KatieLoeb

Morgan: I think you're right. Using just straight maple syrup as the sweetening agent in a cocktail would probably be the easier way to go. It would certainly be far more cost effective as well. I was thinking about a twist on an old fashioned, using the maple syrup instead of sugar, some really spicy bitters like the Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel aged, and either bourbon or maybe even a really nice anejo rum or tequila. It has potential but would definitely need some tweaking or "lab work" to figure out.

We've been carrying the Sortilege maple whiskey at Chick's for about a month now. I've been serving it neat in a snifter like a dessert wine, paired with our Brioche Bread Pudding dessert. It's a no brainer pairing, really. It's just like the maple syrup for the French toast. The Sortilege is delicious. All whiskey on the nose and all maple on the palate. It's not really priced for mixing at about $18 for a 375ml bottle. I need to experiment with it more in small doses as a flavoring agent in autumnal cocktails. It has a lot of potential for that. Meanwhile, it seems to be selling well as a dessert wine alternative. Go figure.

Great minds think alike. I forgot to mention my dining partner and I shared those beets as a side dish. They were on par with the rest of the meal - excellent. We also brought a small bottle of Katie Limoncello to share after dinner. I'd heard about the Sambuca give-away after dinner, but I can't stand the stuff. The very smell of it makes me retch.

Finally made it to this place last night. Wow. Sorry I waited so long. Everything was delicious and the service was very pleasant and well informed. I had the four course menu and had a baby octopus salad with white beans, the "little hats" pasta dish which was squash filled, the veal cheeks which absolutely melted in my mouth and were a highlight, and the nutella crepe for dessert. My dining parter ordered a la carte and had an arugula salad, the chestnut pappardelle with mushrooms and the crab cake and helped me with my dessert. Brought a nice bottle of Argentine Torrontes and a Barbera. A truly lovely dinner and Modo Mio will be seeing me again very soon.

Fishnet stockings, since you asked...

Mike: Report back on your rye experiments with the St. Germain. Definitely want to hear about it. That's one combo I haven't messed with yet and I'll wager it'll be delicious. I'll bet that plum vodka is the Pearl, isn't it? I saw that was becoming an available product at specialty stores and was curious about it. I go through about two bottles a week of the Pearl Persephone Pomegranate vodka in my Salty Pomeranians, which are selling well at Chick's.

Lee How Fook - Hot and Sour Soup David's Mai Lai Wah - Salt and Pepper Squid with scallion dipping sauce on the side; Beef and Boccoli Chow Fun with Satay Sauce;Whole Steamed Tilapia with Ginger Scallion Sauce Pho Xe Lua - Beef Satay Soup with Pineapple; House Special Pho; Spring Rolls Jade Harbor - Sliced pork with Bean Curd and Vegetable Soup; Lobster with Ginger and Scallion Four Rivers - House Special Sweet Ham Shiao Lan Kung - Oysters with Ginger and Scallion (bigger than your head!)

Natasha: I am off this evening and am attending a costume wedding reception and test driving my Saloon Girl costume for Halloween. I'm certain that George would be happy to take care of your friend if she wants to sit at the bar. We're having a neighborhood party in our new upstairs as well, so it might be a little busier than a usual Monday evening. Nonetheless I'm certain your friend could cobble together a lovely meal and have a few glasses of wine if she were feeling so inclined. Sorry I'll miss her. Anyone that wants to see me in full Saloon Girl regalia has to stop by on Wednesday October 31. Photos are welcome - I'm already barred from running for public office...

The Francesco family that owned Emil's had a claim to the origination of the hoagie. I have the wooden sign from the family's Italian market stall (back in the 40's, way before the Broad and Moore shop) hanging on my kitchen wall. ← How did you come by that sign?? Are they family or friends? Sounds like there might be a story there...

