KatieLoeb

The moussaka recipe that I use is sort of a compilation from both This Book and This Book. Unfortunately the Secrets of Fat Free Greek Cooking, belongs to a friend so it isn't readily available to me. The lower fat version of Bechamel sauce makes the dish less heavy with no noticeable loss of flavor. I highly recommed both of these books for anyone with a serious Greek cuisine addiction like myself. The real secrets to my Moussaka are to use half ground lamb and half ground beef, slice the peeled eggplants longways and brush with good fruity olive oil before baking, use Penzey's Vietnamese Cinnamon (very unique flavor), use real Greek Kasseri cheese as well, and make a couple of layers of the baked eggplant and ground meat mixture (like building a lasagna) before pouring on the Bechamel sauce. Sadly, I never had the sense to write down exactly what it was that SJ Epicurean and I did when we made those two big honking hotel pans of Moussaka for the 2003 Bobolink Farm Potluck. But I think the hints above are the ones that effect the flavor most.

hmmmm, new drink special at the SSOH? ← Oh heavens no! We garlic butter addicts need to keep it on the down low. The escargot is the perfect cover.

Having just itemized on my taxes, I'm guessing a failing nightclub is a pretty good write off. Oh I dunno about that. I've seen the hipsters and the goths spilling out into the street in front of the club many a night. This place is all of about 4 doors from my front door, so I have to drive right by it on my way home from anywhere. Looks crowded maybe one night per weekend. But that still can't generate enough revenue to be considered a success. Unless its successfully being a great write off as I suspected above. That could be interesting. I wonder if there really even is a chef anymore. I haven't seen anyone go in/out of the Bainbridge side "restaurant" entrance since I went through that door in 1982! I only see the club kids going in and out on the 2nd Street corner entrance.

Thanks Gary. The place was just lousy with beer geeks last night. And everybody stayed and had dinner which was super. Several folks came back for a return visit tonight, and the owner of Sly Fox was kind enough to stop by this afternoon with a couple of T-shirts for last night's bartenders that he'd gotten chummy with over dinner. Really nice.

Escargot ARE pencil erasers in garlic butter! It's a vehicle for getting the garlic butter to your mouth, much as gefilte fish is a delivery system for horseradish. It's so we aren't seen downing shots of garlic butter in public. I ate at Ulana's a gazillion years ago when I was a young and frisky Penn undergrad. I went on a very nice date there, with a very handsome and gallant young man. I recall the food being pretty good (note - I have no idea if the ownership has changed since then, but I'd be stunned if the same chef from 1982 was still there!) But moreso I remember the date being really fun because he was a professional dance instructor and a great lead, so we tore up the floor after dinner. It was a blast. Sadly, I was madly in unrequited love with my statistics T.A. at the time and couldn't really give the guy a fair shot. My girlfriends all thought I was nuts. Turns out they were right. It's a shame because if I knew then what I know now, I should have stuck with my date. <sigh> Definitely not one of my better decisions that still haunts me to this day. Alas, foolish youth.

Low smoking point, or what? ← Possibly. Mostly I think it just destroys the delicate flavor. Like you wouldn't heat Hazelnut oil either, right?

Guy: I've got Bass Ale and Sly Fox O'Reilly's Stout - Black and Tans made from both, Yard's Philly Pale Ale, Yeungling Lager, Stoudt's Abbey Tripple, Flying Fish E.S.B., Sly Fox Royal Weisse and Victory Prima Pils. I can also offer up some inexpensive Long Island Blue Points on the half shell at $5/half dozen and Cherrystones for $2.50/half dozen as well as orders of Popcorn Shrimp or Mussels Red or White for $5 at Happy Hour too. Happy Hour is 5-7 PM. Gotta have some good grub for the beers to land on, right? I'd be delighted to have some of the beer geeks in town for the Brewers Conference stop in. Tell 'em all to come! A few of the brewers/sales reps in town for the conference have already stopped by. The fellows from Rogue just stopped in on Tuesday. And I'll be in all day and all night Thursday- I'm closing, so come on over. Introduce yourselves when you arrive and I'll make sure the bar takes good care of you.

AzRaeL: Kumamotos are a fave of mine. Small, but packed with flavor, however subtle it might be. If you can find some Quilcene oysters try those. I think you'll like them. They're also rather delicate but quite flavorful. Like a breath of ocean air.

The latest of my mad science experiments has garnered a tiny blurb in today's Philadelphia Inquirer: Lookee Here Sadly, I was absent when the photographer came to take the accompanying photo. There's a bit too much cocktail sauce in that Horseradish Oyster Shooter in the photo. It should only be a tiny dollop. The horseradish flavor comes from the slow infusion process, not the ketchup and vinegared prepared horseradish in the cocktail sauce. There's also a small batch of house infused Horseradish Tequila for the truly daring. The flavor profile of horseradish (sharp & earthy) seemed a natural for the infusion. Imagine an Oyster shooter of Horseradish tequila followed by a wedge of lime sucked between your teeth. Quien es mas macho?

