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http:// http://www.tootoo.com/w-Furniture_Furnishings/buy- Bar_Furniture /src_product/ Like so many small mom-and-pop places,Po’s Dumpling Bar got its start around a kitchentable. For years friends and family raved aboutHuei Ying Ow’s cooking and encouraged her to open a placeof her own. Truth be told, she was a lousy cook when they married30 years ago, says her husband, Po Kang Hwang. But his father tookOw under his tutelage and successfully taught her to cook familydishes. After the kids were grown and gone and,according to Hwang, the couple “had nothing else todo,” they opened their own restaurant in the former Circespace on 39th Street. The space still looks like Circe —press-tinned ceilings, modern furniture and retro Americansoundtrack — but the food is clearlyAsian. The menu is an ambitious mix of standardChinese dishes familiar to Americans — think cashewchicken and sweet and sour chicken — and more authenticdishes from their native Taiwan. And while Ow runs the kitchen,Hwang, a gentle-faced man with a perpetual smile, works the diningroom and teaches diners about the authenticity of hiswife’s dishes and ingredients. Whatsets Po’s apart from many other run-of-the-mill Chineserestaurants is the variety of the sauces; instead of aone-sauce-fits-all mentality, each dish had its own distinctflavors. Many sauces, like the plum sauce served on the lettucewraps and kung pao chicken, were made from scratch. Seasonings andsauces were light but potent: lots of scallions, ginger and garlic,for example Instead of the typical moon-shapeddumplings, the Emperor dumpling appetizer was cigar-shaped,pan-fried wonton wrappers stuffed with a delicate pork and scallionfilling. For the lettuce wraps, Ow spooned finely chopped chickenand crunchy vegetables into three iceberg lettuce cups, served witha thick, smoky-sweet plum sauce. Both appetizers were subtler, morerefined tasting than many other dumplings and wraps I’vehad. Po’s also serves several kinds ofdim sum, small servings of fried or steamed dumplings and bunstraditionally served only on weekends in many Chinese restaurants.The cha su buns were pillowy, steamed dough balls filled with bitesof pork sauced in a Chinese-style barbecue sauce. The shu-mai porkdumplings — crinkled, one-bite, minced pork fillednuggets — were steamed in a bamboo steamer on cabbageleaves. Like the other appetizers, they were tender and exotictasting. During two dinners, my party of fourmostly ordered authentic entrees. The sesame sauce noodles werelong, thick, knobby wheat noodles dressed with a soy-based dressingand served with a small cup of crumbled pork and sesame paste sauceto pour on top the noodles. Hwang explained later that Ow makes herown eggless, wheat flour noodles almost daily with an Italian pastamachine. The kung pao chicken was just the sortof offering that showed off the kitchen’s ability tocraft a well-seasoned, flavorful dish without overloading it withgeneric, commercial sauces. A heap of vegetables, cubes of chickenand whole red chili peppers mingled in a woodsy, housemade plumsauce. Hwang’s eyes lit up when Iordered the mao po tofu, cubes of cushiony tofu in a fiery saucedotted with chili pepper flakes. But the prettiest and tastiestdish was the sautéed shrimp with soybean peas.Custard-tender, flamingo pink shrimp was coated in a white sauce ofwhite pepper, garlic, ginger and cooking wine and dotted withspring-green edamame. Although the restaurant hasa full bar, I wanted to try some of Po’s loose leaf teasand bubble teas instead. The Taiwanese and Chinese tea leaves,including a fragrant Jasmine Dragon Pearl and the King 103 teaenhanced with ginseng, are served in three-part teacups. The tea isspooned into an infuser; the lid of the cup serves as a cozy forthe infuser. The potent leaves can be brewed up to three times,simply by adding more hot water to the cup.
