phaelon56

Might it also be a soft opening by invitation? No media unless they are frineds of the owners but assorted other friends, family etc. are invited for a few evenings to enjoy meals gratis while the kitchen and front end staff get to work out some bugs and develop a working pace together. I don't know if this is done in NYC but even here in backwater Syracuse it's a common practice for enlightened restarauteurs opening a new location.

The Hausbrandt will soon be available here in the US. Here's the Hausbrandt Thread They're opening a cafe in Philadelphia.

I think this is a cart before the horse phenomonen. Are these restarauteurs just planning to wait indefinitely until enough of the population tries good espresso by chance in the US or perhaps travels to Italy and tastes the real deal? How will the average American consumer develop the ability to recognize good espresso and espresso based drinks unless someone exposes them to it? I think it's Marketing 101 that if you want people to buy espresso after dinner, it may be necessary to give some away gratis or cheap on a REAL special so that people will try it. What restaurant is this?

Call me a barbarian (there would be some merit) but like many folks.... I don't drink alcohol. Beer generally has screw tops and I use 8 oz bottles of Merlot or Chardonnay for cooking - they also have a screw top. That said.... I've always kept a bottle opener and corkscrew on hand, even back in the days before I really cooked.

Having been relegated to a small kitchen for several years witha minimum of counter space, I developed a similar practice (probably after seeing it on the TV cooking shows where the practice is so ubiquitous. I now tend to prepare and cut ingredients all in advance (I cover and refrigerate some if the time that will elapse before cooking is protracted). It's just so helpful to have all those little and medium bowls full of stuff ready to throw in the pan or pot as cooking begins. Apart from that I think everyone else has covered it nicely. Unless I missed it, no one has mentioned a sharpening stone and a bottle of mineral oil. I use the oil on the stone and also to keep my wooden cutting board moisture resistant. I have yet to spring for the fancy high carbon knives - I just use some Dexter Russel stainless with the white plastic handles - they're the sort of generic house knives that you'll find in many restaurant prep kitchens (vs the knife sets that belong to individual chefs or cooks). The work fine for me but one has to kep up with the sharpening and the little sharpening wheels just don't do the job - a stone is essential.

Being totally clueless in such matters and also havi8ng been in the midst of my pre egullet era, I once bought a Black and Decker vegetable Steamer/Rice Cooker. It did a good job of steaming vegetables and an okay but not great job of cooking rice. It was a bit less than convenient to clean and wore out (stopped heating up) aftr 18 months of moderate use (once or twice every week at most). I replaced it with a generic simple rice cooker from a mass market discoutn store. It may be West Bend but I won't swear to that. It has nothing but an on/off switch and a light that tells you when the rice is cooked. I always use 1 3/4 cup water to 1 cup of pre-rinsed rice (rince and drain twice in warm water to remove excess starchiness). It seems to do a better job if I go just a trifle shy on the water amount but apart from the that it works well and at $25 or under, is a good bet for the solo artist like me who cooks rice no more than once or twice each week and just reheats the old stuff the rest of the time. It would probably do a better job with good Japanese rice but I always use Canilla long grain. I still find the canill aot be best when coked in a sauce pan but the cooker is so easy that it ends up being the default prep method.

I'm in the midst of reading a compilation of Tom Wolfe's short stories and just finished "The Last American Hero" (I think that's what it was entitled). It's a magazine piece that offered up a portrait of legendary stock car racer Junior Johnson. Wolfe does a wonderful job in the piece of detailing the historical connections between bootlegging and the development of NASCAR.

It sounds very similar to Mayan Hot Chocolate I'd try following the recipe on the linked page but start out with a smaller amount of chili or just add a dash of some good chili powder. Prior to nosing around on this page I had always used the terms "hot cocoa" and "hot chocolate" interchangeably but obviously they are quite different from one another.

Its a great flavor combo, isn't it? Although I have a god espresso machien and pull grat shots at home regularly, it has to warm up for 45 - 60 minutes before use and I usually have it turned on only in the early AM. I keep a jar of Medaglia d'Oro instant espresso in the freezer for purposes like this and it's waaaaay better than instant coffee ro regular coffee for cooking. On a side note: I'm a native of Syracuse and really know what snowstorms are like. I move back here several months ago but had plans in NYC this weekend. My friends were stunned when I decided to forge ahead with my travel plans. I found driving inbound on Rte 80 from the Delware Water Gap on Friday night to be a breeze and had no difficulty whatever managing to get into Hoboken for Saturday breakfast followed by a drive into the city for the rest of the day. I was especially happy when one of the two eguleteers who had agreed to meet up for the Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony at Ghenet managed to appear (thanks Hiroko!). Good time had by all but I think the next visit will be in better weather as all my other plans were postponed or cancelled by those who had scheduled them.

