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Beto

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Everything posted by Beto

  1. They do, but those Bodum presses are easily broken (just ask my girlfriend).
  2. Beto

    Café con leche

    Portland eh? If you haven't already, you ought to check out Stumptown Coffee Roasters. They take their coffee very seriously.
  3. As far as I know, Lodge is the only remaining U.S. manufacturer of cast iron cookware. When I visit the family in TN, I almost always stop by their factory store in South Pittsburg. You can pick up factory-second skillets for only a few dollars. They have some rough edges on them, so a few minutes work with a file is necessary. Like Fat Guy mentioned, the stuff lasts forever, so Lodge is continually needing to create new and different products in order to stay in business. Their line of enamelware looks like it's aiming for the Le Creuset market. Not cheap, but less than the French stuff... and good-looking. If you're going to buy cast iron, buy Lodge.
  4. We went to the showing at Jaleo and had a great time. Prior to air time, a band played gypsy music (a la Gypsy Kings). At the bar, banquet tables were set up with Jamón Ibérico and the largest paella I’d ever laid my eyes upon. The pan must’ve been four feet in diameter and required two people to carry it! We sampled the paella, which was very good, and ordered tapas off of the menu. The show played on two giant screens and during commercial breaks, Chef Andrés kept the enthusiasm high. When the winner was announced, the place erupted. By the crowd’s reaction, you would’ve thought that we were at a world cup match. He gave the real credit of his win to the hard work and preparation of Katsuya Fukushima and Rubén García of Café Atlántico. DC Central Kitchen, a charity which Chef Andrés generously supports, was the recipient of the proceeds of the night. Of course, I had to get my copy of “Tapas in America” signed.
  5. I just saw that José Andrés will be facing off against Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America on April 1st. Jaleo, his restaurant in Crystal City, VA will be holding a viewing. I've got my reservations made. This should be a good one! ¡Fuerza Española!
  6. Espressomap is a good resource. I wish that it included more cafes, but every shop on the site is vetted. If it's listed there, you can guarantee that it's quality!
  7. I've been thinking about experimenting with inverse spherification also. What I want to spherize has a milk component, so it seems that inverse is the way to go. Anyway, a call put into the U.S. importer of Adria's "Gluco" revealed that they won't have it until the end of March, as it's a relatively new product. It's also pretty pricey ($35/wholesale!). From what I gather, it acts as a thickener so larger forms can be gelled, and the calcium compound doesn't have a bad taste. Does anyone know of a substitute for Gluco?
  8. Here's an interesting article about Panama in which Ten Bistro figures prominently. (registration required)
  9. Here's my take on the typical Spanish breakfast of "tostada y cafe." I used espresso and the Texturas products. Thanks for the tips from djsexyb!
  10. Beto

