Mayur

For NYC stuff: joe is pretty good. Grumpy makes excellent coffee, but I find it (as I do all too many things in Greenpt/Wmsburg) far too pretentious. 9th Street is always a winner, and despite their coffee-crazed perfectionism, they seem utterly attitude-free. A nice combo in my book. The place is breezy, quiet, and comfortable. The major problem with for me it is that it's just far east enough to be an annoying detour! Although they've stayed off the radar a bit, there are quite a few decent places to get espresso in Manhattan, mostly in the twisty-street area of the West Village. I'll look at the actual names next time I'm strolling through that area and fetching coffee. I have actually had a fabulous cup of after-dinner espresso (ordered as a fluke) at Felidia. Otherwise, I agree with nathanm about coffee in restaurants.

Gracias! Incidentally, I don't think this is likely to come up; I'm getting a KitchenAid ProLine, which I imagine just has a "crema attachment" rubber ring rather than an actually pressurized PF, since it's a rebadged Gaggia in essence. (Incidentally, I highly envy these people who can spend such mad cash on their espresso fixes; I'm getting my machine for $200 and am probably looking at a grinder in the same range, and that hurts me plenty!)

Where were you when I was living in Rutherford with no fellow coffeegeek's nearby to share a shot with?! How are you liking the Macap? It's an interesting looking grinder and seems to get good reviews. I've been lusting after one of these Macap M7 with built-in dynamometric tamper Yeah.... next time I have $1,000 just burning a hole in my pocket! ← The Macap M4 is great. The only difference vs the Mazzer is the stepped grinder settings. The doser is much cleaner than the Mazzer Mini too! This tank will last forever. I wish never(dare I say) need an upgrade in the grinder department! If you ever travel back throguh just LMK and I will be sure to set you up with some awesome shots! ← Wow, a year with no responses on this thread! A question for the mighty caffeine hounds: Is it possible to use one of these after-market non-pressurized PFs with a machine that's a different brand but the same PF size?

Man what? Okay; much as I understand what a sweet deal it is to the management to have seatings capped like this, I cannot imagine what would get me to a bar like this rather than just making cocktails at home.

None of which, IMX, are a match for Devi, former Amma, or Tamarind... assuming we're talking "generic north Indian." (Sonargaon, IIRC, is Bengali, as may be Hema's Kitchen; I have no real experience of that kind of food in NYC). Certainly, none of those even approaches the question of whether there's decent South Indian veg food to be had in Chicago.

Let's just say I disagree, unless you can offer me sufficient counter-examples.EDIT: Rather than a blanket statement, I'll add that my relatives from the Chicago area have liked Saravanaas and Tamarind (and Diwan, and old Bay Leaf) better than anything in Chicago, and I've never been wowed by the Indian fare on food visits there.

I must disagree. The following are, IMHO, outstanding compared even to other regional restaurants in the US, Europe, and the Middle East: -Saravanaas -Devi (yes, it's frickin' expensive, but they do a great job) -Udipi Palace in Jackson Hts -Tamarind -Dosa Diner (also in JH) -Rajbhog Sweets (ditto) -Dimple The list goes on. IMX, Brick Lane does perfectly respectable food as well. I know it's pretty popular to decry the quality of Indian food in NYC, but IMHO, the selection is pretty excellent. Not at London levels, but way ahead of anywhere else I can think of that's not... well, India.

The English room-temp drinking thing probably has to do with two things: First, the lack of high-efficiency, spacious refrigeration and freezing in much of the country until recently (I've been to plenty a pub north of Durham that doesn't serve ice or have a fridge large enough to hold more than a few soft drinks); second, the British colonial experience, which might discourage putting water, frozen or otherwise, into drinks. I've spent many a summer in India having no ice unless I was at a fancy hotel; certainly never ordering an iced drink at the club.

Actually, the number doesn't work. Moreover, Jack's Luxury Oyster Bar has had its phone number switched to the same number. Probably confusion with the phone company. Oh well.

Gahhh M&R is my absolute least favorite sweet vermouth. I find it has a really unpleasant mustiness to it that even shines through when it is mixed with things like bourbon... I'd use Cinzano, Noilly sweet or Stock before M&R. ← Agreed (although cdh is an old drinking buddy of mine, so perhaps our tastes have converged). M&R ruins any drink it's put in for me. (Speaking of: y'know, chris, you can always just drink the Vya at my place for free... ) I'm not a fan of the Vya dry for mixing; too much cassia and lavender for my tastes. That said, I'm off martinis anyway, so my dry vermouth usage has dropped significantly. I'd go with the Boissiere (1) or the Noilly Prat (2) for mixing. As to sweets: IMHO, they vary so much in character that I have a hard time recommending one. For whiskey-, brandy-, or dark rum-based cocktails, the Carpano A.F. is my favorite, but it is a highly aromatic-spiced rendition (the bitterness is something I just like in my vermouths, period; I don't like the Vya sweet for that reason). Otherwise, I like the cinzano or noilly sweets.

