phaelon56

I already have a nice thick pizza stone that's been in use for a few years. It's rectangular and is just the right size to hold a thin stretched dough made from one half of a standard batch of dough. The 550 degrees that Tommy quotes is my concern... I suspected as much and was hoping for 600 or a tad higher. Now that I once again have a house rather than a third floor apartment I'm in a position to get a new grill and want to choose wisely. Is the forced air induction a home-built modification or is there a consumer grill that includes this feature? I'm also wondering.... would more thermal mass = better heat stability and distribution - i.e. would a double thick layer of tiles or perhaps a layer of real brick with tile on top create a surface closer to what is used in a commercial pizza oven?

What it is.... is disgusting and a woefully inadequate substitute for real smoking. It's a liquid concentrate in a bottle that can be added to recipes needing a "smoky" flavor. Some commercial BBQ sauces contain it and there are some restaurants that will use it to achieve that flavor in their baked/boiled/grilled ribs. I would describe its relationship to the flavor profile achieved by real smoking as being akin to the difference between a cup of broth made from a bouillion cube and a cup of real chicken stock simmered for hours with bouquet garni. I'm probably being overly harsh in my assessment and it seems conceivable that in some recipes a tiny dash of it might be beneficial but I'm skeptical of such shortcuts (true confessions: if it works well enough I readily adopt such techniques at home - I'm a true believer in the "Better Than Boullion" products and alwasy keep their beef and chicken concentrates on hand in my fridge). The manufacturers of the better products (e.g. Colgin's) claim that it's made of real woodsmoke that's been captured and liquified, then bottled in a binder (vinegar, molasses, water etc) for your discerning use. It strikes me as being a bit like using bottled jerk sauce for making jerk - real jerk is a combination of spices and smoking - the bottled sauce only enables one to simulate it by coating the surface of the meat. That said.... I think the next hot products are Smoky Lotion and Liquid Smoke Cologne These innovative products are targeted at folks who wish to "smell like the bar before they leave the house" but in NY state that now has an entirely new cachet...

I would have simply revived the original thread but wanted a more pertinent title. There were only a few responses to the original quoted thread and all to the effect that gas grills were good for reheating pizza, the dough could be cooked by oiling and placing directly on the grill etc. - the original poster seemed to be the only one who had experiemented using the pizza stone inside the grill. My interest has been spurred by watching a video interview with the manager of John's Pizza on Bleecker Street in NYC. The slightly charred and crusty character of thin crust coal oven or wood fired pizza seems in great part dependent on the 600 degree temps achieved in these ovens. Can a gas grill achieve such internal temps? Do I need one with extra burners (e.g. two main burners plus the two extra warming burners) and have all of them fired up to the max the entire time? How supsceptable are gas grills to ambient temps? if I use it on a covered porch or in an open garage with 25 degree external temps, will it still achieve the desired 600 degree temp? Would some sort of thermal blanket aid in such a scenario? Comments based on experience, theoretical knowledge or even wild-ass guesses will all be appreciated (and yes.... I have made pizza many times in my regular gas oven at the max temp but strongly suspect that I'll achieve my desired results only with higher temps.

I'm in the camp that has a child (now an adult), truly enjoys being around young children and babies (when they're not being totally obnoxious) and also sympathizes with folks who find that having young ones radically alters their life but hey... YOU SIGNED UP FOR IT. I eat out in high end resaturants only on rare occasions and consider them (the restaurants) to be appropriate for adult experience. There may be the occasional baby or toddler who is so remarkably well behaved that they could be taken into almost any environment and not be a distraction for other diners but those kids are and exception. Regardless.... if this practice becomes a problem at any estabishment it's on the proprietors to establish and enforce the ground rules. I'd put up with the toys on the floor and whining and crying of young patrons only once before voting with my wallet and dining elsewhere in the future.

I have not read it but prior to your post I'd also never heard of the magazine. Magazine articles that just scratch the surface of a topic but fail to go deep are a pet peeve of mine. It appears that there is only one store in my area that that carries it. The history of coffee in Ethiopia and its continuing role in their culture could fill an entire book yet it's a topic I've rarely seen discussed in more than a few paragraphs in contemporary publications (books and magazines included).

NYC filtered tap water (e.g. run through a Britta filter) is IMHO as good as any water you'll get anywhere in the US. I lived until recently in Norh Jersey where the tap water is disgusting but NYC's is pretty good. Despite how bad the Jersey water was, the Britta made even it palatable. No need to waste money buying bottled water to make your espresso or moka.

