ellaystingray's Profile
Multiple Wines From the Same Producer On a Wine List
What are your thoughts?
I am being specifically vague as not to influence how you regard my question. I am interested in every variation on this theme.
Wine "mark ups" in restaurants
The discussion of wine mark-ups is a quagmire of epic proportion with a ridiculous set of variables, misinformation campaigns, self-rightous indignation, highway robbery and general lack of critical thinking, from most sides of the issue. I am not even going to try and explain in detail why this is (I could easier explain String Theory), but in my opinion, you paid a fair price for your wine.
Beef Stroganoff left out overnight - safe to eat?
I am replying specifically to the diary question. Trying to thread the needle here in being complete enough to satisfy the food scientists but also not too pedantic.
First, as I said, generally accepted food standards play it very safe and you don't need to follow them at home. However, there are certain things that grow at home just at well as in commercial kitchens. Microbial growth needs certain conditions to flourish like temperature, moisture, pH level etc. These conditions tend to be more present rather than less present in numerous food classes, dairy being one of them, though of course the exact type of dairy and conditions will dictate the prevailing risk. Dairy can also have contaminents proir to cooking that have "thermoduric" (resistant to heat) spores that wake up and play mean when left out at non-safe food handling temps. Dairy is not the only thing that has this, often potatoes for example do as well (on the skin).
So all this to say, you can leave your butter out and make yougurt all you want and huge swaths of France (and other parts of the world) do just fine eating cheese that has sat out for god knows how long. Heck, there are even studies that suggest mayonaise actually slows growth of other well known food borne pathogens like salmonella.
I think it is fair to say that while there are a whole host of other things that could go wrong with eating the stroganoff, the cream cheese and sour cream add an additional component of risk.
Probably 9 out of ten times, nothing would happen. But note the above posts when things go sideways.
Beef Stroganoff left out overnight - safe to eat?
Generally accepted food safety handling guidlines suggest that your stroganoff is at least 7 hours past the point of being servable regardless of how it is handled at this point. Add in the dairy items and you are playing with fire.
This being said, many people play with fire and don't get burned. What you do at home is totally different than public health standards. I would place this as less risky than licking a toilet bowl in New Delhi and more risky than eating oysters.
Coming down from SF to LA for a week, need advice...
Animal is a great start. Love Red Medicine. San Gabriel Valley is another good recco as is Little Ethiopia, though the SGV is more vast and far reaching in terms of options and LE is, well, little--but serious about the food. Hunting down trucks can be fun, but at this point, you have enough teriffic trucks in the City that it may not feel special.
Beyond Spice Kitchen, I will work a little on some Downtown recs. None of these are super fancy.
--Bar | Kitchen at the O Hotel. Improbably awesome. And in a hotel!
--Starry Kitchen. Taste their balls.
--Lazy Ox. Gastropub done properly.
--Aburiya Toranoko. Japanariffic.
--Wurstkuche. Wieners, wieners, wieners. And beer.
--Rivera. Chef once had neon sign that said, "Chateau d'Yquem on Tap." That was the 80's. Now he rocks tacos though in a very thoughtful way.
--Cole's. Claiming rights as the oldest public house in L.A. and the home of the orginal French Dip.
--The Gorbals. Ilan from Top Chef. Wierd, irreverent and fun. Oh, food good too.
TN: 1985 Dominus Estate, Napa Valley Red Table Wine
Jason,
Thanks for all the detail. Glad to hear the decanting didn't cause the sublte bouquet and "stuffing" as you put it to float off into the ether from the aeration.
Good stuff!
Thanks.
21st Birthday Dinner in Los Angeles
Here are a few things to take a peek at.
--Bar | Kitchen at the O Hotel Downtown.
--The Hollywood Roosevelt. One stop shopping for foods and drinks and multiple atmospheres.
--Red Medicine in Beverly Hillsish. Delicious food and cocktails but, while not really a "no-man's land," there would be trekking to get to a second location.
--Cliff's Edge in Silverlake. Trendy with good food and drinks.
Happy 21.
TN: 1985 Dominus Estate, Napa Valley Red Table Wine
Hey Jason,
Curious about how long the wine was in the decanter (and what type, actually shape, of decanter too). Did you notice any deterioration over time?
Thanks for the notes as well.
Maker's Mark bourbon - faux wax seal?
I can confirm every single bottle of Maker's Mark is hand dipped. AND, yes, every now and then, they do something called a "Slam Dunk" where a great deal more of the bottle is covered in the red wax including sometimes part of the label (though not any of the important parts as far as the TTB is concerned). However, it is less frequent than every 100 bottles. FWIW, it is way harder than it seems. My bottles looked like a epileptic chimpanzee dipped them. And that was before the tasting.
Classic Sarcastic descriptors
Got another good one literally from yesterday. When tasting a California Chardonnay the likes of which so many love to hate (lots of new french oak, super-ripe/high alcohol etc), some one said, "This is pure Cougar Juice!" I will be stealing this for at least the next six months.
kid friendly afternoon Sunday evening birthday meal, Santa Monica??
