Sundae in the Park

Thanks a lot, guys. It looks so good that I'm now madly coveting white bone china dinnerware, something I was never ever interested in before...sigh. To Macy's I go!

Autumn Open House tomorrow, 11-3. See you there to taste the new flavors!!!

Ooooh, they are, as I said, a lot like cheddar bisuits, but have a lovely gooey, chewy texture inside, I think because of the fineness of the starch. Here are a couple of recipes with pictures - they are mostly prettty similar with about the same ingredients. I just use whatever cheese I have on hand and estimate the amount and they turn out pretty well, but I know you can get the white cheese at Latin markets. I also make them in a muffin tin, so they bake up nice and neat. I modified a recipe I got from a friend, with my notes in parentheses: 2 eggs 1 cup whole (eh, we only ever have skim at home, and it works fine) milk ½ cup vegetable oil 1 (scant) tablespoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 white cheese from latin market. Aprox: 300-350 g (I substitute whatever cheese I have around, including hard cheeses. I use maybe 1.5 cups? I will try to remember to measure next time) 1 box yuca flour from latin market (I use a little over half of the 24-oz bag of starch by Goya; available at Shoppers) Preheat oven to 350. Put everything except the yuca flour in a blender and mix (I tend to mix by hand). In a bowl mix the contents from the blender with the yuca flour (carefully! The starch is VERY fine!) and let sit for about 10 minutes. Pour(/spoon) mix in muffin tins, using oil or pam if necessary. Bake for 15 mins or until golden brown. The approximate measurements come out all right, even though I know my proportions change a bit each time. This recipe seems to be pretty forgiving of changes. These are BY FAR the best right out of oven, and harden up quickly so are best eaten the first day. That has never been a problem in my house, even when I double the recipe.

The Syrian dishes are what stand out here for us. The beet m'tabal is quite different, refreshing, and very pretty. The web site, however, with all its flash and music, however, is annoying. Though I am glad they have their menu posted online!

I believe that yuca/manioc/tapioca starch is gluten-free. Therefore, yuca bread, those cheesy little puffs, should be safe. I make them all the time in place of cheddar biscuits because I prefer the texture.

Dropped in the other night, attempting to break out of our Asian food rut. The savory donuts in the bread basket are still deadly, but so is the amount of salt apparently used in the dishes. I like tasty food, but yowza! Salt lick in the "eggrolls" and pasta. Also, the bisque was basically a bowl of cream. I used to really like the food at the GAR chain, but this and my last visit at Coastal Flats has me longing for a time when the main food groups - fat, salt, and sugar - were more subtly featured.

We recently subbed out our usual chili fried fish for the scallion fried fish, and haven't looked back. The cumulative flavor of the cumin and scallions is intense! And awesome. We also tried the sauteed bok choy, which is just like how mom is supposed to make it, and it makes for a very nice balancing dish for all the hot.

We were part of the hordes this weekend and had a lovely time in the new space. There were some service snafus, including an hourish wait for our first course and only informing me they were out of the branzino after our third course was finished, but we were comped a round a drinks during the wait and the rest of the night unfolded fairly smoothly. We could see everyone hustling and bustling about all night, so it definitely wasn't a lack of effort - I think they were just slammed around when we arrived. I like the warmth of the dining room and Nancy certainly made us feel graciously welcome and heard. The food was very strong, overall, which was a relief because we were entertaining my in-laws. Our highlights were the quiveringly perfect scallops, the decadent agnolotti, the playful porcini, and tender veal fillet. We agreed that the mezzelune was overwhelmed by the sauce (in fact, we couldn't taste the crab in the stuffing), but OH MY does that sauce pop! The flavor of the orange shines through such that the pasta stuffing really seems extraneous, and everyone at our table loved it. The desserts were also a pleasant surprise, as they were not at all a throwaway course. The chocolate bar is an excellent chocolate dessert - heavily dark and cocoa-rich - and the panna cotta is creamily light and pleasing. I did not care for the monkfish, partly because I was becoming too full, but mostly because it didn't seem up to par with the level of cooking in the other dishes. The dry kale really didn't add anything to the dish and the wine sauce and fish seemed rather insipid compared to the strong, cleanly blended flavors in the other dishes I tasted. When I'm full and something is delicious, I always manage to power through, but I left most of it untouched. Still, that was the only real dud of the night, which is impressive, as we worked our way through a good portion of the menu. My FIL thought the lamb was even better than the veal, and he thoroughly enjoyed both. Thanks very much to Chef for his generous DR special and for the hard work of the rest of the staff. I'm so glad that we got a chance to come back to Galileo and we'll definitely return in the future!