Happy Holidays to you too. I'm sure Gordon can help you with Rochester. The only ethnic I've personally tried in Rochester is Mamasan's, a Viet-Thai place. Pretty good food and a few items I haven't seen elsewhere including sour curry, a rather interesting flavor combination. Syracuse: IMHO Mai Lan has gotten very overpriced. I love the lady who runs it - she's a sweetheart - the whole family is nice. Regrettably, I've gotten dishes other than the ones I ordered on a few occasions last year and they also screwed up the iced coffee w/condensed milk. Not sure what's going on there but I'm now a regular at New Century on Kirkpatrick Street. As you're heading north on Salina from downtown Syracuse turn right on Kirkpatrick and go about four blocks up - it's on the right (Kirpatrick is a few blocks past Assumption Church and just before Aunt Josie's restaurant. New Century is good and moderately priced. Great pho, very good spring rolls and the iced coffee is the best I've had anywhere. I especially like their broken rice dishes and also the House Fried Rice. It's not at all like Chinese fried rice and is worth a try. The third place is Saigon Cafe on Park Street about four blocks south of Kirkpatrick. Nice enough people and the atmosphere is okay but the food's just not as good. It's in the original Danzer's location if you're familiar with Syracuse restaurant history. I've tried two Puerto Rican restaurants and know of a third. The original is Don Juan cafe at the corner of Grand Ave and South Geddes. Take West Fayette or Erie Blvd West out of downtown Syracuse, left on Geddes and go about a 1/2 mile or so - Grand sort of "Y"s off to the right. there's a small relatively new brick plaza with two buildings that has a carwash, laundromat and Don Juan. Look for the green awning. I tried them four of five years ago when they first opened and then again this summer. I thought they were not as good this time - the roast pork portion was still generous but not as tasty. They used to have frozen pasteleo's at a reasonable price that I loved keeping at home in the freezer but now have them only around the holidays. Across the street about 100 feet past Grand on the left is Las Delicias - really nice and friendly family operation. I had sopa de pollo, salad and stewed chicken with yellow rice. generous portions and moderate prices. Both of these places tend to close early (sometimes earlier than 7 PM andf on occasion I find that they're not even open). The third "Spanish" place is on the West Street arterial by the corner of Adams. This is a few hundred feet before West Street hits Onondaga - it's on the north side of the street. Syracuse has three Jamaican restaurants and I can happily recommend The Jerk Huk (aka Bongo's place). It's on South Ave on the left about three blocks past where South Ave begins at West Onondaga Street. It's directly across the street from the Southwest Community Center - some think of this as a tough neighborhood (there is a bit of truth to this) but I've never ever had a problem and the people inside (both staff and customers) have always been very nice. The Jerk Fish in particular is exceptional and very hot. I also them by recommend the bean pie that is supplied to them by a local mosque - it's wonderful. I cannot recommend Mama Gee's at Fayette and Columbus both because it's a rough corner and they usually seem to be out of almost everything except one or two items (and since when is a Jamaican restaurant out of patties? They're almost always out and and it prompts me to wonder if it's just a front for something). Aquarius restaurant is on South Salina just south of Brighton but even I won't get out of the car at this corner to walk in there - translation is that this is VERY tough spot - not worth the trouble. There are two, possibly three soul food restaurants in Syracuse. The only one of the current three that I've tried is Ruby's and apart from excellent collard greens I was unimpressed. Lots of turnover in soul food places - the Davis Family restaurant is gone as is Smitty's. Smitty had killer fried chicken and I'll soon try the two newer places to see if one measures up.

That's pretty amazing for Ottawa. Do you use artificial light and tightly controlled heat and humidity? (and do you have space for about 100 mature plants, which is the number needed for a pound fo processed green coffee beans?).

Not surprising that Wegman's, a progressive (in marketing terms) upscale grocery chain here in the Northeast is ahead of the curve as usual. For well over five years, possibly longer, they've had a separate line of beef available in their stores that is labeled and supposedly inspected to ensure that it is "beef you can feel good about". No growth hormones, no animal based feeds etc. It's pricier but looks to be better quality than comparable cuts of their standard beef. I find it interesting that when my mother was a child (the early and mid 1930's) and was sent a few times each week to the butcher to buy ground beefe for the meatloaf, my grandmother ensured that she buy only beef that she watched them grind - she felt way back then that prepackaged ground beef was not to be trusted - you needed to pick your cut of chuck and watch the butcher grind it.

