porcupine
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Everything posted by porcupine
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Recently I had a discussion going with friends about XLB. Someone had recommended we go to Din Tai Fung while in Seattle; others thought it overrated. Then I found a local place that sounded like it was better and went there for lunch on Monday. Their XLB, I reported to my friends, were way better than any I'd had on the east coast and second only to the best I had in Richmond (BC, that is, not VA; it's a suburb of Vancouver). Tonight Mr. P and I dined at Bob's Shanghai 66. Those were the best XLB I've ever had. Ever.- 65 replies
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- Shanghai Chain
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I'm in Seattle right now, and I must say there is some mighty fine food here. (Last night, toasted sourdough bread with morels and a runny egg at Sitka and Spruce.) A few hours ago, xiao long bao second in quality only to ones I've had near Vancouver, B.C. I can't compare Seattle to Paris, but you can dine very well here.
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thanks!
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I was being vague deliberately but since you ask - the proportion of beef to other things should be higher. But I'd prefer a smaller portion, so take out about a third of the other stuff and keep the amount of beef the same.
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Mostly agreed with DanielK, except I wouldn't fault the noodle dish in any way. Yes, they were brothy but so what. The thinly sliced beef was great. The proportion of beef to other ingredients in the rolls needs to be adjusted. I'd order either dish again, though.
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Inquiring for a friend, who write: "...The facts (yes, they are what they are... I had NO input into why they are...) My oldest (son) is getting married in Myrtle Beach in September. As parents of the groom, we're entrusted with all things rehearsal dinner. The dilemma... Find a venue to hold same dinner... In Myrtle Beach... While I've never been, I've been learning about it and am understanding why I've never been... The top suggestions for venues from our future in-laws appear to in fact be some of the best restaurants (according to local reviews) they are not exactly what we're looking for... nudge, nudge... Soooo do you or any of the other foodies in your network, know of anything there that might not suck (and accommodate a group of 20-30)??? Forever in your debt if you can come up with anything even marginally better than this:" [picture of unappealing lookinng place follows] Any local experts? Any help much appreciated.
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They've been offered by one or two Dupont Market vendors the past two Sundays.
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Well, that's because it started as a thread specifically about the atomic bombings, then immediately went off course, so Rocks started another thread, and then those were both merged into this thread (and I don't blame Rocks at all for doing it, because the discussion was all over the place). Which is why I re-stated my question. And I thank johnb and Rocks for taking a stab at answering it. But it looks like I won't get the discussion I wanted... For some reason, many people see WWII as "the good war" (as Studs Terkel dubbed it, maybe it's his fault), and forget about the enormity of it. Yesterday was the 70th anniversary of V-E day. In four months we'll see the 70th anniversary of V-J day. It's worth taking a few moments to ponder this period of history. Can any of us truly imagine what life must have been like then, even in the US where people had it relatively easy? I don't think we can appreciate it. Next time you* complain that the grocery store near you is out of your favorite brand of cheesy poufs, think about how your parents/grandparents made do with food rationing and gasoline rationing. *that's "you" in the general sense of anyone reading this, not darkstar965 in particular
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Well this is all interesting but rather unfocused, so let me pose a question to anyone interested in the topic: in your opinion, were the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki justified? Reading between the lines, I'd say The Hersch's answer is "no", and Rocks' answer is "yes". Can either of you elaborate? Anyone else? Can there be such a thing as a justifiable atrocity?
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Oh heck that was too easy. End of discussion.
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I don't know when history forgot this, but can we please say "killing 11 million people"? Because when we talk about "6 million Jews" we are forgetting about 5 million - 5,000,000! - FIVE MILLION others who died in the same holocaust Thanks. And don't forget the firebombing of Tokyo. Richard Frank's book Downfall opens with an account of that horror. It's one of the aspects of the atomic bombings that fascinates me. Why do those two events have such a great effect on us 70 years later, when the firebombings were (arguably) just as bad? Yeah, war is hell. Is there ever justification? [note that I am not yet weighing in on either side]
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For anyone interested in this subject, check out "The Men Who Brought the Dawn", currently airing on the Smithsonian Channel. It's a fascinating documentary told by the men who flew the missions. I loved hearing their perspective on it. I had no idea how much authority Col. Tibbets had in mission planning. [FWIW I'm starting this in the History forum rather than the TV forum because I hope to ignite a discussion about the atomic bombings rather than a discussion about the TV show.]
