For many years while living in Japan, I read umpteen raving reviews of Talenti gelato but couldn’t get any because it’s not available there. I avoided the temptation of buying some immediately upon return because of the price. But with it being on sale from the regular $6.49 down to $3.99 and an additional $1.00 off with a digital coupon, I bought a pint of Coffee Chocolate Chip for just $2.99 at Smith’s, part of the Kroger empire. I’m a coffee ice cream fiend and while I prefer coffee ice cream with nothing added to it, this is VERY good. I’m good about portion control and only had a few spo ..read more

There’s nothing surprising in the story. Paying for a reservation is the modern day equivalent of slipping a c note to the maitre d’. What this tells me is that more restaurants will go the route of requiring payment for the meal upfront like Alinea and Saga or at least the non-refundable deposits that have become so much more prevalent. Restaurants are missing out on the money by allowing intermediaries to take advantage the way the story describes. But you can’t eliminate the scalpers ..read more

Last night’s dinner was a stirfry served over rice noodles then off to see a live jazz band. The nojito I had while watching the show was awfully good but expen$ive. I fail to understand why mocktails cost the same as cocktails ..read more

They are fabulous. But you have to make sure the pickles in the jar are bright green. Because they are half-sours, they just keep on pickling until they become like Claussen’s. They are my complete favorites; alas they are on the NO-NO list because of the sodium. I get so tempted when I see them (lol) but I know I’d just empty the jar right away if I took them home ..read more

linguafood: One of Tillamook’s delectable chocolate collection treats? Ja, but lacks specificity ..read more

I haven’t been, but I always like Stephanie Izard’s food. A quick look at the reviews on Open Table suggest that maybe portions are small ..read more

kobuta: But I will give a squint at their charging for their banchan. When Atoboy in nyc started, the idea behind it was that banchan are so wonderful that they can and should take center stage. The original menu was choose-3 (from a menu in 3 sections) for $28, and then one or two large plate add-ons for anyone who wasn’t sated yet. They took off like a rocket, of course, validating the concept. (Now the base menu is $75, but the concept has changed slightly). Maybe they laid the groundwork for places like Somaek to venture down the path of giving banchan importance by charging for them ..read more

Oh dear…I didn’t mean to imply that you @kobuta or @uni are the type of people who waste food. I thought I was adding some personal experience with the whole charging of banchan (and I neglected to write about the AYCE Korean BBQ joints in Chicago who charged people for leaving meat behind after ordering platter after platter…oh boy…lots of funny stories there to tell). I probably didn’t write clearly…or I need to take a break. Or both. That might be a good idea ..read more

Thanks all! All of your suggestions are appreciated. Peter’s wife here. Has anyone eaten at Cabra ..read more

The link is on my profile page ..read more