KatieLoeb

Jennifer: Does the caterer have to be in Chester County, or just willing to travel there? Feast Your Eyes, Peachtree & Ward and Frog Commissary Catering are the triumvirate of better caterers in this area and would likely travel to your location.

Robert - thanks for the heads up on the cheap movie night details. What a great idea! A $7 movie w/parking and a nice dinner at Mandoline. Outstanding! You do mean the garage that actually has the entrance on 2nd Street just south of Chestnut, correct? I walk by that every single day on my way to/from work. I didn't know about the after 5PM deal so that's a great piece of information. And your dinner sounds like it was delicious as well. Perhaps Chef Todd will pipe up and give us the details about the sorbet. It sounds quite refreshing.

Thanks for all the replies. I think I'll try mixing some tamarind paste with some of the not-so-flavorful tamarind nectar and then straining it. It's not as interesting now that I'm not a wildly inventive and original genius anymore. Who knew others had beaten me to the Tequila and Tamarind grail filled with cocktails? Still, I might mess with this some more until I'm really 100% certain I'm not a genius.

OK - I've gotten into my head that Tamarind could be a really delicious and interesting flavoring agent for cocktails. Specifically a margarita riff with tequila. I bought a can of Jumex Tamarind nectar and it's disappointingly bland. I'm a pretty good home cook but I've never messed with tamarind paste. I know where to find it but not how to reconstitute it. Do I just thin it with hot water? Maybe make a thicker tamarind juice or slurry or tamarind paste thinned with the Tamarind nectar? The cocktail I'm seeing in my mind's eye has tequila, tamarind, lime juice and ginger simple syrup. I have the proportions worked out I just need to saturate the tamarind flavor somehow. Any suggestions??

Good thing it wasn't the Kay & Ray's Dark (photo on far right, 3rd row down) kettle cooked lardy chips. Lordy. I just picked up two bags of these over the weekend out near Lancaster. These are "well done" dark chips that smell really potato-ey and are the best potato chips I've ever had. I pick them up whenever I'm out in Lancaster County. They're awesome and could defy even Herculean attempts at self-control.

Dilute the Rosemary simple syrup with equal volume of fresh lemon juice. Then use 2 oz. Vodka or Gin and 2 oz. Lemon-Rosemary syrup shaken over ice and strained into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a sprig of rosemary. Voila! Lemon-Rosemary martini. We serve this at Amada (with vodka). It's called Tie Me Up, Tie me Down. (All of our specialty cocktails are named after Pedro Almodovar movies)

Marjorie: There's a Joe's Peking Duck in Marlton in the shopping center just south of the Marlton Circle on Route 73, behind Olga's Diner. It's run by one of the former managers of the original Chinatown location. I haven't had the noodle soup there, but the Singapore Noodles and the Peking Duck are just as good as ever. This place is a frequent stop for me in the summer on the way home from Long Beach Island.

Not at all holding you responsible for our experience there. We are, after all, adults that make our own decisions. Your directions and menu advice was most helpful. If I'd known they were going to sever the nerve endings in my mouth, perhaps I would've asked them to dial it back a notch. As I stated, I really love spicy food and have a pretty good tolerance for it. But this was just cruel and unusual by anyone's standards. The photos of previous incarnations of the very same dishes gave no indication of the punitive nature or abundance of the dried chile pepper pods on my platters. But whatever. It was good, if cruel, and now I know better. I'll definitely make the trip for the Hot Rabbits Ding!

I told you, that you would like the Oxo. I currently use a standard jigger and the Oxos. When sharing a recipe I use a ratio as opposed to oz., 1 jigger, etc... there is far to much inconsistency when dealing with different measureing devices. ← I'm so glad you convinced me to get this, Matt. I'd probably not have noticed it otherwise, but it has definitely come in quite handy. I convert to "parts" or "pour counts" later, but for initial recipe creation, this little device can't be beat.

Since recipes need to be precise to have any sense of consistency in the commercial environment, what do you use for measuring utensils? I recently purchased an OXO Good Grips Mini Measuring Cup to use when creating cocktails and I really love it. I bought mine as a single at a local housewares shop, but it looks just like the ones in the link. I've found it invaluable for cocktail recipe creation. Even though we free pour where I work, when creating recipes to be converted to "pour counts" I find this little dishwasher safe measure very useful. How 'bout you??

I love working in restaurants because I always have an espresso machine at my disposal. My morning routine hasn't varied in several years. Upon first arrival I prepare a double shot of espresso. I top it off with hot regular coffee and then steamed milk. Fortunately there is always steamed milk waiting for me these days since there's an abundance of Mexican kitchen staff that are always making Cafe con Leche before I arrive. They get in earlier than I do and make my first coffee that much quicker and more accessible. Bless them.

