donbert

Plymouth makes a "Navy Strength" that's 117 proof. Stronger than their normal (82.4 proof) but no where near 161.

While I've never seen bitters at liquor stores practically every super market in Manhattan seems to be carrying angostura bitters now.

It's a bit of a trek from Chelsea but if he's willing to go out to Red Hook Brooklyn (30 min subway ride + 15 min bus ride) you can get both Regan's Orange and Fee Bros Old Fashioned bitters and No 209 at LeNell's.

That would be Philippe's back in 1918 according to their website. Is the roll for a Beef on a Weck also dipped in the drippings of the roast?

Although I haven't been in a while the Tiki Ti in Los Angeles is a great place. Authentic tropical drinks all made from fresh squeezed juices by the father/son owner duo. It's on the short list of things I miss about southern CA along with sunshine, good weather, and In and Out.

You could build your own system with these very detailed instructions. In theory you could also add food grade dry ice (solid CO2) to water to carbonate it, but you would need be vary careful with how much dry ice you use and the container you put it in (otherwise as the solid CO2 expands to a gas the increased pressure would cause a weak/small container to explode).

If you're willing to do cupcakes, check out Sugar Sweet Sunshine at Rivington and Essex. Their cupcakes beat Magnolia's any day and the "Sexy Red Velvet" cupcake is great. I think they also take orders for layer cakes of all their cupcakes if you ask in advance. Try giving them a call 212-995-1960.

Looks like you can get it mail order from here. I like the Vya sweet more than the dry but it is much sweeter than the Antica, which has become my favorite of late.

I was told that the Luxardo Amaretto is actually made with almonds unlike Disaronno which is made from peach pits. Have you tried their Marasca cherries? Also an amazing product from the Luxardo folks.

Morning deliveries (between 5 a.m. and 11 a.m) will be affected for places south of 96th as well, unless the delivery guys pick up 3 hitchhikers to get past the check points. The police were turning away a lot of commercial trucks/vans trying to make deliveries this morning.

Went on a hunt for them a few months back and tracked them down through their distributor. Only one place for Fee Brothers in NYC, LeNell's. It's a bit of a trek to get out to Red Hook but totally worth it. LeNell has the most amazing selection of bourbons and other artisanal liquors. She's also the most knowledgeable person on all things alcohol. I'll post the next time I go out there if anyone wants me to pick up some bitters for them.

Just walked over for lunch and wasn't too impressed. They cook off a griddle behind the front counter and were surprised when came in looking for tacos. Selection is much more limited when it comes to tacos (Beef, Salted Beef, Spicy Beef, Steak, Tongue, Chicken or Chorizo) but they also do burgers and sandwiches. A co-worker and I tried the Beef, Steak, Spicy Beef, and Chicken. The spicy beef was the best of the 4 we tried and the chicken was the worst (bland chopped up chicken breast). We ended up walking back over to Tehuitzingo afterwards to satisfy our taco craving.

Administrative note: An archive of previous reviews and discussion of 11 Madison Park can be found here. Word is that he won't be starting till Feb. 5th. But I too am curious to see what happens.

As a fellow LA transplant I suggest Taqueria y Fonda (968 Amsterdam Ave, btwn 107th and 108th). Tehuitzingo Deli and Grocery (695 10th Ave, btwn 47th and 48th) is also good for tacos. Once things thaw out there's a Latin Futbol league out in Red Hook Park (Brooklyn) ever weekend you should check out for the street food action along the sides.

For those too lazy to google: Naka Naka 458 W. 17th St. (between 9th and 10th Ave.) New York, NY 10011 212-929-8544. Link to Google Maps

I have to second the suggestion to try Yeah Shanghai. A few weeks ago a friend of mine innocently asked "what makes a good dumpling". Rather than giving him a verbal answer this led to a weekend long exploration of Chinese and Korean dumpling places in the city so he could come to his own conclusion. For soup dumplings we went to New Green Bo, Moon House, and Yeah Shanghai (in that order). Of the three we both concluded that the best was Yeah Shanghai. Their dumpling skins were perfect, not too thick or thin, cooked though but al dente in texture, and not a single one that was prematurely broken either in the steamer or when picked up. Also the consistency of their filling and the savory broth inside were the best. New Green Bo came in as a close second with a thicker skin, saltier broth and firmer meat filling. Moon House was disappointing compared to the other two, most of the dumplings had already ruptured in the steamer or fell apart when picked up. The dumplings were overcooked to the point the skins had gotten saturated with the broth on the bottom. Also they really cut corners on the cabbage they used to line the steamer. There wasn't enough so the dumplings would stick to the bottom in places and the little cabbage they used was on the brink of spoiling. The only thing I could really say in their favor is that they're open later than the other two, so if you get a soup dumpling craving at 10:30pm they're you're only option.

