kathryn

Via someone on Chowhound, who emailed them, Jamonissimo's hours are: Restaurant open from 8am to 10pm from Monday to Friday. On Saturday from 8am to 3pm, and 5pm to 9.30pm. In June 24 is closed (San Juan).

Source: http://www.ianchadwick.com/tequila/mezcal_definition.htm

Some Death & Co mezcal cocktails: Cinder * 1/2 oz Fresh Lime Juice * 1/2 oz Simple Syrup * 1/4 oz Los Amantes Joven mescal * 1/2 oz Jalapeno-infused Herradura Blanco tequila * 1/2 oz Herradura Reposado tequila * 2 Dashes Angostura Bitters Shake and serve in a coupe glass that has half rim of 2 to 1 Smoked Salt / Kosher salt mix. Slight Detour * 1 oz. Herradura tequila reposado * 1/2 oz. jalapeno-infused blanco tequila * 1/2 oz. Del Maguey San Luis Del Rio mezcal * 1 barspoon agave nectar * 2 dashes The Bitter Truth Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters * Orange twist Stir with ice and strain into cocktail glass. Southern Exposure * Pinch Kosher salt * 1/2 oz fresh lime juice * 1/2 oz red bell pepper puree * 1/2 oz sugar cane syrup * 1/2 oz Los Amantes Joven Mescal * 1/2 oz jalapeño Herradura Silver Shake, double strain into coupe. No garnish. From Phil at Mayahuel: Watermelon Sugar * 2 cubes (1") watermelon * 1/2 oz sugar cane syrup * 3/4 oz lime juice * 1/2 oz Los Amantes Joven mezcal * 1 1/2 oz Herradurra Silver tequila Shake and strain into a coupe rimmed with sugar, salt, and cayanne pepper. And one from Jim of PDT: Mezcal Mule * 1/2 oz agave syrup (1:1 agave to water) * 3/4 oz lime juice * 3/4 oz passionfruit puree (if puree is thick, cut slightly with water) * 1 oz ginger beer * 3 cucumber slices * 1 1/2 oz Sombra mezcal * pinch of cayenne pepper Muddle cucumber. Add mezcal, lime, passionfruit puree, and ginger beer. Shake and strain into a rocks glass. Add a pinch of chili pepper. Garnish with candied ginger speared to cucumber. And the Single Village Fix from Beretta in SF: * 1 1/2 oz Del Maguey Minero mezcal * 3/4 oz freshly squeezed lime juice * 3/4 oz pineapple gum syrup (see note). Combine the ingredients with ice in a shaker, and shake. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and serve. Note: Small Hand Foods gum syrups from Cask: (415) 424-4844, or caskstore.com.

HungryChris, if you can wait a few weeks, Bodhitree and/or Lani's Farm will have padron or shisito (I remember seeing them in early July last year). I might stop by and ask how the crop is doing this year. (BTW, Nevia No has left Yuno's Farm, which is now known as Lani's Farm. No's new farm is called Bohitree. Yuno's Farm is no more.) ChickenStu, I find that the really good stuff gets reserved for chefs who arrange for orders ahead of time/come early, or is sold out by mid-morning, BTW. It also depends what you're looking for and how the weather's been lately. Some vendors are more specialized than others. For example, Keith's is known for garlic, Eckerton Hill is known for tomatoes and hot peppers, Buzzard Crest Vineyards for grapes, Paffenroth for root veggies, Terhune for peaches (although last summer's crop was not as great as past years), etc. I tend to do a round of all of the stands before buying produce, just to see whose is looking best this week. Plus, I only ever buy Tristar strawberries from Mountain Sweet or Berried Treasures now, have never really liked the other strawberry varieties available. But Mountain Sweet and Berried Treasures are popular with restaurants and set aside a good number for chefs; what's left is usually gone by 10am, 11am.

