DaRiv18

I like it but Amsterdam Falafel's selection of toppings is much wider (and better).

The PF Ambre makes a very good Sidecar. The VA ABC sells it for $46.95, but I'm sure that you can get a better deal across the river. Happy experimenting!

Not willing to suffer last week's brutal winds in transit for a professional cocktail, I ended up being "that guy" in the nearby liquor store who dashed any hopes of an early closing. The cashier was openly considering his nightlife options as a backdrop to my bottle safari, so I took the hint and ended my rummaging of bottom shelves.

Heading to the counter with a generic six-pack in hand, I suddenly found myself in the cognac aisle. A quick scan and I see The Bottle. Feeling somewhat guilty of the time (not to mention I had turned down their suggestion of Leopold Bros when I was looking for Zuidam gin), I eschewed the beer and upgraded to the PF Ambre, $43.99 (although it would have been $43.94 had I brought in my own bag instead of merely carrying the label out exposed).

At home, 2:1:1 PFA/Cointreau/fresh squeezed lemon juice. With a sleeping baby in the next room, I declined to shake and instead used a hand-held frother to mix. Add ice, stir 50ish times. Strain into my (lightly, see upthread) sugared rimmed London Dock glass.

I immediately regretted the first sip, as it was clear my standards for this cocktail mainstay had been significantly raised. Ignorance is bliss (and often saves you alot of cash too), and it's doubtful I'll ever savor a mid-level cognac Sidecar as much as one made with this style of cognac. What surprised me about this version was its delicacy. A delicacy not found in ANY margarita or daiquiri I've encountered. I had also thought of cognac as a hearty, wintertime type of spirit, which also biased my expectations.

I'm not much of a braggart (if I do say so myself), but this was probably the best cocktail I've ever mixed. Put more restrainedly, the PFA compliments my style of making Sidecars. Most brandies/cognacs I have used are fairly hefty (or sweetish, as discussed upthread). But when you consider the supporting cast of the Sidecar: lemon juice (not nearly as pungent as lime), Cointreau (the most delicate of all orange liqueurs out there), and my style of lightly sugar rimming the glass . . . the light-bodied PFA does not overpower any of those delicate components, whereas I now think most other cognacs are too big (especially in relation to the Cointreau).

A sidenote to my Sidecar: just wanted to point out that my rimmed glass is almost equal parts of superfine sugar AND a citrus rub. The net of these two ingredients adds just a marginal sweetness with some tang, and not pure sugar. I found my version to be plenty dry.

I think next I'll find an appropriate tequila to make a similar styled margarita. Probably will also blade grind some salt, as large grains on the cocktail rim really are too overpowering. Cheers!

Great summary! Some things offhand:

Open:

POV Lounge

Pret a Manager

Mad About Chicken (sorta an opening)

Royal Thai

Absolute Thai

Closed:

Pap and Petey's

PS7s has their entire cocktail list available sans alcohol. And I know of plenty of other places that do mocktails, depending on what vibe you're looking for. Honestly, I'd just pick a place and go there (I'm assuming sport bars are out for you).

Just wanted to confirm that Pret a Manager is a solid option in this area. This is as good as I can imagine it gets for a "push" operation. Nice salads, sandwiches, and half sandwiches are in the cooler. There are a couple of hot wraps (the falafel has a nice kick to it). And the soups are very good, and not over-salted like APB's. This is what Organic-to-Go wants to be.

What I really wanted to point out: the cashiers here are very upbeat, as good as you'll find at a Potbelly's. This is not meant to be faint praise. These folks genuinely seem to take pride in their job (unlike the Cosi on 17th and Penn), and this line moves as fast as anywhere in the area. My first choice for a non-local chain lunchspot, in its price range.

so each $10k of delinquency represents a cool quarter-million of gross receipts.

That chart though might include fines and/or late fees on top of the back taxes owed (I don't see an explanation of the amounts, although it is under the heading "Delinquent Tax Accounts").

sucking the Kirsch out of some fresh Swiss milk chocolate bars.

cachaca

straight?

Yep! I think it was aged in sherry barrels or sumthin'

Tonight we called in our carryout: two large (one garlic, one spicy, both drumsticks). We were told to arrive in an hour. For background, we had tried Mad for Chicken last week and wanted to compare.

After a 20 minute travel home, I opened the goodies and was pleasantly surprised we had indeed received "fried chicken" and not "wings". 10 regular drumsticks, a whisper of a cole slaw, and a nice diced radish side for $20-ish, per order. This was definitely a meal and not an appetizer.