Couldn't help myself.... kind of like looking at a bad car wreck.... I stumbled across Iron Chef USA last night and watched the whole thing. If elt that they screwed it up by trying to hard to "Americanize" it but I'll leave that discussion for general food topics. The theme ingredient was turkey. One of the two competitors was Marcus Samuelsson of Aquavit. He had some sliced turkey that he put in a smoker of some sort with alderwood - the commentators (who were highly annoying) mentioned that he had added coffee beans and cinnamon as well, for additional flavor. The entire start to finish process lasts exactly one hour - from the first prep stages to final plating. My questions are multiple.... 1) If it's thinly sliced, can you actually cook turkey effectively in a smoker in 45 minutes or less? 2) If it was partially or fully precooked would that make a difference? 3) Will preroasted coffee beans and/or cinnamon sticks smolder enough to be effective and will the flavor really be discernable in the meat with such a relatively short time in the smoker? The possibilities seem intriguing if this method has merit but I wonder if it's more hype than it is a tangible flavor that one can detect in the food.

I think your points are well taken, Michael. For me it's a matter of convenience - I actually find it easier to just have one jar or package out and available at room temp all the time. Until I can finally start doing my own roasting again (in just a few short weeks), I've been making do with buying half pound lots of fresh roasted espresso blend from a local roaster and been very happy with it. I do expect to be roasting and freezing more for use as drip coffee in the future as I only make drip coffee at home on the weekends or if comapny is over.

Back in the days when I drank... we would sometimes start the evening with a drink that got us "up to speed" quickly in terms of blood alcohol level but it's actually still a good drink for those who sip and drink slowly. Rum Float: make a rum sour, heavy on the light rum and not overly sweet and pour into a tall glass with ice, ensurign to leave about 2" clear in the top of the glass. Now pour your favorite dark rum gently into the top of the drink - pouring it slowy over the back of a bar spoon helps this to work properly. If done correctly, the dark wum will float on the top of the drink. Consume with a straw, taking a partial sip of the rum sour and pulling straw upwards to get some of the dark rum in each sip. As the ice melts and the glass is getting emptied, the drink retains some punch due to the presence of the initally undiluted dark rum.

Actually.... there's a guy who posts regularly on the Sweet Maria's mailing list who roasts over pecan wood and swears by it. Mr. Espresso, an Oakland CA based commercial roaster, uses oak to roast their espresso blend and they indicate that it's due to the evenness of the temperature that they do so. I don't think the taste of the oak is evident but they do make a mighty fine coffee and one that I really enjoyed before I got into home roasting. You could use a rotisserie and perforated drum arrangement akin to what people use for gas grillroasting. I have also heard of people trying, with some success, the old fashioned popcorn poppers that are designed for making popcorn over a campfire or in a fireplace.

It really is best to repack the larger quantity (be it a half pound bag, a pound or even larger) into smaller bags/packages like ziplocs. I tend to pack it into bags that provide for about a three day supply. Thawing at room temp BEFORE opening the package is important. Moisture is a primary culprit in reducing the quality of roasted coffee. Separate small packs eliminates the chance of moisture getting in when you pull some from the freezer. I used to just pull beans straight fromt he freezer from a large container and grind them frozen but I've shifted gears and now do the repacking and thawing - I think it helps a bit.

I have been there once and was very impressed, perhaps more so by the overall atmosphere and service than the food. Don't get me wrong.... the food was excellent but it was the overall experience that made it most memorable. I have little experience with high end restaurants but my dining companion, who has eaten at Nobu, Bouley, Daniel etc felt that it was very good - perhaps not quite up there with the best but very good. I think it was the friendly yet unobtrusive nature of the service that impressed me the most. We had reservations for the earliest seating time due to plans for attending a show. The dining room was not quite ready to open at the appointed time and we were immediately offered a Danube cocktail gratis. My friend enjoyed hers as well as mine (no alcohol for me). IIRC we had a $75 tasting menu and I was mostly impressed by the food - nice presentation, subtle combinations of flavors although not too daring in any respect. One of our mains was roast suckling pig - the first and only time I've had it and I thought the flavor was delicate but needed some balance that was lacking. It was my birthday and they comped us one dessert without any such suggestions on our part. The chocolate souffle is the signature dessert - very good but a trifle too dry in the center for my taste. The creme brulee they comped us was IMHO better executed. Overall, a truly memorable evening and a place I would visit again. The room is high ceilinged, very subdued, remarkably quiet for a NYC restaurant and has Klimt (or Klimt style) paintings adorning verious areas - a very romantic feel.

Hey Guajalote - it's totally off topic for the C&T forum but in light of your current sig line.... this post in General Food Topics should be of interest The Bologna Car Seat

This arouses my curiosity. perhaps slightly off-topic but insteresting is that a friend's wife who is Brazilian advised me that in Brazil, the fruit we call lemons are referred to as "limes" and are cheap and abundantly available. The fruit we call limes are known as 'Egyptian lemons" and difficult to find in stores (they apear to eb about as common as Meyer lemons are here in the US).

Have you tried using boiling hot water with an oxygenated cleaner in it ? (e.g. Oxyclean). I suppose something like Tarn-X might work although theoretically it is designed for silver. If neither for these solutions work it may actually be some sort of impurity in the steel that has surfaced with age and can't be fixed.

