KatieLoeb

D'oh! Great! Now I have to write Kirsten and tell her to run a correction. Anyone that knows her e-mail please PM me....

Sam: When I did the bourbon infusion I was using the Evan Williams and it came out quite well. I used this for bourbon and cokes and for a vanilla manhattan and both drinks were well received. It's true that most "flavored" spirits taste fake and nasty. Perhaps we'll see a trend to more bars infusing their own spirits and making more interesting drinks with them. I'm interested to hear your comments on the Navan. I've not tried it yet and don't want to spring $40 on a bottle just to try it. I've tried to find a "mini" bottle to try, but either they don't make them yet or PA doesn't carry them. The idea of a vanilla Cognac sounds delicious to me, and could certainly make for some interesting cocktails, if just a twist on a classic like a Vanilla sidecar or a Vanilla stinger. I'm sticking by my preference for the Belle de Brillet pear cognac for the moment.

What Alchemist said is true, but it's also part of the show! Bartender Magic tricks!

How quickly we all forget! How about Paloma in NE Philly? Does no one but me remember the lovely DDC dinner we had there? The food was exquisite! Definitely Haute Mexicano, but wonderful.

Where've you been? There are several brands of mango (and coconut and vanilla and whatever) flavored rums that have been around for awhile. I used to take the leftover vanilla beans pods from the Pastry department at Striped Bass and infuse bourbon with it. It was damned tasty! My predictions is the rise of brown liquor in general. Whiskey bars will be making a comeback (or at least having a good whiskey selection) and will drive the cocktail trend further. Manhattans as the new Cosmos! Yeah!

I agree it's damned fine booze. But not necessarily killed it off. But the true rye (true rye whiskey = anything made with a minimum of 51% rye grain in the mash) producers had the same problem as everyone else that had been shut down for years. Nothing aged and ready to go to market. The mellower flavors of blended American whiskey gave most drinkers the flavor of straight bourbon or rye without the harshness associated with it. Think about it. Someone that normally drinks Seagram's 7 would be horrified and probably spit out a mouthful of Old Overholt or Basil Hayden. It'd be a waste from our perspective, but it would probably singe the hairs out of their delicate noses and cause much coughing and gagging. I'm sipping a glass of Buffalo Trace on ice. Mmmmmmm.... Here's to the repeal of the 18th Amendment!! Cheers!

I dunno. That wasn't in the reference book I had available to me. Somehow it wouldn't surprise me though. Sounds to me like Bronfman was a pretty smart upper level exec that was trying his best to position his brand for max benefit after repeal. I have no doubt as well that much Seagram's Ltd. product made it across the Great Lakes under cover of night and ended up in speakeasies in the midwestern states that border the lakes. I'm sure lots of product "disappeared" during Prohibition, particularly when there was so much of it stockpiled at the distilleries in Canada. I'm sure the corruption and crime bred by Prohibition wasn't exclusively on these shores either. I'd be interested to see if anyone knows anything more about this.

What he said. The ones at Delaware Ave. & Washington are the best around except for that bagel shop in Wynnewood, Delancey Street Bagels, I think, near the Bed Bath & Beyond.

The creation of American blended whiskey is a direct result of the repeal of Prohibition. While those who wished to legislate morality thought the 18th Amendment would turn us into a nation of tee-totaling churchgoing folk, the biggest disaster in social legislation turned this country into a nation of speakeasies, organized criminals, corruption and warehouses filled with bootleg hooch while legitimate distilleries and wineries had government placed padlocks on the doors. Meanwhile, an enterprising Canadian distillery executive named Samuel Bronfman who worked for a company called Seagram's Ltd, saw the end of Prohibition both as inevitable and as a great market opportunity. He started producing and stockpiling Canadian blended whiskey between 1928 and 1933. When repeal finally came about, he was ready with boatloads (literally) of mature high quality whiskey for the US market before the padlocks had been cut off the doors and the US stills cranked up again. Since Canadian and Scotch whiskeys were both blended products, Mr. Bronfman's next brainstorm was to produce a blended American whiskey by blending straight American bourbon or whiskey with a neutral grain spirit or light whiskey. Blended American whiskey is now a significant share of the US whiskey market, and Mr. Bronfman's heirs are no doubt living well as a result of his savvy forethought. Seagram's Ltd. stockholders are probably pretty pleased too. So perhaps a cocktail with American Blended whiskey would be an appropriate tipple to celebrate the day? A Seven & Seven perhaps? Referenced from The Complete Book of Spirits: A Guide to Their History, Production and Enjoyment by Anthony Dias Blue.

