Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I think the 3 stars make sense. It's loud and cramped, but it really is joyous to eat there. The service is casual, but it is very polished in its own way. But the main reason I think it merits 3 stars is that it is not just a place that makes a certain genre of food exceptionally. It is re-making and re-creating the genre of American food exceptionally. And it does so consistently with many of their dishes. Their pork buns are a take on an old Korean-Chinese dish, but they make it perfect and they make it new. The fried brussels sprouts uses a classic Vietnamese sauce as its base and then, well, adds fried brussels sprouts (that one might just speak for itself). The fried lamb belly, which I'm not sure is still on their menu, is a take on breast of lamb St. Menehould, but again, they make it new and make it their own. And it all tastes delicious. The restaurant is a convergence of tradition and creativity, intelligence and down-to-earth comfort. It is exciting.

That's so funny that your dog likes artichokes. I didn't think animals liked them at all (except humans of course).

Writing of artichoke consumption in ancient Rome, Pliny remarked "thus we turn into a corrupt feast the earth's monstrosities, those which even the animals instinctively avoid."

I guess Pliny had it all wrong.

Hey Beth,
I'm perpetually obsessed with artichokes. I'm in the city, so I convinced my parents to trying growing some artichoke plants at their house in PA. The results were mixed, but it was a fun experience nonetheless. You can check it out here. There's also a recipe in there for fried artichokes. Have fun experimenting! I love working with fresh artichokes. Just be careful of the sharp petals. They'll give you a nasty gash if you're not careful, especially when washing them. I'm now in the habit of snipping off all the petal ends with a pair of scissors before I do anything.

ribeye

Daisy May's short ribs are fantastic, and impressive.

Corned beef hash with two eggs over easy. At any city diner.

Thanks for checking up on it, Ed. Both times it was bad was later in the day on the weekend. Hopefully it'll be as good as it used to be when you go. I'm a fan of that bakery.

Just stopped by for their pizza Romana. I agree with your overall review of the pizzas. Unfortunately, there are still issues with the strangely bland crust. The texture and the balance of crust to toppings were all there. Their only fault is the taste of the crust.

I would have to say Julia Child. Those detailed recipes help me to be more confident and relaxed. And I subscribe to her whole attitude towards food.

I think that using non-local plain salt and things like pepper makes sense in the spirit of eating local. Those things have been traded since forever.

But my opinion is that olive oil is out. I might be mistaken, but I've heard that certain parts of Italy use almost no olive oil but use lard and butter instead just because that's what they have around. In the same vein, just because New York state has no olive trees doesn't mean that you can claim a Marco Polo exemption. It just means you can't use olive oil in your cooking and call it local. If you're watching your cholesterol, eating truly local is probably bad for your health.

Anyway, that's why I'm not a locavore. Way too difficult. And so much guilt. As long as it tastes good and doesn't flagrantly decimate the environment I'll eat it.

I'm sorry, but that Genco olive oil is exactly what I imagined as I was reading the New Yorker article. It has got to be "adulterated." It's too inexpensive not to be.

I've just always assumed that the Extra Virgin olive oil from big suppliers like Bertoli is not really Extra Virgin olive oil, or at least 100% Extra Virgin. How else could you account for the relative low cost and slight chemical taste of most supermarket olive oils? And how else could you explain the wide discrepancy in taste between decent olive oils like Frantoia (about $20/L from Fairway) and the average supermarket olive oil?

I kind of like Marseglia's take on the whole thing. The goal is to provide good tasting olive oil for everyday use. The unfortunate thing is that a superior tasting non-Extra Virgin olive oil has no chance against a lesser oil fraudulently marketed as 100% Extra Virgin. So everybody has to lie to survive.