Two of the worst meals I've ever been served in someone's home (one was actually in a church reception hall but the food was made for the reception by the bride and her mother). Neither was supposed to be low fat by design but both were and they qualify. 1) The first dinner served by one of my college apartment mates early in the semester - his first night with cooking duties. he made 'Randy Z's famous lemon Chicken". His roomate the previous year had made this and he tried to replicate by memory. Here's how to do it: Take 2 skinless chicken thighs per person (big , tall hungry college guys no less), marinate them in a bottle of undiluted straight from the bottle RealLemon Juice for 24 hours and bake until not too rubbery. Place on plate with boiled brussel sprouts and serve. This was the meal. No kidding. We went to each cooking on our own the following week. 2) My cousin's new bride insisted on making all the food for their wedding reception hereself. It was.... totally macrobiotic with the most basic and fundamental foodstuffs, none of which had been seasoned in any way, processed, cooked or altered unless it was in such a way as to make them taste worse than they would if eaten totally raw. The weirdest thing was that most of it looked like "real food". Instead of sneaking out to smoke a joint, everyone was sneaking out in groups to a nearby McDonalds to grab something orderline edible before coming back and pretending they'd eaten something good at the reception.

Jospeh Schmidt ConfectionsA bit less high end than Jacques Torres but delivering a good product via Internet or phone orders is Joseph Schmidt of San Francisco. I've found their delivery to be reliable and the truffles as good as most of the Belgian products I've ever tried.

Starbucks espresso certainly isn't the best but for many of us it is sometimes the only thing available when we're in certain locations or better than the alternatives. Starbucks tends to make their cappuccinoos with an excess of very dry foam - I prefer the texture of the lattes but there's just waaaaay too much milk relative to the amount of espresso. I have adopted the habit of ordering a quad shot (two doubles) in a grande size cup (16 oz). This usually has about the right ratio of espresso to milk (I prefer a ratio that has a bit more espresso than this but that requires higher quality espresso shots than the 'bucks offers). Here's the good news: Starbucks has "short" cups. These are 8 oz cups and they are not listed as an available size on the menus or price boards. Just order a double shot Tall latte, ask that it be served in a "short" cup and clarify that you're okay with paying for a "Tall". You'll get a roughly 3 to 1 milk to espresso ratio and a pretty decent drink as such things go.

Had to chuckle when I saw a character name with an obscure coffee reference in a movie last night. We were watchi "The Shipping News" Kevin Spacey. His aunt/mother is played by (I think) Judith Anderson. She hires an assistant for her upholstery business, who is iontroduced as "Mavis Banks". Mavis Banks is the most famous and generally considered to be the most reliable of all the coffee plantations in Jamaica's Blue Mountain region.

I'll just pray that should I ever have a woman in the house with me full time (wife or otherwise), our differences should be so mutually beneficial!

I see your point. Even if he does not get the restaurant's coffee at Starbucks, your remark served to stir up some worthwhile discussion. I've had so much bad coffee in NYC that more often than not, when I'm in Manhattan, I also get my coffee at Starbucks. Apparently Jean-Georges and I travel in the same select circles (not)

To my way of thinking.... this only confirms a point that has been made on other threads relating to haute cuisine, "fine dining" restaurants and the abysmal coffee that is often served in them. Abysmal in the sense that it in no way approaches or comes near the level of or quality of coffee served at good cafe operations that understand the processes and principle of making excellent coffee. Sure.... Daniel Bouley, Jean-Georges and others aren't serving swill but no way are they serving really good, freshly roasted coffee that is made correctly. Why use Starbucks? Several possibilities.... 1) He's not a coffee drinker and doesn't know any better or perhaps has allowed some consultant or other "expert" tell him what coffee is "best". 2) A cozy arrangement with Starbucks. They're shrewd enough that it wouldn't shock me to see them paying a high profile restaurauteur for the privilege of serving their coffee in his restaurant. Kind of a "product placement" deal. The very fact that you are aware of what brand they're using indicates that there's a successful marketing twist of some sort going on. No slight intended against you Tommy - it just serves as another confirmation of Starbucks marketing genius - people think of the company name as the coffee type rather than even identifying with a specifc varietal they truly enjoy. Ask many peope and they'll say their favorite coffee is Starbucks. Ask me and I'll identify the varietals I like best (Sumatra Mandheling, Ethiopian Harrar and Mexican Altura being among them) 3) It's an easy compromise - using Starbucks coffee assures him of a reasonable consistency from one batch to the next, even if it's roasted too dark and may not be as good or as fresh as what he could get from a quality microroaster. Starbucks roasts dark to mask inconsistencies or variations betwen varous batches of beans. They're striving for corporate or mass market uniformity. Darker roasting maks sthe subtleties of flavor but ensures that batches form different farms, different gorwing seasons etc will yield a brew that tastes pretty much the same year in and year out. Like wines, the crops from different years have markedly different characteristics. Guatemala Antigua or Cost Rican Yauco Selecto is NOT the same every year or from every estate in the same way that not every presisng of wine from a particular grape grown in a specific vineyard is identical in quality. The 'bucks buys baens in such huge quantities that they're forced to do a dark ewr roast in order to maintain the uniformity they want. Think of it as the coffee version of table wine - can be consistently good and predictable - enjoyable enough to drink but never an evanescent or ethereal experience - lacks the subtlety to rise above. Please note that I'm no Starbucks basher, unlike many. The 'bucks is what it is and has its place. They've also done an admirable thing for coffee drinkers in general by raising the bar and forcing the competition to perform better. Unlike WalMart, who CAN drive out competition just by offering larger selections, deeper inventory levels and lower prices on commodity items, Starbucks does not sell on price. They are rarely if ever cheaper than the independent coffeehouses they compete against. If an independent fails when Starbucks moves into the neighborhod, it's because the independent is not doing a good job. The margins are already there for all to enjoy and the customers are driven by a combination of quality and shrewd marketing. I can also attest to the fact that I've tried their coffee at home and in the office. When I fix it myself and use the correct ratio of water to beans, it is far better than what they serve in their stores but is nowehere near to offering the subtlety of flavor and the freshness that I get from microroaster varietals or my own home roasts.

