text:
- Home
- About
- News
- Toolkit
- Locations
- YOUmedia
- Chicago, IL: YOUmedia Chicago
- Chicago, IL: YOUmedia Chicago - Richard M. Daley Branch
- Chicago, IL: YOUmedia Chicago - Rudy Lozano Branch
- Chicago, IL: YOUmedia Chicago - Thurgood Marshall Branch
- Miami, FL: YOUmedia Miami
- New York, NY: YOUmedia programs at the DreamYard Art Center
- Washington, DC: ARTLAB+
- Learning Labs Projects
- Allentown, PA: Da Vinci Discovery Center
- Berkeley, CA: TechHive
- Billings, MT: Parmly Billings Library
- Columbia, MD: Howard County Library
- Columbus, OH: Metropolitan Library
- Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art
- Houston, TX: Museum of Fine Arts
- Kansas City, MO: Public Library
- Las Vegas, NV: Las Vegas-Clark County Library District
- Lynn, MA: Public Library
- Madison, WI: KidShare
- Nashville, TN: Public Library
- New York, NY: NYSCI
- Philadelphia, PA: Free Library of Philadelphia
- Pittsburgh, PA: The Labs @ Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
- Portland, OR: OMSI
- Poughkeepsie, NY: MediaLab
- Richmond, VA: Innovation Studio
- Rochester, NY: Cypher Productions @ Teen Central
- San Francisco, CA: Public Library
- St. Paul. MN: Public Library
- Thornton, CO: Rangeview Library District
- Tucson, AZ: Pima County Public Library
- Tuscaloosa, AL: Discovery Learning Lab
- YOUmedia
- Resources
- Contact Us
Allentown, PA: Da Vinci Discovery Center of Science and Technology
The Da Vinci Discovery Center of Science and Technology in Allentown, Pennsylvania, will partner with the Allentown Public Library to create a virtual studio environment for youth engaged in digital media and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) activities. Participation in the virtual environment will be supported by face-to-face outreach programs. Tools for the creation of digital content will be available on loan from the library. The Virtual Studio Project will be governed by youth and staff together and much of the Learning Lab infrastructure will be created by the participants. Participants will be drawn from grades 8-12 in Allentown City schools and rural schools of Lehigh and Carbon Counties. Students in this economically distressed area generally lack strong school media programs or other supports for media learning. The Virtual Studio will establish an ongoing opportunity for learning, creativity, and self-expression.
Allentown PA, Allentown Public Library, Da Vinci Science Center, digital media, OpenSim, performance, software, virtual space, Online SpaceDavidSmith | December 10, 2012 | Allentown PA, Allentown Public Library, Da Vinci Science Center, digital media, OpenSim, performance, software, virtual space, Online SpaceHere at the Allentown, PA Learning Lab, we are excited to be working with our learning lab space already! This space is a little different from many of the other learning labs. For one thing, it is more than 63,000 square meters in area. Also, some of our student media, and even some of our...


text:
Home » Opinion » Editorials
Manchester cabs: Our stupid Soviet system
In Manchester, most industries compete on price, service and quality - except the taxi cab industry. That is for one simple and little-known reason. The city sets all cab fares by ordinance. Every cab in the city must charge exactly the same price, set a dozen years ago. In 2008, aldermen allowed for a temporary fare hike after gasoline hit $4 a gallon. But in 2009, when the average price of gas dropped to $1.83 a gallon, the hike was rescinded, and cab companies were forced to return to the rates set in 2001.
Looking back, the point at which aldermen lowered fares in 2009 happened to be near the five-year low for gas prices in New Hampshire. Prices now average $3.59 a gallon. But city taxi companies are barred by ordinance from covering that expense by raising their rates.
If you owned a cab company and you were put in that same position, what would you do? You can't pay your drivers less than the minimum wage. You cannot raise prices - or lower them to generate more business. Any fare discounts must be approved by the city, and if they are not approved the company must wait six months before trying again. One of your only options would be to defer maintenance on your vehicles.
So the news this week that every city cab was pulled off the road for inspection violations comes as no surprise. City policy virtually guarantees that cab companies will invest as little as possible in their cabs.
If aldermen want better and safer cab service in their city, they will have to free the cab companies to compete with each other. If we keep these Soviet-style price decrees, we will continue to get Soviet-style cab service.
- River Valley Community College planning for new president's inauguration - 0
- Singing a nationwide national anthem at St. Anselm College in Manchester - 0
- Manchester teachers union has contract concerns - 0
- Litchfield school superintendent surprised by board's decision - 0
- State, Lyndeborough agree on school bond repayment plan - 0
- Portsmouth school district undergoing widespread review of sexual harassment response - 0
- Futures Lab offers a glimpse at college, career - 0
- Scholarship established at Kimball Union Academy to honor slain journalist - 0
- Claremont extends school days after renovation delays - 0
Manchester, Hooksett will resume schools conversationREADER COMMENTS: 1
- Pair accused in Hampstead home invasion also face witness tampering charges - 0
- Gunman hits Circle K convenience store in Durham - 0
- Suicide car bomber kills 3 foreign troops in Afghan capital; Taliban claims responsibility - 0
- City officials to review proposed 'spice' ban - 0
- Widow of chiropractor killed this summer says fatal shooting was no accident - 0
- Manchester's Delana Curtis is left out in the cold - 0
- Another View -- Sharon Day: The Democrats' claim to be the party for women is just not believable - 3
- Dave D'Onofrio's Patriots Notebook: Brady a realist - 0
- Burning rubber: And public dollars - 0
Manchester man detained on Nashua rape charges involving childREADER COMMENTS: 0
Mexican man pleads guilty in international conspiracy to traffic hundreds of pounds of cocaine
DWI license revocations
Another View -- Sharon Day: The Democrats' claim to be the party for women is just not believable
Strategery: A war by any other name
Freeh dumb: Favoritism in Vt.?

