KatieLoeb

I bought a bottle of this for New Year's Eve and was delighted with how rich and delicious it was, particularly for the price. A very sourdough toasty nose and a flavor of yellow Delicious apples and minerals. Mmmmmm... I'm going to pick up a few more to hold onto. It's currently on sale in PA for about $27. One of the very few advantages to the PLCB is their bulk buying power. Around New Year's every year the higher end Champagnes can be had for even less than they're usually priced in NJ or DE, where almost everyone close enough bolts over the border to purchase wine & spirits.

Chairman Kaga is the Liberace of the foodie set! I think we need Carson from Queer Eye to help him update his wardrobe to some 21st century costuming, dontcha think?

I agree. There are several sparkling Loires that provide great value. I generally find myself buying non-Champagnes. Bruce Totally in agreement with this. Last night we had Baumard Cremant de Loire Carte Turquoise, a delicious sparkling Chenin Blanc that easily could compete with many of the better domestic sparkling wines. And blow the doors off a lot of the Cook's, Korbel and Tott's and such. About $12/bottle. Damn good stuff for the money. I always had a Cremant d'Alsace (Barmes-Buecher) available by the glass while Striped Bass was still open. Everybody loved it. I often have this at home as well. I always try to keep a bottle of something reasonably priced and bubbly (Cremant d'Alsace, Prosecco, etc.) chilled in the back of the refrigerator for spur of the moment celebrations. You never know when a friend is going to call to say they just got a promotion or something, and it's nice to be ready to play gracious hostess with little to no notice.

I just started Lamb:The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. This book fills in the gaps in the other gospels and covers the life of Jesus Christ's "missing years" as seen and told through the eyes of Levi, aka Biff, Jesus' (he's called Joshua in the book) childhood best buddy. This book is hysterically funny and quite possibly blasphemous to the true believer, but well worth wiping the tears from your eyes and the belly aches you'll get from laughing out loud. And to keep this food related - I'm not quite there yet, but I presume there a chapter or discussion of The Last Supper. A little taste of dialogue from the book HERE

Tim: For Latino markets there's also El Mercado at 1751 North Front Street in Kensington. Nice article about it HERE. Over last summer, they sponsored jazz concerts on Friday evenings that were awesome. Market has a couple of produce vendors (one that makes an absolutely awesome home made Sofrito) and a few food vendors. Cute little market and well worth a trip. I'd be happy to show it to you some time when you're off.

Tim: Thanks for the gracious offer! I hope to be getting out to the 'burbs to hang with a few friends, but if I get stuck at work later than I expect (not like that ever happens ) and don't want to be on the road too late (I positively HATE driving on New Year's Eve - it's amateur night!) I might just take you up on it! I'm right there with you about the work required in this crazy business. I was just having a chat with one of my former co-workers (and now a good friend) this evening and she was saying just about the same thing. Her theory is that people in the restaurant business have a much better work ethic than the average "9 to 5er" because they HAVE to, and after a certain point it becomes a real point of pride or you just don't last. I think that makes sense. You have to really want to work the long thankless hours and put up with a pay scale that is far below many other industries to stick it out. I was in an interview recently and I was asked why I liked doing what I do. My reply was quite blunt. I said I could probably make twice as much money being a cost accountant or corporate financial officer for a mid-sized widget manufacturing company, but that I have no passion for widgets as I do for food and wine. My interviewer looked surprised, but I hope understood what I was getting at. You also touch on one of my earlier point as well. There are no A- grades. Either you "get" what the HOSPITALITY industry is about or you need to find new employment. It's all about approaching the customer with a "what can I do for you?" attitude as opposed to the flip side. Anything less is just plain lame and unacceptable, not to mention incredibly unhospitable. I also understand your frustration regarding the customers that just dont "get it". I had a lengthy rant here on eGullet at one point when I was keeping a foodblog a few months back about a group of people that were in SB for a Chef's Table. I spent quite a bit of time working on the menu and wine parings with the chef and the guests turned out to be complete Philistines that got trashed at the bar before their dinner even started. I totally understand how you felt about the "duck-is-ham" customer! If I don't get to meet you tomorrow, my thanks again for the invite and I'll definitely take a raincheck I'll be happy to cash in soon. Have a great New Year's and don't work too hard!

