slkinsey

Wicked cool! That takes me back to my New England youth... Yea... I want some too. Indeed, there are a great many things they use at Pegu that I covet. I'll see if I can find out about the pitchers, but they have sourced a lot of very special stuff from all over the world and it wouldn't surprise me if they're not available to the likes of us.

Awesome foam, dude!

I've found the old method of filling the glass with ice and water works better, because then there is no condensation on the stem of the glass. Doesn't quite get as cold, though. Pegu Club freezes both their martini stirring pitchers (see below) and their glassware. They didn't quite have this going when I went there for the first "friends and family" pre-opening event, and were doing the usual chilling with ice. One of the first things I noticed upon my return there a few days later, when they had the freezers going, was that the stirred cocktails were notably cooler -- at least 10 degrees F. Here are the pitchers they use for stirred cocktails at Pegu:

I don't think anyone implied that over-dilution wouldn't hurt a spirit. I was trying to make the point that basing one's mixology on the principle of minimum dilution (such as trying to avoid the infinitesimal amount of condensation that might cling to the inside of a frozen glass) and thus creating under-dilution is, as you correctly point out, just as bad as the other way around. Now that I think of it, dilution is an often overlooked and yet fundamental aspect of cocktailery. Could make an interesting thread.

300rwhp I think you have two confusions here: First, as cdh points out, dilution is good when you are talking about a cocktail. If you're making a cocktail, you want twenty to twenty-five percent dilution. The amount of water that might be added to a cocktail due to condensation on a cold glass is minimal anyway. Second, presumably you're getting your cold glasses by one of two methods: either you are filling the glass with ice and a little water to chill it down or, preferably, you're pulling it out of the freezer. Either way, there is virtually no water in the glass when you pour the drink into the glass (you shake the water out of the ice-chilled glass and the frozen glass should be dry). Any condensation that forms on the cold glass once the cocktail is poured in will be on the outside of the glass and therefore none of this water will get in the drink. The most important thing is that your drink is cold... and you would be surprised at how much a room-temperature glass can warm up a cocktail.

Yea... I've been a few times, and it doesn't look like DeMarco's is going to pan out as the "Di Fara Manhattan" we all hoped it might be. If anything, I think this has to do with the fact, as I am led to believe, that the driving force behind Di Fara, Domenico DeMarco, hasn't given much support to his children's venture and hasn't ever made any real effort to transfer his legacy of technique and expertise to his children. You'd think that Dom's children would be so steeped in their father's methods, having made thousands of pizze at his side over the years, that a pizza from their hands would be virtually identical to one from his. But none of these things appears to be the case. I gather from those that are in a better position to know than I that he's actively resisted bringing his kids along in the craft. (I'd welcome any input from those who are in a position to have additional or, hopefully, contradictory information on this.) Of course, the one lesson taught at Di Fara above all is that you have to have someone who cares about making the best pizza working the oven -- someone with a personal investment. It's possible, I suppose, that the pizza at DeMarco's would be a lot better if Dom's children were actually there making the pizza every day. Last I heard, though, they weren't.

That's an interesting point, Mike. And it's all the more frustrating when you consider that making a basic menu of specialty cocktails and most of the standards at a "very good" level of quality in a restaurant setting (low volume compared to a lounge or bar) isn't exactly rocket science. All the people behind the bar have to do is care. I'm not saying the cocktails are going to be like they are at Flatiron Lounge or Milk & Honey, but there is certainly no excuse for them to not be "very good" so long as there is a good recipe book and people willing to follow it.

I own cookware with mirror polished and brushed interior finishes on the stainless steel, and I have never detected the slightest difference. Never mind that, unless you treat your pans like the Shroud of Turin, a mirror polished cooking surface won't stay that way for long anyway.

This is a good point, but the principle still extends beyond liquor. There are plenty of Italian restaurants selling an amazing plate of pasta for 12 bucks and plenty of Italian restaurants selling a not-so-good plate of pasta for 17 bucks. Tangential thought, but I think it's a mistake to think of Old Overholt as the "Popov of rye" (rye whiskey being the "new vodka," don't you know ). Old Overholt is a quality product.

I've been using all manner of metal tools and scouring powders in my stainless-lined heavy copper for going on 10 years now. There is nothing more than mild surface scratching -- something in the picometer area, perhaps.

I'm not 100% sure it can become a huge source of profit, although others are certainly in a better position to speak on that than I. But I look at it this way: If you add cocktails to a restaurant, you are likely to find that your customers are having a cocktail while waiting for a table, ordering a cocktail when they sit down, etc. in situations where they probably would not have had a glass of champagne or wine. Although this is not true of all customers or all restaurants, I find that people are more likely to order a before-dinner cocktail than a before-dinner glass of wine (maybe because they know they're going to be having wine later with their meal?). That means you're making money in a situation where you wouldn't have been making money before -- and, depending on the restaurant and the customer base, I think it can be a lot more money. I'm just not sure it has to do so much with the markup. Again, I'm sure we have members who can actually draw from before-and-after experience and have much more to contribute on this subject than I. If customers complain about $10 dollar cocktails, it may simply be due to the fact that they've never had a cocktail in an upscale place. Similarly, someone who is used to spending 13 bucks on a relatively simple plate of pasta and has come to think that "a plate of pasta costs between 10 and 13 bucks" will probably complain about the 20 dollar plates of pasta at a more "fancy" restaurant. Indeed, we have a number of people in these forums who do just that with some regularity.

