Sly'sBlog

The Best Scallops in the World - Nantucket Bays

The Official Nantucket Bay Scallops® logo

We're excited this time of year at Sly's, and not just for our to-go Thanksgiving dinner, and everything we have to do for that - this is the time of year that the Nantucket Scalloping season opens up, and we start getting the best scallops in the world shipped fresh to Sly's from Nantucket Island. The tiny Nantucket bay scallops come to us from Glidden's Island Seafood , located mid island on Nantucket Island, 30 miles out at sea from Cape Cod.

Annie and I worked on Nantucket waayyy back in 1984 and 1985 when we had just met - we have fond memories of the island. Back then we purchased seafood from Walter Glidden - everybody called him "Old Man Glidden" - at Glidden's Island Seafood then located on Straight Wharf downtown Nantucket. 

Walter Glidden, 1913-2003 "Old Man Glidden"

As a young chef, I was blown away with the quality seafood that Gildden's sold - best I'd worked with since leaving France. Today, I still purchase wonderful seafood from Nantucket - now through the miracle of FedEx overnight, from David Glidden, Walter's son. This afternoon we got in fresh Nantucket Bays and fresh lobster meat that is so sweet and delicious you have to taste it to believe it.

David Glidden of Glidden's Island Seafood handpicking lobsters

Included in our FedEx box today was the following information on Nantucket Scallops from the Nantucket Fishing Community and the Nantucket Shellfish Association. I thought you might enjoy reading it, so I'm including it here. You can read more at nantucketbayscallops.org (as soon as the website is live) - and you can try the scallops, quite simply broiled, at Sly's in Carpinteria.

Here's what they have to say:

" Thirty miles off the Massachusetts coast, Nantucket Island is home to the world's oldest sustainable scallop fishery. Nantucket Bay Scallops are a seasonal delicacy passed down thtough the pages of our maritime traditions and available today in some of the finest US restaurants and seafood purveyors.

Nantucket's isolated location and clear waters create a unique habitat that nurtures our wild bay scallops, harvested in their second year after spawning and renowned for subtle texture and distinctive flavor.

Traditional harvesting techniques passed down from the mid-19th Century combine with stringent modern regulation to assure quality and freshness. Nantucket Bay Scallops are hand culled and opened; rinsed in seawater to remove sand; and packed immediately for refrigerated transport to market. No preservatives, no freezing, just delicious fresh bay scallops.

Our logo "Nantucket Bay Scallop" assures adherence to these locally maintained standards.

Our logo represents not only a culinary product but also a community of neighbors; localfishermenand women with skills passed down through generations of Nantucketers who have earned their livelihoods from the sea. The commercial harvesting for Nantucket Bay Scallops extends from November through the end of March . . . Cold months to fish in open boats, hand culling mature scallops from the juveniles destined for the following years catch.

Unlike mainland fisheries, our longstanding island tradition restricts commercial scalloping each October, the official start of the fishing season, allowing local families and visiting guests to fish for their personal use. Many visitors return each year to participate and savor the taste of bay scallops straight from their nets.

As Nantucket Bay Scallops are wild, harvest size can fluctuate dramatically from year to year. That's why you won't see our scallops on every table and seafood counter year round.

Note: we try very hard so that you can see them each season at Sly's!" 

 Nantucket Bay Scallops are sold fresh, in-season and to restaurants and seafood purveyors who recognize their high quality and delicious taste. Ask for our logo when buying scallops and taste the difference for yourself.

MANY THANKS FROMTHE NANTUCKET FISHING COMMUNITY, 30 MILES AT SEA, AND FROM
THE NANTUCKET SHELLFISH ASSOCIATION, A LOCALNONPROFITORGANIZATION THAT SERVES AS STEWARD FOR THIS UNIQUE FISHERY

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND RECOMMENDED RECIPES, VISIT

www.nantucketbayscallops.org"

 

 

Wines for Thanksgiving at Sly's - Some recommendations from Mandy

Sometimes pairing wines with Thanksgiving dinner can be very tricky.  Ok, all the time.