2nd Chef Restaurant Supply. I shop a lot at this store on the northwest corner of Bowery and Houston, particularly because they are open on Saturdays and Sundays.

The Essential Cocktail by Dale DeGroff is a very good starting point. I wouldn't jump right into something like Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails without exploring the less esoteric first.

Is Mercat a la Planxa at the same level as the NYC tapas spots like Txikito, El Quinto Pino, Casa Mono? Can anybody who has visited both cities compare?

I really enjoyed Patisserie Escriba, Cacao Sampaka, and the hot chocolate at La Granja (Carrer Banys Nous, 4). There is also a churreria a few doors down from La Granja. Unfortunately, didn't make it to Oriol Balaguer, Espai Sucre, or bubo.

Huh, that's odd. I don't doubt that staples are very expensive there, but I don't go there for the staples. I go there mainly for their mushroom & produce selection, which is kept in the fridge in back. They'll often have specialty items like morels, white asparagus, etc. from overseas.

Did you go to Kalustyan's or Foods of India? Some people report that Foods of India has fresher spices. What about S.O.S. Chefs? Great customer service but pricey and they're closed on Sundays. 104 Ave. B, nr. 7th St. 212-505-5813 http://www.sos-chefs.com/

Raddison Lexington is on Lexington Avenue and 48th? Yes? I had to look it up on Google Maps just now. Most NYers describe where things are based upon cross-streets. At the Museum of Modern Art, I would just drop into the Bar Room at the Modern, which is one of my favorite restaurants. It's not the formal dining room at the Modern, but the more casual area which encompasses a bar, a lounge with couches and coffee tables, and some tables. Not super cheap, though. Can get busy so I often make a reservation, but if you are OK dining at the bar itself or low tables, you should be OK. In my experience, the pier and ferry pick up and drop off areas are far from dining hot spots since they often involve being a walk from public transit that includes crossing a major highway. South Seaport is a tourist trap. There's not that much immediately close to Battery Park ferry area (Liberty/Ellis cruise), Staten Island ferry, or the piers on the West Side in my experience. Can you be more specific on what the "usual tourist suspects" area? There are TONS of NYC landmarks. The Met (museum), The Met (opera), Grand Central, Times Square, Union Square, Rockefeller Center, Natural History Museum, the Cloisters, Washington Square Park, Empire State Building, Central Park (which is giant and spans many city blocks), Brooklyn Bridge, City Hall, Chinatown, 5th Ave department stores, Ground Zero, United Nations, The Guggenheim, Madison Square Garden, NYPL/Bryant Park, Wall Street, Little Italy, the High Line...

I think the combined wisdom of the eGullet crowd is going to be better than any paper guide or electronic you'll purchase. If you have an iPhone and are willing to pay for data in the US, I recommend installing the Menupages application and Yelp application as those will offer the most up to date hours, location, and phone numbers (don't really trust the reviews) and can use the phone's built in GPS to find what's nearby. If you let us know price range and what landmarks you'll be near, we can offer up multiple suggestions for each one for take out, street carts, walk-ins, etc. Also, as native New Yorkers, I find I rarely stay at a hotel, so you'll need to be more specific as to where your hotel is.

Our current set up, for more context: Some wasted space due to very tall bottles Slightly less wasted space but still a bit awkward. Annex shelf. Glassware. Tools.

EvergreenDan, do the bottles you use accommodate the standard quickpours? Your photos inspired my husband to start planning his own re-bottling efforts. In an extremely space-limited Manhattan apartment, we are wondering if anybody has: - rebottled all spirits and liqueurs into labeled square bottles with some coding system - built custom shelving around the dimensions of the square bottles - stored them horizontally to conserve space Other than potential leakage issues, any other foreseeable problems with this approach? We already store all juices and syrups in the fridge, bitters on a kitchen shelf, and shakers/jiggers/scoops/barspoons/strainers/muddlers/peelers in a toolbox.

