Dignan

I wouldn't buy it - and I wouldn't support an establishment that sells it. The Atlantic blue marlin is endangered - and people who don't catch and release aren't worth the time of day IMO (I didn't even realize there are still people around who don't catch and release). FWIW - even my most politically conservative friends who are ardent fishermen wouldn't think of bringing home a blue Marlin. It's just not done! Of course - there are always a few "good old boys" around who don't think the rules of nature and sustainable fishing apply to them. Robyn What if it was pacific blue marlin?

Tony sometimes cooks at Les Halles and is essentially on a consulting basis with them. He's very good friends with the owner, so he's certainly not "out" in any sense of the word. He's also their number one cookbook salesperson.

That one set me off as well. These are the same people that write the TVGuide to complain about what time Judge Judy is on. This weeks Dining Guide included an article about dress codes that talked about the hat issue from the previous weeks Whine and Dine, including quotes from Houston's.

So I googled blue marlin, and this is the most reputable site I found, the State of Hawaii, and there's no indication there that it's a overfishing problem with the fish. And I found nothing else in the next page or so. Educate me.

I used to be able to name every nut that there was. And it used to drive my mother crazy, because she used to say, "Harlan Pepper, if you don't stop naming nuts," and the joke was that we lived in Pine Nut, and I think that's what put it in my mind at that point. So she would hear me in the other room, and she'd just start yelling. I'd say, "Peanut. Hazelnut. Cashew nut. Macadamia nut." That was the one that would send her into going crazy. She'd say, "Would you stop naming nuts!" And Hubert used to be able to make the sound, he couldn't talk, but he'd go "rrrawr rrawr" and that sounded like Macadamia nut.

Well, I suppose that could be the case but I think it is simply the fact that there are few fedoras being worn these days, so the issue arose around a ball cap. If the original person in question were wearing a sombrero, I think there still would have been a "no hats" ruling. We have a pretty well established hat rule in this society, though it is perhaps passe' in many minds, and that's what this fella ran up against. Suits and hats used to be quite common, but these were exactly the folks who knew to take the hat off while inside. The original complainer didn't think the rule inapposite, just that Houston's apparently wasn't the sort of place where it shoud be enforced -- it wasn't upmarket enough. Tony Soprano: "Take off your hat. They took the bleachers out and stopped selling hot dogs a year ago."

Kids, I understand..sort of. But women? That makes no sense. No one will blame you for "harrassing" them SLC or for writing to W&D. And there is no shame in going to Houston's, it's a good restaurant with excellent home-smoked salmon and grilled steaks (provided you tell them to grill it with nothing but S&P on it--non of that "Hawaiian" gunk), their ribs are also excellent. The service over there is always top notch as well. Let us know if you ever do write or otherwise "harrass" them. Elie Actually, it's excusing the ladies that makes more sense to me than the young gentlemen. It's uncommon, except perhaps on easter, for women to wear hats these days, but it was always proper for them to wear their hats inside as part of their ensemble. Men and boys, however, should remove hats while inside.

If his mama didn't teach him any manners, maybe Houston's will...but considering he had the cojones to write the newspaper about the event, it seems unlikely.

I think perhaps what you are experiencing is a difference in preparation rather than the base peanuts themselves. The saltiness comes from how much salt is put in the boiling water, and the firmness is a matter of how fresh the raw peanut was and/or how long it was boiled. I'm no peanutologist, mind you, and they certainly come in different varieties (size of pea, number of peas, etc.), but the variations you describe are cook influenced, I think, and not botanic or geographic.

Discussion here.

From Ravenous (1999): Colonel Hart: It's lonely being a cannibal. Tough making friends.

As I said earlier, I think this study is just plain silly, so I'm quite satisfied with things as they are. But, perhaps the following measure would satisfy the handwringers: a introductory moron warning at the start of every show. Something like: Warning: Poor sanitary practices can lead to illness and ... DEATH! Oh, and also, knives can cut you and heat will burn you. For example, the beginning of every New Yankee Workshop has a brief spiel by Norm Abrams, in which he says, and I paraphrase, "Hey, dumbasses out there who still managed to get the TV working. Wear eye protection and read the instructions that came with your tools."

Black eyed peas and collards on New Year's day for good luck.

