The Bistro- Off topic and fun posts!

[mskatiemae]

1 hour ago, KenzSailing said:

 

Two thoughts:

 

That's really sweet.

 

and

 

"Sign him up!"

 

OK, at this point he's a late bloomer but, like they say "there's no such thing as a bad one year contract."

 

Oh boy, I feel a double bill streaming night of "Field of Dreams" and "Bull Durham" coming on. And if I'm still not satisfied, a late night snack of "Major League" while fast-forwarding thru all the ponderous personal relationship scenes:  "American Express, don't steal home without it."

 

 

He was on a youth rec league team and the pitcher was a nephew of A J Pierzynski. He went to the same high school as Jack Norris, one mile south of my house. One mile east is the high school where Joe Mauer played. Sadly there was no baseball/football career for my son as he followed the family tradition and he hung out mostly with the debate and math genius crowd!

 

He has a talent for leadership and people management though so I think he has a bright future ahead of him. (I am not sure I will ever get the private island he promised me at age 4 but I am happily continuing his jedi 'How to take your mom on a Crystal cruise vacation" training!)

 

Oh also if you want something a little dark you could add "The Natural" to your triple feature.

Edited October 5, 2021 by mskatiemae

[Roland4]

3 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

Yes it has.  In 1067 when there was only the two leagues and no divisions it went down at the end in the AL to Red Sox, Tigers and Twins.  This is my first year of really remembering baseball and then it was Red Sox against the Cardinals and it went to the 7th game.  I could recite the starting lineups for both teams but today I am lucky if i can recite a few players in the starting lineups.

 

Keith

The only "good" thing about the Jays not making it is I don't feel guilty about turning off the TV and going to bed before the games end! We really need to get back to, now that I am retired, afternoon playoff games!😁😁

[Keith1010]

8 hours ago, Roland4 said:

The only "good" thing about the Jays not making it is I don't feel guilty about turning off the TV and going to bed before the games end! We really need to get back to, now that I am retired, afternoon playoff games!😁😁

It's funny when I was talking about the World Series back in the 1960's I almost mentioned how nice it was to have afternoon games.  We would be in school and make a mad dash home to watch the games at our home or friends homes.  These days kids on the East Coast have to stay up sometimes to 1:00 AM to see the games when they run long.  And back in the day games often were finished in slightly less than 2 hours or maybe 2 and 1/2 hours versus today with the constant use of relief pitchers, high scoring games, more commercial breaks and batters taking lots of time going in and out of the batters box.  

 

I used to love watching an entire game but no way will I do that today unless I am going to a game.

 

Although a Yankees fan and not a Mets fan (usually you are one or the other) I remember those 1969 Miracle Mets and I remember the first year of the Montreal Expos and several other years while they played to our North.  

 

Keith

[rafinmd]

I go back to 1966.  A combination of happy and sad as I had tickets for Game 5.

 

Today's sunrise is from my 2017 MS Amsterdam Grand Asia Cruise.  October 5 was a sea day:

 

..

Roy

[ctjon]

OK, growing up in NYC I remember going to Dodgers games at Ebits field and Giants games at the Polo Grounds - I think there was another team in NY also but can't remember its name😃

I was at the only game - at that time - that was called due to fog.  At Ebits field heavy fog but they let them play - then a ball almost hit an UMP and the game was called immediately.  Great memories.

 

[KenzSailing]

So Eric Ripert (chef/co-owner Le Bernardin in NYC) is Instagraming from his European vacation.  He ate at Noma in Copenhagen and posted a picture of their menu.  One dish caught my eye: reindeer penis ragout.  Now, I've heard of nose-to-tail cooking, but nose-to-tail-to...oh, never mind.

 

Instagram.html

 

[rafinmd]

oday's sunrise comes from a 2012 trip which was intended to be a circle out of New York, Blount's Grande Caribe through the Erie Canal to Montreal, and a return on the Crystal Symphony.  Due to Hurricane Irene causing a break in the canal, that was not quite to be.  Fortunately, the Grand Caribe was then on the Atlantic and the Grande Mariner was in the Great Lakes, and both ships were doing the canal.  My group cruised out of New York while the Grande Mariner started in Montreal and the 2 ships swapped passengers October 6, 2012 with a bus bridge and a day in Cooperstown while both ships were prepared for a new load of passengers.  This is the sun coming up before I disembarked the Grande Caribe:

 

 

Roy

[Out2See]

At today's sunrise on the Symphony, we witnessed a phenomenon rarely seen in the mid Atlantic at this time of year. Dead calm.

