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 · 22 dishes here use it

Out of red wine vinegar

The workhorse acid for anything savory and cooked. Sharper and less fruity than balsamic, which makes it the better choice when you want the dish brighter rather than sweeter.

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

sherry vinegar or apple cider vinegar

one for one

What it gets you
The same acid strength in the same place — a dressing, a braise, a splash at the end.
What it costs you
Sherry is nuttier and better; cider is fruitier and softer. Neither is a problem.

Instead · 2

white wine vinegar

one for one

What it gets you
The identical thing without the color, which matters only in that a vinaigrette stays pale.
What it costs you
Almost nothing.

Instead · 3

lemon juice

half as much again

What it gets you
Acid, fresher and brighter, which suits a raw salad better than vinegar does.
What it costs you
Keeping. A lemon dressing goes dull overnight and a vinegar one does not.

Where the swap will be tasted · 7

These need it and are short enough that nothing hides: 4 required ingredients or fewer, which makes red wine vinegar 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 red wine vinegar 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 red wine vinegarRank what I can actually cookAll substitutions