Elite Naturel is the brand. It's excellent stuff for all purposes; I've made pomegranate molasses out of this and it's quite nice. Their juices in general are great for unusual cocktails; incidentally, I can imagine concentrating down that quince juice for a super-appley applejack cocktail! Perhaps Laird's plus a quince "molasses" plus a dash of orange brandy plus some Hess's house bitters for an apple pie cocktail when winter comes around? I should try making grenadine according to that recipe, Sam! Good idea. I use it so rarely that I never thought of whipping it up at home, but I *do* have a superfluous bottle of POM in my fridge.

Amusing side note: I can't find a new bottle of Punt e Mes *anywhere* in NYC these days (my 5-year-old bottle is almost drained, largely for pseudo-Negroni cocktailing). Seems like the Red Hook must be catching on (even LeNell's, *in* Red Hook, is sold out!). As to substitute cocktails: How about a mint julep? If these bars are doing the (ubiquitous) mojito, they must have mint and sugar. Bourbon's easy enough (I'd take Maker's, since every bar has it and Knob Creek, and I can't stand the latter). Just tell them to put the mint and sugar in a glass, mash away, and add bourbon. Heck, have them make a "mojito" with lime juice and all, and substitute bourbon (this drink is called something-or-other at Pegu, and can have any number of names, I imagine).

See: Y'all can afford to buy random liqueurs 'cause you're in the business! IMHO, Pama is just not worth stocking a home bar. I'll go with amari, umpteen orange brandy variations, etc., but I have no use for fruity-flavored booze of that sort. I'm still infinitely more fond of pomegranate molasses than juice, and it's darn cheap. My favorite option is the Pom'Tini: 3 vodka 2 pomegranate juice (or 1 1/2 pomegranate molasses) 2 grapefruit juice 1/2 lime juice 1 honey syrup 1 simple syrup (or 1/2 if using molasses) 1/2 velvet falernum

That's a good recipe! As to making summery cocktails: I tend to go in a more vegetal than fruity direction for summer; less sugar seems appropriate. I might suggest one of the following: 1 oz. gin 1/2 oz Cynar 1/2 oz dry vermouth bitters soda or, if you have a juicer handy: 1 1/2 oz. gin 1 oz. cucumber juice 1 oz. watercress or arugula juice 1/2 oz. simple syrup 1/2 oz. lime juice splash of celery or lovage juice seltzer (or better still, Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray soda!) to top For a less complicated drink: 1 oz gin 1/2 oz cucumber juice 1/2 oz simple syrup 1/2 oz lime juice muddled mint

Juicers make fine ginger juice, by the way. It is my experience that ginger juice is easy enough to use *frozen*; pour a little in an ice cube tray and drop it into the shaker (or a spare bowl) when you're making cocktails. As with many other syrup bases, I highly recommend just blending ginger juice and sugar over the heat-infusion method. Juicers just do a better job, IMHO (this applies to lots of other cooking preparations as well, but that's a long story). Much as I'd like to recommend Massenez gingembre, I find that it really just doesn't actually taste like ginger; more like bitter.

Interesting. For at least the last twelve years, my friend Chris (who goes by cdh on these boards) has been making a drink (called the Home Skillet) for his friends that is quite simply 6:2:1 bourbon:vermouth:maraschino (bitters preferable, but optional). We've been curious about the origins of the Brooklyn for that reason.

Wow; you guys are bold. When I go to a bar I don't trust, I order a gin and tonic... at best. I'm quite likely to end up with a beer if they have a vaguely decent selection. In NYC at least, even the diviest bars seem to have a rather unsettlingly large selection of top-shelf alcohol. At the very least, I can get a Bombay Sapphire and tonic, or a Famous Grouse and soda, both of which suit me fine. The same should apply in San Diego, from what I recall. As for Manhattan alternatives, I'm curious as to when the Brooklyn and Red Hook were invented (cdh came up with this drink a while back independent of any source material), but maraschino isn't something that features at many bars (I can count five within call, but they're all cocktail destination places and I live in fancy cocktail bar central to boot). My recommendation would be: 1) The Old Fashioned: The Winnah! Advantages: It's easy to make and any bartender who's used to making mojitos knows how to mash stuff up by now., if they can make a mojito, they'll at least have sugar, which should do for this. While the old fashioned theoretically does require bitters like its Manhattanite counterpart, I find that I'd rather drink a non-bittered old fashioned than a non-bittered Manhattan. 2) Manhattan variations. Brandy plus vermouth plus bitters tastes fine. So does aged rum plus vermouth plus bitters. And so on. Moreover, I find that, at least in the case of rum, the bitters can be relatively easily dispensed with in place of a splash of OJ. 3) The sidecar. That said, I find a drastic difference in how these turn out, and I'd rather drink a decent gin and tonic than an inferior cocktail.

