Rieux

John DeLancie is the producer and narrator of the documentary Bronies, about grown men who love My Little Pony. It's worth a watch.

LIttle Owl was excellent. Small place in the building that was used as the exterior shot for the TV show Friends, quiet atmospheric street, AMAZING service from the hostess to the waitress. When we arrived early the hostess gave us snacks from the kitchen, and offered cocktails and wine (which were served in coffee mugs to allow us to drink them outside). The meals were all spectacular: their famous pork chop is rightly so, with fennel, broad beans, and parmasean; the special of black bass was delectable, the apps of salad and corn chowder were similarly excellent. One of the nicest things about the restaurant was that a friend and I were torn on the pork chop and the bass, and the waitress heard us say we would share, so she arranged for us to have half portions of each presented on one plate for each of us. She did the same for the apps. My sister-in-law, who is a vegetarian wanted a dinner-portion of the gnocci that was a side for one of the plates, and they prepared that for her without a problem. Real class-act restaurant. I will return and have found a new favorite.

Thanks for this! Excellent info. We might try to stop by one of the Thai or S. American places you mention. Also thanks for the recommendation on Louro. Looks interesting, and exactly like the kind of place I like. It reminds me a little of the late, great, Falai. The menu seems a bit small, though, and I am worried it may not appeal to both my guests. Does anyone know of a great portuguese restaurant in NYC?

How are there only two posts on the food heaven that is Peru? I'm in Lima now and had the chance to go to La barra at Casa Moreyra last night. This is a restaurant from Gaston, the famous Peruvian chef who has come to worldwide fame, and who is opening a restaurant in DC soon. We ate at the more casual bar (which is a restaurant with tables, not just a bar) and forewent the fancy prix fix menu at the main restaurant. It was great, although maybe not as great as Asrtrid and Gaston was, the flagship, when it was open. The space is open and modern, and filled with plants. The menu is divided by place - food from the city, the sea, the farmland - and is made up of modern twists on Peruvian classics. We ordered a number of plates for the table, a guinea pig (cuy) taco plate with Asian accents, amazing quinoa burgers that were the highlight of the night and looked just like mini big macs, ceviche, a langoustine and shrimp Spanish tortilla, charred octopus with local potatoes (Peru has more than 200 native potatoes), rice with duck (a Peruvian specialty) and some very good cocktails. I'd highly recommend the restaurant. Other restaurants that are excellent are: Las brujas de cachiche La mar Huaca Pullana (in an Incan ruin) And Central.

Headed to NY for the weekend. I used to be on top of the ny scene, but it has been a while. My go to used to be Le Tableau in the east village, but it has closed. I love Balthazar, even though it's a factory, and generally like places that are not too fancy and that are fun, with good food. Type of food is less important as I'm willing to do almost any style. I need a place for three people on Saturday. Suggestions on places? Also, I'd love some suggestions for places near Flushing Meadows for dinner post-US open on Monday!

Headed here last night for a birthday celebration with friends a day before my real birthday (which will be celebrated at the Nats game). It was the perfect choice. The patio was closed due to the weather, but when I arrived I told the host that we would have 10-15 people coming and going at different times and he quickly said that we could just have the upstairs floor to ourselves. It had a large communal table plus plenty of room to mill about. Nice accommodation, host! The cocktails here are excellent, so I had a very good Bourbon Ricky, an interesting "New Fashioned" and then moved onto a very nice Sangiovese for the rest of the night. Everyone else was also happy with their cocktails and wines, including my partner, who doesn't drink and who received several nice mocktails that the bartender came up with off menu. Foodwise we grazed, with the excellent house cured olives, cheeses and meats, and some various Banh Mi. The Banh Mi here are very good and perfect for the kind of drinking you do here. Service was great. Our server, Frankie, was super-nice, took some pictures for us (we didn't ask, she volunteered) and even brought up a round of bourbon shots (organic bourbon mixed with something called root - very good) for all 10 of us. Classy. One thing I like about Dickson is that it is never full, it is civilized but still fun and youthful, and it's not overrun with twenty-year olds. As my friend said, it is a perfectly nice adult place to get a group together. Followed by a quick sherry at Mockingbird Hill, it was a nice night out.

