Kent Wang

PDT had a great drink on their menu back in March called the Buona Noce (I believe this means "good nut"?), with walnut-infused cognac, amaro, and Chartreuse. I got the recipe from John and the walnut infusion was very simple: just toast and infuse for 24 hours. Very effective. Give walnut a try; pecan sounds like a tough nut to crack.

The best organization method: alphabetical. Haha. I have a bar from Ikea. The photo is from last year, so now it's filled nearly to the brim. I organize the bottles into quadrants: Top left: non-alcoholic (ginger brew, soda) and bitters Bottom left: "top shelf" non-mixables like scotch, fine rums and cognacs. By putting all the valuable bottles into one area I can instruct my guests to leave this alone. Top right: liqueurs Bottom right: base liquors (plus Luxardo Maraschino, which is too tall for the top shelf) The drawer has space for tools and the middle section has some space for glassware.

I am deeply saddened by his passing. I took a photo of him at work back in 2005.

On a tofu "salad" (just a block of tofu, tossed with some toppings) is good. An older thread on rou song.

I was in Milwaukee early July and went to Bartolotta's Lake Park Bistro (my review in another thread), Sanford, Coquette, Usinger's and Ilija's Grill. See my Flickr set for photos. Both Bartollota's and and Sanford were well-executed but boring. I'd rather have saved my money and spent it next time I was in New York or California. Coquette was a bit better, the pizza was a decent value. Usinger's sausages are rather mass-market quality, only a cut above Boar's Head. The summer sausage is inferior to brands like Schaller & Weber. I tried their headcheese and blood and tongue sausage. Those were much more palatable than the summer sausage but still inferior to the Karl Ehmer and Schaller & Weber versions. Kopp's was ok, but Amy's Ice Cream here in Austin is tastier with a greater variety of flavors. Ilija's Grill, a Serbian restaurant, was by far my best meal. Lots of offal dishes like sweetbreads, liver and calf brain though I thought the prices were at least $5 more than they should have been. I actually spent more at Ilija's than Bartollota's. I would recommend trying this place or some of the other Serbian restaurants. I didn't go the German restaurants as I was about to go to Germany the following week, but I think they would have been a good value compared to the boring high-end restaurants in Milwaukee.

I was there 2 July for lunch. See my Flickr set for photos. The $24 for three course pre-fixe lunch menu was very boring, though all the items we ordered were well executed. $24 is not a bad deal, but York Street in New York charges the same for lunch and is much more innovative and exciting. Bistro standards is exactly how I would describe it as well. But dow does a chef serving just the standards win the James Beard?

From Live Science:

How do people get home once they're bombed? That for me is the major impediment to getting plowed like a cornfield at a friend's house.

Also try a Chinese style braise with soy sauce, rice wine, star anise, sichuan peppercorn and whatever else you like. But does anyone know how to braise it until it gets really tender? How long does it take? I will try the confit technique, sounds promising.

P. G. Wodehouse in My Man Jeeves: A bit like the expression The Darb.

Central Market in Austin just started carrying their stuff. I'm definitely going to check out the shop next time I'm in the city. Do they actually make these themselves? Is it major improvement over the sausages you can buy from the Chinese supermarkets? I sure hope so, as so much of that looks to be cheap and mass-produced.

What's the East Texas style? I believe I recall you mentioning you that before...

Also looking for cheap eats. I'm here for about two weeks. I intend on checking out Hasir, Lutter & Wegner, Schneeweiss and KaDeWe. Any other Turkish, Persion and other Middle Eastern cuisines that are hard to get back home?

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately my arriving flight was delayed so the layover was not long enough for me to venture out of the airport. Maybe next time.

