KatieLoeb

I take responsibility for suggesting the badly matched sherry. Having not tasted the soup before, I didn't realize how delicate it was. Of course if I got to taste everything in advance Shola wouldn't have as much fun rubbing his hands together and playing Stump-the-Sommelier. And of course, having missed this particular gathering, I still haven't tasted the soup. Your pornographic descriptions will have to do. That's kind of like methadone for the brain, isn't it? That Finger Lakes Gewurz sounds divine as well. And yet another reappearance of the Sept Grains! God, I love that wine... Glad you're grooving on the Niedrist wines. I haven't tried the Rose, but I have no doubt it's up to Herr Niedrist's usual exacting standards. I told you he prunes his grapes with a manicuring scissor, didn't I? A little bit OCD to say the least. <sigh> Yet another fabulous StudioKitchen dinner. Jeff you really need to put "Food Photographer" on your resume already.

Toast Dope? I recall a vague reference to this in past posts, but please 'splain again for my wee little brain that lacks retention. Posting a recipe for Toast Dope in RecipeGullet would be fine, unless it's a state secret. Don't waste the postage on me. Besides, by the time it arrives I'll be beyond the grasp of the Sugar Beast. If you'll have to kill me then just PM the recipe.

I was in the "hot bath and heating pad" stage myself, just yesterday. Today for breakfast I made Cinnamon Toast out of this lovely peach crumble bread that a friend's sainted mother gave me as a gift last weekend. Pretty good way to tame the sugar beast. Tonight - Jello chocolate fudge pudding!! The whole bowl if I want to. And I might...

Sooooooooo... Where is Wine Scribe?? Dying to know what you all drank with this lovely meal...

This sounds a little like the Williams Fizz that Chad made for me when I was in. That was also delicious! Audrey, I'd be very curious about how you make the tinctures. I suspect it's similar to the beginning process of making my limoncello recipe, but undoubtedly not infused for as long. The volatile oils in spices would undoubtedly infuse faster than the oils in the lemon peels.

Good choices for the wines, I have to say. An excellent representation of some of the best that California has to offer. I might have gone with a lesser known Chardonnay, perhaps, but all in all very nice wine selection. Does Chef Comerford play Sommeliere as well, or does someone else hold that rarified position? And how do I apply for the job?

On a similar note... Whenever I make pesto I always freeze some of it in the ice cube tray and then pop out the pesto cubes and keep them in a ziplock bag in the freezer. A cube of fresh pesto completely livens up Progresso Tomato soups. It's really good in their Minestrone too - sort of an instant Soupe au Pistou.

Yeah - OK maybe, but does that mean the Convention and Visitor's Bureaus of Bristol, Rhode Island or Darrow, Louisiana have deeper pockets with which to bribe him? And what about not reviewing places in "minor cities"? If these alleged demands were made and met then I've just lost a lot of respect for Mr. Mariani and the fools that indulged the requests. His writings just became paid promotional announcements. Bought and paid for. Heck - I could that job! Where do I apply for that great gig?

I'm surprised only because Mr. Mariani has always been a vocal champion of the Philly restaurant scene, and the chefs and restaurants here. He crowed about Strped Bass, Pasion, and Vetri to anyone who would sit still long enough to listen. It is a bit shocking that he couldn't find a single place to mention. Maybe the places that Rich mentioned aren't "hip" enough or are just too silly and overpriced for consideration. Amada obviously opened too late for consideration, but it strikes me as a place that seems to be to his taste. As for his ban on Gruner Veltliner, he's obviously not a wine lover or he'd know better.

Shared a bottle this evening of the Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc 2003 with a friend. I'd bought it online, but a quick search reveals about a case or so each available at Ardmore, Jenkintown, Frankin Mills, 12th & Chestnut and 19th & Chestnut stores. A very nice white Rhone blend. Predominantly Rousanne with a bit of Grenache Blanc and Viognier in the mix. Earthy, yet retaining its fruity character and the lovely floral qualities of the Viognier. Medium to big bodied. A bit of mineral in the background and a long luscious finish. This would be a delicious accompaniment to fish and seafood dishes with an earthy component like a miso glaze, or nuts or lentils in the preparation. It comes in at $28.99 but is very much worth it.

