phaelon56

Unless there's at least two hours between the time I'm seated at a table and the time I have to be somewhere spcific (e.g. a movie or a show), I always informt he server and aks if the items we're ordering will be reaonsable and allow us to be finished and out the door in time to make it to our event. It's always worked well for me. I agree in this particular instance that the kitchen should have been faster - some probably dropped the ball (or the dupe). That said... I wouldn't have stiffed the server on the tip.

Although it's not true espresso it's pretty darn close and I think you'll enjoy it.... moka coffee may be the answer. If milk based drinks are your thing you can also get a little battery operated frother thingy (I think they're called Aerolatte). You'd need to microwave the milk before whipping it up with the Aerolatte. Also consider getting a stovetop milk frother that utilizes steam (not sure of they're available in an electric version). It will give you tru microfoam milk if used properly vs the 'foamy" milk you'll get with some other methods. The travel kit shown here could be purchased for less $$ by just finding a source for the Velox electric moka maker and use your own cups and case. Check this eGullet Amazon link for the Velox "espresso" travel kit

I can weigh in only to agree with the others on the pleasure of both food and company. We were there only for the Sunday meal but it was delightful - the food mentioned for the Saturday dinner was converted to picnic fare. I tried.... cold chicken, lamb salad, potato salad (purple and white potatoes), cold pork with corn, my own duck salad (needs some work!) and the aforementioned brownies, blondies and peach ice cream. All were delicious. Steven's observation about the track as a place for a picnic gathering are apt - it's a bit crowded and too far from the action. My nomination for a future eGullet NY state summer outing is for a Saturday in late June on the first day of the Saratoga Jazz fest at SPAC. JPW (Joe) of the DC/VA/MD forum is always there with his lovely wife Lynn and invariably someone is at the gates early enough to secure a prime spot on the lawn, large enough to handle a crowd that comes and goes. The music lienup varies but the prime activity during the day has always been hanging out on the lawn and eating - a perfect fit for eGullet folks. Let's consider that as a possibility for next summer.

Wow. That's disgusting. I think one of those coupel with a "bloomin onion" would easily far exceed the daily fat and calorie intake levels suggested for a grown man. I think I need to get on the bandwagon with some cold coffee experimentation. I'm making espresso shots daily for my morning iced latte but the whole process (grinding, tamping and pulling two doubles followed by cleanup and a quick machine backflush) takes at least ten minutes - some days that's more time than I can allot.

And best to mkae your own. Oddly enough, some drink recipes I've seen call for either orgeat syrup or falernum as if they were interchangeable. There is an almond component in both but orgeat is predominately and almond flavored syrup whereas falernum is not.

You probably won't want to take the cabinets with you but if you sell it and the cabinets can be easily upgraded/changed by the new oners due to the mounitng system... it could conceivably be a selling point. Regardless... although lots of their furniturre looks good but is actually a bit cheesy in terms of longvity and real build quality, I hear good things about their cabinets. I had no idea that the GE Monograms were that expensive. I have a cheap Whirlpool gas range that was in the house when I moved in. It's brand new but the "power burner" doesn't get hot enough and it has a white enamled metal top with sealed burners. it constantly builds up crued and is impossible to get compeltely clean without damaging the paint. The Kitchen-Aid in the link looks great. For the kind of cooking and kitchen use you describe it looks like a good fit. It has full grates (yes - a big plus!) and ceramic glass underneath the grates(which is not white) - shouodl be a cinch to keep it clean. And that's a good price. I think my kitchen halogens are a bit too bright also but I have dimmers. You could also get some that include diffusers. It's just a betetr light to work in for visibility reasons. Plus you'll need good light to take photos of the great food you'll be preparing and show them to us here, right? The point was already made - just do the wirign and the switches now - it's cheaper and easier in the long run.