Sounds lovely! Incidentally, I thought exactly of 'ti punch with muddled verbena and then noticed your rum+verbena+lime recipe on that thread you linked to, johnder. Very nice. Personally, what I'd do with it is take very generous quantities of it, plus a *judicious* amount of lime zest, and infuse a small batch of plain ol' garden variety white rum OR some gin with it (the latter is tricky; most of the ones I'd recommend, like the Bluecoat to which Katie linked or Broker's, my favorite source of Ken-doll-size bowler hats, are a bit pricey for this use in my world). The rum, plus a little sugar and some lime, as well as some bruised fresh verbena, would probably make a nice drink on its own; the gin could probably be mixed with a little cucumber juice for a nicely citric, herbaceous drink.

Pate brisee, plain and simple, is pretty much what the Bouchon recipe is. (Some tips added, including the rather indispensable one of avoiding pure butter pockets in the dough, since those cause major structural integrity problems.)

To clarify: A private commercial establishment (such as a restaurant) is effectively giving you a license to enter their property (as owner or leaseholder; it doesn't matter) and undertake various actions therein. That license can be subject to any and all conditions they see fit to attach to it, including ones they make up on the spot (such as, for example, taking photos without permission). However, all they can do if you violate their terms is eject you from the premises. They may claim damages for trespass to property, but I don't see what those damages could be in this case. (Any "publicity cost" from the photos would not be sufficiently foreseeable and/or proximate to yield damages.) So, a business can "make the rules," but their only recourse if you violate those rules is to tell you to leave. Period.

Lemon mayonnaise. Standard aioli recipe is to mash some garlic with salt, beat it egg yolks, and then whisk in the oil in a thin stream so that it emulsifies properly. A lemon aioli would just be doing the same thing but adding in lemon juice (and, I'd recommend, a little lemon zest) after the mixture has turned properly creamy. I'd probably go a bit fancier: Shrimp is a pretty basic canvas, so I'd recommend making a sweet soy sauce (soy + brown sugar + mirin or sake and a little oil) and a ginger aioli (as above, but add minced/pureed ginger to the aioli) as dual dipping sauces, if you want an "Asian" theme, or pairing an anchovy-caper-tomato puree and a lemon aioli for a Mediterranean feel.

I've had an LC saucepan with label for about five years, and even had it re-enameled. Still have the label. My theory is that it'll catch fire one day in the oven. Until then, no big deal.

To bring the thread back to page 1 (!): Any experience with doing lobster tail sous vide? Suggestions on time and temperature, perhaps? I'm wondering whether a fast immersion at 190 (Keller butter poaching style) is the way to go, or whether LTLT will help (or, even better, if there's a particular "alchemy temperature" that does for it something parallel to what 104 F does for cooking salmon fillet).

Gents, calm down a bit. Ici sommes tous amis, I hope. Childhood food experiences, incidentally, are something that interest me greatly, since I've known people with vastly different initial exposure to food and who became foodies in very, very different ways. Perhaps another thread on this elsewhere at some point... Spoiled brat, I was! I'm sure that you would have been just as engaged and happy in the same setting given the exposure I was lucky enough to have. But yes, it was great. Did put me in kind of an odd place when I came back to NYC for law school, was taken to all sorts of fancy (often overpriced and so-so quality) restaurants for recruitment lunches/dinners, and was expected to be impressed. Spoiled, as I said...

I think that may be generalizing, Jason. For one, I think robert's probably right; however you feel about your own appreciation of food as a child, it seems to have yielded a heck of a foodie outcome! For another, note that browniebaker's kids were actively calling to eat at Taillevent, which indicates that either a) it's a really meaningful experience for them or b) they don't want to be left out of something that sounds important. If (b), it's a different story, but if (a), it's a big deal. I know that the dinners I had at Lutece and the Quilted Giraffe (my parents's 70s/80s faves, respectively) from as young as 6 years of age were a big deal for me. I learned (by observing) how to order wine, how to banter with the sommelier, the pleasures of talking with the chef, and generally the wonders of a long, multi-course, carefully-composed meal, including some differences between "fun" food (the whimsical) and classic preparations. Part of the attraction was getting to be in an "adult" setting doing things with grownups, but a big part was the sheer luxury of the food and especially the service. (Spoiled me!) I've certainly known other children (my girlfriend's 6 and 12-year old cousins, for example) who distinguish between the kind of food at a luxury restaurant and the stuff they get at McDonald's.In short, I'm with Pan here. Not having children myself, my impression might be that it might be a nice chance for you and your husband to get some alone time for a while and (to be honest) to save a little cash; two covers at Taillevent can translate to taking your children to Michel Richard a few times or Taberna del Alarbardero or Jaleo several times over! There's no question that the experience would be something they'd enjoy (assuming they're not overtired, jetlagged, or just in a bad mood; kids are people too), but maybe YOU want some time off.