bandregg

Week three photos, http://www.bayoudog.com/williemae3/

Ack, what! Tell me more.

The next set of weekend work photos is up at: http://www.bayoudog.com/williemae2/

My flight is booked and my car rented, so I'll be there for the last weekend Feb 10-12. I'm really looking forward to helping out.

I wish that I had known about John Edge's work weekends coming up. I'd happily have driven down to help out and to bring a little North Carolina BBQ to N'Orleans. In fact, I'm going to see if I can find out more information and just volunteer, now.

"Tequila Lounge" Ugh.

The fear of regional cuisine crosses the Mason-Dixon line going up, down, and sideways. I know plenty of northerners who had to be dragged into trying grits, and I also know plenty of southerners who had to be dragged into trying corned beef. Heck, I know a guy from Montana that had to be dragged into trying bagels (he wouldn't eat them because he couldn't abide "that California food", another story)! When we hae guests barring a real honest hatred or allergy I just make what I'm going to want to eat and people can go hungry if they won't at least try it.

Mama Dips is the place people from out of town go for Southern Food, but not barbeque. If you're looking for barbeque you would do much better at Allen and Sons, The Q Shack, Bullocks, or any of the smaller places around the triangle.

Five or Six years ago the Triangle experienced its bloom of "authentic Irish pubs" openning. Today, most of these places still serve food, but I don't know of anyone who actually eats at them. There are a few places in Raleigh that seem to have diners, but James Joyce in Durham has lost most of its food business to its neighbor The Federal.

"Dozens of complaints" reminds me of the recent Family Guy episode about the FCC. FCC Chair, "We received twenty calls, and since we know that each call is a billion people, 20 billion people have complained."

The issue I have the biggest problem with as presented by the story is summed up by "Laura Brauer, 40, who has stopped visiting A Taste of Heaven with her two children. "I think that the mothers who allow their kids to run around and scream, that's wrong, but kids scream and there is nothing you can do about it. What are we supposed to do, not enjoy ourselves at a cafe?" She sees her enjoyment of the cafe as more important than the enjoyment of others. That's not a problem with her kids, that's a problem with her. That's just rude and unrespectful of other people.

The two local Korean places here call it "bibimbap" on their menus.

I've eaten at Magnolia Grill a number of times and I've had some great experiences. I've also had some miserable experiences. The difference has always been the food; the service has always been at least "good enough" and sometimes is impecible. So, about the food. Appetizers and Desserts are have always been the shining star of Magnolia for me. Appetizer flavors have always been well thought out and the combination of ingrediants has always worked very well together. I think it's a good sign when I'm looking over the starters and thinking, "Jeez, how am I going to decide which of these to get." Desserts have also been a high spot for me. Maybe I've been lucky and I've eaten there when Karen, or Phoebe, or whoever is baking now, is really spot on. But maybe, I've always ordered smartly. I tend to know what's in season, and I mean, really, Really, in season, and that's what I order. So, two months ago it was fig crepes with goat cheese and honey. Pure heaven. I'm sure the blueberry cobbler was good, but we were a bit past blueberry season so I didn't get it. So, appetizers and desserts. You'll notice that I haven't discussed mains. Mains is where Magnolia lets me down, consistantly. The course is generally good, but it just isn't what it should be. Either the concept is solid but the flavors just don't come together, or the concept is a little shaky. Osso Bucco with shrimp jumbalaya? Uh, good maybe, odd, definitely. That's not to say I haven't ever had good mains at Magnolia, just that they're much more inconsistant than the starters and desserts. I don't encounter these same problems eating at Nana's, or Four Square, or even Vin Rouge, but I also don't think they experiment as much (that's not good or bad, just an observation). Sometimes the experiment doesn't work, but other times it does and again, it's heaven. I think that people who complain about being able to get better meals in "real cities" even in neighborhood bistros aren't comparing apples with apples. It's much easier to be impressed with a local bar when they turn out good, creative food. I'm always happy with the Federal for instance. At the same time, they aren't trying to create new cuisine, no matter how creative they get. And to sum up my long winded response to "have you ever been disappointed" is to say that this whole discussion could be applied to any restaurant that's ever acheived a modicum of fame. I had the chance to eat at Chez Pannise earlier this year and was resoundly disappointed. I've eaten better at my local bistro in a real city, Durham.

