Towards A Virtual Williamsburg!

[taxwonk]

Originally Posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?

I hope the one in NYC is better than the one in Chicago.

ETA: I haven't paid for a steak at a steakhouse in 10 years. Wonk is right - it's the meal to eat when someone else is paying or you can get reimbursed.

Here's the solution:

Buy one ribeye steak, 1.5-2" thick, two baking potatoes, some romaine, good parmesan cheese, croutons, and a bottle of Cesar Cardini's Caesar Salad Dressing.

When you are ready to eat, do the following:

Heat the oven to 400, pierce the potatoes with a fork and throw them into the oven about one hour before dinner. Make the salad and put it in the fridge to get cold.

After the spuds have been baking for 20 minutes, take the steak out of the fridge to come to room temperature and pat it dry. Liberally season both sides with kosher salt and black pepper. Wrap the steak or put it high enough that the dog can't get to it. Place a cast iron skillet on the stove and set it on high. Do not plan on touching it again for about 2.5 hours.

When the potatoes have been in the oven for 45 minutes, take the steak and place it in the screaming hot skillet. At 6 minutes, turn the steak. Cook it another six minutes. After the six minutes have elapsed, take the steak and put it on a plate, tenting it lightly with foil, for at least 5 minutes.

Slice the steak on the diagonal and into slices about 1/2 inch wide. Divide between two plates, drizzling the steak with a touch of the best olive oil you can afford. Nobody needs more than half of a steak that thick. Dress the potatoes your way, serve with the salad and a nice red wine. I prefer a good montepuulciano or a Chilean shiraz.

Total cost: about $20. Comparison with Peter Luger's or Smith & Wollensky: they don't even come close.

[taxwonk]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

But to be clear, this was Chicago, not New York. Thurgreed's fear of being killed was perfectly reasonable.

Not on Michigan Avenue. Chicago is a city of neighborhoods. If you're in a good one, you're generally safe. If you cross the street into a bad one, well, I'll plant a tree in Lincoln Park in your name.

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by taxwonk

Actually, you just made my point perfectly. You were in an unfamiliar town. You had limited time. You went for the place with the familiar name.

Add to that an annoyed wife, two hungry and fighting kids (the source of esposa's annoyance) and that vague fear that if you step out of the big bright lights, you will be killed, your wife will be raped, and you kids will be sold into sexual slavery. Now you understand perfectly why people go to the Outback or the Red Lobster in Times Square.

I don't agree. You misstated why I wanted to go to Johnny Rockets. It had nothing to do with the familiarity of the big name. At that point there was no such thing as Johnny Rockets in New York, which means it makes sense for me to seek it out when I am in Chicago. I had eaten there once before and really liked the burgers and shakes. Therefore, it was a no-brainer to eat there again.

It seems silly to try to force this square peg into the round hole I was talking about before. If you want a burger, who gives a shit if you go to Ruby Tuesday's vs. Shake Shack? It's a burger.

If you want pasta and you choose Olive Garden over Becco because you have Olive Gardens at home in the suburbs of Minnesota and that's what you're comfortable with, you're kind of stupid. Or naive. Or whatever. If you have no time to walk the extra couple of blocks to Becco, then you clearly don't fall under the scope of my criticism, do you? If you live in New York and you order Dominos because that's what you know from home, you are similarly stupid. Those choices make no sense based on the differences in the quality of the food and prices.

If you are not interested in the quality of food such that you don't care what you're being served and only care about flair or you pick your spot based on how a screaming baby will be received or you choose your restaurant out of fear of being murdered, you're in a whole different category which I am clearly not interested in discussing.

TM

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Please welcome Madalina Ghenea.

http://www.lawtalkers.com/forums/sho...postcount=1535

http://www.lawtalkers.com/forums/sho...postcount=1536

http://www.lawtalkers.com/forums/sho...postcount=1537

http://www.lawtalkers.com/forums/sho...postcount=1538

TM

[taxwonk]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

I don't agree. You misstated why I wanted to go to Johnny Rockets. It had nothing to do with the familiarity of the big name. At that point there was no such thing as Johnny Rockets in New York, which means it makes sense for me to seek it out when I am in Chicago. I had eaten there once before and really liked the burgers and shakes. Therefore, it was a no-brainer to eat there again.

