Touring the Dark Side of Los Angeles
By Leslie Pariseau
This article will satisfy all those macabre lovers and true-crime enthusiasts with some of the secrets of the history of Los Angeles’ not so angelic city. Kim Cooper and Richard Schave, local historians, saw that there was a thirst that needed to be quenched and so they started a tour bus company called Esotouric in 2005, which takes crime fanatics into the infamous journeys of crimes of the past.
One of the many stops of the tour bus titled “Bat Man” case, dates as far back as 1922 and dives into the bizarre murder story of a housewife who hid her husband’s murdered body in the attic where her lover lived. The tour also included a visit to the oldest and most popular cold cases in their city by far; the murder of Elizabeth Short in 1947, also called “Black Dahlia” by not just telling her story but by showing her regular haunts, including where her body was found in two body parts, cut at the torso.
Another tour bus company who is also capitalizing on the arcane, The Dearly Departed does it with a sense of humor. I know, murder and laughter should not go together but it is working for them. The owner, Scott Michaels, specializes in cases such as the Mason-focused Helter-Skelter murders. For a few years they sold chunks of Sharon Tate’s fireplace as souvenirs until the supply ran out. The city has enough crime cases to keep everyone tour buses in business for years to come. Their stories will never run out of supply as long as people curiosities need to be feed. It is peeking my curiosity.

The article “The Lure of Baseball in the Dominican Republic” by Steve Knopper published in the New York travel section talked about his experiences while he was visiting the Dominican Republic in the baseball fields. In this article, he emphasis that the Dominican Republic is known for having most of the talented baseball players in the U.S. industry. Some of the talented baseball players that he mention in this article are Sammy Sosa, Pedro Martinez, Albert Pujols, Miguel Tejada and many others. He also talked about the poverty that surround the country and how many young players look baseball as a way of escaping from poverty by becoming rich and famous in the U.S baseball industry. Mr. Knopper, Also talked about the poverty, the electricity problem that shut off for hours making the country more dangerous in the darkness for traveling and to be safe. He also talked about others writers that criticized how the academic system work in the Dominican Republic by taking advantages of naïve families that sign a contract at young boy turn with the manipulation of bonus and a 30% when they sign a big contract in the U.S industry. But it how the writer end the article is all about the American Dream that young baseball players want one day to achieve no matter the sacrifices that they need to face in life for them to be able to escape from poverty and provide a better future to their families.

This chapter focus on the different types of beverages that include alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Some of the alcoholic beverages are wines, beers and spirits drinks. Some of the non-alcoholic beverages that are coffee, tea, and juice. In addition, this chapter talk about the operation of bars, hotels, and restaurants and the inventory control that is involve in the industry. To conclude this chapter, the writer talk about the liquor liability, the laws and the trends in the beverage industry.

Key Words and Concepts:

Alcoholic Beverage – Example: People love to buy alcoholic drinks for their guesses at a party or reunion.

Beer – Example: I can’t drink beer after my By-Pas surgery because the stomach could growth back to its normal size again.

Brandy – Example: Brandy is a drink that is smooth and fruity with a touch of sweetness and is considered a spirits alcoholic drink.

Champagne – Example: When we celebrate the New Year we usually drink champagne at 12 o clock to welcome the new Yew Year.

Cognac – Example: Cognac is considered to be the brandy in the world.

Dram shop legislation – Example: Bar owners need to follows the Dram shop regulation to have a successful business.

Fermentation – Example: Is the second step of making wine.

Fining – Example: Is the process were the wine is filtered and remove all type of particles that are still in the wine.

Fortified Wines – Example: Are the wines that are considered to be the sweeter among others wines because they have Sherries, ports, Madeira and Marsala.

Hops – Example: Is one of the four ingredients in making a beer. These ingredients are water, malt, yeast and hops.

Inventory Control – Example: Inventory control is a system that allow a manager to manage merchandise in a store.

Liquor – Example: People like to mix liquor with nonalcoholic drinks,

Malt – Example: Is one of the four ingredients in making a beer (grain). These ingredients are water, malt, yeast and hops.

Mashing – Example: Is the term for grinding the malt and screening out any bits of dirt.

