JAZ

Speaking of going back to favorite restaurants, how do you balance trying new places with sticking to old favorites? That is, given a limited number of dinners out, it's tempting for me to always go to one of a few places where I'm known, the food is good, etc. I like trying new places, but given the expense, if I have mediocre food -- or worse, mediocre service -- then I kick myself for just not sticking with a known quantity. On the other hand, my old favorites were once new, so I know it's not impossible to expand my list. And I feel sort of parochial that I don't know more restaurants, especially in a city like San Francisco (where I live), which has great restaurants in every neighborhood. How do you balance the two?

How can you get reservations at the hottest place in town? Or should you even want them? How do you choose a wine in an upscale restaurant? What's the most important tool in your dining-out batterie? Join eGullet Executive Director and author Steven Shaw in the eGCI as he teaches how to get the best out of your restaurant experience. How to Dine: Getting the Most from Restaurants runs through August 19. Click here for a direct link to the course.

As someone who does support and buy organic products, I'd say that other things being equal, I'd buy an organic liquor (if it were good quality, in other words, and not prohibitively expensive). However, for me (and probably many of the members who post here), the liquor is only one of several components of a drink, so a totally organic drink is probably not going to be an option that's even possible. It's not just the base spirit and fruit juice that I'd have to worry about, but could include vermouth, liqueurs, bitters, egg whites, and sugar, to name the most frequent ingredients. That's a lot of non-organic elements -- you might be able to offer organic sugar, eggs and citrus fruit, but the other ingredients would be impossible (at least now). But for the consumer who drinks vodka and fruit juice, it could be a selling point, I think. If I drank vodka and cranberry juice, and an organic version was a dollar more than the non-organic version, I'd probably buy the organic version just on that basis. If it were $3 more and it tasted a lot better, I would also buy it. But if it were $3 more and tasted the same, I probably wouldn't.

When I eat out by myself I generally prefer to sit at the bar, if there is one. I feel more comfortable, and I also find that the service is usually good. Depending on how busy it is, it can also be easier to converse with the bartender about the menu, restaurant, etc. than with a waiter. I think it's the better choice when dining alone, but I wonder if I'm missing anything by not choosing to sit at a table. Any opinion?

My concern would be keeping them clean -- will the holes in the handles collect crud and require scrubbing to get it out? That would, for me, be a deciding factor.

I'd second the Redbreast suggestion. I find that Irish whiskies tend to be a common ground for diehard Scotch and bourbon drinkers. And Redbreast is very good, but not very commonly known, so it's got that kind of secret snob appeal going for it.

I second that! Please do place some of your items up for bid, to sell them on eBay, and donate all or a portion of your proceeds to the eGullet Society. ← You mean there's something else to do with the immersion blender I got for Christmas besides watch it collect dust in the laundry room?

Just call ahead and make a reservation. They do fill up - and it's a small place. But Lorella and Mossimo (owners) are great, and some of the wines are fantastic! ← I tried one of their pizzas a few weeks ago. The flavor was great, with good crust, but the sauce was either too thin or too abundant, as it leaked into the center of the pizza and made it soggy. I think that was a fluke, though, since I saw a pizza delivered to another table and it looked much crisper. I will go back, definitely, although the rest of the menu looked so good that I'm not sure I'll order the pizza again. The service was great, prices reasonable, and the food was good.

We're deeply saddened to announce the death of eG Forums host Matt Hassett (M.X. Hassett). Matthew was a frequent contributor to the Spirits and Cocktails forum, and he will be deeply missed. Please click here for the full announcement, including information on the memorial service.

Here's something I've been drinking this summer -- it's refreshing, it makes a good aperitif, and it's (relatively) low in alcohol. You could mix the base up in advance, refrigerate it, then pour it over ice and top with the champagne as you serve it. For one drink: 1 oz. gin 2 oz. Lillet Blanc 1 oz. fresh squeezed, strained orange juice 5 or 6 basil leaves Dash orange bitters Put all the ingredients in a shaker with lots of ice and shake. Strain and pour over new ice in a collins glass and top with an ounce or so of dry champagne or sparkling wine.

When you say "clear" do you mean that literally? Because there aren't many completely clear drinks.

How about if you macerated the fresh fruit in a sugar syrup or a sweet liqueur? Then you'd keep to your original idea but the sweet element would be reversed.

This is a fine cocktail - we've been making more and more cocktails at home over the past two years (it's amazing what a difference a jigger makes - it seemed a fairly useless housewarming gift at the time). Anyways - the scotch of choice was Te Bheag which is a nice blend, both vermouths from martini rossi, angostura, stirred and strained and WOW - more than anything in recent memory, this drink defines balance, you taste everything individually and collectively. I'm loving the refined character of many of these Savoy cocktails you're posting up, keep at it. ← I just tried this and agree completely -- it's the best Scotch cocktail I've ever tried, very well balanced. It'll definitely go into my rotation.