    Coffee Cup Shapes

    This is my favorite cup. I just love its shape and elegant lines. The rim is the right thickness and feels perfect against the lips... not too sharp, not too rounded. The matching saucer rises subtly in the center, placing the cup on a miniature pedestal.
  11. All in all, a great episode but for one glaring exception... where's the coffee? I mean, how in the hell do you do an episode on Seattle and Portland without doing at least 2 minutes in an espresso bar?! Tony, I know you must've shot some footage. Did it get cut out in the edit? (BTW, I love the gypsy restaurant idea.)
  12. Where do you buy your coffee??? Where I buy mine, $6 is the *cheap* stuff! Good varietals can go up to $25/lb.--such as Jamaican Blue Mountain. If all you're getting is $6/lb. coffee, you can't expect it to taste of much. In addition, well made coffee involves how it is stored, how long before brewing it is ground, how finely and with what method it is ground, how it is brewed... ← I was referring to wholesale prices for coffee, not retail, which is typically keystone.
  13. I would comp them, I just wouldn't make refills a matter of course since, in the customer's mind, it would devalue it. Comps make a customer feel special, refills don't. You're absolutely right in that a burnt, old pot of coffee is just bad, bad, bad. Unfortunately, it is all too common, even in better restaurants. What I'd like to see in restaurants is a selection of coffees that can be paired with different desserts and coffee brewed to-order. In short, coffee that's done in a way that realizes its full potential.
  14. Let's explore that assertion for a moment. A pound of specialty coffee that costs $6/wholesale, brewed to gold cup standards yields approximately 36 cups. You can sell each cup for $3.00. That's $102 or 94% gross margin! That beats wine and liquor by a long shot. I wouldn't give coffee refills any more than I would give wine refills.
  15. Chef Andrés, Thank you for your dedication to quality and innovation in food. You’ve certainly done more than your part to elevate the level of dining in the Washington, DC area. One of my best dining experiences ever was in Café Atlántico. One thing that always puzzles me is the unrealized potential for excellent coffee in fine restaurants. Ingredient sourcing, food preparation, the wine list, etc., get the utmost attention (as they should). However, coffee sourcing and preparation almost always seem to be an afterthought. This is a shame, since coffee can have a taste profile rivaling the complexity of wine. Coffee is usually served at the end of a meal. Shouldn’t the last thing a diner tastes be as good the first? Muy Atentamente, Jeff
  16. I saw a lady order a salad with ranch dressing and extra ranch on the side. She also had a special request that the salad not contain carrots, announcing in a pretentious tone that she was dieting and trying to "watch her sugar intake."
  17. Illy's pods are sealed in nitrogen-flushed containers to slow the effects of aging. Starbuck's machines don't use pods, they have built-in ginders for whole beans.
  18. My first piece of advice to you would be to go over to Coffee Geek and start reading. There are plenty of knowledgable folks over there who are happy to help expand your coffee knowledge. Once you've done that, seek out a quality-focused coffee shop so you can truly experience how good a properly prepared drink can be. Where are you located? I might be able to point you to one in your relative area. After you get serious and decide to start getting prepared, you might want to consider using a consultant that specializes in coffeeshop planning and training. The Bellissimo Coffee InfoGroup is a respected company that comes to mind. Consultants aren't cheap, but neither is bankruptcy. Good luck in your journey!
  19. You've probably already heard about it, but in case you haven't, I'll mention that an "interesting" place to go is La Cascada. The food is certainly nothing worth writing home about (although I've never gotten sick there either), but the restaurant is one of the weirdest ones I've been to. Most of the restaurant is under the stars and running through the place is a moat. The moat is at least 6 feet deep, although there usually isn't more than a foot of water in it. I suspect that the original concept was to have it teeming with fish, but now it's just kind of neglected-looking and sad. A giant fiberglass waterfall towers over one end of the restaurant and scattered throughout are larger-than-life concrete animals. Imagine an extremely low rent Rainforest Cafe. Next to each table is a lamp that you turn on to summon your waitress. When you flick your lamp on, a corresponding lamp on the central board is illuminated to alert the staff. It's quite ingenious, but be careful of exposed electrical wiring! The menu (more like a newspaper, actually) is at least 15 pages long and is full of philosophical rants in poorly translated English that make for great reading. Like I said, the food isn't anything special, but it's an experience you'll never forget.
  20. Actually, that was Vinobiondo who recommended Ten Bistro. Glad you enjoyed it. Hotel DeVille looks like a big step up from anything you could find in Caledonia. Calle 50 is a much nicer area. Nikko's cafes are great for good, solid, inexpensive food. The owner used to have only one restaurant on Via España, but he was awarded the contract to feed the thousands of Cuban refugees who were housed in the camps on the western side of the canal during 1994. With those profits, he built 2 more restaurants. My personal favorite is the one in Balboa.
  21. Right you are. Las Bovedas (the vaults) were for storing valuables awaiting shipment to Spain as well as confining prisoners. Carolyn, did you get a chance to eat at Pizzeria Napoli? They have a wood-fired oven and it's some of the best pizza I've ever eaten. I've never been here, but it sounds intriguing. I need to get back to Panama for a visit.
  22. Sweet Maria's is tremendous information resource, as well as being a great source for green beans. All of the coffee that they carry is rated, with plenty of background information such as crop, farm, region, tasting notes. A good site even if you don't buy and roast your own.
  23. It all comes down to training, consistency, and efficiency. A Starbucks "barista" can make a whole lot more lattes if all that is required is a push of a button. Since the machine pretty much takes over from there, it's harder to screw it up. Making a proper espresso on a semi-automatic machine, while not particularly difficult, DOES require a fair amount of training. Pushing a button does not. All of that translates into more revenue.
  24. Beirut huh? Keep your freaking head down.
  25. The pubs that I've been to in Cochabamba usually serve whole kernels of giant boiled corn called choclo. It's pretty much the same size as the corn that you get in a bag of "Cornuts" and was always cold and soggy when I ate it. An interesting aside... you mentioned the restaurant "Dumbo" that's located on El Prado. There is another restaurant in Cochabamba that used to be called "Bambi" until the Disney lawyers undoubtedly served them with cease and desist paperwork. The restaurant marquee even had a picture of the cartoon deer! To comply, the owners simply flipped the "M" upside down and now the restaurant carries the name "Bawbi." It cracks me up everytime I see it. For a good steak, try La Estancia. Make sure you get a side order of arroz con queso and yuca fries. You can have a great meal for less than $10.
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