KatieLoeb

Talk about something that makes you go "EEEK!!" I personally would have flushed him, but I can understand not thinking clearly when feverish and half asleep.

Realized the bunch of cilantro in my produce drawer had gone funky and needed to run down to the local Asian market to get a replacement bunch for tonight's salad, regardless of the oppressive heat outside. I hadn't had lunch so I decided to stop in at Pho Ba Le, which has taken over the former Le Cyclo space behind Ba Le Bakery at 606 Washington Ave. It was pretty crowded for an early Sunday afternoon, and I was seated immediately by a friendly waiter. The menu is quite extensive, with salads, appetizers (more variations of rice paper wrapped summer rolls than I think I've ever seen anywhere), noodle soups, rice soups, vermicelli platters and the star attraction, the Beef Noodle soups. I decided the only yardstick by which to measure a pho house was to order the House Special Beef soup, so that's what I did. Here's what arrived: Although the broth wasn't as strongly flavored as the spicy and rich broth at Pho Xe Lua (my favorite standby for Pho and all things Vietnamese), the quantity of meat in the bowl was impressive. There was brisket, flank steak, tripe, tendon, meat balls, and what appeared to be small cuts of short ribs with big chunks of well marbled meat on them. Tons of noodles at the bottom. A huge bowl of bean sprouts, sliced jalapenos, basil and that saw toothed herb whose name I don't know came alongside, with a half of a lime to squeeze into my soup. This was a formidable tureen of pho, by anyone's standards. I ate most of it accompanied by a Cafe Sua Nong, or Iced Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk. Grand total for this indulgence - $9.00 before tip. All the items I saw go past destined for others tables looked delicious. I'll be stopping by here again to investigate more of the diverse menu.

Sam: Our Utah State Liquor Stores only carry Rittenhouse at about $12 or one may special order Van Winkle Family Reserve, 13 years old @ $29. No Wild Turkey Rye available. Any thoughts on either of these? Thanks, Bill ← The Van Winkle is awesome stuff. Hard to find here in PA, don't know about NC. If you're a rye fan, this one's a good one. ← Thanks, Katie. I look forward to seeing you in Raleigh! Bill ← Same here!

I don't know that there are dead "zones" here in Philly, many of these spots are next to or across from very successful establishments, but I can certainly think of a couple of cursed restaurant spaces over the years. The corner of Passyunk & Bainbridge that used to be an old bank was briefly successful as Pompano Grille, back around 1995-96, but it failed eventually under the ponderous weight of the owners' greed and stupidity and so has everthing else that has followed it. The space at the Northwest corner of 17th & Spruce has been a black hole for every restaurant that's been there. And although it seems to be reasonably successful now as Positano Coast, the second floor space on the little triangle across from the Ritz theater at 2nd & Walnut has been at least a half dozen different incarnations, including a Mongolian BBQ joint that I still miss, because it was the only one of it's kind in Philly.

Me too!! Philly crew is planning a late Saturday afternoon arrival so we'll be set to play prep cooks again and peel 'taters, mix drinks or whatever else is required. I don't know if I'll miss the comraderie that was forced by the design of the "old kitchen". I kinda felt like family by the time that first evening was over with all the squeezing by and rubbing up against one another.

Sam: Our Utah State Liquor Stores only carry Rittenhouse at about $12 or one may special order Van Winkle Family Reserve, 13 years old @ $29. No Wild Turkey Rye available. Any thoughts on either of these? Thanks, Bill ← The Van Winkle is awesome stuff. Hard to find here in PA, don't know about NC. If you're a rye fan, this one's a good one.

I've seen more than one Rodent Of Unusual Size whacked with a broom or mop handle until no longer able to complain about the abuse.

Make ahead dips like hummus or baba ghanoush. All that needs to be done on party day is to warm and cut up some pita bread. Make ahead phyllo wrapped appetizers like mini spanikopita. Freeze them and then pop into the oven that day.

