slkinsey

On the menu, the regular cocktails are $12 and the champagne cocktails are $16. These are fairly standard prices for cocktails of this quality and in this kind of setting, if perhaps a little bit on the low side. For comparison purposes, cocktails at The Double Seven are running $16 (although they may come in a bigger glass).

Hi Matthew. I'll have some more detailed things to say about Pegu Club after opening. One thing that did impress me, however, is how "ready" they already were at the pre-opening events -- far more so than most restaurants. You should, of course, try the house cocktail: The Pegu Club Cocktail. Another one that I think is very interesting, and which I can confidently say you're unlikely to find in any other bar, is the Jimmie Roosevelt. But just tell the bartenders what you like, and they'll be happy to recommend something for you. Think of everyone behind the bar as a "cocktail sommelier."

Cool! I recently had an Improved Holland Gin Cock-Tail from someone's stash of Bols. I'll be interested to hear how it works with Boomsma. Remember, though, that you want to use Jonge and not Oulde for this drink.

I don't think you're going to find what you're looking for if you want something like the "superpremium" vodka market. This is because the premium vodka market is high volume and largely about marketing. It's not like Van Gogh is inherently a better vodka than Luksusowa simply because it comes in a fancy bottle and costs twice as much. The market for herbal liquor is just not that way. Especially since the majority of herbal liqueurs, digestivi, etc. tend to be more or less unique and not directly comparable to other brands. It's not even like the fruit liqueur market, where there are leading brands (e.g., Cointreau) and lesser brands (e.g., all the other triple sec brands). Are you thinking of something like a special superpremium version of Campari that costs three times more than regular Campari? The Chartreuse V.E.P. bottlings are the only ones like that of which I am aware.

I've used debit cards for years, and don't think I've ever seen a charge on my statement for X dollars followed by a credit for y from the same transaction. My larger point, though, was that banks don't need to do tricky things to put your money in an "interest bearing account" and make money. First off, who would be paying the interest anyway? What happens is, for example, you and 10,000 other people have checking accounts in a bank to the tune of $5,000 dollars each. That's $50,000,000. Now they're not just going to sit on that money. They're going to take some of it and buy bonds, they're going to take some of it and make loans to homeowners and businesses, they're going to take some of it and use it to pay businesses when their cardholders make credit card purchases, etc. At any given time, the actual liquid funds available to the bank are likely to be substantially less than $50,000,000 because they're out there making money with most of it. But even though the bank is technically taking some of your money that you have on deposit and using it for something, they're not going to reduce the balance of your account. They don't have to. They can just use the money and tell you that you have $5,000 on deposit. If you wanted all of your money, they would have enough liquid funds to give you your five grand. If all 10,000 customers wanted their $5k, the bank would be screwed and FDIC would have to pay whatever the bank couldn't pay. So the reason the bank doesn't have to do something sneaky to move your money into a different account for a few days in order to make money off it, is that they're already using as much of your money as they're allowed to use anyway.

Marsha, it's not the math so much as it is that I don't think that's quite how it works. Please someone correct me if I'm wrong (estufarian would probably know), but according to my understanding this is what happens when you make a credit card transaction at a restaurant. 1. I get a bill for $100 at a restaurant and hand over my credit card. My credit card has $500 of free credit remaining. 2. The restaurant swipes the card, the terminal goes online and seeks authorization for $120 in anticipation of an approximately 20% tip. 3. Your bank then "reserves" $120 on your credit account. Your free credit is now $380. 4. You add whatever it is that you're going to tip (let's say it's $18) and sign the bill. 5. Eventually, the restaurant runs the transaction in the amount of $118. This is reconciled by the back end systems. $118 is charged on your credic account, the extra $2 of "credit hold" is released, and your free credit is now $382. Let us say, for the sake of argument, that it takes two days for the reconciliation to happen and for your effective free credit to go up by two dollars. Who is earning money from this? The bank doesn't have an extra two dollars of your money. They can't start charging you interest on the restaurant charge until it reconciles and the $118 charge actually hits your account. All they are doing is saying that there is two dollars worth of credit that they won't let you use for two days. The interest on that two dollars is zero, because it's not money -- it's money that you haven't borrowed yet. In fact, by preventing you from borrowing those two dollars, the bank is depriving itself of the potential to make money from the interest on those two dollars. Now, in terms of a debit card, it's not clear to me that the bank is taking that two dollars out of your account and then putting it back in when the reconciliation happens. Rather it may be that the bank is saying that you can't take that two dollars out until the reconciliation happens. Or rather, much like with the credit situation, they're saying that you can't take out twenty dollars until they find out just how much the bill actually is and do the reconciliation. But here's the thing: tha Bank doesn't need to take the money out of your account and park it in a general ledger to make a profit from your deposits. They're already lending your money out to other people and charging them interest even while it's sitting in your account. That's how they make their real money.

