For Soda, the Genie Is Out of the Bottle.

[elleng]

“Once you could buy soda at the gas station instead of having it mixed in front of you at the fountain, soda wasn’t special anymore,” Mr. Reiter said.

A small group of modern soda jerks (they wear the term proudly) are trying to change that. Places like Blueplate, the Franklin Fountain in Philadelphia and the Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain are leading a revival that is bringing up-to-date culinary values — seasonal, house-made, ripe, local — to ice cream sodas, sundaes and egg creams. In the process, they have unearthed forgotten, delicious and possibly risky flavors like sassafras, phosphoric acid and teaberry, and have brought back taste combinations worthy of the most avant-garde chefs. . .

Contemporary soda fountains are trying to restore fresh ingredients, creativity and dignity to the craft. Blueplate, for instance, stocks house-made syrups, locally grown hazelnut and huckleberry shakes as well as chai-flavored soda.

“I consider myself as much of a chef as anybody else,” Peter Freeman, the founder of Brooklyn Farmacy & Soda Fountain, said last week. (His words were slightly undermined by his T-shirt, which had the word JERK emblazoned across the chest.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/06/dining/a-bid-to-restore-the-allure-of-the-soda-fountain.html?hp

[Syrinx]

1. there was an article in my local paper about this recently

And they included a few recipes. One of the recipes called for lemongrass. I recall thinking "what in the world is lemongrass? And where do I get it?"

[elleng]

2. lemongrass

http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Articles/Exotic-Herbs-Spices-and-Salts-639/lemon-grass.aspx

more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymbopogon

p.s., I heard an interview on NPR this past weekend, with a guy who makes varieties of sodas.

[NashVegas]

3. Thanks For Posting This

A local soda shop is going out of business, and we have a horde of wannabee entrepreneurs in town. This could give someone ideas.

[elleng]

4. Good. Hope it helps.

:hi: