KatieLoeb

I was kinda bummed they didn't have standard issue kitchen/bar mats for her heels to get stuck in. Now that would be funny.

Ditto. There's really no excuse for me not to be there all the time! there is for me: we spent like fifty bucks on thursday night between the roast lamb and the souvlaki and the pastitsio and the sides and the beers and the ouzo and like ten different pastries. i never thought i'd say this, but i can't afford the greek church too often. ← Could it be all the drinking? They totally overcharge for the beer/wine/liquor, but remember, all the money benefits the church and they only do this event twice per year. Maybe you should drink at home and show up half shot in the ass instead?

Lisa, that batshit crazy June Cleaver wannabe in high heels and pearls with the $150 Burberry scarf on her head in the kitchen needs to go next. The pastry chef where I work was watching with me and was livid that someone would try to work in a professional kitchen dressed like Anna Wintour in stilettos. And she so doesn't listen to anything that is said to her. She's in her own little world and the rest of us are just interlopers in it, I guess.

I made it over to the St. George's festival every day this week, except for today. I had the spanikopitas (the regular and the one with the handmade phyllo dough - both delicious), cheese pie, roasted lamb shank with orzo, roast chicken with roast potatoes and string beans, gyros, dolmades, Greek salad and baklava. All was as delicious and filling as ever. Damn, I love this festival! I need to make a more concerted effort to get over there for the Friday lunches. Them church ladies can COOK!

Micros was originally designed for stadiums and large format seating places. It still strikes me (even in its most updated software releases) as the "Flintstones" version of a POS. I imagine a herd of hamsters with stone tablets and chisels inside of it, slowly chiseling out each and every check.

Wow. I'm surprised to come home and be the first one to be bumping up this thread since tonight was the first episode of the new season. I spent the earlier part of this evening at a party here in Philly that was a showing of the new season hosted by Philly homeboy Adam Gertler, one of the contestants on this new cycle of the program. It would seem the entire Philadelphia restaurant industry was out in force tonight cheering Adam on. It was a real pleasure to watch the program on a large screen at North 3rd and root for our hometown boy with the rest of the folks that know and love him. I've had the pleaure of knowing Adam since he was the chef at Smoked Joint, a now defunct but sorely missed barbeque restaurant, and also having worked with him at Amada, where he still waits tables. We're all hoping he goes the distance and since he can't reveal the outcome, are watching each episode with baited breath and the expectation that he'll smoke the competition (so to speak), since that is his specialty. He's just as charming and real as he seems and our thoughts and prayers are with him as the competition goes forward. It was quite interesting to hear his take on the inside of the program, as it seems that a lot of hours of film are condensed down by some selective editing (quelle surprise) and although the potato gratin may have been a bit underdone, the end result was that he is going forward in the competition and Bobby Flay himself thought that Adam was the sort of guy he either "wanted to hang out with or watch." Go Adam!!! The City of Brotherly Love is behind you! Rock on, my friend.

Aloha or Digital Dining would be my top two choices. Really user friendly, touch screen, daily adds/changes are simple, easy for staff to use. The only thing about a POS system is that it's only as smart as the person that set it up. If you are conscious about your programming choices you can get much more valuable information from daily and weekly sales reports that can be compared to inventories for tracking of loss/theft/waste, etc. But you really should have a long talk with the programmers of whichever system you lease/purchase to figure that stuff out. PM me if you need more specific examples of what I'm talking about.

Excellent! Glad that worked out for you. I'm using my lemon cordial for a Mojito bartending competition. Lemon-Blueberry Mojitos, yum!

Excellent. I was wondering when you'd have time to finally post the pics. A small correction, though. The ground beef with olives etc. is Picadillo. All else is as reported and was as delicious as previously described. Good stuff. Can't beat the prices, the quantities of food or the delicious cocktails. Caipirinha was muy delicioso! I'm glad I remembered we were so close by after we got denied on the soul food excursion.

My best substitutions are: Luxardo Triplum for Cointreau. Less expensive and wins every time in a blind side by side taste test. Appleton white for Bacardi. Sailor Jerry for Captain Morgan. Both of the rums are far better tasting than the name brand folks ask for.

