moymoy's Profile
Tartine Bakery - best time to visit
Thanks everyone, I will take zachschef's advice and go on Mon/early afternoon. Now I will keep my fingers crossed that the banana cream pie is available...
Tartine Bakery - best time to visit
Hi, I'm visiting SanFran this coming weekend and have Sunday afternoon and all day Monday to stroll the city...my question is: when is the best time of day to visit Tartine and actually get seat to eat the highly praised pastries in relative calm. I'm open to any time really, just want to have the most relaxing experience. Thanks in advance!
Got reservations to Zuni as well =)
Little Pepper aka Xiao La Jiao - fish dish recs (or other dish recs)
You can't go wrong with the water cooked fish, my friends & I always order that (recently had the same dish at Wu Liang Ye and Lil Pepper's is superior imo) and love it. I was not impressed at all with the pork with crispy rice, I would not recommend it, the gravy was abundant and too watery.
As a side dish, you might want to try the corn & pine nuts. toasty & perfectly spiced. It's a simple dish but rates high on taste.
Enjoy!
starbucks whole beans
If you want bold then Gold Coast is your best friend. This is so strong that I feel I need a water chaser everytime I have a cup. Overall, Sumatra & Pike's are my favorites. So I'm in total agreement with almccasland.
What ingredients make your heart go pitter pat?
Try to get your hands on thai oyster sauce. Great stuff!
Zabb: better than Sripraphai? Is it a lock?
Sri forever and always. Tried Zabb Queens & Zabb City, am not rushing to go back to either place. I did feel that Zabb Queens' crispy pork with chinese broc had a slight edge over Sri but their laabs and papaya salad was just not to my liking...maybe it's simply the Issan style that I don't care for.
Sri is never disappointing but at times there is some inconsistency in their spicing and portions. Been a regular for 6+years and they are still my go-to thai place. Every place in NYC I've tried to date never measures up.
learning to cook Thai food
I've been learning to cook thai over the past few months as well. I referred alot to the following sites and what I remembered from my visits to various thai restos:
http://thaitable.com/Thai/recipes/
http://www.templeofthai.com/recipes/
I think the top thai ingredients are: thai oyster sauce, palm sugar, quality fish sauce (I use Golden Boy) and of course those little bird's eye chilies. These for more have been the "core" condiments, then depending on what dish you are making does the lime, kaffir lime leaves, thai basil, coconut milk, curry pastes come in.
To date I've successfully made:
gai pad gra pow (chicken chili basil, very fragrant & delicious b/c of the thai sweet basil)
red curry with chicken (this came out almost identical to Sriphapai's in NYC!!)
laab (ditto, so close to Sri's my mother was proud)
pad see ew (very easy & tasty)
pad thai (had a bit of trouble with this one b/c having never used dried rice noodles & tamarind before, so it was alot of trial & error)
Let me know if you have questions. Hope this helps!
real bubble tea
Ten Ren Tea on Mott St (or any TenRen branch actually)makes the best, you can really taste the tea. Not watered down or powered up.
Looking for Weird Hong Kong Chips
HK Supermarket on Main St in Flushing definitelay carries the Calbee brand. They even have one that seaweed flavored.
Creamer vs. Half and Half
kevinb,
i can totally relate, my family grew up on h&h, about a year ago i switched to 2% and never went back. now i use 1% organic milk (much better than regular 1%) and it's great in my coffee. once you stray away from h&h going back is very difficult, the heaviness of the h&h becomes alot more prominent.
Organic Apple Cider Vinegar - where to buy?
Anyone know where I can pick up some? I have not seen it in any of my local supermarkets...would prefer not to order online.
Thanks in advance!
Soft Shell Crabs
I get the Srip softshell with mango salad off their regular menu, always excellent.
I already hated McDonald's...
Live and let live. I go to Starbucks every am because I choose to and because I'd rather not have to jostle a mug of coffee on the subway. And it DOES taste good to me.
I wouldn't call it lazy. It's called choice. There's way too much hating on chains on CH and by way, calling their patrons stupid & lazy.
