porcupine

21 hours ago, Pat said:

Arugula salad with vinaigrette
Turkey pot pie

Ha! we had turkey pot pie, too. Pastry makes just about anything taste better.

^I love it. If only all air travel could be filled with music, camaraderie, and joie de vie...  The people are very friendly, and trying to build something of a tourist industry. There's no big infrastructure, though, so you don't have crowds of people flooding through. If you like low-key travel, Newfoundland is wonderful.

To give some idea of the distances involved, it takes about 11-12 hours to drive from Bangor, Maine to Sydney, NS on the far end of Cape Breton Island. It's then a six hour ferry crossing to Channel Port aux Basques, NL, and another 9 hours to drive to Saint John's. Or you can take a different ferry from Sydney to St. John's, which is 12-14 hours.

If you don't want to spend that much time on the road, there are regional carries that could fly you from Halifax to St. John's. There are small commercial airports all over the area, actually, but I haven't researched them yet.

I'm looking into a long road trip there next summer. One major hurdle is that the Canadian car rental companies won't let you take their cars on gravel roads. Considering that I hope to get on to the Trans-Labrador Highway, this is a real problem. If you're time limited, look into flying to Halifax, renting a car, returning it to Halifax then flying to St. John's or Gander and renting another car, then flying home from there.

FWIW I flew to St. John's from National through Ottawa, and it was a much better experience than connecting in Toronto and Montreal, except for the fact that there isn't much to eat or do to pass the time in the Ottawa airport. On the way back, though, their were more dining options. FWIW I much prefer small airports and commuter flights: less hassle, though the overhead bins are small.

ferry service

Welcome to Newfoundland

Reading through this thread, I see that no one's written about Newfoundland.

With apologies to Douglas Adams, Newfoundland is big. Really big... I went there solo for a few days last August and only saw a tiny portion of the place. Flew into St. John's, picked up a rental car, then spent nearly fours hours driving (at highway speeds) to the far end of the Bonavista Peninsula. If you look at these two places on a map, you'll get a sense of how big Newfoundland is.

Honestly there isn't much to do in the area other than take in the beautiful scenery. It's a great destination for an introvert, especially if you enjoy hiking and wildlife and landscape photography. It's not a great place for food, but I did manage to find a few gems.

I stayed in a small town called Elliston, at Meem's, one of a shockingly large number of bed and breakfasts. The owners were friendly but not intrusive, and the room perfect for a solo traveler: small but clean and comfy, with wifi and a good solid breakfast. Around the corner there is a tiny but beautiful and interesting museum, the John C. Crosbie Sealers Interpretation Centre. Newfoundland history is about sealing, and the people here have deep roots and don't forget their stories; on a rainy day I spent half an hour listening to a middle-age woman and teenage boy talk about the tragedies that befell their community, the loss of ships and swilers (local lingo for sealers) in terrible storms, the collapse of the economy as industries failed, and so on. I discovered that many Newfoundlanders have a subtle but distinct accent, sort of a Canadian Scots-Irish patois that was pleasant to listen to.

Down near the harbor there is also a sobering memorial to lost sealers. Also two large gift shops and a post office. When I went to the latter to inquire about shipping some things home, the chatty (bored?) clerk warned me not to even try with any seal products: importation to the US is banned and anything sent through post will be confiscated. As I was wanting to send books, this wasn't a problem, but good to know, as there are a lot of seal-fur items for sale in the area.

The coastal scenery is spectacular and there are plenty of trails for easy to moderate hiking, including the somewhat famous Skerwink near Port Rexton and the Klondike that runs from Elliston to Spillar's Cove. There's also one along the coast to the Bonavista lighthouse.

As for food... well... I can't say there's anything outstanding in there area. Nanny's Root Cellar Kitchen was serviceable, at best. I ate there the first night because I was exhausted and it was in walking distance. But it does remind me that over towards Maberly there are some interesting interpretive displays around some old root cellars that anyone interested in traditional foodways might enjoy.

Food trivia: Elliston is the Root Cellar Capital of the World. Which gives you a clue about what kinds of food the people eat (traditionally). Root veg and cod. It's a hard place to make a life, and not suited to agriculture. Also, Newfoundland is the home of the scrunchion. So there you go.