This point is SO crucial. Liquor sales are one of the largest potential sources of profit for a restaurantyet the bar operation is also the area that can bury a business in red ink if someone untrustworthy gets involved. So many cash transactions, pricey yet portable (and easily resalable) inventory .... When I waited table the only people who got to move up from the ranks of servers to work on the bar were known quantities to the restaurant owner - people he had some direct or indirect personal connection to.

I agree. It's red, not identifable as cherry, strawberry or any other specific fruit flavor - just tastes "tropical fruity" the way that Hawaiian Punch does. If you've ever to Latin America and tried Red Fanta..... they are very similar. When I've seen it here in hte Northeast US it has been under the name "Tahitian" rather than "Tahiti".

Having worked as a bartender in an entertainment venue and also for weekend gigs with a large catering service, I have at least some related experience. In my not so humble opinion, bartending school is a waste of time in terms of potential job opportunities relative to the money spent. I've spoekn to plenty of people who went to "bartending school" and not one got a job based on that training. My advice is to try finding a neighborhood bar with an pen-minded and friednly owner. Explain your goals and offer to work two nights a week as an unpaid "barback" for a few months, with the understanding that if you show the hustle and the grace under pressure, they'll let you get some training and experience. Parlay that into a job at a smaller establishment and then jump from there either directly into a higher volume restaurant asettign as an asisstant bartender or on the service bar. I stayed the course on workign for a caterer as it agreed better with my schedule and I never had to deal with the smoke issues (not a problem now in NY state due to the new laws but back then any "regular" bar was nearly always smoky). Also..... buy and read, over and over again, some books on drinks. learn the basic and learn the fancy ones. Unless you've targeted a college hangout, I would not worry too much about the wild drinks with names you've rarely if ever heard of. For more traditional or more upscale establishments you will need to know much more than just the basics but much of it come with experience. I also suggest getting some cheap liquor, some pouring tops (free pour tops - not the kind that do a measured pour) and a couple mixing glasses, a strainer, some vermouth etc. Practice, pratice and the more practice. It's easy enough to consistently free pour 1 oz or 1 1/2 oz shots but not until you've done it repeatedly and gotten a feel for timing your shots.

Earl Grey is still my favorite - there's a sort of smoky oiliness that I love but it has to have lemon and sugar for me to enjoy it properly. Just curious - have any of you tried yerba mate yet? It's not really tea and it ain't coffee. There's a new cafe in Ithaca NY that is focused on that as their signature beverage. I'm curious about the taste. I'll be down there in a week or two and will be checking it out.

