KatieLoeb

No - the 1st & 2nd. I work during the week but not weekends. Sweet schedule!

My latest "house wine" is the Kaiken Malbec 2003 from Argentina at the low low price of $7.89 in PA. This wine is made by the folks that make Montes Alpha wines in Chile and is a screaming bargain at the moment.

CG: I'm actually going next month. Really looking forward to it. I've been immersing myself (figuratively, at least) in booze lately, so I'm hoping there's still enough room left in my brain to soak up some more knowledge.

Could the northeast corner of 19th & Sansom Streets be entering the Twilight Zone of Cursed Restaurant Locations?

Report on David Wondrich Cocktail event at Red Sky right HERE

I had the pleasure of meeting David Wondrich aka eGullet's own Splificator at a Book and the Cook event here in Philadelphia yesterday evening. The event was a pairing of a flight of cocktails from David's book Killer Cocktails: An Intoxicating Guide to Sophisticated Drinking with hors d'oeuvres from Executive Chef Michael Salvitti at über-hip Red Sky restaurant/lounge. Here's a look at the lineup of cocktails. From left to right: Paloma - Tequila, lime and grapefruit soda with a pinch of salt to give it that je n'est ce quois and refreshing tang. Spring Rolls with a Thai dipping sauce. Pearlescent - Absolut vodka with a hint of almond and Dalmatian cherry liqueur ( Could it be - Luxardo Maraschino??). Duck Confit with Bacon and a Raspberry sauce on a tortilla chip. Ace of Clubs - my favorite new drink of the evening (although they were all good!) and a 1930's house cocktail from a Bermuda nghtclub. Gold rum, lime juice and a hint of cacoa and bitters. Delicious! Coconut Shrimp. Tombstone Cocktail - way Old School revival drink. Old Overholt Rye, dash of bitters tamed with Demerara sugar. Filet and Sweet Potato skewer. Weeski - Jameson's Irish whisky, Lillet and a hint of orange. Pineapple-Mango chicken skewers. The drinks were all delicious and well prepared, and the idea of pairing cocktails with foods instead of wine or beer is an idea whose time has come. I'll be working with this concept in my head for a while and reading up so I can expand my abilities as a cocktail sommeliere. This event was a great way to introduce this idea to the general public, as well as show folks that mixing a fine well balanced cocktail doesn't have to be an intimidating experience. The other attendees looked like they were all having a great time, and overheard conversations lead me to believe there will be a whole lot more shakin' goin' on in the City of Brotherly Love. David was incredibly charming and I'm sorry we didn't have a chance to chat some more. I hope we can remedy that on his next trip to Philly. The staff at Red Sky did a great job as well, explaining all the drinks and the food pairings expertly. This was loads of fun and I'm now marking even more pages of my copy of David's book.

Doesn't Shank & Evelyn's do a cheesesteak along with their amazing cutlet sandwiches? I think of that place as a luncheonette, not a cheesesteak joint so it might be worth checking out.

Seems Mr. Starr is rather sanguine about the one star review in the Philadelphia Inquirer chefboy24, dude - why are you so bitter?? Did Chef Morimoto or Mr. Starr do something to piss you off personally? Jeez - I've had my resume shitcanned by SRO more times than I can count, yet I don't wish them any ill. It'll succeed or fail under its own ponderous weight soon enough.

I think this year I'm going to try use Asian pears so they don't get mushy. I think that will be very tasty. I do loves me some Asian pears.

I think Capital Grill is the best steakhouse in Philly. Palm is sadly, exactly as described. I've always had great service and food at Capital and when spending that kind of coin for a steak and a la carte side dishes, it damned well better be good.