Can you clarify? Does this mean that people assume glaze = longer storage time, therefore the fruit tart is likely not all that fresh? I have only made fruit tarts for home consumption but I like the way the glaze looks and also the fact that it holds the fruiti in place as arranged. The first few tiems I made tarts I used some thinned out apricto preserves with a bit of lemon juice cooked in as a glaze and was happy with it. On impulse I recently picked up a package of glaze powder in the grocery store. Am I likley to be disappointed with it or is it okat stuff? By the way.... we have two good local bakery options. One is Biscotti's, an Italian oriented bakery whose biscotti is truly outstanding. They make a decnt fruit tart and they chose to locate in a slightly marginal neighborhood, knowing they'd draw people anyway. Prior to their opening a few years back, many locals folks (city of 150,000 with another 200,000 or more in the burbs) were driving 45 minutes each way to Utica NY to get Italian pastries. The other option is the bakery at the big Wegman's Grocery. Our area is not affluent enough for them to have a Hermes department but they do have some decent commercial desserts. Their tarts are heavily glazed but the fruit always appears to be very fresh and has tasted that way when I"ve tried them. Not cheap - $4 for the mini tart, $16 for the 8" and $25 for the 11".

I did my own rebuild from scratch on the first kitchen but was on a serious, serious budget and my choices/appliances likely aren't relevant for this thread. My current house came replete with a very nicely redone kitchen - apart from a vent hood there's nothing to change or update (until I can afford a decent six burner range). I have followed some kitchen renovation threads here from time to time including Mayhaw Man's, Varmint's and quite awhile back.... the Perlow's. Not feeling motivated enough at the moment to dig and post links to those threads but there were bits and pieces of all of them that will be relevant even though they were in houses and yours an apartment. Among the few issues you raised that I can comment on: 2. Contractor recommendations - get specific references that you can trust - people who actually had work done by the contractor and they must be people you can trust by either knowledge or reputation. In lieu of or in addition to that check to find out of there are any judgments against the contractor. Make sure its' someone who is willing to contractually commit to getting in there and dedicating their resources to your project straight through without too many diversionary jobs. Most contractors have multiple jobs going at the same time for a variety of reasons - not a problem as long as they aren't stretched too thin. 3. Cabinet recommendations - lots of people saying good things about Ikea and their mounting system is appealing for apartment dwellers - you have the option of taking the cabinets with you when you move . 4. Counter (I think we've decided on granite) - granite or the composite stones seem to get the highest level of "yes I'd use them again" feedback in this forum. 5. Refrigerator recommendations - lots of good stuff on the recent Mayhaw Man thread on this topic - especially re/bottom freezer vs. top and side by side vs single door. Almost all seem to recommend against SubZero as being too unreliable and too pricey for what you get. 6. Range recommendations (we like gas) - good feedback on GE Monogram Series from many in this forum. Specifically for those wanting higher end but without the cost of Wolf, Garland etc. 7. Hood/vent/fan? Can't comment much on this - higher CFM air movement is a key thing to look for on vents that go to the outside. I have no idea if there are higher end options for recirculating indoor venting . Do look for vent screens/filters that will be easy to degrease and wash (e.g. stainless steel mesh) 8. Dishwasher recommendations - people seem to love Bosch. On my first dishwasher I went really low end and added fiberglass insulation myself to improve the sound deadening. My contractor told me that at the lower end the big difference among different brands and price points is how quiet they are. It really is easy to add extra sound dampening yourself on cheaper dishwashers. On all of the higher end models it should be a moot point as they are already designed to be quiet. 9. Hidden costs - Project creep is the big one. You start changing some little things here and there and adding a few features. This is one key place where costs just seem to shoot up very rapidly. If a contractor proposes a feature in the initial bid and you shave it off thinking it's not necessary, expect that feature to cost a lot more if you end up adding it back in mid-stream. Also.... plan your availability of materials carefully to avoid extra time and extra trips from installers etc. Your extended inconvenience from having an overly long remodeling project is not a cash item but it's truly a hidden cost that should be considered. Make sure things are specified very exactly as to types, grades, thicknesses etc of materials. Make absolutely no assumptions - many contractors will use the cheapest grade of materials when there isn't a specific mandate to do otherwise. If you draw up the plans yourself or with some help... consider paying a good designer a small consulting fee to review your plans and your contract to ensure that it's thorough enough. By the way... although they're often in left field about many products and sometimes just plain clueless... Consumer Reports magazine has a pretty good article this month on kitchen cabinets and the related issues of design, where to purchase etc. It's worth looking at before you embark on a project of this type. The major oversight I had in the kitchen that I designed and built was inadequate lighting. if I was doing that kitchen again I would double the number of ceiling canister lights for overall illumination and also add a fair number of spots to give better light in work areas. I tend towards subdued and indirect light in living spaces and work spaces and hate fluorescents. It's easy enough to avoid fluorescents but plenty of halogen or incandescent is need for a good working area (plus dimmers to drop the light level when the work is done )

