jbraynolds

Plenty of Texans and Okies and Arkies would agree with you about the Pecan smoke. I especially like it for pork ribs but can't bring myself to use it on shoulder...I must have some Tarheel blood in me somewhere. Maple doesn't do it for me either.

...and you Tarheels thought that YOUR bbq debate was complicated! At least you guys can agree on the one meat and the one wood.

Exactly. Mesquite coals, not smoke. The Llano Cooper's (in Texas terms, a west Texas place) does indeed practice what's known as "Cowboy" bbq, which isn't smoking but actually low heat, direct grilling. You won't find much smoke, if any in their meats as they're basically slow-grilled over wood that's had the tar burned out of it. You'll also see this at a couple of other places I know of in and around Llano. For what it's worth, there are four "Cooper's" places but only two are actually owned by the Cooper family, the one in Mason and the one in Round Rock. The Mason one, in west Texas, is pretty much like the Llano one (but better, I think) and the Round Rock one uses smoke.

I'll leave my personal opinion on Mesquite (the wood, not the town) out of it but can tell you that in Texas, where the stuff is basically a weed (read: free or dirt cheap) I can't name a single bbq place that uses it. Not a one. Some places way out in west Texas will burn it down to coals and use it for heat but it's a wood that's loaded with resin. "Might as well use pine" you'll hear people say. Having tasted the results many times as it's the one that sits on most grocery store shelves and gets picked up by unsuspecting friends who get ambitious with their Weber, I'm happy to leave it alone.

Having been to the first Q Shack, in Durham, I have no idea why anyone would go there when they could just go to Bullock's. Q Shack has too much of a Southern theme park aura to it. Anyone been to Brother Jimmy's in New York? Slap a bunch of Duke or UNC posters up, maybe a NASCAR trinket or two, some ACC games on the tv, serve Cheerwine and Sundrop, put up a screen door, load up the menu with stereotypical Southern jargon and there you are.

Boy, how right you are about Texas Toast! Waste of carbs is one of the nicer things that it's been called. For what it's worth, Texas Toast is pretty much only found at chain steakhouses like Ponderosa, Sizzlin' Sirloin or Sirloin Stockade. You WILL not find it at Kreuz, Louie or Johnny Mueller's, Taylor Cafe, and Mikeska place, any Cooper's, Sonny Bryan's, Drexler's, Southside Market, Crossroads, Luling City Market, Black's, Smitty's or Chisholm Trail or even at Goode Company. I don't think that they even serve it in the dreaded Dicky's or Luther's conglomerates. In short, not at any Texas bbq place that most people that frequent eGullet would want to visit. Any place that aspires to replicate the Texas bbq experience faithfully would lose Texas Toast, pronto.

Mesquite? For chicken? For pretty much nothing, really, but chicken? Mesquite is the lowest-rent smoking wood around and is considered a complete joke in Texas for the acrid notes it gives. Oak with maybe Hickory and/or Pecan for beef, Hickory and maybe some fruit woods and/or Oak for birds...the mesquite? Send it to California. At least he did the pork right.

Bythe way, don't try to make reservations at Gerard's, since it no longer exists. Neither does Victor's.

Peristyle is "just a good restaurant"? Gerard's and, especially GW Fins are superior? Whoah. Why not throw Cheesecake Bistro in there? Have to say that's the first time I've ever seen or heard that one and I probably eat three dozen meals in four visits per year to New Orleans. Hard to put strongly enough how much I disagree here. For the record, my favorite places in N.O. are, in no particular order: Persistyle, Herbsaint, Lilette, Bayona, Delmonico's (especially lunch), Galatoire's, Emeril's, Upperline and many others that I'd go to way before GW Fins. Yikes.

The (food) mission statement at Vin is buying the best ingredients (which they do, from Browne Trading for fish, Niman Ranch for pork, Formaggio Kitchen for cheese, etc.) and serving it carefully and, yes, in simplicity so as to work with wine. A quick glance at the Magnolia Grill menu proves that finding compatible wines will be a daunting task. Gary Danko's perhaps less so and really out-there places like El Bulli? Forget it. Every single wine and food professional I know who has been there (this would number upward of 100) basically looked at the menu said "screw it, bring whatever you want". The most consistent criticism of Adria's food that I have heard is that wine always clashed with something. What do you serve with, say, lemon and licorice, together? Cherries dipped in lard? Might as well drink mineral water. I think that knocking Vin by comparing it to what Magnolia Grill does is like saying that In n' Out Burger isn't up to Whataburger because they don't serve large burgers with jalapeno. Or Lexington #1 isn't as good as Sonny Bryan's becasue they don't do brisket. Same goes with comparing Vin to Magnolia Gril. Repeat after me: It's. Not. What. They. Do. Or. Are. Trying. To. Do.