Soup!!! Lots of vegetable and veggie stock based pureed soups fill you up and are good for you. Also the Cabbage Soup from the Cabbage Soup diet (the diet is bullshit but the soup is delicious) is very high fiber and filling and is actrually very tasty. A high potassium broth made with chicken or veggie stock and watercress and spinach thrown in to wilt is excellent. I lived on a cold zucchini soup most of the summer. 2 large green or yellow summer squash/zucchini, cut into 1/4" coins 8 oz. low fat sour cream handful of fresh dill, or a tsp of ground cumin salt & pepper Steam zucchini above 1.5" of water about 10-15 minutes until soft. Place zucchini, steaming water, sour cream, herb/spice of your choice, salt & pepper into a blender and puree until well incorporated. Chill and enjoy. This is also good hot, but I liked it cold during the summer.

I'm a fan of the Miss Leone's olives available HERE and also at Sam's Clubs HERE for a substantial savings. There are several varieties like blue cheese stuffed, garlic stuffed, almond stuffed, "Rockets" double stuffed with garlic and jalapeno and my personal favorite "Fire in the Pit" with Turkish peppers. Good quality olives with enough variants to please anyone.

Pasanau La Morera de Montsant 2001, Garnacha, Merlot, Cabernet and Syrah blend. HUGE berry and oaky vanilla with plenty of spice and leather to back it up. A very "masculine" but delicious wine that will definitely get your attention. Luscious is the best adjective I can think of to describe this wine. About $40 in PA. This is currently on the wine list at Amada and it's the "big gun" at the high end of the list. We're charging $20/glass or $100/bottle for it and it's awesome stuff. Pasanau also produces another wine called La Planeta, a mostly Cabernet blend, which is equally spectacular. Anything you can find from Pasanau is well worth the cost of admission IMHO. They aren't inexpensive, but worth every penny.

Well, obviously I bottle Limoncello and give that to good friends. It's a good thing that's easy to make in big batches. I've also given chef friends bags of Fleur de Sel which is always well received. I've given Briggitine Monks Fudge as a gift several times as well as gourmet hot cocoa mixes to chocoholic friends, and that is always appreciated.

Well - I finally made it to Pegu earlier this week on a sojourn to Manhattan. Can I say that it's my new favorite bar? What a wonderful place, with incredibly knowlegeable bartenders (shout out to Chad and his encyclopedic brain of all things cocktail and spirits related), incredibly care taken with the freshest ingredients and a bar well stocked with the finest spirits. Throw in the mellow vibe and gorgeous decor and it's heavenly. A place I'd frequent far too often if I lived closer by. I had the pleasure of meeting a few fellow eGulleteers for a drink or two. Cachaca Dave and M.X.Hassett are both great company and loads of fun to talk to. My friend Claire and I tried several cocktails each. I ordered some of the house specialties, but she decided to leave her fate in the well trained hands of Chad, our bartender with the mostest that evening. After explaining that she was normally a scotch drinker, a perfect Blood & Sand appeared before her. I liked it too, and I normally don't like scotch in the least. I tried an Apple Cobbler first and it was very tasty. Quite a lot going on in that drink. I then tried a Pineapple Sour and really enjoyed it. Claire asked Chad to surprise her, so he whipped up a Fruit Cup. It was delicious and gave me the sudden urge to go play a round of croquet! When I asked Chad to surprise me he made me a Williams Fizz which I really enjoyed. I love pear flavors in almost anything and the aromatic tincture of cloves floating atop the drink was just the right spicing for it. Lastly I tried a Tantris Sidecar to end the night and it was a revelation. I've always been a Sidecar drinker and Calvados sidecars are my favorite. Since this had both Cognac and Calvados I knew I would love it and I was not disappointed. Delicious drink that I'm going to have to master for at home. Added bonus was getting to meet Dale DeGroff who happened to be at the bar that evening too. He's incredibly charming and a hoot to converse with. We had a blast and Mr. DeGroff was gracious enough to buy us a few drinks. I don't often get to meet one of my personal heros, so that was just about as much fun as I've ever had. Sadly, Audrey was off that night, so I didn't get the chance to say hello, but I will definitely be back before long and I hope to see her then.

Well this is a sad turn of events. Millenium was a very hip coffeehouse and remained fiercely independent both from corporate invaders and in spirit for a long time. It will be missed. Another one bites the dust. I hope that Mr. Goldman has success with the space. His "vision" of turning 13th Street into competition for Rittenouse Row didn't exactly pan out as planned or in the time frame originally predicted. It does look better than it used to though.

I have a Magic Bullet! I'm fond of it for certain tasks. It's really perfect for making breakfast smoothies in those little individual mugs. But I wouldn't trade my food processor in for it. Look on eBay. You might be able to afford a food processor sooner than you think. Also, many manufacturers sell reconditioned or returned appliances on eBay for a song compared to regular retail. Do a search by manufacturer's name or type in "food processor" and see what comes back at you. I have a Sears food processor that I've had for twenty years and it's still working like a charm. I broke the shredder blade and bought a whole 'nother one just like it on eBay for about $10, so now I have an extra set of all the blades, an extra container and an extra base if the motor in my old one ever craps out!

Okay. There's a direct criticism I can understand, not a vague statement based on heresay. I could be wrong. Maybe the new chef ISN'T competent. I've been wrong before, and undoubtedly will be again sometime soon. That's a damned shame. Royal was a go to for me for a couple of drinks and a nice bite to eat. <sigh> Good thing Ben McNamara is back at the New Wave. There's still good bar grub to be had in my 'hood.

Johnny Brenda's, also owned by the Tap folks is a great alternative, but it's a lot "divier" and definitely not in a neighborhood I'd walk to at night, especially in a strange city. If they decide to go there if the Tap is too crowded they should take a cab. Otherwise there's a bunch of other alternatives within a two block radius.

YESSS!!!! That is one of the best things I've heard so far! Good hiring by the managers and it means I did my job too.

Our own Lisa1349 of DiBruno's was kind enough to turn me onto some of the other Fee flavors when I ordered the regular and Orange bitters for the bar at Amada (I use the Orange Bitters to garnish the "All About My Mother" - a pineapple infused Cachaca Sour). The Peach bitters are AWESOME!!! I took that bottle home with me and am contemplating various bourbon or rye based concoctions with those. The mint bitters unfortunately taste like mouthwash with Fernet Branca in it to me. Not so crazy about those. I can't even imagine what the intended application for those would be, except maybe in Mojitos. But they're nasty to me anyhow. Blech! YMMV - I loathe Fernet Branca and others swoon about it, so go figure. I've never tried Gary Regan's bitters, and I'm sure they're excellent. I do like to support my local retailers though, so I like giving the business to DiBruno's. The Orange bitters are delicious and $3.99 is great price. Snap these up whilst ye may, folks. A lot easier than ordering them from Fee's and waiting for the mail to come. PS - mrbigjas' suggestion of a martini with a real measure of vermouth and Orange bitters sounds divine. They're also fabulous in a Manhattan or a Champagne cocktail instead of Angostura or regular Fee bitters.

So what are the post Robert Bennett reports? Will the prodigies make me cry like a school girl? Will those chocolate croissants touched by the hands of God be a distant memory? I want my Miel gateau! With all due respect to our beloved Katie’s Oregon monks, Bobby B is the maharishi of all that is sweetmeat. ← The Oregon Briggitine Monks are still the best FUDGE I've ever eaten. Not sure that the fine patisserie quality chocolates at Miel are quite the same. They serve different purposes and I like BOTH just fine, thank you very much. My waistline will attest to the veracity of the last statement. I ran into Robert Bennett a couple of months ago, not long after he'd sold his interest in Miel. He looked incredibly happy and relaxed and regaled me with stories of soon taking over as Executive Chocolatier for a chocolate manufacturer that wanted to commercially produce a line to compete with Godiva. Damned if I can remember the name of the company though. He was also getting ready to go to France to be a judge for the World Chocolate Championships or something similar. Fear not - no moss is growing under Bobby's feet. He truly seemed as happy as I've ever seen him and I was happy for him. I think he has a lot more time for his family now, and that seemed reflected in his joyous attitude. Good on him, I say!

Jenny: I don't know how large or how mobile the group is, but the Grey Lodge is a short ride from Center City and has fabulous beers and excellent food, if that's what they're after. Definitely the best choice if that's their criteria. Other pub type choices in town would be the Dark Horse (2nd Street) or the Black Sheep (17th Street), which are quite similar (same ownership) and have decent bar grub and decent beer. Monk's has the best beer selection in the city but is a nightmare to get into on the weekends. Ten Stone is a good option too, as is Grace Tavern. Not sure what the new chef at Royal Tavern has done to upset Buckethead (or his sources) but as previously mentioned the no-reservation policy would probably be more of an issue than the food not being up to snuff for someone that's never been there before. I have no doubt the ownership hired a competent replacement chef, but maybe his menu changes aren't going over well with the old regulars? :shrug: London Grill also has a great bar and great bar food. It's located in the Art Museum area and is a very short cab ride from Center City. They would be able to take a reservation for a table or perhaps a table in the area nearest the bar (I think they call those the "Cafe Tables") if the group is bigger than would fit at a tall cocktail table in the bar. There are posts about all of these various choices if you search the names of the restaurants within the PA forum. That should help your husband narrow it down once he's read the reviews for himself. I hope these suggestions are helpful. Let us know where they ended up and if they liked it.