Hmmm. This is tough. I don't think Bizou is open on Sunday, nor is Le Petite Cafe, Daily Grill and Wilshire. Milo and Olive doesn't have steak or a full bar. So now we are seriously walking.
Bandera comes to mind but I don't think of it as "lush" and/or particularly birthdayee.
Except that I am not sure about how they'd deal with kids (I mean this as I seriously have no idea one way or the other without any prejudice) you might look at Stefan's at LA Farm. Steak at a reasonable price, full bar, walkable (based on your criteria) and actually open.
Ad Hoc or Redd???
I think what Arlene said is spot on. I had the same experience at Redd. Not only did they switch up the tasting menu so we had 10 different courses to taste, they did the same thing with our wines as well (we got the tasting with pairings). For the money, it is not only one of my favorite places when in Napa, it is one of my favorite places, period.
food trucks
FYI, just helped plan a party where we used Greasy Wiener and they were terrific. There are lots of other good suggestions, but I thought I'd share some actual recent party experience.
Vito Italian Restaurant in Santa Monica
In regard to "old-school, red sauce, red leather, dark rooms..." in West L.A., I like Peppone too. Now, before lava starts seeping out of your nose, let me calibrate you. It is expensive. If you walk in with no reservation and see half the dining room empty and get told there are no tables, it is beacuse--like many of "these types" of Italian restaurants--there are tables that are almost always reserved for regulars regardless. If this bothers you, you will not enjoy it. However, if you are a wine lover, the list is incredible and I never get past the first page of specials that are wines, for the most part, not available in Los Angeles at any price let alone the discount prices they offer. I always get the ravioli. And did you know, owner Gianni Paoletti started in L.A. as a chef with Piero Selvaggio. And no, they didn't part ways because Gianni was any good. They just had different visions.
Now this being said, I also like Vito and Guido's and go to both of those more often becuase they are just so much less expensive. I also like most of the other places metioned above and probably consider Hosteria del Piccoo my favorite right now, but somtimes I'm in the mood for a taste of the past.
Riedel syrah glasses... What wines?
I fully agree with what both Max and Penthouse are saying. While side-by-side tasting can reveal that certain wines might show better in certain glassware, this is akin to "rich peoples problems" or trying to decide if a Benzo is better than a Beemer. You are already drinking out of good glassware so now you have to start looking introspectively at exactly how much time and money you want to invest in your question. Understanding what it most important to yourself, helps inform your glassware, just like your car. For as much time as Riedel/Speigelau et al have spent crafting their glasses, they still can't account for the countless variations at the winery level let alone how old the wine might be. There are a lot of moving parts here.
AND, Fire, the glasses you are talking about are not markedly different in terms of shape, so figuring out the subtle nuances between the two will be mostly your cross to bear. If I am opening a 1994 Duckhorn 3 Plams merlot I'd have no idea which glass would work best. A 2007 Torbreck "Woodcutters" I think goes in the Syrah glass but I can't be sure. A 2000 Ridge "Lytton Springs"? Mystery. I can confidently say that no sparkling wine goes in these glasses but a Rose might be nice. And let's not even start with decanting...
I would encourage you to enjoy your nice glassware and realize that while the juice may show differently in various glasses, good wine tastes good even out of styrofoam. Yes, I made a Sideways reference and I am not ashamed. ;)
menu for west coast wine tasting party
...definition of insanity...doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Good point Bill on the artichokes but I just can't help myself. I used to work at a Monterey winery and there were so many great artichoke preparations in the area we just ignored that it wasn't always the best pairing. When I think of regional food from there it always comes to mind, but yes, it is a challenging pairing.
And I can't believe I forgot Dungeness crab. A must. Excellent call.
What's the peatiest, smokiest scotch?
BeamGlobal owns both Laphroaig and Maker's Mark so that would figure, but I don't recall hearing that the 1/4 cask is specifically Maker's. I do know that Laphroaig "usually" uses Maker's Mark casks though. So that might be true.
What's the peatiest, smokiest scotch?
nyc is spot on with sensing a little more "sweet" in the profile of the Triple Wood--that is the Sherry Cask talking to your tastebuds. In regard to the Quarter Cask (which by the way is a feat of coopering as they disasemble used Bourdon barrels and reform them into smaller casks) I've found to not be quite as rich but just as aromatically powerful. The higher surface area to volume ratio seems to me, to mellow the whisky just a touch.
Now this being said, I am talking about very nuanced personal preferences. I've never tasted anything Master Distiller John Campbell has done that I don't like. I just always find myself going to the Cask Strength.
menu for west coast wine tasting party
Okay, I'll take a stab.
Santa Barbara--Spot Prawns
Santa Maria--Santa Maria Style BBQ
Monterey--Sand Dabs, Clam Chowder, Artichokes (I know this is a legendary "land-mine" but I've found well made wine goes with well made food--often BBQ'd in the area)
North Coast--BBQ Oysters, any Cow Girl Creamery cheese (I think you can get it shipped), baby lamb.
Oregon--mushrooms.
