astrid

I think both Pizza CS and Inferno have far surpassed Pupatella. Inferno now is better than Pupatella in its prime. 

That's unfortunate.  I thought her article was unfocused and poorly written.  There is plenty of awareness for people editorializing their lives on social media, but it has nothing to do with concept of uncanny valley.  

If you prefer less tangy, I recommend making it from scratch and refrigerate the batch immediately without room temp fermentation period.  You can adjust heat level by adding cayenne powder.  I follow Maangchi's recipe and it takes maybe 60 minutes of active prep time.  

La Formagerie is my top choice for Old Town, meals there always delighted me.  I find it a better value than Hank's or Vermillion, I know that's not saying much.

Swiss chard or Malabar spinach might fill that gap.  They typically can manage to continue harvest through the summer and I had chard survive to bloom next spring.  It might be possible to keep a very heat tolerant lettuce such as Jericho going if you water it very well to minimize stress.  If you're willing to go with something more unusual, amaranth greens or huazontle do well over with heat and were trouble free for me.  

In case you're looking to stock up on seeds, Renee's Garden Seeds is doing end of season 50 % discounts on most of their seeds right now.  They are a good company and I've been quite happy with their seeds and selection.

Another option is succession planting some dill, basil, or cilantro seed.  They will grow quickly and be ready in 45 to 60 days.

The Thai basil might have gotten stunted by cold weather, dryness, or being root bound.  Basil grows really easily in warm weather, so I would just plant more seeds or start some new plants with the basil from your next Thai or Vietnamese veggie platter ( just stick in water until it roots).

We always end up in Cuban Burger in Harrisonburg on that route.  Get extra green sauce!

That San Pellegrino 50 best list is even more bunk than Michelin 2 and 3 stars? At this point, I've had enough meh or worse meals (Akelarre is literally my worst restaurant meal in 2015) at Michelin 2 and 3 stars to think that expecting greatness in one is not a good game plan.

If it makes you feel any better, we ate at 4 of the 5 Viennese 2-stars.  Only Konstantin Filippou was worthy.

Cosme in NYC is also just fine and about 300% overpriced.

I find sticky toffee pudding to be fairly easy and very impressing. 

Ha! No wonder they got everything down so well already. I was impressed by how well the different components of the tacos worked together.

I loved Peche.  Not brunchy but casual weekend lunch friendly.  Found Herbsaint meh.  Not bad but vastly preferred Cochon, Cochon Butcher, and Peche.  And Peche was my favorite by a wide margin.  (If you were looking for suggestions, I recall very good meal at Coquette, and Le Petit Grocery).

They may have reduced the head count. It's been a couple years since we've gotten in the counter. We usually end up in the Little Serow line instead. We prefer Ogawa these days for sushi.

I recall it being a pretty long list, at least 15-20 kinds and encompasses most, but not all, of the main dining room options. It's definitely fewer varieties than what you'd encounter in their omakase counter.

It's half off sushi and sashimi, I don't think you can order of the rest of the menu at the bar. Only at the bar (12 or 13 people total) and on most days, you need to be there an hour early at least. Don't assume that if they're are 7 people ahead of you that you're safe, people will save space for late arrivals in their party.

I don't think it's worth it unless you have a bottomless appetite for sushi/sashimi. They also tend to cut the fish a little thinner than the dinner service, so you are not getting full benefit of the discount.

I think Ogawa at the bar is better than Nakazawa at the bar.  It was underwhelming and oddly paced for us, and not nearly as good as our experience in the main dining room of Nakazawa NYC.

FG Fries are very variable from location to location.  One place I used to occasionally go to went from huge "regular" portions of long fresh fries to small "large" portions with lots of short pieces.  

Never liked their burgers, the patties are way overcooked and toppings are straight from Sysco.  I'd rather carb load at Potbelly's.  And of course no comparison to Ray's or Citizen.

They usually have one sliced cheddar option that is not crumbly and tolerably melty, though the shrink wrapped aged sharp cheddars tend to be much tastier.  Speaking of Mexican and cheese, the queso Blanco pan fries up great and is a great sub for haloumi at 1/3 the price.

They can be productive and keep very well.  Months in the fridge and freezes well.  

Make sure you grow 2 tomatillos, even if you keep one very small.  They don't self pollinate so you need 2 for fruit.

Ha yes, brain fart by me and rather inexcusable one, since they branded the heck out of that duck.

White Rabbit Taco is very very good, well worth waiting in the long line for.  The menu is not traditional but well honed.   I could see it duplicating it's success in other cities in the next few years.

Also liked Jianna.  It's very good rather than amazing, but really good for Greenville.

I don't recall ever seeing them for sale in the US, but obviously they are available per the older thread.  The prep work is fussy, you break the "petals" up, rub away the dirt, peel the outer membrane, and soak it in water for couple hours to make it less bitter and crisp.  It's slightly glutinous and cooling, so usually eaten in the summer.  Stirfried, added to sweet porridge, or cooked byself to make a cooling porridge.