I suppose this discussion is primarily targeted at home roasters but those folks with access to good fresh whole bean roasted coffee might also consider doing some of this blending. I love the infinite variations that can come from espresso blending but sometimes I want a simple and easy to execute blend that to whip up in a hurry without paying much attention to minute details. Over at coffeegeek the inimitable Jim Schulman (he's a great guy, very coffee savvy and well known on alt.coffee) made this suggestion for someone looking for a lower acidity blend that would have chocolatey undertones I'm curious to know if any of you have a more general formula or is that not practical? I'm thinking along these lines: x parts base bean (Brazil or Colombian), x parts African, x parts Central American, x parts Indian, x parts Indonesian Perhaps this is just way too generalized an approach as various African beans, Central American etc can vary so much from one country or region to the next. That said.... is it or isn't it true that beans from one region will tend to have an overall domininant characteristic? For example.... not necessarily accurate enough but a thought Central American = bright flavor notes and mildly acidic - perhaps some fruity undertones African = chocolatey and darker fruity undertones - less bright Yemeni = earthy, winey and wilder flavor Indonesian = smoother less acidic and very rich flavor Colombian and Brazilian = relatively clean and neutral flavor profile I know that this aproach is overly simplistic but I have a large stash of green beans of many varieties. I'm just trying to establish some easy rules of thumb for making simple blends, then document the results and refine from there. One little blend experiment I tried recently that was ridicuolously easy (and kind of cheating but who cares?) came from a tip I saw at coffeegeek 1 part Uganda Budadiri (or Bugisu - can't recall the exact name ) to one part Sweet Maria's Moka Kadir blend. I bough some Moka Kadir by mistake when I meant to order a Yemeni Moka. Never really did care for the Moka Kadir blend by itself but when I roasted a half pound until early second crack, roasted a half pound of the Uganda to about the same level and mixed them... wow! It's one of the better espresso blends I've ever tried and worth another visit. If I recall correctly eGullet's slkinsey blends some high quality Robusta into the Sweet Maria's Liquid Amber blend and is very happy with the results. Perhaps he'll weigh in on this topic but I'm all ears to any and all blending ideas.

That's way cheap. It's tough to get ESE style espresso pods for much under 40 cents each even in quantity.

Do you mean freshwater (as in caight in a lake) bass or just that it came from a vendor who's based upstate? I'm just curious as to what variety of bass it is if it's freshwater (large mouth, small mouth or walleye). We can get some freshwatwer lake fish up here but only at a couple of inner city markets that sell mostly perch and panfish (bluegills, sunfish etc.) in seasons. The really good fish is bullhead but those seem to be available mostly at a couple of local restaurants on the lake that sell bullhead dinners (bullhead is essentially catfish but often smaller and generally sweeter and with a bit more flavor - probably because it's not farmed). Such a bummer that my local Syracuse famrer's market has nor heirloom tomatoes and hte regular homegrowns have been mediicre this year. I have to drive an hour to Ithaca to get heirlooms. Sticker shock: I was in North carolina a few weeks ago and the farm stand behind my GF's development had fantastic red and yellow tomatoes for 75 cents per pound. The day I left the price had dropped to 50 cents per pound because he had such a bumper crop to sell. They were some of the best tomatoes I've ever eaten.

For those of you on this thread who've mentioend that you're consideringpurchase of a burr grinder.... I'll sing that tired old song once again... all burr grinders are not created equal. Check the pinned coffee topics index in this forum for the grinder thread. Espresso bars ans cafes that follow rigid process control typically clean their grinders quite throughly on a daily basis. My small commercial grinder only grinds a few doubels each day and I never use dark oily beans. The only cleaning I've done is with a brush but it's still spotless after two years of use.

