Fat Guy

My latest thinking on the watermelon dish is also along small-batch lines, however I was thinking to take that to its logical extreme: dress it on the individual plates. In other words, take a few cubes of watermelon and put them on a small plate, scatter a few scallions on top, then drizzle those cubes and scallions with the balsamic vinaigrette, then top with fresh-ground pepper and coarse salt.

But if you have a KFC and you build a Taco Bell up the road then you're paying rent on both establishments. If you put the Taco Bell in the same building as your existing KFC then you're still paying rent on one location. Your renovation expenses can't be nearly as much as it would cost to build a new store. There have to be some labor savings on a consolidated location. So you'd have to sell a lot of tacos to make the standalone Taco Bell more profitable than the Taco Bell add-on in the KFC location. You might have to double or triple your sales to make it work out in favor of the standalone Taco Bell.

I'm not sure exactly what doesn't make sense to you about the kitchen arrangement, but overall it seems eminently sensible to have several fast-food restaurants sharing space. Real estate is the number one expense in the restaurant business. If you can put two, three or four restaurants in one space, you have no increase in real estate expenses yet you can, presumably, sell more food to more people. This has been going on in New York since perhaps around the early 1990s. I remember near where I had one of my first jobs there was a place that had a number of fast-food restaurants sharing space. I think over time the business model has evolved a bit, though. Back when I first started seeing this, the restaurants were relatively segregated within the structure. Today, if you go to a co-branded Nathan's/Arthur Treacher's location, you'll order all the food from both brands from the same person, it comes from the same kitchen, etc.

I think the issue there was that there wasn't much in the way of vegetable inspiration at the market. When I went around with Kris as she was looking for ingredients for her salad, the two things that looked good (and inexpensive) were watermelon and okra. So that evolved into a watermelon salad palate cleanser and the tempura okra that accompanied the braised Jamaican-spiced goat (at first the watermelon salad was going to be an appetizer and the okra was going to be part of the cocktail hour snacks along with the charcuterie, cheeses and salmon, but Tammy figured out to use the watermelon as a palate cleanser later on, and to pair the tempura okra with the goat). The nice thing was that the watermelon was $3 (all the way at the end of the market -- as you walked in that direction the watermelon prices fell from $6 to $5 to $4 to $3), and the entire okra project was accomplished with $3 worth of okra (1.5 pounds at $2 per pound was enough to get 50 nice pieces). One dollar worth of scallions (three bunches) was about three times the scallions needed for the watermelon salad. Also, the previous day after Sun Luck we (Edsel, Kris and I) went to Heather's spice shop (great place) and got a small bag of toasted flax seeds -- those were mixed in with the tempura batter that went on the okra.

There were quite a few pleasant surprises in Cleveland, but Carrie Cerino's was perhaps the most pleasant and most surprising: it's a vintage post-WWI Italian-American banquet hall that feels as though it should be on the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. And the food is terrific. Dominic Cerino has one foot in the Italian-American cuisine of the 1950s and the other foot in today's artisanal ingredients and contemporary culinary trends. This juxtaposition should be apparent from the photographs, but was particularly noteworthy in the salume selection, the "blue egg" ravioli, the heirloom tomato salad and the Copper River salmon. All of the restaurateurs who hosted us were generous, but Dominic Cerino went above and beyond. All that food for $23 a head ($28 with tax and tip). I hope having an appreciative audience was at least somewhat rewarding to Dominic, because he was giving the food away. On our best day, even without the previous meals on the schedule, we couldn't have eaten all that stuff.

The big Asian supermarkets get much of their produce from the US and Mexico, just like Western markets. There are huge farms in California that grow all those Asian vegetables. There are plenty of domestic sources of rice, of course. The meats are usually local and the fish comes out of the global distribution system like most fish sold at all types of markets. There are several reasons why Asian supermarkets offer the prices they offer. The pricing structure of a supermarket involves several complex calculations. Not all items are sold at a significant profit, and some are loss leaders. At Western supermarkets, items like milk and eggs are amazingly cheap. Other items have to be marked up more to compensate. The traditional formula is that you sell 1/3 of your products at a loss, 1/3 at break-even, and 1/3 at a markup that's enough to offset and exceed the losses you take. Then there's the fact that Asian markets do incredible volume on produce. If mainstream Americans wanted to buy zillions of bunches of bok choy, mainstream supermarkets would probably stock bok choy and sell it cheaply. Asian supermarkets tend to have very limited customer service, so they save on labor. Sometimes there are real estate savings, as well as savings brought about by serving a larger area (because there are fewer such markets per square mile). While it does appear that there are a million sauces and such, I'm pretty sure the reality is that Asian supermarkets stock far fewer items overall than Western supermarkets -- this allows them to take some of the economics more in the Costco direction. It's a lot of little things, and when you add it all up you get significant savings.