The variety of flavors of the food served with the traditional spread run the gamut:

rich, earthy, sweet, savory, sour (and whatever the heck the flavor profile of your Great Aunt Helen's green bean casserole is).

You can look at this a pairing challenge, as wines that work with earthy and savory elements generally are not selected to pair with sweet things, like candied yams, or sour things, like cranberry relish.

On the other hand, this challenge can be seen as an amazing opportunity to try some wines that may be a little different, off your radar, and be pleasantly surprised by how good they can be.

That being said, here are a few of my recommendations for wines to serve with Sly’s Thanksgiving Dinner, although I believe they’d work with any traditional Thanksgiving spread.

And don't forget, Sly's offers a 25% discount on any of our wines from the extensive Sly's wine list if you'd like to pick them up with your to-go Thanksgiving Dinner from Slys.

Bring on the Bubbles

I think the best sparkling wines with Thanksgiving dinner are the slightly richer bubblies.  Save your bone-dry brut for when you’re having smoked salmon at brunch, or blinis and caviar (if you’re so lucky).  My favorite two picks are:

2009 Flying Goat Cellars “Goat Bubbles”: This is a lovely local sparkling rosé of mainly Pinot Noir grapes made by Norm Yost.  Rosé is a great choice for Thanksgiving as the light dry berry notes pair really nicely with cranberries and will highlight the earthiness of the sage in our stuffing.  A definite crowd pleaser with ripe strawberries on the nose and the perfect amount of “fizz”.

NV Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs: This is the sparkling wine you bring when you really want to impress.  Blanc de blancs are made entirely with the Chardonnay grape, and the house of Ruinart has been making amazing Champagne since 1729, and is the first established Champagne house, named after the monk who established it.  We have it available in both half and full bottles here at Sly’s.  It has a lovely yeasty nose, with very fine bubbles, a bit of green apple sweet-tart on the midpalate and a lovely lingering finish reminiscent of toasted hazelnuts.  This is far and away my favorite Champagne and will be a perfect pairing with our roasted organic range-grown turkey.

Still Whites

Thanksgiving dinner is a time for white wines with flavor-interesting blends, Alsace grapes and fruitier flavors come to mind.  I tend to shy away from Chardonnays for Thanksgiving, as the California use of oak tends to overpower, but the very dry Chablis aren’t quite right either.  However, everyone has an aunt that will drink nothing else, so I’ve included one of the better choices here, among my white wine picks for Thanksgiving.  And they are:

2011 Au Bon Climat SB County Chardonnay: Jim Clendenen has been making wines locally for his proprietary label of Au Bon Climat since 1982.  His own website calls this wine “Burgundian in sensibility, but with California style”.  I couldn’t agree more.  The use of oak is not heavy-handed so that the tropical fruit flavors SB County is known for can shine through.  But it’s the acidity that makes this Chardonnay work with your Thanksgiving dinner...it can even cut through the buttery richness of our mashed potatoes!

2010 Chateau Chantegrive Graves White Bordeaux: This wine is 50% Sauvignon Blanc and 50% Semillon.  It’s vinified in stainless steel to ensure a crisp, clean wine with hints of minerals and stone fruit.  It is aged sur lees, however, so it keeps from being too flinty or tart.  This is perfect turkey wine, but I suppose you’d find me guilty of drinking it with the apple crisp, as well.

2011 Jaffurs Grenache Blanc, Thompson Vineyard: This 91-point wine is hand-crafted in small lots and sings with notes of flowers, citrus and honey.  Grenache Blanc is one of the best wines I know of for pairing with vegetables, as it is rich enough from 6 months of aging in oak to take on the deep green flavors in veggie side dishes like our Blue Lake green beans and famous brussels sprouts.  However, it is still light enough and has enough citrus-like acidity to cut through the richest gravy.  One of my personal favorites.

2012 Waugh Riesling, Fazio’s Vineyard: We are very lucky to have this wine, when only 305 cases were produced.  The grapes are grown right here in Carpinteria, off Toro Canyon Road, and the wine is made by young and talented Napa Valley winemaker Ryan Waugh, who at 36 has already got 11 harvests under his belt.  This wine is similar to the Mosel wines of Germany, with notes of honey and stone fruits.  This is your crowd-pleaser wine, for with its bit of residual sugar, even those in your family who believe they don’t like wine may find themselves pleasantly surprised.  This wine will make our cranberry orange relish really sing.