Tonight's effort: A Jacked Up Peach 2 oz. Laird's Applejack 1.25 oz. Peach nectar (I use Goya) .50 oz. fresh lemon juice one barspoon grenadine dash Orange bitters Ginger ale Shake over ice and dump into rocks glass with the ice. Fill with ginger ale. Stir. Garnish with an orange twist. I think it would work even better with pear nectar, but I already had the open can of peach from some earlier bourbon experiments and needed to use it up. I will report back when I purchase some pear nectar. edited for thinking ahead of myself and forgetting ingredients

The heirloom variety Asian pears from North Star Orchard. They're at my local farmer's market every late summer through Thanksgiving. I can't eat the supermarket Asian pears anymore. I'm spoiled forever.

I finally has the opportunity to try Tifco's China Bistro last night as I was taking the "scenic route" home from Lancaster and was out thattaway. We tried: West Lake Beef Soup, which I'd describe as similar to a ground beef Egg Drop soup with cilantro. Very good and warming on a chilly night. Spicy Wontons - sauce is just broth. While the wontons themselves are OK, I like the Szechuan Tasty House version with the pure chili oil sauce much better. Minced Beef in Lettuce Cups - this was REALLY good. Probably my favorite dish of the night. Minced beef and lots of crunchy veggies served with a wedge of iceberg to make little wraps with. I'd go back just for this dish. Salt and Pepper Shrimp - I like S&P shrimp but they're too much work taking off the shells and a lot of the flavor is on the shell. I know some folks eat the shells but I don't like the plastic-ey texture so I don't. A Salt & Pepper Squid would've been great but they don't have it. The fact that Tifco's had no squid on the menu whatsoever was surprising to me. Cumin Lamb - delicious and it grew on me as my taste buds reconnected after being severed at the first bite. Nothing but heat the first few bites, but the earthy cumin flavor was evident later on. Guizhou Chicken - good but too hot. Oriental Chicken Salad - not quite what dining companion was expecting, since he'd had a version in another restaurant he'd hoped this was like, but very good for quenching the flames at the end of our meal. Both the Lamb dish and the Chicken had so many dried hot peppers in them that they were literally covering the entire bottom of each platter once all the other items in the dish had been eaten. I looked back at some of the photos of these dishes earlier in this thread and there's only a fraction of the peppers evident in those photos compared to what was in our dishes last night. Maybe we got the heavy handed line cook last night, but it sort of spoiled the experience for me since I love hot food, just not so hot I can't taste anything else after the first bite. My other issue was with the service. While the front desk personnel are quite friendly and like to engage in conversation, the waiter was brusque and quite unhelpful. Not a language barrier issue either, since he was pretty young and his English seemed fine when we could manage to get a few words out of him. We'd brought a bottle of white wine with us (Crios de Susana Balbo Torrontes 2005. Whod've thought that Argentinian wine and Szechuan food could be such an awesome match!) that wasn't quite cold enough. We asked for an ice bucket and were brusquely told "We don't have that", in a tone that was clearly meant to end the conversation. I asked if there was a freezer in back and the waiter said yes. "Can you please put the wine in there for 10 minutes and then bring it back?", I asked nicely. Waiter skulks away with our wine. The wine is brought back five minutes later not noticeably changed in temperature in the least. I ask if we could have a water pitcher with some ice in it. It was brought (grudgingly) and served admirably as an ice bucket. For the entire rest of the meal our waiter would drop our food and literally run away without speaking before we could ask for anything else. I think I pegged our table as high maintenance Caucasians by asking for an ice bucket. I didn't need a "proper" ice bucket, just something to chill our bottle of wine in. A small sauce pan with ice water in it would've been fine as far as I was concerned. We also ordered a soup to share amongst three people (and specifically discussed with the waiter it was "to share", not three orders even if it's small) and only got one spoon and no sharing bowls when the soup was delivered. No luck flagging down any help with that so SouthJerseyEpicurian finally just got up and marched over to the waiters station and got us more spoons and a few tea cups to divide the soup into. The waiter didn't seem fazed to see a customer fetching his own utensils. I thought Tifco's was good, and I'll even give the kitchen the benefit of the doubt and assume we somehow got the heavy-handed-with-the-chiles chef last night. But I'm not sure I'd make a special trip there after the way we were treated. Szechuan Tasty House is closer to me, and although the menu isn't as adventurous as Tifco's, I've found enough items on there I like to scratch my itch for authentic Szechuan when I get one. I didn't get to try the Ma Po Tofu or the Hot Rabbits Ding at Tifco's, so I might go back for those another time.

