KD1191

Well...I'm no scientist, but I did find these two links, which suggest to me that the non-alcoholic drink is greener because the chlorophyll in the plant matter has not been broken down or otherwise affected by ethanol. ETA: There's a lot of talk at that first link about photons, "lower-energy" color and stuff that's way over my head, but it generally sounds like it could explain why chlorophyll dissolved in alcohol is 'less green'.

Picked up my copy at Cure last night. It's the Viggo.

Replacing recently emptied bottles: Rittenhouse 100 Cocchi Americano Ransom Old Tom Would it be terribly strange to pour the contents of my new bottle of Ransom into my old empty? I don't care for the redesigned bottle at all...

We did not eat very well in Siem Reap, but here are a few things learned during our stay. The Blue Pumpkin makes quite decent coffee and baked goods (I really like the macaroons, the coconut things with two os, not the French meringues, unfortunately so did the monkeys just outside Angkor Thom...was nearly mobbed. Secondary learning, leave all foodstuffs in the car when approaching small mammals.) We avoided any sort of 'fine dining' in Siem Reap, but since returning we've had friends who visited Meric and were very complementary of the food and service. Dead Fish Tower seemed a tourist trap, and it was. Our best meal came from a restaurant with no apparent name set up under a large tent at the base of the climb up to Kbal Spean. Exploring Beng Mealea was the highlight of our time in Cambodia.

Scott left TRU for Hart Davis Hart in '07. As recently as last year he was with Sepia, but I think he's since left Chicago.

Much to my chagrin, I haven't dined at any of the above, but I've followed all three (and discussed with friends who have had the pleasure of dining at each) and will give you a sense of how I interpret the mood toward them. Avenues is likely the most respected of the three among educated (read: trend tracking) foodies. The counter continues to be a destination dining experience, rather unique in the city. TRU has rebounded spectacularly under Anthony Martin, to the point where most believe it has surpassed the level it was at toward the end of Tramonto's time. Ria is, as you say, the newcomer, reportedly full of surprises and delights, but without the resume of the other two, and not without some chef juggling of its own recently. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the above, however I'd say Avenues is likely your best bet. That said, if you have a special place in your heart for TRU, it might be worth experiencing its reported renaissance.

Google Copyright dilution, not copyright infringement. There is no requirement that the industries overlap or that there is any reasonable chance of confusion. Copyright dilution is what keep you from creating Exxon sports drink, for example. No jest. I don't see how Donna Karan doesn't have a case, should they wish to pursue it. The argument would be for trademark dilution, not copyright. Donna's trademark is on DKNY. If she'd been born Patty, she'd have a very good case, but as it stands it'd be a very tough argument to win. Similarly, if I made Axxon energy drink, Exxon would be fighting an uphill battle. Unless the mark being used is identical to the 'famous mark', you generally have to show actual confusion in the market, which is not a simple task. Now, if PKNY decides to re-style itself a 'Fashion Bar' and installs a runway and clothing racks, it's playing with fire. Similarly, if I advertised Axxon with oil-related imagery, it could tilt the case toward Exxon. But, as it stands, I don't see a case Donna could win. I'm not a lawyer, but I work for a couple hundred IP attorneys, so I tend to have a pretty good grasp of such subjects.

I actually made this same comment, in jest, when discussing this topic with Daisy17 when we ran into each other at The Violet Hour a few weeks ago. Unless Donna is working on a designer vodka, it wouldn't really apply. The industries don't really overlap.

Best-value is still quite dependent on your budget, and prices are quite variable across regions, so what's a great value in Illinois might not be so great in New York or California. That said, here would be my choices. Bargain Basement: Heaven Hill Gold Label Bonded (low teens), Weller 107 (high teens) Everyday Value: Weller 12 year (mid-$20s), Evan Williams Single Barrel (high-$20s) Mid-Range: Four Roses Single Barrel (~$40), Black Maple Hill (~$40) Higher End: George T. Stagg ($70 - $100 or more, depending on vintage, availability), Van Winkle 15 Year (anywhere from $50 - $100).

