Jump to content

m(a)ce

participating member
  • Posts

    28
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by m(a)ce

  1. last night at monk's in philly I enjoyed a rodenbach grand cru with my mussels and then a Rochefort 8 & Westmalle Dubbel with my steak frites salad. . . so good all around. . .wish i had room/time for more. .
  2. "see i like to party, not drink bacardi. cause i'm not looking to throw up on nobody." --triple trouble "i am adrock, a.k.a. sharp cheddar, my rhymes are better" --triple trouble "on a hot day, sip on iced latte." --triple trouble title = "b-boy bouillabaisse" title = "finger lickin' good" "my pistol is loaded, i shot betty crocker. deliver colonel sanders down to davey jones locker" -rhymin' & stealin' "got girlies in the coupe like the colonel's got the chickens." -- shadrach "and we love the hot butter. on what? the popcorn. sippin' on wine, and mackin" -- shadrach "50 cups of coffee & you know its on. . . " -- super disco breakin' "but i'm chiller with the miller, cold coolin' at the bar" time to get ill and the essential white castle reference: "i chill at white castle cause its the best. but i'm fly at fat burger when i'm way out west." the new style
  3. In case your interested, The Soup Man opened in downtown Princeton (in Palmer Square) in late Oct 2005.
  4. i was somewhat saddened to see this story and how it might impact my next bowl . . . ny times link i guess i didn't notice that "legitimate businessman's club" sign on my way in last time
  5. Hi. So I have been wondering the same thing. I have worked on pavoni's (actually pulling shots) for a little while and spent a several years on cimbalis (automatics). I have used 2 & 4 group machines. The 4 groupers are workhorses. My main concern on a 2 group cimbali was when it got busy and you pull repeated shots and keep steaming milk, it would crash. I define this as tank pressure dropping causing it to automatically refill and need time to reheat. Drag. I like the idea of separate boilers i the marzocco & the fail safes. Marzoccos are said to be make great coffee (most barista competitions use them along with some of the better cafes). Get at least a 2 grouper-- when you get busy you'll need it and it will help you maintain critical head h20 temperature. Also if 1 group goes down you'll be able to run shots until you can rebuild/repair it. I'll keep you posted if I get a chance to check out the marzocco. I think part of your decision might be $ and customer concetration. For espresso grinders I would recommend Rancillio MD-80s. Workhorses. Hold the grind well. Relatively easy to clean (very important) and easy to change burrs. For brewed coffee go the G3 & fetco path. Solid. Remember to have your equipment on a softener/filter set up. You don't want to have to have your machine totally rebuilt in the ear future. Let me know if you have any more questions!
  6. Rosie/chefdavidrusso, the bent spoon is located @ 35 Palmer Square West, across from the town green. . . currently we are open until 10 pm sunday-thursday, 11 pm friday & saturday. please introduce yourselves if you make it to our shop. Matt & Gab
  7. Thank you hillvalley for the generous comments on our artisan ice cream (gelato style-ice cream)! point of fact about small world roasters & the french laundry - they do sell coffee to the "french laundry", but it's a eatery in michigan, not the famed thomas keller one in CA.
  8. 1. Thomas Sweets vs. Halo: You get what you pay for . . .TS batch freezes on site with a base mix provided from a vendor. The base (it appears as "sweet cream" flavor on their menu) tastes like a higher butterfat content then Halo. TS makes their ice cream in small batches. Halo is a dairy supplying itself with its own base. That saves $. Also, Halo operates on a larger economy of scale -- they (probably) make their ice cream in a continuous freezer (larger scale production). Larger, more mechanized production provides a cheaper product. To me, TS ice cream is creamy and good. Halo tastes less creamy and icy. 2. Coldstone Creamery: I have tasted this a couple times. It has an artificial taste. Fully priced yet quality is not there. Say they "make their own" on-site, and that they make it "fresh". I know after talking to an employee that means taking a mix supplied to them from HQ and just freezing it on-site, not from scratch. We also asked about artificial color and the employee checked out the box-o-mix and said it did have some and artificial flavoring. Yum. 3. Why do I know this/care about it? In another forum, I hinted to Rosie about a new business we are opening in the central jersey area. My wife, a kitchen manager & grad of the FCI (french culinary) and me (long-time cafe mgr) are opening the bent spoon (artisan ice cream and good ingredient bakery) in downtown princeton. A better/more in-depth post to follow, but to give you an idea of what to expect: we'll be making 12 flavors of ice cream (hybrid of american, italian & french) & sorbet. It will be made fresh from scratch (all on site) using non-growth hormone cream/milk, local organic farm eggs. The ice cream will be served closer to italian style (we think the traditional gelato temperature allows you to taste more and tastes better). We'll infuse the ice cream with great chocolate and natural flavors/ingredients. Expect to taste classics and more unique flavors (think cardamom and the like). Limited toppings (homemade real hot fudge, etc). The sorbet will be from scratch using real fruit and when in season, local/organic produce. I know this is an ice cream topic so I'll only mention the from scratch/real baked sweets, granita and specialty beverages (read euro-style hot chocolate with homemade marshmellows). As far as pricing, we are finishing up costing but we'll be more on the TS realm of pricing than the Halo side. Just like anything, real & good ingredients (real nuts, real vanilla, organic fruit, etc) cost more than shortcuts (artifical flavoring, etc ). Moreover, making our ice cream fresh (not just freezing it) is a labor of love. We think that you can taste the difference and knowing that its made with better ingredients is worth it. We'll post when we open so anyone in the area can check it out.
