dippedberry's Profile
Gourmet's Top 50 Restaurants 2006
Oh, really?
http://www.buzzcamp.com/
I especially like this bullet within the text:
"Get details of how Chez Panisse in Berkeley and In-N-Out Burger built their success with buzz and how you can apply these strategies to increase your sales."
Good olive bread with Whole olives
Caputo's in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, has excellent olive bread. I think the olives are mostly whole, but I couldn't swear on it.
Manhattan Crawl / Food Marathon
For Chinatown, just a stop for fried dumplings at Dumpling House and soup dumplings at Joe's Shanghai.
Skip the hot dog and head straight to Katz for pastrami.
For the burger I would throw in a stop at Mo Pitkins for the Mo-burger: with a schmear of chicken liver, fried onions and a fried egg.
Then up to 6th St and hit Angon for Indian. Then hang around the E.V. and hit the following for noshes:
Minca: Shoyu ramen
Caracas Arepa Bar: arepas, of course
Momofuku or Ssam Bar: pork buns
Teresas: pierogis
Otafuku: squid balls
Zaragoza Grocery: taco
Gem Spa: egg cream
Beard Papa: cream puff
Tuck Shop: Australian meat pie
And that's just to start...
PS. Without getting into who has better pizza, geographically Lombardi's or Una Pizza Napoletana is a better choice for you than Grimaldi's, which is in Brooklyn. Your choice, of course.
Slicers: Borner vs. Benriner
I'm shopping around for a mandoline-type slicer and I have pretty much heard such great things about the Super Benriner, the inexpensive Japanese-style slicer, that I had decided to get it. But I just found a deal on the Borner V-Slicer and I'm wondering if it would be as good. The Borner is European with German-steel blades, so I think the blades are set at a different angle than the Japanese slicers. The Borner also comes with one of those veggie holders that you clip onto the veg to prevent your fingers from being sliced; the Super Benriner comes with a finger guard attached to cover the blade.
Unless anybody has a compelling argument why I shouldn't get the Borner (which is a third of the price) I think I will order it since it's a small investment.
Would value your input.
Pinkberry frozen yogurt [moved from Manhattan board]
Citing the LA Times, they will be opening 30 locations in NYC in the near future.
Help - I can never make a light and airy cake!
I tend to prefer butter myself, but it will give you a denser cake than using oil. Think about it: butter will solidify at room temp but oil (veggie, canola, olive) will not. For people who prefer a lighter cake, oil is the way to go. (Though it's good to combine with some portion of butter, buttermilk, or sour cream for flavor.)
ideas for leftover fresh ricotta
Lemon Ricotta Pancakes are pretty easy
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/12793
But you can use it in any way you would use cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, mascarpone or almost any fresh dairy.
-Put it in mashed potatoes
-Put any fruit preserves or compote or honey on it
-Put it in an omelette
-Put it in a tart or quiche (pairs well with spinach or greens)
-Top a salad with it
-Mix it into yogurt for some rich texture and flavor
-Dump it into meatloaf
-Make an Italian Ricotta cheesecake
Really there's no limit.
Help - I can never make a light and airy cake!
-Use cake flour, not AP
-Test your baking powder or soda before using
-Use oil instead of butter
-Whip up the eggs (either alone or with wet ingredients) before adding in dry ingredients
-Don't overmix or overbake
Danish (= hot dog lover) in search of best hot dog
hotdoglover, aka John Fox, Great to see your input on this board (since I don't get to New Jersey too often). Your expertise and general houndy-ness is needed around here.
I wanted to ask you your thoughts on the recent phenomenon of expensively priced so-called Kobe dogs. I see them popping up around town these days, including at the foul David Burke outpost at Bloomingdale's. Have you been taste testing these suckers?
ISO The Holy Grail of Cookbooks
lunchbox, Good luck to you. The problem is that there are very few cookbooks in the US that are that expensive (+$300). In fact, other than the El Bulli volumes and some wacky Dom Perignon cookbook (which is British and retails for 1000 pounds) I can't think of any. But maybe I don't know nothing. ; )
Maybe it was British? (English language with weights points to it.)
ISO The Holy Grail of Cookbooks
Could it be the Ducasse cookbook, Grand Livre de Cuisine? Just a shot in the dark...
Was your book written in English?
Need a nice bar for 15-20 people
What do you mean, notorious? They just opened a few weeks ago! Are you speaking from experience or just what you've heard?
Gourmet's Top 50 Restaurants 2006
Don't kid yourself. Almost all media mention of a restaurant was arranged by/through a publicist, especially when you are talking about the high-end places as on the Gourmet list. This does not include the publicists hired to represent individual chefs.
Gourmet's Top 50 Restaurants 2006
PR doesn't enter into the decision? What wonderful world do you live in, Robert? Making it onto lists like this is the #1 job of the many publicists employed by restaurants.
Gourmet's Top 50 Restaurants 2006
Well, part of the problem is that publicity and reputation is the lifeblood of the restaurant business. Gourmet is a reputable publication and they are shining a spotlight on restaurants that they feel are deserving. Many who read the publication will believe what Gourmet says, taking their patronage to places on the list vs. those not on the list. That is why it is particularly sad when Gourmet does such a haphazard job and just sticks a restaurant on the list (perhaps higher than it deserves?) based on reputation and PR rather than the current state of its quality. By calling it a 2006 list, they put an imprimatur of relevance to it, saying that at the current time, at the time of publication, these restaurants deserve particular mention and acclaim. The truth is that many don't deserve the honor and another restaurant that is less well-known or struggling might. Gourmet needs to be called on it.
HELP! Where can I buy fresh sea urchin roe in NYC (retail)
You are talking about HanAhReum, which does have sea urchin, but it's already been shelled and in a relatively large package -- there's at least 20-25 pieces in the box. The Sunrise Market ones also come shelled.
