phaelon56

Yeah. My weird experience shortl after moving into Bergen County... I headed up to the register on a Sunday morning and was told, among other things, that I could buy the soap but not the towels, the cookies but not the bookshelves.... and all the whil a guy is at the register next to me buying a half gallon of Jack Daniels. And those who've mentioned "any six days of the week" regarding liquor sales in NY state are 100% correct. They've long been able to be open on Sundays but only if they closed on some other day. It used to be that bars were not allowed to open until 6 PM or 8 PM on Election Day as well but I think that's been rescinded.

November 9th is now the target opening date but it's still subkect to change. Some additional progress pics have been posted on their web site and I'm still planning to organize some sort of eGullet group visit as soon as they can arrange it for us.

Not right away but it will happen. Definitely.

Brian's topping method sounds fantastic and I happen to share his preference for keeping cheddar away from pizza. In Utica NY, about 30 minutes east of us, there are several pizzeria's known to locals as "sauce on top" joints that folow this practice. Thanks for all the details on blended cheeses - it answers many questions. It sounds as though part of the rationale behind this move is akin to why Starbucks went over to superautomatic espresso machines - allows for better consistency with less highly trained or less consistent personnel (with a drop in quality being one result). I think I'll try adopting this for my pizza at home. I'm finding that with a well heated gas oven and a 3/4" thick pizza stone, I can get a beautiful, thin and slightly charred crust. The dilemma has been that the cheese sometimes gets overcooked even though my baking time is typically five to six minutes (my oven hits 575 degrees when it's fuly ramped up). A pizza show in NYC? Is it open to the general public?

If I'm using fresh mozzarella I just rely on fresh basil, caramelized onions and a few other simple ingredients for topping (e.g. thin sliced chorizo that's been sauteed and blotted before adding) - typically no other cheeses. When I use whole milk mozzarella (or part skim) I like to toss on small amounts of Asiago and Parmesan (ocasionally Romano but I find it too easy to overpower the others flavors with Romano). I've tested blue cheese but don't care for it when tomatoes are present. The best non traditional pizza I've ever eaten (despite a lackluster crust) was the "signature pizza" for the bar menu at the music club Fez Under Time Cafe in NYC. The thin crust is brushed with olive oil and topped with thin sliced green apples, small chunks of hickory smoked bacon, sauteed red onion, walnuts and Gorgonzola cheese. It's good. Really, really good.

You can also take the ferry from Playa over to Cozumel for an afternoon and have fantastic and very authentic mid afternoon dinner at one of the little loncheria's tucked away on the side streets. My 47th birthday dinner was in Coxumel at La Cocay - a truly Marvelous restaurant run by a French-Canadian couple. Modest prices for the quality - dinner for two with tax and tip was well under $100 with one glass of wine. Not sure how late the ferry runs in the evening so can't say whether dinner in Coz iz an option if you're staying in Playa. If he's up for snorkeling the reef in Coz is world class - absolutely fantastic. there's also a very large colony of sea turtles somewhere just off shore very close to Playa - not much reef there but the turtles would be fun to see. Even better.... take him for a day or overnight trip to Isla Holbox where you can Snorkel with the Whale Sharks And it's food related because you can snorkel with the guide while he spearfishes some fresh fish and it's cleaned and grilled on the beach for your lunch. I did my advance diving certification with Blue Angel - very reputable and really nice people.

There's a lovely small inn located in Leonardsville NY (the middle of nowhere but more or less in Leatherstocking country and not far from Cooperstown). For many, many years they've been renowned for having some of the best food in this part of the state. They also operate a small luxe property in a secluded location on the coast of Puerto Rico. I've always wanted to stay there and suspect that the food is excellent. I have eleven years and a few months before I can cajole my GF into taking me there for my 60th but it appears to be quite appealing. Horned Dorset

Visit Ikea and find one of those half round white formica w/wood edge tables that attaches to the wall, has a hinged spine and also a swinging support arm. It will drop down flush against the all on weekends when you need extra space. It's at or well under $100. They have some decent little folding wooden chairs at about $25 each (skip the $12 - $15 chairs - I have them for emergencies but they're not comfy enough for daily sitting. Now look around at building supply "outlet stores" (here in the Northeast the one I see most often is Mr. Second's Bargain Outlet or Grossman's Bargain Outlet). They should have a good sized kitchen cart with a cutting block work surface and some shelves/drawers/rack space underneath. It's on locking casters and can be moved around. Should be under $250 (you can buy similar carts of higher quality from John Boos or Ikea but all of their models are pricey).

