sandynva
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Everything posted by sandynva
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wow, thanks for posting!!
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I'm going to start by saying that i don't know Johnf, or joe H or escoffier for that matter, so if there's a personal backstory here that i'm not getting i apologize, but the criticism of the post seems a bit harsh. he posted about a bunch of places recently, but he didn't say he went to all of them this weekend. and he really liked minhs. what's wrong with being critical? are people who are picky/more likely to be unimpressed than impressed not welcome to post? i just think that posting on this board can be intimidating at times because of the depth of knowledge and committment here, and that coupled with the blowback people often get from posting negative reviews dampens postings generally and negative posts in particular. And i personally find the negative posts the most helpful--if i want someone who appears to like everything, so their thumbs up is mostly meaningless, i'll read tom S's reviews but the harsh critiques are more helpful in a way, because when they're impressed, its a recc worth having.
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Maybe the reason there's not more outrage with Bruner-yang is that its only happened once, or that people assume it was a drunk thing. hmm. I'm finding this an interesting discussion for a couple of reasons--1) it points out how we each have our own trigger points and pet issues and react to them accordingly. for example, i'm sensitive about violence and particularly about violence against women, so acts of violence against women are almost literally unforgiveable, and i'm not willing to dismiss them because they were one time only or drunken. but, as the saying goes, your mileage may vary, and it seems to. 2) Don's comment later about how many staff members have records for felony assault is fascinating, and for me shows the dangers of trying to make political statements with spending--i do not have a personal bar on visiting Mr. Bruner-Yang's restaurants based on his behavior, but if i did, i could be doing that while inadvertently patronizing the restaurant of someone else who did something equally bad. the comment about many bar owners stiffing their staff was interesting for the same reason--it seems that though Mr. Donna may be the worst or most prominent offender, he's not the only one who holds back money owed his staff.Thus, the people who won't patronize Al Dente may in fact be giving their custom to someplace else that does the same thing. it's all very tricky. I'm not saying i don't try to vote with my dollar or that people shouldn't--i bet almost everyone does to some extent and i personally don't see movies by Polanski or Allen, and won't listen to RKelly--but this thread is highlighting how hard it is to do so, and how many people are publicly flogged (and financially penalized) for sins/practices when others that do similar things aren't.
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This is not to pick on Marks or any of the other people who made similar comments, but i'm curious--can someone explain to me why this persists in being an issue and possibly preventing people from going to the restaurant while Eric Bruner-Yang's arrest (and guilty plea!) for assault, regarding his ex-girlfriend and her fiancee doesn't seem to be a problem? not that what donna did was acceptable, but i find the actions of bruner-yang (showing up at his ex girlfriend's place in the early morning, rushing in, and then, when her fiance pushes you out, yelling "i'll kill you", trying to choke him, and beating him) far, far more problematic.
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Organic Milk IS Better For You Than Conventional Milk
sandynva replied to zoramargolis's topic in News and Media
i think the article actually answers your question by attributing the difference to being grass fed rather than corn fed. another q i wonder about is how pronounced the difference is in skim or 2% milk, as the study was on whole milk, which i'd think relatively few people drink. -
one of my more "everyday" (as opposed to special) chocolate treats is the lindt intense orange bar. i'm admittedly a sucker for most products with chocolate and orange in them, but i think this is one of the better ones, not too sweet and gets some of the bitterness of orange rind in there
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when you order the lo mein with the handmade noodles (which is admittedly bland and oily, but I like the texture of the noodles) they give you a pureed green oniony sauce. does anyone know what's in it? i adore that stuff, and it's the main reason i ever come here.
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porcupine, you're absolutely correct, you did note that independent is not neccessarily the same as good. I do apologize for my oversight.
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it's interesting how what you'd logically assume happens isn't always the case, isn't it? and the slate article made me think back to when i first moved to dc about 15 years ago, before starbucks took hold. as i remember it, there were far fewer independent coffeehouses then, so i beleive that its true that starbucks at least didn't kill the independents here Also--and I'm aging myself here--but i remember when i first heard of starbucks and the $4 coffee. both the price and the number of options seemed ridiculous because before 95% of what i ran into into were coffee, lattes, and expresso, all of which were made with regular cow milk. it may have been different on the coasts, but in suburban st. louis there were at most 2 places making coffee drinks like starbucks, and i never heard anyone talk about the origins of the beans, etc. there were some people who ground their own beans or oredered them from nyc and kept them in the freezer, but those people were quirky, and the exception. i think that you could argue that starbucks, by getting more people to think it's normal to pay $4 for a coffee, and to think about the levels of quality, actually made it possible for the independents to thrive. a tangential point but still somewhat related--no one's come out and said it, but the unstated assumption behind this thread seems to be that independents are neccessarily good, and i don't buy this. for example, i haven't been there in forever, and am not even sure it exists anymore, but the coffee at Soho used to be horrendous. and i spent a ton of time at tryst,and that place will forever have a place in my heart, but their coffee ranged from ok to fairly bad.
