KatieLoeb

For the uniniated, Katie Loeb is a maven par excellence when it comes to making her Sephardic Charoset ... which you too can replicate by following this excellent recipe and, with God's gracious blessing, Katie makes this stuff year after year and is still alive! Amen! ← Thanks Melissa! That's very kind of you to say. I've really never ever made that much at one time. It's going to be a marathon of chopping and whirling through the food processor. I'm half tempted to get the prep cooks at my restaurant to do the work for me for a price. My time is definitely worth something to me and this sounds like more than my usual two nights of preparatory work - one for the horseradish and one for the charoset. I have a meeting with the Executive Chef/owner tomorrow about something else. I might seriously ask him if I can pay a couple of the prep cooks to do some chopping for me on the side one afternoon just before Passover. I could store it in one of those big containers we use for our sangria and then keep it in the beer walkin until I leave that afternoon for dinner. This is looking more and more like a plan...

Shalom and welcome Miriam! Your menu sounds delicious. I just found out that attending the second seder my good friend has invited me over for, there will be TWENTY guests! Since I am permanently on horseradish and Charoset duty I will be doing a lot of grating and chopping it seems... There's only six or eight of us on first night, but making enough for that second seder is going to kill me!

My hero! Thanks John - you're the absolute best!

Really?? As in OMIT the mint? That's very odd considering the drink is named in Spanish. How amusing...

All Hail the great and Powerful Eating Machines! Dude! That was impressive over a very short period of time. I am duly awed... You and Bro did some damage, man.

Great advice. My job is just alibi for my hobby, so I can keep from being accused of merely being a lush! I like that name! Sounds delicious. Please keep reporting back as your experiments continue. A fresh set of eyes and tastebuds are always a good thing.

No - because everyone's taste is different. Some folks like bitter, some like sweet. I personally think Cynar, Fernet Branca, even tonic water are just gag inducing. Some folks love that. The only "flavor priciples" that apply are the same as you'd use for combining flavors in other foods like baked goods. Lemon-Fig biscotti are delicious, hence I might try a drink incorporating those flavors as suggested by The Cocktail Guru. In fact I'd use just the recipe suggested with only the addition of a wee splash of Limoncello to make the lemon flavor come through more and perhaps a splash of bitters to dial back the sweetness a bit. Let us know how that works out. Sounds pretty tasty to me!

I've gone and edited in both the dish descriptions and wine pairings under Jeff's photos so it reads a little more easily and all in one post. I have to add my thanks to everyone for making this meal such a pleasure. We had more than enough wines to choose from and Shola outdid himself once again. As docsconz mentioned there was only one not so great wine pairing for the evening. Sadly, the gorgeous Meursault (which was indeed glorious on its own) just didn't stand up to the richness of the Foie Gras custard and spring egg. <sigh> We should all have such problems. The rest of the wine pairings were spectacular and I want to particularly thank John for his generosity in taking some of the big guns out of his cellar for our mutual enjoyment. I'd never tried the Ygrec before and it was a revelation. Would that we'd had enough of it to drink through the whole meal - I can't imagine there was a dish it wouldn't compliment. The happiest accidental pairing for me was the Gruner Veltliner with the Jerusalem Artichoke soup. Just mineral and earthy enough to stand up to the vegetal flavor of the soup but with still enough acid to tackle the Grapefruit froth. That worked out just right. The reds we had with the Pork dishes didn't suck either. Unfortunately, the photo of the dessert-after-dessert didn't come out. I finally got to make the Moscato Floats that I've been jonesing for with that delicious Lemon-Chaource ice cream! Yummy and fun! We're all anxiously awaiting Shola's arrival back from his travels to see what new tricks he's learned.

Actually the real deal would be a thinly sliced cucumber salad with thin shreds of red onion dressed with white or apple cider vinegar and Styrian Pumpkin Seed oil.

Congratulations Matt, to you and all the hardworking staff at Gayle!! Great news! Now how am I ever going to get in? I guess maybe it helps to know somebody?

Any of the Beringer Private Reserve show up in your travels? ← Wasn't looking for it, but the website says there's very little around. Which are you looking for, the Cabernet or the Chardonnay?

Just back from the Delaware Avenue South Philly shop and there's loads of Chairman's Selections to be had. Entire line of Flora Springs wines - Chardonnay, Merlot, Poggio del Papa, Soliloquy and Trilogy all in evidence. Murphy-Goode "Wild Card" Claret at $12.99, plenty of the Byron wines and an interesting looking $7.89 Kaiken Malbec that I'll report back on when I open it. Get 'em while they're hot folks!

