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 Plus: Steals and Deals from Famous Smoke Shop
Los Angeles, January 17 – In the nation’s Capitol, where the anti-tobacco forces are on the march, we see cigars once again as an immovable symbol of . . . culinary nudity?
Writing in the Washington Post on Friday, Richard Leiby disclosed one of the city’s more shameless chapters in restaurant promotion: a suggestive calendar of top chefs at some of the area’s top eateries.
Chefs from Ceiba, DC Coast and TenPehn posed for the calendar which was sent to top customers of all of the restaurants. Leiby quoted the public relations rep for all three spots, Simone Rathle: “We thought our guests would really to get to know our chefs, literally and figuratively, by photographing them doing their favorite hobby with no barriers like a kitchen or clothes.”
Among spicy pictures like sous-chef Jake Smith of DC Coast in a golfing pose with the caption “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing” is DC Coast’s head chef, Andy Brooks, smiling while enjoying a Cohiba with a stack of cigar boxes strategically placed to protect his modesty (?).
The caption: “Come in here, dear boy, have a cigar.”
Brooks told the Post, “I’m a big cigar guy. I’ve been collecting them for a long time. I’m just showing off my big stick . . . that’s the way it is.”
Must have been an Esplendido!
Steals and Deals:
We completed our start-of-the-year update to all of the entries in our Comparison Shopper spreadsheet, part of our value-packed CigarWire service, only for subscribers.
Naturally, we saved the toughest for last, and we were rewarded with some nice offers from Arthur Zaretsky and his mad cigar scientists at Famous Smoke Shop:
• Astral Grand Reserve from Honduras, giant Perfeccion torpedoes (7 x 48) in boxes of 15, regularly $64.95, now just $49.95.
• Baccarat Dominican Selection, mild and flavorful, now $20 off in all sizes. Boxes of 24 regularly $55.95 to $84.95 are now $35.95 to $64.95. Best value: The Toros (6 x 50) at just $39.95 for 24.
• Bahia Blu, an under-appreciated blend from Tony Borhani, all $20 off per box. The line comes in three sizes:
> B500 (5 x 50), regularly $89.95, now $69.95 in boxes of 20.
> L600 (6 x 50), regularly $97.95, now $77.95 for 20.
> U700 (7 x 48), regularly $103.95, now $84.95 for 20.
Famous also offers Bahia Blu in sampler packs of five in all three sizes, if you prefer.
• Helix, one of our favorites and our no. 3-ranked cigar in the mild-bodied category, is offered at $9 off in the popular x550 shape. The 5-by-50 robustos in the preferred natural wrapper, is now $46.95 in the box of 25. Fans of mild-bodied cigars will not be disappointed.
• Partagas Black Prontos, a dynamite smaller cigar (4 1/8 x 36) in a sampler tin of eight for just $8.95.
We Wuz Wrong!
Lew Rothman of J-R Cigars noted our story about their “Quart of Cigars” offer of 4 1/4-inch by 38-ring Connecticut-wrapped small cigars, but corrected our assertion that these were seconds. They are not. It makes an already unique item a real stunner of a value.
Our January-only Combo Offer:
We have a special offer available if you’d like to enjoy the new, 2005 Perelman’s Pocket Cyclopedia of Cigars, along with our value-packed CigarWire service: just $32 for:
• A one-year subscription to the CigarWire and
• A copy of the new 2005 Perelman’s Pocket Cyclopedia of Cigars!
That’s normally a $41.95 value, but we’re offering this special price from now through January 31, 2005.
Your subscription will also include our “Week in Review” newsletter sent each Thursday with a summary of our top stories of the week!
~ Rich Perelman
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