phaelon56

It was in fact confirmed to be Norovirus. And the point has already been made very well that it is NOT food borne. If you have any place with a large volume of people in a confined space (any busy restaurant - chain or otherwise - fits the bill). It can be spread by something as simple as a person who is a carrier touching a door knob. It can and does happen in non-chain restaurants. Extensive surface cleaning and a few precautionary procedures following an incident can lessen the likelihood of recurrence. But the major cruise ship lines are, the the best of my knowledge, very stringent about kitchen cleanliness procedures (or so it appears). Yet it still happens. That's why the bathrooms in most cruise ships have cautionary signs advising frequent handwashing by all passengers - including plenty of soap and hot water.

Good points made by all. If i was still making drip or press pot coffee at home more than a few times each year I'd likely get a Solis Maestro Plus or Virtuoso - or even the new Kitchenaid. The click stop issue with the Gaggia was one of the things that pushed me towards the Mazzer instead of it or the Rocky. I love the stepless grind adjustment of the Mazzer products because I have a tendency to adopt one specific tamp style and pressure and just stick with it all the time - one less variable to worry about. I actually sold the Mini on ebay after three years of relatively light use and now have Mazzer commercial grinders at home (because I got them used at an insanely cheap price). About the occasional static issue on the grounds collection hopper of Solis grinders: a quick cleaning with warm water and a bit of dishwashing liquid followed by a cold rinse and air dry will usually fix that.

I've both personally had and also heard of not-so-great experiences with cheap burr grinders (i.e. those under $70 to $100) but my mind remains open. For me the longevity of the item is important. My cheap little Waring whirl-blade grinder cost me $15 and I used it on and off for 20 years before passing it on at a garage sale for $2. I bought a mellitta 'burr grinder' for $30 at a reataurant gear close-out store a few years ago and returned it the next day - loud, plasticy, ran very hot, very noisy and produced a mix of chunks and dust. But YMMV! As for the others.... I considered a Gaggia MDF before settling on a Mazzer Mini but had seriously considered the Rocky. If you're using it for drip coffee I strongly recommend the Rocky doserless model. you can grind directly into your paper brewing filter of press pot and should you eventually get bit by the espresso bug you won't need to upgrade. I've heard mixed things about the MDF as far as value and build quality for the money - I'm inclined to suggest the Rocky. I think the enitre Solis line is pretty good for the money but if you get really serious about espresso you'll want to jump up a notch to the Rocky level. I had a Maestro for about a year or so and it served me well with my entry level Gaggia espresso machine but when I jumped to a more robust and more capable espresos machien i discovered that my shots could be much better with a higher quality grinder (and indeed that proved to be the case). Not everyone needs a commercial espresso grinder in their kitchen (although some of us do!) but upgrades can be costly not to mention the hassle of trying to find a home or buyer for the item you're replacing.