Anyway, more about restaurants. Over in Bonavista, Neil's Yard was disappointing, too, but Mifflin's Tea Room served good breakfasts and lunches, and Boreal Diner was a real treat. I ate there the next three nights, convinced that it served the best food on the whole peninsula. Eclectic menu, but everything I tried was tasty and well-prepared. Also, the coffee was great. Not "major metropolitan area third wave" great, but close. Various sources suggested that the best food is at Bonavista Social Club, a half-hour drive away in Amherst Cove. My innkeeper suggested going there for lunch, as it's tiny and impossible to get into at dinner. I'm glad I took her advice, as it was almost impossible to get into at lunch on a Wednesday. The pizza was decent, not anything extraordinary for those of us who dine at Inferno/2Amys/Pupatella, etc., but I had a wonderful dessert that featured lingonberries. Which in Newfoundland are called partridgeberries, and show up just about everywhere.

One afternoon, just for fun, I paid for a tour through Tuckamore Discoveries, a one-man outfit whose owner knows everything about the ecology (geology, botany, zoology) of the area. I had him all to myself, which was awesome even though we didn't see many puffins, because we talked native plants and wildflowers the whole time; I think he was happy to have a semi-knowledgable client who was more interested in plants than birds.

There is so much else to see on the island. I barely scratched the surface. It needs a full two weeks to see everything.

One piece of advice: if you're flying in and renting a car, arrange your rental well in advance. I made arrangements on short notice, and my plans ended up being entirely based on the availability of a car. There aren't many around, and it's an island a long way away from any other car rental places, so they are in short supply and demand is high. Seriously, car rental rather than flight schedules or room availability will be your limiting reagent. Plan accordingly.

Lots of rice left in the bowl from a recent dinner at Bob's, so I got it to go along with an order of Taiwanese sausage, and a few nights later made fried rice with it, adding egg, peas, garlic, hot peppers, a kick-ass soy sauce some friends gave us, and sesame oil. Is fried rice déclassé? I don't care. It was delicious.

Needing to use a kabocha squash but lacking inspiration, I turned to Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty. The book fell open to the recipe for saffron tagliatelle with spiced butter, so I looked no further. Peeled, cubed and roasted the squash, cooked some farfalle, made the spiced butter (and added the saffron there, since I wasn't making the tagliatelle), combined everything and added a good amount of chopped parsley and toasted pine nuts. I think I'll be using that spiced butter on a lot of dishes this winter.

Monday seems to be turning into Indian night. Last night we had Lucknowi gosht korma (lamb marinated in yogurt, garlic, and ginger and cooked with pounded whole spices - very simple but intense); sabud moong ki dal (supposed to be green lentils, but I used yellow ones); and Kolhapuri vangi (supposed to be eggplant, but I used tiny new potatoes, in a coconut-chili-tomato sauce).

The thing I love about the book 660 Curries is the recipes for different masalas. The lentil dish uses Balti masala, which contains fennel, coriander, cumin, mustard seed, cloves, black cardamom, nigella, bay leaves, cinnamon, cayenne, and nutmeg. The potato dish uses Kolhapuri masala, which is dried chilies, dried coconut, white sesame seeds, coriander, cumin, peppercorns, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, mace, bay, cayenne, and paprika, most of which are coated in oil and fried until dark, then ground. 

On 10/23/2017 at 12:28 PM, pjnewman said:

Forgive me if this has been the subject of a previous discussion but many a meal at an ethnic restaurant has been complimented by a dish of chile sauce. In the past when purchasing what I hoped would be a comparable condiment at an Asian market,I have always come away with something that I felt was too salty. Is there a style or brand of chile sauce similar to what you might be served at a typical Chinese restaurant? Thanks.

Try this: heat some peanut oil until very hot but not smoking; add a lot of hot red chili flakes; let it cool, pour it all into a bottle and let it sit for a few days. Should keep for a long time.

Goat curry. There's a vendor at the Sunday Bethesda farmers market who sells large pieces of goat with a high ratio of meat to bone, so I bought some and mostly followed an Indian recipe for braised lamb shanks in fennel-cumin sauce. It came out great. Also made carrots and peas with Sambar masala, and spiced basmati rice.

