The Restaurant Guys

Podcast: Nick Fauchald

Mark and Francis start the show with a discussion of genetically modified foods and the effect they are having on weeds and the advent of roundup resistant weeds and corn as a weed.

Their guest is Nick Fauchald, editor-in-chief of tastingtable.com. Their conversation covers secret dining clubs, tasting table, and how Nick and his team gathers all of their information for their electronic publication.

MP3 Available: Click here to listen, right click to download. 

See also:
tastingtable.com 

Podcast Date: 2/24/2011
http://www.restaurantguysradio.com/sle/rg/content/shows/index.asp?show_id=526

The Silent Storm

Some cocktails come seemingly out of nowhere.

Our barman, Chris Stanley, and I were working on some punch recipes (more on that in a moment), when we came across a rather curious combination. 

We have Cointreau, in which we put up peaches last summer.  It's delicious but very intensely fruity. 

We added Chartreuse, because the herbal character tends to compliment fruity things.  

We then added some Irish whiskey because we needed to man the whole thing up a bit. 

It was lovely and really, really interesting but still a bit intense with fruit and herbs.  For some reason, it reminded us both of a really intense hot chocolate. 

Now I know this will strain credulity but we finished the drink with a float of lightly whipped cream.  That's right, a small float of cream on the cocktail.

I've not lost my mind.  It's delicious!  It is also really cool looking.  I've dubbed it The Silent Storm, for the Carthusian monks (makers of Chartreuese who live under a vow of silence) and the lightly whipped cream that floats like cloud cover in a Chartreuese-inflected sky.

2011 New Years Fireworks in New Brunswick

Fireworks by Garden States Fireworks
The Santore Brothers
Choreographed by Chris Santore

Podcast: David Wondrich

Mark and Francis begin the show with a discussion of possible new legislation in New York that would prohibit smoking on public sidewalks and in parks.

Their guest is David Wondrich. They discuss all kinds of punch, from punches made by Mark and Francis in college to more traditional American punches that are featured in David Wondrich's new book, Punch: The Delights (and Dangers) of the Flowing Bowl.

MP3 Available: Click here to listen, right click to download. 

See also:
http://www.davidwondrich.com/

Podcast Date: 2/14/2011
http://www.restaurantguysradio.com/sle/rg/content/shows/index.asp?show_id=525 

The Corpse Reviver #2

One of my favorite categories of the cocktails of a bygone era was that of the "eye-opener."  These were cocktails designed to cure the after-effects of a bibulous evening in the spirit of a "hair of the dog" philosophy.  Several drinks that fall into this category go by the name Corpse Reviver, which is a subset really of the Eye-Opener: Kind of an eye opener for those who are particularly afflicted. 

Friday we will feature the Corpse Reviver #2.  It consists of Plymouth Gin, Lillet Blanc, Cointreau, Fresh Lemon Juice And Pernod Absinthe.  They go down mighty easy but one should pay heed to the words of barman Harry Craddock when partaking: “Four of these taken in quick succession will un-revive the corpse again.”

The Corpse Reviver #2

1 oz. gin

1 oz. Cointreau
1 oz. Lillet Blanc
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
1 dash absinthe
Ice cubes
Tools: shaker, strainer

Shake all ingredients in a shaker, strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with an orange peel.

Colman Andrews

Mark and Francis discuss tipping. Their guest is Colman Andrews. He was the cofounder and a former editor in chief of Saveur, and is the author of four acclaimed cookbooks, including Catalan Cuisine, which introduced the now-trendy cooking of Catalonia, Ferran Adria's home region, to American food-lovers. He joins to guys to discuss his book, Ferran: The Inside Story of El Bulli and the Man Who Reinvented Food.

• On the website: 
  http://www.restaurantguysradio.com/sle/rg/content/shows/index.asp?show_id=524
• MP3 Available: Click here to listen, right click to download.
• Ferran at Amazon.com: Read about it | Buy it