shacke

bumped for SABG

BTW to the guys and gals at my table - the name of the new avant garde restaurant in Chicago we were trying to think of is "Moto". There is a huge thread on the chicago board. Will make a stop there next time I am in Chitown - who knows when? Evan

Count me in again for a repeat performance - there or anywhere else for that matter. A good time was had by all. Evan

Diann Great post. I had a dinner party last night at the house and woke up having drank and eaten too much but suddenly I am hungry. How gross is that?

The poet is a pretty easy going red so it should go well with several things. I bet they will get you the menu - call when they open. Get that grilled cheese!!!!

to my knowledge the rule is: if you brought it, you can take it--in fact, i read the actual laws about alcohol in restaurants without a lcense and it kinda surprised me how strict it was about how you couldn't even have open wine in the kitchen for cooking, and other pretty harsh restrictions. apparently no one pays attention to that. but anyway, yeah, if you bring it, you can take it. if you buy it, you can't. ← I think byl aw you can even BYOB to any restaurant if I am not mistaken, even if it's not a BYOB. Isnt that somethin' but I am fuzzy on the details...

Not to ignore my last post but a new CS has hit stores - Epic merlot 2001 for $25 bucks! Whoa. Should be in the $60 range. I have yet to try but it is apparently it's a monster that requires cellar taming. I put myself on buying hiatus for the rest of May (unless of course it gets bought up too fast although there is lots of stock). Evan

I'd post mine but its still a family site. lol. Boy that one hurt the next morning.

Hopefully Deidre (or even the "Boss") is around to answer this. I was curious about getting heads' up on upcoming bordeaux releases. If I heard Bob E. in the Bryn Mawr store correctly, PA does purchase futures and I wanted to know which wines will ultimately be available to consumers when they are released? That would be great info to have! There are obviously a gazillion labels in the region but PA won't stock them all, so to know in advance which to watch out for would be great and I dont have to run around trying to get them elsewhere months before they arrive. Also, to be able to search region by vintage on the ecommerce site would be a great thing! Particurly good would be to have the ability to search inventory by year (ie show me all '99 medoc in the stores) Evan

Okay, according to Shola: ← That blows the lid of boil-in-bag!

"Cakebread Cellars, Whitehall Lane Winery and Flora Springs Winery & Vineyards are just three more of the famous names that have slashed their prices far below normal California wholesale to get their wines in Newman's Chairman's Selection program." Cakebread Chairman's selection???? Deidre! Info! Stat! (drooling noises....) Did this already happen?

That's a bummer. I did pass by Tommy Gunns for the first time and that's close. Guess I can give them a try. Evan

FYI - I posted on the ISO thread for anyone who wants to go to Pumpkin 5/13 preceded by the Dali for which I now have extra free tickets. Don't post replies to this here - PM me so I don't get grounded! Evan

Are the prices higher than the place in South Philly?

Andrew - you said it five courses but I count more than that! does everyone get the same stuff or is it alternating plates?

(posting help from Capaneus appreciated!) I had a fantastic time at Jake's last night. I went with 3 other folks, new and old friends who are very wine oriented. Luckily for me, they all know Michael Twelftree very well (although an Aussie his importing company is is Philly) and I go to talk to him quite a bit. It was a marathon session to say the least. Got there at 7 and left at 11:30 and we were the first ones outta there. Each course was great and reaffirmed my feeling that Jake's - although a long established place that I had ignored for years - it is still very good and just has been drowned out over the years by the Philly restaurant explosion and the collapse of manayunk in general. I was able to get through all the wines, luckily I teetotaled a bit through the first few knowing I was interested more in the later "bigger" wines. I have to say, and many agreed, that the Lily's garden and Bella's garden shiraz were really the winners. Both are great robust wines with lots of fruit and are well balanced. Lily's is a bit "softer" and I prefered Bella over it. The weirdest wine was Sophie's Garden which had overt nose of herbs, mint and horseradish (yes I swear it was horseradish). Twelftree admits it is a strange wine and I actually have a bottle sitting in my house (oh well) that I would probably save for a real herb infested entree. I was really waiting to try the Ares and Aphrodite (first offering of 100% cab from two hands). They were both so young - the aphrodite was bottled just 6 weeks ago. I admire those folks who can drink this stuff either so young or in the barrels(ie Parker) and get an idea what it will be like in 10 years. Parker had called the Aphrodite perhaps the best cab in Australia ever and I couldnt get past the heat of the alcohol and the tannin - yet I am no Robert Parker. Besides, these latter 2 wines are a fortune (~125) and I can't imagine it being a better value than the Bella's garden - a terrific wine at a third of the price. Oh and the food! The squab was immensely tasty and I am a sucker for it. The beef cheeks with roquefort souffle was so creative and I wish there was more of it! The lamb for the last course was the least exciting but admittedly I was getting hammered, tired and engorged by then! Although the dessert sounding a bit odd, the flavors married beautifully and I left not a drop. By then I had considered it my "midnight snack"! I was offered a ticket to the Philly wine Festival grand tasting today as a friend called this morning with an extra but I have no more energy for the time being. It was all I could do to get to Capogiro Gelato for a bitter chocolate/marscapone piccolo today! Evan

