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Rome and Amalfi Miscellany

Here are some random pictures and notes from my trip to Rome and the Amalfi Coast with Pallini Limoncello. 

Rome is a very, very crowded city, especially around tourist attractions. On our second day there we had a guide who was amazing and knew all the ways around the lines. That's the only way to do it. 

I had a gelato at San Crispino, supposedly the best in the world. I can't vouch for that, but my two flavors - whisky and honey- were delicious. 

The view from the King Victor Emmanual II memorial is great. 

(Look kids, it's the Vatican!)

The Colliseum is a lot bigger than I had imagined. I was thinking it was about three stories tall and could fit a couple thousand people. Nope. It's huge, you can see it from everywhere, and it sat 55,000 people.

 (This is the view from my hotel room on the last night, the Hotel Palazzo Manfredi. Wowza.)

(Seating went all the way up to the top. The stage at the end used to cover the whole floor. The stuff below is where the animals and gladiators were kept between fights.)

We went to a bakery called Panella that makes old Roman-style bread once used for travelers. Naturally, they were out of it on the day we went. 

Fried artichokes are a thing in Rome. We had them a few times. 

The Pantheon is an architectural marvel. This and other ancient temples only survive today because they ripped out all the pagan stuff and replaced it with Christian stuff. Good thing gods are interchangeable. 

(At night, outside.)

(Inside, daytime. There is a hole in the roof. This acts as a sundial as well.)

We stopped for an espresso nearby at Eustachio, again supposedly one of Rome's best. Their trick is to use some sort of sugar foam. Maybe they run it through the milk steamer. 

Pallini also used to make a fernet!

I bought a Crodino on the Amalfi Coast. It tastes like a non-alcoholic Campari & Soda. Delicious!

I also bought something called China Martini, which I'm guessing is a sweet vermouth derivative using quinine. 

And speaking of bitter, while at a restaurant called Sol De Riso, I tasted all the amari on the menu that I previously hadn't tried. 

• Amaro de Capo - a locally made amaro with notes of quinine, orange, and saffron. Pretty good. 
• Radis - Tastes like cola, quinine, orange. You could imagine mixing it with soda water to make a cola.
• Don Baioro - Very Chrismassy. Tastes of prune/raisin, clove, molasses, and coffee.
• Petrus - Perfumy yet incredibly bitter. We took pictures of everyone's expression while tasting it. Here was mine. 

Chefs Get Into the Gin Game Before and After Distillation

Two stories have popped up recently on the intersection between chefs and gin. 

Before:

Roxor gin is made in Texas and was developed in part by Robert Del Grande, a James Beard-awarded chef with a PhD in biochemistry. The gin  contains the usual juniper, corriander, orris, grains of paradise and citrus including grapefruit and lime; plus hibiscus,  cocoa nibs, Texas pecans, and cinnamon. 

The chef developed the gin, and it is distilled to his specifications at San Luis Spirits in Dripping Spring, Texas. 

After:

Chef Peter Smith of PS 7's in Washington DC uses the spent mash from gin distillation- the botanicals left in the bottom of the still - to cure meats for the restaurant. He uses the mash from both Bluecoat Gin in Philadelphia and Catoctin Creek in West Virginia. Then:

 At the distillery, the fresh, non homogenized botanical spices are boiled down and melded together into a balance of flavors that is mellow but intense. Peter mixes this leftover, tea-like compost, with oil, leaving it to sit for a month. Then, he strains it through three times to get it pure, clear, and compressed. 
 
He has created a “Ginola,” a play off breseola, by rubbing his beef with the spent botanicals and hanging it to dry and cure for about a month.  The beef develops a gin-like taste and is included on his tasting menu.  He has been curing “GinBelly,” similar to pancetta, a cured pork belly covered with the gin mash botanical and then rolled and dried for two-five months.  PS 7’s also now features a halibut dish in which the fish has been treated with his gin-mash powder, giving it a light and unexpected gin flavor.  He has also worked with Catoctin Creek to develop a gin salt. 

You can read the press release here.

Sherry Region Food Pictures

In September 2010 I visited several sherry bodegas. Here are food pictures from the area.

Food in the sherry region is all about seafood and Iberian ham, all served tapas-style. I think the meat eaters on my trip must have had ham ten different ways. 

