KatieLoeb

Unfortunately, I have to agree with this statement. It goes for Mother's Day and Father's Day as well. I positively avoid going out on those nights/days simply because everywhere is overbooked, overwhelmed and understaffed it seems. This year, going out Friday the 13th or Sunday the 15th might even be slightly better options. It appears that everyone that never goes out at all, simply HAS to go out on Valentine's Day proper (probably to save their relationships that are suffering under the ponderous weight of never taking their sweeties out any other day if the year ) and it just turns into a circus. It's kind of like New Years Eve being "Amateur Night " for the drinkers. That said, I'd second the votes for Danube (the Klimt walls! All gold and cinnabar red! Gorgeous!), Aureole or Cafe des Artistes for romantic spots. Any of these would make the proper impression, and hopefully garner the results you're after . Yikes! Chocolate Soup?!? Be still, my lustful chocoholics beating heart... Alacarte is so dreamy...

I've had luck and raves with a savory cheesecake. It's goat and mascarpone cheeses with a layer of pesto and a layer of chopped sundried tomatoes in the middle. Just a little wedge'll do 'ya. It's rich without being "heavy" if that makes any sense. Very tasty too. Let me see if I can find a link to the recipe.

Aw, but sip or two of Louis XIII and you'll understand the fascination/love affair. *sigh* Beans: A excellent suggestion, but very cost prohibitive. Last time I checked a bottle of Louis XIII was about $1150/bottle! You are paying for that exquisite Lalique crystal decanter it comes in...

I like the expense account reference! And to clarify what Chris Holst said: V.S. (Very Special), Sélection, de Luxe. The youngest spirit of the assembly may not be less than four and a half years old. Often the spirits are much older. V.S.O.P. (Very Special/Superior Old Pale), Réserve... The youngest spirit in the assembly for VSOP's, also called Reserve Cognacs is between four and a half and six and a half years old. Napoléon, Impérial, Hors d'âge, Vieille Réserve, X.O. (Extra Old) All terms like Napoleon, XO or "very old" are assemblies of spirits that are at least six and a half years old. However, most Cognacs are well above this minimum imposed by the regulation. Some of the most prestigious names assemble spirits that are each at least dozens of years above the minimum required. So this explains the price tag, I hope Tasting requires the same order as wine tasting. 1) Visual inspection for color, transparency and viscosity. No cloudiness or sediment. 2) Olfactory inspection (swirl & sniff) for primary and secondary aromatics. 3) Taste small sip, hold in your mouth and evaluate the "taste" (acidity, bitterness, softness, etc.) and evaluate the "feel" (body, weight, warmth, astringency, etc.) The tulip shaped glasses do seem to be the vessel of choice for this process. Some of my favorites are the Hine (Rare & Delicate, Antique or Triomphe), the Ferrand Ambre or the Kelt Tour du Monde which travels the world on the deck of a ship before bottling. Supposedly the "rolling" travel in the oak barrels will develop and smooth the cognac as it did in the days of seafaring freight and before bottling at the source became more popular. I wouldn't know if that's true, having not sampled the "un-voyaged" spirit, but I do know it's REALLY smooth & tasty!

Not that you're a twisted individual or anything. And not that there's anything wrong with that... Andrew you are truly the most aggressively niggling bad influence of all of them. And I love you for it... "Some Saturday" would be fine in three to four weeks, as well as when it's warmer as you said. I just started a rather restrictive diet and don't wish to sabotage myself any further than the already planned trip to China 46 will allow me to do. As an aside, are the "Winter" crabs at Bonk's flown up from the Gulf of Mexico? The water there gets pretty damn warm and makes for high bacterial counts, not an appetizing thought . There is some truth to that "Never eat an oyster in a month without an "R" in it". Perhaps a little investigation prior to committing to the "Food Poisoning Special du jour" would be a good idea

So Revenge/Return/Redux of Rib Run it is? Name your date and throw down the BBQ mitt!

So does this mean the Moussaka-for-the-Masses Gary and I made for the Bobolink Farm potluck wouldn't have gone over with "regular" folks?

Well then. Thanks Amanda!

Absolutely, but I could never put it into words like you do! Amen.

No. There's a chemical component of the grass that is classified as a "hallucinogenic agent" or some such nonsense, and hence is treated as a controlled substance, much like cocaine or heroin. The only bottle I ever tried was a bottle from Poland gifted to me that was "smuggled" in their luggage. It is delicious!