Citarella carries them alive and still prickly. You have to shell them yourself, if you know how.
Danish (= hot dog lover) in search of best hot dog
What? No one's mentioned the German-style dogs around the city. Certainly a visit to Hallo Berlin (or its street cart) is in order.
Also, I'm not a fan, but Mandler's must be mentioned. They have an all-beef dog, though I've only tried a couple of the sausages. Didn't love'em but they make their own (I think) so it's worth a visit.
Last but not least, there are a number of organic homemade hot dogs available at Union Square Greenmarket (to take home, not ready-made). Flying Pigs has a pork and beef one with natural sheep casing, Violet Hills has a juicy one and even the buffalo vendor has buffalo hot dogs if that's to your liking. I'm fond of the Violet Hills dog, but they are pricey.
PS. True dog connossieurs should head out to northern New Jersey after reading the extensive reports from hounder John Fox (and others).
gift for a chef to be?
Yes! The El Bulli cookbook! Every serious aspiring chef should be drooling for the set.
The 2003-2004 is about to come out. Getting all four would be generosity beyond compare.
http://www.ecookbooks.com/products.html?ref=383268020&sid=31916620060923143523&action=det_35292&searchvalues=el%20%3DAND%3Bbulli&searchlogic=simplesearch
Where can I get packaged, cooked chestnuts in Brooklyn?
Try Sahadi. They have chestnuts in various guises.
Fried Chicken
Some wonderful hound mentioned a while back Korean-style fried chicken at a place called Baden Baden in K-town. Then this past week, it was reviewed by the $25 and under section of the NYT. It's rotisserie chicken that is then deepfried. Sounds like a winner.
And if you haven't tried the chicken at M&G Diner up near the Apollo, it definitely should be tried. I don't consider it among the best, but many do.
Seeking fresh longan fruit and Rambutan
Don't know what these suckers are, but I saw them in the refrigerated section of Trader Joe's this morning and I thought I'd just look up the threads on CH to hear the word.
Il Buco Sagra del Maiale
It was ok. Not too crowded so there was a homey feeling. Nice spread and the smoke from the grill smelled porky and delicious.
But let's get real: Those portions were tiny! The 'sandwich' was actually 2 slices of pork on a ciabatta roll. It was a slider! With a little garnish of arugula salad or faro salad.
The sausage serving was one 4 inch sausage, tasty but tiny. Each of these were $7.
Fortunately, it was raising money for Slow Food, so you can't really feel bad about it, but for most of you out there, you didn't miss much.
If you were picking one Brooklyn restaurant?
You're right, Bob. "All suggestions." True.
I guess I was responding with greater frustration than necessary when a call for a restaurant in Brooklyn elicits the same response from 12 hounders. That much consensus is suspect. Brooklyn is too big and too diverse to get the same 4 mainstream restaurant suggestions from over a dozen hounders.
But I'll start toeing the line too: Hey, OP, I hear that al di la is fantastic! But if Italian's not for you, Applewood or Chestnut is great. Be sure not to consider any neighborhoods but Park Slope, Cobble Hill or Brooklyn Heights. Really. There's nothing else out here.
Gourmet's Top 50 Restaurants 2006
Uhhh...I guess the judges factored in nostalgia when determining the list, as you do. Isn't this the 2006 list we are talking about?
Wanna give a shot at why Spago is at #4?
Gourmet's Top 50 Restaurants 2006
Should Chez Panisse be on the list? Probably. Debatable, but yeah, likely. Should it be number 2 on the list? Hell, no.
If you were picking one Brooklyn restaurant?
Yeah, thanks for that.
Remind me again: How old is al di la? How long has Applewood been around? How about Chestnut and Saul and 360 and The Grocery?
Gourmet's Top 50 Restaurants 2006
By recently, you mean he was just hired. Hired to overhaul a restaurant that had become tired under the reins of Colicchio who has been distracted by his other restaurants and TV commitments. By hired, you mean he is about to re-vamp the menu and we, the public, have no clue if it will be a subtle change or a complete transformation. So recent that this Gourmet ranking has nothing to do with him. And since we jaded NYers have seen plenty of talented guys fizz out, let's reserve judgement until you've actually tasted what he does at Gramercy.
He has a good reputation from Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Great. But do you notice BHSB on that Gourmet list? Yeah, I didn't either. Maybe it should've, which only makes the list more suspect, doesn't it?
Frank Bruni [split from Outer Boroughs]
I guess it doesn't matter that I didn't want to start a Frank Bruni thread and that my statement really only makes sense in context as a response to someone else.
Frank Bruni [split from Outer Boroughs]
Thank you so much, moderators, for pulling my response from another thread and starting a new one with it, thereby showing it out of context and sounding bizarre. I'm sure the person I was supposed to be responding to will take that extra bit of time to troll all around the boards for it. What? You left no "we took the response to your statement and put it waaaay over there" message so that that person could find it? Well, I guess that's ok, since you now started a thread with my handle on it that I never wanted to start.
Frank Bruni [split from Outer Boroughs]
[[ Note: This thread was split from the Outer Boroughs board at: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/327591 -- The Chowhound Team ]]
I don't agree with most of his conclusions and find his prose style to be ridiculous. But worse than that is when someone on CH implies that his word is somehow the gold seal that trumps everyone else's opinion. This is CH, not Frank Bruni says...
So I agree with someone else who responded to that comment but unfortunately had their response deleted by the powers that be: if you like al di la, great, but give us YOUR opinion with YOUR detailed experience, not Frank Bruni's, as though that should have greater weight somehow.
Frankly, based on Bruni's opinion, people should never leave the island of Manhattan.
