Simul Parikh

Hong Kong Palace... Been going for 7.5 years... I get increasingly surly service every time I visit from Linda unless I have lady with me, but she continues to give great food recs, and steering me away from things I don't like by telling me "No, you won't like". If she ever starts being nice to me, I'm walking straight out that door and never coming back. 

Del Ray Pizza ... they know that I want the hops and the haze, and that I never order anything other than the nachos + diesel sauce on side or the wings. Free beers occasionally.

Pork Barrel ... very occasional free stuff, but I don't like their stuff all that much anyway, so I don't want it anyway. 

Takohachi ... they are becoming my best buds. We go separately since we are so busy currently, and they always ask where the missus is when i'm there alone. I don't think they ask her where I am. They give free sashimi/small plates occasionally.

Padaek/BG - their staff turns over frequently. First year or so, a very sweet Hmong man and a nice Thai lady used to take care of me, not sure what happened to him, and she is now a manager or something higher level at Thip Khao.

7 minutes ago, dcandohio said:

Last night I finally took all of the hoarded frozen chicken bones  and added them to the carcass of a grocery store rotisserie chicken, and made stock.  So now I have to decide what happens next, and I'm thinking about a chicken chili. 

Last time I made chicken soup, made Sopa de Ajo, and it was ridonkulous

French omelette attempt #1 - massive fail.

1. Think the pan was damaged - that didn’t help things

2. As I was agitating the eggs, the periphery was cooking and center wasn’t and it just wouldn’t curd up fast enough.

3. The pan size (small) may have led to number 2

4. The outside brown much faster than inside cooked.

Tasted fine, looked lame. Embarrassed to post but maybe someone had a similar result. Guess I’ll have to keep the day job.

Tips and trips appreciated. Went with Serious Eats video. 

How much?

5 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Ironically, the plaintiff is a investor and she was allegedly one of the "bros" for 3 years.  I've always wondered how that plays into a sexual harassment case.  For example, let's suppose 2 people willingly engage in S&M practices, surely one cannot charge the other with abuse later?  I wonder if this defense works in a sexual harassment case.  And if so, it would be even more ironic that she gets nothing, his business goes down, and they both end up paupers.

To be clear, I'm not defending Isabella, nor am I concerned about his future career or business prospects.  I'm more concerned about who are we to determine what is fair and equitable punishment?  Is tax cheating worthy of boycotting and shaming?  Is domestic violence worthy of boycotting and shaming?  Is DUI  worthy of boycotting and shaming?  Why isn't a judgment sufficient punishment?  In a criminal case, if the person serves his time, he supposed has paid his dues.  In fact, we encourage the hiring of ex-convicts.  

That makes sense. It's a value judgement, I guess. I think media shaming has a purpose.

For example, Zuck at Facebook should be getting crushed by the media (really getting tired of the "well, we were made in a dorm room and grew too fast" excuse for everything they do wrong), but because he champions liberal causes (that I support), he gets treated with kid gloves. Annoying.... 

1. Tax cheats are worthy of shaming. Not victimless. Sheer evil. I pay my share. You should too. I despise this. A doc we worked nearby got nailed for $800k in back taxes. Asked me to come and speak at trial as a character witness. I declined. Certain professions have higher standards. Maryland took his medical license. I'm ok with that. That's a legit example of "shaming" b/c the Maryland Medical Board is other physicians and lawyers making a judgement, not a criminal penalty.

2. Domestic violence- yah. That's some power / control stuff that I condemn. Not victimless. Don't hit your partner. Pretty simple. 

3. DUI - complex as it's pretty clearly reflecting addiction (I.e. The overwhelming majority of people that have one DUI have a problem. If you have two, you're overwhelmingly likely to be an addict). Unless there's an accident, it's victimless. High earning professionals have diversion programs while poor people don't have access to similar solutions. One DUI - I wouldn't shame you. 2, I'd encourage rehab and taking a step back from things. But you may get shamed and lose your MD license over this. 

Difference between 1/2 vs 3 - 3 reflects addiction (likely), while 1/2 are typically shitty humans. 

We "encourage" hiring of convicts .. But do we actually hire them? We don't exactly prefer them, all things being equal...

Been 3-4 times. Always ended with ribs. Last time, I was sort of "done" with it - tasted too sweet. Glad to see that more recently, it doesn't always make the menu.

I'm excited for the laab... Most SE Asian places don't hit hard enough with the offal, but Thip Khao and LS seem to bring it.

Dude you ate that whole tower?? Respect!

Looks incredible.

12 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

I think the woman who asked people why they ate at Mike’s restaurants notwithstanding the sexual harassment allegation is shaming those people.  I wasn’t there so I don’t know what she asked or her tone of voice.

Why is Bruner Yang still in business because he physically assaulted someone and was arrested in a domestic violence incident?  Why are his restaurants the hottest joints in town?  

BY was also accused by his partners of misappropriating money.

It’s a fair point that the author shouldn’t be shaming customers. Why I go or not go to a restaurant isn’t really a journalists’ business, unless I want it to be their business.

At the same time, I’m just wondering.. even as the evidence mounts, even as we learn more that this likely a pattern not a one-off, what’s the motivation to continue to defend him, or if not defend him, then have great concern about his future career and business prospects?

Maybe concern about hundreds of years of poor treatment of women at the hands of terrible people (I didn’t say men, on purpose. April Bloomfield at The Spotted Pig let this type of crap go for a long time, and I’m sure she’s not the only woman) should trump the concern of this man’s future income potential?

Its not good. It’s really not good. So many nurses, female medical students, and other female health care staff got treated like this at the hospital for decades. If one doctor (or many doctors) goes down for this type of behavior and loses his reputation/career over it, I’m okay with it. I wonder why it’s different when we are talking about an even more vulnerable group of people. 

Not to continually have conflict about this - E - we clearly have different opinions and many people very much agree with you - but I’m just having a hard time understanding why there is a worry about his future, his businesses, and his investors. Is that the real issue? Maybe it is. I just don’t see it that way. I’m open to hearing why this is the pressing issue.

Maybe you’re right - maybe we shouldn’t “be all in someone’s business” these days ... but maybe that what it takes to expose people that take advantage of the powerless? 

On 4/7/2018 at 10:14 PM, Pool Boy said:

There's a bit more work involved method that involves either par-cooking the potatoes or essentially steaming them in a sheet pan in the oven. The intent is to them genty smash the potatoes with another sheet pan used to smash the potatoes on the steaming sheet pan (or turned out par-cooked potatoes on to another sheet pan). Then, after gently smashing them a bit flat, finishing them in the oven. it give you lots of edges and great texture and can be doctored up with salt and any spices  you might like.

That’s Food Lab’s approach - par boiling + creating rough edges.

I love KLA/Food Lab, but sometime it seems that doubling (maybe more!) the time of preparation for a marginal benefit seems like a real time suck (see his what appears to be days long meatloaf recipe ... no freaking way!). 

Think microwaving + roughing them up a bit in a mixing bowl might get you there in way less time. 

21 minutes ago, Bob Wells said:

Anyone try this place yet? First East Coast location of this California chain. Going on Saturday to celebrate the end of Passover. Chicago-style pizza with Indian flavors? Train-wreck potential but appears to be good.

http://ashburn-ashburnrd.chicagospizzatwist.com/zgrid/proc/site/sitemnup.jsp?mnuid_it=314102

They have stuff like this in New Jersey, too - Famous Pizza. Let us know if it's good!

If I was to design a restaurant this would be it:

1) Rustic interior

2) Neighborhood vibe

3) Central bar

4) Knowledgeable bartenders and servers

5) Seasonal menu

6) Interesting beer and wine list

7) Open (and clean appearing) kitchen

8) Energy / bustle

9) Pride in their food

10) I think lists should end at either 3 or 10, so ... uh ... got nothing.

Last night, got there about 6.30pm. If we wanted a table, 8.30p, so went to the bar. A guy was leaving, we asked two women to move over, and we had two seats by 6.35p. It was incredibly busy, and so the service was a little slow, but of very high quality, as when you were being spoken to, it was not rushed, there was still detailed descriptions of wines, the food, and even friendly banter (we played the 'guess where you're from' game with him). And I should say service in the way that when you may want to order something, you may have to wait for them for a bit, but when you put in the order, the food came out relatively quickly. I would say if eating at the bar, order 1 or 2 things at the time at most if you want to eat leisurely.

