Bump! Making sure everyone is in! Please arrive by 1. They dont sit us till most everyone arrives 
Lisa and I will be there.
Damn,that is truly OG Asian . . . Iâm in of course . . .
Sorry but something has come up and will not be able to make this. Have Fun
For âthe chineseâ, those from Little Rock, AR or those parts of middle America, like Fu 
From the Feb 6 menu I can rec:
89. Vermicelli Singapore Style fried rice/chow fun
90. Vermicelli Thai Style
93. Beef Chow Fun w/Satay Sauce
and most especially since heâs bring âMagsâ of 
78. Chiken Wing w/Coca-Cola Sauce which as we all know is an ancient âauthenticâ Cantonese specialty rarely found on other local dim sum service menus, canât even get it if you ask!
More Chinese, but still about as âauthenticâ asâŚbut which I can still recommend as being one of the better on their menu (not too many I like @Elite since itâs all mostly Phewshon style designed to please American restaurant critics and those in HK)
14. Vegetable & Shrimp Dumpling (I donât care for many of the steamed dumplings @Elite and the itâs former life as âNew Conceptâ bc they make them way too large) is a triangular wrapper dumpling that I figure the chefs/owners designed for the Pam Anderson lovin crowdâŚthey are way too large, over the top, canât get it all in in one bite, overflowing mouthfuls of excess. I prefer the much more delicate and refined smaller dumplings which usually are the ones that are qualitatively tops, what the real connoisseur looks forâŚAsian style 
Filled with either cilantro or spinach + shrimp, quality varies
22. Mushroom dumpling w/meat (was #14 on the last menu I got there). When this was a new item, they did it well. More recently (last 2 times) they put the dumplings in those silly foil tart cups which turns the bottom of the dumpling wrapper into yucky/mucky mess.
The standards , har gow, shui-mai, and steamed (not more modern HK style baked) char shu bao; only so-so, there are better and/or smaller versions to be had nearby.
35. Fried Shrimp Dumpling my fav is a crescent shaped d/f shell with shrimp & I think some bits of water chestnut+ ginger?+ either spinach or cilantro?, this too seems a copy from what they used to make at the former âThe Kitchenâ on Valley in Alhambra, only @Elite, as usual, itâs too Efin bigâwhatâs with âthe chineseâ <those crude uncultured Chinese and their Pam Anderson âenhancedâ, excessiveness complex- that is not at all enjoyableâŚdamn! They might run out of these by 1PM
But since youâll not likely find a better one anywhere else, this is a must purchase every time I go. If they manage to put these on a thin bed of wok-fried cabbage strips, quickly discard the cabbage as it very soon will turn the already slightly soggy/oily down side into near liquid mushâŚfor shame. These have a deep-fried casing that surely uses sugar or some sweetener in it. No, not for the sweet wines of Bordeaux <wei. With the right wine pairing, these are nearly heavenly. They started making them at Empress Pavillion back in '05, but those are not good. The best were like the crack cocaine of deep-fried dim sum, at the former Royal Star ~2001-4 in Santa Monica, where it was a weekend special you had to know about and ask for, since that item was not on the menuâthey referred to them as d/f âfun gowâ âask in any other restaurant and youâll get a blank stare. RS also had the best sweet-sour sauce to drench these in. Alright Fu, what wine are you going to pair with theseâŚitâs part of the Chinese Master Somm test?
GREAT afternoonâŚwonderful friends, food and juice.
Thanks to everyone for making this a wonderful way to wrap up the weekendâŚ
Arnie & Lisa
It was the vintage, not the wine makerâŚPeter Michaelsâ wine makers: From a blog by Laube on Les Pavot:
The early vintages came from young vines and were overseen by Helen Turley (1988 and 1989), followed by Mark Aubert (from 1990 to 1998), Vanessa Wong (1999 and 2000) and Luc Morlet (1999 to 2005). Nicholas, Lucâs brother, has been making Peter Michaelâs wines from the 2006 vintage through today.
ahhhâŚthanks for the info! really liked the '06. thanks for bringing the vertical of pm chard 
indeed! Great Lunner (lunch dinner!). Ate like Kings/Queens and drank incredibly well. THanks for coming everyone!
Thanks for putting the offline together Fu . . . had a great time. Now I gotta figure out a way to get home from an offline alive . . .
yeahâŚthere were tons of bottle yesterday for 7 of usâŚhow many were there?
i think it was 13 bottles total? ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Great tasting Charlie! Good food, good wine, better company. I think we opened at least 2 bottles per person.