The short answer is no they don't deliver and no there has not been a technolgocial breakthrough. It's more a matter of marketing people using the term "espresso" a bit too loosely. Mayur did a great job of breaking it down by detail and I don't have much to add so I'll simply re-iterate and add a few additional comments below. But first... no there has not been a technological breakthrough at the low end in "espresso machines". The machines like the Senseo that use pods and deliver an "espresso-like beverage" are widely popular for many reasons and many folks love the concentrated coffee beverage they produce but they do not produce real espresso and aren't capable of doing so. The capability for producing real espresso shots and steaming milk properly requires: 1) a brass, aluminum or stainless steel boiler of adequate size and construction quality 2) a grouphead assembly that has enough inherent mass and weight that it absorbs and retains a fair amount of heat to ensure the thermal stability required for producing good espresso. Light weight aluminum doesn't do the trick nor do plastics. Nickel steel plated brass assemblies are still the reigning technology because they work and it's a physical construction requirement that can't be overcome by technological trickery. 3) the portafilter assembly that holds the ground coffee must be of a heavy construction similar to the grouphead because it too is a crucial part of heat retention and thus temperature stability. The bottom line is that, at least to date, no one has come up with a way to buy the raw materials, produce a unit that's got enough heft and mass to really do the job and still have enough profit margin left to market it for $50 to $150. And I don't think we'll ever see such a beast hit the market. By the way - there have beeen some technogical breakthroughs in the past few years in the high end commercial market but they are all focused on around greater consistency and predictability of results and not around lower equipment costs. Mass production could conceivably see the higher end "prosumer" espresso machines employing more of the new temperature control features in a few years. But the inherent cost of building such machines and the limited potential size of the market is such that we won't see drastic changes in price. For a vast array of reasons that can't be summarized in a few bullet points - it's not realistic to compare such product categories as consumer electronics with espresso machines. On to a capsule summary - $50 - $100: Moka maker aka "stovetop espresso" $200 - $300: low end pump espresso (not thermoblock style) espresso machine $500: Rancilio Silvia is quie possibly the best overall value in the espresso market but if you have a need/desire to do plenty of milk steAMing its lack of a |heat exchanger" design (aka HX) is a drawback. $800 - $1100: a huge selection of "E61 grouphead design" HX machines is available. And - as far as I know - they are all quite capable of making great shots and doing yeoman's duty in milk steaming. ** A good grinder comes first!!! ** That fact can't possibly be overemphasized. A minimum of $80 - $100 for a Solis Maestro is the low end for making true espresso. But more likely about $200 - $300 is the price range in which you'll find a grinder that really delivers the right results for professional quality espresso at home.

I've always loved the Martin Sexton song from the "Black Sheep" album because it references Doc's Little Gem Diner in Syracuse. I don't know if the food's declined over the years or if all the alcohol I consumed before my late night visits there years ago affected my culinary perceptions... but it's really more about the atmosphere than the food. These days I skip the coffee in diners because it's uniformly bad and I typically visit them just for breakfast. It's hard to screw up toast and eggs too badly - the quality of the home fries has become my reference point. In this town I've found only one place that really serves them properly browned and extra crispy when requested that way: Carl's Kountry Kitchen on outer Teall Ave near Court Street. It's also clean and bright with good service - unlike most of the other hundred or so greasy spoon diners in this area.

The thing that makers the Expobar stand out is price. It's that simple. A wide variety of machines in the higher end home espresso machine category all utilize some form of the basic "E-61" grouphead design. It was invented by Faema in 1961 and utilize a thermosyphon that circulates hot water inside the group head as a way to achieve a greater measure of thermal stability. The Expobar that I'm seeing currently for $799 or thereabouts will pull shots as good as the E61 style Isomacs, ECM Giotto, Quickmills etc. But it lacks any dial to show brew pressure or boiler pressure. On rare occasions one might need or want to change or adjust brew pressure on such a machine and the dial is a nice feature at those times. There are some machines in that category that have more heavy duty pressurestats than others, an electromagnetic switch for detecting low water reservoir levels (instead of a simple mechanical switch like my Isomac), etc. - but with a bit of practice one can pull great shots on any of them. If I were doing it all over again and had a somewhat larger budget I'd probably go for an ECM Giotto because I like the sexy shape and the slightly greater attention to detail in the fit and finish than my Isomac Tea. Or I might even opt for the Expobar Brewtus - which has a dual boiler system and greater brew temperature stability. But I'm not enough of a gadget freak to sell off my Isomac and pay the difference for either one of those. I probably will buy either a one group Synesso Cyncra or... . some great day when it's actually available - a La Marzocco GS3. But either of those would be used in a roasting operation / cupping lab and not in my kitchen. The Isomac stays where it is