If you can't make it to 9th Street during normal business hours it might be tough to make it to Westmont, NJ (just a little bit further than Moore Bros. and up the street from Water Lily) to the Severino's shop on Haddon Avenue. But they sell their pastas frozen to Whole Foods so you could defrost it, at least. Great selection and very good filled and regular pastas to be had. The shop in Westmont is the best though. They are very nice and will do virtually anything to give a customer what they want. Rumor has it that a lot of area chefs make their fillings, give the filling to Severino's and have their "homemade" raviolis" made up for them. No one we know would cheat that way, but I've heard tell it does happen...Severino's supplies about 300 restaurants in addition to Whole Foods. It's top notch product. Their cheese and deli items do not suck either.

So glad you enjoyed it. I'd thought that you would. It's just so much more, elegant than the other sparkling ciders I've tried. It really is the closest thing to an Apple Champagne that I could imagine. It's a little more expensive than Martinelli's, but worlds better. The up side is it's a lot cheaper than Champagne! I still have one bottle left that I'm hoarding in my fridge. ← Is this available at retail anywhere in the Philadelphia area? Or must I order directly from the manufacturer? --Sandy, no longer a total teetotaler but still interested in keeping his alcohol consumption modest ← Sandy: I have purchased this at the Sugarloaf Craft Fair in Fort Washington when they come around every March and October. I've never seen it at retail in PA, but maybe we need to convince Lisa1349 to buy it for DiBruno's. I'm certain La Provencale Cellars could give you a better idea of whether anyone carries it in the Philly area. If they have any wholesale clients in the city I'm certain they be happy to tell you. The places I'd think would be appropriate would be places like DiBruno's, Assouline & Ting, Chef's Markup, I mean Market, etc. I've never seen it in any of those places, but then again, I've never looked for it. It's definitely worth trying. It's darned tasty stuff. Pricier than Martinelli's, but cheaper than good Champagne. I'm thinking up fun cocktail ideas with it! Maybe some Applejack or Calvados and a bit of muddled Cranberry compote topped with the sparkling cider? Or a splash of Pomegranate juice instead of cranberry? It all has potential.

Yeah, well. That pretty much sums it up. Meanwhile those bartenders, if they can call themselves that, deserve a good

Not a wine bargain, but just a great bargain is the Buffalo Trace fine Kentucky Straight Bourbon. Yowza - it's $19.99 this month! It's listed as "limited distribution" on the PLCB website. I found my bottle at 12th & Chestnut. Full listing of availability can be found HERE. I'm not certain if that will automatically update or not, so I'd call if your local store looks to be low before making the trip to go pick it up. I just had my first glass of this tonight on the rocks and it's very nice. Lots of vanilla and burnt/brown sugar flavor as well as some dessert spice in the background. Smooth as silk too. Yummy! The Eagle Rare Single Barrel Bourbon is a listed product that's always available and is a fine bourbon at the same amazing price. Either bottle would make a fine holiday gift for the bourbon lovers on your list. Or for yourself if (in your own humble opinion) you think you're on Santa's good side this season...

I just bought a bottle of this a couple of days ago and had my first glass on the rocks tonight. Very tasty stuff. Nice caramel and vanillla notes with a hint of dessert spice and quite smooth. An almost grassy undertone in the background was quite pleasant as well. This is currently on sale in PA for $19.99 and is well worth the cost of admission.

I'm looking forward to the report on how this turns out, Jason! Especially any batches that use the full peel.

