Jack Sprat

I've always been confused about this, both at home and out at restaurants. Sometimes it's euphoria, getting so much flavor and texture by combining the fish with the skin in a single bite. Other times I feel like I'm shortening my life by 10 minutes with every bite I take. Is it good to eat the skin? Is it bad? When is it appropriate and why?

Thanks for the mixing tips. I've been meaning to pick up some lavender to make a simple syrup to pair. I heard they have it at remedy. Anyone know if it's available at T-bar as well? BTW, my wife and I dropped in on the M garden to enjoy the weather on Friday. I tried your colonial-inspired cocktail and it was outstanding. We'll be back for sure.

Change of pace from the wine discussion, but the $6 off Hendricks gin this month is a bargain. It really stands apart from all other gins I've tried. In a good way. Don't know why the steep discount. It's a bit unusual compared to the typical PLCB specials.

I'd like to hear the details on the happy hour too. I live quite close and am really hoping this place could be a regular thing. Curious about the microbrews part of the happy hour equation. The biggest disappointment when I visited a little over a week ago was the beer selection. Other than the draft fat angel, I don't remember a single microbrew on tap. Perhaps the bottle selection is better. Or maybe they'll upgrade with time. BTW I also tried the cornmeal crusted fried "green" tomatoes. They were decent, but nothing special. I thought the place looked spectacular. They did a great job. Parked in front of a large open window on a sunny friday afternoon, drinking a beer, is just where I want to be. Don't know why more places don't have the open front windows, more like the european cafes.

I like Patricia Wells cookbook for Provencal style french recipes. She writes in more of a prose style than most cookbooks. Nothing extraordinarily difficult.

I use a capresso brand coffee maker that I received as a wedding present and I love it. It's a bit more expensive I think, around $150 or so. But it makes a great pot of coffee. The grinder is part of the unit. I used to be a separate grinder, but this is a burr-grinder that is higher quality than the separate blade grinders that most people have. Plus, I don't have to use a paint brush to scoop out all of the grinds anymore (messy). Also has a built in water filtration system and works flawlessly in every respect.

I've been to one class in the fermentation school. They have a nice room in the Med arts building just north of walnut on 17th. Russian river beer class was fantastic. After class started the owner/brewmaster of russian river just sort of went into a 2 hour monologue, telling stories about each of the ten different beers we were served. Because it was a small class, we were also given the chance to sample a few things that won't make it out here for mass (even small masses) consumption. The best was a pizza port imperial stout aged in whiskey casks. Tried to sign up for the garrett oliver class but it was sold out by the time I got around to it. Will definitely go back to school though.

Hi all, New to eGullet, but excited to have found it. I really liked the CS Kaiken Ultra. But actually enjoyed the Kaiken I had previously even more. It wasn't the Ultra, but was still 03 and labeled as an Argentinian Malbec instead of a Mendoza Malbec. It was outstanding for the same price. Actually discovered the Ultra when I went back to buy up all of the aforementioned Malbec and it was gone, replaced by the Ultra which subsequently became a CS. Anyone know anywhere I can find the original? I've checked Total Wine in DE and State Line in Elkton but without any luck. Anyone else get to try it?