My thanks as well to Jim Dixon for the original suggestion, and to everyone else for their refinements. I did this last night for the first time and it was absolutely delicious. I just separated the head into florets (cut in half if still large) and drizzled with cooking EVOO, sea salt. a little garlic powder and fresh pepper. Tossed into a 400 degree oven for about 35 minutes, stirring it up every eight to ten minutes to coat with oil and seasonings. Delicious. And I definitely understand whomever said it "tastes like there's cheese on it!" A new staple in my home, for sure.

Must. Find. Shaker's. I suspect your bright eyed and bushy tailed start the day after has a lot more to do with your age and metabolism (versus mine, of course). Thank you everyone for the drink refining suggestions. I still think if it were done properly, the cracker crumb rim could work, but the other suggestions are excellent and either applicable to this particular recipe or certainly others in the future. I like the spiced turbinado sugar idea! That could definitely be interesting. I'm also thinking that the moisture providing ingredient around the glass rim could be a liqueur rather than a juice. For instance, a Caramel Apple Martini could moisten the rim with Frangelico and then dip into red turbinado sugar, rather than do the finely chopped nuts I've done in the past. Might be a whole lot more manageable. My bartender friend that I just had brunch with suggested using just a tiny splash of Licor 43 and a bit more Sprite (or sour mix depending on how sweet the end result was) rather than the vanilla flavored vodka for the Key Lime Pie drink. Cost comes down and you're not using two different brands of vodka in the same cocktail.

You don't "build" the restaurant from the ground up before every shift. This is deflecting the point. No-shows are a "contollable" business risk for a restaurant, as much as is controllable by confirming reservations in advance, taking credit card numbers, charging for illegitimate no-shows, etc. (BTW - I do believe that legitimate, documentable cancellations should be handled on a case-by-case basis as was already suggested.) Ditto. See my prior posts and above. Again, is it so much to ask that the customers show the bare minimum level of civility and common courtesy and call to cancel within a reasonable time frame? Would ANY business person in ANY industry not be upset at clients that blow off meetings, don't show up for scheduled appointments, etc.? And it doesn't just waste the restaurant's time, it wastes tangible assets (food goes to waste) and prevents the restaurant from maximizing their ephemeral offering (a seat TODAY at THIS meal at THIS time). Quite right, and precisely why these measures are necessary. As for charging the single diner for two covers, changing the subject or providing a satirical example isn't furthering your opinion. At least with anyone that carries it past the first step of logic. If a restaurant wishes to control that issue, all they have to do is set a policy whereby large parties or single diners are not seated at "prime time" on the busiest nights. Diner is free to make reservations elsewhere if that is unacceptable to them. This is what I'm saying...

That's noble and extremely understanding and kind of you, but in this city and many others, it's common practice to charge for "no-shows". My apologies if I offended you. I certainly didn't mean to disparage anyone or any particular profession. This goes for the doctor's office as well as the masseuse as well as the rent-a-car as well as the hotel room. I simply used that example as a group that often will charge it on the flip side of the coin and then bitch and moan when they are at the receiving end of the charges. As does the restaurant. The "grace" period is usually 20-30 minutes without a call. If you call and tell us you're stuck in traffic or the babysitter is late, we'll hold your reservation as long as is humanly possible provided you've made us confident that you really are still coming. You've self-defined as "a considerate person who always honors their commitments". You're obviously not who I'm talking about. Then again, you're also obviously the exception rather than the rule. I disagree strongly with this statement. It sounds like a value judgement that simply "feeding" someone isn't as "important" as providing transportation or shelter. Restaurants that are in such demand that these things become an issue, are spending lots of payroll money to have reservationists on staff to call clients and confirm reservations several days ahead of the fact. Of course there are last minute emergencies, illnesses, etc. but I just don't see how this is any different than not making your plane flight or not showing up for your hotel room. You'd certainly expect to be charged in those circumstances, would you not? Neither the airlines nor the hotel industry are operated as charities. Is there any reason that restaurants should be? What makes the business risk of an airline or hotel more "legitimate" than that of a restaurant? If anything, the large airlines, auto rental agencies and hotels can far better afford the no-show than a restaurant that doesn't have deep corporate pockets and huge streams of revenue. Is it really asking so much to have the very lowest level of common courtesies adhered to?

You boys are all a very bad influence.