7 May 2008 The barbecue was much better than last time with nothing overcooked. I cannot agree with Morgan's assertion that this is not an attempt at the Central Texas style. You have the same cut of brisket and ribs, cooked in nearly the same way. It is apparent that it is an attempt at the style, but it comes up short of the top restaurants in the genre-- which is fine. I don't think there was any intention on the part of Beaver's to challenge them. Just as you know that you are getting good, but not superlative steak if you're heading to a local steak house instead of Peter Luger. Nevertheless , the barbeque has some unique characteristics that are notable, such as the complex rub. Rubs vary in style with City Market (Luling) using a minimal one of just salt and pepper and Cooper's (Mason) using a variety of different spices. Beaver's rub is composed of even more varied spices than Cooper's and is very tasty. The sausage is also quite a different beast than the typical Central Texas-style, with larger chunks of pork and a flavor-forward seasoning, though unfortunately not as juicy. The sides are very good. Coleslaw and potato salad were superb. A moden take on classic dishes made with the freshest ingredients, exactly what you would expect from Monica Pope . Beans were too sweet, but otherwise quite nice. Macaroni & cheese was more of a pasta salad with shells instead of elbows and not quite as cheesy. Braised greens (I think they were mustard greens) were good. The cocktails were superb. Bobby turned me onto The Darb, a terrific drink with apricot brandy that I've now added to my home bar menu. The beer menu (revamped since my last visit) looked great, though I didn't have an opportunity to try any of them. Its selection rivals that of many beer bars and better than nearly any restaurant I have been to. Overall, I like Beaver's a great deal. The barbecue is good, the sides very good and the drinks superb. If I lived in Houston I would be a regular. My parents live in the area so I'll be sure to stop in anytime I'm in town.

I have a four hour layover tomorrow (Tuesday) at the MCI airport from 1:30-5:30pm. Where should I go? I imagine the barbecue places will be too expensive of a cab ride? There's the I-29 Express bus (map) that runs hourly from the airport to downtown.

How about a short features section of about 20 cocktails at the front of the menu and then an extended selection afterwards?

Thanks everyone. I went to Jim's with the friends with whom I was staying because it was in walking distance. I was very pleased.

Um, yes? I'm currently in town and am looking to eat one cheesesteak before I leave. Where should it be?

OK, so where is the finest cheesesteak?

What's the evidence on the carcinogenic aspects of char anyway? I, for one, am willing to risk my health for the taste.

Who sells the rouge in Texas? Spec's only has the blond.

I don't think dry and overcooked is a legitimate variation, just as oversalted steak from any steakhouse is not. Legitimate variations I can think of are: rubs, the vinegar dip Cooper's uses, and the content of the sausage. On a purely objective level, anyone tasting what I had at Snow's would say it is inferior to a juicy, properly smoked sample from any of the other Texas Monthly top five. I do not have some sort of bizarre standard for barbecue in my head, otherwise it would be a strange coincidence that the rest of the Texas Monthly top five and many of the other posts on this board coincide with my own ratings.

Morgan: I find your reply completely ridiculous. She will most likely not read this thread. She didn't ask for Texas Monthly to review her place, and yet they did. She did not ask them to remove their review -- as far as I know. You're saying that she should receive all this positive publicity and yet be immune to any negative criticism? Perhaps you should tell Texas Monthly that this dear old lady can't handle the publicity. I'm not the one that exposed Snow's to the public. It's really ridiculous that you can even presume to speak for her to begin with. Really, I find your attitude towards her rather patronizing and paternalistic. My review is very objective. I did not say this place sucks or it's hopeless, or that Texas Monthly was wrong. I simply stated what my single experience was like. Knowing how much barbecue can vary day to day, I specifically avoided making such statements based on a single trip. What you're asking me to do is cut her slack and be unobjective. This I will not do. Maybe you had bad luck and I had great luck? Who knows. But Texas Monthly does put it as their number 5, a number of other posters in this thread rate it highly, as well as numerous other publications.

I went to a place this Sunday that I've heard usually has xiao long bao. When I inquired about them, they said they didn't get their shipment this week. Is it possible to have good xiao long bao that aren't made in house?