Darren72

This is why people ask about cuisines that you are interested/not interested in. Clearly, "Cuisine wise, anything" is not accurate.

Just so I'm sure I'm understanding this, you are shaking the room temp water and sugar to make the syrup, rather than simmering and then cooling?

We bought one recently and like it.

Is anyone familiar with the differences between Spiegelau's Vino Grande line and their Authentis line? Both retail at Amazon for about $55 for 6 glasses, though the "list price" of the Authentis is about $20 higher. Vino Grande Burgundy glasses Authentis Burgundy glasses We have a lot of Vino Grande glasses and are quite happy with them. Any pointers about how the Authentis glasses may differ is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

This depends on the store and the coffee they carry. Sealed coffee bags with plastic one-way valves that let out CO2, but don't let air in, can can keep coffee beans reasonably fresh for 2-3 months. If a bag has a "use by" date on it, you can safely guess that the roast date was 2-3 months earlier. Sure, these beans won't be as fresh as buying beans that were recently roasted. I usually buy Intelligentsia directly from the store in Chicago. But my recollection is that they stopping printing "roasted on" dates on the bags they sell in grocery stores.

Thanks! This is very, very true. I can't count the number of times I've helped someone cook and said "we're going to have to do this in batches" and then explained the difference between pan frying and steaming.

slkinsey, what do you mean by "respecting the power of the stove"? Do you simply mean not overheating the pan? I've always wondered why All-Clad's instructions for pans say not to use more than a medium-high flame.

I run white vinegar through the coffee maker and it seems to clean it fine. The only other method I've tried is a mixture of water and vinegar, so I can't speak to other options.

Read BryanZ's story on the previous page.

Or Subway!

That's right. Just to be clear, when I last researched these things, the All-Clad roasting pan was 100% stainless steel; no aluminum core. And it cost $200. Most websites and stores had the same blurb about the All-Clad stainless steel line having an aluminum core on all products, from the saucepans, frying pans, to the the roasting pan. I called the company and they told me that the roasting pan doesn't have it. Now, maybe things have changed. If not, I don't see any reason to prefer the All-clad over the Calphalon.

Here's a review. It doesn't sound worth it to me.

Slkinsey's advice is good. Unfortunately, cookware stores seem to want to shove nonstick or really expensive stainless steel stuff down our throats. A good pan that I use is Calphalon's stainless steel roasting pan, which is usually $100 on Amazon (and it includes a v-rack). It's heavy enough to let a nice fond develop and can easily go from the oven to stovetop. My mother just bought a $30 stainless steel roasting pan from Sam's Club. It's gotten decent reviews and I'll give it a test run for the first time this Thanksgiving.

I've seen the ads from Coffeefool.com and have avoided them simply because I hate ads. There are a lot of merchants that roast and then ship beans immediately after you place your order. If you are willing to pay the shipping costs, these beans will be as fresh as anything you'd get from coffeefool.com or a local roaster. One company I've used in the past is http://www.paradiseroasters.com/. I live in Chicago and buy quite frequently from Intelligentsia. I used to walk in and ask which beans were roasted today or yesterday....and every time they'd tell me that I certainly wouldn't be able to tell the difference between beans roasted today or ones roasted 5 days earlier. I'm not convinced of that just yet, but in any case I don't think is going to be a vastly different taste from beans that are roasted within the week. There are a lot of threads on egullet about home roasting.

tsg20 -- thanks for sharing. So sorry about the disappointments, however. I am incredibly glad that you shared your thoughts with the manager (even if they weren't received well). Cheers.

All of the recommendations above (and in the threads linked above) seem to fit what you are looking for. But I presume you are looking for something different. Can you give us a little more info?

I've been going to Northwestern Cutlery in Chicago for years. I began going there because they sharpen knives while you wait, for like $3 per knife. As far as restaurant supply stores go, they are on the smaller side, but a lot of the stuff they are missing is more of use to restaurants than to home cooks. They also stock a few consumer brands (such as All-Clad). The staff is incredibly helpful, especially about knives. Some of my best finds there are Vollrath nonstick fry pans ($25) and half sheet pans for $5. They are located in Lake St in Chicago in an area that has tons of restaurant supply stores, meat packing facilities, etc. It's a great neighborhood to explore. Note that the website, linked below, is mostly geared for home chefs. It doesn't contain all of their inventory. Northwestern Cutlery http://www.nwcutlery.com/ 810 West Lake Street Chicago, IL 60007 Ph: 888-248-4449 Fax: 312-421-7016 e-mail: info@nwcutlery.com

I think you can't go wrong at either place. I've never been disappointed at North Pond, but you are right that they receive mixed reviews here. The atmosphere is also quite different at the two restaurants: Blackbird is much louder and cramped. If this is a problem for you, you may want to ask to be seated near the western wall of the building. The wall on the east side has a line of tables with hardly any room between them. Also, North Pond does an excellent brunch. If it fits in your plans, you might do that, plus Blackbird for dinner. Have fun and report back on your experience.

What's wrong with Amazon.com?

Just a quick follow-up. When you say "add maraschino," do you mean the liquor or something else? If the liquor, why do you add it two weeks later than the others ingredients? Thanks.

It also reproduces well in a home kitchen.

You might want to post this on the "Professional Forum" at www.lthforum.com, a site devoted to Chicago area food and restaurants. I seem to recall a thread about staging there at some point, but I couldn't find it in my quick search.

Two friends and I had dinner at the Plumed Horse in Saratoga a few nights ago. The Plumed Horse has been recently remodeled and, I'm told, re-conceived. It is a fairly modern-styled restaurant. Our food was excellent; the service needed some work. To start, I had the hamachi crudo, avocado, sharyln melon, lime, espellette pepper. (The menu says hamachi, though our waiter said it was a similar fish, the name of which escapes me.) This was essentially sashimi with small balls of avocado and mellon, and a little sauce that seemed to be made largely with avocado. The fish was excellent - definitely as good as anything I've had in a higher-end Japanese restaurant. My two friends had the warm strawberry and endive salad, speck ham, burrata cheese; and the seared foie gras, mustard fruit, green grapes and salted almond brittle. I had tastes of both and they were excellent. For dinner I had a piece of braised veal (not a shank as the on-line menu says), served with ricotta ravioli, sweetbreads, chanterelle mushrooms. The exterior of the veal was a little drier than it should be, but the dish was nice over all. I probably would not order it again if I went back. My friends had the slow roasted salmon with tamarind glaze and the brioche crusted halibut. Both were excellent. The waiter had steered us towards the seafood dishes and our experience indicates that this is definitely the way to go. We also had a real nice Pinotage to drink, and finished with a piece of Valrohona chocolate cake. The service was quite uneven. Nothing terrible happened, but most of our interactions with the staff left us either laughing or just wondering what was going on. Since the restaurant is newly opened, perhaps things will work themselves out soon. The only problem I had with the restaurant was the constant feeling of being upsold...a cocktail before we are seated, then a glass of champagne before we order, then the tasting menu, etc. 14555 BIG BASIN WAY SARATOGA, CA 95070 (408) 867-4711 http://www.plumedhorse.com

Here is a link to some helpful recent reviews of Arun's: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=1504 While many will agree that Alinea's is a better restaurant, however defined, it bears mentioning that Arun's is a whole lot cheaper. It isn't easy for someone else to answer the question "Should I spend $100 per person here, or $300 per person there?". Note that if you want excellent Thai food in Chicago, you can't go wrong by find one of the cheaper options that come up frequently in discussions here and at LTHForum.com

Some articles are on-line: http://www.saveur.com/back-issue/other/200...-105-54030.html