My favorites are these Messermeister kitchen shears. They come apart for cleaning, and I really like the slightly offset shape -- it makes jobs like spatchcocking a chicken a lot easier. I have a pair of Fiskars, and a pair of Wusthof. I still always go for the Messermeisters.

Well, except that a Margarita doesn't have Maraschino. I thought the combination of triple sec and Maraschino was necessary for a crusta; is that not correct? On the subject of bases, we had a great rum crusta a while back with one of the aged rhum agricoles that Ed Hamilton is importing.

I sympathize with Steven. When you don't have a car, the closing of your neighborhood market is a huge deal. When I first moved to my neighborhood, there was a small but pretty decent "natural" market right by the streetcar stop on my way home. It was great; I could stop and pick something up for dinner (they also had a deli) or paper towels or cat food -- whatever I needed. It closed a little early for my taste (9:00, I think), but at least it was open when I got off work. Then it closed, which completely changed my life -- and not in a good way. Yes, there three other markets within a block or so of that old one -- a butcher, a produce market and a little "convenience" store, so between the three of them, I can get most of what I used to at the one market. But the butcher and produce store close at 7, which means I can't couldn't usually get there after work. Now I go a different way to work, so I have found a different market. There are actually two within a couple of blocks, but if the one I go to closed, I'd be really upset. The other one doesn't take ATM cards, has a much smaller selection of everything and closes earlier. And it's a block in the wrong direction. I think people who drive to stores really underestimate the difference a block or two can make -- it's one thing to walk four extra blocks when the weather's nice. When it's pouring, and your hands are full with bags so you can't hold an umbrella, believe me, every block counts.

If the blood orange bitters are what I'm thinking of, they're non-alcoholic. If you look at the ingredients, you'll see a few bitter components, but my guess is that it will probably taste like a slightly bitter orange syrup.

What are the differences between the varieties? The article mentioned a couple different ones, but is it like chard, where the flavor is mostly the same and the color is different? Or do the different varieties taste noticeably different? Or is it more a difference in texture?

I have to admit that I was a little put off by this: The taste profile sounds good to me, but I'm not a fan of slimy vegetables. Is that quality lessened by cooking?

In Michael Recchiuti's book Chocolate Obsessions, he has a chocolate bark recipe that starts out with caramelized peanuts. I used the same technique for almonds for an almond bark and it worked great -- and the almonds were so good on their own they almost didn't make it into the bark. For 8 oz raw nuts, he calls for 3.5 oz granulated sugar and 2 tsp. butter. I thought the amount of butter wouldn't be enough, but you definitely get the butter taste, and the texture was great. The procedure is to lightly toast the nuts, then mix in a hot pan with the sugar and heat until the sugar is melted and coats the nuts. Then add the butter (he also calls for salt) and stir until the butter is mixed in and the nuts are shiny.

Maybe in some parts of the country. I'd never even heard of Red Velvet cake until I started reading internet food message boards, and I never once saw one at a bake sale, potluck or dinner in the 60's or 70's. I still have never seen one in person.

Some might say a Perfect Rob Roy. Although my guess is that the proportions of the vermouths to the Scotch really would make this an entirely different drink. I love Scotch -- it used to be my drink of choice before I discovered cocktails. But I hardly ever drink it these days, because I find it doesn't lend itself to cocktails. Nice to hear of a drink that uses it successfully.

Don't know if its common or not. I started adding it because once you've peeled & deseeded the cucumbers & peeled, deseeded & cored the tomatoes I found that the taste was right, but the gazpacho was too thick. So I added stock for consistency ( I was afraid that plain water would dilute the flavot too much.) ← One great thing about this recipe was that there's no seeding or peeling of the tomatoes, so the only prep is seeding the red pepper and quartering it and the tomatoes. Then they go into the food processor with a small chunk of bread, some garlic, and a splash of sherry vinegar. Then you add half a cup of olive oil slowly while the processor is running, and then you strain the soup.

It's not difficult to cut a mango, once you understand about the pit. It is easier to show than to explain, so here's a web page with some photos: How to cut a mango If you decide you like them enough to get them often, you can invest in an OXO mango splitter, which really does work.

These are my favorite "everyday" glasses, but they came in a travel set and I'm not sure how to get more. I like these for tall drinks: This is most of my "vintage" glassware (as well as some that's not so vintage):