subset: commoncrawl


text:
WSJ: "Why Chinese Food Isn't Hip"
- ipsedixit Sep 6, 2008 11:18 PM
I think the author is completely wrong in his views of what "hip" Chinese food ought to be.
I mean, after all, he's looking to Chinois on Main, Mandarin Express (WTF??) and Yujean Kang's as exemplars of the genre??
Your thoughts?
Whoa that's a weird one...how do you respond to that?
The guy has a general point about a lack of "nice" Chinese places targeting non-ethnic types and fusion eaters in non-ethnic neighborhoods and the lack of hipness but it's completely over-shadowed by him being an idiot and/or food critic with a very limited understanding of food, culture, immigration and economics...and the perspective things should come to him...not the other way around.
It's a bit of an odd article...but then if you're reading the WSJ for food tips...well you sort of deserve what you get...or they have indeed targeted their audience.
re: ML8000
I'm not sure what you mean by deserving what you get for reading the Journal for food tips. The article above was written by Raymond Sokolov, the former NYT restaurant critic now WSJ food columnist. He has credentials beyond that but having read him regularly for many years I'm willing to accept that he knows what he's talking about.
As far as recipes go, I actually keep a file of recipes clipped from the Journal. Not all of them are to my taste but I've been very pleased with any that I've made. They come from restaurant chefs around the country and, from what I can tell, cooking doesn't have a political or fiscal bias.
Have you ever read the Weekend section of the Journal? From your comments, I tend to doubt it. What do you see as their "targeted audience?" I can guarantee you my age and politics are not what you seem to assume. If the Weekend section is a foodie secret, I'm happy to be in on it.
re: rockycat
<The article above was written by Raymond Sokolov, the former NYT restaurant critic now WSJ food columnist.>
Sokolov has not been the NY Times Restaurant Critic for MANY years. I've lived here 15 years, and not at all during that time.
re: ChefJune
Well, "former" does mean "previous, in the past." It does not necessarily mean "yesterday, the immediate past." He was with the Times in the 1970's. Does it really matter exactly when he was there? I used that credential to show that he had food writing cred, but it seems as if some readers don't feel the Times has any cred. Oh, well. To each his own. He also writes on American foodways for the American Museum of Natural History. Does that work for more people?
re: rockycat
I get the WSJ at work. There are many well written lifestyle articles. It works very well for stuff I'm not in or for something I'm not going to invest time into. For food, I don't see it...and this article sort of proves it. He might know NYC well but his whole "I have to leave Manhattan" thing says more then not.
I didn't read it that way -- I read his discussion of those places as being places that were sort of what he was looking for, but not really. And there does seem to be a dearth of restaurants that combine Chinese cuisine with Western service, wine, etc. Where's the Chinese Nobu? Or Slanted Door?
It is an interesting question. So many top level chefs seem to be incorporating elements of various Asian cuisines in their cooking, but generally either Japanese or Southeast Asian rather than Chinese.
I think the author is right that Chinese isn't "hip" -- there is some residual snobbery about Chinese cuisine based on decades of American experience of Chinese cuisine being sweet and sour pork and chicken chow mein. Other Asian cuisines are less familiar to Americans, and thus have less cultural baggage and fewer stereotypes to overcome.
re: ccbweb
I agree that Ruth is right on target. If a cuisine is more "hip" if one can push its envelope with spices, sourness, new techniques, etc., then Cantonese (being the original Chinese standard in America) doesn't accommodate hipness at all, the way Thai and Vietnamese cuisine seem to do.
That said, there are a lot of chefs who riff well on Chinese, and a lot of exquisite Cantonese dishes that are not well known to the general public.
Haven't Japan and SE Asia been much more accessible than China to western chefs over the last 20 years? If you can't visit, it's hard to be inspired.
re: babette feasts
Great great point. Simple and right on.
re: ccbweb
Not really: what about Hong Kong and Taiwan? Although there is such a thing as Taiwanese cuisine, a lot of the chefs and restaurants there are run by or cater to ex-Mainlanders.
re: Ruth Lafler
I'm asking far more than saying here:
Haven't both Hong Kong and Taiwan been heavily influenced by the various countries (and cultures) that have ruled them over the years? Are the cuisines to be found in those places very much like the cuisine to be found in various regions of China? Are there enough of them to stand in for the kind of exposure that western chefs can get going to Japan?
re: ccbweb
Probably less influenced than, say, Vietnam was by the French. My impression is that Hong Kong wasn't influenced very much by the British at all. Unlike India, there wasn't a huge British colonial population there. In Taiwan, the mainlanders brought their cuisines with them from all over China pretty much intact when they fled the Communist revolution.
re: Ruth Lafler
Within the last decade or so, a distinct Taiwanese cuisines has definitely developed on the island, and it transcends what ex-pats here in the States commonly attribute to Taiwanese food -- i.e., pub food with things like oyster omelets, stinky tofu, vermicelli noodles, etc.
re: ipsedixit
Oh absolutely. I didn't mean to imply that Taiwan hadn't developed, and has continued to develop, its own cuisine, only that in addition to that there's a wide variety of regional Chinese cuisine from the mainland, and that some of it is still close to its "authentic" roots. So to answer the original question, which was "Are the cuisines to be found in those places very much like the cuisine to be found in various regions of China? Are there enough of them to stand in for the kind of exposure that western chefs can get going to Japan?" I would have to say yes.
re: Ruth Lafler
Gotcha. In fact, I think some of the best Tianjan cooking nowadays is done in Taipei.
re: ipsedixit
Stinky tofu didn't originate in Taiwan, it was brought there by the mainlanders.
re: Phaedrus
I didn't mean to imply that stinky tofu originated in Taiwan (after all the island was originally populated mostly by Japanese folks).
But after the mainlanders settled the island, they developed what can only be described as "Taiwanese stinky tofu" which is distinctly different than what you'll find in China.
re: ipsedixit
Taiwan is home to an indigenous population (ben di ren) that has lived there for thousands of years. The Japanese invaded Taiwan in 1895 and ruled it until 1945. Mainland Chinese influence was minimal until the Nationalists lost the Civil War in 1949 and fled to Taiwan with some one million mainlanders. Settling is far from the right word - ask any Taiwanese about 2-28.
re: Ruth Lafler
I think we might be a little grateful that the Chinese chef was not influenced by the Brits.
re: ccbweb
Not counting historical events (such as the arrival of sesame and cilantro from Central Asia and hot peppers from the Americas), the one regional Chinese cuisine I can think of that has a marked foreign influence is Macanese, which bears a strong stamp from Macau's period as a Portuguese colony.
re: babette feasts
There's a bit of history behind Chinese food in the U.S., starting in the 1850s.
When you apply immigration patterns to it, there's pre-1960s Cantonese food. After 1965 there was a slow immigration boom that crested in the '80s/'90s with a more dymanic HK-Canto food, i.e., better dim sum and higher end places that have since gone a bit little stale. This boom latched onto the existing infrastructure and communities
Conversely, sushi has been more of a post-80s thing based on the immigration of sushi chefs. Like-wise with Thai cuisine and Vietnamese.
Like the resurgence of many cuisines in the U.S., things are often immigration based. How many good new French or Italian places are started by recent immigrants?
It is kinda odd how there aren't any upscale full-service Chinese restaurants in the U.S.
It's not that Chinese food isn't hip or upscale. It definitely isn't the food's fault. But it's true, I've never been to a Chinese restaurant in the U.S. with the kind of service that many Westerners find requisite for a "nice" dining experience.
Chinese restaurant service in the U.S. can be blunt, rushed, sloppy at its worst, informal and back slapping at its best. Its not bad, once you get yourself out of the mindset of the Western style of dining out.
Yes, most people DON'T think that Chinese food can be all that glamorous because it only evokes images of take out sludge.
However, real Chinese food is absolutely delicious for those with open palates and open minds, just no one really influential seems to have teased it into a cute little tower yet and presented it on a big shiny white plate in a posh interior. (Even Ming Tsai seems to have gone the Japanese-fusion route, turning his back on his Chinese roots :( )
That said, I'd kill for some of my favorite restaurants in Beijing to somehow pop out an American branch. Full tableside service, lotus garden views, the works.
re: fuuchan
There's a place in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas called Pearl that is an upscale Chinese restaurant with full wine list, more western style service but food that was more authentic than most Chinese places I've been. (I should note: more authentic based on what I've read, not what I personally know.)
While we didn't enjoy Vegas, we did enjoy this restaurant. There's nothing really "hip" about it, though. The food was decidedly higher quality than our favorite takeout in San Francisco.
re: fuuchan
There's a lot going on with the lack of high end Chinese restaurants have to do with the capital needed to do a place right and big. A 500 to 1,000 seat place gets pricey and I'm sure a bit shocking to anyone coming from overseas.
re: fuuchan
Large formal banquet style Chinese places can't make it in the US, there just isn't a regular clientele which would ask for that kind of restaurant. Most of the restaurants that supply that service will serve a higher level of the Sino-American stuff that everyone is familiar with.
Another thing is that Chinese restaurants need to cater to the lowest common denominator, which is essentially catering to the American palate, and that has improved incrementally over the years, and the Chinese palate. As someone else had stated, the nature of Chinese immigrants have changed. From the Cantonese laborers, to the students and business people from Taiwan and Hong Kong, to the students and businessmen from China.
One thing that I have noticed is that the students from China have tended to prefer the all you can eat buffets more than the old guard Cantonese, Taiwanese, and HK people. So all of a sudden we are seeing more buffet style Chinese restaurants that cater to the Chinese customers. Recently, I have noticed that the buffet places have gotten much more sophisticated and the not so sophisticated ones have closed up shop. I don't know what is next, but it certainly won't be haute Chinese cuisine.
re: Phaedrus
Those are a lot of sweeping statements. There are large formal banquet style restaurants in places where there's a big enough Chinese population to support them (SF Bay Area, Greater Los Angeles, etc.). There are half a million Chinese immigrants in the Bay Area (not including ABCs), more than enough to provide a "regular clientele" for a diverse and thriving restaurant culture. In fact, part of the problem is that with enough Chinese customers restaurateurs don't see a lot of need to reach out to non-Chinese customers. Thus, a significant number of places where Chinese customers get one menu with the "real thing" on it while non-Asian customers get a menu of Chinese-American standards.
That doesn't explain why there aren't more Chinese restaurants in the vein of Nobu or The Slanted Door: restaurants that serve food that is only marginally fusion on the plate (except for dessert), but that have the service and atmosphere of a Western style restaurant, that have a serious wine list, etc. And it also doesn't explain why American chefs are interested in learning about Japanese and Southeast Asian cuisines and incorporating elements of those cuisines, while for the large part ignoring Chinese cuisine.
