KatieLoeb

Are you looking for grab-n'-go takeout for lunch back at the office, or a sit down experience for the weekly raw fish fix? Those are kind of two different things. For the quick lunch I recommend Asahi (?) on the North side of Chestnut between 15th & 16th kind of across from the Staples. Their sushi is quite adequate for to go stuff and their bento box lunches are a bargain. You get miso soup, a salad, a few little sides and your main dish request (I love the Salmon Teryaki) for like $7. Genji is good for sitting at the bar. I like Kisso probably best of the ones you've mentioned for a real sit down at a table type dinner in Center City. But I'd likeliest be heading over the river to Fuji for that anyway. I don't tend to do much "take out" sushi from the better japanese restaurants because I'd rather eat it fresh, pristine and unrushed at the source.

Aha! The Mystery Houseguests revealed!

Skip Sagami - head to Fuji. See other threads in this forum for details.

Had a lovely dinner at Otto last night following the Winebow portfolio wine tasting. Shared the Heirloom Caprese salad and it was delicious. The tomatoes were like candy and so colorful with red yellow and green all on the plate. Bufalo mozzarella was very sweet and lucious. Shared three different pizzas with two others - the Quattro Stagione, the Prosciutto a& Arugula and the Lardo. All were delicious but the lardo was just a bit too much. One bite would have sufficed as it's very rich and the sound of my arteries snapping shut was distracting for the rest of the meal. Shared a trio of gelati - Olive Oil, Ricotta and Pistachio for dessert. All were delicious but the Olive Oil was just sublime. I thought everything was of excellent quality, the wine selection was mind boggling and there are a lot of fabulous bargains on the list. Our server was extremely knowledgeable and helpful and service was very pleasant and professional. Otto is a bargain for an excellent dining experience and I'll certainly be back there. As an aside, Chef Mario was bolting through as I was checking out the bar. Said a quick hello to him and complimented him on having such a fabulous place. I think he was rushing off to Babbo around the corner, since that appeared to be the general direction of his hurry.

In a savory cheesecake. I've made THIS recipe for Mascarpone Cheesecake with Sundried Tomato Pesto for several parties and it's always a huge hit. It's absolutely delicious and the only downside is that there's never any leftovers.

Mike: Can't damn the whole vintage based on a generalization. The 2000 Howell Mountain fruit was great and so is the wine. And a steal at $24.99. Even if all indications point to a "bad" vintage short of a devastating drought or storm that effects everyone, there's always going to be a winemaker or two that can spin gold out of straw. Unless it's an investment of a great deal of money, you have to try try try all wines before passing judgement based on broad pronouncements. Besides, there are so many little pockets of microclimates in Napa, that even if the vintage was bad in one part of the valley, 20 minutes and 15 miles away could be a whole different story. Buy yourself one or two bottles and see if you like it. If it's to your taste then snap up the case before it all goes away.

Nancy: Looks like perch, sable or trout might stand in for carp. Check this link Fish Substitutions and see what is available to you.

I always recommend the Navarro juices as a non-alcoholic alternative for folks that can't or don't drink. Great to tide the pregnant ladies through thier pregnancies and allows tee-totaling guests to still toast and participate in celebratory meals.

Aw shucks! You guys are going to swell my head...

There's an interesting article in today's Washington Post that advocates cooking ahead for the holidays. The Caterer Takes A Holiday The yummy looking French and Moroccan recipes can be found HERE

Hey everyone: Seems that not only a trend, but an article was spawned from this thread. Today's LA Times includes an article by Charles Perry that expounds on the joys of Limoncello. Taste of Thousand Lemons I'm not sure if Mr. Perry left out the one lime I usually add based on his own experiments with the recipe, or whether it was an oversight. Nonetheless, credit was duly given to eGullet, so I'm very pleased.

Awesome!!! The fruit is so pretty! This is way way cool...

eBay is a great source for silly things like that. There are a couple of sets of them at auction right now for less than $10 HERE and HERE If you really want to go nuts then do a Search on eBay for "bottle +stopper +glass". It'll give you several thousand choices to weed through, but there are categories on the left of the results so you can narrow down to "Barware" and have an easier time of it. That ought to keep you busy for a while!

