slkinsey

I'm not so sure they "more than make it up" -- although there is clearly some making up at play. But look at it this way: If you get a typical meal at Peter Luger (let's say 1/3 of a tomato and onion salad, a strip of bacon, 1/2 of a German potatoes, 1/2 of a creamed spinach and 1/2 of a steak for two) it will run you about 60 bucks. Let's compare that to a 60 dollar order at Babbo, which would get you something like "warm tripe alla Parmigiana," "fettuccine with house-made pancetta, artichokes, lemon and hot chiles," and "fennel dusted sweetbreads with sweet and sour onions, duck bacon and membrillo vinegar." I have not included cocktails and wine, but anyone who has been to both restaurants will tell you that the markup is likely to be higher at Babbo on booze. Peter Luger's food cost on the steak alone is likely to be more than Babbo's food cost for the entire meal.

I've found that the best and cheapest way to get duck fat is from, well, ducks. Buy a few ducks, take off all the skin and fat and render that out. Use the meat for a duck ragu or something like that.

I am given to understand that the percent profit, on the steak at least, is the smallest in the business.

That's pretty incredible. It's a lot more forceful than I thought it would be.

I can't believe that there will be a substantial shortage of top-quality prime beef in New York City so long as restaurants and customers remain willing to pay. It's fairly well known that a substantial amount of top-quality prime beef goes to Japan, and there's really no reason that couldn't be sold in the US so long as the profitability is the same.

An email just landed in my inbox from my friends at the Distilled Spirits Council of the Uniuted States with their take on the "Nation's Top Five Cocktail Trends," which they have as: Super-premium spirits (this category grew by 23% in revenue to $566 million in 2005) More vegetable, fruit, herb and flower garnishes as visual appeal becomes increasingly important Fresh is best, as the emphasis swings back not only to fresh citrus juices but extends to house made syrups, homemade bitters, and in-house infusions Muddling makes a comeback, as practically every bartender worth his salt knows his way around a this technique that was all but unknown a decade ago Flights of spirits and flights of cocktails are gaining popularity.

The Hugo Bracer sounds like an interesting one. I'll have to give it a try. WRT the formula, I note that cocktailDB has slightly different amounts: 1.0 oz : apple brandy 0.5 oz : Amer Picon 1.0 oz : lime juice 0.5 oz : grenadine That still makes it 2/3 apple brandy to 1/3 Amer Picon, but results in a substantially larger proportion of lime juice. On the other hand, this formulation calls for a lot more grenadine than you used. Not sure of the provenance of cocktailDB's recipe, but it might be an interesting tweak. Especially wrt the amount of grenadine and simple syrup in old cocktail books, it's hard to judge just how big the dashes were (a dash out of a grenadine bottle might be a lot bigger than a dash out of a bitters dasher) or just how saturated the syrups were. How did you find the Torani Amer worked? Having tasted it side-by-side with Amer Picon, I am beginning to wonder whether I agree that it's a good substitute. Amer Picon seems deeper with a fuller flavor, and a little bit sweeter without Torani Amer's striking front of the mouth bitterness.

My thought was that in the food industry Cornell would mean more than "Ivy League," so why say it? I guess if you feel the need to put on your c.v. that your parents are nuclear f***ing physicists you might have some reason. Where on his curriculum vitae does it say this? All I have seen is a mention of his parent's professions in the bio on his web site -- a bio being where one traditionally lists interesting things about one's life, upbringing, family history, etc. It is somewhat unusual for the child of a physicist and oncology research nurse to go into the culinary field, and perhaps some people might find that interesting. I am a classical singer, and people are sometimes interested to know that I am the child of research scientists. I guess I have a hard time understanding why you are reacting so strongly to this. I didn't get the impression it was mentioned in his bio in order to inflate his reputation. Rather, I thought it was an interesting fact. Well, regardless of what you personally think, the Ivy League schools carry some additional prestige. This is not to say that other schools don't also have their own special cachet or that other schools might not have even more cachet in certain fields (places like MIT come to mind). The fact, is, of course that a well-motivated student can get an excellent education at Western Bumblefuck State College -- maybe better than the education that some students get at Yale or Stanford. But, again... so what? It is what it is. Doesn't matter if it's "fair." More to the point, there really isn't too much point in debating the connotations of the words "Ivy League" in these forums.

Superfine sugar simply refers to the fineness of the grind. The sugar crystals are smaller. You can usually buy superfine sugar in most any grocery store. Comes in a box like this. You can make it yourself by whizzing it around in the food processor, but you should be able to find some already made. You don't want confectioner's sugar, which contains corn starch. In re to the orange flower water, seek out the A. Monteux brand. That's what you want. Comes in a little plastic bottle (see my link above). Something tall and narrow. A Collins glass, more or less.