Is this the Ghenet on Mulberry Street? I did the Ethiopian coffee ceremony there with friends and we also had a light meal. In terms of decor and approach to the atmosphere it's a bit more Westernized than other Ethiopian places I've been in but not in terms of food. There used to be an Eritrean restaurant near Gramercy Park that was very Westernized both in ambiance and food - a number of trendy non-African dishes were on the menu, some of the injera bread was colored in bright colors like shrimp chips sometimes are, etc. It was also a bit pricey and I wasn't too impressed by the food. That said - I enjoyed the food at Queen of Sheba more than I did at the Hell's Kitchen location of Meskerem or the food at Ghenet. The "Crispy Fish" was a particular stand-out and one I'd love to try again. Have not visited Awash but have had Ethiopian food in Denver, DC and Philly in addition to my NY experiences. Queen of Sheba remains my favorite but that's based on a sampling of one visit about four years ago.

My newest girlfriend - maybe the final one - drinks only diet soda so I once again stocked up on a few varieties. I hadn't tried Coke Zero since last year but having compared it over the course of a few days to Diet Canada Dry Ginger Ale, Diet Dr. Pepper and Diet Pepsi - it's by far the best of the bunch. But I recently tried Boylan's Diet Black Cherry soda and it's even better. Oddly enough - I don't care for Boylan's Diet Birch Beer - too much chemical aftertaste and not as good as IBC or even the standby A&W.

That's one possibility. But another is that they quite likely use the same blend of specific varietals year round and, coffee beans being a seasonal agricultural product, you might be getting the beans from the most recently imported crop at its freshest during the winter. This assumes that some or all of the varietals in question are those with the newest crop being delivered in late fall / early winter. Just a guess on my part.

The store on Ninth Ave that Raji references does indeed have a great selection and crazy low prices for NYC but boiled peanuts? Highly unlikely. Although they may well have the raw ones for boiling yourself. And if you're already over there you can grab an espresso or cappuccino from Casa@CupcakeCafe - they have a funky little coffee shop right next door. Not the best espresso in Manhattan but on the right day they may be in the top five and are certainly better than anyone else on that side of town (unless things have changed since last year).

I'll have to agree with Richard on this one. Granted, from a statistical sampling standpoint my exposure was very limited in terms of the duration of my stay (six days) and the number of places I tried (about six - we actually went to Starbuck sone mornign just so we'd get something predictable). The best I did was to order a cappuccino at one of the places in the food court adjacent to the Louvre and get an extra espresso shot in it. With my limited French it was difficult to get the order expressed clearly but I did receive a drink that was a bit bwewtetr than a Starbucks cappuccino.

There's a place on Park Ave Sout just below the Helmsley Building - not too far from GCT - Timothy's or World Coffee - something like that. I recall that it's as crappy as Starbucks in most respects but the coffee doesn't taste burnt. If they don't mind walking a few blocks beyond GCT how about Zibetto Espresso Bar It's near 56th Street and Sixth Ave and is rumored to have the best espresso in Manhattan above Union Square. I haven't tried it but that's what a few informed folks tell me.

I've been using a wet dough and minimal kneading process for pizza dough for awhile and have settled on it as the best and easiest way to get the results I seek. Makes sense that it might work well for bread also. Granted - I reduce the amount of yeast drastically and I do knead for about five minutes or so but after that it sits in the fridge in a covered bowl and I just punch it down every once in awhile when I happen to pass through the kitchen and think to do it. Very unscientific but it works.

If you can get freshly roasted beans (within a few days of roasting) and grind them just before brewing you'll most likely have a larger volume of foam (for what it's worth).

I haven't had any in awhile but I think Apple Bread would be tasty - especially if one added some nuts or raisins. Paramount is the notion of somehow using the inherent apple flavor without exposing anyone to the issue of texture. I agree about RD apples - a poor example of a fine fruit. I'm busy working off the last of my Macoun's and I'll eat every single one of them out of hand.

There is a gentleman in Maine named Andy Powell who was, awhile back, rumored to be making silicone replacement gaskets for old vacuum style coffee makers. Casco Bay Molding You might check them out in the event that one of the silicone seals they already offer happens to fit.

