lekkerwijn

In our early twenties, my now-husband and I went to Galileo on a date. Because we were young they assumed we'd be penny pinching, unadventurous, inexperienced eaters/drinkers and the staff made that really clear to us. The service we got, in particular by their sommelier, was so memorably miserable and disdainful (even for that notorious Roberto Donna establishment) that we still joke about it. My impression is that now with the popular trend of being "foodie" at a young age restaurants are putting more effort and attention into being friendly to younger customers.

I second the Mozzarella di Buffalo at Costco is really good at a very reasonable price (in a clear plastic bucket). Vace's sells two types of fresh mozz- one from buffalo milk and one from cow's milk that they make in house. Their housemade mozz is the better of the two.

Siroc is around the corner from my office. For lunch, they have a pretty respectable offering of better-than-average salads at reasonable prices. I can't speak to anything else on the menu besides the iced tea, which is unremarkable. I've had very modest expectations and have never been disappointed but I have also never ordered anythign particularly creative or interesting either.

This is "old news". Where I work we have been aware of this issue, intermittently, for over a year. I have not been directly involved, but to the best of my understanding, the pine nuts in question came out of the Sino-Russian border and they were presumed "econmically adulturated" although I was never told with what- but if I had to take an educated guess it was some kind of preservative. You should have no problem with very fresh pine nuts coming out of Western Europe or North America. If you r anyone you know does have an incident with pine nut mouth you should immediatly notify the store where you purchased the product and then call the FDA because the USDA and FDA have an open investigation into this issue. Also, in these types of cases it is always extremely helpful to have a sample for forensic analysis.

We were there within a couple days of this guy. The "Rabbit Canape" was fine until you got down to the part of the ear that attaches to the skull- it got really chewey... but the "shrimp two firings" was by far one of the most incredible things I have ever eaten. People seem to always focus on the food at EL Bulli, but the scenery and the location are equally breathtaking.

Heart Healthy- focus on an overall healthier diet based on common sense. Generally avoid fried foods or fatty foods. Increase fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes. Focus on leaner cuts of meat and poultry as well as fattier fish species from cold water. Herbs and spices and olive are good ways to add flavor without adding saturated fat or lots of salt. Smaller portion sizes and less frequent consumption allow indulgent choices to fit into this type of diet. You should focus on what is called a DASH or Mediterranean-style diet and "Therapeutic LIfestyle Change" (TLC). Basically this refers to the type of diet described above, increased physical activity, weight loss, stress management and smoking cessation. When I was a practicing RD I used to refer people to the American Heart Association website which has great resources on this topic. Any restaurant that can make you a nice grilled/broiled piece of fish with vegetable based side dishes would be a good choice. Watch out for sauces that are often "hidden" sources of saturated fat and sodium. Heart healthy diets don't mean a restaurant free life. Ask questions about the menu and how things are prepared. Just be judicious and reasonable in your choices.

I have done work with the Mars company for nearly two years and every chance I get I lobby for the return of the Crispy M&Ms. Evidently they weren't big sellers. But clearly now they are experimenting with new varieties of novelty flavors so maybe they will try a reintroduction of the Crispy variety- mint or regular.

I assume location is more essential than quality food. You might consider some of the chains in Friendship Heights: Chadwicks, Maggianos, Cheesecake Factory or Clydes which might be able to accommodate a relatively large group without much notice. If you are a smaller group, Alliance Tavern in Cleveland Park is a nice place for drinks and snacks, but it is also a litte farther away.

I had the BPLT for brunch today and really enjoyed it. The fried plantains add an interesting sweetness to the BLT. My only complaint was that the fried plantains were a little starchy/undercooked. Brunch at Eventide is a great value.

As always, superlative meal. Supreme Court Justice sighting made evening all the more memorable.

Since Masala Art is only a few blocks from our house, we have eaten there or gotten takeout easily 5 times since it has opened. And with one exception I have ordered 3 different $5 sides as my meal and never had a waiter or person on the phone taking a delivery order say a word about it. We were there last weekend during Snomageddon Part One, and I made a meal of three sides- our waiter didn't question the order. I hope that your experience was an aberration because I agree that it is a great way to experience more of the menu.

Dino was the perfect place to have dinner on a cold wintery night. The papardelle with wild mushrooms was great as was the Maialino and Short Ribs. We are so lucky to have this restaurant in our neighborhood!

Dinner last night was truly a fantastic and memorable experience. You and your staff should be very proud. Thank you for giving us this opportunity and I hope to take advantage of this kind of hospitality again in the future.

Heard a rumor... opening this weekend....

It seems like every year there is a rumor that El Bulli will be closing. My husband and I had one of the most incredible meals of our lives there this past summer. I can't wait to try the new incarnation of El Bulli and experience another treacherous drive along the cliffs over the Mediterranean to get there.

