KatieLoeb

What?? Youze got a problem with snark? sygyzy: When exactly are you visiting our fair city? Which days of the week will you be seeking to eat and which meals? A little bit more specifics would help us schedule your time more effectively, as some restaurants are closed on some days and not others. Certainly if you'll be stopping by Oyster House let me know when you will be planning to do so and I'll let you know if I'm working that day/shift. I'd be delighted to mix you up a cocktail and talk about the bounty of wonderful eats that our fair city has to offer. I agree with Buckethead about cheesesteaks (:ducks and runs:), in as far that I don't crave them either, think most of the hallowed places make awful ones, and that the Roast Pork Italiano is the really good sandwich you need to try while you're here. The advice to go to Paesano's is excellent. Get an Arista sandwich - their version of a classic Roast Pork Italiano and you won't be sorry. Any of their sandwiches are made of awesome. And that's in a town with a very serious sandwich culture. One place that no one has yet mentioned is Paloma, which is upscale Mexican cuisine made with French technique. It's still currently BYO until their liquor license kicks in sometime soon, but it's definitely a unique and delicious option, unlike any other restaurant I can think of. I'm certain you'll have no trouble eating well here. We do it every day. If we're not on the culinary radar yet, well, folks just aren't paying attention. I agree with Philadining. We're not a patient bunch, and if not getting the attention we richly deserve means we locals can get into our favorite restaurants without battling the touristas, I can live with that.

My fabulous Sous Chef came to me yesterday and said he had an abundance of gorgeous raspberries from our farmer. What to do? I suggested he make some raspberry shrub and give it to me to play with at the bar. An hour later I had a quart of delicious shrub made from two pints of glorious berries, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup Champagne vinegar and a splash of water, boiled and sieved to remove seeds. It's delicious! I had some in club soda with a splash of lime juice and it was like the best, most refreshing raspberry soda, EVER!! After a bit of mucking about, a cocktail was created that will be going on the menu later this week. I give you the Raspberry Point: 2 oz. VO Canadian Whiskey .5 oz. Raspberry Shrub .5 oz. fresh lemon juice .25 oz. Demerara simple syrup Dash Peychaud bitters Club soda .25 oz. Cognac Shake whiskey, shrub, lemon, simple syrup and bitters together and strain over fresh ice into a Collins glass. Top with club soda, stir and float cognac on top. Garnish with a lemon wedge and/or raspberries. The Raspberry Point is named after oysters that come from the northernmost point of Prince Edward Island, hence the reference to the Canadian whiskey as well as a sly nod to the restaurant. This drink is the perfect way to enjoy whiskey in a refreshing summer cocktail format. I'll post a photo as soon as the particulars are worked out. It's pretty as well as tasty.

So. Completely. Jealous. Wish I could be there with all of you. I'm living vicariously through the posts and photos. Nicely stocked bar, I might add! Must plan ahead to make it next year. This is way too much fun to be missing out on.

A splash of Cocchi Americano in a margarita sweetened with agave and served in a glass misted with Laphroaig single malt scotch is a good facsimile of a drink currently on the Oyster House cocktail menu: False Alibi Laphroaig in atomizer 2 oz. El Jimador reposado .5 oz. L'Alibi (a french aperitif wine similar to Cocchi Americano) .75 oz. fresh lime juice .33 oz agave nectar Long grapefruit twist Mist chilled cocktail glass 2X with Laphroaig. Add next 4 ingredients to iced shaker and shake vigorously. Strain into glass and garnish with grapefruit peel that has been expressed over surface of drink. Enjoy. Looks like this:

Why when they were standing there as the top three did no one speak up and throw his cheating ass under the bus? Is it possible they aren't entirely certain he cheated? With all the editing it's impossible to tell what actually transpired. But if he won that challenge with stolen pea puree I hope it haunts his nightmares for the rest of his life...

When I make lemonade at the restaurant it's 1 part juice to 1 part simple syrup then half of this concentrate and half club soda. But the real answer is until it tastes good to you.

