Rail Paul

the link worked for me at 1653 ET

You raise an interesting point. How much demand for Bordeaux will exist at current prices for the 1997, 1998, 1999 if the 2000 vintage is as good as the usual suspects claim?

NY's issue is currently awaiting an appeal by the state of of the Appellate Court's ruling which sustained the overturn. The closely watched Fourth Circuit (Richmond VA) has thrown a curve ball at North Carolina. According to Wine Spectator, the judges have effectively banned local North Carolina wineries from shipping directly to NC customers. It was expected the judges would permit direct shipping b out of state wineries, citing the interstate trade regs. Instead, they supported the state's right to set a law which didn't discriminate, and sent it back to the legislators to make one. Wine Spectator

Publix is publicly traded, and has stores in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee. Lots of them, too. 741 markets. Royal Ahold, a Netherlands based company, owns: Stop & Shop, Bruno's, Peapod, Giant-Landover, and Giant - Carlisle. Winn-Dixie is also a regional chain, with most operations in Florida. Safeway operates the Vons, Pavilions, Genuardi's, Carr's, Dominick's, and Tom Thumb markets.

welcome aboard! good point on the availability issues with wines reviewed by the WSJ. Which Oregon wineries do you feel offer the best pinot value today?

Admin: threads merged. Today's LA times has a nice travel article about visiting the home state of Bourbon whisky. Many of Kentucky's artisinal whisky makers offer tours and sampling. The writer visited Jim Beam distillery in Clermont, touring the barns, stills, and drinking the product. Took the plunge at Wild Turkey, and sampled a wide range at the Seelbach Hilton's Oak Bar. (The Seelbach has had good visibility, Bobby Flay focused an episode of his visit to Kentucky at the Seelbach, and sampled 44 bourbons.) registration required Bourbon Trail

Cody Kendall reviewed the S-H and enjoyed just about every aspect of it. The side dishes, most of the appies, the steaks and filets. She does have a caution about the prices, though. Many entrees are 25-35, apps in the 10+ range. With the team behind this place (Kushner's money, Waltuck, Glaziers), it has a lot of momentum. Good wine list, too. However, nearby Bacchus in Fairfield had to cut back its prices a bit after an initial buzz gave way to the reality of $100 plus dinners. They remain a tough sell in the suburbs... Strip House

yes, the state legislature is particularly stodgy and immobile in their ways. i would say that privatizing it would be impossible. that revamping it is herculean, and just slightly less impossible. The LCB employee union is very strong, and it's blocked several previous attempts to improve customer service. There are very good, well paying, lifetime jobs Many stores did not have self-service until the early 1990s. You took a number and waited to be served, and you couldn't browse.

Albertson's Markets operates Albertson's, Jewel, Super Saver, Max, Osco, Acme, and Seesal's among other chain names Kroger provides services through Kroger, King Sooper, Owen's, Pay Less, Bell, Cala Foods, Fry's, Fred Meyer, Ralph's, QFC. Big chain, with 32 states served under 24 different chain names, and 2488 stores. The largely unionized food markets are at a significant competitive cost disadvantage when they compete against the largely non-union Wal-Mart organization. This has caused considerable friction in some marketplaces.

Be afraid, be very afraid. It's on the way to the NY metro. NYC was the last area of the US to get Home Depot, Pathmark, and other big boxes, too.

I understand that "discussions are continuing" on Thomas Keller doing something in LV. The February issue of LV Life had a brief mention that TK and Boulud would set up shop in LV during 2003. Of course, with the tourist traffic down, gaming revenues down, and SARS issues up, who knows? LV Life

The Tastings column discused American pinot noir this week. Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher were impressed. After a miserable tasting of red wines from Burgundy, they were due for a good week. D&J liked what they found ("$20 wines for $10), and lowered the threshold from $35 to $20 for samples. The depth of flavor was impressive, and they found good values for under $10. They felt the excellent crops and buyer resistance to high prices have driven many good grapes into lower priced wines, often from the same maker. The "ocean of red wine" continues to be a problem for sellers. They liked the Clos du Bois 2001 Sonoma, Napa Ridge Winery Coastal Vines 2001, and the Erath Vineyards Vintage Select 1998, which earned best in show. They also liked Echelon and Kendall Jackson (!). However, prices vary widely, and $3 differences for a $12 wine were noted. WSJ Subscription is required WSJ: Tastings

Pechters Baking (Harrison NJ) delivers to some restaurants in NYC. They have line of sub sandwich rolls, bread, and do specialty breads, etc. Texiera's (Newark NJ) has several wholesale routes in NY and NJ for their Portuguese breads and rolls . I'll occasionally see their trucks in the city. I'm sure there are many others.