If Melkor and MsMelkor came visiting more often it would improve our demographics even more The owner of Alto Cinco, a Mexican influenced bistro that is one of my top chpices in Syracuse, is opening a Morrocan-African influenced restaurant in Fayetteville, not far from our new cafe location. I'm really looking forward to it as she does a great job with food and service. Alto Cinco really has a big city feel to it yet is still intimate. I've taken some visiting eGulleteers there for meals and also recommended it to visitors, always receiving great feedback after their visits.

Although I didn't grow up in NYC I fondly recall the "street pizza" that was ubiquitous there and in many other parts of the Northeast for many years. My own town had a pizzeria run by a Staten Island expatriate who brought his recipe up to central NY state and passed it on to his son, who continued the business. The element that appeared to be shared in common by nearly all these pizzas was the wonderfully gooey, gloppy mozzarella cheese. Some had better crust or sauce than others but I rarely found any fault in the cheese. Some years ago, probably in early to mid 90's, I began to notice a change in many places. The cheese now had a different flavor - one that I had less appreciation for than plain old mozzarella. It also had different melting characteristics and a different mouthfeel - all less satisfying. Initially I thought that many places had just switched to a cheaper brand of mozzarella until I began noticing pre-printed color posters in many of these shops, touting the fact that "We proudly serve Grande cheese blend". The difference is significant. My brother, hardly a foodie or a discerning eater, has long maintained that the aforementioned pizzeria in our home town serves the best pie he's ever eaten,, After a four or five year absence he came for a visit and we went there to have a few slices. Halfway through the first slice he looked at me and said "It's not the same - they changed something and this isn't the same pizza that I loved so much". I stepped back into the shop and checked - sure enough... there was the "Grande cheese blend" poster on the wall. Here's an article from Pizzatoday.com that discusses blended cheese and references the Grande product among others. Strength in Numbers: blended cheeses add much to flavor profile of cheeses The contention of the suppliers and some who use these blends is that it's all about more distinct and improved flavors. I can't help but think that there's a unit cost issue involved or they're trying to mask inferior dough and sauce by using more strongly flavored cheeses. Perhaps it's yet another conspiracy by the Wisconsin cheese industry to suck even more market share than they already have? (I just spotted some "genuine English cheddar" in the store that was labeled as being produced in England but sure enough... it had been packaged and shipped from Wisconsin!) What do you think? Disclaimer: when I make pizza at home I often blend cheese but it's typically very small amounts of fresh grated Asiago, Parmesan or Romano added as an accent - not as a dominant flavor.

It took them years to recover after your departure but they have finally struggled back to some semblance of normal life To date the Syracuse area in general has had poor enough demographics that Starbucks has only opened two locations - one up on "the Hill" adjacent to the university/hospital complex and one in the northern suburbs where there's a glut of chain restaurants. They are finally opening a third location and this one will be in Fayetteville, about a block from our new cafe. Not only do we have a much better location from a morning traffic and overall visibility standpoint.... we look forward to having them as neighbors because sooner than later it will actually help to increase our business. Yay Starbucks! (there have been some studies that show the average independent coffee house seeing a 25% increase in business when a Starbucks moves into the neighborhood).

I suggested this machine or some other 110V machien similar to it only because he's projecting a situation in which he might do 20 - 40 espresso drinks per day at most - very low volume. If he truly expects that there may be enough business developing once he's up to speed, having the 110V machine means he can easily take it home and use it in his kitchen (although he'll have to plumb it in) when he upgrades to a 220v two group. Having said that.... I agree that your point is well taken. Having some idea of the income levels and discretionary income typical to that area, I think that with a bit of strategic marketing and some word of mouth advertising, his volume could easily increase far beyond what he's initially projecting. There are some 220V rotary pump driven one group E61 style machine out there that are $2,000 to $3,000 and worth considering (I'm thinking of Wega and Astra among others).

Here are some thoughts: - Fiorenzato espresso machine from 1st Line This is a 110V plumbed in machine with a roatary pump, an E61 style group and the NSF/UL ratings necessary to use it in a commercial environment. With proper use it wil pull shots as good as far more expensive machines but as a one group with a modest sized boiler it has distinct limitations on the daily volume it can produce and doesn't steam milk as fast as the bnig boys but it will do a great job.. If your volume increases to justify an upgrade just move this to your home kitchen or keep it on hand as a back up machine in case your primary machine is ever down for repairs. In our smaller lower volume location I actually brought in my home espresso machine for a day to use as a pinch hitter when our La Marzocco was down for the day a few weeks ago. It slowed things down a bit as it's a manual fill and has no plumbed in drain tray but shot quality was generally as good as the La Marzocco (but a bit less consistent) and customers never knew the difference because the drinks tasted as good. This unit is under $1400 and it's also available in an automatic version that does automatic volume dosing for the shot volume. That's a useful feature if you're busy as it leaves you free to focus on stemaing milk or doing other things while the shot is coming out. Okay... now throw in a Grindmaster 810 retail coffee grinder to grind your drip coffee by potful - add in $665 Just grind the weighed batch of beans directly into a paper cup, toss into a filter holder and pop it into the airpot brewer to brew directly into the pot. If we do it that way in a cafe that serves upwards of 500 cups of coffee per day (not including espresso drinks which are very popular)... you can easily do it in your operation. We need a heavier duty machine like the Ditting because we grind so much volume and we also grind about 50 pounds or more per week for wholesale cusotmer who want pre-ground coffee. Get two brand new Mazzer Mini espresso grinders at $395 each. Add in a used Fetco or Bunn pourover style airpot coffee brewer for about $300 and then shop around for a back up unit to have on hand just in case. That puts you at $3165. Add in another $700 - $800 for assorted peripherals - knock box, tampers, pitchers, thermometers etc. and for under $4,000 you can be up and running ready to serve the best espresso in all of North Jersey. You WILL need to learn how to properly work with the machine in order to assure consistent results and you'll need to recognize that you have inherent limitations with this equipment relative to volume. If I was planning to have coffee and espresso initally as an adjunct part of a food operation and expected to serve perhaps 25 - 50 espresso drinks per day and a few hundred cups of coffee - I would see this as a very workable solution. Not to mention that you'd have the support of NJ based 1st Line for all the new equipment. They're a first rate company with an excellent reputation for service after the sale.

I think you're correct that the wind and ambeint outdoor temperatures may have been a factor but there's more to consider. Coffee beans can be roasted by conducted heat (i.e. from the hot metal surface of the milk powder can or from contact with a metal roasting drum), by convected heat (hot air moving across and through the beans) or by a combination of the two. Most of the popular consumer style commercial home coffee roasters operate on a principle similar to hot air popcorn poppers. Hot air is created with an electric heating element and a fan moves the hot air up through the roaster (people actually do use hot air popocrn poppers for this purpose as well). There are vanes that direct the air to move in a circular motion - this creates a swirling updraft that suspends the coffee beans in the hot air and constantly recirculates them in a flowing motion so that they move in and out of and back into the hottest area closest to the heat source. The chaff blows off the beans during this process and either blows out the window or into the air nearby depending on where you're roasting (most of the consumer hot air roasters have a screen or filter that collects most of the chaff to eliminate messiness. Peopel can and do roast beans by methods as simple as heating them in a cast iron skillet on the stovetop or using a commercial heat gun and a large stainless steel bowl (called the "dog bowl heat gun" school of roasting ). These methods rely on conducted heat and it's crucial to stir/circulate the beans constantly by stirring them. It appears that your can needs larger holes to allow more heated air to move in but it would also help if there was some sort of a fan that was blowing air up into it to get the beans at least partially suspended by air and moving. Did you have the burner heat at the maxiumum setting? Ensure to do that and you might also try a slightly larger amount of beans. It may seem counter-intuitive but a slightly larger amount of beans may actually shorten the roasting time on some systems because the larger mass of beans means more accumulated mass of heat in one place - this can speed up roasting by a bit. With proper technique, a method of roasting such as the one you picture should be able to get a good roast level with about 20 minutes of roasting time. It's best not to exceed that lenght of time by much.

