Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Very nice post! One small thing (I just can't get away from the English Lit. Major inside me): It's "Goober Burger", not "Guber Burger". Peanuts are nicknamed "Goober Peas".

In Park Slope, Tempo Presto, the sandwich shop that's connected to restaurant Presto. Fifth Ave. between Carroll & Garfield.

"she's a larger than life personality with a wealth of culinary knowledge."

Yes, she is... unlike quite a few who have been on television over the past few years. I've had the pleasure of dining on Ann's cooking a few times, and her food is delicious. Her sense of balance and the way she matches flavors is strictly first rate. That she's a real & unpretentious person counts for a lot in my book, too.

Ladies... gentlemen, please. A few seconds of searching will turn up:

For many New Yorkers, the name André Soltner is synonymous with fine dining. Soltner’s culinary training began at age 15, and he secured his first formal job at the Paris restaurant Chez Hansi. In 1961 he came to New York to accept the position of head chef at a new restaurant called Lutèce. Soltner eventually bought out the owner, and for over 30 years he ran the renowned outpost for gourmands, winning a multitude of fans by consistently turning out impeccable classic French cuisine. “To generations of sophisticated New Yorkers,” wrote Bryan Miller of the New York Times, “Lutèce has represented a gastronomic lighthouse in an ever-changing sea.” Many mourned Soltner’s departure from the restaurant in 1994, but he has remained a visible figure as a teacher and dean of classic studies at the French Culinary Institute, co-author of The Lutèce Cookbook, and winner of the title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France and a James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.

http://jamesbeard.starchefs.com/events/2006/01/005.shtml

So... let me get this straight. Gordon, in the UK, does a television show where there are real restaurant people in a real restaurant and he lets the real Gordon come through. Here in the US he does a television show with actors pretending to be restaurant people, on a set pretending to be a restaurant and Gordon pretends to be a screaming asshole. This is supposed to make us like him and his US show because.... they think that Americans are just to friggin' STUPID to watch the real thing? No wonder it's on a FOX network: the think that we're all dumb enough to swallow whatever shit they shovel our way.

Oh, and Gordon... you want to be taken seriously AND play a clown at the same time? Yeah. Right. Sure thing, you pathetic Bozo. You own how many successful restaurants yet you act like an asshole on American TV for what? More money? Your screaming idiot act is a kick in the teeth to the real Chefs of the world who spend the time:
1 working their way up through the ranks, confident that they really know their craft
2 hire good people with good skills and work ethics
3 take the time to instruct their staff in how they want the dishes prepared
4 get the right equipment & supplies for their staff to do their jobs
5 hire a dining room manager who knows how to pace the reservations so that the kitchen doesn't get so slammed that they can't do their jobs well
6 leading by example... not by posing for a camera and screaming.

Cheesesteak? You have got to be kidding me! That filling is so loose and wet, it resembles a sloppy Joe more than anything fit to carry the word "steak".

The stovetop "Whirlypop" popper works beautifully, almost never leaving unpopped kernels behind. You get to use the oil of your choice (even bacon fat works great!) and know that you're not eating chemicals: just corn, oil & a bit of salt.

Who needs a microwave?

"Do those who suffer from bad headaches from wine really find the sulfite free wines help?"

There are many naturally occurring chemical compounds in wine... ALL wine. One or more of them may cause a reaction, including headaches. Sulphites do not cause headaches. Tightening of the throat, similar to an asthmatic condition: yes. But not headaches.

If a big, full-bodied red causes headaches, tey a lighter red from a cooler climate. I have a friend who can't drink southern Rhône reds, but is OK with Burgundies. If you can, see an alergist... but one who is not a teetotaller!

A fake Gordon Ramsey? You mean to tell me that that the guy on Hell's Kitchen was REAL? Oh, please! So everyone else was an actor, and HE was real? And he thinks that people will still actually take him seriously?