KD1191

I think it's just Distill.

I guess there's also the supposed fact that many bars/speakeasies didn't in fact sell any alcohol at all during prohibition, and instead requested that customers bring their own "atmosphere". It would therefore behove the establishment to have a large and varied supply of ingredients to sell to their patrons...

Was sad to hear from Scott Leopold today that their pisco will probably not be available again until next spring. They use it as the base for their absinthe, and apparently that ate up more of their supply than they initially expected.

I took the liberty of creating a thread where I tried to pose the various questions I see cropping up in the posts above that aren't specific to EMP.

Over in the Eleven Madison Park thread, there has been a lot of discussion that is slightly broader than the topic of EMP since the restaurant was elevated to 4 stars in the New York Times. The majority of the discussion is focused on issues unrelated to the meals that were judged to be 4-star caliber. I'm starting this thread in the hopes that we can discuss these more in a vacuum than with specific regard to EMP. Should the rank of a restaurant be altered by the existance or enforcement of a dress code, or the minimum level of dress required to dine? Should the behavior of other guests be reflected in the restaurant's ranking? Should a restaurant's rating be effected by what other diner's might order, or the ability to have a meal of substantially greater or lesser quality depending on what particular dish or menu is ordered? (Assuming listed or at least universally available dishes/menus that no 'VIP' level access is required to obtain.) Should a restaurant that strays from traditional FOH arrangements ever be awarded the highest possible rating? (Alinea's lack of linens has been mentioned in the other thread, but I'm also thinking of issues like communal seating or counter-service.) Should the number of courses available, or the presence/absence of a degustation menu, affect the rating of a restaurant? Those are the questions I can see weaving their way through the various comments of the EMP discussion, but I'm sure there are more. I'd be very interested to hear the thoughts of others.

Just returned from the first public lunch service at Rick Bayless' new quick-service concept Xoco. I arrived early (11:30) to a short line and a note that they would not be serving take-out today. Given the restaurant seats a maximum of 49, this is likely to cause some consternation over the next few weeks, or however long this restriction stays in effect. The line was nearly out the door when I left, and I've heard that people began to be turned away around 12:30. My wait to order was short, perhaps 5 minutes, and offered some time to snap a few pics of Chef Bayless hanging out on the line, twittering away. Taking my beverage (agua de jamaica) and a small numbered plastic card (très Corner Bakery), I seated myself at a counter facing a wall and waited for my food. 15 minutes of people watching later, my cochinita pibil torta arrived. Topped with pickled onions and habanero salsa the braised suckling pig was falling apart as advertised. Luckily the freshly toasted, crispy bread was up to the task of absorbing all of the delicious juices. Black beans are mentioned on the menu, but I neither saw nor tasted them. My first thought upon seeing the torta was that it was small. At $12, I would have expected something larger, but this is an artisanal product, and personally it won't stop me from coming back. I'm a large guy, and the size of the sandwich wasn't big enough for me, so next time I'll know to order more food (like Rick's terrific guacamole)...simple as that. The sandwich was quite good. This pig was actually better than the cochinita pibil entree that I'd had next door at Frontera Grill early this summer. It had a distinct, non-heat pepper flavor from the achiote/annatto. I'd been asked how spicy I liked my food when ordering, and asked them to make it hot. It had a kick, but some Frontera red pepper hot sauce (available on the counter) was needed to punch the sandwich up to the level I normally think of for cochinita pibil. The aqua de jamaica was very interesting. I love hibiscus in almost any application, and this was no exception. The water was also flavored with lemongrass, and there was an almost szechuan peppercorn-like mouthfeel, something I couldn't quite place, perhaps ginger? For a first lunch service, things went smoothly. I don't want to judge the place on only one visit, but if I had to, I'd put it squarely in the Hot Doug's camp: great food, on the pricy side, and worth a wait (though probably not as long of one as you'll have on the weekends). I'll certainly be back for breakfast (churros and hot chocolate) and to try the soups and stews he's making in the afternoons. Hopefully after the crowds have died down a tad, or once take-out becomes an option.

