I have an 8# whole one in the freezer that needs eating. Going to grill some filets, then maybe dress them with DaVero EVOO, sea salt, and Meyer lemon juice and zest for Mother's Day dinner.

I'm having difficulty thinking through a seasonal vegetable side to go with this in light of the fish's delicate flavor and unusually unctuous texture.

Any ideas? Many thanks.

Hot tip: get rid of anything with "Rustic" in its title.

+1 on Red Iguana. I always call my favorite SLC cabbie once we hit the runway, and he'll be waiting at the curb by the time we get to it. Works well.

My grandmother used to order fish from Rogacki in the 50's (through the 90's), always told me it was the best, if that's what you wanted, and wanted to pay for it.

I went there for lunch in 2005, or so, and had a very nice solo lunch.

I'm glad it's there, still.

After she drained her boiled potatoes well, my German grandmother folded up a dish towel, placed it on the pot, replaced the lid, and put the pot back on the (now turned off burner) for 15 minutes or so. The residual heat from the pan and the burner really dries out the spuds, and you'll notice quite a bit of moisture in the towel. Been doing it this way for 40 years. Only other thing I'd mention is to have your water well-salted.

We just made the cornbread recipe from the Lee Bros. Charleston book and it was really, really good. (And we went to the store for buttermilk.)

Okay. Just to follow up. I hit Bamboo Garden for what ended up being a very serviceable lunch with my 77 year old German-born Mom yesterday. Pork wontons w/ "spicy sauce" very good -- dumpling dough thin and silky. Another appetizer/cold dish of beef shin & tripe with a cloned sauce quite delicious as well. Both lacking not heat but Szechuan peppercorns. Twice-cooked side pork with cabbage perfectly fatty and unctuous (though I liked it better for today's lunch after caramelizing it a bit). Shrimp with "spicy salt" were okay -- not the best quality shrimp. Shredded potatoes with jalapeno were exactly that. Great service! I'd be a regular here if I lived near Midland, work my way through the menu.

Thank you. I'm simply trying to stay out of Olive Garden, etc.

Bamboo Garden seems to be part of a larger company that has 3 other Szechuan places in the state. Is it good or just "interesting"? I kind of go for pig's ears and tripe and stuff like that if it's the real deal.

Heck, maybe we'll hit K&C Curry House. Despite looking around, I'd not run across it.

Thanks again!

Visiting my mother next month. Any suggestions for decent, credible Chinese? I'm not expecting much, but would love to hear any recommendations. (Anyone remember the venerable, white tablecloth Rodeitcher's in Freeland in the late 60's/early 70's? God, I loved that place as a kid.)

I'm simply unable to be gracious. How horrible. You're a sensitive, gracious host; she's a boorish, undeserving guest. Uninvite them, and let the chips fall where they may.

P.S. I hope this isn't a goof post.

Holy crap, kaleo. Perfect.

Your 5 are my 5, too.

I'm with you on the desirability of the idea, but not on the execution. Even a refrigerated flank steak doesn't get to room temperature in an hour, much less, say, a 10# rib roast, which takes many, many hours to get to room temperature. What my point is.

Recipes that tell you to take your (choose the protein) out of the refrigerator one hour before (choose the cooking method) so it comes up to room temperature. Demonstrably misguided, to put it politely.

Thanks for all the tips and comments from this board. We ate pretty well.

Friday lunch at BAMBOO GARDEN. I loved this place, which we hit right at 11 when they opened. Mediocre potstickers (should have known), then things picked up in a major way with Szechuan green beans, cold hacked-up rabbit with chili oil, chong qing chicken, and dry-fried frog.

Stopped at LE PICHET for a mid-afternoon snack -- chicken liver terrine and a tuna and chickpea salad.

5:00 cocktail at ZIGZAG -- something called, I think, a Chase Manhattan. Absolutely delicious. My first "craft" cocktail experience.