 

And why not try a Rosé?

Thanksgiving is the perfect time for Rosé!  I know people generally associate rosé with late spring/early summer, but the herbaceous flavors in our Thanksgiving dinner cry out for the balanced acidity and depth of flavor from a really nice rosé.  Here are two of my favorites, one from California and one from over there in France:

2011 Hitching Post “Pinks”:  Gray Hartley and Frank Ostini make this dry rosé from 75% Valdiguie, which is a Provencal grape, and 25% Pinot Noir.  The Valdiguie is light and floral, while the Pinot Noir balances it out with some red fruit and fuller body.  This is lower in alcohol at 13.7% and works well with nearly everything on your Thanksgiving plate, supporting flavors without overwhelming them. Highly recommended.

2011 Commanderie de la Bargemone:  This Provencal rosé is a lovely very light salmon color that would please any of the “wine geeks” in your family.  The Commanderie was founded in the 13th century by Knights of the Templar, or so the story goes.  This wine is light, dry and floral, with notes of wild strawberries and red currants.  Serve this one to your white meat-eaters.

And if you really want a great Red Wine...

Thanksgiving dinner is not the time to pull out of your cellar big Cabs or Merlots.  They will overwhelm many of the delicate poultry flavors of a really good organic bird and stomp on the sage in the stuffing.  The higher alcohol content in most California cabs and merlots also seems to deaden the palate to more subtle flavors.  For Thanksgiving, I like Pinot Noir, Beaujolais (although not the dreaded nouveau) and lighter southern Rhones.  Here are a few of the best from our list at Sly's:

2009 Dierberg Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir:  This is the Pinot to fool your cab-loving friends, as the Santa Maria Valley nurtures grapes that make for a rich and fruit-forward Pinot Noir.  Winemaker Tyler Thomas seems to draw forth the earthy flavors inherent in Pinot Noir, and you can find hints of mushroom, cedar and dark berries in this wine.  This is an excellent match for your dark-meat eaters, as well as those who always go for “extra gravy”.

2011 Babcock Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir:  A bit lighter in style than the Dierberg, this wine brings more red fruit flavors to the table, one of which is tart cranberry, which is one of the reasons this makes such an excellent pairing at Thanksgiving.  Bryan Babcock’s motto is “Optimum Quod Possum”, which means “the best that I can”, and this 90-point Pinot is indeed one of the best.

2008 Domaine Jean Grivot Vosne-Romanee: This is at the optimum age for enjoyment right now.  100% Pinot Noir from the Cote de Nuits in Burgundy, this wine will show bittersweet cherry notes as well as an herbaceous quality that stands up to sage and onions beautifully.  This is an elegant wine, a bit soft-spoken, low in alcohol so that it overpowers nothing, not even the most delicate of flavors.  This is also another of those “wine geek” picks, if you’re trying to impress someone at the table.

2011 Georges DuBoeuf Morgon: This is a lovely Beaujolais, which is 100% Gamay, the “other” red wine grape from Burgundy.  Lighter in color and body than Pinot Noir, it is gifted with a very full nose and flavors of blackcurrant, strawberry and kirsch.  This is one of those “sleeper” wines that no one else will have thought to bring but will be one of the favorites at your family gathering, for its acidity and earthiness matches the richness of our Thanksgiving dinner elegantly. Morgon will make you look good if you bring it to the table.

2009 Whitcraft Santa Ynez Valley Grenache, Stolpman Vineyard:  Another often-overlooked varietal, grenache is one of the lighter Rhone grapes with a subtle spiciness that works well with the richness of our mashed potatoes and giblet gravy.  Drake Whitcraft has a commitment to making wines that are lower in alcohol, as well as unfined and unfiltered.  This wine in bottle is very much the same as when it went into the barrel.  You can expect to find notes of raspberry, eucalyptus and minerally earth in this wine.