(Langostinos.) 

(Mmm, gazpacho. I had tomatoes about 15 different ways.)

(Two of the writers on our trip, sweaty and crazed, post-hamgasm.)

(Eating outdoors in Jerez. This was before the 40 or so plates of tapas arrived. I focussed primarily on the sherry.)

(Bull meat in the market.)

(A nightclub near our hotel serves a San Francisco cocktail. It shows how much they know about San Francisco: It's non-alcoholic.)

(And one more sherry picture to wash it all down.) 

Why Can't I Get a McDonald's Hamburger at Chez Panisse?

In response to my recent story in the San Francisco Chronicle on high-end bars becoming more accommodating to patrons' requests, many people wrote into the comments about how snooty bartenders are who won't give you the drinks that you want.

The Chronicle's commenters are a notoriously (and often hilariously) opinionated bunch, so I don't take offense to anything they say. By and large, they were all terribly upset with Erick Castro of Rickhouse's quote:

"Three years ago it was OK to be rude. It used to be 'I'm not making a cosmo and you're a horrible person.' Now we say, 'I'm not making a cosmo, but I'm making you something better than a cosmo.' And if they like (the drink) they trust you for the whole night."

Commenters were offended that a bartender is so arrogant as to think he knows better than the customer, and offended that a bartender wouldn't make the customer what he wants.

I know that in the case of Rickhouse they don't carry cranberry juice, so they actually can't make a Cosmo. I believe all of the other drinks cited by commenters cannot be made at Rickhouse either- drinks with Midori, 7UP, Malibu, etc. They do not carry these products on principle, and thus cannot make drinks with them.

So Rickhouse can't/won't make a Cosmo, and that makes people mad. But does it also infuriate them that Chez Panisse (probably) can't make a McDonald's hamburger?

Would you be surprised at Chez Panisse if you asked your waiter for a McDonald's hamburger and they steered your toward something similar and better, like a grass-fed, free-range beef burger on a fresh-baked bread roll with organic ketchup? Would you consider them arrogant? Call for the waiter to lose their job?

Only if you can't see the difference between McDonald's and Chez Panisse; between fast food and fine dining. And that is the image problem that cocktail bars have. Many people still think every bar is a McDonalds, when most bars that make the news are evolving toward something better. 

The better cocktail bars are not actually suffering from this lack of understanding- there's a huge demand for them, in fact, and in my experience the places selling $10 cocktails are affected less in this recession than places selling $6 ones. So despite complaints, better cocktail bars are safe, for now.

The funny thing is that speakeasy bars were originally a theme concept, but evolved into a practical concept: hiding the bars from people who don't yet know that not every bar serves Bud and has sports on TV.

Some people worry that the perceived arrogance of the bartenders in these places will make this better-drinking era a trend rather than an ongoing movement. I think that's a valid concern, as fine cocktails are very trendy right now. I'd hate to see this movement lose momentum as there is so, so much further to go with it.

As was the point in my original article, bartenders are learning how to talk to patrons in a nicer way to steer them away from lesser-quality or marketing-driven drink choices and into better ones. But is there more that can be done- in the media or by bartenders/bar owners- to make a clearer break between the fast food version of bars and the ones more like fine dining?

Notable Cocktail Lists in Michelin Guides

The 2010 Michelin Guides to restaurants have just come out. I received copies of both the New York and San Francisco guides.

New in both is a designation of "Notable Cocktail List" (also, Notable Sake List) along with the Notable Wine List designation already in the guides. 

Venues in San Francisco (I omitted the suburbs for this analysis) that received the notable cocktail list designation are: Alembic, Absinthe, Jardiniere, Nopa, Poleng Lounge, 1300 Fillmore, Yoshi's, Gitane, Slanted Door, Dosa Fillmore, Laiola, Spruce, Tipsy Pig, Beretta, Conduit, Range, Bix, Aziza, Ame, Chaya Brasserie, Heaven's Dog, Orson, and Zare at Fly Trap. This is 23 venues by my count.

San Francisco Venues written up that did not receive this designation include: Fish & Farm, Lar Mar Cebicheria Peruiana, Michael Mina, Mamacita, Slow Club, Zinnia, Americano, Boulevard, Coco500, Epic Roasthouse, Fifth Floor, Luce, Lulu, Mexico DF, One Market, WaterBar, and Town Hall.

