Thanks for all of the respones! Some of the places you guys mentioned seem a little out of my friends' price range (we're all poor med students). But right now on my list are Milk Bar, Minamoto, Magnolia, and Crumbs. So I'll see what they think.

I need to go to Bouchon and La Maison du Chocolat some other time when I can splurge on my own =)

-----
La Maison du Chocolat
30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020

Hey guys, I have friends visiting from upstate who want to meet for dinner and "experience real new york" so for dinner we're going to get chicken and rice. I was wondering if there are any really good places to pick up dessert (or possibly get a drink but I think we're more interested in dessert) in the area around Rockefeller center (not fancy). Thanks!

Hey I need to get a bottle of wine for a client for his birthday tomorrow before I get to work. Is there a place open at 7:30 (like some kind of food store?) that sells wine around 54th and 6th?

TIA!

This is a good point too. I probably do'nt need an appetizer, it is only 4 of us after all. I may end up leaving it out.

I'd love to try making my own doughnuts but I think with everything else it's gonna be pretty hectic in the kitchen already. Also the doughnuts are more for tradition than out of desire to eat them =P

i recently used overripe pears for pear crisp.i used a traditional apple crisp recipe but cut back on the sugar and it was delish

ooo frangipane tart is a great idea! i love almond =9 I've never heard of matzah crack but I googled it and it looks like it'd be awesome so I might go with that too...

I'm not sure about appetizers. I want it to be light because of how rich the dinner and dessert will be and I want it to be something easy/inexpensive to make. Maybe just a simple..i don't know, off the top of my head some kind of spiced/roasted nuts to snack on? It's kind of a cop-out but I feel like it could potentially be impressive and it won't be too filling before the meal.

Thanks for the suggestions!! Good point on the latkes, I guess I just felt bad not having a separate traditional latke, but I suppose there really is no purpose!

Plum applesauce sounds delicious! Green beans are a classic, but I wouldn't have thought to roast them so maybe I'll go with that.

I'm using Ina Garten's recipe for brisket which uses tomato juice, but I was planning on adding beef broth. I didn't plan on adding wine because I don't like the distinct winey taste in my food. Which fresh herbs go well with brisket? Ina's recipe calls for dried oregano and bay leaves but I'm open to any flavors.

I think for dessert I'd like to have something more dessert-y like some kind of pie or tart maybe?

I'm throwing an intimate Chanukah dinner for my boyfriend and two friends and looking for menu ideas. This is what I came up with so far:

Latkes- 3 types: regular, sweet potato, purple potato (for fun)
Homemade applesauce (any creative suggestions for this are appreciated)
Brisket with carrots/onions
Store bought doughnuts

In particular I need suggestions for a vegetable, light appetizer, and dessert.

Thanks!

Oh no!! I LOVE the Vietnam! It's one of my family's favorite places.Yes, it is not a fancy place at all but I think the food there is delicious. The spring rolls, fried tofu and green papaya appetizers are so yummy and I always go for either the pork chops or lettuce wraps for entree. It doesn't have a great ambience but the food is delicious and for take out obviously it's perfect.

I made stir fry yesterday and used fresh jalapenos. I pulled out the ribs and seeds with my hands (didnt' have any clean spoons). Since that time I have washed my hands dozens of times. But if I put pressure on the tips of my fingers they still sting!!

Has anyone else had this experience? When does it go away?

When I googled dim sum in Syracuse the only thing that comes up is China Pavillion. I went there yesterday with a friend and here is my experience. They had a dim sum menu with some pretty good variety and prices ($3.75 for most dishes) but the quality was so-so. We ordered fried shrimp in taro, siu mai, steamed pork buns, long beach noodles, glutinous rice with chicken, shrimp dumplings. The size of the actual dishes were smaller than I expected, and they did not seem particularly fresh or home-made. It almost seemed like they could have gotten them frozen. The shrimp dumplings in particular did not taste fresh, even though they were called "fresh shrimp dumplings." All in all it was very mediocre, except maybe the long beach noodles which actually tasted pretty good. But it was cheap and seemingly the only option around. I dont think I'd go back though.