Source: Sunday January 17th 2010 edition of The Houston Chronicle (page A2).

Dinosaur is good (for Western New York). You can buy Dinosaur BBQ Sauce and other fresh/refrigerated Dinosaur entrees/sides at Wegmans.

Save the Date - Friday January 22, 2010 (and spread the word!)

FYI- It appears that the project is moving forward as planned:

In my past life I worked as a Nutrition Support Dietitian at a large pediatric hospital. Most of my patients did not eat or drink by mouth. If I learned one "moral of the story" while I worked there it was that Oprah is wrong- food is love. To eat with people or to share food with others is one of the most fundamental human behaviors. Food does more than just nourish your body, it nurtures your soul. For many parents the loss of the ability to feed their children was the most devastating aspect of a diagnosis. For others being able to feed their child was the only act of normal parenting they had left and they held onto it fiercely, often against the urging of their child's medical team. Some of my older patients who could communicate would beg to just be allowed to put food in their mouth to taste it and promise to spit it out. In my training, which was the only time I worked with adults, those who lost the ability to eat by mouth would yearn for comfort foods especially those they associated with their childhood, specific people or happy memories. It comes as no surprise to me that Roger Ebert mourns the loss of eating basic foods from his past and not trendy or gourmet things. I have heard manystories of patients who simply refused treatment once they learned they would no longer be able to eat or drink. The loss of the ability to sense aromas in food or dulling of the tastebuds with age can be equally devastating for people. On a lighter note, there are many stories about patients who would put beer, wine or hard alcohol down their g-tube because getting a buzz was still a priority in their life. I have also heard of people who would puree really strongly flavored foods because they enjoyed the aroma of the food from the back of their throat. One of my favorite little patients once elegantly described it as "I prefer chocolate burps to strawberry".