Had a great time, thanks for suggesting it. The egg white drink was made with Maurin Quina and a touch of Rittenhouse Rye. The former is known these days mostly for the iconic image on the bottle. It has a light cherry flavor with notes of quinine and bitter almond in a white wine base. It's not as syrupy as Cherry Heering, perhaps closer to Luxardo Maraschino, but without any of the funk traditionally associated with that product.

We hit the Violet Hour last September - loved it! I don't know what I'm going to be able to do cocktail-wise this time. My parents are coming up as well and taking babysitting duty on Charles during our dinners, but figure out the logistics for cocktails might be hard (would really love to go to Aviary as well). Might have to wait until next trip. Aviary seems to be much more accessible than people initially thought it would be. After the first few weeks I've rarely heard of much of a wait outside of peak times on Friday-Saturday. If you're anywhere in the area, I highly recommend The Whistler for a low-key, no-nonsense establishment with a short but impeccably made cocktail list and one of nearly everyone in Chicago's favorite bartenders, Paul McGee. A bit more centrally located to the usual hotel district is Sable, headed up by Violet Hour and Moto alum Mike Ryan. They have a jaw-dropping spirit selection and put them to great use.

Ben, really enjoying the blog, thanks. Don't miss The Violet Hour while you're in Chicago...certainly one of the best craft cocktail bars anywhere. I'm an Aeropress geek myself and wanted to mention the Coava metal disk filter. It has made a huge difference for me in terms of depth of flavor of the resulting 'presso'.

1.5 oz Leopold Brothers Gin 1 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth .5 oz Peach Heering Stirred and strained into a glass very lightly rinsed with St. George Absinthe. I'd be struggling to find exceptional uses for the vintage Peach Heering. I thought the flavor was nice and quite interesting on it's own, but it wasn't really contributing much when mixed. This was the first time I think it really made an excellent contribution to a finished product...it's sort of Corpse Reviver #2-esque in the glass, but with a fruity nose and no real acidity to speak of. I'm not at all fond of the Dolin Dry, but this makes it quite palatable.

Finished off a bottle of Cocchi myself, tonight...spritzers, more or less. It's never struck me as particularly dry. Just reading it, this recipe would seem to me to be more akin to a 50-50 Manhattan than a Perfect one, flavor wise. No?

Utterly bizarre. Can you point me in the direction of something, anything, that suggests bitters shouldn't be bitter? Some people's logic is just strange... Well, it's Karl Popper's logic, not mine... As I said, it makes perfect sense to work under the assumption that bitters should be bitter, I just think the case for this being an absolute, empirical fact has been overstated. There's a non-zero chance that the next historical bitters formula that you encounter won't have a noticeably bitter flavor.

To be honest there's more than enough information around to clarify what bitters are as I've mentioned in this thread; the obvious being the name and their medicinal/culinary use. Anyone that's ever tried a bitters recipe from an old guide/manual will also testify that these bitters were bitter. I've lost count of the number of recipes I've put together and each and every one has been bitter. One last consideration would be that Peychaud's and Angostura, bitters that have been around for almost 200 years and still available today, are without question bitter. As are the various vintage bottlings I have tried... Were that recipe from Imbibe to contain rhubarb root alongside the rhubarb stalk they'd then be a bitters. Without the bittering agent they're not. It's perfectly logical to claim that "bitters should be bitter," but in the world of cocktails, things are quite often not what they seem. All of the information in this thread and countless historical recreations don't really put the issue to rest, however. They simply create a Black Swan problem...it's impossible/impractical to taste every bitters ever made historically to see if they are bitter, and yet a single example to the contrary would invalidate the theory.