It's got to be Chartreuse V.E.P. (Vieillissement Exceptionnellement Prolongé -- "Exceptionally Prolonged Ageing"). Goes for about a hundred bucks a liter.

Personally, I don't think I'd want one of these and I wouldn't give one. Far better, I think, to give make something up yourself. You want to give someone a "Martini kit?" Pick up small bottles of Tanqueray and Noilly Pratt, maybe a little jar of olives, find a cool mixing glass and a Hawthorne strainer, and put it together with The Martini Companion: A Connoisseur's Guide by Gary & Mardee Regan. Or, if you want to make a more general "cocktail kit" there are other books you could use, etc.

Some pictures from yesterday's pre-opening party. These were taken by Jared Brown, who together with Anistatia Miller runs one of the internet's longest-running spirits and cocktails related web sites, Shaken Not Stirred. The Pegu Club logo on a bar napkin. A shot from the beginning of the bar towards the main seating area. This is the kind of cocktail perfection you can expect at Pegu Club. A look at the house cocktail.

Why, it's "pig pork" of course. As opposed to other kinds of pork, one assumes. Kinds of like "shrimp scampi" in that respect. Maiale (my-AH-leh, for the record) is Italian for "pig," and is often used to mean "pork" ("carne di maiale). It's an easy misunderstanding to make given Falai's menu layout, which looks like this: It would be very easy for a non-Italian-speaker to interpret "Pollo," "Maiale" and "Manzo" as the names of dishes rather than "chicken," "pork" and "beef." We are much more used to seeing things like this, where the name in bold would be the name of the preparation: Risotto fresh peas, vialone nano rice and chicken stock In that case, one would rightly call it "fresh pea risotto."

Today's Off the Menu reports: Title changed back accordingly.

Exactly. I have a hard time understanding how Spigolo is worth two stars while Landmarc is only worth one star (albeit, a Hesser star rather than a Bruni star).

Stagiaire, the oxtail dish sounds awesome. How warm did you serve it? Didn't the heat from crisping the breaded side in duck fat melt the gelatin (which I assume acted as the binder)?

I think it very much depends on which web site you're talking about. Some sites seem to let just about anyone post their opinions on a restaurant (or book or movie or whatever). No one has to join or register, the "reviwers" are largely anonymous, and you tend to get lots of relatively unqualified raves or pans. This, in my opinion, does amount to taking opinions from the person next to you in line. This is the case with london-eating.co.uk. But, not all internet food sites are alike. This is a big reason why we have always had registration, have encouraged people to disclose their real names, and have frowned upon/acted to prevent multiple registrations. By spending time reading these forums, people can begin to form an picture of what they think of other members' writing, opinions, expertise, etc. For example, I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out that Fat Guy and Bux have more fine dining experience than I have. As a result, they may be able to offer opinions on certain aspects of certain restaurants from a more informed basis than I can. Or they may be able to suplement opinions and statements I may offer with information of their own during the course of discussion. This is among the reasons we like to have single-thread discussions about a given restaurant. Readers can see the history of member responses to a restaurant, can ask questions, and can read a multiplicity of opinions from many different perspectives. My opinion is that a reader can gain much more information about a restaurant from a good eG Forums discussion thread than from a 1,000 review in a newspaper -- especially given the fact that so many reviews are complete drek these days, from Bruni's "60% scene/40% food" reviews to the "bad boy reviewers"of the UK.

Exactly. A few vanilla beans (poke some small holes in them), liquor and time. I've done a vanilla-infused bourbon a time or two. Save the vanilla beans when you're done. You can scrape them out and use it in a dessert.

I have plenty of empathy for many reasons to not use credit cards, but as Bux points out, there are many everyday transactions that have simply become impossible without them.

More info as it comes in: The official opening date is Monday, August 29th, 2005. Hours will be: Sunday ~ Wednesday: 5:00 p.m – 2:00 a.m. (Snack menu offered until 1:00 a.m.) Thursday ~ Saturday: 5:00 p.m. – 4:00 a.m. (Snack menu offered until 3:00 a.m)

What is the deal with cooling after cooking? I'm not asking about cooling for storage, but rather for immediate service. Is there some culinary value to cooking, chilling and reheating? And, for meat, is there some value to going up to a target temperature and then backing off maybe 5 degrees to "rest" the meat still sous vide? Might this cause some of the exuded liquid to go back into the meat? I remember in another thread, someone who was cooking a prime rib LTLT (not sous vide) found that there was much better retention of liquid if the whole thing was brought down about 5 degrees after hitting the target temperature for doneness. This took quite a while, as I recall -- kind of a "LTLT rest."