Yes they're in places other than new Orleans also. Seattle has "Sit 'n Spin" - pretty hip place that has food and espresso drinks in the day, music and alcohol at night and a laundry all the the time (or so I recall). Back in my drinking days, my hometown Syracuse had the infamous "Lee's Businessman's Restaurant" (that's what the sign actually said). There were never any businessmen visible and they did not serve food. The owner stodd at the end of the bar all day handling the bets whilst admiring his horseshoe shaped diamond pinky ring. Yes.... they also had a laundromat and the godawful orange nylon windbreaker style jackets they gave to the most drunken regulars "Lee's: Wash your duds and drink some suds". I pulled one like Tommy describes - left my clothes in the washers at the end of one of the summer's hottest days. When I ermerged from a drunken stupor a day later and realized where they were the entire lot had become so mildew ridden they had to be discarded. Gosh... drinking was fun

Good points made all around. Is it possible that some cultures have some specific entrepeneurial traditions or have developed them for longer? (e.g. there are plenty of Chinese restaurants all over the place, even in communities with very few Asian families). I'd guess that there are plenty of Dominican owned bodegas in NYC. Or.... are cultures that have a tradition of dining out or buying prepared food out more likely to have a better developed base of restaurants? I'm clueless about this. Syracuse has a very small Mexican population and only one restaurant that has good Mexican food. That would be Alto Cinco but it's not traditional Mexican - more like hip bistro fare with some very good Mexican and Mexican influenced dishes on the menu. We have a few "real" Mexican restaurants also - Juanita's, which is over the hill and newcomer Jalapeno's, which is trying hard and has potential but lacks atmosphere and spiciness (at least they use shredded beef instead of ground beef in the enchiladas and burritos, unlike Juanita's. Syracuse has three... count 'em.... three Puerto Rican restaurants. Their gradual appearance has seemed to directly parallel the gradual growth of the Hispanic population. Likewise, as the Hmong and Vietnamese population in this area increased and became more affluent, eventually there were (and still are) three Vietnamese restaurants. Unfortunately, the Puerto Rican places are in most cases not open at all in the evening and in others are closed by 7 PM. Even gettoing takeout at that time is not always ideal because the freshest food seems to be prepared and served by early to mid afternoon. I no longer consider Chinese or Italian to be "ethnic" dining as they are so mainstream and ubiquitous in this area. We do have two Polish restaurants, both good, a few soul food restaurants that are very inconsistent, two Indian, one Greek and several Thai. Apart from the Thai restaurants, none of the others seem to be thriving. They hang in there but that's about all. Rochester has an Ethiopian place but I won't be trying that until I have a few people to join me - sharing is one of the most enjoyable aspects for me when I enjoy Ethiopian food. Have we considered the socioeconomic/cultural factors? Syracuse is a very nuch a blue collar town in many respects. less so than in the past but that aura still lingers. Is it conceivable that overall educational level of the population, income levels and the experiences afforded by that income (i.e. travel and exposure to other cultures) have a direct bearing on how werll the market support ethinc restaurants. There are some cuisines that, with a moderate amount of marketing effort, would have broad appeal even in conservative areas like Syracuse. I have yet to meet a meat eater who doesn't love Peruvian style grilled chicken. Just a thought...

Frikadella - does that mean it was you in the room next door to me at the Clifton NJ HoJo a few weekends ago? As for good coffee at work - we found a solution that really works but required stepping up to the plate financially. Four of us who are serious about coffee kicked in just over $80 each and bought a refurbished Saeco Veneto superauto espresso machine from Aabree Coffee. We take turns buying beans. This liottle machine grinds, tamps and dispensed anything from a psuedo espresso shot up to a 10 oz "regular coffee". It's not worth a darn for making real espresso and the steaming power makes it inadvisable for cappas but it makes a GREAT cup of regular coffee and very good Americanos. It needs the bin with pucks of spent grounds to be emptied a couple times a day and I clean it once each week (about a 5 - 10 minute process). I'm really amazied that after six months of constant use (ten to twenty cups per day, sometimes more, five days per week) it still just chugs along. We just take turns bringing in half pound bags of good beans.

It will also do a respectable job of grinding for espresso - it's one of the few grinders available in the under $200 range (new price not used) that is suitable for espresso. When you move up into higher end espresso machines ($700-$1,200 range), there are tangible benefits to a higher end grinder like a Rocky or Mazzer Mini but for basic decent espresso machines the Maestro Plus is a perfect match. I used one for a year or two with my Gaggia Baby and was very pleased with the performance of both.

I think you can trust that Aabree will take care of you. Aabree, 1st Line and Chris Coffee are the three vendotrs that seem to have the best word-of-mouth reputations for follow up service. One of the others who is well known and has good prices plus an excellent web site is Whole Latte Love but they get very mixed reviews for their customer service after the sale. I think you'll like the Plus. I had the original Maestro before upgrading to Mazzer Mini and was very happy with mine. If I was just doing drip and press pot coffee I would have kept the Maestro but 90% of my activity is now espresso and a better grinder helps a bit in espresso consistency.