OK - here's version #2 with more precise proportions and a photo: Thai-pirina Half a lime, cut into small pieces 6 large basil leaves .75 oz. Ginger simple syrup .50 oz. fresh lime juice 2 oz. Mae de Ouro cachaca splash of Ginger ale Place lime pieces and Ginger simple syrup into shaker. Tear basil leaves into shaker and muddle with limes and syrup. Fill shaker with ice, add cachaca and lime juice and shake vigorously. Dump entire contents of shaker into rocks glass and add a splash of ginger ale. Stir and serve immediately. This was pretty refreshing. I'm really enjoying the lime +basil +ginger combo of flavors.

Thanks! I'm not going to be going too far so I think I'll give the Pulpo a shot. ← if it doesn't work out for you i have a can of goya pulpo here in my closet. ← Yo James! Can I just say EWWWWWWWW to the canned octopus? WTF were you thinking, man? Dude!

I'm drinking attempt #1 right now. It's a bit too sweet and needs some tweaking. The flavors I'm incorporating are lime, ginger, basil and coconut. I might try cut out the coconut and see if that makes it better. No garnish - it has fruit and leaves in it like a mojito. Garnish is already in the glass.

Tom: Any chance you can stop in for lunch? I'd be delighted to take you through the tapas on the lunch menu. If you're around this week just come in between 11:30AM-2:30PM and I'd be happy to be your guide.

I'm working on a "Thai-pirina". I'll just leave it at that. If it works, it'll be bloody brilliant. If it sucks, I won't report back.

Don't take any of the fried stuff. Patatas bravas or either of the croquettas wouldn't hold up well. And I think the Pulpo Gallego would get rubbery if it sat around too long. Likewise, the Gambas al Ajillo needs to be eaten while the shrimp is in the boiling garlic oil, not after it's congealed. Take charcuterie meats and cheeses. Take grilled items from the Plancha section of the menu. Take the roast pork or any of the other items from the meat section. Veggie sides should be fine as well.

A properly made mojito does taste like rum. Problem is most places make them with way too much sugar or simple syrup and then they just taste sweet and minty with a little lime thrown in. Vodka drinkers (unless they're drinking it up or on the rocks), clearly do not like the taste of alcohol. They like the taste of whatever is masking the alcohol in their beverage of choice.

Bottom line. PLCB is not going anywhere and we as consumers are forced to deal with it. I, as a professional, am forced to deal with it. If the net effect is one that creates different choices in the marketplace then it's all good. The problems arise when we try to fit the square peg we've been dealt into the round hole of comparison with the rest of the planet. In the end, it doesn't matter what it might be like in NY or Chicago. We're in PA. I'm just frustrated by the folks that try and tell the restaurateur how they should run their restaurant. That is, in fact what they're doing by insisting on bringing their own product into a licensed establishment. I'd love to see someone try to bring their own spring mix and a little jar of homemade vinaigrette into Le Bec Fin because they either don't like the salad choices on their menu or worse yet, begrudge the restaurant their markup on salad greens! It seems no one would dream of doing anything so blatantly rude with food, yet they think nothing of it to extend the same argument to wine. How does that work?

Yesssss!!! I'm due to go grocery shopping this week. I'm going to see if I can hold out until the weekend just so I can make the trip to Mount Laurel.