Please update us. If you can put your own coffee into a plastic holder and use the Senseo, I'll be inclined to get one for those mornings where I want regular coffee instead of espresso and need to jet out the door shortly after arising. I suspect that the plastic holder system will benefit greatly from using coffee run through a good quality grinder (i.e. consistent particle size in the grind).

Pan will definitely know but he's not back until close to the end of August. I do know of a tiny corner grocery on te edge of Chinatown that serves banh mi sandwiches, a killer cup of iced coffee with condensed milk and has a really big selection of sweets and pastries, many in day-glo colors not found in nature I'm guessing that they're all Viet, Cambodian or Hmong but perhaps they have some others. I don't recall the exact corner that's it's on but it's in a thread here somewhere and I could dig it up if need be.

It's like... you know.... like pesto in a tub. You buy it at a wholesale club in a big-ass plastic tub that holds about a quart of the stuff. Good for pesto wrestling but not sure I'd want to eat it. I love that idea about adding a bit of bluee cheese - will have to try it. I've been using the pignoli's from BJ's and they're good - not to mention half the price of what the grocery store charges.

Mmmmmm... pasta pie. Cut into thinner strips, mix with some favored incgredients (veggies or meats and some cheese), stir in some beaten egg and top with buttered bread crumbs. Bake it in a pie dish and cut in wedges to serve.

In that case I need a referral from you mamster. I had dinner at Saigon Bistro (on Jackson south of 12th upstairs - entrance in the back). The fresh rolls were markedly inferior to what I get here in Syracuse and the iced coffee with condensed milk was served premixed and was on the weak side (I saw an espresso machine when I was leaving - I suspect that's how they make it so fast and why it arrives at the table pre-mixed). In their defense I'll mention that the duck and cabbage salad was outstanding. I went there based on an eG referral and found pretty good rec's for it in some local Seattle site as well. Were they having an off night or are there better places?(admittedly I tried a small sampling of items but fresh rolls, iced coffee and pho are my benchmarks for quality in a Viet restaurant - all three must be up to snuff or it fails my test - they flunked 2 out of 3 and I didn't have chance to try the pho). The evening was saved by an excellent iced coffee to go from a banh mi joint just down the block on the other side. The sandwiches there (it's an old gas station) were dirt cheap but the coffee was pricey at $2.75 a cup. Take-away iced coffee at the good Viet deli's in NYC's Chinatown are only $2 and it's also a bigger cup.

This is my very first time ever doing any gardening. I started with patio containers on my deck that were just recently moved to the ground (company coming and I need the deck space). Some of Mom's left-over compost, some fresh topsoil, peat moss and perlite along with Osmocote fertilizer pellets kick started the whole thing and growth has been very good I made the classic first time gardener mistake and planted too many items too close together (all started from seedlings) The parsley, sweet basil and habaneros seem to do okay together but the thyme, rosemary, oregano and Thai basil have suffered. Is this likely due to a lack of light due to their lower profile or have the larger plants just hogged all the nutrients? See the Thai basil below in the center of the pot - maybe it's normal but I thought it would get taller like the sweet basil around it. Is it normal or is it stunted? Last question (I promise it's the last for now): How big should tomatoes be at this time of year? I have a "Patio Tomato" plant that came with six fruit already on it. They ripened in about four weeks. It now has about twenty or so green tomatoes, some about golf ball sized and a few others a bit smaller than a tennis ball but not big. The plant itself is a bit squat but I think that may be the nature of patio tomato plants (the variety that is - not the location). I also have a Black prince plant - the second one pictured. It staretd as a seedlign and has gotten quite large with about two to three dozen fruit but again - most are very small and still very green. Here in the northeast (Syracuse NY - weather probably akin to central Minnesota during growing season).... how late can these grow outdoors and should I still be expecting red fruit eventually? (note: I made the poor choice of 12" diameter pots for the tomato plants - obviously not large enough but I water them diligently. Patio Tomato Black Prince

