kathryn

More quality coffee houses above 14th Street would be good.

More: Everyday, non-fusion Thai food Good Non-Sichuan Chinese outside Chinatown (I can dream, can't I?) Less: Fried chicken Neopolitan pizza -- I can't believe there's signage for a new pizzeria from Italy on Bleecker right now, steps away from Keste, etc Maybe we can allow only one more tiki bar if it's Brian Miller's?

Ssam Bar for drinks is very laid back and chill, especially on a weekday after midnight. And you can still get pork buns. A worthy alternative if you're waiting for a table elsewhere, perhaps.

Also, I would nominate Peels, Vandaag, Locanda Verde, Yerba Buena, and Ssam Bar (with the caveat that if you can't order just drinks and not food unless it's late night service.)

You can dine at the bar at Del Posto?

Joe's has been up and down recently but the last few slices I've gotten were just right - YMMV, as all pizza places have consistency issues IMO.

I was oddly disappointed this year by Pulino's (oh that awful crackery pizza), Kin Shop (not bad per se just not great), Traif (solid but not really worth going out of your way for), Brucie (ditto), Maialino's brunch (the bombolini are fine, just not exemplary -- perhaps I'll give it another go). We moved from the East Village to the West Village so our standbys have gone from Grand Sichuan, Motorino, Momofuku Noodle & Ssam Bar to Perilla, Po, Pearl Oyster Bar, Joseph Leonard/Jeffrey's, Blue Ribbon Bakery, Joe's Pizza, Otto.

Husband had one last night and it's: 2 oz George T. Stagg (141 proof was the one they were using) 1 lump demerara sugar, muddled with the bitters 3 dashes Peychaud's bitters 2 dashes Angostura bitters (possibly 3 dashes, this bit is fuzzy St. George Absinthe, sprayed via an atomizer (really saturate the glass)

2nd the Del Posto lunch deal. With the fresh bread and lardo/butter, amuses, two savories, palette cleanser, dessert, and petit fours, it's a steal. You can book Ma Peche here: http://www.momofuku.com/ma-peche/ Ma Peche also has an excellent cocktail list. But do still try to get into Ko. Perhaps lunch? For cocktails: - PDT (no standing, first come, first served at the bar, reservations for tables taken at 3pm same day) - show up at 6pm for two bar seats, hard to get in nearly every day of the week - Death & Co (no standing, no reservations) - show up before 7pm to even get in, earlier Thurs-Sat, try to sit at the bar - Mayahuel (no standing but a bit larger than PDT and Death & Co) - a tequila/mezcal specialist, sister bar to Death & Co, a must visit if your enjoy either - El Cobre/Cienfuegos - Mayahuel's sister bar focused on rum, Cienfuegos is more about various rum punches - Pegu Club (allows standing, gets rather loud/crowded) - easier to get into but they do have a line later on in the night - Lani Kai (modern 'tropical' but not tiki, also done by Julie of Flatiron) - upstairs has a small bar but the tables are more for people eating dinner, downstairs there's a lounge with a bar - Painkiller - tiki bar from the Milk & Honey family, bar can be a bit uncomfortable though as the stools are nailed into the ground, but try to sit at the bar - Little Branch - from the Milk & Honey family, go downstairs, there's a a bunch of tables and booths and a small waiting area inside, give your name to the hostess for a table, you can't sit at the bar For chefs, I'd say PDT, Death & Co, and Pegu Club are all must visits because they do infused liquors in their drinks.

Thanks, all!

As someone lucky enough to live in a state where you can actually order spirits for delivery online, I've had good experiences ordering from Cask in SF. I'd never order from valleywineandspirits.com again; they canceled my order without even notifying me via email. I received the order confirmation via email and no communication after wards. I sent an email inquiry a few days later asking why it hadn't shipped yet to no response. I checked the order status again just now and it's been canceled, a week after I placed the order. Anybody have recommendations for better sites/stores?

If you have Beachbum Berry Remixed lying around, there's a whole section on non-alcoholic tiki drinks. (Darn it, where is my copy?)

A friend made two batches of Chatham Artillery Punch this week (using Mr. Wondrich's book as the source) for a party and couldn't keep up with the demand. I couldn't make it over fast enough and missed out! Damn.

I like Great NY Noodletown a lot (flowering chives with beef! roast baby pig!) but their wonton noodle soup was only OK in comparison to Noodle Village.