The Article in Question I thought I'd post that for starters, since we all need to see what it is we're talking about here. No sense (mis)quoting something we can't all compare in its original form. I'm thrilled and flattered that Amada's beverage program is being touted as one of the better ones in the city. We're in good company with Ansill and Gayle. But there's a lot of misunderstandings I'd like to clear up, if I may. I'll try and do that one at a time. First and foremost, restaurants are operating as businesses, not charities, regardless of whether they choose to possess a liquor license or not. The costs inherent in operating a restaurant are very high, and profits are often slim once all the monthly fixed and variable expenses are paid. The extra expenses for liability insurance, stemware breakage, extra payroll to have a beverage manager/bar manager on staff, etc. just make operating a licensed establishment that much more so. Markups on wine and alcohol can range from 200% to over 1500% depending on what you're talking about. At the "low end" of the wine list the markups will be higher - less so at the high end. It's a lot harder to get someone to pay $250 for a bottle that costs the restaurant $100 than it is to get someone to pay $30 for a bottle that cost the restaurant $8. Yet the percentage markup is much higher on the less expensive bottle. It's even more egregious with "well" liquor. The cheap booze that dive corner bar is dishing out is a license to print their own money. That whole 1L bottle of Wolfschmidt vodka cost them all of $7. There's approximately 16 2 oz. shots of liquor in that bottle. Even if they charge you $5 for a vodka and tonic at happy hour they're making $80 on that $7 bottle of booze. That's an 8% cost of goods. Makes that $14 Grey Goose martini start looking like a bargain... Everyone always asks me how can a restaurant like Friday,Saturday, Sunday afford to have a winelist that charges exactly $10 over cost for each and every bottle. I'll tell you how. THEY OWN THEIR BUILDING and have since the late 1970's when the original seven partners all tossed $2000 apiece into a hat to start the business. As one can imagine that nice piece of Rittenhouse Square real estate was a tidy investment. The equity alone can carry that business a long way. Most everyone else doesn't have that luxury. Rents for space on Rittenhouse Square are in the $6000-8000/month range. And that's just the rent. Not payroll, liquor, food, sales taxes, liquor taxes, insurances, linens, china, glassware, office supplies, or anything else. Liquor and wine sales are a revenue stream that don't just justify the "high initial investment" in a liquor license. Actually, there's a 6% "discount" to Licensees that is completely obliterated by the 7% state + city tax. The $1.50/bottle cost is "shipping" costs for any SLO items that aren't "listed" or part of the state's inventory. So basically in PA, the restaurant is paying the same retail and sometimes more than the regular consumer. There is no price incentive whatsoever for large "wholesale-to-retail" purchasers such as restaurants and bars. Um - yeah! Otherwise there'd be no incentive to drive over the bridge. It isn't just the selection. It's price too. No question where there's free enterprise and genuine competition (and no stinking Johnstown Flood Tax!!!) that prices are lower. Having purchased wine and liquor in NJ for restaurants I can also tell you that there are far greater price incentives in place for resellers of products. Case savings on wine and rebates from the vendors for larger purchases that make restaurant prices for alcohol much more reasonable. Not sure if the presence of the BYO or the presence of great wine shops that encourage going to BYOs is the issue here. Sort of a chicken and egg question. Would the BYOs of Philadelphia and South Jersey be as busy if there weren't Moore Brothers and Corkscrewed or Total Wine and Canals? If Chairman Newman hadn't created the Chairman's Selections program to compete on a level playing field with the "over-the-bridge" wine shops? I don't think I can answer that question, but I think Greg Moore answered it for us in the article. It's no surprise that the owner of one of the most successful wine shops in the area is quoted as saying "increasingly sophisticated wine consumers often prefer their own wines to those at a restaurant.". He (and the staff at Moore Brothers) can take a lot of credit for helping educate those very consumers. For those griping about corkage fees, let me just remind you that just because there's no "law" preventing you from bringing your own, doesn't make it defensable. If you were a doctor, let's say, you'd be incredibly insulted if someone brought their own tongue depressors and thermometer to their check-up and expected a discount on the cost of their appointment fee. Likewise if you were an attorney and a client brought their wife (a paralegal at a competing firm) with them to do some of the research legwork on the case and expected a lesser fee. If it's a very special occasion and you want to break out that bottle of Bordeaux you bought on your honeymoon in France for your 20th anniversary, then by all means ask. I've never worked anywhere that wouldn't be reasonable about a request like that. A restaurant with a liquor license is providing a service that presumably they've made an investment of time, money, space and personnel into. Bringing your own wine to a restaurant that has a well thought out beverage program is like bringing your own food into the restaurant. How is it any different?? It's insulting and presumes the restaurant can't provide the services they're in business for. It's like salting your food before tasting it. If a consumer finds that incredibly limiting then they are free to take their business elsewhere or pay a corkage fee.

Oh, is it supposed to be in the sunlight? Because I've had mine in the cupboard for almost a week. Should I take it out? Thanks, Eilen ← I keep mine in a large mouthed jar on top of my refrigerator. No specific light requirements as far as I'm aware of.

Well, Lambertville is hardly a "conclave" of New York City; I don't think "South Jersey" necessarily means south of the AC expressway. And besides, I can't think of a downtown area in the deep South of NJ that has more than 2-3 restaurants. Perhaps Haddonfield? Moorestown? ← Collingswood, NJ has quite a hopping restaurant scene of late. Nunzio's, Cork, Tortilla Press, Water Lily and the Pop Shop just to name a few. Haddonfield and Cherry Hill certainly have way more than 3 restaurants apiece. There's plenty of restaurants in Mount Laurel, Moorestown, Mount Holly and Burlington too. TFuji, the best BYO sushi restaurant known to man resides in Cinnaminson. You need to get around down here a bit more often. There's plenty of great restaurants in South Jersey.

Oh honey!! This totally sucks for you. So sorry... Get that cute hubby of yours to help you out. If he chops everything ahead of time you can still get into pans and pots one-handed. No different than having a prep cook, eh? And then there's always programming the local take-outs into speed dial. ((((Rochelle)))) Thinking of you and sending good vibes for a quick recovery.