Indeed. The Ivy League consists of Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Penn and Yale. Perhaps I should observe that the high reputations the Ivy League schools enjoy are primarily due to the extreme selectiveness of their undergraduate programs. This is not to say that the other programs are not good or are not prestigious. But an MBA from Harvard Business School will never have the cachet of a BA from Harvard College. I don't know a single thing about the Cornell Hotel School except (now) that Holly attended... which, in my book, makes it a top school on that basis alone -- no creeping vines required.

This is an interesting tip, and one I have not heard before. I assume the "tap and rotate" should happen after the drink is fizzed? I'm eager to give this one a try, as I have never been able to achieve the inch tall foam cap I've had at M&H.

The mouthfeel is definitely important. I'd suggest a few things: 1. Use a higher proof and more assertive gin than Plymouth. In the Ramos Fizz, those two ounces of strong have to cut through an awful lot of weak. I'd suggest something like Tanqueray. 2. Definitely use heavy cream. Half and half just doesn't give the same effect. 3. It's hard to get the orange flower water balance just right. You want it to be there, but to not completely dominate the drink IMO. Try maybe only two small drops and see how you like that. 4. Is it possible that you can put some of your ice in a separate freezer to get harder/colder for drinks that really need it? It's fun and interesting that you can feel the texture of the drink change in the shaker, isn't it?

Heh. I've had the same thought. Especially if you could rig it up to do maybe 10 at a time.

Totally worth the effort, in my opinion. This is actually a real test of the bartender's skill, as it isn't easy to get everything emulsified just right. I've always done something like this, which I think is a pretty traditional recipe: 2 oz :gin 1 oz : heavy cream 1 oz : lemon juice .5 oz : lime juice 1 : medium egg white 2 drops : orange flower water * 1 tsp : superfine sugar Combine all ingredients in a shaker with big** pieces of ice then shake the bejesus out of it for at least a minute -- preferably two, and you can always try for more. Strain into a tall narrow glass and top with a bit of fizz water. * These vary widely in strength. I am speaking here of A. Monteux stuff, not the significantly weaker-flavored Middle Eastern stuff. ** Since you are going to be shaking a long time, the bigger the ice the better. This will allow you to get the proper texture without overly watering the drink.

I have the Northern Tools grinder as well, as detailed above, and couldn't be happier. The only drawback is that it's quite heavy -- but that comes with the territory. You don't get that kind of power in an eight pound grinder.

I've tried Hamptons Gin (no apostrophe, by the way). Thought it was not terribly interesting. By design, they put the citrus way out front and dialed back on the juniper.

Interesting article in today's NY Times about molecular mixology by Peter Meehan, entitled "Two Parts Vodka, a Twist of Science" As usual, Dave Wondrich had something interesting and illuminating to say: The article highlights the work of several mixologists who are puching the envelope. Eben Klemm has designed a Manhattan made with leather-infused bourbon and a puréed maraschino and bitters "cherry," and a vodka Martini with an olive essence lollipop garnish, both for Primehouse in Chicago. Eben Freeman, formerly of wd-50, created many unique takes on the cocktail there, including things like "rum and Coke" made of rum powder and soda-flavored Pop Rocks -- he'll be doing gelled spheres of Cape Codder at tonight's Taste of the Nation event. Homaro Cantu of Moto, José Andrés of Minibar and, of course, Ferran Adrià are all doing interesting things. Unsurprisingly, I fond myself in Dave's camp. Some of these things sound interesting and there are clearly some ideas to explore there. Already certain techniques, such as foams, have filtered down to some level of commonality. But it's not entirely clear to me how far the cocktail can be to transmuted and reinterpreted before it starts to lose it's "cocktail-ness." That said, some of the stuff sounds pretty cool. Homaro Cantu is doing a drink called a "Fizzing & Foaming Hurricane" injected with a substance that provides the effects described in its name. Sounds pretty cool. I'm not sure I think a Hurricane is such an interesting cocktail to be expending that kind of effort on, though, and I often find it to be the case that the cocktails chefs try to "molecularize" are not particularly interesting ones to start with.

If you can get it, use Marie Brizzard orange curaçao.

Dan, the Staub mini-cocottes are made of nonreactive enameled cast iron that doesn't need to be seasoned the way raw cast iron does. There are no flavors working their way into the pot as there would be with, e.g., an unglazed clay tagine. If they have off-flavors in the foods they are serving in their Staub mini-cocottes it's because of something they're doing, not the pots.