I had the same experience. Those pictures and the menu totally sold me. I can't wait until Saturday night!!!

Yeah, that's what it means. It's too bad for them, since I usually tip 20% on the pre-discount bill. On all the relevant groupons, there's a reminder to tip on the pre-discount bill as well.

I generally buy the coupons for places that we already frequent, or were already planningto try/go back to. Otherwise, it really is too easy to forget about them. Coupons don't stretch the budget that much for fine dining, and often come with restrictions, so we don't bother with those.

Has anyone been in lately? Do they have the house bread during lunch now?

Yes, including grilled preparations. My dad favors fish heads, including the eyes, especially in an asian casserole preparation. We kind of assumed, back when we were kids, that he ate them just to gross us out, but he is still going strong! He would LOVE that cod's head soup!

Oh dear. There's the Penany-NyoNya chain, which I know as the "original", which the DC branch used to be a part of, but isn't any longer. But, the DC chain is still using the logo, as far as I can recall. Plus, there's the NY-NJ-MD-NC chain, which the Bethesda restaurant is part of, ALSO using the a very similar PENANG (font) logo. Confusing much? Yikes.

Seconded for Annandale. Also, yay for Dean!

I didn't look back to see it being made, but it looked and tasted that way in the bowl - chunky, irregularly shaped, and very chewy-fresh. Yum, I'm hungry.

Wow, eating out with 2 toddlers, even with 3 adults, is a...challenge. To say that it limited our options is an understatement, but we still managed to scrounge some tasty eats - we just had to find them some chicken first. We ate lunch at the Reading Terminal Market for lunch both days. There are so many things to eat there that the grazing is good and children can be satisfied. The fresh-squeezed OJ from the middle eastern place is fantastic and a great value. There are a lot of oranges going into my 32oz family juice! The pastries there are great as well. We tried a mushroom cheesesteak from By George's and the verdict is that we do NOT like whiz. Good, but next time, back to provolone!! The fresh-baked variety of "samosas" (lazy man's samosas, I think, in phyllo pastry) from the indian place include a spinach and cheese (it's actually a pretty good version of hand-held spanikopita), chicken (nicely spiced but dry), and potato and veg (soft and almost creamy veg. Kids like these!). The roast turkey place is salty and boring, and you get an amazing amount of meat (a good thing) in the sandwiches from Hershels. The Singapore noodles from Golden Bowl are decent and surprisingly well-curried, and you have to wait a long time to get crepes from the Creperie, but they are nice. We tried a variety of rotisserie, fried, and roasted chicken, but none came close to any of our Peruvian chicken shops. For dinner we played it safe and stayed in Chinatown. Their Penang is part of the East Coast chain, but the menu was different and had a lot more Chinese-style dishes. The food was fine and familiar, but a lot saucier that usual. We also tried Nan Zhou Hand Drawn Noodle House, which is a small, nondescript, classic hole-in-the-wall eatery that reminds me a lot of our pho houses down here. There noodles come drawn or shaved, and both types are great - fresh and chewy. The broth is pretty much the same for every dish, but you can get lots of different meat and seafood toppings or just eat the noodles plain (perfect sickness food!) with broth. The broth is clear and light and not spicy, but delicious, and you can dress it however you like for kicks (also like a pho house). It is dirt-cheap and very quick and great for eating with kids or in general!

We have a Vinturi and it's a lot of fun. We think it helps a lot to smooth out the lower end reds our families prefer. Hey, when they are happy drinking 2-buck Chuck, there's no harm in helping it to taste like $3 or $4...plus, it's entertaining to use. We gave out a few for gifts a year or two ago and they were big hits.

Ooooh, that is very interesting Dean, thanks for posting specifics!! I am very impressed that you are tracking your data so carefully and glad the promotion works for you. I got one myself and have to come in at some point... Also, all, Masala Art ($20 for $40, with some restrictions) is the coupon of the day at What's the Deal today.

