Jordan Mackay's Profile
Bar in the Japan Center with big, Japanese-style ice cubes?
A friend told me that she visited such a bar a couple of years ago. Does anyone know if this place still exists? If not, any other place in the Bay area doing extra-large ice cubes for cocktails (besides the Slanted Door)?
Thanks.
Late Night Dining in the East Bay?
Thanks to everyone for posting.
And, yes, Melanie, you're right. I reread my friend's email to discover the show's not until Monday. He's getting in late on Sunday, not going to the show that night. Because of this, I realize I might be forced to drive to the EB just to see him that night (my Monday is completely booked, day and night). So, I'll have to choose wisely from the selections you guys came up with. Obviously, Cesar would be best. But probably closed when he gets in.
Cheers.
Jordan
Late Night Dining in the East Bay?
A gastronomically inclined friend is coming up from LA for the Ryan Adams show next Sunday and was hoping to find something delicious after the show, 11-ish. Anything come to mind?
Thanks.
St. George Spirits Absinthe Verte?
It's my understanding than thujone at levels at less than 10 ppm are allowed in the U.S. and that quality absinthe from before the ban was shown to have it in such quantities. Common household herbs like a sage leaf evidently has a higher concentration of thujone than a bottle of absinthe.
Lance Winters, the distiller for St. George Spirits, explained to me that it is the grand wormwood--artemisia absentia--which is direly bitter. In contrast, petite wormwood is almost sweet. An artful combination of the two creates an absinthe that is palatable. The tradition of adding sugar almost surely comes from an era when absinthe was thujone and wormwood heavy, requiring massive sweetening to make it potable.
Bohemian absinthe such as you'd find easily in Prague does not louche. La Fée makes two kinds--Parisian and Bohemian. Both are remarkably colored, but the latter has an unearthly blue-green hue that suggests laundry detergent more than anything you'd want to put in your body. I cannot believe that the color is natural. Anyway, the louche effect comes mostly from the presence of anise or fennel, which the eastern european style typically does not contain. So La Fée bohemian doesn't cloud up and it doesn't taste particularly compelling, as I find the presence of anise delicious in a well-made absinthe.
St. George has not only star anise and fennel but mint, basil and tarragon, creating a truly multifaceted expression of related flavor compounds. I love it, especially when properly watered back.
