phaelon56

Little known but true fact - if you ever hope to refinish your hardwod flors every so many years by just buffing out the top surface and having a new topcoat put on... you should never clean them with anythign other than plain water or at most, some water with a few drops of liquid dishwashing detegergent in the bucket. Most cleaners will leave waxy residues in the interstices of the poly finish and recoating after a simple buff-out will result in orange peeling of the new finish. Murphy's Oil Sopa is the absolute worst offender (this is according to the guy who installed and finished my hardwod flors and he's been inthe business for many years). If you inherited hardwods in the house when you moved in, it's safe to assume that you'll need to sand in order to refinish. If you have new floors installed or existing oens refinished - heed the above. It's relatively cheap and easy to get a recoat every 5 - 7 years rather than a complete sanding.

I don't think exterior temps and humidity (or that inside the house) should make a difference. Isn't the interiror of a refrigerator a temp and humidty controlled environment in the same manner that an AC unit not only reduces temp in the house but reduces humidity? IIRC the key was temoerature - he suggested putting the roast toward the bottom of the fridge and towards the back in order to get the coolest spot but they did show him measurung the temp first to determine whether he needed to adjust the fridge up or down to get the target temp. I recognize that the effects of dry aging are not to everyone's likning nor are the risks but seems worth a try as a way of improving the cuts of meat most of us will have to contend with for home cooking.

I found some Cuban Peaberry at a Vancouver BC roaster. Unfortunately it's not available in the US legally due to the embargo (don't get me started on THAT!). Peaberry coffee (which refers to the small round bean type) is generally a high grade regardless of origin. I suspect that the delicious coffee you had may have been this. Coffee is also grown in the Guantanemo region but I think it's of a lower quality (most likely in part due to lower altitude).

I keep forgetting to do this when making espresso at home. It's a neat trick and works really well - it is distinctly different than just adding sugar afterwards and works really well. One of the many places where I skip espresso drinks and go straight for the cafe con leche (in addition to NYC) is the Miami area. NOt only is it usually better, it typically costs 1/3 to 1/2 as much at most.

I just saw a rerun of the Alton episode in which he dry ages a rib roast in the home refrigerator before cooking it. Couldn' seem to find the recipe on his page or ythe Good Eats Fan page but here's a link to it at a Weber smoker site Alton's Dry-Aged Rib Roast He used a rectangular Tuuperware style container for aging, - inverted so the juices would run down to the edges of the inside, waway from the meat, and with small holes poked in the exterior for the air to circulate. Aparently, putting in the lower back portion of most refrigerators will get you in the required 33 to 36 degree range. The againg will cause about a 10% weight loss in hte meat and is said to intensify flavor but I haven't tried it myself.

The most significant factors were probably the fact that the beans were of good quality, recently roasted, freshly ground and properly prepared. These factors alone (or should I say the lack of many of them) are what account for so much mediocre coffee being served in many restaurants. I'd be curious to know how they're preparing it - some Caribbean countries use the method whereby coffee is finely ground, steepd in water that's just off the boil and then poured through a cloth filter. Coffee prepared in thsi fashipn can be excelent - some of the best I've ever had. Here's in the northeast, the Spanish restaurants (Cuban or otherwise) often use an espresso machine to make a lungo (long draw) with finely ground dark roast coffee. It's basically a tall espresso style coffee. Even the places using a cheap and ubiquitous brand like Bustelo often turn out a cafe con leche that's better than any Starbucks latte. The item that is not routinely available in the US but is said to be of excelent quality is real Cuban beans - those grown in Cuba. has anyone here tried them?

For those of you who read the linked article I propose a question about this remark: This was a statement made to Steingarten and his dining partner by the wine steward at Le Circque. Is this implying that when they decant a pricey wine that someone ELSE has paid for..... the "spillage" sometimes makes its way into a glass destined to be a freebie for some more privileged guest? Perhaps I'm reading into this but it sure seems that way....

Yes.... sometimes the experience is the key. NOt the best drink I'd ever had but one of the most memorable due to circumstances was at a small Italian restaurant on Caye Caulker, an island off the coast of Belize. After a week of marginal coffee at best and a couple of horrid cappuccino's, I was amazed to be served the REAL thing, Italian style. Turns out that the owner was a native of Milan Italy and used straight Guatemalan beans and an old La Pavoni lever machine. He joined me at the table to chat about coffee, food and life. It was one of the most memorable meals and coffee experiences I ever had.