Like what? A cork with a red circle and slash through it?? That could make for some very unattractive menu icons, I'd think. All I've ever seen is the peripheral reference to "cork-free", if anything. I don't think the world at large is ready for drawing attention to screw-caps yet. I think we're still looking for attractive semantic references. ← Katie, Good point on the menu design. In Hong Kong I saw a wine bar that had a small screw symbol on the list to indicate Stelvin. In London, a small Stelvin logo was used, just curious if there are any other ideas out there. The idea of "cork-free" to the average consumer would just create more confusion and even more discusssion by the server or sommelier (not bad thing if you are not too busy to chat at length about wine and closures). In Australia, where Stelvin is common, I do not think that drawing attention to Stelvin is an issue. Funny how in N.A. we are pre-occupied with such issues The reason for my post is for some creative input. I'm working on a large wine bar project and at least 15% of the wine list is Stelvin. Cheers, Stephen Vancouver ← Stephen: I didn't mean to be a smartass, I just think it could be difficult to have iconography for all of the various closures you might have. A little screw for stelvins, and I don't know what for synthetic corks, a little rocket for sparkling wines under pressure and a little regulation cork or nothing for standard issue corks. I dunno. Seems like a lot of work and cluttering up of the wine list with silly little symbols to draw attention to something you may not wish to draw attention to. :shrug: I think having well trained staff that could answer questions about the various closures should they even come up at tableside is a better expenditure of energy than finding the right little wingding for the various closures.

First question, Cleo: I would say, because the Charoset is something which will be consumed on a matzah in the course of the seder story retelling, each person will only be using a tablespoon each (or maybe a bit more) so it is enough for 12 as you indicate. If it is really good charoset, and this is, then figure that some will be anxiously awaiting the meal itself ... should be more than enough for 12 ... 3 apples, 3 pears, and the other fruits will make a lot! Second question, Cleo: these fruits will turn brownish from the wine and being cut and the cinnamon ... I would make it during the day of the seder itself. In that way, the flavors will be more distinctive and less mushy as it sits in the wine .. which will facilitate disintegration if left too long. With a food processor, this doesn't take very long to make ... good luck with your second seder! ← This is all good advice. But it seems in my experience that this particular charoset turns into more of a side dish that most people would assume, so make a little extra so it should go further.

Like what? A cork with a red circle and slash through it?? That could make for some very unattractive menu icons, I'd think. All I've ever seen is the peripheral reference to "cork-free", if anything. I don't think the world at large is ready for drawing attention to screw-caps yet. I think we're still looking for attractive semantic references.

Thanks for your concern. I suspect my withdrawal pains will be less severe than philadining's. Fortunately, I consider Shola a friend and know that I'll see him when he returns, even if we're eating someone else's food together. It's been a rare pleasure and priviledge to have enjoyed as many fine meals as I have at Shola's table the past several years. Although many of the PhilleGulleteer SK regulars were my frequent dining companions I also had the opportunity to bring other friends to experience SK on a few occasions. It was always a treat and fun to watch the not-so-crazed foodies enjoy their first SK dinner. I'll miss being able to do this, but I know that Shola has great plans and I have no doubt we'll all be hearing from him again. I wish Shola safe travels, an enjoyable and productive stay in London and will look forward to seeing him do his own stunts again upon his return, in whatever venue or form that might take.

My local Jamaican take-out place, Jamaican Jerk Hut (featured prominently in the film In Her Shoes with Cameron Diaz) sells both a delicious Ginger Beer (more akin to a Ginger juice that is thick and fibrous like Pineapple juice) and a Sorrel punch. I've made some fabulous cocktails in the past with the Ginger Beer (a Lemon-Ginger Cosmo that was quite delicious), so I'll have to find a way to mess around with some of their Sorrel Punch and see what happens. I can totally see how those flavors would work in a tropical warm weather drink.

John - you are my hero. These photos and descriptions are positively mouth watering and are opening up whole new worlds to me. Having just had the pleasure of breaking bread with you, someday I hope we can share another meal that is as rustic and satisfying as the ones you describe here. All I can say is WOW!