Details are finalized (Anko - I accidentally deleted your email with contact info - call me if you dont' see my PM first). Where: Ghenet at 248 Mulberry Street just south of Houston When: Sat Dec 6th at 4 PM Reservations won't be needed and we have four people lined up so far but more are welcome. Anyone who wants to join in but may be a few minutes late just call me and leave a voice mail so I'll know how many chairs we'll need to hold. Owen - 917-579-7242

It had to be a dinner my GF and I had at "Noodles", a now defunct restaurant in Toronto. My employer at the time suggested that we try Noodles if on a budget or Winston's if money was not an issue. The previous night we ate at The Olde Fish Market (or something to that effect) near the Royal York Hotel where we stayed. Our experience there was the worst service I have ever encountered. I'll spare you the details but it appeared to be racially motivated (my GF was African-American but believe me.... neither of us jumps to the race card as a conculsion unless it's so blatant that the intent is obvious). Called Noodles the next day to make a reservation and had a delightful chat with the person I assumed ws the maitre'd. When we arrived that evening the maitre'd said "Dante has been expecting you and wants to meet you before the meal". We were given one of the best tables in the house and Dante sat down to chat with us a few minutes later - he turns out to be the owner/chef and was the person I spoke to on the phone. He was incredibly warm and friendly, made recommendations from the menu, returned during dinenr to ensure that were enjoying ourselves and then insisted on paying for our dessert. We were young, ona budget and had little to no experience with any kind of fine dining. I still remember that evening fondly to this day -mhow ironic that it occurred the night after the worst service I ever received. Apparently he had no heirs to whom he could pass along the business and chose to just close down when he retired but he is missed.

Gimme! Coffee of Ithaca NY ( two stores in Ithaca and one in nearby Trumansburg) is now in the process of making arrangments to open a location in Brooklyn. I have no affiliation with them but IMHO they are in the same league as places like Cafe Vivace, Hine Public Coffee or Zoka's (all in Seattle). These are some of the top end purveyors of espresso in the US. At present I know none of the details but will try to post them here when I hear something. I do know that on occasion I drive an hour to reach to Ithaca with one of my sole motivations being to enjoy an excellent ristretto shot of espresso (which is good enough to drink straight with no sugar). I had never visited their web site unitl getting wind of the expansion plans. There's not yet any info there on the new location but I was pleased to find that they have some of the best tutorials I've ever seen on espresso preparation, coffee brewing and frothing milk. All are pdf files for download and free distribution - worth checking out. Gimme! Coffee

When I tended bar for a caterer for several years.... they had both "decaf" and "regular' carafes to serve coffee at the tables. All they actually served was decaf so the sometimes very fussy patrons could never get caffienated cofee by mistake (although on occasion a few insisted that they had). We also worked in a kosher kitchen for most of those events so needless to say.... non-dairy creamer (yuch!) was all I ever got to put in my coffee at work.

Despite appearances.... I'm very non OCD when it comes to espresso but have found that the only way I can get easily reproducible and consistent results is with careful attention to the details of the process. The good news (for me and those around me) is that I'm not a tweaker by nature - once it works for me I don't mess with it and I don't care about the picayune details - I"m not into temperature probes and all the other bells and whistles. I do think Moka pots are cool and neat and all that but my espresso machine is just so damn easy now that In know how to use it and I'm not inherently lazy but hate doing extra work. I have tought about getting a little Velox travel espresso maker along with one of those little pocket size brass Turkish grinders. Good espresso is sometimes impossible for me to find when traveling and a good Moka pot would help. Do you have experience with the Velox or something like it that has its own heat source?

One of the guys who posts regularly on the Sweet Maria's Home Roaster mailing list is now selling a stainless steel drum with internal vanes, ready for use on a rotisserie and gas grill but IMHO it's really pricey at $210 Ron Kyle's Roasting Drum Ron's roasts 1/2 lb up to 4 lbs but I usually want to roast anywhere from 1/4 lb up to 1 lb. I'm limited to 1/2 lb with my Alp and it's tricky to roast smaller amounts as the roasting time changes dramatically. I have tried adding ceramic pie weights to a smaller batch so that total weight is still 1/2 lb and it seems to work well. When doing binary espresso blends, it's really helpful to be able to roast smaller amounts (binary blend are those in which beans of slower or faster roasting varieties are roasted separately and then blended, rather than just roasting them all together). I'm a solo user and 1/2 lb seems to be about the amount I can use up in 5 - 10 days before beans start to go flat. Melkor's design looks like a far better choice for us smaller quantity roasters, not to mention the pasrts are avilable cheaply enough. It's worth noting that the internal vanes on Melkor's drum (they appear to be made of angle iron?) are crucial in the design - they provide agitation for the beans. Now that I will finally be in a house of my own rather than an apartment I think I'll try this.

Not entirely off topic.... many years ago when I worked as a waiter the restaurant I was working at had a multi-tape system for background music that utilized 8 track tapes. 8 tracks were starting to become obsolete and the owner was also too stingy to ever buy new tapes. Now, twenty-five years later, I can once again listen to Ravel's Bolero without wretchign but please don't play Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat". Listening to that 500 or 600 times really was enough.