Holly Moore

I'm not usually one to take a state to task. Especially a state with such wierd and down right tasty indiginous cuisine. But how can it be that among all the Rhode Island eateries there are none that grill up the state's most famous hot dog? Softening the blow a bit were the chili cheese dogs, a side of chili cheese fries and a coffee milk shake from Haven Brothers, which rolls up along side City Hall every evening.

I'm impressed that Eric and Matt even considered a peanut butter and jelly dog.

Yes and no. When I had my restaurant we received consistently good to rave reviews. We were lucky. No reviewers were there the Saturday evening my chef walked out and took half the kitchen with her. No reviewers were there the day the kitchen roof caved in. No reviewers were there on those occasional dreaded days when enough minor things went wrong to throw us totally off our timing. Bad things happen to good restaurants. A reviewer should have enough understanding of the restaurant business to know if a restaurant is doing a bad job because it is a bad restaurant or doing a bad job because it is a good restaurant that is just suffering one of those inevitable days that happens in any restaurant except, perhaps, the Per Se's and Daniel's of the world. Because a review stays with the restaurant for years a reviewer should have the empathy and does have the responsibility to understand the difference between a mediocre restaurant offering a representative experience and a good restaurant providing an atypical one.

I think the problem is that kitchen skills are not as readily learned as serving skills. Over the course of a week a reviewer could probably learn some basic prep, but I pity the restaurant that sticks him on the line for turnout. I also think that what becomes relevant in any restaurant review is what stands out as particularly good or particularly bad, be it food and/or service.

So how much does walking a mile in a server's shoes aid a restaurant reviewer in appreciating a restaurant's efforts? Will Bruni now wield a kinder, gentler pen and be more tolerant of a bumbling server? Back when I reveiwed restaurants for Philadelphia's City Paper I maintained that having owned a restaurant and having, in my formative years, worked most every position in a restaurant, made me a better reviewer and gave me credibility over the majority of restaurant reviewers who came up through newspaper features, sports or general reporting ranks. The multitudes who took issue felt that my experience made me too easy on restaurants - that I was too willing to forgive a server in the weeds or an overburdened kitchen - that I gave the restaurant rather than the diner the benefit of the doubt.

Alas Mr. Burni did not experience waiting on tables after the restaurant had just received a good review. Hoards of ever-so-knowledgeable diners who follow in the reviewer's footsteps, order the same meal as the reviewer, and then pick apart each dish wondering, "How could the BruniMeister ever have liked this," listing the multitude of reasons each dish should never have passed muster and would not had they written the review. What the article lacked were sidebar interviews of servers who backed up Bruni and customers who put him through his paces

Heading home from Providence tomorrow (Sunday) around noon. Have eaten well - will get to that once I get the pics off the camera. But the one speciality that has proven elusive is the Saugy Dog. Do any of the hot dog joints in Providence or Rhode Island grill up genuine Saugy Dogs?

Holly: Forgive my ignorance, but how would you cut them if not shoestring style? ---Guy ← The cut I prefer is 3/8" or 1/4"

Think of a hot dog as pate presented in a natural casing. Makes it more than fair food, eh. What other culture, besides the US and Germany, has made pate so readily available?

Nope. But an awesome sandwich would be their hotburger hamdog around a grilled fish cake.

No self-respecting Maine lobster roll purveyor adds filler such as lettuce or celery. I like the crunch of celery and the bed of lettuce on a lobster salad. But neither belongs on a lobster roll.

I had my first hot lobster roll in many, many years at Lenny's. Bascally lobster warmed in butter and served on a toasted New England style hot dog roll. Who can't like butter warmed lobster on a hot dog roll? But Maine style lobster rolls are soooo much better. Let me count the way's. - Cold lobster lightly tossed in mayo on a warm toasted roll - the play of the two temperatures. The butter throughout the hot lobster roll blends everything together into a luke warm, single flavor and mushy mouthfeel. - Crisp toasted roll on a Maine lobster roll versus sogged out toasted roll on a hot lobster roll. - At Red's at least, the lobster roll is lobster meat on a toasted bun. Melted butter on the side. Cold lobster, warm toasted roll, a tasteful splash of warm butter versus lobster swimming in warm butter on a hot lobster roll. - Presentation - the purity of white and red chilled lobster meat on a toasted bun. With a hot lobster roll everything seems orange/red - no sharp contrasts. The orange red makes me think of just about everything that comes out of Red Lobster's kitchen - not a pleasant memory. Next time I drive through CT I'm sticking to hot dogs and pizza - at least between the coconut cruller at Coffee an' Donut in Westport and some of the best fried clams in New England at Johnny Ad's.