Must – Example: Is the grape that are destemmed and crushed which make the juice that is extracted from the grapes.

Nonalcoholic Beverage – Example CocaCola, bottle water and juices are examples of nonalcoholic drinks.

Prohibition– Example: Whiskies became very famous during the prohibition time.

Proof – Example: Is the percentage that represent the alcohol level in the content of the label.

Sparkling Wine Example: People at night club love to drink Moet that is considered a sparkling wine.

Spirit – Example: Brandy is an example of distilled drinks.

Vintage – Example – Are red wine that is stronger that white wine and take more years to reach their peak. .

White Spirits – Example: People love to drink vodka, rum and tequila at Hispanic party that are considered white spirits alcoholic drinks.

Wine – Example: My Favorite wine is called Manischewitz that contained a varieties of grapes wine no less than 51% Concorde.

Wine and Food Pairing – The sommelier suggested appropriate pairings of wine with food.

Wine Tasting – Example: Is when a person determine the favor of a wine by tasting and smelling.

Wort – Example: Is the liquid that is obtained after the mashing process in making a beer.

Yeast – Example: Is the skin of the grapes that helped the wine to convert to sugar that controlled the sweatiness or dryness in the wine. Also it help to determine the taste of the beers.

Chapter Summary

Through chapter 5 we learn a lot about beverages.  It breaks them down into alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages. It discusses the history and making of different types of wine, including sparkling wine, and fortified wine. It teaches how to read wine labels and talks about healthy  drinking habits. The chapter also explains the brewing process of beer and identifies various types of beers. Then it moves on to liquor, listing some of the most popular whiskies such as Canadian, and Irish.  In the section of the nonalcoholic beverages it talks about coffee, tea, carbonated drinks,  energy drinks, and bottled water. It discusses inventory control, bar set up, and liquor liability with the law. The chapter also suggested the pairing of wine and food.

Key Words and Concepts

1. Alcoholic Beverage. My example: Maria can’t serve alcoholic beverages in her new restaurant until she receives the license to do so.
2. Beer. My example: John blames his weight gain to beer consumption.
3. Brandy. My example: They drank more brandy than us at the party.
4. Champagne. My example: David poured champagne and made a toast.
5. Cognac. My example: A French brandy distilled from wine in the area of Cognac, France.
6. Dram Shop Legislation. My example: Laws and procedures that govern the legal operation of establishments that sell measured alcoholic beverages.
7. Fermentation. My example: The process of fermentation turns the grapes into wine.
8. Fining. My example: A fining agent was added to the wine to reduce its bitter flavor.
9. Fortified Wines. My example: The original reason for fortifying wines was to preserve them.
10. Hops. My example: Hops are one of the basic ingredients in beer brewing.
11. Inventory Control. My example: Management needs to use effective inventory control to ensure profit results.
12. Liquor. My example: I drink wine, but not hard liquor like whiskey or vodka.
13. Malt. My example: Usually barley, that has been allowed to sprout, used chiefly in brewing and distilling.
14. Mashing My example: The mashing process will directly determine the concentration of unfermented sugars in the beer.
15. Must. My example: A mixture of grape pulp, skins, seeds, and stems.
16. Nonalcoholic Beverage. My example: We have a vodka punch for the adults as well as a nonalcoholic punch for the kids.
17. Prohibition. My example: The prevention by law of the manufacture and sale of alcohol, especially in the US between 1920 and 1933.
18. Proof. My example: Is equal to twice the percentage of alcohol in the beverage.
19. Sparkling Wine. My example: Champagne is my favorite sparkling wine.
20. Spirit. My example: A spirit is an alcoholic beverage that is distinguished by the distillation process.
21. Vintage. My example: This year’s vintage is expected to be of higher than average quality, due to the excellent weather.
22. White Spirits. My example: Some of the white spirits served at the annual gala were gin, rum, vodka, and tequila.
23. Wine. My example: We bought a case of wine for the party at the winery.
24. Wine and Food Pairing. My example: The sommelier was present at the restaurant making food pairing recommendations for the guests.
25. Wine Tasting. My example: They like to attend a wine tasting event every year.
26. Wort. My example: Is the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of beer or whisky.
27. Yeast. My example: The yeast is responsible for the converting of sugar to alcohol and carbon dioxide in the fermentation stage, and is also the final component that determines the flavor of the beer. 