Carswell's Cucumber Salad recipe was the very one which I would have typed out myself. A classic that's served in Austria much like a Tossed Green Salad is served here, without a second thought. It's ubiquitous and delicious. Promise me that under no circumstance will you attempt to heat or cook your Pumpkin Seed Oil (kurbiskernoil from Styria). That would be the equivalent of making mulled wine from a bottle of Chateau Margeaux! This stuff is meant to be served as a garnish in smaller quantities - like a shaving of truffles or truffle oil. Do not destroy it by heating it up. Use it in the Cucumber Salad recipe. Make a vinaigrette from it. Drizzle it over cold cuts or head cheese as is done in Austria. Drizzle it over a Butternut Squash Soup. Just don't squander it. It's a wonderful artisinal product that deserves the respect one should show to something so carefully crafted. The strong nutty flavor should be used in the same way other fine nut oils would be utilized. The health benefits of Pumpkin Seed Oil have long been touted as healthful for skin, digestion, heart disease, joint function, arthritis and cholesterol control. I can think of far worse and less tasty ways to get my daily dose of Omega fatty acids. Spoonful of Cod Liver Oil, anyone?

And indeed, it was your personal recommendation that convinced me to detour our group dinner to Rising Tide. We'd already been to Lee How Fook before, so your glowing praise had me convince the rest of these intrepid gourmands to change locations after all the plans had been laid. I really enjoyed everything - mistaken dishes be damned, and I'd certainly go back another time to further explore what has to be one of the most extensive menus in Chinatown.

The addition of Estia to the Greek resto scene here in Philly (on the site of the former Toto and opening sometime later this year) will be a welcome one. I've not been particularly impressed with the Greek cuisine here other than the Church Ladies at the annual festivals (at St. Georges and in Cherry Hill and Elkins Park), which are a pilgrimage that I look forward to each year. Athena Cafe, which is the best I've found, out in Glenside, has been the pinch go-to prior to seeing a show at the Keswick Theater. But not a place I'd be heading out of my way for otherwise. There hasn't been any really high end quality Greek cuisine in Philly since Chef Theodore's closed forever ago. I miss the scorch marks on the ceiling from the flaming cheese dish - "Saganaki Opa!"

Wow - sorry I missed this event, but alas, I was working. I know in addition to the PhilleGulleteers in attendance was my good friend, Beer and Wine Geek Extraordinaire, Marnie Old. We both rushed back to town today after attending the Women in Wine event at the Borgata in Atlantic City (report to follow) yesterday - I for work, and she for the Brewer's Plate event. Sounds like a good time was had by all and the food and beer pairings were well constructed. It also reads like a parade of my former employers and/or "products-I-know-and-sell" either in the past or present tense!

You're the third person to mention this place, which I think is the record for any single establishment on this topic. My further recollection is that Magnolia was more reasonable than Cafe Nola. So what exactly did it in? if i remember right, and i think i do, it was done in by the owner of the building drastically increasing the rent. ← Having worked with the former owner of Magnolia, that is indeed correct. Same story he told me. Actually I think it had something to do with the original landlord passing away and the landlord's son doubling the rent with virtually no notice and no opportunity for negotiation.

Agreed. That's why I take the tone that I do regarding this. If I had a nickel for every Assistant that told me her boss was an irresponsible asshole I'd be rich. They obviously never ate at my restaurant. If it was over 90 days I'd explain that the receipts had been archived off premise and it wouldn't be possible for me to access it any longer without the actual check number that I could recreate off the POS system. All true and usually got them to leave me the hell alone.

Splitting a check onto two or more cards is less difficult, particularly if you've merely said, "Put half on each card", or put "$65 on the Amex and $45 on the Visa please." You've done the work. My issue is with folks that come in and expect the waiter to solve their trust issues with their co-workers, NONE of whom are expensing the lunch or turning in the receipts, they're just too damned lazy to do the math themselves. But really the biggest issue is that EVERYONE'S service suffers while the tedious task is being carried out, more often than not for folks that have no legitimate excuse other than sheer laziness and selfishness. As former Controller of a high end restaurant, I fielded 3 or 4 requests weekly to track down a credit card receipt for some dumb schmuck that had lost it before the expense report was written. The call was ALWAYS placed by an Administrative Assistant - never by the individual that had lost the receipt. Many times it was MONTHS after the fact.

Mojito was my pick for most refreshing and possibly new fave flavor at Capogiro. Minty and very lime-ey with a subtle hint of rum in the background. Quite comlimentary to the Thai Coconut Milk gelato that was my other scoop. But I'm still awaiting the return of Pineapple-Mint sorbetto and Honeysuckle gelato in the summertime. Moscato D'Asti floats await! I tried Philadining's scoop of Olive Oil gelato and found it quite tasty, but definitely savory as opposed to the sweet treat one normally expects when ordering dessert. If that's kept in mind, the Olive Oil flavor might not be so jarring I think.