I had dinner at Periwinkles my last night in Ocean City a few weeks ago. It was lovely and the food was delicious. The signature escargot were some of the best I've had in quite some time. Pasta dishes were also excellent. They dealt with children very well and the service couldn't have been friendlier. It isn't four star dining by any means, but I was very impressed with this homey little place.

Agreed. I tried the Yellow Plum the other night and it was delicious. I also tried the Blueberry-Thyme and it was outrageous.

Can I just say that I want Angelina Jolie to play me in the film.... The main page of Minor Gourmandry is accessible, but trying to click on any ctegory thereafter gets you the "Page Not Available" error.

OK - I just started weeping, again. Damn. Like you, Greg, I just can't think of anything that expresses the depth of my sadness at this news. If news of any kind of public memorial service becomes available, please post it here as I'm certain many of us would want to be there. If anyone knows Bob's family, please let them know about the outpouring of condolences here. I would hope it would be a small comfort to them. Godspeed Bobby. If any of us has the good fortune to touch as many lives as you have, we'll be fortunate indeed.

Jonathan: Thanks so much for checking in with us and taking the time out of your busy schedule to keep us informed about the upcoming/incoming selections. We'll all be eagerly anticipating the arrival of our favorites, as well as some new wines we'll look forward to trying. I'd be delighted to try and host an eGullet Chairman's Selection wine dinner somewhere. I'll e-mail you and we can discuss the logistics, which I'm certain you're far more familiar with than I am. Sounds like a great time and I'm certain I speak for the others that haven't had the pleasure of meeting you that it would be an honor to break some bread, raise some glasses and have an opportunity to chat up close and personal.

Suzy: Both of my grandmothers had insulin dependent diabetes, so I'm somewhat familiar with the lifestyle/dietary changes your daughter and family are in for. The technology for testing, self-medication and treatment are so much more advanced now than when my grandmoms were still alive that it should be a *relatively* uncomplicated transition. Yes - it will be challenging, mostly for your daughter, however these days diabetics can lead an entirely normal life because everything is portable and easy to handle, and much less invasive and painful than it used to be. It'll be a nuisance for a short while and then will become so routine it shouldn't even take a second thought. ((((hugs)))) to you and your brave daughter. Remind her that there are plenty of folks in her shoes, some of whom are professional athletes, actors, politicians, etc. No reason this has to be a big issue, other than the usual precautions taken to keep things in check. My thoughts are with you and your family as you accustom yourselves to the new challenges ahead.

And please don't forget to tip your bartenders and waitresses...

A dear friend of mine (and former roommate at Penn with whom I shared many Koch's sandwiches) is the editor in chief at Family Business Magazine. They're in the midst of working on a story about Koch's Deli and received a phone call on Monday from Bobby's wife saying a treasured family photo of the elder Mr. and Mrs. Koch with Lou and Bobby was on it's way FedEx. Apparently this photo was one that Bobby kept on his treadmill to motivate him. Bobby's wife also mentioned that he had passed that morning. Hopefully the story will appear in the autumn issue of the magazine on schedule, but in memoriam. RIP.

My assumption is that a restaurant declares 100% of what's included as a tip on the credit card slip, at the very minimum. ← In the 21st Century if a restaurant tries to declare credit card tips but not cash tips, the IRS will come down on the establishment like a ton of bricks. There may be a little wiggle room left on the cash side of things, but the days of pocketing all the cash tips and declaring none of them are over. ← The paper trail created by the credit card slip leaves neither the restaurant nor the employee much "wiggle room" in terms of declaring those tips. However, most servers have to tip out bussers, food runners, bartenders, etc, so they aren't really seeing every dime of that tip that's on their receipt. I suspect that may be why many servers declare little if any of their cash tips, because they feel they're already being forced to declare monies that don't necessarily end up in their own pockets. I've solved this problem in the past by tracking the actual tips paid to each employee each shift, and then paying them as a lump sum on their paycheck each week. They may wait a week or two to see that money, but they aren't being credited for monies not genuinely going home with them either. Makes their taxes a bit easier to handle each year and they don't end up owing the IRS a big chunk of change every April 15th. In a restaurant that is primarily a credit card establishment, it's easy enough to show that 90% of your revenues come in the form of credit card bank transfers (that you are then paying service charges on) if one were to get audited.

