KatieLoeb

Been missing you too, girl! Where you been?? :hands on hips: Thought of you fondly and your absence was duly noted at last few DDC dinners. D'oh! I forgot! For some odd reason I had it in my head they were closed on an odd night like Wednesday, but I know that's not true because we had my birthday feast on a Wednesday, didn't we? What can I say. I'm easily confused. Hey Bashful, check out the thread for the upcoming Pig Roast road trip to Curdnerd's farm! Clickity Perhaps you'd like to join the Philly contingent for that drive? Should be a lot of fun! So far Herb, Gary, the Fentons, Lisa and BF, myself and a few others are committed to going. Let me know if it sounds like you want to join us.

Glad you enjoyed Byrne's! I haven't been in a while and I think I need to go soon, especially after reading your post! Scoats is right on about the potato logs. Those are delicious! Has anyone here ever been to Chickie n Pete's, for crabs or anything else? Just curious because I've never tried the place and have always been curious about it. edited because I can't spell

Riedel now makes a commercial grade stemware in the same shapes and sizes as the other series of glasses. The salesman was proud to show me you can actually drum them on the table without damaging them in any way. Of course, they are breakable, but you really have to wing them onto the floor or against a brick wall to break them. They are also commercial dishwasher safe, provided you have the correct racks. Of course they are a bit thicker and less delicate than the sommelier series, but still, are very durable and make a nice presentation. They still "ping" wuite nicely when tapped. All for about $3.00/stem! In Pennsylvania, Lauber Wines is the distributor. Not sure about other areas. Personally, at home I use the Spiegelau Grand Burgundy glasses. But they have to be hand washed. I'd always recommend the Riedel "tasting glasses" on the really short stems which makes them dishwasher safe, if you're lazy.

Ellen? Backup? Commentary? Anything???? Is the fur on the inside or the outside?

The Graham's 20 Year Tawny is utterly delicious and I don't think you'll have too much trouble drinking it quicker than you expected. If you pour yourself and a companion a 3 oz. snifters worth, there are only six glasses and a spill in the bottle. Enjoy it over a weekend after dinner Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening. Buy yourself some nuts, some chocolate and some hard cheese to sample with it on successive evenings and call it "research".

Holly: Good heavens! Thank goodness you had the WIDE ANGLE lens! Could there be a more unflattering photo angle on me???? Thankfully you spelled my name wrong so no one will know the turquoise broad side of the barn is me See Tommy - I told you I wasn't photogenic!

Perfect boiled eggs, at every stage. I know it's pretty much all in the timing, but there's technique too, right?

An amusing experience I had while working at a specialty wine shop. The date is December 31, 1999 and the phone rings. I answer it. A gentleman asks me, "I have a bottle of Champagne and want to know if it's ready to drink." "OK sir. Who is the producer?" "Ferrer." "I'm sorry sir, who?" "Ferrer. Gloria Ferrer from Sonoma." "OK - (I am already stifling the urge to giggle because it isn't even real Champagne, however, I realize the label may say Gloria Ferrer Champagne Caves and assume he doesn't know it's Sparkling wine. I proceed)...and what year did you say it was?" "Um - let me see...It doesn't seem to have a year on it. It just says Sonoma Brut (rhyme with gut)" "Alrighty then. Sir, what day is it?" "It's New Year's Eve." "Right. And is there some other special occasion that you're saving this wine for? An anniversary, graduation, anything??" "Well, no, not really." "And do you think you'll be here for the next milennium to drink it?" "(giggles) Certainly not!" "Well given all that, what exactly are you waiting for to drink it?" "I want it to be at it's peak." "Sir - it's New Year's of the millennium. DRINK IT!!!" ARRRGH!!! I didn't have the heart to tell the poor soul that he was holding on to a bottle of $17.99 sparkling wine as if it were the next coming of the vintage of the century. This just proves to me that even the most unknowlegeable wine drinker has this ridiculous notion that a bottle must be drunk at some unknowable nanosecond in the space-time continuum. Wine should produce joy and not anxiety. This will never cease to amaze and irritate me. I suppose this makes sommeliers bloody geniuses because they can read the stars and divine when that exact moment might be.

Yes Yes Yes!!!! Might I suggest Cremant D'Alsace, Prosecco or Sekt as less expensive alternatives in addition to Cava that are sure to please.

Why don't you call the restaurant and ask the chef what it was? I'm sure they'd be flattered and happy to tell you what it was and what went into it.

The retail fishmarket at The Lobster House in Cape May houses, I believe, the second largest fishing fleet on the eastern seaboard. You can see the boats unloading their catch right behind the restaurant & market. Good selection, lots 'o lobsters sorted by size in their own tanks, etc. I'd go down and eat on the dock in the sunshine from the take out window (I just did this a couple of weekends ago {sigh}), then go into the market and buy whatever you like and have them pack it in a cooler for you. Apparently, they also ship everywhere Lobster House, so if you'd like, you don't even have to leave home.

