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beans

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  1. One resource: http://www.drinksmixer.com/desc693.html Or the trusty USDA Agricultural Research Service's National Nutrient Database. Per the USDA, one ounce of sake is 39 kilocalories and 1.46 carbs.
  2. This pops up from time to time and have read many gripes about it on other forums. I hardly understand the big deal about that. How much water does it take to lower it that three percent? Big whippy skippy. BTW, Modern Drunkard is also a message board forum for bragging about one's drunken adventures.... I believe they have a petition going for whatever that is worth -- as if Jack Daniels will change that practice.
  3. thebartrainer, Search newbie! http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=37438 http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=40934
  4. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=26787 Add more espresso if desired; or change the creme de cacao for the more expensive Godiva. Or even change the Kahlua for the lighter Tia Maria. Run with it and find out what combination you enjoy. Cheers!
  5. A few of years back, during a snow blizzard and in the middle of a relived Twin Peaks video marathon "fest" I tapped into a old gag gift/souvenier bottle of Everclear from one of our barbacks that attended a wedding in Chicago. ((n fact I remember receiving that little bottle when I first moved into my house so it sat on my liquor shelf for quite some time!) My neighbors (fellow bartenders) were over, pajama clad and wrapped up with blankets surrounded with bowls of popcorn, assorted chips and some cold pizza boxes in front of the tv. The winds were howling, the snow was falling, most businesses were closed. The only "mixer" in the house was a large bottle of Very Fine fruit juice. It seemed like a fun idea. I opted to make it a tall drink to temper that powerful bite. One sip, not too bad. But then my face went numb, rather quickly. Never again. Hang in there Susan. Good thoughts go out to you and every poor soul enduring these awful hurricanes.
  6. Poland? In 1978 the US Bureau of Tobacco, Alcohol and Firearms banned zubrowka because the bison grass contains coumarin, an anticoagulant. There is artificially flavoured (which you noted) and I understand the Polish have developed a new process to make zubrowka with the bison grass, coumarin free. (doubt that version is available in the States however)
  7. markk, If validation is what you are seeking, yes, you truly did have poorly prepared food and equally disappointing service. There are many effective approaches to recifying this matter, all of which discussed ad naseum all over eG. There are plenty of rants, naming the restaurant outright, all over eG, as well. Then there are also plenty of constructive reviews, all over eG, of a restaurant's service and food preparation and presentation. Not all of it stellar, maybe all of it stellar. They are what they are, all with varied levels of expectation and enjoyment -- as varied as the differing individuals that frequent here and post! Don't go back. Don't look back. Find a new restaurant and enjoy.
  8. A shaker shaped pillar of salt is still the work of mother nature. (how does that come out of the holes?) Nothing disgusting about it. Some water in the air, some salt that likes to stick. Re: same rag: They do [reuse that same rag]. Continuously dipped and rinsed in a tub of industrial degreaser designed for restaurant use or a diluted hot water bleach formula. So many chemicals the general public just is not aware of.... Suffice it to say, unless you bow down and lick the flooring, those germs on a table, or ashtray are safely killed which the health departments closely monitor. Temperature (and yes they do invasively stick that thermometer into the water), and strength (how well and accurately it was mixed by the service staff providing the cleaning along with the serving) are monitored and unless you want your resto to close down, you do what is required by health sanitation laws. Thank you EcoLab. Thank you local health departments. Pishaw to those that assume the worst. We are not all germ ridden filth promoting employees. If so, then we'd not have a job to return to in order to earn our income.
  9. Hey quajolote. Rocked with an impromptu catering job and am thrilled to relax and read your blog.
  10. Why not? It is next door. I'm friends with everyone that works there. Some I've worked with before too. (Flats, not the Heights or Akron). Great place to hang and have one after a shift. Besides, Doug (their lead bartender/supervisor) is some lovely eye candy....
  11. Aw, harsh crowd. Clumping salt is just a fact of nature. I live in an area that is very humid and it is inevitable and is no reflection upon poor or mismanagement of FOH. That is not an indication that the heavens opened up and flooded your salt shaker either. The rice can only do so much, and don't really look attractive, IMHO. But why fault the entire restaurant for what Mother Nature does? I thought of another peeve: dirty ash trays. This is more when I'm out for cocktails and not so much so with dining as I don't sit in any smoking sections. But if I did, that would bug the heck out of me too. Clean them up! I really dislike when I watch a tender dump the ashes and cig remains, but don't wash or wipe it down!!!
  12. Yes fiftydollars!!! Good communication is effective communication. You have no ground to stand upon if you don't speak up in the first place, as awkward as confrontation is for most to grasp. A couple of random thoughts: Griping after the fact is never a solution. It is just being vindictive, however communicating one's experience to others. I've been there and sometimes I'll still try to express the positives as well as the failings, IMHO. From a service point of view: Sometimes when a plate is only half finished, perhaps it as a result of someone ordering something that they thought they'd like but turned up they didn't, not by any fault of the kitchen.
  13. markk, Katie is an accountant for a very busy restaurant. I stand behind all she has written on this thread, and elsewhere as she is writing from experience. A universal experience that I without ever knowing her, in person, I've seen as well.
  14. Funny, that was the first thing I thought of when I first started reading this thread. I remember that recipe on the back of those boxes. I grew up loving Ritz with peanut utter and jelly spread on them! I always wondered how the heck they came up with that recipe!
