TSE

Does this mean we can expect a newly anointed four-star this Weekend? Any guesses? Does Restaurant Eve pick up an extra half star? Does Citizen leapfrog Eve by picking up its fourth? Any other possibilities?

Or am I just bored this afternoon?

Wow- consider Tom's comments parsed, suckas!

Who said anything about "Old Bay.?"

My bad- Zatarain's rocks, but it's for the preparation of a decidedly non-kosher foodstuff.

I did not mean to suggest that I would cut up the brisket and make a stew of the pieces. I would braise it whole with lots of onions and perhaps some crab boiling spices.

I think that sounds great, but my mother would freak at the mention of old bay in her braised brisket.

I've never used brisket cut up for stew meat, but it just seems wrong on so many levels. The grain of the meat and leanness would make the stewed pieces weird, imho. Plus, there are only a couple of culturally correct ways to prepare brisket in my house, and stew ain't one of them...

We went to MDH today for late lunch/early supper around 4pm and it was all very good. It was ALMOST up to NY standards in our slightly humble opinion!

That's all well and good, but was it up to Monterey Park standards? That's what I'd like to know...

Nope. I will take a picture of mine and post it here. It is a botteled soft cream cheese that I have never seen in Giant. Here is a link to a similar bottle.

http://www.kraft.com.au/products/cheese_spread/index.cfm

I will go take a pic of mine and post it.

Ah! I actually am familiar with this variant- I had just assumed that this was a U.S. product, but I had the bottled cheese spread on multiple occasions while in Australia.

Toast with spreadable Kraft cream cheese (I dont see it in AMerican stores so I buy mine from the Middle Eastern store), scrambled eggs and orange juice.

Isn't that just Philadelphia? Or is there some other kind out there by Kraft?

Can grilled cheese sandwiches actually be grilled? I.e. on a charcoal grate over hot coals? Or is pan frying the recommended method?

I've done it , but I actually think they come out better on a griddle. The bread really needs to fry in the butter, in my opinion.

Although this sort of thing can be debated endlessly, I was truly disappointed to see that Oliveto, one of my favorite restaurants anywhere, was not deemed worthy of a star.

Mark's definitely spot-on here: all of these highfalutin variations might be good, but people, please- this is grilled cheese we're talking about! My only suggestion would be to use butter and sharpest cheddar you can get your hands on (and grate it). Though sourdough and mustard are good (did you get that from Alton Brown, too?), texas toast will give you the perfect ur-sandwich.

Or even better, of course, buy a stewing fowl, which they seem to have reliably at Bestway (at least the one in Mt. Pleasant).

If you do buy a stewing fowl (Gallena?) at the Bestway, just make sure that you use it that day. I don't mind shopping there, but the refrigeration is a bit dubious at times. The dairy case can be particularly bad.

Montmartre doesn't do fries? <crosses it off her list...>

I could be totally dense (and I've been accuse of that many a time), but I've neither seen them served nor referenced on the menu in any of the times that I've been there.

Ah...the national dish of France. I'm not really going to add any value here, but here are my opinions, anyway...

Bistro Francais: nice steak that usually has a strong, beefy flavor. Skinnier, crispier fries than most traditional french places

BdC: I love this place, but second the call for not getting the basic steak. Fries are hit or miss.

Bis: Great quality, but not better than other, cheaper places.

Les Halles: This is the ultimate hit-or-miss re frites. Onglet had shrunk, eh?

Curduroy: why oh why haven't I had it here yet?!

Montmarte: would do a good job, I bet, if only they made fries...

Personally I find it a shame that Chains are allowed to come into an area and locate in a prime spot. I think it's about time for the powers that be to look at how many chains are in a given area and when an independent is looking for a spot in a heavily chain saturated area they should get first crack!

Those silly market forces...

There, on the bottom shelf of one of the display cases, was a stack of three perfect lye-blasted Schwabian pretzels.

As a fervant devotee of Laugengebäck myself, I really enjoyed this story. There is NOTHING like a Laugenbrezel or a normal Brezn fresh from the oven. I do like mustard with mine, though.

If it's colonial Africa Greene, I'd go with a pink gin.

even with a new menu that explains ethiopian to you, etete didn't make the cut, but warren brown's cake love did, if you want to call it a restaurant. and i'm not so sure that racial diversity is that hard to find in washington.

I have to say that I found it striking that they didn't mention anything about the Ethiopian presence in the neighborhood, considering that I'd rather put frosting on Etete's injera than eat one of those dust bombs from cake love. And YES, I've let the damn things come up to room temperature. That ain't the problem...

Going, going, gone... I'm waiting for confirmation but rumor has it that Walgreen's has bought the building.

Great. That's just what Cleveland Park needs. Say what you will about the place, but Yenching Palace has some interesting history and (being right across the park from my house) was always a reliable delivery option.

Color me disappointed.

I was going to confit the legs, but could not find my stash of duck fat in the freezer.

Wow, the crime emergency is really out of hand. Is nothing sacred anymore?

Not to mention the Kiwis, as they use newspaper.

Bah! The smaller and less self-confident Anglo-Saxon nations do tend to slavishly adhere to the more daft traditions of Mother England, don't they?

Confit the legs like you would duck.

and make rillettes! Recette ici.

My understanding is that the newspaper schtick is Brish and that the Irish in Dublin use brown paper bags.

They don't use newspaper in Australia, either, but rather something akin to butcher paper. This is probably just a conscious attempt to differentiate themselves from the poms.

They have a couple of other things that are pretty cool, including a built in grooved metal drainboard that drains down into the sink, and stacked dishwashers, so there are two deep ones that sit on top of each other. (I forget the company. It's in New Zealand.)

Fisher & Paykel, most likely.

Where did you hear that?

Family friend from the Veneto, but not someone that I necessarily believe is infallible in culinary matters ( ), hence the question.

yes.

Today hand made is taking over at igh end restuarnts in Italy but not to a necessary improvement.

There are certain pasta that are best or only made by hand.

A dangerous lead-in...

Dean: how valid is the dictum that hard pastas must always be dressed with olive oil-based sauces and fresh pastas with butter or cream-based sauces? Is this always the case in Italy?