Blog Posts by Jenny Adams

Prizefighter's Jon Santer goes to work on a block of ice destined for cocktails. (Photo: Balthazer DIgital Media)

Even I find a $15 cocktail hard to swallow. I mean, I still swallow them all the time, but I reserve the right, like any good American, to gripe about it while imbibing.

The liquor in the glass is often the main culprit in the rising price of cocktails, but in the best places, frozen water plays a vital role too. Yes, I'm referring to the craft cocktail ice that's become a cold standard inside bars over the last several years.

The fact is, ice does make a difference in taste — and the type of ice is paramount.

"It's all about the dilution," explains Jon Santer, the owner of San Francisco's Prizefighter and a man who's devoted a lot of study to the subject of frozen water. "Simply put, more ice in your drink equals less water in your drink," he continues. "It's counterintuitive but obvious after about four seconds of thought."

Santer's bar tools include shakers, bar spoons and strainers — alongside a 14-inch electric chainsaw that's never cut a single thing but ice, as well as a

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Alcohol and women haven't always gotten along so well. In the early days of America's founding, women were commonly banned from bars, and it was widely considered impolite for them to imbibe in public.

Remember that Women's Christian Temperance Movement? Yeah, they brought about Prohibition in 1919 and that unbelievably annoying law stuck around until winter of '33.

So, it's safe to say that the female, professional bartender has not always been a woman celebrated. For hundreds of years, it was a man's world.

Not anymore.

Women have been respected members of the bar and spirits industry for decades, but this year celebrates that fact like no other before it with the return of Speed Rack—an all-female, fastest-bartender competition that travels, hosting regionals in 11 cities around the United States. The mission is to raise money for breast cancer research while celebrating females who make a living slinging great drinks.

Speed Rack raised $69,000 for breast cancer research last year,

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The Fatty Cue will donate 20 percent of its Dark & Stormy cocktail proceeds for the rest of November."Should we pull the New York coverage?!" My Los Angeles-based editor sounded frantic on the phone, grilling me first about my own safety, then about December's magazine issue — largely focused on New York.

"Does it seem callous to talk about something superfluous like going out to dinner in the wake of this damage?" she asked.

It was a valid question. It was one I immediately knew the answer to.

Hi. I'm Jenny. I live in Zone A.

My Manhattan apartment is located in the East Village, less than a block from the East River. It was that river that reflected a rising full moon and then subsequently gorged herself on our basements, consuming everything from personal possessions to wiring, circuit breakers to sheet rock. My building spent 10 days in the dark. In the cold. When my editor called, I'd been without power for nine.

While she feared coming across as uncaring in our copy, encouraging frivolities like lavish Manhattan dinners, I had no such qualms. I wanted tourists to come back.

Read More »from NYC bars and restaurants pitch in for Sandy fund-raising

The idea of opening a food truck with a walk-up window in Seattle is hilarious to me. I almost wish I had been a fly on the wall when the loan officer at the bank welcomed Matt Lewis inside, sat back and cracked his knuckles to listen to this pitch.

Matt: Hi. I'm a chef. I'm from New Orleans, trained under a James Beard chef in Birmingham, Alabama, and I plan to start a food truck that serves Southern, Soul and Cajun food. I'm going to move it around town every day. People can check in online to figure out where I am … and then come and find me.
Bank Loan Officer: "Son, do you know how much it rains here? You think people are going to trudge with their umbrellas and laptops and morning coffee to come eat gumbo from a plastic bowl in a downpour?"
Matt: I'm a ninja sir. I can make this work. HIYA! (Papers flutter to the floor as Matt strikes a karate pose)

Ok, so I've taken a little literary license in that retelling. However, Matt Lewis should probably wear a ninja outfit while cooking.

Read More »from Food truck 411: Where Ya At, Matt – Seattle