Maesie

I almost exclaimed outloud when I went to Tastespotting today and found that the site had been taken down completely. There's only a cryptic note saying "in light of recent legal complications, NOTCOT will no longer be operating Tastespotting." Waaaaaaah! Anyone have any idea what happened?

I'd like to pay for dinner for my mom on her birthday, but I live across the country in Portland, OR and need some help choosing a restaurant. My mom's a sophisticated diner, but her companion is more of a meat and potatoes type of guy. Is there a place that can make them both happy? It doesn't have to be in St. Augustine itself; Jacksonville would be okay. I looked through the forum a bit and it sounded like Opus 39 is well thought of. Is that still the case? Any other restaurants you'd suggest? Thanks so much for your help!

I just moved to Portland, OR from Minneapolis, MN and while I'm really missing the midwest I am now working my way through the Stumptown coffee roster one bean per week, which is a level of coffee glory I couldn't have dreamed of walking down the street for in MN. So, this week I'm on the Ethiopia Sidamo. The guy at Stumptown mentioned something about strawberries, and truly it has a hint of strawberry Quik! Anyway, since my boyfriend and I have moved to Portland we've been hitting the garage sales pretty hard and I happened upon a Starbuck's Barista grinder, which, while not top of the line, beats the pants off my old anonymous blade grinder (now truly anonymous since I lost the lid in the move and can't remember the brand name). So, at 5am before I head to the hotel where I plie others with coffee from massive urns, I grind my 5 tablespoons, pour them into my french press, add the water from my electric kettle, swirl, wait 3 minutes and pour my coffee into the waiting cream and sugar. It's my own little ritual, and I feel like a queen.

If it tasted bitter it could be the baking soda. I read in another chocolate stout cake recipe that the yeast in the stout acts as an additional leavening agent, so you don't have to use as much baking soda. I'm actually making a chocolate stout cake tonight using the recipe from the "best chocolate cake" thread as a jumping off point (subing Young's Double Chocolate Stout for some of the water, reducing the baking soda, and replacing some buttermilk with sour cream). I'll let you know how it goes.

We had a similar policy where I used to work: half price on food any time (with the exception of the lobster I think) and you could also get one bottle of each wine the restaurant offered at half price. This last bit was cumulative - not one bottle of wine every time you walked in, but over the course of your employment. It really helped educate the staff because not only could you taste the food in a leisurely way, you could discuss it with other servers and watch the consistency over time. And if you were low on cash you could at least get a bowl of soup or a salad. The policy was especially helpful when it came to wine. I know a few of servers who are offered neither wine tastings through their restaurant nor discounts on wine. What the heck are you supposed to do?