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Can we manage this thread without that tiresome Emeril bashing? It has been so over done. *yawn* Much less, but I'll still click onto Food Network. All repeats, however I'm happy to catch bourdain's shows now being aired on early Sunday evenings and I still seem to manage a Boy Meets Grill which is more by that natural mind's time clock schedule and really not on much on purpose. That seems be the same time I check email and click on the tube on Saturdays. I really need to examine the PBS and Fine Living schedules and finaggle with my TiVO again.

Eeegads. I want to trade lunch with everybody else! I was bad today and had a M&M icecream cookie sandwich. I'm still zooming on that poor choice of excess sugar.

Shee Atika Lodge, Sitka, Alaska. Consistently filled with soap.

Welcome to eG bleudauvergne! The Americano is a "lighter" and refreshing long drink variation of the classic Negroni, replacing the Gin for Soda Water. 1 ounce Campari 1 ounce Red Sweet Vermouth Soda Water Garnish with a twist of lemon and orange. Your auntie's recipe sounds intriguing and well worth sampling. It seems to resemble the Negroni, but by the adding both Dry and Sweet Vermouths would render it a "Perfect" Negroni, however, the proportions are not the same as your recipe. For instance: Negroni (classic recipe) 1 ounce Gin 1 ounce Campari 1 ounce Red Sweet Vermouth Garnish with lemon zest. "Perfect" Negroni 1 ounce Gin 1 ounce Campari 1/2 ounce Red Sweet Vermouth 1/2 ounce Dry Vermouth Garnish with lemon zest. Something else that sort of popped into my mind was a Napoli, however that is with Vodka instead of Gin and with the addition of Soda Water. Napoli 1 ounce Campari 1 ounce Vodka 1/2 ounce Dry Vermouth 1/4 ounce Sweet Vermouth Soda Water Garnish with an orange twist. I hope some of this helps. Perhaps someone else can add to this? Cheers!

I didn't scroll down far enough to see the flask. I've got a few pink elephant stir sticks from Pier I, so I must start coordinating that collection! Yeah, I saw the story title on the website and wonder about the porn queen thing too. I'm not even sure if I'd read it after spending six months tending bar in a strip club or knowing one of the Playmates of the Year fairly well as she was discovered on our pool patio for a Miss Hawaiian Tropics contest. I'm not a big fan of Bartender magazine myself and rate that about a 6 on the 1-10 scale, but I'll still read it. So, I'm sort of lumping this one into that category too. (I trust your evaluations and taste implicitly Katie!) Thanks for the heads up. I'm sure the next big urban club features will undoubtedly be South Beach, and am sort of surprised it wasn't in the first issue -- perfect target market demographic.

Half of a cuban sandwich, a small bunch of red seedless grapes and a tall ice tea. Yum. What a delightful use for a pickle.

Has anyone picked up or read their premiere issue yet? I haven't gotten myself to a decent bookstore only out of fear of spending $$$$ on a huge list I've been keeping around a bit too long while continuously adding on other "must haves." I've checked out their website this morning to see more up and running. Their merch is very cool. I think I've got to have the Pink Elephant tote myself. I *love* their cat graphic for the "D'town Hot Urban Destinations."

William Grant & Sons doesn't import the Bols Parfait Amour, for reasons unknown. I've emailed and spoken with some of their staff last Fall in order to track down a local distributor (Paramount in Cleveland) for the Bols Pumpkin Smash (we do not use Bols products) and out of curiosity asked about the Parfait Amour. I really didn't get a firm answer. Oh well. However a really old hole in the wall bar I love to visit has a dusty old bottle of the stuff which I sniffed, tasted and used for the Lavender Orchid cocktail for eGCI. Unaffected by age, it certainly was drinkable. Marie Brizard's is the same stuff, different brand, but a special request to the liquor store of your choice may be the only route. Most "well" liqueurs (Bols, DeKyper, Leroux, etc.) are pretty much the same overall, so I doubt that there are any discernible differences between the two brands.