Started with a Solace Partly Cloudy DIPA, but knew I wanted a glass of wine during the meal. They have a few orange wines, and he led us to a bottle of Jordi Llorens Macabeu Blend, 2015. $50. Phenomenal if you like funk. I take this as a beer drinker's wine - it's a lot more in your face, like an IPA or something hoppy, not delicate and it's just super fun. It's $25 at most places retail, so 2:1 is a great deal.

For our first set of plates, we got the whipped ricotta crostini and the cacio e pepe arancini. Lady thought the crostini was a little boring, and I did, too, but after a few bites of the arancini, the truffle honey and brown butter on the crostini popped. This was a really good sized portion. Arancini were awesome, very creamy in center, crunchy on outside and basil aioli was subtle and fresh. Then, we got the cauliflower fritto, and this was a nice, homey dish. Was trying to figure out how I could make this at home. Fried and breaded perfectly. A touch salty. 

For our mains, we split two pastas, the squid ink campanelli which has been one of their stars for a long time. I think a little bit more heat would do the trick and make it perfect for me. I could have added crushed red pepper, but I forgot. Then, what the lady was waiting for, the braised duck ragu. It tasted good, but I had some grievances - it had sausage in it, and it far overpowered any duck. If you didn't call it duck, I wouldn't have known it was. The second issue was that the sauce sort of broke, i.e. was watery in the periphery, and I think the best ragus I have had have a consistency and gelatinous element. Finally, the greens - completely unnecessary. Added nothing but stringiness - maybe not wilted enough. And, it makes it sound like I didn't like the dish - I did. It just wasn't what I thought it was going to be.

If you eat off the upper portion of the menu, it's a fairly cheap (for the quality) small plates meal. The pasta dishes are a bit small-ish for the price, but they are high quality, but your meal price goes up substantially, especially if you're hungry. 

$135 for the two of us before tip, and got to take a glass of that wine home. Excellent to meet the delightful Gary (haha, we know it's Fred!) and will return with greater frequency - it has been far too long.

What's the wait like here these days? Lady has not been here, and I've been talking it up forever. Thinking of heading there around 630 or so.

Any must gets? Sounds like people like rigatoni, which is still there. Duck ragu? Arancini Cacio e Pepe? Lamb sausage cavatelli? Chicken liver mousse crostini?

38 minutes ago, MarkS said:

 Both dishes came with something that seemed like rice burnt a bit on the bottom of a pan, I liked it and she didn't.

Tahdig? I dig!

Saw that live, too. Wonder what that was about ... why not just say, I'm a fan of Ramen. Trying to look smart made him look not so smart... 

Is the repetitiveness the problem of the questioners (i.e. a million people ask where to take their significant other for a special date night) or the problem of his selection of questions, overvaluing something he can easily answer basically the same every time?

Great story. Really shows MI in a great light. Sounds like a real charmer. Drunk constantly and trying to get others to bang women. 

What makes people think that this guy is in the right? Why would this many people have a story about him? Sounds like an alcoholic with a sexual harassment problem. 

One story is too much, but still needs verification. Five stories, with very little financial stake for the people involved should make people step back and wonder.

Eh... it’s the old school. Presume the women are lying until there’s incontrovertible proof... Which is probably coming. 

Mine isn't sealing consistently, and sometimes I spend a lot of time trying to cook something, and realize it wasn't sealed. GRRRR... not sure what to do with it. Though it was the washer, but that's not it.

Oyakadon! Was sooo good. Whipped up some dashi, sauteed onions in the dashi+soy sauce+rice vinegar+sugar. Then cut up some thin sliced chicken, cooked it through. Separated two eggs, poured the whites into the mixture, cooked til soft, then added the yolks. Put it on hot rice. It was perfect comfort food... And had enough leftover for the lady for breakfast after her night shift. 

Oh, man Blue Sands has such a confusing menu, and the staff there are generally not helpful (not in an unfriendly way), more of a language issue and assuming if you're not Korean you want something 'easy'. Lemme know what you picked. I got a seafood stew .. was tasty!

Uber Eats seems to have a presence there. Just when you want to again hate Uber they go out and outperform ... 

And hell yeah, they discriminate against outer NE and SE across the river. Just like it was pre-ride share when you couldn't get a taxi to pick you up or drop you off. I was living on this side of the river in Capitol Hill East and I'd have to lie about my address to get a ride (one night we waited for an hour and couldn't get a taxi - ended up paying a Domino's Pizza delivery guy $40 to take us to H St ... ah, the good ol' days). They obviously have demand if UberEats goes there. They chase demand. It's like their whole concept. 