Why, Katherine, why did you have to post that?! Now I have one more "unbelievably cool thing" to add to my wish list. Don: I'm right there with you. I simply MUST have one of those in my backyard by next summer. Ohmigod - how cool is that??? Katherine - you're a bad influence...

Tim: Since you seem to know the folks at Salt so well, have you ever steered them toward eGullet? I wonder if things would change any if they knew their bad behavior was being discussed at great length in cyberspace by local patrons or potential patrons?

Hmm...this sounds eerily familiar to a conversation I had last night... (it was nice to meet you in person, Katie) John: It was nice to meet you too! And really a pleasure to expand my horizons a bit into the great draughts at the Grey Lodge Pub. Since I'm not much of a beer drinker, it's always nice to have Rich hook me up with something new for my drinking repertoire! Sense of Deja vu regarding our conversation? I admit it - I am forever singing the praises of my former employers. But it's pretty easy to do that since I have no fear they won't be able to back me up! Being a regular customer yourself, you definitely know what I mean. In Vino, Veritas, Katie

Tim: The Dark Horse (and the Black Sheep - same owners) undoubtedly have some of the best bar food in the city. Reasonably priced as well. I've not had the cassoulet, but I've had the Chipotle wings, hummus and pita (a little too cumin-y for my taste, but still pretty tasty), the burgers, grilled chicken quesadilla, calamari and fish and chips are ALL top notch. And i can always be counted on the have an Isabella's salad with goat cheese and grilled portobellos. It's been one of my favorites since Chef Ben McNamara owned Isabella's up in the Northeast. I even like the White Trash version of cassoulet. After all, what is Beanie-Weenie Casserole but Cassoulet with a different name??

After spending the day with a good friend out of town and her then three year old Spawn of Satan, my other friend turned to me calmly and said, "Tonight, I'm taking TWO pills!"

I'm certain the lower end stuff at Moore Bros. is infinitely better than the Japanese equivalent of Mad Dog 20/20 that's available through the State Store system! Glad you liked the place. The customer service is unparalleled anywhere in the area, or out of the area, for that matter. I'm a little spoiled bacause I worked there, but seriously, every single person I've ever recommended the store to has become a regular customer. The staff will spend just as much time with you whether you're purchasing a $15 bottle or a $50 bottle. Everyone there really loves their job and their passion about wine is positively infectious. Try one of the "sampler cases" if you want to take a little tour of what's available there. For $100 or $150 you get a mixed case of wine that comes complete with excellent tasting notes. A bargain and a fun way to do tastings at home. Kanpai!

Dan: Didja' make it to Moore Bros? I tried to call and let them know to expect you and from the sound of it, I think you were already there. I hope you found the sake you were seeking. Cheers and Happy New Years!

Tim: I'll pass that info along to any of the former employees that I speak with or e-mail. Thanks!

Dannyboy: My pleasure! Nice to know that if you keep me around me long enough I'm good for something

Moore Brothers in Pennsauken, NJ (five minutes over the Ben Franklin Bridge) has an excellent sake selection. You can check out their store online at Moore Brothers I don't think the sake selections are listed on the website, but you can call and ask for Jonathan Read. He's the resident sake expert and he'll be happy to both hook you up with something and teach you a thing or two about rice wine. Heck - tell him I sent you and that I miss him!

Bushey: Try a Viognier or a slightly sweet vouvray and you'll be very happy. I had a Poniatowski 1989 Clos Baudoin Vin de Tris Vouvray with butter poached lobster and I nearly wept with joy. Nothing could possibly have been better!

Hi Tim: Your comments on Vetri are quite interesting, and very much in line with what I've heard lately from various folks whose opinions I respect. I think the place was truly poised for greatness and got a lot of excellent national food media press initially, but ever since the local recognition, has been coasting (or worse) on its laurels. I look forward to more comments from you as it's always interesting to get a Chef's perpsective on a restaurant. It may or may not vary wildly from my own experience, but I appreciate the sensibility behind the opinion. Welcome to eGullet! We look forward to more thoughtful posts from you!

