dewdropin's Profile
Where to take my 80 yr old cousin from England ?
On the Upper East Side is a lovely restaurant that has a special feel and good food.
It is not a "scene" or "hip" just really beautifully decorated small carriage house.
. It has a reasonably priced fixed dinner. My 83 yr old dad and 80 yr old mom really enjoyed themselves without feeling out of place at some overly trendy place.
Everything about it was right for their taste (food that is recognizable to them, not overly spicy or unusual ingredients!) I also really liked the food. I ate lamb chops.
Kings' Carriage House
251 E. 82nd Street
Where to find Mister Softee?
Late afternoons
West 92nd Street and Columbus Avenue
West 93rd Street and Broadway
Christmas Eve Dinner Recommendation
I'm assuming you're Jewish if you don't celebrate Christmas around a tree eating Christmas dinner at home or at family or friends home.
Our family always has the traditional Jewish version of Christmas, we go see a movie and eat Chinese food.
;-)
This year we will see Sweeny Todd and eat Asian food in our neighborhood the (Upper Westside).
What 's your go-to neighborhood sushi joint?
On the Upper West Side Amsterdam and 92nd street Yuki Sushi
I always fall back on this palce since I never leave feeling ripped off.
Back from our trip- Reviews
Sounds like an absolutely fantastic eating vacation!
Next time you and daughter should not order the same dishes. It would give you an opportunity to taste a variety of food from the menu.
My favorite way to order at a restaurant I’m very interested in tasting the food is that I like to order double the amount of appetizers for people then and share a main dish with someone.
Just so you know there is excellent Pizza in NYC. It’s too bad you ate at some random pizza place. That usually means disgusting doughy pizza.
Did you do anything besides eating in NYC? ;-)
OpenTable Question
Call the resturant. It is the nature of the system, not to have all the time slots.
I got a resv at a very popular mahattan rest. when open table said they had nothing.
At What Temperature Does Pyrex Self-Destruct? (moved from Home Cooking)
Pyrex will not self destruct, so don't worry.
I roast chicken at 425. SOmetimes a higher heat it makes the garlic and onions burn. Make sure the onions are in large chunks.
Moved to CA now back in NYC for a visit...with a toddler! Need recs please.
I hear that Landmarc is welcoming to young kids.
Funky Diner on the UWS (columbus ave and west 80th street) is also good place for kids.
My toddler loved all the cafeterias in the museums around the city. They are filled with families. Not fine dining, but an easy place to eat out with a young kid and amuse them with the sites. We used to get food from Fairway and do picnics in central park playgrounds, or go to pizzerias, Italian restaurants, and local Chinese restaurants. My toddler liked tortellini and other pasta's so we used to go to Italian restaurants a lot. No one seemed to care if the kid was restless.
It is not fair to make a toddler sit still in a restaurant for more then the time it takes for them to eat something. So it becomes a hard time to go to nice restaurants with babies that age. I found it was not a pleasant experience for us and other people sitting near our table. The whole experience is too much for a toddler (in a year or two they are more patient and better patrons in a nice restaurant).
We live in Manhattan and I really loved to go to Coney Island when she was a toddler, this time of year we used to take her to the kiddie rides, and we would all go on the wonder wheel and then eat a lot of Nathan's hot dogs and French fries and beer. We used to have so much fun and the boardwalk is so insanely bizarre it amused my husband and me.
The Aquarium is also on the boardwalk near Coney Island.
In the winter we once drove out to New jersey and went to a place called "Chucky Cheese" now that was a once in a life time experience that she really loved (I would never do it a second time). That place is an indoor amusement park that served the vilest pizza you ever tasted but the toddler had blast for a couple of hours on a rainy day.
Asiakan--UWS
This is my new favorite restaurant!
After walking by this restaurant a million times, I finally ate here last night.
WOW, the food was terrific; Great service, Beautiful well-appointed thoughtful interior with stone walls and dark wood tables. Very inexpensive prices for good quality food and environment.