Don't do what I did. At age 23 I'd partied my way out of college and promptly scored two concurrent busboy jobs (one lunches - the other dinners) with the intent of working up to a waiter's position. Come to find out.... the one place never ever used waiters - only waitresses. The other place had an entrenched advancement system that involved being a drinking buddy of the owner or a friend of a friend of his. Applying for another job at a local lunch place as a bartender (no experience on my resume), the hiring manager took me aside and advised that I could unquestionably make a good waiter but would need a couple weeks of sink or swim hands-on experience to prove it. She suggested that I "fudge it" a bit on my experience and claim some out-of-town too time consuming to verify "waitering experience" for my resume, then apply to a few other places. I applied to the newest hottest local bistro (the first fern bar in town - this really was way back when). I was hired on the spot (if nothing else I am a master of BS when necessary). I clebrated that night at my neighborhood watering hole. gleefully boasting to my drinking companions that I'd just gotten hired as a waiter at this hotspot and had not a day or real waitering experience to my credit. Guess who was parked at the corner stool for his daily libations? None other than the head line cook of said bistro Needless to say.... I was unaware and more than a bit baffled at the sh#t I got from the kitchen staff during my first two weeks on the job (having failed to recognize him as a regular from the bar). They all tortured me relentlessly - even more than the average rookie. After the two week hazing was up the crew bought me a beer and laughed their asses off while they fessed up and recounted all the ridiculous mistakes I made during my quick learning curve. It's a tribute to and commentary on the fact that in the restaurant biz it's what you can do that really counts. Get back in the kitchen and personal politics, schmoozing, being able to "appear" that you're getting work done..... none of that stuff can carry you even a little way as it often can in the corporate and office world (including the one I presently work in). Don't be surprised if you're hired with minimal experience for a job you may not think you're yet qualified for. If the hiring manager senses some maturity, drive and an iron determination as personal qualities you embody.... that will go a long way. And who the hell is Ann Taylor? [rhetorical]Am I that clueless?[/rhetorical/]

Looking at the list of places you tried in NYC compared tp the reference points in Seattle it almost seems like an apples to oranges comparison to some extent. Add in the fact that the sampling size is so small and it's easy to see why you consider Seattle to be underrated (which of course does not imply that NYC is overrated - those are two entirely different topics. Leaving high end "fine dining" out of the equation and looking at mid priced and ethnic offerings, NYC unquestionably has more choices to offer based on sheer numbers but I suspect that most folks, especially those that haven't visited Seattle or have only been there on brief business trips, don't think of Seattle as having a really interesting variety of high quality eating places. Therein lies one of the many values of this community. Given adequate time to research and some sense of the tastes of other eGullet members who may offer advice, it's easy to put together a list of target places to try when traveling. On a recent trip to seattle I was overwhelmed with possible options but regrettably had time to try very few due to schedule and budget. Results can still be expected to vary wildly. It appears that there is very authentic mexican cuisine available in Seattle. Apart from some taco carts and a few isolated small cafes, there's very little if any of that in Seattle. SEattle seems to have a fair number of Vietnamese restuarsants - almost as many as NYC. The one I tried was highly recommended and although it compared favorably to my favorite place on Bayard Street in Chinatown (or Baxter - can't recall which), it didn't hold a candle to the one that used to stand in Nutley NJ before the fire (Little Saigon) and also couldn't measure up to my local Viet place here in Syracuse. Yes, in the big scheme of things Seattle seems underrated as a food town. But not by me.

Must have done this dinner within the past week but I'm losing track of which days. Evening obligations have me searching for quickie meals as well as using up stuff in the freezer. A quickei teriaki style marinade with key lime juice as the citrus was applied to the shrimp for an hour or so and I used up the last of the baby red new potatoes that have been starting to sprout eyes in my cupboard. Three minutes for the taters in the microwave and finished them on the grill while the shrimp was grilling (which didn't take long). That along with a quick microwaved ear of corn actually made a for a really good meal that had a total of about five minutes prep, an hour to chill out and read while the marinade was workign and about ten minutes cooking time start to finish. I should do this more often

Such variability has to be upsetting you could easily rectify this by having a few noble eGullet volunteers join you for dinner as your guests in the slower months. Then your bill would even out and settle in at a nice predictable level As for comps, like many people, in my business there's really no such thing but when I go the extra mile for people.... e.g. offering to be on call for them at off hours if they get stuck resolving a problem... they're always tickled to get that recognition as a valued customer (they sure don't get that from other people in my industry like Cisco).