Chris: You've never been to George's sandwiches at SW corner of 9th & Christian next door to the pizza place??? Best Italian Sausage, Peppers and Onion sandwich known to man. And Tripe sammies too! There also used to be another sandwich place on the south side of Christain between 8th & 9th that had tripe sandwiches too. Don't recall it's name or if it's still there, but George's will do you fine. Kieran: Now you've got me jonesing for Koch's!! Damn - it's been way too long since I've stood on line and listened to Bobby's bad jokes. I even made up a sandwich that they'd always make for me. A "Katie Special" is Spiced Beef, Chicken Salad, Jarlsberg cheese, cole slaw and Russian dressing on a Onion Roll. Yeah!! Must. Go. To. Koch's. :drooling in anticipation:

Andie: That other one is so cool!!! You've definitely started what might become a dangerous obsession for me. Collecting Vintage Kitchen appliances!!! Just what I need to complment my vintage barware collection since the kitchen and dining room are ajoined..

That Deco sandwich iron is really awesome!! I love stuff like that. When I was growing up we had one that was similar in shape but not nearly as beautifully decorated. The top lid was completely hinged so you could get the top absolutely flat on the sandwich without messing it up, squirting out the insides or making the bread uneven. I wish I still had it!!

Well don't that totally stink!!! What pisses me off more is that the caterer swore to me they'd be happy to accomodate their client in any way possible. I hope it was a budgetary decision and not that they LIED to me. Cool venue though, yes? The best rolls are from Sarcone's or Cacia's bakeries, both local and wonderful institutions. The Amoroso's I mentioned earlier are the "supermarket" rolls we have down here, but they're still better than most of the bread I've seen elsewhere. Let us know your coming and we'll roll out the red carpet. I'll even fast in anticipation of showing you around

Why thank you!! It's so nice to hear that folks are enjoying some of the treats and places we often take for granted here. You've discovered the worst kept secret in the world. Philly has the best sandwiches on earth. If it comes between bread, the best one is from right here. Between the hoagies, the cheesesteaks and the Roast Pork sandwiches (which you'll have to have on your next jaunt down), we Philadelphians take pride in our sandwiches. It's all about the bread and the quality of the deli meats and toppings on it. We have an embarrassment of riches with great bakeries (Sarcone's, Cacia's Amoroso's - they're all good) so we have a pretty high standard. Glad you enjoyed some of the local flavors. Ralph's is a great choice for standard South Philly style Italian, and I'm certain was a really fun place for a rehearsal dinner, but there's a ton of other places to go for Italian, and many are BYOB, which is wonderful. The Constitution Center is supposedly very cool and interactive and I'm embarrassed to say I haven't seen it myself yet. Next time you're visiting give a shout here in the PA forum. There's plenty of volunteers for dining tour guides and plenty of advice for stops on your culinary adventure. Next time you just have to get to Chickie's for hoagies and Tony Luke's for a Roast Pork, Broccoli Rabe and sharp Provolone sandwich. They make a pretty mean cheesesteak at Tony Luke's too, so you can do double duty in one stop. For what it's worth, I'm jealous that you can go to Katz's whenever you want...

How about making a strong "mint water" the same way you'd (or at least how I make) minted simple syrup. For syrup, I place the leaves from one stripped bunch of mint into the blender and cover with hot simple syrup. Instead, cover with hot water. Hold a towel down over the blender lid and whirl everything up. Let it steep until cool and then chill overnight. Strain out the mint detritus the next day. Make your lemonade overly strong and oversweet and then "thin" it with the minted water. Or just thin it with a strongly brewed mint tea. It would be like a Half & Half lemonade and Iced Tea mixture which is always refreshing.

Roast Duck with a dry rub on it that has some spices that would compliment the spicy flavors in the wine.

I have a little bit left but haven't had the time or inclination to play with it anymore. Say what? No - I was waiting for you to get that damned container out of my fridge and do something brilliant that I could enjoy myself, not just ask you about it You're going to have to experiment in really small batches (like one small glass at a time) until you figure this out. Dumping out whole pitchers of experiments gone awry is going to piss you off. But the Grapefruit-Rosemary combo is definitely a good one. It might even have been a Capogiro gelato at one point.

<Ahem> I didn't know what to do with it either - that's why I gave it to you!!! Since it's way too strong I'd definitely thin it down with more simple syrup. Then it might be refreshing in Lemonade or Limeade or with Grapefruit juice or perhaps in Apple cider spritzers? Edited to add another idea...

Does anyone but me totally miss the "Oh-my-God-There's-PILES-of-Garlic-in-my-mussels" from Walt's? You'd stink for days but damn those mussels were good!

I love the pegboard that Julia kept in her kitchen, with the outlines of all the utensils and pans. Much like one might have in a garage or workroom. A place for everything. So organized and so pragmatic. Just like the lady herself.

For those of you that are sick of putting a bit too much of yourself into your cooking whilst hand grating the carrots I suggest using the shredder disk on the old food processor and then a quick pulse with the knife blade in to make the shreds a bit shorter. Works for me every time and I still have my knuckles and most of the day left to do other things.