KatieLoeb

Hi Katie - I'm getting down to actually planning travel for 2005. No reason you can't do Philly and Japan in the same year . I was looking at the Book and Cook website - and - although everything was supposed to be up by the first of the year - it isn't. Do you have a schedule yet? Robyn ← Robyn: No schedule up yet, but seeing as how I'm a manager "in-the-biz" locally, it's likely to cross my desk any day now. As soon as I know of any updates, I'll post back. If you're seriously contemplating the trip, I'd book the hotel now and worry about the dinner reservations later. There's always enough on the schedule that I'm totally confident you could find things to suit your taste on whichever nights you happen to be here. And there's always the usual array of great restaurants and BYOBs here that might or might not be part of the Book and Cook that will serve you a great meal regardless of the date.

Isn't that the space that currently houses La Boheme?? I remember Hog Island Hoagies. I only got there a couple of times but damn those were good sandwiches. Ranked up there with Chickie's on Federal for a great Hoagie. Different style, but still delicious. I miss that place.

aaaaaagghh!!! more foie gras!!! it's everywhere! when you find out that it's the reason that the capogiro gelato is so freaking good, just don't tell me, OK? ← Foie Gras is Soylent Green!!! It's everywhere! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!! The reason the Capogiro Gelato is so good is because it's made with love by people who really care about the ingredients and have no shame about charging for them Much as I'm fond of Foie Gras (despite Phil A. Dining's vocal aversion to it), I don't think I'd want to actually taste it in the burger. It just adds a bit of richness and je ne sais quoi to the burgers. Still taste like good beef, not livery. But it's wicked juicy and one of the city's best burgers along with Rouge burgers, London Grill burgers on English Muffins and Dark Horse/Black Sheep burgers. Those are all the best ones I can think of. I understand Capital Grill makes a mean burger too, but I haven't had one personally. You should report back as to which ones suit your preferences since you didn't really say what those stringent requirements were.

It was better when I was writing for the City Paper and had command over the table. Then I could taste everyone elses without having to share mine. ← Holly: No one is actually buying this Curmudgeon act of yours. Those of us that have had the pleasure of your company at meals know you're all bark and no bite...

No one has yet mentioned the "secret" of the Good Dog Burger. Not only is the lovely patty stuffed with Roquefort and then topped with carmelized onions, but they grind their own meat and put about 5% FOIE GRAS in with the top Sirloin. If it's cooked to no more than medium-rare and has the requisite toppings, stuffings and the killer mixed Sweet Potato and Yukon Gold fries on the side, you can't go wrong. Yeah Baby! That's a burger. They also do a discount for "in-the-biz" folks on Sunday-Monday-Tuesday if I'm not mistaken.

Sandy: My understanding is that there's a very active outpost of Hamburger Mary's in Provincetown, MA. At least that's the first one I'd heard about from some of my waiters in the know. That might explain the Gaydar going off the scale... Ah Fress - you're such an incurable flirt. Part of your charm for me. I'm still looking forward to your inaugural visit.

Since it had been mentioned on the other thread that there was no good Spanish food in New York, does that mean my favorite Spanish restaurant Sevilla's at 4th & Charles is not good anymore? Admittedly I haven't eaten there in several years, but I had always found it to be reliable and reasonable authentic, as well as a good value. The Paella was delicious and the Gambas con Salsa Verde (Shrimp in a deadly garlicky parsley sauce) was also one of my favorites. The White Sangria they serve at the bar is addictively tasty, and I was fortunate enough to have the bartender give me the secret recipe that I've made at home to much success on several occasions. If indeed my old staple has gone downhill, then I would certainly wish for an excellent Spanish restaurant, as it's one of my favorite cuisines. I'd also wish for more adventurous ethnic restaurants along the lines of Devi, that can introduce me to a familiar cuisine in a new and interesting way. Doesn't have to be dead-on "authentic", nor does it have to be formal or expensive. Just have me leave feeling as if I've learned something new. I never leave Katz's Deli disappointed.