Oooo...them's fightin' words. But, seriously...the list is great for evangelization. It doesn't have to be the be-all end-all, because it's likely that anyone properly influenced by it would seek out more information and discover the whole world of cocktails beyond the list.

I spent the weekend in Milwaukee for a wedding and traveled the gamut as far as food choices are concerned. A couple of the places we visited: On Saturday night, we visited Coerper's Five O'Clock Club on State Street near 24th. I couldn't find any references to Coerper's in the eGullet forums, which amazed me (perhaps the search is not completely operation with the new forum version?). In 2007, Saveur named it one of their 7 favorite steakhouses in America, and from the two meals I've had there, I'd say it is entirely deserving. On this trip, I had one of the best ribeyes I've ever had, cooked exactly to my specification (ordered rare-plus and arrived just perfectly shy of medium rare). All the steaks arrive charcoal black on the outside, but with uniform temperature throughout (and, according to the regulars I was dining with, always the exact temperature you request...the type of thing you take for granted until your favorite steakhouse messes up once or twice). The steaks are topped with buttered mushrooms and a jus which certainly includes red wine, balsamic vinegar and garlic. The vibe of the restaurant is entirely 50's supper club, with everything that entails. Complementary salad and relish tray, huge baked potatoes for a couple dollars more. This place is phenomenal. The cut of meat itself probably isn't the equal of some of the nationally recognized steakhouses, but the finished product can certainly compete with those restaurants. That said, if you're looking for a 6-month dry-aged Prime steak, this probably isn't your place. At the other end of the spectrum, on Sunday morning, I broke my fast at 9:30 AM at the counter of the restaurant inside the supermercado at El Rey Plaza on the corner of 35th and Burnham. Huevos con chorizo, tacos de carnitas, a giant bowl of complementary flash fried jalapeños and cinnamon-flecked horchata were dispatched with reckless abandon. Fresh corn or flour tortillas were warmed on the griddle to order. The tacos were huge, with thick hunks of pork that fell further apart with each bite and a giant wedge of avocado. A sign advertised $0.99 tacos after 2 pm...if I lived in Milwaukee, this would be a dinner spot at least once a week. Yes, you are eating inside a supermarket, but it is delicious, and cheap. Two large gents ate themselves nearly sick for under $20...and then were able to wander the aisles and procure semi-exotic treats like Kola Champagne and Mexican Coca-cola.

While I can't say where I've encountered it (if I have at all, the source escapes me), my thought would be that the narrative would go something like this: 1) In the good old days, man enjoyed unadulterated spirit, or at worst a simple 'cocktail' adding water, sugar & bitters. 2) Prohibition drastically reduced the quality of reasonably accessible spirits (bathtub gin, etc.). 3) Most cocktails developed out of elaborate attempts to mask the inferior quality booze.

Hey, we're back... To celebrate, I'm enjoying a Kola Champagne...needed something non-alcoholic after sampling a few bourbons this afternoon. Was quite impressed by the complexity of Black Maple Hill.

At Bradstreet, Alchemist put a 'Negroni Tredici' on the menu: Tanqueray, Cynar, Campari, Carpano Antica...I've not had it, but have heard from those who have that it is quite something.

Absolutely. I've eaten at Michelin three stars in Paris and beyond, and to date Alinea is the most memorable meal of my lifetime. The service was perfect, the wine pairing masterful, and the food superb. I did not miss the tablecloth. For the record, I wore a jacket and tie, but I've done the same at every Michelin *** I've visited.

In every fine dining situation where I've been served a cocktail that was based on champagne or sparkling wine, it's been served in a flute. This does rather clash with my experience in finer cocktailing situations where coupes are almost always preferred.

64 To start, replace the Dulchin (who would obliterate good pisco like that?) and Tailspin (muddy a perfectly good negroni with chartreuse?) with a Bronx and Brooklyn. A negroni...I want to be hungry for what's next.