Peter Luger, absolutely.

Did anyone mention Napoleon House for the (hot) muffaleta? Best in town, I think. Skip the "famous" Pimm's Cup and drink beer instead. The cocktails there are strictly tourist, unfortunately.

Make sure that you check out the Loire Valley and German white sections of the wine list. Great buys there and excellent with the fish preparations. Go for any dish with crab and, if the steak tartare isn't on the menu, ask for it.

I'm not wild for the setting at Lynn's but have had great steaks.

Pappas gets my nod. Ask if they have the bone-in ribeye, which I don't think is on the menu. If you get away from the trophy section of the wine list (California cabs and older Bordeaux) there are some great selections. Good, strong drinks.

Guess I'll be able to go to the Penthouse Club. I like it for the articles. I mean the steaks.

It's not politicians who like to go to places like the Penthouse Club, it's conventioneers. Just ask anyone in Vegas.

sammy beat me to it.

Know who might do best of all? The Daisy May's guy with his combo steakhouse and strip club next to a bbq place. Talk about one-stop convention shopping! And it's near the docking point of the ship so maybe he's the one lobbying for this whole thing. He got featured in the Times last Wednesday...I smell a conspiracy.

Here's who I'll bet will most profit from the convention: steakhouses. I've spent 5 days a month for the last 4 years in Texas, Mr. DeLay's state, and I have never seen a more single-minded culinary obsession, anywhere. Yes, I include New York and San Francisco and their Chinese places. It's amazing. The food columns in Dallas squeal every time a new steakhouse opens (seems like every week, no joke) "what, another steakhouse?!?". And, guess what. They're doing great business. Morton's has 3 locations in TX, The Palm has 3, Ruth's Chris has 7, Smith & Wollensky has 2, Capital Grille 2 and Del Frisco's is based in Dallas. and Sullivan's and lots of "entry level" chain steak going on there as well. I'd also bet that big/brand-nameCalifornia Chardonnay, Cabernet and Merlot will do pretty well, too. Load up on the Silver Oak, Sonoma Cutrer, Beringer, Duckhorn and Cakebread!

It would be good to reflect on what happened in Atlanta at the Summer Olympics a while back (I'm in the wine import business do deal with people at all links of the chain, especially with restaurants). High-end restaurants and hotels and retailers invested a boatload in anticipation of a huge influx of business that never happened. Why? The attendees gravitated to chain hotels, chain restaurants and mainstream shopping because they're a mainstream crowd. Winter Olympics patrons are quite a bit different and histotically indulge in more upper-end consumerism. You had high-end, gastronomic restaurants laying in expensive wine, re-doing their rooms, etc. and the customers never materialized. I had plenty of people lamenting that they "expected big-spenders and only the fanny-packers showed up". I wouldn't call it grossly generalizing, I'd call it looking at the demographics. A food freak from Tulsa (my hometown, btw) is quite a bit different than a delegate of any party from the same town. I know a few from there and exploring the latest in regional Italian, Thai or Chinese cooking or grabbing some cookware at Bridge won't be on their dance list, sorry to say.

And I wouldn't count on many Republican conventioneers going to Chinatown. Ruby Foo's, yes, Yeah or Noodletown, nope. They won't be going to Corner Bistro, either, not when there's TGI Friday's.

I have clients from the Midwest and Texas coming into NY on a regular basis and, at the risk of stereotyping, they like to do the stuff that DeLay seems to be after. They like cruises, they like routines and most of the NYC cliches (stay at Doubletree, eat at chains, shop at Gap/Niketown/FAO/now American Girl, see the rink, the tree, the Meg Ryan deli, try to get into Rao's and on and on and on). Say what you want about DeLay but it looks like he knows his constituency and their fears of The Big Bad City and liking their routines.

Do not miss Obelisk or Maestro.

Vis the potato issue, I was once served a potato and leek soup at Trotter's and hidden underneath it, as a first layer/base, was about 2 oz. of caviar. Their idea of a potato menu wouldn't exactly be peasantish, I'll assure you.