My wife and I tried Mt. Fuji after CenterFest a few weeks ago. After two long days of working her jewelry booth at the Festival we were looking for some good sushi to take home and enjoy in front of the television. We ordered ann array of nigiri and a few of their specialty rolls; while it was being prepared I had a chance to talk to the sushi chefs. The nigiri was definitely passable, good quality fish on good enough rice. I'm a nigiri kind of guy. I like tasty, fresh fish, simply prepared. My wife prefers rolls. She was definitely displeased. Let me interject here that we are both well aware that the american style rolls are not authentic, but every now and then a little variety is good. The biggest problem with the rolls at Mt. Fuji was that every one of their specialty rolls came with "special spicy sauce," which is some combination of wasabi, red pepper, a few other ingrediants, and mayonaise. My wife doesn't like mayonaise and I'm not a big fan of it wish sushi. So combine a bunch maynoise with a bunch of fish, arrive at a bunch of heavy, greasy rolls, and you get one unhappy wife. I'll order the nigiri again, but rolls are definitely off the menu.

I had uni a few years ago for the first time at a sushi restaurant and it's, thankfully, one of the very few times I've gotten food poisoning. Normally I'm a strong proponent of the "if it smells bad and tastes bad it's probably bad" school or thought, but in this case I told myself, "it's sea urchin, how the hell do I know what it's supposed to be like. Maybe it's supposed to taste like this." It's not. Since then, well I did take about a year off, I've become a very big fan of uni, in a number of preparations: Spanish, French, Japanese. I am fastidious about the freshness.

I went to listen to Steven talk, and it was very entertaining. The audience was very small, so he really just gave an introduction about how he got into food writing (summary: He was a lawyer, he liked food better), and then we talked a little about upcoming projects and the state of restaurants around the country right now. I asked where he was eating on this trip and in Durham he'd gone to Federal on Varmint's advice and was very pleasantly surpirsed by the food and the effort put into it. For the most part though, he and his family have been eating at chains. He'd never really eaten at places like Outback Steakhouse (poor) or Cheesecake Factory (really good) and wants to understand why the rest of America eats at chains. It's part of a grander book idea. I didn't have the chance to get a book signed and had to take off immediately after the talk, but he's an engaging speaker and it was very pleasant.

I've been remiss in not posting this sooner. Steven Shaw (a.k.a. "The Fat Guy" of eGullett.com) will discuss his new book, Turning the Tables: Restaurants from the Inside Out. Having spent time touring the dining rooms and kitchens of restaurants high and low, from expensive New York eateries to a North Carolina barbeque joint, Shaw gives readers the low-down on the restaurant business. He also offers his opinions on a variety of restaurant-related issues, from restaurant critics to organic foods. The Regulator Bookshop on 9th St. in Durham at 7:00p

It's funny, but a few weeks ago I got into a simlar argument supporting Grasshopper to a friend of mine. He was complaining about the number of shrimp in the Sweet Basil Shrimp bowl and I was saying that for eleven or twelve bucks I thought it was a delicious dish and that I'd order it again. His take was that for the same price he'd get more shrimp at Pao Lim. It didn't seem to matter to him that the shrimp at Grasshopper were 16-20 count and those at the other restaurant were 40-50 count. He's what I call a bulk eater, and I've never been able to win an arguement about food with them, they just don't care enough.

The regularly buy the same cheeses from Whole Foods and then branch out and try something I've never had before. My regulars are Valdeon, which is a Spanish blue that's wrapped in chestnut leaves, 1 year old aged Gruyere, and 1 year aged Manchego. We always seem to have some kind of cheddar around the house, but most often it's used in making Mexican so I don't spend a lot on it. When I want creamier cheeses (like a double cream or a triple cream) I usual visit Fowler's and ask the cheese person for some advice.

Unfortunately for my taco cravings, La Vilita has closed.

It's not in Raleigh and it isn't open for lunch, so this isn't any help. Vin Rouge in Durham has a wonderful mac and cheese.

I'm happy to report the following, Tyler's Taproom at the American Tobacco Campus has Chimay Triple (White) on tap. Whole Food Durham has all three Chimay (Red, White, and Blue) in 11.something sized bottles. I'm looking forward to a trip to the Blue Light soon to see what they have.

The Cap has been popped; high alcohol beer is legal to sell now. Where have you seen it?

The Cap has been Popped. Easly has signed the bill.

Thanks Varmint, I've been riding my bike past Grasshopper for almost a week now looking for signs that they're open. And Charlie has graciously put up with my random email queries about menu items, so I tried not to bug him too much about an open date. I for one can't wait for each of these to open. Charlie, our hopes are with you as you struggle with everything from inspections and city officials to suppliers and cooks.