KatieLoeb

You're a saint and your guests are blessed that you're so accommodating. I'd still be deeply afeared that there'd be no pleasing her and there'd be some sort of issue somewhere along the way. You're far more tolerant than I am, that's for certain.

Hell yes! Philadining, you'll undoubtedly be getting an "Are you hungry?" text message from me on Wednesday evening as soon as I'm done with work. Shouldn't be too late, as I'm usually done by about 8pm. I'll race you over there...

Word. And exactly what I've been saying all along.

Unless I read the opening post incorrectly, this is a regular patron at a regular seating at a restaurant, not a catering job whose price could be set accordingly for "hazard pay". Just not worth the time/effort/trouble, etc. Especially since there's clearly no pleasing her. This one is toxic. Step away...

Oh damn! What a rotten time to have to drive down there! My friend in Charlottesville was supposed to do the opposite drive and be in Philly tonight and couldn't get out of CVille due to the snow storm. As it turns out, our mututal friend's surprise birthday party has been postponed until Sunday because the restaurant where we're having it has closed for Saturday due to the weather! I'll see if my friend in Charlottesville has any suggestions for you...

Is that a joke or are you serious? Andiesenji's explanation might be true for corn oil, but why risk it if you know for a fact that you're allergic to peanuts?? Nut allergies are some of the most serious reactions to risk. Someone with a peanut allergy can be kissed on the lips by someone that ate a peanut butter sandwich and have to call for the paramedics. I know for a fact that I'm allergic to bee stings and jellyfish bites. All naturally occuring venoms/insect bites are a problem for me. Even mosquito/spider bites swell up into huge welts and bleed on me. So I don't risk taking bee pollen supplements or eating jellyfish at the Asian restaurants. It might be OK if I did, but why tempt fate?? I can't imagine eating food that I know for a fact has been fried in peanut oil if I knew I was allergic to peanuts. I can live a long happy life not eating jellyfish...

ElaineK: You sound like a person that understands the difference between an "allergy" and "reacting badly", as well as someone that understood the limitations that placed upon you. It's unfortunate, but it seems that drinking water so as not risking becoming ill (with real documentable issues as opposed to imaginary ones) is at least a genuine compromise on your part so as to still enjoy the company of your dining companions. This woman doesn't sound like she understands the limitations she's placing on the restaurant or the liability issues involved at all. Sounds more like a Double Dog Dare to the chef to find something that will please her...

I have several bottles of this lying around my house due to various liquor purveyors and managers at former places of employ handing them to me. I have to say I'm just not impressed with it. To me, it adds the same flavor that a splash of cranberry juice does for a microscopic fraction of the price. I prefer to use homemade grenadine when I need a pomegranate flavor, or if I need unsweetened pomegranate flavor, then just the 100% juice. This stuff seems like a bonfire for dollar bills when other alternatives exist. I think they tried to cash in on the Pomegranate Martini trend that's now so 2006. Sorry, Mike. Wish I had better news for you...

With all due respect, tell her to stay home. This is taking up way too much of your valuable time over things that are dubious as "allergies" and likely have a lot more to do with food preferences and an over inflated sense of entitlement. Politely decline on the grounds of not having a "kosher" enough kitchen, that cannot guarantee no cross contamination of her meal. Or tell her to bring her own food and you'll plate it on disposable china and serve with plastic utensils that can then be discarded. It would be utterly appalling to have the paramedics have to pull up because she's gone into anaphylactic shock because she accidentally got a crumb of another diner's dish in her food when the waiter was picking it up off the pass or the line cook didn't sterilize the knife before slicing her vegetables. "Madam, I'm so very sorry but we can't guarantee the purity of your food with such an extensive list of allergies and other diner's meals being prepared in such close proximity to yours. I'm certain you realize that risking liability for an allergic reaction in our dining room is not a scenario we take lightly. Given your restrictions it would be a Herculean feat to be able to serve you anything that wouldn't risk your health or cast a pall over the entire dining room were medical attention necessary for your delicate condition(s). I hope you understand..." Let's see how many allergies she still possesses after being turned away. I suspect she does this all the time just to see what the chef will do with it. Were she truly allergic to that many things she'd likely have a feeding tube and an IV pole with her. This smacks of all kinds of bullshit...

Sandy: I was in tonight, but I got done on the bar at 8 and then was down in the prep kitchen for about 45 minutes making a spiced brown sugar butter for a new hot toddy drink that'll be going on the menu for the weekend. I was out the door just a few minutes before 9. Sorry to have missed you. My regular schedule is closing on Mondays, Tues-Wed. I'm done when it's no longer busy enough to require 2 bartenders (usually through Happy Hour and then I'm gone anytime between 7-9 depending), I'm off on Thursdays and work lunch Friday and Saturdays. That will vary slightly the next couple of weeks with picking up a few different shifts for coworkers going out of town for the holidays and being closed on Xmas and New Year's Days, but that's pretty much the regular hours for me under normal circumstances.

Bob, thanks for the report on the funeral. Mr. Ochs was well loved by his fellow merchants and his many customers. It speaks volumes about what sort of person he was that so many would take time from their businesses to pay their respects. He certainly earned it. We should all hope to have so many folks saying nice things about us when we're gone...RIP, Harry.

Toby: As Paris Hilton might say, "That's Hot!" How awe inspiring for you to be an inspiration to such great minds as those that reside in the kitchen at Alinea. My hat's off to you and I genuflect...

