plattetude

I've got a soft spot for Prune. Caveat that you'll need to get there at or near opening time of 10am to avoid a wait. I know for some, that makes it "not brunch", but I make no assumptions (particularly if you've already indicated you've got things to do!) Christopher

Question for the esteemed Toby from an upcoming visitor, posting here because it's a topic that may be of broader interest: my wife and I will be spending a long weekend in Chicago next month for our fifth anniversary, and aside from our reservations, the only other major target for us is The Violet Hour. (I'd actually had the pleasure of having you mix a few rounds at Pegu Club for me on several occasions, so I'm thrilled to see you spreading the cocktailian gospel to Chicago!) Anyway, as I say, we're planning to sidle up to the bar sometime during our stay, but here's the question: with my wife several months pregnant, what sorts of interesting no- to low-alcohol cocktails might you or your staff pull together for her, given that she does like a well-crafted and well-balanced cocktail? I'm curious not only in this specific case, but more broadly (in which case, maybe this post should be in a new topic) -- is this a question put to bartenders often? Christopher

If you don't mind driving a few miles (15 or so?), head to Summit Cheese Shop (75 Union Place). Small but packed with fantastic cheeses. Christopher

So I'm surprised a month or so has passed since I'd heard about the (re)launch of Canton Ginger, and no word of it in this august forum. I'm a big ginger fan myself, so it's next on my targeted list of liquor acquisitions. Anyone have it, try it, like it? Do tell, all! Christopher

If I were a professional bartender, I'd definitely hate that. I mean, everyone knows the Flaming Chocolate Frou-Frou Oreo should traditionally have a float of Bailey's. Chambord takes it straight to the realm of the renowned SuperDuper Razz-Choco-Tini. Christopher

First that came to my mind was Ur Pils (Brauerei Pinkus Mueller), which has been around a good while. Anheuser-Busch apparently jumped on the organic bandwagon last year with Wild Hop Lager and Stone Mill Pale Ale. Christopher

This was tried for a few years in Manhattan, as The Screening Room, which opened in Tribeca in 1996. Three course dinner and a movie were a set price (a la carte menu also available), and the movies tended to art house fare. Food there was very good, in fact, so good that the location spawned a food-only outpost, The Dining Room, on the Upper East Side. Unfortunately, both shuttered in 2002. I thought it was a great concept, and particulary great in execution, having reliably good food along with reliably interesting films. But for whatever reason, the concept couldn't sustain in this case... Christopher

Moreover, she severed ties several months after it opened, and it closed a few years ago. Christopher

Daniel Boulud, on the strength of "After Hours". Granted, that's a pretty limited TV audience... Marcus Samuelsson has had a bit of face time on PBS, but I think Aquavit is still probably better known as an entity than he is as a chef-personality. Christopher

To clarify further, M&R Bianco is a different product than M&R Extra Dry. The sweeter Bianco became available in the U.S. (again?) in the past year or so. Note that it's featured in a few of the fabulous cocktails on Death & Co's menu (notably the Rojo Bianco). Christopher

Thanks for spawning off the thread, Erik. Anyone have any notion of cost differential for comparable amounts of kegged vs bottled beer? I'm sure cost is considerably lower for the kegged version -- no bottles, no breakage, greater product per cubic volume (hence lower shipping costs), but no idea how substantial a difference it is. I do have a pretty concrete sense of how substantial the difference in taste is (or can be), as related in the original, unrelated thread. Just last week, I uncorked my last bottle of the original bottling of Malheur Brut Reserve (produced "méthode Champenoise"), which I'd laid down for about 6 years, and good gravy had it matured well. I really this boils down to the difference in expectations by the standard U.S. beer drinker, and no doubt 9 times out of 10, most beer drinkers simply ask "what's on tap?" and go with whatever grabs them of that list. Unless it's a temple of beer, even an avid beerfan probably wouldn't look much beyond that. What's a little more distressing, though I don't have all that much experience drinking in the Benelux region, I'd venture to say that my recentish trips to Amsterdam might indicate that the pendulum is swinging toward taps even in the cradle of the Belgian beer civilization. Maybe it's always been thus and I'm just a naif. Oh, and ironically enough, the sublime beer that inspired this thread, Rodenbach Red, was my first memorable Belgian beer experience (outside of standbys like Chimay and Duvel which have long been available here) some 10 or 12 years ago. And here's the punchline: I had it on tap. Christopher

Is Clark St. Ale House still a good spot for beer? In prior visits to Chicago, I've found lots of good local microbrews on tap there. <tangential rant> As for seeing Rodenbach Red on tap, it's really getting to gall me how many of these incredibly special bottle-conditioned Belgian brews are showing up on tap. I know that "freshness" is so emphasized with beer, and bottles may seem anathema to that, but the difference between a well-kept bottle-conditioned beer and a keg of the same can be massive. Recently, I had a couple rounds at a small Belgian beer bar in Manhattan, and the bartender tried to steer my friend to La Chouffe on tap, when they also had it in bottles. I took that opportunity to order one bottle and one from the tap. My friend got a very quick lesson in how best to order Belgian beers. </tangential rant> Christopher