"Blueridge to host “Fish ‘n’ Flicks” dinner screening series on January 15th. Sea to Table will ship exclusively wild, sustainable seafood to chefs at Blue Ridge, Eno Terra, North Pond, and Starfish Brasserie for their Fish ‘n’ Flicks dinners." I have no connection to this event. Saw the email in my in-box this morning. See details below. They don't mention a price for this special dinner, could it be free? From: Sympa user [mailto:sympa@elist.tufts.edu] On Behalf Of annamghosh@gmail.com Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 11:56 PM To: comfood@elist.tufts.edu Subject: [COMFOOD:] Restaurants host dinners, screen film to shed light on crisis of overfishing If you haven't seen the documentary The End of the Line yet, it's a must. Here's the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roD47QiujY4 If you're interested in participating in this project, or are a journalist watching the sustainable seafood space and would like more information, please contact Anna Ghosh, annamghosh@gmail.com. Media Advisory Top Chefs Urge Diners to Choose Sustainable Fish “Fish ‘n’ Flicks” Pairs Screenings of the The End of the Line with Sustainable Seafood Dinners to Educate Guests About What They Can Do to End Overfishing Jan. 5, 2010 – America’s most renowned and ecologically conscious chefs will be crafting special sustainable seafood menus to accompany restaurant screenings of The End of the Line, the award-winning documentary about overfishing narrated by Ted Danson. To date, 12 dinner events are planned nationally as part of the “Fish ‘n’ Flicks” dinner screening series, to take place throughout January in and around New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Chicago and San Diego. Debuting at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and playing in hundreds of cinemas, aquariums, and universities across the U.S. and the United Kingdom, Rupert Murray’s The End of the Line explores the inconvenient truth about the devastating effect of overfishing on the world’s oceans. Building on its success in the UK, where the film convinced top restaurants and grocery stores to overhaul their seafood offerings in favor of sustainable sourcing, the film’s restaurant screening series gives U.S. restaurants a chance to showcase the culinary—and ecological—benefits of sustainable fish. The first major documentary to reveal the extent of the crisis facing today’s oceans, The End of the Line warns that the current pace of fishing will deplete most edible fish stocks by 2048. The film also offers a powerful call to action: urging diners, chefs and restaurants to choose sustainably sourced seafood over imperiled species. With 80 percent of the world’s fish stocks now fully or over-exploited, restaurants who replace critically endangered species such as bluefin tuna or beluga sturgeon with sustainable alternatives take big strides toward providing diners with ecologically responsible options. As part of their participation, all restaurants featured in the Fish ‘n’Flicks series will also be among the first American restaurants recognized in the online seafood guide Fish2Fork.com. Fish2Fork is the only online seafood-specific dining guide to let diners rate restaurants not only for the quality of their food but also for the effect their menus have on marine life. Fish2Fork will launch its U.S. edition the week of Jan. 10. “Ordering fish in a restaurant should not be a moral dilemma. I commend the chefs and restaurants participating in the Fish ‘n’ Flicks campaign for taking a leadership role in educating diners and preserving endangered fish for future generations,” said Charles Clover, the creator of Fish2Fork and the author whose book, The End of the Line, is the foundation for the film. List of Fish ‘n’ Flicks events to date: Tues., Jan. 12 Yankee Pier, Lafayette, Calif. Thurs., Jan. 14 Sea Rocket Bistro, Chef Christy Samoy, San Diego, Calif. Fri., Jan. 15 Blue Ridge, Chef Barton Seaver, Washington D.C. 18 Reasons/Bi-Rite Market, San Francisco Mon., Jan. 18 Starfish Brasserie, Chef Kristofor Sandholm, Bethlehem, Penn. Jan. 18-24 Harbor’s Edge at the San Diego Sheraton, Chef Steve Black, San Diego, Calif. Tues., Jan. 19 Eno Terra, Chef Carlo Momo, Kingston, NJ Wed., Jan. 20 Oliveto, Chef Paul Canales, Oakland, Calif. Thurs., Jan. 21 Sea Rocket Bistro, San Diego, Calif. Fri., Jan. 22 Fish. Sausalito, Calif Tues., Feb. 23 North Pond, Chef Bruce Sherman, Chicago TBD Palo Santo, Chef Jacques Gautier, Brooklyn, NY Bamboo Sushi, Kristofor Lofgren, Portland, Ore. These restaurants are joined by Mario Batali’s restaurants in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New York, and Thomas Keller’s Per Se, which will offer private screenings of the film to educate their chefs, cooks and kitchen staff. Sea to Table, a family-owned sustainable seafood purveyor and supporter of the Fish ‘n’ Flicks campaign, will provide sustainable seafood to Fish ‘n’ Flicks participants. Certified by the Marine Stewardship Council, Sea to Table seeks out wild, sustainably managed fisheries needing better access to markets, and offers a direct line of traceability between local fishermen and chefs. “The chefs we work with have a rare opportunity not only to highlight sustainable choices, but to help steer customers toward thinking about where their fish come from, who does the catching, and how it got from the boat to the plate” say owners Sean and Michael Dimin. Sea to Table will ship exclusively wild, sustainable seafood to chefs at Blue Ridge, Eno Terra, North Pond, and Starfish Brasserie for their Fish ‘n’ Flicks dinners. The End of the Line will be released on home DVD Feb. 23. To preview the film’s trailer or select episodes from the film, please visit http://endoftheline.com. Interviews available: Charles Clover, prominent journalist and author whose book, The End of the Line, was the foundation for the film. Charles is the creator of the Fish2Fork online restaurant guide. Barton Seaver, Esquire’s 2009 Chef of the Year and Sustainable Seafood Advocate Christopher Hird, Executive Producer, The End of the Line George Duffield, Producer, The End of the Line Sean Dimin, Sea to Table Contact: Anna Ghosh For The End of the Line/Fish ‘n’ Flicks 415-265-1568 annamghosh@gmail.com

Posting for a colleague. Please respond directly to her. Her contact information is below. I am looking for any referrals for a personal chef who is willing to prepare meals either daily, a few days a week or once a week for an athlete going to the NFL draft who will be training in D.C. now through April. The athlete is willing to be flexible for meal delivery services where the chef will prepare the meals elsewhere and make the deliveries on a schedule we determine. It would be for 3 meals a day and if not showing up daily need to be foods that are easily heated and also meet my nutritional recommendations. Please email me directly ASAP as we're moving fast to get him set up on a plan. Rebecca -- Rebecca Scritchfield, MA, RD, ACSM Health Fitness Specialist Inspiring wellness through counseling, speaking, and writing. (202) 375-8942 www.elitenutritiondc.com and www.nurtureprinciples.com Blog: http://www.rebeccascritchfield.wordpress.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nurtureprinciples Twitter: http://twitter.com/rebeccasportsRD Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccascritchfield

Her books are really great. Her writings about her time in Provence inspired me and my husband to take a month long trip there three summers ago. The Art of Eating is a compilation of several of her books and chronicles about 20 years of her essays. It is a big book- probably 500 or so pages, but because it is a series of essays and short stories you can put it down and pick it up without feeling lost.

There are definitely some new menu items. For example, they added the Cioppino recently. We were there a couple weeks ago and they had frogs legs on the menu, which I didn't recall having seen before. That Cioppino by the way, is awesome. The shredded squid-noodles must be tasted to be believed.

I've tried them. They are pretty middle of the road cupcakes. Nothing special in terms of taste, texture or overall quality.