When I mentioned skipping decaf in a low volume situation I meant the downtown Jersey City type scenario where you're competing against $1.50 cafe cortidos or con leches. I also meant only skipping it for the espresso. If you serve drip coffee you must have decaf. Three grinders would be needed. One for regular espresso, one for decaf and a third for drip coffee. Espresso bean hoppers stay full and you grind by the shot. For drip coffee if you rotate blends and varietals it's best to have a small digital scale and weigh the amount of beans for each batch. Drip coffee can and should be ground by the batch. The Ditting that I mentioned is a great grinder but they're about $1300 new and $500 reconditioned. You could probably shop around (maybe eBay but buyer beware) and find a used Fetco, Bun or Grindmaster shop grinder that has two hopers on it - one for decaf and one for regular coffee. The reason our shop doesn't leave beans stacked up in the grinder is twofold. First because we want precise control over the weight of the beans to esnure consistency in each batch and second because we brew one airpot batch at a time and rotate different blends in and out. When one airpot is getting empty we start another batch brewing. There's always one pot of decaf and that doesn't get rebrewed until it's empty. Our customer volume and this system together ensure that any cup of coffee you get was typically brewed no more than 5 - 10 minutes before you order it. $10K is definitely overkill for the situation you describe. If your coffee is good enough (which it easily can be) and you're not in too inconvenient a location, don't be surprised if word of mouth advertsing kicks in and you get a fair number of customers who just come in for coffee and espresso to go. Are you set up to handle that? You'll need a place where they can line up to order, pick up and add the cream/sugar etc that won't interfere with table seating.

If you're looking at this as a long term investment and you see the possibility in expanding or developing your market beyond the occasional cappuccino that someone orders after they have their grilled cheese sandwich... $2,000 is a minimal amount of money in the scheme of things. If you're going into an area of downtown jersey City where you may get office workers with moderate incomes and if you have Spanish luncheonettes in the area that sell cafe cortida's or cafe con leches for $1 or $1.50 to a primary customer base who's accusotmed to that kind of coffee drink at that price point.... you should rethink the scheme and perhaps look at a high end plumbed in one group machine like a Wega with a rotary pump. It will be a good durable workhorse that is perfect for low volume operations. Skip offering decaf, get one good grinder to go with it (good grinders are an absolute must) and keep a very simple menu. Let's say that you're somewhere over near Exchange Place.... it's a whole different market and one with huge potential for quality espresso drinks. I lived in Rutherford NJ from 1999 until last summer and visited the Newport-Pavonia area regularly on business, went to Exchange Place on occasion and was in Manhattan a few times every week. I never found a good espresso drink on the NJ side and had to really struggle to find something worth drinking in NYC at that time (Let's not count Starbucks in this discussion but.... gasp... they were often my best fall back position when I lived down there and wanted espresso drinks outside of my own home). It's important to identify what you want to start out doing, what your current potential is and where you may want to go or grow with it. Upgrades can be a prciey path to take if you underequip yourself initially but if you're expecting to sell a few dozen cappas and lattes every day and never more than that.... the La Marzocco route will be overkill. Pods are a losing proposition for most places except bars or restaurants that will have a rotating variety of untrained personnel pulling shots. The quality of a pod shot will never match a properly pulled shot made from fresh whole bean and the profit margins are far lower. Pour-over brewers are not a bad choice for lower volume but don't just get a Bunn and leave the coffee in the pot on the warmner plate to get scorched. Use airpots or thermal carafes. I havee to run off and fix a La Marzocco now (even the best machines need repairs once in awhile!). Tell us more about your current market and your goals.

Currently considered by many to be the best buys in their respective price ranges: Gaggia Carezza at $200 - $230 Rancilio Silvia at $450 to $500 Expobar E61 style machine at $650 - $850 (depending on which model and whether you can catch one on a sale) From there you jump up to the ECM, La Valentina, Isomac, Salvatore, and other E61 style machines HX (heat exchanger) machines (E61 refers to a certain style of machine grouphead that tends to give very cnosistent results in brew temperature with a minimum of tweaking and fussing - the HX feature allows milk to be steamed immediately after pulling a shot rather than waiting a few minutes).

Is that the old German place with the terrific home made root beer? About the cafe... it's not mine but I am working for the owners on a part time basis. They have two locations presently and this will be their third. The furniture's not in yet but we are planning a soft opening in mid-October with grand opening party on Sunday October 17th and official opening the following day. I'll be working the front line Monday - Friday from 6 AM to 9 AM before rushing off to work until 6:30 PM at my day job. Then I'll spend three or four evenings each week doing the coffee roasting. Oh... did I mention that I'm also the official machine maintenance and repair guy? It's been a real trial by fire experience getting thrown into the commercial end of the business this rapidly but I"m loving it and learning plenty. I do owe you all some sort of diary with photos to fill you in on this evolution. It's a sort of amateur becomes professional in spite of himself scenario and may have interest for a few of you (if not... at least there will be nice pictures to look at). I'll get that stuff up soon - I promise. In the meantime.... the new place (pictured above) is in a fantastic location in Syracuse's most upscale suburb. Fayetteville is actually a very old village that dates back to Revolutionary War days (older than the city of Syracuse) and has a small "downtown" (very small), some modest residential neighborhoods and then some lovely, wooded areas with larger newer homes. We'll have an educated clientele with plenty of discretionary income and we'll also have the space to start introducing things like seminars, cuppings or other educationally related initiatives. I'll actually have a dedicate roasting room with a window that lets customers see in, a full size pastry kitchen is being added for future use and we'll have seating for about 40 people. I don't know what the building was originally built for but there's an old walk-in freezer in the back (which we intend to use) and gorgeous green terrazzo floors that have cleaned up nicely.