While in class, did they go over this sort of scenario? Where I work this was hammered into our servers' heads because at the time we did an audible system of calling drinks for service orders. (along with a drink "chit" in hand as proof it was rung onto the guest check-- but we no longer do this) Blender/Frozens Up Cocktails High balls (LIT, etc.) Low balls (rum and coke, etc.) Shots with a process Rocks Bottled beers Wines by the glass Draught beer Making is sort of the same, but a tad different. Say this ticket pops up for one of my service orders: 1 house of Merlot 1 Frozen Margarita 1 Bombay Martini w/olives 1 Long Island 1 Rum w/Coke 2 Red Stripe 1 Bass draught 1 Jack Daniels neat Start frozen marg with all ingredients into blender pitcher, start blender Ice and line up all required glassware for order, including cocktail tin Chill cocktail glass Turn off blender Pour liquors and sour into mixing glass/tin for LIT, shake/flash blend (if one exists) Pour LIT into serving glass Pour Marg into serving glass Pour rum/Pour shot of Jack (simultaneously if possible) Pour gin and vermouth into cocktail shaker and top Top LIT and Rum with cola Grab and open bottled beers Pour glass of house merlot Pour Bass draught Empty cocktail glass Swirl cocktail shaker and strain into cocktail glass Garnish all requiring same (Marg, LIT and Martini) Straw/stir-stick all drinks requiring same Economise on time -- while the blender is whirring away the cocktail glass can be chilling and other drinks made. Garnish all at once, use the soda gun once, etc. Takes time and practice of re-deciphering this ordering/making process when servers are not trained to do so. You'll be doing it in your sleep then you'll be doing it without a second thought as though it came naturally! As always, good luck and hang in there. Sounds like you are off to a great start.

Jim: Purple is one of my favourite colours so when I see any of its variations listed, it tends to grab my attention. Especially when it has to do with cocktails! Edit to add: You are very welcome! Cheers! (yes, I'm enjoying a glass of wine as I type this, so consistently, I've typoed each of my posts this evening!!!! )

Ah hah! My clever resources (aka, my San Fran bartending buddies ) have told me that it is merely vodka and Parfait Amour that makes the Lavender Martini at the Redwood Room. Which vodka? Not sure, but isn't that the fun part figuring that out and taste testing? Curious about this stuff of perfect love? (just in time for Valentine's Day) Bols Parfait Amour For Marie Brizzard's Parfait Amour: Sorry, this is deep linked and I can't fix it other than to give you directions: Go to http://www.bevmo.com Select "Spirits" Select "Liqueurs" Select "M" and scroll (I think it is on the second page of M's) until you find Marie Brizzard products, then you will locate their Parfait Amour, click on that and you will see the purple bottle of spiritous goodness. Cheers! edit: links

What does it taste like? Here's a version of a lavender cocktail and chances are if it is purple it may be using Parfait Amour -- a product of both Bols and Marie Brizzard. (However the Bols may not be imported to the US.... William Grant & Sons, I think, are the sole importers of Bols products but not including the Parfait Amour product for unknown reasons). Take a gander at this from the Evolving Cocktails, part II: (and also in the Cocktails section of the eGRA) Pictured, and sadly out of focus: WHITE cranberry!! (the pic is of one that was made with RED cran Someone [meaning moi doh!] forgot to pick up the white cran!!! ) I hope some of this helps.

I have learned that a small handful of schools do a decent job and are more than the rip off artists making a quick buck and reproducing our corporate drink recipe book (or Applebee's or TGIF, etc. -- I've seen many of these photocopy compilations with a different coloured cover as a flimsy stapled on thereby creating a "new" booklet). However, they appear few and far betweeen and I've had more experience with the rip off artist schools. So, this leads to something of a rant. It is the general perception of many that bartending is an easy and unskilled position -- so when faced with being in that hard place and a rock struggling to pay the bills, earn a living and put food on the table, ephiphany hits. Yeah, I can become a bartender!! <roll bartending academy cheesy telly and/or radio advert> Right to my rescue!!! I'm going to enroll and I'll have a job immediately upon completion and I'll be on my way to financial independence! I'm going to be just like Tom Cruise in Cocktail -- you think or "hear" all in that mind's "voice" in a distinct tone equating squeals of delight.... You think Joe Entrepreneur hasn't figured out a way to feed off those numbers of folks looking for employment and swooped in to fill this "educational" niche, thus creating some Ultimate Bartending Academy, Ltd. (I am hoping that is not a real entity)??? Again, Okay, whew. I feel better. I got that bit o'hot air out and in the open.... Back to the thread. I am happy to learn that bartending schools are not all the same, with those few that are provide some decent training. It is something a bit new, and even refreshingly surprising. live2eat, out of curiosity how many of your fellow graduates succesfully found immediate, gainful employment in bartending? How large was your class? How are you finding your first job? What are the challenges? Are you solely tending for guests or are you juggling both guests and service orders?

