KatieLoeb

Paul: I'm on the e-mil list and look forward to each newsletter. Anarchist's prophecy is an understatement. The mad ramblings of a brilliant, but lunatic winemaker is more like it. It would make even the Unabomber feel upstaged by contrast.

The Cigare in the 'Cigare Volant' label is actually a Flying Saucer IIRC. The Big House wines, with the photo of the knotted bedsheets coming out of the penitentiary window is a classic example of the odd sensibility at Bonny Doon. Bonny Doon has some of the best marketing and labels in the business. And unlike most of the other cleverly labeled products, the wines can stand up to the scrutiny as well.

Rich: When is that Old Forge Road trip being planned for? Are we holding out for warmer weather or some other criteria? Since the last Pizza Club was a road trip to Trenton, is it possible to knock off one more local trip (East of Broad St? Center City including Lombardi's and Mamma Palma?) and then perhaps do Old Forge in April? I'm now quite curious about this rectangular cheesy version of pizza, having had no exposure to it yet.

A friend of mine just came back from LV and said that Bouchon was his most disappointing meal while in Vegas. He said he found the menu and the food quite ordinary and uninspired. Service and wine list were excellent, the rest, not so much.

Tommy: I used to think that too. In fact, before I'd ever had a Tuna Melt I thought the idea of warm tuna salad was nauseating. But now I really like Tuna Melts alot. Perhaps it's because I make them the way I like them? It's not something I order out often. In fact, hardly ever order it out. Anybody ever try this with Chicken Salad? Seems like an obvious lateral move, but I don't think I've ever seen it done. How odd...

On topic, but slightly tangential -- anyone but me fond of a Tuna Melt?? I love a good tuna melt sandwich and find that it's one of those things one can make at home even better than the local diner can. Pretty plain tuna salad (water packed, mayo or Miracle whip to moisten, diced celery and/or carrots, bit of Dijon, squeeze of lemon) on good rustic whole grain bread, or rosemary focaccia with copious Dilled Havarti cheese on it. Open faced in the toaster oven or quickly shot under the broiler. Yeahhhh... Heavenly comfort food!

It's not dealcoholized wine. It's Pinot Noir juice. But it's about as close to "wine methadone" as you'll find in your present condition. Navarro Vineyards The gewurztraminer juice is delicious too. No suggestions for the single malt scotch, I'm afraid. Perhaps that should wait a few months.

I really wasn't going to blow my own horn, but I added a recipe for "Sephardic Charoset" to the eGRA last year. The Perlows were kind enough to upload a picture for me of the version they made to accompany the recipe HERE My problem is that I always make too much. But then I end up giving away containers to all the friends that are celebrating so it works out. Katie, that looks good. I'll have to keep it in mind for when I do my prep. How would the standard concord grape work? B: I'm sure the standard purple concord would be identical flavorwise, but it "stains" the fruit and doesn't look as attractive when finished. The white concord just looks cleaner and is a bit less messy when whirling it up in the processor to get the last of the sticky stuff out of the bottom. Since I'm inevitably a mess magnet, I steer clear of unctious deep purple heavily staining beverages when I know I'll be having at least four glasses of wine.

I really wasn't going to blow my own horn, but I added a recipe for "Sephardic Charoset" to the eGRA last year. The Perlows were kind enough to upload a picture for me of the version they made to accompany the recipe HERE My problem is that I always make too much. But then I end up giving away containers to all the friends that are celebrating so it works out.

I have two Screwpulls that I'm fond of but rarely use. My "always-in-my-purse" corkscrew is a curved stainless steel waiter's knife that feels really good in my hand, is well balanced, has a very sharp foil knife and is ergonomically correct for either right or left handed people. Being a southpaw, I really appreciate that. I have one of those lovely expensive horn handled jobs too and it looks better than it functions in my opinion. My favorite type of corkscrew is a standard waiter's knife with a hinged lever portion that allows you to start with the "shorter" part and then switch to the longer lever once the cork is started out of the bottle. Works like a charm on those long corked German and Alsace wines and rarely trashes the cork unless it's really disintegrating already. In which case the cork will break or turn to dust no matter what you're using.

A second from me on the Domaine Barmes-Buecher. And Ostertag had a Gewurztraminer last vintage out that was to die for. I don't see it in my current portfolio from the vendor, but that might just mean that particular wine didn't make it to Pennsylvania this time around. It was textboook Gewurz - floral and fruity. All rose guest soap and canned lychee nuts. I wasn't sure whether to drink it or dab it behind my ears. I think I ended up drinking it!

How terribly sad. I shall send his son Fred III a condolence note. There's a veritable bourbon dynasty in that family, and Booker was a big part of it. His contributions to the industry will be his legacy.

The reservation book is opened two months to the date ahead of the desired reservation date. So if he wanted to book a table for June 15th, it wouldn't be accepted before April 15th. Getting through to actually *get* the reservation is the hard part. Phone line is CONSTANTLY busy, so it's best to use a phone with a "redial" button on it. And even if you do get through, the day might already be booked solid if you aren't one of the first callers of the day. The only way I got a reservation for my honeymoon was to have a wine purveyor friend of mine to get a friend of a friend's hairdresser's uncle's third grade teacher's son's ex-girlfriend-who-was-also-Chef-Keller's-ex-girlfriend to intervene on our behalf. Or something like that.