My impression is that Chinese students in the Bay Area like noodle shops and Chinese-style coffee shops, but I guess I could be wrong about that.
re: Ruth Lafler
Large volume formal Chinese places do exist in the Bay Area and other large metro areas and are well on the non-Chinese food map.
The lack of the "bridge over" / fusion places like Nobu and Slanted Door...that's a bit more complex. That sort of place takes either a polished chef from another country or a second generation'er (or someone who came here early and is very acculturated) who has a broader sensibility, some luck or some capital, or both. Nobu Matsuhisa is the polished chef. Charles Phan is the young immigrant with broader sensibilities.
Also 2nd generation kids from restaurants families tend not to continue in the business...their parents want professionals, not restaurant workers/owners.
As for fusion, and Westerns chefs being attracted to non-Chinese food. I think you're right that there's a bit of a stereotype, non-newness factor, as you mentioned before, but there's also some hardminded traditionalists in Chinese cuisine that keeps change from the other side happening.
Japanese have a tradition of liking Western concepts as long as it can be Japanese. Other Asian cultures sometimes don't challenge Western ideas either because they don't feel the need or feel a need to return inquiry in-kind. Unfortunately some of the Chinese thinking is -- we've done this for 5,000 years, what's the matter with it? A Chinese chef is just as likely to say, "you can't do that," and when asked why they'll just say, "becuase you just can't" at least in regards to food.
re: ML8000
Cantonese cooking can be especially innovative and chefs frequently create new dishes. Foie gras and truffles are not unusual ingredients in high-end Chinese (Cantonese) restaurants in Singapore. With the availability of more western ingredients, it's not unusual to see more "fusiony" dishes appearing on menus of mainstream Cantonese places.
re: limster
And then self-appointed Chinese food experts diss them for being "inauthentic"!
Limster, I just wish you could have tasted what a master Chinese chef in Fresno does with shrimp and local, in-season Chandler strawberries.
re: Ruth Lafler
I wish I could have Chef Liu's cooking too! I suppose will have to make do with a bit of hunting the next time I'm back in Singapore, or go splurge at Hakkasan or its look-alikes....
re: limster
Sam Lau of Zen Fine Chinese Cuisine outside of Vancouver also uses foie gras. I think most of the fusion in Chinese cooking happens in the melding of the many cuisines - the influences they take from other regions. Twenty years ago I had ice cream with sweet corn in Taipei. Served in a sort of popsicle and it was great. Long ago Fujian fisherman brought sweet potatoes from the Philippines during a famine and now it is featured in their cuisine. All it takes is to add or subtract one ingredient and voila, fusion! Jennifer 8 Lee in "The Fortune Cookie Chronicles" maintains that Chinese people do not want "modern cuisine."
re: Phaedrus
Large formal banquet places can make it in the U.S. but it take capital and places tend to be handed over to new ownership in a serial manner...which reduces innovation and change. The few new places that open and do well...charge a lot. There's Koi Palace in SF (Daly City) that gets excellent reviews but people often are shocked at the prices. Real estate prices also factor into new places.
re: ML8000
Yeah, people are shocked at the prices, even though they wouldn't think twice about spending that much per person at a French or Italian restaurant. But that's part of the cultural baggage: decades of cheap Chinese-American food have conditioned people to think that Chinese food should be cheap. Mexican food has a similar problem.
re: Ruth Lafler
Right, and yet the high-end banquet places are serving up costly ingredients like abalone and, yes, foie gras, cooked with great skill. The farthest thing from a $30 two-from-column A, one-from-column B meal has to have a price far higher, too. And as far as the audience goes, some Chinese diners are prepared to pay for such meals, and some feel Chinese restaurant meals should be cheap, even if it's authentic cooking not glop - but it's cooking of a different order, in an atmosphere and with service that don't match what you'd expect in a high-end place.
Sounds like the guy wrote it when he was drunk. Along with the copy editors that let it through (and I'm a veteran with a mjor newspaper).
Target audience? People who think it's a thrilling adventure to travel 14 miles outside NYC. Of course, making sure to take their elephant guns. No good Chinese fgood in US urban centers? By US urban centers the Manhattan.
Went from the NY Times to the WSJ? Whether he was bounced or left by choice, neihter is a good recommendation.
re: mpalmer6c
He didn't write that there's no good Chinese food to be had. He wondered why there aren't places like David Chang's ultra-trendy spots in NYC or Nobu that serve more authentic Chinese food or serious fusion drawing on Chinese traditions and techniques.
I think chinese restos are a heck of lot "hipper" when they are not oriented (pardon the pun) to "non-ethnic" eaters, in much the same way I don't like french, italian, spanish, mexican, polish or german restos that are aimed at "non-ethnic" eaters. A recent nytimes piece about the chinese restos in Flushing seemed the hippest thing in the world to me. I really don't get Sokolov's point and I am a long time reader and fan.
Some of his observations are spot on.
The more authetic places have become more rare as diners seek out the familiar.
The more creative places have become less authentic to appear explorative. They are covering all bases.
I'm not sure what to think of this.
In some respects, our favorite, authentic ethnic joints were never launched to appeal to the masses. In many cases, they were launched to serve the local ethnic communities. And historically (see Little Italy in NYC), those enclaves move/spread out or simply assimilate in the larger community.
In some respects, there is no Chinese food. It's a monster of a country and to assign them one cuisine is like coming on CH and asking who has the best BBQ. Meanwhile I've had the fortune to travel all over China and never once looked for an "American" eatery. There's McD's and KFCs all over. But no Sizzlers or Taco Bell (well there might be, but not omnipresent).
In some respects, we like Chinese foods but don't know it. To me, the Chinese (and some others) have a thousand + years of cooking based on survival, not just taste. They eat strange things because that was the choice. They eat the whole fish or chicken, not just the skinned breast. They learned to make dishes around parts that many don't want to know about. Feet? Grilled skin as a meal?
And in some respects it might turn out O.K. At some point, people will ask for better Chinese. Hipper Chinese. Not everyone. Tonight a million people will order pizza from Doms/Hut, but these have helped spawn a bunch of new places selling better pies (and the folks who will pay for them).
So my hope is that Chinese eateries keep spreading and a few will challenge us to be different.
re: mrbigshotno.1
Asked and answered.
Some editor probably came up with the misleading headline.
The author's actual topic is perfectly reasonable: why should he have to travel from Manhattan to Flushing to get great ma po tofu?
He's savvy enough to mention Wu Liang Ye as an exception. I wonder if he's ever tried their ma po tofu?
I've eaten enough Chinese food. I'm jaded and sick of it. The only Chinese food that would interest me would be lamb/mutton dishes from Western China
I'm sick of dealing with the grease in all the sauces and Chinese cuisine is built on sauces. Numerous times I've asked for less oil (grease) in the sautéed vegetables such as gai lan. My request is never honored so to heck with it all
I admit that my age shows. For young pups Chinese food might be exciting
Definitely sushi is more "in" than Chinese food
I'd rather have a huge steaming bowl of pho with the raw beef that cooks in the broth, than a seven course meal of gourmet level Chinese
re: gafferx
[raises eyebrow with obligatory funny look on face ...]
re: gafferx
You've been eating at the wrong places. My mom and I never use a lot of oil (grease) which is expensive and unncessary, and the Chinese restaurants we love the best are very judicious about its use.
Other posters have already said it: most Chinese food that is known and eaten in the US is not the food as Chinese people know it.
re: Claudette
What can I say except that where I live most them are "the wrong places"
re: gafferx
Clearly you haven't eaten enough Chinese food if you think it's all greasy sauces.
re: Ruth Lafler
Yeah Florida Chinese restaurants aren't so good. But even if they were and even if the grease factor was minimized I am not interested in it. Eaten enough of it in my life.
And with the bad economy here it can only get worse
re: gafferx
Holy cow, gafferx. Speaking as a guy who spent 3+ months traveling through China and Taiwan, and having now lived in LA for 11 years (and just returned from a trip to Flushing, Queens), I can speak with full authority that the Chinese food you're eating is not at all representative of the real deal.
Want me to prove it?
- Charcoal grilled lamb kebabs dusted with cumin and cayenne found all over Beijing (and in a few places in LA's San Gabriel Valley and at street vendors in Flushing)
- Whisper-thin dumpling skins filled with a mouthful of hot, flavorful soup and pork (found at Din Tai Fung in Arcadia and all over China/Taiwan/Japan)
- Noodles made fresh to order, served in flavorful (and non-oily!) soup filled with incredibly fall-apart tender stewed beef (beef noodle soup, found all over China, Taiwan, San Gabriel Valley and Flushing)
I could go on....... suffice it to say that perhaps you should write off Americanized Chinese food, but keep an open mind for the real deal. When you visit China, Taiwan, Flushing or San Gabriel, come to Chowhound and we will guide you.
Mr Taster
re: gafferx
Where have you had the misfortune to have these terrible experiences?
The high end Chinese restaurants serve food that most Americans would never eat, so how do you suppose it stays in business unless there are large Chinese population nearby? It's not surprisingly then to find good authentic restaurants in the suburbs where the Chinese live.
Also, most "Chinese" restaurants in the U.S. aren't authentically Chinese, but rather Chinese-American fusions. You can't sell $18 sweet and sour pork when there's a take-out shop down the street that sells it for $8.
re: Ericandblueboy
E&BB, the chinese resto's on the gulf side of Florida are either take-outs in strip centers (some are pretty good, and I hope the hard-working families succeed by word of mouth): or all you can eat buffets. I went to one buffet for dinner, and I was shocked. I thought I was at a convention for the hyper-obese. When a steamer tray of snow crab came out, it looked like a NASCAR/ demolition derby of 6-tired wheelchairs sprang into action. On my way out, I noticed a bumber sticker that said "Fat people are harder to kidnap".
I'll stick with the take-out.
re: Veggo
My theory on the lack of good Chinese food in many parts of Florida is that the US never had proper military bases there. When I think of good Asian restaurants in my area, the common story seems to be man in uniform meets nice local Asian girl while he's stationed overseas, they get married, move around for a while, then when he retires, they end up in a place with palm trees and convenient access to VA services. She arranges to bring a couple more people from her family over to the new homestead, and somewhere along the way, the Thai/Korean/Japanese/Vietnamese restaurant or market just kind of happened.
re: beachmouse
That's a pretty wild theory. I'm sure what you mention happens but personally I think it's that few Chinese or Chinese American settle in Florida...just like few settle in Iowa, Alabama and other states.
It's not much different how Mexican food is some parts of the country isn't very good probably because Mexican or Mexican American haven't settled there. After all there's no military bases in Mexico and GI's marrying Mexican girls. Also, competition and a population that knows the food drives the food to be better.
re: ML8000
Yeah, weird theory, especially since this whole topic is about differentiating attitudes towards Chinese food from other Asian cuisines and the theory lumps together all "Asian" military wives. Are there many Chinese military wives? We've had troops in Vietnam, Japan, Korea and the Philippines, but China not so much. Actually, though, there does seem to be a connection between military bases, in particular naval bases, and clusters of Filipinos.
