TedE

Wired article Some of this stuff looks interesting enough to be worthwhile (the two jellied concoctions), but dehydrated rum? Vanilla bean wine? Dumb.

My sentiments exactly. I never really got the desire to take pics of dish after dish at meals. One exception: when I travel. We always put together online photo journals of trips for our friends and family. Since we're trying to let our friends share our trips through the lenses of our cameras we will obviously include pictures of meals or restaurants, usually just representative pictures trying to convey the cuisine or settings. Food stalls or shops on the other hand I'm fairly obsessed with and will snap away; I think I took 200 pictures of the Tsukiji Fish Market in one morning. A working market is an incredibly interesting place place to photograph for me. I also don't feel bad hauling around the DSLR and getting close to the subject; doing that in a restaurant is pretty food-geeky even for me (although I have been known to do it, sans flash). It's also a bit distracting for other guests. I prefer a quick shot with a compact camera even in cases where I really wish I could pull out the big guns for visual impact.

Fractured Prune!! It's not a place for donut purists (whatever that means), but damn if they aren't good. I've really only ever been able to enjoy 2 at a sitting before succumbing to sugar overload, and they lose much of their charm after they've cooled down. Hopefully they'll have a seating area like the Rehoboth store so you can enjoy them piping hot. Mmmmmm, peanut butter glazed donuts ....

The only good thing about the American IC is Alton Brown's commentary and explanations. In every other respect it pales in comparison to the Japanese version, IMHO.

It's not a bottled offering from DFH, only on tap as a seasonal. And I don't believe it's normally dry-hopped , although I admit I haven't had one in 5-6 years. When I'm at the pub in Rehoboth I'm usually drawn to other drafts

The Swallow! Oh, the drunken, underaged memories. Following the death of Alonzo's this place is a worthy choice. I'm surprised Petit Louis didn't sneak in there somewhere for some reason or another; they seemed to have "invented" some categories to get other places in.

Wow, you must have a pretty small circle of friends! Kidding, of course, but almost everybody has quirks or strong dislikes. I'm a I'll-try-anything-once kind of person, but I'm tolerant of those who aren't. It's actually the people who DO state a reason for food avoidance that piss me off because it's usually a lame front for something else. If you don't like tomatoes, fine, say so. I won't judge you (in public ). Don't trot out a "tomato allergy" excuse while at the same time putting ketchup on your hamburger; it happened two or three times a year when I was waiting tables. Even worse are the folks who use it to cover up eating disorders; I feel sorry for them because they need real help, but god help them if they sit down to dinner with me. Taking 5 minutes to assemble your own personal entree out of menu-listed ingredients (pissing off not only your busy waitperson but also the entire BOH) and then barely picking at it for 30 minutes when it arrives will ensure that you never sit down to dinner with me again. Even a lame, "I ate before we came", is better than wasting food and putting a black cloud over other diners' evenings. The folks in the article seem fully aware of their quirks and neuroses and have managed to cope with them. I'd bet that the lack of adventurousness exists in other aspects of their lives. Face it: most people in this country don't like change or real excitement. Chain fast food restaurants stocked with formulaic and repeatable food have not invaded every part of this country for no reason, and reality shows do so well because most people would rather live their lives vicariously from the safe comfort of their living rooms.

The Picky Eater Files Interesting article, but pretty light on any deep insights into what makes us all tick gustatorily. I've made peace with my picky friends; we only ever go out for drinks and snacks, and from past experience they know that they might go hungry in any dining venue I choose. Ordering plate after plate of patatas bravas at Jaleo can't be a comfortable way to pass an evening, especially when other acquaintances at the table are urging you to try this or that: "But you HAVE to try the pulpo, it's delicious!!"

Ah, Evanston, land of obscure legalities. Freshman year a friend of mine broke her arm and I remember her telling us that she went into BK and politely asked an employee to put her food in the bag since she couldn't do it herself, and he refused. She had to go find a stranger sitting down to their meal and ask them.

I need to get back in the business of doing this on a regular basis. I was making limoncello for holiday gifts for a few years; due the economies of scale I would actually infuse a couple fifths of grain alcohol and then dilute with distilled water and the appropriate amount of simple syrup. Those have actually turned out better than the ones I've done using plain vodka, but it's probably due to tweaking the syrup ratio to get it right. Most recipes I tried when I first started were cloyingly sweet. The steeping time is cut in half (or shorter) with the grain, though. I forgot a small overflow bottle in the back of a cabinet stuffed with a mix of lemon and lime zest for 2 months and it basically bleached the peel, but the liquid was the most shocking color I've seen. That one didn't turn out too well One of my favorites was a cinnamon liqueur: two cinnamon sticks plus a clove. I jacked up the syrup a bit for that one because it was HOT. Absolutely perfect for a cold winter night.

Yes, they do. Or at least did when we stopped by on the first weekend it was open. In the case along the back wall of the store.

I didn't make it yesterday (and can't today), but the news from a co-worker wasn't great: cold sandwich, bread wasn't up to par. He said that Roberto wasn't at hand either (he could have just been away for the time that he was in line, though).

If the rain lets up tomorrow or Sunday I think we'll stroll down for a look. Does anybody know if they are allowed beer/wine sales on Sundays?