Inspired by this thread, I ordered a half Margherita, half Eggplant Parmesan large pizza from Slice to share with my coworker before our shift tonight and picked it up on the way in to work. This is serious pie. I got a menu and since they deliver, their driver is going to be seeing a lot of Chick's in the near future. The pie was delicious and I can hardly wait to try some of their salads, which also look spectacular. Great stuff and I thank you all for the heads up. I'll undoubtedly be dropping a lot of coin into their register in the foreseeable future.

At my buddy Nick's insistence, I tried an interesting variant on an Aviation with: 2.5 oz. Plymouth gin 1.25 oz. fresh lemon juice .5 oz. Maraschino .5 oz. St. Germain Shaken and strained over a maraschino cherry in a cocktail glass. Very tasty!

Layla: Shank's is the quintessential South Philly luncheonette. The food is large sandwiches - veal scallopine, chicken cutlets, roast beef, roast pork, the infamous Giambott omelet-on-a-roll, etc. It's charm is in the fact that it feels like it hasn't changed in decades and probably hasn't. The waitresses have been there since the Jurassic and will still call you "Hon" every time they see you. It's a "slice of life" sort of place. In a very good way.

I'll third that. These guys have the level of maniacal detail and science down to an art form. Love sitting at the bar and watching the lab equipment come out whenever I'm visiting... Much respect and props from my end for taking it to the level they do.

The son is a chef and used to have a restaurant called "Upstairs ______" at the same location on the second floor. This was definitely a while back, before eGullet and any reports about the place on the internet I'm aware of. But I ate there several times with friends (it was BYO then too) and it was always good, but beware of the outrageously overpriced "specials" that were literally twice the price of the average menu entrees. This was the first palce I'd ever encountered that sort of stealth pricing and it really stuck in my craw. I was inspired to go pick up a sandwich for lunch today on my way in to work this afternoon after reading this thread. A large Veal Scallopine on a seeded roll I shared with a coworker. It was delicious. It was also a bargain at $8. Lots of tender veal chunks, onions and mushrooms on a crisp seeded roll. Fabulous. I'll be ordering and swinging by Shank & Evelyn's quite a bit in the foreseeable future, I suspect. This place is fabulous.

I certainly hope that this means we'll only hear from Brad and Mary as valued contributors and not hosts. Both voices would be sorely missed if they were absent. I thank you both for your wisdom and insights. It's made my never ending quest to learn more about, talk more about and drink more wine that much more pleasureable. Cheers to you both! I look forward to having the honor of raising a glass with both of you in person someday. I'm very much looking forward to that...

Imagine how flummoxed and angry I was to have ordered the St. Germain at the SLO price of $33-something per bottle, waiting weeks for it while it was "backordered" and then finding it on the shelf for less. It's a bargain at $24.99/bottle. I'll be reporting back on new and interesting uses for it. I'm working on a French cocktail dinner for November, so it might be featured somehow in a newer variant on French cocktails.

What? No pics of the twins munching on Taiwanese fare? I was awaiting those as much as hearing about what you ate!

Shared a bottle of the Cosentino Syrah with Miss Claire last night while watching some tv and munching some leftover pot roast. We both enjoyed it and found it to be a very good value at $9.99. It's most definitely California Syrah - no Rhone earthiness and lots of in your face fruit. But a tasty example of that style nonetheless. I didn't find it hot, but we served it at about 64 farenheit so that might have taken that edge off of it.

Was it ever not just another Starr restaurant since the purchase in December 2003?? Color me biased, but I think we did more there with no money to spend and a small crew of seriously committed folks than has ever been done since or possibly before. In the time frame just prior to the sale to SRO, I experienced a level of cohesion and committment from my cohorts that I hope to relive again at some point in my professional life. We were weaving gold from straw on a daily basis back then yet still finding time for meetings to pair new menus with wines for the Chef's Tables. It was a glorious thing. We had no money and were on a seriously short leash financially, yet managed to eke out some level of excitement and value for our guests, even as we watched our livelihoods die out before us. It was heartbreaking to live and to participate in, yet I hope we did our guests justice, in the end. It hasn't been the same since.