Washington--Salmon and fresh (not bbq'd) oysters.
Tuna agrodolce wine pairing - urgent help needed
Thanks so much for your recap. I too will often default to Italian wines but love the choices of Huet, Krug, and Prum...dinner for two? Sounds like my kind of wine night. :) Also, it seems interesting to me that the Italians seem to blend Chardonnay more deftly than any other country--the Antinori Cervaro Della Sala is one of my all time favorite wines (usually around 15% grechetto). La Macchiole is a Bolgheri hitter these days and the Paleo Bianco (though somewhat oddly riffing on a tradition from Siena by naming itself after the famous horse race there--as a Toscana IGT maybe the grapes are coming from further inland) is one of the better white blends of two "non-Italian" grapes to come out of Italy.
Interesting that your wife ended up liking the GV over the Vouvray.
Again, thanks.
Tuna agrodolce wine pairing - urgent help needed
Depending on which time zone you are in, you could very well be experiencing the pairing right now. But I am really interested in what you picked and how it worked. Thanks!
Visiting Bourbon Country
I have to agree with Pedro on the Maker's tour. It is the perfect blend of history, eduction and fun. And the place is effing gorgeous. The only downside is that it isn't really "close" to much else. But that is relative to how much driving you mind doing. Now, if you just want to taste and not really tour, there are tons of great bars all over the area with terrific selections. If you just stay in Louisville at either the Seelbach or 21c they both have great bars with outstanding selections and then you don't have to drive anywhere.
Best Prime Rib French Dip in L.A.?
I am a huge fan of the HIllstone Groups French Dip's, thankfully I have a Hillstone and Bandera close to me. Calling one the best is hard so here are my favs.
The Golden Bull. In Santa Monica Canyon. Though they always have Prime Rib, it always seems to be just a little better on Wednesday's when it is the special. I get mine rare as they've got it.
Dear John's in Culver City. Man, it is so much better than it seems like it should be, but it is good. I've never had anything else here so I have no idea about the rest of the food.
Cole's. Though I tend to crave their pastrami dip, the beef dip is really good too.
What to do with all these meyer lemons?
There is a lot of good info here already but here are my 2.5 cents.
My parents have a Meyer Lemon Tree in what we affectionately call the "orchard." It has four trees. But Southern California is magical in terms of weather and we get lemons, limes and oragnes of exceptional quality.
The thing I find with our Meyer's is that they are fiercely aromatic but lack some of the acidity I want in certain lemony applications. This applies to both cocktails and food.
So we have a tree, but these puppies ain't cheap (heck, any citrus ain't cheap these days) so I can basically get all I want. And while I am a fan of generally using better ingredients rather than worse ones, being more expensive isn't always better depending on the situation. See: Kosher Salt vs. Sal de Mer.
I know by the time/date stamps your lemons are all gone by now either from use or otherwise but I like a gin and tonic with meyer lemon instead of lime. The various botannicals seem to work well with each other. Now some of you are going to ask about which gin...it changes for me and I like them all with the lemon rather than the lime. If store bought generic lemons are around, I still go with lime simply for the aromatics.
Great food, preferable dimly lit - girl's night birthday dinner in Santa Monica - Italian or other steak/fish options.
Eeek. Okay: Dim, Italian (but could be steak/fish), not too expensive but not too casual, great food....
Also in Brentwood is Villeta but you may struggle at the last minute with no rezzie and it can get spendy.
La Botte in Santa Monica is nice--I think the food up the street at Hosteria del Piccolo is better but that isn't dimly lit at all--and you could probably get in. Or you could try the original Piccolo.
It's not steak/fish or Italian but you might be able to squeeze into JiRaffe.
I can't keep myself from mentioning Capo, but I think it is going to be too pricey and they may not be able to accomodate you at the last minute (the place is small and fills up).
Good luck!
Trip from Carmel to Santa Barbara
Tons of great recs here already.
One more S.B. pinot rec--Ken Brown Wines.
Also, while not pinot, rhone or merlot, Turley has a nice little tasting room in Tempelton just off the 101 as you head South to S.B. from Paso.
Can anyone suggest a reasonably priced oceanview restaurant buy-out in Santa Monica?
Whoa, hope you can pull this off with only a few more days to go.
I think BotB is a good suggestion.
And while I know it is a chain, you've got a budget and limited time. What about Bubba Gump's? I know they can easily fit 100 people downstairs. You are right on the beach with indoor/outdoor seating/mingling area and easy parking. And you can probably come in well within or under your budget. Then you just need to figure out what food to get. :)
Another idea is On the Waterfront. Again, the food here would be the drawback but the beer selection is outstanding! Actually, I don't mind their food but that isn't why I go. It is, I would say, somewhat inconsistant. And the parking for 100 could be a disaster.
Lastly, if you are willing to drive up to Duke's, I am almost positive 100 people can make it into their private room.
Good Luck!
What's the peatiest, smokiest scotch?
Keep your eyes peeled for the Ardbeg Supernova.
And for my money, the Lahproaig Cask Strength is still the best Islay malt made.