While the inconsistent, personalized application of the laws of kashruth can be amusing, I can't see anything wrong with it. I think it has to be understood that for most modern, assimilated Jews the kosher dietary laws are a cultural thing, not a religious thing. We eat Jewish foods, and eat according to Jewish traditions, not because we actually believe God cares what we eat (or even exists) but because that way of eating is part of our cultural heritage. So, for example, I eat anything, but I certainly wouldn't eat or serve pork at a Passover seder. It would be as incongruous as having a traditional Chinese banquet and serving pizza. I agree with Rogov that the real offense is not inconsistent application of the rules, but the high-and-mighty attitude of those who try to impose rules on others while they themselves are not particularly consistent about their observance. Meanwhile, the most religious Jews I know are quite low key about their kashruth. From their perspective, it's an incremental thing: if they can serve me a kosher meal, it's a mitzvah, even if I eat bacon at the previous and next meals. It's not all-or-nothing in their calculus. Every time you eat something kosher, it's a plus. You don't lose credit for that, no matter what else you do or eat at other times.

We've had some incredible meal experiences the past couple of days. I defer to those who photographed and took careful notes in terms of reports on the specifics of each meal. These are just a few impressions: Lunch at Sun Luck Garden was a treat. Annie Chiu played chef and hostess. She came out before the meal and gave an oral report of the entire forthcoming menu, ascertained any dietary restrictions, introduced out waiter (Rodney), and repaired to the kitchen. She really worked with our requests: I had told her this was part of a series of meals, so she put out very small portions of a whole heck of a lot of dishes. So we got to taste all sorts of dishes yet the overall experience was mostly non-gluttonous. The thing that really struck me about Sun Luck Garden's style is that it's a rare example of a truly great Chinese-American restaurant. The menu items are mostly the same as what you'd see at the average bad Chinese-American restaurant. But Annie makes them all with a higher level of ingredients, with much greater care, without over-saucing and over-seasoning, and with expert technique. For example, her egg rolls are bone dry -- you can tell they were deep fried because of their golden crispy wrappers, but there's none of that tell-tale grease outside or in. And they're made with nice big chunks of pork and shrimp. Her scallion pancakes have the property of a good croissant where, when you touch it, it almost shatters like glass. Her cold noodles with sesame sauce have so little sauce on them that you can't even see it -- it's like noodles perfumed with sesame-sauce essence, and given interesting texture by bean sprouts and additional flavor by slices of shiitake mushroom. It went on and on like this: dishes that were familiar yet realized at their highest levels. Then mussels, served at the end, were fascinating -- almost a dessert. I don't think any of us correctly identified even half the flavors. The Velvet Tango Room is a remarkable institution. I had no idea there was such a faithful outpost of the cocktail culture in Cleveland. VTR is producing cocktails in the Pegu Club/Death & Co./Milk & Honey milieu, with great care, effort and ingredients. The atmosphere, however, should be the envy of all the New York places. They have a ton of space sprawling across a couple of different bars and into an outdoor courtyard/garden that transports you back to a different era. They were kind enough to give each of us a vial of house-made bitters to take home. I had a dark and stormy, with ginger beer so spicy it was a real shock on that first sip, and they also make a mean gin fizz. Lola was a nice surprise. I didn't really know what kind of atmosphere to expect, but I certainly didn't expect it to be such a fun, happening, energetic spot. They treated us incredibly well, sectioning off a significant piece of the restaurant for us at 8pm on a Friday night. Wait 'til you see a photo of the big, fat pieces of walleye they gave us. I should also give a shout out to the pastry chef, because the desserts were beautiful, especially the "6 a.m. special" of bacon ice cream served on syrup-soaked brioche toast. West Side Market had some great stuff but was uneven. The meat area was impressive. The produce area was pretty dismal. The crepe guy makes excellent crepes but he's so slow and inefficient I almost had to strangle him. We had an unplanned lunch at Phnom Penh, the Cambodian restaurant around the corner from West Side Market. We basically just showed up with 16 people and they took it in stride, creating an impromptu banquet for us at just $12 a head. Some wonderful flavors, especially that beef-noodle soup. Dinner went off without a hitch, and every course came out exceptionally well. I hesitate to acknowledge anyone in particular, because everybody deserves so much credit, but I've got to single out Tino's breads not just because they're so good but also because he was so generous: he must have slaved for ages to make all that bread. There was so damn much of it, of so many types, that we were able to have dedicated breads for most every phase of the meal, and then people were taking home bags and bags of the stuff. There was bread for the charcuterie, there was bread for the meal, there was bread for the cheese . . . it just went on and on, an unending avalanche of leavened goodness. And CaliPoutine, producing not one but two dishes including the most delicious cherry pie. And Tammy's flawless expediting, and her chocolate presentation, and her other chocolate presentation, and her truffles. And Ronnie's charcuterie, and White Lotus and Dance's salmon from the Pacific Northwest, and . . . and . . and . . . I'm going to stop now. Can't wait for brunch.

Todd, did you sit at the sushi bar?

Good to know. Thanks.

Batali, Flay, Bourdain, Morimoto -- that sounds like the list of most recognizable names of actual restaurant chefs (as opposed to Rachael Ray et al.). Since Bourdain retains a job title at Les Halles ("Chef at Large"), that's probably good enough for this list.