I have a preference for an orange twist rather than lemon in my Vespers. Seems to bring out the aromatics of the Lillet a bit more.

The likleihood of some obscure vermouth showing up as available for sale here in PA is about as probable as monkeys flying out of my butt/ But I digress.... Nonetheless, I seem to have created my own monster by turning a couple of my diehard regular martini drinkers into Vesper fans.

I know where I'm getting dinner tomorrow on the way into work.... I sorta scratched the Greek-food-made-by-church-ladies itch last weekend at the Opa Festival at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Elkins Park. Never too soon to have it again, though.

That's just lovely. And I sincerely hope my friend and regular customer Tom, for whom I've been mixing Vespers for quite some time, will stop by. If not, I might have to drink one myself.

I suppose the idea of the butterscotch and scallops gets under my skin because it reminds me of all the much too sweet and gloppy (at least to my taste) sauces on the food at Buddakan. Not at all surprised he went that way. Again, not out of the comfort zone even a little bit.

Boil up a lemon or lime cordial with sugar, water, fresh juice and microplaned zest of either fruit. You could even add some finely chopped mint or Thai basil as well. Then make lemonade/limeade with the cordial, vodka or gin and seltzer or tonic water. Simple, refreshing, everybody loves it.

Well that explains it. A friend of mine that teaches in the area went last week on my recommendation and found the doors locked and no sign explaining why. He was bummed because he'd been looking forward to it for some time. I'll have to tell him about the other location.

You mean that's not true?!?! Crap... That Manhattan pictured above, that George whipped up for us, was pretty awesome. If I recall, it was Sazerac Rye and some obscure vermouth - Katie, do you remember? ← That'd be the Carpano Antica Formula. Just now available in PA due to some serious diligence by George and Nick to make sure we could get it. It's expensive - about $38/bottle, but does magical things to Manhattans, Negronis, etc. where the sweet vermouth is a major player. It's even delicious on the rocks with a twist as an aperitif.

It's true. Spike just pulled up a lawn chair, popped open a beer and watched the fireworks, complete with the "Oooooohhhs" and "Aaaahhhhs". Played them like a Stradivarius. It was pretty clever of him.

To quote a former contestant, Dale is a "douchebag and a tool" and totally deserved to go home. It's been clear for weeks that he does not work well and play with others and the fact that no one wants to work with him/for him does not make for top chef material. Leadership counts and he fails miserably on that score, regardless of how antagonistic his charges might be. If he inspired any loyalty or respect, no one would be that antagonistic toward him. Scallops and butterscotch?? Really dude??? Blech!

Susan: As one who understands intimately what a thankless job hosting can be, thank you. I hope you'll still have time to post as I always look forward to your insights.

If there are no uniform requirements stated in your informational materials, one could assume there were none. However, assumptions are dangerous. There's no telling if you'd show up overdressed compared to the rest of your cohorts or be pointed and laughed at as a hopeless rookie for showing up in anything but professional chef wear, as uptight as that may seem to you. This could all be solved with a quick phone call or email inquiring about uniform requirements since they seem to have "been inadvertently left out" of the materials sent to you. Ask graciously and stick with whatever they tell you.

Rhubarb Syrup 4 cups diced rhubarb (about 4 large stalks) 2.5 cups water 1.5 cups sugar 1/2 Tablespoon freshly microplaned ginger 1/8 tsp. Chinese Five Spice powder Cover rhubarb with water and bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat and simmer for approximately 25 minutes, until rhubarb begins to break down. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining ingredients and allow to cool. Run through a food mill or puree in blender and push through a strainer, pressing on solids to remove as much rhubarb syrup as possible. I'm serving this in my Rhuby Daiquiri, which is basically a Hemingway with a bit of rhubarb syrup and Ruby Red grapefruit juice rather than yellow grapefruit juice. A dash of grapefruit bitters is optional but ties it all together.

My rhubarb syrup (or Rhu-goo, as I've been known to call it) keeps for several weeks in the fridge. Haven't had a problem with it going funky on me yet. It mixes well with rhum agricole or cachaca, which provides more of a "blank slate" on which to layer the rhubarb flavor.

The bar must already be open. I heard tell of a Jennifer Aniston sighting there over the weekend.