Personally I like the "mixed bag of seeds" best. (Front row, between the sesame and poppy seeds)

Kind regards,
Oliver

This isn't really cooking per se, but today we went to check out a new Balducci's that recently opened by us.  In case you don't know, Balducci's is a gourmet market.

They had a nice big selection of Xochitl chips on display.



They even had some Halloween colored chips !



I'm a big sucker for buying seasonally colored food products like Halloween or Christsmas Oreos or Rice Krispies or other items like that.  I know it's just food coloring, but something about the seasonality of it entices me to buy it when I normally would just pass.

I haven't been in a Balducci's in several years.  Back in the late 80s/90s I used to go with my dad every Saturday to Sutton Place Gourmet (before it merged with Balducci's).

This new store is really next level in terms of gourmet:







I don't recall seeing any local grocery store selling A5 Wagyu beef.  I was really tempted to buy the steak slice that had already been cut.  It weighed about 3/4lb so it was about $100.  I had looked at getting a whole loin of A5 Wagyu from Costco, but that's over $1k+.  I had also looked at buying a similarly sized steak (actually a couple of ounces lighter) from Grand Western Reserve, but that would be 60% more ~$250.  The other concern I had about buying online is that the picture's marbling may look nothing like the steak they actually send.  At least I knew for sure what I'd be getting at Balducci's.  We had real Kobe beef in Kobe Japan 3 years ago and I feel like the one I saw at Balducci's might actually be better (or at least better looking) than what we had in Japan.  Here's a picture of the Kobe steak from Japan for reference.



We ended up buying the Dry Aged Tomahawk for $60.  I've always bought my Tomahawk steaks from Whole Foods when they have them, but I don't believe they are dry aged so this should be a treat.

Maybe the most remarkable discovery that I made at Balducci's today was the Table 87 Margarita Pizza.



I have literally been looking for this pizza for the last 3 years since I saw it on Shark Tank.  Every time I go to a Whole Foods I'd check to see if they had it.  I almost ordered it from Goldbely a few months ago, but it was too expensive for how little we'd get.  Seeing it and buying a frozen slice was like a dream come true.  I haven't tried it yet so the verdict is still out on how good it actually is.  I suspect I'm not gonna like it, but at least I can say I've tried it  .

This isn't really cooking per se, but today we went to check out a new Balducci's that recently opened by us.  In case you don't know, Balducci's is a gourmet market.

They had a nice big selection of Xochitl chips on display.

(Attachment Link)

They even had some Halloween colored chips !

(Attachment Link)

I'm a big sucker for buying seasonally colored food products like Halloween or Christsmas Oreos or Rice Krispies or other items like that.  I know it's just food coloring, but something about the seasonality of it entices me to buy it when I normally would just pass.

I haven't been in a Balducci's in several years.  Back in the late 80s/90s I used to go with my dad every Saturday to Sutton Place Gourmet (before it merged with Balducci's).

This new store is really next level in terms of gourmet:

(Attachment Link)

(Attachment Link)

(Attachment Link)

I don't recall seeing any local grocery store selling A5 Wagyu beef.  I was really tempted to buy the steak slice that had already been cut.  It weighed about 3/4lb so it was about $100.  I had looked at getting a whole loin of A5 Wagyu from Costco, but that's over $1k+.  I had also looked at buying a similarly sized steak (actually a couple of ounces lighter) from Grand Western Reserve, but that would be 60% more ~$250.  The other concern I had about buying online is that the picture's marbling may look nothing like the steak they actually send.  At least I knew for sure what I'd be getting at Balducci's.  We had real Kobe beef in Kobe Japan 3 years ago and I feel like the one I saw at Balducci's might actually be better (or at least better looking) than what we had in Japan.  Here's a picture of the Kobe steak from Japan for reference.

(Attachment Link)

We ended up buying the Dry Aged Tomahawk for $60.  I've always bought my Tomahawk steaks from Whole Foods when they have them, but I don't believe they are dry aged so this should be a treat.

Maybe the most remarkable discovery that I made at Balducci's today was the Table 87 Margarita Pizza.