Awesome dish alert: I forget what they called it, but it's two large sage leaves sandwiching house-made sausage, the whole thing batter-dipped and fried like tempura. It's been on the specials menu for a week now iirc. Apparently I was not the first person to have enthusiastically asked for it to become a regular menu item.

17 hours ago, MC Horoscope said:

Wanted you to know that the paw paw bread we had last Saturday at Restaurant at Patowmack Farms was just about the best part of the meal! The paw paws were foraged on site.  Where do you get yours?

Not far from that restaurant is an established pawpaw orchard; the owner lets people come and pick by appointment. If you'd like his contact info send me a message.

The pawpaw-coconut semifreddo turned out great. Last two nights was pawpaw Victoria sandwich with whipped coconut cream. Still have a lot of pawpaws to use. One thing's for sure, though: dairy and coconut both tame the sharp, terpene-y taste that some pawpaws have.

Pawpaw pie: graham cracker shell filled with vanilla custard mixed with pawpaw pulp, with a touch of mace. Think I might try a pawpaw-coconut semifreddo next.

I don't often go back to watch old favorites, because usually they flop. Films I remember fondly for any reason leave me cold and a little sad a decade or two or three later. There are a few exceptions, of course, and after the recent discussion on this site of Blazing Saddles, I feel compelled to mention The Producers. The film has its flaws, but nothing has ever tickled my (often broken) funny bone as much as the epic production number "Springtime for Hitler", a brilliant send-up of Busby Berkeley choreography and probably a bunch of other old Hollywood film tropes and traditions.

On a recent trip I found this a particularly useful resource: Best Coffee Shops in San Francisco.

Thanks for the recommendations. Coqueta was lovely, even at 9:00 (midnight body time). My favorite (Mr. P's, too), was SPQR, a Michelin 1-star, California-influenced Italian place in Lower Pacific Heights. Mac Daddy was disappointing. Nopalito (Haight-Ashbury) was great, possibly because it was the right kind of food at the right time. Orenchi Beyond (Mission District) served one of the best bowls of ramen I've ever had; their signature broth is a light version of tonkatsu. All the flavors were in balance and the noodle texture spot-on perfect ramen chewy. Iza Ramen (Lower Haight) was also excellent, the signature broth a melding of several different styles. We met up with friends one night at Monsieur Benjamin (Hayes Valley), a solid French bistro. 

I'm curious what the SF members of this board think of La Mar on the Embarcadero. Two of the three dishes we tried were surprisingly good, given the setting (the place is gigantic, right on the waterfront).

I wanted to do a side-by-side with Craftsman and Wolves and B Patisserie, but never made it to the latter, and only had a taste of a morning bun at the former. The bun was great. If only I could eat all the food...

The find of the trip might have been Dandelion Chocolate, a few doors up from Craftsman and Wolves (Valencia Street).

edited to add: Yank Sing was seriously disappointing.

On 1/25/2017 at 0:45 AM, DIShGo said:

I have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for nearly 25 years, and just this week tried my first "It's-It Ice Cream Sandwich. I am now kicking myself for waiting this long. These delectable desserts--ice cream sandwiched between two oatmeal cookies and dipped in dark chocolate--are readily available everywhere around here, and there is even an "It's-It" outlet in Suisun City, about a ten-minute drive from my house. If you are in the Bay Area, don't hesitate to pick up a box of "It's-It." If you love them, you can even have them shipped to you.

A few summers ago I had two cases of It's-It shipped to me here in Maryland. Stuffed my auxiliary freezer with them. Was very popular with my friends for the next few months.

21 hours ago, DonRocks said:

My last visit to Zuni Cafe was laughably bad, and their vaunted Roast Chicken tasted primarily of balsamic vinegar when I ordered it, long ago - there was *no* seating at the bar area downstairs (I mean, literally - no chairs: You had to stand up), and unless you're a known food critic, you may be treated like a second-class citizen - I certainly was: The entire meal was like some sort of sick joke, from the indifferent service, to the improperly dressed salad, and DIShGo is my witness (although I see you've been before and loved it; in that case, the best I can possibly say is that it's very inconsistent, and unless you announce yourself as a restaurant critic (I know someone who went with a major local food critic, and reportedly had a fantastic meal), you're playing an expensive game of Russian Roulette). The first time I went, in 2005 perhaps, I had some of the best raw bar I've ever had.

