KatieLoeb

Working on a list for a brand new French themed cocktail bar. Lots of champagne cocktail variations, including several that are mentioned in this thread. Some great ideas here too for off-menu back pocket things to keep handy to surprise folks with...

I would probably take off the grapefruit zests in thin strips with a very sharp vegetable peeler to get as little bitter pith as possible. Maybe 3 or 4 grapefruits total?? I'm sure it would work, just not sure what it would taste like at the other end. Might have to adjust the sugar levels to account for more bitterness to start. Please do report back! I think this might be an excellent idea and could make for a very interesting cocktail ingredient.

The Krakus Market grocery store in the heavily Polish neighborhood of Port Richmond here in Philadelphia usually has potato, cheese, potato & cheese, sauerkraut, mushroom, potato & onion, meat, potato/cheddar/jalapeno, apple. blueberry and cherry. They are all delicious. I love pierogi! They are so versatile. I like the savory ones with just butter and/or sour cream and sweet fruit ones with sour cream. They're all good. I've also had the frozen veal or lamb vareniki or pelmeni from the Russian market with butter, sauteed onions and a splash of vinegar. Those are good too. If there's a good Russian or Eastern European grocery near you see if you can find the frozen vareniki/pelmeni. They would work the same as pre-made tortellini in a soup I'm certain.

See, that's interesting. I find it quite a bit more acidic than either the Lillet Blonde or the Lillet Rouge. Kind of like rose wine. Definitely has a backbone of acidity like a good Provencal pink. But perhaps that's just my hypersensitive palate. I don't know.

Anyone else tried the new Lillet Rose yet? It's quite lovely. Haven't had as much time to experiment with it yet, but am looking forward to doing so when I have less events on my schedule.

A little splash of cherry liqueur or Cherry Heering is good in a G&T. More like a tonic cherry rickey. But tasty. Just a splash of virtually any fruit liqueur or juice you like can enhance a G&T. And take the edge off the tonic, which is key for me. I prefer Bitter Lemon to straight tonic, I think.

I just got back from Munich and really enjoyed Schumann's American Bar. Delicious, balanced and well crafted cocktails, an interesting international crowd and a really extensive menu. I'd highly recommend it.

Rusty Nail is usually 2 parts blended scotch (I like Famous Grouse for this) and 1 part Drambuie. Stirred over rocks. I occasionally will substitute Drambuie for Triple Sec in a Margarita, making what I call a Bonnie Maggie. The slightly herbal notes of the Drambuie work well with reposado tequila. It won't set the world on fire, but it's a decent variant.

Last gasp of summer. Watermelon, heirloom tomato, feta and mint salad tonight. Dressed with EVOO and fresh lime juice with a tiny bit of agave nectar, salt and pepper. Refreshing and delicious. I'll miss this, but I'm still excited for autumn flavors and produce to kick in.

Thanks Chris! Pretty pleased with that one. Stunned by how far and wide the press has spread. But back to you. Enjoy yourself! You've earned it!

Chris, I honestly don't know how you kept up all this time. Go enjoy the other aspects of your life. We'll all be here, and we won't need to miss you, because you won't be far. Cheers and best wishes in finding the balance...

I se the DVR for this one. Still can't believe Richman didn't get to Paesano's. That would certainly have added a few more contenders into the mix. The Arista is pretty good too...

Tanstaafl2 - Nice haul!! Report back on that Del Maguey. Never seen that one before.

Limoncello can rectify your iced tea or Arnold Palmer quite nicely. Limoncello, lavender syrup, fresh lemon juice and club soda makes for a very refreshing savory Adults Only lemonade alternative. Ditto for substituting thai basil, rosemary or thyme syrup into that mix. A Gianni Giorno (loosely, John Daly) with limoncello, lemonade and iced tea would be the perfect summer drink.

Canada gets my vote! I'm due for some cross border travels...

Thanks everybody! It really was a pleasure. Glad I recovered in time to make it to the feastivities! Holly, the only mistake I see is the chicken is the Dry Pepper Chicken, not double cooked. The fish was the only double cooked style item. I'm having West Lake Beef soup leftovers for dinner...)

Although a bit further from the Italian Market, the cannolis from Varallo's Bakery at 10th & Morris are pretty awesome too. They're closed for vacation until September as of this week, but their "special" cannolis have the ends of the shells dipped in chocolate and the filling is laced with Strega. OMG. Those might be my fave cannolis in the city. The rest of their cookies, pastries and cakes are amazing as well, and outrageously inexpensive for the quality. Have to show that place to you all on a future visit.

Mmmm. Pork shoulder. Can't wait to try that on Saturday! So a small bunch of us made it over to Lemon Hill this evening for some fine grub and cocktails and to welcome Kerry Beal and torakris in true Philly style. I met up with the ladies, soon followed by philadining and cdh. Yummy snacks of crispy chicken livers, beets, pastrami spiced chicken wings (damn these are good, how had I never ordered them before?) and crispy pork belly were universally enjoyed. Fine cocktails, expertly prepared by Pete, our stellar barkeep. Quick surgical strike at Capogiro for some fabulous gelato/sorbetto for dessert. It was good to be vertical. And to eat. My tank was running low. Feeling renewed and ready for tomorrow!

OK. My apologies. I've been sick in bed with a viscous upper repiratory infection since Monday evening. Hoping not to miss any of the feastivities this weekend I've literally not left my bed since then. All are welcome, and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone. Slight chqnge of plans. We'll be on our own for the Italian Market tour. The tour company called me back and suddenly had a minimum charge of $200 so I told them no thank you. Screw them and their bait and switch tactics. We can have just as much fun on our own, or perhaps try a different approach and get little nibbles all along the way. Those of you arriving Thursday. Call me when you've checked in and we can meet up from there.

