[Blanc Vermouth]

Cocchi Americano or Lillet Blanc, though they're imperfect substitutes—the Cocchi bitterer and more assertive, the Lillet sweeter and less herbal.

Damn. Don't have either of those. Would a 1:1 mix of Noilly Prat Dry and Punt e Mes be a disaster in this drink?

[Blanc Vermouth]

Is there anything people would suggest substituting for the Dolin Blanc? I really want to try an Eeyore's Requiem tonight but don't have any Dolin Blanc.

[Ginger reduction for use in beverages]

I've never liked the boiled ginger "tea" recipes. I juice ginger in a juicer and then make simple syrup. 1:1 ginger juice to syrup by volume, bring to 165-175F. Very concentrated flavor, and it doesn't get a cooked/boiled taste, but still bright and fresh.

JM, what do you use this syrup for? Someone bought me Morris Kitchen Ginger Syrup (and their Preserved Lemon Syrup) and I'm looking for good cocktail uses for it.

[Fuji]

Just curious: How much do the omakase tend to cost at Fuji?

[Mendoza Food and Wine]

Don't know about "rarest", but we had amazing visits to Bodegas Benegas and Andeluna. Both had beautiful grounds and fantastic wines. Achaval Ferrer was decent - wine was good, tour guide was quite nervous and didn't give a great tour. Ruca Malen had a fantastic lunch. Salentein was big and impersonal and the lunch wasn't very good.

[Cherry infusion tasting like cough syrup!]

A lot of cough syrup is "cherry" flavored.

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What are you planning on using the final product for?

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Uh, drinking, I guess...

Really, I hadn't thought that far in advance. The combination just sounded good to me. Any suggestions?

[Cherry infusion tasting like cough syrup!]

A lot of cough syrup is "cherry" flavored.

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I realize that - the problem is that my infusion has that synthetic cherry flavor that's in cough syrup.

[Cherry infusion tasting like cough syrup!]

Say a bit more! Specific ingredients, proportions, cold or room temp, etc.

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750 ml vodka

2 lbs red cherries (washington state?) - pitted and cut up

about 40 turns of a pepper grinder (coarse) of sichuan peppercorns (i have been adding more peppercorns over the last week as my original amount didn't given it much flavor)

airtight container in the refrigerator.

hope this helps!

thanks.

-M

[Cherry infusion tasting like cough syrup!]

Hi all-

I'm working on a cherry and sichuan pepper-infused vodka. It's been sitting for about 6 days in the refrigerator and it's started to take on a bit of a cough syrup taste?

I'm using Svedka vodka which I think is pretty good quality.

Any thoughts as to what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks!

-M

[Apamate]

So sorry I missed this, but I was working, of course.  Everything looks up to the usual SK standards of beautiful plating and a feast for the eyes as well as the palate.

I hope further "guest chef" forays are in the works for the future.  I miss SK as much as any of the rest of you and this is as good an excuse to have Shola's food as any.  I particularly like the idea of Shola doing ethnically diverse, yet ethnically specific menus as that was usually not an option on any given evening at SK.

Can I put in a vote to have the next guest cheffing experience fall on a Monday so I can attend? 

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Hi all,

First post here...

I was at this dinner. It was my first time experiencing Shola's food and I was pretty blown away by it (especially by the soup and dessert). I was chatting with him before the dinner (Gotta be honest - I might have developed a slight man-crush on him, and I don't just get those for anyone) and he said that he was going to be doing these monthly.

I haven't seen anything mentioning the next dinner he is doing - anyone have any idea when and where it is? I've been craving his food since then.

Feel free to PM if you don't want to post publicly.

Thanks. This is a fantastic board and I've learned tons since moving to Philly in July. Katie, I can't wait to make it to M to try out one of your fantastic concoctions.

-M