People complain about a $10 drink made with top quality booze? One could make the same argument about restaurants. If Babbo is charging twenty bucks for a plate of linguine with clams, pancetta and hot chiles and some other place is charging thirteen bucks, you have an even larger price differential. And in the restaurant comparison we're talking about dishes that are functionally identical, made with the same ingredients, etc. (the food cost on this dish is probably more in the 10% range for Babbo). It's just like with wine. People don't understand that there is a lot more going into the price of their booze than picking up a bottle at the local package store. Just like with wine, at an upscale restaurant or bar/lounge your drink is paying for a lot more than the booze in the bottle. It's also paying for the fancy glass, the fancy napkins, the investment on the fancy lights/music/bathroom fixtures, barbacks, hostesses, rent, etc. When all is said and done, these places are not exactly making a huge profit. I do agree with Katie that adding bar service can add greatly to a restaurant's bottom line, but not because it's got such a huge profit margin on the cocktails. Rather, I think it's mostly simply because the restaurant is now moving a lot more product. Another big difference you're not figuring into your comparison is that a Banker's Club Old Fashioned will taste like ass and the Knob Creek Old Fashioned will taste amazing. But, in reality, of course, the Banker's Club at the dive bar is likely to come in the form of a shot in a shitty chipped shot glass, whereas the Knob Creek is more likely to come in a nice glass with a few dashes of bitters, a few strips of peel fresh off the lemon and trimmed of pith, a big lump of ice, etc. So, in reality the high priced drink often does take twice as long to make (if not longer) and requires more skill from the bartender.

From the web site: If you're a large group arriving at 11:30 on Saturday, I don't think you'll have much chance of getting seats at the bar -- and depending on the night, you might have to wait to get in. Don't forget that Seattle has a pretty great place in The Zig Zag Cafe. In fact, I had a chance to meet one of the guys from Zig Zag a few weeks ago trading recipes at the Pegu Club bar.

Erik, have you considered infusing the Jamaica into booze instead of adding it to the drink as a nonalcoholic component?

Two brands which are miles ahead of Pitù, 51 and Velho Barreiro are Mãe de Ouro and Beleza Pura.

Erik, I assume that the "Jamaica flowers" of which you write are the same thing that is more commonly called (by Jamaicans anyway) "sorrel?"

I noticed in the NY Times magazine article about nathanm's amazing kitchen that, when he made lamb chops, he did individual (Frenched) chops rather than the whole rack. Remember to blowtorch the outside of the rack and the rib bones. Otherwise they can look kind of raw. Be careful with the juniper. I love juniper with venison, but sous vide cooking will amplify the impact of the juniper 10 times what it would normally be. Even one juniper berry per individually wrapped chop might be overkill.

Well, I'd guess it's because the "sours in a rocks glass or a cocktail glass" question is such a no-brainer. If that's the only choice, clearly it's the cocktail glass. A rocks glass implies, well. . . rocks. It's like asking "do Martinis go in a rocks glass or a cocktail glass." There are, of course, large parts of North America in which an order for a Martini will most often get you something with ice in a rocks glass. Heck, an order for a Margarita in just about anywhere in the world will get you a choice between a cup of slush or a drink on the rocks, even though this drink belongs shaken and strained into a cocktail glass. And don't even get me started on the Daiquiri -- both form and pronunciation. So I can see how someone could come to think of a Sour as a drink on the rocks. My remarks earlier about "straight" Sours as opposed to New Orleans Sours and other kinds of Sours that are sweetened with liqueur was to say that I don't necessarily feel that the "expanded" Sours go in the same kind of glass. Just to think of the New Orleans Sours, for example, the Sidecar, Margarita, Crusta, Cosmopolitan, etc. do not go in a sour glass IMO. In fact, they don't all go in the same kind of glass at all. I like the Sidecar and Margarita in a cocktail glass, I like the Crusta in a fancy goblet because it displays the lemon rind better -- and, of course, the Cosmopolitan has to go in a 1980s period cocktail glass with a fluorescent pink stem in the shape of a lightning bolt (preferably plastic).

Kirkland Signature is Costco's store brand. I assume it is made for them on contract.

There is also the Caipirvinho, which is a light drink made in the style of a Caipirinha but using red wine instead of cachaça.

Crushed is traditional, no? The small pieces? Depending on how fine the crack is (to me, "cracked ice" is big cubes of ice broken apart into two or three pieces, none smaller than a marble), I'm not sure how well the frosting of the glass would go.

It's mostly a durability issue. This is not to say that the stuff you find in Target isn't durable in the context of occasional use in a home kitchen. It's just that the Sitram is designed for constant use in a professional kitchen.

Sitram is top-quality. If it's the right size, it would be a god buy. On the other hand, you may be able to get a functionally similar stock pot (i.e., stainless body with aluminum base) for a lot less at someplace like Target. The stainless steel body probably won't be quite as heavy-duty, but otherwise they'd be similar.

It depends on how hard the stainless steel is and how hard the thing you're rubbing across the stainless steel is. In many cases, say a metal spoon or tongs, for example, the difference in hardness isn't likely to be all that great. Therefore the "scratching power" of the metal spoon or tongs won't be that great. If you're particularly concerned, you can always use wooden spoons. To be honest, though, I have to ask why you're so concerned about scratching your stainless steel pans. A few scratches here and there aren't going to change the cooking properties of your pans -- and pans are tools, not objets d'art. If you ever clean your pans with something like Bar Keeper's Friend and a Scotch Brite pad (and IMO this is often the only way to get them really clean) you're going to have microscopic scratches on the metal anyway. Just shaking a sauté pan on the grate or moving a sauce pan to the side of the burner is likely to make a few little scratches. Most of the time if you see gleaming mirror-finished cookware without a single scratch, it's a sure sign that it's never been used. So I say: relax and just use your pans.

Yea, they also sell -- sell, I tell you! -- simple syrup. Another not-very-good sign IMO. On the other hand, it could be that their tonic water really kicks ass.