Union Square Greenmarket in NYC has ramps, fiddleheads, rhubarb, asparagus, tomatoes (hydroponic), radish/sunflower/pea shoots, overwintered spinach, sorrel, sunchokes, burpless cucumbers, leeks, and a few baskets of early strawberries. I'm also fond of the local honey available from hives in the East Village. Morels coming soon, hopefully! Lucy's Greenmarket Report is a good resource for keeping up with the Union Square Greenmarket, as is their Twitter account. http://greenmarketstuff.blogspot.com/ http://twitter.com/unsqgreenmarket

What days of the week and when in August? Some spots may be closed for vacation in August. Also some spots are closed Sundays/Mondays. There is an existing Barcelona recommendations thread, did you look there? Here's my trip report from last summer: I would highly recommend: Quimet i Quimet (standing room only with great items on toast aka "montaditos") Paco Meralgo (tapas but a bit more upscale, make reservations) Inopia (arrive early to avoid long waits) Bar Pinotxo (breakfast) Cinc Sentits (upscale, reservations recommended)

> But it'll probably be great for those who never wanted or bothered to make the trip downtown. Or thought that the wooden backless seats were too uncomfortable, or the restaurant was too loud, etc. Ssam Bar, AFAIK, isn't adding new dishes to the menu at the rapid pace it used to under Tien, but the new pate, fried baby artichokes, and sticky rice stuffed quail are excellent.

Definitely try out some of the other well known Flushing dim sum spots like Guang Zhou, Gala Manor, etc. Where else have you been? Usually my Flushing crawls hit up a subset of these 10 spots: 1. Guang Zhou Restaurant (136-59 37th Ave) 2. Corner 28 duck bun window (40-28 Main St) 3. White Bear (135-02 Roosevelt Ave #5) 4. Zhu Ji Guo Tie (40-52 Main Street is the technical address, but the actual window is on 41st Avenue) 5. Xian Famous Foods in the Golden Mall (41-28 Main Street, stall #36, lower level) 6. Chengdu Heaven in the Golden Mall (41-28 Main Street, stall #31, lower level) 7. Temple Snacks in the Flushing Mall (133-31 39th Ave, food court is on bottom floor, located on the way left hand side) 8. Sun Mary Bakery (13357 41st Road) 9. Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao (38-12 Prince Street) 10. Best North Dumpling (135-08 Roosevelt Ave A4 BUT I think they moved to 41-42 Main Street) Anybody have opinions on: Sifu Chio (40-09 Prince street) for Hong Kong hawker style fried wontons or wontons in soup. A place to get Taiwanese style open pot stickers aka "Zhonghua Road" pot stickers or kai kou guo tie now that Nan Bei He has closed? Apparently Lu Xiang Yuan has them?

Although my fancy friend with the expense account will probably be disappointed at lack of pork buns at Ma Peche/Chambers. I think he's been dreaming of room service pork buns for a year now. Last time he was in town, he ate a pork bun at Milk Bar EV, and then ALSO took one back in his laptop bag from Milk Bar in the East Village to his room in Midtown East. And ate it for breakfast.

I like Boqueria, but overall, I think that Txikito is more interesting and better executed. Neither is exactly cheap, though, and it's easier to get into Boqueria.

My feeling is that Flushing Chinatown's dim sum tends to be fresher and cleaner than Manhattan's overall. I'm assuming this was a "nai wong bao" or literally "milk yolk bun." And you may also hear them called "lai wong bao." Probably this one: Never tried it as I'm always drawn to Xian Foods and Temple Snacks when I'm there instead. The Flushing mall is way more spacious than the Golden Mall, so be forewarned. I think the Xian Foods stall in the Golden Mall has maybe 5-6 tables, tops.

Ditto on the atomizer.

Actually I think the fruity milk is a change at both Milk Bars. No more strawberry milk at either.

Is there a full vendors list anywhere online? When I look on the site, all I find is an application to become one.

Two words: expense account.