This is where you will ‘claim’ your concierge attraction no later than 11:59pm on 10/29. Include a brief statement as to why this site is significant to the culture of New York including a reference. Make sure it’s not something from the following list:

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The article “Danny Meyer Restaurants to Eliminate Tipping” by Pete Wells published in the travel section of the New York Time is an article that is very controversial. The writer talked about how Mr. Danny Meyer an owner of many restaurants wants to eliminate the employee tips and add a surcharges of 20% to the bill of the customers that will allow to distribute a fare pay to all his employees, especially those who work on the kitchen like the dishwasher, dining room managers and the cooks. Mr. Meyer, also claimed that by eliminating the tips from the restaurants, its will beneficial to all his employees because sometimes the front of the house workers are discriminate by their appearances, race, age and sometimes by the customers moods when serving the customers. Mr. Meyer claimed that it is unfair because this doesn’t have to do nothing with their performance in the front of the house. In addition he claimed, that he have the back up of his employees when they understand the concept because is the right thing to do for the team.

I believe that by eliminating the tips in the restaurant would be very unfair to the front of the house. Even though that Mr. Meyer have a good intention of distributing a fare pay to all his employees in the restaurant, I think that this would be very unfair because the salary among all employees are different depending of their position in the restaurant from the executive chef to the cook. I also believe, that by eliminating the waiter’s tips some owners of restaurants could take advantage of the salary tips and pay what they want to their employee or use the tips to pay the employees’ salary. Usually, in some Hispanic restaurant the waiters only get pay a salary of $25 dollars a day and with the tips of the customers is how they compensate there salary in the week. I also believe that some customers will not be very happy by paying a 20% more of what they consumed in the restaurant because tips are a way of appreciation in a service and if they don’t like the service that they received in the restaurant the tips will go down. So it very important for owners to really think if this would benefit all employees or only the back in the house with the elimination of tips and the increase of customers bill by 20% of what they consume in the restaurant.

Christine Delva
October 27, 2015
Professor Duchamp
New York Times Memo
Re: In Panama City, A Restaurant that lives Up to its Name – October 13th, 2015

People often use food as a means of retaining their cultural identity. Different cuisines are connected to different cultures. There are many places I want to travel and eager to taste the cultural specialize dish. In the article,, the famous Chef Carlos Alba who goes by the name Chomolin made some changes to some traditional Panamian, San Francisco products and dishes by flavors that complete it now. There was beautiful garden ranch style house in Panama City. It was empty for over 30 years, about 50 years later it was cow pastures. It was clean out few mango trees then out of no where. Things appeared naturally such Papayas plants, culatro, and chilies. Mr. Alba and staff added various of herbs within a year the garden cacaco tree. He prayed mist of garden will produce all their needs. All the interior of restaurant is a mix styles was replace. Alba love going to grand restaurant for Col-caleron but that dish he loved to eat at home. The food was so good from originals plus the new flavor Alba will have the scent lingering on your finger tips. The secret in cooking a dish there is always room for it to have a better taste with different and natural ingredients. I was always thought food is priceless so never neglected or treat if they hungry. If most of us knew the valued food is, the merrier world be.

Want to Visit South Africa? How to Survive a Long Flight

By Justin Sablich

This article was very interesting to read; it is about how to get as much enjoyment out of a long, direct flight. I myself have not travel on an extended flight such as one to Africa but I found the tips very useful for not only a long flight but short one also.  Mr. Sablich went to Africa, which took 16 hours, to visit the family of his now wife. After 16 hours, you’ll either like traveling or hate it; he stated.

For traveling such a lengthy aeronautical trip, he supplies us with some helpful surviving skills and suggestions. Most people would pay for an upgrade to First Class for comfortability but it isn’t necessary for prolonged trips because most are equipped with slightly more legroom and added goodies;  paying extra if can’t afford it, may be a waste.  According to Patrick Smith, a pilot who is also the author of “Cockpit Confidential: Everything You Need to Know About Air Travel.” Seatguru.com helps you discover comfortable seating.