If it's just ginger in vodka, you should be fine from a food safety standpoint given the relatively small amount of ginger you used. Unfortunately, you may find that it doesn't have the "zing" it had when it was fresh. Zingerone seems to be relatively volatile and doesn't stay around too long.

NY Metro's article lets the cat out of the bag, and I can finally say what everyone wants to hear: after a few days of friends & family and press, Pegu Club should be opening next week. As you can see from the photographs, it will be a beautiful spot. It's been very interesting for me to poke my head inside a few times during the construction process, and to see how everything came together. Even last Thursday, the place was nowhere near what you can see in the picture. It's a fairly large rectangular space featuring some banquettes right as you come in, and then a very large bar with a beautiful natural wood top. There are many things they're doing at Pegu that seem unprecedented in recent Manhattan bar/lounge history. The setup behind the bar is most impressive. All the classes are chilled, each bartender has his/her own refrigeration setup, there are two Kold-Draft machines making gigantic cubes of ice, there is a full kitchen turning out interesting hot bar snacks, the bartenders have custom made cocobolo muddlers that feel like silk in your hand, there are special mixing pitchers with pour spouts for stirred drinks, etc. The selection of potables will be impressive, with more brands of gin than you can shake a stick at. There will also be an array of house-made single flavor tinctures, so bartenders can more or less create custom made bitters and spice accents on the fly. One very interesting touch is that every table will have a little box containing droppers of lemon juice, lime juice, bitters and simple syrup. That way, if their standard Sidecar is just a little bit too sour for your palate, you can add a drop or two of simple syrup to adjust the balance. On top of all this will be some of Audrey's signature touches, such as decanting half of each martini into a small carafe nestled in a bowl of ice, and all the drinks that have made her such a favorite among the cocktails crowd. I love the fact that there will be no "V" glasses. I'll have more to say, no doubt, after the weekend. But there is such a high degree of interest, I wanted to let everyone know that you'll soon be able to say it was worth every bit of the wait! Pegu Club 77 West Houston Street (SoHo) Between Wooster and West Broadway 212-473-PEGU

I like frying eggs in bacon fat, but don't tend to do the basting thing. I find that basting with bacon fat inevitably leaves little speckles of bacon schmutz on the otherwise pristine white surface of the egg. I suppose I could filter the bacon fat through a paper towel, but it seems like too much trouble. I also like to fry eggs over medium-low heat in nonstick rather than over high heat in cast iron. Lower heat tends to produce a more tender, whiter, less greasy fried egg whereas high heat results in a crispy, slightly browned, much greasier egg. Nonstick also helps in this regard. I find the frypan shape much easier to get a spatula into, and I confess that I also favor a large frypan because it's easier to make two fried eggs instead of one. Anyway. . . my trick for making sure the surface of the egg is cooked through is simply to cover the pan for around 30-60 seconds. I suppose it comes down, in some ways, to the difference between a "city fried egg" and a "country fried egg" -- if that makes any sense. The former is more tender, less greasy and more cosmetic whereas the latter is crispy, less cosmetic and more greasy, but perhaps with a stronger flavor due to the increased absorption of bacon fat. While we're on the subject of bacon, eggs and toast. . . what about other starches? Nothing satisfies quite like a couple of fried eggs, bacon and grits -- although I like to have toast with this as well. Anyway. . . I was inspired by the article, and did two eggs crispy this morning with bacon, toast and grits.

The only critic I've seen ever make a reasonable and believable defense of "quasi-anonymous" dining is Eric Asimov (here). I say "quasi-anonymous" because I think most well known reviewers are fools if they think they're dining unrecognized at top restaurants. What Eric defended is the shared pretense that the reviewer is anonymous, because it prevents awkward situations where the chef is sending out a zillion extra courses and the "maitre d's, owners, chefs, sommeliers and everybody else feels compelled to come over to greet you and chat and schmooze with you. Along with all the free and extra food comes free drinks, a tour of the kitchen, and god knows what else." But as anyone who has been in show business can tell you, there is no way you can make the show "just a little bit better than the other nights" when you know the critic is in the audience. It just doesn't work that way. And, frankly, given that 90% of what makes a meal top notch happens before the diner even sets foot in the restaurant, I am skeptical that much can be done to create a food experience that is substantially better than what the other diners are getting -- especially over 4 or 5 meals. I suppose service can be improved, but even then the evidence is that places with service issues aren't able to correct them even when they know the critic is in the house.

