phaelon56

Will one of you kind wine and vinegar savvy folks suggest a red, a white and a champagne wine to use? I'd liek to try this but I dont' drink alcohol. The only wine I ever have around is Sutter Home Merlot, Chardonnay or the like in 8 oz screwcap bottles that is used for cooking. How important is the quality of the wine in the finished vinegar? Can a cheap wine make a great vinegar?

My favorite local Vietnamese restaurant almost always includes a fancy vegetable garnish on the pricier entrees (those in the $9-$15 range - it's not an expensive place to begin with). Usually it's a flower carved from carrot. They must serve quite a few of these every day. Is there a gadget of some sort that makes these or do you suppose they're just carved by hand? It's in the upper left corner of the plate shown below.

Is it because you've adopted the style of this person? Bunny Bunns: Nude Cooking Lessons and Nude Party Chef

MYy toppings that stray from traditional are hardly earth shattering but have generally been very good. Thsese include: Caramelized onions Thin sliced cured chorizo (sauteed and blotted first to reduce oil) Sprinkling of asiago, fontina or other pronounced flavor cheeses Roasted red peppers Sprinkling of dried herbes de Provence instead of dried Italian herb mix I find that going light on sauce, easing up on the mozzarella and adding a bit of the aformentioned other cheeses mkaes for a lighter pizza that stays in the traditional vein but is more flavorful. One of the best non-traditional pizza I've ever had was at Fez under Time Cafe in NY. It's a bar food menu (Fez is a music club) and the crust was only fair but the flavor combination was startlingly good. Sauteed red onion, sauteed maple smoked bacon chunks, walnuts, sliced tart green apples and gorgonzola cheese. I was a bit skeptical but it was lisated as the "signature pizza" on their menu and for justifiable reasons.

If there's a Wegman's in your area they most likely stock Hoffman's Franks. They're revered in central NY state as the best brand although I'm not that taken with their standard hotdogs. I do really like their coneys or white hots, sold under the name Snappy Griller. The coneys have veal and pork and nice spiciness. In this area the way to get quality hotdog/sausage products is to find a good German meat market (we still have one). Their homemade brats, sausages and hotdog type products blow away anything the grocery stores will offer.

It's all a matter of perspective I suppose. I've spent enough time cooking alone that I love having people in the kitchen with me and they can talk all they want - directly or amongst themselves - doesn't matter.

I can hardly recall how many times my father had to unstick or in some cases replace the disposal. It happens far less frequently now that my mother does composting yet he still keeps asking when I'm going to put one in my new house (the answer is NEVER!).

Oddly enough.... despite growing up in Syracuse, only an hour away from spiedie country, I've never tried one. They're always available at the NY State fair but there are so many better options such as Italian sausage sandwiches with onions, peppers and sauce. Always looked to me like gyro meat on a stick. The sauce is sold locally for marinade use and some swear by it, especially to use for grilled chicken breasts. I tried the sauce once and it did nothing for me - if I'm going to marinate with that kind of product I'l use Ken's Salad Dressing for half the price.

Funny that you should mention this. I just spotted it the other day at Wegman's and was a bit surprised to see it - had assumed that it was no longer made. It was in cans only and on a bottom shelf with no real visibility but apparently there's still a market for it here - there were only two six packs left on the shelf.

As of about two months ago his target date was end of summer but the challenges of opening in NYC may push that out further than they are wishing for. I'm in periodic contact with his office manager/cohort and will keep things updated here as info becomes available. I'll also see if I can arrange an eGullet outing for the preview or soft opening once dates are established (asuming there's interest in such a thing). Yeah.... long standing tradition in Mexico, Polynesia, Hawaii etc. - the practice of pit cooking probably goes so far back that there's not a chance of tracing its origins. I imagine there are vairations of it throughout the world and in most cultures.

I grew up in central NY state. The words "cook-out" and "barbecue" (spelled that way with a lower case "b") were used synonymously and still are. People have a "cook-out" or "barbecue" on the weekends, especially Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day. For many years, apart from the local black churches with many Southerners among their congregations) that occasionally set up cookers in front and served real 'cue to raise money, we had no BBQ or "barbecue" available locally. The appearance of Dinosaur BBQ on the local scene changed all that. People still use the two words (one with lower case and one with a cap) but the meaning is based on the context. It simply doesn't get discussed - although you'll find few in this area who really know good 'cue, the vast majority of people recognize the difference between "barbecue" and Barbecue" without needing to discuss it.