In New York (I only looked at the Manhattan listings), venues that received notable cocktail list designation are: Craftsteak, The Redhead, Eleven Madison park, 'inoteca e liquori bar, Chinatown Brasserie, Double Crown, Gotham Bar & Grill, Mas, Minetta Tavern, Allen & Delancy, Rayuela, The Stanton Social, Acquavit, Rogue Tomate, Bar Masa, Kittichai, Pulic, Savoy, Macao Trading Co, Marc Furgione, Daniel, and Ouest. This is 22 venues by my count.

New York venues included in the guide that did not receive the notable cocktail list designation include: Momofuko Ssam Bar, WD-50, The Modern, Per Se, and The Odeon. 

Seeing which venues are included and which are not leads me to believe that this designation defines "notable" as being noted in the press, or heavily advertised by the venue itself. The cocktails at La Mar and Epic Roasthouse are generally solid and well-executed; those at Michael Mina and Boulevard in my experience have been some of the best in the city. But none of these venues has had many write-ups in the media. Yet the drinks at these venues are far better than some that did make the list. Particularly confusing are high-volume drink venues like Americano that didn't make the list, while others like Chaya Brasserie did. 

The New York list is confusing to me also but as I don't live there I can't say what's really going on. I just noticed that most of the top cocktail spots are not included at all (it is a food guide at its core, so this could be the cause). Any New Yorkers reading this, I hope you'll include your insights in the comments. 

Michelin Guides are famous for their anonymous inspectors who travel the world doing these reviews and doling out stars for restaurants, but I'll bet their "notable cocktail list" designations aren't part of the review process. They seem to pick up that information from media instead- and as a member of the cocktail media I've got a pretty good perspective on what/where other cocktail writers and myself have covered and not. I don't find many of the choices offensively wrong; just slightly inconsistent with reality. Who is doing these reviews after all, reviewers or... me?

And, just saying, if Michelin is looking for people to do real cocktail menu reviews I'm available.

It's a good sign that they've acknowledged in these new editions that cocktails are important in fine dining- a great step towards noting that cocktails are a culinary craft and not merely flavored intoxicants.

Speaking of fine dining, I also noticed this: Very few restaurants that receive a Michelin star are on the notable cocktail menu list.

In SF, only Range, Aziza, and Ame received both a Michelin star and a notable cocktail list designation. In Manhattan, one-starred Gotham Bar & Grill, Minetta Tavern, Rogue Tomate, and Marc Furgione all did, and restaurant Daniel received a Michelin 3-star rating as well as a cocktail designation. 

I think this says something about the Michelin rating system, but more about cocktails and fine dining: the restaurateurs are (still) not paying enough attention to cocktails. If you're at an expensive, white tablecloth, Michelin one-star restaurant and the bartender pours some unbalanced, lukewarm Lychee Martini, you should have your star removed. At least in my book.

Vegetailians Rejoice!

In my job I'm usually the only vegetarian in the room and always the only one at the pairing dinner who has to pair all of his cocktails with salad.

Being a vegetarian was never inconvenient until I entered the spirits industry, but now all my meals are planned for me and having to get the special meal (that feels like the special ed. meal when people see my Heaping Plate of Sides come separately to the table) kinda sucks.

I even considered eating meat to make it easier on other people, but then had recurring nightmares about it. Instead of the 'falling off the cliff but you never splat on the sidewalk' dream, I had the 'chicken sandwich in my mouth but never bit down' dream. Ridiculous, I know, but after 19 years being a veggie the idea of eating a hunk of meat is really repulsive to me. (Here's a thought experiment that should help you understand: Imagine that your job would be easier if you'd just perform oral stimulation on a person of your opposite gender preference. That's how it feels.)

Anyway, there are a few other vegetarian cocktailians out there. I think Gwen from Intoxicated Zodiac, Marleigh from Sloshed, and Craig aka Dr. Bamboo are veggies. There are a couple of bartenders living in San Francisco who are vegetarians, but I'm not sure I should "out" them.

A few restaurants that do vegetarian tasting menus in SF offer wine pairings, but none as far as I know do that with cocktails- you get the cocktails paired with other peoples' food. Some of us have talked about trying to get a vegetarian cocktail dinner at Tales of the Cocktail this year, which would be awesome.