2010 Clos de L’Oratoire des Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape: Hallelujah!  Not only is this wine gorgeous on the outside, with the traditional crest stamped into the glass of the bottle and ornate artwork on the label, but it’s gorgeous in the glass, as well.  A wise man once told me that Chateauneuf-du-Pape pairs with everything, and I tend to agree (although I have questions about sushi).  This particular wine is 80% grenache, with smaller hints of syrah, mourvedre and cinsault.  Plenty of spice and fruit on this wine, but they are borne up by the mineral notes of the limestone soil in which it is grown.  This wine is also available here at Sly’s by the half bottle, in case you want to secret a little away for yourself for when the family all goes home.

All of us here at Sly’s hope that you enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner to the fullest, and I believe that excellent wines can enrich your dining experience.  Please let me know if I can ever be of assistance in helping choose a wine for you...it’s one of the best parts of my job!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mandy Huffaker Chinn, Sly's Manager

Thanksgiving 2013 - Take Out Dinner from Sly's

Again this year Sly's is offering a complete traditional Thanksgiving Dinner, prepared at Sly’s and ready for you to carry-out for $275. We make it all, so your life get's easier.

The ready-to-serve menu (generous portions for about 8 people) includes:

• Roasted Butternut Squash Soup (two quarts)

• A Certified Organic Range Grown Turkey, 14 to 16 pounds

Prepared the best way we know how: brined, seasoned with fresh sage and butter, and slow roasted to perfection, ready for you to carve. (We don't care if you say you did it!)

• Traditional sage and onion stuffing made from our home-made bread

• Our mashed potatoes (two quarts)

• Our Turkey Giblet Gravy (two quarts)

• Homemade Cranberry Orange Relish (1 pint)

• fresh Blue Lake Green Beans with Shallots (1 quart)

• fresh Brussels Sprouts (1 quart)

• Rye Raisin Rolls & homemade Parker House Rolls

• 8 portions of our Warm Apple Crisp

We’re available to schedule the pickup time for your family’s dinner at any time between 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm. When you arrive at Sly’s, your dinner will be conveniently packaged and ready to take home to the waiting family. 

Your kitchen suffers a lot less wear and tear – and so does the cook! You get a high quality meal from Sly’s. If it’s a family tradition to make Great Aunt Martha’s Candied Yams, well, you’ll have a whole lot more time to do that; and much more time to relax and enjoy the holiday without slaving over a hot stove.  

Our full list of great Californian and French wines is available at a special discount of 25% off with your Thanksgiving Dinner to go, along with free advice from our Manager Mandy Chinn as to what goes best with your dinner.

If you’d like to have a cocktail when you come to pick up the meal, well, our full bar will be at your service. You can seem like the hero for picking up the dinner, but perhaps you have other motives?

Relax a little, enjoy the day, and we won’t say anything. 

Sly's 2013 complete boxed Thanksgiving dinner for eight is priced at $275. plus tax

Please reserve ahead, as we can only produce a limited quantity of dinners. 

Questions about dinner? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions page, or give us a call.

 

Sunday Gravy at Sly's - Sunday October 20 at 5 pm

On Sunday, October 20th, Sly's is featuring an old-fashioned "Sunday Gravy" in the best East Coast Tradition. "It's something that I've wanted to do for a while now, and with the urging of some of our home-sick Italian American customers, I've finally decided to do it this month". The single seating takes place at 5 pm, and begins with aperitivo and appetizers and a chance to mingle with some pretty interesting people.

The family style first courses will include Crostini di fegatini, bruschetta with chicken livers, deep fried risotto "suppli", and sumptuous eggplant caponata

The rich traditional main course will feature steaming platters of traditional braised bracciole, Sly's homemade "pinwheel" sausages and hot italian sausages, braised ribs, and that old standby, homemade meatballs. The rich tomato gravy will be served along with mostaccioli pasta. 

If that wasn't enough, the homemade desserts will include freshly made cannoli with ricotta, bittersweet chocolate, and pistachios, Tira mi Su, and Budino di Zucchero with warm caramel sauce. We're pretty sure you won't be leaving hungry. (I'm hungry now writing about this...)