Katbert, Although this probably comes too late for tonight, I'd agree wholeheartedly with Holly on this one. Dmitri's is ALWAYS good, reliable and fresh. Sansom Street Oyster House is open on Mondays. Good, basic seafood chow with a good raw bar. Cheap oysters and clams on the half shell during happy hour (I think they still do this - call and check). Striped Bass (we were pretty slow reservations-wise when I left at 7PM, so I'm sure they'd be happy to take you as a walk-in). Devon Seafood Grill. Nice view of Rittenhouse Square and outside seating. Good mussels served in various ways in cute little iron pots. Philadelphia Fish & Company. Used to have a great cheap bar menu. Not sure if they still do. Not as great as some of these other choices IMHO, but certainly decent and perhaps simply not to my taste. Haven't personally been to Little Fish. I've personally heard mixed reviews, the worst being from chef and restaurant manager friends, so I tend to give their opinions a little more weight. YMMV. The secret I normally wouldn't reveal is sushi at Fuji on Rt. 130 North in Cinnaminson, NJ (856-829-5211). About a twenty minute ride from Center City. I had a phenomenal omakase dinner there about two weeks ago. Toro, half dozen kumamoto oysters, sea bream, eel tail, amberjack, spider rolls, unagi and a few other courses I can't remember. Truly phenomenally fresh. Came to about $65/person, but we were being gluttonous . Can certainly be done for less. You MUST make reservations for the sushi bar. Only six seats so it fills up fast. Service is not great in the dining room, and half the fun is watching Matt and his assistant do their artistic thing. It will still be a leisurely meal, but every morsel is worth the wait. The fish will simply melt in your mouth. Without par in the area. BYOB as well! Have fun!

Howzabout a nice mer-lot? Ya' just couldn't leave it alone, couldjya'??? :laugh:

Yesterday at Italian market in Philadelphia: Basket of limes (about 20!) - $1.00 12 Lemons - $2.00 1 large eggplant - $1.00 5 "sunburned" (halfway between green and red) bell peppers - $1.00 4 cucumbers - $1.00 Grand total $6.00!

I'm game if the wines are available and *ahem* "budget friendly" for an underpaid beverage manager Of course I'm also drinking alone, so I wonder if we could do one wine per night or per week or whatever so as not to get too trashed, still show up for work the next day and most importantly, not waste too much good wine. After all, there's sober people somewhere that'd give their right arm for that wine that goes down the sink!

Geez Beans: I hope the BOH staff appreciates you. You are a rare individual that understands the interconnection between BOH and FOH. Just out of curiosity, if a BOH staff member has a VIP guest come in that you take care of at the bar, is there reciprosity?

I went to the markets and made phone calls to every high end produce vendor in town yesterday and today to try and find Meyer lemons (hey - nothing but the best for this crowd!) for the Limoncello. No luck so far. Will be asking chef at the restaurant if one of the wholesale restaurant purveyors has them, if not, will use regular lemons as I've done before. It still came out great, so I won't sweat it too much. Curiously however, I found a vendor with whole baskets of limes for a song, so I bought up a bunch and will be starting a batch of Lime-oncello within a few days. Since so many folks are coming, I figured the more the better Charlie and I were just discussing the logistics of driving down there together, so the Philly crew is getting psyched!

Yesterday at the Head House Square Farmer's Market (conveniently located about 1 block from my house on Saturday mornings! ) I purchased some really awesome field ripened tomatoes. The aesthetically perfect ones were $3.79/lb. but the "ugly" ones were only $2.00/lb. Bought just a few pretty ones to bring along to dinner at a friends house to have with mozzarella and basil from her garden. Fabulous! But the ugly ones will hopefully become gazpacho later this evening. Or maybe sauce, but something that doesn't have to look perfect but I have faith will taste perfect. I also bought some fresh basil for myself, some spring onions I think I will roast (maybe I'll use the tops for the gazpacho), three big zucchini, and some gorgeous sweet as candy fresh carrots. I'm thinking of starting the Raw Food diet this week, so I thought I'd prepare myself... I also got 1 lb. of grass fed ground beef that comes conveniently packaged as two 8 oz. square patties. Will grill one of these up in the trusty George Foreman and report back.

Holly: I know I saw you scribbling notes and definitely saw the pictures, so what's keeping you??? Post for everyone to see what they missed and hopefully there'll be more of us on future Friday evenings. This was really fun! The band was indeed fantastic. Looking forward to some of the upcoming salsa and mambo bands so we can watch the dancers too. Food at El Mercado is CHEAP, plentiful and delicious. Lot of real homemade Latino treats. We tried Papusas (well actually HERB ate the papusa in a feeding frenzy before he remembered to share ), shrimp empanadas, chicken tamales, tortas, yuca, and pernil that made the sound of your arteries snapping shut audible! YIKES ! However, everything was delicious and plentiful. The produce stand had homemade sofrito for sale that smells heavenly. I'm hoping to do something fabulous with it tomorrow, perhaps mix it into scrambled eggs for breakfast as the young lady who sold it recommended. We tried herbs we'd never heard of (recao), funky fruits that I thought were key limes (anyone remember what those were called?), but Herb thinks are under-ripe longans. Very interesting stuff to see and try. Hopefully there will be more specialty Latino produce in the future. I'd love to make some yuca and chayote. This is going on all through the summer, so it has the potential to turn into a regular thang.

I just bought some grass-fed ground beef today at the local Farmer's market. I'll let you know if I find it "different" after I have one of the burgers for dinner on Sunday.

Now this would be useful info to post, if someone had it. I'd even study it and memorize it to ready myself for the quiz

This was a highly informative and interesting post. However, I hope there isn't a quiz later on, because I couldn't possibly handle it!

And you're just a very disturbed man! But I love the way your mind works...

After digging in a little with a spoon, how about using a bamboo skewer to poke several holes in different directions into the flesh? Drain out juice, add alcohol. Rachel: Have I told you lately how much I admire your keen mind...

Ohmigosh! This was my absolute favorite wine last autumn! The PLCB had apparently bought up a ton of this and were selling it in one of their "Truckload" sales for the ridiculous price of somewhere in the neighborhood of $14/bottle (I don't remember exactly). It was transcendently good for the price. Actually, it was just plain freakin' delicious - no qualifications necessary. It tasted like it cost $50/bottle. I fooled quite a few of my friends with it. I must have drank at least a case and a half of it, before other folks got wise and it sold out