Anyone else a vegetailian? Feel free to out yourselves in the comments.

For the San Francisco folks, I have some good news about a one-off event. You know those Three on Five pairing battles I've been prattling on about at the Fifth Floor restaurant? Well the one on March 18th will be a five-course all-vegetarian dinner, with each course paired with beer, wine, and a cocktail. Finally, one I can go to!

SF Event: Beer vs. Wine vs. Sake- and another Giveaway

Like the Godzilla of pairing, Emily Wines has twice squashed her competition in the Fifth Floor Restaurant's Food and Drink Pairing Deathmatch (also known as the Three on Five event). These competitions pit a sommelier (Wines) against a beer professional and usually a mixologist to see who can pair his or her beverage of choice better with each of the five courses served at dinner.

Twice Emily Wines has entered the ThunderDome (private dining room) and twice emerged as the sole victor, leaving only tearful beer and cocktail geeks (and satisfied diners) in her wake.  Will she be over-confident, like ThunderDome's seemingly-unbeatable Master Blaster? I think we all know how that turned out. (Master Blaster didn't win.)

For the next battle, scheduled January 20th, Wines will take on two new competitors. Representing beer will be Arne Johnson, head brewer for the Marin Brewing Company. He may have been brewing since he was 13 years old, but can he pair his brew with food? We shall see.

Instead of a mixologist, in this battle the third contestant will be Beau Timken, owner of the True Sake store, author of Sake: A Modern Guide, sake menu consultant, educator, and a guy who makes a point of pairing sake with every type of cuisine imaginable. He will, of course, be pairing sake.

The battle takes place on January 20th at the Fifth Floor Restaurant in San Francisco, beginning at 7:30PM. Each contestant pairs his or her beverage with each of the five courses of the meal, meaning diners get 15 drinks along with their food. That's a bargain at $125 per person, and the people I've spoken with who've attended these events in the past have been very happy with the whole experience. More information is here, and make sure to reserve for the "Three on Five" event. 

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*** I'll also be giving away a pair of tickets to this event to a randomly-chosen person who signs up to the Alcademics A-Plus email list. If you're not already on the list, sign up now as I'll be choosing the winner later this week.

Wild Tofurkey

It's almost Thanksgiving, and that means all the booze news is full of stories on what to pair with your turkey. Phooey.

As you know, the entire staff here at Alcademics HQ (me) is vegetarian, so I don't play that game. But I do like Thanksgiving, as it's a holiday centered around pigging out and drinking, followed by loafing around until your stomach stops hurting.

I like to participate in my own special way, by enjoying a healthy vegetarian meal of Wild Turkey bourbon. And this year, I thought I would pair it with food, and then I thought, why not enjoy it as food?

I made three styles of Wild Turkey marinade for tofu, then cooked them all.

Marinade 1: A Bourbon Sazerac, dumped into a bowl

• 3 ounces Wild Turkey 101
• 1 sugar cube
• dash of Pernod Absinthe
• 3 dashes Peychaud's bitters

Marinade 2: An Old-Fashioned, dumped into a bowl

• 1 tsp orange marmalade
• 2 maraschino cherries, muddled
• 1 sugar cube
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 3 ounces Wild Turkey 101

Marinade 3: Bourbon Marinade

• 1/2 cup Wild Turkey 101
• 1 tbsp powdered ginger
• 1 tbsp vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 cup soy sauce (next time I'd go lighter on this)
• pinch black pepper
• 1/2 tsp sesame seeds

Marinate pressed (water squeezed out) tofu overnight. Bake on lightly oiled cookie sheet at 300 degrees for 30-40 minutes, turning at least once. Remove from oven before it starts to look crispy or charred. If I had to do it again, I would make thicker slices and cook it on the lighter side, as the less it's cooked inside the more bourbon flavor is retained.

Results

The Sazerac Tofurkey was not so great. I didn't like the baked minty-ness that I think came from the absinthe. The Old Fashioned Tofurkey was delicious, as was the regular Bourbon Marinated Tofurkey.

I'd make this again in a heartbeat- and probably will tomorrow for actual Thanksgiving. I may also experiment with a Manhattan Marinade and a Bourbon Sour Marinade. Why not? The best part about this is that after you're finished, you can drink the leftover sauce.