This is most likely the case for a number of reasons. First, Volvariella volvacea likes to grow on rice straw (hence the name "straw mushroom" or "paddy straw mushroom"). This is something that exists in abundance in China, but not so much in the US. Second, as this mushroom is not commonly consumed fresh, it can likely be produced less expensively in China compared to the US. Third, Volvariella volvacea likes high humidity and temperatures from 85 to 95F. Finally, it is very difficult to distinguish Volvariella volvacea in the desirable bud stage from Amanita phalloides (aka the "Death Cap Mushroom"), one of the most poisonous mushrooms in North America.

Went there a few days ago, and Churrascaria Tropica isl now my go-to rodizio in the City. The salad bar isn't as lavish, but meat is every bit as good as at Plataforma (sometimes better) and it's less than half the price. I made a full post about it here.

This last weekend I spent a very enjoyable evening with friends at Churrascaria Tropical in Astoria. For a while now the prices have been going up at Churrascaria Plataforma, long the gold standard of NYC rodizios. Right now, I believe Plataforma is charging 47 dollars for the rodizio dinner, drinks and dessert not included. And the price goes up considerably if you have a few of their absurdly overpriced caipirinhas. There were lower priced alternatives, of course, but they were always inconveniently difficult to reach and often served meat that was notably inferior in quality to what was being served at Plataforma. We've resorted to dreary subway rides out to Master Grill in Flushing and endured long train rides out to Newark to try to get a reasonably priced rodizio dinner, and I was always left feeling that it ultimately wasn't worth the effort (especially when you figure in the cost of taking the train to Newark). Well, wait no more. If you want a reasonably priced rodizio experience with top quality meat, and you don't want to travel to the ends of the earth, just take the N/W train to Astoria Boulevard and walk a few short blocks to Churrascaria Tropical at 36-08 30th Avenue, between 36th and 37th Streets. Michael Marich, the chef at Churrascaria Tropical, worked for many years at Plataforma. He uses the same meat suppliers, he uses the same equipment, and he uses the same techniques. In fact, in our opinion, several of the cuts of meat which are often dry and better skipped at Plataforma (pork loin, ham, lamb) were juicy and delicious at Tropical. The chef took me to the kitchen and showed me around. It is a remarkably simple procedure. The skewered meat is placed under a powerful broiler where it automatically rotates until charred on the outside, whereupon it is brought out for service, the outer layer is carved away and it is returned to the kitchen for another go under the broiler. There must have been 10 gallons of rendered fat in the catch basin below, just from one day's service! Tropical's salad bar is quite modest compared to Plataforma's. They had hot dishes of mussels and shrimp, various greens, hearts of palm, some potato salad-like things, etc. Certainly nothing like the lavish spread at Plataforma, but I found that Tropical had most of the things I end up having when I go to Plataforma. It's always important at a rodizio not to fill up at the salad bar. Once we finished out salad plates, we got the usual side dishes: black beans, white rice, fried plantains, fried yucca, a kind of tomato, onion and vinegar sauce, the absolutely addictive pao de queijo, and some farofa. The farofa at Tropical is fried with chorizo, which is the way I like it (it is available without for the porkophobes). Then they had just about all the meats you get at Plataforma: chicken legs with sausage, turkey wraped in bacon, pork loin, lamb, brisket, ham, top sirloin (picanha), short ribs, flank steak, chicken hearts, etc. All the meats were comparable in quality to Plataforma at its best, and some of them (short ribs, pork loin, lamb) were better than I've had at Plataforma. What Tropical doesn't have are the occasional "extras" they bring around at Plataforma: the suckling pig, the whole salmon, etc. Tropical also serves Brahma, a Brazilian beer. It's clean, crisp and slightly sweet. More or less the Brazilian equivalent of Miller. But, just as it is fun to have Tsingtao, the Chinese equivalent of Budweiser, when eating at a Chinese restaurant, it's nice to have a Brazilian beer at a rodizio. Tropical has a nice and reasonably priced wine list, but caipirinhas and beer are my drinks of perference at a rodizio. When you're trying to eat your weight in roasted meat, a heavy red wine just doesn't seem to fit the bill. Oh, and those caipirinhas? They're made with Velho Barreiro Cachaça -- still a relatively inexpensive cachaça but a lot better than the Pitu most places are using -- and they only cost six bucks. And if the great food, relatively convenient location and friendly service aren't enough to get you there, there's this: the rodizio at Churrascaria Tropical is only 20 bucks!