I tried Hum in several things when it first entered the scene in Chicago a little over a year ago. I normally love ginger and hibiscus, but found Hum to be cloyingly sweet and overpowering in anything but dash-like quantities...the cardamom is quite pronounced. I can't imagine using it in conjunction with any sort of sweetener, so marketing it as a base-spirit strikes me as somewhat disingenuous. It's quite fine with soda, but I couldn't find much use for it in cocktails.

people putting their own interpretation on something that is already clearly defined. As proven in this thread. But, apparently not defined clearly enough if this cooption of the term has been so easy and pervasive, as seems to also have been evinced throughout this thread. Weren't you on exactly the other side of the "words mean things" debate in the Old-Fashioned topic?

In a past life*, I was lead to believe that Stoli Strawberry makes an amazing** Cosmo. 2 oz Stoli Strawberry 1 1/2 oz Cranberry Juice 3/4 oz Cointreau 3/4 oz Lime Juice Shake/strain. Up or on the rocks. * College ** For a certain definition of amazing.

I believe their current policy only allows for booking two months in advance. If you call at 10 AM on the day two months before your visit you should have a very good chance at a table...not necessarily a prime Friday/Saturday time slot, but definitely something. You may have to deal with a busy signal for a few minutes, but eventually you'll get through.

I wonder what mental gymnastics are required to reconcile the insistence that they wouldn't go back if you paid them with happily accepting the chef's gracious invitation to return and cook for them personally. Were they not as appalled as they seemed? Or, were they just hoping to be bought? Based on this limited sample size, I'd say MW handled them better.

We went a couple weeks in and really enjoyed our dinner. I don't know how much I have to add to the countless write-ups elsewhere on the net. Since the menu isn't really variable within a season, there's not a lot to report on, I guess... The eggs Benedictine and pork rillettes hors d'oeuvre, the stuffed mushroom on the fish course and everything about the duck were mind-blowing. The turtle soup and the beet pâtes de fruits are my unsung heros for astonishing accomplishments in subtlety. The only thing that came close to a disappointment was the chicken/cucumber plate. I certainly appreciated what they were trying to do with it, and the wine pairing was a bold choice delicious in its own right, but there's a pretty paltry amount of chicken on the plate, and the cucumber and salt pork dominate it. Perhaps I'm just perturbed that this was the best white meat chicken I've had that wasn't cooked in a pig's bladder at Paul Bocuse and it wasn't even center stage in its own dish. My wife found the dessert bland. I was of the opinion that letting it warm on your tongue really opened up the flavor, and that the port was an exceptional match. She couldn't get past how cold it was served. We had the standard wine pairing, which was excellent. The somewhat out of the box but exceptional selections have become something of a hallmark for Alinea, and it's great to see that has carried over to the new venture. The wine from the Jura that's paired with the turtle soup (Montbourgeau l'Etoile, non-fortified, but somewhat sherry-like) is haunting, I really want to get a bottle to try and mix in cocktails... Service was exceptionally friendly and knowledgeable to a pretty ridiculous detail, but perhaps not quite up to Alinea standards on the nuts and bolts.

Had a late dinner here a couple weekends ago. The boudin basque, a round of blood sausage studded with head cheese nuggets over mashed potatoes sprinkled with Espelette pepper was the best thing I ate on my trip to NY. Add in excellent oysters and a well thought out beer list, and I was quite pleased.

The menu tends to change a couple times a year, but there's usually some sort of seasonal brunch burrito preparation that hits the spot. My wife really likes the croissant sandwich. We were regulars when we lived downtown, but don't get there more than once or twice a year at this point. They will always have a special place in my heart for their key lime cheesecake flapjacks (summer menu of '05, I think)...best pancakes I've ever had. Returned weekly for the entire summer.

It's across the street from my office, so I get there at least once a month. All of the vegetables I've had there have been fantastic (favas (with morcilla), shaved brussels sprouts, beets) as are most things off the plancha, particularly the octopus. The pork neck bone gravy (tomato sauce) with ricotta is one of my all time favorites and a must order if it's on the menu. The bone marrow tends to be hit or miss, but when it's good it's really good. For charcuterie-type preparations, I stick with the Publican.