KD1191

The Joho joint being, Everest? It's very good, upscale Alsatian cuisine with one of the best views in the city and an absolutely amazing wine list. The food is not as memorable as some of the other restaurants where you'll pay a similar price, but it is excellently prepared and the view is stunning. Or, did you mean his new bistro concept Paris Club? That's not open yet, but I get the impression it will be soon, because they are hosting a political fund raiser there later this week. Schwa got a fresh coat of paint, the unbelievable food and unique atmosphere are still the same. Call every day, a couple times throughout the afternoon, and you should have a reservation before too long. Don't stop until you get someone live; don't bother leaving a message.

I think the biggest effect of spirit bottle sizes is how they function in a bar setting. Flashy or unique designs are eye-catching, but some shapes and sizes are difficult to work with, and that can hurt them. Ransom Old Tom had an attractive apothecary style bottle, but I get the impression it didn't work well in a professional setting as the packaging has since been redesigned resulting in a (less attractive, to me) tall, skinny bottle.

If I had to guess, I'd say there were two big reasons why restaurants might put the rice outside the nori. Either the nori is not that good and wouldn't be fit to make the first impression with the diner, or they are reacting to some Western palate's aversion to the appearance/texture of nori. Perhaps the latter is a function of the former. We see a lot of bad and mistreated nori.

I like the re-usable cork topped bottles, but haven't necessarily noticed whether they are in and of themselves any type of mark of excellence. Certainly they are used on some excellent bottles (BT's Antique Collection, for example) but I have to believe there are exceptions to the rule. However, while we're on the subject I'll voice my displeasure of wine corks in spirit bottles. They aren't that prevalent, but St. George and Jade Edouard absinthes come to mind. What's the motivation there? There's no way the entire bottle is going to be consumed in a sitting.

A sturdy set of pliers always does the trick.

It's Australia's National floral emblem and a native food. In taste it has coffee, chocolate, and hazelnut elements. Thanks, I never understood that Monty Python line until just now. "This here's the wattle, the emblem of our land. You can stick it in a bottle, you can hold it in your hand. Amen!"

Odd since Dr. Pepper is a Pepsi product. I am not a "pepper" but I do like Mr. Pibb (which is to rarely found these days). Dr. Pepper is a Dr. Pepper/Seven-Up product, it is not affiliated with Pepsi. It can be carried by those carrying Coke or Pepsi as it is not a cola. I'm eager to play with one of these machines, would not want to be in line at one.

I agree with David, Bleu d'Auvergne makes my favorite, but I've never made them that way myself, so I don't know the particulars. Another great riff is some shredded chicken thigh folded in a traditional Gruyère version.

2 oz Leopold Bros. Gin 1 oz Cynar 1 oz Grapefruit Juice 1/4 oz Lemon Juice 1/4 oz Bittercube Grapefruit Cordial (not unsweet, but definitely bitter, Campari is about the only mainstream product that comes close) Shaken and strained into a glass rinsed with Elixir Vegetal, a grapefruit swath expressed and discarded. This is quite refreshing and delicious. It's taking inspiration from a couple places. I've been wanting to combine grapefruit and Cynar since having a spectacular branzino served with a caper/grapefruit sauce a few months back. The Elixir was a late addition, partially due to the wonderful way I recall Cynar and Green Chartreuse playing together in the Art of Choke, but mostly because when I tasted it prior to straining I didn't think the drink had enough going on aromatically. That probably could have been corrected by choosing a bolder gin, but Leopold Bros. is one of my favorites, and it has some interesting notes (Pomelo, Cardamom) that are really quite nice with both the grapefruit and Cynar.

I read that part just yesterday again. I've ALWAYS wanted to try that. In fact, I was sitting here trying to figure out how I could make ice cubes into a snow texture. I can't wait for your report to see how it was! Do you have a food processor with a grating disc (like for Parmesan)? That should produce a Snow-cone like product from ice.

I don't think you have to chisel it off. It appears as if there's a perforated insert, under which the cloudy ice forms. When you lift the top section off, the cloudy section remains at the bottom. Is that how the cooler trick works? I guess I'm not sure how you prevent that insert from being stuck in the middle of your final block of ice. I can't seem to find any pics on the site of ice that hasn't been chiseled in some way. If it produced one big clear cube, I'd expect to see that. The cooler trick produces a large block with clear on top and cloudy at the bottom.