Hope I'm not traipsing through your territory, Man O' Food, but I just read the W&D and thought I'd post the link right here because one of the whines annoyed me (well, two did, but one was a smoking nazi and I prefer to ignore them -- I don't smoke, but someone campaigning about OUTSIDE smokers I think is really taking things too far, though I suppose it's inevitably the next battleground once they've conquered the indoor smoking). A whiner at Cafe Rabelais complained because the tax was somehow "hidden" in the receipt. Now, that would annoy me because I would at least want the opportunity to make sure it was the correct amount (though double checking the tax calc I admit is something I rarely if ever do). But this person wanted to know how much it was so that she could exclude it when calculating the tip. Do people do this? Make the generally insignificant adjustment downward from the total bill amount and not tip for the amount that represents tax? That's ridiculous. On a better note, a diner reports some excellent hospitality at Vic and Anthony's.

Isn't this kind of silly? It a result of the exigencies of TV production. There's a set time limit to accomplish whatever feats of cooking they have in mind, and I for one don't want to watch a show about handwashing -- even if they are dutifully washing hands and cuttingboards and whatnot as appropriate, it's gonna be edited out of the end product anyway. This is like publishing a study stating that TV chefs have amazing magical powers because they can put an uncooked item in the oven and immediately pull out a finished version. They're either cheating and already have one in there ready to go, or they edited out the 45 minutes of baking time from the final televised product.

I grew up in the US South, and was lucky enough to have a grandfather who enjoyed cooking and gardening, and a father who also takes great pleasure in his kitchen (he doesn't garden, but is particular about selecting choice ingrediants). And they made me a food lover willing to try just about anything put in front of me, no matter how non-Southern. The only thing that I can think of as Southern that was ingrained in me would be the contents of a proper breakfast, in that it should include grits and not hash browns, and biscuits rather than toast.

Couldn't find a dedicated website, but here are 2 links with info: citysearch B4UEat

Didn't get to try it, so I can't comment personally. The waitress raised the olive question once it was raised, because she just thought it was peculiar. And they returned to the intended "chives."

There's a local sportsbar type joint here in Houston that has a menu with quite a few misspellings that would have yielded quickly to a spell check. The waitress shared an anecdote with me about one of them. One item offered is a loaded baked potato with the usual toppings - sour cream, butter, bacon bits, etc. But when they got these new menus in, the cooks started stacking olives on top of the potato. It happened a few times before someone investigated, apparently, but it was eventually determined that the menu included "Clives" as one of the potato toppings rather than the rather more pedestrian "Chives." Because of the font, the cooks had read it to read "Olives" (squint your eyes a little bit and the "Clives" even looks like "Olives" on this page, and what the hell is a "Clive" anyway?) and adjusted their preparation accordingly.

Marvin still does his restaurant schtick, blue eyeglasses and wig and all. Number one offense?: "Slime in the ice machine!"

Another good restaurant is Pacific Wave in St. Petersburg. I've assumed you were joking about the Mons Venus. Just in case you weren't, I'll address it. If you are in to that kind of thing, it's a must see. When they have a superbowl in Tampa, one of the first rules set down for the players is "Do not go to the Mons Venus." The club is half a mile from the stadium. A nittygritty strip club, to the point that I don't recall much stripping (the ladies more or less start naked). If you aren't weathered to that sort of thing, give it a pass. I went for the first time when I was 17. I wasn't weathered, and was mildly traumatized -- in a good way, mind you.

Of course the food is great. That's the minimum standard. Isn't that what everyone's been saying? Methinks this is just getting silly now. It sure is. Rich clearly thinks the ambience setting scene atmosphere whatever has no bearing whatsoever on whether a restaurant is 4 star or not, because there shouldn't be stars if this is an issue. The quality of the food is the issue for him. I don't think many are willing to sever the ambience experience from the taste experience in this manner. So there we are.

The Dali Museum is actually in St Petersburg, across the bridges from Tampa. Back in the '90s, the first really notable restaurant to breakout in Tampa, beyond Bern's and the Columbia, was Mise en Place. I haven't been there in approx 8 yrs though, so my mention should be taken with that caution. For cuban, La Teresita in Tampa is well known. In St Pete, I must mention O Bistro, because a friend is the chef there. I, however, haven't had the pleasure yet myself so another caution.

There was a short run a couple of months ago when this (double reviews) occured several times over a few weeks. In a subsequent review Robb actually mentioned that he ran into Allison at a restaurant he was reviewing. They should have come up with a system. Maybe a tie hanging on the doorknob?

It's there now ... Linky. One whine is a person annoyed that last weeks reviews were of the same restaurant in the Chron and Press... Apparently she thinks that the publications coordinate these things in some manner.