Had a few glasses of the Kaiken Malbec tonight with Tortellini in a Vodka Sauce that I'd made and froze last week. Delicious wine for a ridiculously low price! Very dark fruit character and surprisingly soft tannins for Malbec. I'm going to go buy a case of this for everyday wine ASAP, before it disappears. And the Vodka Sauce? I make mine with a lot of browned bits of Pancetta so the smoky character of the wine worked quite well. And you know I'm always looking for new ways to incorporate more Vodka into my diet...

The Royal Tavern here in Philly serves popcorn sprinkled with truffle oil and Parmesan. I haven't tried it yet, but it high on my list of places to go and things to try in the next few weeks. I understand from friends that it is quite addictive.

I've seen the term "cork-free" bandied about here in Philly. Turn the ENTIRE foil and cap until loosened. Then just turn the bottom portion of the foil. When the seal breaks the cap is taken up about a half turn. Gently flip the now freely turning cap with your thumb until removed. Voila!

This isn't quite like setting up Quicken on your home computer to balance your checkbook. There are trained professionals who work for/with the POS companies to tailor the system to suit your needs. I'm not even talking about entering the varying cost of chicken breasts this week, although you can entertain that level of minutiae if you wish. But tailoring even the basics of the system to reflect the menu, beverages and costs of your own establishment as well as train you and your staff well enough to change items, change prices, put in special prices (like an automatic Happy Hour price for certain beers or liquors for example), as well as use the system effectively as a timeclock and to control payroll costs for another example. Certain companies do a better job of pre-installation programming, staff and management training and post-installation support and crisis management. Those are the things you need to be asking yourself about before committing to any one POS brand. Find out what the other successful restaurants in your market are using and ask their General Managers if they're happy with the system in terms of it's ease of use, reliability and the support they're getting. That ought to speak volumes about which POS company you want to talk to about buying, leasing or just getting a service contract with for a system you buy at auction or elsewhere.

Holly's suggestion of handwritten checks are fine if you don't wish to avail yourself of the reports that a computerized system will provide you with. How useful those reports are and how much time they'll save you depends entirely on how much volume you're talking about. You could easily set up a spreadsheet system and hand log item sales and do the math longhand to get your Cost of Goods percentages, etc. But I find those reports pretty useful to compare to inventory on a weekly basis to look for loss, theft, waste, etc. At least for wine, beer and liquor.

Micros SUCKS!!! You might as well have a box with a herd of hamsters with stone tablets and chisels placing your orders. Look at Aloha or Digital Dining. Much better systems that also provide much better sales reports. I'll give you just one example. In Micros, to create a new menu item, you have to create it in THREE different places (master, definition and price) as opposed to entering it ONCE and having it appear on the other screens to be modified. Do not waste your money on this antiquated system. It's useless.

Yep. They're both ruminant and have split hooves. (as is giraffe by the way... I always wondered how soup made from giraffe neck would taste... ) Now, if I could get my hands on some Bison I'd like that for Passover... but I think I'm going to stick to the more traditional (because I can get it) poutry and beef. I am thinking about serving a recipe I tried the other night - roasted duck with a sour cherry sauce. Or I'll sleep right through! ← Well - I learn something new at eGullet every day! I had no idea that deer were ruminant or potentially kosher. And the idea of kosher giraffe is just more than I can handle... Thanks for this. Im passing that along to some friends that like to cook and keep a kosher kitchen at home.

I knew someone this happened to, only it was a stray kitten. Needless to say, Elijah lived a long happy life with their family. Would deer even be kosher if they were slaughtered appropriately? I thought they didn't chew cud or have the right type of hooves, but I seriously don't know since I don't keep kosher. Interesting question though. The idea of kosher venison for the seder dinner is appealing.

and to think that this holiday commemorates the exodus of the Jews from the bonds of servitude and slavery in Egypt under Pharaoh ... I know, you'll pay them a few shekels ... ← And when they're done I can part the Red Sangria Sea and lead them to wander through the desert for forty years, no?