Friday dinner at COTERIE ROOM. We liked this place okay, but the room's a bit cold, the service underwhelming, and the food pretty good but not mind-blowing. We loaded up on the starters -- ham cracklings with fonduta, poutine, octopus salad with corona beans and mustard greens (our favorite), and steak tartare. After a brief respite, my son ordered their hamburger (surprisingly delicious with tasty beef, a great bun, and an acidic tomatillo ketchup) and my wife and I shared two more starters -- the mac and cheese with truffles and duck ham and a stinging nettle puree. All in all, a nice meal.

We slowed down a bit after Friday.

We had to go to Tacoma Saturday morning for graduation activities, so picked up some (frighteningly expensive) TD donuts at DAHLIA BAKERY for the drive down, and my son grabbed a breakfast sandwich of some kind. Must have been good because he didn't share.

Saturday lunch in Tacoma was at SOUTHERN KITCHEN. Serviceable fried fried stuff.

Took the ferry out to a family dinner on Bainbridge Island Saturday night. Willapa Bay and some kind of BC oysters on the half shell to start, then (yes, I'm bragging) perfectly grilled fresh troll-caught King salmon filet with a lemon and basil compound butter. Lots of salads on the side.

Sunday was Mother's Day and graduation also. We slept in and hadn't made any plans, so just slipped down to DE LAURENTI for San Daniele prosciutto, mortadella, a couple cheeses, butter, and a baguette. Breakfast in the room.

After we got back from Tacoma, about 8 of us met up at SEA GARDEN in the ID. This has become a traditional stop for us when we visit. It was as crowded with families as I've ever seen it -- no doubt the Mother's Day thing. Steamed stuffed tofu with minced prawns, peking duck, crab with ginger and scallions, clams with black bean sauce, salt and pepper squid and pork chops, pea vines with garlic, steamed sea bass, longetivity noodles with mushrooms. As always, great service, and you can't beat the tab.

Monday was our last day in town and also our anniversary, which we celebrated with both of our sons by having a late breakfast at TOULOUSE PETIT. Sazerac, mint julep, and mimosa with beignets to start, then creole hash, pork cheek hash, eggs hussard, and skirt steak. The breakfast happy hour thing is quite a deal.

Monday dinner was the highlight of our trip. Probably the nicest, most well-balanced (and reasonably priced) restaurant meal in quite some time doing the "fancy" at STAPLE & FANCY. The first round brought: sliced fresh mozzarella with fresh spring peas dressed with some balsamic and garnished with plumped currants; a pile of prosciutoo; chickpeas with rock shrimp, olives, and pickled peppers; perfectly grilled asparagus; fried oysters with a hot pepper aoli; smoked albacore crostini; and escolar crudo with an avocado puree and fresh chiles.

Pasta was next: Pork ravioli with brown butter and fiddleheads; and strozapretti with clams, cumin seed, and fresno chiles.

The mains were a grilled sea bass fillet with a nettle salsa verde and a chicken with fried spinach and garlic sauce.

For the life of me I can't remember what dessert was, but I recall it being perfectly tasty.

If you haven't been to S&F, I'd highly recommend it.

Anyway, there's my trip report!

One of my favorite breakfasts is to re-heat a slice of pizza in EVOO in a frying pan, until the crust is again crispy, then put it under the broiler while I quickly fry an egg in the same pan with more oil. Pinch of red pepper flakes and I'm loving my morning.

We make them and use them all the time -- whenever a dish needs a little extra acid. Lately, I've been really noticing recipes and restaurants not quite getting that pitch-perfect hit of something a bit acidic (vinegar, lemon, lime, preserved lemon, etc.) that brighten and lighten dishes just before serving. More anon when I do my Seattle trip report....

My dear wife made fish cakes -- zest of a couple Meyer lemons, their juice, minced scallions from the garden, a skiff of mayo -- tamped in cheap-ass Progresso bread crumbs, then sauteed and served over volunteer arugula (EVOO & Manadori balsamic) from the incipient garden. Nice snack. Thanks all for your ideas!

Must be the weekend for seafood leftovers.

I've got about 2# of leftover roasted (w/ fennel and lemon) red snapper I don't have any ideas for.

It's beautiful meat, but what's throwing me a bit its nearly gelatinous nature. Picking the last meat off the frames last night was the piscine equivalent of boning cooked oxtails.