Thanks, Doc There are monasteries of orthodox christian monks, nuns, and married folks (!) in the Cambridge area. They have descended from one of the Roman traditions, and are now participants in the Orthodox expression. They raise german shepherd dogs, make cheese / jams / fruitcakes and sell recordings. New Skete Sounds like a road trip is in the plans once the snow melts (after June 15 or so...)

Sunrise has an interesting and helpful website. Significant range of buffalo products, from filet mignon ($20) to chuck ($6). They offer tours, too. Based on the good doc's prescription / description of several places, it sounds like a trip to the North Country may be in order. I chased trains operated by the Delaware & Hudson Railroad back there in the 1970s, the area has probably changed a little since then... Here's the website for Sunrise Buffalo

Congratulations, Fitz, and best wishes. I've heard many fine reports on the Highlawn's wedding receptions and I'm happy your ceremony went so well.

If your trip takes you toward Kennett Square / Longwood Gardens / Brandywine Conservancy, I'd suggest the Fairville Inn on PA 52. It's just above the Delaware line. Very nice, somewhat upscale B&B a few minutes from Longwood, Wintherthur, Delaware Museum, etc Fairville Inn

Expanding a bit on Bux's post. Wine Spectator has an article in its Feb 28, 2001 edition on Laguiole travel and the origins of the knife. Also, comments on Bras, cheese, and baked goods. WS says the advent of machinery ended the hand making of knives in Laguoile. From factories in Thiers and Taiwan, knives roll out with the Laguiole bee emblem. In 1987 the local knife industry revived with new knife designs, still hand made. Americans are the main buyers of the sommelier type. Unfortunately, the Laguiole logo is not tradmark-able, and the article says even the Calmels store offers some local and some imported versions. The WS article offers the following website for the genuine article Laguiole

I've had several fine meals at the P&O and one or two that weren't OK. For the question that was asked, I believe my answer was both appropriate and suitable. de gustibus non disputandum esse

I haven't bothered to watch the subsequent editions of the show. Would you offer a plot summary and highlights (low lights?) of the menu, the foreplay during food preparation, etc? Has Chef Cat Cora been on the subsequent editions? That could make me tune in Thanks

Park & Orchard in East Rutherford, 5 min from Continental Arena. Check on the lunch arrangements Several folks have spoken well of Village Gourmet and Matisse in Rutherford, I have not been there.

National Public Radio and Reuters, among others, use the web format to provide expanded coverage of a reported piece. The broadcast might have a long form of four minutes, the website might have the ten minutes from which the four have been extracted. More coverage, prior reports, etc. Kalmbach Publishing's Trains magazine uses their (currently free) website to provide additional maps of article locations, accomodations, restaurants, related travel sites, and advertising. It's a supplement to the articles in the print version, and allows online discussions, local advice, etc. Whether I'd pay for web access to a publication which solicits me with 90% off the cover price discounts is another question. The answer is probably NO

I haven't been to 77 Walnut in several months, but my recollection was generally positive. One notable difference was the joint was empty, perhaps 4-5 tables taken on a Saturday evening. That made for a custom, negotiated dinner. Nicely timed, properly prepared, not over sauced or too sweet. I'm intrigued that the place was full on her recent visit, yet Ms Rabat didn't care for it, and lays out her evidence, which seems compelling.

Paypal is another alternative for micropayments. The NY Times, Boston Globe and 450 other newspapers outsource their archive access rights to a firm called Newsbank (partly owned by the Times). Newsbank also provides access to scientific journals. Each newspaper has the opportunity to set its free access policy, and determine the price for access. Not surprisingly, scientific journals are more expensive on a per-look basis. The NYT policy is 2.95 per article, with a discounted rate of $16 for a 90 day 10 pack, or $26 for a 180 day 25 pack. They charge your credit card, you use up your credit line. Like a metrocard. News Bank BTW, Reuters has a free site which provides raw, minimally edited TV uplink feeds from Iraq. At any given time they have 6 - 8 loops of 10 minutes each drawn from al-Jazeera, Abu Dhabi TV, etc. Free, but they do ask a lot of questions... Reuters

Several newspaper sites (Boston Globe among them) offer free access to article content for a few days. After that point, articles are $2, or 10 for $15 prepaid, etc. Abstracts continue to be free. I have no doubt the food and wine magazines will move in the direction of abstracts only for non-subscribers. Only dead tree version subscribers or paying customers get the full text and recipe searching