Mercadito 179 Avenue B (Between 11th and 12th St) 212-529-6490 MenuPages link I'll have to check it out this weekend.

Gam Ja Tang is also one of my favorite soups! You should check out Chung Moo Ro BBQ Restaurant (10 West 32) they have it on their lunch special menu for $7.50. Unfortunately they only serve it for lunch but it can also be had across the street at Kun Jip Restaurant (9 West 32nd Street) at all hours. I've gone there at 4am in the past to satisfy a Gam Ja Tang craving. The last time I went I think they had taken it off the menu but they still served it when I asked for it by name. Technically Gam Ja Tang means potato (gam-ja) soup (tang), in NYC it generally served with a lot of broth but elsewhere (LA or Korea) it is usually an overflowing bowl of pork back bones and potatoes with the soup just filling in the spaces between.

Both were serving deckel, and you could specifically ask for it if you were willing to be patient and have the folks in the generic white staff shirts ask the real staff doing the carving for you. That said and having tried the deckel at both, I still liked Salt Lick's brisket better. Elgin's was much moister than what they were mostly serving and still managed to keep the slightly firmer texture that Fat Guy liked. Salk Lick's though was much more seasoned especially towards the end bits which were practically caramel. Not sure who I was talking to but there was a blond woman wearing a denim Elgin shirt who didn't know what I was talking about when I asked for deckel. Her husband was right behind her though doing the carving and looked up to say "That's the side you like Honey."

Ok, Just ordered this myself and got a couple more details. What you get for $102.50 is a gift card with $120 food credit on it which gives you access to a faster line for food, a gift bag with a t-shirt and hat, and two wristbands. The card is all you need to get in the faster lines and there's no limit how much food you can order so it's not limited to just 2 people. The wristbands get you into the reserved seating area for seminars and the "AmEx Bubba Tent" where they have tables and chairs in the shade so you don't have to compete with the masses for a place on the grass. Also the card can be refilled at the event should you run out of money on it, but still want access to the faster lines, and everything is good for both days.

Can you clarify what exactly you get for this? Is it just for priority lines/seating for 2 adults? Or does it give you credit towards food as well? When you say that one pass can be used for multiple people, do you mean it can be used for more than 2 adults or that once could in theory give the pass to someone else so they could access faster lines/seating? Thanks!

If you order a la carte or get a "combo" from the menu they give you everything at once. But if you get the omakase they serve you piece by piece.

Sugar Sweet Sunshine is my current favorite place for cupcakes. Perfect size, frosting that isn't overwhelming, and a light fluffy cake that is flavorful on its own. After reading about Downtown Atlantic in this thread, my girlfriend and I went to go check them out on Sunday. Perhaps it was just an off day (Mother's day? Sunday?), but they were some of the worst cupcakes I've ever had. My girlfriend got the vanilla cupcake with vanilla frosting and I got the vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting. Both the vanilla cupcakes were really hard and dense, almost like a dry cornbread muffin, and very large. The vanilla frosting wasn't bad, light and creamy, but the chocolate frosting was practically hardened ganache. Neither of us finished our cupcakes and afterwards I felt a bit sick to my stomach from the chocolate frosting.

"Kalbi" literally means ribs, though it is by default understood to be beef ribs, pork ribs are called "Tweji Kalbi". Traditionally (beef) "Kalbi" is a 3" section of a single short rib with the meat butterflied back and forth to create a long flat ribbon attached to the bone, often refereed to now as "Pyon Kalbi" which means unfolded Kalbi. LA Kalbi is 3 (though sometimes 4) short ribs still connected that are cut cross sectionally about a 1/4" thick. The result is a long thing piece of meat with 3 small bones across the top. Though I don't know the exact history of when this cut was first introduced, I can only assume that it originates form LA, hence "LA Kalbi".

They have great pupusas as well! Bicycling there and having some tacos and pupusas while watching a futbol game is a great way to spend a weekend afternoon.