Wow wee. I will be there in a couple of weeks. It looks amazing - Andrew - how long was the whole affair? It would be good to let the sitter know if and when we are ever coming home? Also - did Shola suggest the wines or did your group come up with it? Evan

"Attention Chestnut Shoppers": 4 cases of Cakebread Cabernet 2002 are at 12th and chestnut - well, a few less now. They are the only ones in the state at the moment according to the lcb site but I assume more will come eventually. $50.99 each - I am a huge cakebread fan so I am biased but I think they are well worth the price and can cellar for years. I just drank a '94 which is still terrific. Evan

Was in the Bryn Mawr store today and picked up a new Chairman's selection - Cosentino 2000 "poet" meritage. It's $19.99 (retail $65). It had won a gold medal at the recent Starwine compeition here in Philly. Happily, there were plenty to be found as this appears to be a super deal on a very good wine. I had it tonight as I did not want to wait to try it. It is a supple wonderfully smooth textured wine with rich fruit, low tannin. Somewhere on the palate was a persistent but pleasant acidity perhaps from the good dose of cab franc. Anyway. a great steal at the price. A must try.

I finally got down there today and I was happy I did. To be honest, I don't have much to complare to - being a gelato neophyte - although that may change when I hit Italy in the fall. I had samplings of the banana, chocolate, bitter chocolate and bourbon butterscotch. Really worthwhile although in comparison the garden variety chocolate was just that. Some of the more interesting flavors mentioned before were not there today. The most avant garde was cilantro-lime sorbetto but cilantro is the only thing on the planet I cannot eat. Thanks to the posts in the thread for the info. Evan

A genuine thank you from me as well. Stop in and lurk the wine thread when you can. Much continued success in the future - your accomplishments are a benefit to us all. Evan

Yes I roast and I dont see a huge difference although some may disagree. The difference for bread is noticeable. Now if you are only making pizza, then it is DEFINITELY a waste of money as the purpose of the hearthkit is to provide radiating heat from three sides rather than just the bottom. Pizza needs only intense heat from below. The tiles just need to be bigger than your pizza and I presume they come in differing sizes. My first set of tiles were 6" oven tiles from Fante's (not as cheap as home depot but still only 30 clams and far less than the hearthkit). I would suggest not getting the Kit for pizza. The most important thing for pizza is to crank up your oven as high as it can go and put your dough straight on a tiled floor. I built a wood burning oven in the backyard in an effort to get it into the 700 degree range. This year I hope to finish it but I have that male "finish 4/5th and move to another project" gene. Good luck! Evan

I use mine extensively (got it when it first came out) for baking breads and pizza. It can be a bit cumbersome if you leave the insert in the oven when cooking other foods (ie using the rack for broiling may be too low). I decided to remove mine when I am not using it which is a delicate task as it can be fragile and it is sure heavy! I truly think that if you go get quarry tiles at home depot you can get the same effect for pennies, particularly if you put some tiling standing up on the sides of your oven (making it shaped like a "u"). I have noticed very much improved oven spring with my loaves using it but it is expensive and there are other options. If you are not much of a bread baker, I wouldnt invest in it. There is talk of a steam injected model one day - now THAT would be great. Evan