And following that, there's "una Supresa" - a little surprise.

Mandy and James have chosen some great Sicilian red and white wines, and will have some special Italian wines as well, as well as a choice of aperitifs, all included in the $65. price. Tax and tip are extra.

You can reserve at  the Sly's website,  or by calling Sly's at (805) 684-6666 and asking to reserve for Sunday Gravy. Seating is limited, and going fast. See you there! 

 

In defense of Iceberg Lettuce

 

Iceberg lettuce - come to the head of the class.

We'll come right out and say it: "We like Iceberg Lettuce!" That's right - bland, no food value (sic) tasteless, plebian, ordinary Iceberg Lettuce. We like it on our hamburger, as a wedge with Roquefort dressing, as the crispness in tacos, we just plain like it.

There, it's out on the table. For all to see. Let the naysayers and critics yell "Blasphemy!" at the top of their blogs. Come what may, we're going to stick with this one. The crisp crunch of Iceberg makes any number of things better - from the all-American burger to Tex-Mex tacos, Vietnamese spring rolls, and even Chinese chicken salad.  

Many, many people don't even think about Iceberg - it is "lettuce"  to them. The only lettuce. And, dare we say it, we're not alone in our feelings.  As the Kitchen Project, a food history blog (among other things), points out, James Beard – the father of American gastronomy –was a fan, saying,

“Many people damn it, but it adds good flavor and a wonderfully crisp texture to a salad .” (“It also keeps longer than other lettuces,” he pointed out.) 

 

Sly's Iceberg Wedge - ripe tomatoes, real Roquefort dressing that we make, and of course Iceberg lettuce.

Iceberg on the Menu at Sly's

Iceberg features on our salad menu at Sly's - in fact, the Wedge of Iceberg with a choice of Roquefort or Thousand Island dressing is Sly's best-selling salad - second is the Caesar - made with hearts of romaine. We sell literally thousands of the Wedges each year(the overwhelming majority choose the classic Roquefort).

The Wedge is a salad that once graced every hotel menu across America. I was proud to be part of bringing that tradition back in 1989 when I started as Executive Chef at Santa Barbara's El Encanto Hotel. (with a dressing of Iowa's Maytag blue cheese).

An Iceberg wedge has got that cool, crisp texture and crunch, a clean flavor without bitterness, and is the perfect foil to the thick, creamy Roquefort dressing. Add some ripe farmer's market tomatoes from Beylik Farms, and you've got quite a salad - our customers seem to think so.

 

Sly's classic Seafood Louis - the Combo version,   Dungeness crab meat and plump bay shrimp, naturally on a bed of chopped Iceberg lettuce, the way it's supposed to be.

The Wedge is not the only Iceberg based salad we serve at Sly's. Our classic Seafood Louis wouldn't be the same without the crisp foil of Iceberg for the Dungeness crabmeat, plump bay shrimp, ripe tomatoes, Carpinteria avocado, fresh asparagus, hard boiled eggs, and that special Louis dressing with just a hint of heat. Our take on the classic Cobb salad, Anne Douglas' Chopped Salad is based on Iceberg, tossed in our homemade Roquefort dressing with chunks of ripe tomato, apple wood smoked bacon, more roquefort, poached chicken breast, Tillamook cheddar and Swiss Gruyère cheeses, avocado, hard-boiled and Kalamata olives. Named after Anne Douglas, actor Kirk Douglas' wife, it's a popular salad for lunch and dinner.

 

Those famous Sly's Hamburger Sandwiches feature Iceberg, too

Of course we serve Iceberg lettuce on our burger at Sly's - one might argue that some limp, bitter substitute makes it a lesser burger -we certainly would say that. This last year, we sold more than 6,000 hamburgers at Sly's - and made a lot of people very very happy. Not everyone had cheese on them, - most did. Some ordered their burgers without onions, a few without tomato. Many had a green salad instead of our homemade French fried potatoes. But only a handful ordered their burger without lettuce.