Abigail: Thanks for checking for me! Awfully kind of you. My understanding is that the flowers are in season around Christmas, but I suppose that's only in the warm zones where they're native, not up here in frozen Philadelphia. I was hoping maybe the Carribean market might have them if they were some sort of traditional holiday decoration, but I found only the dried ones, albeit better dried ones than I'd found previously. I guess this really is a bit more complex than I'd wagered - the complex part being finding the whole flowers in any form where I live or online.

Here's the recipe I submitted for the 2009 Vinos de Jerez cocktail competition, along with a photo of the drink. Sadly, I didn't make it to the 10 finalists, but I still like this drink a lot. I enjoyed the idea of putting sherry, port and Applejack all in the same glass since each has been produced in its area of origin for at least several hundred years. And when else would those spirits all make each other's acquaintance?? Iberian Jackrabbit 1.25 oz. Lustau “Los Arcos” dry Amontillado .75 oz. Osborne Ruby Port .75 oz. Laird’s 7.5 year aged Apple Brandy (or sub Calvados) .5 oz. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum .25 oz. fresh lemon juice 2 dashes Angostura bitters Garnish: flamed orange peel Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with and shake vigorously. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish by heating a “contact lens” slice of orange peel from the side of an orange with a lit wooden match, and then expressing the oils through the flame over the surface of the drink. Rub the peel side of the garnish around the edge of the glass, dip into the drink and discard. Garnish with a decorative curl of orange peel, if desired.

I love Cafe Diem also, but they're never open when I want them to be. They shut down at like 7 PM or so. Pretty early...

Trader Joe's was my very first attempt. I Googled for "dried hibiscus flowers" and found several mentions of the TJ version. Alas, having called both local outposts, it seems they just don't carry them anymore. At least not around here, and they made it sound fairly final. Thanks for the advice KD1191. I think you're right about not heating the whole flowers. I think I'll make the first pass in the manner you've suggested. I'll report back after I've had a chance to try it...

Abigail: Thanks for that. I'll try that another time. It's not the drink I'm trying to recreate, but a pure hibiscus simple syrup with the rehydrated flowers within. I'm attempting to recreate THESE myself, at a far more reasonable price. The idea of paying over $1 per flower makes my blood run cold. I make many of my other mixers myself, I can't imagine this would be any different. It just doesn't seem that complex.

Andy: It's just all about the Antica in the Manhattans, isn't it? Stuff of magic. Well worth the cost of admission. I can't tell you how many guests I've turned on to it. A lot of folks that ordered their Manhattans with little or no vermouth now come back to my bar to have a proper Manhattan with the Antica. A couple of Rob Roy drinkers too. Never had someone not have an epiphany when that's in the glass.

My latest Money Drink has been a Michter's Rye Manhattan made with Carpano Antica, two kinds of bitters and brandied cherries. I had a customer tell me it made him weak in the knees. It's a pretty ridiculously smooth example of a Manhattan. Might be one of my favorite iterations. 2.5 oz. Michter's Rye .75 oz. Carpano Antica 2 dashes Angostura bitters 3 drops Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel aged bitters 3 La Parisienne brandied cherries, skewered 1 barspoon of brandied cherry juice from the La Parisienne jar Add everything but the cherries to an iced pint glass. Stir contemplatively for almost a minute and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with cherries. Sip with a smug smile.

Found a Caribbean/African market in West Philly that had bags of dried "sorrel flowers" for CHEAP, and they appear to be in relatively good condition. I bought one small bag (for $1.79) and have brought it home. Some time over the next few nights I will make a hibiscus syrup from the broken flowers and rehydrate the whole ones. Anyone have any suggestions on whether I should rehydrate the whole flowers in the syrup, or in warm water first and then transfer them? I thought I could make the syrup by putting the broken bits into a giant 9cm tea ball and then be able to fish it all out easily. Should I boil the hibiscus for the syrup in water and THEN add the sugar, or should I just boil the bits right into a simple syrup? So many questions and chemistry was never my strong suit. If anyone has some ideas, please let me know. I'd love to make those lovely Hibiscus Champagne cocktails for New Year's Eve...

Oh Katie, what a straight line. In the interest of EG decorum I'll defer. But what a golden opportunity. I like my cocktails like I like my women/men...

A splash of lime cordial. Not enough to make it a full on Gimlet w/Tonic, but just enough to slightly sweeten and tart it up.

The dried Jamaica available at my local Mexican markets is crumbled and in pieces. Maybe I'll see if a Carribean market has better ones. Thanks for the suggestion.

I've been looking everywhere for a good source for WHOLE dried hibiscus flowers so I can recreate THIS at a non-usurious price for my guests. If anyone has a good source for whole, non-crumbled or mistreated hibiscus flowers, please let me know. There's no doubt this can be done on one's own, without having to pay $1/flower.

A recent article in the Philadelphia Weekly entitled The Bartender Hates You covers a lot of this ground, at least here in my fish bowl. But I suspect the complaints are fairly universal. And before any of you jump down my dear friend Phoebe's throat, if you read it carefully, her bitch was about the last guy in the bar saying "when you have a minute" sounding snarky, not anyone else. Think about it. If the bartender is standing around waiting for you to finish then saying "when you have minute" sounds more like "I see you standing there with your thumb up your ass, so when you have a minute, I'll take my tab..." I know that's what she meant.