MitchW

I think puntarelle benefits from less creaminess with it; but who had puntarelle?

She certainly was not the picture of health.

Maybe this NY Times' profile on her was just pure bad timing? Bad luck? Bad juju? Shelley Duvall Vanished From Hollywood. She’s Been Here the Whole Time.

Ravioli (from Raffetto's). Sauce from me. Poached shrimp and scallop "cocktail." Cocktail sauce by me. Lani's Farm heirloom tomato and lemon cucumber salad. Drizzled with olive oil and aged aceto balsamico. Both cucumber and tomatoes are very good.

His hands are too pretty, and I think he needs to sharpen that knife.

There are reasons to be thrifty, and then...there are reasons to not...like when you want to sear stuff on your grill.

A really lovely penne al pesto (with potatoes), though I forgot the already blanched string beans, because...I forget things every now and then. Grilled branzino, with couscous and chopped salad...Jack's Wife Freda.

Throw it out and buy real charcoal?

I feel that using a knife, much less a fancy Japanese knife, is a good way to lose a finger. And is probably not the greatest thing for the knife, either. But these work fantastically... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B086RNF44R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So basically bigger than knee high on the 4th of July! I got some nice basil, made pesto.

I'm much more of the battery operated stuff. Though sometimes I do wonder if it's going to smash the whole jar to smithereens.

Oh, I do, I do! But…it sometimes doesn’t work.

That’s why I have one of these…Elite Gourmet EJO800 High Power Torque Automatic Battery Operated Electric Jar Opener, One-Touch Electric Operation, Easily Remove Most-Size Lids with Auto-Size Guides, Black/Gray https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C26M8Q44?psc=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_ud_ct_VESK2SZ1MBSXXC5VBM0J&language=en_US

If wingding is Meredith, Meredith moved up to Connecticut, and seems quite happy tending to a garden, amongst other things.

Cacik, a Turkish yogurt/cucumber soup, made very similarly to tzatziki. Often served in lieu of a salad, before the rest of the meal. Lots of fresh herbs; in this case dill, mint and parsley. I like to serve it pretty thick, but it can be thinned out with water, to give it more of a soup consistency. Pan fried chicken thigh, green beans (blanched and sautéed in chicken thigh drippings), and spud puppies.

Certainly, Batali was a douche. But you can’t deny that Lupa, Otto, and Babbo were sorta groundbreaking in the NYC restaurant scene, early in their day. nor can you deny the great, early FoH teams at Lupa and Otto.

I totally agree. And I'd venture a guess that it's a fairly new innovation, once bartenders became (or pretended to become) cooks.

I've had a "few" (okay, many) Negronis in Italy; nary a one was made with any sort of vinegar, be it balsamic, rice wine, or fig. But that's just me, of course. Yes - use what you have lying around, I guess.

Trust me, I am.

I prefer to think of it as enjoying the classics (as it relates to cocktails) as they're meant to be!

I had poached some shrimp, scallops and halibut... Insalata di Mare. Pasta "salad" and broccoli rabe, cooked to hell.

Don't black vinegar (which I think is mostly made from rice/wheat) and balsamic vinegar (which I think is mostly made from, well...grapes?) have totally different taste profiles? I mean, I get why they're doing it in Modena and Emilia, but why muck with that most perfect of drinks - a real Negroni?

He basically sold that Underground Garage concept single-handedly, all around the country.

I like Password!

Green salad, potato salad, chicken thigh.