History & American Tradition, and Excitement about Lettuce

Admittedly, Iceberg is American all the way. Nothing wrong with that! Search for information on the web, and you'll find how Iceberg earned the sobriquet, "The most familiar of all lettuces sold in the United States." It would seem that Iceberg lettuce, and the many varieties that make up what we know of as Iceberg, were developed for ease of transportation across this great - and large - country of ours.

Where's the name from? Until the 1930s, what we now know as Iceberg was called simply "crisphead" lettuce. In order to be transported across the US by rail back in the 20's and 30's as the story goes, the crisphead lettuce (not yet called "Iceberg") was packed in cases and covered with shaved ice to keep it cold. It could be shipped from the Salinas valley of California across the United States - all the way as far as Maine. Being Iceberg, the weight of the ice was no problem, but a lesser lettuce (like butter lettuce) would have been bruised and crushed by the ice.

So the story goes (and with much in the world of food and food names, the story may not be as true as one would like) that as the train pulled into each stop, folks would call out excitedly, "The icebergs are coming, the icebergs are coming!" Hard to believe, perhaps, but the name "Iceberg" for crisphead lettuce has stuck.

Nutrition - somewhat reluctantly.

A google search will reveal that Iceberg has many of the same vitamins, minerals and good stuff as most other lettuces, albeit somewhat less, and has the same low amounts of fat, calories and stuff as the other guys too. Honestly now - if we count on the lettuce on our cheeseburger for our nutrition, we're going to be a bit lost already, aren't we? No how matter how much you eat of any lettuce it really isn't going to be enough, so there you have it.

 Give Iceberg a break!

In closing, I'm not really sure why some critics (you know who you are!) say Iceberg's "insipid" and many foodies choose to be elitest and snobby about Iceberg lettuce. It's 70% of the lettuce sold in the US! and besides that, it's just good. (think about how good could a "wedge" of arugula really be?) Iceberg adds it's essential texture and crispness, and makes a difference doing so. I'm glad that the wedge is back in force, and glad that iceberg has never left the truly great burger, too.  js

 

 

Last Week of the South-West Fixed Price Menu at Sly's

A three course menu for $35. - $55. with two glasses of wine.

This is going to be the last week for April's fixed price menu at Sly's. All good things must pass, I suppose, and this popular menu will no doubt be missed. From the Roasted Beet and Watercress salad to the "Bras de Gitane" Rum Cake with Oranges with its strong Catalane influence, this month's menu has been a poplular one. 

Bounded by the Basque Country on the west, the pleasures of Provence on the east, and Bordeaux to the north, it should come as no surprise that the Languedoc is an area with a rich culinary heritage. Personally, I think of D'Artagnan and the Three Musqueteers, and their adventures, both culinary and otherwise, when I think of the Languedoc. We've tried to come up with some selections that bring some of the wonderful cuisine of this area of France to life.

This month's menu has been popular, so much so that it would be difficult to say which of the main courses on the menu has been the most popular. A number of customers have returned to try each item on the menu - quite flattering, I assure you.

One standout has the been "our little Cassoulet" - our version of the uber-traditional bean stew of the Languedoc. We had a local farmer grow some special beans for us - makes a big difference, "fresh" dried beans - and then we make duck confit, traditional saucisson à l'ail garlic sausage, and saucisse de Toulouse and simmer all of il together for a great dinner. 

We suggest you start with l'Apero Gascon, which is made with sparkling wine, and our homemade prune and Armagnac syrup - aromatic, flavorful, and not too sweet. A great cocktail to start. There are several wines to choose from, and as always, Mandy has made sure that they are good ones.

As always, the French fixed price menu at Sly's is $35. per person, plus tip and tax, or just $55. per person with two glasses of wine.

Continuing with our tradition of the $35. fixed price menu featuring French cuisine, next months offering at Sly's will feature the cuisine of the Jura & the Alpes - delicious specialties from the verdant countryside along the French-Swiss border.

About that pepper shaker...

One question we often get asked at Sly's is, "Why are the pepper shakers almost empty?" (Or, I suppose if you're more optimistic type, "Why are the pepper shakers only partly full?" 

