A Leslie Wong Blog

“There are many ways to sharpen a knife. This method produces a good general purpose edge.”

About 25 years ago, Kenny bought me a Henckels Four Star 8″ chef’s knife because I told him that I needed a good knife to slice some chicken breasts. I was going to make Pierre Franey’s Chicken and Avocado in Cream, which Kenny liked. When Pierre Franey’s column first came out in the NY Times, I thought the title was “The 60 Second Gourmet,” not “The 60 Minute Gourmet.”

A few months ago, I broke the tip off the knife while trying to separate some frozen hot links. (I use a flathead screwdriver now). I used my Dremel to grind the tip so it looks like a Santoku, but I haven’t been able to keep it sharp. I’ve had it sharpened professionally 3 times in the past 5 years but they weren’t great sharpening jobs.

I’ve used a Zip-Zap, the Accusharp All Purpose Knife and Blade Sharpener and a steel, but it still doesn’t hold an edge very well. My Dexter Chinese chefs knife always stays sharp. I have a 30 year old six-inch Sabatier chef knife that also holds an edge well. I used to get my knives sharpened by a knife sharpening guy in Manhattan who drove a Step Van around and stopped at restaurants. I would bring him 4 or 5 knives, but he would always say, “Ahhhhhh, Sabatier!” about the little six-inch knife.

I like Tim Andersen’s first paragraph of Step 3 (click read more). I had to go to San Jose to get my sharpening stone (at 99 Ranch) but it actually cost $0.99.

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Chuck wanted a burger. The last good one I had was at the Emerald Inn and that was too far away. I wasn’t hungry when I walked in, but the photo of a juicy burger and the TV memory of those slobs scarfing down their burgers while desiring solitude made me hungry enough to try the food.

It was a mistake – it was bad. I’d never eaten at a Carl’s Jr. and most likely will not again. This is Chuck’s uneaten part of a dried out Six Dollar Western Bacon Burger.

Maybe Kobayashi’s water helped his hot dogs go down, but all the free Carl’s Jr. refills in the world wouldn’t have helped this burger.

I thought I’d get an early start on my martini today.

The BBC has a story about an Italian research study that shows that eating pizza reduces the risk of cancer.

I miss the pizza in New York; Freddy and Peppers, specifically. I actually eat Dominos pizza now.

Good thing I like hot food. That’s a lot of Scoville units.

Good news, though it still takes nine of them for me to be charming.

This makes me hungry. One Double-Double and 98 extra patties.

We walked up California Street, our goal being the Tonga Room in the Fairmont Hotel. Near the top we passed three guys in a group that had been broken up by the steepness of the hill. The stout guy who was in last place stopped every 10 feet to take a drag on his cigarette.

I thought there was a Trader Vic’s at the Fairmont, but it turns out Vic hasn’t worked there since the 1930′s. The bar at the Fairmont Hotel is known as the Tonga Room and Hurricane Bar.

We sat at the bar while the TV was tuned to the playoffs. TV seems to ruin a lot of bars. I knew the Oak Bar at the Plaza (where there used to be a Trader Vic’s) jumped the shark when a TV appeared at the end of the bar.

I couldn’t bring myself to pay the $7 for the Happy Hour all you can eat “Pacific Rim” buffet (including, chow mein, cheese and crudites). The food looked very tired at 7:00 PM, especially since we were thinking about going to Yuet Lee, a couple of blocks away.

Then the thunder, lightning and rain started.