You go, girl! And it was great advice, but do you think that's what your mom had in mind? Definitely makes my introduction to coffee story pale by comparison. I drank coffee so I could have "grown-up" breakfast with my dad. I had a great big cup that had a wee little bit of coffee, a whole lot of sugar and a whole lot of milk in it starting when I was about three or four years old. It was sort of like drinking heated melted coffee ice cream, but I loved it. Over the years I've cut down on the sugar, and if necessary can drink it black, but it must be sweetened just a bit or I can't do it.

Thanks Beans! I was afraid the graham cracker crumb rim on the glass might be a bit over the top, but then again, that's what makes for specialty drinks, n'est ce pas? Ohmigosh! I didn't even know they had those other flavors! Gotta call my sales rep first thing Monday morning!! The lemon could be lots of fun to play around with. I'm seeing lots of lemonade variations, or maybe "pink lemonade" with a tiny splash of pomegranate juice? Yummy! And the Ruby grapefruit has lots of potential as well. I'm thinking those might be a bit more "summery", but I guess it doesn't really matter if folks are drinking mojitos in the dead of winter, right? Can't wait to go check these out as well. The pastis isn't really up my alley, just because I'm not fond of licorice flavors. In fact, the very scent of Ouzo and Sambuca make me gag. But again, since there's outdoor cafe seating facing the park, the illusion of the Cote d'Azur or Paris might work! I'm right there with 'ya! This would be at least as interesting as any of the wineries I visited last time I was there. I don't think I'd plan any other stops for that day though.

Two bits of advice. Find an honest and hardworking financial person to handle your bookkeeping, payroll, pay your taxes, etc. that has done it for a restaurant before. There are all sorts of little nuances to the restaurant business that make the bookkeeping slightly different, and could certainly be learned, however if it isn't something YOU are already familiar with, then you need someone who is. The other thing is make certain your beverage costs are being carefully watched for waste, theft, etc. by someone who knows what they're looking for. I've seen restaurateurs almost be robbed blind before they realized what was going on. I know someone that lost close to $250,000 before discovering the glitch in the POS software that allowed the bartenders and waitstaff to ring in items, be paid for them and then make the checks "disappear" with no trail at all! The staff had already obviously discovered it themselves. The beverage department is where you stand to make the most money. It's also where it's easiest to lose it!

Yes I did. There's now one of these: on the back of my car...

I've always been of the belief that Gefilte fish is just a delivery system for getting the horseradish to your mouth without eating big spoons of horseradish on its own. You'd never eat the Gefilte fish plain! Eeeeewwwww... Same thing goes for escargot. If we didn't look silly drinking the Garlic-Herb-Pernod butter out of a rocks glass, we'd never eat the erasers it comes with!

Am I sensing a short run down the road to Fuji, now that you've discovered the best sushi is practically in your backyard?

I finally got a chance to try the Charbay vodkas for the first time yesterday. YUMMMM! Very tasty stuff! The "unflavored" base level vodka is definitely in the Eastern European style of having some peppery flavor, as opposed to NO flavor, which seems to be the super premium target these days. Not hot, but just cooling in the mouth with the slight pepper notes and a nice heavy mouthfeel for a water-like liquid. The Blood Orange and Key Lime flavors are delicious. I ordered both of the flavors and am working on a couple of funky cocktails to showcase them to best advantage. I'm thinking of a "Key Lime Pie Martini" with the Charbay Key Lime, a bit of Stoli vanilla, a tiny splash of Sprite, rim the glass with Roses Lime juice and crushed graham cracker crumbs, garnished with a flower shaped lime wheel. What do you all think? And then something called perhaps a "Sicilian Martini" (where blood oranges are from and as opposed to a "French Martini") with the Blood Orange Charbay, a splash of blonde Lillet and an orange zest curlicue. Both vodkas have a lovely tinge of color to them that will look appropriately chi-chi in a birdbath glass and smell astonishingly good. I can hardly wait for them to come in so I can start to "play"!

Ah yes. The beets at Dmitri's. Fabulous. Did you try the sugar snap peas in tomato sauce with crumbled feta on top? My other favorite vegetable on their menu and something I invariably order when I'm there, along with the beets and the grilled octopus. If vegetables tasted like that all the time, children would eat them .

I LOATHED beets when I was a kid. Thought they tasted like dirt. A summer course on the French Riviera and several weeks of Nicoise salads cured it. Now I love them!

Their website is http://www.vodkamag.com Thanks Beans! I've already signed up for e-mail notifications and will check the Barnes & Noble (located conveniently right across the street) magazine rack ASAP. Will the February issue come out in mid-late January as most publications do? I couldn't tell from the website when to start scoping for it.