KatieLoeb

I haven't tried the "La Violette" Viognier, but if it's anywhere near as good as Colombo's other wines I shall make an effort to seek it out. I love me some Viognier!

Oh My!!!! The Gary Regan article says the Pear Martinis are the perfect pairing with Oysters! Wow! I may be forced to buy some Belle de Brillet for my restaurant now!

Sam: Sherry-Lehmann carries it at $34.95/bottle. They also have the Maison Brillet Pineau des Charentes at $17.95. Both products are absolutely delicious and the cocktails were phenomenal! I tried a few cocktails made with both of these at the tasting I first was introduced to the product. I think I still have the recipe booklet at home. I'll look for it and report back later if I find those cocktail recipes. Might be sooner rather than later if this snow doesn't let up!

It makes a very tasty pear Kir Royale. Just a splash into some Champagne and Voila! An instantly delicious brunch beverage. I think this could make an amazing Pear Sidecar variant as well.

I have reservations for next weekend for my birthday dinner with a few friends. Looking foward to it. Buckethead - thanks for the update and seating advice!

Would they have a variety of dried chiles? New Mexican, Guajillo, Ancho, Mulatto etc?I need to find a good source in Philly or SJ since I don't travel as much to california anymore. ← Yes they did. Several kinds dried and three or four fresh as well. Definitely had fresh jalapenos, chile de arbol, serranos and poblanos (I'm thinking chiles rellenos soon!). Fresh tomatillos, nopales, RIPE avocados, limes, etc. Great canned stuff and good seasonings and such. I bought this delicious Pico seasoning that is sort of a Mrs. Dash type blend with dried lime/lemon juice. It's delicious on cooked vegetables. I can't wait to try it on buttered corn on the cob.

Bring it on Chris! We'll give you the guided tour of the local houses of worship!

Duck season! Wabbit season! Duck season! Wabbit season!.... Sorry - I go all Loony Tunes whenever I see the words Duck Hunt. Being another sucker for the "if-there's-duck-on-the-menu-I-will-surely-order-it", I'm intrigued by the description. I don't remember the restaurant on South Street but the location you mentioned on Arch sounds vaguely familiar. I remember wondering to myself which Thai restaurant was there first and how pissed off the owners must've been when the second guy opened right on the same block. King of Siam also sounds vaguely familiar too, but that might be a Braodway reference in the back of my head. Maybe if you call Chef Kamol Phutlek at Nan and ask they might know. He's been around forever and would surely remember the competition from back then. Whether or not he remembers the dish in question is another story, but could probably give you a lead or two.

Hi Evan!! Welcome to eGullet. I hope you'll join the fun and post your tasting notes and finds as you try your purchases and do more wine shopping. I did about $200 worth of damage on my stop at 12th & Chestnut the other day , but luckily some of the wines are for upcoming group dinners and such so I won't be bearing the burden solo. Picked up some St. Francis Nuns Canyon Reserve Cabernet, St. Francis Behler Merlot Reserve, Ravenwood Teldeschi Zin, Saintbury Pinot Noir, and the aforementioned bottles of La Reve. Only one I've had time to crack open and try yet was one bottle of the St. Francis Behler Merlot Reserve. It's quite concentrated with big cherry aromas and lots of mocha like notes in the finish. Unfreakinbelievably tasty stuff for $12.99. Drinks like a $40 bottle for sure. Highly recommended before it disappears. It's drinking great now but will surely be fine and improve for the next several years for those of you with appropriate storage.

Hey Rochelle: Looking forward to hearing all about your (obviously) well fed girls. Do they know how lucky they are to have such a well trained professional taking care of their dietary needs? What's the food like at the other sororities? I'd think Zeta Tau Alpha would be a popular place to rush because they've got a CHEF!

Anywhere on Calle Ocho for a Mamey Batido. I'm so jealous. Those shakes are the most delicious thing ever! Yuca in Coral Gables was excellent last time I was there, but admittedly that's several years ago so I dont know what the current state of affairs is.

Valdivieso from Chile makes excellent and value priced Cabernet and Merlot. In fact they're my house pours of those types at the moment. From Alsace, Hugel or Trimbach are readily available and make fine Rieslings and Pinot Gris. For Burgundy, Louis Jadot is a large negociant, widely available and value priced. I'd also like to suggest Syrah/Shiraz as a varietal that ought to be included. There's too many examples from too many places to ignore it as a varietal. Rhone or Australia, but it ought to be covered. I'd suggest Jean-Luc Colombo's wines for fine examples of Rhone syrah. The Syrah "La Violette" is incredibly reasonably priced for the quality and has all the lovely aromatics one would expect from good Rhone syrah. For Shiraz I'd try to find Wolf Blass or Hardy's Stamp. Lindemann's and Jacob's Creek are easy to find but a bit over produced for my tastes.