Chris: I think the ATMs at the Wawa's have no fees, or at least they used to. My problem is that I have only been working part time because it's summer and slow, and I also just missed a week of work because I was at Tales, so I'm a pretty broke girlie. I'm only concerned that your out of state check will take days to clear and I'll "bounce" my debit card at the restaurant as a result. Can't risk having that happen. This weekend is my last hurrah before I hunker down and get real frugal until the students come back in the fall and business picks up again.

And for all of you that might be interested, my friend April White just finished her book Philadelphia Chef's Table: Extraordinary Recipes from the City of Brotherly Love which will be coming out in the fall. Lots of recipes from our city's finest eating establishments. There's might be a cocktail in there I contributed too. Definitely recipes from some of the places we'll be visiting!

Yes! Philadining will be joining us for dinner at Zahav. We discussed this off the board so there's no record of it here. Looking further into EventBrite, it appears that there are all sorts of service fees that get tacked on to the event tickets. I also don't get the payout until 5 days after the event, so that doesn't work for me since I'd need the money the day of the events to be able to pay the restaurants. I just don't have that kind of credit available to me at the moment. It will be easier to just have everyone pay me in cash in advance I can then deposit it into my local bank and just use my debit card to pay for our meals. It will ABSOLUTELY NOT BE POSSIBLE to ask the restaurants to split off one or two persons cost from the bill to pay them directly with a credit card. It's a logistical nightmare for the restaurant and a logistical nightmare for me to keep track of. So it will be necessary to make sure you all have cash or a debit card on hand to visit a local ATM. Costs are as follows: Thursday night - To be decided. On the cheap for sure. Friday day - Italian Market Tour $20/person + a gratuity for the guide (assuming they're good and I'm sure they will be) + approximately $10 for lunch sandwiches. Friday evening - Dinner at Zahav $65/person inclusive of tax and gratuity. Beverages are on a cash and carry basis per table. Saturday day - tour of Reading Terminal Market. Bob Libkind has graciously offered his expertise for this one. Saturday evening - Approx. $25-30 per person for shopping for dinner + costs for the cleanup crew/security. I will be getting a very solid answer on that Wed. But I think they're only charging us for clean up and are going "pro bono" (their phrase, not mine) for the rest. Sunday Brunch at Han Dynasty - $30/person inclusive of tax and gratuity. Beverages separate. There is a beer and wine list available. We might want to BYO for this one. We can discuss that and I think I might be able to get my bosses to waive the nominal corkage fees. Or I might come up with a cocktail surprise for this one once I talk to my manager. Weather forecast for the week calls for temperatures ranging from highs of 85-90 degrees during the day, lows in the low 70's in the evenings, Thunderstorms possible any day from Thursday-Saturday. It is humid here in August. Consider yourselves warned. We are a casual city, but I would make sure I had at least "business casual" attire for our dinner at Zahav. Comfortable walking shoes are a must for Friday and Saturday. Shorts and/or sneakers or open toed flip flops are occasionally frowned upon in certain establishments. Baseball caps sometimes too. Don't wear your Yankees jersey. That's just asking for trouble. So that's it. All laid out, all planned out. Really getting excited for this and looking forward to making new friends and breaking bread together. Philadining will undoubtedly photodocument for us on Thursday and Friday evening, but professional obligations will likely keep him from our other events. Everyone who wants to, please bring your cameras!! See you all in a few days!!! PS - Rona I am absolutely certain beyond the shadow of a doubt that we can get you to the Franklin Fountain for a proper Root Beer Float at some point.

On a separate note - do we have any food allergies or dietary restrictions I need to know about? I want to make sure accommodations are made for everyone. The dinner at Zahav will have plenty of vegetarian fare, if anyone is concerned. I will also make certain the variety of dishes we have for brunch at Han Dynasty include several non-spicy choices as well as the spicy. Anything else I haven't thought of?

None. If you read upthread, Zahav has a $3000 minimum for their private dining room prior to that hour. It's prime time on a Friday night and they need to leave themselves available for that rehearsal dinner or whatever that will easily meet those revenue numbers in the private dining area, and/or use those tables for regular seating. Our small group couldn't possibly hope to do that, so I had to agree to the later dining reservation if we wanted to have dinner there. On the upside, since we'll be there toward the end of service, Chef Solomonov will have time to come meet with us and chat. Sorry. I'll give it one last ditch attempt to see if they could maybe take us a little bit earlier when I confirm our head count, but if that is their policy, I can't imagine that they'd make an exception given that they'd literally have to be clairvoyant to know whether those tables will be needed or not before then. As it is looking right now, the Zahav dinner will be our most heavily attended event of the weekend. We are already at 18 persons, with a maximum of 25 seats available.

Most excellent! This is starting to shape up nicely. Although I am a bit disappointed that hoards of our nearby friends from the New York-DC corridor won't be joining us, I think a small intimate group will make logistics easier and I know we'll have a lot of fun. I will book the tour guide for 12:30PM on Friday for the Italian Market tour. That will allow us to have a late lunch to tide us over to our 9:15 dinner reservation at Zahav. Since there's essentially a few hours of "downtime" Friday morning and/or Saturday afternoon when we don't have activities planned, please let me know if there's any places that are interesting to you. There's all the lovely historical area with Liberty Bell, Constitution Center, Independence Hall, the Museum of Art, the Barnes Foundation, the Rodin Museum, etc. There's pretty much a ton of things to see here, not ALL of which involve food! We'll be seeing and enjoying plenty of that...