Thanks for the link. Looks like the only place open is Lenny's Fish Market. Unless anyone else has thought's I'll probably stop there for a hot lobster roll ap and complete my lunch at Johnny Aps for some great fried clams.

I'm driving up I95 tomorrow, to Providence, and returning on Sunday. So where do I get one of those CT hot lobster rolls this time of year?

Had a plate of Ipswich Fried Clams for lunch. Way overbreaded and cooked and not much flavor. But the cavernous space in the bowels of Grand Central almost makes up for it. Next time I'll stick to oysters.

Hit Amazing Dog today on my way to NYC. They're doing a bang-up job. The only problem with the dogs weighing in at a quarter pound is that it is hard to try a bunch. I reached capacity at about a dog and a half. Had the Amazing Dog and a classic with chili, onion and mustard. Both were excellent. My only suggestion would be a heated roll. The fries were good, better than most. As I've said elsewhere, I think it is a waste to go to all the work to produce fresh cut, twice fried fries, and then to cut them shoestring style. But I realize I am out of step with much of the US, McD-reared french fry eating universe on this one. Bunch more dogs I need to try though. Suspect I'll be back soon. A pleasure to meet Eric and Matt.

I can't wait to hear from ejebud. I'm curious to find out how well their first day went. But I also want to learn what it is like to be beset upon by a hoard of hungry eGullets. Seems pretty scary to me, in a nice, Quentin Tarantino "Hostel" way, of course.

A Chicago hot dog by one of the top Chicago dog houses is great eating. I've yet to find a great Chicago hot dog anywhere but Chicago. However, being born and raised in North Jersey, and having spent most of my life living between Philadelphia and Boston, a "hot dog" is grilled or fried and either comes with mustard and relish or Coney Island/Texas Wiener/All-The-Way sauce, mustard and diced fresh onion. The only thing both the Chicago and the North Jersey genres lack - and I've always wanted to speak of hot dog approaches as genres - is the proper New England top split hot dog bun with sides that can be buttered and grilled.

I have been told that some insurance companies, fearing lawsuits, also stipulate that restaurants cook grond beef to medium doneness. At least NC has the common sense to add "unless otherwise ordered by the immediate customer," though it does lead one to wonder what makes a customer "immediate."

They sound great, but the following, from the article, does not compute: The leaner the dryer unless Creekstone is breeding inverse steers.

I really like the idea of returning to some basics in terms of food prep. There was a recent episode of "House" where the doctors were stumped until they stopped testing their dying patient's blood with computers and looked at it through an old fashioned microscope. So it goes with your science. I expect there are textures and flavors that can only be achieved with a pestle and mortar and similar centuries-old implements. Maybe you're doing it already, but it might be interesting to go back to ancient/old ingredients and build on them too. My initial reaction to your question on there being room for a greatest hits restaurant was - not interested. The driving force of the tour is the anticipation and discovery. The last time I was at Trio I made it a point not to read about the current menu because I wanted to experience the tour without preconceptions. I wanted to be surprised. But then I read "truffle explosion," as one of the greatest hits dishes. It is still there in my mind's gullet. A greatest hits restaurant would not top my list for my next trip to Chicago, as does Alinea. But if I was there for a few days, yeah I'd go for another "truffle explosion," even if, as in all things in life, the first time is always the best.

Are the fries twice cooked - blanched and finish fried? Great pics - Lorelei could not sing a sweeter song to lure me to North Jersey.

A question on guests taking pics. When I asked at Trio the maitre d' said the restaurant preferred pics not be taken in the dining room but offered to take my camera back to the kitchen, a terrific compromise. What is Alinea's policy on pics in the dining room. Do you have any concerns with either someone using pics to rip off your creativity or posting pics that represent your dishes poorly because of the photographer's skill? What are your thoughts on the arguement that food presentation represents the chef's art and should not be reproduced without permission? In case you aren't aware of it, there has been a recent discussion on eGullet about a DC area chef who sent a lawyer letter to a food blogger ordering him not to post his pics.

No, no cheesesteak or scrapple inspiration. ← Yet.

Greetings Grant, I still have fond memories of my virtual NY style hot dog. Ever thought about a cheesesteak? Or scrapple? A taste of home for a visiting Philly lad. I've always appreciated your whimsical side. Brings a smile or two to the meal amidst the wows.