2008-06-20 16:29:03

http:// http://www.tootoo.com/w-Furniture_Furnishings/buy- Bedroom_Furniture /src_product/ The Furniture Choices store on Sycamore Dairy Road is going out ofbusiness after more than 30 years in Fayetteville. The owner, Gary Regan, said he is retiring. But he also describesthe economic climate as the worst he has seen for furnitureretailers. Soaring gas prices, inflation on the grocery aisles andthe sagging economy have hit certain retailers hard. “Furniture stores, out of all retail, have been hurt the most— even more than automobiles,” said Regan, who is 62.“It’s a luxury item.” He believes there will be more stores struggling to stay open. “I’m not by myself,” Regan said.“I’ve never seen the furniture business as bad as it isnow.” Regan is selling everything — from his remaining stock ofliving room suites to the buildings themselves at 3756 SycamoreDairy Road. He also owns a building behind the store, which housesCoastal Carpets and Interiors Inc.; the sale is contingent on thenew owner honoring a rental agreement with that store. Furniture Choices is open today through Saturday for a continuationof its liquidation sale. The hours are 10 a.m. to 7p.m.; untileverything is gone. The store sells finished and unfinished furniture, includingentertainment centers, bedroom furniture, dining room tables andchairs, accent pieces and lamps. Regan said he has mixed feelings about his pending retirement. Healso owns stores in Winston-Salem and High Point, which havealready closed. A home office in Greensboro will shut down once theFayetteville store is gone. “Fayetteville was a great store,” Regan said.“I’ve had a wonderful, wonderful opportunity to workwith employees that were friends to me.” One of his employees has been with him 31 years, he said. Othershave worked for the company for 20 years. Debbie Graham, the Fayetteville store manager, said customers haveexpressed sadness and disappointment over the impending closure. Some customers say they feel as if they are “losing theirbest friend,” said Graham, who is also the store’sbuyer and designer. “They are talking about the furniturestore.” 2008-06-20 16:28:12

http:// http://www.tootoo.com/w-Furniture_Furnishings/buy- Glass_Furniture /src_product/ Don't refinish your furniture. Original finish adds to the value.This warning is given over and over on TV shows about antiques. Butis it always true? No. An original finish on a superior example of an 18th, 19th oreven 20th-century piece of furniture should add value. But becausewell-to-do Victorian housewives had their furniture touched up andpolished every few years, many pieces now have finishes that, whilenot original, are more than 100 years old. If you have a piece with such a bad finish it would look out ofplace in a home, it could be refinished and gain in value. Sometimes a refinished piece sells for a high price because it isso rare or decorative. At a Rago Craftsman auction in New Jersey, aGustav Stickley trapezoidal tall-case clock just sold for $32,500.The catalog description said it had a "skinned finish." That's aslang term meaning the original finish was scraped off and a newfinish was added. Oak Arts and Crafts furniture was out of fashion from about 1920 tothe 1980s. When collectors started buying it again, they wantedattractive furniture with a perfect finish. A few dealers sandedoff the original scarred and darkened finish -- "skinned" the piece-- then applied a new finish that very closely resembled the oldone. Experts can spot these skinned pieces, but few novices will noticethe difference. The clock was so rare that even with the announcednew finish, it sold for a high price. But it was below the pre-saleestimate. I have a green glass vase 6 inches high by 4 inches in diameter.It's marked "Hoosier Glass" on the bottom. Have you ever heard ofthis maker? Glass flower vases marked "Hoosier Glass" were first made in 1979by Syndicate Sales Inc. of Kokomo, Ind. Hoosier Glass was a utilityline sold to commercial florists. The vases sell today for $5 to$15 each. Lately, we have seen more interest in this glass amongcollectors. Syndicate Sales is still in business, still makescommercial glass for florists and still lists Hoosier Glass amongits trademarks and product lines. My mother left me a 30-piece set of "winter scene" figures. Shemarked the box they are in "valuable." The small figures, mostunder 2 inches tall, are flat, lead and painted. Many of thefigures are skiers, skaters and sleigh riders, and they're allwearing winter clothing. There are also trees and streetlamps. Theword "Germany" is embossed on the base of the larger pieces. Wewould appreciate any information you can give us about the figures. Collectors call "2-dimensional" lead figures like yours "flatbacks." The first of these were toy soldiers and saints made by16th-century German tinsmiths. The molds used to make the figureswere simple -- two slabs of slate, one engraved with the figure'sright side or front and the other with its left side or back. Leadwas eventually added to the tin to lower the cost of the figuresand to make a smoother liquid metal. By the middle of the 19th century, flat German tin soldiers werebeing exported to the United States. Standing sets of flat-backfigures like yours on a mirror or sheet of cotton created a winterscene. They became popular during the 20th century, and Germanmanufacturers still dominated the market. A set of 30 figures made right before World War II sold a few yearsago for $175. That set was marketed in the United States by aNorwalk, Conn., company called Art Craft Products. Sets continuedto be imported from West Germany into the 1980s, but the newerfigures are lighter in weight and the painted clothing and featuresare less detailed. My niece inherited a dining-room table from her grandmother. It hasa label that says "Alliance Furniture Co., Jamestown, N.Y." Couldyou give me some information on the company? The tabletop needssome work. Would refinishing hurt the value?
2008-06-20 16:27:34