Training: Zoka is top shelf and Kyle is one of the superstar baristas there. That said... it's way out in Seattle and you're in Hoboken. If you can afford to fly there or fly one of their guys to you it's a good choice but sometimes money is an issue. Espresso guru David Schomer of Caffe Vivace (also in Seattle) has started offering a two or three day intensive espresso training program but it's really targeted at baristas with some experience who want to hone and refine their skills. There are a few places on the east coast in Zoka's class / on their level and those would include Counter Culture Coffee in Raleigh NC and Gimme Coffee of Ithaca NY. As of last winter Gimme has had a location in Williamsburg Brooklyn as well. Not sure if they offer consulting/training services but it's worth checking out. You can also visit their Brooklyn cafe and you'll see the way that things are being done in the more progressive cafés. Lots has changed in espresso in the past five years - places like Zoka and the others I mentioned are among the vanguard. Beans: I won't get into Illy bashing here as they are a highly reputable company and founder Dr. Ernesto Illy was a pioneer that did much to elevate the art and science of espresso production. But they are a huge company and do their roasting and packing in Italy. Their espresso can be pretty good in Italy. If you luck out and get some that happens to be fairly fresh (recent packaging date) in the US it's not bad but you can do way better and should. MOst pepel who have some experience tryign different types of espresso will heavily favor fresh roasted beans form a good US based microroaster (not to mention that it will be cheaper than Illy). Illy is my fall back if I'm traveling in a foreign country or some place where quality espresso is not the norm. If I see an Illy sign on a cafe in some small town I know there's at least a marginal chance that I'll get a half decent shot but it's by no means assured. Find a local microroaster or one in the US who can work with you on competitive pricing so that the shipping costs aren't too great a burden. Nationally, Zoka, Vivace, Intelligentsia (of Chicago), Stumptown (of Portland OR)and Counter Culture are among the many roasters who do a fair amount of resale to smaller cafés. Gimme Coffee also wholesales but you might look even closer to home. Empire Coffee & Tea is a good small roaster with locations on 9th Avenue in NYC (just north of 42nd Street) and in Hoboken. Last time I was there they did not have an espresso blend but you can get some advice here, at coffeegeek and in the SCAA forums on blending and create your own. Some folks feel that for a newbie in the business it may be advisable to start out buying an espresso blend with known characteristics before trying to come up with your own. All the blends mentioned have their own character and merits and there's also been a big movement recently towards "SOS" in the espresso world (Single Origin Shots). Check out Terroir Coffee in the Boston area for some good info on the Single Origin movement in espresso. You'll need to taste, test and choose a blend for yourself - don't just try one and say "This is good enough" before researching enough to find one that will really suit both you and your target clientele. Important to remember is that you want to receive your beans within a few short days of the roast date, store them in lightproof airtight containers and use them with the next seven days or so after you receive them. Older beans get flat quickly and won't deliver the quality customers will come to expect from you if you start out doing things right. Equipment: For drip coffee.... unless you plan to do the artisan thing that a handful of places do and make/serve French press coffee (Stumptown does this but has one person dedicated to making French Press coffee all day long).... get a plumbed in auto brewer. Try to get something like a Fetco that will have a pulse feature for more even grounds saturation and brew directly into airpots. For espresso grinders stick with Rio, Astoria and Mazzer - they're all basically the same machine and come in three basic sizes with increasingly larger motors and output capacity. You can often pick up used Mazzer Super Jolly's or Rio Normale's on eBay. Grinders are among the few pieces of used equipment that a newbie operator might consider buying to save money over the price of new (more on that later). Grinder rarely need more than a good daily cleaning, new burrs periodically and perhaps a replacement switch/timer once in a while. For a drip coffee grinder I swear by Ditting. They're not cheap but you get what you pay for. Best bet is to try and snag a reconditioned KF804 directly from Ditting USA. Ditting machines typically last 20 - 30 years with no service other than cleaning, burr replacement and periodic switch replacement (a cheap and easy repair). They show up once in awhile on eBay but do NOT get the Ditting "Supermarket Grinder". It's been out of production for over fifteen years and is no longer supported for service. When in doubt check their web site to see what they still sell parts and burrs for. Espresso machines.... there's La Marzocco and then there's everybody else. I'm biased but check around among any and most likely all of the places I've mentioned above and any other cafe that's really serious about espresso quality. Nearly all of them use stock La Marzocco's or a modified jazzier version called a Mistral (the Mistral may even w be using componenets other than LM but the fundamental design principles are the same). Support is excellent and parts, even for older machines, are readily available from the distributor. There is a new machine called the Cyncra that's highly appealing and offers a degree of consistency, flexibility and temperature stability that has only been available to date on modified higher end La Marzocco's. The catch is that it's a brand new start up company. They have a wealth of experience and a good reputation but you have to make your own judgment call about whether to be an early adopter. If you're considering a used machine (La Marzocco or otherwise) I suggest be very cautious. If you're mechanically inclined and have the time/energy/leisure to completely refurb a La Marzocco with all new gaskets, descale the boiler, reassemble and test... you can save some money. That said.... if your machine is down for even a few hours, once you've established the business, the tangible monetary losses are significant and the intangible losses can be major (customer satisfaction etc is intangible but hugely important). If I open a cafe in a year or two I'll probably be deploying a used La Marzocco that will have been refurbished and extensively tested by me before it goes into service. I have the luxury of the space to work on it, the time to do it, and a bit of experience with these machines but I still learn something new almost every time I do a repair. In general I suggest against getting a used espresso machine. Feel free to PM me for further discussion and keep in mind that we have some seasoned industry pro's on this board (I am not among them - I'm a greenhorn!) including Malachi and Kyle among others.

