx 7PM on a thursday), and the place was PACKED. 30 minute wait, which is ok, in general (Smith St, etc, even 5th Ave but Midwood?) but we were not in the mood, there was no real waiting area either.

I understand, the Times, NYMag, the blogs. but really? 7PM? PACKED!? We waited less at the good fork on Sat. w/no res.

so anyone actually eat there?

fkerm in Outer Boroughs

DiFara

The 'secret' to his crusts is oil in those pans. Dude pours a considerable amount of oil in those pans, and they are heavy. I am sure he has that oven cranked as well. What I have noticed recently is that the traffic is so high (he must be making more pies per hour than even two years ago) is that the oven is losing heat and it takes longer for the square pies to get made. He likes them to smoke.

fkerm in Outer Boroughs

DiFara's ripped by Rosengarten

Jah, the problem with a ticket/number/queue system is that the other side of the counter would have to keep track, and that ain't happenin' I regularly order a pie with b.rabe and Sausage; lets say pricing is volatile. In the past 5 years it has gone up about $5.

This ties into the concept of 'helping him' though - because once he handed me the pie and was calculating the price (I think the register is actually a architectural cantilever of some sort; it doesn't seem to keep track of anything) and I volunteered what i had paid a month previously... well that bought me some sort of $2 penalty.

whatever.

its good pizza but arguably worth the wait and frustration ("my nerves!")

and yes rosengarten is a bit off, the first time I went i only saw the cover of Jim Leffs book. which i believe is from 1999

fkerm in Outer Boroughs

DiFara's ripped by Rosengarten

Lines?

I never see no stinking lines....

That is the core of the problem, Dom doesn't enforce a queue and people just mill about, then the pizza comes out, people shuffle close and the pie goes and everyone is confused...and praying...

If he even used a deli ticket system it would be a pleasure.

now about the napkin situation....

fkerm in Outer Boroughs

any big wine store in brooklyn?

big does not mean well stocked or knowledgeable, conversely small does not mean acommodating or resourceful, finally Brooklyn is a big place - where are you looking? The downtown area (Slope -> Dumbo) has quite a number of wine shops, and every 'liqour' store in the area is removing their bullet proof boxes/cages and tryitg to enhance appeal, so its a buyers market.

In my un-scientific survey once you go south and west (Kensington, Bed-Stuy) I can't really comment until you get to the 'Bays (Bay Ridge, Sheepshead Bay, Coney Island) out there there are a number of HUGE russian owned liqour stores, which though they look like your dad's "Best Buy" actually have amazing selections. Specifically a place neaar Totonnos on Neptune and 10th (?)

Hts Chateau seems to deal with the importers/merchants that i see in many wine stores of the same caliber. Try to find out who the distributor/merchant is that handles the product you are looking for and contact them for retailer locations.

Do your brands/wineries have websites or emails? you could drop them a query for distributors, do you have an old bottle? you should see an importer/merchant stamped somewhere on there.

Hope this helps

fkerm in Outer Boroughs

Best Rest. in Bklyn 2006: Jolie

I actually think Jolie was fall '04/winter '05 at earliest. Most restaurants go belly up in 3 yrs I think and a good proportion don't make the 1st yr.

360 is at least from '04 if not earlier..

Porchetta seems to be an exciting litmus test on these boards.

(actually this whole experiment is turning out wonderfully, I now have a list of new-ish restaurants to try in Bklyn - 'insert evil laugh here')

fkerm in Outer Boroughs

Best Rest. in Bklyn 2006: Jolie

actually i have been a total of 3 times since they opened... i think the first time was a month ater they opened.

flame on!

fkerm in Outer Boroughs

Best Rest. in Bklyn 2006: Jolie

you cite some venerable favorites; I still think the jolie does the whole "Restaurant" thing very well (like Saul does - but puts me to sleep.) N.P. gets quite the beating on these boards at time (I love it) but it is noisy and crazy (no res., etc.) same w/al di la; convivium I havent been to in a number of years - but never hesitate to reccomend.

As I was citing 'this year' I was thinking of newer places as well, but didn't reallly state that...

thanks for the reply and will try some of yr faves.

fkerm in Outer Boroughs

Best Rest. in Bklyn 2006: Jolie

...discuss.

Been there twice this fall and have been very happy. this year i have been to 360, (the place by the original boullibase guy on Carrol, by the BQE), bacchus, downtown atlantic, farm on adderly; some have gone considerably down hill others are still very serviceable and good but I think Jolie outshines them.

was never impressed by Blue Ribbon or Saul;

none of these are chow destinations per se...(i.e.: unique enough to warrant a trip but are all very good restaurants)

ok - I will be waiting - asbestos gloves and everything

fkerm in Outer Boroughs

You Ate It at the Antic--so spill the beans!

Roast Pork sandwich from Jolie - good

Red Velvet cake from 'church ladies' (next to bacchus? not the belarussian curch the other one) - eh.

Sardines, sangria from Mancha: sardines were $2/piece! I am getting old, I remember 3/$5; sangria eh.

Six Points righteous "Ale" from waterfront ($3, chipshop was charging $4 - whats that about?); first time with this - obviously of the 'punk/oi school of the english ale arts...this beer was very 'in my face'

who were the big tables set up next to Downtown atlantic and then further down, I think by the house of D, anyway one was a 'raw' bar and the other seemed to have a variety of meat, maybe they encompassed the PJHandleys? anyway - they did not carry any restaurant name, they just had signs that read "antic" on them or something. Oh, they were selling the Kronenbourg 1667 (or whatever that stuff is named; why are they trying to bring this stuff over?)

still enjoyable:

I counted 6 Mozzerapea stands...think they are the 'beard' for the "sawziige and peppa" syndicate

and why was SoulSopt .75 mile away from their storefront?

fkerm in Outer Boroughs