Yes.... I forgot - Rte 88 is much faster from Albany than taking 90 to 81.

Gee.... has anyone mentioned Spiedies? Apart from that and Cornell Chicken there isn't much of anythignt hat wold be considered as local or regional specialties. There is a half decent pit that you'll be near on your way down - about halfway between Syracuse and Binghamton. If you take the Preble exit off Rte 81 South (it's about 25 minutes south of Syracuse), head west a mile or less and then left on Rte 281 South (it runs parallel to Rte 81).... you'll find Bob's BBQ several miles down on the left. It's a classic outdoor pit - pretty good chicken and sides but the ribs were only so-so when I tried them years ago.

I beat you to it. Don't feel too bad Lisa - you got "kinseyed". Happens to the best of us (and even to others like me )

It adds much more control. I have a dedicated roaster - the Alpenroast. It does a good job but there's a ramp up to a one specific temperature and it the stays there for the duration of the roast (it's also tricky to tell roast stage due to motor noise and no viewing window). The drum roast "profile" offered by the Alpenroast is to some ways of thinking or tastes a smoother finish to the coffee than air poppers. This is due to longer roast time. Using a variac actually gets the bets of both worlds with air poppers. By controllign the temp riase and rate and modifying the temperature at certain stages (done by controlling voltage), the roast can be lenghtened and thigns like second crack phase can be extended. For those inclined to tweak and play with roast profiles it allows for a combiantion of the subtle flavor notes possible with an air roaster and also the smoother body of a drum roast. Sounds complicated to me and I'm not a tweaker by nature. A good option for popper roasting that is easy to accomplish is to separate the fan and heater controls and add a toggle switch that allows the heat to be turned on and off while the fan still runs. It's a really cheap and relatively easy modification and will work nearly as well as an expensive Variac. The difference is that you must toggle the switch on and off periodically to control the heat during the roast. This will result in extendign the roast time and achieve much the same results as a Variac.

He didn't. Cosi is Italian, so was the server. He was simply trying to lend an air of authenticity to the moment. "Prego," he said. Let's give the poor guy the benfit of the doubt (not!) When he said "Prego" it was most likely in response to brand of tomato sauce contained in the aforementioned vat (not!).

Okay... here's the tentative plan... an eGullet gathering will be held on Wednesday July 7th - exact location to be determined but it is to be a Hot Pot dinner (somewhere int he International District I presume). I should imagine that early evening... perhaps 7'ish would work? I don't know how late you Seattlites tend to work and how early/late you eat but anytime after 6 PM is okay with me. So far we have Sequim and MsRamsey in attendance along with yours truly - the bigger the group the more we get to sample, right? Just jump in on this thread to indicate if you're interested in joining us and we'll figure out the exact logistics as we get closer to the date. I can't get authentic Mexican in my neck 'o da woods so Tuesday dinner will be mexican - thus far have one person joining me but more are always welcome

Tit-Na-Nog is always my first suggestion but alacarte beat me to it (she's fast ). I also enjoy Gus's Fig on (I think) 28th just east of 8th Avenue - near Fashion Institute of Technology. I believe the FIG stands for French, Italian and Greek. It's a low key place with a Mediterranean influenced menu. Not a huge wow factor but good food and generally easy to get a table. Apart from what's already been mentioned there are few options in that area but it's only a short walk or very quick cab ride down to Chelsea, where there are far more options. If it's cocktails you're after later in the evening.... don't miss The Distinguished Wakamba Cocktail Lounge on 8th Ave near 36th and 37th. It was on the "2003 Best Of" list that is published annually by the Village Voice (best undercover cop bar )

I love the bread when it's fresh baked and still warm with that sheen of oil and a bit of coarse salt on it. I never found the sandwiches to be revolting but IMHO grossly overpriced. Coffee and espresso I do know - their coffee tends to be better than Starbucks and their espresso drinks about the same or not quite as good. It's not high praise but it's still better than average, especially for a chain. The fact that one can go in the evening and some folks may order drinks while others get okay coffee drinks (espresso drinks better than any typical restaurant or bar serves) is very cool. I"m surprised that hasn't caught on in more places outside of the big cities as there is definitely a market for it. Some of us got all our drinking done in the first half of our lives but have friends who still imbibe - nice to have a place we can go to together. Haven't tried the 'smores but it's a cool idea and fun to watch. I also have a sneaking suspicion that Cosi's locations vary widly in terms of consistency.