Great pictures of POHA!

Made paneer tikka masala and hariyali chicken.

A note on paneer from scratch - whenever I make this, it's crumbly which is good for certain dishes, but it isn't the cubes/blocks. My mom told me how to make the block - make the paneer, dry it out, and then put it into the food processor for about a minute. It may not look like it changed, but now when you shape it, it's no longer crumbly - it comes together and you can make whatever shape you want. Bake it for 12-15 minutes. VOILA! Can't believe I didn't know that. Thanks mom for leaving out a crucial step! 

Bayou Beer Garden = one of the greatest beer / outdoor drinking gardens in the country??

11 hours ago, SilverBullitt said:

I'm Indian and my parents are now in their 80s.  Based on my observation of their and their friends' drinking habits over the past 30+ years, I agree with your focusing on the low end.  I think you'd be good with Aussie or Chilean boxed wine.  Riesling (sweeter end) and maybe Chardonnay (my dad always gets this, no matter how poorly it pairs with what he's eating).  For red, merlot or maybe shiraz.  Tell the the bartenders to ask, "Red or white?"  No need to make things complicated for the uncles and aunties!

I assume you've got the Chivas and Johnny Walker covered.

SO MUCH CHIVAS AND JOHNNY BLACK! Oh my gosh... so funny - when we were considering banquet halls and hotels, the venues in Metro Detroit have their drink packages with an "Indian" option which is pretty much bottom shelf everything but they add Chivas and JWB. I laughed out loud when the Troy Marriott sales rep said, "Oh, you'll probably be wanting this package," and pointed that out.

11 hours ago, ktmoomau said:

This article may be helpful, I went looking as I was curious... 

May 30, 2017 - "Law Would Make Bringing Large Amounts of Alcohol into Michigan a Felony" by Kahryn RIley on mackinac.org

That's interesting that interstate distribution is criminalized ... DHS doesn't care at all, since you do pay the duties at the border. 

Yeah - what can they actually do to you?

Kimchi spam fried rice - ala Kenji

Chicken tonkatsu + tonkatsu sauce

Wow! This is the type of dish I make that truly strengthens the relationship ... there isn't a task today that she'll say no to! 

The kimchi I had did not have much juice (got it from Streets Market). So, I did my best to drain it before stir frying it. Added 1.5 tsp of gochuchang, 2 more garlic cloves, and 2 extra bird chilis. Was amazing.

4 hours ago, Finatic said:

Santa Rita 120 Sauvignon Blanc for the white.  $6.00 at Total Wine before the 10% discount.  Cline Cashmere for the red.  Might be a little out of your budget, but I suspect your average cost will be close to $10 if you go with the Santa Rita.  Any bottle of wine with Dave Phinney's name on it.  Try his location series.

I question your ratio of reds to whites. Afternoon or evening reception?  I suspect the ratio will change for the time of day.

Also, 120 bottles is 500 to 600 glasses of wine for 400 people.  

For that amount of wine at one time, you can probably negotiate a 20% to 25% discount from you local wine purveyor. They will special order it for you and it will be sold before they pay for it.

What jurisdiction is the reception in?  You do not want to get caught driving that amount of wine across state lines.

Good luck and congratulations!

Thank you so much!!!

Evening reception.

Suburban Detroit.

We will get it locally in MI. Curious about the state lines comment - I had looked into getting it from Binny’s Beverage Depot in Chicagoland. They said that it wasn’t an issue - there aren’t tariffs. If you have evidence of your wedding (invitation or something), they said it was okay, as long as you aren’t having a cash bar. I guess it’s in the store’s interest to say that. My father disagreed and even though there is nothing we can find that says it would be an issue, he said it wasn’t worth it to him. 

On the other hand, we got all our hooch in Windsor, Ontario. Sooooo cheap- and with your wedding invitation you get an additional 10% off. Then, when you cross over you pay $2.85 a liter. We saved over a $1000! For example, 1 L of Tito’s came out to $16-17 per bottle with all tariffs. $27 at the VABC without tax. Even at Binny’s it was about $24ish because IL has insane taxes.  When you get 100 plus liters it makes a difference!

And, Don, no one week wedding. We are on a tight budget. 4.5 days