Most airlines don’t give you freebies until asked. It is their version of “Don’t Ask, Won’t Give.”   Routehappy.com is very helpful for finding out about your flights amenities. The goodies, also known as amenities will help you but not as much.  As an educated consumer, packing your goodies in your carry-on bag; it’s essential.  It should include, but not exclusive to, bringing in water, sweater or hoodie and some of your favorite snacks.  Flight Attendant Kara Mulder, who has a blog, suggest to bring in food you can tolerate because “your body will response differently to food when at altitude.  Something I never knew.  Granola bars and dry oatmeal is highly recommended.

This article is inspiring me to travel, not 16 hours but if I know what to pack and how to entertain myself, it would be worth it. I am now aware of two useful websites.  To save money  as long as you plan ahead the trip should make you feel at ease, free from anxiety.  The article was very informative and it should serve as an insightful guide before travel, either short or long journeys.

Chapter 4 revolves around the immense function of food and beverage within various divisions and locations in hospitality. It teacher you the food and beverage division and the responsibility a food and beverage director carries to assure efficient operation on a kitchen, catering event, restaurants, bars, and room service. Hotel kitchens and the responsibility of an executive chef to assure quality and quantity of food, organizing kitchen and its operations, & calculation and finance of kitchen expense along with their employees whom are mainly sous chefs. Functions of a typical bar, and their restrictions. Functions of a catering event and the way an event is executed from start to end. Last but not least, room service in a hotel and restaurant operations inside a hotel.

Executive chef: head of the team in kitchen, does more managing and less cooking. In addition, he/she is responsible for notifying the efficient and effective operation to food and beverage director.

Kitchen managers: same role as executive chef, except, they also play the role of a food and beverage director in small hotels

Perpetual inventories: An inventory software that updates inventory automatically

Food cost percentage: food cost divided by food sales

Example: salmon cost 5$ to get and cook, but sold to customers for 10$. Once you divide, you’ll get a food cost percentage of 50%

Contribution margin: expense towards a specific item/complete dish, & difference between the cost of preparing item and the selling price

Labor cost percentage: labor cost divided by net sales multiplied by 100

Food sales percentage: labor cost divided by food sales

Sous chef: executive chef’s assistant. Sous chefs follow up with executive chefs in regards to dishes before being sent out.

Chef tournant: plays a role in every station of kitchen, to help sous chefs as production is taken place.

Brigade: team in kitchen placed in different stations of a kitchen

Restaurant managers: individual/individuals whom manage restaurants, responsible for hiring, training, developing employees, marketing, coffee service, presenting forecasts and budgets to food and beverage director, etc.

Capture rate: an estimate of hotel guest type, population and their use of food and beverage outlets in a restaurant.

Pour/cost percentage: cost of depleted inventory/sales over period of time. Also equals to bar efficiency.

Responsible alcoholic beverage service: a practice to reduce any liability in bar/ guideline for safety, For example, serving alcohol to a minor or to someone who develops alcohol poisoning may be blamed on the bar person, manager, etc.

Pilferage: employees who steal or tamper alcoholic inventory to make extra money.

Shoppers: people who are paid to act like regular guests at bar but it’s actually inspecting the operation

Chief steward: responsible for several functions in hotel/restaurant, such as inventory of chemicals, pest control, sanitation, inventory control and monthly stock check.

Director of catering (DOC): responsible to the food and beverage director for selling, servicing, catering, banquets, meetings, & exhibitions in attempt to exceed guests satisfaction.

Theater-Style meeting seating: meeting set up for large audience to listen & comprehended instead of note taking.

Classroom style meeting: same as theater, but 3 times bigger & requires more labor to set up

Horseshoe-style room seating: room seating shapes as a V , but particularly for training sessions and workshops

Dinner style room seating: meeting in round table set, with food.

Catering event order: an order to clients and hotel employees about an upcoming event to assure awareness and precise procedures

Catering coordinator: coordinates event, in charge of contract negotiations, flower decorations, menu cards.

Catering service manager: responsible for delivering high level service to guests.

Room service: cleaning of rooms and resupplying of materials.