freshherbs

Restaurant: Perry St: snapper with caramelized radishes, tarragon, and grapefruit. absolutely amazing--creamy fish, tart citrus, a little spice from the radishes--very complex and delicious. touched all parts of the tongue

had a birthday dinner for my wife here last friday and had a really great experience. i have to say, i love this place and i know think (with reduced prices) that it is one of the better values, certainly on bedford street. the service was very nice and accomodating, the food was perfectly delicious and casual for a raucous group of 8 drinking champagne. some of the highlights: mussels bombed with bacon and rosemary roasted oysters sausage egg and cheese sandwich a great night at what i would consider a great neighborhood place. only problem--we had our choice of tables as a party of 8 at 8pm on a friday night...don't know if DP is gonna make it

milk was thought to be the most delicate and pure method of purification. Milk is added to the mash (I think)...the proteins are curdled by the alcohol in the spirit, turn to solid and absorb impurities. they can then be removed by filtration through sand and charcoal Typically milk was added at 3-4 parts spirit to 1 part fresh milk Lactose and milk sugars are transferred to the spirit, which soften and sweeten. apparantly they did this with eggs, too. disclaimer: i took this from my old handwritten notes from a conversation with a master distiller who knows these things. after rereading, not sure i took such great notes

if I am not mistaken the milk was simply used to filter, it was not distilled with the spirit.

this is really interesting stuff. splificator, what would you expect the resulting liquid to taste like? how would it be different than anything out there today?

what do you consider the "tsar" style?

hmmm, you gotta believe that it is first and foremost about making it "smooth", aka sweet. although products like grey goose do have a higher viscosity, oilier mouthfeel i doubt that they made it that way to be more like traditional russian vodka

the thought behind why someone might want subtle notes of flavor is to begin to introduce more flavor/backbone/character to vodka. to introduce a new level of discernment...where you can taste what is actually there, not what isn't there. but, of course, it would still have to be vodka...i believe *most* people (perhaps not eg'ers) will always revert to vodka but may be getting bored with its lack of character perhaps "whiskey notes" is not the best description. right now i am calling it "rounded, lasting smoothness" but that is ringing awful marketey... as to question b) -- i can't really disclose everything but a lot of the flavor comes from an traditional copper pot still that imparts flavor character thanks for your thoughts on this...i appreciate any feedback

does anyone on this thread have an appetite for vodka with character? that is, not a totally tasteless vodka, but one with some subtle flavor (whiskey or rye) notes. this seems to be anathema to everything all of the current superpremium vodkas are about--they are all about "smoothness" and nothing else. curious as to people's thoughts...i can provide more info on process and ingredients if necessary (full disclosure: i work for a spirits company) thanks

totally agre on the peanut oil...

for some reason i have always considered mayo to be a very goy-ish condiment. don't know why...just seems that if someone orders roast beef with mayo on it, 90% chance they aren't a motb great story fat guy...very entertaining piece of writing

i am pretty sure the "schie" is the beginning of "schiefflen and somerset", the company that used to (still does?) distribute hennessy...

trippy...

nicky's vietnamese bahn mi on 2nd and A has sustained me for many months if bagels count...ess-a bagel on 22nd and 1st...smoked fish on everything with tomato and muenster cheese. yo.

there is a good product out there called Dulseda as well. a dulce de leche liqueur...

sounds really nice. i will give it a try and let you know how it turns out!

would like to make a roasted jerusalem artichoke soup...any good recipes? also, would love to float something in it...thinking some seared foie gras. thanks for any thoughts!

my grandma always used to serve me bananas with brown sugar and sour cream

what do people think about a sweet but dry vouvray? maybe a chateau de montfort or something of the like?

we went last night and i am happy to say that we considered everything you had but, having to make a choice, went in a complete opposite direction and also had a no-miss meal started with the crispy poached egg with caviar and brioche. deelish--with a tangy horseradish sauce and fresh dill. competes with 'inotecas truffle egg toast for most savory egg dish ever. my wife had a snapper sashimi with a nice bright citrus touch. quite frankly, i barely tasted it...i was still swooning from the egg toast. for entree i had the snapper with caramelized radishes, tarragon, and grapefruit. absolutely amazing--creamy fish, tart citrus, a little spice from the radishes--very complex and delicious. touched all parts of the tongue. my wife had the chicken, which was a sort of reconstructed whole chicken. on top was a thin crispy skin fried between two skillets. underneath was a very clean, juicy poached breast. on the bottom were small well-spiced (cumin? pepper?) grilled pieces. served with roasted baby brussel sprouts. quite nice. dessert was a slightly nice quaint pear tart with root beer ice cream. absolutely loved the marshmellows too! it was my birthday so it was very special...but still, might win as my best meal of the year

travelling to beantown for a few nights this month...looking for quality cocktails. thanks!

totally agree. the only reason you could fault TF is if you thought he was "above it" in the first place. but in my estimation he has always sorta positioned himself as a very accessible down-to-earth chef. so, to me, no big deal. that said, applebee's is not my cup of tea

never knew shampoo was distilled....doh. how about a Pert-ini

reading this thread about MSG has given me a bigger headache than MSG itself

not sure how we are defining "top-tier" or "show-stopping" but I would add Savoy to this list. oh and Annisa too.