The Bonny Doon wines are readily available everywhere and are varietally true. Their Pacific Rim Riesling is a great example of riesling, if not a German one. Ravenwood Vintner's Blend wines are all good "entry level" example of their sort, Chehalem Vineyards or Erath Vineyards both produce nice Rieslings and Pinot Gris in Oregon that are excellent examples of their type and Saintsbury Garnet Pinot Noir is great wine. All are within the price parameters you mentioned.

Your best bet is probably SSOH's happy hour. Then you can supplement the special with whatever other oysters you like. What kinds of seafood aren't available in Charlotte? ← Thanks for the plug, Herb. Hazardnc, tell your SO to feel free to ask for me when he stops by here. I'm in every day except Saturdays. Happy Hour is 5-7PM daily, including the weekends. Which dates will he be in? The week of 3/14-3/20 is The Book and the Cook, a city wide event pairing cookbook authors from all over with various restaurants here in the city. It's a fantastic event for foodies, so if he's here that week he could really have a great time and possibly try some foods that might not normally be available to us natives either. Let me know if I can help any other way.

The food at Bistro St. Tropez is wildly inconsistent for a regular diner. I have attended two separate private functions there and the food was fine, quite good in fact. Perhaps they perform better when it's a set menu rather than random orders coming in off a larger menu? I've been told Patou is very nice but haven't seen the space or eaten there yet. It's the same chef in both places. Since most of these folks are from out of town, I'd go with Bistro St. Tropez for the gorgeous view over the Schuykill. It's pretty spectacular at night.

There's Marrakesh for the fairly trad set-menu multi-course thing. it's just off of South Street, pretty easy to get to. Only a few blocks away on South 2nd street is Fez which was quite good the last time i was there, although for some reason I haven't been back for a couple of years. They do a multi-course set diner, or you can just order a la carte. But if it doesn't blow his per diem, I really like Tangerinewhich is not traditional, it's more Moroccan-influenced fusion cuisine, although they make a heck of a tagine. ← I've consistently found the food to be better at Fez, than at Marrakesh, so if a Morroccan stop is required I'd go there. Tangerine is a bit more like eating in a trendy opium den, but the food is very good, if not as traditional.

Welcome Butterfern and elicious! Not sure if they can stay within budget, but The White Dog Cafe has several dining rooms, some of which would be appropriate size for your group. Tough to do on a Friday night when the restaurant could undoubtedly turn the seats your group is in twice in the time it takes for your discussion.

Thanks Deidre! As a result of having the handy dandy search feature, I just had two bottles of the Domaine Carneros "La Reve" put aside for me to function as my birthday bubbly next week! Woo-hoo! I'll scope out what else is already in stock at 12th & Chestnut when I go to pick those up and report back.

Since I never have time to shop or bake, I'll go for the best in season fruit I can find and some good cheeses to compliment. Or a bottle of dessert wine if I have one lying about. It doesn't have to go with dessert. It can be dessert.

Excellent! Send Stan my best and tell him I'm still waiting for him to start posting here at eGullet!

Hey all: Wandering about in South Philly recently I stumbled across La Jaroncita (I think that's right) at Wolf & Swanson streets, down by the Forman Mills, etc. Great little store that has all manner of inexpensive Mexican groceries and packaged goods. A boatload of hot sauces, canned chiles en adobo sauce in about six or eight types, fresh chiles of several varieties, plantains, fresh avocados, fresh nopales, tomatillos, several fresh Mexican cheeses and small packaged drinkable yogurts in tropical flavors. Full line of Mexican juices and sodas. Great household goods too, including at least six varieties of Fabuloso cleanser (the lavender smells heavenly) and a few others to boot. All is inexplicably inexpensive. And the first time I was there, the guy behind the counter gave me one of his tamales for lunch! They were awesome but I couldn't get him to tell me where they came from. Definitely a find.

Just to crow a bit I'd like to add that Sansom Street Oyster House got a mention in the Grace Tavern article as well (actually the article was about Po' Boy sandwiches) and a really great mention for John Uglesich of Uglesich's rstaurant in New Orleans. Mr. Uglesich will be our guest author at Book and the Cook this March 19th. Tentative menu is looking pretty tasty.

Clairvoyance is a wonderful quality...

I'm sure the Schuetz Oles "Esther's Reserve" is not what's being offered by the glass anywhere I can think of. The "entry level" Zin is what's getting poured by the glass. But since that is so well made, I can only imagine how delicious the reserve level stuff is. Next time you stop by SSOH, I have a new Verdicchio on by the glass that ought to be tasty with whatever you're ordering. Ask the bartender or your server for a taste.

Craig LaBan's Farmicia Review from today's Philadelphia Inquirer. Bob, if you're fond of the Schuetz Oles Zinfandel they ought to still be serving it by the glass at Rouge as well. I don't think that will ever come off the by the glass selections there because it's so popular. It's very tasty wine. Unfortunately, I can't put it on here at Oyster House because it's a bit cost inneffective for me. Too pricey for me to keep it in line with my other glass choices. I do have a lovely Zinfandel from Castle Rock as an alternative for next time you drop by.