Most of the Indian places in Chicago do a buffet at lunch and normal table service at dinner. Gaylord recently moved (now at 100 E Walton), and their new space is quite nice. I've only been for lunch, so I have no idea how 'fine' their dinner service is, but the food is always reliable. This review on Center Stage makes me think it is at least somewhat classy in the evening. Klay Oven and India House both have the same set up, I believe. There is also a 'fine dining' Indian-fusion concept called Vermillion (10 W Hubbard). I've only been there once, many years ago, and found it to be overpriced. I've heard good things about it since, but haven't had the chance to go back. It would certainly be the nicest of the restaurants mentioned above. All of these spots are downtown, not on the traditional strip of Indian restaurants located on Devon on the city's north side. Devon would be your best bet for traditional and quality Indian food (Bhabi's or Hema's), but I don't know of any place up there that I'd consider 'fine dining'.

I quite like the look and feel of Balvenie scotch bottles, with the vase-like neck (though this is used to some degree in many other places). The Plymouth gin/sloe gin bottles have some of the same 'faceting' that looks so nice on Tanq 10. Four Roses Single Barrel has a bottle not unlike the Luxardo Amaretto, but without the concave sides. ETA: Though I love the product and the aesthetics, I can't stand the bottle for Amaro Nonino. I can never get the cork out without using my teeth.

I don't think you'll be disappointed. Leopold's Pisco (Style American Brandy) is perhaps the best I've ever had, and my collection includes several that have been purchased in Peru and were sold as fine 'sipping' Piscos. I still have about 1 oz remaining from one of several bottles of the Leopold that I bought back in '06 direct from their former Ann Arbor location (along with a bottle of their gin that is for some reason labeled 'Lemon Flavored Brandy'...I'm sure Todd had a good reason). I've been bugging them about twice a year by e-mail to see when the Pisco will be available again, because I refuse to kill the bottle until I'm assured of a future supply. It is amazingly floral, sweet and strong (90 proof) but delicate. eta: Clarified the name of the product...the bottle I have is clearly marked 'Pisco Style' American Brandy. eta2: Not domestic, but I wanted to throw in a plug for Montesierpe. It's a very funky pisco that makes a unique sour and is very enjoyable in applications like slings & punches. BevMo in CA carries it, and it's quite reasonably priced.

The gorgeous day demanded a pisco sour...luckily, my copy of Rogue Cocktails finally arrived. This is the '8th and Collins', a riff adding Genevieve. For the Pisco, I'm using Mosto Verde Quebranta from Estirpe Peruana. The genever is there on the nose and the finish. and gives the drink a greater depth than your average pisco sour. The musty character of this particular pisco plays superbly with the gin, and there's none of the 'heat' in back of the throat that I tend to associate with many dutch-style gin cocktails.

Have you been recently? Today's TastingTable update about Zebda, a Mediterranean-Middle Eastern deli near Albany Park, includes the following, "most everything in the shop is made by Katie Garcia (formerly the chef of Pilsen's Mundial Cocina Mestiza)."

I went simple this evening, as well. Ransom Old Fashioned using mostly Ango, but two drops of Ango Orange at the end that really brightened things up.