It's about North America.

Recognizable by the average North American non-foodie.

Is De Niro a restaurateur, or more of an investor? I never did understand the extent of his role in those places. If he's just an investor, I wouldn't include him on this particular list. If, however, he's like Chris Noth (Mr. Big in "Sex and the City") with the Cutting Room and is actually involved in the restaurant's operations, then I'd probably include that. (By the way, the reason I'm asking all this is that I'm helping someone out with a sidebar for a book about New York City)

In order to determine whether microwaving alters the taste of wine, all other factors would have to be controlled for. The two samples would have to be at exactly the same temperature when tasted, they would need to have been out of the bottle and breathing for the same amount of time, etc. In addition, microwaving would have to be compared to other forms of heating, such as wrapping the bottle with a hot gel pack, immersing it in hot water, etc., in order to ascertain whether the microwaves themselves affect the wine or if it's simply the act of applying quick heat that does it, if it does anything. I'm sure a real scientist would come up with a dozen other things that would need to be tested here.

Jeez, I hadn't thought of Morimoto. I definitely need help here.

I'm trying to generate a list of celebrity chef restaurants in New York City. I'm talking about the restaurants from people like Mario Batali and Bobby Flay, whose names would be recognized all over the place by people who aren't even necessarily foodies. I don't mean guys like Gray Kunz and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who are celebrities to us but whose names don't mean much to the average person. I guess that means TV chefs, though perhaps there are some celebrity chefs who got their celebrity some other way -- I don't know. So, besides all of Batali's restaurants, and all of Bobby Flay's restaurants . . .

There's a balance that has to be struck. If people perceive the book as esoteric, they won't buy it. So it can include some niche material but has to remain anchored to what's more widely available.

Those are two subjects that I think are interesting. I may be able to include something about them. If not a full-fledged guide, then at least a paragraph explaining what they are and a few basic things about them. The question I have to answer every time I decide whether or not to include something like Asian bakeries is how relevant they are to most of North America. Included in the book's target audience are tens of millions of people who live in cities and towns where there is no Chinatown and no niche specialty stores. So, always a decision to make.

Did you see the piece in Time about the diner in Egypt?

I've made six trips to Vancouver over the past few years, so I've got that scene pretty well covered, and I've been to all the major cities on the West Coast at least once. Still, the book is not regionally oriented and doesn't review specific restaurants -- it's about Asian restaurant dining in America in general -- so the primary purpose of travel is to collect fun anecdotes to sprinkle throughout the book. Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto will all be making guest appearances.

If they offer infinite, free-flowing shellfish they become "The buffet with great crabs but it costs $30 per person." The crab/lobster flow control used at the buffets that cost 1/2 or 1/3 of that is a reasonable business compromise.

It's definitely possible if you focus on single ingredients, especially if the buffet has shellfish. One buffet owner told me he has people who come in and only eat crabs. Nothing else. Just crabs. The way the buffet works is they have X pounds of crabs for the evening, and they cook and put them out at a rate such that they'll go out all evening. It's the highest food-cost item by far. Some people don't even touch the crabs. Other people hang out by the buffet waiting for the crab tray, then descend upon it like vultures. The crabs are gone in three minutes, then twenty minutes later another tray comes out. Then there are people who'd like crabs, but aren't aggressive enough ever to get any. The people who stand around all evening taking pounds of crabs as soon as the trays come out are eating more in food cost than the price of the buffet, sure. But sophisticated buffet owners don't really care, in part because those same people may very well show up with a wife, three friends and a couple of kids who don't eat much at all.

The restaurant doesn't really care what any one person eats. It cares what 300 people eat. Let's say 300 people come in during the course of dinner. If those 300 people pay $10 each, that's $3,000. The restaurant is going to make $750 worth of food and put it out on the buffet. No one person can eat enough to matter. Even a group of a dozen football players can't do all that much damage, because there will still be 100 or more light eaters to average things out. If three groups of a dozen football players show up, so be it, it's an $850 food-cost night because they have to go back and make more trays of food than normal. But it still averages out over time, because eventually you get a night when three groups of a dozen ballerinas come in. So, sure, in the most abstract mathematical sense, the buffet "loses" money on some individuals, but that's not the way one calculates profit in the buffet business.

In Japan, pregnant women (and children) do eat raw fish all the time. There are no negative public health impacts from it. Once you remove mollusks (raw oysters, etc.) from the equation, fish is safer than chicken. Nobody is telling pregnant women to avoid chicken, though it's entirely possible that such advice will eventually be dispensed. At some point, perhaps we will just put pregnant women on IV fluids and nutrient paste for nine months because, you know, anything else you eat is just too risky. There are, however, public health impacts to not eating enough fish while pregnant. Between overblown mercury scares and the taboo (outside Japan) against pregnant women eating sushi, a lot of pregnant women in the West just aren't getting enough fish. I know plenty of women who just avoid fish altogether during their pregnancies, because that's the inevitable conclusion driven by the sum total of the bad advice they get. On 27 February 2007, the New York Times reported on a study out of the UK: