BrentKulman

Just watch out for the skunked beer at Frougal's as their beer selection sits in direct sunlight for much of the day. Also, they stopped selling singles the last time I checked. Perhaps they are better for wine. I do like Southern Spirits much better. Their beer selection is not quite as good as Frougal's but they do carry some things you cannot get in NC.

Speaking of ginger ice cream, Capogiro Gelato in Philadelphia often uses ginger in conjunction with other flavors to create very interesting taste sensations.

Despite their large selection of craft beer, I find that Total Wine is a better destination for wine. On the craft beer front, Total Wine never gets the more limited releases that go to Brawleys, Sams or City Beverage (in Winston-Salem). In addition, as TomV stated, some of their inventory gets very stale, so it is important to check the package dating whenever you can. The good news is that their selection is relatively broad and they sell by the single bottle, so I do shop there from time to time when I am looking for something that is more mainstream in the craft beer arena. We are very lucky in NC to have a number of small, independent retailers who do a wonderful job of focusing on their craft beer selections so it is not as necessary to depend on Total Wine as it is in other locations. I am curious whether someone who is very discriminating about their wine purchases would have similar complaints about the wine selection at Total Wine.

I have not been all that impressed with many organic brewers, but Pisgah is first class. Too bad its distribution is limited to western North Carolina, but it is definitely worth seeking out. For those who don't have access to Pisgah, I would recommend Eel River, which is more broadly distributed.

My brother lives on the Upper West Side so I have been to Pioneer half a dozen times in the past three years. I like the fact that they sell singles as I rarely buy six packs. However, I don't think their selection is great by any stretch. Their European selection is weak, with very few quality Belgian, German and English beers. They also are weak in the bomber category, as most of their shelf space is devoted to 12 oz. bottles. I can think of places in Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Charlotte, Atlanta, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Durham that all have better selections than Pioneer and New Beer, for that matter. I can tell you of stores in Blacksburg, VA and Winston-Salem, NC (where I work) that have selections better than Pioneer by a factor of at least three. I just don't understand why you can get just about anything you want somewhere in Manhattan except for a store with a truly great beer selection.

If I lived in Manhattan, I would be so depressed by the beer selection in stores. New Beer and the Pioneer Supermarket on the Upper West Side are about the only two decent places I have found, and neither of them is great. Why is NYC so far behind the rest of the country when it comes to craft beer?

The list is constantly changing and represents the composite reviews of hundreds, if not thousands of people who are serious about craft beer. Of course, it is biased as those who are passionate about craft beer tend to like more extreme beer styles. Bearing that in mind, you can view the top rankings of beers by every category, including country of origin. So, if you are interested in ESBs, to choose a category that is not represented in the Top 100 (and coincidentally is the category for Yard's ESA that Rich lamented was not in the Top 100), you can look at the top 10 overall or just those produced by American craft brewers, for example. I love ESB's and also lament that none of them are in the Top 100, but that is the bias of the site. The fact that the scores are calculated on the basis of a democratic, if not unbiased vote, I think provides them with a basis of legitimacy that I have yet to find in the world of wine, where ratings are based more on the personal palates of a few critics.

Skip Emerald Isle - its a culinary wasteland from what I can tell - head to Morehead City or Beaufort. Regarding the more local stuff, I don't think you can get good BBQ in the NC coast so I wouldn't even try. However, grab a shrimpburger at the Big Oak in Salter Path.

My family and I just spent a week in Emerald Isle and had two fine meals in Morehead City and Beaufort. In Morehead City, we went to Cafe Zito. I highly recommend the Scallops and Fried Green Tomatoes appetizer as well as the Goat Cheese Ravioli. In Beaufort, we went to Blue Moon Bistro. They are masters of the dumpling and I would recommend anything filled in a casing of dough. Also good were two other appetizers - the lamb chops with risotto and the sea scallops au poivre. If you could only go to one of those, I would definitely choose Blue Moon.

I never buy a pre-made sandwich. I just turn around and walk out the door. But I have to say I don't like pre-sliced meat either, so I don't much care for Subway.

Moderator note: The original What Beers Did You Drink Today? Or Yesterday? topic became too large for our servers to handle efficiently, so we've divided it up; the preceding part of this discussion is here: What Beers Did You Drink Today? Or Yesterday? (Part 1)] Today, a rare treat. Three Floyds Dark Lord. It's like a chocolate mocha milk shake, it's so thick.

I was in school in Philadelphia from 1978-80 and worked at Philadelphia magazine in the summer of 1979. I can picture the restaurant critic (big guy with a pony tail) and I think his name was Jim Quinn. He also wrote an interesting book on language at about that time. I probably have a copy of it somewhere. Anyhow, at that time there was a lot of talk about the restaurant renaissance. The one dish that memorializes it for me was the Commisary's carrot cake. We still have the recipe and it is a classic. Among the survivors from that era, I noticed Deux Cheminees on a recent trip to Philadelphia. Astral Plane was a favorite from that time so I am sorry to see it go.

My wife and I went to Il Lab one afternoon last week when we were in NYC and we were somewhat disappointed. The counterwoman was surly and the selections were quite limited - only about half a dozen choices and many empty bins. We were pleased with the size of the portions and enjoyed the Thai Chili Chocolate, in particular, but I would not race back to its out of the way location any time soon. If Grom and Il Lab are the best NYC has to offer, I'll skip the gelato and seek out other things when I visit the city. I'll just have to get my gelato fix on my next visit to Philadelphia.

Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA... At any rate, Torpedo is terrific. Cascades dominate, as in most of their stuff, but there's more of a malt backbone than the standard pale ale, and not so much of the caramel that you get in Celebration. Recommended. ← I had it on tap last week at David Copperfield's in NYC and will second the recommendation. TBoner's description is spot on.

Oh well, I'll just have to get my gelato fix in Philly, the next time I am there.

Thanks for the tip about Il Laboratorio, Dave. Just checked out their website and was very intrigued by their range of flavors. Not sure how many they serve at any one time but I hope they mix in a few of the offbeat Asian flavors on a regular basis. Next time I'm in the area I've made a note to self to try and get down there to give it a try.

Happened to find myself in NYC with a free hour to kill so headed up to the Upper West Side to see what all the fuss was about. After waiting in a small line for about 10 minutes while an indifferent server (and quite possibly NY's slowest cashier) waded through a staff change, I made my way to the counter and had a chocolate hazelnut combination. The server went overboard with the chocolate so with this place's strict portion control there was not much room for the hazelnut. I was impressed by the flavor, particularly of the chocolate but overall, I was not overwhelmed. Indifferent service, long lines (by the time I picked up my order the line had lenghtened significantly), tiny portions, high prices and an uninspired selection had me longing for a return trip to Capogiro Gelato in Philadelphia. Sorry, NY, not only does Philly have you beat when it comes to great places to buy and drink craft beer (another subject entirely), but Grom trails Capagiro Gelato in so many ways it is not even a race.

Yikes, keep those clear bottles out of direct sunlight or you will wind up drinking one skunky lager.

It has become a tradition on the UNC sports message boards for someone to start a BBQ thread every now and again. You would be surprised how many partisans from one side of the state refuse to eat the BBQ from the other. If I can make a generalization, I find that those on the Eastern side of the state tend to be a bit more parochial than those on the Western side but I think there may be more to that than just the method of cooking a pig.

I like all kinds of BBQ so I never take sides. I'll just zig-zag back and forth across the street and follow the scent.

My wife and I took our then 10 year old daughter to Munich a couple of years ago. One evening, we ordered tongue in a cream sauce at a restaurant without telling our daughter what we had ordered. She loved it and ate virtually the whole plate. After we informed her of what she had eaten, her attitude changed entirely but the lesson did sink in, although at 12, she would now only admit it in a moment of temporary sanity. Despite the advances in American dining habits over the last 50 years, offal remains somewhat of a taboo in American kitchens and restaurants. Over the last few years, I have seen a few restaurants pushing the envelope in this area but most are content to react rather than challenge their customers.

Here's my totally personal take on my two favorite markets - one from my old hometown of Charlotte and one from my new hometown of Greensboro The Greensboro Curb Market: Gots: Influence of Slow Food Movement is significant Elcectic mix of purveyors A variety of bakers from the individual to commercial categories Lebanese items from Zaytoun Fresh seafood, locally raised meat and poultry Goat Lady Dairy The Garlic Lady Amish goods (Mennonite, maybe - hope not to offend) Various purveyors of flowers, knick-knacks and condiments Focaccia at 9:30 Needs: Good coffee Somebody to sell micro greens Cooking demonstrations Better selection of heirloom tomatoes The Matthews Community Farmers Market Gots All locally-grown produce Assorted baked items Signolia's Balsamic Vinaigrette Tomato Joes heirloom tomatoes Weekly cooking demonstrations by some of Charlotte's best chefs The Koenigsberg family stand Two growers selling micro greens Needs: More ethnic purveyors More shade A better sense of place (it lacks a bit of the southern influence)

I had a cup of coffee at Java Passage just last week. I think the owner may have recently split up with her husband, based on a conversation I overheard as I was filling my cup. Perhaps that was what was behind the For Sale rumors.

A picture is worth 1000 words so that post must be worth 6000. I kept looking at the photos and that could have been the meal we had at Osteria about a week ago. I think only the pizza was different (we had the Lombarda) and we didn't have an espresso. Oh, and we also had the vegetable antipasti. In general it was very good - there were some highs and a notable low. The best thing was the vegetable antipasti that featured small taste bites of powerfully flavored vegetables. The pizza and pasta dishes were all excellent; nothing to complain about but we didn't get wildly ecstatic about them, either. The one disappointment was the roasted lamb dish. Well-done lamb gets that muttony taste and this dish was no exception and it wasn't saved, for us, by the inventive lamb-based stuffing. We went on a Tuesday night and were easily accommodated, even though they had lost the record of the reservation I had made. The waitstaff was well-trained and helpful. Overall, a very nice meal but after having dined at Ansill the night before, it fell short of being our most memorable meal in Philadelphia.

I visited the Victory brewery in Downingtown last weekend and had a pint of what they called, simply, Dry Stout. From your description, it sounds almost identical to the Donnybrook Stout and, on their website, the beer list at the restaurant appears to have substituted the Donnybrook Stout for the Dry Stout. What I drank was truly extraordinary, it packed a wallop of flavor (pun intended, for those who know Victory) for a beer with less than 4% alchohol and is a nice complement to the Storm King for their beer lineup. The other beer I tried while I was there was Uncle Teddy's Bitter, which was also a fine an example of the style. With most breweries seeking to outdo each other on the hops or the abv or barrel aging, these days, it was nice to see one of America's best breweries offering two low abv beers in the English tradition that were packed with flavor. I would certainly like to see other breweries sit up and take notice of what Victory is doing.