Someone already beat me to mentioning Cuban Black Bean Soup. A definite favorite and great for cold weather. I like Turkey Noodle Soup better than Chicken Noodle somehow. But they're actually both good. Just as one can make a quick Cream of (Vegetable of Choice) Soup, I sometimes like to mix it up and do a Parsnip Soup instead of Carrot, or garnish with unexpected things like a drizzle of Pumpkin Seed Oil atop the Squash or Pumpkin Soup. A drizzle of Truffle Oil makes virtually any kind of soup tastier. Combinations with a favorite herb to accent a plainer soup are also a fave like Tomato-Coriander or Wild Mushroom-Rosemary. Floating a croute with a spread of goat cheese or toasted crisp with shredded cheese in soup can be yummy too. A crusty piece of baguette with Fontina in Mushroom soup is very yummy.

And you didn't call him on it when you came upon him doing such a thing? You are much nicer than I would have been in a similar situation... ← Carolyn: Thanks for saying what I was thinking. Sheesh! I'd have ripped the guy a new one. "Sorry Chum, the wine tasting is next week. Tonight we're here for a MEMORIAL YOU INSENSITIVE GOON!!! Or didn't the other roomful of sad and mournful people clue you in???" Mary - you are far kinder than I am as well. This kinda goes past my "he-can't-help-it" limits. I can shrug off that sort of "passive asshole" stuff most of the time. This crosses the line into "active asshole" for me.

Mike, you are now officially elected as President of my Fan Club! Actually, I'm hoping that the PLCB decides I'm too valuable to toil away in the Private Sector and creates the new position of State Aphrodite of Alcohol, or Potables Laureate of the Commonwealth. Whadda think? Am I still overmedicated or do I have a real shot here??

tisch: Not so sure about that. Since with the Limoncello your only trying to get the essential oils from the peels I don't think the sugar would help, in fact I think it would dilute the power of the alcohol to most effectively extract those oils. Certainly sugar works well to extract juices from fruit (i.e. macerating berries in sugar prior to eating them, etc.), but I think leaving the piths attached to the peels if you were to say, cut the citrus into wedges, would lead to a bitter end result. I think the sugar + alcohol mix would work better with "pulpier/juicier" fruits than it would with citrus. Of course if you try this method, please report back on your findings. And my thanks for the congrats.

Jason: I love the Gruet, and you could've knocked me over with a feather the first time I was told it was from New Mexico. "They grow grapes in the desert???", I said incredulously. Who knew?? I was actually introduced to it as the house sparkling wine at The Tasting Room restaurant in New York. They have an all-American wine list and the lovely FOH Manager Renee suggested I try a glass. I think it's one of the best domestic sparklers out there as well as an incredibly good value. Additionally the J sparkler, the Argyle Brut and the Roederer Estate are all delicious choices others have mentioned. The Domaine Tattinger "La Reve" is something I tried recently that really surprised me. About the closest taste to true French Champagne I think I've had from a domestic product. And the Chateau St. Michelle Blanc de Blanc from Washington in pretty tasty and Champagne-like for the price as well.

Assuming the message I've left for a reservation is picked up and accomodated, I'll be heading there next weekend with my Posse of Girlfriends for dinner and much wine drinking. Several of my college friends and other out-of-town girls are all hitting Philly to come out and play next weekend, so since the idea of having dinner at Marigold was so retro and approriate (as I mentioned upthread - the old Marigold was our idea of a super nice night out as bright eyed college girls) I thought it would be great to relive our foolish youth with bigger wallets, better taste and much better wine! I'll report back what I remember if all goes according to plan...