re: Ruth Lafler
I think that's beachmouse's point. Because the US never had military bases in China, we don't have many Chinese "war brides" retiring to Florida with their ex-military husbands.
re: alanbarnes
Still not seeing the connection between war brides and restaurants.
re: ML8000
There are a lot of Taiwanese women who are married to ex-servicemen in the US. My family socialized with them a lot when I was growing up. I have also been to a few restaurants and groceries that follow the story line. I am not sure there is enough to warrant an anthropological conclusion, given the numbers we are talking about.
re: ML8000
It's not universal by any means, but there's a strong war brides who start (or whose families start) Thai restaurants connection in my area, and the number of them is impressive in an otherwise very caucasian place. They seem to do well because the war brides have a reputation for cooking from scratch and the Chinese places all seem to buy their egg rolls and sweet and sour chicken from the same Asian supply wholesaler some place in New Jersey.
I'd guess about 80% of what would be considered to be more authentic Mexican restaurants in my area can be traced to the sudden arrival of large numbers of Hispanic construction workers to help rebuild the area after Hurricane Ivan. The construction workers have moved on to work in New Orleans or Mississippi, but some of those restuarants have remained and prospered.
re: Ruth Lafler
As a restaurant, or lack of restaurant theory, it's still a bit odd. If there are restaurants started by ex-military and war brides...it's a small, small number and doesn't explain why other ethnic cuisines where there aren't bases (like Mexican) still aren't represented well in some parts of the country.
re: ML8000
In any event, the gulf side of Florida has a miniscule asian population. Dim Sum is available in Tampa and Sarasota, but not even close to the range of choices in Denver, for example.
I know of a couple upscale Chinese place in Chicago (called Koi, granted they have sushi too). So, I wouldn't say this is true all across the board. I suppose I do see the connection that upscale Japanese and American cuisine is much more common in metropolitan areas.
That's a headline to sell newspapers. Flushing has great Chinese food and no tourists. He orders Peking Duck at a Sichuan restaurant in Manhattan and is disappointed? No wonder. Chinese food feeds one quarter of the world's population. At least 10,000 different dishes according to writer/nutritionist Jacqueline Newman. Eight distinct cuisines and at least 19 more regional culinary influences. With the breadth and variety available maybe that's why the fusion he seeks is missing.
re: scoopG
To defend the author of the article: he ponders, just as you assert, that "Maybe the reason is that Chinese cuisine is just too massive an edifice for a superchef to assault."
He also doesn't appear to be looking, particularly, for fusion; rather, noting the absence of Chinese cooking as a part of the fusion cooking and food that is taking place in the US at least. That is, why are excellent chefs consistently turning to other Asian cuisines for inspiration or ingredients while they're not looking to Chinese cuisine?
re: ccbweb
Well, Wolfgang Puck did begin his culinary fame by going to Chinatown (LA) and purchasing the roast ducks, and then reselling it on pizza.
re: slacker
Puck's fame started with Ma Maison. The pizzas came later, at Spago, where the duck was in housemade sausages. Most of the credit for Spago's creative pizzas should go to Puck's pizza chef, Ed LaDou (though it was Puck's idea to hire him away from Prego in San Francisco).
Puck later opened a Chinese fusion restaurant, Chinois on Main (where they roast their ducks in house), but that was 25 years ago.
re: Robert Lauriston
I had to take clients to Chinois shortly after it opened, and it was the worst Chinese food I'd ever had. Their philosophy was to put lots of soy sauce and sugar on everything, but my clients couldn't get enough of it.
re: Robert Lauriston
I'm fully aware that Puck did not begin his culinary life at his own restaurant. Ma Maison was THE place to go in its day. When I say "culinary fame" I meant that by which the masses began to know him. And they really knew him for those "unusual" pizzas, especially that duck.
I personally never liked and still don't like Chinois.
Both Toronto and Vancouver have a number of upscale Chinese restaurants with formal service and good china and a few places that do the western/Chinese fusion thing, though these (meaning the first kind) typically cater to a Chinese clientele and as such lack the markings of a 'hip' restaurant of any other genre (no bars with eligible bachelors sipping martinis at Lai Wah Heen, for example).
But personally I think it is just a matter of preconceptions and stigma that's causing all regional Chinese cuisines to be taking a back seat to other more 'hip' ones... when you think China most people still think great wall, rice paddy farmers and monolithic things (not that there isn't a growing artistic movement in China that's as interesting and modern as any other).
I don't blame it on Sokolov...he has been around the food realm a long time and deserves our respect. He knows his stuff. I do blame the media coverage during the Beijing Olympics, especially the Today Show for focusing on bugs and scorpions...and I also believe the Chinese officials themselves should have been able to put forward a better view of Chinese cuisine. A land of so many people, after all...
After an exciting spurt in the 70s and 80s about Chinese culinary regions like Cantonese (the most familiar at the time), Sizchuan, Hunan etc. the action stopped abruptly when the level of Chinese cooks and operators in this country just began to homogenize the whole genre. ( I found better Chinese restaurants during this period than I do today)...this has not improved to this day, imo.
We all want to believe there is a fine Chinese cuisine out there with all its diversity...but where is it?
re: gutreactions
There's plenty of great and diverse Chinese food in the US if you look in the right places, such as Flushing, San Gabriel, or Milpitas.
re: Robert Lauriston
Or in Monterey Park, Burlingame or Manhattan. Manhattan now features a sizeable Fujian population - some 300,000 have emigrated to the US in the past 20 years and and we now have some 8-10 Fuzhou style spots not found anywhere else outside of Fujian.
Sokolov can keep his fine china, and his western-style waiters, and especially his hipster clientele. I like it when my table has the only 鬼佬 in a place.
I don't know about the author's definition of hip, as it seems to be defined either by use of chinese ingredients/techniques in fushion food, and upscale chinese dining.
I think there's a fair amount of fusion in some ways in cantonese foods by melting in foreign ingredients that's not really native to China, like the use of pineapple, mayo and the like. Sea Habour in LA has a 'foie gras' wontons, Elite has 'diced veal in grapefruit sauce', scallops w/ mango. Is it not hip just because the people applying the fusion happens to be chinese chefs and not celebrity TV chefs?
On the other criteria about upscale chinese dining - I think maybe there just isn't a market here in the US. In other words, people aren't willing to pay that kind of money for slighter better chinese food served in a fancier setting and better service. In some ways the chowhound expectation is that when you walk into a chinese restaurant the service will not be there, the decor may be bad, but as long as the food is good all is forgiven. That's certainly a demand for good service and upscale surroundings in Hong Kong, where we went to a superbly fancy chinese restaurant Yan Toh Heen with 4 star service.
Funny how he hasn't even explored what would be an obvious starting point-- upscale Cantonese banquet halls like Mission 261 in San Gabriel. In fact he does just the opposite by dismissing Cantonese food, instead absurdly focusing on Szechuan province... one of the poorest regions of China, and whose cuisine therefore has little likelihood of using expensive, "trendy" ingredients in its cooking.
Mr Taster
re: Mr Taster
But that's not really what he's talking about. He's not talking about upscale purely Chinese restaurants catering to Chinese. He's talking about upscale in a Western context, including decor, service, wine list, etc. His point isn't even that there *should* be restaurants like this, only that restaurants and menus like this based on other Asian cuisines are very "hip" and it's interesting that there doesn't seem to be a Chinese equivalent (or that attempts at a Chinese equivalent haven't been completely successful). In San Francisco, for example, there are more than one Vietnamese/Vietnamese fusion restaurant that would fall into this category, and at least one Japanese fusion restaurant that would fall into this category.
In addition, he's talking about the fact that non-Chinese chefs don't seem to be interested in incorporating or playing with elements of Chinese cuisine: when I read the tasting menus of any of the upscale places in town it seems like all of them have some Japanese influence (I would even attribute the recent trend toward "crudo" on Italian menus as being a response to the popularity of sushi), and I often see elements of Southeast Asian cuisine. But I can't say the same for Chinese cuisine.
I'll tell you, actually, why Chinese restaurants aren't "hip" -- high-end Chinese cuisine is geared to being served to groups (families, banquets, etc.). People who are trendsetters and tastemakers are generally young professionals who tend to dine in couples or casually in small groups, and who dine out frequently. They don't want a multi-course family-style meal. They want one or two dishes that include a lot of elements and flavors, or a collection of small tastes and small bites that they can share over drinks.
Sushi fit that model perfectly, and thus Japanese food became hip. Up-scale Chinese restaurants could undoubtedly tweak their menus to serve food this way (think high-end dim sum, for dinner), but they don't have a lot of reason to do so when they can be successful catering to a Chinese clientele.
re: Ruth Lafler
While I agree with you that most Cantonese banquet halls don't fit the hipness bill, I do believe that Mission 261 fits most of those categories (wine list, upscale, western decor with Chinese elements, somewhat creative small plates (dim sum), etc., though I doubt it's served at dinner.
Mr Taster
re: Mr Taster
I don't think Mission 261 comes close to the service you get at a truly upscaled chinese restaurant you'll find in Hong Kong. Come to think of it - Michelin doesn't cover China/Hong Kong, but is there even any restaurants that have a Michelin star that's at least chinese-fusion?
re: notmartha
In London there's a place called Hakkasan (opened buy the same guy who is behind Wagamama. He also has a tea-house/dim sum restaurant called Yauatcha. They are, I believe, the only Chinese restaurants to currently hold a Michelin star (they have one each).
re: notmartha
I think I read somewhere that Michelin will be doing HK.
re: slacker
Here's a thread about that: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/549927
re: Ruth Lafler
And yet the communal table and family style restaurants are becoming trendy - not the Buca di Beppos so much, but there are a few communal/family style places in Seattle that are doing their best to be 'in' spots - The Corson Building and an Italian place I'm blanking on.
Could you make high-end Chinese food into a la carte or small plates? Dim sum is pretty popular, no reason why someone couldn't carry the concept over to dinner. But nobody wants to. Hmm.
re: babette feasts
Small plates (xiao3 chi1) is exceedingly popular in traditional Shanghainese cooking, as well as a number of other cuisines.
re: limster
I think focusing on communal tables and family style dining may be a bit too simplistic.
After all, when you are talking about high-end Chinese cuisine (and, really, that's what we are talking about b/c that's the articles focal point), the food while presented in "family style" is plated for you on an individual basis.
So at the end of the day, high-end Chinese cuisine, esp. banquet style, is less family style than it is often made out to be.
re: ipsedixit