  9. Hey Rosie. . .and all. . . In response to where to eat in the area: I would have to suggest "the cafe" in rosemont. its an old general store that screams country charm. Brunch is tasty and wednesday night is local's night. the theme on wed is drive locally, eat globally. each week they spotlight a different country/region and have prix fixe menu. its a byob. (on the corner of 604 and 519; at the light in sergeantsville, take a right instead of going straight towards the butcher; take this road through the covered bridge and up to rosemont. you can't miss it -- its the only place to eat in rosemont) cafe at rosemont website (but it doesn't seem to be working right now). In stockton, you could stop at meils (across from phillip's wine) for some tasty latkes. In lambertville is one of our favorite local places to eat. its a place of our love and we have numerous food memories. check out the hamilton grill. always the sure shot. the apps are always great (our favorite is the grilled shrimp with anchovy butter). the beef/pork/fish/etc are tasty/fresh/grilled perfectly. the starch/veggie served with entree are good (but not overly exciting). its a popular byob so make your reservations. sit at the grill bar seats and chat up mark and watch him work the grill. for dessert leave red wine and room for the flourless chocolate cake. Jim Hamilton's daughter has gone on to open Prune in NY, where she serves the shrimp w/ anchovy butter). if you want to make the night enjoyable, arrive early and stop at the boathouse, in the courtyard next to the grill room. get your drink on - but not too much, there's a 3 drink maximum! the other places to check out in lambertville is siam (thai). consistently good and comfortable. hope this gives you some places to check out! in a month or so you can drive a little further and check out our place to treat your sweet tooth -- a post to follow when we open.
  10. Hey guys. . just wanted to drop in with some info. I grew up in the the Sergeantsville/Lambertville area and use to go see these guys with my father. Its where we would get a lot of our meats and my father would stop in to chat them up. Directions from Flemington NJ: Take Rt 523 towards Sergeantsville. You'll know you've arrived when you hit the flashing red light at the intersection. (there's a general store on your right and a tavern/restaurant across the street) Proceed through the light and about a 1/2 mile (or less) on your left you'll find Maresca's. If you want to check out some good wines while in the area, head further down 523 into Stocton. When you get into stockton (523 will drop you on the main drag) take a right onto Bridge St. Park immediately and on your right you'll see Phillip's. Its been there a while and Dickey (owner) has some winners. From here you can cross the bridge and head to Doylestown PA or get back on the main drag and head along the river (NJ side) to Lambertville. Warning: this part of NJ might be too rural/suburban/farmy for some people. In reality, its a side of NJ that if word got out how sweet it is, we'd be even more densely populated of a state.
  11. We're in the same boat - - -> looking for a natural food coloring. We have been talking to Dancing Deer and even made a road trip to their bakehouse in Boston to talk to them about buying it in bulk. We learned they make big batches periodically and haven't sold it in bulk. They're nice folk (or deer as they call themselves). They're gonna let us know when the make their next batch so maybe we can tag on an order. In the mean time we just ordered a different kind from Nature's Flavors. I'll report on the 2 oranges if they work. Nature's Flavors Website I have also recently emailed another natural foods company to see who makes their coloring for their products. Anybody else out there with companies they can get bulk natural food coloring would be great.
  12. Today on The Splendid Table, there was a repeat broadcast of 2 stories about fair trade coffee. The first is about the impact of fair trade on actual farmers. The second discussion is between Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Kevin Knox. Knox gives a little more background & depth to the fair trade movement. I hope it provokes further thought/discourse. (The two stories are about 1/2 way through the show) NPR's THE SPLENDID TABLE
  13. I have had great experiences with Rishi tea (both for business & home use). Owner & staff are knowledgeable yet laid back. Best things we've been drinking from them: jade oolong: (2nd & 3rd extraction are amazing) organic silver needle white tea: delicate, clean taste.
  14. Best of the Promenade: Apple Store Worst of the Promenade: Stone Cold Creamery S.T.C. was dudsville. The ice cream is presented in a gelato case and is made on site. But, when further questioned, we found out that they receive the bases for freezing on site. The ice cream looked rather bland (some greyish) and others were artificially colored. I guess that's where the gimmick of adding in ingredients on the marble slab came in. We had read on their website that the staff sings a song whenever they get a tip. We tipped the teenagers behind the counter and things got worse. The poor kid behind the counter sounded forced into saying "Look, we got a tip." Then he was joined by his co-workers in singing a thank you tip song. I would have gladly paid another dollar to put all of us out of this misery. We left and tasted the ice cream. I skipped the cake batter flavor and went for the benchmark basics: vanilla and chocolate. The ice cream was overwhelmingly artificial in taste. Thoroughly dissappointing. The worst part was that we tried a butter pecan type flavor and it tasted more fake than Aunt Jemima -- and we couldn't wash the taste out. Anyway, that was our Promenade experience. Be forewarned! :)
  15. m(a)ce