Does anyone know of any other dim sum around Syracuse? (Don't suggest Hai Hong in Ithaca because it's too far for me.) I'm worried it's unlikely that there's somewhere else considering that several people I've asked around answer with "What is dim sum?"

-----
Hai Hong Restaurant
208 Dryden Rd Ste 2, Ithaca, NY 14850

I have some dried shiitake mushrooms and followed the directions for reconstituting them (boiling for 15 minutes and squeezing out excess water). They had an okay texture but they had a gross bitter aftertaste. I'm not sure what I did wrong.

I possibly boiled them longer than 15 minutes. Also the mushrooms themselves are probably kind of old...like at least a year or so.

Thanks for the info. Turns out I'm not going to be able to make it tomorrow, but I'm glad (though disappointed) that it doesn't sound like I'll be missing out on much. I've been to pow wows as a kid and if this one is a poor example then I don't feel so bad about missing it.

I like to watch the dancing and fry bread is great but I was hoping for something more. Oh well.

For years I've seen signs on the Palisades Parkway for the Native American Festival at Anthony Wayne Rec and I always miss it but i'm determined to make it this Sunday .

The flyer http://www.redhawkcouncil.org/images/... says it's $12 admission and there's dance, crafts, and food. Has anyone been? What kind of food is there? Anything interesting or just festival food?

What should I do if I submitted several recipes to a competition but didn't include information required by the rules (ie. recipe category and number of servings). I had read it but when it came to entering I left it out because there were no specific fields for that information.

Will they ignore the recipes because I left out that info? Should I resubmit the same recipes and include the info?

haha i definitely didn't catch the sarcasm the first time...

there's nothing wrong with chain restaurants once in a while. the food is usually decent and well priced. whereas with "real" restaurants it can be hit or miss for big bucks. plus, olive garden breadsticks are better than the cold bread you get all the time at fancy places.

I had dinner a few nights ago at Union. The food was very good and it had an amazing ambience. A bit pricey though. Not to mention an aggressively friendly doorman.

Actually most of these recommendations are quite expensive. What happened to <$20?

I had lunch a couple weeks ago at Holy Smoke.

First impressions:
- odd smell, possibly from the stuff they use to smoke because it smelled like wood and chemicals
-ambiance is like a typical bbq joint, warm and a bit kitschy, but it feels very old
-We were there at 2pm on a Sunday and there were 4 other groups of diners there. There was only one waitress for everyone but I found her to be slow in getting us menus/bringing food.

Food:
- Standard bbq menu
- Delicious St. Louis ribs. Quite possibly the most tender (and fattiest) ribs I have ever had. They were also much smokier tasting than other ribs I've had (like Dinosaur bbq which I think are much sweeter and saucier).
- Pulled pork was good
- Sweet potato fries came out cold
- Cornbread was cold and hard, as someone else pointed out
- Chili was delicous
- BBQ "Spring Rolls" were very heavy but tasty, like a much better version of Chii's southwestern egg rolls
- 2 of the people in my party ordered burgers and didn't like them (serves them right for getting burgers at a ribs place). But on the bright side they said they had the best french fries they'd ever had.

Overall I really enjoyed the food. It was so so SO fatty though and I felt full for a full 5 hours after eating there even though I shared with someone. The portions are HUGE. I would go back there for bbq, but probably no more than once every few months because the food there is seriously heavy.

I always see this place and want to go! But we always end up parking farther down in the municipal parking lot and never make the trek up there. Now I know I need to go there!

no olive garden or charlie brown's in rockland. closest olive garden is in mahwah, NJ and the closest charlie brown's I know is mohegan lake in westchester

The people I know that go there are interested in fair trade, organic foods that they can feel good about buying. To me it is perplexing because Wegmans has an excellent selection of natural organic foods at much better prices. Personally I wouldn't consider Greenstar a destination for visitors.

The weekend Farmer's Market would be a much more satisfying experience and a definite must-do.

mm I LOVE Sakana but it's a bit expensive and I always have trouble finding people who are willing to splurge a little on sushi =( Ahh I really want a super dragon roll now.

