haresfur

Quote: 'Some consumers seem to believe that food should be consumed visually as well as physically. "What happened to the enjoyment of just eating the food?" decried Andrew Knowlton, the restaurant editor for Bon Appetit magazine. "People are losing sight of why you go out."' I guess restaurants have brought this on themselves by the emphasis on attractive plating. Seems many chefs also believe food should be "consumed visually".

How cool! I'm can't remember seeing them here but it would beat buying a "party pig". Would you have to worry about over-pressurizing the 2L poly bottles? I would suspect some are weaker than others.

Um, maybe an Old Fashioned? Seriously, I don't understand how preparing a drink in the mixing tin makes a superior rocks drink. Can you enlighten me?

Pasta ala Costco - Take a couple of big spoons full of stuff out of the huge jars of artichoke hearts, olives, sun dried tomatoes, marinated roasted peppers, bean salad, whatever in the fridge and toss them with pasta and lots of freshly grated Parmesan. Maybe add some cured meat of your choice. Aka "Disappearing Pasta" - I put antipasti on my pasta and it vanished.

Ok, I don't get conical jiggers. Aside from being easy to hold between the fingers for non-primates or primates who's opposable thumbs are occupied elsewhere, what is their advantage? Given the shape, a bit of spillage, leading to a slightly lower liquid level represents a fair % of the volume (like the beer-glass underpour). Seems to me that at the very least a cylindrical shape would be more efficient and overall less likely to spill in the first place (not like the martini-glass slosh). I've been using a 4 oz glass with calibration lines in many units. My main complaint is seeing the lines in low light, particularly with clear liquid because of the lines arounnd on the other side. My close up vision is shot. For bitters, I do think you professionals need to impress your customers with the speed & accuracy of: Eppendorf pipettes

AFAIK, there is only the one Costco, in Melbourne. But I think that makes it a good time to start a discussion. I have only been once, and was a bit underwhelmed but it was worth while and I will go back. It had been a long time since I heard so many American accents, too My impressions: The wine selection was limited, the spirits very limited and didn't seem to be much of a bargain. Got some good antipasti (I tossed it with pasta and the whole thing disappeared ). The pesto was ok and a good value. The pork hot-dogs in the food court weren't as good as the US beef ones, no kraut, no brown mustard, no brown mustard, and more expensive. I really missed Kirkland Japanese green teabags, brown rice in big bags, time release niacin, and pie. Anyone else been? Impressions?

Well, "foreign" depends on your frame of reference, eh? I'd have to say for non-American-like fast food, the Aussie meat pie is worth mentioning. I don't remember them being so ubiquitous in England, either. And of course they range from pretty vile, to very good. And if you only consider fast-food to be from chain restaurants, then Red Rooster does a decent roasted chicken. And the coffee at Macca's (McDonalds) McCafe is reasonably drinkable (and free WiFi!).

If 18% is an appropriate amount for average service, then the restaurant is charging too little for their food. I think part of my resentment is that I like to see myself as a decent tipper but I'm being priced out of the market by the tip inflation. I don't mind clearly stated "service included" but then just include it in the price rather than tacking it on at the end so the meal initially appears less expensive than it actually is.

Now sold in single serving sizes at Target, which is incredibly useful for beach picnics and entertaining the parents at children's birthday parties. Great concept... but I gotta know: Do the individual boxes come with sippy-straws that you poke into them?

Ok, Bitter*4 it is. I used Schwepps this time. But in the USA I like the Safeway Italian Lemon Soda. As a side note when I first got my Aperol I tried it with the bitter lemon and was not impressed. The Fernet and Fees bitters make a huge difference.

Anyone know anything about "Fernet Bitters" as opposed to Fernet Branca? I just picked up a bottle out of curiosity and because it was only painfully expensive at $35 a bottle, rather than the insanely expensive Fernet Branca at about $62. It does say prodotto Italiano and is 42% alcohol by volume. When I peeled the bar code off the back label there appears to be German text underneath. The taste is similar to Fernet Branca but I didn't do a side-by-side tasting. After a small first sip, I did a shot with a ginger-beer chaser. Next I tried my Bitter, Bitter, Bitter: 2 oz Aperol (substituted for Campari), 1 teaspoon Fernet, a few dashes Fees old fashioned bitters, stir with ice and top with bitter lemon. I wonder if this is a knock-off or what. But it seems to be a reasonable substitute for now.

Nice article. The advice regarding high-proof spirits is an interesting point. IMO a flask drink is made for tiny sips and generally is warm (or at least designed to warm the user). That's quite different from a normal cocktail which is cold and often consumed reasonably quickly so the dilution is important. Seems the style calls for a different concept of balance.

For acid etching the curliques would they coat the glass in wax then scratch the pattern through it for the acid to etch? That would be scraffito (sp?) in the pottery world.

This topic came to mind as I was filling a flask with bourbon to take to a kayak gathering. I ended up with sort of a new-fashioned cocktail: Bourbon, Gran Gala, and Regan's Orange Bitters adjusted to taste (always an enjoyable way to attain balance if not reproducibility - or perhaps to lose my balance...). Who needs ice, anyway?

Fair enough but I would say, it is more that high alcohol beer cellars better, even fairly high hop ones like (at least some) barley wines, and that you wouldn't want to age any beer that has a distinct hop aroma/flavor as opposed to bitterness.

I was at a bar that used these. I think it made for a good show and was pretty efficient but not quite as fast as premade. At least you know the juice is fresh. You would need three sizes for oranges, lemons, and limes. Don't get the all plastic ones, mine didn't last the first lime.

??? I was under the impression that hops are a preservative and, in particular, IPAs were originally highly hopped specifically for aging on the voyage to India. Was I misinformed?

In my experience it makes a huge but hard to quantify difference.

Like my brother told me, "We chose the wrong parents." I think maybe 15 % reduction typically can be achieved with diet. You can alter the HDL:LDL ratio with diet and exercise bringing up the HDL. Time release niacin can help and has pros/cons vs statin drugs. I'm also a big believer in additional folate although that's an independent risk factor factor from cholesterol.

This was a good excuse to peruse CocktailDB.com looking for inspiration. With a limited bar currently, I decided to try the Martha: 1 1/2 oz bourbon - the surprisingly drinkable Blue Barrel from Aldis (kind of like Trader Joe's) 1 dash Orange Bitters - Regan's 1/4 oz Maraschino - Luxardo 1/4 oz Pastis - Obsello absinthe (wish I'd picked up some Pacifique before I left Washington) Build on ice in a rocks glass Float absinthe on top. Add lemon twist. This is a very "adult" drink. Perhaps a little sweet is needed when using absinthe instead of Pernod. But quite drinkable and satisfying.

Not in the business but when I worked in bush camps "up north" we had a cook and a "bull cook". The bull cook washed dishes, burned trash, etc. so the only thing he cooked was bull----.

Good tip. I started down this path but found I didn't have any Fee's Old Fashioned or Angostrua bitters so I morphed it into a Sazerac with Peychaud's, raw sugar, and Obsello absinthe. Very nice!

Agreed, that's why I spent months wiping scale off with cue-tips soaked in rubbing alcohol. But the systemic I used was basically the same stuff you put on dogs and cats for fleas and ticks (and was designed for agricultural use - unfortunately I don't know the exact product because it was a "gift" from an Ag research station). I would have waited a long time to eat fruit just in case but that was a moot point. It did get rid of the scale.

Welcome to eGullet! I can't answer your question directly but IIRC there are some decent restaurants there, maybe not some great ones. The demographics could affect that, but I'm sure good food is an approved vice I do remember accosting someone with a Starbucks cup on the street to find out where to get coffee! You could also consider the ski resort towns if that isn't too far to commute.

Perhaps somewhat related to the start-up bar thread and the budget liquor thread, but a different slant. Yes there's the really good stuff that you save for special occasions, there's the stuff you use sparingly but when you need it you need it, but what bottles do you find yourself restocking most frequently? Personally, I'd say rum but I solve that by just buying more varieties to spread the load. So I guess, right now it would be Campari. Maybe that will change in the winter.