Friday: Luke's is good but it's a minimal lobster roll and on the small side (but also consequently cheaper than most). Barely seasoned, little to no mayo, buttered roll, served room temp (often a little cooler than room temp). Great for a quick bite. Sat: Good call on Doughnut Plant early (LES branch, Chelsea branch isn't open yet). Weekends can get swamped. Be aware that the yeast raised donuts have a texture somewhat akin to a chewy Krispy Kreme. Don't miss the Tres Leches cake doughnut. Russ & Daughters is takeout only BTW but there are benches outside. Get a bagel sandwich to go. Shanghai Cafe for soup dumplings. I would do this before the farmer's market since it is geographically closer to the Doughnut Plant/LES. Union Square Greenmarket is the best greenmarket in Manhattan pretty much. Mon, Weds, Fri, Sat from 10am to 6pm (note that a lot of vendors will cut out early if they're out of wares or weather is bad or crowds are sparse). Check out also the Union Square Holiday market for Momofuku Milk Bar (I think they are only selling stollen, crack pie, and cookies though), Wafels & Dinges, Stuffed Artisan Cannolis, and Sigmund Pretzel Shop. For Sigmund make sure they warm up your pretzel adequately. I think the plain is quite tasty. Daily, 11am to 8pm. Sunday: In the Theatre District: Ma Peche, Bar Room at the Modern, Esca, maybe Keens if you're willing to go that far south (dependent upon theatre location). For more casual, there's always Szechuan Gourmet or Shake Shack. Monday: Have breakfast at either Clinton St Baking Co (pancakes, breakfast sandwich with bacon and tomato jam) or Locanda Verde (ricotta with burnt orange toast and truffled honey, great egg dishes, good pastries, decent enough pancakes/french toast). I haven't hit up Maialino...yet.

Bravo! Converting one person at a time....

http://www.elbulli.com/reservas/index.php?lang=en

The Bo Ssam is really good (we served it at our wedding), but when I get it, we always order other dishes. Ater your third or fourth lettuce wrap, it does get monotonous.

We did it a few years ago and it was a lot of fun. Very few seats. I recall ankimo, fugu three ways, a whole Dungeness crab to share, a few ounces of Wagyu steak & half a lobster tail being on my menu. It was far too much food for one person -- but sadly the worst course was the nigiri sushi. It was done as a flight and I watched it being assembled ahead of time and then left on the counter for us for several minutes. And the texture of the rice was off. Too loose and a little dry.

Who do you think does apple cider donuts better (sit down restaurant, not at the Greenmarket)?

My incomplete notes: Tea service @ Ritz in London + UK love of gin inspired Audrey to put Earl Grey tea foam on a gin sour, but it collapsed, and looked like "puke," so she kept trying. The next thing she tried was egg whites for support. Egg whites are a good way to get aroma onto the surface a cocktail without something sinking to the bottom, but her experience was that after 8 minutes, egg whites "smelled like wet dog." Hence the addition of a tincture or twist to counterbalance the "wet dog smell." She was inspired by Jerry Thomas' recipe of a tincture of cloves. One example of this they do at Pegu Club is to add a cardamom tincture to a finished Ramos Gin Fizz. Dry ice is another way to add aroma. Put a pellet in a tea ball (for safety so you don't end up chewing on dry ice), add a few drops of a tincture, then drop into your cocktail. It will bubble, too. She tried doing this in a tiki mug but then switched to a wine glass and added water, so the class could see the bubbling effort. The aroma was quickly distributed into the air and I could smell it from a few feet away. She noted that it's difficult to do this effect in a snifter type glass because it's too concentrated. And one could be careful of patrons who can't breathe due to the dry ice. Champagne or anything else bubbly also delivers aroma. Try adding a tincture to a sugar cube in a champagne cocktail instead of Angostura bitters. Rose, cardamom, ginger, etc. You can also add something scented to a jar of sugar cubes to flavor them and then use those sugar cubes as an aroma delivery device. She also touched briefly on atomizers used to spray something onto the surface of a drink. Then Dave Arnold explained how a rotovac worked, added some dry ice, and tried to (unsuccessfully due to technical difficulties) distill cognac and frankincense. While we waited, he passed around some distillations to try: dry roasted peanut & bourbon (amazing), chocolate (very good), habanero (not spicy at all thanks to the distillation process, but a bit one note), cilantro & orange aged 1.5 yrs (apparently it's really good right out of the rotovac for a few hours then turns into "swampy herbs" until it's aged long enough to taste good again), blue cheese & cognac (to me the cheese was only on the finish, left a weird aftertaste, yuck). After drinking all of those distillations, things get fuzzy for me.

Went to Boston last weekend and loved Drink so much we went back twice in a single weekend.

Confirmed on Feast. http://www.nbcnewyork.com/feast/Vegas-Thai-Spot-Lotus-of-Siam-Headed-for-Former-Cru-Space-105471613.html According to someone on Chowhound, "Saipin is training local cooks to execute her dishes." Here is their Twitter page: http://twitter.com/lotusofsiamny Test run first dinner menu: http://www.twitpic.com/2z5edc

We stayed in Raval at the Casa Camper, which was close to the Boqueria but far enough away from Eixample to be annoying, especially after dinner. I think I'd want to stay somewhere in between both next time. I'd compare Raval more to the grittier parts of the East Village (maybe 10 years ago?) and Eixample more to Soho, due to all of the shops and how quiet some stretches are at night. Daisy's right about the large size of Barcelona blocks. Plus, I found the streets, sidewalks, and intersections are wider, and a lot of Eixample streets are on a slight incline. If you've been walking around all day already, it can make walking back to the hotel or apartment feel like it's taking forever.

218 Lafayette St., Soho Phone: 212-965-8777 http://osteriamorini.com/ Someone on Chowhound reports they are fully booked already this week. Not sure if they are set up for bar dining.