    Fair Trade

    So here we go. I'm gonna be the little devil. Here comes a doozy of a post, but maybe some good discussions will stem from it. I just finished reading the Saveur article on Ethiopian coffee and behold, a post on egullet. Anyway, one of the topics that came to mind while reading the article was the ongoing issue of Fair Trade coffee. On one hand, we all know the one side of the feel good, fuzzy warm Fair Trade argument. But I'm sorry to say that I'm not completely sold. I feel Fair Trade has its heart in the right place, but its crosshairs are not aimed in the right direction. Most of the coffee purchased (remember, coffee is the #2 most traded commodity in the world) is for major companies (think Nestle, etc). They dominate the coffee buying market. They buy whatever is cheap and this represents the lower grade coffee. That's why it tastes so bad. At the lowest graded levels, its not strange to see the processed coffee plagued with defects such as rocks, sticks, pieces of metal. (For those of you not familiar with green bean coffee buying, it is graded based on things such as uniformity, processing, etc. Visit this site to see what the best class entails: SCAA Green Bean Overview). So back to the good stuff. These global companies control the coffee market, demanding prices stay low and that effects a majority of coffee growers in an adverse manner. Unfortunately, Fair Trade has targeted the specialty coffee market which has consistently paid more for coffee than the larger corporations. Your local coffee roaster is not necessarily the boogie man. Good roasters that take their craft seriously buy coffee from the top 3% of graded coffee. They are willing to spend more for their beans because it usually guarantees a higher quality and better tasting product. Furthermore, serious roasters take the time to develop their relationships with either farms directly or brokers; this cultivation creates an expectation that if the farmers produce a better product, they will get more money by weight. The specialty green bean market is competitive and thereby rewards farmers that grow the best product with more demand for their product and in turn, more money. This idea of capitalism has fueled the organic specialty coffee market to go from borderline mediocre to superior than conventional coffee in the last 5 or so years. And that is what Fair Trade misses. By targeting the small roasters and specialty coffee market, they are missing the big picture. The other consequence of Fair Trade is fair tasting coffee. Not exceptionally good or bad. Just fair tasting. I have cupped lots of coffee and I can say that none of the most memorable coffee I've tasted was Fair Trade. Fair Trade farmers are reduced to a socialism model that pools coffee from different farms, farmers or estates. It does guarantee them more money for their product (a good thing) but does not provide an added incentive to farm amazing coffee -- just fair coffee. And not to be too alarmist, but this practice could eliminate the boutique estate varietals that have started to shine (think of it as losing your favorite individual vineyard from Napa and having to drink a generic blend from all the farms). I will give credit to Fair Trade for the beliefs and efforts, but I don't think we should necessarily be selectively guilted into paying more for a lesser quality product just to feel better. Where are those fighting for Fair Trade chocolate or sugar? Or how about sweatshop labor in Asia? How many people out there feel well enough after buying their Fair Trade coffee to go to Walmart and get their products supplied by underpaid overseas labor? Is the current specialty market model perfect? No. It does need reform. It does need to cut out the middlemen or reduce their profit. But I think the biggest changes need to happen with the consumer. Within the US we need to stop expecting to pay so little for things. Oh well, off to my mega strip mall to go to the chain stores and chain restaurants. . .
  16. m(a)ce

