melkor

It's almost no work, we toss a few hunks of chocolate into the food processor with the grating disc in it and then dump the chocolate into a plastic tub for use. 3tb of chocolate & 1tb of sugar in the bottom of the mug then fill it 3/4 of the way with milk and steam it. That Saeco seems like a reasonable option - I've got no experience with anything like it, but from the description it looks like it'll get the job done. Larger commercial espresso machines will heat the milk much faster, the Saeco may fall behind if things get busy but it's a reasonable start.

Just make your own. We use shaved E. Guittard dark chocolate and a little sugar. Mix them with milk and steam together on your espresso machine. Simple and far better than any of the packaged alternatives since the frothed milk has a much better texture.

So what explains the buttermilk in the fridge with a sell by date that passed six months ago?

The FF X5's with Illy pods do turn out decent espresso, I'm less thrilled with their steaming ability. I'd recommend the X5 if you are short on space (pods need no grinder) and you are willing to trade ease of use for the difference between good and outstanding espresso. The X5 setup can produce better shots than you'll find at starbucks for less $ - how can that be a bad thing?

The difference is in the amount of foam. An American double latte is 2oz of espresso, 2oz of foamed milk, and the remainder being steamed milk. A really big cappuccino would be 1/3 espresso, 1/3 milk, and 1/3 foam. The texture of the foam should be finer for a latte. All of this is of course somewhat meaningless, since what passes for a drink by each name differs from cafe to cafe and from house to house.

A few days ago I made exactly the same comment to MsMelkor in the morning. Later that day we were out for a bike ride and stopped at a coffee shop where they proceeded to make the worst latte possibly ever. For some reason the barista decided that a double latte was a shot of espresso plus a 2nd shot pulled through the same puck, plus scalded milk, mixed and presented to one very surprised customer. I now believe its possible for the espresso to screw up a latte.

It's hardly impossible to make good espresso at home as this article seems to imply, it just takes a little effort and some decent equipment. The fully automatic machines don't work as well as the more manual machines at the same price point, assuming of course that the person operating the machine has the required skill to produce a decent shot.

"Us" wouldn't include anyone from the West Coast I know...

The Martini House is the only Kuleto restaurant I'm interested in eating at. Farallon isn't bad, but the Martini House is actually very good. Pilar is good, it's just not amazing, and a restaurant here to be worth visiting again and again it needs to be amazing. Pilar does make better rice pudding than I've had anywhere else.

Starbucks is safe. Their drinks are consistent; they are never awful; they are never great. It's easy with the right gear to make better drinks at home; it's easy to find much worse drinks at other coffee shops; and depending where you are, it may be easy to find better drinks at another coffee shop in town. I'm ambivalent when it comes to Starbucks - I often find myself in a Starbucks when I'm in an unfamiliar city or an airport, but I never go to Starbucks when I'm in northern CA.

I find Tuesdays work just as well as Friday as an occassion for opening a sparkler.

Here ya go - these people have it for the best price I've found online and they ship to WA. I've got nothing to do with them, but here's a link.

No. Seriously. Yo Sushi is vile. If it were free it would be too expensive.

I had an atlas for quite a while, then replaced it with a belpasta machine - their website completely sucks, but if you're interested it's here. The design is much better than the atlas machines - wider rollers, smoother crank, a better system to keep the dough from sticking to the rollers. It's worth the extra money over the other hand-crank machines if for no other reason than it makes wide enough sheets to use one noodle per layer for lasagna.

Good plan. We've got all sorts of Riedel Vinums.

It's a tossup between falafel and hummus for me.

Yeah, Cole's is still at the top of the list.

I assume I need to call John's to order from them, their website has no info on pricing for anything other than their random "5 day" assortment packages. I'd be quite happy to be able to buy that beef that quality without paying Lobel's prices, so I'll give John's a shot. Thanks for the tip.

the vinter is Kendall Jackson. ← There are several different KJ Merlots, if it says Buckeye Vineyard on the label then drink it, otherwise I'd use it to make a sauce for a rib roast or some steaks.

The Apple Pie rocks, I could do without the rest of the restaurants at the CIA.

I've never had a decent meal on the slopes in north america - either stay somewhere ski-in/ski-out and go home for lunch or try to ignore the fact that your chicken sandwich tastes like hotdogs. I don't think the resorts have any interest in changing their food programs since they are getting $5 for a small stack of french fries.