Thanks J_Ozzy! Maple spirit was lovely too. But it was that crazy line up of bourbons that really put a dent in my day, LOL! Since my plane was delayed and I arrived a bit later than planned, sadly my aquavit wasn't refrigerated in time (aside: although I'd called my hotel in advance and asked them to put my package in the freezer when my flight got delayed in Cincinnatti. I can only imagine that they believed I was black market trafficking in human organs or something...) so when I arrived late and had to throw it on the ice, by the time it was cold enough to serve some folks had left. I ended up with half the bottle left over. Rather than see my handiwork get tossed down the drain I brought it back to my hotel and donated it to Chris Carlsson who was attending a vodka tasting with an unknown band of Swedes a couple of days later. I still haven't gotten a report back as to how it was received. Chris?? You out there? How'd the Swedes like the aquavit? I managed to make a Bloody Viking out of a bit of it before turning the rest over to Chris and the folks that tried that really loved it. It makes for a particularly savory and delicious Bloody variant.

I wasn't suggesting that Mr. Pacult placed the questioner in the audience, but clearly someone had an agenda. Whether it was another party that might own competitive brands, or even just the questioner themselves, there's little doubt someone wanted to see some fireworks and see Bluecoat get verbally crucified in a large format meeting. So maybe the problem is that there's a better way to state one's dissatisfaction with a product without leaving a scorched earth??

Many years ago I saved up my pennies and treated myself to lunch at Le Bec Fin. It was an epiphany. I remember my fish dish was a braid of salmon and sole, delicately napped with sauce. It was so beautiful I almost couldn't bear to stick my fork in it. I'd never seen food presented so artfully before. And that dessert cart! Oh. My. God. It was amazing. Soon thereafter I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Robert Bennett, the gentleman behind that dessert cart at the time, and he enlightened me as to what pastry chefs were really all about. That lunch helped to light a spark in me that later led to me changing careers to be in the restaurant business full time. One of my favorite indulgences is to occasionally go to Le Bar Lyonnais, the bar beneath Le Bec Fin, and treat myself to an order of their ethereal escargot, accompanied by a glass or two of the house chardonnay, which is always an excellent Burgundy. It always makes me feel so civilized and so very sophisticated and grown up. I had better do that more frequently in the near future, because I will miss that very much. My last meal at Le Bec Fin was in December of 2009. The induction ceremony for my chapter of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs was held there. It was a black tie formal affair, and the grandeur of Le Bec Fin was most appropriate for the pomp and circumstance of the evening. The dinner was spectacular. I will remember that evening fondly for the rest of my life. Chef Perrier is a frequent visitor to Oyster House. In fact, he was recently filmed at my place of employ eating oysters and lobsters and all manner of seafood by a French television crew for some sort of special about him and his restaurant. He is often accompanied on undocumented visits by some of his staff. I am glad he'll be keeping them employed at his new ventures. They're good people. Le Bec Fin will forever hold a place in my heart. Both for my memories of meals enjoyed there, and for its storied place in Philadelphia restaurant history and evolution. Without Le Bec Fin, there would have been no Pasion, Striped Bass, Amada, etc. and my resume would be a whole lot shorter. Many of my fine former and present coworkers would not have had the training that have made them a pleasure to work with. There are so many ripples of influence it's hard to pinpoint them all. Bon Courage, Chef! Le Bec Fin will be missed, but we will anxiously await whatever the future holds.