Irwin: Thanks for your support on this. Sometimes I feel like all I can hear is my own voice echoing through cyberspace. If someone has a legitimate reason for requiring a separate check like an expense account or whatever, then whatever they ate can be rung onto a new check, the check printed, and then all the items voided off. Or another form of receipt can be provided I suppose, like those little tear off thingies on some restaurant checks. But unfailingly more often than not, it's about the customers being lazy and refusing to do their own math. Sometimes I eat less than my friends, and sometimes I eat more. We almost always split the check and just deal with it because it all works out over the grand scheme of things. I've had customer call for reservations for groups of say 12 persons, and I always suggest that we provide them with a limited menu that's priced per head so that the check can be split evenly at the end (after tax and an 18% large party gratuity has been added) and most importantly so that the host can enjoy themselves as well, without having to play accountant or referee for the nickel and diming bullshit that inevitably follows this sort of "coworkers-that-don't-really-like-or-trust-each-other-but-are-eating-together-to-pretend-they-do" sort of gathering. I mean really, does the entire restaurant have to suffer because these fools can't handle a simple lunch check?? Sheesh. It's preposterous. How's this for a novel idea. Just ask the server to print out ten copies of the same check or even copies just for the folks that are actually claiming the expense?? Circle what you ate and have your secretary do the math. No one with an expense account ever does those reports themselves anyway. Hand it off to your lackey and don't fuck up my dining room when I'm slammed at 12:50PM during lunch, or in the middle of the dinner rush at 7:45 PM on a Friday night. At our DDC dinners we specifically try to go to BYOB places. If not, we have a cash bar so that those who are drinking have no chance of doing so at the expense (literally) of those who are not. Works just fine.

Not so. Those are really old rumors. New resident of the former Avenue B space will be Ted's Montana Grill, Ted Turner's steakhouse chain. Opening in the fall according to Michael Klein's Inqlings column of 3/6/05. A good thing too. A bajillionaire with deep pockets like Ted Turner is the only person I could think of to afford the obscene rent in that location. Last I'd heard it's in the neighborhood of $40K/month!!!

Precisely - you can split one big table into individual checks after the fact (slowly and tediously) but you can't ring in Table 10 - Check #1, Table 10 - Check #2, etc and have the system combine all of table 10 onto one ticket that goes back to the kitchen. But opening and ringing in ten checks from the start is still more time consuming than starting just one check and ringing everything onto it at once. Our system (a recently updated Micros that I hate) has touch screen capabilities to choose and move each item. It still takes longer than I'm comfortable having a staff member not attending to their other customers and letting their food pile up on the line while they're hunting and pecking at the screen.

The problem with separate checks is that the folks that want them expect all their food to come up at once for their large table and in a timely fashion. The only way to accomplish that is to ring everything onto one big ticket so the kitchen knows it's all the same table and has to go out together. Then the waiter has to use the POS system to open nine more blank checks and move each food item and each beverage onto each new check. Then print them out, one by tedious one. If that even takes one minute per customer, that waiter has now been off the floor for ten minutes tying up one of the terminals and ignoring their other customers and preventing their coworkers from using that terminal to order for their customers. It's an enormous pain in the ass and an inconvenience for every single other customer and staff member in the restaurant except for the priviledged party that can't seem to split a check without squabbling over pennies or add up what they've eaten, include a reasonable gratuity (err on the side of generosity) and leave the money.

Have small attractive decanters in various sizes into which to pour 3 oz., 5 oz. or 7 oz. servings of wine. Have fine stemware that you could stick your head in and have plenty of room to swirl in. Train the staff, train the staff, train the staff!!!! Program your POS system to reflect each individual size pour of each individual product (including the flights!) or your inventory control will be a nightmare. You can then figure out exactly how many ounces of each wine you've poured and convert to bottles. Otherwise you might as well not take inventory because stuff will disappear and you'll have absolutely no means of keeping track of it, or of calculating your costs. If you'd like to come visit Philly for research I'll give you a personal tour of one of my favorite wine bars, Panorama. 120 bottle cruvinet in about the drop dead sexiest room you've ever seen. My favorite grown up bar in the city and possibly anywhere else as well.

Davio's woulda been my first bet too. Or any of the steakhouses. Capital Grille has a Veal Chop on the dinner but not the lunch menu. A call ahead might secure one at lunchtime.

Andrew: If you turn right onto Snyder Ave. from Colombus then right again at the first little strip mall it's right there behind Famous Dave's.

At my restaurant, two sides are included with every entree from a list that includes baked potato, French fries, rice pilaf, cole slaw, potato salad, Pepper hash, pickled beets, stewed tomatoes and veg du jour. If a patron doesn't want the sides we have a "- two veg" button that deducts (I think) $1.50 from the check. It isn't printed on the menu (and I'm not one for encouraging patrons to make an end run around the kitchen or the restaurant's menu, or God forbid, find new ways to be cheap), but for those that ask, we're happy to do it. Perhaps this is an alternative you could offer and have the servers tell those customers that seem concerned about portion sizes. You can always tell when the skinny little old blue hairs with the hummingbird metabolisms start by asking "How many shrimp come with this entree..."