And I'm always impressed as to how well the plating is done at the table. The skill involved is commendable.
As to the article, I don't even sense the author really knows what he is looking for. But if the crux of what he is trying to address is why haven't the more supposedly innovative chefs known in the West (I guess he means folks like Cimarusti, Travi, etc) embraced/fused techniques and ingredients of various Chinese cuisines, I'd say the numbers and vastness of the cuisine are too big - they probably don't have great knowledge of it, many of the techniques are not easily learned, it's very labor intensive, many of the ingredients don't fuse well (stinky tofu) or are off the radar (duck tongues), and equipment like a proper wok/burner are a major investment and probably very intimidating to most in the West.
I think the author might need to go to great food centers in Asia, eg, Hong Kong, Singapore, to find great examples of how innovative chefs over there have fused their cuisine with the West.
re: bulavinaka
I had duck tongues with something delicious like eel foam at Winterland, a decidedly non-Asian restaurant in San Francisco a few years ago. Granted, that restaurant has since closed.
I agree that the vastness of the cuisine is probably relevant. Maybe Chinese master chefs don't want to share their knowledge with white people who only plan on messing it up?
This may be a little off topic but on the East Coast at least I'm surprised that after many generations of Chinese and Chinese restaurants that there still seems to be a severe lack of assimilation of Chinese people. I work everyday for a large corporation and am active socially in a variety of areas (i.e. professional sports events, bars & restaurants, live music venues, etc) and rarely do I see particularly any Asian men out socially or where I work. On the East Coast other than college campus and Chinatown Asians seem to be few and far between. Why?
re: Chinon00
My impression is that as a general rule, the Chinese hold very strong to their traditions - reverence to parents and family is unquestionable. This alone creates a strong undercurrent in the mindset of most Chinese to embrace many other aspects of their culture.
I've found this to be true with Koreans as well. They not only have a strong familial bond, they also have very strong nationalistic pride.
re: bulavinaka
I find that interesting. What you say I think can discourage say a young Chinese chef from truly going independent. And instead we get nice but predictable and formulaic Chinese restaurants much of the time.
And to revisit and expand on my earlier question, why is it that in mainstream culture (i.e. supermarket, bars & restaurants, gym, the mall, etc) it seems to be that the only visible Asians are under 40 year old Asian women and what does that mean? Why does it appear that they alone are breaking the mold in terms of assimilation?
re: bulavinaka
There's a television show called Chinese Reataurant that airs on Link in the US where the narrator uses Chinese restaurants around the world as a starting point on examining the bigger picture of the spread of Chinese culture and small Chinese communities around the world. He claims the only place he's been where he felt like the Chinese community truly got assimilated was Cuba. Everywhere else in the world, the Chinese families will intermarry with the majority population at times, but they make sure to pass the Chinese culture down in those interracial marriages.
re: Chinon00
Interesting. Here in the SF Bay Area I can't seem to go two steps without tripping over my a pack of my fellow youngish Asian professionals, not to mention all my fellow Asian/Caucasian mixed race couples.
The author is asking "why hasn't Chinese food made it as an elite expensive fancy cuisine in America?" He tries to answer the question, but the attempt is shallow. He doesn't discuss anything about great Chinese chefs coming from the mainland to America. A good answer would examine Chinese cuisine in Japan.
re: mlgb
You've gotta read the article. The author's point and question was why hasn't Chinese food gained traction in mainstream cuisine the way that others have. He points out that overall it's a cuisine that hasn't been imbraced by chefs in terms of experimentation or "fusion" as much as others have. So by "hip" I think he means that the food itself isn't "current" and has nothing to do with who (i.e. hipster) is eating it.
re: Chinon00
As I read the article, he also wondered why it wasn't available in an upscale Manhattan setting ,and why it hadn't been "mainstreamed," why it hadn't broken into the "foodie world". And he did point out some recent attempts that failed.
So come on foodies, why not? Why always asking where the good sushi is?
(I exclude of course all of the San Gabriel Valley afficiionados here).
re: mlgb
I already mentioned it...it's economics. Given the price of real estate in Manhattan, the start-up costs for a large, upscale place, the risk involved in a restaurant (let alone a fusion place), the expectation of pricing...few in their right mind would try. Add in the "away from the built in audience" factor and why would any attempt such a venture in a very costly place like Manhattan?
My thoughts, FWIW: since "hip" and "foodie" are a contradiction in terms, then the author is setting himself up for a quest to find a unicorn. We all know here that the truly "hip" are the ones who trailblaze into ethnic neighborhoods to report back on their findings. It really isn't that difficult (for me anyway) to find Chinese influences in "mainstream" and "hip" restaurants here....and I doubt I will have a tough time finding it in NYC.
re: Chinon00
My favourites in North America are probably Lai Wah Heen (for innovative dim sum) and Susur (for his reverse degustation) - both in Toronto.
re: Chinon00
No problem.
1 I'm assuming it is some sort of seasonal Chinese-inspired dessert. (It's been about 3-4 years since I have been there - I don't recall what I had specifically)
2. Susur only does reverse degustation (which is controversial, but decidedly innovative in of itself.) All his dishes IMO are quite individually innovative - so it's hard to pick just one. The most memorable ones for me are his foie gras creations (being a fan of foie myself)...and one particular lobster thing.
Last I heard, Susur Lee was moving to NYC to open a restaurant....Maybe the Torontonians reading this thread can provide updates on this. Once Susur opens his restaurant, R Sokolov should have no problems finding "hip" Chinese cuisine in his town....if this is the type of food is indeed what he is looking for.
re: Chinon00
The descriptions in the menu does not emphasize this aspect of his food well enough, IMO.
You'll have to take my word for it that the food tastes Chinese -- sometimes vaguely so, but it the familiar notes are there....often it's pan-Asian - Thai, Singapore, Indonesian, etc. I've heard it (pretentiously) described as "Nouvelle Chinoise."
re: fmed
I hear you but from the article:
"Or, if you eat at one of the three hip Manhattan spots of Korean-American chef David Chang, ask yourself why his splashy fusion dishes can feature Korean kimchee and the Thai hot sauce sriracha without more than a nod to the master food culture [i.e. Chinese] that underlies Mr. Chang's melting wok?"
So I think that the author acknowledges "pan-asian" (i.e. Thai, Singapore, Indonesian) that you've described above.
re: Chinon00
Ah OK. So the author is seeking a fusion of pure Chinese (perhaps one of the regional cuisines) with some Western (French perhaps?). Susur does have a few dishes that fit that description...but I grant that the entire menu is not like that. The author's criteria are a bit muddled and restrictive at the same time. I guess the closest thing I have come to what he may be seeking is Hakkasan in London, Hakkasan here (Vancouver), and Zen Fine Chinese here (Vancouver).
re: Chinon00
You might be interested to read what chowhounds have posted about Red Pearl Kitchen which is pretty much the hip trendoid fusion attempt (by non Chinese cooks) that is one interpretation of what the author was talking about. I think part of the problem is that in the LA area we have "the real thing", and the other part is that if the food is so-so, people are feeling "ripped". I've just posted a few of the threads, there are many.
re: fmed
It is my opinion, as well as the opinion of the Chowhound founder's manifesto, that foodies are defined as hip trendoids who follow the Zagat guide, not trailblazers as you define:
The Foodie vs Chowhound discussion has been talked to death here:
Mr Taster
re: Mr Taster
It's semantics and trend talk mumbo-jumbo but no one hip would follow Zagat's although they might consider themselves a foodie. Anyone that uses Zagat's beyond general reference I wouldn't consider that much into food but does like a good meal.
See, round and round it goes...where it stops, nobody knows. :0
re: Mr Taster
We are in agreement here...I believe that is what I was saying in my previous post.
Actually, what I find really weird about the article, and why I can't seem to get my mind around it, is how he starts and ends with a rather homey Sichuan ma po tofu dish and instead of saying something like, "why haven't more Americans discovered authentic Chinese regional cuisine in places freqently mainly by Chinese people?" he goes off on a tangent about upscale fusion. It would have made a lot more sense to me if he'd started with a visit to a Cantonese seafood banquet house then talked about morphing this type of experience into something even more refined.
Ipse, Thks for posting the link, but I didn't the article :) So I'm just commenting from your post's title.
Chinese food in general is pretty cheap. So considering how Wall Street is doing, Chinese food is getting hipper by the day for many WSJ readers.
Sorry to make light of the effect the economy is having on many peoples lives. But sometimes if you didn't laugh, you'd cry.
Ummm... ...very narrow minded and insular.
The author should travel out of the US more.
He should go for instance to Shanghai or Beijing to see how many expats are there now working together with the Chinese to create really interesting creations based on Chinese food.
Hell, even Tim Raue in Germany - http://www.ma-restaurants.de/ is not making the normal "fusion" combinations. This is original, very creative stuff and sumptuous to eat - he's the only guy I've ever seen who had the guts to use duck's tongue in his recipes, and have people rave about it!
Of course, I doubt the author would be inclined to. He can stick to his spicy noodles in Flushing.
re: girobike
They exist in places like Hong Kong but not here in the states. there's an obvious reason: the US doesn't have the wealthy chinese clientele to support these high end establishments.
But we do have some magnificent chinese restaurants here. Most of them are in the San Gabriel Valley in east Los Angeles and even that area doesn't have the high end places you see in Hong Kong. I hope this changes with the economic rise of China.
re: david t.
Why do you need wealthy Chinese clientele to make it happen? This certainly hasn't held true for French food for example.
re: david t.
Hi David,
That fellow I referred to - Tim Raue, was voted "Chef of the Year 2007" in Germany. Here's a video:
I don't think you'll see any Chinese people there...
So much for "Old Europe". They are much more open culinary-wise than our US brethren.
The OC used to have an attempt at upscale chinese with Stix. This was an American (ie non chinese) run corporate restaurant. The original incarnation did have Chinese chefs working in a glass enclosed kitchen with servers accommodating the well healed Newport and OC crowd. The other (which I might be crucified for) is PF Chang. Its corporate, its attempt at upscale with a wine list and bar and expensive chinese food in small portions.
Having eaten in these places in the mid 80s and early 90's, I can't help but think that I could have gotten better and cheaper , a half hours drive north.
great comments all; I don't have the mind right now to put a proper response except that Sokolov really makes no sense in his article; no sense at all. his main point at the end of the third paragraph is simply . . . his own personal wish? who exactly is demanding that young chefs must use chinese cuisine as a basis for new restaurants? huh? funny thoughts from this guy; a very weird one. and who is searching for chinese-i-fied fine dining? or rather, fine-dining-i-fied chinese food? it is what it is, heterogeneous to the point where it is impossible to reduce to a set of experiences and then on top of that, to make it fancy? funny.