I grabbed a stick and drummed into it. Crispy skin, juicy chicken, a fine offering indeed. The garlic was very mild, the spicy a bit more interesting.

Then my wife piped in. She was happy with our meal as well, but preferred Mad for Chicken. There, the chicken is much crispier, and more flavorful, IHO.

So: I like Korean fried chicken but probably won't ever jones for it. I will say that the style makes for an ideal picnic outing, even with leftovers.

Irish coffee for me . . . I ordered the French Onion soup

A serious question: is this pairing acceptable? Obviously I drink a fair share of coffee during brunch. But I was once at a dinner where a guy paired coffee (cream and Splenda) with his steak, which embarrassed and offended another dining companion. Yet tea at dinner doesn't seem to be any big deal. Is this pairing something you would feel comfortable doing at a business function or first date?

When I tried the Mad for Chicken the other week and ordered online, my order confirmation sheet said something about accepting coupons. I found this link for gift certificates at Posh: $25 gift cert. for only $10 (but minimum order of $35 dining, and 20% gratuity is charged). There are also $50 and $100 gift certs.

I mentioned this to Chef when I picked up my wings at Posh, he said since MFC and Posh are under the same umbrella, those gift certificates will be honored, even for carry out. I have yet to confirm in action, but thought I'd throw it out there.

I'll have to get a gift cert just to try those crabcakes that Rocks is ga-ga over.

cachaca

I know I sound ridiculous, so it's good to hear that they use actual julep cups.

I've only been once, met up with a friend, a year ago. I had championed the hotel's role in DC cocktail history as the site of the definitive Mint Julep. I've heard great things about the head bartender, but he wasn't there. And the storied mint julep . . . served in a plastic cup. I'm willing to go back but that was just a bit too amateur.

I ordered the 16 piece for lunch for take-out. Because I didn't read this post carefully, I went in thinking I was going to get 16 pieces of "fried chicken". Nope, it's all wings and drumsticks (as Don says above). So, I was a bit disappointed in my (off-base) expectations, and still think they should be called "wings" instead of "fried chicken" or "chicken".

Once I started eating them, though, I was impressed. Juicy inside, very very crispy outside. So crispy, that at first I thought they had used an extraordinary amount of breading (which led to a minor bout of disappointment again). Nope, the soy glaze and the double frying create a nice crisp.

My entire order was "mild" (read: very mild), so be sure to specify whether you want it spicy. I was under the impression it would a mix of temperatures, but I understand why they gave me all mild.

No but it is the same method without the MSG and more health conscious.

And your website says the Soy Garlic Sauce "brings health benefits". Sounds like great chicken and I'm definitely going to try it, but the marketing sounds ala the Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial of 2003. Wish I could find the video, one of the all time best.

submitted his resignation to restaurateur David Choi over the weekend."

The Day after Thanksgiving Turkey: simultaneously their featured sandwich and their new operations theme.

The sugared rim is also a lost art, and hugely important to this drink. I'm not good at it at home, yet.

Well I finally solved a big part of the puzzle tonight. I was using powdered sugar, which apparently contains enough cornstarch to make an unpleasant globby mess. I couldn't find a Whole Foods that carries baker's sugar (the ideal ingredient), so I blade-grinded some granulated sugar into a superfine. Rub a rim with citrus, plate the ground sugar, and blot the glass into the plate until uniformly sugared. I rim a good two inches down the wine glass (ala Bourbon Steak). Compare to using a coarse grain sugared rim which is anathema to a perfect Sidecar.

Although it is a generously sugared rim, the sugar is so fine that it adds minimal sweetness. The trick is to measure/shake the Sidecar so that it is just on the edge of being tart or sweet. The rim adds just a marginal sweetness. For me, it just the same as making an viable omelette that is still creamy on the inside, or a pasta that is al dente, or any other dish where it teeters on underdone and overcooked. You know what I'm talking about.

I would propose that if it says "triple sec" on the label it's triple sec; if it says "curaçao" on the label it's curaçao, and if it says neither it's neither.

Or if it says both, then it's both?

I'm not even sure what you are claiming is a generally accepted principle, but there is clearly no consensus on what is triple sec. Bols Triple Sec, one of the most widely available bottlings to call itself triple sec, is 21% alcohol by volume; Cointreau is 40%. How can they be the same thing, or occupy the same category? Especially when Cointreau refrains entirely from calling itself triple sec? . . . I might be persuaded that the Luxardo Triplum can stand in for Cointreau if I had a bottle of it, but nothing I've tasted that calls itself triple sec makes even a remote approach to Cointreau.