All this on a crummy part of Amsterdam Ave near 94th Street.
We ate the crispy soft shell crab starter (perfectly juicy, crisp and delicious), duck spring roll (very good and stuffed with tender duck and shiitake mushrooms), sate beef platter was excellent and tender, and the Pad Thai was not overly sweet and suprising that it came with huge shrimps that were perfectly grilled.
This was truly amazingly good food for very inexpensive prices.
I live up the block and I am going back for more this weekend that is how good it was!
Alton Brown
I also like Alton, He is the only reason to turn on Food Network.
There is nothing else left on that network that is of any value.
Mother and 13 yr old daughter from L.A. in town for 5 days.....
What happened to having lunch at Serendipity when you visit NYC with your 13 year old? Then candy shopping at Dylan's Candy bar on 60th and Third Avenue? Is that too pedestrian for 13 year olds these days? I hope not!
My kid grew up in Manhattan and when she was a young teen she and her friends loved to bring out of town friends to Serendipity.
Eating lunch at the Museum of Modern Art is a nice idea.
Or eating lunch at the cavernous old style dining room at the Metropolitan museum is also a nice NYC experience.
Scottish Salmon complaint
I think "Scotch" has always been considered a style of smoking not a place that the salmon comes from. I went to college in Nova Scotia and you couldn't get lox there it was all smoked in NY or Boston, then it came back to Nova Scotia to be sold!
I eat lox once a week and think the ability of the person who slices the lox makes any piece of lox taste better.
Slicing it thin, so it is transparent is the key to full flavor. That packeged crap is too thick and an inexperienced cutter ruins the best lox in the world.
I do not like Zabar lox as much as I like Fairway at 74th Street. I also like that the 74th Steet Fairway people have no attitude and can slice paper thin.
DO NOT SHOP FROM FRESH DIRECT !
Gertel's closing June 22
They are still baking commercially somewhere in Brooklyn, and will still be distributed to local stores.
The only difference is they will not have a storefront anymore.
You can get the baked goods at your local kosher mart, Fairway or Zabars.
Yes, money from real estate development has enticed them to sell.
Take out Chicken UWS
It is sad but true that there are very few good take out chicken places on the UWS.
Flora De Mayo is not as delicious as it used to be. Maybe my taste for chicken has become refined since I now only use organic free range or kosher chickens when I cook at home.
I like Fairway Roast chickens (apx $6.00) or my real favorite is the Kosher Mart on Broadway and west 91st. More expensive but they give youa side dish with it. They allow it to get that good deep caramelized rotisserie flavor without all that MSG spice rub that is used at Flora de Mayo.
Party!
If you want nice upscale paper goods; in the past I have bought beautiful design party goods at Venture and Gracious Home.
I would Call first to make sure they still carry paper plates and stuff.
Venture Stationers
212 288 7235
On Madison Ave and 86th Street
Gracious Home
Third Avenue, at 70th Street; (212) 517-6300
Or their other store
Broadway @ 67th St.
A really nice upscale on-line resource for party goods.
http://www.FineStationery.com
Marco Pierre White Book Review by David Camp in NYT
Ramsey tries too hard, it is unbearable to which him on TV.
Marco is very appealing on TV, he also has a nice calm persona since he has grown up and succeeded!
I also think Marco has enormous natural charisma and sex appeal that comes across easily on TV. Did you see him on Martha Stewart a couple of weeks ago?
I think Marco will do very well on the food show in the UK.
I hope they import it to America.
Marco Pierre White Book Review by David Camp in NYT
Read the book.
I really love what Marco stands for as a chef. He is old school and I love him for it.
Ramsey is a publicly hound and allowed his zeal for celebrity and publicity for his reality TV to infringe on his friends privacy. Marco was a chef busy all his life in the kitchen, until he gave back his stars and left the kitchen. He was not running after the press, and his friend knew he hated the press, that he was running after good food and three stars and the press was a side effect of doing good work in the kitchen.
