Sundae in the Park

What he and Goodeats said. Apparently, there were a bunch of us in the snowy but busy house last night. As Dan noted, it's not like Michael needs them, but I made Ray's two more fans, just because it's so damned easy. Big thanks for spiking the menu with plenty of seafood items, because now I am full of win(e) and steak. Yay!

Excellent, thanks all! This link is VERY useful and I didn't know it existed. Yay! The seafood choices sound very promising. I think I have a big enough hand to play now...

Me too, but already double booked that day

Hey gang, I know Michael put the vegetarian entree back on the menu at RTS, but can you remind me what else there is to eat for the non steakatarians? I'm trying to convince a dear friend that there will be some choices for her. There's also the crab bisque and...diablo seafood of some sort? The fried chicken never made its way over from RTC, right? I haven't been since the old location, so please refresh my memory!! Also, as an addendum, do we know where Michael sources his meat, and if he is still hand processing it all? I can't imagine this is still true, with the breadth of his growing empire, but if it is, that would be great to know! Finally, besides walking in, we can also call ahead for reservations now, correct? Thanks!

Ha!!! Bulgogi and bulgogi and bulgogi and bulgogi...kicks Starbucks' butt!

I trudged down through the snow to my store (Fairfax) to see if there were any caramels (the dark chocolate sea salt and the unenrobed fleur de sels in the round box) left. I didn't see any so I asked an associate. He laughed at me, saying that they had sold out of both products weeks ago. Why, TJ's why? Limited production runs are so not cool.

The white pizza here is still the best around!!! Flavorful, chewy, thin without being too thin...I love it so.

It's gooooooood blizzard food

Thanks all, for the feedback and suggestions. I think I've found a good gift for my mom (VC4E + a specialty book - great point, Anna!) and some ideas for me as well!!

Any suggestions for my mom, a newbie vegetarian cook? I was thinking of getting her Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and maybe one of the Moosewood books. What do you all think?

!!!!! Thank you both!

The Nutley St. Safeway in Fairfax has been spiffed up as well, including a nut (and fresh-pressed nut butters - get the honey roasted peanut) counter. The maple-glazed almonds are oh my Gee!!!! good and the folks at the counter are very free with the samples.

Yup. Spare, but gorgeous. Well done! Went to turn in our holiday order the other day and couldn't resist a bag of "imperfects." Those are a steal!! The cinnamon caramel certainly wasn't hurting any...

Seconded, and I thought the sauce was a touch too sweet. Yet it was still pretty good. They've done something to the spicy tofu dish so it has become more sweet and sour than dusted with herbs and spices, but it is still very nice and the heavily lemongrass-y sauce is bright and delicious with rice. They were quite busy the night after Tday, and the space is as glossy and welcoming as ever. The service has also improved, with the servers being trained not to tell you, "oh, you won't like that" (for some of the less popular dishes) to describing the worrisome points and asking it is is OK

They are open for lunches on Friday (open at 12 PM). Go a lot and maybe they'll open up the other days as well! I really like the store, but it is a little out of the way for normal Clarendon foot traffic. Want to keep that crust available in Arlington for a long, long time!!

Hi All, Any recs (for food of all types) for northern San Diego County? I'll be in Escondido and Oceanside next week... Thanks!

We were in the mood for some exquisite Chinese food, but then found out that Yank Sing is lunch only !!! So a quick trip to google and a quick confirmation from a local food-loving friend, and we headed out to Koi Palace in Daly City (started south of the city, so not very far at all). OH MY GOD. Fan-freakin' tastic food. Chinese banquet food, indeed. Every other dish is abalone this and shark's fin that. The assorted seafood swimming/inching around in the front all look remarkably perky and large. We had the pea shoots (adult, not baby, with garlic, still very tender), xiao long bao (soup dumplings - so cunning, they serve them steamed in wee tins that catch the soup should it break open before reaching your month), pan fried noodles with chicken and scallops (kid food, really, but perfect - crispy, generous with the noodles, light brown and rich gravy), this ABSURD dish with what tasted like BEEF BACON (actually short ribs and enoki mushroom spicy clay pot casserole with a sauce based on Korean red bean paste) that somehow managed to be seared done with all the FAT IN. SO GOOD. We had a plate of extremely tender jellyfish and funky as its suppoed to be thousand year old egg. They started us off with dishes of pickle and peanuts tossed with salted dried tiny fish, and finished us off with slices of melon and these ridiculously eggy-rich, yet incredibly light, airy, fried dough puffs rolled in sugar. Positively a magical ending. It's a typical banquet hall, with lots of round tables and rich drapery, and there were only a couple of caucasian faces (none on their own) swimming in a sea of Chinese (mostly older) folks. It's pricy for Chinese food, but amazing. They serve dim sum for lunch (at least one local thinks their dim sum is better than at Yank Sing). We're going back tomorrow.

