jgould

"HOLY S__T, BATMAN" WHAT A FANTASTIC WEBSITE!!! merci beaucoup!! are u aware of similar sites like this re: bordeaux, alsace, rhône, loire?

terrific topic! love the above quotes: "A good bottle of Burgundy costs $250. $50 for the good bottle, and $200 for the other four that sucked"; & "When you figure out Burgundy, let the rest of us know". almost seems "as if" one needs to start with a very expensive & well-regarded red burgundy from the côte de nuits, a la, vosne-romanee, to begin to understand why pinot noirs from this area, cause joys of rapture. then, at least, one will have established a "benchmark". to begin with the low-end first, does not provide that same benchmark, & therefore, one does not really know what is in store re:appreciation, at the beginning of their quest. just 1 opinion/way of approaching a subject; but "unfortunately" worked for me & is the basis of my attraction to this very difficult grape.

apparently alain ducasse taking over the beautiful & acclaimed classic - benoit!! what's next? trump buying the eiffel tower?????

merci

how to describe gaby's?? french-owned & operated, but feel as if one is in a netherworld between french heaven & american hell. it would appear, at least IMHO, there would be a certain je ne sais quoi but that is de-emphasized unfortunately. the only thing resembling françois is the owner & possibly the menu. its almost as if they have gone out of their way to discourage a visit to gaby's. go for yourself & see if u agree.

well, glad thats settled

merci, BUT this simply too confusing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ← measurements condensed from above information: should use 90g of ground coffee/51oz of water re: bodum's french press 1g = .035oz; therefore, 51oz water * .035 = 1.785g's of coffee or, using SCAA's coffee scoop: 2 level tbs of ground coffee = 7g coffee/6oz of water, i.e., .85oz water/g of coffee; therefore, using bodum's 4oz cup, need 12.7 scoops ~90g(3.2oz) or, std coffee scoop for whole beans (before grinding) slightly rounded after grinding = 1 level scoop = 3.5g coffee/3oz water, or, use 40g of coffee/25oz bodum vacuum pot; therefore, 40g * .035 = 1.4oz of coffee?? -- --

merci

"the magrets"

sounds like fun. any interest in these teams?

If only it were so easy. What is a "normal" mug? Here in the US a very common mug style and size holds about 12 ounces of liquid of filled to the brim but about 10 ounces if actually being used for a hot beverage. That doesn't make it a defacto standard as I regularly see mugs in use (both in restaurants and in private homes) that range from 8 ounces to 16 ounces. ← so, the answer to my question about the "right" amount of (freshly roasted, then ground via the solis "maestro plus" burr grinder) coffee/8oz cup for my 51oz bodum french press is _______?

Can't see any reason why there would be. Perhaps someone more familiar with thermodynamics theory and issues relating to surface area and heat loss could comment. It would seem.... in theory.... that making 30 ounces of cofee in the larger press would result in more surface area exposed to the air without the insulating effect of the glass around it. Might this cause the temperature of the brewing coffee to drop just a bit quicker than when the 30 ounces is brewed in the press that's closer to 30 ounces in size? This shaky theory is predicated on the notion that the larger press has a wider diameter, therefore more surface area on top of the coffee for a given amount of fluid. That said... I think the possible effect of such a difference might so negligible as to be undiscernable. If storage space is not an issue and you'll routinely be making 30 ounces of coffee or more but on occasion wanting to make 50 ounces or so.... just get the larger one. ← unfortunately begs another question: so many different coffee/water formulas as per previous replies above: how many oz cup? scoop vs. tsp vs. tbs?? 4 tsp/cup 4 tbs of whole beans/750ml of water 1 scoop of Bodum's spoon/4oz of water 2 level tsp/6oz of water 1 oz of coffee/4 cups (size?) of water geez which coffee/ cup size is "supposedly" what one should be using??

The answer is not very well. You truly get what you pay for - a cheap burr grinder is never a bargain. Unless you happent o stumble across a used sem-commercial burr grinder (Anfuim, Cunill, Rancilio, Mazzer etc) for a dirt cheap price... which is unlikely... the least expensive burr grinder worth buying will be a Starbucks Barista or the Solis maestro "Classic" (same machine as the Barista). Cheap burr grinders produce an inconsistent particle size, tend to run very hot (heat is bad for the beans) and rarely do a better job than one can do with a whirly blade grinder. The trick of pulsing the blade grinder and also shaking it a few times between pulses will help to produce a reasonable consistency in particle size but the only way to get really good uniformity is with a grinder of the proper quality level. That's an important point. The SCAA (American) standard is a six ounce "cup" per standard coffee scoop (which should be roughly 7 grams of coffee) but Bodum dictates a four ounce "cup" for their press pots and vacuum pots. ← hope i'm not repeating myself: we like our morning coffee in 8-10oz cups; therefore, using Bodum's formula of 2 bodum spoon scoops/8 oz cup of their french press should = ~ 5-6 cups of coffee if using their 51oz french press. if normally have 3 1/2 cups which = ~30oz of coffee, would it be better to purchase the bodum 34oz press? reason for asking: if going to all this for preparation of our morning coffee, curious if there is with any "loss" of quality" by using the larger press. vs. the press closest in size to the amount of coffee made??? thanks