text:
The Latest Houston News, Traffic and Weather: Follow @news92fm
Montgomery High School west of Conroe was evacuated at about 10:30 this morning following a bomb threat.
The students walked to the nearby stadium while the campus was being checked by officers and detection dogs. Students on social media say the all clear was given shortly after 11:30.
The campus is part of the Montgomery school district.


text:
The Guild Wars 2 Wikis will be undergoing maintenance on Wednesday, October 1, in order to upgrade the wiki software. The wikis will be unavailable for approximately 90 minutes starting at 17:00 UTC.
Notice something wrong, missing, or unsatisfactory? Feel free to edit pages yourself and make use of discussion pages. Wiki content is created, maintained, and administrated by players. See how you can help.
Trinkets are a category of equipment. Trinkets differ from most other equipment in that they have no effect on the character's appearance.
[edit] Overview
There are three types of trinket: accessory, amulet, and ring. These types differ primarily in the magnitude of the attribute bonuses they grant, show in the table below. A character may wear up to two accessories, one amulet, and two rings at at time.
|Trinket type
|Relative bonus
Like most equipment, trinkets can be acquired as loot or personal story rewards, purchased from karma merchants, and traded on the Trading Post. Trinkets can also be crafted by the jeweler discipline.
Trinkets have one upgrade slot that can accept jewels or universal upgrades
Since trinkets have no appearance, they cannot be dyed and are not part of the wardrobe.
[edit] Ascended trinkets
Ascended trinkets also have one infusion slot with an assigned type: Defensive, Offensive, or (on amulets only) Utility. Only an infusion of the same type or an Omni-type infusion can be placed in an infusion slot.
Ascended rings can be infused, after which they gain an additional infusion slot specifically for Agony Infusions.
[edit] Notes
- Back items are not trinkets, even though the equipment slots are grouped together.
- In structured PvP, the only trinkets available are amulets, which combine the attribute bonuses from all equipment into a single item.