Well alrighty then! I'm as surprised as anyone by this turn of events and am delighted to be the driving force behind so many new limoncello hangovers from coast to coast. This is very a very cool thing though and I'm really happy everyone liked the recipe so much. I am duly humbled

Having spoken to someone that actually works in the kitchen at Washington Square, the inside scoop is that both Marcus Samuelsson AND his Chef de Cuisine were FIRED (in actuality the rest of their one year contracts were bought out) by Stephen Starr, who was very unhappy with the lousy press they were getting. I find it intersesting and quite curious that Mr. Starr is worried by the bad press about the menu when he has a internationally reknowned chef at the helm (at least on paper), yet will hire a bunch of models with absolutely NO serving experience whatsoever to be the FOH staff at his restaurant and dress them in "uniforms" that are so short they can't bend over to pick up a piece of dropped cutlery without mooning the entire dining room. To add insult to injury, the experienced male waitstaff that was hired to "compliment" the crew of models have been relegated to positions as busboys. Gee - that won't lead to lousy service and a resentful staff, will it? Style over substance yet again. When will it finally implode?

This comparison is quite insulting to the horse, whom, I might add, was a winner in his own right, at least for a little while.

The La Colombe Monte Carlo decaf blend is about as tasty as one could hope for for decaf coffee. It still has a relatively deep flavor profile and doesn't taste watered down or "stripped" like a lot of decaf coffees do.

I just got off the phone with 12th & Chestnut. There's 17 CASES of the Lancaster Red.!!! I'm gonna stop and pick up a few bottles on my way home tonight. Woo-hoo! Merry, merry...

I'll add a couple at the far southern end of the state: Fuji - Cinnaminson Tortilla Press - Collingswood Le Me Toujours (RIP) - Marlton The Black Swan - Mt. Laurel Nunzio's - Collingswood And of course: DiLorenzo's for pizza and Tomato Pie - Trenton

And his deciding to line his pockets given the opportunity surprises you because of what, exactly?? High profile restaurateur from a nearby commutable distanced city approaches you and offers you a six figure deal to be a "Consulting Chef" (whatever the hell that actually means) at his latest project, you can put in minimal face time and get all the credit for the hard work that others are doing in your absence and get all the glorious press that comes along with that and further your reputation in yet another urban center. You'd turn down an opportunity like that? I dunno. I think the bags of cash with minimal expectations attached to it sounds like a pretty sweet deal that most folks could only dream of. I'd be happy to commute to New York once a week and play "Consulting Beverage Director" for six figures if anyone's interested.

Samuelsson and Starr have parted ways as reported in Michael Klein's column last week. Read All About It Mr. Starr's latest trick seems to be getting New York "celebrity" chefs to take Amtrak down to Philly one or two days per week as "Consulting Chefs" for whatever the new project du jour is. They're there for the photo ops and to write the menu, but not around for the day to day operations as they're usually expected back at their restaurants in New York for service. Usually there's a Chef de Cuisine who's doing the heavy lifting and getting yelled at about the exhorbitant food costs in their stead. The Philly press wasn't too kind to the menu at Washington Square (Craig LaBan called the Starr-Samuelsson collaboration "disappointing"), so I suspect it'll be changing once the dust settles.

YAY!!! I'll be calling and asking the store manager to hold a couple of those for me ASAP. Thanks for the heads up!

I availed myself of the free shipping deal and ordered up a couple of bottles of the Cakebread wines (1 Cabernet and 1 Sauvignon Blanc) as well as a couple of the Newton wines and a few odds and ends that looked intriguing and were listed in the Chairman's Selections. I just received the e-mail today that they were already delivered to my local store, a scant two days later. Awesome customer service!! I am duly impressed. Now that I know the Cakebread is coming to the 12th & Chestnut store I might have to pick up a couple more if I can get there quick enough!

I have seen these beautiful opalescent glass pickle ornaments before and never knew the story. How cool! Makes more sense now.

My comments were more general to the chemistry of food and wine pairing than specific to your salty clam crisis. That does sound horrifically nasty though. My mom always put live shellfish in a bucket of salted water with a bit of cornmeal sprinkled over the top of the water for at least half a day or overnight . Her theory was that the little buggers would feed on the cornmeal and "cleanse" themselves a bit so it got rid of the sandy grit problem too. They are pretty low on the food chain and do have a rather rudimentary digestive system so this might be true. Then again my mom was superstitious too, so there's no telling whether there's any truth to this or whether it's simply another tale from another old wife.