Happy Birthday Luckylies! Your boyfriend is indeed thoughtful, but I wonder if he banked on being the beneficiary of some of your fine cooking if he provided the proper tools... I use my pressure cooker for pot roasts and such, and for stuffed peppers. I just made a batch of stuffed red peppers a couple of days ago and am still enjoying the leftovers.

My blood ran cold when I saw the title of this thread. I started crying as soon as I saw the photo of Bobby behind the counter. That's two Koch brothers gone far too soon from bad hearts. Their hearts were as big as Montana, though. Both Lou and Bobby would greet you with a big "Howya doin'" and a joke. Always genuinely happy to see you, always bantering with the customers, always handing out samples of cheese and deli meat to pass the time on the long line. After Lou died I couldn't bear to go in to Koch's Deli for a very long time, just because I knew how sad it would make me. When I finally gathered up the gumption to go back in, Bobby greeted me with a "Hi Katie. How ya' been? How's your mom?", as if no time had passed at all. They always remembered your name, no matter how long it had been since you'd been in, or how regular a customer you were. Legions of customers will be devastated by this news. The tiny shop is literally wallpapered with letters from former Penn and Drexel students and former neighbors that never forgot Koch's, no matter how far away they moved, or how much time had passed. It's that kind of place. Godspeed Bobby. You were one of a kind and will be sorely missed.

OK, OK. I didn't realize this woman was that serious. But I still think we have to be there to watch. I'll post in the ISO thread and see who else wants to go play at the tomato fest.

Ohmigosh! Mrbigjas, Tom or Herbacidal would be considered formidable competition. I've seen these boys put away some pie. I was planning to attend the Tomato Festival anyway that day. This could be some good incentive to go!

Warm welcome to cjtst11!! Come out and play more often, please! Since you live so centrally located you must tell the rest of us in PA about your favorite downtown restaurants. Looking forward to meeting you (and the Mrs.) at a future event...

Sam: I think we discussed this before too. It's all about the target market for "consumer" vs. commercial neutral spirits. Frat boys dont care how harsh the Everclear is because well, sugary powdered drink mixes can mask a lot of evil. If there were more of a demand for high quality consumer available grain alcohol, it would undoubtedly be available. Why not make the buck on something so cheap and readily available? I love the idea of using a pomace based grappa rather than grain, but the end result would definitely be different. Just as Charbay vodka has that lovely underlying fruitiness from being produced from grapes, I suspect the end taste result from any infusion using grappa would be similarly influenced. Actually, many times in the production of distilled spirits, the "heads" and "tails" of the run are discarded. I wonder if such a thing is rebottled during the production of fine grappa and sold much the same way as pure grain alcohol is sold here in the US? Research required....

Divina: The microplane is superior because it removes the yellow part of the peel only, with no white pith at all to turn the mixture bitter. It also cuts the yellow-only peel into little tiny shreds that infuse better because far more surface area is exposed to the alcohol. More surface area = more oils in the finished alcohol. I talked about this upthread. I prefer the 100 proof vodka because it gives a smoother end result. I've found the grain alcohol is just too harsh (for me) in the final product, no matter how dilute. It's just "hot" and unpleasant to drink. This is my opinion only, and of course others' mileage with grain alcohol may vary. I also do as ScorchedPalate suggests and dilute with "regular" 80 proof vodka after infusing. Just my preference.

Glad you liked it, CoolPapa! And also happy it arrived intact. It's pretty rich and gooey, but it really is divine, on several levels!