I am sorry about that. My impression was that it would be/had been taken care of. In my email exchange regarding the funked bottles, it was acknowledged that the corks on a particular batch of stoppers were the issue. Much like the occasional bottle of corked wine... Glad to hear it won't influence you, but that's not my concern. I'm not hysterical, just really puzzled. You're correct that a review in a geeky book that few are reading isn't really a big issue, but my real concern is that there was a room full of high end bartenders from all over the world that had paid good money to attend this particular seminar. This product was apparently damned with a level of vitriol that made virtually every person present that I knew/was acquainted with repeat the story to me and any one else that would sit still long enough to listen. I'd be surprised to hear that story about any particular product, given the descriptions I heard about the scene. Those Tales attendees are opinion leaders for spirit products, and that level of disrespect for a particular product seems rather out of balance with any other recommendations/cautionary advice for any other products being discussed or sponsored at the conference. An example I can offer up as an analogy to my discomfort with this is the June 2007 article in Food & Wine in which Editor-in-Chief Dana Cowin stated that there are no maverick chefs in Philadelphia (Shola Olunloya of Studiokitchen, Matt Levin formerly of Lacroix?), no destination restaurants (Amada, Morimoto, Le Bec Fin, the late Susanna Foo?), no decent wine lists (Panorama at the Penns' View Inn boasts the largest cruvinet [at 120 bottle capacity] in the world according to Guinness book of Records, or the lists an any of the previously mentioned restaurants?), no decent fresh ingredient markets other than DiBruno's (Reading Terminal is the oldest indoor farmers market in the country, not to mention the famed Italian market and the wealth of Asian markets here?), no decent cocktail scene (an extremely personal stake through my heart and the hearts of my esteemed colleagues behind the stick), etc. Really? Was any research done at all before the hatchet job?? When someone with that level of influence disses something out of hand, unfortunately people listen, because they're the "experts". With just a tiny bit of research, both Mr. Pacult and Ms. Cowin could have had better answers. Mr. Pacult could have simply called the distillery to see if there was a problem with any particular batch. He would have been told about the corks, just as I was. It strikes me as particularly absurd that not a single one of the overworked and underpaid interns/fact checkers at Food & Wine would have Googled "Philadelphia +wine list" and seen several results with Panorama close to the top of that list. Believe me, the Pacult-Bluecoat Tales scandal pales compared to the true hysteria that comment about "no cocktail scene" in Philly brings out in me. My point remains about "experts" making broad sweeping statements about anything, especially when they're addressing the opinion leaders in any given crowd, be they high end geek bartenders/mixologists or foodies with magazine subscriptions that are potential travelers to my city and/or potential customers in my restaurant. And there's definitely more than a little bit of local pride backing that up. Given the level of anger directed toward them, I'm glad the distillery wasn't bombed. It's a nice place run by hardworking, talented people. And I'll gladly take you up on that drink offer should you find yourself in Philadelphia. It's nice to be on the other side of the bar from time to time. We can taste test a bunch of gins and discuss it to death, but without dissing anyone and without unduly influencing anyone. How's that sound?

I thought I made it clear that I wasn't present for the incident in question. I'm basing my reporting of it on MULTIPLE re-tellings of the story to me from several sources at Tales. It was the talk of Tales, from my read of it. The words "unprofessional", "bashing" and "rant" were all words that were used by others to describe the scene to me. The way in which the question was asked made it seem like a plant. I'm hardly paranoid or a conspiracy theorist. This was exactly as described to me using the same words that were used to describe it to me. Not all of the people I heard talking about this were local Philly natives with any sense of local pride. It was very odd and I was stunned when I heard about it the first time, and even more so when I kept hearing about it from so many different people. In March of this year, when you posted about your "icky" bottles, I immediately forwarded that information on to Robert Cassell, the distiller at Philadelphia Distilling Company. He was very pleased that I'd let him know about the problem. My understanding was that he'd offered to replace your bottles for you. Did that not take place? Did he not follow up with you directly?

I simply have to add this amusing anecdote. In a recent conversation with Toby Maloney, he described St. Germain as "MSG for bartenders". That pretty much covers it, I'd say.

I dunno. There was an incident at Tales this past week that I only heard tell of (from mulitple sources), since I wasn't present at that particular seminar, but I understand this same rant against Bluecoat was carried out in front of a huge group of people, in response to a question that seemed to be asked by a planted audience member. I find it interesting that Mr. Pacult has to be so vitriolic in his bashing of products he doesn't like. Isn't taste completely subjective? If there's inconsistencies then point that out that way. No need to squash a small company that's trying to do good work. Bringing attention to a distilling issue is one thing. Making someone your whipping boy is entirely another. Smacks of unprofessionalism and a personal grudge to me. :shrug:

I don't know how rare it is, but I'm told by a Russian friend that the "Russian Standard" (labeling is in Cyrillic, of course) is what the Muscovite yuppies like to drink. He brought me back a bottle a few years ago. It was quite tasty, however it's vodka, so it doesn't really have too much flavor. It was pretty smooth though...

