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For bang-for-the-buck, I picked up a cheap Chinese-made boning knife at a random home-goods store in Queens, and it never gets dull. Not as flashy as my Henkels or my Global knives, but I'm still super-happy I spend those $10.

For people who think this list isn't nearly snooty enough, I recommend the web site Seventy Percent. They review a variety of single-origin and specialty chocolates. I'm particularly fond of the Michel Cluizel Hacienda 'Los Ancones', for example.

Kenji and all, I highly recommend the book "Steak" that came out this year, about a guy who traveled around the world looking for the best steaks. (What a job!) His favorite cut is rib eye, and he ended up being a fan of grass-finished steaks, when done right, and less of a fan of prime marbeling than one might think.

Oh man, I miss good sopapillas. I've had versions outside of NM, but they're Not Good. They should be huge and light as a feather. The ones I remember best are at a restaurant in Truth or Consequences, NM. Eight inches square, puffed 4 inches thick. Amazing.

Salisbury. (Hah!)

Ribeye, although skirt steak is a great thing too.

Brooklyn Bagel's "mini-bagel" is the right size and has just exactly the right crust to chew ratio. Their full-sized bagels are a carb-bomb. But the mini everything bagel, toasted with cream cheese, is as good as bagels get.

From the Earth: Chinese Vegetarian Cooking, by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo. It was one of the first cookbooks I ever got, and the only one of that first batch that I still use regularly, almost 15 years later. It's definitely falling apart! I've learned so much about cooking, and not just Chinese or veggie cooking, from that book. I learned about how to use seasoned steel (and thus cast iron) pans, and the value of heat. I learned about a variety of vegetables and spices. I learned about the incredible power of dried mushrooms and flavored oils. I learned that sauces don't come in bottles, they're mixtures of common ingredients in various proportions for various dishes, to best complement the vegetables and proteins. A great, great cookbook.

San Antonio Bakery, on Astoria Blvd, for the Chilean hot dogs. One-of-a-kind in NYC!

Ya know, Tom, it's possible the cheftestants might have been able to produce better dishes if you have them more time to cook! Just making grilled cheese sandwiches for 250 would take an hour or so, at least if you had to slice the bread and cheese yourself! Geesh. What a stupid challenge.

Part of it might be that Chinese food is hard to make as architectural in presentation as French food. Food is chopped into chunks that are easy to pick up with chopsticks. Hard to get height and drama if everything just falls into a mixed-up pile. And who's going to pay $50 for a plate of mixed-up stuff?