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KatieLoeb

eGullet Society staff emeritus
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Everything posted by KatieLoeb

  1. Grasp the entire foil and the cap. Twist it until you hear the seal break. Gently flip off the top with your thumb. You should never get near the jagged edge that way.
  2. Thank you, U.E.! We're even more fun in person. By all means give us a heads up before your next foray through the land of Brotherly Eats, and I'm certain you'll have some dining companions.
  3. Sunday August 17. Jose Garces vs. Bobby Flay. Secret ingredient yet unknown. That's gonna be some good TV. I'll be rooting for my former boss, Chef Garces. I think he'll do very well. He's got a great crew with him. I don't think Bobby will be doing any cutting board jumping this time.
  4. The "anything with herbs" thing seems less consistent than those other observations. Sometimes they're great, and sometimes it's barely perceptable. Sometimes they're awesome though. The pineapple-mint sorbet has to be one of the most refreshing things on earth. I even made up a brunch drink a few years ago after tasting it. Pineapple-mint mimosas. Mmmmmm....
  5. Piece of cake. Maybe 12 minutes at most. Container Store is in Cherry Hill Mall facing Route 38. Take Route 38 West to Cuthbert Blvd. South/Collingswood. Follow Cuthbert Blvd. over the Cooper River approx. 2 miles until you hit the traffic light at Haddon Avenue (Wawa on your left). Turn right onto Haddon Avenue and follow approx. .75 miles to Tortilla Press at 703 Haddon Avenue, Collingswood. Tortilla Press is BYO. Don't know if you'll want to drink anything if you're driving, but you could easily detour to Moore Brothers to pick up a nice bottle of wine if there's another adult or two to share with you. Just turn right onto North Park Drive (the road aligning the near shore of the Cooper River just after you cross over Route 70) and follow to the other end at the Route 130 traffic light. Moore Brothers is in the last office complex on your right, 7200 North Park Drive. Just go back down the river to Cuthbert Blvd. and turn right and continue as above after you've wine shopped. Alternatively, you could just go wine shopping after Tortilla Press. Moore Brothers is open until 8PM weeknights, 6PM on Saturday. Just make sure you have someplace to keep your wine cool after you've bought it. Having it transported and stored at ideal temperatures, only to leave it in a hot car is alcohol abuse. Enjoy your trip. Let us know where you ended up and how you enjoyed everything.
  6. Damn! I've always found that at Capogiro, a few generalizations are true, at least for me. The nut flavors are always awesome. The sorbetti are usually more intensely flavored than the gelati. If it has liquor in it, it's usually a good bet. I don't think I eat that much Capogiro in a year, and I live here. Of course, I'm trying to keep my Rubenesque-ness right where it is, and clearly don't have either your drive or your metabolism. My hat is off to you and your eating companions. That's impressive. Really. Truly. Astonishing.
  7. Not in Philly proper, but a short hop over the bridge in Collingswood, NJ is Tortilla Press on Haddon Avenue. Their Twilight Dinner Deal from 4PM-6:30PM Monday-Thursday is a screaming bargain at $16.50/person. And it's BYO to boot. Yes, you'll be eating with a lot of old folks, but the food is outstanding and they'll make you margaritas if you bring your own tequila. The guacamole is made fresh to order and is also delicious. Go closer to 4PM and call it a late lunch if it makes you feel better...
  8. They do? I've never heard of this and it sounds really nasty. Has anyone tasted this? Is it good? I'm skeptical at best. ← This I do believe is served with two wide bore straws, which you use to "shoot" the contents of your glass, in one quick slurp. It goes by the very appropriate moniker of “mind eraser” but I would argue that if you order one of these you might not have much to erase in the first place. Toby ← Oh. I've heard of that. Mercifully, I've never worked in nightclubs or the sort of places that would expect me to have a repetoire of silly shot drinks up my sleeve. As you can see, I don't even recognize them when the recipe is right in front of me. And that's just fine with me...
  9. That's a beautiful drink, FauxPas! Looks very enticing in the glass. edited to add: You could puree the raspberries in a blender and then push them through the strainer to remove the seeds. Might be less work than pushing whole berries through the sieve.
  10. I'm the girl in black & white on the far right. Our friendly proprietress Nella Genovese is on the left, pastry chef Kristin Weber is second from the left and Chef Jim Piano is the other fellow in the pic. It was pretty busy Saturday night too. To my delight, at one point every single seat at the bar was taken up by my friends Mr. and Mrs. Tarte Tatin, Capaneus, mattohara and S.O., philadining, mummer, and Mr. and Mrs. attesac. An eGullet crew to be reckoned with...
  11. They do? I've never heard of this and it sounds really nasty. Has anyone tasted this? Is it good? I'm skeptical at best.
  12. This falls into the "be careful what you wish for" category. We were quite busy last night and many customers (both regulars and new folks) commented that they'd seen the magazine and the list. Aside from oodles of congratulations, liquor (not including beer and wine) was close to 30% of sales Friday night. I made LOTS of cocktails, that's for sure. As far as the list goes, I'm honestly happier about the mention of my name, my good friend Stephen over at Amada and the staff at Apothecary being singled out as "Best Bar Trend - Mixology". After jumping up and down and shouting (seemingly to no one and to no avail) for the past several years about how there really really is a cocktail culture in Philly, even if we are a bit behind the curve of other cities, it's nice to see the regional press catching on and writing about it. Now if only the national and international press would follow suit, my work would be done...