Hell yeah!! That's awesome!! Go Han...Go Han...Go Han! Dancing the happy dance for you Han! Way cool. Mr. Laban is definitely not so easy to please, so 3 Bells is seriously high praise. He was practically waxing poetic. Well deserved for both you and the staff. Does this mean we all won't be able to get seats anymore?

J_Ozzy: Those sound interesting. I'll be there too with a bottle of my house made aquavit (assuming UPS is on time). I'll swap you a couple of tastes. The maple eau-de-vie isn't the Sortilege, is it?? See you Tuesday!

Stopped by Paloma tonight to say hello to Barbara and Adan and wish them well. Ended up having a wee bite at the bar: I got there late enough that they were sold out of the Cesar Salad, so I had the mixed greens instead. And I also had this lovely crab, avocado and tomato appetizer. Everything was delicious! The interior of the restaurant looks beautiful and Barbara was her usual bubbly and gracious self. Great to see them get off to such a great start. I'm looking forward to dining there with an out of town friend and her parents next weekend. Thanks Barbara and Adan! Everything is wonderful and I wish you both the best of luck with crotchety POS systems, incorrigible clientele and all of the fun and games that owning a restaurant brings.

Sour Cherry Caipirinha. Standard issue with a splash of sour cherry juice from a carton, and a topper of a tiny dash of soda. Delicious.

Stopped by Monday evening to check out the bar, headed up by my good friend Preston Eckman. Tried one of the Logical Consequences - a gin and dill based cocktail that was both refreshing and challenging at the same moment. The space is beautiful and I love the cabinetry that's been built into a really neat back bar. Place is off to a fabulous start...

Seriously, the caipirinha might be the single best hot weather cocktail known to man. In fact, I'm going to go hit the store and get some more demerara right now so I can make one later...

No pictures, but after finding some lovely gigantic zucchini and fresh fennel at the Farmer's Market this morning, I made stuffed zucchini boats and roasted fennel for dinner. I sliced the zucchini lengthwise, scooped out the insides and chopped it up, added a minced onion, a couple of minced garlic cloves, two eggs, one half pound each of ground veal and Tuscan sausage from Whole Foods, shredded Asiago cheese, chopped fresh basil and panko crumbs and mixed it all together. Restuffed the boats and sprinkled with Parmesan and then dumped a big can of crushed fire roasted tomatoes over the top. Baked at 400 degrees for about an hour and it was delicious. Fennel was less successful as it became a bit dried out and stringy, even though I'd tossed it with some olive oil and balsamic before putting it in the oven. Next time I'll braise it...

The problem with this is that it seems, in theory at least, to be such a good idea. Except in practice it just doesn't work that way. I was in a Mojito competition a while back and was thrilled that my friend (a former sous chef I'd worked with before) who now runs and herb and flower stand, was at my local farmer's market with absolutely drop dead gorgeous Pineapple mint. He brought me a big bunch just before the competition. And for as aesthetically beautiful and gorgeously scented that mint was, once it was muddled it tasted like the clippings out of a lawn mower bag. I'm convinced it's one of the reasons I did so poorly at that competition. I have to agree with Sam. Spearmint is the way to go. Thai Basil is lovely in cocktails, and something I use with frequency, but not in a Julep. It does make for a nice variant of a Gin-gin Mule, however.

The French Pearl can go into the mint rotation. Ward Eight re-uses the rye and I suspect you'll have OJ in the fridge for breakfast, no? No need to bring something extra. If you're indeed planning on bringing some grenadine anyway (homemade only please!) you could make Ward Eights, Jack Roses and Monkey Glands. Now that you have applejack in the mix you can make Applecarts as Sidecar variants to illustrate that point. There are many many ways to skin this cat. You do realize that we now expect a fully annotated photo documentary of your cocktail seminars while on vacation.

KD1191 has distilled this down to the easiest approach. I like the list, too! Another idea might be to find a common added ingredient like the bitters and riff from there. Or perhaps use mint as an example: Mojito, Gin-Gin Mule, Julep.

I thought the same thing. In what parallel universe does an unsoaked bag of beans cook within those time constraints? They'd have had to be clairvoyant and started before the challenge was announced. Where's that psychic chef chick when you really need her?