I doubt that such is the case. It wouldn't be unusual for a hetero person with no gay friends or little to no exposure to gay culture to feel a bit uncomfortable or out of place but I suspect it would be the rare exception when an establishment itself is intentionally making the straight person feel unwelcome. A few years I popped into a neighborhood bar I was unfamiliar with to see an R 'n B band I'd heard of but had never seen perform. The bar had changed hands in the years that I'd been away from the area and now drew an almost exclusively black clientele. Despite the fact that my best friend was (and is) black, as by chance was the woman I'd been dating for years, I felt very uncomfortable and out of place. No one really paid me any attention other than a few initial glances my way when I first arrived. The sense of feeling unwelcome was all self-induced. When I commented on the experience to my friend and my GF they said "Now you know how we feel" (except in their case, on many occasions when they were the only black person in an establishment, they really were made to feel unwelcome). Surprisingly enough, my current place of residence (also my hometown), has a restaurant that is very specifically targeted at a gay clientele, although all are welcome. Tu Tu Venu I'll try it one of these days soon and report back in the NY Forum - my only reason for not going there is that they never advertise, it falls under the radar and I forget to try it out (not to mention that only one restaurant in town has the iced coffee with condensed milk that I crave and I keep going there repeatedly).

This organization OutProfessionals.org meets at the Community center on 13th Street that Soba70 referred to. I'm familiar with them because a friend suggested their directory as a possible source for leads when I was doing sales in NYC and needed new contacts. It's likely that they already have some restaurant professionals in their membership and as a non-profit that is already structured to deal with job/career issues in the LGBT community, it might be a great place to look for other people who'd have in interest in establishing such an organization.

That jukebox was shut off three minutes later than it should have been (it actually should have been shut off before the song even began playing but I wasn't there to yank the cord - then again.... I was dumb enough to kick a skipping jukebox once in an after hours joint and learned never to do that again - some very drunk people liked dancing endlessly to the skip on a James Brown song). I have trouble thinking of Boulder CO as "middle America" unless it's changed radically since I spent the winter in Sunshine Canyon back in the late 70's (it most likely has). I'm still trying to dig up my recipe for "Lemon Poppyseed dressing" from the Carnival Cafe, a long gone Boulder institution that was a remnant of the hippie era. IIRC, it had about thirty or more ingredients and was very tasty. I am looking forward to the blog and to learning a bit more about Indian food. I had long assumed that, apart from some delicious breads, I simply didn't have a taste for Indian food. A month or so back, I had dinner at Mina, a small family operated place in Sunnyside Queens (NYC) and my perspective was radically altered. I'm told that their food is closer to Bangladeshi than Indian - perhaps it was the freshness and care taken in preparation or maybe the difference in spices but I loved it and hope to soon try more Indian food of that caliber. Mrs. Jones (who must be saintly I am certain) is Korean? Have you found any ways in which the two cuisines can influence each other and create some interesting results (that would the "New KorIndian" cusine that has us all a twitter))

We already have one in my town.... Clark's Ale House They sell only beer and wine with the primary focus being British style ales served at the correct temperature. In a neighborhood full of trendy joints (the Armory Square district of Syracuse NY), these guys have it figured out. No TV's, no jukebox, no music, no video games, no live jazz bands.... just dart boards, board games. newspapers/magazines and good old-fashioned conversation. It was a shocking event locally when they added turkey sandwiches to their menu (the menu had previously included only a roast beef sandwich along with cheeses and crackers). Clark's has been up and running for close to ten years now and continues to thrive. It's a model that would work well elsewhere if people had the nerve to try it. By the way.... the owners heavily researched traditional British and irish pubs before settling on a business model - it appears that their research paid off.

Can anyone say...... "Zima"? Seems that malt liquors don't succeed long term uness they are just marketed as plain old malt liquor.

I haven't had do n uts from the Donut Plant in NYC but IMHO there's no way they could compare to Top Pot. I tried them a while back on a Seattle visit and wished I could have tried more varieties. I think one was a maple cruller and the other a conventional fried cake - both were phenomenal. I think many donuts would lose their best qualities when frozen and thawed - perhaps someone with first hand experience can comment? The only donuts I've ever had that have exceeded Top Pot's quality are the ones at my local Farmer's Market - they're served just after frying and come in only two varieties - plain or rolled in cinnamon sugar.