I made my first visit to Dijon Bistro in Ithaca this past Friday night - I'm sure to return there again soon. It was their first or second night of being open to the public - not busy yet but I'm sure that will change. They mentioned that they'll be able to being serving wine sometime this week or next - neither my girlfriend or I drink alcohol so it was an issue of no concern to us for our dinner - we had Pellegrino (as usual). The space is very simple and the decor still a bit spare but I'm sure that will evolve quickly. My interest was the food and it did not disappoint. I had onion soup - nicely caramelized onions and a rich broth without a hint of the excess saltiness that seems to plague most of the French Onion soup I try. We shared an order of frites - the best I've ever had. The insides were a sort of puffy, ethereal, featherlight texture and the outsides a perfectly crisped golden brown. My dining experience with French food is limited but these were far better than what I've had at Markt or Steak Frites in NYC, at L'Adour in Syracuse or in some tourist joint on Montmarte in Paris - far superior. And the ailoi served with them was exceptional. We also shared an order of steamed mussels. In retrospect it's obvious that a shared order of the frites and mussels and perhaps a frisee salad followed by two desserts would have made a satisfying meal for us but I wanted to try more. We were encouraged to try the frisee salad but opted for a double porkchop and also the duck confit. My date's pork chop was fantastic - juicy, thick, not overcooked and with a terrific au jus that had dried cherries and green apple slices in it. The duck confit was pretty amazing as well. I'm on the fence about the pumpkin and blue cheese risotto. My taste in risotto runs towards savory rather than sweet - even when the hint of sweetness is serving as a complement to the protein dish. That's personal taste - no reflection on the dish itself. We ordered a creme brulee to share but ended up testing out a chocolate mousse and a lemon tart as well - all very good and at $4.95 each a bargain even by central NY standards. The creme brulee was in the same league as what I had at Lokelani's about a month or two back and as good as what I get at L'Ecole in NYC - meaning it's now in my list of the top three creme brulee's I've ever had. All told - a very good dining experience and one I hope to repeat soon. Mark and Courtney Papera are engaging and warm hosts. She handled the seating and rode herd on the dining room. He came out from the kitchen several times to check up on us and chat. He advised us that he considers his Choucroute and Cassoulet, both of which will be among the featured Plats du Jour on a weekly basis, to be among his own personal favorites. Not sure when they'll start serving those but hope that it's soon because I'll be back to try them. That's for certain.

I agree that the prices are not really out of line. a) Just as France regulates the price of baguettes, in Italy the government regulates the price of espresso "bar drinks" that are consumed at the bar rather than at a table - so it's not surprising that onecan get a single espresso for the equivalent of $1 to $1.50 US. b) If I understand correctly those are quite often single shots. Every high progressive shop I've been to in the US serves either double or 'triple" ristretto shots. These produce a slightly larger fluid volume and require 2x to 3x thwe weight of beans to produce the shot (typically 15 to 18 grams for a double and about 21 grams for a triple) $1.75 to $2.50 for a double or triple ristretto is the going rate in most American shops and 43.00 to $3.50 for "traditional" cappuccino drinks (a 6 oz drink akin to the size served in Italy). IMHO that's reasonable in light of the actuall costs associated with producing and serving these drinks. I can't disagree with this. It's an unfortunate reality that we're unlikely to ever see a an abundance of places to get quality espresso drinks in every small to sized city and major metro market. But the number of committed, quality driven coffee shops is growing and spreading. It's not a static or flat market - there's a positive growth curve. I won't be surprised to see the number of such places increase 2x to 3X overall in the next several years. You'll still need to seek them out - it's not as though they'll be sprouting up on every busy corner like Starbucks. But it will be easier and easier to find them. I guess I haven't run into this phenomenon in my travels. I know what most of the better shops are doing because I'm in the business part time but I don't recall being assaulted with details apart from a sign saying "all our shots are double (or triple) ristrettto". But that might just be the shops I go in - I don't have the opportunity travel or visit a variety of espressos options nearly as much as I'd like.