Everyday Food PBS
I've watched a few episodes and the techniques & recipes are good but I do find the setup a bit sterile, it feels like they are cooking in a laboratory.
Sushi: Fingers or Chopsticks?
Any type of food involving rice and/or noodles I would use a fork, spoon or chopsticks. It's a personal choice. I know that sushi should be eaten with fingers but I prefer not to.
Have gas prices effected your habits?
Gas prices have definitely affected my grocery shopping habits. Instead of making weekly trips to the supermarket and specialty food stores I try to just wait it out to make bi-weekly trips. So even if I'm out of say, orange juice...I live without it until my next market run.
One good thing about combining trips is that it helps clean out the pantry.
Ah...I miss those $1.85 a gallon days....
Trader Joe's - "prepared" foods
I'm not a TJ's diehard either but of their prepared foods I do enjoy their frozen vegetarian pad thai. Had a very bad experience with their fozen spanakopita but was too lazy to bring it back. Have yet to find a "gem" but I just bought a bottle of their olive oil, I'm hoping that will be a gem.
From a box or can and not so bad?
Progresso's Chicken Noodle Soup and Sabra's Hummus...taste delicious, why bother making your own =)
Delivery man yelled at us for not tipping 20%
No way in NYC is $4 tip considered appropriate. You might be able to get away with tipping 10% but not below.
What Is More Important to Being a Great Chef? Technique or Recipes
KT, I understand where you are going but it's pretty obvious on TC that "classics" refer to Western or Americanized classics. Lasagna while Italian in origin is pretty standard American fare. I think instead of terming it a "classics" list, it should have been "Dishes We Expect You To Know."
While I have no issue with only Western dishes deemed "classics" especially in an American reality tv show it doesn't necessarily mean that what is classic to Colicchio is known to all.
Last season in a similar challenge, a dish called Chicken A La King came up, supposedly it's American comfort food...really? I'm born and raised in America and never heard of that dish until TC. The dish must have been common pre-1970s or something.
Yes, I think not knowing certain "classics" or techniques should be held against you. It's like knowing how to speak but not understanding grammar.
Pasta cooked 'al dente', am I the only one who doesn't like it that way?
TomDel, your post made me smile because my elementary school served the same spaghetti and meatballs although circa 1985!! Has your friend tried the canned Chefboyardee (I might have spelled that wrong)? It comes close to the childhood version.
Top Chef Season 4
I'm glad she's gone too, she was beyond dull and apparently can't cook either. Shrimp scampi is relatively simple and why would you want to pair cauliflower with shrimp?
Inexpensive grocery items that are surprisingly good
Cape Cod potato chips $2.99
DeCecco spaghetti $1.59
Higher quality overall and shows in the taste.
Cooking fish without the fish smell
I had the same issue in my apt. For salmon, I use the oven broiler now and love it. Same texture (if not better) as pan frying but minus the stink. Just place fish over a foil lined cookie sheet (or oven proof pan), seasoning, little drizzle of oil and in less than 10 mins a great peice of fish.
I wouldn't use the GF grill as it will cause the same smelly problem.
Cakes at a Chinese Bakery
Yes, the inbetween layers will be taro, chestnut or red bean paste. They typically have single serving sizes for sale as well. You might want to have a taste test first.
VERY bad experience at Egg
I've only been to Egg once for breakfast so I'm not sure if it's the same staff at night. I will say that the help is a bit space cadet-y. It is a very small space though, so I'm not sure what the hostess could have done to seat the OP when there were no seats.
Before moving out of NY, where would you eat?
I have one more...Pio, Pio in Jackson Hts, the rotiserrie chicken & green sauce are amazing. I have friends who have moved out West and whenever they come back for a visit Pio Pio is always the spot they want to hit, followed closely by Sri.
Wine suggestion for Thai
Just FYI, Sri is no longer BYOB, they have a liquor license, not clear what OP had planned to do...bring own wine or order there.
Before moving out of NY, where would you eat?
Peter Luger's...just to see what all the fuss is about.