    Saveur

    The article was enjoyable but brief. Moreover, the article did a good job of acknowledging the different methods of processing coffee (wet and dry methods) and comparing the most well-known varieties of coffees from Ethiopia. On another note. . .I think we are getting close to the can of worms known as Fair Trade. I have mixed feelings on this topic. Maybe I'll start a new post for this topic.
  17. I have several feelings about Starbucks. On one hand, you have Starbucks along with countless other chain stores homogenizing America. As a country, our downtowns are melting away to strip malls with the same mega stores. We are losing the mom and pop stores, regional uniqueness and money leaves our local economies and goes to the corporate headquarters. But who is to blame for this? Americans (on the whole but not the case with most members of this site) want their brand names, big portions and low prices. The democratization of America and the repeatable experience is what the country (on the whole) is about. We are the definitive consumer culture. Starbucks offers a brand that people can subscribe to and belong to. The Starbucks "experience" is in essence a repeatable, daily group ritual; within this experience, members even have their own language. Starbucks has succeded at marketing this experience and creating an added value in belonging to and consuming their brand. Its scarily brilliant. The one very positive thing that independent coffee shops should appreciate from Starbucks is that as a national brand, it has introduced and trained many americans to think about coffee beyond the normal swill and to pay full price for a "hand-crafted beverage." But Starbucks isn't necessarily the boogie man. Yes they throw their weight around, but independent stores need to take some responsibility and initiative. The smaller stores must accept the reality of corporate coffee and capitalize on their own size. Should we feel bad for an independent store if the quality of their product or service is poor and they can't compete? Independent coffee stores need to acknowledge their competition and rise to the challenge. Starbucks must lower the overall quality of their product to maintain consistency from store to store. Independent cafes can succeed if they invest in their success: high quality coffee and professional service, fair pricing. Moreover, the local businesses need to support and promote the local business community. As consumers we must continue to vote with our dollars. Sorry for the long winded speech. The bottom line is that, yes, Starbucks is pretty ruthless about capturing marketshare. But the good, independent cafes in Philadelphia (or wherever) will succeed if they continue to serve their customers well.
  18. I just had an Anise flavored marshmallow at a friends house; we just happened to bring a thick hot chocolate to float them in. Anyone have a good lead on a easier way to slice marshmallows for a retail setting?
  19. Seattle's Beast. I mean Best.
  20. m(a)ce

    Coffee Storage

    I would echo the sentiment of buy coffee frequently rather than storing it long term. Also, keep it in bean form until you are ready to use. As soon as coffee is roasted it starts a rapid deterioration of quality. Once you grind it, the coffee oxidizes and becomes stale. My keys to keeping coffee froish: -->Buy freshly roasted coffee; I would say you should use (optimally) within 7-10 days of roasting (and in my opinion no sooner than 1-2 days so the coffee can degass) -->Buy all that you will need within that period -->Grind as needed -->Store coffee in airtight container, away from moisture, heat & sunlight. All of these will accelerate your coffee to tasting like arse. Hope it helps. Happy Brewing!
  21. m(a)ce