If the Kitchenaid is in fact a rebadged Gaggia rather than a rebadged Saeco - then I agree that it's not likely to have a pressurized PF. And with a budget of under $500 I'd do exactly what you're doing - spend as much on the grinder as on the espresso machine. By the way - if that Kitchenaid machine lets you use it without the "crema filter" by all means discard it. Use a good espresso blend - fresh (less than ten days past the roasting date) - a good grinder and practice your technique. You'll get real crema that's satisfying rather than that weird brownish foam that looks like crema yet lacks its good qualities. When I finally bit the bullet and bought a high end home espresos machine and a really good grinder I initially winced and had second thoughts about spending that much money (which seemed an extravagance at the time). Within two weeks of that day - over five years ago - I changed my mind and realized what a good investment I'd made. And I haven't changed my thinking since then.

I'll join the chorus of those wishing that 9th Street (the coffee place not the street!) was closer to the areas of Manhattan that I frequent on my visits (or at least that they would open another store). I recently made another visit to Carriage House Cafe in Ithaca, a place I've always held in high regard for having not just superior espresso and coffee service but a top shelf bakery and excellent food offerings with table service. They've diversified their offerings and now feature espresso from Cafe Kubal's roaster Matt Godard (a Syracuse guy who is finally opening a shop of his won later this month) along with a some "guest coffees". I continue to hold Gimme Coffee in high regard as among the best anywhere but Carriage House is serving some phenomenal drinks. The wierd thing to me is that Juna's on the Commons serves wretched espresso yet remains busy as does the new Starbucks less than a block from there.

It isn't really clear to me what the product is. It's described as 'solid" but it gets sprayed from a can. I'm certainly game to try it but it seems like a gimmick. Apart from an intensely concentrated coffee flavor all the other crucial and most significant components of an espresso shot are lost within two to three minutes of pulling the shot. But they list cappuccino, machiatto etc. as options. Do let us know once you try it (should that occur).

I don't have the burp phenomenon but distinctly dislike coffee or any other hot beverage from a styrofoam cup. In order of preference my coffee intake comes from: 1) thick ceramic/porcelain cup 2) glass vessel 3) stainless steel vessel (shiny 18/10 grade beats all the other grades for this) 4) paper/cardboard 5) hard plastic 6) disposable molded plastic (maybe polystyrene? not sure what this stuff is) 7) styrofoam In some if not most cases my preferences are probably not rational and may be based on inherent biases and subsconscious aesthetic considerations. But the aesthetic aspect is such an integral part of the experience that i can't imagine it any other way. Then again - no matter how hectic my day has been or how much of a hurry I'm in, if I bring home carry-out food it always gets transferred to a ceramic plate or bowl and eaten with stainless flatware (or chopsticks). I detest eating from take-out containers and will eat from paper plates and drink from pastic cups only if I'm at a party or picnic where it's the only option.

Try to find a bakery (or restaurant) that keeps the shells separate from the filling and waits until each cannoli is ordered before they addd the filling. I've been consistently disappointed in cannoli - even from Italian-Americn bakeries - until I stumbled across a small shop that did them this way.

I'm not in a major city but we have long had an abundance of Italian restauranst. As for new places opening... we have finally been blessed with an upscale Tuscan inspired establishment but the vast majority of both old and new places are "red sauce joints". Most are not bad but few are great. The better ones prosper because they offer casual, family-friendly atmosphere, large portions and moderate prices. Not my cup of tea but they continue to abound.

Yes - as long as it fits. And by the way - if you have certain Starbucks models (e.g. Athena or Barista) they are rebadged Saeco and are the same machine. BUt the key issue with portafilter assemblies is simply that they lock on properly.