These are all good suggestions. The toasting trick is one I learned from Chef Robert DelGrande of Cafe Annie fame. I called him when I was developing my Turkey-Black Bean-Chorizo chili recipe (it's in the eGRA HERE) and he explained a lot of interesting chile pepper factoids to me. One was the toasting process. Another was to either use fresh chiles OR dried chiles in a recipe, but not to mix the two. Another was to use the blender rather than the food processor to get better texture on my flavoring paste. This all makes more sense if you look at the sequence of techniques in the Chili recipe and read the blurb I included before the recipe. I also created a recipe for a Mexican Chocolate Bread Pudding that has cinnamon and Ancho as the main flavor components. Chocolate and chile is an awesome combination.

Funny! Good to see another Motown fan with a punny sense of humor.

I still think she's running the fine line of offending people if she uses PhoKT, or if the conservatives are hip to it (oxymoron??), even Mo' Pho. There's no doubt that some "Church Lady" type is going to make a stink about it. Could it beeeee....SATAN!!! Perhaps KTPho along the lines of Ruth's Chris Steak House? I still stick with my original suggestion of What's Pho Dinner. But only if they aren't open for lunch too. If they're open for lunch as well I'd have to go with What the Pho is Your Next Meal Gonna Be?

Welcome to eGullet and the PA forum! Looking forward to your continued participation. I tried that meatball escarole soup when I was there a few weeks ago and it was awesome. I compare Buon Appetito to eating Sunday supper at Nonna's if Nonna were a professional chef! The staff was very kind and myself and two dining companions enjoyed our dinner very much.

What's Pho Dinner?

I'm particularly fond of the reference to the Spongemonkeys as "Spokespests".

My first catering gig ever I wore uncomfortable shoes. I was crippled for days. Learned a valuable lesson. Investment in the footwear is key.

That commercial totally reminds me of a bad joke about wisdom. There's an old bull and a young bull looking down at the pasture. The young bull says to the old bull, "Hey - howzabout we run down the hill and f*ck us one of them cows?" The old bull looks at the young bull and shakes his head. "No son, let's walk down the hill and f*ck them all..." Sorry - to stay on topic, those Spongemonkey things, or whatever they are are BIZARRE. They look like hamsters with false teeth! And they can't sing and English is obviously NOT their first language. What's up with that? I'm not getting the connection between the bizarro creatures and the sandwiches. Or is it just me?

Rich: Y'know, I'd never thought of it that way, but you're quite correct. This is a major SANDWICH city. Dang - there' a whole mess of good stuff between bread out there!

What's the difference between a cheesesteak and a cheesesteak hogie? I thought hoagies were the same thing as subs. By the way, as a DC native I vote against surf n' turf and half smokes. Hoagies are cold with sliced meats and cheeses, lettuce, tomato and mayo or oil and vinegar on them. Grinders are Hot like a meatball or chicken parmesan sandwich. In fact, I think it implies the whole sandwich has gone into the oven for a few minutes, not just that the filling is hot. A Cheesesteak is a Cheesesteak, and a Cheesesteak Hoagie has lettuce, tomato and possibly Mayo on it as well, like a cold hoagie would. A cheesteak, to quote the Bard, by any other name, would taste as good!

Hi Larry: You couldn't be better situated in terms of number of restaurants within a six block radius from your hotel (although I thought the Rittenhouse Square Hotel was a Sheraton, not a Radisson). Right on the Square is Lacorix at the Rittenhouse Hotel, Smith & Wollensky steakhouse, Bleu (now owned and operated by the Sheraton), Devon Seafood Grill (excellent pots of mussels at the bar) and of course my own place of employ, Rouge. Within a couple of blocks you could be visiting Brasserie Perrier, Sansom Street Oyster House or Pasion, all of which would be excellent choices for a nice dinner. The Nuevo Latino menu and and especially the ceviches at Pasion are top notch, and definitely something unique. Service is first rate as well. Chez Colette at the Sofitel has a lovely menu as well, although I have only had the pleasure of lunch there, it was very nice. If you really want to try something innovative, I'd suggest securing reservations at Matyson, a fairly new and truly excellent BYOB on 19th Street (37 S. 19th St. 215.564.2925). I had a lovely dinner there just this past week and was utterly impressed with the level of creativity of the menu and the level of service. There's a Pennsylvania State liquor store right around the corner at 19th & Chestnut Streets where you could pick up a botlle of wine for dinner and not have to schlep it too far. Only complaint is the restaurant tends to get a tad noisy, but if that doesn't bother you too much, it'd be worth putting cotton in your ears to go enjoy the food. I had a Lobster Salad with Golden Beets and a Vanilla-Saffron sauce that was probably the best dish I've had in ages at Matyson, and I'm making reservations to go back for my birthday in a couple of weeks. The restaurant's menus are available at their website HERE. Feel free to PM me if I can be of further assistance. The Flower Show is a great event and there's so much to enjoy in this city I expect you'll have a wonderful stay.

Lou: How about moving that marvelous restaurant of yours to Philadelphia? Seems the local Zagat editor is more fair-minded than his NJ counterpart, and there's no shortage of hungry and appreciative diners here.