Marco explains in more detail in the book the things Ramsey has done to hurt and insult him, such as Gordon bringing his reality TV film crew to Marco's private wedding ceremony without permission (the wedding was used as fodder on Ramsey's TV show, without Marco knowing).
Marco was finally tired of Ramsey betraying his trust including the incident where Ramsey called the tabloids to get more press to reveal that Marco and Ramsey were pulled over for a speeding ticket. Things like that made Marco feel hurt by Ramsey's indiscretion and hunger for fame and publicity outside the kitchen!
NYC Bridal Shower Ideas
If you love the way Alice's looks, you will adore Kings, they also have a high tea or you can have a meal. It is this quaint little carriage house converted into a restaurant In the middle of an Upper East Side Street.
Kings' Carriage House
251 E. 82nd Street
I have been to Alice's a few times and to Kings, I think Kings is much nicer and in your price range does a better party. At Alice's I hate all the commotion and confusion when you enter especially when you are there to attend a party.
Kings is not like that, it has a quieter more beautiful entrance and front room when you enter. It's filled with antiques and they have a couple of private rooms upstairs for small parties. Or a room on the main floor in the back garden. It looks like the Ralph Lauren store with all the antiques and fresh flowers everywhere and the little rooms are beautifully decorated with antique dining tables.
I had my birthday party there and I was so happy with the place!
Sushi Fraud: Can it - does it - happen here? [moved from Manhattan board]
Luckily, your situation is only price rip-off and not a food safety issue. So many have been harmed by unsafe food that was being misrepresented.
Merchants, restaurant owners, fishmongers, butchers are all known to misrepresent food quality.
Last year in NYC, many upscale food markets (Fairway was one of the stores) were caught selling farmed salmon for wild. The difference is about $10.00 pound retail. Unscrupulous dishonest people can commit fraud at any point. The thing that prevents it is ethical people who feel a responsibility to give the customer what they pay and knowing your food when you look at it raw.
UWS reviews and seeking rec's esp for mex
Gabriella for Mexican food is definitely worth visiting since you're in the neighborhood. Compared to the other choices mentioned on the UWS I like the food best at Gabriella! They have a nice big outside area and a pretty dining room with an interesting décor and very friendly towards babies. You can roll the carriage next to your table in the outside area.
I have a thing for the cheese enchiladas! They also have very good soft shell tacos.
Georgia's French Bakery - (they have a small seating area) good coffee and my favorite almond croissant outside of France! West 88th and Broadway.
The Restaurant upstairs in Fairway food store- very child friendly place and good coffee and good cafe food for anytime of day or evening. Great burgers!
Le Pain Quotidien - West 84th And Amsterdam is a very good choice for coffee and café food!
The only place to eat a decent slice of pizza on the UWS is Sal and Carmine's on West 103 and Broadway.
You must eat at Barney Greengrass (west 86 & Amsterdam) for an authentic old time upper west side Jewish NYC experience. Lox, eggs and onions is divine. Take home some of the best-chopped liver you have ever eaten! If you like that type of food.
Culinary Schools -- Up-to-date opinions for a prospective student?
Read this article on the front page of today's New York Times
"Top Chef Dreams Crushed by Student Loan Debt".
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/08/us/08default.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
A reality check if ever there was one for the aspiring cook
BTW, have you ever worked in a restaurant in any capacity?
If not, get yourself a job today (host, wait staff, kitchen slave, potato peeler) so you can see if you like restaurant work and the work environment. It is not like TV and has absolutely no resemblance to home cooking. In all professional kitchens, it is grueling, backbreaking manual labor with rude nasty quick-tempered men.
Even if you have a degree from CIA, or Le Cordon Bleu and work in a restaurant with stars, it is all a similar work environment and the hospitably and service trade! You need to find out now if that is the type of environment and pressure you will enjoy before you invest so much time and money into an education.
Good luck!
Culinary Schools -- Up-to-date opinions for a prospective student?