It seems silly to try to force this square peg into the round hole I was talking about before. If you want a burger, who gives a shit if you go to Ruby Tuesday's vs. Shake Shack? It's a burger.

If you want pasta and you choose Olive Garden over Becco because you have Olive Gardens at home in the suburbs of Minnesota and that's what you're comfortable with, you're kind of stupid. Or naive. Or whatever. If you have no time to walk the extra couple of blocks to Becco, then you clearly don't fall under the scope of my criticism, do you? If you live in New York and you order Dominos because that's what you know from home, you are similarly stupid. Those choices make no sense based on the differences in the quality of the food and prices.

If you are not interested in the quality of food such that you don't care what you're being served and only care about flair or you pick your spot based on how a screaming baby will be received or you choose your restaurant out of fear of being murdered, you're in a whole different category which I am clearly not interested in discussing.

TM

Okay.

[Icky Thump]

Originally Posted by taxwonk

Here's the solution:

Place a cast iron skillet on the stove and set it on high. Do not plan on touching it again for about 2.5 hours.
. . . After the six minutes have elapsed, take the steak and put it on a plate, tenting it lightly with foil, for at least 5 minutes.

. . . at which time the batteries on all of the smoke detectors in your house will be worn out.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally Posted by Icky Thump

. . . at which time the batteries on all of the smoke detectors in your house will be worn out.

True, but the greasy, smokey residue that infuses all furniture will keep the memory of the great meal alive for days.

[Icky Thump]

Originally Posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)

True, but the greasy, smokey residue that infuses all furniture will keep the memory of the great meal alive for days.

Also he forgot a step. You brush the steaks with butter or extra virgin olive oil before the salt and pepper so they sear quickly.

[J. Fred Muggs]

Originally Posted by Icky Thump

Also he forgot a step. You brush the steaks with butter or extra virgin olive oil before the salt and pepper so they sear quickly.

Dissent. A little grapeseed oil in the pan perhaps, but the smoke point of butter and olive oil are too low to make it a good idea.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally Posted by J. Fred Muggs

Dissent. A little grapeseed oil in the pan perhaps, but the smoke point of butter and olive oil are too low to make it a good idea.

I'm with Muggs. And I don't really like Wonk's method (smoke alarms being one reason). Thinner steak (1" is plenty), sear it a minute on each side, put the pan in the 400 degree oven for another 2 minutes. Take it out, let it rest, slice it up. Boo-yah!

[Tyrone Slothrop]

So I guess I'll be a Bayern Munich fan now.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

So I guess I'll be a Bayern Munich fan now.

Ooooh me too. My husband thinks that I have an unhealthy appreciation for Pep Guardiola. Man does that man look good in a suit.

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Manti Teo's girlfriend was actually a Penske sock, right?

[Not Bob]

Originally Posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?

Manti Teo's girlfriend was actually a Penske sock, right?

I am an old guy, and my sympathies generally lie with the old media in their battles with the new, but this story just blows my mind. Fact checking, Sports Illustrated, ESPN? No one before Deadspin decided to contact Stanford, check for accident reports, contact funeral homes, etc. Wow. Wonder what Buzz Bissinger has to say now about bloggers eating cheetos in their parents' basement not being "journalists."

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally Posted by Not Bob

I am an old guy, and my sympathies generally lie with the old media in their battles with the new, but this story just blows my mind. Fact checking, Sports Illustrated, ESPN? No one before Deadspin decided to contact Stanford, check for accident reports, contact funeral homes, etc. Wow. Wonder what Buzz Bissinger has to say now about bloggers eating cheetos in their parents' basement not being "journalists."

The story is overblown. Who among us has not had a few imaginary girlfriends on the internets? Hell, there is a whole MTV show about it. In candor, some of my imaginary girlfriends have some of the best fucks.