DaRiv18

Made some this morn and this thread caught my eye. I highly recommend Jacque Pepin's tip, which is to use a thumb tack to punch a small hole in the shell before cooking. This allows the gas to escape as it cooks, so you don't get the slimy green tint around the yolk, nor does it stink up your fridge during storage.

Sthitch have you tried spin drying? As powerful as the motor gets, and as hot as the soups can get, I can see hand toweling the exterior, hand toweling the top interior half, and then spinning it on high with the lid off for a couple of minutes. Expected result: bone dry. Just wonderin'.

Well if you are looking for a Jack Rose, you will not find him sitting at this bar. Of course, another Jack Rose will soon be born, but if you have a hankering for Sam Lek, don't despair. As Pink somewhat said, heeeeeeeee's coming out so why not better get the party started. PS The Sidecar was nice. Afterwards, the Daquiri from the bar back was not fresh squeezed, but Sam saved me with his Pimm's Cup Martini.

Gotcha, my "b". I'll have to swing by tonight, I'm picking up some eyeglasses nearby anyways. A great Sidecar is better than a great Manhattan. And a bad Sidecar is worse than a bad Manhattan. Must try Sam's.

Sad news. I wouldn't discount Sam's skills though, he makes a decent rickey and I've seen him refuse to make a Dark 'N Stormy because he doesn't carry Gosling's. His clientele is totally different than that of the relatively new cocktail culture, and he probably knows what works for them.

The thing has paid for itself for the amount of hummus I now make. The DVD I have is somewhat useless but the cookbook gives me good ideas. I don't think the Vitamix is that versatile a tool; rough chops, grinding ice, and basically making any finished product that isn't silky smooth is better left to other tools. But I would say it is indispensable in my kitchen.

Yeah if there's one thing it will do, it's make that puree silky smooth. They have techniques for rough chops that don't work so well for me, but soups are right up its alley.

If he had been a young, enthusiastic bartender, I might have tried to inform him on some sort of fundamental technique. I don't really speak up about recipes, that's their call to riff. This bartender was actually a very good bartender on every other level: attentive, funny, knew how to tell a story, knew when to back away. That's why I would "venerate" his style, and I didn't want to cause a scene in front of others. I actually don't mind a horrible cocktail, as long as I see it in action. Plus, I waited too long and missed out on Repeal Day tickets this year. I guess this was my consolation cocktail, a reminder of how Prohibition killed a craft, replaced by a skill-less mish-mash of distilled awfulness and cloying cover-ups.

Monday visit left me underwhelmed, but luckily I was with some long-lost friends and good fun was had by all. It is also fun to celebrity watch, and the setting is very relaxing. I was the first to arrive at the bar. Ordered the Signature Manhattan, which was ok. The sweet vermouth tasted a bit stale, so I opted for an Old Fashioned for my 2nd round. The bartender, before my eyes, opened a packet of Equal into my tumbler and began to mash the cherry and orange. Old Crow was his choice of spirit, several dashes of Ango, and about 5 ounces of soda. Nice bartender, worst cocktail of the year for me. At our table, I began with the crabcake. Very nice, would order again. Of course I chose the prime rib. During the order, I first opted for the split cut. Others at my table hemmed and hawed over the split vs. full cut. The server very eloquently defended the full cut as the restaurant's signature entree, USDA Prime cooked with the "bone-in" for the most flavorful prime rib in town. His presentation won the table, and I changed my order to the full cut, medium rare. Fast forward to entree time. I have 32 ounces of meat in front of me. There is no bone, the temperature is medium. The rib is fine, if a bit chewy, certainly not fork tender, and definitely not worthy of a "signature entree" designation in this instance, IMO. I regret my review lacks energy, but a disappointing dinner. I do like the atmosphere and the service.

The espresso I had this morning here was not offensive, unlike other coffeeshops that serve a bitter long pour. But the crema was thin, and illy's vacuum-packed beans just don't compare to fresh roasted. On the plus side, I love illy's iconic espresso and coffee cups. They even include the saucers -- no sarcasm here, I don't quite understand coffeehouses that serve beautiful latees in mugs without the saucer.

Bed, Bath and Beyond.

I agree. Maybe it's the live chat format, it's not everyone's forte. I'd rather see Tom S. shoot one of his videos with the guest chef, both of them incognito. Then at least I would have some fun guessing who we were dealing with. I get that this is a reader write-in Q&A, but maybe Tom should have some prepared questions ready to go just in case yesterday happens again.

An easy cocktail: The Dark 'N Stormy. 2 ounces black rum (Gosling's Black Seal if you want to minimize litigation risk) and 4 oz of your favorite ginger beer (Reed's Extra Spicy or what have you). From what I can tell, an industry no-fuss fave. Haven't had too many cocktails with coconut rum before. But in my Food & Wine Cocktails '09, our very own Todd Thrasher shares a recipe for the "Carrot Colada" 1 oz white rum 1 oz coconut rum 1.5 oz coconut water 1 oz carrot juice 1 oz clementine or orange juice 1 or 2 halved baby carrots, for garnish (optional) Fill cocktail shaker with ice. Add all ingredients except the garnish. Shake well, at least 12 seconds. Strain into ice-filled highball glass and garnish with baby carrots. So, one easy and one fancy.

Besides vodka, gin, tequlia, whiskey and rum, what other bottles do you have? (name the liqueurs and bitters, please). Give me something to work with here :-) I love sloe gin fizzes, and they are crowd-pleasers but they can be a pain to make. Note how they are NOT served over ice. Sean-Mike is right, a Negroni is easy and you can stir one on the rocks in your drinking glass. Ditto with an Old-Fashioned. Plus you don't necessarily need any citrus with those two.

