Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

They 'suite' your taste, eh?

:( Dumpling was, far and away, my favorite internet dog, and was responsible for lightening many a thunderous afternoon mood with his adorable drooly little face. I'm so sorry Kenji.

I agree with previous posters--the Silver Moon one is way too dense inside--Bouchon's has better hole structure, and, a clearly defined 'ear' visible in that photo on the crust, which is one of the hallmarks of a good baguette. (at least, that's what was drilled into me when I was still baking professionally..)

there was also this, in Saveur's giant sandwich issue recently: http://bit.ly/mcaArs

" I've got nothing against people who drink non-alcoholic beer, but to me it always seemed a bit desperate and why-botherish, like decaf coffee and declawed cats. Do non-alcoholic beer drinkers watch fully clothed porn, too?"

That seems less about the beer, and more about the people drinking it, despite the disclaimer at the beginning of the sentence (one that puts me in mind of the way that people will say 'No offense, but' right before they something, you know, offensive). My point was mainly that everyone acknowledges that non-alcoholic beer isn't that great, but, implying that you'd have to be somehow weird/desperate/less manly (neuter your corned quinoa, anyone?) to drink it does a disservice to the people who choose to, and doesn't do anything to further any interesting beer/alcohol dialogue. We all know that it doesn't taste like the real thing. It would be far more interesting to examine why, or to find a few that weren't quite so terrible, than it is to simply re-state something in a way that pokes fun at the people who either have to or choose to drink the beverage for personal reasons.

I live with someone who drinks non-alcoholic beer because they used to love beer a little too well. I understand that this article wouldn't be quite so clever or funny if the author chose to acknowledge that hey, alcoholics who miss being able to consume one of their favorite beverages need something to drink too, but, still. It wouldn't hurt to recall that non-alcoholic beer exists for a reason, for some people. Maybe, instead of just making fun of it, we could help out those who can no longer have the real thing by making non-alcoholic beer that DIDN'T taste like watered down failure, instead of just making fun of it.

hahaha, sharoncs. i thought the same exact thing.

I've always thought that coffee, despite my love of it, was a horrible first date idea. You're already nervous, and then you're going to drink a hot liquid that will make you more jittery, more likely to run at the mouth with nervous chatter, and, let's be honest here--have to poop. Which you might already be feeling like doing because of the nerves. And there you are, trapped, in this coffee date, eyeing the bathrooms, sweating from the caffeine, wondering if you can go and somehow have your date not notice that you've been in there far longer than a pee would require....or, you eventually get desperate and cut the date short because you have to flee to your own facilities.

I've always preferred first dates where you're in a place that provides you with things to talk about, should you need help getting going--my SO and i's first date was at a children's science museum. originally chosen because it had air conditioning and it was swelteringly hot out, but, kind of genius in that we got to play with exhibits, talk about different sciency things, and enjoy the people watching.

My boyfriend's backyard, for pulled pork and whole pigs!

Not only does this restaurant sound delectable and refreshing, but, this review itself was a breath of fresh air--well-written, carefully crafted, giving the reader a great sense of place. Something that's getting rarer and rarer on the interwebs these days.....

portland. we do love our food, it's true.

I second all of the love being shown to New Seasons--pricey, but awesome and friendly and fun to go to. and i live a five minute walk from one. and, their CEO isn't a colossal d-bag the way that John Mackey is. New Seasons ftw! and, if i'm on the east coast, oh, wegmans, how i miss you and your sandwiches...

My favorite pork memory is from my early twenties--after a disastrous summer of being unemployed, my engagement also ended and I left Washington D.C. to move back up to western Mass, where I'd gone to school. I arrived in the dead of winter, still jobless, living with strangers in a rickety old farmhouse, watching my bank account grow ever-smaller, wondering what the hell I'd been thinking when I decided to move back to the town that I had only recently left from. After weeks of filling out applications at local businesses and getting nowhere, and days of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches consumed in my freezing cold room under a down comforter, I wandered out in the snow to a local breakfast and lunch place, determined to get a real sandwich. All I could think about as I walked in the cold was the bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado that I was going to eat. It was the first time in months that I stopped worrying about money, and gave in to what I really wanted to have. While I was sitting there in the warm restaurant, watching people through the window in front of the counter, I saw, there, taped to the glass, a huge 'help wanted' sign. Minutes later, my friendly waitress put an application in my hand, put in a good word for me with her boss, and I felt, somehow, through the power of pork, that everything was going to be just fine.