I don't drink but I also don't care what other people (European or otherwise) think about how/what I order at what time in a restaurant. Dessert wines are not an option for me but I agree that coffee/espresso is an excellent pairing with desserts, as are still waters. At one point in a different foruim I proposed that someone should offer a coffee and dessert flight - either a chocolate and espresso pairing featuring a variety of chocolate types and esespreso blends or perhaps demitasse cups of straight black varietals paired with appropriate samples of desserts. This latter pairing is more practical and with thermal press pots and demi tasse cups on a dessert cart would be easy enough to execute for parties of four. Now that I have a real house again with a big kitcjen and space to entertain.... I may just do this some weekend when I throw a housewarming party. I think cheese should be after dessert - definitely.

A friend who was raised in Jamaica informs me that American country music was second behind reggae in her household growing up. Apparently it's very popular in many parts of the West Indies.

Points well made. I think that is very true about people going out of their way. I'll hop in the car and drive many miles to visit a cafe with excellent espresso and good atmosphere. Starbucks is where I stop when it's convenient. When I worked in NYC and walked from 42nd Street to 34th each morning on the way to work, there were four Starbucks in that short stretch - all of them busy every day. NYC is dying for good independent espresso cafe operators but the cost of doing business may be a factor that keeps them out. Regardless, most of those that are already there are not doing a good job of producing quality product - the majority are as good as Starbucks at best and often inferior.

Thank you Alex - this really is an excellent article - probably one of the best I've read that details not only the history behind Starbucks phenomenal growth but also the issue of competition. The good news is that unlike mega-retailers like Wal-Mart, who can crush the little guy simply by offering larger inventory and lower prices, Starbucks has to compete, to some extent, in the quality arena. As more people become attuned to and appreciative of real quality coffee and espresso, independent cafes are ideally positioend to not only retain their market share when Starbucks comes to their neighborhood but actually increase their volume. Starbucks won't go away but it's not about to drive well run independent cafes out of business any more than Applebee's is going to drive out a good locally owned and operated restaurant that offers good food. The biggest issue, as always, is educating the consumer.

I weould say the same of Markt as well. the food is fine but it's a "scene" place (or was when I was there a couple years ago) and seems to be a bigger attraction for people watching at the bar than it is for food. La Luncheonette out on 10th Ave at W. 18th might also be a good choice. It has decidedly more of a bistro atmosphere than Steak Frites. Haven't eaten there but have heard good things.

Perhaps not in the same class as Balthazar but a bit more moderately priced and generally easier to get a table at is Steak Frites on West 16th (or 17th?). They're a block or two west of Union Square. I've had better frites (by a small margin) elsewhere but the hanger steak was good, the mussels were excellent and we never felt rushed or pressured to move along, even though we were there for a couple hours.

There's a new soul food place that pened on Tryon Street Rte 29 just recently. It's out a ways from downtown - 4 or 5 miles if I recall correctly. They have a few tables for eatoing in but do mostly takeout business. It's on the left as you're heading north and I think it's about a mile past where Tryon splits. On some of my visits there I had decent soul food takeout from the Chicken Box but my friends tell me this new place is much better - the BBQ pigs feet and greens are supposed to be really rockin' It's called "To The Bone" and I'm sorry I don't have a specific address but I just visit Charlotte - not a resident.

As yet another food lover who does not consume alcohol (for all the right reasons ) , I'm often in this dilemma. I have always consumed some kind of liquid with meals and find it necessary not only to cleanse the palate but for making consumption of the food more pleasant. As a digestif preceding the meal I will often order a tonic water with a splash of Rose's lime juice or better yet, if I'm fortunate enough to be in a place that has fresh lime juice available, a glass of tonic with about 3/4 oz of lime juice mixed in. To me, de-alcoholized wines are pointless. Bully Hill, a NY state vintner with some okay wines, used to offer both red and white grape juice but they are both sweet. The flavor, particularly of the white, is much more complex than ordinary grape juice, as they are made from wine grapes. There are two problems with the Bully Hill product - first, the swetness, especially of the red and second, they're no loonger easy to obtain unless you buy by the case direct from the vintner. My drink of choice at the moment is Ame (pronunced ahh-may). It's nnon-alcoholic in nature, has herbal essences in addition to grape extracts for flavor and is much lighter and less sweet than any of the other non-alcoholic beverages I've tried. The Rose is a trifle too sweet for my taste, the red is a bit heavier bodied and interesting and the white is very good - nice and crisp with just a hint of sweetness. The trace of efferevescence is light - it does not have the characteristics of a carbonated beverage. If you're in the Northeast it is available at most Wegmans supermarkets at about $5 or $6 per bottle . It's now available online for ony $2.49 for 330 ml bottles but the 750 ml bottles like Wegmans carries are $4.99 - I imagine shipping bumps the cost up considerably. The web site lists a "dry" version that I haven't tried but it sounds like an ideal alternative to white wine. The only good apple based beverage I've tried that might be a nice alternative with food is Cidona but I have yet to see it outside of Ireland.