More to the point, I think, is that Mario Batali knows a little about making money from his cast iron line. Just because he's coming out with an enameled cast iron "risotto pot" doesn't mean he believes it's the best, or even a good material/design for making risotto. What it means is that someone at the company said, "hey, people are into making risotto now. I bet we can make a mint if we add a 'specialized risotto pot' to the Batali line." The fact is that cookware companys are always coming out with pots that are ill-suited to the material/design used. Because they know that they have built up a certain amount of brand loyalty and that their customers will buy the new piece even though it's not the best material/design. Best example: All-Clad stock pots. I'd agree with this in terms of reacting to heat. I used a Le Crueset tonight to fry chicken and I was not at all happy with the temperature control or lack thereof that I was unable to achieve. Interesting. I assume you were shallow-frying? I ask this because, once you get into deep frying territory, the thermal mass of the cooking oil is so much greater than the thermal mass of the pan that the material/design of the pan won't make much difference with respect to responsiveness. Yea. Heavy enameled cast iron can be okay for a lot of things. I'm certainly not suggesting that it's terrible for soups. Rather, I'm suggesting that better performance can be had for less money if what you really want is a soup, curry, etc. pot. There's no getting around the fact that enameled cast iron is very expensive. So, IMO, unless you want a pot to do the things at which enameled cast iron really excels, it may be a mistake to buy it. I think it's a not infrequent mistake for people to say, "I want to get a Le Creuset/Staub/whatever" without giving much clear thought to whether they really need one. Yea. I have never understood LC's choice for the lid handle. There's nothing quite like lifting up a 400 degree cast iron lid and having the handle slip off so you drop the lid on your feet. I should also point out, while I'm at it, that I'm not sure enameled cast iron has such a great advantage over the heavy clad aluminum designs Steven recommends if you're going to be "braising" in the oven. Enameled cast iron really performs at its best on the stovetop, and you're probably just as well off with Steven's recommendation in the oven. Well, there are a few notable differences. As with anything, you're going to find diminishing bang for your buck as you go up the price scale in cookware. Stainless lined heavy copper cookware is no more a value product than a Ferrari. So... there are things that make brands like Le Creuset and Staub better. What immediately comes to mind is that they're substantially heavier (which makes a big difference when you are talking about cookware that is designed around having high thermal capacity and low thermal conductivity) and they also are coated with more coats of higher quality enamel fired to a higher temperature (which means, among other things, that you are less likely to ruin the enamel if you cook the pan dry for a while). I should also point out that, while it's true that coating cast iron with enamel isn't exactly space age technology, it's not necessarily the case that it's cheap. Every layer has to be sprayed on to the piece, and the piece has to be fired at high temperature, cooled, inspected, re-coated, fired again, etc. This costs money, not only in energy but in labor.

Rock on. Jim is very talented. I've been meaning to get over there and try some of the drinks he's created for GT. Unfortunately, I'm still recovering from sinus surgery and alcohol makes the nose swell. Soon!

FWIW, I'm also not sure it makes sense to buy something like enameled cast iron on the basis of using it as as "all 'rounder." Frankly, at most kitchen tasks, other less expensive and easier to use and maintain material/designs are just as good if not better. To name a few that have been mentioned upthread, I wouldn't call heavy enameled cast iron the ideal material/design for things like soups, rice, curry, risotto, etc. Heavy enameled cast iron is best for braising. Browning meat and vegetables and then simmering them low/slow for a long time in a limited amount of liquid. It is also very good at certain other low/slow applications like cooking beans, things like chili con carne and stews. So, if you're going to buy an expensive specialty braising pan, first be sure that you're really going to do enough braising that it's a worthwhile purchase, then choose a pan and brand on the basis of what is best for braising.

IMO Staub is in most ways the superior pot. It's heavier. Certain aspects of the construction are simply better (the Bakelite handles on Le Creuset are always breaking and falling off, for example). I like the lid design. And the interior is better for browning. Some people have said that they prefer the LC because of the light interior. I'm not sure I understand why. Plenty of people prefer to cook on nonstick surfaces, and yet we never hear complaints that Teflon is hard to use because the dark surface makes it difficult to tell when the food is browned enough. I use a sophisticated technique when cooking called "paying attention" to make sure I don't burn things. Jeff, as to some of the other things you bring up: Heavy enameled cast iron is just about the worst material/design you could use to make caramel. Regardless of whether it's Le Creuset or Staub, if you make a really dark caramel and need to cool the pan down fast before the sugar begins to burn, or if you need to reduce the heat before the caramel boils over, you're going to be screwed if you're using a heavy iron pan. The high thermal capacity and low thermal conductivity mean that it won't be very responsive. I haven't noticed that Staub is any more difficult to clean than LC with my usual "soak overnight" technique. But, of course, experiences differ. For whatever it's worth, I think you will probably find a lot of recommendations to take LC over Staub from people who have actually never used anything but LC. Other than Janet and myself, I don't know too many people in these boards who have used both with any regularity.

There's also the point that mixing rum, lime juice, sugar and crushed mint (and lime zest, if you like) in a big container and then funneling it back into a bunch of large empty bottles just doesn't represent much work. The hardest part by far would be juicing all the limes.

We can perhaps explore this more in the Pegu Club Cocktail thread, but most recipes I have seen assume Marie Brizzard orange curaçao -- which is unfortunately almost impossible to find in NYC retail stores. I have found that one must balance towards more curaçao and less lime if using something like GranGala.