Ok, so I owe part 2 of my report on Istria and Slovenia. This part will cover the rest of Istria. I'll post Slovenia tomorrow. Our last few days in Istria were spent visiting Groznan, Motovun (wonderful hill towns full of food and art and wine), and Rovinij (a Venetian settlement on the Adriatic). We also got to have a wonderful dinner at a party hosted by a friend of a friend on her rooftop where we ate wonderful traditional roasted peppers, Ajvar (a pepper and eggplant paste/condiment which I am now addicted to - http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/avjar) and Serbian meat patties called pljeskavica. I need to find a good SE European cookbook, because I want to learn how to make all of these things and eat them regularly. Before I get into the food, let me say that Istria is definitely worth a visit. The hill towns have great walking paths around the parapets, nice coffee shops, good vistas, great wine (most of which is not exported), and wonderful Rakias. Rakia is local grappa and you can sample tons of flavors. My favorites were the mistletoe and herb versions. The cherry version was a bit too alcoholic for me, and the olive grappa (really) was just gross. These towns are small - you could see most of them by following Rick Steves' driving tour of the area in a day. I would suggest more time, though, in Groznan, which had many nice artist studios, cafes, and live music performances. I think Groznan was my favorite of the towns we visited, though we did not eat there. The Konoba Bastia was recommended, though. Also in general 1) there are very few Americans in Istria, 2) People are friendly and speak English, 3) Coffee is excellent, as is the quality of all food. O.K. specifics: in Motovun we ate at the NYT recommended Konoba Mondo. I had a lovely arugula and pecorino salad followed by a perfectly cooked risotto with eggplant, truffles, and cheese. It was spectacular. My friend had a nice Istrian plate, similar to the one I described in the post above. Highly recommended. We sat on the lovely terrace. In Rovinij we got caught in the rain, so we ran to Sidro, a small Serbian restaurant on the harbor. While there I tried the wonderful traditional Serbian dish of pork Muckalica, which was a pork stew with roasted peppers, and was spicy, sweet, and substiantial all at once. The restaurants in Rovinij all look the same, but Sidro was clearly a family-run place, with a good home-made vibe. I was glad to have gone there.

This weekend is my birthday, and I am convening a bunch of friends, who will come and go over time, Saturday afternoon. My initial thought was Wonderland's patio - I like the vibe, it's easy for people to come and go, and if the weather turns there is an indoors area. I've been out of the bar world for a bit due to a number of life circumstances, so I am not super-up on all the new places. Any other ideas out there? I've been to Dickson Wine Bar's patio, and liked it, so that is an option. Intrigued by Dacha beergarden, but think it might be packed and chaotic on Saturday afternoon. Other ideas have been Red Derby's patio. Am I forgetting some gem of a place? Prefer Columbia Heights, U st. 14th, Adams Morgan, Park View.

Ktoomau, are you talking about the Girl and the Fig in Healdsburg? It's one of my brunch happy places.

