Kitchen & Bar

On this phone

How to get around

The bar under the name is the map. Swipe it sideways if a destination sits off-screen. On Tonight, the button pinned to the bottom cooks the lead dish.

  1. Tonight — What you can cook first, plus drinks that fit the same shelf.

  2. This week — Five dinners from the shelf, urgent things cooked first.

  3. Shelf — Edit what you actually own.

  4. Written methods — Every dish and drink with a method somebody wrote out.

  5. The pantry — Start from one ingredient: what it does, and everything built on it.

  6. Out of it — What to use instead, judged by the job the missing thing was doing.

  7. Photo review — Review a demo shelf photo and confirm every item before adding it.

  8. Flavor Lab — Pairings with a track record: classic matches and the mixology behind them.

  9. Wild cards — Combinations with no tradition behind them, only shared aroma notes.

  10. Send to Occasion OS — Prepare confirmed shelf availability for Occasion OS.

  11. The field — The gap this layer owns.

Keep it on the home screen

  1. iPhone — tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
  2. Android — open the browser menu, then Install app or Add to Home screen.

After that it opens as Kitchen & Bar, not a browser tab. Inventory stays on this device.

Substitutions · 5 dishes here use it

Out of orgeat

Almond syrup with a floral edge, and it brings texture as much as sweetness — it is what gives a tiki drink its soft, thick mouthfeel. It separates in the bottle, so shake it.

Everything below is judged against that job. A swap that covers it is a swap; one that only looks similar is not.

What to reach for

Instead · 1

almond syrup, or amaretto with a little syrup

one for one for the syrup; three quarters amaretto plus a bar spoon of syrup

What it gets you
Almond and sugar, which is most of the job.
What it costs you
The orange flower water and the body, which is what makes a mai tai taste like one.

Instead · 2

almond milk simmered with equal sugar and a drop of orange flower water

one for one

What it gets you
Orgeat, made in ten minutes, and it is better than most bottles.
What it costs you
The ten minutes, and it keeps about a week.

Instead · 3

any nut syrup, or a horchata concentrate

one for one

What it gets you
A creamy, sweet, nutty syrup with the right texture for a shaken drink.
What it costs you
The specific almond, and horchata brings cinnamon.

Where the swap will be tasted · 5

These need it and are short enough that nothing hides: 4 required ingredients or fewer, which makes orgeat a quarter of what is in the pan. Make the swap a decision rather than a repair.

Check what else is in the pan

The company orgeat keeps in this library, counted off required ingredients. A swap that argues with the top two is the wrong swap, whatever a chart says.

What to make with orgeatRank what I can actually cookAll substitutions