This appears to simply be a stylized version of the freezing in a cooler trick. You still get cloudy ice, it's just all concentrated at the bottom where you can chisel it off. Finally!

Reminds me of a bad joke I made the other day...how do you improve a Whiskey Cocktail made with Rittenhouse 25? Add Absinthe & Maraschino... <rim shot>.

An extremely bittersweet Rum-based riff on a Manhattan. 2 oz Rhum St. James Extra Old 1 oz Carpano Punt e Mes 16 Drops Bittercube Jamaican Bitters Stirred & strained into a coupe rinsed with Yellow Chartreuse Cuvée MOFS. If I may be so "Dude", the Chartreuse really tied the whole thing together. I had expected the rum to add a bit more sweetness, but this is not your normal cane juice. It has some very interesting bitter notes that were amped up by the vermouth and bitters. After stirring and tasting, I knew I needed an element that brought the sweetness a bit more forcefully, and it was the Chartreuse, while also lending a pleasant herbal character that balanced the spice of the bitters.

Before you make a special trip, you might want to read this article on Coke and taste. A Coke spokesman thinks you should buy regular Coke? I'm shocked. Shocked! I've done several blind tastings of glass bottled Mexican Coke vs. Coke cans off the supermarket shelf and never failed to ID the Mexican stuff. Sure, there are a lot of variables involved, but the experiment in the linked article only really deals with one...and on that there is a legitimate (if perhaps not entirely likely) scientific explanation for their finding.

No change. She wasn't "outed". She was known to those who needed to know her. The restaurant has the right to refuse service, and if the critic is responsible for the types of things they say, good on them for standing up to a bully. I haven't written any unnecessarily cruel reviews of anyone involved with RM, so I don't expect they'd kick me out. Unless they make a habit of tossing folks, I don't see how this incident should make much difference to anyone. On the whole, this strikes me as just another power struggle between old and new media...in that regard, I really couldn't care less.

That's two votes for bleu in gougères...all opposed? What did Pichet Ong have to say, Chris?

I have - they are great! Do you have a tweaked version of that recipe, Kerry? I have some gruyere awaiting; it is essential to finely cube it or can you grate it? I've always grated the Gruyère for gougères. However, I had them with crumbled Bleu d'Auvergne at a place in Paris on my last visit and they were spectacular. Will be giving that a try the next time I make them.

I've got a bottle of a terrific Cocoa Nib Liqueur from Bittercube...no idea if/when/where it's going to be distributed, though I have seen their bitters popping up for sale in liquor stores both large and small across the Midwest lately.

Looks like that's the name of the book.

Leopold Bros. is fantastic stuff, their gin is my favorite bar none. The Pisco-style brandy (which has not been sold in years, and these days is used as a base for the Absinthe, I'm told) is absolutely sublime. I'll also agree regarding declaring. Would you rather be out a couple bucks, or the whole lot? US and Canada have different regulations, obviously, but I've brought back 12-24 bottles (mixed wine/liquor) on each of our last three trips abroad and have not had to pay a cent in duty thus far <knock wood>. Declared it all, and stated it was for personal consumption...was told to have a good day. YMMV.

There's something special about Rittenhouse with large quantities of Angostura...try it with maple.

A Van Winkle Family Reserve Manhattan...can't wait to get to the Buffalo Trace cherry at the bottom.

From the BetaCocktails site:

Having just added a bottle of Rinquinquin to the bar, I can confirm that it is nothing like Roter Weinberg Pfirsich Likor. However, their varied peach elements do actually work nicely together...I just made this: 2 oz Sazerac 6 Year Rye 3/4 oz Rinquinquin 1/4 oz Roter Weinberg Pfirsich Likor 1 Barspoon Amaro Nonino Dash Fee's Whiskey Barrel Bitters The Rinquinquin brings the peach aroma and some bitterness, while the small amount of Pfirsich Likor still lends plenty of fruity peach flavor. The drink didn't have much depth, so I added the Amaro Nonino after thinking about the Violet Hour's Dogwood Manhattan.