:shivers: I agree students should learn about [fill in the blank] food history/culture and preparations, but to bypass the classics of the French culinary masters? Really????? Yes, send me to Provence!!!!! edit: underline fix --I so rarely underline -- I almost forgot how

Welcome to eG 42feed! We too have signature cocktails and are currently undertaking a huge face lift changing our training materials and procedures. One simply cannot expect another to already have the knowledge of the specs: cocktail recipes, techniques or serving procedures; inclusive of promoting one's own servers from within. Also, when we hit season, we need to hire additional staff. So, training and/or refreshing those that have been re-welcomed to return, is inevitable. Promote from within? Gotta teach them how to construct those same signature drinks. Hire someone "off the street" -- ditto. And not to forget the already existing team -- they need to be introduced to the philosphy, ingredients and procedure(s) of the new signature cocktail menu as well. What bartending school will do is at least teach some of the basics -- product knowledge (yes that would inlcude a discussion on beer) classics/most popular and the various procedures/techniques to constructing various drinks and cocktails. Something a server promoted to bartender most likely will lack understanding or knowledge of same. (hopefully to be recognised and rewarded with that promotion, they have already have the demonstrated ability to learn quickly on their feet and multi-task) Always a good thing to do. Chit chatting with a busy and working bartender will not offer up in depth discussions on what makes a beer light, and same with a liquor store clerk regarding state regulations! First, a liquor store clerk is (or should be) familiar with the retailing of liquor, which is often quite different from the sale, service and pouring of liquors in a food and beverage establishment. Actually a decent bartending school will equip the student with those sorts of subjects. However, I may wonder about the level of wine education one receives from that sort of training. Where I work, we do not depend upon any bartending school to provide that at all! We host frequent tastings with the wine reps wherein we have mandatory staff attendance for a full discussion of the featured wines -- production region, varietal, a tasting with verbal descriptors, food pairings (done hand in hand with our Executive Chef), etc. Again, on the job training. Something that also appears to be mandatory for most service staff within the States, alcohol awareness programs (TiPS/TAM/TEAM, etc.) which I find to be quite important these days -- or at least reduces our insurance premiums a wee bit making our owner happy. Earning that certification may indeed be a part of the better bartending school programs and it would be not only good policy but convenient one stop shopping so to speak. As far as trustworthy candidates to step behind our bar, I have found careful reference and previous employer checks, a written test screening those truly in the know upon application, a thorough, interactive interviewing process, training (menu, wine list and cocktails) are all an investment of time worthy of finding quality staff. eG'er live2eat has the energy, interest, persistence and apparent initiative to use what many poo-poo'd and landed a bartending position rather quickly in a somewhat depressed food and beverage industry experiencing a bit of an economic slump. Don't trump his success with hard and fast rules that can be worked around, given the right person presents themself for the job.

YES! That was my choice of breakfast nearly every morning in Bangkok -- one half of a small pineapple and several slices of red papaya, rambutan, toast and tea.

I think you forgot to include that you put the Campari and sweet vermouth on ice and top with soda water? regards, trillium Long day (look at the early morning hour I posted that -- it was 2:15 a.m. EST!) And as a matter of fact that was the recipe I skimmed over thinking I missed or forgot something, hence the edit notation on the bottom of the post. Yes, top with soda which is to take the place of the gin and is a "lighter," refreshing variation of the Negroni. Have a fabulous evening Pasta Feast goers! edit: I noted trillium's quotation of my post was different and three hours behind -- West Coast... !

You mean the nuts part? No, I mean nuts -- macadamia, etc. I thing I remember reading somewhere that nuts are really considered fruits, but I guess that opens up a whole other aspect of discussion. Not to mention I may have remembered a bit incorrectly, which is usually the case. I should have added to my original post: (instead of making a list) Most of my fav tropical fruits I've encountered on trips to the sunnier places on this earth during those wonderful days I was able to travel on my father's Northworst Air pass privledges. Always fond memories that I'm forever greatful for having experienced and are always reminded each time I find a lovely, fresh tropical fruit. (I'll *never* forget trying passionfruit sitting on the deck near the white sand beach, blue green seas and beautiful sunshine during breakfast while in Fiji). Thankfully Cleveland is home to a very diverse ethnic make up and it may not be as easy as walking out into a back yard and picking them (not unless they'd like a "fresh" icicle), I can find most of my favourite tropicals if I look in the right places. Another bonus, the large hispanic communities bring many delicious fruits and new uses for the usual stuff -- like fresh sugar cane. Most I enjoy fresh, out of hand but truly enjoy all of the various chutneys (mango in particular), sorbets, purees, nectars, candies, jellies, sauces, etc. Truth to tell, I often find ways to incorporate them in cocktails. Surprised?! Nah. Yum.