I'd say Sam won the respect he deserved and that beats any gift basket he could have gotten instead. Way to go, Sam!! Sorry I couldn't be there to cheer you on and try some of those delicious sounding ribs and Grilled Tarte Tatin. Yum! You rock, dude!

Soooooo....What happened???!!!??? I await results with baited breath...

Just held a cocktail dinner last month and served the following pairings: Grapefruit Basil marinated Scallop Crudo Salty Pomeranian 2.0 oz. Pearl Persephone Pomegranate Vodka .5 oz. Roses Lime Cordial .5 oz. fresh Lime Juice .5 oz. simple syrup (1:1) 2.0 oz. Ruby Red Grapefruit juice Shake over ice and pour into salt rimmed Collins glass. Garnish with a lime wedge. Red Snapper w/Braised Fennel, Tomato and Artichoke Gratin Corpse Reviver No. 2 1 oz. Beefeater Gin 1 oz. Lillet Blanc 1 oz. Luxardo Triplum 1 oz. fresh lemon juice Dash of pernod (four or five drops) Shake and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a fresh lemon twist. Pan Seared Pork Loin w/Rosemary roasted Fingerling Potatoes Apple Manhattan 2 oz. Eagle Rare 10 year old bourbon 1 oz. Berentzen's Apfelkorn Apple Schnapps .5 oz. Punt e Mes Dash of Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aged bitters Shake and strain over fresh ice with a cherry. Assorted Chocolate Truffles Belladonna Variant 1.5 oz. Nocello 1.5 oz. Goslings dark rum 1 oz Sour mix Shake and strain into cocktail glass rimmed with cinnamon sugar. Pairing food and cocktails isn't really that different than pairing food and wine or food and beer. But rather than looking for acid and tannin as you would for wine you look for comparable flavors (like the scallop dish with the tart citrusy Salty Pameranian) or look to have the flavors in the cocktail complete the flavor combination you're trying to create (like the rich chocolate, nuts and rum combo of the truffles and Belladonna). Think of flavors you like together or know go together and work from there. I was just sipping a Gin-Gin Mule the other night and wished I'd had a plate of sashimi with it...

Food porn indeed. Or at the very least, review porn. Not objective then, not objective now. Pfft. I'm sure it's a lovely place. I'm also sure it isn't as described. Once again the bells metric has been changed. Once again for the same people. He needs to be their PR agent. Oh, wait. Perhaps he is?

Save yourself the extra work and the unattractive sludge created when using ground spices by making the simple syrup a spiced one. Here's my latest recipe for a spiced simple syrup I'm using in cocktails and my riesling-based Autumn Sangria. Spiced Simple Syrup (makes one gallon) 16 cups sugar 16 cups (one gallon) water 3 Tbs. Cassia chunks (available @Penzey's) 1.5 Tbs. whole cloves 10 cinnamon sticks, broken up 36 star anise 12 cardamon pods 2 tsp. whole black peppercorns 1.5 Tbs. red pepper flakes Heat sugar and water – stir until sugar dissolves. Add spices and bring to a boil. Simmer, for 30-45 minutes stirring occasionally. Cool overnight and strain. As for a Caramel Apple drink, Alchemist beat me to recommending the Berentzen's Apfelkorn apple schnapps. They rock and are infinitely tastier than Apple Pucker. I'd use a bourbon base, caramel syrup (the kind used for coffee drinks/lattes) and the Apfel Korn. A bit of citrus to dial back the sweetness - lemon or grapefruit juice ought to fine, or sour mix if you prefer. Should be delicious, if a bit sweet for my taste.

I just made myself a couple of Pineapple-Basil caipirinhas last night. Pretty easy and delicious. Agave nectar works well as a sugar substitute in this application. I find that flavored syrups or concentrated juices are an easy way to vary a caipirinha. Sour cherry juice or syrup, apricot syrup, tamarind syrup, pomegranate juice, etc. I buy a lot of my syrups and flavorings at my local Middle Eastern market. Routin 1883 also make an entire line of excellent naturally flavored syrups you can easily order online. Just dial back the sugar if the syrup is a particularly sweet one.