mdt

I did some quick internet research last night, and it wAZs fascinating. Apparently, at the precise time that an executive at Roederer complained about the presence of Cristal in the hip-hop market, the Cattier family stopped selling their Antique Gold Brut NV that came in a gold plated bottle ($50) and revived a long dead brand called Armand de Brignac, whose signature bottling came ina a gold plated bottle called Ace of Spades. ($250).

The first known appearance of said wine, press releases not withstanding, was in a Jay Z video, where he eschews Cristal in favor of Ace of Spades. And so it began.

Rumor has it that Jay Z has a stake in the marketing company that owns the brand, but it has not been proven. I could find no technical specifications for Ace of Spades anywhere on the internet.

For all intents and purposes, it looks to me like someone repackaged a non-descript Brut NV and marked it up 500%. Shit like this must make Terry Theise's head explode.

Isn't there a saying about fools and their money?

This sounds interesting. What made you think of using avocado with this? Does it lend much of a taste?

Also hopefully not stealing Zora's thunder, but another decadent chocolate dessert is this one, http://food52.com/recipes/17877_david_lebovitzs_chocolate_sorbet

Aside from the gratuitous observation that the food "didn't look like anything special," NovaLawyer's post looks completely legitmate to me. He came, he saw, he left, he posted. It's unfortunate that Chef Black didn't care for the comment about the food, but the thrust of the post was about the service, and that concern remains unaddressed.

There is value in getting members' backs, even when they disagree with a famous chef.

Amen!

Is this the issue that was brought up at the RAMMY's that RJ commented on on Facebook? These high profile chef's certainly have no problem with social media when the anonymous shills posters are heaping praise.

Fine dining has apparently arrived in Springfield! Monty's Steakhouse recently opened in the Whole Foods plaza on Old Keene Mill and Rolling Roads in Springfield. I haven't yet eaten there, but I stopped in today for a look-see. It's a nicely appointed dining room with white table cloths on the tables and a tidy bar in the front corner. Monty's is independently owned and touts itself as "best value" upscale, casual dining. The owner is Springfield native Donna Montazami, with a Cafe LaRuche and Vapiano pedigree, and the executive chef is CIA graduate Marco Camacho, who worked at the Woodmore Country Club and the Mayflower.

I glanced at the menu and was impressed by the reasonable prices -- dry aged, locally sourced beef and lamb chops in the mostly $25- $40 range, plus fresh seafood options and specialty burgers. Lady Kibbee and I will likely drop in for a meal in a few days.

http://montyssteakhouse.com/

Did their printed menu site locally sourced beef as the online menu does not, but I am really hoping that they do. Glad to hear that the prices look good and I am looking forward to giving it a try. Hopefully their seafood options come from sustainable sources, but the Chilean sea bass on the online menu is not a good sign.

^{Despite validation from the restaurant, I was still charged $9. Yikes.}

Validation provides 3 hours of parking for $9 (used to be $7).

No disrespect to Sou'Wester intended, but how should it be getting more buzz? I keep hearing this lament, but the restaurant is posted about on this board glowingly and very regularly. I suppose Sietsema could plug it more in his chats (a welcome departure from the litany of Ethiopic/Source/Rasika West End/Central/701* [fine restaurants all, I'm sure, but you'd think they were the only ones in the city]), but it's pretty much not convenient to anything--I would never just "find" myself in that neighborhood--and walking to the Metro from there at night is creepy. Where should that additional buzz be coming from and what should it be saying?

My $0.02, but I certainly don't think it gets that much buzz on this board, and you rarely hear about it in the press or food blogs. It's not that inconvenient of a location, sure not a place that many people are going to be strolling by, but as it is an easy drive and has plenty of parking and there are always cabs.

Not sure who is leading the kitchen right now, but they are doing a damn fine job. Dinner this weekend was excellent from the service to the food to the weather. Had some friends in town for the weekend and we took them here for a birthday dinner. We got a table outside on the patio/courtyard and it is an terrific spot for a meal. Everyone enjoyed their meals and the raves were for the lamb special (roasted leg with twice baked potato) and the pork tenderloin medallions. The chocolate tart and strawberry shortcake desserts were a great finish to the meal.

I had called ahead and asked if they could put a candle in the dessert of the birthday girl and not only did they do that, but printed menus with "Happy Birthday" on the top and then had a little bag of cookies for her to take home along with a menu. Certainly not expected, but it's the little details that separate folks from the crowd.

I am sure that I have said this before, but this place should certainly get more buzz from the local community.

Can someone explain the difference between pan frying and deep frying chicken and why one is better than the other?

I'm interested in hearing about yard/deck insect repellants. Someone mentioned a garlic one to me recently, but reviews said your yard will have a strong garlic smell, so that won't work for us.