dinner last fri, excellent as usual. crowded, but controlled. wonder what sat nite produced, after the above article was read by new yorkers? unfortunately & selfishly, but pleased this restaurant/bistro's quality is being rewarded; it is due to become more difficult to "just pop in" & be seated in a reasonable time. meaning what's WRONG with this picture: TriBeCa location, very pretty layout, excellent wines & prices, excellent food, good service = "no-brainer".

ouch. now THERE'S a story begging to be told. just sayin' ... ← how many more tricks does the wine industry have up their sleeves? is this the same as restaurants telling their customers they make no money on their food?

interesting observation: # of replies: per se ------659 smok'g ban 433 dino bbq ----268 what does this imply? egulleteers/ny'ers are passionate about a cult chef that many consider to be in the ranks of the top 5 chefs in the world! smoking opinions outrank many other food topics??? there are an amazing # of passionate fanatics who both appreciate bbq & have very diverse opinions about what that means. every opinion somewhat rings true. what does "authenticity" really mean? some say, its the smoking? some say its the sauce? some say its the ambiance? some argue its the location? etc, etc, blah, blah, yada yada... what makes all this interesting &, sometimes amusing, is the sincererity of the posts which have inspired so many to express their opinion. quite naturally, i have an opinion, but that is not the subject of THIS post. i just wanted to inject my appreciation to ALL those who have taken the time to express their thoughts about BBQ, which continues to aim the spotlight on one of the best foods mankind has yet to come up with. ummmmm, foie gras - or - a boston butt hickory smoked on chicken wire supported by concrete blocks in a open air space, being tended & basted with a homemade sauce not sold in the town's groc store, by someone who has had yrs of experience, behind a shed with a banging screen door up a little road 20 mi or so from the center of the closest city, served on paper plates with a side of hash & rice, or brunswick stew, pork rinds, sweet pickles, "white" bread, & sweetened ice tea??? nuff said... how's that for a proustian sentence?

someone please explain why a syracuse bbq joint that serves middle-of-the-road food(?) has >13,000 views & 252 replies i mean IF this was anywhere near a "BBQ MECCA" then i would understand, but dino is no mecca, & serves mediocre bbq, @ best!!!!!!!!

"truth in posting": last night after seeing an excellent play, "The Foreigner" again went to Un Deux Trois ~ 11pm. the "special" salad, frisee aux lardon, was average, but IMHO, an excellent one IS hard to find! my steak tartare was very good, on the spicy side which i like. wife's mussels were excellent. creme brulee was a touch above average, & i thought, too large a portion. wine & cognacs did not hurt either service as usual, always excellent. their bread is from Tom Cat, warm & excellent. pet peeve is wrapper covered butter vs. "fresh", but minor peeve. all-in-all, another fun evening at the cafe. interestingly, it was filled this late, with post theatre, couples beginning or ending their evening, & a number of actors from the nearby shows. a good nyc mix...

What??? What are you reading? I have eagerly sought Bourgognes Rouges for 25+ years and don't think I ever spent that much, even for more than decent. (Here I refer to the specific appelation "Bourgogne Rouge" or others related to it in practice -- "Hautes Côtes de Beaune," minor village wines, etc.) A year or two ago I put a list on the WCWN site, of 15 years of wines of these appelations, all bought in the US for under $20 and some for $10, and some of them outstanding wines even apart from value. This doesn't address the question of how you find such wines which is a different matter. Addressed successfully in my experience by a process, rather than a formula. That is, keeping an eye (and nose) on the market, tasting promising prospects, and when the components for a good wine seem to be right, buying them and storing them properly for the usual couple or few years to hit their evident potential. And they do! Some of them exceed hopes! This is why some of the best values I've found in moderately-priced reds over the years have been B-R's. -- Max -- Santé, gaieté, espérance! (French wine poster) ← i was referring to grand & premier crus