text:
Join or Sign In
I have been crafting since I was a little girl. My grandmother taught me how to crochet when I was 8. Later on I learned how to do various other crafts like, knitting, cross stitch, lampworking, weaving, embroidery, and jewelry making. I love it all.
Need Help? Visit our Help Center.
© 2014 Craftsy and Sympoz Inc.


text:
- Judge
- Michel Roux Jr
- Judge
- Monica Galetti
- Participant
- Michael Wignall
- Director
- Robin Leach
- Series Producer
- Rachel Palin
MasterChef: The Professionals, Series 6 Episode 19 of 24
Duration: 1 hour
Two more semi-finalists are sent to cook in two Michelin starred service, this time under the demanding Michael Wignall at The Latymer in Surrey's Pennyhill Park Hotel. Michael earned his first star in 2009 and a coveted second star in 2013. Each semi-finalist must take charge of a course from the lunch menu, get to grips with the modern techniques Michael uses to prepare his classic, precise and unique food and hit the standards required every time in service. With Michael watching their every move in the kitchen, the chefs must step up and deliver or face being taken off service.
Afterwards, they must both recreate one of Michael Wignall's signature dishes: quail breast with confit quail leg, braised tongue, sweet breads and cockscomb in a port glaze. The dish requires perfect execution and an intricate balancing act of flavours if they are to reach the awesome heights Michael demands.
Then, the two semi-finalists return to the studio for one last challenge before their future in the competition is decided. In this daunting final test, they must deliver a main and dessert inspired by their Michelin experience in just two hours - they simply have to wow the judges. Knowing that any mistake could cost them the competition, the chefs have to combat nerves, pressure, and cook their hearts out to stay in the running. Once Michel Roux Jr and Monica Galetti have judged their two courses, they will decide who has proved they are good enough to become a Professional MasterChef finalist.
See all previous episodes from MasterChef: The Professionals
BBC © 2014 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.


text:
To perform a search, enter a keyword, phrase or item number in the search field and click "search."
We offer two ways to locate information:
Our 1995 Merlot is a subtle and supple wine that is easy to enjoy. Inviting aromas of red currant, herb, and mint shape the nose while lively cherry and vanilla flavors impart an attractive mouth.
The Gordon Brothers vineyards were established in 1980. They have planted a total of 95 acres, consisting of 25 acres of Chardonnay, 21 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, 20 acres of Merlot, 15 acres of Syrah, 14 acres of Sauvignon Blanc, and one acre of Gewurztraminer. The vineyards lie on a perfectly oriented south-facing slope ranging from an elevation of 600 to 682 feet above sea...Read More About Gordon Brothers
Columbia Valley is the largest of Washington State's wine growing regions, with almost 11 million acres. It encompasses a number of smaller regions, including Yakima Valley, Walla Walla Valley, Red Mountain and more. The vast area consists of a range of climates, allowing viticulturists to plant a diverse selection of grape varieties. Most wineries plant rows sparsely, which...Read More About Columbia Valley
No second fiddle
Merlot is coming back into its own. High popularity led to mass production, which then led to a backlash towards the variety (remember Miles in Sideways?). But passionate Merlot producers, and of course the right bank of Bordeaux, continued to produce quality versions of this grape. Merlot remains the principle grape of top chateaux in St...Read More About Merlot
Ship on us for a month!
After your free trial, StewardShip is just $49/year.
*Some exclusions apply


text:
|Embassy Suites Cary hotels are provided below. Search for cheap and discount Embassy Suites hotel prices in Cary, NC for your family, individual or group travels. We list the best Embassy Suites Cary hotels/properties so you can review the Cary Embassy Suites hotel list below to find the perfect place.
Our search will also list discounted Cary, NC hotels/motels that have similar star rating to Embassy Suites.
Need a group/meeting discount? Get quotes from hotels in Cary NC
All Embassy Suites in or near Cary
More Embassy Suites properties for Cary
Similar hotels to Embassy Suites
Next: Show All Available Comparable Hotels with Pricing >


text:
Rajasthan Restaurants
Risala Review
If you're looking to feel like royalty and splurge on a wining and dining experience, head to this elegant, formal dining room adorned with portraits from the royal collection—or opt for the balcony overlooking luscious gardens. The contemporary European and unique Indian dishes are a welcome change from the usual Indian and Rajasthani fare, and if you like seafood, you're in luck—try the prawn curry in a tomato cream sauce. Service is impeccable. The drinks menu is extensive, and includes internationally-sourced wines. Non-hotel guests may have trouble securing a reservation during the busy season.
- Address: Umaid Bhawan Palace, Airport Rd., Jodhpur, Rajasthan, 342006
- Phone: 291/251–0101
- Location: Jodhpur
Contact Information
- Reservations essential
- Credit cards accepted.
Restaurant Details
Fodorite Reviews
Be the first to review this property


text:
Learning Theories
- Adult Learning Theory North Central Regional Educational Laboratory.
- A succinct web site focusing on the aspects of adult learning to be considered when educators design classroom activities. References follow.
- Andragogy.net Professor Dr. Jost Reischmann, Bamberg University.
- The development of adult learning from an international perspective. Provides in-depth links for adult education and a bibliography for further reading.
- Principles of Adult Learning. Stephen Lieb.
- A concise web site espousing Malcolm Knowles' ideas of adult education and andragogy. Characteristics of adult learners are examined as is motivation for the adult learner. There is also a section for instructors providing guidelines for helping adults learn.
- Texas Collaborative's Professional Development Resources for Teaching and Learning.
- An excellent source of information on theoretical aspects and practical applications of learning theory. Thirteen modules range from "Active Learning"to "…Resources for Critical and Creative Thinking".
Theory into Practice Database (TIP). Greg Kearsley.
- An extensive database of theories concerning the major contributors to the development of learning and instruction. Most theories can be applied to adult learners and will be of use to instructors who want more background on a particular theory.
Contact Billie Peterson-Lugo (firstname.lastname@example.com) about these pages.
Last Updated: Content: 20 Junr 2006 -- LIRT Adult Learners Committee; Graphics: 15 April 2001-- Jana Ronan


text:
Man charged with Danby burglariesJuly 24,2013Man charged in
Danby burglaries
DANBY A homeless man who told police he is addicted to heroin is charged with two felony counts for an attempted break-in and a successful burglary at two businesses in town.
Vermont State Police said their investigations into burglary complaints at Nichols Store and Whites Fuel Stop in Danby led them to Adam L. Cijka, a 34-year-old man described in court records as a transient.
Police say they arrested Cijka on Monday, less than 18 hours after the incidents in Danby. Prosecutors have filed paperwork to charge Cijka with felony counts of burglary and attempted burglary.
But Cijka did not appear in court Tuesday for arraignment. Instead, he is scheduled to be arraigned today in Rutland criminal court. He remains in jail for lack of $5,000 bail.
Cijka told police that he and a woman drove from Wallingford to Danby on Sunday night with a plan to break into stores to find items that they could trade for crack cocaine and heroin, according to court records.
After a failed attempt to break into the fuel stop, the pair allegedly drove to Nichols where Cijka told police he forced his way into the building and stole hundreds of dollars worth of cigarettes and lottery tickets. Cijka told police he later traded $60 worth of winning tickets for drugs in Rutland.
Police say they were led to Cijka when someone tried to cash in the stolen lottery tickets at a Rutland convenience store.MORE IN This Just InThe Associated Press Full StoryThe Associated Press Full StoryStaff Report Full Story
- Most Popular
- Most Emailed
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: Julius Caesar dedicates a temple to his mythical ancestor, Venus Genetrix; on this day in 1933, FBI agents in Memphis, Tennessee, arrest Machine Gun Kelly; Yves Rossi flies the English Channel with home-made jet-pack.
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day in 1852, Henri Giffard demonstrates the first steam-powered airship, sailing 17 miles from Paris to Trappes; on this day in 1877, Japanese imperial troops crush the Satsuma Rebellion, Saigo Takamori dies in Kagoshima.
- TOMORROW'S HEADLINES TODAY: U.S. Rep. Peter Welch meets with Killington business owners, governor candidates debate, Gov. Shumlin discusses progress in anti-opiate campaign, Spanos trial venue moves to White River Junction.
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day in 1776, as Nathan Hale is hanged by British military authorities for spying, he utters his famous last words — or does he? In 1975, Sara Jane Moore attempts to kill President Gerald R. Ford in San Francisco.
- TOMORROW'S HEADLINES TODAY: Patrick McArdle reports and the theft of an $89,000 shotgun, police release a video of the Monday Castleton robbery, O'Gorman reports a lawsuit by a local man claiming his vehicle unlawfully seized, police leave him in cold.
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: Giles Corey of Salem, Mass., is pressed to death during the Salem witch trials; on this day in 1952, film comedian Charlie Chaplin, while traveling to England, is denied re-entry into the United States by U.S. attorney general.