Report from the road. After two days in an amazing restored farmhouse near Grojznan (thanks Air bnb) I can comment on three places. The first night here (after a long drive from Zagreb, where we had excellent coffee and just ok food) we decided to go to Konoba Morgan in the town of Brtonigla. The town has a surplus of good restaurants given it's tiny size. It's the home of the famous San Rocco, which Bourdain ate at, but that place is supposedly fussy. Morgan is on a lovely hill, and we sat outside and watched the sun set over the Adriatic and the lights come up in Venice across the sea. We started with an Istrian plate which was bread, olives, prosciutto, speck, hot ham, and two local cheeses similar to pecorino and ricotta. It was good, but what made it spectacular were the homemade spreads: onion jam, hot pepper jelly, quince paste, and by far my favorite, pear with mustard. My god, that pear jam. It was sweet, but at the end you are hit with a rush of heat and spice from the mustard (it was a jam consistency, not a honey mustard type). I would eat this on anything and travel back here just for this. We had a nice local chalky white, which I cannot recall the name of. Our mains (we got the same thing) were local homemade pasta with black truffles (they are quite the delicacy here). It was good, but not spectacular, even though it had a ton of shaved truffle on it. Still, a nice setting, and all this was about $90 all in, which seemed pricy. Overall Morgan was good, but did not live up to the hype. I would go back for wine and the Istrian plate. Today we went to Brijoni, Tito's island playground. Once you get there by ferry you can rent bikes and cycle the whole large island, stopping at phenomenal Byzantine and Roman ruins, swimming in untouched coves, and walking through pine forests. You can also visit various Tito sites and buildings, which are actually interesting. Officially, you need to take the boat and tour, but almost everyone ditches the tour after arriving on the island and walks or bikes in their own pace. Much better, as the tour is four hours long, and the natural setting is more interesting than the tour. There are few residents, (it's a national park) and no cars, but there are two hotels, and we had a late lunch/snack at one sitting right on the seaside. I again had an Istrian plate of cheeses and charcuterie, and an aperol spritz, which was perfect for the day. But, the best meal so far, and perhaps the best meal I have had in 2015 was just now, for dinner. On the recommendation of a friend we stoped at Konoba Asteria, also in Brtonigla. If Lidia Bastianich had stayed in Istria and opened a restaurant in her house, it would be this. The family works the room, and there are dining terraces out front and back. We were happy to sit in the main dining room, as almost everything is cooked by the lady of the house over a wood fire in the fireplace. All tables get freshly grilled bread and some of the best olive oil I have ever had. The grill is always full of whole fish, steaks, scallops, etc. and everything looked amazing. I started with the grilled scallops in their shell, and they were, for lack of a better word, orgasmic. Perfectly cooked, just smoky enough with garlic, oil, and herbs. I think these were the best scallops I have ever had in my life. I had the grilled steak with truffles and homemade pasta as my main and it was everything Italian/Istrian steak can be. Perfectly cooks, juicy, with truffles on top - beefy, just amazing. With some house wine this meal was excellent. Each food item, the service, the location, the ambience was phenomenal on its own, but together as a set, this was one of my favorite dining experiences ever. Info on the place here. Check out the photos. Tomorrow we will visit hill towns, but I have to say, Istria is the Tuscany of my dreams and any serious traveler/foodie should come here, now, before it is spoiled, and you should stay in the interior, not the coast, and go local.

Years ago we had a fun mid-February meal at Fonduemental, which actually had pretty good Fondue. I also recall liking the restaurant affiliated with the local culinary school (I think it was called L'Express). There was a wine shop downstairs and you could bring in your own wine for free. Prices were cheap, as all the front of house and back of house staff were students.

You can get them at the Greek Deli on 19th st. They sell dried ones on the shelves to the right as you enter.

We have a ton of zucchini, and a friend gifted us about 4 cups of cherry tomatoes, so I resolved to use them up in one go on Friday. I sliced the zucchini, sauteed it in olive oil with garlic, and then threw in the cherry tomatoes, whole. Cooked it down for a while until everything was soft, and the tomatoes had split open. Finally, added some left over juice from a can of tomatoes I had in the fridge and reduced with S+P. Added this to a pound of cooked fusilli, threw in various herbs from the garden (mint, basil, oregano, chives) and many spoonfuls of fresh ricotta. It was good for dinner, but even better the next day as pasta salad.

Oh, and watch this Once you see it, you begin to notice that Riker NEVER sits on a chair normally. He ALWAYS swings his leg over.