(Attachment Link)

I have literally been looking for this pizza for the last 3 years since I saw it on Shark Tank.  Every time I go to a Whole Foods I'd check to see if they had it.  I almost ordered it from Goldbely a few months ago, but it was too expensive for how little we'd get.  Seeing it and buying a frozen slice was like a dream come true.  I haven't tried it yet so the verdict is still out on how good it actually is.  I suspect I'm not gonna like it, but at least I can say I've tried it  .

 I remember well the Balducci's store on 6th Ave (10th st?) as I used to work around there in the late 80's and 90's and bought there often. Incredible store - at that time about the best in the city.
 Those steaks look amazing. I have never tasted real Wagyu beef, but let us know how those Tomahawks taste.

Cherry is a great smoking wood.  More delicate than say mesquite and can be used for any meat really.  When I am using my large smoker I am generally using up dead wood from my trees and cherry is in the mix.  Smells great as it is doing its job.

Peter

First off, a tomahawk steak just looks like a good marbilized prime...Kobe...Waygu...Akaushi steak. Am I missing something?

It’s my understanding that Kobe beef is a particular group of cattle from Kobe Japan. Much the same way Champagne is a beverage from a particular region in France and the same style bubbly from Italy is called Proseco.

So, in the USA, we imported the same Japanese cattle but because they were not pastured in Kobe, from an FDA point of view, we had to call them Waygu or Akaushi.
 
The principal price point of Waygu or Akaushi is in the $30-40 range per pound which isn’t much off of the typical Prime range of $30-35 per pound.

Our local store carries both Akaushi and prime and I’ll choose Akaushi every time. If you’re purchasing a flank steak the prime version costs $10.99 per pound, the Akaushi version costs $12.99 per pound.

If you’re only buying a pound of meat, the $2 is insignificant.

The difference in flavor is huge.
 

Here is an article on kobe beef from wikipedia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_beef

And another one from Bon Appetit that is very interesting:

https://www.bonappetit.com/entertaining-style/trends-news/article/kobe-wagyu-steak-myths

Peter

We're eating the leftovers of the tomahawk and strip steak tonight.  We usually eat leftovers of something cooked 2 days before since it cuts down on the amount of cooking and simplifies the process of trying to figure out what to eat.

Happy Birthday!  You got all that food as takeout?  Wow, normally I think of takeout as something pretty basic like Chinese or Thai or maybe a pizza, not bone in fish.

That's nice that you have a go to restaurant like that.

The staff and chef must know exactly who you are when you either come in or call.  I wish we had that type of relationship with a restaurant that we frequent.  I guess part of the problem is that we don't go to any one restaurant all that often (like say once a week or even once a month).

Happy belated birthday my Friend!

Glad to see your food score!  Looks marvelous!

Peter

Nice stuff Oliver...have you noticed that with this thread the food continues to be more appetizing with everyones post? As it should be, if it doesn’t look good... why would you eat it?

Happy birthday 

Question, what is the red sauce with the sorbet and mint? Looks nummy.

Last night's dinner was skillet baked ziti with spicy italian sausage and caesar salad.

This was actually cooked 15-18 minutes on the stove top covered and then just finished off in the oven after sprinkling with cheese.  The recipe said to finish in the oven at 475 degrees for 10 minutes.  We were closer to 5 minutes since the cheese had already melted and started to brown at that time.

From Thursday, onion-quiche.



Kind regards,
Oliver

Hi!

Yeah, it's a shame that people are willing to substitute taste for their IG "needs" on time sensitive food/courses. They are only ruining their personal experience, though.

But then again, the "real" "problem" is that "Instant" was taken out of Instagram looong ago.

Adapt and overcome - the world changes continuously

I decide pretty carefully when and when not to take pictures. A straight out ban for something this trivial - I'm very opposed to bans anyway - would put any place last on my list.

It's a good read! Thanks for sharing!

Kind regards,
Oliver

Thanks we used Lidia Bastianich's recipe for the Minestrone soup. We like her recipes because they're pretty straight forward and simple. The best part is that it just called for water instead of chicken stock like a lot of recipes call for.