Ugh, I'm headed down there next weekend for a bachelor party golf outing. I think we're staying at the Barefoot Resort. I'm making an incredible leap of logic to assume that Barefoot Landing is one and the same. Is there ANYWHERE there (aside from the Greg Norman place) that would be OK? I'm imagining one nice dinner out, then find cheaper options (greasy diner food will be fine given the amount of drinking that's likely to occur). We'll have a car, but probably not be driving all that much (see the aforementioned drinking).

I haven't had a problem with any of the bread variations I've had from the Grill (the original one was a bit too greasy, though). I was surprised today that instead of green sauce there was mustard pre-applied to the pork shoulder bread. Didn't like it nearly as much as the green sauce..

Joe, for every example you give of where it costs more to ship from overseas someone could find one where it is cheaper, sometimes substantially so. To wit, using an actual example from Osticcio on a bottle we purchased: Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, 1999 Lowest internet price from Winesearcher: $64 @ Wine Library + $2 shipping = $66 Price we paid at Osticcio: (EU32 x 1.285) + $10.50 shipping (EU100 x 1.285 / 12) = $51.62 Even at the full price they quote on the web it's a few bucks cheaper to ship. Point is, price doesn't HAVE to be $40+ to be "worth it", but the simple math certainly favorably weights it that way simply based on the reduced percentage of overall cost attributed to the fixed shipping. It does pay to know you're stuff, though (we actually didn't know all that much, Brunellos being normally outside of our wine price range in the US, but I researched a few and got recs from a trusted source before we left). However, the same rules apply to shopping domestically and paying $99 for the same bottle of Il Poggione that you can pay $64 for from Wine Library

Joe, you're right that with shipping it wasn't the rock-bottom bargain of the century, but I calculated we saved on average $5-7/bottle with shipping when compared to the best I could find online and locally. The prices on the Osticcio site don't really reflect what we paid (anywhere from 10-20% off of those when buying by the case). When you average that into the 7-9 bottles we brought on board and didn't pay shipping on, the average savings jumps to $12-15 per bottle, and we were mostly buying in the EU20-30 range, so I would consider that pretty good. The end price of the wines from Vanni in Lucca ended up being almost a wash with the weakness of the dollar and the inflated shipping (I think we ended up paying even a bit more for some Col D'Orcia). Caveat emptor and all that.

Yeah, I have the owner's number (incredibly nice and helpful guy), but we have so much left from the first trip that it might be until we return that we need to restock. The 40-bottle unit we have can only hold so much ...

To continue the wine shipping threadjack, we found that shopping around in Italy for shipping offers paid off. Early into our trip in March we dropped by Enoteca Vanni in Lucca; I still dream of their cellar, but not the shipping process. We had a mixed case shipped to the US for EU150. With a 15% case discount it was a great deal compared to US prices. About a week later we were in Montalcino and had a case shipped from Osticcio for EU100, and the wines were 10-20% off of what we were finding elsewhere. That box arrived at our doorstep a couple days after we returned in perfect condition, whereas the Lucca box arrived a week later (two weeks additional transit time) and a bit worse for wear (a number of torn labels included). Given what the wines are going for in the States, if they are even available, it was still a good deal, but when we return Osticcio is likely to get our business again. Vanni? Not so much.

My experiences weren't quite that bad, but it's overpriced for what it is (and it isn't THAT expensive, so that's saying something). Sette has faults of its own, but it's a far better choice for Italian on that block. I can't see ever returning to Tomate.

Deep Creek We used to rent cabins for New Years at DCL. Mostly we cooked at the cabins, but we did eat out (once) at the Deep Creek Brewery. The beers actually surprised me; I wasn't expecting much. The food was above average pub grub. I've have heard reliably good-to-great things about the Deer Park Inn. It's a B&B that runs a small restaurant (I think dinner only, they may do brunch, too). Honestly, I'd avoid most of the restaurants there. When the Pidge Lodge Steakhouse proudly proclaims, "It only tastes expensive!!", chances are it doesn't For groceries there are your standards; nothing special. There is a gourmet shop (I think Deep Creek Gourmet or something obvious) that sells wine (nothing too special) and cheeses (OK selection, but they do carry local Fire Fly cheeses, pretty good). Most of the "gourmet" items are overpriced, pre-packaged spreads and oils and vinegars that you normally find in resort areas. If I remember they have a deli, too. Since we were always up there in the dead of winter we didn't find any, but from driving through all the small towns to get there I'm sure you would stumble across several vegetable and fruit stands. It is really is beautiful farm country up there.

The Glover Park WF also sells beer and wine. Isn't the Tenleytown one the exception in that they don't? I thought they had to make that concession to the NIMBYs in order to open in that location

Defintely hit Church Brew Works if you get the chance. The beer is good (mostly German and Belgian offerings), the food is very good for pub grub, but, seriously, the real reason to go is to bask in the splendor of that brew kettle on the high altar. It's also across the street from Iron City, so you can get the yin and yang of Pittsburgh beers in one fell swoop.

I actually have seen this done with the soups in kind of a bulls-eye setup that looked really neat. It was done by placing a ring mold in the center of a wide, shallow soup bowl and pouring soup #1 on the outside, soup #2 on the inside. If you get the ring lift right you can get a pretty good circle in the middle; and if not, oblong shapes look very mod. I've been meaning to try it and then run a toothpick from in to out to make a starburst pattern with the inner soup. Consistency is definitely the key.

$1.55? We used to get Magnum malt liquor for $0.99/bottle. The local store used to see us coming and even offered us a case discount on occasion . With tax I think it was $10.83. Good lord that stuff was nasty.