For spray-ons, I like lemon eucalyptus (Repel has a brand with it), which is apparently nearly as good as DEET. I think Consumer Reports said it was the only non-DEET repellant that was effective.

One of the things you can do on a deck is put a box fan on the ground blowing across the deck. Not only will it keep you cool, but it will blow the bugs away too as they cannot fight the slight breeze. There is also this service which I have heard about, Mosquito Squad, but I have no personal experience with them.

Julien's boudin blanc, quickly seared on all sides and served on a bed of braised russian kale, made an excellent lunch yesterday. I have had many of the variety of sausages that he is making and all are worth trying. I am glad that the shop is not too far from home so that I can shop there often. Keep an eye out for his mini-hams.

So what you're saying is that this little "convenience" is essentially telegraphing to parking personnel that "Hi there, I'll be ready for my ticket in 15 minutes?"

It's all perspective, the service also alerts you to when it is going to expire so that you can extend too. That feature has certainly helped me.

Going to AC via Philly is not the most direct route, but if you are going to be close why not stop off at Tony Luke's in Philly?

Yeah...how dare someone write in and express their opinion!

Stating that the food may be less than the usual is one thing, but saying that it has fallen into disarray with no facts, that's helpful. But I guess opinions are like...

There is a setting under Home >> Privacy Settings >> Profile and Tagging that lets you set who sees you if you are tagged. It also allows you to make it so that you have to approve any Tags before they are seen.

And with a blink of an eye, Tom Sietsema reports Chef Moran has parted ways.

Gotta love the anonymous post stating " ...seems like it has fallen into disarray." I would be very surprised to see that happening. I am looking forward to my dinner there next weekend and will be sure to report back.

Two items for discussion today:

-Is the chicken served at Ray's to the Third the same as the chicken served at East River? The ER menu makes reference to it being smoked then fried, but from what I recall, the Third menu doesn't say smoked and calls it Hell Chicken.

-Is the Blue Devil no longer being served sliced? At my most recent visit to the Third, it was sort of a deconstructed version, with a full steak topped with diablo sauce, and the onions, bleu cheese, and garlic serviced on the side.

And as a final note, the sirloin skewers at the Third are an insane amount of food for the price. For $13/$14, you get a ton of steak and sides -- who says delicious meat needs to be served in one piece?

R^3 usually has both fried and hell chicken on the menu. The hell chicken has a spicy crust and is served with two hot sauces. I love the dish with the half-n-half option.

Wasn't there some discussion (too lazy to do a more than cursory search) talk about the word artisanal? Well here is Artisanal Pencil Sharpening! YHGTBFKM!

Any sort of price info yet?

I think your approach is very sensible.

Why is it that so many folks' dietary choices these days seem to be so influenced by fads and popular, but totally non-scientific, ideas, particularly given that many of these ideas appear to be at odds with each other?

I know this was probably a rhetorical question, but the poor quality of science education in this country probably has something to do with it.

I broke one and then got the Williams Sonoma 1/2" version. At the time someone told me it came with a lifetime guarantee. I don't know if that's true, because fortunately I've never needed to find out.

I used to keep it in the oven but but my better half is convinced it screws up temps for baking other things (I maintain that having a pizza stone on the bottom of a gas oven could only help even out temps).

It will only help even out oven temps if you let the oven warm up and stay at temp for at least 45 minutes.

Ended up picking some up at A&H for $4.50 each, not whales but a decent size for the price.

I think they were $5 at Wegman's.

That's pretty much where I am. Geoff's a Facebook friend and (assuming it's him updating his profile) seems very nice. Don't forget also that Cesare Lanfranconi is chef at Lia's and the pastas there are good now (and there are half-price bottles of wine there on Mondays).

Is Cesare still there? No mention of him on the web site.

Green PIg has an excellent list of small plates, but I don't know how laid back it is at HH.

John talked wine and Julien talked meat in what made for an excellent evening. John certainly picked some interesting wines and the white The format was loose (it was their first one), but you can guide the discussion with any questions that you have.

Here is a list of the wines

Domaine de Martinolles, Blanquette de Limoux, Brut NV

2010 Château Magneau "Cuvée Julien," Graves (Blanc)

2010 Domaine Berthet-Rayne Châteauneuf-du-Pape (Blanc)

2009 Domaine de Pallus "Pensées de Pallus" Chinon (Rouge)

2006 Domaine Lamy-Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet, 1er Cru, "Clos Saint-Jean" (Rouge)

Here is a photo of the charcuterie plate that each of us had with the wines.

A new producer only market will be opening in Springfield on May 26th according to the Smart Markets web site. I have no connection to the market, but the company runs other markets in the area and I am looking forward to see what they will be providing.