Here's the eating summary for a short week in the Phoenix area: My Big Fat Greek Restaurant in Tempe was fine. Salty, filling, and cheap. The flaming cheese flamed, the gyro meat was spiced appropriately, and the multiple carbs on my plate (rice, pita, potatoes) were plentiful and not overcooked. We settled on this place after walking past all the Mill Avenue restaurants and can't say I'd rush, or even walk slowly in the heat back to the area. Cowboy Ciao in Scottsdale, on the other hand, was delightful. I put together a strange meal of things I really wanted to try, without attempting to make things flow, which turned out all right. I had a nicely dressed mixed salad (smoked tomato dressing), a small plate of the mushroom pan fry, and the short rib risotto. This ended up being a lot of heavy food, but I was happy with everything I chose. I think I will try to recreate the pan fry in the winter with loose (not formed) polenta, and if I can get the sauce anything like the restaurant's, I'll be thrilled. The risotto is a huge portion laced through with shred of luscious short ribs. My dining partner had some quesadillas with pork barbecued in a very sweet sauce, and a beautifully gargantuan pork chop. I didn’t care for the sweetness of the sauce in the quesadillas, but it all disappeared quickly, so someone liked it! La Canasta apparently has several locations in Phoenix, but my coworkers brought me to the South 7th Ave. location, which they said was the original and best. The chips were light and crispy, the salsa was chunky and not particularly spicy (the way I like it, so I can eat a lot without the fire mouth), and the red chile sauce inside the burrito was excellent – deeply flavored and spicy without, again, being overwhelmingly so. The refried beans were also very flavorful. I tried to get to Carolina’s Kitchen, but kept getting lost. My coworkers assured me that, while their tortillas are matchless elsewhere in the City, the food at La Canasta is actually much better. This time I have to take their word for it! The Wild Thaiger has a silly name, but is a perfectly adequate and pretty little Thai place in downtown Phoenix. I didn’t love my rice noodles (they were the thinner kind) for their texture, but the flavor was fine, and my partner liked his pad Thai. The spring rolls were light and crispy, but ordinary. I got a look at some of the curry plates on my way out, and if they are as good as they look and smell, THAT is what one is supposed to order there. I did decide to put in my time and wait to get into Pizzeria Bianco. Bar Bianco is a charming little house of a place to wait and I had a few glasses of white wine (prosecco and Gewerstaminer), the remains of which (my last glass) I walked over with when I was called to the pizzeria. Tax was included in the price, which was nice. It was fun watching the guys working on the pizzas, and I was allowed to get a half wise guy, half margherita pie. I LOVED IT!!!!! I might not drive across the country, and I might not wait during the weekend rush, but it is genuinely more than worth the hour or so I put in on a Thursday night. The toppings on the Wise guy side were just shy of overloading the thin, crusty, but still floppy slices. It was delicious, but I think I enjoyed the margherita side even more. It’s a perfect, simple pizza. I kept trying to think whether I was convincing myself of the superior taste because of the wait, but I like to think that it was independently wonderful. Since I can’t test that, I just have to conclude that it really was fabulous, since I’d do it again next time I’m in the area. Two side notes – Kevin Johnson and I think Michelle Rhee were leaving as I sat down, which is kind of funny, since I’ve never seen her here at home, and the flavors, if not the textures, of the margherita pizza travels well cross country.

We had a pair of lobster rolls and some fish and chips for dinner at the Sesuit Harbor Cafe in Dennis this weekend. The rolls looked like a whole (small) lobster had gone into each and the fish was amazingly, sweetly fresh, with nice, crispy breading. The fries are seasoned and it was sooo easy to eat too many. The seating is harborside (outside) on picnic tables, it's cash-only, and there seem to always be long lines (which move pretty quickly). I'm not sure if it's strictly allowed, but lots of families had BYOB or other cooler drinks. Skip the salads and corn (kind of sad and tasteless) and focus on the seafood. Delicious, reasonably priced, and terrific views!!

They are not out of everything yet, but will be soon! Go, go!

I'm sad for me, because you sold out of the caramels before we could get any, but happy for you all that you're officially a "standing in line anxiously awaiting opening" kind of place. Good plan! Have a great climb

Ah, I remember now - the reason I most used to decide against the tasting menu was that I really, really wanted to try the mushroom soup. And not try a taste, since my husband also ordered the soup, but to try my very own bowl. It was a decision that was advocated our waiter and I was extremely pleased. The soup was was incredible down to the very last, bread-sopped (if there was no bread left, there would have been extreme licking danger) drop, and I imagine would only be more weather-appropriate after the summer. So, if you go to Martini House and are in even a somewhat soupy mood, I highliy recommend a mushroom soup, if they have it! Either way, I hope they still have that mushroom tasting for you. The risotto from the tasting menu is the same as from my duck dish, and is sooo good. Plus, I forgot to mention our dessert, which was the lemon curd panini. It really is a wee grilled sandwich stuffed with wonderfully tart (but not overwhelmingly sweet or sour) lemon curd. The texture of the bread was interesting and initially a cause for concern, but we ended up liking it a lot.

Oh, yeah. This is a great place for breakfast, lunch, or snacks if you're in Glendale or Burbank [Also now in Downey]. Their fried potato balls (with meat in the middle!), in particular, are so not LA.