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Ripple may not qualify as special enough but I think it's consistently underrated. We had an excellent meal there a few nights ago. The setting belies the quality of the food.
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I have no experience with growing wasabi, and I hate the stuff, so no interest in trying. But five minutes spent googling makes me doubt it can be grown here. Our summers are too hot. The other specialized growing conditions could be created by a devoted gardener, but it is really hard to control ambient heat. Hopefully someone is up for the challenge and will prove me wrong. :-) Details here.
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Say hi next time.
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^That's right. There's a small parking area at the trailhead, south side of MacArthur Blvd between Wilson Lane and the bridge. Once the trees leaf out I'm sure any view will be totally blocked. The other path you describe has a fantastic display of Dutchman's breeches, btw.
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I've only seen it once, and I can't say it was a great view. It lies just within the Avalon area entrance to Patapsco State Park. About the Union Arch Bridge: there is a trail that goes from MacArthur Blvd down to the canal, taking you under both the Cabin John and Clara Barton Parkways. I honestly can't recall if there's a good view of the bridge from there, but next time I'm out that way I'll have a look and report back.
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Closer to home, you might want to take a field trip to the Thomas Viaduct some day. Not as pretty to look at, but considered an architectural marvel in its time, and it predates the one you pictured. From http://thomas-viaduct-relay-maryland.blogspot.com/ "The Thomas Viaduct is a stone masonry railroad bridge that spans the Patapsco River and the Patapsco Valley gorge between the towns of Relay and Elkridge, Maryland and is the first multispan masonry bridge constructed in the United States to be built on a curve. It is the world's second oldest railroad bridge still in use (the oldest is the Carrollton Viaduct located a few miles north) and is the world's largest multiple arched stone railroad bridge built on a curve." From Wikipedia: "During design and construction, the Thomas Viaduct was nicknamed "Latrobe's Folly" after the designer Benjamin Latrobe II, because at the time many doubted that it could even support its own weight. Contrary to these predictions, the Thomas Viaduct survived the great flood of 1868 as well as Hurricane Agnes in 1972, two floods that wiped out the Patapsco Valley and destroyed nearly everything in their path; and to this day it continues to carry 300-ton (270 tonne) diesel locomotives passengers and heavy freight traffic."
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It's only talk. Taxonomy is in flux. Even citing authoritative sources is fraught with peril these days. It used to be that classification was done on the basis of flower and fruit morphology [translation: if they look alike, they're related], but there's been a worldwide effort for some time now (20 years?!) to reclassify everything based on DNA analysis and phylogeny (evolutionary relationships). I am not an expert but a dilettante fascinated by the subject. The current taxonomic hierarchy runs Domain - Kingdom - Phyllum/Division* - Class - Order - Family - Genus - Species. Two different experts/instructors in the class I'm taking have disagreed on the number of domains and kingdoms, but the order remains the same. And actually, it gets more complicated than that, with the addition of clades and suborders and subfamilies and so on. If you're looking for ways to kill time, google "lumpers vs. splitters". Or click on everything in the google article on alliums, eg: "In the APG III classification system, Allium is placed in the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Allioideae (formerly the family Alliaceae).[9] In some of the older classification systems, Allium was placed in Liliaceae.[3][4][10][11][12]Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown this circumscription of Liliaceae is not monophyletic." Ramps are Allium tricoccum. *phyllum for animals, division for plants
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- Onions
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Ramen on the lunch menu again today.
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FishNook.
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One more for now: I'll be in Seattle for a few days in May. Tell me three or four places I should go to for coffee. Thanks!
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Ricotta gnocchi tossed with browned butter, served atop barely-cooked spinach with slivers of tasso ham. I would have added pine nuts but was out.
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Oh good, so I'm not alone in being a geek... Would you believe I weigh the beans (g, accurate to 5/100) immediately before grinding, and that I measure the water? Of course you would. A different topic: talk to us about home grinders. I hate my Rancilio Rocky, because the only way I've found to calibrate it is by trial and error, which wastes a lot of coffee. So whenever I want a different grind (say for drip, which I do several times a year when I have a lot of guests), it's out-of-whack for my press pot. I can't simply rotate it to get it back where it was. Also, I'd love to be able to make a Turkish coffee in the afternoon, but it doesn't seem to grind fine enough for that.