Looks great. I can't wait to see it in person.

I'm not clear why you'd be puzzled... I posted 9 months ago asking about the state of steak here in CA and I got a fair number of restaurant recommendations and a few comments about going to NY for steak. I visited several of the restaurants recommended on the thread, all proved vastly inferior to what is being offered on the other coast. I've never questioned nor doubted milla's culinary experience or knowledge nor do I now doubt either. Take a look at both the number of cattle being harvested in California and what type of cattle they are - here is a report showing some recent harvest stats. California unlike any other significant beef producing state kills more dairy cows for beef than steer. Of the steer we raise a portion of them are grass fed which excludes them from the discussion as grass fed cattle don't have the marbling required for a spectacular steak. Raising prime steers isn't on the agenda here, the harvest stats reflect that. 1,500lb steers need an awful lot more land than 800lb cows do, they take longer to raise, they need more food, and given the cost of land here compared to the cost of land in Kansas, Nebraska, or Texas it just doesn't make sense for our ranchers to be raising them in any significant quantity. For the better part of the past year I've been buying grass fed beef from a local rancher to use in burgers, chili, stews, braises, etc - I'm thrilled with the product they provide me, but the steaks from their cattle are without a doubt lower quality than what even Niman offers. I've no doubt that several good steakhouses exist in California, I am on the other hand very doubtful that a great steakhouse exists here. Again and again I've said I'd be thrilled to be wrong. My expectation in posting this thread was that someone (or several people) would chime in and say to check out X-Restaurant in a major metro area where enough people would be willing to pay the $50+ a plate it costs to serve properly aged high-prime steaks cooked by a skilled staff. I'm for the most part with you on the whole crazy-treehugger thing () at least when it comes to the food I eat. Most of the year almost all of the produce we eat comes from our chemical free garden, the salmon we eat I often catch myself, all our non-steak beef comes from local grass fed cows that are raised by a family that truly cares for their cattle, the produce we buy is organic as much as possible, we buy very little in the way of canned or processed food - hell we make our own ketchup. That only goes so far, grass fed steaks are absolutely inferior to their grain fed cousins, in taste, in texture, in every way - I often choose to eat grass fed steaks, but I don't pretend they taste better than what is produced through conventional ranching. Incidentally Gayot seems to think the food is better at Acme in SF than Jocko's - hopefully they are wrong.

Methinks you don't understand California very well -- these little towns with 12,000 people is where these cows are being raised so these folks have better access to the carcasses than any of us that have to wait for them to be shipped. It is the Alice Waters' philosophy of acquiring your products where they are produced -- not waiting for them to be shipped *somewhere.* While I have not had Jocko's, I have had meat prepared where it is a raised and there is a remarkable difference. ← Much in the same way as Bux is suggesting that roast chicken must be experienced in a rural french bistro I'm absolutely willing to argue that California steakhouses are not in the same league as Peter Luger in NY. My original reason for starting this thread was to find out if that was a reasonable thing to expect and as badthings, Malik, and dfunghi have already pointed out earlier in this thread if you want a perfect steak you need to look outside CA. The Alice Water's philosophy only goes so far - for example no one in his or her right mind would argue that you are better off with balsamic vinegar produced in California than Modena. Beef travels well - local does not in any way guarantee a superior product. I don’t understand why people feel the need to argue that California has the best everything. We’ve clearly got better produce available here than almost anywhere else in the country, we’ve got the French Laundry which is arguably the best restaurant in the country, we’ve got unbelievable sushi in SoCal, the list goes on and on, why is it unreasonable to suggest that a top-notch steakhouse isn’t on the list?

You can't take average anything and make it spectacular. It is impossible. Bras? Now there is a steakhouse! Cote du Boeuf d"Aubrac "pur race" anyone? You betchya... ← You really don't think street food can be spectacular? I've had plenty of food I'd consider spectacular made with ingredients I'd rather not know the origins of. Shwarma stalls in the middle-east being at the top of the list when it comes to amazing food from questionable quality ingredients. Some of the taco trucks here in Northern CA are selling some really good food as well. In general I think we agree with each other, so rather than continuing to argue about nothing I'd rather wait for you to get back from your trip with a report on Jocko’s. Hopefully you'll find an unbelievable meal and I'll be forced to take a road trip soon afterwards. I’d truly be thrilled to get a spectacular steak in CA.