Yeah - What she said. I'll see your Yum and raise you to Yummy! Welcome Shannon!

Great minds think alike... I confess I drink Diet Coke but the Diet Vanilla Coke just isn't that tasty. The vanilla tastes kind of "plastic" and fake. Diet Vanilla Pepsi is sonewhat better but I haven't had any in the house when I needed it to experiment with this cocktail. The vanilla infused bourbon is the perfect answer. And it's actually delicious over ice for sipping as well.

Shannon: I think that you definitely need to infuse cucumbers and onion into the vodka as well. Infusing the tomatoes seems to be overkill since I presume this will eventually be mixed with tomato juice, right? I might even use red bell peppers rather than green so as not to get too "vegetal" a taste in the finished product with the cucumbers as well. Also some herbs like parsley or cilantro might be nice but I'm not sure how long you'd have to let everything infuse, or if the herbs might have to go in later.

Before the wheels came off the cart at Striped Bass, The Exec. Chef, Sous Chef, Sommeliere and myself would meet weekly, and the kitchen would prepare us a sample dish of each new menu item that was being introduced that week. (Note: The Exec Chef had recently been promoted into his position and was slowly making the menu his own - about three new dishes at a time) We'd all go over it together, the chefs would tell us what they were trying to emphasize in the dish, and Melissa and I would make wine suggestions, sometime more than one that complimented each dish. The chefs would taste with us and we'd all decide which parings we liked the best. These suggested pairings were written into the margins of the detailed menu descriptions that were handed out to the staff. This was in addition to tasting notes for all the by-the-glass wines that were posted on a bulletin board for all the servers to read and desriptions and tastings of new products with the staff. I don't know that I'll ever have such a great feeling of teamwork, comradery and mutual respect again.

I haven't tried the vodka, but there's the tail end of a bottle of Dogfish Head Wit Spiced Rum downstairs in my bar and if I hadn't had a few glasses of wine with dinner at a friend's this evening, I'd be drinking it right now!

www.heartlandrestaurant.com is one. The problem is most will end up changing their inventory (they're not buying mass-produced wines), and the wine list, much like the menu, changes frequently. I'm not certain I'm seeing this as a "problem", unless you just meant the website would be out of date. I've always tried to have an ever evolving wine by the glass program as well as bottled wine list. Sometimes this happens by necessity (the vintage has run out or the price has gone up to where it's no longer cost effective as a by the glass wine), and many times it's because I want it that way as She Who Makes These Decisions . It's interesting for new customers as well as keeping the regulars entertained by having the bartenders say "Hey - have you tasted this lovely new Rueda from Spain we're serving now..." and stoking the ever flickering fire of the bartender-customer relationship. I definitely consider it part of my responsibility to do that too. In agreement with Mark about everything he said, except my equation is 5/5 oz. glasses per bottle. Bottle price is exactly 5 times the glass price so I can get accurate cost of goods percentages without trying to figure out what the "average" price of a bottle of the house Chardonnay was this week.

I'm the the camp with Lee on this one. I'd rather have ten bottles at $100 than one bottle at $1000. There's NO WAY it's ten times better! Actually one of my favorite big hulking California Cabs is Justin Vineyards from Paso Robles. Less Cabernet-flavored-Jolly-Rancher than the Napa wines and lots more finesse. The 2000 vintage is only available in double magnum (at least according to the winery website) at this point, but is still a bargain at $175 for 3L compared to the cultish wines. Their "Justification" Cab Franc/Merlot blend is luscious as well and priced in the mid to high $30's. Since we're playing "I'll-show-you-mine-if-you-show-me-yours", the few truly fabulous bottles in my "cellar" are a 1985 Graves Chateau La Mission Haut Brion, a 1970 Delas Hermitage "La Christophe", and one bottle of Isole et Olena 1997 Cepparello. Those are the only "big guns" in my very small collection. I have a few assorted eclectic Austrian wines and a few odds and ends collected while travelling but that's about it. I tend to buy wines to drink right away since I don't really have adequate storage. I'm thinking of removing the trash compacter I NEVER use from under the kitchen island counter and installing a small wine fridge if I can find one of the proper dimensions.