I have done a few winelists over the years on the East Coast. I have always used the 2 1/2 to 3 times the wholesale but ... ← all excellent points; therefore, a real-life example is needed for clarification & understanding: assuming a retail store is offering a Morgon for $12, what wholesale price is the wine store paying? what wholesale price is a restaurant paying? on a typical wine list, that same Morgon is $35-40????? & re: your above comment - it "appears" many, if not most, restaurants employ the 3-4x markup on RETAIL - vs. - your 2.5-3x wholesale markup?? totally agree re: length of inventory time, capital tie-up, etc; however, is their not some sanity required here?? Landmarc, a restaurant in the TriBeCa area of NYC, has staked its reputation on both its food (very good) AND amazingly reasonable markups on wine, that put to shame literally every single restaurant in over-restauranted city!!! ← quite frankly, the SM pinot grigio is ~$22-24 here in NYC!!! amazing, but true; therefore, paying ~$44 at a restaurant doesn't seem so terrible, although don't know the wholesale price. the real question is how SM gets away with that retail price?? i don't believe SM's pinot grigio is in the same class as a grand cru pinot gris from alsace.

not that many care here, but what the heck, a little controversy never hurts, & its more fun than dissing dino bbq. a very narrow list of dependables, favorites, & regularly visited, as of today: Landmarc - always dependable, always good, & what a wine list! Pastis - why? i don't know, i just love going, sort of like Fairway @ 6pm Balthazar - keith mcnally is a genius, & i don't throw that around very often Orsay - if one has to venture to the UES, expensive, but great Gavroche - what everyone would like to have in their neighborhood honorable mention: quatorze bis - easier to get to from UWS cross town & back & never been disappointed cafe un deux trois - will get mostly slings & arrows on this one, but after 7:55, its always fun & the food is not as bad as so many state here. just 1 person's musings on a wet friday

with all due respect, those blends sound terrible! whats the point? one buys a bourgogne blanc specifically for the particular terroir; therefore, a chablis is different than a rully, a meursault, or a puligny & vice-versa same goes for a bourgogne rouge. certainly a côte de nuit chambolle-musigny is different than a côte de beaune volnay, n'est-ce pas? & i don't believe one would include a rully from the côte chalonnaise in the above group; & besides, everyone knows, rully is better known for its blancs than its rouges as to AOC, i believe it refers to appellation; whereas, AC "refers" to village wine(??)

add zabar's to all the above & your friends will have gotten the full nyc flavor of the best IT has to offer. now, what wines will your guests be pairing

I have done a few winelists over the years on the East Coast. Nothing like Mark's place. Their reputation is too good to ask for my help. That is why Mark is so important to them. I have always used the 2 1/2 to 3 times the wholesale but it is tailored to the client base. I am not going to load up a restaurant that has put their trust in me with Burgundy if they can't sell it. If I do add some big wines to the list I will go with a "bottle Profit" markup rather then a percentage. What many of you fail to realize is that most retail shop turn over what they buy in a few weeks or months. A place like Citronelle many buy and store wines for years until the are ready to be paired with their selections on the menu. There is much more overhead. Most important is you cannot deposit a markup in your bank account. You have to sell it to make a profit. Here, it is a mix. Retailers and Restaurants generally pay the same. I do have wines I target to retail at deeper deals when possible and legal and I have wines I target to on-premise and better pricing. ← all excellent points; therefore, a real-life example is needed for clarification & understanding: assuming a retail store is offering a Morgon for $12, what wholesale price is the wine store paying? what wholesale price is a restaurant paying? on a typical wine list, that same Morgon is $35-40????? & re: your above comment - it "appears" many, if not most, restaurants employ the 3-4x markup on RETAIL - vs. - your 2.5-3x wholesale markup?? totally agree re: length of inventory time, capital tie-up, etc; however, is their not some sanity required here?? Landmarc, a restaurant in the TriBeCa area of NYC, has staked its reputation on both its food (very good) AND amazingly reasonable markups on wine, that put to shame literally every single restaurant in over-restauranted city!!!

Try something new from Joseph Drouhin. Vero Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. First release is the 2002 vintage. Press ahs been good. Made from blending finished wines from very good villages and sold under the Bourgogne label. These are not declassified wines. The Meursault that is blended in the Chardonnay is the same wines sold as Meursault. The wine is made by Veronique Drouhin at Maison Joseph Drouhin and is their effort to get the consumers who drink $20 to $25 CA wine to try burgundy. Since is a blend from village level wines it is less affected by vintage varitation then the basic Bourgogne wines. They simply can select stronger villages in an off vintage to make sure the wine is a quality product each year. ← thx very much - wii try to find. question: is A.C. shorthand for a "village" wine, or a shortened abbreviation of A.O.C.?