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Placebo

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Posts posted by Placebo

  1. Greetings folks - it's been a while. As some of you may recall, I spent several years as a cheese maker, at Beecher's Handmade Cheese, thanks to eGullet. I wound up eventually leaving the business due to there not being growth options that wouldn't force me to move to the middle of nowhere, plus I developed a casein allergy while actually doing the work :(

    After several years back in IT, I'm now reconsidering an idea that's been kicking around in my head for 7 or 8 years now - namely going into professional distilling. With the rapid growth of distilleries in Washington (and, apparently, some very craft-distillery-friendly laws) this seems like a good time for it, though, as with cheese making, opportunities are few and far between. I've only done a little bit of dabbling in the actual art, but, in talking to a distiller friend in Austin, a lot of my cheese experience will translate directly over and it'll just be about learning the details.

    So, I come to you, eGulleteers, to ask those of you in the food world to keep an ear to the ground for potential opportunities. I've taken a poke at the Washington Distillers Guild forums but they are very very quiet. I'm also talking with friends specifically in the biz (distributors and a few well-connected bartenders) but any suggestions or input would be greatly appreciated.

  2. I'm in NYC for a week and one of my goals is to see if I can get my hands on a bottle or two of an obscure German liqour called Ratzeputz. It's an herbal tonic with a flavor akin to what I imagin Jaeger might have been like before it was commercialized and heavily sweetened. I suspect it's not even available stateside at all - the stuff that I've had was all brought over from Germany by a friend's family. Any suggestions on places to look would be greatly appreciated.

  3. I second the Green Leaf suggestion. I've been there twice in the last week.

    For drinks I might also recommend Kurrant. I just ran across this place over the weekend while looking for a place to have cocktails before heading to dinner at Lark. The bartender makes his own flavored syrups. I had a Tarragon Swizzle that was quite possibly the tastiest cocktail I've ever had. My friend had a sort of cosmo type drink garnished with fresh currants and rimmed with the powder made from drying Campari. Very nice. So nice that we went back after dinner and brought more friends. The bartender was also happy to tell us how to go about making our own syrups and such.

    Pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/particle-wave...in/photostream/

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/particle-wave...in/photostream/

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/particle-wave...in/photostream/

  4. Thats seriously cool Placebo. You know, I've walked past the beechers shops probably half a dozen times now but I don't think I've ever gone in. I didn't know an egulleter ran it though! Next time, I'll pop by and say hi.

    Well, I don't run Beecher's as a whole but I do manage the main production floor down at Pike Place (and am typing this from there right now as I get ready to fire up the pasteurizer). EGullet foundme this job and the local gulletteers (gulletoids?) were super helpful and supportive. I've just been too busy to spend much time here lately (and living in Chinatown for the last 15 months has made me very lazy in the kitchen (something I'm attempting to remedy now).

    Also,I need that Out of My Kitchen Noob shirt :)

  5. I lack cable and wasn't able to wrangle someone to record the episode. Apparently I got some great air time on the production floor at Beecher's. It was something like completing the circle for me, as it was Kitchen Confidential that got me seriously thinking about a career change into the food world. Four years later, Bourdain's interviewing me about cheese making. That said, if someone managed to record it I'd love to see it.

  6. I like Jade Garden a lot for Dim Sum.I like Mike's for noodles - when I walk by, the aroma of the soupswafting out reminds me of Hong Kong. I've been meanin to try their congee. I hear the cod variety is particularly good. The place I go the most often, though (and I live next door to the aformentioned Hong Kong that is being renovated) is Kau Kau. They have *the* best char siu and roast duck. the roast pork is juicy and tender inside and just a little crisp in its rich redness (no supermarket bright pink rind here). The roast duck is incredibly rich and so so juicy. I save he bones and make soup with them. They do a mean sie pork as well and a great chinese broccoli. I would wager that there is almost nothing there that a vegetarian could eat apart from white rice. Even the chinese broccoli is swimming in pork fat.

    I go there far far too often. I can feel my arteries clogging just typing this.

    For Sichuan style cooking I like the place up on the w corner of 12th and Jackson. Called Sichuanese Cuisine or something to that effect.

  7. I haven't been to the eastlake I Love Sushi but if it's anything like the one on the east side that I've been to then don;t waste your time. Garbage. Poor selection, not great quality. It might as well have been supermarket sushi. I have lately taken to liking Tsukushinbo in the ID. It's family-owned and has been around for 16 years. It's just around the corner from Maneki.

  8. I made a huge quantity of mixed root veggies (parships, turnips, rutabagas and golden beets) for the Thanksgiving dinner I went to. The aim was to glaze them but I was in a hurry and running out of pan space so they are more simply braised and sweetened with maple syrup and honey. Turns out that despite the hostesses suggestion of a starch there were already 2 stuffings and mashed potatoes en route and on the whole about 2-3 times more food than we needed. So, I have a huge mass of these guys in my fridge and it's be a shame to let them go to waste.

    So, what do I do with them? Ideas I've had so far are:

    - Simply mashing them with some cooked garlic as a side dish.

    - Mashing them and making galettes upon which I would serve... something?

    - A topping for some sort of shepherd's pie type dish.

    Any other ideas or suggested accompaniments to the above?

  9. Ooh Abra - this is great. I've never been to Walla Walla but Orcas Island is among my favorite places in the world and I've had some pretty decent grub there. I look forward to seeing what you find as I'm overdue for a visit there.

    The catering story reminds me of a week-long new years party that soem firends and I managed the food for. Flew out to Miami and then drove across to the other side of the state with all the cookware and specialty ingredients we could carry, rented more stuff there (chafing dishes and such) and spent the week managing food prep for 75-120 people with various volunteers to cook the meals (we each did a couple ourselves). You just have to brace yourself and hope for the best :)

  10. Bagel Oasis approaches passable. There is no such thing as a truly proper NY or Montreal bagel in this city (I've lived in both places and miss the bagels of both dearly). I've gotten the frozen H&H bagels from that place3 on Madison. They really need to be fresh to be right. It was nice to get the flavor again but the freezing and such killed the texture. The best way to get proper NY or Montreal bagels is via visiting friend with a suitcase full of them.

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