Glad you and your guests enjoyed everything. You had a few of my menu favorites. The Melon and Ham is the best version of that I've had - I think because the Serrano ham is a bit less salty than prosciutto I like it better, and that little seared sugar glaze on top is yummy. The grilled tuna is great too and those manchego croquettes are TDF. I could eat those like popcorn until I fell over from overindulgence. That Bad Education is a favorite. Everyone likes that drink a whole lot. It's really just an orange mojito - a twist on an old favorite. The Mad Bartendrix has taken over my kitchen of late and I've doing some experimenting at home. I'm gearing up some new cocktails and hoping they might make it on to the list in several weeks. But the Bad Education isn't going anywhere, it's too popular.

Actually, I thought the dish he described as "Szechuan wontons" were the fiery dumplings we all love so much. I could be wrong...maybe.

I love the tapas class menu. A well rounded selection of all sorts of things. Brava, chica!!

Check it out y'all! The Book and the Cook is back and there are some great events this year. This thread is for discussion of the festival and events, but not for event planning/get togethers. If folks would like to get together for one or more of these events please contact Holly or myself via PM, or make a reservation and post it in the pinned ISO thread at the top of this forum, OK?? So who's going where? Which events look interesting to you and why?

Hi Katie, We are planning to be in the area during that week in March - I tried to find information on the Book and the Cook website but it doesn't appear to be updated. Do you know where I can get more info on the restaurant/chef series that week? Thanks! ← The website isn't updated yet but I've sent an e-mail to the Book & the Cook organizer to inquire when to expect the schedule to be posted. I'm just waiting to hear back from her. As soon as I do I'll post here and in the PA forum as well. Let me know if you need any more suggestions for places to go while you're here. ← The Book and the Cook 2006 Schedule

Ooooh, ooooooh! Can we please transfer the Rustic Souffle recipe to RecipeGullet so we'll all know where to find it in the future? Something that simple and lovely is definitely a keeper and I always forget which thread I saw a recipe in when I want it again.

I went in clean and neat this morning and had a container of Bloody mary mix explode onto my left pant leg midway through lunch. It looked pretty skeevy by the end of the shift. The GM told me I looked filthy and I reminded her that if I'd come in looking that way I'd have been sent home. She nodded and agreed. Thankfully, I have the weekend to do some laundry.

Hello friend! I'm a little late to pipe up but I'm so happy to see you blogging, and very glad to hear that all's well with young Colin Elijah. I'm glad your teaching and writing gigs have worked out, since I know that was something you were really interested in doing. Looks like you're a busy lady who's earned her bon-bon time. You aren't going to reveal the Super Secret World's Best Hushpuppy recipe to your students or readers, are you? I'd keep that an eGullet exclusive.

...and in second place the world famous Pennsauken Mart pretzels. ← Except the Pennsauken Mart is no more...

Oh no! The only place for such strollin' and struttin' would be the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philly's own Champs-Elysées. Fabulous visual. I'm picturing Shola in a razor sharp pin-striped suit, bowler hat and a cane. And spats. Definitely spats.

The new owners should have to suck it up and be reviewed as if it was a different restaurant, because it is. The change in ownership also entailed a change in the executive chef and his wife, the two people who had far more impact than anyone else on the quality of the place. You can't buy a restaurant, keep the name, change the menu and the exec. chef, and expect to keep the 4 bells. And I still don't see how you can say it isn't true when you haven't been back there since the place changed hands, and LaBan has been there (probably) twice. ← I haven't been there but have had the new exec chef's cuisine and found it to be equal or superior to anything I had at Django under the previous ownership at any point in their tenure. Other folks here whose palates I trust implicitly and who I know understand good food and service have also agreed. I went back in time and searched long and hard for anyone that agreed with the initial four bell rating and came up completely empty. There doesn't seem to be anyone that ever agreed with that lofty rating - even years ago in Django's heyday. By the time the review came out the slide in service and quality that has been well documented here and on other review boards had already begun. And that was under the old ownership. I know that Greg and Ross are far too professional to allow the sort of slide into the ghetto in two short months that the two bell demotion implies. There would have to be a complete meltdown and I know that hasn't happened. Almost all of the staff were retained. The new proprietors are being punitively held to a standard they couldn't possibly hope to live up to in such a short time. If a demotion was deserved then it should have been only one bell.