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Kenji, thank you so much for knowing what ramen is and not including Hung Ry in the mix. If another person tries to tell me that "Hung Ry makes better ramen than Ippudo", I will stab them with my chopsticks. Ippudo has been passing the drunk salaryman test in Tokyo for years. Comparing with Hung Ry is like saying that Batali makes a better ramen than Ippudo.

I used to order from Chavella's all the time, even though their delivery takes forever. The last time I ordered from there, I found a long, coarse, black hair in my Plato Don. That was the end of the honeymoon for me.

We used to make a pistachio cake that looks and sounds really similar (down to the decorative mohican of pistachios on top) at Rose Bakery in Paris. If it's the same thing, it's gorgeous -- and you can bypass the $3.50 per slice price tag by getting the recipe from the Rose Bakery cookbook.

Thanks Adam, Shawshank - I should stop being so lazy and Google stuff myself :) Interesting find, Shawshank!

If ever you need a dogsitter, Kenji, please hit me up :D

Another small bone to pick, following that of the Rebbetzin: Japanese pumpkin is kabocha, not to be confused with kombucha (the ubiquitous seaweed-based health food store tea so popular in trendy NY nabes these days). Kambucha seems like it would be some autumnal fantasy drink for Park Slope yoginis that combine the two.

PS. I live in Park Slope and I love it. Not hatin'.

Yuzu kosho is one of those condiments that elevates a meal from being merely good to memorable. At home we used to sprinkle it into our individual bowls of pork hot pot with ramen, in which the citrusy peppery-ness of the sprightly yuzu kosho was particularly well-paired with the unctuous broth.