Looks like you have booze covered. I would look into tools and books for your remaining budget. It doesn't sound like you've built your bar yet, you might want to check out Dale DeGroff's suggestions for building one in this collection of essays. There are plenty of cocktail books out there. Imbibe is a good magazine. And Food & Wine has an annual cocktail publication that lists different recipes from around the nation. And if you want to minimize your library, the Joy of Cooking has a cocktail section that is better than many other dedicated books on the market. As far as tools, if you went all Rosle it would be hard to go wrong. Sur la Table used to carry everything but now I don't see it stocked there. Of course you can slum/snazz it up from Rosle. I do use the oXo measuring jiggers, and they are fine, although Cheryl Charming has pointed out that they are not made/pour uniformly. Julep strainers and many tin shakers can be found at local restaurant supply stores (I hit up one in the Florida Market), as well as churchkeys and generic barspoons. Thrift stores make for fun glassware adventures. Finally, as you build your bar, I suggest that you have a clear vision for sourcing your ice. A small Kool-Draft machine would be ideal, although high-end. An installed freezer is probably the best value choice, where you can store big ice cube trays (as well as glassware and some bottles). Most conventional built-in ice-makers are ok, but strictly speaking generate wimpy ice cubes. And if your ice solution is transporting said wimpy ice cubes in a bucket from your upstairs kitchen, then you'll quickly tire of the sport. It goes without saying you'll need a sink as well.

This would be my choice, Sam is a legend. Quite sure Cary/Don would be on a first name basis with this jewel.

I stopped by on Wednesday. It's a two week exhibition, so you still have time. I think the hours are 11am - 7pm. We tried some Peruvian ceviche and some pork carnitas, they were fine. A bit of a mixup on what my change should be -- English was not a first language for either vendor, and each wanted to overcharge me by like $15, that was a bit weird. But it worked out in the end. EDIT: It's called the International Festival, btw.

I did a poor job of capturing the bizarre randomness of which I and the others in line felt a part, as we stood in line that fateful Friday evening. The puzzlement for being targeted as a mere lobster-goer, willing to brave the elements. What did we ever do to deserve such scorn??

Tried it last night at Chinatown Coffee. I had some work to do so I snagged a table around 2. At 5 there were no free tables, and by 6 the place was packed, standing room only. At 6:15, I stepped outside to get in line while my fam remained at the table. At 6:25, the line was long enough (well past my view, around the corner of the block) for some passing guy to heckle us. "Lobster?!? Y'all f***ing standin' in this line, in this heat, for lobster?!?" At 6:30, I was about 10 back and was served in about 10 minutes. They anticipated the initial rush by having a bunch of toasted buns ready, but it was still a delicious offering. Chinatown Coffee was pretty crazy by then, good for them but a bit too loud for baby. All in all, I'd rather hit Bobby's Crabcakes and enjoy a more relaxed setting. But I'm glad I tried it, and maybe I'll do it again if it's only a 10 or 15 minute wait.

Good for them. That Art Gallery space is a fun one, I was wondering what would go in there. I used to head there for March Madness, it was a quiet bar where you're guaranteed a seat. I imagine the bar won't survive a remodeling though.

Are they doing alot of prep in their trucks? i.e. boiling lobsters a la minute? I'm just curious why the line is 90 minutes. Just the growing pains of a new operation? Or are they also toasting the buns per order (probably) and mixing the lobster salad per order (which would be admirable).

To me, this #4 does not go far enough. It should also include superior service, which, admittedly, is hard to quantify. I am not a blogger (I guess some know that I will post on here, though), but I there are nights that I know I have received preferential service, even if I don't get a free drink. And I've been told by one of "my" bartenders that on some busy nights, she feels comfortable giving me WORSE service than usual because she knows that I understand that she gets insanely busy supplying a thirsty, three-deep bar. My point is, your service mileage may vary. But apparently preferential service treatment need not be disclosed.

Old Dominion Brewery may be a little cheaper than Gordon Biersch. Not sure about vegetarian options though there. I don't know whether the Passenger's theater is available on Saturday nights (could easily hold 40), but they have $5 beers and veggie paninis.

Skimming over the responses to this issue, actually, I do see a gender issue here. Most of the males seem to be willing to hear the context of the tape-worm comment. The females, and Tom S., seem to think that joking about someone's appetite is categorically unacceptable and even merits dismissal. Upon further thought, I would be much more critical of the waiter if he had joked with a female about her endless appetite. That is right up there with "never hit a woman" in the Man Code. Context matters.

Since I eat 95% of my meals at the bar, maybe I'm the wrong person to weigh in on table service. I guess the bar is more of a public space, and it's more acceptable for a bartender to make personal comments about the customer. Why? What untrumpable code is being broken, that context doesn't even matter? So, no compliments either? I truly don't understand this. Hospitality in the business context is much different than in its religious or mythological obligations. So if we're talking about hospitality as good business, maybe entertaining a group of diners at the playful expense of one is legit. Please note that I'm not saying the waiter was right, or that he wasn't wrong. I do think the chatter over-reacted big time. leleboo, it is an intimacy thing. It's not necessarily gendered. I eat family style all the time, but I use my own dedicated plate when I share communal food. If I finished the 2nd half of a woman's salad in front of my wife, is not a scandal foreseeable? If the chatter is the tuna salad guy's lover, then I guess have at it. If not, then it's just wrong. The exception to this clearly-correct rule is the sharing of any fried food (e.g. nachos, wings). If the tuna in question was served on Rasika's flash-fried spinach salad, then I guess I have to take it all back. Search your heart, you know all this to be true.