How did I not know that this thread existed, as it is about one of my favorite shows of all time? To bring this to food - in high school my friends and I had entire weekends of "Trekfests" where we would get together and watch recorded VHS tapes of TNG and rented tapes of TOS, and eat Star-Trek inspired foods. I recall making Romulan ale (Ginger ale with blue food coloring), Rokeg Blood Pie (strawberry jello in a graham cracker crust), and Horta with egg noodles (work with me here - which was tagliatelle with crushed tomatoes and olives. If you need to remember, it was based on the Horta with Egg nodules. We'd also sit and read TNG novels (many of which are excellent and may be a good next place for you to venture, Don), and episode guides. Once, we even got in trouble with the police for "playing" Star Trek in the local park at about 9 pm. I was Crusher, my friend was Picard, and another was a Ferengi and we were too loud for the neigbors, so the cops came. Oh, and we were 17 at the time Thanks for this thread for taking me down memory lane!

I cheated on Martha today and made Bittman's pie crust. It was superior in every way. I blind baked, as it was for a cherry pie and I didn't want it soggy.

Anyone? Headed there next week for work.

#staygassy

I use Martha's recipe, which has always given good results Also, this is sacrilege, but I try to keep one or two Trader Joe's frozen crusts in the freezer for days when I have fruit about to go bad and I want a quick pie. It is actually very good (the only remade one I find acceptable).

Taking a 10 day trip to Istria and Slovenia in early August. Any recommendations for good places to eat, drink, stay, etc?

Did one day in the rub, then smoked on Wednesday night for 3 hours. Put it in the fridge, and then stuck it in the oven at 350 this morning for 4 hours. When I pulled it out, the temp read between 195 and 210 in most places, except the very center of one butt, which read 190. Put all of it in a paper bag for an hour, and then pulled the pork. 95% of it pulled easily. Now it is in the crock pot on warm, with Zora's sauce, and I must say it is goood.

Posting this here since I am not getting any help in the Barbecue thread it was moved to. Any suggestions appreciated! I've got two 6.5 lb boneless butts. Do you all think I can cook them at the same time (they'll fit) and have them take the same amount of time as stated in the recipe? I don't see why not, given that they are separate, and not one big piece, but since I have people coming over at 4 pm I don't want to chance it. I can't do any cooking in advance of the morning of the fourth (unless I leave one smoking outside in the grill all night, but that seems like a bad idea). What about putting it on to smoke Thursday night for three hours, putting it in the fridge, and then putting it back in the oven to finish on the morning of the 4th?

Related to my other question in a different thread... I'm making this recipe for pulled pork on the 4th. I've got two 6.5 lb boneless butts. Do you all think I can cook them at the same time (they'll fit) and have them take the same amount of time as stated in the recipe? I don't see why not, given that they are separate, and not one big piece, but since I have people coming over at 4 pm I don't want to chance it. I can't do any cooking in advance of the morning of the fourth (unless I leave one smoking outside in the grill all night, but that seems like a bad idea). Suggestions? Thanks, as always to the experts here.

Costco rotisserie chicken No. 1 and Sons Kalechi and Curried Beets Bibb salad with french shallot vinaigrette Mt. P farmer's market tomatoes with back-yard basil, olive oil, S+P and Costco Buffalo mozzarella (12.99 for 5 balls, imported from Italy, amazing deal. My friend from Tuscany is addicted to it, so I figured it had to be good)

Thanks all, I cobbled together most of your suggestions. In the end, this is what I am making: Two 6.5 lb boneless pork butts from Costco (they didn't have the bone-in ones) using the ATK recipe for a charcoal grill, which will be shredded with Zora's BBQ sauce and served on potato rolls with dill pickles. Some portabello caps with the same sauce (cooked in advance) Cole Slaw (from Costco, could not be bothered to make it) Bush's baked beans New potatoes with green beans and olives from River Cottage Veg Hummus and carrots and pita chips Betty Crocker yellow cake with Cool Whip on top decorated with strawberries and blueberries to look like the flag. (It kills me to make a box cake, but it is tradition, and it is really good. I have been hosting this BBQ every year since 1999 and this is the main thing the guests request). Fruit salad Selection of Mexican beers and some Amstel Light Home-made ginger, lime, lemongrass drink.