SBJH's Profile
toscana, piemonte, & small kids
We've got about 5-6 days in late August/early September to drive slowly and scenically from the central Adriatic coast (staying a week w/friends) to Torino (meeting up other friends). 2 adults with foodie enthusiams and 2 toddlers. Looking for suggestions of places to stay, places to eat -- maybe a balance of a few days in a town (Lucca?) and a few in the country (Le Langhe?) Any and all ideas please!
Espresso 77 in Jackson Heights
If anyone from 77 is reading...
Ambrosia's stuff is good but the baked goods from Cannelle Patisserie, just a few blocks away in northern JHts, are *great*. Really great traditional French bread and pastry. You should sell them.
Papalo in GAP Farmer's Market
it's sold at the weekly Jackson Heights farmers market too --
Help with Slow Food Rome Recommendations
on a trip 3 years ago we went to Osteria del Velodromo and had an excellent meal. It's what I like best about trattoria (or osteria, whatever) dining - informal, intimate, convivial, and excellent, authentic food. can't recall everything we had, but the antipasto of local meats and cheeses was top-notch, there was a great seafood pasta (it was a friday night) and a terrific red wine from Basilicata. definitely recommended.
Best Indian food in Queens (not counting Spicy M)
went to keralan kitchen last night and was pretty satisfied. i think more satisfied because of the novelty than the excellence - food was good to very good but not excellent. also several items on the menu were unavailable -- apparently their catering business is going gangbusters so they ran out of stuff (it was a keralan festival weekend, we were told.) all that said -- we had a "wild chicken" dish, and though the waiter couldn't tell us much about what made the chicken wild, it was very flavorful - rich and gamey, in a peppery cinnamony sauce - even if the meat was tough. also had a nice mixed-veg dish (Ayival), a cabbage and coconut dish (Thola - probably the standout dish we had), a Keralan yucca, and some iddly, the coconut chutney for which was outstanding. we'll go back to try some of the stuff we really wanted but they were out of.
Good beer selection in E. Villlage/LES
this one's easy:
d.b.a. on 1st ave near 4th street.
WD-50 is disgusting. Right? Anyone?
it's a year since i've been but i had the tasting menu and loved almost everything on it. i wouldn't recommend it to people who don't already eat out a lot, but WD provided a lot of pleasure and interest - wild combinations, textures and sensations that shouldn't but mostly did work. might be that WD's pleasures are more intellectual than many other purely opulent luxury restaurants, but there's room for that kind of experience in my repertoire, at least every so often.
Ssam or Degustation?
Wife and I have a rare night out w/out the baby - which of these places should we eat at? I'm holding a table at Degustation but have been wanting to eat from the full Ssam menu for a long time now... give pros/cons of each if you can???