Any ideas? Thanks!

On the way to and from Seattle we had a couple meals in Moses Lake.

Dinner at Pho Saigon was decent -- a little sweetened-up but more than serviceable, especially after a 7 hour afternoon on the road.

Lunch on the way home was at Tacos El Rey. Tongue, tripe, barbacoa, carnitas tacos. We ordered twice. Yum. A great spot; we'll be back, if only to try the massive bowls of menudo.

Both of these places are just fine, especially if you're not up for the usual road fare. I'd also like to add that the service at both was gracious and efficient.

Many thanks for everyone's input. We're set -- going to stick with both Coterie Room and Toulouse Petit. Time to start perusing menus. I'll post a trip report.

So, we'll stick with Toulouse Petit. I'm hoping a late Monday breakfast won't be too busy.

We had a splendid backroom, multi-course lunch arranged by a friend at Salumi our last visit and loved it. (I once had them send me a whole culatello for Christmas.) We'll have to swing by there again.

Branzino looks good but above my price point the way my family orders. Maybe for some Happy Hour meatballs.

Thanks, all. I'm still wondering a bit about Toulouse Petit, notwithstanding uhockey's review. Great deal, certainly, but it doesn't get much love here (or anywhere else, really). Also, Coterie Room was chosen more for its proximity to our digs and being new to us than for its menu, which looks interesting but not mind-blowing (except for those cracklings). I'd have thought about Tavolata if not for our pick of Staple & Fancy Monday.

Thanks.Looks like we won't make Quinn's at all, then. I had thought about Ba Bar -- banh cuon & pate chaud -- a perfect substitution. (There are 3 of us on Saturday, so I was thinking of just ordering a thing or 2 at each stop, if only to fortify us for spending a couple hours at Elliot Bay.)

Visiting from Montana next week for our son's college graduation, staying downtown (2nd & Virginia). Here's the plan, so far:

Friday early lunch: Bamboo Garden on the way into town.
Friday afternoon: grab room snacks and wine at DeLaurenti, maybe a couple crabs to pick.
Late Friday dinner: Since we'll not want to be driving anywhere, Coterie Room.

Saturday lunch: Capitol Hill crawl -- Quinn's, Pike Street Fish Fry, Terra Plata, Taylor for oysters.
Saturday dinner: Visiting family on Bainbridge Island.

Graduation (U Puget Sound) Sunday brunch/lunch: Southern Kitchen in Tacoma.
Graduation dinner: 12-14 of us at Sea Garden for epic feast.

Monday brunch/lunch: Toulouse Petit (thanks uhockey).
Monday dinner: Staple & Fancy.

Tuesday morning we stop at Mutual Fish on the way out of town and fill the cooler.

What do you all think? Past visits, we've eaten at Cafe Campagne, Shiro, Le Pichet, Steelhead Diner, Matt's, Revel, Spinasse, Long's Provincial, Green Leaf, Szechuan Noodle Bowl, among others. We always have a family meal at Sea Garden.

We'll be visiting next month, staying downtown, and are scheduled to head to Bainbridge Island for a family salmon dinner -- about 12 at table. We've been tasked with bringing hors d'oeuvre. I'm thinking of grabbing a bag of oysters from Taylor @ Melrose Mkt. that afternoon and loading up with assorted cheeses, charcuterie, breads, etc. @ DeLaurenti on the way to the ferry. No doubt tasty, but somewhat uninspired, and I'm not thrilled about lugging around a small cooler with ice and oysters. (We'll be walking.) Any better ideas?

The nose knows. If it smells like shit, that's what it is.

Thanks for all your help. I get it now, and didn't before. I think the Owner's Manual's a bit misleading. We did the "burn off" in the garage, thought I'd torched a few tires.

Thank you. How are you, then, supposed to brown meats in it?

I just got one of these things. The walls seem to get hot, but not the bottom. Is this a defect, or the way they work? Kind of urgent since I'm cooking 4 gallons of chili for a fundraiser tomorrow. Many TIA.