    Ristretto

    Great discussion going on guys. . .You all are touching on key elements. I've been making coffee in busy retail coffeebar environment for nearly 10 years, travelled and tasted lots of (mostly bad) coffee and done the SCAA thing. I think that the devil is truly in the details when making good espresso --> the variables and a coffeemaker's ability to acknowledge/adjust to conditions is clutch. Temperature (group handle, head, tank), pressure, cleanliness/seasoning, grind (fineness, freshness), blend/coffee (body, acidity, roast, freshness), etc are the minutia that separate swill from sweetness. I think its good to look at the classsic espresso machines that a lot of us started on (or still be using) that are manual. When you actually "pull shots" (via a lever) vs. pushing a button on a semi or full auto machine. My thoughts about the ristretto would be that it makes the barista focus on stopping the shop in a timely manner to avoid over-extraction of the coffee and getting the bitterness associated with the color change towards the end of the extraction (when the espresso gets light carmel in color). At our cafe we are currently using two 4-group Cimbali's and rancillio grinders. With our machines we can set the volume of water for each head. I would say that good coffee is relative to your personal preference. I think that any single shot of espresso over 1 ounce is too much for me and negatively impacts the taste. We have even set our machine to have our "normal" shot to run as a volumetrically shorter shot (a little more than 3/4 ounce) and our "short shot" button to run slightly less than that. To me (with our blend & equipment) it really provides a "sweet" rounded flavor. Its important to remember that we're all speaking relative to our tools and raw materials not to mention tastes. I think that a couple more forum post ideas would be: espresso blends (straight esp. vs. milk+esp drinks), machine maintenance/calibration and adjusting the grind (avoiding over/underextraction). Glad to see that I'm not the only coffee ninja in this dojo.
  22. m(a)ce

    mail order beans

    I have a quite biased opinion in recommending small world roasters in princeton, nj. we are the coffee geeks that supply zingermans deli, cafe & bakehouse in ann arbor along with several other retailers & restaurants. We typically roast our coffee between a lighter french roast and full city roast --> something we call an "East Coast Roast." Just dark enough to develop the flavor but not too dark as to burn off the delicate acidity. small world roasters Check us out on the web, at the retail store in downtown princeton or next time you are in ann arbor. If you have any questions, call our roastmaster, Jon @ 609.430.2821
  23. m(a)ce

    mail order beans

    I have a quite biased opinion in recommending small world roasters in princeton, nj. we are the coffee geeks that supply zingermans deli, cafe & bakehouse in ann arbor along with several other retailers & restaurants. We typically roast our coffee between a lighter french roast and full city roast --> something we call an "East Coast Roast." Just dark enough to develop the flavor but not too dark as to burn off the delicate acidity. small world roasters Check us out on the web, at the retail store in downtown princeton or next time you are in ann arbor. If you have any questions, call our roastmaster, Jon @ 609.430.2821
  24. Had to chime in. Hands down I disagree with you Chefb! Hamilton's grill room is consistently "on" in the food it puts out. Moreover the signature "shrimp with anchovie butter" is a staple that we order everytime and has NEVER disappointed us or any people we have sent to the restaurant. This dish is so popular/good that Jim's daughter who opened the well-received PRUNE in NYC took it to her menu. It sounds like you hit 2 incredibly off nights -- our fish, beef or other meats have always been on the mark. Sorry to get worked up, but I truly feel that there are few (NJ) restaurants that have consistently pleased us; we are also in the food industry and look quite critically when we go out. I will admit that the service does range from average to above average. But overall, the service has never left a negative impression on our meal. I also recommend grabbing a cocktail at the boathouse across from Hamilton's before dinner.
  25. Hey there. . We live in Princeton and work in the food industry. Here are our suggestions: Tasty & consistent sit down dining: Ferry House on Witherspoon; Blue Point Grill on Nassau; Lahieres on Witherspoon Fresh fish/quirky chefs and good sushi: Sakura Express on Witherspoon Biased vote for the best coffee, poached eggs and grilled panini: small world coffee on Witherspoon If you want to push out of princeton, head south on rt 95 and take last nj exit rt.29 North to Lambertville. About a 1/2 hour drive. Head for drinks at the Boat House and dinner @ Hamilton's grill room. good luck!!! enjoy
×
×
  • Create New...