Perhaps true for cheescake but the ONLY surefire cure for hiccups is a spoonful of plain dry sugar tossed directly to the back of the mouth and swallowed in one gulp. Actually salt or sand would work but neither are especially enjoyable to eat.

Here's where she's going to be living. This is a view of her room when you first walk in and look to the right. We're going to have some beautiful Stickley furniture to fill this space up. The Stickley folks are even going to take pictures of her room for their catalogue. It's nice to have friendly neighbors. Here's where she'll live, play and make people happy - right on top of that granite counter. We hope lots and lots of people line up here to see her every day and leave gifts. She's resting right now - it was a long trip from Italy and she has to get acclimated. Next week we'll wake her up and get to know each other better. Isn't she a beauty?

Yeah... those are the "bar cups" and they're great. Melkor has the snazzy Illy Alien series art cups. Collectors go crazy over those and other Illy limited edition cups. All the art cups are of a higher grade porcelain and more finely finished than the bar cups but they share a nice thick wall and great heat retention. To me it's not so much the heat retention to keep espresso hot more than a few minutes at most but to prevent the cup from initially leaching off heat when that sweet nectar first hits the surface. I thiink you're right about the wedding goft scenario. I just though they looked liek a crappy design - the Illy cups are in a set of four for uner $100 IIRC and obviously a batter deal. If I get married will all y'all by me some? (I'm practicing my Southernspeak to ensure a seamless transition for a planned move to NC late next year).

Stop by the lobby and tell "Editorbob" (who goes by just plain old Bob) that I said hello. They are already offering free drip coffee to any and all who pass through the lobby until they are officially open. Both Brent Kulman and Peter Reinhart clearly fit into the exclusive "any and all" category - stop by and let me know how the java is!

I recently spotted some new crystal espresso cup sets by Riedel These might appeal to some stemware and crystal lovers but the shape seems all wrong to me. I naturally gravitate towards a bowl shape with contoured sides and I also like the thermal mass of a thoickwalled cup for heat retention reasons. Illy Nude cups are more to my liking but I still can't get past the sense that it's all about the visual appeal rather than the best way to serve espresso. Just curious to know who's tried these and what your reactions are.

At one point in time a fair number of celebs could be spotted at Tribeca Grill and you might run into some drinking at the ear Inn on occasion. My only celeb brush up was having pizza slices at a standup table at Joe's on 7th Avenue South when Cuba Gooding Jr. was scarfing slices with his buddies at the next table over. It's NYC - could happen anywhere. Would I be correct in thinking that Nobu and JG also get their fair share of notables?