I wonder if the "Rte 17 Farm Market" in East Rutherford by Staples sells local corn? (BTW they are a year round produce store not a real farmer's market) When I lived in NJ the local ShopRite didn't carry jersey corn - even at the peak of the season. What's up with that? Up here in central NY state all the supermarkets make a big deal out of selling local produce when it's available (actually.... it's Wegman's that makes the big deal and the rest are copy-cats except for the smaller local stores like IGA that have always sold local produce when it's available). I gave up on boiling except when trying to cook large quantities. I microwave it in the husk - two or three ears at a time and it comes out great - better than boiling. I will get around to grilligng some when time permits.

Wow. It looks like they have every possible accessory available for those grills except foam dice. But the heat rules that out. Try roasting a split chicken or Cornish Hens on that new grill of yours. I never could get chicken the way I wanted it on the grill (golden brown caramelized crunchy skin but still moist on the inside). Then I tried brining. Holy Smokes Batman - Biff Bam Pow. Great chicken. I would steer you to the eGCI Brining Course but since you insist on being spoon fed (a practice which your saintly wife has undoubtedly grown tired of) here's how it works: Stir 70 grams or 1/4 cup of Kosher salt into each quart of nice cold water and put enough water in the pot/container to cover the meat. Allow about 30 minutes per pound of whole chicken (2 - 3 hours max for the typical four pound whole chicken), about an hour for a Cornish Hen and 30 minutes max for ribs. Other time suggestions are in the Brining Course. Some people add a spoonful or two of sugar but the salt is the key factor (BTW - best not to use regular table salt but if you do so the quantity of salt is different). This brining business (which I tried for the first time last week - that probably makes Mongo and me the only people in eGullet who hadn't tried it yet).... it's like some kind of alchemy. It turns ordinary leaden chicken into golden chicken. I swear it's true. 30 minutes o each side on a medium grill and the chicken halves were golden brown with some charred bits of skin here and there (that I love) and the ends of the drumsticks were charred. yet the meat inside was more flavorful and moister than any roasted chicken I've ever eaten. And not salty. Go figure. I know there's a scientific explanation that involves osmosis and protein structures but I just like the way it tastes. I smoked ribs on Saturday that were already great in the past but even better with brining. Last night I broiled some mundane supermarket boneless pork chops with an orange juice mixture and they were improved immeasurably.

Sinclair said this and this I couldn't agree more. Many of us here and in the general populace go to high end fine dining establishments only on occasion when we can afford it and have (which isn't often) a special day to celebrate. Mid range restaurants (let's say that outside of expensive major metro areas this would be $40 - $80 per couple for dinner without alcohol and no tax or tip included) probably make up the vast majority of dining experiences in terms of simple numbers (I'm leaving fast food and chains out of the equation). If a restaurant I patronize either cannot afford a pastry chef due to their relatively small size or the numbers just don't work... I'd rather have a quality pre-made dessert from a reputable local specialty baker than have something that the chef threw together under the pressure of an already hectic day. Desserts deserve to be more than an afterthought but it's where they end up in many establishments. What I truly disdain but end up finding at some places are those overly sweet thawed out frozen dessrts that cme from some "specialty" supplier. Perhaps a step up the food chain from Sysco but still predictable crap. Places serving that would be better served by going to Costco, BJ's or Sam's and just buying frozen "gourmet" desserts there (I suspect that some already do). The reality for me is that live in an area where only a handful of restaurants can afford or justify having a pc and if they choose to have one there' more than likely a shortage of qualified applicants. I don't think that operations like bripastryguy's present a threat - I believe they are a complement and could conceivably serve to raise the bar for dessert quality at mid-range restaurants. That's good for everybody in the long run. It should mean more discerning patrons and eventually more opportunities for pc's (at least in my ideal universe 'cause I love dessert).