I believe most lily species originating from the Orient had been used for food at some point.  Trumpet lilies seem like the best option as they grow fast and are relatively unfussy compared to tiger lily species, and are less likely to be silent carriers of the mosaic virus.

The lily buds come from daylilies.  Typically you want to aim for species or lightly hybridized varieties with yellow or orange color blossoms, the more hybridized varieties may not taste good or even sicken eaters.  They're easy to find as dried goods in Asian grocery stores.  I don't like them, they taste musty to me, but they are probably quite nutritious and full of fiber.

Blueberry in pot in zone 8 means figuring out a winter storage solution and also she doesn't want netting, so definite bird and rodent concerns.  They don't get much leaf disease, but are vulnerable to spotted wing fruit flies after midsummer, finicky about drainage and moisture, and need soil acidity maintenance ( though pot culture is easier in that respect).  It also takes 2-4 years to really establish a productive plant structure and then you need to maintenance prune for production. it's easy compared to growing a fire blight magnet pear or a sweet cherry, but I think pretty daunting for a beginner.  If I wanted one in a pot, a dwarf southern high bush is probably the way to go, since they are more tolerant of nonacidic soil and better fit for the climate.

She specifically said she didn't want to start plants from seeds, so it has to be commercially available varieties and I haven't seen any DTP plant options yet.  The Patio series might work as they are also dwarf indeterminate with wider distribution.  I'd offer her my extra starts, but it sounds like she was happy with 1 Sungold.  I have used DTP seeds from Sample Seeds, Heritage Seed Market, and Victory Seeds (all of the owners are closely associated with the project).  They are all good vendors with true to name seeds.  HSM is probably the best option since they have some $1 sample packs available

Bear Creek is hit and miss for me.  The varieties are interesting but not well tested and I get enough off types and poor germination that I can't wholeheartedly recommend them.

I don't think blueberries are worth the effort for the reasons you've stated, plus all soft fruit ripening after midsummer are at risk from spotted wing fruit flies.   They're doable in pots but going to a  PYO gets fruit of similar quality without the hassle.  Definite down on mulberries, they're weed trees and the berry stained bird poop will stain everything.  

Meyer lemon and kumquats are good for small manageable citrus trees.  Meyer lemon flower and fruit throughout the year, so you get a spreading harvest.  Bay leaf, scented geraniums, and rosemary are also good balcony plants.  Don't get a traditional multigraft fruit cocktail tree, they don't work as potted plants at all for many reasons (chill hours, root mass, spraying, disease, pruning for balanced shape).  Most fruit trees take way to much spraying and coddling to fruit in the East, even in the ground.  If you want something fruity, mara de bois and pineberry plants might be the way to go for something relatively small and low maintenance, but unusual and tasty.

You can grow pineapples from the tops of store pineapples, takes about 2 years to harvest.

Nasturtiums are a pretty edible.  When well watered, they flower from June to frost for me.  You could grow the trailing variety and have them drape over your balcony.

Be careful of the plantings close to the AC, it might get quite hot there in the summer, hotter than a lot of plants like.  Would be good for peppers and eggplants.  For peppers, check out aji dulce (and other habanero lookalikes with minimal heat) and aji Limon. Very productive and decorative, and not freely available in supermarkets.

Hot peppers grow well in pots, but unless you want to grow superhots or unusual varieties, I don't think they are worth the bother since they ship well.  Cukes, broccoli, cauliflowers, sweet corn, melons, squash, and carrots are other veggies that aren't worth the bother due to space, finickiness with weather, or disease pressure.

I would say tomatoes followed by kale.  But a lot of it comes down to the diversity of options when I grow it myself, rather than better quality than what I can buy from a farm stand or Farmer's market.  There are a lot of varieties that you can't buy even from Farmer's market or are ridiculously expensive, like $5 for a pint of Sungolds (they split easily and are then not saleable, but plenty eatable) when one plant will keep a family sated.

Greens are all great returns on the space investment and often tastier than store options.

Herbs are also great to have.  A couple basils, chive, Fernleaf dill, and some cilantro seeds every few weeks.  Maybe a mint plant in its own pot where it won't bully others.  

I find Burpee on the expensive side, though no complaints about quality.  I really like Pinetree, Fedco, Sample Seeds, and Renee's for generalists.  Fedco is particularly good for greens since they are cheap (especially if you buy a larger size and store leftovers in a Ziploc bag in the fridge, I have good germination even from onions and okra after 4-5 years) and have lots of hybrid and non-hybrid options.  Southern Exposure Seed Company is regional to the upper South and their seeds consistently do very well for me.  

Now is the perfect time for cool season greens such as spinach, turnip, kale, arugula, lettuce, and Swiss chard.  Another fun cool season crop is mache.  Let a couple go to seed every year and it will keep you in winter salads forever.  I think you are probably in zone 8A, so you can probably grow and harvest.  Ditto arugula, come to think of it, plus arugula germinates reliably and grows fast.  And kale if I ever dare let it go to seed.

Depending on your patio set up, larger volume grow bags might be a quick economical option, though they will likely dry out faster than self watering pots.