Kitchen has moved to the old Mirabelle space! And is supposed to be better than ever... My family also really likes the sushi at Kotobuki in Hauppauge.

Hmmmm, thanks for the suggestions. There are so many choices in SF! I still want to try SPQR (unless someone can warn me off!) or A16 (ditto!), and maybe I'll actually get the chicken at Zuni (have only stopped in there for a quick bite once before). Will report back!

I've got a gift certificate there. What would you recommend from the regular menu?

Hmmm, looks like I'm late to the party. Should I still try it? I'm in town next week and really like the menu. Also it's more more per diem-friendly that my usual one-dish-or-maybe-two at the bar at Gary Danko. If not, where to go? Apparently not A16, either.

The new "soft and juicy" dried mangoes aren't exactly what I'd call "juicy" (eh? for dried fruit?), but I would say that they are definitely softER, much less leathery, and quite good.

Me three. It's a lot of pho, but that doesn't do you any good if you get the MSG shakes halfway through. I still drive out to Pho 75 when I get sick.

Eh, it looks and feels like an asian club (or club for asians, take your pick), which is pretty much what I expected from its description. They were gracious to us, even though we were vastly underdressed (we were tromping around the city and just happened upon the restaurant - oh, that's where it is! - and decided to see if they would take us) and without reservations. We had a bunch of rolls and were not disppointed. The fish and chips roll is...different. I liked it, but not so much the rest of the table (I think it was the mayo). The crunch from the french fry strips in the roll is incredible, fun and fresh. The toro/scallion roll is simple and perfect and bursting with flavor (we had recently gone to a sushi place where the fish looked great but had no flavor!!! Very sad). Same with the salmon/avacado and eel rolls. We also got the kobe tataki roll, with spicy crunch/watercress oil/red wine ponzu and I thought it was a great way to eat tartar. I didn't try it, but the eaters of the shrimp tempura roll were happy. All the rolls were lovely, with careful, artsy presentation. For the record, the servings were normal sized (8 pieces), and it looked like the food going by were "small plates", not REALLY small plates. It's a very pretty place, with extremely attentive (yes, maybe a wee bit over attentive, but they were trying to get us out in time for a show - which they asked about at the beginning of the meal - so no complaints) service. The prices aren't bad for a) sushi, b ) pretty good sushi, and c) the area. I think they are doing what they set out to do quite well and they make a nice addition to the neighborhood. Go if you're feeling a little glam and don't want to wait to get into a Jose Andres restaurant.

Wasn't there a bubble tea place by the Verizon Center? At, say, 7th and F? I could've sworn there was a shop that always tempted me after seeing a performance at the Shakespeare Theater (in vain, since it was always too late in the day). Am I crazy? I was in the neighborhood today with a boba craving and walked up and down 7th street looking for the shop, thinking all the time that we really need a DR hotline, so those in the field without iphones can call in and find out where places are/supposed to be. I think that it has been replaced by the Tangysweet shop. Am I right? Anyway, I ended up getting the black milk bubble tea from Teaism. It's disguised as the Zhenzhou Pearls (I was very excited when it turned out to be the normal bubble tea). It's...OK. The drink itself is fine, good, really (sweet and milky, but not too sweet), but the boba were almost mealy, with a little bit of crunch in the middle and slightly slimy outside. Still edible, though (I have definitely thrown away gross boba).