  13. For the same reason that most places don't do Saturday lunch. The waitstaff is exhausted from having worked until 2:00AM on Friday night, the bodies that could/would be cooking lunch are needed to prep for Saturday night and the large numbers of diners that evening, and there isn't enough time between shifts to turn everything over between the lunch menu and dinner menu. And in many cases, the revenue from lunch doesn't really cover the cost of all the bodies needed to cook it/serve it, the utilities, etc. Everybody needs a rest from time to time. Restaurant staffs included. Unless it's the sort of place that's going to do a blockbuster lunch business, it just isn't worth it to open on Saturday, in between the two busiest shifts of the week.
  14. Brutal One Touque review from Phyllis Stein-Novack in the South Philly Review today. Seems everything she ordered was overdressed and/or oversalted. Pretty much jibes with what others have said so far, both here and in private, but I remain surprised since Ms. Stein-Novack is notoriously the easiest reviewer in the city. Usually if you get her husband a cold martini the rest of the review is in the bag...
  15. It's "Midtown Village" or the Gayborhood, depending on which realtor you listen to, @ 10th & Spruce. Not a long bus/cab ride into town from University City. You're going to have a tough time. Not many places do a Saturday lunch, even if they serve lunch the other days of the week.
  16. I've never been a fan of black licorice. In fact, the smell of Sambuca Romana makes me gag between the overwhelming licorice and cloying sweetness. But I've just acquired a bottle of Averna Sambuca Anice Stellato that's made with 100% Star Anise and I really like it. It has more of that dessert spice warmth and slight hint of heat that you get from good cinnamon. And most importantly, it isn't sickly sweet. Delicious body without the hefty viscosity and sweetness of standard Sambuca. I'm working on a cocktail or two for the autumn drinks list. So far it's working delightfully with aged applejack and cognac.
  17. I finally watched the entire final episode I'd DVRd last week. I think all of the finalists did a good job (with the help of excellent producing and editing) with their pilot promos. It was nice to see Lisa being, well, less Lisa, and more approachable and friendly rather than frenetic and condescending. Her dish looked very tasty and elegant. Of course, I'm so proud of Philly homeboy Adam. His idea of using the live webcast was fresh and innovative and I think he did a really good job with it. His Beer Can Chicken looked scrumptious. Aaron won in the end, because I think he fit the mold of what they were looking for once he finally calmed down and acted like himself, which is what they'd been telling him all along. As for the "Big Daddy" moniker for the show, I can't really say. Seems kind of ridiculous to me, but if he delivers the goods, I think folks will watch regardless of the silly program title. The name of the show doesn't really effect whether I'll watch or not. If I'm curious, I'll check it out. Congrats to all the finalists! They should all be really proud. Adam, we all still love you in Philly and you're our Food Network Star, regardless.
  18. Totally disagree with this. Hotness comes from black or white peppercorns and not hot bean sauce, according to the dozen or so cookbooks I checked. ← While pepper might be "technically" correct, I vastly prefer the flavor of hot bean/garlic paste in my hot and sour soup. To me a good hot and sour is a tricked up version of egg drop soup, with vinegar providing the sour and hot chile providing the heat, more veggies and some sort of protein. A bit of dark soy sauce adds some depth of flavor. The dried fungi and vegetables add to the flavor and textures. I usually use shreds of pork and cubed tofu for the proteins. And definitely whisk in a scrambled egg for the egg shreds at the very end.
  19. Lots of champagne in very expensive crystal flutes. Alexis loved caviar. I seem to remember lobster and oysters and other high end food being served in various episodes. My Dynasty watching partner always did her laundry on Wednesday nights and I'd show up with a bottle of wine. Promise me you'll ball up some socks and throw them at the TV when Alexis starts getting bitchy. My college friend and I will live vicariously through you if you'd do that for us...
  20. They would be neither the first, nor the last restaurateurs to blow off payroll and/or state taxes. It's a pretty common occurrence, since it's self-policed until they catch up with you. Kind of like individual taxes.
  21. Where is Ken's Seafood? I cant find it by googling, nor could I find it driving around Chinatown last night looking for parking spot. ← 10th & Race, south side of the street. About two doors up from the old Ho Sai Gai. Address is probably 1006 or 1008 Race. I just got home from there. <burp>
  22. Several Milk Punch recipes call for both brandy and rum.
  23. A friend of mine (a former Boy Scout) once used two Volkswagen keys to open a bottle by creating a twin pronged cork puller from the two keys. Genius! And definitely a fine example of preparedness... My own personal vision of Purgatory involves me being locked in a gloriously well stocked wine cellar with no corkscrew.
  24. Helping to choose wines for a small wine bar that has 40 bottles or so by-the-glass at any given time has absolutely reinforced my opinion that price and quality are not necessarily directly related. Certainly for my purposes professionally, I have to find wines that are at a price point that allows the restaurant to serve them by the glass, and that will appeal to the most people - both the novice wine drinker that comes to a wine bar to actively learn and the more experienced drinker that comes there to try interesting wines they might not have seen before or to see which examples of their favorite varietal/style of wine we might have that week. I'm further restricted by the fact that our list is all French, Spanish and Italian. But there's plenty of interesting wine from various regions in each of those countries in the $8-$20 price range that hold their own just fine with both the discerning and the less educated consumer. Reasonably priced Super Tuscans, interesting Rhone blends, "just-outside-the-lines" French DOC wines and Spanish Tempranillos/blends are my friend. And possess an excellent QPR for both the restaurant and the guest.
  25. There's always a Vesper, for the martini lovers in the crowd. I love a nice Vesper from time to time.
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