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lettezilla

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  1. thanks, mayahuel was definitely one I was wondering about. drink absolutely has the most potential, and I have been there two or three times when I was really impressed. but more times than that, things went wrong for a number of different reasons, and the high cost of small drinks has ended up making me prefer to stay home. There are a few excellent bartenders at ES, and their food is decent and reasonably priced, so we do end up going back there more frequently than anywhere else. However, there are just quite a few bartenders that either don't seem interested in cocktails (which seems weird to me) or bugger up pretty fundamental drinks (the hot pink sazerac was pretty scary!). I know my standards are unrealistically high, but as I have yet to be disappointed by TVH, I know they aren't impossible.
  2. Apologies if this is the wrong place to post this question, but as it seems to be a hub for NYC cocktail types, I wanted to give it a shot. We currently live in Boston, and have been spoiled by our year in Chicago with The Violet Hour, which I miss hugely, and haven't found anything at that level here. On our last quick trip to NY, we managed to hit Death & Co twice, and really enjoyed it. Also was taken to the Flatiron by friends, and wasn't impressed. So we're flying in for 12 hours in NY tomorrow evening for a concert. We get in to JFK about 6pm, and need to be at the show probably 9 or 9:30. We'll need to eat something, but I would also very much like to take advantage of the great cocktail bars in town if possible. So the question is twofold-- first, do any of the great bars have decent enough food to make a meal? oh, and unhelpfully, I'm a vegetarian. I guess PDT and hot dogs might be OK, but am I missing something? I do not mind making a meal out of really good bar food. Second, where among these bars, are the two of us most likely to have no problem getting a seat, ideally at the bar, about 7pm on a Wednesday? Thank you in advance!
  3. does anyone know if everything is still 3.50? i've heard that it is, and need to find somewhere close to shopping that's kid/baby friendly and not too expensive, and figure it may be a decent option, as long as it's cheap enough for an experiment.
  4. i'm tsg20's wife, and i completely agree that it was our best visit so far. the host was really nice and when i explained that we really really wanted to sit at the bar, said she'd keep an eye on things and that we could move over if something opened up. we did manage to order from the menu with a server just before we moved, so we all started with somewhat more "safe" drinks. i started with a rangoon fizz because i was stuffed-- we ate a late lunch at kuma's and followed that with scooters, so i wanted something to perk me up. the ginger syrup did the trick. for my second drink kyle suggested the juliet et romeo mentioned above, and i really enjoyed it-- i've been making versions of the southside at home and so have been increasingly into gin recently. when the boys moved to their fancy old fashioneds, i was finishing that drink. i wanted to try something totally different for me, and ended up with a gin old fashioned made with north shore gin. totally amazing! i was scared to try it at first, but the bitters took the edge off and the gin was a really soft lavender smell. i was very happy with that. we also ordered food around this point-- devil's eggs are a favorite, and the others shared the oysters. still hungry, toby's (my husband, not the alchemist, which actually did end up confusing various people through the night) sister and i shared a sandwich platter and guys got the deep fried PB&B. their eyes lit up when it came out, although i don't know how they had room for that much food. i've been really happy with all the food we've tried, plus it's nice that none of the flavors are so strong that they change your perception of the drink. the only change i would make is to make the fried pickles closer to dill and less bread and butter, for a cleaner flavor, but that's just preference. by the time we got to our last drinks, we were confident enough in kyle to say "just make me something good" and he took it from there. he made me a 131, which he said is more of a spring drink-- but since it was the warmest day in memory, that seemed appropriate. i can't remember all the elements, but there was sparkling wine and mint, and it was a great way to end the evening. toby's sister's boyfriend, who has been to a lot of bars in his day, said that it was the best bar experience he'd ever had. can't wait to go back again! this was a fair amount of alcohol for us, and we still managed to get up to watch the river turn green at 10:30 am!
  5. we're really looking forward to coming out for our "pre-valentines day drinks" tonight! (i'm tsg20's wife, you can tell how enthusiastic he is)
  6. there's actually a ton of food near the raddison these days. i grew up in kzoo and go back relatively frequently, but don't live there at the moment so a local should correct me if i'm wrong about anything. --food dance recently moved a few blocks further away from your hotel. but now they're open 3 meals a day, and are great for breakfast. i was a little underwhelmed by dinner main options, but get around that by ordering several starters and dessert. their bread (from zingermans in ann arbor) and desserts are great. --cosmo's is a classic kalamazoo restaurant, i went there before my prom. they have some imaginative dishes and decent specials. --fandango is the new-ish tapas place. it's down the mall (your hotel is at one end of the mall) at south st, so only a long block away. they have decent tapas. it's nothing amazing, but for kalamazoo it was a real revelation (similarly, there's a new sushi place that i keep hearing about, but have no idea about the qualities). they do decent cocktails, and if you're looking for a light meal and nice drink, it's a good bet. it fills up at weekends, so go early. --there's another bar that's along the mall between the radisson and fandango, i can't remember what it's called. the plusses are that it's open late and is super close to your hotel, the minus is that it's bar food that's above your average bar food but nothing special. however, they have a decent wine list and it's a nice place for a glass of wine. --some people rave about the epic bistro, but i've consistently been unimpressed with their food. if you're into beer, you have to go to bells, plus there's a new bar over that way that's called shakespeare's pub. my brother basically lives there. those are the places i tend to go when i'm back. if you're flying in, bravo is across the street from the airport and has pretty good food. their mushroom soup is great, as is their stone-baked pizza. they do a sunday brunch buffet that is very popular and tasty. have fun!
  7. hi, i'm normally a lurker but wanted to bump this thread. we're getting married in july and have been strongly encouraged by family to register. wedding websites seem to be the places with advice about what to register for, but they don't have kitchen knowledge that i trust. one twist is that we're an international couple, moving from london to the US just before the wedding, back again in a few years and then who knows. so we're ambivilent about having tons of 'stuff'. at the same time, we love to cook and can't imagine just trying to function without some key things. so my question is this: if you were going to register today for your wedding or event, where would it be? (has to be a shop that actually has a registry, and would be best if it could be accessed online) what would you ask for? china is covered through families, but everything else is fair game. we're trying to do some research on both what pans to get and what knives to get. i know not a kit in one brand, but don't know much more than that until i read other threads on those topics. what gadgets do you think are key? thanks in advance for your thoughts...
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