. Katie,
I know it is not popular anymore but how about apprenticing... You need to make sure you want to be in a professional kitchen and want to take the abuse of the life as a kitchen worker.
Bust your ass as an apprentice then you can decide if school is necessary. In all good kitchens, there is always room for a serious apprentice.
You have to come in without attitude and do any job in the kitchen. I would start looking in the four star restaurants then work your way down!
You will be surprised how many chefs like apprentices without schooling and without attitude, they get to train you! It's a matter of clicking with a chef who sees a spark in you and that they can train you.
Blackout Chocolat cake - where can I find it?
Fairway (all stores) has that old fashioned black out cake with the pudding.
Call them first since they do not alway have all cakes everyday.
TAKING CARE OF COOKWARE
Never use soap on a steel pan.
I run the pan under hot water and use a green scrub pad to rub out any grease or grime, then I towel dry and put on flame to dry out.
What to request from Dean and Deluca?
I have always thought they have interesting cookware, gadgets and serving dishes and things like that. If you're a cook or baker and need something hard to find they will have it. They also have great table linens.
However, I would ask for the large spice collection in the test tubes, I want that as a gift! ;-) It is a beautiful presentation of spices and would make me very happy every time I opened my cabinet to look at all the spices lined up so neat.
Look at the website catalog you will find something that is just right, whenever I'm in the store i think so many of the things they carry in the housewares area is interesting.
Black & White Cookies?
I think which type of B/W cookie you like depends on where you grew up in NYC. I grew up in Brooklyn with all the local bakeries making the cakey like cookie, with hard frosting.
(IMO Junior's only does one thing well, plain Cheese Cake if it is fresh). I ate a Fairway Plain cheese cake recenly and it was magical and puts Juniors to shame.
We do not have many old-fashioned Jewish style bakeries in Manhattan so it has been ages since I have eaten a decent fresh B/W. They all taste stale!
Charm Thai Rocks the House
I initiated a thread about "Charm" last weekend and other people who tried it also really liked it. It is official that we all agree it is very tasty food.
I also love the decor.
They also have a very inexpensive lunch special menu!
:-)
Josie's restaurants/Citrus - opinion?
I agree that Josie's is not for anyone who knows what well prepared food tastes like or what good service is about in a restaurant. For that type of food, I would rather eat in Popover Café on Amsterdam Ave and west 87th Street
I really like Nice Matin a lot and think it can be fun to meet the in laws.
http://www.nicematinnyc.com/
On West 79th Street and Amsterdam. You do need a reservation.
Search for restaurants on the Upper west side there are a handful that would fit what you need and affordable.
visiting manhattan
You can get fresh seasonal well-prepared food any where in the world these days. However When in NYC I say eat real food that city folk miss and crave.
Bagels cream cheese and lox, or lox, eggs and onions at Barneygreengrass on the upper west side
West 86th and Amsterdam.
www.barneygreengrass.com
I really love Pizza. If you're in my neighborhood...
My favorite for a slice is Sal and Carmine's on Broadway and 103rd Street
Many people love Lombardi's in Soho (Corner of Spring Street and Mott Street) you have to buy a whole pie. Easy to eat a pie. www.lombardispizza.com
Katz Deli on the lower east side is the place for pastrami on rye.
Corner of East Houston and Ludlow
www.katzdeli.com
I'm sure others will wake up soon and have good suggestions for you.
Have fun!
Brunch w/Vegan options USQ area?
RGR,
Not that I need to qualify myself to you since the request was for tolerable vegan food that was being eaten by lenijacob to appease a friend. I hate all Vegan food and all Vegan restaurants and Vegan food made by home cooks, and would not disagree with you about Zen Palette.
However, sometimes we have no choice and eat where our loved ones want to eat and the vegans I know seem to love Zen Palate.
I wrote that I did not hate the fried vegan stuff and it is tolerable for a normal eater.
Not much of a glowing recommendation but all the same a recommendation for normal eaters who have to eat vegan food.