  15. FYI Chris, charge voids are often only handled by management . So it was management that failed to rectify the matter with the credit cards and didn't balance that night causing your over charge. (I'm remembering the horror days of Verifone). edit to add: Also, years back some POS could only accept up to x forms of payment. I know, I worked on them.
  16. I'm very big on that too, almost to the point when my regular dining partner goes out with me he will count the minutes until I make my first criticising observation. Which does happen often as he is okay with corporate chain dining, to some extent. (I've tried desperately to change this). I notice crumbs behind the salt and pepper that weren't wiped, stained/dirty/torn menus, caked on stuff on the railing of the booth or drape of the plastic table cloth, crappy old lemon slices (Pickle Bills), unpolished wine glasses or silver (ugh, water stains), when a beer bottle comes from the swamp bottom beer-water of a beer bottle cooler (Around the Corner).... The list could go on and on! And when I worked at ClubCorp (The Club at Society Center) where details were attended to with the utmost care (we regularly polished our silver and it was real silverware), I see everything. Some forgiving; some not. I've been served up a shot in a rocks glass with some remaining lipstick film at Jillians. Grrrrrrrrrrr. That's truly one of my biggest peeves. Besides those sorts of things, I also take the managerial eye and see those (and hear) servers chit chat gossip and lean instead of clean. There is always something to wipe down with degreaser or remove smudges on the brass or glass. Crap, when I worked as a server, rolling silver was a requirement to be able to "check out" and get off of work! Now that is a chore and everyone had a stash area. Death to another if they stole your rolls. It doesn't get done by elves in the night. Excellent in the biz topic.
  17. They do look sleek. The house I lived in when I moved to Sitka, Alaska had one and I was in constant fear that I'd drop a heavy pan on the thing. I cooked many meals on it, but can't really sing any praises. Was a pain to clean when I was making jam and some bubbled over when I was distracted, but that would be a pain to clean on any other stove top as well....
  18. September/October 2004's notables: Details? Clickety Here. -Absolut's Level Vodka holiday gift set -Player's Extreme Caramel Vodka (Blavod) -Vintage dated whiskey: Knappogue Castle Irish Single Malt 1994 -Suntory (Lost in Translation fans) Yamazaki 18 year old Single Malt Whisky -Glenmorangie introduction of Burgundy wood finished Single Malt Scotch -Ireland's Borzu Crazberry Vodka -Finlandia's Mango Fusion Vodka Cheers!
  19. I have no remorse in tipping or recieving tips. Crappy service? They still get the minimum of 15 percent. I work in the biz, and tip because I can. Nor do I feel any sort of moral remorse when one of my cocaine dealing regulars comes in and tips me $400 throughout the course of the evening. I really hope this doesn't turn into the broken record discussion of restaurants need to pay their FOH staff a decent hourly... The system works, and yes I do know servers that are earning $90,000, declared income just from the credit card receipts. (One of my coworkers is a CPA and his father's firm does the tax preparation for his girlfriend and all her coworkers from Johnny's Restaurant). Never feel bad about a 15 percent tip. That is par for the course.
  20. FYI, I used that example because the predominant number of those on eG that loath vodka, adore only gin and don't like anything dry. They love their vermouth and are rather vocal about it. Your post makes perfect sense.
  21. Then perhaps you'd be surprised that I've never been asked to make a plain daiquiri? Ever. There really are very few folks that like the truly sour drinks. It isn't that interesting about Cheryl's twenty year experience list does not include such, but rather the general imbibing public does not order that with any regularity to make the list.
  22. Boy JAZ, you sure have high expectations and clearly have not worked in the biz. Are you talking a cook or an executive chef? If those were the requirements for hiring a cook in any of the restaurants I've worked for the last ten years, the kitchens would not have any staff.
  23. However, you are in an environment and specifying your preferences and choices. Why not apply that to your local barkeep? It is just plain silly to ask for a martini, generic in form and expect that example Plymouth gin with Vya and three olives. If you don't ask for what you want, you simply do not get what you want. Most bartenders I've ever worked with are quite happy when people specify the details as then the guest/customer is quite pleased. Then there's no bs or anyone in the dark with what to choose playing that dicey game of if I pour this they may not like it or if I pour that they will love it -- but will they pay for it despite they didn't specify? Or, are they going to be pissed since they didn't specify and are most definately not going to like the well version of this? My impression is that you trillium have very high expectations to something you truly adore and are enthusiastic about when it comes to a bartender's performance. I'll give you a hint: we are not mind readers and it is absolutely silly to expect such as there is that great learning curve and those horribly personal apptitudes for being able to perform one's duties to another's satisfaction.
  24. Another thought: Why are so many here expecting bartenders to be data base, machines? They are human! They help to create atmosphere! You interact and based upon your interpersonal/social skills that will either be a successful or unsuccessful experience! And they aren't servants or the hired help for what those terms infer. I find it amusing that they are instantly held with a certain amount of distain if they don't know your preferred Corpse Reviver recipe or serve it up as you would do at home. Interact! Then, maybe if you make that friendly exchange something that tender believes is worthwhile (fine line of being a pain in the ass however) to remember the next time you are in -- bingo! Nirvana!!!
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