text:
- Vimal Raval
- Ahmedabad
- India
Project Manager, Abbacus Technologies
This conversation is closed.
We've Facebook, Ebay,Google, iApps, TED, Youtube etc..... What we still remain in Internet World ?
What is not yet accomplished by Internet to our life. As we already have place for Social networking, Sharing , doing business, to get and provide Education, for entertainment and lot many things.
What we still looking for....?
Showing single comment thread. View the full conversation.
May 24 2011: A system that allows real time personal interactions with others on a site outside of your personal network. Something to simulate the chance encounters that occur on the street. It's getting harder to start random conversations when people are always involved in their developed network, i.e. being on the cell phone.
May 25 2011: Never really been on that site but I've heard a lot of things such as it's mainly a bunch of people exposing themselves. Also the point of that site is to communicate where I was more thinking of the association as a byproduct. When you go to a site for another purpose being able to associate with another on that site. Like if I go to wikipedia and am looking into WWI and someone else is looking into WWI at the same time we can collaborate and share information.
Showing single comment thread. View the full conversation.


text:
Narrow your search
With a sleek design, good performance, and a robust set of productivity and wireless options, the T-Mobile Dash is an all-in-one hit and earns its reputation as a Motorola Q killer.
Pricing not available
The T-Mobile Dash (a.k.a. HTC Excalibur) generated a lot of buzz before its release for a couple of reasons. First, it had the greatest potential for being a Motorola Q killer, and second, it looked pretty darn ugly. But is this ugly duckling really a swan? Here is a collection of photos of the smart phone; you be the judge.
New pictures of HTC Excalibur surface, and it ain't pretty
HTC Excalibur: Moto Q killer?
T-Mobile announces Windows Mobile 6 upgrade for the T-Mobile Dash (aka HTC Excalibur).
If you've exhausted every adrenaline-lined avenue of excitement in life, perhaps it's time to sample the very latest in high-octane industrial lifting-machine simulation
This system will make you feel tiny.
Vertical takeoff and landing make it "runway independent," turbojet makes it one of fastest robo-jets ever.
A personal motorized raft...just in time for summer?


text:
I think she should submit. yes….
haha no pressure though
Thanks! i appreciate the love!
Thank you Matt. I appreciate the message man. Stay safe over there bro.
Sorry, i'm a guy.
You're concerned you're black and the girls won't mess with you? nah, you're good bro. I mean, there's nothing to be nervous about. All she can say is no. Swallow your pride and move on to the next. Do that with about 20 and you'll probably get at least 10 numbers and out of that 10, you'll probably find a keeper. Play the numbers game homie. Not saying try to mack, but just play the numbers.
True Story. I should act like taking photographs like I'm part of mamajuana, papasito & Dyckman Lounge and put them up here…………… O_O Best.Idea.EVER!!
Werd! let these people see what they're missing.
losis2honest answered: I live on dyckman. Everytime I get home from work I walk quick cuz all these women are dressed up and I look like lurch. =x
See, im not making it up
No doubt! I love looking at them too. That's all i can do anyways.
Planning trip to Dyckman now.
Yeah man. The whole of Washington Heights is a place to be. I mean, the whole city is full of hispanic women, but the heights is a great place to bag and tag if you have a lil cash than the average.
I just remembered about the Favelas in Brazil from when i was playing Call of Duty. No Brazil for me. Maybe Puerto Rico next summer.
where the hell are the Brazilian women at!!! I wonder what they feed those women over there.


text:
PRIVATE investigator Glenn Mulcaire has been ordered by the UK Supreme Court to identify the journalists who instructed him to hack into mobile phone messages. Mulcaire, who was jailed for unlawfully intercepting voicemails in January 2007, had appealed to Britain's highest court in an attempt to avoid answering questions in civil proceedings that could incriminate him. However the Supreme Court's five judges unanimously rejected his plea for privilege against self-incrimination. The ruling means that Mulcaire must now reveal previously secret details about who at the News of the World allegedly instructed him to hack into phone messages, how he supposedly passed on the messages and how the victims were targeted.
According to The Guardian, this information must now be passed to Nicola Phillips, the assistant to Max Clifford, whose own phone was hacked and whose case triggered Mulcaire's original appeal. The Supreme Court's judgement was announced a year to the day since The Guardian first revealed that murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone had been hacked. Also today, a policeman and two other people were arrested as part of Operation Elveden, the investigation looking into illegal payments to public officials by journalists.
All this comes as a former News of the World reporter recounts what life was like at the now-defunct Sunday tabloid in an interview with Vice magazine. Graham Johnson, who worked for the red top in the 1990s and has written a tell-all biography called Hack: Sex, Drugs and Scandal from Inside the Tabloid Jungle, claimed he regularly used intimidation get stories. In one account, Johnson describes being sent to the house of a famous soap star's brother who was allegedly dealing drugs. "The only problem was we hadn't proved it," Johnson explains. "So my job was to go round and literally kick in his door... and put him under so much pressure that he would kinda fold under questioning and admit it." Johnson claimed there was a "culture of fear" at the paper. "I remember some girl trying to commit suicide at the News of the World Christmas party." Johnson also said he was ordered to blackmail footballer Steve McManaman into talking about his mother's cancer. "Listen, we know that your mum's got cancer," he recalls telling the Liverpool and England winger. "You don't want to speak about it. We don't care about that, you tell us or we're gonna put it in the paper, anyway." Johnson eventually left News of the World after admitting to fabricating a story about the 'Beast of Bodmin Moor', bringing his two years with the paper to a close. He went on to join the Sunday Mirror. ·
More on Mulcaire ordered to reveal all on anniversary of Dowler story


text:
A collection of news and information related to Helen Keller published by this site and its partners.
Top Helen Keller Articles
Displaying items 56-56
Coverage from the day space shuttle Challenger exploded: Loss stings congress shuttle team; 3 shuttle veterans lose peers but not faith in programStory | Jan 29, 1986The tragedy Tuesday of the shuttle Challenger reasserted the emotional claim the space program has on the nation, but for the three congressmen who have orbited the Earth, there was a poignant immediacy. Rigorous astronaut training had created special...


text:
Get directions to this business, enter your starting address and click Directions:
- Company Address/Location:
- 3300 Calle Cuervo NW, Albuquerque, NM 87114
- Hours:
- Payment:
- Discover, Visa
- Chains & Franchises:
- Storage USA
- Facility Features:
- Storage Units
- Services:
- Storage
- Supplies:
- Moving Supplies
- Warehouse & Storage Shed Types:
- Residential Storage, Self Storage, Mini Storage, Household Goods, Extra Space Storage, Commercial Storage
Self Storage Services in Albuquerque by Extra Space Storage. You deserve Extra Space.
Serving Bernalillo County, Warehouses Mini & Self Storage., Storage Units, Storage, Self Storage, Residential Storage, Moving Supplies, Mini Storage, Household...
Read More »
Message from Extra Space Storage
by Citysearch on Oct 01, 2014 05:51PM
Kudos to Floyd
by Joyce Hamil on Aug 25, 2009 09:38AM
All companies should be so lucky to have employees as reliable and willing to please as Floyd. Customers are always greeted with a smile...questions are always answered. He is always busy...the office...
Read review on: merchantcircle.com »
Thanks for writing a review! You can view it below...