Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I also use the LaValle whole tomatoes, squished by hand along with half the juice. I heat up 1/4 cup of some fancy olive oil with a single bashed head of garlic, a sprig of fresh basil (and sometimes a dash of crushed red pepper flakes) until infused. Then I toss in the tomatoes and juice and watch it bubble up and simmer down. Salt. Shut the flame off. It's a 3-4 minute process, tops. Not such a big fan of the clunky, oregano-y, sugary thick pizza sauces of my Midwestern youth.

That bun is damn near criminal. I don't know how restaurants serving burgers even think to put out a product that is so off the burger-bun ratio and too tall to take a proper cross-sectional bite. It's as awkward to eat as it is ugly to look at. At least the bun was toasted.

@purdee – Looks perfectly cooked to me. Remember, done-ness is totally subjective. Almost every time I read a burger column at AHT there's always a few commenters criticizing the burger temp – too bloody, gross, raw in the middle...You will just want to imagine it medium or medium-well, then.

Yeah, I had their coronation chicken in the US, too. Not surprising their sandwiches use "restraint." It helps the bottom line, after all. But there's just way too little stuff in Pret sandwiches, and I am all for balance in a sandwich. Also, they're cold. And also, please correct me if I'm off the mark, but they're like, $9 now. For that much scratch I want a whole lot less restraint. They're coffee's decent, though.

Longtime jiu cai lover here, too. I also grew up with it growing like weeds in the backyard. My Mom would cover a corner section of them to grow the delicate yellow version. Love them both! During dinner prep growing up my Mom would hand a pair of scissors to me and put her thumb and forefinger together indicating in diameter how much I was supposed to snip from out back. I, too, never realized people found them smelly until ordering take-out with some coworkers who practically wilted when the lid was uncovered, hehe.

After reading this article I mentioned it to my husband whose horrified expression I found just hilarious. But I am a bit shocked by the concept, and intuitively feel it crosses some kind of intimacy line, although I don't know which one or why. I'd just sum it up as @AyeEat does. Thank you, but no thank you.

I make a napa cabbage recipe almost exactly like this one but just swapping out the garlic for a copious amount of thinly-sliced scallion. Also, if I'm feeling fancy, I'll throw in a 1/4 lb. of minced shrimp. It adds a bit of bounce to the filling but they're definitely perfect with or without!

Okay. That's more than a dash of crazy craziness with your TMI, Mr. Partner! But it's a bummer they're shuttered. I had heard more than a few raves for this place and never had a chance to try it out.

Wow, thanks for doing a CBus posting! Born and raised. Don't know Jeni's but I remember the North Market when it was in that busted warehouse space, though. Definitely going to have to swing by and try some!

Absolutely no manners here. Don't care how big the burger is, I never cut a burger in half. I take as huge of a first bite as I possibly can manage, with as much delicacy as I can manage lest I crush the juices out of the burger, to confirm the proper 'medium rare' has been achieved. Then I proceed with my shamelessly messy endeavor.

I don't know, my brain won't work that way for some reason: cheese and kimchi together, griddled in butter, no less! The midwestern in me loves an obscene amount of melted cheese in/on just about anything and the Asian in me loves all Asian relishes and yet...

That looks not good.

Yes, I would bring my well-socialized 55-lb. pit-lab mix with me to restaurants if it was permitted and if people weren't scared of my sweet animal simply because she is a pit bull (a whole 'nother issue but I will stay on-topic). And to answer the question, yes, if I eat outside, I would like my beast to accompany me since there's no other place she'd rather be than with me, and also, so she can enjoy some of my meal with me. She loves meat and the occasional fry.