deangold

I guess the mom should take her child into a restroom to perform this completely naturral and necessary act? In my 10 plus years of being in the restaurant business, I have had less than a dozen women breast feed their babies in the restaurant. It has never been a problem. One time I had to reseat a party that was insulted that I "allowed such behavior" in the restaurant. They could have left for all I care. Its their probelm, not the mom's.

There are several restaurants in town, several that participate here on the board, that don't feel it right that a customer spends 3 times retail or more to enjoy a bottle of wine. My list features many a bottle, dozend, under $40 that I would say are quite wonderful.

It is not hard to believe that a computer program could easily provide a way to improve your Parker or Wine Spectator score. These are single parameter scores that, if htey have any validity at all, are related to underlying factors actually present in the wine. However that is not what "quality" is in a difuse, multi faceted product. In opera, I can say that I like Puccini over Verde, yet there are Verdi opera that are better tham Puccini. There are dull moments (flaws) in Wagner's Ring Cycle yet it is one of the great musical works in history. How do you assign a single number score to something like an opera or a wine. One number cannot hope to capture the complexity. With the rise of the critics in wine, the range of wine styles commonly available are narrowing and thats a pity. It is not wether a particular style is valid. That is for you to decide. But there are far fewer (as a % of total wine produced) wines in eccentric styles today. Same thing with the rise of the dominant movie critics. Its market driven and all our lamentations will mean nothing until the consumer stops responding to the critics the way they are currently doing. SInce wine making is a great place for dreamers and iconoclasts, there is still a great amount of idiosyncratic wine for me to enjoy. But they are occupying a smaller and smaller percentage of the wine that gets sold.

Regifting is a dangerous thing. You may unknowingly give someone a Fabrige Egg! And you may only show modesty when your "generosity" is discovered. The giftee, when presented with such an unintentional treasure must only share his/her delight with the giftor, and deliver a statement of astonishment at their generosity. If the gift in question is liquid, a glass of same is in order for all involved!

Stopped at Full Kee: Won Ton Soup Pea Shoot Greens with Garlic Chicken and Eggplant with Garlic 2 Fortune Cookies Act 2 of Siegfried (Boulez version on DVD) Several glasses of Grappa Marolo di Barolo e di Brunello di Montalcino Bye bye cold!!!

Hey... our 12 turned into a last second 14 and we just dragged a few more chair and some people were only sorta at the table. I recommended them Ridge Home Ranch Cab (4 bottles!!!) so all was well there! They were nice to me and I was nice to them!

Whether we implement a no show fee for large parties or not is, as was said, a business decision. What I was lamenting was how someone gets to be an adult with enough disposable income to think about dining out with 9 friends and then no shows on a reservation. Unless all the group was abducted by aliens, imprisioned in locations usknown for un American thoughts or all perished in a car crash, what gives? It is rude enough to no show for any size reservation, but how do people come to not realize that a reservation for 10 puts a burden on the business and people involved. I lament the me centeredness of our current world.

I dunno... Last night I was eating a hunk of 3 year old provolone and drinking a 1985 Ridge cabernet and was about as hapy, food wise, as I have ever been in my mouth. No particle accelerators necessary. Just hand made products and time.

Siena Imports carries Cleto Chiarli Lambrusco. It is a good producer with several bottlings. Not as dry as some Lambrusco I have had in Modena, it is definitely in the "Brut" range of sweetness. We carry it and recommend it with prosciutto and salumi

Last red- Caymus 1985 Estate Bottled Cabernet. Big and a little simpler, much woodier than the above two we started with. Still quite wonderous.

Well so far, we have dug into the 3 year provolone with a 1985 Ridge York Creek Cabernet. The Cebernet was wonderfully smooth and went down way too fast. Lucky for me I have the best part of a case of it left in the cellar. With the cheese it was a spiritual experience! We are now firmly ensconsed in a bottle of Laurel Glen 1985 Cabernet. WOW! Its bigger and fuller than the Ridge, which I didn't expect. So far we have discerned cherries, purple raspberries, a little red plum, mushrooms, smoke and more. It too is wonderful with the cheese. The prime rib is between 80 and 100 degrees and the potatoes just went into the oven!