 

[KenzSailing]

I don't want to clutter an actual cruise thread so,

 

Vince,

 

If you're worried about you dining choices starting to sound conventional, may I interest you in the reindeer dish the Chez is working on?

 

Also, we're going back to Jont on Friday.  Anniversary dinner.  It's Alba truffle season, and the credit card is already warm in my pocket.  It'll probably combust before the night is over.

 

 

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is land based.  It  was taken one year ago today on a walk in a park about a mile from my house:

 

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is from my 2017 MS Amsterdam Grand Asia cruise. We crossed the International Dateline with the sun rising on October 8 and setting on October 9:

 

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

My photo today is another sunset.  It was taken on the 2011 Blount-Crystal Montreal Circle from New York to Montreal through the Erie Canal and back on the ocean.  On October 9 the sun set as we passed through the St. Lawrence Seaway approaching Montreal.

 

 

Roy

[KenzSailing]

Vince,

 

If you want, drop me your email address.  I'll send you softcopy of the menu we enjoyed last night, I think you'll find it interesting.

[travelberlin]

Sunrise in Heraklion on October 8th as seen from Mein Schiff 5

 

[rafinmd]

Today's  sunrise really is today.  Its from the Crystal Serenity Panoflex camera as the Serenity approaches the dock in Bimini:

 

 

Roy

[KenzSailing]

Anyway,  here's how OLoPP and I spent the evening of our anniversary:

 

 

Jônt October Menu.1.pdf

[BWIVince]

On 10/9/2021 at 4:35 PM, KenzSailing said:

Vince,

 

If you want, drop me your email address.  I'll send you softcopy of the menu we enjoyed last night, I think you'll find it interesting.

 

Sorry about the delay Ken --  thanks for sharing the Jont menu!!  My weekend was a little jacked up so I'm just now catching up on the messages I missed.  Anytime you want to share anything, I'd love to hear from you at bwivince at outlook dot com!

 

Vince

[BWIVince]

6 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

Anyway,  here's how OLoPP and I spent the evening of our anniversary:

 

 

Jônt October Menu.1.pdf 156.26 kB · 17 downloads

 

Happy Anniversary to you both!!

 

That menu is mind blowing -- I can only imagine how it tasted.  Was sitting at the counter awkward at all?  It hasn't kept me from doing much yet, but sitting cheek-to-cheek with random people unmasked still gives me a little pause (even though a little more space doesn't really make a huge difference).

 

Vince

[mskatiemae]

8 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

Anyway,  here's how OLoPP and I spent the evening of our anniversary:

 

 

Jônt October Menu.1.pdf 156.26 kB · 23 downloads

Happy Anniversary to you and OLoPP! 

 

Since we are all here in the Bistro, and by George I cannot help but ask about the Aged Dairy Cow. Sounds like it is a latke-like appetizer with sharp cheese. It - like half this menu - is a no no for me because of my restrictions of some foods.  But grammatically, isn't the name as written referring to a dish made somehow of a "past prime" female bovine animal who once produced milk? Sorry, as I said it's the Bistro and I could not help but ask this silly question. Hope it all was as delicious as it sounds!

Edited October 10, 2021 by mskatiemae

[BEAV]

14 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

Anyway,  here's how OLoPP and I spent the evening of our anniversary:

 

 

Jônt October Menu.1.pdf 156.26 kB · 26 downloads

 

What a terrific menu, Kenz. I’d select the Foie Gras, Bluefin Tuna, and The Box! 

 

As to the Dungeness Crab, the “cultured butter” is an obvious reference it’s from cows from California...

 

 

[rafinmd]

Today's sunrise is from my 2011 Blount-Crystal Montreal circle.  On October 11 the Grande Mariner was docked in Quebec.

 

 

Roy

[KenzSailing]

22 hours ago, BWIVince said:

 

 

 

That menu is mind blowing -- I can only imagine how it tasted.  Was sitting at the counter awkward at all?  It hasn't kept me from doing much yet, but sitting cheek-to-cheek with random people unmasked still gives me a little pause (even though a little more space doesn't really make a huge difference).