I too was pleasantly surprised to see a gourmet style grocery in Rockland but i was actually a bit disappointed. They have a beautiful pastry display that my boyfriend and I couldn't resist but 3/3 pastries we tried (rugelach, linzer tart, something else I can't remember) were average. Many of their cookies and cookie bars looked like mass produced (you know, those bright orange and pink "mango passion fruit" tart things). This was a big disappointment to me, since I love pastries...

Other than that I agree with magtru that the produce is lacking. Their produce section is a tiny room (especially compared with how large the rest of the store is) with little variety. I don't know why someone would buy produce there since a supermarket is better stocked with produce.

I liked the selection in packaged foods, cookies, snacks, etc. I was a bit disappointed they didn't sell whole grains in bulk.

Overall I really liked the store, but I think it is because it's the only thing like it in Rockland so it's not like I can say that I prefer any place else. Like everyone else mentioned, it fills a void, but it only fills a void for a small group of people in Rockland. I'm not sure how long this place will last. There's probably a reason why there hasn't been a store like it until now.

I'm looking for recommendations for restaurants in Rockland, anywhere from North Rockland to Nyack to Spring Valley (basically between palisades parkway exits 14 through 8).

I live in Rockland but whenever it comes to having dinner out with my family we end up at the same places - The Vietnam, Karavalli, Thai House, and Gilligan's. Nothing too pricey, around $20 or under for entrees.

i second this

Cornell ice cream IS good but I wouldnt' go searching for it, since there wont' be a lot of variety in the prepacked pints (sometimes you can find bavarian raspberry fudge which is pretty good).

I can't believe I forgot about purity. i LOVE purity ice cream 100x more than Cornell dairy. Boomberry is the best black raspberry based ice cream I've ever had, cinnamon, peppermint, almond joyous...I could go on. You MUST go there for ice cream.

Taste of Thai is good but I've had much better Thai outside of Ithaca but as far as being the only option (aside from taste of thai express which is a joke) it's ok.

Sticky Rice is great but it's hole in the wall with strange hours.

-----
Taste of Thai
216 E State St, Ithaca, NY 14850

Oh yes I forgot about Maxie's! They're always packed for dinner.

I can recommend some places in Ithaca. Are you interested in any particular cuisine?

Breakfast/brunch:
Carriage House on Stewart Ave is very popular for upscale breakfast. I had stuffed french toast there that was very good, although a bit pricey. It's a small quaint place with a warm atmosphere. I would highly suggest it for a vacation.
I love going to Sunday brunch at Hai Hong for dim sum.
Collegetown Bagels (I prefer the one on college ave) is a classic for sandwiches and bagels.

Lunch:
Ithaca Ale House has really good modern bar/pub style food. The eggplant fries are AMAZING but a little greasy and filling. One of my favorite casual lunch places.
Sanggam's has a really good Indian lunch buffet (but I'm not really an Indian food connoisseur).
Wings Over Ithaca has THE BEST boneless chicken wings. Honestly I've never been into boneless wings or chicken tenders but these are delicious. They're super moist and just really tasty. I personally don't like the ambiance there though so I prefer it to-go.

Dinner:
Casual:
Ruloffs has great burgers and salads. Typical bar restaurant food.
The Nine's is famous for their deep dish pizza.
Kilpatrick's is my favorite pub style restaurant. Everything there is good. You really can't go wrong.

Not so casual:
Antlers is good American steakhouse food. They usually have very reasonable dinner specials on weekdays (like prime rib, lobster, etc ~$17).
Northstar House has really good eclectic American food. The vibe there is a bit hipster and the menu items sound unusual (I had seared tofu scallops with chickpea mash and roasted broccoli and it was amazing!).
ZaZa's is really good Italian. It's an upscale place and the atmosphere/decor is good for dinner.

Hope this helps!

-----
Carriage House Cafe
305 Stewart Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850

Kilpatrick's
130 E Seneca St, Ithaca, NY 14850

Hai Hong Restaurant
208 Dryden Rd Ste 2, Ithaca, NY 14850

depends what food you're talking about- lumpia is only good fresh, but pretty much everything else is stewlike and tastes better as leftovers. speaking of which, how do they not have pork or chicken adobo??

That is kind of what I expected. Thanks a lot! I'm going to stick with buying Ghirardelli. It definitely seems worth it.