Prime rib roasted yukon gold potatoes with garlic shallots and rosemary veggie soup robiola in chestnut leaf 3 year old provolone raw milk aged asiago dont know what I am drinking yet... need to go to the cellar and search.

Have we talked about no shows? No shows for large parties? What's up with that? Last night we had a no show for a party of 9. They had called the day before to enlarge their party from 8 to 9 so its not like they didn't know what restaurant they were going to or something. Their waiter lost about 1/4 his income for the night. We turned away another party of 6 because we didn't have the table.

Does one need a New Big Wong before Pho King?

A few events of note at Dino coming up: Andrea Costanti Wine Tasting... With all your help (and that of a few thirsty others) we have probably paid tuition for Andrea's daughter in university by drinking up his 98 Brunello at a prodigious pace. If you would like to meet the man himself, we will be hosting a wine tasting January 30th. There will be a three wine flight available all night long. Andrea will be at the bar talking about his wines from approximately 6pm until 7:30pm. We will be pouring the 99 Brunello from Magnums for as long as our limited supply lasts. We will also have his 2001 Rosso as well. Final details are being worked out now: it will be posted on the website as soon as final! After the first of the year, any Sunday thru Thursday, you can reserve a "Do it yourself wine dinner" for 8 people. Friday and Saturdays can be arranged early or late. We will pre-select 5 wines according to a theme (Montalcino, Piemonte, Barolo and Barbaresco, Valpolicella and Amarone etc.) and select 3 courses specially matched to go with the wines. The food is served family style, with 3 courses and dessert. Pricing depends on elaborateness of the wines and food, but figure about $500 for the table of 8. We have done a few of these so far and folk really love them. One group had 2 courses, 4 different 2003 Rosso di Montalcino and a bottle of 2000 Brunello and was out the door for $425 plus tax and tip. Call or e-mail me for more details, or to set one up.

First off, the time a roast needs to cook has to do with the shape of the roast as much as with the size. Direct heat will cook red meat only to about a depth of 2 inches or so. So once a roast is over 4 inches in length, the rest of the interior cooks by convection and not direct heat. So your 17 pound behemoth may take only a little bit longer than a 4 bone roast. The suggestion of lettig the roast come to room temperature is a very good one. If you go from the ice box to the oven, the center will need a lot of convecting to warm up and the outside may wind up burning. I love the hot to cooler method of cooking large items (large roasts, turkeys, small children), but I start at 425 and then lower to 325 or so. I would start checking temperature with an instant read thermometer inserted into the middle of the roast, away from the bone, at about 2 hours. My guess is that 2-1/2 hours of cooking will do it. I am used to low moisture content, lower fat meats like Coleman from Whole Foods. They cook much faster. Costco serves up conventional beef with a higher moisture and fat content. After cooking, remove the roast from the oven and let it stand lightly tented with foil (do not sdeal it, just drape some foil over the top to reflect heat in) for 30 minutes.

The list serve group is fixed on the 10th so we will grin and bear it. But you guys are welcome either the week before or the week after after RW.

Just mention it at the door when you arrive. If we run out of Prosecco, we can always drop some fizzies into a glass of wine!

Mark.... no more than a handful!

Since I won't be there (ahhhhh a day off!) let me say 3 words... Stinco di Maiale

Can I get some ketchup to go with that. Or will I have to bring my own?

We are part of RW. Full menu. Any appetiser or salumi or cheese up to $12.00 first course, any dish for the second, any dessert for the finish. For Don Rockwellians, a free glass of prosecco as well!

Hope its not corky!

Whole foods has Elderberry Eccanacea extract. It does some good. They also have lozenges with zinc and elderberry. I think its by Quantam. Herb Pharm has an eccanacea spray, that while disgusting int he taste de[artment, makes one feel numb in the throat if not downright better.

When I first met Kay, she ordered a well done burger. Telling my best friend that, she advised me to drop Kay foever, asking me if I wanted to go thru life with someone who ate their burgers well done? I saw her point but for some reason I stuck with her and she proved willing to try some more adventurous foods but drew the line at sushi. When we moved in together, I flatly told her I was not going to give up sushi for her. Her choice: grin and bear it or stay home when I went out for sushi. Flash forward 24 or so years and now Kay is a big sushi fan and one of the more adventurous eaters I know. The sex is still great too!