Just to add to the confusion, the Luxardo Triplum is 39%. I agree that Cointreau is the standard-bearer. I do use it instead of triple sec, if a recipe calls for triple sec. The orange liqueur industry is a very saturated market, and there are all plenty of fine products, so I was just resisting your call to name one as the absolute best. Say, you wouldn't know of any nice cognacs out there, would you?

Yeah, but cite an authoritative source for your understanding. That's what I'm looking for: Not an understanding, but a definition. . . None of this, of course, alters the fact that Cointreau is the supreme orange-flavored liqueur.

Well, there is no definition, it's just a generally accepted principle. I've heard of orange curacao being whiskey based too, way back when. There are no regulations for the production of triple sec or orange curacao anywhere in the world (unlike bourbon, champagne, calvados, etc)

I can cite an authoritative source that Grand Marnier is the supreme orange-flavored liqueur though: David Embry's The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks.

Regardless, it's nice to see more-and-more bartenders in this town who can mix a great drink. Obviously, being decent at something takes effort and diligence (and being great at anything takes many years), but it's pretty clear that many young bartenders in DC are achieving an acceptable level of competence fairly quickly (weeks, perhaps even days); now if we could only find ten people in this area with some depth of wine knowledge ... I wouldn't hold your breath on that one.

To emphasize just how important experienced drink-makers are, I ordered a second Bareknuckle Boxer which was made by another bartender, and it was the difference between a world-class cocktail, and something I wouldn't even give a passing thought to.

When I read your first excerpt a week ago, I decided to keep quiet. Yes, I do think any new bartender can learn to make the "menu" cocktails fairly quickly, and use the appropriate techniques. But like you, I find that even with a menu cocktail, some bartenders make 'em better than others. Also, I'm willing to bet you'd get a blank look from the same rookie bartender if you ordered, say, a gin fizz.

I'm glad you today emphasized how important experienced drink-makers are. Like any other industry, there are those who do just enough, and others who go above and beyond. My favorite bartenders in town, I suspect, learn most about their craft "off the clock", reading historical cocktail books in their spare time, and expanding their "depth of cocktail knowledge" which cannot be achieved quickly at all (certainly not days, probably not weeks). Unlike chefs, who can command respect and household celebrity status, many creative and innovative bartenders are still stigmatized by their own families for not pursuing a "legitimate" profession. Kinda sad, really.

Who carries it in Washington? (A related issue is what exactly is "triple sec", and what exactly is "curaçao"? I've never managed to find a definition of either that is explicit and authoritative enough that I can confidently assign either Cointreau or Grand Marnier to one or to the other or to neither. And why is something as sweet as orange liqueur called "triple sec" anyway?)

I bought my bottle of Luxardo Triplum at Central Liquors. They carry alot of the Luxardo line, but I had to special order this bottle (around $24). I'd probably just special order from Ace this time around.

I understood triple secs (like Cointreau) to be neutral spirit based, and orange curacaos (e.g. GM) to be brandy/cognac based. That is why I somewhat disagree with you that Cointreau is the be-all end-all. Those are the two in my home bar, although I do use Triplum and Marie Brizard's orange curacao in my well.

I apologize for interjecting my own agenda into your question. I do think the choice of cognac is secondary to these getting those things down, I'd hate for someone to read this and think a $75 cognac is more important than the Cointreau. But you obviously got all the fundamentals down!

I haven't tried it yet, but the next cognac I'll get is the Pierre Ferrand Ambre. I've heard good things about it. Previously I've used Hennessey "Privilege" VSOP to great success, but I'm trying to support the independents. I hope you'll report back if you find something you love, I could use that info.

You're using Cointreau for your Sidecar, right? If not, I'd upgrade your triple sec before your cognac. The choice of cognac is more subjective, just trust what you've enjoyed before and it should work pretty well for you.

The sugared rim is also a lost art, and hugely important to this drink. I'm not good at it at home, yet. The best technique, IMO, in town is at Bourbon Steak, I like the choice of glass that they use. Order one of their crustas from Jamie, Duane or Dean. A good sidecar should be pretty tart, with just a lightly sugared rim for the perfect balance.

I like the Hardy VS "Red Corner" Cognac, right around $20 a bottle.