cinghiale: Glad you enjoyed everything. You definitely tried some of my favorites. That fresh spreadable goat cheese (I think you had the Queso de Cabra from your description) is delicious, and the balsamic strawberries are a great accompaniment. The "torta-like thing" was the Tortilla Espanola with Saffron Aioli. The one tapa you will find at every tapas bar in Spain. The cod croquettes, octopus and Garlic shrimp are all classic traditional tapas as well. They are all excellent representations of the dishes. I'll send your hyperbole concerning the octopus on to the chefs. I'm certain they'll appreciate it. Thanks for letting me know about the sherry. I'll have them check the temperature on the bar reach in refrigeration. Really glad you enjoyed the sangria. Try the white next time and let me know what you thought.

Charles, Hello..... Both Van Gogh and Andy Warhol did portraits of women and those can be found in many museums of modern art. Wouldn't it help the person looking at those portraits if they knew just a wee little bit about the lives of those artists? Or, in a restaurant, knowing just a tad of knowledge about the differences in flavor and texture between a T-Bone and an entrecote steak? I hate to sound pompous but ignorance is not bliss. It is simply ignorance and in the end that robs us of the ability to gain full enjoyment from either a painting, a steak or a glass of wine. ← I think there's room for people want to just walk into the gallery and say "nice painting." You and I may choose to get to know the backstory better but, in a world that places many demands on most people, requiring homework of anyone who wants to quaff a glass of wine or look at a painting or catch a bit of Shakespeare on Friday night seems a bit puritanical. Sure, the cheap anti-intellectualism of the VV ads is juvenile, but who cares. Not our problem. People destined to like wine will start with the swill -- I remember the Mateus Rose and Blue Nun of my own misspent youth, not to mention the Gallo Pink Rose -- and move up at their own pace. More worrying to me is that approaching wine-drinking as though it were an an academic discipline intimidates and puts off people, by making it seem that simply enjoying the stuff is somehow an inadequate; as though have to know soil types and weird adjectives to prove that they're worthy. And while what wine knowledge I've garnered over the years (stipulating that I am in not in the same league as you or many others on eGullet) makes it more likely that I'll choose a bottle of wine I enjoy, it doesn't in itself make the wine I'm drinking any more enjoyable. Ignorance may not be bliss, but neither is knowing harvest dates, brix, precise blends or how long the juice sat on the lees. I'm sure I'd be just as happy if I knew nothing about wine save that I liked it, but had you working at my corner liquor store putting the appropriate bottle in my hand as dinner approached, as I would be knowing as much about wine as you do and picking it out myself. Happier, probably, because then if my guests made faces I could shift the blame away from myself. Of course, the Cat in the Hat said, "it's fun to have fun, but you have to know how," so maybe I've got this all wrong. ← I think there has to be a happy middle ground, somewhere between high falutin' academic dissection of wine complete with its own intimidating vocabulary and knowledge of the "insider secrets" like how to swirl and sniff and which perfectly formed Riedel Sommelier series glass that wine ought to be served in and utter and complete ignorance at the other end of the spectrum, where glassy eyed novice wine enthusiasts are handed that bottle at the store by someone with no more knowledge than they themselves possess. Charles is definitely on to something with the "Nice painting" analogy. I too, remember Boone's Farm, Mateus and Blue Nun. I have been faced with countless customers that were quaking in their shoes at the prospect of having to choose wine from a wine list. I used to be a terrible "white zin snob" where I'd rather die than serve it at a restaurant where I was in charge of the list, as if it were some reflection on my own taste or abilities as a sommelier. But in the end we all have to start somewhere. And if the "entry level" "Wine for Dummies" makes for more wine drinkers in the world in the end, then I'm happy. Now it's my job to get them to take off their training wheels and drink some real wine and maybe learn a thing or two in a non-intimidating sort of way.