Within Chinatown I'd suggest Lee How Fook Tea House (219 N 11th Street, 215.925.7266) for their many hot pots, Salt baked seafood or delicious vegetable and noodle dishes or Charles Plaza (234 N 10TH Street, 215.829.4383) for their unbelievably good selection of vegetarian fare and wonderful service. Either of these choices will have something for everyone and will be very reasonably priced. The White Dog Cafe in West Philadelphia, a 5 minute cab ride from downtown, has excellent vegetarian selections on their menu and also has a great bar menu. A funky cool restaurant that's been around for a while, but never fails to please.

That is a brilliant suggestion!

A-hah! So it wasn't my imagination. When we were there on Tuesday, I commented to my husband that the bar looked like a pick-up place. He didn't think so, so I started to doubt myself. ← That's why I referred to "taking in the show rather than being part of it." The one time I ate there--with a good friend and his then-kinda-sorta-lover--we ate on the balcony, which is quieter and a little more "intimate". As for that Brady reference, Katie, have you been on the rooftop level of the Continental Mid-town yet? The enclosed lounge is one of the Bradiest spaces I've been in in years. ← That rooftop is a bit Brady-esque, but the dining room at Jones looks just like the Brady's living room. Especially if you add in the cutie waitrons in LaCoste Alligator rugby shirts for their uniforms. It's just so 70's!

The four bottles arrived this afternoon and we had one with our dinner tonight .. you were so right, Katie, about the quality of the sparkling cider: very much an adult refined experience! It was only faintly sweet and very bright with sharply defined bubbles. I will most definitely skip using Martinelli's in the future and opt instead for this drink! Thanks for the link to it! La Provencale Cellars ← So glad you enjoyed it. I'd thought that you would. It's just so much more, elegant than the other sparkling ciders I've tried. It really is the closest thing to an Apple Champagne that I could imagine. It's a little more expensive than Martinelli's, but worlds better. The up side is it's a lot cheaper than Champagne! I still have one bottle left that I'm hoarding in my fridge.

It definitely depends on the size of the glass. For "just a toast" (knowing that many folks will sadly merely touch it to their lips and let the waiters take the glasses away and then pour it down the drain ) I'd serve 2.5-3 oz. per guest so that would mean between 15-20 bottles. If you want to serve a FULL 4-5 oz. glass per person then you'll need between 24 and 30 bottles. I'd rather pour a miserly toast and have the waiters come around again for those that are actually drinking it. If folks want a refill, great. But the thought of pouring oceans of nice Champagne down a drain somewhere just kills me.

actually it's not just about portion control. This surgery drastically changes your body. You need to talk with your doctors as well as with others who've survived the surgery, but you'll have to be very careful about what you consume (especially for the first several months) your body will have a much harder time dealing with meat proteins now, and there are various other things you need to work around as well. I don't remember what all the details are. A friend had the surgery about 3 years ago... ← I know Chefreit to be a smart enough guy to have totally researched this before opting for this procedure. I certainly didn't mean to minimize the seriousness of his surgery. But clearly one of the things that an "outsider" like myself that has neither had the surgery herself or doesn't know anyone personally that has knows, is that you can only eat tiny amounts of food that will fit in your newly sized stomach. That's all I meant. Clearly following doctor's orders goes without saying.

It's all about portion control, my friend. Wishing you good luck with the new regimen...

Probably the least romantic choice of the lot. Unless you like huge crowds, lots of noise and a meat market atmosphere at the bar. Ugh. Even at Jones you can be romantic and pretend you're Mr. & Mrs. Brady.

If money is no object and it's all about someone else paying the freight then Morimoto or Barclay Prime. There's better (and waaay more affordable) sushi and steak to be had, but hell, if it's someone else's dime... For food, out of all the SRO restaurants I'd go to Striped Bass or Tangerine.

phlip: I'm certain that no one intentionally or maliciously "rigged" the contest, if that's what you're implying. From Dori's note above it seems that no one was more surprised or disappointed by how things turned out than she and the other organizers were. Actually, if what Dori says that those LQ bartenders had those recipes for two full weeks and still couldn't do the recipes and creators justice, then I'd hold them personally responsible for a bad attitude and a lousy work ethic. No one could have predicted that. I'm astonished they can keep their jobs with so little pride in what they do and so little concern for what crosses their bar.