Yes, but that was seven years ago. I don't expect any restaurant to be the same after seven years. Anyway SF has so many new places to try and I only get there every few years, so why repeat anything? Except B. Patisserie.

I've been so busy with other things that I've neglected any planning for an upcoming trip, so I need some ideas. Here's the scenario: Mr. P will be in SF for two weeks for work, and will probably be hanging out with co-workers most evenings. I'm flying out to join him on Wednesday and staying for the weekend.  So, I need solo dinner options for Wednesday and Thursday, and "date night" options for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We're staying close to the Ferry Terminal building, but don't mind taking public transport to just about anywhere.

Here's the important thing: l want low-key places. I'm not going to bring any fancy clothes and these days I really don't like formal dining. If my clone was coming to DC I'd tell her to go to Tail Up Goat and Himitsu. I'll consider any cuisine.

Many thanks.

On 8/14/2017 at 6:51 PM, lion said:

I have over 120,000 points on AmEx. Thinking about going to platinum cause they offer 60,000 with some usage. It just seems like making the travel arrangements thru their website is too much. Feels like it easier these days to go to the airline themselves to do things since haven't used points in many years. 

If you're collecting points, keep in mind that if you purchase directly from an airline using an AmEx Pt, you will get 5x points (eg, a $2,000 business class ticket to Europe will get you 10,000 points). Do look into transferring your points from the regular AmEx to the Pt, though, and make sure you don't lose anything in the process.

On 8/11/2017 at 9:18 AM, Charles Tsui said:

10 years ago, you couldn't really get a proper bowl of ramen here. Then, Toki Underground opened with a pretty non-traditional take on the dish (which they were frank about). But it did open a lot of people's eyes to the idea of ramen that didn't come in a plastic bag, a menu focused on it, and a new price point for it. Now, we have a diverse selection of ramen-only shops, like Ren's and Daikaya,

Not to disparage what you're saying, but to be fair, Ren's predates Toki by about two years.

Nice! Maybe she can give me some tips on Danish rye (rugbrød). Mine comes out a bit sticky in the center.

3 hours ago, Keithstg said:

Interesting - can you expand on this? How often are lounges closed I'm considering downgrading to Amex Platinum, but lounge privileges are important with frequent travel.

Only one example to share: on Saturday, July 1 the Turkish Airlines lounge was closed to Priority Pass members because it was full. And as someone else wrote, the BA lounge only allowed PP access during certain hours.

I'm waiting for a flight at National as I type this, almost a year after getting the AmEx Platinum. I also got a Chase Sapphire Reserve Card a few months later. Today's flight was purchased entirely on points. I'll be flying again in two weeks and again almost entirely on points... first class. On the Chase card.

AmEx has been good for getting into airport lounges, except when the lounges are closed to Priority Pass members.  Of course Chase offers the same Priority Pass benefit, so that doesn't matter.

I think The Points Guy wrote that which card is better for you depends on how you use it, and what you value. I value flexibility. The Chase card is waaaaay more flexible than the Am Ex. AmEx has limited partner airlines. With Chase, when I didn't see what I wanted on-line, I called, and a very helpful clerk got me exactly the right flight.  When it comes to points, not only do you get 3x for travel and dining related, when you go to redeem, you get $0.015 per point, which is 50% more than AmEx offers. So your $1200 flight (just to keep the math simple) costs only 800 points.

Since I'll be closing the AmEx soon, I've been looking at gift card options. For some of them, you pay something like12,000 points for a $100 card. For others it's a better rate. I'm sure this depends on the vendor, but still. I am only choosing gift cards because i don't want to lose the points when I close the account.

Sorry if this is rambling - it's early. From my perspective, the Chase card is the clear winner: points accumulate faster, are worth more when redeemed, and you have more options how to redeem them.

Also I'm still mildly peeved that AmEx sent me an offer for 100,000 bonus points if I signed up - three weeks after I had already signed up, for a 40,000 point bonus. That's basically $600 in free travel lost. feh.

19 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Koji Terano calls this "the cuisine of subtraction." It's also a lot like Bach, and to a lesser degree, Mozart: Think if there's anything else you can remove that won't harm the item.

"Too many notes."

Also, Coco Chanel's famous advice.