I got really tired of the article about midway through and commenced skimming rather than continuing to outline my point by point refutation. From what I can tell, he does a lot of tilting at windmills and dodging many of the salient points of Pollan's (and other's) arguments. For one thing, he doesn't discuss CAFOs at all. He seems to think that because his neighbors distribute manure amongst their farms that this solves the problems detailed in the various literature of feed lots and toxic runoff. This is exactly what I take Mr. Bedford to be saying when he states that, "Hurst conflates and confuses the personal with the systemic." Below are my thoughts as I read through...mostly stream of consciousness, but hopefully it gets the conversation started. The article starts with a lot of 'you don't know my business, so mind your business' rhetoric, and implications that organic farming is obsolete, dark ages methodology that produces quantifiabley inferior results. This is purely false. There are legitimate technological advancements and improvements to methodology that make organic farming a far more palatable endeavour today than at any previous point in history, and quantity vs. quality is a debate that I think most organic proponents would welcome. Hurst goes on to dismiss organic methods because they are used by some giant industrial farms as well. I haven't read Omnivore's Dilemma in quite some time, but I do recall Pollan skewering Whole Foods and the lettuce growers in California over just this point. The movement does not believe that organic inherently means good, and inorganic inherently means bad, at least that's not my understanding. You can have an organic sweatshop or a perfectly run sustainable farm that doesn't pursue organic certification for myriad reasons. I think Mr. Hurst fails to understand that. Mr. Hurst finds it 'deliciously ironic' that many of the industrial aspects of farming are, in fact, family owned and operated, as if this somehow proves a point. The majority of his arguments here are red herring. He talks about corn, without clashing with Pollan on any of his various points (such as HFCS), as far as I can tell. Mentioning that family corn growers would love some new biotech advancement that would allow them to increase production, because it would make them wealthy I guess, he doesn't seem to understand that this influx in supply would kill prices (or wants us to believe that the growers don't). Corn growers would have to be as stupid as Hurst wants us to think Pollan makes them out to be not to understand that. Waxing poetically about the benefits of GMO foodstuffs and herbicides, Hurst fails to understand that most of the reasonable opposition to the former is related to the potential for unknown long-term health and sustainability risks (in addition to some pretty intense intellectual property type issues raised by a concerned but passionate few). As for the latter, trading toxic herbicide run-off for decreased tillage and erosion is not inherently a net gain. He claims he's reduced his pollution of the river, and hopefully he's right, but that doesn't necessarily extrapolate to the farming community writ large. That consumers benefit from cheap food is a point where I'd be happy to take Hurst head-on in debate. HFCS doesn't enter into his discussion, nor does the disadvantages of hormone-addled meats. He props up his arguments with Malthusian scare tactics, without adknowledging that much of the developed world spends a paltry percentage of their income on food. Personally, I would not mind more expensive food as long as quality increased at the same rate. I know some would disagree, but I also am not pushing for mandating organic farming methods and pasture fed beef, simply singing it's praises where applicable. The final sections of Hurst's essay that I payed much attention to were about stupid turkeys, porcine infanticide and the manure collection/sharing agreement of his neighbors. In each case, he extrapolates from a single data point to a conclusion that there is no problem. And, as I mentioned above, doesn't once mention CAFOs. It's further proof that he doesn't care/understand that people in the slow/organic/local food movements don't think all farmers are bad, just bad farmers. Perhaps an essay with more nuance wouldn't have been as interesting or claimed as many page views. The above is just the opinions of the son of a farmer, frequent Whole Foods shopper and registered Republican who votes Libertarian.

Wanted something quick last night, and had just finished a new batch of grenadine. Decided on a Roffignac highball with two parts Wild Turkey 101 Rye to one part fresh grenadine (in place of the traditional raspberry syrup), topped off with soda. Very refreshing on a warm evening.

I think that's probably Ivan Orkin, of Ivan Ramen in Setagaya.

It's about two blocks from my office, so it used to be a once-a-week visit. Sadly, there's generally too long a wait for the food, or some sort of drama associated with a visit nowadays. The crowd there is rather esoteric, and generally takes several minutes to order with various special requests. I actually saw someone attempting to pay in Euro once. Nowadays, I'll head over to Pastoral on Lake if I want to wait 15-30 minutes for a sandwich. They aren't completely off my radar, but I make it there about once a month, usually for the soba noodle salad. I get the impression they've suffered a bit lately. They were supposed to be an anchor tenant of the redevelopment of the Carson's store, but pulled out of that development on State Street. That was probably the first external sign that something might be up.

This thread has got me somewhat obsessed with Peach Brandy... I found these over in the Punch thread: I recall reading about it in Imbibe! and thinking it was unfortunate that it was no longer made, but I guess I didn't quite understand what we were missing at the time, because I hadn't had good applejack when I read the book. Now, 'peachjack' is right up there near the top of my list. I'm wondering, has anyone tried Leopold's Peach Whiskey? They discard the kernels, which I assume results in a major departure from the flavor of historical Peach Brandy. It does have a wonderfully deep peach flavor, but I found it quite sweet. That may have something to do with it being only 70 proof (iirc). Is it something that would be closer to the historical product than modern peach liqueurs and eaux de vie?