red papaya rambutan golden pineapple guava lychee longan carambola pomegranate coconut sugar cane guanabana kumquats tarmarind all shapes and forms of the banana kiwi mangos? eh, they're okay. quenepas were a bit slimy and a tad tart, but I don't dislike them. passion fruit alone are quite an eye opener. Considering nuts as fruits? I'm sure there are a couple I'm forgetting.

Aperitifs? Hmmm. Make scottie make these. She's good at it, that I am very sure of! Well, I'll list the obvious classic Campari sorts to pick and choose from: Americano 1 ounce Campari 1 ounce Red Sweet Vermouth Combine in an old fashioned glass (9 ounce solo cup??? will do as well for the sake of ease!) and garnish with a twist of both lemon and orange. Negroni equal parts of gin, sweet vermouth and Campari How lethal? How big will the glasses/cups be? These tend to be one ounce pours of each, but can be scaled to 1/2 to 3/4 ounce each without any sacrifice to taste so long as you garnish with lemon zest and the "glassware" is close to in size of a old fashioned. (small solo cups are about 9 ounces???) Not sure what your liquor options will be here are two other Campari concoctions: Old Pal 1 ounce Rye or Bourbon 3/4 ounce Dry Vermouth 3/4 ounce Campari Chill, shake and strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist. Jasmine 1 1/2 ounces Gin 1 ounce Cointreau 3/4 ounce Campari a healthy lemon squeeze for fresh lemon juice Chill, shake and strain into a cocktail glass. Champagne Flamingo (or Prosecco, or Sparkling Wine) 3/4 ounce Vodka 3/4 ounce Campari Chill, shake and strain into a champagne flute and top with Champagne/bubbly of choice. Garnish with a zest of orange. Anyone say bubbly? What about the newest POM Wonderful craze sweeping the US? Tintoretto (source: courtesy Walter Bolzonella of Hotel Cipriani) 1/3 pomegranate juice 2/3 Prosecco I hope some of this helps! edit: measurement oversight/sloppy proof reading/typo Take your pick!

Same broken record here, but gosh I wish I could be a part of this lovely gathering. Wee emmers, your pasta contributions sound yummy. And Dean, Mrs. Varmint has very fine taste, pancetta or not! Will this be a photographed event of happy smiling eG'ers with the glow of having enjoyed good food and drink? I'll be thinking of the fun y'all will be having and perhaps break my reduced carb intake and splurge on a pasta dish tomorrow, myself, in "like" celebration.

live2eat: Please do! I think as I posted before earlier in this thread, positive attitude and enthusiasm are very attractive things in much more than a mere bartending job. Your clear interest and passion will set you apart from the average bartending school attendee that walks in believing it is all easy peasy with big buck rewards. My only observation of my experience in fine dining -- I learned to really loathe all of those large parties initially all ordering various wines by the glass. Bleh. Pouring seven or so different reds/whites for one order you'll soon learn "the race" to make sure all pours are equal. Oops! The merlot has a micro millilitre more than the cab so I'll go back and splash a bit more of cab to even it up.... etc., etc. And pouring several wines by the glass for service orders take a tad more time than zinging out a bunch of cocktails all at once. Enjoy your new digs. Take a good look around and explore your higher end liquors (usually a nice collection and variety of single malts and boutique bourbons) and soak up all you can about wine. Thanks for the update. Best of luck. Be sure to use every available resource to continue learning, or even as to blow off steam in a riotously scathing rant! [this was part time and to earn extra $$$, right? Well, ummm, errr, anyway.....] Cheers to you live2eat! Welcome to the biz!

As far as airport concessions go, this one appears to rate high in the Tampa International Airport. Fun with rum while on the go? Full Story Here Cheers!

robyn -- have you ever head of the expression of the brigade system used in reference to commercial, restaurant kitchens? No I haven't - what is it? Robyn Here's a brief explanation in a nice nutshell.

robyn -- have you ever head of the expression of the brigade system used in reference to commercial, restaurant kitchens?