I've stayed out of the previous discussions because I didn’t want to get sucked into something so labor intensive, and you all have done a great job. There are a few things I’d add, though. Helmand — great food,...

I've probably said this before: I feel Michael Bauer lacks the enthusiastic omnivorousness (is that a word?) that characterizes most 'hounds. For whatever reason, he seems to like high-end restaurants where his reviews may devote...

(Mom! we’re on vacation!) or worse, bring them back home with us. While I've got a few funny stories about my mother’s cooking, they don’t hold a candle to the ones about my ex-mother-in-law. Eating her cooking...

and want to try and replicate it at home. To be quite honest, with all the moving I've been doing, I did not have a chance to make a dish from scratch (mine was the roasted peppers, yellow squash and ricotta pizza from Arizmendi),...

. You can add some Italian sausage too, if you've got it. I do the same thing with mustard greens, but I add a bit of ham hock or bacon. For the mustard greens, I cook it until tender in dry Vermouth, omitting the pepper flakes...

I hope I’m not being redundant, but go to brunch! From what I have seen in my short time in France, people simply don’t eat this America-created meal. I love Norma’s, but New York thrives off brunch. I've heard...

Not True. I've read only 10 to 20 percent of the population is sodium sensitive (meaning their blood pressure will be affected by consuming lotsa salt). Salt gets a bad rap espeically from folks who think that food falls in two...

taken a page from the Hard Rock Cafe’s playbook, featuring a pop music motif. Again, I count myself lucky not to have visited and am relying on accounts from my co-workers who've reported success in pacifying their...

for such an important occassion. The food is extraordinary. The egg with truffle foam may well be the best thing that I've ever tasted. Gramercy Tavern, previously recommended, is also extraordinary, and their cheeses should not...

I just got home from running a hospitality suite for a small convention this weekend. This is the third time I've worked on the “consuite” for this group, so I have very detailed notes about what has been consumed in...

Chiming in from SF again – we haven’t gone the preset menu route at all here. We've also found that 6-8 people makes a nice dinner – taken it to 11 for a few but then you can’t really talk with everyone...

This is the stuff we've been talking about with Bauer. Thanks for being so clear, Brandon. And the top of your post covers the frustrations with this guy: “The agenda and politics”. I have strong ,strong feelings just...

Thanks for the list. Can anyone comment on the Saturday Farmers' markets in the East Bay? I've tried the Oakland Grandlake market, but it is small and depressing — a parking lot under a freeway just isn’t very condusive...

, but to quietly cook delicious chicken recipies every so often, to try to tempt him back. (I’ll make veggie recipies too, which I've always done anyway.) Anyway, any thoughts would be helpful.

of my favorite gelaterie from several years ago, but gelato in Siena is terrific, and I found it the most consistently good of anyplace I've been, including Florence. Take the passeggio (after-dinner walk), and follow the crowds....