Gifted Gourmet

jandn73, welcome to the Southeast Forum and we hope you will not only enjoy your trip but will return home and share some of your insights and impressions of the food scene with us here at eGullet! restaurants for Mobile and environs Dining in Florida's Panhandle With a map as well! Enjoy!

Thank you for the explanation on why this makes such an attractive garnish!

Potato kugel always fills the house with marvelous aromas! Noshtalgic really! You did FedEx me the crusty edges, no??

Truly a meal to die for! And a night to remember (oops, that was the title of a book about the sinking of the Titanic! Sorry!) Thanks for this, bloviatrix!!

You Gotta Have a Gimmick lyrics from Gypsy ...

If you want to read the article that gave rise to this thread, please go back to page one to see what got to me ... annoyed me as well, as you note here, on rich folk:

Certainly no more euwww than this from upthread:

You mean to tell me that it isn't?? I think that many a novice cook might well believe that easy is better when they first begin ... only after gaining confidence with the ingredients, might they begin to explore and experiment ... Of course, it also stands to reason that if there is truly nothing available on food-related television, what is there to excite and energize the uninitiated?

From a chef friend: "about fluting mushrooms .... this has got to be one of the most mind-numbing tasks there is!"

I absolutely concur with your idea that "simple, elegant details" are what separate the men from the boys, so to speak ... now that I read this is today's politically correct world, it seems positively archaic! But, Ari, you got that one dead right! (also somewhat non p.c. ... )

Depends upon your location and each baker will be different in their concept of bagel perfection ... but my original supposition was that anyone can produce a decent bagel irrespective of ethnic background ... customer recidivism is the deciding factor ultimately ...

After reading this link, I am conscientiously avoiding all reference to commercial products like Beano .. which can, according to this, be known as "Toot Sweet" ... and to calling an appetizer made with Jerusalem artichokes, The Big Bang ... see where these clever names come from: some real help ....

Slate's Sara Dickerman's commentary on Ramsay Telly ... Lovely article .. read on .. and on .. and on ...

the update I had been waiting for ... The raw bar and towers: The pig's feet:

I get the Medieval theme thing in the cooking (and the tower-and-moat review) but why do a restaurant up in this manner? Is is necessary to distract from something there? Theme restaurants work best in a Disneyesque atmosphere, to me anyway ... Goth grub ... So, has anyone actually eaten the food except for the reviewer??

Once described by someone whom I can no longer recall as a "Winnebagel" monstrosity ...

Come to think of it, Fat Guy, if older is indeed better, then I am the best! Forget the Botox! Let me age in some dark, damp cave du fromage .... Is older better? Really? Why? Properties?

article from the NY Sun Is your neighborhood bagel baker from another part of the world? We are, after all is said and done, quite a melting pot ... So, does one have to be Jewish to make a great bagel? How do you feel about this?

I have tasted a four year Grafton Cheddar which was marvelous! cheese of the month club Grafton Cheddar

from conscious choice website the recipes look wonderful though ...

and those damnable cell phones ...

This arrived in my email this morning from Rabbi Ribeye who ate at Esca this past New Year's weekend ... an extremely positive review ... which, I knew, had to belong on a site like eGullet, of course! "The primi that we ordered -- The bacala. The same qualities that we hold most dear in the finest crab cakes. Huge chunks of reawakened flaky sweet-salty cod, potato coins, field mushrooms. All bound together, but how? No sense of bread crumbs, eggs or pan-fry. Just topped with a thatch of frisee. No sauce to obfuscate. Let the earthy/briny charm speak for itself. The charred sardines. I have never before used the term "fishy" as an accolade. Ah, but the Mediterranean had already infused the unctuous flesh of the sardines with the essence of every species of seafood ever harvested therefrom. And garnished so simply with a few golden raisins, capers and walnuts. No drizzle of EVOO or schpritz of lemon to short-circuit the concentrated fishiness that had eye, nose, and palate vying for primacy and shouting, "Me first!" The secondi -- Interestingly, the menu, which changes daily, was short on seafood and lavish on fish. The situation, nonetheless, did not disappoint. A simple slice of translucent, pristine halibut, grilled one notch above rare, accompanied by a saute of wild mushrooms and balsamic glazed cipollini. I can only guess that winter=earthy=mushrooms, because they were everywhere on the menu. Only one disappointment. The balsamic glaze was cloying, to my taste -- emphasize, to my taste. If I were to be hypercritical, I'd even have called it goopy. Oh well, the guy may be a culinary messiah, but he still ain't God. One more amusing word about the zuppa de pesci -- They actually serve two: Amalfi-style as an antipasto and Sicilian as a secondi. Finding that the Amalfi was fish-only, while the Sicilian contained shellfish. I asked if I could have a larger portion of the outrageously keel-over-and-die Amalfi as my secondi. That would not be possible, I was politely told, because the chef felt that the Amalfi should be served in the portion of an antipasto in preparation for the meal, not as a secondi, which would be over-the-top. I told the server that this policy was the equivalent of tantric sex -- just enough zuppa to electrify every sense, only then to be told to cool down, you can have no more, but if you're patient there'll be other surprises of equal rapture to come. His answer: "Precisely." Finally, the lead antipasti were a choice of raw fish and seafood served naked with an appropriate salt and olive oil selected by the chef to complement them."

I still have to give the waiter the benefit of the doubt and consider all of the issues which might make this occur ... hearing properly, as I said, is high among the reasons in my opinion ...

Well said indeed! As someone who lives within the "roaming area" of Vidalia, Georgia, I can't begin to tell you how pleased I am to read of encounters with this "golden globe" in the far corners of this country ...

Three statements from the article which make my blood run cold ... “Sometimes we know that viewers have trouble with heavy accents,” says Page (even I can comprehend Jacques Pepin when he has a headcold ...) “Rachael Ray inspiring you to make boeuf bourguignonne is just as effective in promoting French cuisine.” vive la chefette ....vive le Energizer Bunny ... In any case, French gastronomy might not be sorely missed—the network’s ratings sweet spot is Unwrapped, about candy and snacks. now I am fully nauseous ...