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i make okra this way sometimes, and my mom does often. what we both do is fry some spices in a tbs or so of oil, then add the okra, klet it sizzle/brown for a bit (say 2-3 min) and then cover with a lid so it steams a bit, then, when close to desired doneness, lift lid (so okra can dry out and brown more) and finish. my fave stuffings are the ones with amchoor, the tart mango powder. so good! particularly with some yogurt on the side.
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Thank you for that clarification goodeats. because so many of your previous posts have been kind, i didn't take offense at the comment, though had it come from someone else i might've read it as a slight. i understand that we all tend to like what we're used to, but i think most of us can distinguish between what we like, and things that are simply not to our taste, but not bad. also, just to clarify one thing--i was referring to starbucks and the bold k-cups (which have 33% more coffee and caffeine) to give my reference point for coffee strength and to qualify my opinion that the coffee at peregrine seemed weak. i don't actually prefer/really enjoy the taste of either of those products, but they give me a needed jolt in the morning. in any case, it seems that maybe i just got an off 2 cups or something, and will freely admit that there's a chance my expectations for the expresso might have been too high--i'd just come back from a trip to italy and developed a taste for expressos there, so it's possible that hoping the expressos here were similarly delicious was an unfair expectation on my part.
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i'm a huge fan, as are my indian parents, who often ask to be taken there when they visit. when we go, i stick to the street food dishes because those are hard to find other places whereas i can get biryani, palak paneer, etc, at lots of places. i've liked just about everything i've had, except the pani puri, which i find too sweet (but my family's from Calcutta, so i'm a pani puri snob, and don't like any of the versions available locally) and the gobi manchurian wrap (which i thought didn't have enough gobi, and what there was of it was sweetish rather than properly tangy). My favorite is the frankie, and i love mango powder so i really like the palaak chat too. my other fave is the mysore coffee. sadly the machine was broken on my last few visits, but if you like coffee, you should get this--it's so strong, creamy and sweet, it's almost like melted high quality coffee ice cream. i often go in, order carryout, then go to the store next door to load up on supplies and frozen foods, then return to get carryout, thus ensuring many meals of delicious indian food.
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i'm not sure if this post should go here or in the independent coffee houses thread but has anyone had a bad experience with the Peregrine in Union Market? I was in need of caffeine the morning of crafty bastards, so i went there. And, had the worst coffee i've had in recent memory. i am far from picky about coffee--i'm even fine with some of the instants, and just about the only thing i won't drink is the stuff on airplanes. but i found the expresso and coffee from peregrine were almost undrinkable. my companion, who hates, hates to waste food, refused to drink them either after he took a sip. both had really off flavors--not a dark roast, just bad, off flavors, sort of sour, and the coffee seemed weak (although that may be because i'm used to starbucks and the "bold k-cups." )and, even making allowances for the crowding due to crafty bastards, it seemed rather disorganized--over 10 minutes just to get a cup of coffee, and close to 15 for the expresso. this was my first experience at any Peregrine, and i was rather shocked. were they just having a really, really off day? because otherwise, there's no way i'm going to any Peregrine ever again.
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i love this technique and use it often. interestingly, i heard the reason that it works so well is that most of the flavoring components in spices are oils and oil soluble, but not water soluble, so you need the fat to really get the flavor out. (and in the case of whole spices, it saves you the trouble of crushing them). i always temper at the beginning (i also think it makes a huge difference in the taste of ground tumeric, makes it less earthy and chalky) but i only do the final flourish of tempered spices/oil when cooking for company.
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Hi Nizam, and welcome!! First, I wanted to thank you for having vegetarian chili at Bens--it's cheesy but it makes me, as a vegetarian, feel more welcomed. Second--i was wondering, because Ben's has been around such a a very long time--in the 15 years i've been in the DC area the area around 14th/U has changed dramatically. have those changes impacted Ben's, and its menu, in any way, and if so, how? thank you for doing this chat!
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Somehow i missed the information about the price point earlier, but $70 for a 7 course meal is a bummer. I love their food, but simply can't eat 7 courses most nights, and the price makes it a "splurge" meal as well. the article mentions that they'll be offering the option of meals with fewer courses for "locals." why restrict it to locals?
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had a great dinner of carryout from here last night. as noted above the dan dan noodles (vegetarian version at least) are terrific and were gone in a flash, and the vegetarian mapo tofu is indeed more flavorful than hot, which i appreciated. the surprise hit was the chinese celery tofu salad--celery with pressed tofu in a terrific garlicky sauce. the Biang biang noodles are a large portion of delicate, thin, 1 inch wide rice noodles with scallions and bok choy mixed in, with the sole spice appearing to be the dried spice mix on top. these suffered a bit from transport i think, and though they were good, i think eaten fresh, with extra spices on top (i'm going to ask for them to add extra spice on top next time) they'd be fantastic. the spring rolls were ordinary, though larger than usual and seemed homemade, rather than the usual mass produced version. the woman who answered the phone when i ordered was very nice and helpful, and said that they could make many of the dishes, including the soups, vegetarian.
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I can't wait for this, thanks for posting!
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i've seen shishitos at both hmart and lotte plaza. sometimes they're marked shishito, but i've also seen them called sweet peppers too.
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does anyone know if they'll do vegetarian versions of dishes like mapo tofu and dan dan noodles? the descriptions of the versions here (flavorful, but not as hot) sound right up my alley.
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i should preface this by saying that i've only been there twice, and that was fairly early on, not recently. But my feelings are similar. i wasn't overly impressed by most of the products sold, and the ones i liked were quite pricey. as for your asking about who the intended audience is, maybe it's the same as glen's garden market's? both are shopping/dining hybrids, which seem to me to be geared towards people who highly value locally produced products and are willing to pay a premium for them. however, the place seems to be a huge success and to make a large number of people happy, which is great, and hopefully its success will lead to more investment in similar ventures, which may end up being more appealing to me.
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i believe two amys has the best pizza in the area (though i haven't been to ghibellina or seventh hill yet) so was very excited about Etto. we had carryout pizza from Etto last night and, sadly, i was underwhelmed. My margharita was fine, and good even, but would've been better if less charred. i like a bit of char, but the taste of carbon was quite strong, with an almost coal/petroleum byproduct undertone, so much so that you couldn't really taste the basil. my companion had one of the special pizzas--cherry tomatoes, squash blossoms, and buffalo ricotta. the ricotta wasn't dolloped around but rather was presented in a big wedge in the center of the pizza that i assume was meant to soften with the heat of the fresh pizza but didn't. we cut it up and sprinkled it around the pizza which also had yellow cherry tomatoes and some smallish, not particularly abundant bits of squash blossom. the cherry tomatoes went surprisingly well with the tomato sauce (the sweetness was a nice contrast) but between those and the heavy char you couldn't taste the ricotta or the blossoms. we liked the margharita better. The pizzas are about one slice larger than the individual size pizzas at two amys or paccis, but, to my mind, pricey. the margharita was $17 and the special $23, so with tax and tip, almost $50 for 2 carryout pizzas. it might have been because it was carryout, or because it was so expensive but i'm in no hurry to go back, or even to eat the leftovers in my fridge. the decor was nice though (similar to two amys' bar area) and the host who took our order was very nice. people seeking carryout should know that at the moment they only do pizza and you have to go there and order in person, you can't call ahead.
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A couple of weeks ago i had an amazing dinner at Roberto's 4. The chef was kind enough to do a vegetarian menu and it was fabulous, and so much food (19 courses!) i didn't eat again till the next evening. there was so much, and so many of the dishes that were so good, i can't go into detail on them, but the takeaway is--GO. and hope he makes the cauliflower panna cotta for you. the 19 course menu was: (starter glass of prosecco) pizetta with robiola, truffles, quail egg cauliflower panna cotta with sweet peppers (this was so, so delicious. a rich, creamy, sublimation of cauliflower) panelle (chickpea bread) with carrot tops and crispy kale eggplant puree, bufala mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, smoke fonduta with swiss chard 2 ways stuffed zucchini flower--usually i don't appreciate fried zucchini blossoms but this one was perfectly fried, the zucchini flavor definitely present, and lightened with lemon eggs with pioppini mushrooms and straccitella cheese handmade frascateli with peas, fava beans, and artichokes chitarra spaghetti with chanterelles and asparagus olive oil raviolo with cream, parmesan and black olives (quite unusual) saffron risotto a layered cake or tian of porcini mushrooms, potato, turnips, rosemary and cream--amazing dish, the flavors changed with each bite vidalia onion with gorgonzola and brussel sprout leaves a mini cheese plate of pecorino, roasted yellow tomato, fig jam, honey and hazelnuts blood orange granita panna cotta with caramel a Gianduia cake with zabaglione bicerin bombolini with dark chocolate sauce overall, a wonderful, wonderful meal. (the only thing i would change is maybe giving the diners the menu at the start of the meal, or at least an idea of how many dishes are coming out and pace themselves accordingly). thank you chef.
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Though i found the review amusing, i was wondering--is there anyone out there who's been there and can comment on whether or not it really is that bad? on one hand, i generally find TomS to be far too generous in his reviews of places and overly impressed with cleverness/novelty over taste (what he finds rave worthy i often think is "fine" or "average-to-good") so i'm thinking that if he didn't like it, it must be abysmal. on the other hand, most of his criticisms seemed to revolve around his dislike of the idea of some of their versions of traditional favorites. of course caesar salad shouldn't come with a choice of dressings, but are tomatoes that odd an addition? are croutons really that horrible in minestrone? (though of course it shouldn't be pureed). it seemed to me that his objections to the savory dishes was often to the concept, and he didn't seem to give them a chance.
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I love the idea of talking about wine, particularly as so many of you know so much i'd love to learn from you. if the virtual thing doesn't work out, or maybe even if it does, what about doing a wine tasting meetup, like getting together at proof or cork or some other place that has a good selection of wines by the glass/taste, and we could all try the same wines and discuss?