According to this, they should open in the next month or so. I believe they had been hoping to open this week for July 4th, but hopefully not too much further off. I have noticed more activity there lately.... Christopher

Berliner Kindl has been making a pils here for 100 years. They started with weizen but moved on to other styles. ← Well, whoops. Since the weizen that Berliner Kindl makes is really a style unto itself (and one that has detractors as avid as its lovers), I always assumed it was the only style they produced. Pardon my misguided presumption! Christopher

Radeberger started popping up here in NYC in the past year or so. Another German pilsner I've just had here very recently was Mahrs Brau, which was nice, but not as crisp and balanced as I prefer -- a bit flabby and nondescript. Of course, it may well have been the fault of the bar, which has a few too many draught lines (a whopping 66) to be sure they're all clean and fresh... But Berliner Kindl Weiss (yes, it's also available here if you look hard enough) is hardly a pilsner. Christopher

Depending how widely you define "the area," I might suggest Cafe d'Alsace, at 88th and 2nd, or the Bar at Etat Unis (81st between 2nd and 3rd) as being very solid choices.

Another in the continuing (and highly enjoyable) experiments with St. Germain -- 2 oz rye (Wild Turkey) 1/2 oz St. Germain Elderflower 2 dashes orange bitters (Regan's) Holy moley this was nice. It came out a bit sweeter than I expected, but the floral/citrus notes played very well with the spice of the rye. This is gonna be a keeper. I considered adding a bit of yellow Chartreuse, but it really didn't need anything more at ALL. Christopher [edit for verb tense idiocy]

Playing with my new bottle of St. Germain Elderflower liqueur and came up with this: 2 oz rum (10 Cane) 1/2 oz St. Germain 1/2 oz lime splash (1/2 tsp or so) Creme de Cacao The Cacao was a late addition after I'd had a few sips, and it really brought the whole thing to life.

I can! Christopher

To add to the Zagat tangent of this discussion, I don't think Zagat's suggested "very good to excellent" range of 20-25 holds much water. Sure, it's a 30-point scale, but that's derived from individuals ranking on a 3 (okay, 4, counting zero) point scale. Someone can't say "gee, that was a little better than a 2, so I'll give it a 2.2." By default, then, you're stuck with a system where you can rate it 0 if you hate it, 1 if you tolerate it, 2 if you like it, and 3 if you love it. Realistically, a 2 then becomes the default rating if something wasn't glaringly bad. To me, that says there's gonna be a boatload of 2's, equating to 20 "points" for places that are ostensibly just passably good. Christopher

Odd. I thought Ghirardelli was more on par with Scharffenberger in terms of price, and certainly not *cheaper* than Bakers. That said, what becomes even more interesting than comparing high end to low end baking chocolate is comparing two premium chocolates -- say Scharffenberger vs. Valrhona. (By the bye, Ghirardelli is definitely a major step up from Bakers, IMHO.) Very definitely discernable differences, and very definitely worth paying the premium for chocolate-rich baked goods. Christopher

A new one I concocted for the occasion: Tequila Centeno 1 1/2 oz reposado tequila (El Tesoro) 3/4 oz rye (Wild Turkey 101) 1 tsp maraschino liqueur (Luxardo) 2 dashes orange bitters Stir over ice, strain And then there's the Roja Blanco (I think that's the name) from Death & Co, which is reposado tequila, Campari, bianco vermouth, and maraschino. Don't know the proportions necessarily, but it's mighty fine. I recreated with 2 parts tequila and one part of each of the others, to pretty suitable effect. Christopher

And as my wife is fond of pointing out, we really need to be making mint margaritas, considering that it's also Cinco de Mayo. Christopher

And this thread has obviously and utterly subverted that marketing, at least to the audience on eGullet. If even their own cocktail menu can't be counted on for a well-crafted drink, why tempt fate by going off the menu? "Seminal" does *not* equal well-known. Should a martinez be in the standard repertoire of any good bartender? Perhaps so, but even so, I don't know that there's really any hard and fast standard recipe. All call for gin, sweet vermouth, and bitters to be sure, but some add maraschino liqueur (as I believe Jerry Thomas's version does), some add triple sec. Hardier cocktail scholars than I may convince me otherwise, but unless I specifically gave a bartender instruction as to what I'd expect my martinez to have (even at a place like Pegu), I wouldn't know what precisely I'd be getting anyway. All of which is a digression from the simple point that Gin Lane is not held in high esteem by those who care about cocktails, as you yourself point out. So again, why tempt fate if you happen to be drinking there? Christopher

Well, butter = fat. We know that the patties are sirloin and brisket, presumably with a relatively healthy (or unhealthy, depending on your viewpoint) amount of fat. So maybe that's what makes it seem like a butter burger. Christopher