for those who wait, Armagnac

Check out this awesome article on the New York Times. Then come by the bar and get up close and personal with a snifter of the real deal. We currently have a Cerbois X.O., and two Darrozes, a 1985 and a 1986, from different distillers.

New Year's Resolution

As each new year begins, a sea of poorly planned and half-hearted resolutions are made across the country. Gyms that have been nearly vacant for the last few months are instantly booming with lines for new and renewed memberships. Refrigerators are emptied of the soda, chocolate, and ice cream that reside there and are restocked with soy milk, grapes, and cottage cheese. All this in hopes that this year will be different from the last.
But we all know the perils of quick decision-making. Without a calculated and earnest commitment to bonafide change, an inevitable relapse results in the resolution-making process becoming as cyclical as the earth's rotation around the sun.
To that end, I have decided for myself that 2008 will be my year to educate myself more fully. It has been nearly two years since I've graduated from college and I can't seem to understand why I don't know everything in life yet (sic). Similarly, I can't get that catchy NBC jingle for "The More You Know" out of my head so I figure I'll just play along.
In order to more mightily utilize this blog as well as to stretch my literary muscle, I propose to examine a word a week that focuses upon the etymology, history, and common usages of food-related words. I think this will help me help other people appreciate the beauty with which I'm constantly surrounded working at UpStairs.

So, this week's entry is comes the book I'm currently reading (sweetly and thoughtfully given to me by Deborah Hughes this holiday season). The author is Phoebe Damrosch and the title of her book is Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter. It affectionately and unabashedly details her experience as an opening waitperson at Thomas Keller's now landmark New York eatery, Per Se. Though her curriculum vitae prior to working at the restaurant would have made one wonder how she ever became involved with such a heralded culinary establishment, it is her passion for food and service that make it believable and ring true.
In one of opening chapters of the book, "Mosquitoes on Toast," Damrosch describes the etymology behind the word canapé:

"The word can be traced by an alternate route to the Greek konops, meaning 'mosquito.' Having yet discovered the joys of DDT, the Greeks hung netting called konopion around their beds and couches to protect themselves from the konops, a technique that wsa later adopted by the Romans. They called the curtains conopeum, which became the Latin canopeum, the Middle English canope, and eventually 'canopy.' How the French came to use canapé to refer to a couch instead of a curtain is beyond the limits of my steepability, but we have stolen the word for use in Modern English and retained its Middle English meaning.'

Oh, the French! How they do love to mess with our heads.

These little tidbits are, for me, another layer of the education on all things edible I resolve to improve upon this coming year. Here's to a great new year filled with fun conversation and delectable meals with friends. Cheers!

ImprovBoston and UpStairs team up!

Put it on your calendar, folks! More information to come, but my old friends at ImprovBoston in Inman Square are making the big move to a beautiful new location in Central Square. To help them out, we're going to offer our Monday Club Bar for them to convert into a new stage for an evening of Improv and improvisational cuisine. The basics are as follows:

When: Sunday, November 18th, 2007
Time: Donors and Groaners show at 7:00 p.m. followed by the 8:15 p.m. showing of the IB Touring Company. Dinner will start being served all night long at 5:00 p.m.
What: A $50 Prix Fixe menu will be offered all evening ($15 of each Prix Fixe will be donated to IB towards their move; this, of course, excludes tax and gratuity). If you're looking to come just for the 8:00 p.m. show, that's great! Cost of admission for the show without dinner will be $15. There will be lots of great aptly named funny/funky cocktails to be had, and a great laugh all night long.

For more information, please write me at operations@upstairsonthesquare.com and I'll give you more details as things develop.

Trick or treat

Lemon Verbena

Steve infused some grain alcohol with lemon verbena and we've been playing around with it. I reduced it down to 38% alcohol with rock candy syrup, mixed with some iced tea and ran through the syphon. I loved the result but I think I might go even crazier and try to reduce it even more and maybe freeze it. Keep checking for updates.

99 Bottles of Beer on the Bad Girl Plaid Walls

Who doesn't love beer? I love beer. A lot.

If you love beer, too, you should come to our Out of Your Gourd Beer Dinner. It's a dinner. With beer. Thusly, the best dinner ever.

As a little back story to this event, Offshore Ale has been a staple beer behind our bar for ages now. That's why when I learned that my good friend, Joe Cleinman, recently became the Master Brewer at Offshore's Martha's Vineyard location I knew we had to do something. Joe and I grew up together in Oneonta, New York, where he, his sister, and I all worked at the illustrious culinary giant known as the Dairy Queen (it really is the crowning acheivement in "ice milk" when you think about it). Anyway, here are all the specs on what hopes to be the best springboard into OktoberFest ever! Come and enjoy it with us:

Out of Your Gourd Beer Dinner
Sunday, October 7th – 6:00 pm

We’re out of our collective gourds, so of course we love to share an autumn meal with Offshore Brewery Company from Martha’s Vineyard. Offshore is an artisanal beer company that produces some of the best seasonal beers in New England. We’ll be presenting a delicious four course dinner (see the website for details) paired with four great beers.

$49 (4 courses, 4 beers) Call 617-864-1933 for reservations.

...and all that Jazz!

Sorry about the cheesy title, sometimes these canned lines get to the point better than good writing.
In any case, last night I took Emily and Lishansky to see Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade live. They are playing here on Wednesday and I just wanted to post a link to their site and their myspace page. I don't know how many of you readers have heard of them but my gut feeling is that if you haven't, you will. I imagine most of you will hear them on the radio someday, maybe when you're driving, or at work. A lucky few will hear them in the Monday Club Bar this Wednesday right around 10:00pm, with a cocktail in hand. Ella and Billie and Duke would be proud.