 

Vince

 

Yeah, that's an interesting point.  Since our brief "freedom from Covid" summer turned into "uh-oh, here comes Delta" reality we've again been a keeping a fairly low profile.  But the temptation of our anniversary falling on a Friday so we could celebrate on the date and have the weekend still in front of us, combined with how very very good the restaurant is, was too great to resist.  And this is one of those joints that sells you non-refundable tickets at time of reservation, so as soon as the October book opened it was a matter of "in for a penny...."

 

When we went to Jont in June they had clear plexi dividers on the counter between parties.  They were on stands, not attached to the counter, so they could move them to accommodate parties of different sizes.  I was surprised to find those taken down.  Considering they don't require proof of vaccination I thought that was a bit premature.  However, in retrospect, it occurs to me that a big plus in the interest of safety is the updraft ventilation capacity required when you're basically sitting in a commercial kitchen.  I don't know if any photos show it, but they do wood fueled live fire cooking all evening.  I asked and they were using a combo of oak, apple and hickory (which is pretty aromatic.)  I never detected a hint of the aroma of smoke all night.  An incidental benefit in these air-flow conscious times.

 

Since you're aware of the seating arrangement, I assume you've seen the picture of the counter and kitchen on Tock or elsewhere.  If like me you wondered what the rest of the room looks like, well there is no rest of the room.  The only things behind the vantage point of that photo are the other two walls that make up the rectangle that is the dining room.  However, there is an anteroom that has a small bar and some low tables that serves as the space in which everyone takes their dessert courses.  This allows them to overlap first and second seatings (which are at 5:45 and 8:15, so it's not like they're giving anyone the bums rush.)

 

I'll expand on some of the courses in a reply to MsKM.  You'll especially enjoy additional explanations of the obvious Asian influences on the menu. 

 

[rafinmd]

Sometimes sunrise is as much a process as an event.  Today's collage was taken on my walk around MS Amsterdam's promenade deck October 12, 2017 over a period of several laps and 30 minutes.

Roy

 

 

[KenzSailing]

On 10/10/2021 at 7:30 PM, mskatiemae said:

Happy Anniversary to you and OLoPP! 

 

Since we are all here in the Bistro, and by George I cannot help but ask about the Aged Dairy Cow. Sounds like it is a latke-like appetizer with sharp cheese. It - like half this menu - is a no no for me because of my restrictions of some foods.  But grammatically, isn't the name as written referring to a dish made somehow of a "past prime" female bovine animal who once produced milk? Sorry, as I said it's the Bistro and I could not help but ask this silly question. Hope it all was as delicious as it sounds!

 

Thank you.

 

To return to my favorite subject, food specifically our jaunt to Jont:

 

Yes, you’re absolutely right about the aged dairy cow.  Now, it’s nice to think that describes a cow that, in her dotage, laid down quietly in the pasture to allow us to enjoy her deliciousness one more time.  Alas, not quite.  I checked and yep, we’re talking about a cow past milking years (the industry term is “spent” which sounds a little harsh, but life in the food chain….)  The “aged” part is that this is a piece of dried beef, basically fancy jerky.  Keep in mind this was one of four amuse bouche so the jerky was basically the size of a thinly sliced piece of Trident gum.  (And thank you Bessie, you were delicious.)

 

 

[mskatiemae]

8 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

 

Thank you.

 

To return to my favorite subject, food specifically our jaunt to Jont:

 

Yes, you’re absolutely right about the aged dairy cow.  Now, it’s nice to think that describes a cow that, in her dotage, laid down quietly in the pasture to allow us to enjoy her deliciousness one more time.  Alas, not quite.  I checked and yep, we’re talking about a cow past milking years (the industry term is “spent” which sounds a little harsh, but life in the food chain….)  The “aged” part is that this is a piece of dried beef, basically fancy jerky.  Keep in mind this was one of four amuse bouche so the jerky was basically the size of a thinly sliced piece of Trident gum.  (And thank you Bessie, you were delicious.)

 

 

As ever Kenz you have surprised and delighted me with interesting food commentary. You and Vince could partner in a food and travel business or just do something fun to allow us all to keep up with your fascinating adventures. I wish you and OLoPP many more years of travel and continued jaunts to joints like Jont!

Edited October 13, 2021 by mskatiemae