 The answer is pretty straightforward and simple:We want the pepper to be fresh. So, we fill them up very little, so we can refill them more often and get the most aromatic and flavorful pepper we can. We think it makes a difference. We think that great quality pepper makes a difference everywhere, even when you want to add a little bit on your food at the table. A lot of restaurants might buy ground pepper of questionable freshness - it has little aroma, and might serve better as an irritant than as a spice.

Like most everything else at Sly's. we go to a lot of trouble to get you great quality pepper. 

While more than 30% of the world's pepper now comes from Vietnam, we source our black pepper at Sly's  from India's Malabar Coast, on the west side of the continent.  The kind of pepper we order is called Malabar pepper. Malabar is not the most expensive, or the largest berry pepper - that's probably Tellicherry, but we think Malabar is the most flavorful. We order the whole Malabar pepper "berries" from a spice specialty company calledPenzey's. We buy 20 or 30 pounds at a time. It arrives in a thick plastic bag, in a thick cardboard carton, sealed with packing tape. Even so, the perfume of the pepper is outrageously strong - outside the box! This is the good stuff.

We store the Malabar peppercorns in the freezer, to keep the volatile oils as fresh as possible, and grind what we need every other day or so. When we need to put pepper in the pepper shakers, it's ground on a burr type grinder, sieved, and filled in the shakers. The result is fresh smelling pepper that tastes, well, better. (Don't worry, we use the whole peppercorns in the peppergrinders the servers use in the dining room)

 

You can really taste the difference in the quality pepper when you order our Pepper Steak Walding, which is liberally covered in the aromatic pepper and served with a wonderful Cognac Pepper sauce. I like mine rare!

 

"And how about the salt shakers, they're not very full either!" That's correct - but with the salt shakers, it's more a matter of asthetics than of freshness. To be sure, we use terrific salt at Sly's - 100% sea salt, minimally processed. You will notice a bit of rice in the salt shaker - that's to absorb the moisture. Sea salt seems particularly susceptible to clumping, and after all, we're only two blocks from the crashing waves of the Pacific.

But even the best sea salt won't go "stale" or "off" of course. So why so little in the shaker? Well, we use a similar amount of salt as we do of the Malabar pepper we grind, so they'll match. Not a very exciting answer, but true. As Julia would say, "Bon Appetit!"

Interested in learning more about pepper? This Wikipedia article on pepper is terrific.

Come Celebrate Repeal Day at Sly's December 5, 2012

This hand made cask of lightly toasted Hungarian oak was selected to age some of Sly's classic Manhattans for the past five weeks. The goal? Making a smooth drink even smoother, "rounding off the edges". We cheated and tasted - it worked very, very well. Debut of the cask-aged Manhattan at Sly's is Repeal Day, Wednesday December 12, 2012. Come join us and celebrate the repeal of the Volstead Act in 1933.

From Mixmistress Mandy at Sly's:

The holiday season is upon us, and while I’m sure that everyone is already being inundated with catalogs and circulars and wish lists and Muzak carols in every store, I wanted to remind you of a lesser-known but still very important holiday, at least to the cocktailians here at Sly’s: December 5th, the anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition.

Being true patriots, we love our freedoms, and the restoration of the freedom to lift a glass with friends and loved ones without fear of jail time (at least, if one quaffs responsibly) bears celebration. To that end, we are pleased to announce that our third Repeal Day celebration will be taking place at Sly’s from opening at 11:30 a.m. to closing on Wednesday, December 5th. As is our tradition, we will be handing out our “speakeasy” menu, which every year features new cocktails conceived by our staff as well as forgotten but fabulous classics that Chris and I dig out of our collection of classic cocktail books. You must be present on the 5th to get your hands on one of these limited menus, and once you have one, you get the distinct privilege of being able to order those “secret” cocktails all year ‘round.

In years past, some cocktails that have been on the speakeasy menu have even made it into our general stable of excellent classics because you lovely people kept ordering them and made them exceptionally popular. Two that come to mind are the Whiskey Cocktail and the Corpse Reviver #2.