I beg to differ - doesn't anyone else remember Charles Nelson Reilly? Then again... perhaps so few took him seriously that the quote still speaks for itself

I'll take a guess and say the the bar with the swing in the window is Mako's. The bartender did the 151 rum flamthrower trick a few times, blowing a spray of 151 out of her mouth across a lighter - falmes were about four feet loing and alsmost singed my eyebrows whil I was standing at the bar. The dance club was porbably Tongue and groove as it's one of the only integrated clubs there but I do recall that it was a few doors away from Mako's. I was dragged to Buckhead by a late 20 something party-boy colleague while on a work trip to Atlanta. I found the whole scene there to be unexciting at best and actually a trifle depressing but to each their own. Word is that it's gone even further downhill in the past two years since I was there.

Then there was the nightclub/disco I visited in the Bucktown section of Atlanta. This was not an upscale place and the bathrom didn't even have a stall assembly - just a toilet and a urinal. It was barely big enough to turn around in but they STILL had an attendant! I offered him a $2 tip to wait outside while I relieved myself. Just too bizarre. This was not the place where the girls in bikinis swing out over the sidewalk from the window and offer you $10 rides with them on the swing but it's just a few doors away.

I love stories like this. The hike up the Inca trail is on my list of "must dos" for completion in the next three years before either I'm too old to do it comfortably or travel on it becomes restricted. Stumptown - yeah.... they rock. Where else can you get coffee by the cup at a competitive price that's made perfectly with press pots all day long? (the notion is inconceivable to nearly any independent cafe, even the good ones)

That may be the case in many restaurants, where "gourmet" desserts oftenm come frozen from a specialty dessert wholesaler and are often just an over sweet and rich confection that looks pretty but lacks true character and subtlety. I lack the fine dining experience of the average egulleteer but I have had dinner in many places that offer some outstanding desserts made on premises. In most cases the coffee offered in these places has been below average and the espresso abominable. I've always been of the opinion that the little "extras", if they are of exceptional or even above average quality, are one of the things that make dining out special, appeal to many people if done properly and most significant, are potentially a very significant source of high margin extra revenue for restarauteurs. Krisdata - not sure what restaurants in Chicago offer really good coffee and/or espresso but you might try having an espresso at Intelligentisa Roasters and ask if there are any local restaurants they can suggest that use their product and do a good job of preparing it. Intelligentsia has some phenomenally good espresso blends that are popular enough to be ordered by Internet and shipped to espresso fiends throughout the US and Canada.

Tavern on the Green has been discussed to death in the Travel Talk foru at Fodors.com The majority of responses are to tthe effect of "don't go there the food's terrible" or "go for drinks and the view but eat elsewhere" but some are from people who liked the food. Despite that similarity to the threads here, I suspect that if you post a carefully structured inquiry there as you did here, you may get some more helpful and more specific responses. That board most likely has some people who may have eaten there of necessity when entertaining guests etc. but have reasonably discerning tastes. I'd be inclined to order something simple that has few elaborate preparation methods and rely on the quality of the ingredients. I'm thinkiing a good dry aged steak, the aforementioend caesar salad and then some really good wine or champagne. Throw in a dessert and it should be easy enough to spend $300. Word of caution - if they're going to a show or anything else with a defined arrival time afterwards, they should head the coat check with lots of time to spare. Rumor has it that the service there is terribly slow and inefficient.

I cross posted this in the Cooking forum and our resident smoking expert, Colonel Klink, weighed in with some thoughts. He agreed that particularly if thinly sliced, turkey could easily be smoked to completion with a very discernable smoky flavor in well under an hour. He suggests brining first. He had no experience with adding other components but assumes that if they're soaked first and allowed to smolder as the wood chips do. I believe the beans would need to be preroasted arther than green - I think it might take to long for the green beans to smolder. Samuellson's dish was described as "espresso bean smoked". I assume they mean espresso roasted beans (i.e. dark roast) rather than simply indicating that an espresso blend was used (not that dark roast is really "espresso roasted" per se).

I have a friend who lives in Red Hook Brooklyn and she shops there for specific things when she's in that neighborhood. She doesn't drive over to Manhattan JUST for that but when she's as far over as Union Square or points west, she makes it a point to go there for certain things she can't buy at her "regular" grocery store.

Just curious.... have you tried Hines Public Market Coffee. It's a bit off the beaten path relative to other Seattle espresso hotspots but I"m hearing that it's amazingly good and very consistent. I'm reading so many positive comments about people's coffee experiences in France. Not having traveled there (yet), I'm curious - is there a predominant roast style and prep method? Is it a dark roast and press pot ? (which would seem too easy an answer as we know those items as French Roast and French Press here in the US).