well-flavored

The soup is well-flavored, the epic matzo balls are floaters and the brisket, braised in coffee, is rich and tender.

But the best part of this ramen bowl is the generous hunk of braised pork belly that floats in it: It’s tender, plump and well-flavored with what Oshima calls Menya’s “special sauce.”

The sterile worker should be thought of not as an individual organism but as a “well-flavored vegetable,” in Darwin’s phrase, produced by the queen.

Instead of boiling the pasta in water, try cooking it as you would risotto, gradually stirring in well-flavored vegetable broth until the pasta is al dente, then folding in a generous handful of spring herbs with olive oil and cheese: Pasta Alla Prima, $5.50 for one pound, store.victorybeer.com; Prima Pils, $9.99 for a six-pack at Whole Foods and Fairway markets.

Well-flavored seared crab cakes came with toasted brioche, a poached farm egg and — a welcome touch of Cajun hollandaise sauce.