A couple of tastes of this year’s secret menu: we will be debuting a barrel-aged Manhattan made with our homemade bitters and delicious Kentucky bourbon and we will be presenting a variety of riffs on one of our best-sellers, the Moscow Mule. The theme for this year, if you will, is exactly that: we’re taking some of our best-loved and most popular cocktails and giving them some special little tweaks with some of our homemade ingredients and favorite liqueurs. Fans of the Vesper might want to try our Goldeneye. Fans of our Lemon Drop might want to try our When Life Gives You Lemons cocktail. I’m not giving any more away, however, in an effort to compel you to come down and get your speakeasy menu and try out a few of our specialties on this Bartender’s Holiday.

Please drink responsibly so that you don’t find yourself in a personal Prohibition. For our friends in Santa Barbara and Ventura, we encourage you to take the Amtrak, as we are only two blocks from the station in Carpinteria and there are multiple arrivals and departures on December 5th. Carpooling is encouraged and designated drivers are widely considered to be the sexiest members of any group. So please consider this to be your formal invitation to come lift a glass with us here at Sly’s in celebration of your right to do so. We’ll see you on December 5th!

Cheers! Mixmistress Mandy

Salt of the Earth

Image by Brett Leigh Dicks, Santa Barbara News Press

 We were pleased this morning to see a nice article by writer/photographer Brett Leigh Dicks in today's Santa Barbara News Press. Entitled "Star Power, Santa Barbara's chefs serve up their favorite ingredients", it features eight of Santa Barbara's leading chefs and asks the question, "What is the one ingredient you can't live without? 

--We'd link to the article, but that doesn't seem technically possible at this time. 

It was truly a pleasure to be included with the likes of the Alessandro Cartumini, of the Four Seasons Biltmore, Dario Furlati, of Ca' Dario, Brandon Hughes of The Wine Cask, Greg Murphy of bouchon, and Ramon Velasquez of Cielito, among others.

The chefs chose some great and essential ingredients- among them chili pepper, pork, chocolate, butter, olive oil, and even anchovies - all of which are pretty important to me as well. 

What did I choose? Salt. Yep, just plain salt. Here's what I had to say to author Dicks,

 "I can't imagine a good meal without salt. Take a plain omelet, for example. You can add a little salt and pepper and people will ask, 'what did you do to those eggs?' Well, all we did was add a little salt to them." 

The article even mentioned that we use a number of different salts at Sly's, -including the fact that we grind extra fine salt to use with the French-fried potatoes we serve with our hamburgers at Sly's. The reason is simple, the fine salt sticks much better on the fries, instead of bouncing off them. 

We're happy to be included in such great company. In spite of some of the important ingredients, we're going to have to stick with our choice - Salt is the one ingredient we couldn't live without. (and I suppose that's even literally true, too!)

Best Seats in the House

Sly's is pleased to have been chosen for an article in today's (10-11-12)(!) Santa Barbara News Press, written by Marilyn McMahon. Entitled, "Best Seats in the House", the article features restaurants that have,"habitués who always sit at the same table or booth, which they consider the best seats in the house." At Sly's, Marilyn spoke with Andy and Dolly Granatelli, long time Sly's customers. Here's what they had to say, 

"We like it because we can park the car at the curb and I can walk the eight steps to the table", said Mr. Grantelli, 89. "It's also further back in the restaurant, and near James' office so we can talk to him".

The News Press states that, "The famous race car driver and his wife became fans of James Sly, the owner, when he was the chef at Lucky's on Coast Village Road in Montecito"

Dolly Granatelli added,"We followed him to Sly's when he opened four years ago. His liver and onions are the best. He serves it with crisp bacon. My mouth is watering just thinking about it." The News Press continues, saying, "Sly's porterhouse steaks, hamburgers, and grilled artichokes are favorites with Mr. Granatelli, whose preferred libation is Patron Añejo tequila on the rocks, while Mrs. Granatelli chooses a glass of chardonnnay or Champagne."

Oh, and by the way, Dolly Andy's favorite table is table 44 - back in Sly's "Monaco Room".