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@plazmaorb re: Italy/Olive Garden-- I wouldn't attribute this to nationality. I've come across the same phenomenon in numerous countries, including bad cheap curries preferred to better authentic Indian cuisine by some Brits. Or intra-nationally, an insistence by Midwestern friends of mine that Domino's beats pizza from New Haven joints like Pepe's or Sally's (while I loathe the Olive Garden, I would take a Pepe's white cam pizza over an authentic pizza margherita from Naples, though that's a more complicated story). It's related to everyone's childhood bakery that makes the *best* [fill in the blank], so much better than the bakery you've just recommended. Many people just prefer tastes familiar to them.

Scones only work as an analogy for biscuit with the qualification that American biscuits are like savoury buttermilk scones, not the somewhat sweet scones of cream teas...which are in turn still less sweet than what Americans mean by "scone.

@Adam, Yes, I have some hesitation about the location of Roberta's, because of the folks coming from NJ. On the other hand, if I'm considering Radegast, I suppose it's only a few stops farther on the L or a little farther by car. And I looked at the information on their website regarding pizza parties (thanks, producestories!), and it does sound like it might work well, so am still considering that option.

@cg_ups-- will look into luzzo's.

I have no problem with arranging to bring in food to DBA, but had heard bad things about its service and worst-of-Williamsburg vibe. I'm just reporting, not opining-- I haven't set foot in Williamsburg since about 2001-- and would be glad to hear otherwise.

The other nice thing about a pub or biergarten is that it's more fluid in terms of when people come and go, and it would be nice not to have to deal with a strict reservation time. I'm hoping that at most places that serve food during the day, a handful of youngins' don't generate Park Slope style singles vs. strollers wars (again, a matter of second-hand knowledge). I thought of the Bohemian biergarten in Astoria, but had the same concern as Roberta's; also, I hear the food's not good.

@Adam-- When you did the SE meet-up at Radegast, did you reserve, or did you just stake out some tables and let people find you?

The hotteok stand is outside California Market, at the corner of 5th and Western. I used to stop by all the time when I worked at Wilshire and Normandie, until I had to stop, for flub-reduction reasons. It may have been Jonathan Gold who was described these as sort of like pancakes with syrup, inside out. Really a pretty brilliant little treat.

For tasting guides and winery notes, Hugh Johnson's guides are our household favorite. Pithy and pointed, with a more restrained aesthetic than Robert Parker, and less didactic than many wine writers.

In the L.A. area, Jongewaard's Bake and Broil, just off the 405 near Atlantic Blvd in Long Beach, CA is better than both the better known Pie N' Burger and Du-Par's, IMHO.

There's a "Something's Fishy" in Malibu. Don't know if it's part of the South African chain rudbeckia mentions, but that one has definitely caught my attention as particularly unappetizing.

Also suspect in sunny LA-LA land: "Wacky Wok" and "Killer Shrimp," both on Washington Blvd, in Venice. Wackiness and lethality are just not attributes I like to associate with my food.

Honorable mention: the now defunct Mo' Meaty Meat Burgers on Pico and Fairfax Blvds. (They didn't specify what kind of meat, or what state of meatiness had existed prior to the onset of "Mo'.")

On the upside, given that we all have to go at some point, what a great way to go: not only 94 years old and in apparently reasonably good health, but moreover just a couple of weeks after the deli's giant 60th anniversary celebration, at which everyone from top city officials to Joan Nathan feted Al's accomplishments, and the corner of 7th and Alvarado was renamed Langer's corner in his honor. May more such deserving folk be so recognized in their time.

I'm relieved to hear the deli will stay open, since I count it among the great geographic features of my office, just one stop away on the subway (that's not a typo, there really is a subway in Los Angeles), as well as conveniently located halfway between the office and a variety of venues that work as a public interest lawyer takes me during the day. It's only in registering the nostalgic siren song with which Langer's, a relic among Salvadorean and Mexican joints (some of which are first rate-- MacArthur Park is a great eating neighborhood), beckons as I pass that I've come to recognize good deli food as an endagered cultural species. The recognition was also brought home last summer, in the experience of acting as cultural tour guide for a clerk (originally from rural Michigan) and translator (originally from El Paso) whom I took there as thanks for helping me prepare a case. Both loved Langer's, but also clearly saw it as an exotic experience, and peppered me with questions about pastrami versus corned beef, half-sours versus full-sours, chopped liver, and egg creams. Fine, there aren't many Jews in the U-P or in El Paso, but there are many in L.A., especially in my neighborhood (near Fairfax) and points West and North. Why (and I mean that as a question of current markets, not historical neighborhoods) aren't there any delis worth pointing to, proudly, as demonstrations of the finer (perhaps even the only fine) culinary traditions of my Ashkenazi-American ancestors anywhere in L.A. outside the Rampart District? Canter's is wholly mediocre, except at 2am, sort of the L.A. Jewish Deli equivalent of Morningside Height's Tom's Diner; Nate and Al's and others are expensive substitutes, at best. Pastrami's a reasonably cheap and accessible cuisine-- what happened?

I can understand fast food for a person short on time and energy as well as money, but from a purely financial standpoint, none of Bauer's choices listed above make any sense. Anyone who's ever had to watch his or her budget knows that (in the Food4Less, not the Whole Foods, universe), processed foods, and particularly a name brand processed food like Campbell's Tomato Soup, are the worst. Because of dairy subsidies, for better or worse, the milk Bauer refrained from adding would be the cheapest, not to mention most nutritionally valuable, part. Seems like he's aiming more for bougie shock value than accuracy, to me. There's a reason why starving people the world over eat variations on rice and beans, and why potatoes had such a profound impact on industrializing Europe; such items remain far more healthy and economical options than McD's or hot dogs today. In the classic essay on the subject, M F K Fisher's "How To Cook A Wolf," her answer to abject hunger, as I recall, was a sludge-like meatloaf made of 1/3 cheap veggies (carrots, onions, turnips, etc.), 1/3 cheap starches (beans, oatmeal, etc.), and 1/3 cheap meat (fatty stew beef, etc.)-- a sort of super low-rent pate. Not exactly Mm-mm good, but probably not worse than a cheap slice of bologna.